A link establishing system according to the present invention is constituted by connecting between an upper device and a lower device a pair of optical transmission devices which have the same configuration and are connected with each other through an optical fiber. The optical transmission device is provided with an optical signal/electric signal converting circuit for determining an optical signal transmitted from a remote device as a receive signal, an optical signal detecting circuit for outputting an optical detection signal R1 indicating a result of detecting the receive signal, a byte-synchronous circuit for detecting a synchronous pattern from the receive signal and achieving byte-synchronism to output a synchronism establishment signal C1, and a link detecting circuit for detecting link establishment to output a link establishment signal L1 based on the signals R1 and C1. A monitoring circuit outputs a link establishment informing signal LX to a upper device and a lower device when the link establishment signals L1 and L2 are detected from the both optical transmission devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a link establishing system and a link establishing method for confirming whether bi-directional data transmission is enabled through a pair of optical transmission devices connected to each other between a first device and a second device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a technology associated with this type of link establishing system, there is a synchronizing system or the like disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 63-9705 and "DRAFT PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL STANDARD--Fiber channel--Physical and Signalling Interface", pp. 71-89, issued by ISO. As shown in FIG. 3, such a synchronizing system is constituted by a pair of optical transmission devices 33 and 34 connected with each other through an optical fiber 41 between an upper device 31 and a lower device 32, and judgment is made upon whether the bi-directional data transmission is possible between the upper device 31 and the lower device 32 by executing a process called "handshake" through the optical transmission devices 33 and 34.
In this synchronizing system, in order to execute the handshake process, a specific pattern is first generated by a specific pattern generating circuit 42 of the optical transmission device 33 in the upper device 31, and the specific pattern is converted into an optical signal using an electric signal/optical signal converting circuit 36, the converted optical signal being transmitted to the optical transmission device 34 in the lower device 32 via the optical fiber 41 in accordance with the timing of a clock signal fed from a clock generating circuit 40.
In the optical transmission device 34, the optical signal supplied from the upper device 31 is received by an optical signal/electric signal converting circuit 38, and the optical signal is thereby converted into an electric signal as a receive signal. The receive signal is input to a specific pattern detecting circuit 43 that makes judgment upon whether a specific pattern is included in the receive signal and outputs a receive data signal indicating the result of the judgment. Although the receive data signal is input to a response circuit 44, the receive data signal is transmitted to the electric signal/optical signal converting circuit 36 if the receive data signal indicates that the specific pattern has been detected. The electric signal/optical signal converting circuit 36 converts the receive data signal into an optical signal, the optical signal being returned to the upper device 31 over the optical fiber 41 in accordance with a timing of the clock signal from the clock generating circuit 40.
In the optical transmission device 33 in the upper device, the optical signal fed from the lower device 32 is subsequently received in the optical signal/electric signal converting device 38 and converted into an electric signal as a receive signal. The receive signal is input to a specific pattern detecting circuit 43 that detects if a specific pattern is included in the receive signal or not.
If the specific pattern is detected in the specific pattern detecting circuit 43, it is possible to confirm the following states. That is, the optical transmission device 33 in the upper device 31 can appropriately perform transmission; the specific pattern fed from the upper device 31 can be appropriately received by the optical transmission device 34 in the lower device 32; the optical transmission device 34 can adequately effect transmission; and the optical transmission device 33 in the upper device 31 can adequately carry out reception. It has been therefore confirmed that the bi-directional data transmission is possible between the upper device 31 and the lower device 32, thereby establishing the link.
It is to be noted that a transmitting circuit 37, a receiving circuit 35 and a synchronizing signal extracting circuit 39 in each of the optical transmission devices 33 and 34 function when actually transmitting data between the upper device 31 and the lower device 32 in the bi-directional manner after establishing the link.
In case of the above-mentioned synchronizing system (link establishing system), the specific pattern generating circuit is provided to the optical transmission device in the upper device and the handshake for sending/receiving the specific pattern between the upper device and the lower device is effected to establish the link, which makes the processing procedure to establish the link troublesome, thus enlarging and complicating the circuit configuration required in the optical transmission device.
Further, there is a difference between the upper device and the lower device in provision of the specific pattern generating circuit in the optical transmission device configuration, and hence sharing of data transmission between the upper device and the lower device is not smoothly ensured, resulting in troublesome and inconvenient design development or maintenance of the optical transmission device.

Link establishing system and link establishing method


A wiring substrate includes wiring layers and insulation layers alternately stacked. Via holes are formed in the insulation layers. First via wirings are formed in the via holes to electrically connect the wiring layers to one another. Through holes extend through a lowermost one of the insulation layers in a thickness direction. The lowermost insulation layer covers a lowermost one of the wiring layers. Second via wirings are formed in the through holes to define an identification mark that is identifiable as a specific shape including a character, a symbol, or a combination thereof. A lower surface of each of the second via wirings is exposed from a lower surface of the lowermost insulation layer and is flush with a lower surface of the lowermost wiring layer.

In recent years, wiring substrates used for mounting of electronic components such as semiconductor chips have been decreased in size and increased in density. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-194321 describes a technique of acquiring a plurality of unit wiring substrates from a large-sized wiring substrate.
As illustrated in FIG. 18, a large-sized wiring substrate 80 includes a plurality of unit wiring substrates 81 (here, 9 unit wiring substrates) and an outer frame 82 surrounding the unit wiring substrates 81. The wiring substrate 80 is cut at cutting positions A10 and fragmentized into the unit wiring substrates 81.
An identification mark 83 that is identified as a specific character or symbol at a planar view is formed on each of the unit wiring substrates 81. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the identification marks 83 are identified as "B1" to "B9" at a planar view. For example, each of the identification marks 83 indicates position information or lot information of the corresponding unit wiring substrate 81. An example of a method of forming the identification mark 83 will now be described below.
First, a provisional substrate serving as a support substrate is prepared. Then, a wiring layer including a plurality of pads is formed on the provisional substrate. Then, a required number of wiring layers and a required number of insulation layers are sequentially stacked using a build-up technique, and a number of through holes are formed in the uppermost one of the insulation layers. The through holes form the identification mark 83 identifiable as a specific shape at a planar view. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the through holes form the identification mark 83 identifiable as, for example, "B1".

Wiring substrate and semiconductor device


A swim fin having a shoe and an integrally connected bi-level, relatively short fin assembly. The fin assembly includes upper and lower levels connected by side walls. Automatic valve flaps are provided at the outer portions of baffles and pivot about transverse axes. The valves automatically open and close during the kick to change the apparent area of the assembly. The bi-level arrangement increases the overall efficiency of the swim fin during use.

Heretofore, various types of swim fins have been provided to propel a swimmer underwater with increased speed. One type of swim fin angles the flipper part thereof downwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the foot in order to take into consideration the posture and leg movements of the human body while swimming, and the direction of intended movement. It can be recognized that a swimmer has much less muscular power to apply during the upstroke portion of each cycle than during the downstroke. In view of such lesser power, the swim fin operates better when it includes normally open vents which are closed during each upstroke to increase the apparent area of the fin. This increase in area provides some decrease in the effort that is exerted by the swimmer to move forward through the water. However turbulent flow of water through such vents can increase the effort required on the downstroke considerably.
A related patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,820 issued Dec. 9, 1986 to Penebre (U.S. Class 441/64) which discloses a swim fin having upper and lower rounded shells that surround a water flow area, and an outwardly extending web or flipper having about the same length as the shells. The flipper is attached centrally near the front ends of the shells, so that the shells together with the fin provide a considerably elongated construction. Check valves in the form of flaps or baffles operate alternately during the power and return kick strokes to increase the propulsion forces. However swim fins disclosed in this patent are quite long due to the fact that the valve assembly is located well to the rear of the fin itself, which is believed to reduce the overall efficiency as compared to the present invention. Moreover the swim fin disclosed in the '820 patent does not provide a structure in which the flexibility of the fin is increased in the toe region. The Lamont U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,343 issued Oct. 4, 1988 (U.S. Class 441/64) shows upper and lower slots providing a flexible fin, however this swim fin also is quite lengthy, which is believed to reduce efficiency.
A general object of the invention is to provide a new and improved swim fin assembly having a multi-level, relatively short construction which increases the efficiency and mobility with which a swimmer can move through the water.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swim fin of the type described which has upper and lower, relatively short fins, and check valve means associated with each fin for controlling the flow of water therepast in a manner that increases the overall efficiency of the fin assembly.


The present invention relates to improved compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of various diseases, including forms of depression, including, for example, breakthrough depression and treatment-refractory depression, and other mood disorders, as well as Parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), and obesity. In some embodiments, the compositions and methods comprise low dose naltrexone or related opioid antagonists.

Mental illnesses and obesity are increasing prevalent disorders in the modern world and require improved treatments to maximize patient quality of life and reduce health care costs.
For instance, depression refers to a serious medical illness that affects one's thoughts, feelings, behavior, mood and physical health. Major depression, also referred to as clinical depression, major depressive illness, major affective disorder and unipolar mood disorder, may involve some combination of the following symptoms: depressed mood (sadness), poor concentration, insomnia, fatigue, appetite disturbances, excessive guilt and thoughts of suicide. Left untreated, depression can lead to serious impairment in daily functioning and even suicide. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. Researchers believe that more than one-half of people who die by suicide are experiencing depression. Each year depression affects 5-8 percent of adults in the United States. Therefore, about 25 million Americans will have an episode of major depression this year alone. Without treatment, the frequency and severity of depression symptoms tend to increase over time.
Furthermore, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system with marked motor symptoms linked, in part, to the death of dopamine-generating cells. Common symptoms of this disorder are movement-related, including shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Behavioral problems and dementia are also common, particularly in late stage disease. Bipolar disorder describes a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
Obesity is a disorder marked by excessive body fat that negatively affects a patient's health. If a person's bodyweight is at least 20% higher than it should be, he or she is considered obese. Obesity is linked to a panoply of diseases, including coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (e.g., endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, and gynecological problems, among others.
Unfortunately, sufficient treatment for these disorders has proven elusive. For instance, in the context of depression, while certain pharmaceuticals have proven somewhat successful, medical practitioners face the challenge of unpredictable responses and eventual loss of effect, necessitating constant evaluation of treatments and, often, changes in treatment regimens. Further, anti-depression pharmaceuticals are often characterized by unpleasant side effects.
Therefore, there remains a need for therapies that are useful for treating various mental illnesses and obesity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Treatments for depression and other diseases with a low dose agent


A method of transmitting and receiving data using superposition modulation in a wireless communication system having multiple antennas is disclosed. More specifically, the method comprises encoding the at least one inputted data stream by a channel coding scheme, puncturing the at least one inputted coded data stream into at least two sub-streams, layer-modulating the at least two sub-streams using layer-modulation schemes, transmitting the layered-modulated sub-streams via the multiple antennas, wherein transmission power of each antenna is based channel condition, and receiving by at least one user the layered-modulated sub-stream, wherein the each user uses different demodulation scheme.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of transmitting and receiving data, and more particularly, to a method of transmitting and receiving data using superposition modulation in a wireless communication system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Today, users of wireless communication enjoy freedom of mobility. That is, the user with a mobile terminal is able to travel from one place to another while talking to someone without losing connection. Often, a user moves from one service coverage area to another service coverage area (e.g., from one cell to another cell). In other words, the user receives service from one coverage area serviced by one base station (BS) (or an access network) to a different coverage area serviced by another BS. This is necessary since a mobile terminal can be connected to only one BS at a time.
When moving from one service coverage area to another service coverage area, it is important to the user to be able to continue to receive service without interruption or losing connection. This is generally referred to as a handoff (or handover). Further, in a more traditional sense, it is also very important for the user to continue to effectively receive service in the current service coverage area absent handover situation.
To this end, it is important that the signals from the BS are transmitted to at least one receiving end (e.g., mobile station or access terminal) more efficiently and more reliably.

Method of transmitting and receiving data using superposition modulation in a wireless communication system


To provide a fibrillation detector and a defibrillator that are capable of correctly detecting within a short time a ventricular fibrillation (VF) that shows an irregular amplitude or shape, an R-wave detection unit R_DETECT_MEAN converts power of a frequency component making up an R wave of an electrocardio signal ECG into an approximately DC component, and outputs the converted power as R-wave power V_R. A T-wave detection unit T_DETECT_MEAN converts power of a frequency component making up a T wave of the electrocardio signal ECG into an approximately DC component, and outputs the converted power as T-wave power V_T. The R-wave power V_R and the T-wave power V_T are input to a comparison unit CMP, and the comparison unit CMP outputs a magnitude comparison result between the R-wave power V_R and the T-wave power V_T as a comparison signal sig_comp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fibrillation detector that processes an electrocardio signal obtained from a heart of a living body, and a defibrillator including the fibrillation detector.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-238724, filed Oct. 30, 2012, and published as Japanese Publication No. 2014-087454 (A) on May 15, 2015, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
When a heart normally operates, the heart enters a state called a normal sinus rhythm (NSR). Hereinafter, characteristics of the electrocardio gram (ECG) in the NSR state will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows a diagram cited from FIG. 4.4 of John G. Webster, "Design of Cardiac Pacemakers", IEEE Press (1995), and FIG. 10 shows a diagram cited from FIG. 8.6 of John G Webster, "Design of Cardiac Pacemakers", IEEE Press (1995).
When an ECG in the NSR state is measured, an ECG called QRS waves as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. FIG. 9 shows a waveform of the ECG In this drawing, a horizontal direction represents time, and a vertical direction represents amplitude. Characteristics of P, Q, R, S, T, and U described in FIG. 9 represent signals called a P wave, a Q wave, an R wave, an S wave, a T wave, and a U wave in the ECG, respectively.
FIG. 10 shows results obtained by performing a frequency analysis (Fourier transform) of the ECG in the NSR state. From a graph in FIG. 10, it can be seen that the center of a spectrum of the T wave appears at approximately 5 Hz, and the center of a spectrum of the R wave appears at approximately 8 to 15 Hz.
For a patient to which an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is applied, a cardiac seizure called a ventricular fibrillation (VF) may occur. When the VF occurs in a patient, the ECG of the patient shows an irregular amplitude or waveform, and as described later, it is difficult to distinguish the QRS waves or T wave. In a case of performing a Fourier transform of the ECG in the VF state, an amplitude of a spectrum, which is present at approximately 8 to 15 Hz and corresponds to the R wave, has a tendency to decrease, and an amplitude of a spectrum, which is near approximately 5 Hz and corresponds to the T wave, has a tendency to increase. The VF causes a circulatory arrest of blood within several seconds, and is the largest cause of sudden cardiac death. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately perform an electrical defibrillation.
Hereinafter, description will be made with respect to a structure in which the ICD described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,169 detects a cardiac beat with reference to FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C and 12A and 12B. FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C show a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,169, and FIGS. 12A and 12B show a diagram corresponding to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,169.
FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C illustrate a method of measuring a cardiac rate using a fixed threshold value. In this drawing, a horizontal direction represents time, and a vertical direction represents amplitude. In this drawing, a solid line represents an ECG, and a broken line represents a threshold value. A portion at which the solid line and the broken line intersect each other is counted as a cardiac beat. The solid line in FIG. 11A represents an ECG of a typical NSR, the solid line in FIG. 11B represents an ECG of a typical ventricular tachycardia (VT), and the solid line in FIG. 11C represents an ECG of a typical VF. In addition, broken lines TI, TII, and TIII represent threshold values that are very suitable to detect cardiac beats of the NSR, VT, and VF, respectively.
In general, when the counted cardiac rate is 145 bpm (beats per minute) or less, it is diagnosed as NSR, when the counted cardiac rate is 146 to 225 bpm, it is diagnosed as VT, and when the counted cardiac rate is 226 bpm or more, it is diagnosed as VF. In addition, when peak values of respective ECGs of the NSR, VT, and VF are compared to each other, the peak value of the VF apparently has a value smaller than those of the NSR and VT. As can be seen from FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C, when a high threshold value, which is very suitable to detect the cardiac beat of the NSR and VT, is set, the cardiac beat of the VF is not detected, and when a low threshold value, which is very suitable to detect the cardiac beat of the VF, is set, there is a danger that the T wave that is present in the ECG of the NSR and VT is detected as the cardiac beat.
Therefore, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 12A, a method of detecting the cardiac beat using a threshold value that exponentially attenuates from a peak position of the R wave (the solid line at an upper end of FIGS. 12A and 12B) is generally used. This method is called an AGC method. FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate a method of measuring the cardiac rate using the AGC method. A solid line in FIG. 12A represents an ECG and a broken line in FIG. 12A represents a threshold voltage in the AGC method. In the drawing, a horizontal direction represents time, and a vertical direction represents amplitude. In a general AGC method, the threshold value has a characteristic of exponentially decreasing from a 75% value of a peak value when detecting the R wave, and a time constant thereof is 400 ms.
A bar graph of FIG. 12B represents a timing at which a cardiac beat is detected, and a portion of a range A in FIG. 12B corresponds to the NSR, a portion of a range B corresponds to the VT, and a portion of a range C corresponds to the VF. As can be seen from this drawing, the cardiac rate in NSR and VT sections is correctly detected.


The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for producing Ac-225 from Ra-226, comprising submitting Ra-226 to a photo-nuclear process, collecting an electrochemical precipitation of an Ac-225 on a cathode in a recipient, removing the cathode from the recipient after the electrochemical precipitation of the Ac-225, transferring the cathode to a hot cell environment, and extracting the Ac-225 from the cathode in the hot cell environment. The Ra-226 may comprise a liquid solution in the recipient, and submitting Ra-226 to the photo-nuclear process may comprise irradiating the Ra-226 to produce Ra-225. The Ra-225 may decay into Ac-225 upon irradiation of the Ra-226.

Such a method is known from WO 01/41154. According to the known method, a solution comprising Radium-226 is placed in a recipient, and a beam of electrons is then targeted at a converting material for producing photons. The photons are then targeted at the Radium-226 so that a photodisintegration reaction occurs and Ra-225 is formed, which decays into Ac-225. The obtained Ac-225 can then be collected by a wet chemical process by using an ion exchange column.
A drawback of the known method is that it requires a radiochemical manipulation for recycling the targeted Ra-226. Such a recycling is time consuming and involves a very risky process as Ra-226 is a highly radioactive substance.


A main object of the present invention is to provide an ion conductor which has excellent ion conductivity and high electrochemical stability. The present invention resolves the problem by providing an ion conductor represented by a general formula: (AxM1−x−yM′y)Al2O4 (“A” is a monovalent metal, “M” is a bivalent metal, “M′” is a trivalent metal, and “x” and “y” satisfy relations: 0<x<1, 0<y<1, and x+y<1) and having a spinel structure.

With the recent rapid spread of information processing-related devices and communication devices such as personal computers, video cameras, and mobile phones, importance placed on developments of batteries used as power sources for the above-mentioned devices has been increasing. Further, in the industry fields such as automobile industry, developments of batteries having high output and high capacity for electric vehicles or hybrid cars have been made. Currently, lithium batteries are attracting attentions from a viewpoint that they have high energy density among the various batteries.
The lithium batteries currently available in the market use a liquid electrolyte containing a flammable organic solvent. As such, they require installation of a safety device to inhibit the temperature rise at the time of short circuit or improvement in technical structure or materials to inhibit short circuit. In contrast thereto, a lithium battery having its battery all solidified by changing the liquid electrolyte to a solid electrolyte layer does not use a flammable organic solvent in the battery. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify the safety device and thereby thought to be good in production cost and productivity.
As the ion conductor (solid electrolyte material), an ion conductor having a spinel structure is known. The spinel structure is a structure represented by a general formula AB2X4, in which "X" is an anion of 16th and 17th group elements (such as O2−, S2−, and Cl−); "B" is a metal cation provided to an octa-hedral site (such as Al3+, Mn3+, and Ti4+); and "A" is a metal cation provided to a tetra-hedral site (such as Li+, Mg2+, Zn2+.
Active researches have been made on the ion conductor having the spinel structure. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the ion conductor which is represented by Li2xZn1−x(Al2)O4. Further, an ion conductor which has an inverse-spinel structure is known. For example, Non-Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose the ion conductor containing Cl− as an anion.


A receiver (100) has improved signal weighting parameter estimation. The receiver receives a signal (101) having encoded data. A decision circuit (106) is coupled to the received encoded data to generate a first signal weighting parameter which is used to modify the received encoded data. The modified data is then decoded to output the decoded data. The decoded data output is then re-encoded using a technique similar to that used by the transmitter. The re-encoded data is then used to calculate a second signal weighting parameter which, in turn, is used to modify a stored replica of signal (101). The modified version of the stored replica is then decoded to yield a more accurate estimate of the information contained within the signal (101) at a receiver (100).

Soft-decision decoding is widely used within digital communications due to the performance gains which result from considering channel information within the decoding process. In order to realize the entire available gain, accurate information about a channel, or a signal transmitted, must be available to the receiver. However, since the structure of the channel is typically unknown, the channel parameters required to realize the entire available gain must be estimated by the receiver.
For an arbitrary binary communication channel with time-varying channel gain and noise variance, the channel can be modeled as: EQU r=p.sub.o x.sub.s +n (1)
where r is the received signal vector, p.sub.o is the channel gain (diagonal) matrix, x.sub.s is the transmitted signal vector, and n is is noise vector. Typically, a maximum likelihood decoder attempts to find the value of s, where s is some sequence, for which the probability density function of the vector (given that x.sub.s was transmitted) is largest. At this point, the maximum likelihood decoder declares that x.sub.s was the transmitted message.
Since the probability density function of the vector r is a function of both the channel gain and the noise variance, it is apparent that an accurate estimate of both the channel gain and the noise variance is required if valid soft-decision information is to be determined. However, the validity of the estimates of the channel gain and the noise variance is directly related to the accuracy of the estimates of the variance of the received signal power, .sigma..sub.r.sup.2 (k), and the variance of the received error signal, .sigma..sub.e.sup.2 (k), with respect to transmitted signal x.sub.s (k). While .sigma..sub.r.sup.2 (k) is simply related to the received signal power, .sigma..sub.e.sup.2 (k) is not as easy to obtain since, at the receiver, the transmitted sequence x.sub.s (k) is not available. Current techniques attempt to circumvent this problem by assuming that for a specific symbol in the received sequence of the signal, the error signal is the difference between the received signal and the closest constellation point (CCP). While this technique is adequate if the CCP corresponds to the transmitted signal, in cases where it does not (i.e., the channel has caused an error), the estimate of .sigma..sub.e.sup.2 (k) can be highly inaccurate.
Thus, a need exists for a new method and apparatus for estimating the variance of the received error signal .sigma..sub.e.sup.2 (k) which provides a significant increase in accuracy by fully utilizing the information available at the receiver.

Method and apparatus for estimating signal weighting parameters in a receiver


A structure of light emitting diode (LED) wafer-level chip scale packaging (WL-CSP) is disclosed. The process of making the same is also provided in this invention. The LED CSP utilizes the through hole metal filling to enhance heat conduction between the LED die and its carrier substrate. The CSP structure is achieved by bonding pre-processed through-hole-filling carrier substrate against the flip-chip LED wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to light emitting diode (LED) packaging, and more particularly to light emitting diode (LED) wafer-level chip scale packaging (WL-CSP) for enhancing heat conduction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Light emitting diode (LED) is a device that transforms electric power into light source. Compared with conventional light sources, the LED has advantages of low input voltage, low power consumption, and quick response time. Furthermore, the LED has other beneficial characteristics, such as light weight, low cost to manufacture, and capability of mass production. Accordingly, the LED has become an indispensable element in the modern life, especially in the electronic, communication, and consumer products fields.
One of the main purposes of semiconductor packaging is to protect the circuit chip from being damaged physically or chemically, ensuring the proper functionality of the integrated circuit. The selection of the packaging material is very important not only to meet the protection requirement, but also to enhance the reliability and functionality of the integrated circuit.
As the LED becomes more high-power, more heat is therefore generated, which disadvantageously leads to worsened characteristics, declined intensity, and even burnt-out device. Conventionally, the LED packaging seldom concerns the heat dissipation, which is at most treated in printed circuit board (PCB) level or in system level, albeit still not effectively solves the heat dissipation problem. Some exemplary heat-dissipating packaging designs and corresponding circuits are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,355 entitled 'High Flux LED Array' and are reproduced in FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C.
As shown in FIG. 1A, an LED 4 is flipped on a printed circuit board, which consists of a dielectric layer 10 and conductive trace 8. The printed circuit board (8, 10) further overlies a metal substrate 6. The heat generated by the LED 4 is conducted through a thermal contact 20 and thermally conductive material 24, and finally to the metal substrate 6. The heat is further conducted through the via 12 in the printed circuit board (8, 10), which is filled with thermally conductive material.
FIG. 1B shows another arrangement for dissipating the generated heat. Compared with that in FIG. 1A, a submount 30 is inserted between the LED 28 and the PCB (8, 10), and power channels 40 are devised within the submount 30 to facilitate the electrical power connection between the LED 28 and the conductive trace 8. Similar to FIG. 1A, the heat generated by the LED 28 is conducted through a thermal contact 46 and thermally conductive material 24, and finally to the metal substrate 6. The heat is further conducted through the via 12 in the printed circuit board (8, 10).
FIG. 1C shows a further arrangement for dissipating the generated heat. Compared with that in FIG. 1B, the electrical power connection is accomplished by way of bonded wires 5, instead of power channels. Similar to FIG. 1A or FIG. 1B, the heat generated by the LED 28 is conducted through a thermal contact 46 and thermally conductive material 24, and finally to the metal substrate 6. The heat is further conducted through the via 12 in the printed circuit board (8, 10).
The packaging designs mentioned above suffer the disadvantage of having a packaging area far greater than the LED area. The number of the LEDs that the submount 30 can hold is therefore greatly restricted, even those packaging designs somewhat improve the heat dissipation.
For the reason that conventional LED packaging could not effectively solve the heat dissipation problem, a need has arisen to propose a novel LED packaging to effectively conduct the heat generated from the LED and increase the number of LEDs per packaging area, thereby improving the efficiency of the LED.

Wafer-level chip scale packaging for LED comprising carrier substrate with thermally conductive through holes and fill channels

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A data transfer control device and electronic equipment that make it possible to implement high-speed data transfer while observing restriction that prevent the traversing of page boundaries. A data transfer control device that conforms to the IEEE 1394 standard comprises a page table fetch circuit for fetching a page table from another node if a page table exists in a data buffer at the initiator, a page table creation circuit for creating a virtual page table if no page table exists, and an SBP-2 core for automatically dividing transfer data into a series of packets that do not traverse page boundaries based on the thus fetched or created page table and transmitting them. The page table creation circuit creates a page table in which a portion between a start address and a Kth page boundary is an X-type page table element, a portion between the Kth and Lth page boundaries is a Y-type page table element, and a portion between the Lth page boundary and an end address is a Z-type page table element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transfer control device and electronic equipment comprising the same, and, in particular, to a data transfer control device that enables data transfer in accordance with the IEEE 1394 standard between a plurality of nodes connected to a bus, and electronic equipment comprising the same.
2. Description of Related Art
An interface standard called IEEE 1394 has recently been attracting much attention. This IEEE 1394 has standardized high-speed serial bus interfaces that can handle the next generation of multimedia devices. IEEE 1394 makes it possible to handle data that is required to have real-time capabilities, such as moving images. A bus in accordance with IEEE 1394 can be connected not only to peripheral equipment for computers, such as printers, scanners, CD-RW drives, and hard disk drives, but also to domestic appliances such as video cameras, VTRs, and TVs. This standard is therefore expected to enable a dramatic acceleration of the digitalization of electronic equipment.
However, some technical problems have been identified with such a data transfer control device conforming to IEEE 1394, as described below.
That is to say, the current IEEE 1394 standard does make it possible to implement transfer speeds up to a maximum of 400 Mbps. In practice, however, the presence of overhead processing forces the actual transfer speeds of the entire system to be much slower. In other words, the firmware (processing means) running on a CPU require large amounts of time for processes such as preparing for transmitting data, dividing transfer data into packets, and issuing the transfer start command, which means it is not possible to implement high-speed data transfer overall, no matter how fast the data can be transferred over the buses.
A particular problem lies in the fact that a CPU incorporated into peripheral equipment has a lower processing capability than the CPU incorporated into the host system, such as a personal computer. This makes the problem of overhead processing in the firmware and application software extremely serious. It is therefore desirable to provide techniques that are capable of efficiently solving this overhead problem.
In addition, when data is transferred between an initiator (host) such as a personal computer and a target (device) such as a CD-RW drive or printer, there are restrictions that prohibit data transfers that exceed page boundaries within a data buffer (storage means) on the initiator side. If the initiator has specified addresses by an indirect addressing method using a page table, it is not particularly necessary for the target side to consider such restrictions. If the initiator has specified addresses by a direct addressing method, however, a problem is raised in that the target side has to perform data transfers while observing such restrictions.

Data transfer control device electronic equipment and method data transfer control


A process is provided for preparing a resin composition for coloring which comprises the steps of a phase replacement and dehydration of a pigment (a); water (b); a thermoplastic resin (c), an aqueous dispersion or solution of a thermoplastic resin (d) or an aqueous compound (e) in a twin screw extruder. Also, there is provided a resin composition for coloring prepared by such a process. It is possible to efficiently manufacture a resin composition for coloring (master batch) which has excellent pigment dispersibility and which is capable of uniform coloring without causing color unevenness.

Compositions for coloring a thermoplastic resin include a powdery dry color in which a pigment and a dispersant therefor are blended, a liquid color or paste color in which a pigment is dispersed in a dispersant which is liquid at ambient temperature, and a master batch in the form of pellets, flakes, or beads, in which a pigment is dispersed in a resin which is solid at ambient temperature. These coloring compositions are properly used in accordance with their use to make the most of their characteristics. Among them, master batches are used conventionally from the viewpoints of easiness in handling and preservation of the working environment during use. Therefore, master batches have nowadays come to require even higher pigment dispersibility and distribution properties than before as thermoplastic resins are molded more precisely and quicker, as well as have properties of high pigment concentrations and reduced influence upon various characteristics such as heat resistance and strength of the thermoplastic resins to be colored.
When a high level of pigment dispersion is required e.g., in cases where thermoplastic resins are spun at a high speed to a diameter of 10 and several microns or processed into films, it may happen that conventional pigment dispersibility of master batches is insufficient. That is, problems due to poor pigment dispersion occur, such as breakage of threads during spinning, plugging of filters of melt spinning machines, and shaping deficiency during filming. In order to solve these problems and improve the dispersibility of master batches, it is a conventional approach to use, as dispersants for providing dispersibility, one or more of stearic acid, zinc stearate, magnesium stearate, aluminum stearate, calcium stearate, lithium stearate, ethylene bisamide, polyethylene wax, polypropylene wax, or waxes composed of derivatives thereof, such as acid-denatured products. In addition, attempts have been made for improving methods of processing a master batch or for enhancing pigment dispersibility by use of a powerful kneader. However, sufficient pigment dispersibility to solve the above-mentioned problems was not obtained.
In addition, in the field of large-size injection molding in which colored pellets have conventionally been used, color unevenness and flow marks have become the problem in coloring molded products, as master batches are more frequently used for coloring. In blow molding and film forming in which master batches are conventionally used for coloring, plasticizing, blending, and kneading are all carried out in an extruder of the molding machine. On the other hand, in injection molding machine, plasticizing, blending, and kneading steps are carried out in a cylinder in which a screw may move back. However, kneading power in the cylinder is not sufficient as compared with extruders. Moreover, kneading power decreases, as molding cycle time is shortened and molding resins have lower viscosities. As a result, color unevenness tends to occur in the surface of resulting molded products.
In addition, a master batch comes to be added to a resin to be colored in reduced amounts after development of high concentration master batches in which the pigment content in master batches is increased so as to reduce costs needed for coloring. As a result, a chance that color unevenness and flow marks occur has increased. Although this problem is common among a variety of thermoplastic resins, it is especially outstanding in polypropylene resins which are frequently used in recent years in the fields of household appliances and automobile parts. Therefore, a solution of the problem is needed without delay. A conventional approach for solving this problem is one of increasing the amount of a dispersant among the three primary components of a master batch (a pigment, a dispersant, and a base resin), or of reducing the melt viscosity of a master batch by, for example, using a base resin which has a viscosity smaller than that of a resin to be colored.
However, polypropylene resins filled with inorganic fillers or having a melt flow rate (hereinafter referred to as MFR) in excess of 25 for facilitating a thin wall molding tend to generate color unevenness or flow marks. Therefore, this disadvantage must be overcome.
Conventionally, master batches are prepared by premixing a composition of a dry powdery pigment, a dispersant, and a base resin in a Henschel mixer, or the like, introducing the composition into a batch-type kneader such as a three roll mill or a kneader, melt-kneading it for a long time, pulverizing a resulting pigment dispersion using a crusher to a size that enables supply to a uniaxial extruder, and then by pelletizing them with the uniaxial extruder. However, since powdery pigment once dried contains numerous agglomerated particles including coarse secondary, tertiary, and higher grade cohesion particles, it is very difficult to re-disperse these coarse agglomerated particles at a size of not more than several micrometers. Moreover, the process is a batch-type and employs many steps, automation and reduction of labor are desired. In addition, improvement in a working environment in which dry pigments are scattered by the use of dry powdery pigments is also desired.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned various drawbacks and to provide an efficient process for preparing a resin composition (a master batch) for coloring a thermoplastic resin, which does not cause 5% or more decrease in mechanical strength of the thermoplastic resin, for example, tensile strength, bending strength, and impact strength thereof, which has excellent pigment dispersion ability, which is capable of providing a uniform coloring without causing color unevenness, the process providing a good working environment.

Process for preparing resin composition for coloring and a resin composition for coloring


A control system for heating or cooling equipment prior to startup. A temperature sensor senses the temperature of equipment whose temperature is to be controlled. Using an input device, the user of the invention may provide input parameters such as the equipment's expected start time, the size of the equipment, and the rating of the heating or cooling device(s) to be used. A computer utilizes the input parameters and the temperature of the equipment to calculate an activation time at which the heating or cooling device(s) should begin heating or cooling the equipment to provide the equipment with a desired temperature at the expected start time. At the activation time, the computer provides an initiation signal, which causes the heating or cooling device(s) to begin heating or cooling the equipment. In a more specific embodiment, the invention may be utilized to efficiently preheat an engine in frigid conditions by selectively applying power to one or more heaters.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a control system for heating or cooling equipment. More particularly, the invention concerns an intelligent system for efficiently heating or cooling an item of equipment such as a gasoline combustion engine, by selectively applying power to one or more heating or cooling devices, in response to certain input parameters.
2. Description of Related Art
Most gasoline combustion engines become more and more difficult to start with lower and lower ambient temperatures. This presents a formidable problem in cold climates, where automobile engines can be especially difficult to start during the winter season. Even if a cold engine can be started, starting the engine at a less-than-optimum temperature significantly increases the wear and stress experienced by the engine.
A common solution to this problem is to pre-heat the engine before starting it. Engines have been pre-heated with a variety of known heaters. Such heaters are typically used to heat the engine's circulating coolant or the engine's lubricant. These heaters usually require some modification to the engine. For example, some circulating coolant heaters require a heating element to be connected in the circulating water system, and others require a freeze plug to be attached to the engine block. With another type of heater, a device is placed into the dip stick column of the lubricant well. A more primitive approach is to simply place a heat generating device such as a flood lamp or a space heater under the engine to directly heat the engine by convection.
Although some of the above-mentioned heaters burn liquid or gaseous fuel, many utilize an electric heating element that operates on alternating current (a.c.) power from a source such as a wall outlet. In many cases, the vehicle's user leaves the heater running continuously throughout the night. Alternatively, the user may manually connect the heater to electrical power a sufficient time before starting the engine; another option is for the owner to use a timer switch to connect the heater to electrical power at a selected time.
A number of automobile engine heaters are discussed in various patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,753 ('753), entitled "Portable Engine Preheating System," issued on Sep. 17, 1991 to Michael Kellie. The '753 patent concerns a portable engine preheating system with a timer-operated heating cycle, where a thermostat overload protection system operates if the temperature of the engine rises above a predetermined critical value.
Another example of an automobile engine heating system is U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,639 ('639), entitled "Auxiliary Automobile Heater," issued on Apr. 15, 1975 to Charles Wilson and George Wilson. The '639 patent involves an automobile heating system in which a gasoline-fueled heater operates for a heating cycle of adjustably predetermined duration. The duration of the heating cycle is selectively determined either by a timer or by remote radio control. The heating cycle may be automatically activated when the ambient temperature drops below a predetermined value. If this occurs, the heating cycle will then terminate once the engine temperature reaches a second predetermined value. The '639 patent utilizes a battery heater in addition to the engine heater.
Since electricity rates for many consumers today are higher than ever, many people reduce their electricity consumption to save money. Additionally, many people conserve electricity for environmental reasons, since they realize that most electrical power plants generate electricity by burning fossil fuels. In this context, the previously-mentioned heating systems are not as advantageous as some might like, although such devices may be useful for certain applications. In particular, these devices are limited, since their engine heating cycles may be longer than the minimum time necessary. Arrangements that use timers are optimally efficient only if the user knows in advance how much heat will be required to safely start the vehicle's engine; this quantity depends upon the engine's size, the ambient temperature, the heater's power rating, and other related factors. For most drivers, such calculations are inconvenient or even impossible. Even if the user is capable of making such calculations, mistakes may lead to an inadequate preheating cycle, and an engine that will not start. Therefore, the previously-discussed methods are limited, and, as a result, they waste electrical power or they are unreliable.
Furthermore, these types of devices are not as beneficial as some might require, since they do not enable simultaneous operation of diverse types of heaters such as auxiliary engine heaters, vehicle interior heaters, battery heaters, and transmission heaters. Additionally, these systems do not accommodate a user who decides not to start his/her vehicle, since these systems permit the engine heaters to run indefinitely.

Intelligent controller for equipment heater


A delay locked loop circuit includes a phase-frequency detector, a sampler, a charge pump, a bias generator and a voltage-controlled element. The phase-frequency detector outputs at least one difference signal by detecting a phase difference between an input clock signal and a feedback clock signal. The sampler outputs at least one sampled signal by delaying the difference signal in accordance with the input clock signal. The charge pump generates a control voltage in accordance with the sampled signal. The bias generator generates at least one bias voltage in accordance with the control voltage. The voltage-controlled element is controlled with the bias voltage to output the feedback clock signal to the phase-frequency detector in accordance with the input clock signal. A method for eliminating jitter and offset between an input clock signal and an output clock signal in a delay locked loop circuit is also disclosed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a clock synchronization circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit and a method for eliminating jitter and offset therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Clock synchronization circuits are commonly used in electronic systems to provide good clock distribution, which is very important to overall performance of a product. Examples of such clock synchronization circuits include a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit and a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit. Conceptually, PLL and DLL circuits operate similarly. For DLL circuits, they include analog DLL circuits and digital DLL circuits, in which the analog DLL circuits have different performances from the digital DLL circuits.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical analog DLL circuit. The analog DLL circuit 100 includes a phase-frequency detector (PFD) 102, a charge pump (CP) 104, a low pass filter (LPF) 106, a bias generator 108 and a voltage controlled delay line (VCDL) 110. The PFD 102 compares the phase difference between an input clock signal CKIN and a feedback clock signal CKON, and has two outputs UP and DN. The output of the PFD 102 is a pulse with a width equal to the amount by which CKIN leads or lags CKON. If CKIN leads CKON, the pulse appears on the UP output of the PFD 102. If CKIN lags CKON, the pulse appears on the DN output of the PFD 102.
The UP and DN outputs are input to the charge pump 104, and the charge pump 104 converts the input, either UP or DN, into an analog current for subsequent processing. The output current of the charge pump 104 is input to the LPF 106, and the LPF 106 functions to integrate the current output from the charge pump 104 to generate a control voltage VCTL. After that, the control voltage VCTL is input to the bias generator 108, and the bias generator 108 generates two outputs VBP and VBN according to the control voltage VCTL. Then, the VCDL 110 controls the frequency of the input clock signal CKIN based on the outputs VBP and VBN generated by the bias generator 108, so as to output N clock signals, i.e. CKO[1:N], that have different phases from each other, in which the output clock signal CKON is fed back to the PFD 102 to be compared.
However, the operation frequency of the analog DLL circuit 100 described above is still too high, such that the control voltage VCTL changes too fast and the analog DLL circuit 100 cannot work stably. Besides, the LPF 106 in the analog DLL circuit 100 is usually designed on a large area to suppress high frequency noise, thereby providing stability to the operation of the analog DLL circuit 100. Thus, the production cost and size of the analog DLL circuit 100 including the LPF 106 cannot be reduced.

Delay locked loop circuit and method for eliminating jitter and offset therein


Systems and methods for method for automatically controlling playback of a media asset in a vehicle are provided. A presentation of a media asset to a user in the vehicle is generated. A motion state of the vehicle is determined. In response to determining that the motion state indicates that the vehicle is moving, the presentation of the media asset is paused. In response to determining that the motion state indicates that the vehicle is not moving, the presentation of the media asset is resumed.

In conventional systems, media assets are presented to a user in a car completely under control of the user. Usually this results in distracting the driver or requires the driver to decide when to stop/start the media asset. By requiring the driver to manually control media asset playback, dangerous driving situations could arise.

Systems and methods for automatically controlling media asset playback in a vehicle


The invention provides a polishing pad useful for polishing at least one of a magnetic, optical and semiconductor substrate in the presence of a polishing medium with a polishing pad. The polishing pad comprises a center, an inner region surrounding the center, a transition region connecting grooves from the inner region to an outer region surrounding the inner region. The outer region has multiple grooves with a high-rate path. The transition region is adjacent the outer region and within a radius from the center defined as follows:

The present invention generally relates to the field of polishing pads for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In particular, the present invention is directed to polishing pad grooves that improve polishing performance.
In the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic devices on a semiconductor wafer, multiple layers of conducting, semiconducting and dielectric materials are deposited onto and etched from the wafer. Thin layers of these materials may be deposited by a number of deposition techniques. Common deposition techniques in modern wafer processing include physical vapor deposition (PVD) (also known as sputtering), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and electrochemical plating. Common etching techniques include wet and dry isotropic and anisotropic etching, among others.
As layers of materials are sequentially deposited and etched, the surface of the wafer becomes non-planar. Because subsequent semiconductor processing (e.g., photolithography) requires the wafer to have a flat surface, the wafer needs to be periodically planarized. Planarization is useful for removing undesired surface topography as well as surface defects, such as rough surfaces, agglomerated materials, crystal lattice damage, scratches and contaminated layers or materials.
Chemical mechanical planarization, or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), is a common technique used to planarize semiconductor wafers and other workpieces. In conventional CMP using a dual-axis rotary polisher, a wafer carrier, or polishing head, is mounted on a carrier assembly. The polishing head holds the wafer and positions it in contact with a polishing layer of a polishing pad within the polisher. The polishing pad has a diameter greater than twice the diameter of the wafer being planarized. During polishing, the polishing pad and wafer are rotated about their respective concentric centers while the wafer is engaged with the polishing layer. The rotational axis of the wafer is offset relative to the rotational axis of the polishing pad by a distance greater than the radius of the wafer such that the rotation of the pad sweeps out an annular "wafer track" on the polishing layer of the pad. When the only movement of the wafer is rotational, the width of the wafer track is equal to the diameter of the wafer. However, in some dual-axis polishers, the wafer is oscillated in a plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation. In this case, the width of the wafer track is wider than the diameter of the wafer by an amount that accounts for the displacement due to the oscillation. The carrier assembly provides a controllable pressure between the wafer and polishing pad. During polishing, a slurry, or other polishing medium, is flowed onto the polishing pad and into the gap between the wafer and polishing layer. The wafer surface is polished and made planar by chemical and mechanical action of the polishing layer and polishing medium on the surface.
The interaction among polishing layers, polishing media and wafer surfaces during CMP is being increasingly studied in an effort to optimize polishing pad designs. Most of the polishing pad developments over the years have been empirical in nature. Much of the design of polishing surfaces, or layers, has focused on providing these layers with various patterns of voids and arrangements of grooves that are claimed to enhance slurry utilization or adjust polishing uniformity. Over the years, quite a few different groove and void patterns and arrangements have been implemented. Prior art groove patterns include radial, concentric circular, Cartesian grid and spiral, among others. Prior art groove configurations include configurations wherein the width and depth of all the grooves are uniform among all grooves and configurations wherein the width or depth of the grooves varies from one groove to another. These groove patterns and configurations, however, overlook the utilization of slurry related to CMP polishers having active wafer carrier rings.
Recently, G. P. Muldowney, in US Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0182493, disclosed a low-slurry groove that functions by aligning polishing pad grooves with carrier grooves over a plurality of locations to increase slurry utilization. This patent teaches polishing pad and carrier ring combinations that reduce the squeegee effect at the leading edge of the wafer, wherein much of the film of liquid, e.g., slurry, on the pad texture is swept off by the carrier ring. The patent further states that "The loss of this potentially usable slurry may reduce the effectiveness and predictability of the polishing process, while resulting in significant additional process costs."
While the low-slurry groove pattern of Muldowney increases slurry utilization and reduces the squeegee effect, there remains a need for CMP polishing processes that provide effective removal rate with improved polishing performance. Polishing pad designers are continually seeking groove patterns and polishing methods that increase removal rate for increasing tool throughput and facilitate improved polishing performance for increasing wafer yields.

Abstract: r      TR        =          0.7                    r        *                                            to                                      1.3                    r        *              where                    r        *            =                        R          C                                                                            (                                  R                                      R                    C                                                  )                            2                        -                          cos                                            (                                  2                                                        θ                                          c                                                                                0                                                                      )                                      -                                          sin                                                  (                                      2                                                              θ                                              c                                                                                0                                                                              )                                                                                (                                                                        R                          /                                                      R                            C                                                                                cos                                                                                θ                                                          c                                                                                0                                                                                )                                        2                                    -                  1                                                                          ;  with the inner region originating continuous grooves that extend uninterrupted to the outer region.

Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials CMP Holdings, Inc.


Disclosed is a cellulose ester film having a dry thickness of 20 to 60 μm, wherein the cellulose ester film is manufactured according to a solution cast film manufacture process comprising the steps of providing a cellulose ester dope, casting the cellulose ester dope on a support to form a cellulose ester web, peeling the cellulose ester web at a peel position from the support, transporting the peeled web to a dryer, drying the peeled web therein to form a cellulose ester film, and winding the cellulose ester film around a spool, the residual solvent content at the winding step of the cellulose ester film being not more than 0.05% by weight.

Manufacture of a cellulose ester film according to a conventional solution cast film manufacturing process has been carried out employing an apparatus for manufacturing a cellulose ester film as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a solution cast cellulose ester film manufacturing apparatus including a dissolution device. A manufacturing method of a cellulose ester film according to a conventional solution cast film manufacturing process will be explained below, employing FIG. 1. A cellulose ester is dissolved in an organic solvent in a pressure resistant vessel 1 (a dissolution step), filtered through a filter 2 to prepare a cellulose ester dope, transported through a supply pump 4 to a storing vessel 3, and cast on a metal support 5 through a supply pump 4 from a die 6 to form a web 7. The metal support 5 is a moving endless stainless steel belt support whose surface is subjected to mirror treatment or a drum support whose surface is plated with chromium. The web 7 is made semidry on the metal support, and then the semidry web 7 is peeled from the support through a peel roller 8 (located at a peel position). The peeled web 7 is introduced into a roller drier 9, transported through the guide rollers 10 during which drying of the web is completed, and finally wound around a spool 11 to obtain a cellulose ester film 12. In FIG. 1, the roller dryer 9 comprises many guide rollers 10 which are arranged so that the surface side and the rear side of the web 7 alternately contact the rollers. A numerical number 14 shows a condenser, and a numerical number 15 shows a material incorporation port. A tension changing device (not illustrated in FIG. 1) is located between the peel roller 8 and a spool 11 which changes the tension of the web upstream and downstream of the tension changing device.
Drying in the roller dryer is generally carried out employing a dry air, but there is also a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,319,053 in which drying is carried out employing infrared rays. There is another drying method in which drying is carried out floating the web by air pressure and transporting the web in a non-contact state so that the web does not directly contact the guide roller (as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 55-135046).
Further, there is a tenter method in which a film such as a polyester film or a polypropylene film is stretched by a factor of 2 to 6, fixing the both side edges of the film. This tenter method can be also applied to a cellulose acetate film. A method of manufacturing a cellulose acetate film employing a tenter drying method is disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 4-284211 and 62-115035.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a solution cast cellulose ester film manufacturing apparatus comprising a tenter dryer (another device such as the dissolution vessel is not illustrated in FIG. 2). The web 7 peeled by a peel roller 8 is transported and dried in a tenter dryer 13 where both edges in the transverse direction of the web are held by a clip (not illustrated in FIG. 2) to maintain the width of the web constant-or the web is stretched a little. Roller dryers may be located upstream and downstream of the tenter dryer. In FIG. 2, roller dryer 9 is located downstream of the tenter dryer.
Recently, development has been made regarding decrease in thickness and weight of an information device with a liquid crystal display such as a note board type personal computer, a car navigation system, a cell phone, a game device, or a television. In parallel with this development, a cellulose ester film has been used as a protective film of a polarizing plate as an optical film or a film for electro-luminescence, and has been eagerly sought to be increasingly thinner.
However, when a thin cellulose ester film is installed in a liquid crystal display and the like, the film has the problem in that the film deforms at high temperature with time. In the manufacture of the thin film, when the web is peeled from a metal support or while the peeled web is transported, the web is likely to be influenced by outer force such as transport tension due to its softness, and to cause elongation or surface defects such as scratches, streaks and transverse streaks. The finished cellulose ester may contain air bubbles or foreign matter on account of insufficient defoaming or filtration in the dissolution-step of cellulose ester. The finished cellulose ester may contain undissolved matter which cannot be removed by a filter used. Such defects lower quality of the finished cellulose ester film, adversely affect a liquid crystal display, and result in cost increase or lowering of productivity.
In a thin cellulose ester film such as a cellulose ester film with a dry thickness of 20 to 60 μm, there arise problems such as deformation and occurrence of minute air bubbles which are undesired for a liquid crystal display and which have been hardly observed in a conventional thick cellulose ester film such as a cellulose ester film with a dry thickness exceeding 60 μm.

Cellulose ester film and its manufacturing method


An overrunable test vehicle including an electronically-controlled anti-slip braking system for reducing wheel slip during rapid deceleration comprising: a chassis, at least one electric motor connected to a first axle, a hydraulic braking system connected with the chassis and at least a second axle, a rotational speed sensor for determining a rotational speed of a connected axle, a ground speed sensor, and a controller connected with the electric motor, the hydraulic braking system, the rotational speed sensor, and the ground speed sensor. The controller is configured to calculate a difference between the rotational speed of the axle and the ground speed of the chassis to determine a slip threshold of the wheels, actuate the hydraulic brake system to apply a first stopping force, control at least one motor parameter of the electric motor to apply a second stopping force. The first and second stopping forces combined are less than the slip threshold of the wheels such that the chassis rapidly decelerates free of a wheel slip condition.

With the rise of Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS) being developed and tested, the need for testing equipment which reduce risk to testing members, while being able to sustain potentially damaging impacts and scenarios has drastically increased. A paramount tool in testing the developing crash avoidance technologies is the use of mobile and controllable platforms. The mobile platforms are adapted to hold a simulated target objects such as an automobile, truck, pedestrian, bicycle, or similar. The simulated target is typically made of a material which will not damage the vehicle equipped with the ADAS, such as foam, cardboard, or any other soft material.
During testing, mobile test platforms may be subjected to sudden or hard braking in order to test the crash avoidance technologies integrated into passenger vehicles. Typically, the brake system on a test vehicle is applied when the master cylinder actuates the closing of the brake caliper onto the brake rotor. The amount of force applied by the brake caliper is monitored through the use of a pressure sensor. However, only the pressure applied is monitored while there is no data on the rotational speed of the wheels. Without measuring the rotational speed of the wheels when the test vehicle is decelerating, it is likely that too much pressure will be applied from the brake caliper against the brake rotor, causing the wheels to lock putting the vehicle into sliding condition.
During deceleration, the tires of a test vehicle may lock causing wheel slip. In some instances, the wheels will lock up and blow out due to the sliding condition. Wheel slip occurs when the force applied to a tire (i.e. braking torque) exceeds the traction available to that tire. Braking torque is the amount of force applied by the brake caliper to the brake rotor, and subsequently onto the wheel and tire. When braking torque is too high, the tires will lock and the vehicle may begin to slide in an unpredictable manner.
It would be attractive to have a braking system which monitored the pressure applied from the brake caliper against the brake rotor, as well as monitoring peripheral wheel speed and chassis speed. It would be attractive to have a brake system which actively monitored the braking force and wheel speed in order to prevent a wheel slip condition.


A system and method to perform post pass optimizations in a dynamic compiling environment. A dynamic compiler emits machine code. Responsive to the emission of the machine code a post pass processor creates an abstract representation of the code from the dynamic compiler. Data flow analysis is then conducted on the abstract representation. Redundant instructions in the machine code are identified and eliminated as a result of the data flow analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to dynamic compilers. More specifically, the invention relates to performing data flow analysis of dynamically compiled code through post pass processing.
2. Background
Dynamic compilers, also referred to as just in time (JIT) compilers are used in environments in which it is necessary (or desirable) to compile code at run time. The basic operation of existing dynamic compilers is to read the byte code to be compiled. Once the byte code is read, the dynamic compiler creates an internal representation (IR) of that code. The dynamic compiler may or may not then perform some optimization on the IR. The compiler then generates machine code from the potentially optimized IR. The compiler writes the machine code back to memory (emit the machine code) for immediate execution. For example, Sun Microsystems provides the CDC Hotspot implementation of a simple dynamic compiler in Java™ virtual machines (JVM). In the JVM, the dynamic compiler speeds up execution of programs within the JVM over preexisting interpretive solutions because the machine code created by the compiler (referred to interchangeably herein as "compiled code" or "machine code") executes faster than interpreting the byte code at run time. However, a simple dynamic compiler like the CDC Hotspot implementation tends to generate inefficient machine code in many contexts.

Data-flow based post pass optimization in dynamic compilers


The carriage of a line printer has a head unit that supports a printhead, and a carriage frame that supports the head unit movably up and down. When moving the carriage from a standby position to an opposing position, the carriage is moved while the head unit is held at a up position where the gap to the platen unit is a first distance. The head unit is then lowered at the standby position from the up position to a down position where the platen gap is a second distance that is shorter than the first distance.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a line printer that moves the printhead between a position opposite the platen and a position removed to the side from the position opposite the platen, and to a method of moving a printhead in a line printer.
2. Related Art
A line printer that prints on recording paper conveyed at a constant speed over a platen is described in JP-A-2011-025479. The line printer in JP-A-2011-025479 uses an inkjet head as the printhead. The printhead is configured from a set of four inkjet line heads that respectively eject ink droplets of cyan, black, magenta, and yellow ink, and each inkjet line head is wider than the recording paper. The four inkjet line heads are disposed with a specific gap therebetween in the conveyance direction of the recording paper. The printhead is therefore large both widthwise to the recording paper and in the conveyance direction.
When the printhead is an ink jet head, print quality drops if the gap between the printhead and the platen is not held at a specific predetermined distance. The line printer described in JP-A-2011-025479 therefore has round posts that protrude from the printhead frame toward the platen side, and controls the gap between the printhead and the platen to the height of these posts by setting the bottom distal ends of the posts against the platen surface (the surface opposite the printhead).
When an inkjet head is used as the printhead, the ink nozzle face of the printhead is preferably capped by a head cap when the printer is in the standby mode. Capping can reduce evaporation of moisture from the ink through the ink nozzle face, and can prevent the viscosity of the ink in the nozzles from increasing. A flushing operation that discharges ink droplets from the printhead into the head cap at a regular interval is also desirable. The flushing operation can prevent the ink nozzles from clogging or unclog clogged nozzles.
In order to cap or flush the printhead in a line printer, a printhead standby position could conceivably be set beside the platen, and the printhead could be moved horizontally between a position opposite the platen and the printhead standby position, as in a serial printer. However, the printhead of a line printer may be rather large as described in JP-A-2011-025479. Because the area of the recording paper opposite the printhead at the platen increases when a large printhead is used, the recording paper can easily lift away from the platen when the printhead is retracted from the position opposite the platen. Therefore, when the printhead is then returned to the position opposite the platen, the printhead and the recording paper can collide, easily resulting in damage to the printhead or a paper jam.
To prevent the recording paper from lifting away from the platen, a star wheel or other media separation prevention member that pushes down on the recording paper as the paper passes over the platen may conceivably be provided. However, when such a media separation prevention member is provided, the media separation prevention member and the printhead may collide when the printhead moves horizontally from the printhead standby position to the position opposite the platen.
Furthermore, if the reference surface of the printhead unit (a surface parallel to the ink nozzle face of the printhead) and the platen surface are not parallel in a configuration that maintains the platen gap by setting posts protruding from the printhead unit against the platen surface as described in JP-A-2011-025479, the reference surface of the printhead unit and the surface of the platen are made parallel to each other by contact between the posts and the platen surface, which changes the posture of at least one of the printhead unit and the platen.
When the posture of the printhead unit and the platen changes due to contact between the posts and the platen surface, the posts move against the platen surface and the reference surface and platen are set parallel to each other. If the operation that forms the platen gap is performed repeatedly with the posts moving against the platen surface, the posts or the platen surface may become worn and forming a precise platen gap may not be possible.

Line printer and printhead moving method of a line printer


Methods and apparatus for canceling dead time effects in the form of common mode voltages produced by a three-phase power conversion device in a rectifier/inverter variable frequency drive (VFD) system includes limiting the voltage difference between phase voltages at certain switching transition times to an amount δ, that is a function of the dead time that is specified for the switches and delaying gating signals to the switches to remove unexpected pulses produced by common mode voltages.

A well known type of AC drive includes an AC-to-DC converter including a boost rectifier for converting three-phase AC source voltages to DC voltages on a DC bus. The DC bus interfaces the AC-to-DC converter to a DC-to-AC inverter, which is typically a three-phase bridge network of solid state switches, which are switched at high frequency to generate pulse width modulation (PWM) or other types of modulated low frequency power signals which are supplied to an AC motor. These systems generate a common mode voltage measured between a neutral in the motor and an electrical ground. These also generate common mode currents in part the result of parasitic capacitances between mechanical parts in the motor and ground, and between mechanical parts in the motor and the stator windings. It is desirable to attenuate or eliminate these common mode voltages to prevent interference that might trip fault protection devices and to reduce common mode currents in motor bearings that might reduce their service life. Passive circuits including filters and transformers have been employed to correct this problem, but with increased production costs and increased installation costs. A number of prior art publications have suggested modifications to inverter modulation methods to control the inverter common mode voltages. This approach has cost and manufacturing advantages over passive circuits.
The inverter switching states can be modeled with the aid of a space vector PWM (SVPWM) theory and diagram more fully described below. Two of the vectors in this theory are zero-voltage switching vectors (V0 and V7). Some prior art methods skip these vectors by using two active vectors that are 180 degrees out of phase. However, these modified modulation schemes require that dwell time (on time for the inverter switches) be calculated in real time.
The dead-time effect, where there is time delay between one phase voltage being turned on or off and the next phase being switched to the opposite state, has been investigated while using different modified modulation schemes. A null state switching sequence without zero-voltage switching vectors has been described in the art to be the optimal common-mode voltage reduction PWM technique. Also, a method to cope with the dead-time effects at the transition of two sectors in the direct-digital SVPWM switching sequence has been described in the art.
It would be advantageous to provide other common-mode voltage reduction methods for a PWM carrier-based modulation that remove the effects of dead time.

Cancellation of dead time effects for reducing common mode voltages


The present invention provides compositions that are cell permeable antagonists of inositol polyphosphates. In addition, the invention provides methods for enhancing chloride ion secretion from a cell by contacting the cells with cell permeable antagonists of inositol polyphosphates. The invention also provides methods for enhancing chloride ion secretion in an individual by administering cell permeable antagonists of inositol polyphosphates to the individual. The invention additionally provides methods for alleviating a sign or symptom associated with cystic fibrosis in an individual by administering a cell permeable antagonist of inositol polyphosphates to the individual. The invention also provides compositions that are cell permeable agonists of inositol polyphosphates. In addition, the invention provides methods for decreasing chloride ion secretion from a cell by contacting the cell with cell permeable agonists of inositol polyphosphates. The invention also provides methods for decreasing chloride ion secretion in an individual by administering cell permeable agonists of inositol polyphosphates to the individual. The invention additionally provides methods for alleviating a sign or symptom associated with secretory diarrhea in an individual by administering cell permeable agonists of inositol polyphosphates to the individual.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compounds and methods for modulating chloride ion transport, and, more specifically, to antagonists and agonists of inositol polyphosphates.
2. Background Information
All living organisms are made of cells. The boundary of a cell is determined by the plasma membrane which serves to segregate materials on the inside from those on the outside. The cell membrane functions by regulating the passage of materials such as nutrients into or out of the cell. The transport of ions across cell membranes serves many important functions in a cell, including the regulation of oncotic pressure of the cell. The regulation of ion transport provides cells with the appropriate concentration of ions to maintain their integrity and function. Under inappropriate conditions, for example, if the ion concentration inside the cell is too high, water moves into the cell and causes it to swell or burst. If the ion concentration in the cell is too low, the cell shrinks.
Organisms exploit the cell membrane ion transport properties to regulate fluids in particular tissue types. For example, cells lining the intestine regulate water uptake using ion transport. One particularly important ion transported by cells is chloride ion. Chloride ion transport plays a key role in a variety of cellular functions such as osmoregulation, intracellular pH regulation, and salt and fluid secretion.
In the intestine, high levels of chloride ion secretion are associated with diseases such as secretory diarrhea. Secretory diarrhea has many causes, including infection by microorganisms such as Salmonella, Shigella, and certain strains of Escherichia coli. Other conditions associated with the regulation of fluid levels in tissues and chloride ion secretion include tissue swelling associated with inflammation, infection or trauma. Thus, methods for inhibiting undesirable levels of chloride ion secretion could be used to alleviate symptoms of these pathologies.
Cystic fibrosis is the most common lethal genetic disease in Caucasians, affecting approximately one in 2,000 births among Americans of European descent. It is characterized by abnormally viscous mucous secretions, which lead to chronic pulmonary disease, pancreatic insufficiency and intestinal obstructions. In the United States, approximately 30,000 people have cystic fibrosis and about 1,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Although, in the past, afflicted children often died as infants, individuals can now survive into their twenties and thirties. Nevertheless, there is no cure for cystic fibrosis and current therapies do not correct the underlying cellular defect but only manage the symptoms of the disease.
Current treatments for cystic fibrosis are largely confined to symptom management or control of opportunistic infections. For example, the use of vaccinations for viral pathogens and culture-specific antibiotics for bacterial infections can be used to prevent infection. Corticosteroids are sometimes useful in the treatment of the inflammatory response to infections but have a variety of undesirable long term side effects. Other treatments focus on the symptoms of chronic pulmonary disease associated with abnormally viscous mucous secretions in the lung. For example, physical assistance such as chest percussion and postural drainage aids in clearing the secretions from the lungs. Bronchodilators have been beneficial in some patients, but in others have resulted in decreased gas exchange. Other symptoms associated with abnormally viscous mucous secretions include intestinal obstructions and pancreatic insufficiency. Intestinal obstructions occur in 20% of adults and are treated with enemas, or, where enemas are not effective, by surgery.
Pancreatic insufficiency occurs in 80 to 90% of the patients and is caused by decreased secretion of bicarbonate ions and fluid due to impaired recycling of chloride ions out of the cell. The corresponding pancreatic fluid becomes hyperconcentrated in protein and becomes inspissated, causing obstruction of the pancreatic ducts and subsequent atrophy of pancreatic acini. Pancreatic insufficiency is treated with enzyme supplementation, which usually restores adequate digestive and absorptive functions, thereby correcting symptoms of malnourishment. However, the underlying disease persists, often causing recurrent bouts of pancreatitis that can lead to atrophy of the pancreas.
A treatment that restores normal pulmonary function, normal secretory function to the colon or normal pancreatic function would provide a great advantage over currently available therapies. Gene therapy has been used on cystic fibrosis patients. However, attempts at gene therapy have been unsuccessful for a variety of reasons, including the extraordinary size of the gene, immune reactions to adenovirus vectors used to transfer the gene and the rapid turnover of epithelial tissue.
Thus, there exists a need for a means to alter chloride ion secretion so as to ameliorate the symptoms of pathologies such as cystic fibrosis and secretory diarrhea which are associated with abnormal chloride transport. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

Inositol polyphosphates and methods of using same

The Regents of the University of California


A laser beam conditioner consists of a partially reflective surface having a uniform reflectivity of approximately 38.2 percent and a totally reflective surface on opposite sides of a substrate. A coherent light beam incident onto the partially reflective surface of the laser beam conditioner will be partially reflected and partially transmitted. The partially transmitted portion of the coherent light beam will be multiply reflected between the totally reflective mirror and the partially reflective mirror within the beam conditioner, with a portion of light transmitted through the partially reflective mirror at each multiple reflection. The initially reflected portion of the coherent light beam and the transmitted portions of the multiply reflected beams form a conditioned light beam for a homogenizer. The partially reflective surface and the totally reflective surface are slightly less than parallel in order to introduce a minute angular spread among the delayed components of the multiply reflected beam. The spacing between the partially and totally reflective surfaces is at least half the coherence length of the laser beam.

This invention relates to a laser beam conditioner which is to be used in conjunction with a laser beam homogenizer for the purpose of reducing the interference contrast of the homogenized laser beam and so providing a more uniform intensity profile to the homogenized laser beam More particularly, this invention relates to a laser beam conditioner using partially reflective mirrors.
Excimer lasers have a wide range of applications involving etching and shaping of a variety of materials by annealing or ablation. For example, excimer lasers can be used in semiconductor annealing, microphotolithography and photodeposition. Lasers provide an intense light source which can be precision controlled to etch and shape of materials.
However, the effectiveness of an excimer laser in annealing and ablation requires a uniform laser beam profile to produce a smooth and even energy distribution across the material.
Two problems exist in providing a uniform intensity profile to a laser beam. First, the beam emitted by an excimer laser has a Gaussian intensity profile, peaking at the center of the beam and gradually decreasing toward the circumference of the beam. Second, the beam emitted by an excimer laser is coherent. A coherent beam has a finite and measurable coherence length. Any overlapping of a coherent beam with itself creates interference standing waves in the beam profile. These interference standing waves create an intensity modulation or an interference fringe pattern in the beam's intensity profile making the profile non-uniform. An ideal laser beam for annealing and ablation has a uniform intensity profile without any interference modulation.
There are numerous ways to provide a uniform intensity profile to a laser beam emitted by an excimer laser. Most beam homogenizers, particularly the economical and easy to manufacture ones, require overlapping the laser beam. In a typical homogenizer, the laser beam is divided into multiple wavelets, which are then redirected to different positions and overlapped back to produce a beam with a more uniform, less Gaussian intensity profile. This process is referred to as beam folding. Because beam folding produces interference standing waves and an interference fringe pattern, it is desirable to provide a beam conditioner which precedes the homogenizer in the optical path of the laser beam and which reduces the interference contrast caused by the homogenizer.
One means to reduce the interference contrast of the beam profile is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,773 (hereinafter referred to as the "Muraki et al." patent). The beam exposure apparatus of Muraki et al. consists of a polarization beam splitter and two mirrors. A coherent light beam from an excimer laser is inputted to the polarization beam splitter. The S-polarized portion of the light beam is reflected by the beam splitter while the P-polarized portion of the light beam is transmitted through the beam splitter. The transmitted P-polarized beam is reflected by the two mirrors back to the polarization beam splitter. The P-polarized beam is again transmitted through the beam splitter to overlap the S-polarized beam.
The optical path difference (OPD) in Muraki et al. between the initial reflected beam and the initial transmitted beam which circulates once between the mirrors and then emerges from the beam splitter is greater than the coherence length of the laser beam. Accordingly, the intensity profiles of the two beams will sum incoherently to reduce the coherence of the resulting beam while improving the homogeneity of the beam.
Muraki et al. also provides an alternate means of beam homogenizing by using a single polarizing beam splitter prism rather than the three element apparatus of the polarizing beam splitter and the two mirrors.
However, a polarizing beam splitter and, more especially, a polarizing beam splitter prism with the necessary high level of optical efficiency for Muraki et al. to work is expensive and difficult to manufacture. Also, additional optical elements such as mirrors are need to make the output homogenized light beam parallel, if not coaxial, with the input beam.
Another arrangement to reduce the coherence of a laser beam is U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,489 (hereinafter referred to as the "Wangler" patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,200 (hereinafter referred to as the "Rausmussen et al." patent). Wangler and Rasmussen et al. both use two parallel mirrors as a coherence reducer. One mirror is fully reflecting and the other mirror is partially reflecting with the reflectance varying along the length of that mirror either in precise steps or varying in a continuously changing geometric curve. An entering laser beam will reflect between the two mirrors with portions transmitted through the partially reflecting mirror to form a reduced coherent beam.
The inventions of Wangler and Rasmussen et al. are not practical for excimer laser beam conditioning because both inventions expand the beam to a size many times its initial cross section. Typical excimer lasers emit beams with cross sections of several centimeters, and at fluences which make substantial beam condensation impractical due to the damage threshold of most optical coatings. The condenser lens system in Wangler and in Rasmussen et al. needed to focus these expanded beams would become prohibitively large in a device used for excimer laser beam conditioning. Also, the constantly varying reflectance of the partially reflective mirrors in Wangler and in Rasmussen et al. will be expensive and difficult to fabricate.
It is an object of this invention to provide an optically simple laser beam conditioner to be used in conjunction with a laser beam homogenizer which can reduce the interference contrast caused by beam folding while providing a substantially parallel and coaxial beam.

Laser beam conditioner using partially reflective mirrors