A light wavelength converting apparatus includes a semiconductor laser having gain, phase, and DBR regions, a nonlinear optical device for receiving fundamental-wave light emitted from the semiconductor laser and outputting second harmonic wave light, a first optical detector for monitoring output of the fundamental-wave light, a second optical detector for monitoring the second harmonic wave light, and a control portion for controlling a drive current for driving the semiconductor laser. The control portion includes a control parameter determiner and wavelength controller. The control parameter determiner changes a DBR current supplied to the DBR region and a phase current supplied to the phase region to obtain a changing point, and determines a control parameter for controlling the DBR and phase currents such that the relationship therebetween is not located on the changing point. The wavelength controller controls the DBR and phase currents pursuant to the control parameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light wavelength converting apparatus for converting light of a semiconductor laser or a laser diode (LD) into second harmonic wave light, and particularly relates to a light wavelength converting apparatus for emitting laser light, which is capable of high-speed modulation driving, and can be used as a light source for laser display, optical recording, optical measurement, etc.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
A variety of attempts for conversion of LD light into light at another wavelength have been made using a nonlinear optical material. According to such technology, it becomes possible to generate laser light in a wavelength range, such as a green range or an ultraviolet range, that is not yet put into practice with the LD. Such a light source can be expected to be usable as a light source for laser display or optical recording. Particularly, research and development have been widely conducted with respect to a harmonic generation (SHG) system in which fundamental-wave light is input into a nonlinear optical material to generate light whose wavelength is half of that of the fundamental-wave light (second harmonic wave light). In connection therewith, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-43683 discloses a driving method which is used when SHG light is generated using fundamental-wave light emitted from a distributed Bragg reflection (DBR) semiconductor laser.
FIG. 8 illustrates the driving method. In FIG. 8, a DBR semiconductor laser 1 is comprised of a gain region 11, a phase region 12 and a DBR region 13 with a diffraction grating, and the laser 1 emits fundamental-wave light. Temperatures of the phase region 12 and the DBR region 13 are controlled by injecting current perpendicularly to a pn junction provided therein, or injecting current into a thin-film heater provided therein. The refractive index of a waveguide is changed by such a change in the temperature. Phase and reflectivity for the fundamental-wave light in the DBR semiconductor laser 1 are accordingly adjusted to vary oscillation wavelength.
The fundamental-wave light is input into an SHG device 2. The SHG device 2 converts the wavelength of the fundamental-wave light, and outputs SHG light. The SHG light is input into an optical detector 3. The optical detector 3 converts the SHG light into an electrical signal. A control portion 8 includes a tentative control parameter calculator 81, a current-ratio calculator 82, and a control parameter determiner 83. The control portion 8 outputs a phase control current for the phase region 12 and a DBR drive current for the DBR region 13, based on the electrical signal from the optical detector 3.
Operation of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 8 will now be described. An LD drive current is supplied to the gain region 11 of the DBR semiconductor laser 1 to drive the laser 1. The fundamental-wave light is accordingly output from the laser 1. The wavelength of the fundamental-wave light is converted by the SHG device 2, and SHG light is emitted therefrom. The SHG light is converted into an electrical signal by the optical detector 3. From the electrical signal, the control portion 8 determines a control parameter for controlling the phase control current and the DBR drive current without occurrence of any mode hop. The DBR semiconductor laser 1 is driven pursuant to the control parameter.
With the SHG device 2, a wavelength range having a large conversion efficiency is limited. Accordingly, when the wavelength of the fundamental-wave light is changed by controlling the currents injected into the phase region 12 and the DBR region 13, a range of the SHG light capable of being monitored by the optical detector 3 is likely to be very narrow. It is hence difficult to estimate the control parameter with high precision.
Therefore, in the apparatus of FIG. 8, a width of a wavelength capable of being shifted without occurrence of any mode hop is small. Further, when the wavelength range of the SHG device 2 having a large conversion efficiency is shifted due to a change in the device temperature, the control parameter needs to be changed. However, the apparatus of FIG. 8 does not consider such a situation. In other words, it is assumed in the apparatus of FIG. 8 that a temperature stabilizing mechanism, such as a Peltier device, for stabilizing temperature of the SHG device 2 and the semiconductor laser 1 at a constant value is used. Power consumption is therefore likely to increase in the apparatus of FIG. 8.

Light wavelength converting apparatus, control method of the same, and image projecting apparatus using the same


An electric field absorption light modulation unit includes a light emission device for emitting light and a modulation device for varying a light transmittance thereof of light applied by the light emission device so as to provide the light as a result of modifying thereof. A driving signal generating unit coupled with the electric field absorption light modulation unit generates a driving signal to be applied to the modulation device from an input information signal by making the modulation device vary the light transmittance thereof, and the driving signal generating unit provides the driving signal so that the driving signal in a fluctuation range in which an undesirable level fluctuation may be present, corresponds to a constant working range of the modulation device, the light transmittance thereof staying at a constant value in the constant working range.

The present invention relates to an electric field absorption light modulation driving apparatus and method. Very fast information transmission and information transmission over a long distance are important objects achieved by a current optical communication system. For this purpose, an external modulation method instead of a direct modulation method, which may cause, for example, charping phenomena occurring in a distributed feedback laser, is required. An electric field absorption light modulation device (this is referred to as "EAM" hereinafter) is one such method fulfilling the requirement. An EAM constructed with an integrated light emission source is expected to bring about miniaturization and high performance in an apparatus relevant to the system.
The composition of an EAM driving apparatus of a related art is described below with reference to FIGS. 1A through 1C. The EAM driving apparatus comprises a laser diode device (this is referred to as "LD device" hereinafter) 1, a modulation device 2, EAM 3, a reference voltage terminal 4, a bias terminal 5, and a driving terminal 6. The LD device 1 provides a LD device output 7 to the modulation device 2, and the modulation device 2 provides a modulation device output 8.
An input-output characteristic of the modulation device 2 is described below with reference to FIGS. 2A through 2C. As is apparent from a curve (C) of FIG. 2A, the light transmittance is approximately 100% when the absolute value of the driving voltage (negative voltage) applied to the terminal 6 is zero (0) (point (C1)). Most of the light of the LD device output 7 applied to the modulation device 2, passes through modulation device 2, and appears as modulation device output 8 without experiencing significant attenuation. The LD device output 7 begins to be absorbed by the modulation device 2 at the point (C2) wherein the absolute value of the negative driving voltage begins to increase. Finally, all of the LD device output 7 is absorbed by the modulation device 2 so that the modulation device output 8 is zero (0), that is, the light is off, at the point (C3) when the absolute value of the negative driving voltage becomes equal to a predetermined value.
Therefore, an electrical driving waveform (in the negative driving voltage applied to the modulation device 2) such as shown in FIG. 2B results in an optical output waveform (in the modulation device output 8) such as shown in FIG. 2C in a case where the LD device output 7 supplied to the modulation device 2 is kept at a constant value.
There may be a case where the driving voltage applied to the modulation device 2 fluctuates in a range a delta-V.sub.H at the upper voltage (that is, small absolute value of a negative voltage) part of the driving waveform shown FIG. 3B. Such fluctuation may occur because of, for example, the high harmonics present in such a pulse wave. In the above mentioned case, the optical output (modulation device output 8) fluctuates in the range delta-P.sub.H in the upper part of the optical output waveform shown in FIG. 3C. Especially, as is shown in the curve (C), since the inclination of the curve (C) is sharp, the variation of the driving voltage is relatively amplified as a result of being converted into an optical output, in the upper part (C4). Thus, signal degradation occurs when a slight amount of ringing in an electrical driving waveform results in much higher levels of noise appearing in the upper part of the optical output. This results in a degradation of parameters such as optical receiver code-error rate and optical waveform.
Therefore, in a long-distance optical transmission system, the EAM driving apparatus in the related art has a problem in that it is not possible to utilize the advantages of an optical fiber transmission line sufficiently, which advantages are obtained as a result of its low-loss and wide-frequency-range characteristics.

Electric field absorption light modulation driving apparatus and method having improved feature to eliminate noise from optical output


A detent crest member is integrally rotatably mounted on a dial knob. On the other hand, on a peripheral surface of a plunger mounting member which is rotatably operated using a motor, a plurality of plunger members which generates clicks in a dial knob together with the detent crest member is mounted. In changing over click feeling, the motor is rotated thus selectively bringing one of the plunger members mounted on the plunger mounting member into resilient contact with concave/convex patterns of the detent crest member which form the pair with one plunger member.

The present invention relates to a detent changeover switch apparatus capable of changing over click feeling generated by an operation portion of an operation switch.
Conventionally, as an input operation system for performing operation setting of various vehicle-loaded equipment such as an air conditioner and an audio device, various kinds of operation switches are mounted on a vehicle corresponding to respective functions. As one example, with respect to the operation switches of the air conditioner, for example, a temperature setting switch for setting a supply-air temperature, an air volume setting switch for setting an air volume, an air blow direction setting switch for setting an air blow and the like are used. As such a group of switches, a rotary operation switch, that is, a rotary switch which performs setting of various functions by rotatably operating a dial knob of a rotary operation type as an operation portion has been popularly used.
Further, this kind of rotary switch is provided with a detent mechanism capable of imparting a desired operation force or click feeling to the dial knob as a click for ensuring an operation of the dial knob by enhancing operation feeling of the dial knob. In general, the detent mechanism is configured such that the detent mechanism includes the dial knob rotatably operated by an operator and a casing which rotatably supports the dial knob, a plurality of detent crests which is arranged between the dial knob and the casing and is formed on one of the dial knob and the casing along the rotational direction of the knob, a detent piece which is always biased to the detent crest due to a biasing spring is mounted on the other of the dial knob and the casing, and operational force which is generated when the detent piece gets over the detent crest due to the rotational operation of the dial knob is imparted to the operator as click feeling.
Recently, to realize the reduction of the number of parts of the operation switch, there has been an attempt to use one rotary switch in common among a plurality of selection functions. In this kind of operation switch having the common use structure, a switch controller which constitutes a control unit of the input operation system brings a switch determination mode into a function selection setting mode in a switch determination initial state. At this point of time, when the dial knob is operated, in response to a switch signal acquired from the rotary switch, a vehicle-loaded equipment which the operator requires setting a function thereof is selected and designated. The switch controller, after the selection and the designation of the vehicle-loaded equipment, changes over the switch determination mode to a detail setting mode. When the dial knob is operated at this point of time, in response to a switch signal acquired from the rotary switch, the detail of the selected and designated vehicle-loaded equipment is set to a state corresponding to the switch operation.
In case of the operation switch having the common-use structure, it is desirable that the click feeling generated in the rotary switch by the detent mechanism differs for every selection function. Here, a detent changeover technique which changes over click feelings for respective selection functions using this type of operation switch having the common-use structure is disclosed in JP-A-2002-189559, for example. In the technique disclosed in JP-A-2002-189559, a plurality of discs having detent crests which differ from each other in the arrangement distance is arranged side by side in the vertical direction, and by vertically moving a detent piece by an actuator, the detent piece is selectively brought into resilient contact with detent crests of one of these discs thus changing over the click feeling acquired when a dial knob is rotatably operated.
In the technique disclosed in patent document 1, one rotary switch is used in common among the plurality of selection functions, and the click feeling generated in the dial knob can be changed over for respective selection functions. However, the technique disclosed in JP-A-2002-189559 adopts the structure which vertically moves the detent piece per se by the actuator over a plurality of discs and hence, the technique adopts the part arrangement structure in which a plurality of discs having the detent crests are arranged side by side along the direction of an operation shaft of the dial knob. Accordingly, although the operation switch described in JP-A-2002-189559 can change over the click feeling of the dial knob, the number of parts necessary for the rotary switch is increased thus giving rise to a possibility that the switch apparatus becomes large sized or a device cost is pushed up whereby there has been a demand for the reduction of the number of parts of this kind.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


A cooling apparatus includes a container configured to contain a coolant within a space. The apparatus further includes a cooling block positioned substantially within the space and having a high heat capacity such that the space not occupied by the cooling block is filled with a coolant to a level at or below the top of the cooling block, and a placement structure having high thermal conductivity positioned on top of the cooling block and outside of the space. A method for cooling an object is also provided, which includes inserting a coolant into a container configured to contain the coolant within a space, and placing the object on a placement structure outside the space. For this method, the placement structure has a high thermal conductivity and is coupled to a cooling block, the cooling block having a high heat capacity and positioned substantially within the space. A two-stage cooling apparatus and method is also described.

It is often desirable to analyze properties of an object that has been cooled to very low temperatures, such as cryogenic temperatures, for example temperatures close to that of liquid nitrogen. When analyzing a gem, for example, it is often desirable to perform a spectral analysis of the gem at cryogenic temperatures to obtain information about the composition of the gem. Performing a spectral analysis on a gem cooled to such temperatures is particularly useful, for example, in determining the color origin of diamonds which may have been subjected to various treatments such as irradiation, as in a nuclear reactor or by an electron beam, or annealing, and for identifying diamonds treated under high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT).
Currently available cooling apparatuses exhibit a number of disadvantages. For example, some currently available cooling apparatuses require a test sample to be cooled for approximately 20-30 minutes before a spectral analysis could be performed. Such a prolonged cooling period severely limits production capacity when a large number of gems need to be analyzed. Other apparatus employ direct immersion of the gemstone in the cooling medium which may result in undesirable interaction between the cooling medium and spectral information of interest. Still other cooling arrangements have employed a cylindrical copper block of approximately 2 inches in diameter, 1.8 inches in height, and having a 0.16 inch diameter bore along its axis, and which has been cooled to a desired temperature and removed from the cooling environment prior to placement of the object to be cooled in the 0.16 inch diameter bore.
Another disadvantage of some of the currently available cooling apparatuses is that they are bulky and complex. Some of these apparatuses, for example, require the test sample to be placed within a shell that is submerged in liquid nitrogen. Because of condensation that may occur within the shell, however, such apparatuses require a mechanism to infuse moisture-free gas into the enclosed internal chamber occupied by the test sample. As such, in addition to the extra time required to infuse gas into the shell, these apparatuses add additional costs to the analysis task, and because of their complexity are more prone to mechanical failure.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for rapidly cooling gems in an efficient and cost effective manner. More specifically, there is a need for a method and apparatus for cooling gems which does not require a closed environment, or infusion of moisture-free gas, and which allows for a rapid cool down and analysis of a large number of gems.

Method and apparatus for rapidly cooling a gem, including two stage cooling


Circuits and methods may be improved by using ADCs that compensate for the effect of comparator input offset on comparator decisions. Offset compensation may be implemented in an ADC by using an amplifier section between the input of the ADC and a comparator section of the ADC to amplify the signals supplied to the comparator inputs and thereby reduce the effect of comparator offset on the comparator decision. The comparator section may be an autozeroing comparator section that is capable of performing an offset reduction operation to store offset compensation values at capacitors provided at its inputs. The amplifier section may be an autozeroing amplifier section having one or more amplifier stages that are capable of performing an offset reduction operation to store offset compensation values at capacitors provided at their inputs. Offset compensation may also be implemented using an autozeroing comparator section without a preceding amplifier section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to CMOS image sensors.
2. Related Technology
CMOS image sensors have wide application in consumer and industrial electronics. In general terms, CMOS image sensors are comprised of rows of pixels that supply analog pixel values. The analog pixel signals are read out row by row and converted to digital values. While consumer CMOS image sensor chips typically include only one or two analog to digital converters (ADCs), high speed CMOS image sensors utilize one ADC per column, or per several columns.
A simplified architecture of a conventional high speed CMOS image sensor is illustrated in FIG. 1. The image sensor includes a pixel array comprised of rows of pixel circuits 10. A row control signal supplied by a row decoder/driver 12 controls the operations performed by the pixel circuits in each row. Pixel circuits aligned in the same column share a common readout line 14. Signals from the pixel circuits are buffered or amplified by column readout circuits 16, digitized by ADCs 18, and stored in a static or dynamic RAM 20 that typically has parallel inputs and a serial output. The operation of the ADCs and the memory are controlled by a controller 22. Signals read from memory are amplified by sense amps 24 and supplied to buffers 26 that drive the signals to I/O pads.
Details of an ADC that may be used in the circuit of FIG. 1 are illustrated in FIG. 2. The output signal of a pixel circuit is supplied to an input 30 of the ADC by a buffer or amplifier. A reset capacitor 32 samples and holds a reset value received from the pixel circuit through a switch 34 responsive to a control signal SHR, thus providing a reset voltage at a first input node 36 of a comparator 38. A binary scaled sampling capacitor bank 40 samples and holds a pixel signal value received from the pixel circuit through a switch 38 responsive to a control signal SHS, thus providing a signal voltage at a second input node 42 of the comparator 38. Although not shown in FIG. 2, respective calibration circuits may be used to apply calibration values to the input nodes 36, 42, for example to provide black level calibration.
Conversion latches 44 control the application of reference values to the sampling capacitors 40, thus changing the voltage seen by the comparator 38 at the second input node 42. A binary scaled calibration capacitor bank 46 can also sample and hold a value from the input 30 of the ADC. Calibration latches 48 control the application of reference values to the capacitors of the calibration capacitor bank 46. The output 50 of the comparator is fed back to the conversion latches 44 and calibration latches 48.
In operation, a voltage corresponding to the pixel reset value is sampled and held at the first input node 36, and a voltage corresponding to the pixel signal is sampled and held at the second input node 42. The conversion latches 44 maintain a low ADC reference voltage on the bottom plates of the sampling capacitors 40 during sampling of the pixel signal. After the pixel signal is sampled, logic associated with the conversion latches 44 causes high voltages to be applied sequentially to the bottom plates of the capacitors in the sampling capacitor bank 40. Initially a high ADC reference voltage is applied to the bottom plate of the largest capacitor in the sampling capacitor bank 40. The resulting potential at the second input node 42 is compared to the reset value at the first input node 36 to generate a comparator 38 output value. If the potential at the second input node 42 is greater than the potential at the first input node 36, the comparator 38 output goes to 0 and the bottom plate of the capacitor is reset to low reference. Conversely, if the potential at the second input node 42 is less than the potential at the first input node 36, the comparator output goes to 1 and the bottom plate of the capacitor is maintained at high reference. The comparator output value generated by this comparison is the most significant bit of a binary word representing the value of the pixel signal sampled at the second input node 42. This process is repeated for all of the capacitors in the sampling capacitor bank 40 in order of decreasing size. The resulting string of comparator output values is a binary word representing the value of the pixel signal.
The high speed dynamic comparator 38 typically has some inherent offset between its inputs arising from the nonideal components of the comparator. The exact offset is individual for each ADC and therefore varies from column to column, producing artifacts in the sampled image. To compensate these offsets, a calibration procedure is performed in the ADC prior to operation using the calibration latches 48 and the calibration capacitor bank 46. The size of the capacitors in the calibration capacitor bank 46 can be smaller than those of the sampling capacitor bank 40 because the comparator offset is typically less than 10% of the full ADC range. The calibration procedure is performed using the offset value of the comparator as the sampled signal and results in settings of static memories associated with the individual calibration latches 48 that compensate the offset by selectively charging the capacitors of the calibration capacitor bank 46. The calibration procedure may be performed on power-up.
While this circuit can reduce ADC offset, the offset is typically not removed completely, and so column-to-column nonuniformity of ADCs remains. Further, in ADC circuits of the type illustrated in FIG. 2, the calibration capacitor bank 46 and calibration latches 48 may occupy up to 40% of the circuit area. This is an undesirable amount of space to devote to the calibration portion of the circuit

Circuits and methods with comparators allowing for offset reduction and decision operations


A spectrophotometric instrument is comprised of a processor, a probe having a tissue engaging surface with an aperture therethrough and a light source producing measurement light signals and optically coupled to the probe via a first optical path. A partially reflective first reflecting member is located in the probe and has a generally elliptical profile positioned to reflect a first portion of the measurement light signals to the tissue aperture and to transmit a second portion of the measurement light signals through the first reflecting member. A second reflecting member is located in the probe and has a generally elliptical profile positioned to reflect the measurement light signals transmitted through the first reflecting member. A second optical path has a distal end positioned to receive the measurement light signals reflected off of the second reflecting member and a proximal end coupled to the processor. A third optical path has a distal end positioned in the probe to receive light signals transmitted through the tissue sample and a proximal end coupled to the processor.

Spectrometers have gained popularity as a tool for measuring attributes of tissue. By way of illustration only, the operation of an instrument of this type is described briefly with reference to prior art FIG. 1. As shown, the instrument 10 included an optical probe 12 which was releasably connected to an electronics package 14 via optical fibers 16. The electronics package 14 included a connector 18, a detector 20, a processor/controller 22, and a display 24. In operation, the probe 12 was positioned on the tissue to be measured or analyzed. The probe 12 was interfaced to the instrument electronics through the optical fibers 16 and a probe connector 26. Referring now to prior art FIG. 2, the probe connector 26 included light emitting diodes (LEDs) or other light sources 30, 32, 34, 36, and 38 for generating light at a number of different wavelengths (e.g., 800, 760, 720, 680, and 530 nm, respectively). The light used to measure the characteristics of the tissue was coupled to the probe 12 by send optical fibers 40, 42, 44, and 46. After being transmitted from the tissue-engaging surface of the probe 12 into the tissue being measured, the light traveled through the tissue before being collected at the end of the receive optical fiber 48. This collected light (measurement light signal) was then transmitted to the instrument 14 through the probe connector 26 and electronics package connector 18. A reference light signal corresponding to each of the measurement light signals (i.e., the reference light signals were not transmitted through the tissue) was also transmitted to the electronics package connector 18. The optical probe 12 is described in greater detail in Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/137,383 entitled "Disposable Tissue Probe Tip" and U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,343 entitled "Fiber Optic Light Mixer."
The collected measurement light signals and reference light signals received by the electronics package 14 were transmitted to the detector 20 which produced electrical signals representative of these light signals at each wavelength of interest. The processor/controller 22 then processed these signals to generate data representative of the measured tissue parameter (e.g., saturated oxygen level (StO2)). The measurement reading could have been visually displayed on the display 24. Algorithms used to compute the tissue parameter data are generally known and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,294 entitled "Tissue Chromophore Measurement System."
Calibration procedures were typically performed to enhance the accuracy of the measurements subsequently made by the instrument 14. Methods and devices for calibrating spectrophotometric-type instruments are generally known and disclosed in the above-referenced U.S. patent entitled "Tissue Chromophore Measurement System." The calibration could have, for example, been performed by placing the probe 12 on a calibration device 50 such as that shown in FIG. 1. The calibration device 50 included a housing which was filled with light scattering material. The light scattering material was generally spectrally flat (i.e., reflects all light to the same degree) to provide a reference spectrum. White polyethylene foam such as Plastazote LD45 available from Zotefoams, Inc. could have been used for this purpose.
One configuration of a spectrophotometric instrument of the type described above included, for each wavelength of interest, a photomultiplier tube (PMT) for detecting the measurement light signal, and a photodiode for detecting the calibration recognition signal (or ambient light). Thermal electric coolers could have been included in the electronics package to help maintain temperature control of the optical bench to which the PMTs and photodiodes were mounted, and thereby reduce output signal drift.
The probe connector 26 used in connection with this device is illustrated in prior art FIG. 2, which shows an embodiment having a reference signal generated within the connector 26. As shown, the probe connector 26 included 4 LED's 30, 32, 34, and 36 for generating the measurement light signals at 800, 760, 720 and 680 nm. Light signals from each of these LEDs were coupled to the probe 12 by a separate measurement signal send fiber 40, 42, 44, 46. After being transmitted through the tissue being analyzed and collected at the probe, the measurement light signal was coupled back to the probe connector 26 by a measurement signal receive fiber 48. The end of the measurement signal receive fiber 48 terminated in the probe connector 26 at a sample ferrule 52 which was adapted to mate with a socket in the connector 18 of the electronics package 14. The optical probe 12 is described in greater detail in the above-referenced Provisional U.S. Patent Application entitled "Disposable Tissue Probe Tip" and U.S. Patent entitled "Fiber Optic Light Mixer."
A reference light signal was also provided by the probe connector 26. The reference light signal included a portion of the light from each of the LEDs, and had not been transmitted from the probe 12 before being collected. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the reference light signal was collected by reference light signal send optical fibers 54, 56, 58 and 60, which extended respectively from each measurement light signal source LED 30, 32, 34, 36 to a light mixer/attenuator 62 formed by scattering material attached to a reference fiber fixturing ferrule 64. The reference signal send fibers 54, 56, 58, 60 were collected in the fixturing ferrule 64 at the scattering material along with a reference signal receive fiber 66. The reference light received from each LED was mixed at the mixer 62 and transmitted through the reference signal receive fiber 66. The end of the reference signal receive fiber 66 terminated in the probe connector 26 at a reference ferrule 68 which was adapted to mate with a socket in the connector 18 of the electronics package 14.
Since it was significantly attenuated when it was transmitted through the tissue, the intensity of the measurement light signal at the connector 26 was much less than the intensity of the non-attenuated reference light signal (e.g., about 1 million times less). In order to match the reference and measurement signal magnitudes to enable detection with a similar photo multiplier tube gain, the reference signal was attenuated at the mixer 62. The reference signal attenuation was obtained by reflectance mode positioning the reference signal send fibers 54, 56, 58, 60 equidistant from the centrally located reference signal receive fiber 66. The concentration of scattering material (such as titanium dioxide from Aldrich, Milwaukee, Wis.) within an optically clear epoxy substrate (such as EpoTech 301 from Epoxy Technology, Billerica, Mass.) could have been adjusted to provide the appropriate level of attenuation within the mixer 62. The probe connector 26 also preferably had a 14 pin electrical connector 72 and an optical fiber fixturing ferrule 74 for each of the LED's 30, 32, 34, 36, and 38, each of which were mounted in a PC board 76, along with connector 72. LED 38 was a calibration recognition signal LED connected to a calibration recognition send fiber 78. It is to be understood that the arrows on fibers 40, 42, 44, 46 were to indicate "to probe tip" while the arrows on fiber 48 were to indicate "from probe tip."
A connector latch mechanism (not shown) latched the sample ferrule 52 and reference ferrule 68 of the probe connector 26 to the corresponding sockets (not shown) of the connector 18 in the electronics package 14. The latch connector mechanism is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,899 entitled "Optical Connector Latch Mechanism for Spectrophotometric Instrument."
The reference light signal and measurement light signal (also referred to as a sample light signal) received at the connector 18 at spatially separated paths were collimated by lenses or other optics and directed to a shutter and path-shifting optics 80 (prior art FIG. 3). The shutter and path-shifting optics 80 selectively and alternately directed or folded the signals into a common path to the detector 20 (optical bench). One embodiment of the shutter and path-shifting optics 80 is illustrated in FIG. 3. As shown, a 30° stepper motor 87 drove opaque vane 84 and was controlled by the processor/controller 22, as indicated by arrow 86. The stepper motor 87 positioned the vane 84 to selectively block one of the reference light signal and measurement light signal, and to transmit the other of signals to the path-shifting optics 80. Arrow 88 indicates a collimated LED reference light path, while arrow 90 indicates a collimated measurement/sample light path (from the probe 12).
In the embodiment shown, the path shifting optics 80 included a 45° combining (beam splitting) reflecting member 92 in the measurement light path 94. This combining reflecting member 92 allowed a significant portion (e.g., 98–99%) of the measurement light signal to pass through the reflecting member 92 to the detector 20 (see FIG. 1) as indicated by arrow 96, with the remaining amount (e.g., 1–2%) being reflected away from the detector 20 (i.e., trapped, as indicated by arrow 98). A 45° reflecting member 100 in the reference light path 102 reflected the reference light signal onto the side of the combining reflecting member 92 opposite the side to which the measurement light signal was initially directed. A significant portion of the reference light signal would then pass through the combining reflecting member 92, while a smaller amount (e.g., 1–2%) would be reflected to the detector 20 (see FIG. 1) along the same optical path 96 as the measurement light signal. The measurement light signal and reference light signal were thereby directed or folded onto the same path 96 and directed to a common detector. In response to control signals from the processor/controller 22 (see FIG. 1), the stepper motor 87 would position the opaque vane 84 to block one of the reference light signal or the measurement light signal. The other of the reference light signal and the measurement light signal would then be transmitted to the detector 20. This optics configuration also reduced the intensity of the reference light signal so it would not saturate the PMTs of the detector 20.
Prior art FIG. 4 is an illustration of a detector 20 for use in the instrument 10 or electronics package 14 shown in prior art FIG. 1 and described above. An approximate 5 mm diameter collimated light beam indicated by arrow 104 (either from the reference or sample (measurement) light signal) was transmitted to the front surface of an 800 nm dichroic reflecting member 106 which was positioned 30° from an optical axis 108. Approximately 90% of the light having a wavelength greater than 780 nm was reflected to a first photomultiplier tube (PMT) sensor 110 which had an 800 nm bandpass filter (+/−10 nm at full-width, half-maximum (FWHM)) positioned in front of the PMT sensor 110.
Approximately 80% of the light having a wavelength shorter than 780 nm was transmitted through the 800 nm dichroic reflecting member 106 to the front surface of a 760 nm dichroic reflecting member 112 which was positioned 25° from the optical axis 108. Approximately 90% of the light having a wavelength greater than 740 nm was reflected to a second PMT sensor 114 which had a 760 nm bandpass filter (+/−10 nm FWHM) positioned in front of the PMT sensor 114. Approximately 80% of the light having a wavelength shorter than 740 nm was transmitted through the 760 nm dichroic reflecting member 112 to the front surface of a 720 nm dichroic reflecting member 116 which was positioned 30° from the optical axis 108. Approximately 90% of the light having a wavelength greater than 700 nm was reflected to the third PMT sensor 118 which had a 720 nm bandpass filter (+/−10 nm FWHM) positioned in front of the PMT sensor 118. Approximately 80% of the light having a wavelength shorter than 700 nm was transmitted through the 720 nm dichroic reflecting member 116 to the front surface of a 680 nm dichroic reflecting member 120 which was positioned 30° from the optical axis 108. Approximately 90% of the light having a wavelength greater than 660 nm is reflected to the fourth PMT sensor 122 which had a 680 nm bandpass filter (+/−10 nm FWHM) positioned in front of the PMT sensor 122. Approximately 80% of the light having a wavelength shorter than 660 nm was transmitted through the 680 nm dichroic reflecting member 120 to a detector block consisting of a 600 nm short pass filter (transmitted light from approximately 400 nm to 600 nm) positioned in front of a photo diode detector. This detector was used to measure the presence of ambient light and/or the calibration material recognition signal (530 nm LED emitter). The calibration material recognition signal and the manner by which it was used is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,803 entitled "Calibration Mode Recognition And Calibration Algorithm For Spectrophotometric Instrument."
During calibration procedures performed by the instrument, and for each of the PMTs used in connection with the calculation of the measurement (4 PMTs in the described embodiment), a baseline reading was established for both the measurement signal received from the probe (i.e., a baseline sample) and the reference signal (i.e., a baseline reference). These calibration measurement and reference baseline signals (for each PMT) were obtained through the use of the shutter and path-shifting optics 80 described above, and were stored in memory (not separately shown) and subsequently used in the measurement calculation algorithm.
Prior art FIG. 5 illustrates an optical probe 130 which was used in connection with the instrument shown in the above referenced U.S. Patent entitled "Tissue Chromophore Measurement System" and which included a light mixer 132. The probe 130 included an insert 134 for holding a number of optical fibers 136, 138, and 140, a housing 142 into which the insert 134 was mounted and a disposable elastomeric tip (not shown) which was releasably mounted to the housing 142. The optical fiber 136 terminated at a mixing fiber 144 and was coupled between the housing 142 and instrument within a cable housing 146. The illustrated embodiment of the probe 130 had four send fibers 136 through which light of different wavelengths from the instrument (provided by narrow bandwidth LEDs) was transmitted to the probe 130. The ends of the send fibers 136 were sealed in a ferrule 148. The light mixer 132 was a section of optical fiber 144 located between the fiber ferrule 148 and a tissue-facing surface 150 of the probe 130. The light mixer 132 accepted, on its input side, light from the individual send fibers 136. The light mixer 132 enhanced the homogeneity of the light emitted on its output side and transmitted to the tissue. Each wavelength of light was scattered over the whole cross-sectional area of the fiber 144 of the mixer 132, enabling each wavelength of light to travel through a similar volume of tissue.
As shown, the send fibers 136 were bent or formed to direct the ends at a 90° angle with respect to the tissue-facing surface 150. The different wavelengths of light emitted from the ends of the send fibers 136 were mixed within the fiber 144 of mixer 132 and thereby scattered throughout the surface area of the fiber 144 at the tissue-facing surface 150. As shown, a receive fiber 138 and a calibration recognition fiber 140 also had ends which terminated at the tissue-facing surface 150 of the probe 130. The receive fiber 138 collected light that traveled through the tissue being analyzed and transmitted the collected light to the instrument for processing. Light emitted from the calibration recognition fiber 140 was used by the instrument to control a calibration procedure.
Typical prior art instruments directed measurement light signals onto the tissue sample by bending the optical fibers in the probe to direct the light onto the tissue (see FIG. 5). The typical minimum recommended bend radius for an optical fiber is twenty times the fiber diameter, although this number may vary widely depending upon the type of optical fiber. Bending or shaping an optical fiber at less than the recommended minimum bend radii results in signal impairment or light signal loss, temperature sensitivity, and broken fibers. However, desirable spatial limitations in a probe are generally not suited to accommodate the minimum recommended bend radius of optical fibers. Generally, smaller sized probes are desirable for engaging smaller tissue sample areas and/or smaller test subjects, and are considered to be more comfortable and less intrusive for the test subject. As a result, prior art instruments were either large enough to accommodate the minimum recommended bend radius of the optical fibers, or produced lower quality light signals through over-bending of the optical fibers.
While the prior art structure for putting light at the surface of the tissue under study worked, high signal losses were encountered in the path between the LEDs and the tissue. Further, significant manufacturing effort and parts costs were incurred to make all of the optical paths required. Also, calibration procedures had to be repeated periodically to compensate for drift in the light source wavelength.

Method and apparatus for monitoring output signal instability in a light source


A method for providing live and archived cycling classes to remote users comprising providing information about available live and archived cycling classes that can be accessed via a digital communication network by a first user using a first stationary bike at a first remote location for display at the first remote location via an interface that includes a display screen, whereby the first user can select either a live cycling class or select among a plurality of archived cycling classes to be displayed on the display screen, receiving from the first user a selection of one of the available live or archived cycling classes for display on the display screen at the first remote location, and providing digital video and audio content comprising the selected cycling class to a computer at the first remote location for display to the first user.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of exercise equipment and methods. In particular, the invention relates to a system and method for providing streaming and on-demand exercise classes.
2. Description of Related Art
Humans are competitive by nature, striving to improve their performance both as compared to their own prior efforts and as compared to others. Humans are also drawn to games and other diversions, such that even tasks that a person may find difficult or annoying can become appealing if different gaming elements are introduced. Existing home and gym-based exercise systems and methods frequently lack key features that allow participants to compete with each other and that gamify exercise activities.
While some existing exercise equipment incorporates diversions such as video display screens that present content or performance data to the user while they exercise, these systems lack the ability to truly engage the user in a competitive or gaming scenario that improves both the user's experience and performance.
To improve the experience and provide a more engaging environment, gyms offer classes such as cycling classes where the instructor and participants exercise on stationary bikes accompanied by music. The instructor and music combine to motivate participants to work harder and maintain better pedal cadence or tempo. More recently, boutique cycling studios have taken the cycling class concept to dedicated spaces to create even more powerful class experiences.
All of these class-based experiences, however, are accessible only at specific times and locations. As a result, they are unavailable to many potential users, generally are very expensive, and often sell-out so that even users in a location convenient to the cycling studio cannot reserve a class. The present invention addresses these problems, providing a stationary bike that incorporates multimedia inputs and outputs for live streaming or archived instructional content, socially networked audio and video chat, networked performance metrics and competition capabilities, along with a range of gamification features.


In some embodiments of the disclosed inverter topologies, an inverter may include a full bridge LLC resonant converter, a first boost converter, and a second boost converter. In such embodiments, the first and second boost converters operate in an interleaved manner. In other disclosed embodiments, the inverter may include a half-bridge inverter circuit, a resonant circuit, a capacitor divider circuit, and a transformer.

Power inverters convert a DC power to an AC power. For example, some power inverters are configured to convert the DC power to an AC power suitable for supplying energy to an AC grid and, in some cases, an AC load that may or may not be coupled to the AC grid. One particular application for such power inverters is the conversion of DC power generated by an alternative energy source, such as photovoltaic cells ("PV cells" or "solar cells"), fuel cells, DC wind turbine, DC water turbine, and other DC power sources, to a single-phase AC power for delivery to the AC grid at the grid frequency. The amount of power that can be delivered by certain alternative energy sources, such as PV cells, may vary in magnitude over time due to temporal variations in operating conditions. For example, the output of a typical PV cell will vary as a function of variations in sunlight intensity, angle of incidence of sunlight, ambient temperature and other factors.
Such power inverters typically include a DC-DC converter to step up the voltage from a relatively low DC voltage (e.g., 30 V) to a power bus voltage of the inverter (e.g., 400 V). Depending on the particular implementation, the converter may be designed with any one of a number of different topologies. Common topologies include, for example, an isolated boost converter design, a "flyback" converter design, and a "series-LLC" converter design, each of which have distinct operational characteristics and/or components. In particular, the isolated boost converter is a "hard-switched" converter (i.e., the switches and diodes simultaneously experience a high current and high voltage stress during a switching transition) and often includes an active clamp circuit across a switch bridge to absorb mismatched current and limit the voltage. The flyback design is a generally simple converter topology having relatively simple control and gate drive requirements but has significant switch stresses and is an inherently hard-switched design. The series-LLC converter has an inherently soft-switched design and low voltage stresses and typically does not require an active clamp circuit. Unlike isolated boost converters, which are typically current-fed, series-LLC converters are fundamentally voltage-fed; because the input voltage generated by the PV cells may vary significantly over time, series-LLC converters must account for such variation. Accordingly, voltage-fed topologies tend to "step down" the voltage prior to boosting voltage (e.g., via a turns ratio of the transformer), which can result in inefficiency for the converter.
In a typical photovoltaic power system, an inverter may be associated with one or more solar cell panels. For example, some systems include strings of solar cell panels that deliver a relatively high, combined voltage (e.g., nominal 450 V) to a single, large inverter. Alternatively, in other systems such as a distributed photovoltaic power system, an inverter may be associated with each solar cell panel. In such systems, the solar cell panels are typically small, relatively low voltage (e.g., 25 V). The inverter may be placed in close proximity to the associated solar cell panel to increase the conversion efficiency of the overall system.


A method and apparatus for directing ions from an ionization source to a mass analyzer is provided. The method includes producing ions from a sample in an ionization source. Some of the ions are transferred to a first region via a passageway that is in fluid communication with the ionization source. Next, some of the ions are sampled from the first region into a second region via an aperture that is defined thorough a partition element. The aperture is centered about a longitudinal axis that passes through an ion transfer element within the second region. An electric field is established for deflecting some of the ions that pass through the aperture of the partition element. In particular, the electric field is directed transverse to the longitudinal axis such that relatively more ions enter an input end of the ion transfer element compared to when the ions are not deflected.

A number of different atmospheric pressure ionization (API) sources have been developed for producing ions from a sample at atmospheric pressure. One well-known and important example is the electrospray ionization (ESI) source. The electrospray ionization technique, and more specifically electrospray ionization sources interfaced to mass spectrometers, has opened a new era of study for the molecular weight determination of labile and involatile biological compounds. In electrospray ionization, singly or multiply charged ions in the gas phase are produced from a solution at atmospheric pressure. The mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of the ions that are produced by electrospray ionization depends on the molecular weight of the analyte and the solution chemistry conditions. Fenn et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,538 describes extensively the production of singly and multiply charged ions by electrospray ionization at atmospheric pressure.
Briefly, the electrospray process consists of flowing a sample liquid through a small tube or needle, which is maintained at a high voltage relative to a nearby surface. The voltage gradient at the tip of the needle causes the liquid to be dispersed into fine electrically charged droplets. Under appropriate conditions the electrospray resembles a symmetrical cone consisting of a very fine mist of droplets of ca. 1 μm in diameter. Excellent sensitivity and ion current stability is obtained if a fine mist is produced. Unfortunately, the electrospray "quality" is highly dependent on the bulk properties of the solution that is being analyzed, such as for instance surface tension and conductivity. The ionization mechanism involves desorption at atmospheric pressure of ions from the fine electrically charged particles. In many cases a heated gas is flowed so as to enhance desolvation of the electrosprayed droplets. The ions created by the electrospray process are then mass analyzed using a mass analyzer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,990 there is described an electrospray ion source of the type which includes an ion transfer tube communicating between the ionizing region and a low-pressure region with a skimmer having an aperture through which ions pass. The skimmer separates the low-pressure region from a progressively lower pressure region, which includes ion focusing lenses and an analyzer. The ion transfer tube is oriented so that undesolvated droplets or particles traveling through the tube are prevented from passing through the skimmer aperture into the analysis region. In particular, the axis of the ion transfer tube is altered or directed so that the axis is offset from the skimmer aperture. In this way, there is no alignment between the bore of the tube and the skimmer aperture. The tendency is for the large droplets or particles to move to the center of the flow in the ion transfer tube and travel in a straight line. These droplets or particles traveling in a straight line strike the skimmer. The droplets or particles are thereafter pumped away. Additionally, a tube lens is provided adjacent to the outlet end of the ion transfer tube for focusing and/or diverting ions toward the skimmer aperture. Unfortunately, since the ions follow an off-axis trajectory through the skimmer aperture there is a tendency for some of the ions to continue along a trajectory terminating at a surface of an ion transfer element adjacent the exit side of the skimmer. Over time, a burn/deposit becomes apparent on the surface of the ion transfer element that is opposite the ion transfer tube. This effect reduces the throughput of the ion source, and thereby reduces the overall sensitivity of the instrument.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that increases the throughput of the ion source while at the same time maintaining low chemical background noise.

Apparatus and method for providing ions to a mass analyzer


A video processing system located at a remote location such as a TV broadcasting station or an Internet media server stores a plurality of video elements at that are delivered to a viewing system located at a viewer's premises. The video processing system is capable of receiving a selection request comprising two or more video elements or subsets thereof, wherein the subsets are regions of interest or portions of the corresponding video elements. The video processing system constructs a custom video by combining them based on the viewer' selection and using the region of interest that are provided, and forwards the custom video to the viewing system. Billing based on record of usage is also supported for the custom video.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video processing system for video processing, and more particularly for customizing videos delivered by the video processing system based on input from a viewer at a viewing system.
Description of the Related Art
Video editing systems which combine two or more videos taken from a video repository are available in market. These systems can switch between videos, wherein the videos are edited to be combined, with simple cut-and-paste to create transitions. Some of them can take multiple video feeds from video cameras and make transitions between the video feeds, where effects such as dissolves, wipes can be used to smooth the transitions. The output is actually multiple sequences of video from the video sources that are cut and pasted together to create a combined sequence. Such combinations are trivial and quite often the transitions are jerky and abrupt.
Some video editing systems can freeze a frame while playing a video feed and, after a time, can perform a transition to a new video feed. It can even hold the frozen frame through the transition. In all the above cases, the final combined video delivered to a viewer can have a limited range of variations depending on the limited number of effects built in the video editing systems.
It is often possible to subscribe to multiple cable TV and satellite TV channels. However, for the most part, only one channel at a time can be viewed. In some picture-in-picture based TV systems, one channel can be viewed in full screen while a portion of the TV screen is occupied by a display of a second channel in a smaller frame. However, both channels are viewed simultaneously in full, if the picture-in-picture is turned on. Due to the overlay portions of the display of the main channel is lost behind the smaller frame that displays the second channel.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention.

Method and apparatus for generating video for a viewing system from multiple video elements


An objective lens driver includes first and second permanent magnets disposed in opposed relationship with each other, first and second yokes for supporting the first and second permanent magnets, respectively, a movable member disposed in a first magnetic gap formed by the first and second permanent magnets, a coil for driving in the tracking direction provided on the movable member and wound on the first and second permanent magnets and the first and second yokes, an objective lens supporting member movably provided on the movable member, and a focusing coil provided on the supporting member and disposed in the first magnetic gap for moving the objective lens supporting member in the focusing direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an objective lens driver in an optical disk apparatus for driving an objective lens for an optical disk in a focusing direction and a tracking direction.
2. Related Background Art
Generally, an objective lens driver in an optical disk apparatus has two kinds of coils and a magnetic circuit for moving an objective lens in a focusing direction and a tracking direction, and one more kind of coil and a magnetic circuit, i.e, a linear motor, for causing the objective lens to seek any position in the radial direction of an optical disk, in order to effect the recording, reproduction and erasing of information on the optical disk. In recent years, there has been proposed an objective lens driver in which, for the purpose of shortening access time, an actuator for driving in the tracking direction and a linear motor are made common and further, a magnetic circuit for driving in the tracking direction is made common to that of the linear motor to thereby reduce the gross weight and simplify the driving portion.
FIGS. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings show an example of an objective lens driver according to the prior art in which a magnetic circuit is common to a driving portion in the focusing direction and a linear motor, FIG. 1 being a plan view, FIG. 2 being a cross-sectional view taken along line A--A of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 being a cross-sectional view taken along line B--B of FIG. 1. Two parallel rails 1 and 1 are horizontally disposed on a base, not shown, and outer yokes 2 and 2, having a permanent magnets 3 and 3 attached to the inner sides thereof, and inner yokes 4 and 4 spaced slightly apart from the permanent magnets are fixed parallel and symmetrically in succession from the outer side between the two rails 1 and 1. The outer yokes 2 and the inner yokes 4 are equal in length to each other, and are connected together at their opposite ends by relay yokes 5. The permanent magnets 3 are shorter in length than the spacing between the relay yokes 5 and 5 at the two ends of an outer yoke 2, and are spaced apart from both of the relay yokes 5 and 5 at the two ends of an outer yoke 2. A carriage 6 is positioned between the rails 1 and 1 and is supported on the rails 1 and 1 through bearings 7a and 7b, and are movable in a direction parallel to the rails 1 and 1, i.e., the tracking direction. Coils 8 and 8 are fixed to the carriage 6, and the yokes 2 and the permanent magnets 3 pass through these coils. Vertically parallel leaf springs 9 and 9 are forwardly mounted on the central portion of the carriage 6 and vertically movably support a lens holding member 10 forward of the carriage 6. The lens holding member 10 is annular and the inner yokes 4 and 4 pass therethrough, and the lens holding member 10 holds an objective lens 11 on the center of the upper surface thereof with the optical axis of the objective lens kept vertical, and coils 12 and 12 are provided from the upper portions of the sides thereof to the end of the upper surface thereof and from the lower portions of the sides thereof to the end of the lower surface thereof. A portion of the carriage 6 is extended to the center of the lens holding member 10 and holds a 45.degree. upwardly facing mirror 13 just beneath the objective lens 11.
With such a construction, when an electric current is supplied to the coils 8, an electromagnetic force acts between the magnetic field between the permanent magnet 3 and the inner yoke 4 and the coil 8 and therefore, the carriage 6 is driven in the tracking direction by the electric current flowing to the coils 8 and 8. Also, the coils 12 and 12 are subjected to a vertical force by the same magnetic field by the electric current being supplied thereto and therefore can drive the objective lens 11 in the focusing direction.
In the above-described example of the prior art, however, the inner yokes 4 and 4 are passed through the lens holding member 10 and therefore, the rigidity of the lens holding member 10 becomes low, and this results in a reduction in the dynamic characteristic of focus control, which in turn is liable to cause sub-resonance. (FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings shows the dynamic characteristic of focus control. Since the structural resonance of the lens holding member is as low as ten and several kHz, the focus controllable zone is narrow.) Also, the lens holding member 10 becomes bulky, and this leads to the disadvantage that the carriage 6 becomes bulky.


Briefly, a method an apparatus to control a power of a transmitter during received slot duration is provided. A power control module set the transmitter to transmit in a targeted power level base on a command received from the slot. The power control module may set an input signal to a first level and may gradually vary the level of the input signal to be substantially equal to its original level and to adjust a gain of the transmitter to transmit at the targeted power level.

In some wireless communication systems, for example, cellular communication systems, a power control module may be used to control the power of a transmitted signal. For example, in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) cellular system, a mobile station (MS) may be able to transmit radio frequency (RF) signals with a wide power range, for example, a 75 dB. Thus, a power control module at the MS may control the power of the transmitted signal over the power range of 75 dB with an accuracy of, for example, ±0.5 dB for a 1 dB power step.
In order to meet the requirements of WCDMA standards, calibration of the MS transmitter may be needed. The calibration of the MS transmitter may be performed at the MS manufacturer's production line and may consume large resources. Furthermore, many calibration steps, e.g., 75 steps in the example above, may be required to calibrate the MS transmitter, and the calibration parameters of the calibration steps may be stored at the MS memory.
Thus, there is a need for improved transmitter calibration, which mitigates the above-described disadvantages.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Method and apparatus to control power of transmitter


A cooking appliance and method, the appliance including: at least one temperature controlled heating element; a user interface for enabling a user to select a predefined subject for cooking; and a processor module that maintains a cooking data for cooking the selected predefined subject, and provides prompts to the user during cooking. The cooking data can be indicative of a cooking sequence or procedure. A cookware sensor can automatically identifying cookware being used.

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.
Existing stove top cooking does not provide enough feedback to the user regarding the temperature of the food being cooked. User control over conventional food warming appliances also requires manual intervention in a number of different steps during the cooking process. In conventional heating appliances, accurate temperatures are sometimes difficult to set and there is little or no user feedback as to how the cooking process is progressing. Accordingly, conventional cooking methods are associated with inadequate results and uncertainty as to the expected outcome of a heating operation.


Disclosed is a food preparation apparatus (100) comprising a food preparation chamber and a pressure chamber (120) for generating steam coupled to the food preparation chamber through a conduit (130), wherein the pressure chamber comprises a heating element (121) for converting water into steam; and the conduit comprises an auto-relief valve (140) arranged to release the steam at a set pressure above atmospheric pressure from the pressure chamber into the food preparation chamber, thereby creating superheated steam in the food preparation chamber by the rapid expansion of the released volume of the above atmospheric pressure (saturated) steam. A method (200) of preparing food in such a food preparation apparatus (100) is also disclosed.

In modern society, there is an ever increasing focus on healthy living. This is for example demonstrated by the fact that more and more people are becoming increasingly conscious of the food they eat and how this food is prepared. For this reason, preparation of food by steaming is becoming increasingly popular, because of higher nutrient retention rates compared to for instance boiling as well as a lower risk of overcooking or burning the food compared to for instance frying due to the indirect contact between the heat source and the food, thereby also reducing the associated risk of generation of harmful by-products, e.g. pyrolization products during frying. Steaming has the further advantage that fatty food preparation products such as cooking oils can be avoided, thereby reducing the overall fat content in the food. This has the further advantage that the generation of harmful cooking fumes during the heating of such fatty food preparation products can be avoided. As demonstrated by Y. C. Li et al. in Atmospheric Research 166 (2015), pages 83-91, such cooking fumes can contain harmful concentrations of particulate matter, e.g. PM 2.5 particles. Moreover, a uniform temperature distribution through the food is more easily achieved by steaming compared to other cooking techniques.
However, a challenge when preparing food by steaming is to achieve the desired texture in the food. This is because the steam has a relatively low temperature compared to e.g. cooking oils when heated, such that of the chemical reactions in the food preparation process that give the food its desired texture, e.g. crust-forming reactions, may not occur because the steam temperature is too low to initiate such reactions. For example, when steaming food, it is difficult to achieve a crunchy crust on the food and water that condenses onto the food when the food is exposed to steam may cause any formed crust to go soggy or disappear.
To overcome these problems, food may be prepared using superheated steam. This is steam that can be cooled by a certain amount without causing condensation, such that contact of such superheated steam with the food significantly reduces the amount of condensation of water on the food due to the dry nature of such steam, which aids the formation of crusts on food, for instance. For example, JPH 09273755 discloses a cooking device using a high pressure steam generator in which superheated steam is generated by filling a porous body with water and heating the porous body through microwave radiation. Steam generated within the centre of the porous body is flow-restricted by steam or water near the surface of the porous body, causing its superheating by the continuation of application of microwaves. However, in such a device it is difficult to control the temperature of the superheated steam.


A method of manufacturing trenched electrochemical double layer capacitors is provided. One aspect of the method employs state-of-the art processes used in semi-conductor wafer manufacturing such as photolithography etching for creating trenches in the electrodes of the double layer capacitor. Another aspect of the method employs a die-saw process, which is scalable and low-cost. The trenched super/ultra capacitors made by the disclosed methods have the combined advantage of higher energy storage capacity than conventional planar super/ultra capacitors due to the increased surface area and higher power density than commonly used Li-ion batteries due to the faster charging time and higher instantaneous energy burst power. The manufacturing processes also have the advantage of better manufacturability, scalability and reduced manufacturing cost.

Electrochemical double layer capacitor or super/ultra-capacitors have been known for many years but have been used sparsely in power applications. A standard electrochemical double layer capacitor or super/ultra-capacitor traditionally consists of two high surface area electrodes that are polarized with the use of an electrolytic acid. The capacitance (C) of plate capacitors can be calculated with equation C=(ε*A)/d, where ε is the permittivity of the capacitor material, A is the surface area of the electrode plate, and d is the distance between plates. The charges in a super/ultra-capacitor are held between two ionic charges (distance d) called the Helmholtz layer. Due to the very short distance d, typically less than 0.4 μm, a very high capacitance compared to conventional capacitors can be achieved using the Helmholtz layer.
The characteristics of super/ultra-capacitors include very fast charge time and high instantaneous power bursts. Since a super/ultra-capacitor does not rely on an electrochemical reaction, it also does not suffer from a "memory effect" that is often seen in batteries. Therefore, super/ultra-capacitors can bridge the gap between conventional capacitor (high power/low energy) and electrochemical devices such as rechargeable batteries (low power/high energy). In addition, super/ultra-capacitors are often seen as a "green" alternative compared to traditional batteries. The lifetime of super/ultra-capacitors can run maintenance free for 10-15 years; thus replacing traditional batteries with super/ultra-capacitors can reduce hazardous chemical wastes.
However, mass adoption has been slow for electrochemical double layer capacitors or super/ultra-capacitors due to their low energy storage capacity compared to rechargeable batteries and relatively high cost for manufacturing. Applications of super/ultra-capacitors are limited mostly to industrial applications, such as regenerative braking for large trains or engine start for large commercial diesel trucks. There remains a need for electrochemical double layer capacitors or super/ultra-capacitors with higher energy storage capacity and low cost manufacturing processes in order to meet the increasing demand for fast charging and high capacity energy storage devices in today's emerging electronic applications like mobile phones and electric vehicles.

Trenched super/ultra capacitors and methods of making thereof


A light emitting display device for controlling brightness according to peripheral light brightness and emission amount of a display region. The light emitting display device includes a display region including a pixel adapted to emit light in response to data, scan, and emission control signals, a controller for controlling brightness of the display region, a scan driver for supplying the scan signal and controlling a signal width of the emission control signal according to a signal from the controller, a data driver for transmitting the data signal corresponding to video data, the data signal being corrected using a gamma correcting signal from the controller, and a power source supply unit for supplying power to the display region. The controller outputs the gamma correcting signal corresponding to peripheral light and controls an amount of current supplied to the display region according to a sum of the video data in one frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting display device and a method of driving the same, and more particularly to, a light emitting display device capable of controlling brightness in accordance with brightness of peripheral light and the total amount of emission of a display region and a method of driving the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, various small and light flat panel displays (FPD) having reduced weight and volume that overcome the disadvantages of cathode ray tubes (CRT) have been developed. In particular, light emitting display devices having high emission efficiency, brightness, viewing angles, and response speed are in the spotlight.
Light emitting display devices can be classified as an organic light emitting display device using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and an inorganic light emitting display device using inorganic light emitting diodes. An OLED includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an organic emission layer positioned between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode to emit light by combination of electrons and holes. The inorganic light emitting diode referred to as a light emitting diode (LED) includes an inorganic emission layer, for example, an emission layer formed of a PN junction of semiconductor material unlike the OLED.
FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a conventional light emitting display device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional light emitting display device includes a display region 10, a power source supply unit 30, a scan driver 40, and a data driver 50.
The display region 10 includes n×m pixels 5 each including an electroluminescent (EL) device (or light emitting device, not shown), n scan lines S1, S2, . . . , and Sn and n emission control lines E1, E2, . . . , and En formed in a row direction to respectively transmit scan signals and emission control signals, and m data lines D1, D2, . . . , and Dm formed in a column direction to transmit data signals. The display region 10 emits light from the EL devices (not shown) using the scan signals, the emission control signals, and the data signals to display images.
The power source supply unit 30 provides a first power source ELVdd and a second power source ELVss having a potential lower than the potential of the first power source ELVdd, to the display region 10 so that currents corresponding to the data signals flow to pixels 5, respectively, in accordance with a difference in voltage between the first power source ELVdd and the second power source ELVss.
The scan driver 40 outputs scan signals to apply the scan signals to the scan lines S1, S2, . . . , and Sn and outputs emission control signals to apply the emission control signals to the emission control lines E1, E2, . . . , and En.
The data driver 50 is connected to the data lines D1, D2, . . . , and Dm to apply the data signals to the display region 10.
According to the conventional light emitting display device having the above structure, the pixels 5 emit light at uniform brightness regardless of peripheral brightness, which is the brightness of peripheral light (i.e., light of a region around the display). Therefore, when the same gray scales are displayed, the clarity of the image displayed when the peripheral brightness is high is less than the clarity of the image displayed when the peripheral brightness is low. Also, when many pixels 5 emit light with high brightness in the light emitting display device, the amount of current supplied to the display region 10 increases so that heavy load is applied to the power source supply unit 30, thereby requiring the power source supply unit 30 to provide high output.

Light emitting display device and method of driving the same


A content distribution system includes a terminal device, and a content distribution server connectable to the terminal device. The content distribution server includes a capability information obtaining unit to obtain capability information of the terminal device that requests a target content; an element extraction unit to obtain the requested target content and to extract a sub-content element composing the target content; a comparison unit to identify a sub-content element that can be used at the terminal device based on the capability information, and to compare the identified sub-content element based on the capability information and the extracted sub-content element to determine which sub-content element can be used at the terminal device; an output determination unit to determine whether separation of the target content is required to distribute the sub-content element to the terminal device; and a separating unit to separate the target content into sub-content element if separation is required.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a content distribution technology, and more particularly to a content distribution system, a content distribution server, a content distribution method, a software program, and a storage medium storing the software program to convert content to a format suitable for a client terminal.
2. Description of the Background Art
With the spread of the Internet and multimedia technology, information can now be transmitted various ways, including simple text data exchange using e-mail, uploading of multi-media content composed of audio/sound, moving images, and still image via a network, and downloading of multi-media content via the network for viewing and listening.
However, different users downloading content typically have different client terminals. In view of this difference in client terminal environments, when content is to be used at each client terminal via a network, the format of the content may need to be converted for each client terminal. For example, a format conversion server on a network converts the format of the content to one that is suitable for the client terminal in view of the format of the client terminal.
JP-2002-342218-A discloses a system using a format conversion server disposed on a network, in which the format conversion server converts the format of content suitable for a client terminal in view of the format of the client terminal such as displayable resolution level, types of colors, and frequency range playable by a speaker. The format conversion server provides the format-converted content to the client terminal via the network. The system includes a client terminal, a server to accumulate content (content accumulation server), and a server to convert content into a format usable at each client terminal (format conversion server) connected via a network. The format conversion server refers to a profile specifying the replay capability and display capability for content at each client terminal, wherein the profile is prepared at the concerned client terminal, to determine a format suitable for the concerned client terminal. After converting the format of the content received from the content accumulation server, the format conversion server transmits the format-converted content to a content providing unit, from which the format-converted content is transmitted to the concerned client terminal.
Further, JP-2010-061212-A discloses a data distribution technology using an input apparatus and a plurality of data distribution apparatuses. The input apparatus instructs a first data distribution apparatus to start data distribution (distribution start step). The first data distribution apparatus selects a data distribution apparatus that actually conducts the data distribution based on processing capacity of the first data distribution apparatus and processing load of all data distribution apparatuses (distribution apparatus selection step). For example, a second data distribution apparatus can be selected as the data distribution apparatus that actually conducts the data distribution based on the selection result. The second data distribution apparatus receives document data obtained by the input apparatus, converts the format of document data, if required, and distributes the document data (data distribution step).
However, the approaches described in JP-2002-342218-A and JP-2010-061212-A may not be effective for converting the content format into a format suitable for each client terminal and then providing the format-converted content.
For example, the conventional data distribution system described above may not be effective in the following environment. When movie content stored in a server is being projected on a screen provided with a speaker in a large conference room, audio/sound is output from the speaker. In such large conference room, a participant may be sitting at a position where he or she cannot clearly hear the audio/sound of content from his or her seat position. In such a situation, the concerned participant may connect his or her personal terminal device to the data distribution system so that the audio/sound can be received and output at his or her personal terminal device.
In this case, the user needs only audio/sound of the movie content at his or her terminal. But the conventional data distribution system may not be adapted to output only audio/sound to the concerned client terminal. Further, other than such audio/sound receiving terminal, other users may want to connect a terminal having a viewing/listening capability, or a bone-conduction earphone for hearing-impaired participants, to the data distribution system.
Further, the conventional art may not be adapted for collaborative output of content stored on a server. In such collaborative output of content, multi-media content such as movie content composed of a plurality of different types of content can be replayed as follows: one client terminal is used for outputting moving images and other client terminal is used for outputting audio/sound (i.e., separation of functions). Such collaborative output of content can devise a suitable outputting mode for a system by using a plurality of client terminals to output each type of content included one multi-media content.
Further, conventional systems may not be adapted for adding a client terminal as an output destination after replay of content has been started. For example, when the content has been replayed for some time, a user wants to connect his or her personal terminal to a system to receive and output audio/sound of the content at his or her personal terminal, but the conventional system may not be adapted for such dynamic adding of output destination.
As such, in the conventional art, only the format conversion of the entire content can be conducted for a client terminal.

Content distribution system, content distribution server, content distribution method, software program, and storage medium


A hinge assembly includes a first frame member having two spaced-apart portions with a first pair of opposing cam slots defining a first cam path. A second frame member has two spaced-apart portions with a second pair of opposing cam slots defining a second cam path and a second cam pin in the second pair of opposing cam slots. A first cam pin is in the first pair of opposing cam slots and moves along the pin cam path. A second cam pin is in the second pair of opposing cam slots and moves along the second cam path. The frame members are configured to move between a closed position and an open position as the first and second cam pins move in the respective first and second cam paths when the first and second frame members are rotated between the closed position and the open position.

Conventional hinges for mobile terminals, such as mobile communications devices, generally include a pin that connects two housing portions and are commonly referred to as "flip" phones. The housing portions rotate about the hinge pin to "flip" from a closed position to an open position. The hinge pin typically protrudes above the profile of the phone housing when the housing portions are in the open position. These "flip" phones may be compact when in the closed position for ease of storage, and also provide additional surface area for key pads, displays, etc. when the phone is in use in the open position.
Other phone configurations include "slider" mobile telephones in which two housing portions of the phone are slidably connected to one another. When not in use, the two housing portions can overlap one another to maintain the compactness of the phone. The housing portions can slide apart so that one housing portion extends away from the other to provide additional surface area when the phone is in use.


An embodiment provides a technology relating to data transmission or reception in a display panel. In the embodiment, a plurality of integrated circuits sharing a data line may transmit an indication signal through signal lines connected 1:1 to the circuits, and transmit data through the data line in response to the indication signal.

A display panel comprises a data processing device for receiving image data from a host and primarily processing it. The data processing device, also referred to as a timing controller, converts the image data in accordance with a characteristic of a panel and transmits the converted image data to a data driving device.
The data driving device, also referred to as a source driver, column driver, or the like, converts the received image data into a data voltage and drives a pixel disposed on the panel using the data voltage.
Among various types of display panels, a panel using organic light emitting diodes (OLED) comprises steps of sensing a change of a characteristic of a pixel and complementing image data in accordance with the changed characteristic of the pixel. Here, a sensing device transmits sensing data about the pixel characteristic to the data processing device.
A sensing device is often disposed in the same package as that of a data driving device. In such a product, it may be considered that the data driving device practically transmits sensing data to a data processing device.
As described above, in a display panel, various types of data, such as image data, sensing data, or the like, are transmitted and received between multiple devices.
A sensing device or a data driving device for transmitting sensing data may comprise a plurality of integrated circuits, instead of one integrated circuit. Recently, there is a tendency that, as a display panel has a higher resolution and a larger area, the number of pixels disposed on a display panel increases. In accordance with such a tendency, the number of integrated circuits forming a sensing device or a data driving device also increases.
A panel is divided into a plurality of sections, each pixel in each section of the panel is sensed by an integrated circuit in charge of each section, and sensing data generated by a plurality of integrated circuits is gathered in a data processing device and processed as sensing data for the entire panel. Here, in a case when two or more integrated circuits share a data line, a method of allowing a plurality of integrated circuits to transmit sensing data without collision would be an issue.
Conventionally, a cascade carry method in which a plurality of integrated circuits are connected with a data processing device through carry lines, an integrated circuit transmits sensing data and subsequently transmits a carry signal to another integrated circuit, and then, the integrated circuit, that receives the carry signal, transmits sensing data and subsequently transmits a carry signal to another integrated circuit is used. In this method, there is a problem that, in a case when sensing data needs to be received again from a certain integrated circuit, the entire integrated circuits must transmit again sensing data.

Integrated circuit for operating display panel


A mouthpiece for a regulator is of a structure in which it is possible to freely utter words, and to talk even when a driver wears the regulator. The mouthpiece 10 is mounted under a communicating condition on a demand regulator unit 2 which is connected to a cylinder through a hose 4. The mouthpiece 10 comprises a tube 12 abutted against an outer side of a mouth portion of a diver, and a pair of teeth grips 13 extending from the tube into a cavum oris of the diver, so as to be bitten and held by molar teeth of the diver. When the mouthpiece 10 is worn, the mouth portion of the diver is made free. Accordingly, talking and conversation are made possible while being worn.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a regulator used to execute breathing at diving and, more particularly, to a mouthpiece which is worn to a regulator, capable of uttering words.
2. Related Art And Prior Art Statement
FIG. 6 of the attached drawings shows a regulator which has conventionally been used. The regulator 50 is provided with a demand regulator unit 51 to which a hose 52 is connected, and a mouthpiece 53 and an exhaust tube 54 arranged on the wearing side of the demand regulator unit 51. The demand regulator unit 51 is connected to a bomb or cylinder (not shown) through the hose 52, to execute pressure-reduction regulation of high pressure air supplied from the cylinder. The mouthpiece 53 supplies the air from the demand regulator unit 51, into a cavum oris of a diver. The mouthpiece 53 is provided with a skirt 55 inserted into a mouth portion of the cavum oris of the diver, and a pair of teeth grips 56 provided on both sides of the skirt 55 in a longitudinal direction. The mouthpiece 53 is made of a soft material such as plastics, rubber or the like, as a whole.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show a using condition of the regulator 50. A diver A takes the skirt 55 of the mouthpiece 53 in the mouth portion (a portion between teeth and lips) of the cavum oris, whereby the skirt 55 is elastically bent within the cavum oris B. Further, the teeth grips 56 are bitten and held by foreteeth of the diver A, whereby the demand regulator unit 51 is worn to the mouth portion of the diver A. At this wearing, the exhaust tube 54 functions to lead air exhausted from the cavum oris of the diver A, to the outside.
In this manner, the conventional regulator is worn such that the entire mouthpiece 53 is inserted into the mouth portion of the cavum oris of the diver A, and the teeth grips 56 are bitten and held by the foreteeth. Accordingly, opening and closing operation of a mouth is restricted at wearing. For this reason, when the mouthpiece 53 is worn, it is inconvenient, words cannot be uttered and talking is impossible. Thus, the pleasure of underwater swimming of the diver is reduced in half.


A vehicle charging system includes a base plate having an inclined surface defining at least a portion of a recess, and an arm arrangement having a base end portion movably attached to the base plate, a vehicle end portion, a spring-loaded element attached to the base end portion and in contact with the base plate, and a primary charge pad attached to the vehicle end portion. The arm arrangement has a retracted position in which at least a portion of the primary charge pad is disposed within the recess and an extended position in which the primary charge pad is spaced away from the base plate. The spring-loaded element is arranged to move along the inclined surface as the arm arrangement moves between the retracted and extended positions.

Electric vehicles are charged with charging mechanisms. Certain charging mechanisms can include a docking station which is aligned with and connected to a corresponding vehicle port to facilitate charging. Other charging mechanism can include a charge coil that is aligned with a corresponding charge coil on a vehicle. These charge coils need not be in direct contact to facilitate charging.


A control system 20 for an automotive vehicle 22, such as an adaptive cruise control system, is provided including a navigation system 34. The navigation system 34 includes a global positioning system 38. The navigation system 34 detects a ramp and generates a navigation signal including navigation data and map data. A controller 24 is electrically coupled to the navigation system 34. The controller 24 in response to the navigation signal adjusts the speed of the vehicle 22.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to vehicle adaptive cruise control systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for adjusting vehicle speed and inhibiting vehicle resume speed when a ramp is detected.
2. Background of the Invention
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) has reached a level of technical and business readiness that it is beginning to appear in the consumer market as a comfort and convenience system. Consumer technical enthusiasm for ACC has increased because of their interest in intelligent vehicles and systems such as collision warning. ACC performs as an enhancement to traditional cruise control by automatically adjusting the set speed to allow a vehicle to adapt to moving traffic.
Under normal driving conditions the ACC system is engaged with a set speed equal to a maximum autonomous speed which is desired by the operator, referred to as a set speed, and the ACC system operates in a conventional cruise control mode. The ACC system continuously adjusts the speed of the vehicle to maintain the set speed. The ACC system uses radar to detect target vehicles in a future path of the vehicle. When the vehicle approaches traffic, thereby becoming a follow vehicle, the ACC system automatically adjusts the set speed to follow the traffic at a desired headway distance. The desired headway distance is a predetermined distance that the follow vehicle remains behind a detected target vehicle. When the traffic clears or the follow vehicle changes lanes the ACC system slowly resumes the speed of the vehicle back to the set speed. When the follow vehicle approaches slow traffic the ACC system is automatically disengaged and the operator manually follows slower vehicles in the slow traffic. When the slow traffic is no longer in front of the vehicle the operator pushes the resume button and the ACC system accelerates the vehicle back to the set speed.
Current ACC systems are unable to detect the difference between a road and an exit ramp. Therefore, the follow vehicle may accelerate to the set speed when entering an exit ramp and no longer detecting a target vehicle.
It would therefore be desirable to develop an ACC system that adjusts the vehicle resume behavior in response to the presence of a ramp.

Ramp identification in adaptive cruise control