The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes a pair of substrates, a liquid crystal layer placed between the pair of substrates and an alignment film placed on the side of at least one of the pair of substrates facing the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal layer has a first region in which the pretilt direction of liquid crystal molecules of which the alignment is regulated with alignment regulating force of a surface of the alignment film is a first direction and a second region in which the pretilt direction is a second direction different from the first direction. Display is performed using bend alignment of the first region of the liquid crystal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device suitably used for portable information equipment, notebook PCs, desktop monitors, television sets and the like, which require moving image display characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices using a nematic liquid crystal material have been widely used as digit segment displays for watches, calculators and the like. In recent years, making full use of advantages of saving the space and consuming low power, liquid crystal display devices have come into wide use as displays for notebook PCs and desktop monitors. In particular, in the market of desktop monitors, it is no exaggeration to state that conventional CRT monitors have been increasingly replaced with LCD monitors. This trend has also spread to the market of TV monitors in which CRTs have long been a monopoly. Many manufacturers now actively make research and development with the aim of replacing CRT-TVs with LCD-TVs.
The hardest challenges to the spread of LCD-TVs are said to be the high-speed response characteristic capable of responding to moving images and the wide viewing angle characteristic independent of the angle at which an image is viewed. These are essential problems related to the electrooptic characteristics of liquid crystal materials, and various proposals have been made so far to tackle these challenges. As of today, however, no decisive solutions have yet been found. Under these circumstances, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) mode has recently attracted attention as a mode capable of providing both the high-speed response characteristic and the wide viewing angle characteristic.
The OCB mode however has a very troublesome problem that initial transition from splay alignment to bend alignment is necessary before the device is driven. The splay-bend alignment transition has been analyzed in detail in the past, but the mechanism thereof has not yet been clarified.
The splay alignment and the bend (twist) alignment are topologically different in phase from each other. Therefore, change from splay alignment to bend alignment is possible only by shift of a disclination line separating these regions that are discontinuous from each other. In other words, a certain energy barrier exists to develop a bend-aligned region in a splay-aligned region. This energy barrier is considered comparatively low in places near spacers in the cell, flaws on alignment films probably produced during rubbing, places in which the alignment of liquid crystal molecules is disturbed for any reason, and the like. A bend-aligned region is said to develop and grow in the neighborhood of such a low energy-barrier place acting as a trigger (nucleus) when a voltage equal to or higher than a critical voltage (Vcr) at which the Gibbs free energy of the splay alignment is equal to that of the bend alignment is applied.
However, the transition to bend alignment (bend transition) brought by spacers, flaws, alignment disturbance and the like as described above largely depends on the probability, and therefore lacks in reliability and is poor in reproducibility. To ensure high-speed, reliable bend transition in all pixels of the entire panel, it is a requisite to form in advance at least one portion acting as the nucleus for the bend transition in each pixel.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-7018 discloses a method in which high tilt-angle regions are partly provided in pixels to form regions bend-aligned in the initial stage or form regions that easily make the bend transition, and such regions are used as bend transition nuclei.
However, as discussed in the above publication No. 11-7018, to form high-tilt regions partly in pixels, it is necessary to form vertical alignment films partly after formation of horizontal alignment films, or perform phase separation using a special mixed alignment film material to form regions high in tilt angle and regions low in tilt angle. This considerably limits the kind of usable alignment film material. Also, if the method limits the usable liquid crystal material and alignment film material for formation of bend transition nuclei, it is not recommendable to adopt such a method from the standpoint of the fabrication process.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-96790, for example, discloses a method in which π-twist alignment is given as the initial alignment state by using a chiral agent-added liquid crystal material. In this technique, the π-twist alignment as the initial alignment continuously changes to pseudo-bend alignment only with application of a voltage, and thus the problem relating to the splay-bend transition can be avoided. The π-twist alignment may be virtually considered as uniaxial bend alignment as long as the voltage is high in the range of the drive voltage for a liquid crystal display device. The effect of flow effectively works in the relaxation time from a high voltage to a low voltage, as in pure bend alignment, and thus, the high-speed response characteristic of several msecs that is as fast as that obtained in the OCB mode can be obtained.
However, in the method described above, a large amount of a chiral agent must be added to attain the π-twist alignment as the initial alignment. It is necessary to add a chiral agent so that the ratio d/p is about 0.50 considering margins where d is the thickness of the liquid crystal cell and p is the natural chiral pitch of a chiral agent-added liquid crystal material. The addition of this amount of a chiral agent significantly degrades low-voltage optical characteristics, in particular, the transmittance characteristic at an azimuth angle of 45° under crossed-Nicols. This naturally degrades not only the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal panel observed from the front, but also the optical characteristics observed in slant directions, that is, the viewing angle characteristic.

Liquid crystal display device comprising a TN alignment region continuously connectable with a bend alignment region, each region having a different pretilt direction and the method of fabricating the same


Provided are a method, system, and program for translating virtual addresses of memory locations within pages of different sizes. In one embodiment, a translation entry containing a physical address is stored in a data structure table for each page. Each virtual address includes a page virtual address which identifies the translation entry containing the physical address of the page containing the memory location. The virtual address may be translated to a translation entry index using the size of the page containing the memory location.

In a network environment, a network adapter or controller on a host computer, such as an Ethernet controller, Fibre Channel controller, etc., will receive Input/Output (I/O) requests or responses to I/O requests initiated from the host computer. Often, the host computer operating system includes a device driver to communicate with the network controller hardware to manage I/O requests to transmit over a network. The host computer may also utilize a protocol which packages data to be transmitted over the network into packets, each of which contains a destination address as well as a portion of the data to be transmitted. Data packets received at the network controller are often stored in a packet buffer. A transport protocol layer can process the packets received by the network controller that are stored in the packet buffer, and access any I/O commands or data embedded in the packet.
For instance, the computer may employ the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) to encode and address data for transmission, and to decode and access the payload data in the TCP/IP packets received at the network controller. IP specifies the format of packets, also called datagrams, and the addressing scheme. TCP is a higher level protocol which establishes a connection between a destination and a source and provides a byte-stream, reliable, full-duplex transport service. Another protocol, Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) on top of TCP provides, among other operations, direct placement of data at a specified memory location at the destination.
A device driver, program or operating system can utilize significant host processor resources to handle network transmission requests to the network controller. One technique to reduce the load on the host processor is the use of a TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) in which TCP/IP protocol related operations are carried out in the network controller hardware as opposed to the device driver or other host software, thereby saving the host processor from having to perform some or all of the TCP/IP protocol related operations. Similarly, an RDMA-enabled Network Interface Controller (RNIC) offloads RDMA and transport related operations from the host processor(s).
The operating system of a computer typically utilizes a virtual memory space which is often much larger than the memory space of the physical memory of the computer. FIG. 1 shows an example of a typical system translation and protection table (TPT) 60 which the operating system utilizes to map virtual memory addresses to real physical memory addresses with protection at the process level.
In some known designs, an I/O device such as a network controller or a storage controller may access large amounts of memory to maintain connection and message context information. For example, some network controllers use host or system memory to maintain context or payload information instead of using local memory.
The address of the application buffer which is the destination of the Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) operation is frequently carried in the RDMA packets in some form of a buffer identifier and a virtual address or offset. The buffer identifier identifies which buffer the data is to be written to or read from. The virtual address or offset carried by the packets identifies the location within the identified buffer for the specified direct memory operation.
In order to perform direct data placement, an I/O device typically maintains its own translation and protection table, an example of which is shown at 70 in FIG. 2. The device TPT 70 contains data structures 72a, 72b, 72c . . . 72n, each of which is used to control access to a particular buffer as identified by an associated buffer identifier of the buffer identifiers 74a, 74b, 74c . . . 74n. The device TPT 70 further contains data structures 76a, 76b, 76c . . . 76n, each of which is a Translation Entry (TE) used to translate the buffer identifier and virtual address or offset into physical memory addresses of the particular buffer identified by the associated buffer identifier 74a, 74b, 74c . . . 74n. Thus, for example, the TE 76a of the TPT 70 is used by the I/O device to perform address translation for the buffer identified by the identifier 74a. Similarly, the data structure 72a is used by the I/O device to perform protection checks for the buffer identified by the buffer identifier 74a. The TE's 76a, 76b . . . 76n of the TPT 70 may be collectively referred to as an Address Translation Table (ATT) which typically is a portion of the TPT 70. The address translation and protection checks may be performed prior to direct data placement of the payload contained in a packet received from the network or prior to sending the data out on the network.
A buffer identifier and associated virtual address or offset may be used to generate an index to the TE's of the I/O device TPT 70. Each TE typically contains the physical address of a single page.
In order to facilitate high-speed data transfer, a device TPT such as the TPT 70 is typically managed by the I/O device, the driver software for the device or both. A device TPT can occupy a relatively large amount of memory. For example, each TE can occupy 64 bits. As a consequence, a TPT is frequently resident in the system or host memory. The I/O device may maintain a cache of a portion of the device TPT to reduce access delays.

Method, system, and program for addressing pages of memory by an I/O device


Signal “peak” and “valley” removal properties of mathematical morphology operators are exploited in a method and apparatus for detecting, removing, or improving fidelity of pacemaker signal components of the Electrocardiogram (ECG) at sampling rates well below the pacemaker signal Nyquist rate. The method works for the wide variability in pacemaker signal amplitude, width, firing frequency, and other characteristics encountered in practice, and it works for malfunctioning pacemakers that may fire at any point relative to the QRS complex of the ECG signal. Filtering operations require minimal digital storage and are computationally inexpensive (no multiplications), mainly involving “maximum” and “minimum” type signal detections over a finite time history of the input signal. This implies that the method can be inexpensively implemented on small instruments in either hardware or software. The method may also be used to estimate the height and polarity of the pacemaker voltage spike, even though the base sampling period may be longer than the width of the spike.

Because the ECG signal bandwidth typically observed for clinical diagnosis is less than 75 Hz, sampling rates that range between 150 and 500 Hz are sufficient to support clinical interpretation or automated machine analysis. If a pacemaker (pacer) signal is added to the ECG signal, this sampling rate is no longer adequate for the pacer signal component because a significant portion of its energy is at frequencies greater than 250 Hz. Increasing the sampling rate in order to accommodate the pacer signal component would add significant cost and expense to all devices and systems processing and storing the increased flow rate and quantity of data.
Because the pacer signal component can be a relatively tall (up to 700 mV) and narrow (˜0.1-2 ms) impulse that either triggers infrequently on demand or fires approximately 60 times per minute, it also contributes significant low-frequency energy overlapping the bandwidth of the core ECG signal. This fundamentally limits the effectiveness of linear filtering techniques, even at higher sampling rates. Moreover, if the pacer is malfunctioning, it can fire asynchronous to the QRS complex, or fire synchronous to the QRS complex, but out of proper phase so that the pacer spike sits on top of the R wave, for example. Other practical challenges are that the signal can: (a) range in amplitude from a fraction of the QRS amplitude to 100 times larger, (b) have significant undershoot or overshoot (e.g., biphasic), and (c) have a relatively long (e.g., >40 ms) settling time.
Nevertheless, it is desirable to process (that is, either detect, remove, and/or estimate) an ECG signal with a pacer component without increasing the sampling rate, while minimizing pacer signal related distortion. For waveform analysis, it is desirable to remove the pacer signal component without significant distortion regardless of the amplitude, phase, and synchronicity of the pacer signal relative to the QRS complex. Otherwise, pacer signals could be misinterpreted for example, as abnormal premature ventricular contractions. Poorly removing the signal, on the other hand, could increase the probability of additional analysis error.

Nonlinear method and apparatus for electrocardiogram pacemaker signal filtering


A method to “accelerate” the delivery of a portion of a data stream across nodes of a stream transport network. According to the invention, a portion of a live stream is forwarded from a first node to a second node in a transport network at a high bitrate as compared to the stream's encoded bitrate, and thereafter, the stream continues to be forwarded from the first node to the second node at or near the encoded bitrate. The disclosed technique of forwarding a portion of a stream at a high bitrate as compared to the encoded bitrate of the stream is sometimes referred to as “prebursting” the stream. This technique provides significant advantages in that it reduces stream startup time, reduces unrecoverable stream packet loss, and reduces stream rebuffers as the stream is viewed by a requesting end user that has been mapped to a media server in a distributed computer network such as a content delivery network.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to high-performance, fault-tolerant streaming media delivery in a content delivery network (CDN).
2. Description of the Related Art
Streaming media is a type of Internet content that has the important characteristic of being able to be played while still in the process of being downloaded. A client can play the first packet of the stream, and decompress the second, while receiving the third. Thus, an end user can start enjoying the multimedia without waiting to the end of transmission. Streaming is very useful for delivering media because media files tend to be large, particularly as the duration of the programming increases. Indeed, for live events, the file size is, in effect, infinite. To view a media file that is not streamed, users must first download the file to a local hard disk—which may take minutes or even hours—and then open the file with player software that is compatible with the file format. To view streaming media, the user's browser opens player software, which buffers the file for a few seconds and then plays the file while simultaneously downloading it. Unlike software downloads, streaming media files are not stored locally on a user's hard disk. Once the bits representing content are used, the player typically discards them.
Streaming media quality varies widely according to the type of media being delivered, the speed of the user's Internet connection, network conditions, the bit rate at which the content is encoded, and the format used. In general, streaming audio can be FM quality, but, given typical bandwidth constraints, streaming video is poor by TV standards, with smaller screens, lower resolution, and fewer frames per second. The source for streaming media can be just about any form of media, including VHS or Beta format tapes, audio cassettes, DAT, MPEG video, MP3 audio, AVI, and the like. Prior to streaming, the content must first be encoded, a process which accomplishes four things: conversion of the content from analog to digital form, if necessary; creation of a file in the format recognized by the streaming media server and player; compression of the file to maximize the richness of the content that can be delivered in real-time given limited bandwidth; and, establishing the bit rate at which the media is to be delivered. Content owners typically choose to encode media at multiple rates so that users with fast connections get as good an experience as possible but users with slow connections can also access the content.
Non-streaming content is standards-based in the sense that the server and client software developed by different vendors, such as Apache server, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and the like, generally work well together. Streaming media, however, usually relies on proprietary server and client software. The server, client, production and encoding tools developed by a streaming software vendor are collectively referred to as a format. Streaming media encoded in a particular format must be served by that format's media server and replayed by that format's client. Streaming media clients are often called players, and typically they exist as plug-ins to Web browsers. Streaming media clients are also often capable of playing standards-based non-streaming media files, such as WAV or AVI. The three major streaming media formats in use today are: RealNetworks RealSystem G2, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies ("WMT"), and Apple QuickTime. RealSystem G2 handles all media types including audio, video, animation, and still images and text. RealSystem G2 and QuickTime support SMIL, an XML-based language that allows the content provider to time and position media within the player window. To deliver the media in real time Real and QuickTime use RTSP.
It is well-known to deliver streaming media using a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN is a network of geographically distributed content delivery nodes that are arranged for efficient delivery of digital content (e.g., Web content, streaming media and applications) on behalf of third party content providers. Typically, a CDN is implemented as a combination of a content delivery infrastructure, a DNS-based request-routing mechanism, and a distribution infrastructure. The content delivery infrastructure usually comprises a set of "surrogate" origin servers that are located at strategic locations (e.g., Internet network access points, Internet Points of Presence, and the like) for delivering copies of content to requesting end users. The request-routing mechanism allocates servers in the content delivery infrastructure to requesting clients in a way that, for web content delivery, minimizes a given client's response time and, for streaming media delivery, provides for the highest quality. The distribution infrastructure consists of on-demand or push-based mechanisms that move content from the origin server to the surrogates. In live streaming, the origin server may include an encoder. An effective CDN serves frequently-accessed content from a surrogate that is optimal for a given requesting client. In a typical CDN, a single service provider operates the request-routers, the surrogates, and the content servers. In addition, that service provider establishes business relationships with content publishers and acts on behalf of their origin server sites to provide a distributed delivery system. A well-known commercial CDN service that provides web content and media streaming is provided by Akamai Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,726, which is incorporated herein by reference, live streaming can be further enhanced by having the CDN send multiple copies of the same stream over different routes from a CDN entry point to the optimal streaming server at the edge of the Internet. These copies are then combined to form one complete, original-quality stream, which is sent from the streaming server to the end users. FIG. 1 illustrates this process in more detail. A broadcast stream 100 is sent to a CDN entry point 102. An entry point, for example, typically comprises two servers (for redundancy), and each server can handle many streams from multiple content providers. Once the entry point receives the stream, it rebroadcasts copies of the stream to so-called reflectors 104a-n. The streams preferably are multiplexed and delivered to the set reflectors preferably via UDP (e.g., WMT encapsulated in UDP over IP). These reflectors are preferably diverse from a network and geographic standpoint (e.g., at diverse Internet backbone data centers) to ensure fault tolerance. Each reflector, in turn, rebroadcasts its copy of the stream to each subscribing region, e.g., region 106d, of a set of regions 106a-n. A subscribing region 106d typically is a CDN region that contains one or more streaming edge nodes 108a-n to which user(s) have been routed by the CDN DNS-based request-routing mechanism. In other words, set reflectors send their streams to every edge region where they are needed. A CDN region, in this example, includes a set of edge nodes connected by a common backbone 109, e.g., a local area network (LAN). Typically, an edge node, e.g., node 108d, comprises a streaming server 112 and it may include a cache 110. A representative server runs an Intel processor, the Linux operating system and a Real Media or QuickTime Server. For Windows-based platforms, a representative server runs an Intel processor, Windows NT or 2000, and a Windows Media Server.
The reflector network is used within a content delivery network to enable requesting end users to subscribe to live streams that have been published to CDN entry points. A reflector typically is a generalized packet router program. The reflector network preferably comprises a hierarchy of reflectors that are located at the various entry points into the CDN, at each edge node at which requesting users may be directed by the CDN to obtain live streams, and at various "reflector" nodes located within at least one intermediate layer (in the hierarchy) between the entry points and the edge nodes. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,751,673, the edge nodes and each reflector node may also include a manager program that arranges for feeds. When an end user is directed to an edge node that is not yet receiving the desired stream, the edge node's manager issues a subscription request to a set of reflector nodes. If the reflector node(s) are already receiving the desired stream, their reflector(s) begin sending it to the requesting edge node. If, however, the reflector node(s) are not already receiving the desired stream, their manager programs issue the subscription request to the entry point(s) to start the feed. In such a live transport network, the entrypoint announces the existence of a stream to reflectors, while edge reflectors in a given region subscribe for the stream. The reflectors propagate this subscription to the entrypoint, receive the data, and propagate the data to the edge reflectors, who then send it to media servers over a backend network.
From April 2001 to April 2002, the number of high-speed, home-based Internet users in the United States grew from 15.9 million to 25.2 million individuals. Even with low-cost, high-speed Internet connections, delivering streaming media to end users is difficult. Due to widely acknowledged Internet bottlenecks, many consumers are forced to endure slow and unreliable startup of audio and video streams, periods during which significant rebuffering interrupts the experience, or degraded quality of delivery that leads to choppy "slide-show" quality instead of smooth video. Unfortunately, for content providers, site visitors do not find such experiences compelling and, thus, streaming media production dollars often are wasted while important branding and product messages never reach their intended audience.
Therefore, for customers seeking an optimal return on their streaming media investment, it is important that end users attempting to view or listen to a stream have a high quality experience—one that delivers the content as well as entices the user to return to the site.
It would be desirable to provide techniques for enhancing the end user quality of media streams. The present invention addresses this problem.

Method and system for enhancing live stream delivery quality using prebursting


A method is provided for fabricating a read-only memory (ROM) device of the type including an array of diode-based memory cells for permanent storage of binary-coded data. The ROM device is partitioned into a memory division and an output division. The memory cells are formed over an insulating layer in the memory division. The insulating layer separates the memory cells from the underlying substrate such that the leakage current that can otherwise occur therebetween can be prevented. Moreover, the coding process is performing by forming contact windows at selected locations rather than by performing ion-implantation as in conventional methods. The fabrication process is thus easy to perform. Since the memory cells are diode-based rather than MOSFET-based, the punch-through effect that usually occurs in MOSFET-based memory cells can be prevented. The diode-based structure also allows the packing density of the memory cells on the ROM device to be dependent on the line width of the polysilicon layers in the ROM device. The feature size of the ROM device is thus dependent on the capability of the photolithographic process.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly, to a semiconductor read-only memory (ROM) device of the type including an array of diode-based memory cells for permanent storage of binary-coded data. Moreover, the invention relates to a method of fabricating such a ROM device.
2. Description of Related Art
Read-only memory (ROM) is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory widely used in computer and microprocessor systems for permanently storing information including programs and data that are repeatedly used, such as the BIOS (abbreviation for Basic Input/Output System, a widely used operating system on personal computers) or the like. The manufacture of ROMs involves very complicated and time-consuming processes and requires costly equipment and material to achieve. Therefore, the data to be permanently stored in ROMs is usually first defined by the customer and then furnished to the factory to be programmed into the ROMs.
Most ROMs are identical in semiconductor structure except for the different data stored therein. Therefore, the ROM devices can be fabricated up to the stage ready for the programming and then the semi-finished products are stocked in inventories waiting for customer orders. The customer then furnishes the data to the factory where the data are stored into the semi-finished ROMs by using the so-called mask programming process. This procedure is now a standard method in the semiconductor industry for fabricating ROMs.
In most conventional ROMs, metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) are used as the memory cells for the data storage. In the mask programming stage, impurities are doped into selected channel regions so as to provide the associated memory cells with different threshold voltage levels representing the storage of different values of the binary-coded data. Whether one MOSFET-based memory cell is set to store a binary digit of 0 or 1 is dependent on whether the associated channel region is doped with impurities or not. If one channel region is doped with impurities, the associated MOSFET-based memory cell is set to have a low threshold voltage, effectively setting the MOSFET-based memory cell to a permanently-ON state representing the storage of a first binary digit, for example 0; otherwise, the MOSFET-based memory cell is set to have a high threshold voltage, effectively setting the MOSFET-based memory cell to a permanently-OFF state representing the storage of a second binary digit, for example 1.
One conventional MOSFET-based ROM device is shown in FIGS. 1A through 1C, in which FIG. 1A is a schematic top view of the ROM device; FIG. 1B is a cross sectional view of the ROM device of FIG. 1 cutting through the line A-A'; and FIG. 1C is a cross sectional view of the ROM device of FIG. 1 cutting through the line B-B'.
As shown, the conventional MOSFET-based ROM device includes a semiconductor substrate, such as a P-type silicon substrate, on which a plurality of parallel-spaced bit lines 11 and a plurality of parallel-spaced word lines 13 intercrossing the bit lines 11 are formed. The word lines 13 are isolated from the underlying bit lines by an oxidation layer 12. This ROM device includes an array of MOSFET-based memory cells, each being associated with one segment of the word lines 13 between each neighboring pair of the bit lines 11.
Referring to FIG. 1C, in the method for fabricating the foregoing ROM device, the first step is to conduct an ion implantation process so as to dope an N-type impurity material, such as arsenic (As), into selected regions of the substrate 10 to form a plurality of parallel-spaced diffusion regions serving as the bit lines 11. The interval region between each neighboring pair of the bit lines 11 is used to serve as a channel region 16. Subsequently, a thermal oxidation process is conducted on the wafer so as to form the oxidation layer 12 over the entire top surface of the wafer. Next, a conductive layer, such as a highly-doped polysilicon layer is formed over the wafer, and then selectively removed through a photolithographic and etching process. The remaining portions of the conductive layer are used to serve as the word lines 13. This completes the fabrication of a semi-finished product of the ROM device waiting for customer order.
In the mask programming process, a mask layer 15 is first formed over the wafer. This mask layer 11 is predefined to form a plurality of contact windows according to the bit pattern of the binary-coded data that are to be programmed into the ROM device for permanent storage. These contact windows expose those channel regions that are associated with a selected group of the MOSFET-based memory cells of the ROM device that are to be set to a permanently-ON state. The covered MOSFET-based memory cells are to be set to a permanently-OFF state. Subsequently, an ion implantation process is conducted on the wafer so as to dope a P-type impurity material, such as boron (B), through the contact windows in the mask layer 15 into the exposed channel regions. This completes the so-called code implant process.
In the finished product of the ROM device, the doped channel regions cause the associated MOSFET-based memory cells to be set to have a low threshold voltage, effectively setting those MOSFET-based memory cells to a permanently-ON state representing the permanent storage of a first binary digit, for example 0. On the other hand, the undoped channel regions cause the associated MOSFET-based memory cells to be set to have a high threshold voltage, effectively setting those MOSFET-based memory cells to a permanently-OFF state representing the permanent storage of a second binary digit, for example 1.
One drawback to the foregoing MOSFET-based ROM device is that it involves quite a complex process to fabricate. Moreover, when the semiconductor structure of the MOSFET-based memory cells are further downsized for increased integration, the adverse effect of punch-through will occur, making the downsizing unable to realize. Still moreover, since the N.sup.+ diffusion regions, which serve as bit lines, have a fixed cross-sectional resistance of about 100 .OMEGA./(ohm per square) and are formed with a small cross section based on the conventional structure, the resistance of the bit lines are high. This causes the current from the bit lines during access operation to be low. In making a ROM device, it is usually desirable to make the current from the bit lines to be high during access operation such that the current can be easily detected.

Method of fabricating the high-density diode-based read-only memory device


At least one of a rise time and a fall time of a dielectric resonator oscillator are reduced. The dielectric resonator oscillator includes a dielectric resonator, a drive circuit for applying a resonance voltage to the dielectric resonator, a switch for applying a voltage required for generating the resonance voltage to the drive circuit, a switch for applying a ground voltage for stopping generation of the resonance voltage to the drive circuit, and a capacitor connected to a power terminal side that supplies a voltage, as seen from the switch, for removing noise generated by the drive circuit. If these switches are made conductive exclusively, oscillation can be stopped immediately by turning on the switch. Since the capacitor is in a charge storage state at all times, regardless of ON/OFF of the switch, the oscillation operation can be started immediately when the switch is turned ON.

Recently, many types of radar apparatuses using microwaves and millimeter waves have been proposed. While the application range of the radar apparatuses is diversified, if the radar apparatus is mounted on a vehicle, not only a distance between a preceding or following vehicle and the vehicle with the radar apparatus can be accurately detected, but also an obstacle present at a position in a blind spot of a driver, for example, an obstacle located diagonally backward or near a bumper can be detected to warn the driver, or an unavoidable collision closing on is detected to perform a pre-crash control, such as fastening a seat belt.
When such a radar apparatus is mounted in many vehicles, a problem of interference between the radar apparatuses occurs. That is, when vehicles having the radar apparatus mounted thereon approach each other, or when a plurality of radar apparatuses is mounted on the same vehicle, since the distance between the radar apparatuses is short, a strong interference occurs. As a result, accurate measurement cannot be performed.
As a method of preventing the interference between the radar apparatuses, for example, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-318639 is known. In the method described in the above application, an interference preventing apparatus that receives an interference wave, inverts the phase thereof, and retransmits the wave is installed. However, to prevent interference over a wide range, there is a problem that many interference preventing apparatuses must be installed, as well as a problem that interference cannot be prevented at all in an area where the interference preventing apparatus is not installed. Furthermore, in the case of vehicle radar, the position between the radar apparatuses is not always constant, and hence, it is difficult to solve the problem of interference with the method described in the above publication.

Dielectric resonator oscillator and radar apparatus using the same


The application provides an optical network apparatus and an optical module. The optical network apparatus is configured to: convert, by a processing chip, the received N electrical signals from a board interface chip into a first electrical signal and a second electrical signal; and send the above two electrical signals to a first optical transmission component and a second optical transmission component, respectively; convert, by the first optical transmission component, the first electrical signal into a first optical signal; and convert, by the second optical transmission component, the second electrical signal into a second optical signal. The N to-be-sent electrical signals are combined, and only two optical transmission components are connected to the processing chip. Therefore, the processing chip does not need to be connected to four optical transmission components, fewer optical transmission components are required, and costs are reduced.

With the advent of the 5G era, higher requirements are imposed on network bandwidth. High-speed interfaces such as a 100GE interface, a 200GE interface, and a 400GE interface are more widely used. The 100GE interface is used as an example. Currently, to implement communication over the 100GE interface, in a transmit direction, an optical network device uses four optical transmitters to convert 4*25.78125G electrical signals into optical signals through non-return-to-zero code (NRZ) encoding, and then multiplexes the optical signals by using an oMUX. In other words, the optical network device transmits the four 4*25.78125G optical signals over a same optical fiber. In a receive direction, the optical network device receives four 4*25.78125G optical signals over the same optical fiber, and then uses four optical receivers to restore the 4*25.78125G optical signals into electrical signals.
However, costs of the optical network device are mainly paid in the optical transmitters and the optical receivers. Currently, to support an optical interface higher than 100GE, the optical network device includes four optical transmitters and four optical receivers. Therefore, there are a relatively large quantity of optical transmitters and optical receivers in the optical network device, and costs are relatively high.

Optical network apparatus and optical module


A transmission control apparatus is provided for a straddle-type vehicle that has a clutch and a transmission with a dog clutch having a first gear and a second gear. The transmission control apparatus includes a clutch actuator configured to engage and disengage the clutch. A transmission actuator is configured to change a gear of the transmission. An input device is configured to generate a gear change command. A first sensor is configured to determine whether the vehicle is in a standstill condition. A controller is operatively connected to the clutch actuator, the transmission actuator and the first sensor. The controller is configured to, in response to the gear change command, set the clutch position between a partially engaged position and a completely released position if the vehicle is standing still as determined by the first sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for controlling a transmission for a straddle-type vehicle and, in particular, for controlling a transmission having a dog-clutch mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some vehicle transmissions have a main shaft connected to an engine's crankshaft via a clutch and a countershaft that outputs the torque of the engine to the wheel. The transmission can also include a first gear having an engaging portion (e.g., dog-teeth in a dog-clutch) and a second gear having engaged portion (e.g., dog-holes in a dog clutch). The main shaft can pass through the first gear, which is rotationally coupled to the main shaft by splines provided on the countershaft. The main shaft also passes through the second gear, which can ride on bearings such that the second gear idles relative to the main shaft. The transmission moves the first gear along the main shaft with a shift fork to bring the second gear into engagement with the first gear, thereby engaging the gears. With respect to a dog-clutch, when the first gear engages the second gear, the dog-teeth in the first gear engage the dog-holes in the second gear.
With such transmissions, when the vehicle is at a standstill, as the dog-tooth gear (i.e., first gear) and the dog-hole gear (i.e., second gear) are brought towards each other, the gears sometimes cannot be engaged because the engagement portions collide. The engagement portions can collide because the rotation of the main shaft stops when the vehicle is standing still causing the dog-teeth to remain offset from the dog-holes. This situation can also occur in electric transmissions when the actuator moves the dog-tooth gear into engagement with the dog-hole gear.
Some conventional electric transmissions have monitored the shifting speed of the dog-tooth gear during gear engagement. For example, when the shifting speed reaches zero the transmission determines that dog collision has occurred. These electric transmissions may rotate the dog-tooth gear or the dog-hole gear by the torque of the motor upon determining that dog collision has occurred, thereby resolving the dog collision.

Apparatus and method for controlling transmission of straddle-type vehicle


A radial inflow turbine having a radial nozzle assembly comprising a plurality of vanes, wherein downstream of the throat, the vane suction surfaces, relative to a radius of the circle on which the vane trailing edges lie, have a specified range of angles, or decreasing radii of curvature.

After World War II radial inflow turbines began to gain increasingly wide use in a wide range of applications due to their ease of manufacture, low cost, and high efficiency. Examples of these applications are gas turbines in aircraft auxiliary power units, turboexpanders for turbocharging in automotive vehicles, and turboexpanders in cryogenic air separation plants and gas liquefiers. In cryogenic plants, the turboexpanders usually operate continuously, and process large volumes of fluid. Energy input into a cryogenic plant is a principal cost, so that even small increases in efficiency in a cryogenic plant's turboexpanders are economically very beneficial.
The major losses in radial turbines are divisible into nozzle passage loss, rotor incidence loss, rotor passage loss, rotor discharge loss, and wheel disk friction loss. Radial turbine component losses can be measured by placing static pressure taps in the turbine gas path between the three major components: the inlet nozzle, the impeller and the exit diffuser. Analysis of field test data has shown that nozzle losses comprise a large part of the total turbine loss. Thus the aerodynamic configuration of the vanes comprising a radial inflow turbine nozzle present an opportunity for improvement.
Kirschner, Robertson, and Carter describe an approach to the definition of radial nozzle vanes in their July, 1971 NASA Lewis Research Center report CR-7288 entitled "The Design of an Advanced Turbine for Brayton Rotating Unit Application." In this work a vane camber line was generated from a prescribed distribution of loading on the vane. The thickness distribution of a 6-percent-thick NACA-63 airfoil was superimposed on the camber line. Surface velocities on this vane geometry were calculated, and minor adjustments in geometry were made until acceptable distributions were obtained.
Report No. 1390-5 dated Feb. 28, 1983, prepared by Northern Research and Engineering Corporation for the Department of Energy, designated DOE/ET/15426)T25 and entitled "R & D For Improved Efficiency Small Steam Turbines" describes another approach to the design of radial nozzle vanes. From process requirements, inlet flow conditions of temperature, pressure and flow angle to the radial nozzle, and downstream flow conditions of exit flow angle and velocity were selected. An aerodynamically ideal surface velocity distribution was selected, and the axial vane geometry to produce the selected velocity distribution was calculated by a computer program entitled BLADE. The axial vane coordinates were then mathematically transformed into radial coordinates.
This invention provides another method of designing and fabricating radial nozzle vanes and radial nozzles with novel features. This invention also provides a radial inflow turbine having a novel radial nozzle assembly and having improved efficiency over prior known radial inflow tubines.


A system and a method are disclosed for replacing an accommodation of a canceled booking for a guest user. In an embodiment, an accommodation management system receives, from a homestay application, an indication that a booking for the accommodation in a region by the guest user over a time period has been canceled. The system retrieves a homestay listing associated with the booking and retrieves attributes of the homestay listing. The system maps each attribute to a set of similar attributes in an equivalence table. The system retrieves a set of available hotel listings in the region for the same time period and determines attributes of each available hotel listing. The system determines a set of comparable hotel listings that each include similar attributes to the homestay listing and sends a command to book a comparable hotel listing the guest user during the time period.

Homestay accommodations are unique because, unlike hotels, the homestay accommodations are custom-built and/or custom-furnished. Further, each homestay accommodations may include a unique set of features, amenities, and other attributes. In contrast, hotel accommodations may include a similar features, amenities, and attributes to other hotel accommodations. When a booking for a hotel accommodation is canceled, another hotel accommodation may usually replace the canceled booking with similar attributes. However, when bookings for homestay accommodations are canceled, existing accommodation management systems are incapable of identifying equivalent hotel accommodations for booking due to the unique nature of each homestay accommodation. Using a database search, existing accommodation management systems may not be able to determine the attributes of hotel accommodations and identify a true match of all attributes of the homestay accommodation to a hotel accommodation. Accordingly, existing accommodation management systems leave guests who face cancelations of their bookings without adequate hotel alternatives for lodging, particularly in the case of a last-minute cancelation that may leave a guest without time to find a replacement accommodation.

Database systems for non-similar accommodation determination


A variable orifice damper includes a sealed cylinder, a piston rod mounted for sliding movement along the axis of the cylinder carrying a piston head and a tail rod, the piston rod and tail rod extending from the interior of the cylinder outward beyond a corresponding support surface on the cylinder wall. The cylinder contains a cavity portion whose internal size varies along the cylinder axis located axially between two adjacent cavity portions of larger size than the intermediate cavity portion. The piston head has a surface whose cross sectional area varies along the axis of the cylinder and is adapted to pass through the cavity portion of variable size, the piston head and cavity portion defining a orifice of variable size therebetween. The piston rod has a bore containing a separator piston actuated by fluid passing the orifice and adapted to compress gas held in the bore.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of damping devices for use in aircraft landing gear, particularly to dampers in which flow of viscous hydraulic or oleic fluid through an orifice of variable size dissipates impact energy associated with landing an aircraft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional dampers operate by throttling viscous fluid through orifices, usually formed through a piston separating a high pressure chamber from a low pressure chamber in a sealed cylinder in which the piston moves in response to relative movement of components of a landing gear to which the piston and cylinder are attached. Operation of the damper is enhanced if the areas of the orifices are changed while energy is dissipated.
Various means are employed to alter the size of the orifices, often in accordance with changes in pressure of the viscous fluid within the cylinder chambers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,567 describes a shock absorber in which two oil reservoirs, separated by a piston, communicate through a bore that is open permanently and through ports controlled by reed valves that open and close in response to the magnitude of differential pressure across the piston.
The magnitude of forces produced by springs actuated by relative displacement of a piston and a cylinder containing the piston are often used to open and close piston orifices. For example, in the shock absorber described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,101, a spring-biased valve plate closes control ports in a piston until a magnitude of pressure developed by the stroke of the piston becomes sufficient to open the control ports. In the hydro-pneumatic motor of U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,897, the size of a spring-loaded valve having a variable cross section in a piston head is responsive to flow resulting from relative motion between a cylinder and piston to vary the area of the valve opening and maintain constant the rate of flow. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,356 describes an automotive shock absorber, in which piston throttling orifices are closed by a spring-loaded valve and are opened to permit fluid flow when an axial force reached a specified magnitude.
A shock absorber for an aircraft landing gear is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,857 wherein impact energy is dissipated by viscous flow through several orifices and rebound energy is dissipated through a greater number of orifices, each orifice maintaining its original size.
However, the size of damper orifices can be made to vary in accordance with the position of the piston during the stroke of the damper. An example of this technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,255. There the effective size of a orifice defined by an annular space between an aperture of fixed size in an orifice fitting supported on an orifice tube and a metering rod of variable diameter, changes as the rod passes through the fitting during the damper stroke. The outer diameter of the metering rod is shaped as required to produce the requisite variable area between the fitting and the rod.
Metering rod dampers have theoretically high operating efficiency due to their ability to vary the rate of fluid flow across the orifice formed between the metering rod and the aperture in the orifice fitting. However, such dampers present many disadvantages. Generally, the metering rod, orifice support tube and attachment fittings add weight to the damper. Functionally, the outer cylinder, piston rod, metering rod and orifice support tube are susceptible to bending deflections due to landing forces induced by side loads and drag loads applied to the end of the piston rod. This bending reduces substantially the service life of the parts affected by it. Bending deflection of the metering rod and orifice support tube causes eccentric movement of the rod in the orifice and effects contact between the rod and one side only of the orifice. The localized nature of the contact induces excessive wear of the orifice aperture, which adversely influences damping characteristics.
Fixed orifice dampers operate inherently at lower efficiency than variable orifice dampers. Bending developed as a result of drag and side landing loads is reacted between a bearing supporting the piston rod at the end of the cylinder and a piston head bearing located between the periphery of the piston and the inner surface of the cylinder. Axial distance between these reaction forces is small, particularly when the piston is fully extended from the cylinder end; therefore, the magnitude of reaction forces is high, and bearing pressures and wear are excessive.

Variable orifice oil/gass damper for aircraft landing gear


The present invention may be embodied in a disk drive comprising a rotating magnetic media having tracks identified by binary codewords, and in a related method. Each track codeword for a particular track within a contiguous band of tracks differs from a track codeword for an adjacent track within the contiguous band of tracks by a defined number of bits, and differs from a track codeword for a nonadjacent track within the contiguous band of tracks by at least the defined number of bits. The defined number N of bits is greater than four such that at least two bit errors may be corrected when reading a track codeword.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic disk drives, and more particularly, to binary codewords for identifying tracks on a rotating magnetic media in the disk drive.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
In order to remain competitive, disk drive manufacturers must continually provide increased data storage capacity while rigidly controlling disk drive manufacturing cost. Sampled data techniques such as partial response with maximum likelihood detection (PRML) are applied to data read from the magnetic disk to increase recording densities. Maximum likelihood detection is performed in real time using a Viterbi sequence detector. An error in the maximum likelihood detection generally causes multiple bit errors.
Existing track identification (TID) codewords may be based on a generalized Gray code that has a Hamming distance of three between adjacent TID codewords for correcting a single bit error. An example of TID codewords capable of correcting a single bit error is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,138 to Blaum et al. The Blaum et al patent recognizes that more than one bit error could be corrected if the Hamming distance between adjacent TID codewords could be increased. However, the Blaum et el. patent does not disclose or suggest a generalized Gray code capable of providing correction of more than a single bit error.
Accordingly, there exists a need for TID codewords that may allow correction of more than one bit error and that have the advantages of a generalized Gray code. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Track identification codewords having multiple bit error correction capability and generalized gray code property


A dual gradient cementing system is modeled in a modeled subsea wellbore. The modeled dual gradient cementing system comprises a plurality of components including a mud lift pump (MLP) coupling a subsea rotating device (SRD) to a surface mud return line, wherein the MLP is located at a subsea depth and the SRD diverts annular fluids from an annulus away from a riser. The modeled dual gradient cementing system is simulated in operation, wherein a fluid loss value of 100% at the subsea depth of the MLP is assumed, and a fluid property of a simulated non-static fluid in the simulated dual gradient cementing system while in operation is estimated. Thereafter, an actual dual gradient cementing operation is performed in an actual subsea wellbore, wherein an actual non-static fluid corresponding to the simulated non-static fluid exhibits the fluid property.

The present disclosure relates to subterranean formation operations, and more particularly, to software simulation methods for estimating fluid properties in a wellbore during a simulated or actual dual gradient cementing operation.
Hydrocarbons (i.e., oil and gas) reside in reservoirs in subterranean formations on land, in inland waters, and offshore areas around the world. The term "subsea" refers to exploration, drilling, and development of hydrocarbons in underwater oceanic locations. The development of subsea hydrocarbon reservoirs requires specialized equipment capable of safeguarding the environment, protecting subsea operators, and enabling subsea exploration to be economically feasible.
A variety of subsea systems are available for drilling a wellbore in a subterranean formation below a water surface (e.g., below the seabed floor) and for producing hydrocarbons therefrom, including floating drilling vessels, floating oil platforms, fixed offshore platforms, jackup drilling rigs, and the like. The type and complexity of such subsea systems often increases with increasing water depths in which drilling is taking place. As such, as the water depth increases, the cost and technical difficulty of drilling wellbores therein also increases. Such cost and technical difficulties include managing dynamic and static fluid pressures within the wellbore to maintain drilling within acceptable pressure ranges between the pore pressure and fracture gradient pressure of the particular subsea formation, particularly at increased depths where fracture gradient decreases.
One method used in drilling subsea wellbores at such deep water depths is dual-gradient drilling. Dual-gradient (DG) drilling techniques seek to adjust the density of the column of fluid contained in the wellbore. Traditional single-gradient drilling technology controls wellbore pressure by using a column of substantially constant-density drilling fluid from the bottom of the wellbore to the top, such as to the drilling rig. In contrast, DG drilling seeks to control wellbore pressure by using a lower density fluid, about the same density as the water above the formation (e.g., seawater above the seabed floor), from the rig to the seafloor, and a higher density drilling fluid within the actual formation, from the seafloor to the bottom of the wellbore. DG drilling techniques, in effect, simulate the drilling rig being located on the seafloor and therefore manages the pressures present during the drilling operation. This pressure management also alleviates prior constraints on the depth to which casing string could be inserted without vast reductions in the diameter of the string.
After drilling a wellbore in a subsea location, zonal isolation of the wellbore is achieved by forming a cement sheath therein. The cement sheath is formed by introducing casing string into the wellbore, thereby forming an annulus between the wall of the wellbore and the casing string, and pumping a cement slurry into the annulus. The cement slurry cures to form the cement sheath which, inter alia, supports and positions the casing string in the wellbore, bonds the exterior surface of the casing string formation, maintains zonal isolation between the environment and the wellbore (e.g., prevents contamination), and increases the structural integrity of the wellbore. This process is termed "primary cementing," or simply "cementing," as used herein.
Both drilling and primary cementing in a DG system (i.e., a "DG drilling system and operation," and a "DG cementing system and operation," respectively) are not devoid of challenges, despite enhanced pressure management. For instance, during drilling and cementing, leaks, kicks, pressure surges, and potential blowouts are possible. As an example, increased pressure surges during running casing string in the wellbore may induce fluid losses that can jeopardize the wellbore. Additionally, formation breakdown in the annulus during a cementing operation may also result in pressure fluctuations resulting in fluid losses to the formation.

Software simulation method for estimating fluid positions and pressures in the wellbore for a dual gradient cementing system


In a plasma display panel first and second substrates are located apart and substantially parallel to each other. A barrier rib layer is located between the first substrate and the second substrate. Discharge cells having various cross-sectional areas are formed within the barrier rib layer. Phosphor layers are formed within the discharge cells. Ring shaped first and second electrodes, conforming to the cross-sectional area of the discharge cells, surround the discharge cells adjacent to one or the other of the first and second substrates. The first electrodes are coupled together along a first direction and the second electrodes are coupled together along the same first direction. Address electrodes extend in a direction crossing the first direction and include protruding portions conforming to inner contours of the discharge cells.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Plasma Display Panel (PDP). More particularly, the present invention relates to a PDP in which an address discharge can be stabilized and reactive power consumption caused by capacitance between neighboring address electrodes can be reduced.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A three-electrode surface-discharge type of display is one exemplary structure for a PDP. The three-electrode surface-discharge type of PDP includes sustain electrodes, scan electrodes, and address electrodes. The sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes are located in parallel on the same plane of a front substrate. The address electrodes are provided on a rear substrate in a direction crossing the direction of the sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes.
Barrier ribs are provided between the front substrate and the rear substrate, both between the sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes and between the sustain electrodes and the address electrodes. Discharge cells are formed by the barrier ribs where the sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes, that are located in parallel, cross the address electrodes. The discharge cells are filled with a discharge gas.
The PDP selects a turn-on discharge cell through an address discharge by a scan pulse applied to the scan electrodes and an address pulse applied to the address electrodes, and implements images through a sustain discharge by a sustain pulse alternately applied to sustain electrodes and scan electrodes of the selected turn-on discharge cells.
The sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes of the PDP are provided near the front of a discharge space. The PDP generates a plasma discharge between inner surfaces of the sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes and diffuses the plasma discharge toward the rear substrate. The plasma discharge excites phosphors within the discharge cells to generate visible rays that form an image.
The sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes provided at the front substrate reduce the aperture ratio of the discharge cells and lower the transmittance of the visible rays, which are generated within the discharge cells and directed toward the front substrate.
Therefore, the three-electrode surface-discharge type of PDP has low brightness and low luminous efficiency. If the PDP is used for a long period, an electric field causes charged particles of the discharge gas to generate ion sputtering in the phosphors. The ion sputtering in the phosphors may result in permanent after-images.
As an attempt to eliminate the generation of the permanent after-images, a recently developed PDP is configured such that the sustain electrodes and the scan electrodes encompass the lateral sides of the discharge cells, and the address electrodes are provided on the rear substrate. As a result, the aperture ratio of the discharge cells can be increased, and the transmittance of the visible rays can be improved.
However, this recently developed PDP may still have a limitation in that a discharge between the scan electrodes and the address electrodes is not stable because a distance between the scan electrode and the address electrode within one discharge cell is not uniform throughout the entire length of the scan electrodes.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A fuel cell battery, comprising a chamber unit (1), an anode entrance (2) connected to the chamber unit (1), an anode exit (3), a cathode entrance (4) and a cathode exit (5). The anode entrance (2) is connected to a hydrogen source (11) and an organic fuel source (12) respectively through a hydrogen duct (9) and an organic fuel duct (10). Duct (9) and duct (10) are respectively installed with a hydrogen valve (13) and an organic fuel valve (14). An exit valve (20) is installed at the anode exit. This fuel cell battery combines the advantages provided by hydrogen fuel and organic fuel. The fuel cell battery can meet the dual requirements of operating on both high and low power. The fuel cell battery's design leads to low manufacturing costs, a simple structure, and easy implementation.

Fuel cell batteries are a type of device which converts chemical energy into electric energy. As shown in FIG. 1, a currently available fuel cell battery generally comprises a chamber unit (1), an anode entrance (2) connected to chamber unit (1), an anode exit (3), a cathode entrance (4) and a cathode exit (5). Anode entrance (2) is connected to a fuel source (22) through a duct (21). A valve (26) is installed on duct (21). A valve (20) is installed at anode exit (3). Cathode entrance (4) is connected to an oxidant source (24) through a duct (23). Chamber unit (1) contains an anode (6), a cathode (7), and a proton-exchange membrane (8) located between anode (6) and cathode (7).
Anode (6) is a type of gaseous diffusion electrode, with its supporting material generally made of electric conductive carbon fiber or carbon fabric. A catalyst is located between anode (6) and proton-exchange membrane (8) to catalyze the anode chemical reaction. Such anode catalyst is generally platinum powder, alloy powder containing platinum, platinum loaded on a carrier, or alloy powder containing platinum loaded on a carrier. Said alloy containing platinum also has one or more of the following including ruthenium, stannum, indium, osmium, and rhenium. Said carrier, such as active carbon, is electrically conductive and has relatively high surface area. On the external side of the anode is the current collector which can be made of graphite material or metal material.
Cathode (7) is also a type of gaseous diffusion electrode, with an identical structure as in the anode. The difference is that the catalyst between cathode (7) and proton-exchange membrane (8) catalyzes the cathode chemical reaction. Such cathode catalyst is generally platinum powder, or platinum powder loaded on a carrier. On the external side of the cathode is a current collector, which can be made of graphite material or metal material.
The proton-exchange membrane (8) is a type of semi-permeable membrane that is air-water-tight but not water-air-tight. The membrane conducts protons, and it can also prevent mixing the catalyst and the fuel which can cause an explosion.
In the following examples, the fuel is methanol and hydrogen, and the oxidant is air or oxygen. The fuel enters the anode side of chamber unit (1) through anode entrance (2), passing through anode (6) and leading to a chemical reaction.
When the fuel is methanol, the chemical reaction of anode (6) is:CH3OH+H2O→CO2+6H++6e  (1)
When the fuel is hydrogen gas, the chemical reaction of anode (6) is:3H2→6H++6e  (2)
The generated carbon dioxide and the unreacted fuel are discharged through anode exit (3).
Meanwhile, the following chemical reactions happen at cathode (7): 3/2O2+6H++6e→3H2O,  (3)
The chemical reactions (1) and (3), and the reactions (2) and (3) of the individual electrodes respectively lead to the following general reactions:CH3OH+ 3/2O2→CO2+2H2O  (4)3H2+ 3/2O2→3H2O  (5)
The above reactions at anode (6) and cathode (7) create a voltage difference between the two electrodes. The electrons generated by anode (6) are captured by the cathode after moving through the current collector and the external conductor located on the external side of the anode. The protons generated by anode (6) will be directly passed on to cathode (7) through the proton membrane, creating an electric current.
Not only can the fuel of said fuel cell be methanol and hydrogen gas, but it can also be other organic fuel. For example, said organic fuel can be selected from one or more of the following including alcoholic fluid, aqueous ether, and organic acid fluid. Alternatively, the organic fuel can be selected from one or more of the following including alcoholic fluid solution and acid fluid solution. The preferred selection has one or more of the following including methanol, ethanol, formic acid (or methanoic acid), and ethylether. Alternatively, the selection can have one or more of the following including methanol solution, ethanol solution, and formic acid (or methanoic acid) solution.
Said fuel cell using organic fuel has the advantages such as minimized pollution, a low noise level, a simple structure, being easy to carry, and a wide variety of fuel sources which are easy to obtain. Also, because the organic fuel is liquid, it has a high energy ratio. In terms of storage, there is no need to use, for example, a pressurized container, making it easy to carry. Meanwhile, compared to the inflammable hydrogen gas which is prone to explosion, organic fuel is reliably safe.
Although fuel cells using organic fuel have the above mentioned advantages, there are also certain disadvantages. A major one is that the platinum catalyst is not effective with organic fuel. In the process of catalyzing the oxidization of the organic fuel, carbon monoxide is generated as a byproduct. The carbon monoxide byproduct mixes with the platinum in the catalyst and forms a stable coordination compound, poisoning the catalyst. Therefore, compared to a cell using hydrogen fuel, the above mentioned cell using organic fuel has a very low density of electrode power output in a unit area. Taking said cell using methanol as an example, based on reported data, the density of power output in a unit area of a cell using hydrogen is more than ten (10) times that of said cell using methanol. To achieve the same power output, a cell using organic fuel must have an active area several times that of a cell using hydrogen gas. Consequently, the use of costly metal in the catalyst, such as platinum, also has to be several times more. Therefore, when organic fuel is used in the cell, the manufacturing cost of the fuel cell increases significantly.
Typical electronic product have similar power requirement from batteries, and the batteries generally operates in cyclic pulses. Taking the cell phone as an example, during the long periods in the standby mode, the cell phone operates on low power and its requirement for the cell's power output remains low. However, during the short period of telephone communication, the cell phone operates on high power and the requirement for the battery's power output will be high. Between those two operating conditions, there is a difference of roughly ten (10) times in power output requirement.
Using hydrogen gas as fuel, a fuel cell can have a very high density of power output in a unit area. The reason is that the catalyst containing platinum is highly effective in hydrogen gas. Therefore, theoretically a cell using hydrogen gas can meet the dual requirements of both a long standby and a high power output during the short period of telephone communication. However, the disadvantage of using hydrogen gas as fuel lies in the highly inflammable nature of hydrogen gas which is prone to explosion. So far, there is no ideal way of storing hydrogen gas. To achieve a long standby period on a cell phone, large amount of hydrogen needs to be carried, creating potential safety hazards and limiting the transportation options of the battery user.
If organic fuel is used, a fuel cell must have a much larger size and a much larger cell area to meet the requirement of high power output during a short time. That will increase the manufacturing cost of the fuel cell and its bulkiness.


A system and methods for automated color correction. A computer-based workstation is coupled to an image source such as a telecine or other graphic image generating device, an image processing system such as a color corrector, and a utilization device such as a tape recorder or digital storage device. A target image from the image source is displayed on a display monitor associated with the workstation. An image and data storage device stores images and prestored reference image information for a plurality of selectable reference images. A capture device captures a source image from the image source. An image analyzer software process computes statistical parameters of the source image and compares these statistical parameters to prestored statistical parameters of a selected one of the reference images. The statistical parameters include a color distribution or frequency histogram for various color parameters, e.g. gain, gamma, and black level for video signals. A control unit provides correction value outputs to the image source or to the image processing system, to control the color parameters. The correction value outputs are utilized to control image parameters of the source image in an iterative manner until there is a match between prestored statistical parameters of the reference image and the determined statistical parameters of the target image.

Color correction and modification has been in widespread use in connection with television advertisements and various aspects of film to tape transfer including preservation and restoration of color prints of deteriorating film media. Very sophisticated apparatus for selecting signal levels representing particular hues, and combinations of hue and saturation, in video signals have been developed. For example, color correcting apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,642,632; 4,727,412; 4,876,589; and 5,253,043.
Color correction and modification is used in a number of applications within the television industry and other businesses which make use of video and other graphic image signals. A principal use is in film to tape transfers and postproduction processing of commercials to highlight certain objects, colors, and the like. For example, when it is desired to emphasize a particular object in a scene or image, wherein the object has a detectable hue that is distinguishable from the hues of other objects in the scene (e.g. a spot color), the occurrence of picture elements ("pixels") containing this hue can be detected and the saturation level can be increased. In conventional color correctors, this has the effect of "highlighting" the particular object. For example, the hue distinctive to a red soft drink can in an advertisement can be saturated so as to draw additional attention of the viewer to the can.
For video equipment, a color correction system operator must typically go through a two-stage process when importing video images for color correction utilizing conventional color correction equipment. The first step typically involves adjusting controls at the video image source, for example, a telecine, so as to provide a wide dynamic range. The second step involves adjusting controls with the color correction equipment on a scene by scene basis.
In the first step, it is important to set up the video image source to provide a wide dynamic range of signal levels prior to their input at the color correction equipment. For example, if the video signals input have a dynamic range from 0-65,535 values (indicating 16 bits of digitization), but the predominant area of interest of a picture is concentrated within a range of, say, about 5,000 to about 30,000, then the operator would wish to scale the video signals from the image source so that the 5,000-30,000 range expands to fit the available dynamic range of the color correction equipment. The operator employs controls at the video image source equipment, e.g., gain, gamma, and black level, to scale the information to the dynamic range of the color corrector.
During this set up process, a color correction operator will often look at a vectorscope or waveform monitor to observe the effects of adjusting the controls at the image source. The operator typically must run a series of frames of source image while observing the vectorscope or waveform monitor, make adjustments, and then rerun the selected scene until satisfied that the signals representing the pictures have been scaled properly to fit the dynamic range of the color correction equipment.
With telecine type video image source equipment, adjustments are typically made by manually adjusting telecine photoelectric cells or the color controls GAIN, BLACK, and GAMMA for each of the red, green, and blue video channels to obtain the suitable dynamic range in overall signal level during set up. Then, the correction operator must adjust the color correction equipment controls, and sometimes the telecine's controls, to achieve a desired color balance on a scene by scene basis.
Even if a desired color balance is fixed, such as for neutral gray, flesh tones, etc., which are restricted to a narrow range of acceptable values, for many scenes the operator must manually and repetitively adjust each control until the appropriate color balance is achieved. These adjustments require a lot of repetitive, tedious work, both at the color correction equipment and sometimes to the image source equipment.
The need for the present invention occurred to the inventor during observation of the process of set up for the first stage of color correction. If a system could be devised to employ a computer or workstation to adjust video signal parameters, e.g. GAIN, BLACK and GAMMA, for each of the three color channels, the overall color correction process could be made more efficient.
Those skilled in the art will understand that adjustment parameters for the three primary color video signals red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are typically those of GAIN, GAMMA, and BLACK. Intuitively, GAIN is a factor that controls the overall amplification of the signal, and is most often associated with setting the peak amplitude. The BLACK level, on the other hand, is most often associated with the signal levels at the lower end of the scale, with nominal values (e.g. 16.sub.10) for each of R, G and B indicating minimal signal level and a completely black screen. Raising R, G, and B equally for low signal levels brings up the overall "BLACK" level in terms of shades of gray.
The GAMMA parameter, which originated in photography, relates to non-linear characteristics in the mid-range portion between the lowest signal levels and highest signal levels, and allows introduction of an approximation of the non-linear response characteristics of the human eye to light intensity levels. GAMMA correction intuitively has the effect of compressing or spreading out signal intensities in the middle range of intensity values perceptible by the human eye viewing a video screen. The GAMMA level of a video image is often associated with the most predominant signal level of a given picture, which can be measured by determining the signal level associated with the greatest number of pixels in the picture. frequency distribution. This is often referred to as the "peak" value, since a frequency distribution (histogram) of signal level vs. number of pixels will have a peak at this particular signal level.
Those skilled in the art will also understand that other video parameters and signal standards are commonly encountered in color correction equipment. The standard NTSC video signal represents color information in terms of hue, saturation, and luminance. Yet other types of video equipment provide color difference signals R-Y, B-Y, G-Y, where Y is a luminance signal determined from a matrix of R, G and B with weighted RGB values. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the NTSC standard broadcast television signal was adopted in the United States in 1941 and popularized shortly after World War II. In 1953, the current NTSC standard for color television broadcasting including a 3.58 MHz subcarrier carrying the chroma information, which composite signal was compatible with NTSC monochrome receivers, was adopted. Since continental Europe was recovering from the effects of World War II, it was somewhat later in adopting standard television signals. Most of Europe adopted a standard Phase Alteration by Line (PAL) composite broadcast signal with better resolution than that of the NTSC format. The French and certain others adopted a color system known as SECAM.
In recent years, attention of the television industries throughout the world has been turned to various proposals and apparatus for providing high definition television (HDTV) with both digital and analog composite signal methods. Many of the current processing techniques for video signal correction are carried out in the digital domain. In order to promote the international interchange of video signals and to standardize the interface between digital video signal sources and devices utilizing or transmitting same, the International Radio Consultant Committee (CCIR) promulgated Recommendation No. 601-1 in 1986 which defines a standard set of digitized color signals for television studios. CCIR Recommendation 601-1 (1986) is hereby incorporated by reference.
It is within the scope of the prior art to take CCIR 601-1 digitized signal streams, convert same to corresponding RGB signals (in analog or digital domains), and then to perform the primary and secondary color corrections and modifications on the resultant signals. The corrected or modified signal can then be passed through a signal matrix and reconverted to a digital bit stream through use of an analog to digital converter. The standard signals defined in Recommendation 601-1 essentially consist of a luminance signal Y and two color difference signals (R-Y) and (B-Y). It is well known that, since the luminance signal contains information on levels of red, green and blue (RGB), the three standard signals can be used to reproduce the RGB levels for any given set of samples.
The need for the present invention occurs not only in equipment for analog video signal processing, but also in equipment for HDTV video signal processing, digital video signal processing, postproduction color correction equipment, and broadcast television. Moreover, there is need for the invention in other color graphics/image processing technologies such as graphics generating devices and displays, print media, digital photography, etc.

System and methods for automated color correction


A customer bridge for a terminating device includes a base defining an interior cavity and a base cap attached to the base and substantially covering the cavity. At least a pair of wire insertion holes formed through the base cap extend into the cavity for receiving twisted-pair tip and ring wires. The customer bridge further includes at least a pair of corresponding insulation displacement contacts disposed within the cavity. An actuating arm pivots between a disconnected position wherein the twisted-pair tip and ring wires do not engage the corresponding pair of insulation displacement contacts and a connected position wherein the twisted-pair tip and ring wires engage the corresponding pair of insulation displacement contacts. The wire insertion holes are located on the top surface of the customer bridge to permit the twisted-pair tip and ring wires to be inserted from immediately above the terminating device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a customer bridge for terminating subscriber wiring in a communications network. More specifically, the invention is a customer bridge having wire insertion holes located on the top surface to permit the subscriber wiring to be inserted from immediately above a terminating device.
2. Background of the Invention
A communications service provider, such as a telephone company, may offer both voice and data transmission services over a communications network. Customers of the service provider, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9csubscribers,xe2x80x9d may purchase as many communications services as they desire and equip their homes, businesses, or the like with equipment to utilize such services. Subscribers are responsible for proper operation of the equipment and the service provider is responsible for proper operation of the communications network up to the interface, commonly referred to as the xe2x80x9cdemarcation point,xe2x80x9d between the service provider wiring and the subscriber wiring. The demarcation point is accessible to both the subscriber and the service provider and is typically located at the subscriber site in a network interface device (NID) or building entrance terminal (BET) mounted on the exterior wall of an office, apartment, commercial, or residential building, a home, or the like.
The NID or BET houses at least one, and typically, a plurality of wire terminating devices for interconnecting the service provider wiring with the subscriber wiring. As used herein, xe2x80x9cterminating devicexe2x80x9d is intended to include any type of connector for interconnecting service provider wiring with subscriber wiring, configured with or without a protection element for protecting against a voltage and/or current surge, including but not limited to a line module, a protected terminating device (PTD), or the like. The terminating device includes one or more pairs of termination sites for the service provider wiring and one or more pairs of termination sites for the subscriber wiring. The terminating device typically further includes some type of electrical circuitry (e.g., half-ringer or printed circuit board) and/or electrical component (e.g., metal oxide varistor MOV) or gas tube) interconnected between the service provider wiring and the subscriber wiring. The termination sites for the service provider wiring are typically provided adjacent one end of the terminating device beneath a locked cover that is accessible only to service provider personnel. The termination sites for the subscriber wiring are typically provided adjacent the other end of the terminating device and are accessible to both the service provider personnel and the subscriber. The NID or BET may be further provided with an outer cover that is accessible to both service provider personnel and the subscriber, but is not accessible to unauthorized persons.
The NID or BET may be exposed to dust, moisture and other deleterious environmental effects. Accordingly, it is desirable to seal the termination sites to protect the terminating device from failure. When a terminating device fails, the subscriber is no longer able to access the communications network. Further, the service provider must dispatch a technician to the subscriber site to repair or replace the terminating device, at significant expense to the service provider. Terminating devices are available that utilize insulation displacement contacts and wire insertion holes on the side or the rear that may be sealed with a viscous, non-porous gel to protect the wire terminations, electrical circuitry and electrical components within the terminating device. However, the terminating devices are typically positioned too close together in the NID or BET to permit the subscriber wiring to be inserted from the side or the rear. The only available access in many existing NIDs or BETs for insertion of the subscriber wiring is from immediately above the terminating device. If the wire insertion holes for the subscriber wiring are located on the top surface of the terminating device, the space available for the conventional stuffer and screw mechanism that forces the subscriber wiring into engagement with the insulation displacement contacts is likewise limited. Furthermore, in many instances the portion of the terminating device that houses the subscriber termination sites, referred to herein as the customer bridge, must be removable from the terminating device to permit repair or replacement.
The present invention is a customer bridge having wire insertion holes located on the top surface. The location of the wire insertion holes permits subscriber wiring to be loaded from immediately above a terminating device, such as a line module or PTD.
In one embodiment, the invention is a customer bridge including a base defining an interior cavity and a base cap attached to the base and substantially covering the cavity. At least one wire insertion hole is formed through the base cap and extends into the cavity for receiving a conductive wire therein. At least one conductive contact is disposed within the cavity and connecting means are provided for establishing an electrical connection between the conductive wire and the conductive contact. The connecting means preferably includes an actuating arm having a first portion and a second portion pivotally attached to the first portion. The actuating arm is movable between a disconnected position wherein the conductive wire does not engage the conductive contact and a connected position wherein the conductive wire engages the conductive contact. The second portion engages and moves the conductive wire between the disconnected position and the connected position when the first portion is pivoted relative to the second portion.
In another embodiment, the invention is a customer bridge for a sealed terminating device. The customer bridge includes a base defining a cavity and a base cap attached to and substantially covering the cavity. The base cap includes a top surface having at least one wire insertion hole formed therethrough for receiving a conductive wire. At least one conductive contact is disposed within the cavity. At least one actuating arm is provided for establishing an electrical connection between the conductive wire and the conductive contact. The actuating arm is movable between a disconnected position wherein the conductive wire does not engage the conductive contact and a connected position wherein the conductive wire engages the conductive contact. As previously described, the actuating arm preferably includes a first portion and a second portion pivotally attached to the first portion. The second portion engages and moves the conductive wire between the disconnected position and the connected position when the first portion is pivoted relative to the second portion. The second portion has an opening formed therein for receiving the conductive wire. The opening is aligned with the wire insertion hole when the actuating arm is in the disconnected position and the opening is not aligned with the wire insertion hole when the actuating arm is in the connected position.
In yet another embodiment, the invention is a terminating device including a removable customer bridge. The customer bridge includes a base defining a cavity and a base cap attached to and substantially covering the cavity. The base cap includes a top surface having at least one hole formed therethrough for permitting insertion of at least one conductive wire from immediately above the terminating device. At least one corresponding conductive contact is disposed within the cavity. At least one actuating arm is provided for establishing an electrical connection between the conductive wire and the conductive contact. The actuating arm is movable between a disconnected position wherein the conductive wire does not engage the conductive contact and a connected position wherein the conductive wire engages the conductive contact. The at least one conductive wire is preferably twisted pair tip and ring wires and the at least one conductive contact is preferably a pair of corresponding insulation displacement contacts having a pair of opposed, sharp edges for engaging the twisted pair tip and ring wires.
As previously described, the actuating arm preferably includes a first portion and a second portion pivotally attached to the first portion. The second portion engages and moves the conductive wire between the disconnected position and the connected position when the first portion is pivoted relative to the second portion. A dielectric sealant may also be disposed within the cavity defined by the base for sealing the wire insertion hole and a cover may be hingedly attached to the base cap. The cover is movable between an opened position wherein the wire insertion hole is accessible to receive the conductive wire therein and a closed position wherein the wire insertion hole is not accessible to receive the conductive wire therein. Preferably, the cover has at least one slot formed therethrough for indicating the position of the at least one actuating arm.


From image data for foreign substance detection obtained by an image sensing device that converts an optical image of an object into image data, correction data is created for correcting photographed image data in a case that normal image sensing is performed, and by correcting the photographed image data using the correction data, image data is obtained in which effects due to a foreign substance have been removed. In a case where a foreign substance removal operation, which removes a foreign substance affixed to an optical member, has been executed, the correction data is updated, so that correction of subsequent photographed image data using old correction data is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensing apparatus such as a digital camera, and more specifically to an image sensing apparatus having a function to remove effects due to a foreign substance such as foreign particles or dust in an image sensing light path, and to a control method and program thereof for that image sensing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image sensing apparatus such as a digital camera, a foreign substance (hereinafter, abbreviated as 'dust') such as foreign particles or dust may become affixed to the surface of an optical member such as an optical filter disposed in an image sensing light path in front of an image sensor. In this case, an effect caused by the affixed dust is reflected in sensed images, decreasing the image quality. Particularly in a digital camera with a removable lens, mechanically operating portions such as a shutter and a quick return mirror are disposed near the image sensor, and dust from those operating portions may be affixed to the image sensor or the optical filter. Also, when exchanging lenses, dust may enter the camera body from the lens mount opening, causing deterioration in photographed images.
In order to address such problems, a removable-lens digital camera provided with an operating mode for removing dust affixed inside the camera has been proposed. This operating mode is, for example, referred to as a cleaning mode. When the cleaning mode is set in the camera, the camera shutter opens and the quick return mirror is raised up, and this state is maintained. In this state a user can view the image sensor or the optical filter from the lens removal/attachment opening via the shutter opening. Thus the user can perform cleaning work such as blowing off dust affixed to the image sensor or the optical filter with a blower (JP 2001-159777A (Document 1)).
Also, in JP 2002-204379A (Document 2), a technique is proposed in which by vibrating a protective glass that protects the image sensor, dust affixed to that glass is knocked off. Further, in JP 2004-172820 (Document 3), a digital camera is proposed that has a means to detect the position of dust in a sensed image, reflects the position of the detected dust in the sensed image, and corrects that portion of the image.
However, in above Documents 1 and 2, although a removal means to knock off dust affixed on the optical member is disclosed, there is no disclosure with respect to processing of dust that could not be completely knocked off. Thus, it is not possible to completely exclude the possibility that dust that could not be completely knocked off will be reflected in a sensed image. Document 3 discloses detecting a position of dust on the image sensor, and correcting the portion of a sensed image. However, there is no disclosure with respect to a means to knock dust off of the image sensor. Thus, in a case that dust increases due to continued taking of photographs, there is a risk of performing excessive image correction processing, thus diminishing the quality of sensed images.
Also, upon detecting the position of dust on the sensor element and obtaining correction data for correcting portions of a sensed image to correct photographed image data, if the dust has been removed by a dust removal unit, it becomes a problem to coordinate the dust removal operation performed by the dust removal unit with the correction data of the sensed image.

Image sensing apparatus and control method thereof and program for implementing the method