A digital video recording system (10) includes a video camera (12) directed at a scene of interest to continuously view the scene and generate video images (F) of the scene. An image processor (14) is configured to compare the video image (F) with a previously established reference image (Fr) of the scene to determine if changes have occurred. The image processor includes a memory (20) in which portions of video images (F) are stored, together with the time and date information as to when the image was acquired. A video playback capability (30) allows the memory to be accessed to retrieve the portions of the video images for image reconstruction. The playback system enables the memory to be accessed at any desired date and time location so an image of interest can be reconstructed without having to scan stored video images in a date/time sequence. Accessing the memory is done without interrupting the image processor's processing of currently acquired video images.

This invention relates to video recording, and more particularly, to a digital video recording system for use at Point of Sale (POS) locations, Automated Teller Machines (ATM's), and other locations where the monitoring of activities is important.
Video recording equipment is in common use throughout industry and commerce. Conventional video recording systems are analog systems employing a video recorder which records images on a magnetic tape. The recorder used is a slow scan recorder whose video input is provided by a camera located at the POS or ATM. Recording is typically continuous over a predetermined period which is typically 24 hours. If nothing of significance occurs during the recording period, the tape is simply rerun again through the recorder with the prior recorded images being recorded over.
This process has a number of problems associated with it. In most installations, most of the time, nothing ever happens. Rather, the same tape is used over and over with the same background image being recorded over and over. Only if something of significance happens is the tape removed and replaced. Preferably, each tape should be removed, degaussed, and reinserted in the recorder at the end of each recording interval. Or, each tape is changed every day with the tape removed being degaussed before its next use. However, this is seldom done because of the expense or impracticality of doing so.
Because the same images are continuously being recorded, over time, the magnetic particles in the tape tend to align themselves in a particular orientation consistent with those images. This residual magnetization degrades the resolution capability of the tape and resulting quality of the recorded images. One problem law enforcement officers or security personnel have with the recording systems described above is that the poor quality of the recorded images makes it difficult to discern features or details of the events captured on the tape, including the identification of persons.
Another problem with conventional recording systems is that simply because an event of significance has occurred, recording does not stop. Thus, in order to view the event, it is necessary to rewind the tape and scan through it to the place where the event is recorded. In situations where time may be critical, the resulting delay is very undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,023 to Winter et al. teaches the use of circular pre-alarm buffering at high frame rates. The circular pre-alarm buffer is used to delay a signal until a set time has passed and a decision can be made as to the occurrence of an activity of interest. The circular pre-alarm buffer is continuously overwritten unless an alarm input triggers the contents to be marked for permanent storage. In this manner, high frame rate recordings (15 fps or more) can be made during the time of interest. The '023 Winter et al. patent specifically rejects the use of continuous recording at low frame rates (e.g. 1 fps) as outlined as possibly missing important data. The teachings of the '023 Winter et al. patent also discuss the detection of motion. However, there is no indication of how the motion detection is performed and specifically, the motion is not used to aid in the size reduction of the stored data. It is used to provide event related information for storage with the image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,551 to Logan et. al teaches the use of a buffer to provide a time delay in viewing stored images with pause, reverse, and thumbnail functions. The '551 Logan et al. patent also teaches that read-out rates may be different than input rates to accommodate a limited storage capacity. The '551 Logan et al. system cannot be readily adapted to systems with a large or unlimited storage capacity configured for continuous activity recording.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,276 to Adiletta teaches the detection of motion through comparison with a reference image, using macro blocks to determine two types of macro block coding, spatial and temporal. Spatial blocks are coded by encoding the raw block itself. Temporal blocks are coded by finding motion vectors relative to a reference block and then encoding the error between the reference block and the temporal block. The blocks are encoded by comparing them to reference images and assigning a code to each block. The complexity of the identification of motion vectors is processor intensive, and the use of these operations requires specialized hardware, with some of the processing being done in software.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,145 to Koyanagi also teaches the use of motion detection using a complex algorithm for brightness and color information. The '145 Koyanagi patent further teaches the use of motion range detection at various distances from the camera using a plurality of ranges. The '145 Koyanagi patent uses of one of three operator selected methods for updating the reference image, unconditional, conditional, or none. Reliance upon an operator selected method for updating a reference image introduces a source of error into the system, as the environmental conditions in an image field may change such that the update method originally selected by the operator is no longer the best method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,832 to Ng teaches the generation of a difference matrix of average differences between reference-frame macro blocks and current-frame macro blocks to detect motion. This may be used for intrusion detection. As an ancillary function, the current image is recorded if the difference matrix profile exceeds a threshold. Of note is that the entire image is recorded rather than only the difference portions as in the present invention. Also, only the image containing the detected motion is recorded and there is no continuous recording of image data, which may cause the loss of important context information contained in either previous of subsequent image frames.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,850 to Toyoshima teaches the use of an external sensor to detect the occurrence of an event to be monitored and to trigger the recording of an image associated with the event, adding to the complexity of the system.


An optical semiconductor device has: a semiconductor structure; a mesa structure including the semiconductor structure, a p-type semiconductor layer formed on a plane portion, a first side face and a second side face of the mesa structure, and a high-resistance semiconductor layer burying the mesa structure and the p-type semiconductor layer. The first side face is inclined toward a principal surface of the substrate more than the second side face. The p-type semiconductor layer has a carrier concentration in a portion related to the first side face lower than that of a portion related to the plane portion and the second side face. A distance between a lower end of the active layer and a boundary between the first side face and the second face in a vertical direction to the plane portion is not less than 0.1 μm and not more than 0.5 μm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Related Background Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-249767 discloses a semiconductor laser in which a mesa stripe having an active layer is buried in a high-resistance semiconductor layer composed of Fe-containing InP. This semiconductor laser can be formed, for example, by forming the mesa stripe and thereafter burying the mesa stripe in the high-resistance semiconductor layer. In the semiconductor laser of the foregoing Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-249767, a thin-film p-type semiconductor layer is interposed in an early stage of the step of burying the mesa structure (mesa stripe), thereby to suppress leak current flowing out from the active layer to the burying layer and obtain high optical output.

Optical semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same

Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, Inc.


A magnetic tape guide mechanism for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which includes a base having a large-inner-diameter hole with a larger inner diameter than a shaft hole, and a resilient synthetic resin member located in the large-inner-diameter hole and surrounding the shaft of a tape guide. As a result, a horizontally extended threaded hole and fixing screw conventionally required are eliminated and the overall construction is simplified. Moreover, the adjustment work is facilitated and the overall production cost of the components are substantially reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a magnetic tape guiding member for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, particularly, a home video tape recorder (VTR).
2. Description of the Related Art
In a so-called magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which performs magnetic recording and reproduction on a magnetic tape which is drawn out, for example, in a VTR, for reproduction of a software tape or a tape on which recording is conducted by another apparatus, the magnetically recorded pattern on a magnetic tape conforming to a predetermined standard must be suitable for various apparatuses. In present VTRs, the track width in the standard speed mode is 58 .mu.m while that in the triple recording/reproducing time mode is 19 .mu.m.
To achieve stable tracing of a magnetic head along the aforementioned widths, the precision of the associated parts must be increased. However, with the currently available techniques, it is impossible to increase the part precision to such a degree that the aforementioned specifications are attained. Consequently, manual and accurate fine adjustment is necessary in the final manufacturing process. The magnetic tape guiding mechanism provided by the present invention constitutes the portion of the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which requires this accurate fine adjustment.
As shown in FIG. 4, conventionally a magnetic tape 4 is accommodated in a cassette 1 in a state where it is wound around a supply reel 2 and a winding reel 3. The magnetic tape 4 is drawn out and is pulled around a rotating cylinder 5 on which a magnetic head 5a is mounted at a predetermined angle by tape guides 6 provided vertically on bases 10 when the bases 10 are driven by an adequate means (not shown) from positions (first positions) where they are accommodated in the cassette 1 in directions indicated by arrows A shown in FIG. 4. At that time, each of the bases 10 is accurately positioned on a chassis base 100 by an adequate means (not shown). The magnetic tape 4, pulled around the cylinder in the manner described above, is fed at a fixed speed in a direction indicated by an arrow B when a capstan 8 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow E (FIG. 4) by the rotation of a pinch roller 9 pressed against the capstan 8 with the magnetic tape between the pinch roller 9 and the capstan 8 in a direction indicated by an arrow D (FIG. 4), during which time magnetic recording and reproduction are conducted on the magnetic tape 4 by the magnetic head 5a mounted on the cylinder 5 which is rotating in a direction indicated by an arrow C (FIG. 4).
To obtain a standard magnetic recording pattern on the magnetic tape, it is necessary for the magnetic tape 4 to be fed in a highly accurate relative positional relationship with respect to the cylinder 5. However, it is impossible in the currently available techniques to process the cylinder 5, the chassis base 100 and the base 10 at the necessary high precision, and a certain amount of error (called a tolerance) is generated in each of the components. Hence, in order to feed the magnetic tape 4 in a highly accurate relative positional relationship relative to the cylinder 5, the position of the tape guide 6 provided vertically on the base 10 must be finely adjusted in the vertical direction relative to the base 10 (hereinafter referred to as a fine adjustment) to correct the conveyance path of the magnetic tape 4 relative to the cylinder 5.
A conventional tape guide mechanism of the type proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication 2-27414 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The tape guide 6 has a shaft 6d. A rotary roller 6c is fitted onto the shaft 6d. An upper flange 6a and a lower flange 6b are fixed on the shaft 6d near the two ends of the roller 6c at positions which are separated from each other by a predetermined interval. The upper and lower flanges 6a and 6b are provided to prevent removal of the roller 6c and to restrict the conveying position of the magnetic tape in the vertical direction. Below the lower flange 6b is provided an externally threaded portion 6e. The base 10 has an internally threaded portion 10a which engages with the externally threaded portion 6e of the tape guide 6, a shaft hole 10b, and a horizontal screw hole 10d which is connected to the shaft hole 10b.
The tape guide 6 is mounted on the base 10 by inserting the shaft 6d into the shaft hole 10b in the base 10 and then by threadedly engaging the externally threaded portion 6e with the internally threaded portion 10a. The entire tape guide 6 can be finely adjusted relative to the base 10 in the vertical direction utilizing the threaded engagement of these threaded portions by placing a flat point screw driver into a groove 6f in the upper flange 6a of the tape guide 6 and by slightly rotating the tape guide 6. The finely adjusted tape guide 6 is fixed by inserting a fixing screw 20 into the horizontal screw hole 10d and by pressing the distal end portion of the fixing screw 20 against the shaft 6d inserted into the shaft hole 10b.
One disadvantage of the above described proposed construction resides in the fact that, since the use of the fixing screw is necessary the horizontally extending threaded hole 10d must be drilled into the base 10.
Moreover, a further disadvantage resides in the fact that, in order to fix the tape guide 6, threading of the fixing screw into the horizontally extending threaded hole 10d is necessary thereby impairing the workability.
Furthermore, when the tape guide is finely adjusted, the fixing screw is temporarily loosened and, after the fine adjustment is completed, the fixing screw must be tightened again thereby requiring troublesome work.
By virtue of the above-noted disadvantages encountered in the prior art proposal, an increase in the production cost necessarily results.

Magnetic tape guide mechanism for magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus

Hitachi Automotive Engineering Co., Ltd.


The voltage configurable circuit includes: a first transistor 20 having a first end coupled to a first power supply node VCCA; a second transistor 21 having a first end coupled to a second power supply node VCCB and cross-coupled with the first transistor 20; input buffers having input buffer supply nodes coupled to a second end of the first transistor 20 and a second end of the second transistor 21; a first output port A-port coupled to a first one of the input buffers; and a second output port B-port coupled to a second one of the input buffers.

This invention generally relates to electronic systems and in particular it relates to a configurable voltage translating buffer.
A dual power supply system involves two sets of logic levels. Signal levels to the control inputs of a translating buffer can be incompatible with the buffer threshold, resulting in high power dissipation and/or nonfunctionality.
In a traditional prior art voltage translating buffer, one data port""s inputs are referenced to the first power supply voltage VccA and the other port""s inputs are referenced to the second power supply voltage VccB. The supply voltage that the control inputs are referenced to is an arbitrary hardwired choice made by the chip designer. Some prior art devices are offered in two versions, one with the control input referenced to VccA, and the other referenced to VccB. The end user has to make sure that the control signal logic levels are compatible with that arbitrarily chosen reference.
If the user applies voltage swings whose input high voltage Vih is higher than the reference, then there is no problem, assuming the inputs are overvoltage tolerant. However, since the input threshold is set lower than the midpoint of the incoming signal, the applied signal should swing rail to rail to maximize noise margins.
But if the user applies signal swings whose Vih is lower than the reference, then the input buffer is in a high static current mode because it is not biased fully off. This state is commonly known as the delta-Icc condition. This can cause high power dissipation, especially in situations where the control inputs are biased high most of the time.
A voltage configurable circuit includes: a first transistor having a first end coupled to a first power supply node; a second transistor having a first end coupled to a second power supply node and cross-coupled with the first transistor; input buffers having input buffer supply nodes coupled to a second end of the first transistor and a second end of the second transistor; a first output port coupled to a first one of the input buffers; and a second output port coupled to a second one of the input buffers.

Configurable dual-supply voltage translating buffer


An improved solar cell module is provided comprising a plurality of solar cell elements, each comprising a semiconductor layer and an upper electrode disposed in this order on the conductive surface of a substrate. This plurality of solar cell elements are spacedly disposed on a common, electrically insulative base member, with each solar cell element electrically connected in series with its adjacent element. An insulating material is disposed in the space between the solar cell elements in each pair of adjacent solar cell elements and a conductor formed of a conductive paste is disposed on the insulating material, such that one end of the conductor is electrically connected to the conductive substrate surface of one solar cell element, and the other end of the conductor is electrically connected to the upper electrode of the adjacent solar cell element. A process for producing the above solar cell module is also provided.

In recent years, heating of the earth because of the so-called greenhouse effect, due to an increase in atmospheric CO.sub.2, has been predicted. As a result, there has been an increased demand for a means of power generation capable of providing clean energy without causing CO.sub.2 build-up. Nuclear power is advantageous in this regard, since its generation does not cause a build-up of CO.sub.2. However, nuclear power unavoidably creates radioactive wastes harmful to living things. Moreover, there is a probability that injurious radioactive materials will leak from a nuclear power generation system if it is damaged. Accordingly, there is an increased societal demand for a power generation system capable of providing clean energy without causing CO.sub.2 build-up, as is the case with thermal power generation, and without causing radioactive wastes and radioactive materials, as is the case with nuclear power generation.
Various proposals have been made to meet this demand. Among those proposals, solar cells are expected to be a future power generation source, since they supply electric power without causing the problems mentioned above.
A number of proposals have already been made for solar cells. In addition, various studies have been made on the constituent semiconductor films, from the viewpoints of reproducibility, productivity, production cost, etc. For example, extensive studies have been made on inorganic and organic semiconductor films, particularly on non-single crystal semiconductor films of amorphous silicon (a-Si) or polycrystal silicon (poly-Si). These non-single crystal semiconductor films can be formed in a large area with a relatively low production cost.
When solar cells are used for power generation, a plurality of solar cell elements are integrated to form a solar cell module. Each solar cell element comprises one or more semiconductor films laminated on a conductive substrate. In addition to the constituent semiconductor films, the substrate is also an important factor, since it will determine properties such as shock resistance, flexibility, and the like.
Moreover, it is necessary to integrate a number of solar cell elements with one another while electrically connecting them in series. The solar cell elements are required to be electrically connected in series such that their conductive substrates do not contact each other.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a known solar cell module comprising a plurality of solar cell elements integrated by serially connecting them with each other by means of wiring materials. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 is a conductive substrate, reference numeral 101 is a lower electrode, reference numeral 102 is a semiconductor layer, reference numeral 103 is an upper electrode, reference numeral 104 is a collecting electrode, reference numeral 105 is a wiring material and reference numeral 106 is a solar cell element.
In order to prepare the foregoing solar cell module by integrating a plurality of solar cell elements, there is usually employed a method of serially connecting them using the wiring materials described above. In this method, the solar cell elements in each pair of adjacent solar cell elements are connected in series by electrically connecting the conductive substrate of one solar cell element to the collecting electrode situated on the front face of the other solar cell element with a wiring material. As a result, a so-called front face connection step and a so-called rear face connection step are employed. As mentioned, due care should be taken that the conductive substrate of the former solar cell element is electrically isolated from that of the latter solar cell element.
As can be seen, the process of preparing a solar cell module comprising a plurality of solar cell elements is complicated, and is difficult to automate.
Therefore, obtaining a multi-cell integrated solar cell module by the known process is time consuming, and the product becomes unavoidably costly.
Additionally, when preparing the known multi-cell integrated solar cell module in the above manner, since the wiring connection is made not only at the front face but also at the rear face of each of the constituent solar cell elements, the resulting multi-cell integrated solar cell module eventually exhibits a number of uneven portions caused by the wiring connection at its front face. These uneven portions often create blow holes in the protective layer subsequently formed to protect the multi-cell integrated solar cell module, or between the protective layer and the surface of the module at the time of forming the protective layer. These blow holes sometimes cause peeling of the protective layer because of the repetition of their expansion, and shrinkage due to increases and decreases in temperature, particularly when the solar cell module is used outdoors. In addition, since the refractive index is lower at the portion where the blow holes are located, light impinged on the protective layer is likely to be reflected before arrival in the solar cell element, thereby causing a reduction in the photoelectric conversion efficiency.
Further, in the case of the solar cell module of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, when a shear force occurs with respect to the arrangement interval of each solar cell element upon preparing the solar cell module, it is sometimes impossible to obtain reliable electrical connections for the solar cell elements. In particular, in the case where the interval between the respective adjacent solar cell elements is excessively narrow, a sag in the wiring material which will cause a short circuit is often formed. In the case where said interval is excessively wide, it is difficult to make a good electrical connection. When an excessively long wire is provided between the respective adjacent solar cell elements in order to obtain a solar cell module having a desired flexibility, the resulting solar cell module has an especially high probability of having a short circuit. Likewise, when an excessively short wire is provided between the adjacent solar cell elements, the resulting solar cell module becomes such that it is apt to cause breakage of the wiring or detachment of the connected portion. Therefore, the known solar cell module having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is unsatisfactory in view of reliability and productivity.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 21827/1983 and No. 54513/1983 disclose a method of integrating a plurality of solar cell elements on a common insulating substrate by way of a masked evaporation method or the like. As a modification of this method, a method of electrically connecting the adjacent solar cell elements disposed on a common conductive substrate by connecting their metal electrodes and transparent electrodes is also known. In this method, after an insulating layer is applied to the surface of the conductive substrate, a metal electrode pattern is intermittently formed for each of the solar cell elements by way of masked evaporation.
FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are schematic explanatory views respectively illustrating the configuration of a known solar cell module comprising a plurality of solar cell elements integrated on a common substrate by way of masked evaporation. FIG. 2(a) is a schematic planar view of this configuration, while FIG. 2(b) is a schematic sectional view taken along the line 2(b) in FIG. 2(a).
In FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), reference numeral 200 is a conductive substrate, reference numeral 201 is an insulating layer, reference numeral 202 is a lower electrode, reference numeral 203 is a semiconductor layer, and reference numeral 204 is a transparent, upper electrode. The solar cell module illustrated in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) comprises a plurality of solar cell elements in which an insulating layer 201 is disposed on a conductive substrate 200, and a lower electrode 202, a semiconductor layer 203, and a transparent electrode 204 are disposed, in that order, on the insulating layer 201. In this solar cell module, the respective adjacent solar cell elements are electrically connected by electrically connecting the transparent electrode of one solar cell element to the lower electrode of the other solar cell element, such that an extended portion of the transparent electrode of the former solar cell element, situated outside the region where the semiconductor layer is positioned, is connected to an extended portion of the lower electrode of the latter solar cell element, situated outside the region where the semiconductor layer is positioned.
However, the method of arranging a plurality of solar cell elements in series on a common substrate by way of masked evaporation also exhibits problems. In particular, it is difficult to align masks as desired, the yield in the case of producing a large area solar cell module is unsatisfactory, and a variety of masks are required to meet the demands for solar cell modules of desired electric power capacity and desired shape. In addition, there are other problems in using a conductive substrate. For example, it is necessary to coat the surface of the substrate with an insulating material, but it is difficult to perform this coating without introducing pin holes which cause short circuits, thereby reducing the performance of the solar cell. Moreover, the number of processing steps is large and the method is complicated, resulting in a costly product.

Multi-cells integrated solar cell module and process for producing the same


The disclosure is directed to a system and method for booting a plurality of servers from at least one of a primary storage drive and a secondary storage drive. An operating system installation image is stored in a primary storage drive. Snapshots including modifications to the operating system installation image are stored in a plurality of partitions of a secondary storage device. A lookup table directs servers to read unmodified portions of the operating system installation image from the primary storage drive. The lookup table further directs servers to read modified portions of the operating system installation image from the secondary storage drive.

Some data management systems include a plurality of servers that boot from an operating system installation image or from snapshots including modifications to the operating system installation image. The operating system installation image and snapshots are stored in partitions of a shared drive such as, but not limited to, a RAID volume. System performance is affected by competition among the servers attempting to simultaneously access the shared drive.
The shared drive typically includes one or more storage disks including, but not limited to, SATA hard disks. The servers rely on disk seek algorithms that tend to having weaker performance at outer disk tracks. Read look ahead buffers and other improvements can increase system performance by reducing latencies between server ports accessing the shared drive. However, any improvement is limited by continued competition among the servers for access to one or more disks of the shared drive.

System and method for booting multiple servers from snapshots of an operating system installation image while reducing access to unmodified portions of the installation image and reducing latencies between server ports

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A thermal power generation system includes: a boiler; at least one steam turbine; a generator; a condenser; at least one low-pressure feed water; a high-pressure feed water pump; at least one high-pressure feed water heater capable of heating water pumped by the high-pressure feed water pump by utilizing extracted steam; a catalyst device including at least one kind of catalyst capable of promoting reduction reaction of nitrogen oxide and oxidation reaction of metallic mercury, the nitrogen oxide and the metallic mercury both being contained in the exhaust gas; at least one mercuric oxide removing device capable of removing mercuric oxide produced by the oxidation reaction of the metallic mercury from the exhaust gas; and an exhaust gas temperature adjustment device capable of adjusting a temperature of the exhaust gas at the catalyst device, by adjusting heating of the water by the at least one high-pressure feed water heater.

In recent years, techniques have been developed to reduce mercury concentration of exhaust gas discharged from a thermal power generation system.
For instance, Patent Document 1 discloses an exhaust-gas treatment apparatus including a cooling device disposed upstream of a denitration catalyst and configured to control the temperature of exhaust gas to a predetermined temperature of 300 to 400° C. Furthermore, exhaust gas controlled by a cooling device to have a predetermined temperature is guided to the denitration catalyst to reduce and remove nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas, while metallic mercury in the exhaust gas is caused to react with hydrogen chloride to produce mercury chloride. A desulfurization apparatus disposed downstream of the denitration catalyst removes the mercury chloride from exhaust gas, by dissolving the mercury chloride into an absorbing solution. Accordingly, with the exhaust gas treatment device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to improve the efficiency of removing mercury from exhaust gas.

Thermal power generation system and control method for same


Described herein are techniques related to one or more systems, apparatuses, methods, etc. for implementing a wireless charging and a wireless connectivity in a device.

A docking station arrangement may provide a way of connecting peripherals such as a monitor, a keyboard, etc. to a device, such as a laptop computer. A wide range of different devices such as mobile phones, tablets, etc. may be docked to provide a convenient connection to these peripherals.
The docking station arrangement may facilitate a wireless charging and a wireless connectivity to the device. For example, the wireless charging may be implemented through a power transfer from the docking station to the device. The wireless power transfer may require, for example, a set of electrodes to be installed or mounted in the device and the docking station. On the other hand, the wireless connectivity may require additional antenna couplers to be installed in the device and the docking station.
With smaller and thinner devices, the installation or mounting of the set of electrodes and the antenna couplers are physically limited by availability of space within the devices. For example, to integrate the set of electrodes into a thinner device, a large planar area on the bottom of the thinner device is required to accommodate the set of electrodes (i.e., passive and active electrodes). In this example, current implementations may not allow this design since such an implementation may add undesirable thickness size to its overall structure.
Accordingly, a solution allowing efficient integration of the set of electrodes and the antenna coupler into the device is desired.
The following Detailed Description is provided with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number usually identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items.

Integration of wireless charging unit in a wireless device


A circuit for selectively converting at least one analog signal into corresponding digital codes. The circuit includes a management block having a plurality of inputs, each adapted for receiving a respective request signal carrying a request to convert the at least one analog signal. The management block is adapted to assign a priority level to the request signals based upon the input where the request signals are received, and is further operative to select one of the request signals based upon the assigned priority level and output a conversion start-up signal corresponding to the selected request signal. The circuit has a conversion block for receiving east one analog signal input and is connected to the management block to receive the conversion start-up signal as input, and start up conversion of the at least one analog signal.

Many electronic devices which use integrated circuits for the processing of analog and digital signals have to convert analog signals provided from independent units into digital signals or have to convert the same analog signal into a digital signal to satisfy requests from several independent units.
In these cases, since the requests for conversion can be almost simultaneous, i.e., concurrent, the prior art provides for the use of a plurality of analog/digital converters.
For example, in the conversion structure schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, two distinct analog/digital converters C_1, C_2 are used, each of which is provided for converting a respective analog signal VIN1, VIN2 into a digital signal. Request to convert the analog signal VIN1 is, for example, sent to converter C_1 from a first unit (not shown) by means of a conversion request signal CONVREQ1. After completion of the conversion, converter C_1 makes available, i.e. writes, a digital code resulting from the digital conversion of the analog signal VIN1 on an assigned bus OUTBUS1. Similarly, the request to convert the analog signal VIN2 is sent to converter C_2 from a second unit (not shown) and independent from the first unit, by means of a conversion request signal CONVREQ2. At the end of this conversion, circuit C_2 makes available, on an assigned bus OUTBUS2, a digital code resulting from the digital conversion of the analog signal VIN2.
In the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, a situation without a system clock is shown, so that the two converters C_1, C_2 use a clock signal generated locally by a respective oscillator CLK_GEN included in each of them. A detailed description of the functioning of such converters C_1 and C_2 is, for example, given in the European patent application EP 1583242.
As is known, analog/digital converters absorb energy even when they are not used to carry out their functions and occupy relatively large areas of the integrated circuit. For this reason, a conversion system of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 is unfavorable. Furthermore, the use of this architecture becomes impractical if there is a considerable number of analog signals to be converted and/or number of requesting units. This happens, for example, with mobile phones where size requirements are crucial and numerous analog signals normally have to be converted for a plurality of requesting units.

Circuit for selectively analog signals into digital codes


It is presented a converter arm for power conversion. The converter arm comprises: a plurality of converter cells, wherein each converter cell comprises a plurality of semiconductor switches, an energy storage element and at least three control signal connections arranged to control the conducting state of the plurality of semiconductor switches. Each converter cell is connected to receive a control signal from at least three entities via said control signal connections, wherein at least two of the three entities are neighboring converter cells, and each converter cell is arranged to forward a control signal to all connected neighboring converter cells via said control signal connections. A corresponding converter device is also presented.

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) is increasing in usage due to a number of benefits compared to AC (Alternating Current) for power transmission. In order to connect a HVDC link or an HVDC grid to an AC grid, conversion needs to occur from DC (Direct Current) to AC or AC to DC. This conversion can for example be performed using voltage source converters (VSC).
In the voltage source converters, converter cells are controlled by a main controller to synthesize the conversion. When there are many converter cells, each cell needs to be able to receive a control signal from the main controller, which can get complicated when the number of converter cells is large.
WO 2011/120572 presents a voltage source converter for high voltage DC power transmission and reactive power compensation. A presented voltage source converter includes a pair of serial assemblies arranged adjacent to one another to form a ring. Local data transmission links allow slave converter cells of the serial assemblies to receive data from and transmit data to each other. This provides a back-up communication route in the event of a communication failure between a global control unit and a master converter cell of one of the serial assemblies.
However, if possible, it would be beneficial to improve reliability even further in the way control signals are provided to the converter cells.

Converter arm and associated converter device


A method of facilitating interaction between a user and an automated system is provided. The method includes generating a graphical user interface on a display, with the graphical user interface inviting the user to provide an input to initiate execution of an operation. Upon receipt of an input from the user, a telephone call is automatically generated or initiated from the automated system to the user. The automated system can then prompt the user as required to execute the operation.

The present invention generally pertains to voice-activated command systems. More specifically, the present invention pertains to methods and apparatus for aiding potential call recipients in setting up or maintaining automatic voice-dialing systems.
Automatic voice-dialing systems typically use an introductory message recorded by a voice talent (a person hired for their voice) to greet callers, and to inquire from the callers who they would like to contact. A caller then speaks the name of the person he or she wishes to contact, and the voice-dialing system uses a speech recognition technique to identify or recognize the name of this intended recipient of the call. Typically, the voice-dialing system confirms the recognized name with the caller prior to connecting the call to the phone or voice mail associated with the recognized name.
Automatic voice-dialing systems are a cost-effective alternative to human operators. For systems that serve large numbers of people (for example, a company with more than 50,000 employees), however, it becomes impractical to use a voice-talent to record the name of each reachable person ("user"). Yet without a recording of each user's name, the voice-dialer would be forced to use text-to-speech when speaking the name, as is typically used when confirming it (for example, using a prompt such as "Did you say JOHN SMITH?").
The cost (in time and money) of recording each name can be substantially reduced by distributing the task among the users—i.e., asking each user to record his or her own name. This is a familiar task to users of most voice-mail systems. It is also a task that is often avoided, due to the perceived complexity or time required to make the recording.
The present invention provides solutions to one or more of the above-described problems and/or provides other advantages over the prior art.

Method and apparatus for soliciting personal voice recordings for a voice-dialing system


An adjusting structure is located between a bracing frame and a monitor for height adjustment by using slide-type mechanisms. The adjusting structure comprises a fixing base, a slide base, and a slide means, wherein several trenches are formed on the fixing base for holding the bracing frame. Two insertion trenches are oppositely formed on both sides of the fixing base for holding the slide base. The slide means is coupled with the monitor. When the user holds the both sides of the monitor, he can exactly hook and hold a braking shaft by hands so as to release ratches from a stop device such that the slide means, which is coupled with the monitor, can be inserted into the slide base so as to engage the ratches with the racks. As a result, the adjusting structure can be rapidly, accurately, and finely shifted to a proper height.

The LCD TVs and monitors are tiny and light so they are generally applied to show the public information. For the vertical and hanging types both, the use of additional bracing frames is unavoidable. The bracing frames not only facilitates the mounting of the monitors, but also can be applied to adjust angles of elevation or depression or change directions for handy reading and operation.
The conventional adjustable bracing frame is jointed, locked to the conventional monitor by a bolt. If there is a need to adjust the bracing frame, the bolt is first loosened to shift the bracing frame to a proper height followed by tightly screwing the bolt again. In this conventional manner, the user must hold the monitor by one hand and screw or unscrew the bolt by the other hand so as to protect the monitor against gravity to avoid sudden falling. As a result, the entire adjusting process is laborious. Moreover, it cannot perform the small-scoped adjusting process finely and precisely. In addition, the bolt for fixing must be screwed securely; otherwise the monitor may be fallen down.
In another improved adjustable bracing frame that has auxiliary hydraulic jack, the hydraulic jack can be applied for bracing such that the issue of laborious adjustment is thus improved. However, the hydraulic jack always provides the constant bracing force and the use of the bolt is still unavoidable. After experience of several adjusting processes, the bolt is unavoidable abraded so the achieved screwing effect is reduced. Therefore, the screwing effect must be reviewed to avoid the risk of falling after every adjusting process.


A control method for a hill start assistant control system may include determining that the vehicle is stopped and braked; receiving a current sensing value from an acceleration sensor on the vehicle which senses acceleration and periodically outputs a sensing value with the vehicle stopped and braked; determining whether a condition for stabilizing an output of the acceleration sensor is satisfied, using the current sensing value and a previous sensing value; finding an acceleration accumulation average by accumulating the current sensing value and averaging sensing values of the acceleration sensor which are accumulated up to a current time when the condition for stabilizing the output of the acceleration sensor is not satisfied; comparing the acceleration accumulation average with an accumulation reference value; and operating the hill start assistant control system, when the acceleration accumulation average is larger than the acceleration reference value.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control method for hill start assistant control system, and more particularly to a control method of operating a hill stat assistant control system without an error in a pitching motion of a vehicle due to sudden stop by normally recognizing a hill even when the vehicle starts after sudden stopping.
Description of Related Art
A driver takes a foot off the brake pedal and presses down the acceleration pedal to start a vehicle stopped on a hill (uphill road), in which the vehicle may be pushed down the hill due to the deficit of driving force.
Accordingly, a hill start assistant control system (hereafter, referred to as a 'HAC') that prevents a vehicle from being pushed back by sensing that the vehicle is pushed back with wheel speed sensors on the wheels and by generating a braking force on the wheels with a brake system when the vehicle stopped on a hill is started, has been disclosed.
The HAC, which is a system that applies a braking force on wheels until the power from an engine increases after recognizing a hill and then removes the braking force, operates when it recognizes a predetermined level or higher of inclination in stopping of a vehicle or in braking in which a driver presses down a brake pedal.
A longitude acceleration sensor is used in the HAC to measure an inclination and the controller of the HAC determines and recognizes a hill with a predetermined level or higher inclination, using the sensed value of the longitude acceleration sensor (hereafter, abbreviated as 'acceleration sensor').
Basically, acceleration sensors, as shown in FIG. 1, output 0 as an acceleration value that is sensed when a vehicle runs at a constant speed on level ground and they output + and − acceleration values when a vehicle decelerates on a level ground.
Further, acceleration sensors output + and − acceleration values even when a vehicle runs at a constant speed or stops on a hill (uphill road) and a downhill road (downward slope), and they output acceleration values higher in absolute value when a vehicle accelerates on a hill or a downhill road, as compared with when it runs at a constant or stops.
A pitching motion of a vehicle is generated, as shown in FIG. 2, right after the vehicle suddenly stops, in which the output values of acceleration sensors fluctuate around the value corresponding to the actual inclination until the values are stabilized.
As described above, the actual inclination is not accurately reflected when whether a HAC operates is determined, so the HAC does not normally operate in some cases, when a vehicle starts after suddenly stopping on a hill.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Control method for hill start assist control system


An analog line store comprises a bank of storage capacitors n in number, an n:1 read multiplexer for sequentially sampling from the n storage capacitors as part of a read-then-write operation, a 1:n write multiplexer for sequentially sampling to the n storage capacitors as a further part of the read-then-write operation, and a scanning register for generating control signals for the write multiplexer and the read multiplexer. The storage capacitors have similar capacitances that are substantially invariant with change in stored charge. Such an analog line store is integrated together with a solid-state imager array to provide for the cancellation of fixed pattern noise from the imager video output signal.

H. K. Burke and G. J. Michon describe a semiconductor imager of the charge-injection-device (CID) type in their U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,897 issued Nov. 23, 1976, entitled "SOLID STATE IMAGING APPARATUS", assigned to General Electric Company and included herewithin by reference. They also describe a semiconductor imager of the charge-injection-device (CID) type in their U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,421 issued Dec. 23, 1980, entitled "SOLID STATE IMAGING APPARATUS", assigned to General Electric Company and included herewithin by reference.
In CID image sensors that are fabricated using two levels of polysilicon, the background level signal is not absolutely flat. There is a spatial variation in the background level with no image signal present, owing to variations in threshold voltage and the interlevel capacitance from pixel-to-pixel. The interlevel capacitance varies because the dielectric is thermally grown oxide on the lower polysilicon conductors. The lower polysilicon conductors have a finite grain size, and the surface profile of the polysilicon grains is followed in the interlevel oxide, resulting in a film that is relatively uniform in thickness but non-planar in form. It is the variation from planar form that causes the variation in interlevel capacitance. This gives rise to the non-uniform, spatially-fixed background signal called fixed pattern noise. This fixed pattern noise, if not corrected, limits the sensitivity of the image sensor.
Previous apparatus corrects fixed pattern noise by reading each pixel twice, first with signal present and again after the signal has been cleared (injected). The difference between these two readings is free of fixed pattern noise within the accuracies of the readings and of the memory used to store the first reading while the second reading is being made. The memory temporarily stores a single sample of analog signal in this fixed pattern noise correction scheme. The pixel-by-pixel fixed pattern noise correction method is limited in pixel rate by the requirement that, during each scan line, each pixel be twice read and be cleared between its first and second reads.
The prior art has extended the pixel-by-pixel fixed pattern noise correction method, by reading a line of a signal is present from the CID imager and storing it for a line time interval. Then, the row is cleared of image signal and read again with only a line of fixed pattern noise present. Finally, the stored line of video and the line of just fixed pattern noise are differentially combined to recover the signal free of fixed pattern noise. The memory in such instance can be a linestore memory that stores an entire line of analog pixel values and has been implemented using a charge-coupled-device (CCD) clocked delay line. A CCD clocked delay line is difficult to make radiation-tolerant. There is a small charge transfer loss associated with each transfer of charge from one CCD clocked delay line stage to the next. The cumulative effects of these charge transfer losses begin to become significant as the number of charge transfer stages becomes appreciably large--e.g., more than fifty--leading a designer to look for a clocked analog delay line not appreciably affected by charge transfer losses. The line store method has also been implemented using two imager ports to generate dynamic updates to the fixed pattern noise.
A full frame memory has been used to store an entire frame of background fixed pattern noise samples for substraction from respective ones of the sensor output samples. The frame store method relies upon the fixed pattern noise being stable between frame store updates. A frame store for analog pixel samples can be implemented using CCD memory, with radiation-tolerance problems similar to those for a CCD clocked delay line. The frame store method requires a large memory and a method to update the fixed pattern noise frame as conditions, such as radiation-induced changes in image sensor pixel threshold voltage, change.
To avoid the problems of radiation-intolerance in CCD memory, techniques for digitizing the analog pixel samples and storing the digitized signals in digital memory have been used in the prior art. The digital memories tend to require considerably larger semiconductor die areas than analog memories, and errors are introduced in the digitization procedure.
One line of video memory is required for fixed pattern noise correction in CID star sensors operated in the row readout mode. It is desirable to include this line of video memory as analog memory on the sensor integrated circuit, in order to reduce overall star sensor apparatus size. Including this analog memory on the sensor integrated circuit in a radiation-tolerant star sensor also reduces the number of parts that need to be qualified for radiation tolerance. Linear capacitors and multiplexing switches are used to implement this analog memory in the invention.

Fixed-pattern noise correction circuitry for solid-state imager


The object of the present invention is to provide a gas sensor in which a gas detection element is mounted on a wiring substrate; in which a protective cap having gas inlets formed therein is attached to the wiring substrate; and which has a structure capable of effectively preventing emanation of gas from the wiring substrate and the protective cap. A gas sensor comprises a gas detecting element on a writing board where a protective cap with air vents is mounted. The sensor effectively prevents a gas from emanating from the wiring board and the protective cap. The wiring board where a plurality of gas detecting elements (8,9) are to be mounted is formed of a ceramic wiring board (2) excellent in heat resistance. The protective cap (3) having air vents (31 to 39) is formed of a metal excellent in heat resistance. The metal protective cap (3) is fitted to the ceramic wiring board (2) instead of using adhesive. In this way a gas sensor (1) is manufactured. Adoption of such a structure enables suppression of the gas emission from the ceramic wiring board (2) and the metal protective cap (3) effectively during the manufacturing step or in use of the gas sensor (1) attached to a car, thereby preventing lowering of the gas detection accuracy or early deterioration of the gas detecting elements (8,9).

A conventionally known gas sensor is configured such that a gas detection element (microsensor chip) is mounted on a package (wiring substrate) on which terminals for input from and output to an external circuit are formed and such that a cover in which a plurality of gas inlets are formed for introducing therethrough a gas to be measured is fixedly attached to a perimetric frame of the package (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1). Another conventionally known gas sensor is configured such that a gas detection element is held via a lead frame in a suspended condition by a quadrangular, tubular fixation element and such that the fixation element is fixedly covered at its top face with a cover element in which a plurality of gas inlets are formed for introducing therethrough a gas to be measured, and at its bottom face with a shield cover element (refer to, for example, Patent Document 2).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H11-233240    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H09-21774


Provided is a micro base station to be used in a heterogeneous cellular network. The micro base station has resources including frequency bands and time slots and being available for a user to use. The heterogeneous cellular network includes a plurality of base stations including a macro base station and the micro base station. The micro base station includes: an information acquiring part configured to acquire configuration information and load information of the micro base station, and to acquire configuration information and load information of a neighboring base station adjacent to the micro base station from the neighboring base station; and a resource selection part configured to select a part of the resources from the resources to provide the selected part of the resources to the user based on the configuration information and the load information of the micro base station and the neighboring base station.

This invention relates to a heterogeneous cellular network.
Currently, a conventional cellular network (hereinafter sometime referred to as homogeneous cellular network) including only one type of base station is widely used. A cellular network (hereinafter also referred to as "heterogeneous cellular network") including many types of base stations has also been researched and developed, and is being gradually applied and popularized.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the heterogeneous cellular network. In the heterogeneous cellular network illustrated in FIG. 9, there are four macro base stations (Macro BS) MBS and eight micro base stations mBS. Here, the micro base station is a generic term for mini type base stations, which are different from the macro base station, including, for example, femto base stations (Femto BS), pico base stations (pico BS), micro base stations (Micro BS), and the like. Further, MC (also referred to as "macro cell") represents a cell covered by the macro base station MBS, and mC (also referred to as "micro cell") represents a cell covered by the micro base station mBS.
Usually, the transmitting power of the micro base station is much lower than that of the macro base station, the coverage area of the micro cell is much smaller than that of the macro cell, and a probability that the number of users of the micro cell is smaller than that of the macro cell is high. However, in the related art, same frequency bands may be allocated to the micro base station and the macro base station, or in order to reduce interference between cells, different frequency bands may also be allocated to the micro base station and the macro base station. In addition, the frequency bands to be allocated to the micro base station and the macro base station are often in either state of being used up completely or being completely off.
Thus, when the same frequency bands are allocated to the micro base station and the macro base station, the micro base station allocates all of the frequency bands to the users in the micro cell. As a result, there is a fear of providing the so-called excess service of more than a required number of frequency bands for the users. For that reason, there exist problems in that not only the resources are wasted due to providing the excess service, but also the interference between cells becomes stronger because the micro base station and the neighboring base station use the same frequency bands, resulting in reducing the network capacity.
In order to reduce the interference, US2012/0157108A1 discloses a technology of a fractional frequency reuse mechanism for a heterogeneous cellular network. The mechanism is a direct extension of the fractional frequency reuse mechanism in the traditional homogeneous cellular network, i.e., allocating resources based on the user's position information. Further, WO2012/106987A1 discloses a solution of reducing the interference, in which the base station and the micro node in a heterogeneous cellular network use different position information.


Packet Switched (PS) handover based Circuit Switched Fall Back (CSFB) of a mobile station is controlled from an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) cell to a target Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) cell or a target GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) cell in a PS domain. A network node receives a handover request from a SGSN. A PLMN ID associated with the SGSN is identified. A set of PLMN IDs transmitted as system information by the target UTRAN cell or the target GERAN cell is identified. A PLMN ID index is generated to indicate an association between the PLMN ID associated with the SGSN and one of the PLMN IDs of the set. The PLMN ID index is communicated toward the mobile station for use during PS handover based CSFB. The mobile station embeds the PLMN ID index in a Location Area Update (LAU) message, and transmits the LAU message to a target BSS/RNS of the GERAN/UTRAN cell for use during the PS handover based CSFB.

With the introduction of the FULL-Multi-Operator Core Network (FULL-MOCN) feature a common radio access network (RAN, e.g. a BSS) will be shared by multiple Mobile Switching Centres (MSCs) and/or Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs), where each MSC and/or SGSN is associated with a different Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identified using a unique PLMN ID value. When a Mobile Station (MS) is operating in an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) service area and is attached to the UTRAN or GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) Circuit Switched (CS) domain, a CS fallback (CSFB) from E-UTRAN access to the UTRAN/GERAN CS domain access may become necessary if the MS cannot initiate an IMS voice session because it is either not IMS registered or IMS voice services are not supported in the E-UTRAN service area. CSFB operations are described in the standards document 3GPP TS (Technical Specification) 23.272. CSFB may be performed using PS Handover to the target UTRAN/GERAN service area (i.e., PS Handover based CSFB is triggered) where the target service area supports FULL-MOCN operation.
PS Handover based CSFB can be used in a scenario wherein the serving E-UTRAN core network may select a target UTRAN/GERAN cell that is associated with a Location Area (LA) which is different from one stored in the MS. Note that a change in LA will typically be experienced for PS handover based CSFB since it involves a change in RAT (radio access technology). Consequently, the MS will initiate a Location Area Update (LAU) procedure upon arrival in the target UTRAN/GERAN cell.
As part of the LAU procedure, the MS transmits a LAU REQUEST message to the target RAN. The target RAN is responsible for forwarding the LAU REQUEST message to the correct Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) based on the PLMN ID that was selected by the serving E-UTRAN core network (during the PS Handover procedure) for use by the MS upon its arrival in the target UTRAN/GERAN service area. Thus, the MSC to which the target RAN forwards the LAU REQUEST message should be the MSC associated with the selected PLMN ID. However, this becomes problematic for PS handover based CSFB to a target cell supporting FULL-MOCN since for this scenario there will be no process for the target RAN to determine the MSC to which it should forward the LAU REQUEST message because it will not be able to associate the MS sending this message with any specific PLMN.
For the non-handover scenario where an MS is able to read system information prior to sending the LAU REQUEST message, the Skip Indicator Information Element included in this message is used to provide the target RAN with the information it needs to determine the MSC to which it is to forward the LAU REQUEST message, i.e., it contains an indication of the selected PLMN ID. Prior to sending a LAU REQUEST message, the MS has knowledge of the set of PLMNs supported by its current serving cell (indicated by system information sent in the serving cell) whenever MOCN operation is supported. Therefore, for the non-handover scenario, the MS is able to use this information to set the value of the Skip Indicator included in the LAU REQUEST message to reflect the desired PLMN ID.
However, for the case of PS Handover based CSFB described above, there is no way for the MS to determine the PLMN selected for it to use in the target cell nor the set of PLMNs supported in the target cell. The MS is therefore unable to populate the Skip Indicator with information that the target RAN needs to use to correctly forward the LAU REQUEST message. With inaccurate/invalid information present within the Skip Indicator there is a high risk that the target RAN will forward the LAU REQUEST message to a MSC that is not associated with the PLMN selected for use by the MS, which may result in the MS receiving less than optimal service. For example, the MS may be billed excessively for all CS calls made while being served by the less preferred PLMN.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Methods and apparatus for controlling circuit switched fall back of a mobile station from E-UTRAN to UTRAN/GERAN in a full-multi-operator core network


Compositions of the invention comprise 8-oxoguanine glycosylase (OGG1) and SIRT6 activating peptide G-A-G-V-S-A-E-NH2. Compositions of the invention exhibit anti-aging effects by promoting the repair of skin cell DNA and/or by protecting skin cell DNA from UV damage.

Sirtuins are enzymes that play critical roles in many cellular epigenetic or metabolic pathways. In mammalian cells, seven sirtuin homologs have been identified, referred to as SIRTUINS 1-7 or SIRT1-7. SIRT6 is localized in the cell nucleus (of human keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, for example) and is a member of the conserved family of sirtuin proteins which are associated with metabolism and longevity. SIRT6 is a histone 3, lysine 9 (H3K9) deacetylase, and is primarily involved in DNA repair and telomere stability.
The term "SIRT6 activating peptide" means a peptide that causes the amount of SIRT6 in the cell to increase by whatever pathway causes that result. US2011-0318284, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses compositions comprising SIRT6 activating peptides. The peptides are derived from highly conserved regions of human SIRT proteins. Of the eight peptide sequences disclosed in US2011-0318284, the following sequence is of interest here:
(SEQ ID No. 1)G-A-G-V-S-A-E-NH2Gly-Ala-Gly-Val-Ser-Ala-Glu-NH2
Note that the NH2 group on the C-terminal end of the peptide has been substituted onto the peptide to improve the resistance of the peptide to certain forms of degradation. NH2 in that position does not occur naturally.
This peptide was reported to increase sirtuin 6 expression very significantly in normal human fibroblasts and normal human keratinocytes in short-term cultures. In addition, the sirtuin 6 expression stimulation effect was maintained for the long term. According to the reference, the activating peptides may be used alone or in combination with at least one other active agent, in a physiologically acceptable medium. The reference also discloses the utilization of a cosmetic composition to prevent and/or repair DNA degradation, improve telomere maintenance and reduce cellular senescence. However, US2011-0318284 makes no mention of Arabidopsis thaliana.
Co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 14/045,075, filed Oct. 3, 2013 discloses compositions comprising the same SIRT6 activating peptides as US2011-0318284. According to this reference, a SIRT6 activating peptide may be present in the composition in amounts ranging from 0.0001 to 8%, preferably from about 0.001 to 3%, more preferably from about 0.01 to 1%. In a preferred embodiment, the activating peptide is supplied as a component of a yeast extract.
U.S. Ser. No. 14/045,075 also reports that a dose dependent increase in SIRT6 expression in Normal Human Epidermal Keratinocytes (NHEK) was caused by the SIRT6 activating peptide:
(SEQ ID No. 1) G-A-G-V-S-A-E-NH2Gly-Ala-Gly-Val-Ser-Ala-Glu-NH2
It has been further reported that an unexpected increase in collagen synthesis in normal human dermal fibroblasts is caused by a combination of Laminaria digitata extract, Narcissus tazetta bulb extract, and a yeast protein extract that contains this SIRT6 activating peptide (SEQ ID 1). Furthermore, U.S. Ser. No. 14/045,075 mentions Arabidopsis thaliana extract in a long list of optional botanical extracts, wherein the suggested ranges for the one or more optional botanical extracts are reported as about 0.0001 to 10%, preferably about 0.0005 to 8%, more preferably about 0.001 to 5% by weight of the total composition. However, the Arabidopsis thaliana extract is not noted for any particular activity, and no synergy is disclosed between Arabidopsis thaliana extract and any of the SIRT6 activating peptides disclosed therein.
Arabidopsis thaliana Extract Containing 8-Oxoguanine Glycosylase
8-Oxoguanine glycosylase (OGG1) is a DNA repair enzyme that excises 8-oxoguanine, a base byproduct resulting from exposure to reactive oxygen species and ionizing radiation. OGG1 is active in both genomic and mitochondrial DNA, including in skin cells. 8-Oxoguanine glycosylase can be obtained by yeast fermentation of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis thaliana is a species in the Brassicaceae family, and is well known, as it is one of the model organisms used for studying plant biology. 8-Oxoguanine glycosylase extract from Arabidopsis thaliana ferment is commercially available in a liposomal formulation containing lecithin and water under the tradename Roxisomes™, from Barnet Products Corp., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. About 0.5% of the Roxisome™ is 8-Oxoguanine glycosylase.
Revoris is a commercially available wrinkle treatment product that reportedly comprises Roxisomes™ and two peptides: palmitoyl oligopeptide (a three amino acid peptide) and palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 (a four amino acid peptide). Neither of these peptides is the same as nor suggests the 7 amino acid peptide SEQ. ID 1. No synergy is suggested between the Roxisomes and the peptides of Revoris.

Compositions comprising a SIRT6 activator and a DNA repair enzyme


An electromagnetic blocking structure includes a dielectric substrate with at least one conductor layer in the dielectric substrate, the at least one conductor layer has a plurality of first unit cells of a first type without four-fold symmetry, and a plurality of second unit cells of the first type, the plurality of first unit cells and the plurality of second unit cells are arranged in a grid pattern with each first unit cell among the plurality of first unit cells being oriented substantially 90° relative to each second unit cell among the plurality of second unit cells.

Recently, the market for the "Internet of Things" has grown. Devices that historically were not designed for being connected to a network and/or the internet, for example, home appliances, wristwatches, automobiles, etc., are increasingly being manufactured with networking communications hardware to enable these devices to connect to the internet and/or other types of data networks. Further, many of these devices are connecting via wireless connections. Murakami et al., "Low Profile Design and Bandwidth Characteristics of Artificial Magnetic Conductor with Dielectric Substrate" Shingakuron (B) Vol. J 98-B No. 2, pp. 172-179 describes a system for block electromagnetic (EM) interference. Devices which use lower power for signal transmission experience a greater impact from EM interference because the EM interference is proportionally higher for these devices than for devices which utilize a higher power for signal transmission. Reducing the EM interference allows for greater range and signal quality for the networked devices, regardless of a power level for signal transmission.
Various EM blocking devices and substrates have been proposed for miniaturization. For example, attempts have been made to reduce the size of artificial magnetic conductors (AMCs) which have a regular pattern of patch-type unit cells. In these devices, each patch-type unit cell has a size equal to a resonator wavelength k. Murakami, mentioned above, includes films having patterns of loop structures and loop-slot structures. The unit cell size in Murakami is λ/4.
When a plane wave enters a metal conductor, the wave is reflected, and the phase of the reflected wave is shifted by 180°. This is generally referred to as an electric wall. If the metal conductor is near an antenna, an electromagnetic wave radiated from the antenna and the electromagnetic wave reflected by the metal conductor will effectively blocking the signal from the antenna due to destructive interference. In order to avoid this phenomenon, the distance between the antenna and the metal conductor is set to λ/4, in some instances. However, this increased distance results in an increase in the thickness of the antenna substrate. In addition to the above phenomenon, if a plane wave enters a magnetic body, reflection can with a phase shift of 0° rather than 180°.
Hayashi et al., "Reflection Characteristic of a Metal Plate Loaded FSR Using an Equivalent Circuit Model and Its Application to the AMC Substrate" Shingakuron (B), Vol. J 96-B No. 9, pp. 1010-1018; described metamaterial that are able to block EM interference by controlling a phase of a reflected plane wave to change from −90° to 90°.

Electromagnetic blocking structure, dielectric substrate, and unit cell


A fan motor speed control circuit includes: a driving circuit configured to drive a fan motor so as to run at a rotation speed corresponding to a drive signal; a comparison circuit configured to output a comparison signal for matching a rotation speed of the fan motor with a target rotation speed, based on a reference signal corresponding to the target rotation speed of the fan motor and a speed signal corresponding to the rotation speed of the fan motor; and a selection circuit configured to output to the driving circuit the drive signal corresponding to one signal out of the reference signal and the comparison signal, the one signal being a signal by which the fan motor is driven at a higher rotation speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fan motor speed control circuit, a fan apparatus, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An integrated circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) used for a server etc. increases in the amount of heat generated with increase in its operating speed. Since the CPU's increase in the amount of heat generated causes problems such as a thermal runaway, the server is generally provided with a fan for cooling the CPU. The rotation speed of the fan, namely, the rotation speed of a fan motor is generally controlled by a microcomputer etc., and an open control system (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-151792) and a feedback control system (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-68344) are known as a fan motor rotation speed control system.
The open control system (hereinafter, open control) is a system in which a driving circuit 500 drives a fan motor 510 based on a speed control signal for the fan motor 510 input from the microcomputer etc. as shown in FIG. 9. The speed control signal is for example a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal and the rotation speed of the motor increases according to the duty ratio of an H level (high level) of the PWM signal.
The feedback control system (hereinafter, feedback control) is a system in which a fan motor 530 is driven so that the rotation speed of the fan motor 530 will match a target rotation speed, as shown in FIG. 10. To describe FIG. 10 in more detail, a reference voltage circuit 600 receives for example the PWM signal with the duty ratio corresponding to the target rotation speed of the fan motor 530 as a speed control signal from the microcomputer etc., and outputs a reference voltage Vref corresponding to the duty ratio of the H level. A speed voltage circuit 601 receives an FG (Frequency Generator) signal corresponding to the rotation speed of the fan motor 530 and outputs a speed voltage Vv corresponding to the FG signal. A comparison circuit 602 compares the reference voltage Vref and the speed voltage Vv and outputs a drive voltage Vdr as a comparison result. A motor driving circuit 603, based on the drive voltage Vdr, drives the motor 630 so that the speed voltage Vv will match the reference voltage Vref.
Recently, not only the prevention of the CPU thermal runaway etc. is performed, but also the reduction of power consumption of the fan motor and the fan motor speed control circuit and fan noise is performed by for example controlling the rotation speed of the fan motor according to an operation rate of the CPU. In the case of controlling the rotation speed of the fan motor according to the operation rate of the CPU as described above, it is preferable for the microcomputer controlling the rotation speed of the fan motor that the rotation speed of the fan motor is determined uniquely and linearly with respect to the duty ratio of the H level of the PWM signal, for example, as shown in a required characteristic of FIG. 11.
In the open control, as shown in FIG. 11, the rotation speed of the fan motor does not change linearly with respect to the duty ratio in the range between the duty ratio D1 and the duty ratio D2 due to for example the effect of the power consumption of the fan motor. Furthermore, in the case of the open control, the rotation speed of the fan motor varies due to variations of a power supply of the fan motor and manufacturing variations of the fan motor. Also, by a change of environment of an apparatus mounted with the fan, the fan motor, and objects to be cooled, system impedance indicating a pressure loss to an air flow within the apparatus mounted with the fan is caused to change, which results in a change of the rotation speed of the fan motor. Namely, in the open control, the rotation speed of the fan motor does not change uniquely and linearly with respect to the duty ratio of the H level of the PWM signal.
Accordingly, a preferable fan motor control system is the feedback control system that is insusceptible to effects of a change of the surrounding environment and by which the rotation speed of the fan motor changes uniquely and linearly with respect to the target rotation speed of the fan motor, namely, the duty ratio of the PWM signal to be input.
Incidentally, P-Q characteristic (air volume—static pressure characteristic) is among important characteristics of the fan and the fan motor. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the P-Q characteristic, a relationship between the air volume and the rotation speed of the fan motor in the open control and the feedback control when the PWM signal with a predetermined duty ratio is input, where the air volume is taken as a horizontal axis, and the static pressure or the rotation speed of the fan motor is taken as a vertical axis. As shown in FIG. 12, under the open control, the rotation speed of the fan motor increases within a part of the range and this is caused by the effect of air resistance of the air sent by the fan.
On the other hand, within the above-mentioned part of the range under the feedback control: since the rotation speed of the fan motor is constant, the rotation speed of the fan motor is lower than that under the open control; and the static pressure is lower than that under the open control at the same air volume. The range within which the rotation speed of the fan motor under the open control is higher than that under the feedback control is defined as a range A.
As for a method of preventing lowering of the static pressure in the range A in the fan motor under the feedback control, there is a method of preventing deterioration of the P-Q characteristic by pre-programming the microcomputer so that the rotation speed of the fan motor will be higher in a deterioration range of the static pressure, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-120980. However, the P-Q characteristic changes depending on the kind of fan, manufacturing variations of the fan and the fan motor, the duty ratio of the PWM signal as a speed control signal, etc. Therefore, the method of correcting the P-Q characteristic by pre-programming the microcomputer in the fan motor under the feedback control has a problem that the P-Q characteristic cannot be improved appropriately when changing from an expected characteristic.

Fan motor speed control circuit, fan apparatus, and electronic apparatus

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


A projection exposure apparatus includes a light source; an aperture member having openings for shaping light beams emitted from the light source and having a shielding member formed into a uniform pattern over the entire area of the openings in order to reduce the area of the openings; a light condensing lens for irradiating light beams transmitted through the opening of the aperture member onto a reticule; and a projection lens for condensing light beams transmitted through the reticule onto the surface of a wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection exposure apparatus for use in photolithography or the like in an LSI manufacturing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional projection exposure apparatus is shown in FIG. 10. Light beams emitted from a light source 1, such as a mercury lamp, reach a fly-eye, lens, 3 via a mirror 2 and are divided into a plurality of light beams by the individual lenses 3a which form the fly-eye lens 3. After the light beams have passed through each of the lenses 3a, they each irradiate a reticle via an opening 4a of an aperture member 4, a mirror 5 and a light condensing lens, 6. After the light beams have passed through the reticle 7, each beam reaches a wafer 9 through a projection lens 8. As a result, a pattern formed on the reticle 7 is projected onto the surface of the wafer 9.
When a pattern is exposed using such a apparatus, there are some cases in which the value of the coherency .sigma. of the projection exposure optical system must be made small in order to increase the coherence. Accordingly, in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of openings, 4a, 4b 4c, having different sizes are formed in the aperture member 4. One opening is selected from among these openings and placed in the optical path, thus adjusting the coherency .sigma.. That is, if the opening 4c having a small opening area is selected, the coherency .sigma. of the optical system becomes smaller, that is, it approaches zero. If the opening 4a having a large opening area is selected, the coherency .sigma. of the optical system becomes larger.
However, if the opening 4c having a small opening area is selected in order to decrease the coherency .sigma., only the illumination light in the peripheral portion of the opening is shielded by the aperture member 4, and thus a problem arises in that the intensity of light at the peripheral portion of the wafer 9 and, thus, the light intensity is not uniform on the wafer.


An image data recursive noise filter wherein relatively high spatial frequency components of the image data are either not filtered at all or are filtered to a lesser degree than relatively low spatial frequency components of the image data. This minimizes blurring of fine low-contrast detail and also avoids "freezing" of noise in undetailed moving areas of the image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and a device for image data noise filtering, and to a display apparatus comprising such a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a motion adaptive first-order temporal recursive filter as proposed in References (1) and (2), for every pixel position x=(x, y).sup.T, with .sup.T indicating transposition, and an input luminance value F(x, t), the filter output F.sub.F (x, t) is defined as: EQU F.sub.F (x, t)=kF(x, t)+(1-k)F.sub.F (x, t-T) (1)
where k is a control parameter, defining the filter characteristics and T is the field period of the video signal, which equals 20 ms in a 50 Hz environment. In an interlaced scan environment'x has to be increased (x+(0, 1).sup.T) or decreased (x-(0, 1).sup.T) with one line, as the corresponding pixel in the previous field does not exist. In an advantageous implementation (Reference (3)), the vertical position is field alternatively increased or decreased: ##EQU1## where N.sub.F is the field number. The variable k is determined with a so-called motion detector, the processing of which can be expressed as: ##EQU2## where N.sup.1 and N.sub.2 are (usually small) neighborhoods around the current pixel, and LUT is a monotonous, non-linear Look-Up Table function that translates its argument into a value usually between 1/32 and 1.
Although the filter is adapted to perform less filtering in case of motion, see equation (3), usually some blurring of fine low-contrast detail is still visible. If the motion detector of equation (3) is set more sensitive in order to prevent this blurring, the noise reduction capability decreases dramatically as the noise itself is seen as motion.
Another disadvantage of the classical temporal filter described, is that it causes a "dirty window effect", i.e., the filter suppresses the higher temporal frequencies which "freezes" the noise on the screen. In undetailed moving areas, therefore, the noise appears as a dirt on the screen behind which the undetailed body moves.

Image data recursive noise filter with reduced temporal filtering of higher spatial frequencies


Disclosed herein are ethylene homopolymers generally characterized by a density of less than 0.94 g/cm3 and an inverse short chain branch distribution. These homopolymers can be further characterized by a ratio of Mw/Mn from 2 to 100, a number of short chain branches from 2 to 20 short chain branches per 1000 total carbon atoms, and wherein at least 50% of the short chain branches are methyl branches.

Polyolefins such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) homopolymer and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) copolymer can be produced using various combinations of catalyst systems and polymerization processes. In some end-use applications, it can be beneficial for the catalyst system employed to incorporate short chain branching, without the use of a comonomer, to produce lower density ethylene homopolymers. Further, it can be beneficial for the ethylene homopolymer to have a broad molecular weight distribution (MWD), to result in good extrusion processability and polymer melt strength and bubble stability in blown film applications. Accordingly, it is to these ends that the present invention is generally directed.

Ethylene homopolymers with a reverse short chain branch distribution


The end portions of a plurality of optical optical fibers are stripped; the coated portions of the fibers constituting pigtails. The stripped portion of one of the fibers is fused to an uncoated fiber section having a diameter that is larger than that of the stripped fiber end portions. A fiber optic coupler preform is made by surrounding the uncoated fiber section with the stripped portions of the remaining fibers to form a close-packed fiber array. At least a portion of the overlapping region of the uncoated fiber section and the stripped end portions is heated and drawn to induce the coupling of optical signals between the uncoated fiber section and the stripped portions.

This application is based upon the provisional application Ser. No. 60/054,412, filed Jul. 31, 1997, which we claim as the priority date of this application.
This invention relates to fiber optic couplers and, more particularly, to 1.times.N couplers (N>2) that are capable of coupling substantially equal amounts of power from an input optical fiber to three or more output optical fibers; it also relates to methods of making such couplers. "Fused fiber couplers" have been formed by positioning a plurality of fibers in a side-by-side relationship along a suitable length thereof and fusing the claddings together to secure the fibers and reduce the spacings between the cores. Various coupler properties can be improved by inserting the fibers into a capillary tube prior to heating and stretching the fibers, thereby resulting in the formation of an "overclad coupler". To form an overclad coupler, the fibers are inserted into a glass overclad tube, the tube is evacuated, and its midregion is heated and collapsed onto the fibers. The central portion of the midregion is thereafter drawn down to that diameter and coupling length which is necessary to obtain the desired coupling. The present invention relates to both fused fiber couplers and overclad couplers.
Fiber optic couplers that are capable of coupling light from a centrally located input optical fiber to a plurality of output optical fibers that surround the input fiber are well known. It has been known that coupling characteristics are affected by the spacing between the output fibers. Substantially equal coupling ratios require equal fiber spacing. Six output optical fibers fit around another fiber of equal diameter to form a close packed array. However, for many purposes, devices other than 1.times.6 couplers, for example 1.times.4 couplers or 1.times.8 couplers, are required.
One fiber spacing technique involves gluing each output fiber to the input fiber so that each output fiber is properly located about the circumference of the input fiber. This method is very tedious and time consuming and therefore unsuitable for commercial production.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,206 teaches a method of making a 1.times.N fiber optic coupler, wherein N is not equal to 6, by assembling a coupler preform comprising two concentric glass tubes having a gap therebetween. The shape and/or size of the inner tube relative to the shape and/or size of the outer tube is such that a plurality of output optical fibers can be equally spaced in the gap. If the inner surface of the outer tube and the outer surface of the inner tube are circular in cross-section, N must be greater than 6. An input optical fiber is disposed in the centrally located aperture in the inner tube. The input and output fibers extend through the midregion of the resultant coupler preform. The midregion is heated to collapse it about the fibers, and the central portion of the midregion is stretched to reduce the diameter thereof over a predetermined length. A spacer tube having an outside diameter of 205 Tm and an inside diameter of 130 Tm can be used to form a 1.times.8 coupler from commercially available optical fibers having an outside diameter of 125 Tm. The eight output fibers just fit around the spacer tube, and the input fiber fits in the spacer tube aperture. However, this embodiment of 1.times.8 coupler is difficult to implement. First, it is difficult to make the spacer tube as it is very small in diameter and has an extremely small wall thickness. Moreover, it is very difficult for a technician to insert the input fiber into the spacer tube. The tube wall is so thin that that part of the spacer tube that is grasped by a technician collapses to an elliptical cross-section. Also, the fiber can be damaged by the spacer tube as the technician is inserting the fiber into the spacer tube. The difficulty encountered in threading the input fiber into the spacer tube makes the process more labor intensive and adds to the cost of making the coupler.
When making 1.times.8 couplers by the aforementioned technique employing a spacer tube between input and output fibers, it has been conventional practice to glue the ends of the overclad tube to the fibers to improve the pull strength of those portions of the fibers that extend from the coupler. It is noted that the portion of the spacer tube that will be in the midregion of the coupler preform cannot be glued to the input fiber as the midregion is subjected to a temperature sufficient to burn the glue and ruin the coupler. Also, the glue would block evacuation of air during the tube collapse step. However, since the spacing between the input fiber and the spacer tube is extremely small, glue applied to an end of the spacer tube cannot flow between that tube and the input fiber. Therefore, an insufficient amount of glue contacts the input fiber to provide it with adequate pull strength.
To increase pull strength of the input fiber, the single spacer tube is replaced by a short length and a longer length of spacer tube. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,326. A drop of glue is applied to a portion of the uncoated end of the input fiber adjacent its coating, and it is inserted into the short piece of spacer tube. The glue then occupies the space between the fiber and spacer short tube. After the glue is cured, the remaining uncoated portion of the input fiber is inserted into the longer piece of spacer tube. The longer piece of spacer tube is not glued to the input fiber so that the space between them can therefore be evacuated. The length of the shorter spacer tube is sufficiently short that it is not located in the midregion of the coupler preform. The length of the longer spacer tube is sufficiently long that it extends entirely through the preform midregion. Input fiber pull strength is improved; however, it is a labor intensive process.
Another technique for making 1.times.8 couplers involves reducing the cross-sectional area of the eight output optical fibers. Methods of reducing the cross-sectional area of a fiber include etching, machining, and drawing. Such methods are difficult to control and cause the reduced diameter portion of the fiber to become fragile. Moreover, the refractive index of the central, large diameter fiber is the same as that of the cladding of the etched, small diameter fibers.


A video image capture device of the present invention includes: an optical system having distortion characteristics which enlarge the center portion and compress the peripheral portions; an image sensor which performs photoelectric conversion of a subject image focused by the optical system to output as original image data; a distortion correction circuit which corrects distortion in the original image data; an instruction portion which sets the size of an extraction angle of view for the original image data before correction of distortion; and a recording device which, taking the angle of view of the original image data to be a first angle of view, stores in succession image data corresponding to the first angle of view of the original image data and, as pairs, image data corresponding to a second angle of view narrower than the first angle of view set by the instruction portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video image capture device, and in particular relates to a video image capture device which performs zoom operations using an optical system having distortion characteristics.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-328511, filed Nov. 14, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In image input devices such as camcorders, and digital cameras, zoom functions are widely used, in which the lens focal distance is modified so as to freely enlarge and reduce an image, corresponding to the distance to the subject for image capture and the size occupying the angle of view. Such zoom functions are broadly divided into optical zoom, which is ordinarily realized by mechanically moving an internal lens, and electronic zoom, in which a portion of the image data output from an image sensor is enlarged. Compared with the optical zoom, the electronic zoom requires no driving portions and is compact and inexpensive, but image quality suffers because a portion of the image data is enlarged.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 10-233950, an electronic zoom image data input method is proposed. This image data input method employs a fixed-focal distance image input optical system having a function for compressing the peripheral portion of an input image and a light-receiving element with primarily uniform pixel density which receives the light of the image. In this image data input method, zoom image data at an equivalent resolution is realized in the area of operation owing to a function for correction conversion of optically received images of the light-receiving element including distortion caused by compression. By adopting such a method, although image quality degradation in the peripheral portion cannot be avoided, image data in the center portion of the image with minimal degradation of both wide-angle image data and of telescopic image data can be obtained.
When the zoom image capture is performed using a camcorder, digital camera or similar, the position of the image for zoom capture is sought using a wide-angle image, and when the position of the image for zoom image capture is thus determined, zoom operation is performed using this position, and a zoom image of the desired subject is captured. When performing zoom image capture, moreover, the device returns to a wide-angle image to confirm the angle of view. Hence the ability to rapidly select and display a wide-angle image and a zoom image is desirable. Moreover, at the time of reproduction the ability to rapidly select and display a wide-angle image and a zoom image is desirable.