The present invention provides an RFID tag that can be stably attached to objects of various shapes and sizes including, for example, narrow side surfaces of plate-like objects. An RFID tag 100 has a container 10, RFID inlet 30, spacer 50, and protruding part 70. The container has at least one rectangular flat surface 11. The RFID inlet is stored in the container. The spacer is embedded in the container. The protruding part is provided so as to protrude outwardly from the flat surface over the length of one of long sides of the flat surface. The protruding part is also provided so as to be foldable along the long side.

An RFID tag having an IC chip for storing information and an antenna used for transmitting/receiving the information is known as a tag for RFID. The IC chip of the RFID tag is activated in response to a radio wave received from a reader/writer for reading/writing the information, to transmit the information stored in the IC chip in the form of a radio wave. This RFID tag is attached to, for example, an object, for the purpose of managing the object.
When the RFID tag is attached to a surface of a metallic object, electromotive force that is induced in the antenna is lowered by the radio wave transmitted from the reader/writer. As a result, the IC chip cannot be activated.
As such an RFID tag that can be attached to a surface of a metallic object, there is an RFID tag having an IC chip and antenna stored in a container (e.g., TFU-TM28×B, a tag for a small metal, manufactured by Fujitsu Frontech Limited).
There is also an RFID label that has a tubular RFID holder with a rectangular cross section, which holds an IC chip and antenna, and an attached part bonded to an object (see Patent Document 1, for example). The RFID holder of the RFID label according to Patent Document 1 can protrude in a direction away from the object. Therefore, the IC chip and the antenna can have a sufficient distance with the metallic object. The RFID label according to Patent Document 1, therefore, can be attached to a surface of the metallic object.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-172369
For example, steel mills and other factories often use RFID tags, for the purpose of managing plate-like objects such as metal plates. Normally, the plate-like objects are disposed by stacking a plurality of flat plate surfaces thereof one on top of the other. In order to manage the plurality of the stacked plate-like objects, the RFID tags are preferably attached to side surface of the objects perpendicular to the flat plate surfaces instead of being attached to the flat plate surfaces.
Therefore, when the areas or widths of the surfaces of the objects to which the tags are attached (referred to as "attached surfaces of the objects," hereinafter) are too small, the areas or widths of attached surfaces of the RFID tags need to be reduced in accordance with the areas or widths of the attachment surfaces of the objects to which the tags are attached. This might make the RFID tags fall off the objects easily.
However, in the abovementioned RFID tag using a container, one flat surface of the container is configured as an attachment surface by being applied with, for example, an adhesive.
Furthermore, the RFID holder of the RFID label according to Patent Document 1 is in a cylindrical shape. For this reason, the bottom of the RFID holder cannot be configured as an attachment surface. This RFID label therefore provides poor attachment stability.
It is, therefore, difficult to stably attach the conventional RFID tags to the side surfaces of plate-like objects.


The present invention relates to bituminous compositions used for roofing and waterproofing membranes or material comprising asymmetrical linear polyvinyl aromatic-polydiene block copolymers having improved physical properties over broader ranges of service temperatures than those obtained from bituminous compositions prepared with symmetrical block copolymers of similar type.. The asymmetry of the copolymer which is characterised by polyvinyl aromatic endblocks of at least two different molecular weights, one high and one low, ensures improved physical performance to roofing and waterproofing membranes made from such compositions.

Physical properties of a bituminous composition used for roofing and waterproofing membranes or material such as low temperature break resistance, flexibility, high temperature flow resistance and viscosity can be improved, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,652, by incorporating radial elastomeric block copolymers whose structure is defined by the general formula (A-B).sub.n Y wherein Y is the residue of a polyfunctional coupling agent, (A-B) represents a single arm constituted of a polydiene block B and a polyvinyl aromatic endblock A, and "n" represents the number of arms (A-B). Bituminous compositions comprising such copolymers, when used for roofing or waterproofing membranes, indeed provide good performance properties. However, the latter are obtained at the detriment of other physical properties limiting their broader applications. For example, when those elastomeric block copolymers are added to a bituminous material to improve high temperature properties, the low temperature performance is impaired. Likewise, when both high and low temperature properties are met, the viscosity of the roofing materials is such as to render its handling inoperable with standard equipment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,115, two radial elastomeric block copolymers, one having a low, the other having a high molecular weight, (or, alternatively, one radial of high molecular weight and one linear elastomeric block copolymer of low molecular weight) are blended together with a bituminous component to prepare a roofing material. Both copolymers are selected in such a way that the final bituminous composition yields the desirable high and low temperature properties satisfying tests which determine the said properties for ultimate use of the roofing membranes. Unfortunately, this process implies the mixture of at least two compounds, namely two separately-prepared copolymers, with a bituminous component in order to obtain compositions that give the desired properties to the final membranes.
The present invention aims at new bituminous compositions which enable to enlarge the range of service temperatures of roofing and waterproofing membranes or material, without impairing appropriate viscosities that allow an easy handling with standard installation equipment, by proposing bituminous compositions that do not require the presence of two or more separately-prepared (co)polymers in bituminous compositions in order to be especially suitable to those applications.
An objective of this invention is to provide improved bituminous compositions which are suitable for roofing and waterproofing material or membranes.
A further objective of this invention is to disclose a bituminous composition which does not require the presence of more than one copolymer component.
A further objective of this invention is to enlarge the range of the working temperatures for roofing and waterproofing membranes or material which are made from these bituminous compositions.
A further objective of this invention is to ensure appropriate dynamic viscosities to the bituminous composition such that an easy handling of the ultimate roofing and waterproofing material or membranes be possible with standard installation equipments.

Bituminous compositions containing linear copolymers


A CVD apparatus is able to efficiently perform purging treatment after maintenance by using for the purge gas a mixed gas of a high thermal conductivity and an inert gas. Purging treatment before semiconductor film formation is performed by repeating the pumping of a vacuum and the introduction of inert gas a plurality of times. In addition, in order to judge suitable maintenance times, the moisture concentration in reaction chamber is measured with a moisture meter connected to the reaction chamber when performing a corrosive gas treatment, and maintenance times are determined according to changes in the moisture concentration when corrosive gas treatment is performed repeatedly. In addition, in order to measure the moisture of corrosive gas while preventing obstruction of piping in a moisture monitoring apparatus, a moisture monitoring apparatus, including a pipe, of which one end is connected to reaction chamber into which corrosive gas flows, and a moisture meter connected to the other end which measures the moisture contained in the corrosive gas introduced from the reaction chamber, is equipped with a pipe beating mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a CVD apparatus and its purging method, and more particularly, to the composition of a CVD apparatus that is able to shorten the time required for purging treatment after performing maintenance, and its purging method.
In addition, the present invention relates to a moisture monitoring apparatus that measures the moisture contained in corrosive gas in the process when performing epitaxial growth and so forth using corrosive gas on a silicon wafer arranged in, for example, a reactor, a semiconductor production apparatus equipped with said moisture monitoring apparatus, and a method for judging the maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
CVD apparatuses are apparatuses used to grow a semiconductor film on a wafer by chemically reacting a semiconductor gas introduced into a reactor on the wafer. However, since it is not possible in principle to react all material gases on the wafer, by-products end up adhering to various locations on the inside walls of the reactor. These by-products have an effect during film growth in the form of particles and so forth. Since they hinder the formation of a high-quality film, it is necessary to perform cleaning work (maintenance) on the inside walls of the reactor.
In a CVD apparatus for growing thick films, for example, maintenance is required on the order of once every 3-4 days. However, since the apparatus is opened to the atmosphere and is cleaned with alcohol and so forth during maintenance, a large amount of air is taken into the reactor resulting in the adherence of moisture on the inside walls of the reactor.
If moisture is present in the atmosphere during growth of semiconductor films, it reacts with the semiconductor material gas resulting in the formation of metal impurities or the formation of particles that worsen the film quality. Consequently, following maintenance, it is necessary to purge the inside of the apparatus with high-purity nitrogen or other insert gas before growing films to lower the moisture concentration to an extent that does not have a detrimental effect on film quality.
However, since the inside of CVD apparatuses have an extremely complex shape, and the adsorption strength of water molecules is extremely high, considerable time is required for removing moisture after maintenance, which in turn has a significant effect on the operation rate of the apparatus.
In the past, various contrivances have been made to shorten the time required for apparatus maintenance, including purging, examples of which include vacuum purging, heated purging (baking), the use of hydrogen or a combination of these. However, since the conditions and combination of vacuum purging and baking are determined based on experience, it has been difficult to optimize the purging method.
In addition, the completion of purging is judged based on an evaluation of the quality of a film that is actually grown following a certain degree of purging. Consequently, material gas and time were wasted on growth until a film having product level quality was obtained. This is referred to as wasted epitaxial growth. Since the amount of time required for purging varies according to the usage history of the CVD apparatus and the degree to which maintenance has been performed, there were cases in which the number of cycles of wasted epitaxial growth increased considerably.
In recent years, epitaxial wafers, in which a single crystal silicon thin film (epitaxial layer) is vapor deposited at a prescribed impurity concentration on a silicon wafer having extremely low resistivity, are produced with an epitaxial crystal growth apparatus for use as silicon wafers for MOS devices. This apparatus performs epitaxial growth on a wafer by allowing a corrosive source gas to flow into a chamber in which a silicon wafer has been arranged. Furthermore, in this apparatus, etching of polysilicon adhered inside the chamber is also performed by a corrosive gas in the form of hydrogen chloride gas.
In addition, various CVD apparatuses that form a thin film on a wafer using corrosive gas, or etching devices for performing patterning, are used in LSI and other semiconductor production processes.
Although these semiconductor production apparatuses use corrosive gases such as ultra-high-purity hydrogen chloride gas and ammonia gas, if even a slight amount of moisture is present in this gas, there is increased susceptibility to the occurrence of corrosion of metal parts used in the apparatus (such as the inside of the process chamber, gas supply system and gas exhaust system), which is harmful because it causes contamination by metals (heavy metals) produced from these metal parts. In addition, moisture taken into the chamber reacts with by-products adhering to the chamber inside walls and exhaust line, which may also be the cause of particle formation. Consequently, although various countermeasures are employed to reduce moisture inside the process chamber,. it is difficult to completely remove all moisture. It is therefore necessary to periodically perform apparatus maintenance, namely opening up the process chamber and cleaning the members inside (quartz jigs, etc.). In the past, for example, maintenance times were judged based on the cumulative number of wafers processed in the case of single-wafer CVD apparatuses.
However, the above conventional method of judging maintenance times still has the problems indicated below. Namely, the amount of moisture actually introduced into the chamber each time maintenance is performed varies depending on the contents of work performed and the amount of time the chamber is opened during maintenance. Thus, in the case of judging maintenance times based on the cumulative number of wafers processed as has been done in the past, maintenance is performed for every fixed number of processing cycles regardless of the amount of moisture actually introduced into the chamber, and there was no guarantee that maintenance is performed at suitable times. For example, in the case an amount of moisture was introduced during the previous round of maintenance that is greater than the expected amount, there was the risk of high film quality not being obtained if processing is not performed until the prescribed cumulative number of wafers processed. In addition, in the case the amount of moisture introduced during the previous round of maintenance is comparatively low, maintenance ends up being performed earlier than the time when maintenance is actually required, leading to an excessively high number of maintenance cycles and decreased throughput.
In addition, it is also required to quantitatively analyze with high sensitivity the moisture contained in, corrosive gas inside the chamber in terms of reducing the moisture in the process chamber.
Known examples of moisture meters for measuring the moisture in a gas include the crystal oscillator method in which changes in the frequency of a crystal oscillator are measured, and the electrostatic capacitance method in which changes in electrostatic capacitance are measured by adsorbing moisture in a gas. However, since these moisture meters require direct contact with the gas, measurement was unable to be performed in the case of corrosive gases due to the corrosive nature of these gases.
Therefore, a laser moisture meter has been proposed in recent years, such as that described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 5-99845 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 11-183366, that uses infrared absorption spectrometry to measure trace amounts of impurities contained in gases using laser light. This laser moisture meter detects impurities such as moisture based on the intensity of the absorption wavelength by analyzing transmitted laser light when laser light having a prescribed wavelength is directed at a measurement cell while introducing corrosive gas into the measurement cell. Thus, there is no need to adsorb the corrosive gas and measurements can be performed quickly and with high sensitivity.
However, measurement means using the above moisture meter of the background art still have the problems indicated below. Namely, although a portion of the corrosive gas is introduced into the above moisture meter after passing through a sampling pipe after being heated inside a chamber, reaction by-products end up adhering and accumulating on the inside walls of the sampling pipe that leads to the moisture meter, resulting in the risk of obstruction of the sampling pipe. Consequently, it was difficult to use this moisture meter for constant measurement of moisture in corrosive gases during the process, namely for in situ monitoring.
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a CVD apparatus and its purging method that allows purging treatment after maintenance to be performed efficiently, makes it possible to accurately determine completion of purging treatment, shortens the time required for purging treatment, and makes it possible to quickly start up the CVD apparatus.
In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide a method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses that is able to determine suitable maintenance times.
Moreover, a third object of the present invention is to provide a moisture monitoring apparatus and a semiconductor production apparatus equipped with said moisture monitoring apparatus that prevents obstruction of a pipe and allows measurement of moisture contained in corrosive gas even during processing.
In order to achieve the above first object, the CVD apparatus of the present invention comprises a CVD apparatus that supplies semiconductor material gas to a reactor (reaction chamber) in which a wafer is placed to form a semiconductor film on said wafer; wherein, together with connecting a material gas supply path that supplies said semiconductor material gas, an inert gas supply path that supplies inert gas for purging, and a high thermal conductivity gas supply path that supplies gas such as hydrogen or helium having a high coefficient of thermal conductivity that mixes with purge gas, to said reactor, a moisture meter that measures the amount of moisture in gas exhausted from the reactor, and a vacuum pump for evacuating the inside of the reactor, are provided.
In addition, in order to achieve the above first object, the purging method of the CVD apparatus of the present invention comprises a purging method of a CVD apparatus that supplies semiconductor material gas to a reactor (reaction chamber) in which a wafer is placed to form a semiconductor film on said wafer; wherein, a gas consisting of a mixture of a gas such as hydrogen or helium having a high coefficient of thermal conductivity and an inert gas, is used as the purge gas used during heated flow purging treatment in a purging treatment following maintenance, and the pumping of a vacuum inside the reaction chamber and the introduction of inert gas are repeated a plurality of times.
According to the CVD apparatus and purging method of a CVD apparatus of the present invention, purging treatment of the reactor can be performed efficiently, and timing of the start of film growth can be accurately determined. Therefore, the operating efficiency of the CVD apparatus can be improved and wasted epitaxial growth can be eliminated, thereby making it possible to reduce waste of material gas and time.
In order to achieve the above second object, the method for judging the maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses of the present invention comprises a method for judging the maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses that perform corrosive gas treatment in a reaction chamber by measuring the moisture concentration in the reaction chamber with a moisture meter connected to said reaction chamber when performing said corrosive gas treatment, and determining said maintenance times according to changes in said moisture concentration when corrosive gas treatment is performed repeatedly.
In this method for judging the maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses, since the moisture concentration in a reaction chamber is measured with a: moisture meter connected to the reaction chamber when performing corrosive gas treatment to determine maintenance times according to changes in moisture concentration when corrosive gas treatment is performed repeatedly, suitable maintenance times can be accurately judged since said moisture concentration changes according to the amount of moisture actually taken into the reaction chamber. Thus, in addition to being able to maintain the apparatus in a satisfactory state at all times, the number of times maintenance is performed can be reduced and maintenance intervals can be extended, making it possible to improve throughput.
In addition, it is preferable that the method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses of the present invention determine said maintenance times according to the cumulative amount of moisture by calculating the cumulative amount of moisture that has accumulated from the previous round of maintenance and been taken into said reaction chamber based on said change in moisture concentration.
Since maintenance times are determined according,to the cumulative amount of moisture as calculated from the change in moisture concentration in this method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses, the amount of moisture that is actually taken into the reaction chamber can be estimated accurately, thereby making it easy to judge suitable maintenance times.
Moreover, it is preferable that the method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses of the present invention measure the pressure inside the reaction chamber with a pressure gauge connected to said reaction chamber when performing said corrosive gas treatment, and determine said maintenance times according to said cumulative amount of moisture and the change in said pressure when corrosive gas treatment is performed repeatedly.
Since maintenance times are determined according to the change in pressure inside the reaction chamber and the cumulative amount of moisture in this method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses, even more suitable maintenance times can be determined Since the flow status of the pipe of the exhaust system, such as fluctuations in pressure that occur when the pipe is obstructed, can be detected from changes in pressure inside the reaction chamber, and this flow status can be taken into consideration along with moisture concentration.
In addition, it is preferable that the method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses of the present invention be a laser moisture meter in which said moisture meter directs laser light into a tubular cell. body connected to said reaction chamber and measures the absorption spectrum of the transmitted laser light.
In recent years, a laser moisture meter has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 5-99845 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 11-183366 that directs laser light into a tubular cell body connected to a process chamber and measures the absorption spectrum of the transmitted laser light as a means of measuring the moisture concentration in corrosive gases. Since this laser moisture meter is able to measure moisture concentration without making contact with corrosive gas, measurements can be made with high accuracy even in corrosive gas. Namely, since the above, method for judging maintenance times of semiconductor production apparatuses uses the above laser moisture meter for its moisture meter, moisture concentration in the reaction chamber can be measured accurately even while the process is n progress, thereby making it possible to determine maintenance times with high precision.
In order to achieve the above third object, the moisture monitoring apparatus of the present invention is a moisture monitoring apparatus equipped with a pipe of which one end is connected to a reaction chamber into which flows corrosive gas, and a moisture meter connected to the other end of said pipe that measures moisture contained in corrosive gas introduced from said reaction chamber, in which technology is employed that is at least provided with a pipe heating mechanism that heats said pipe.
Since this moisture monitoring apparatus is at least equipped with a pipe heating mechanism that heats a pipe, the pipe can be heated to a prescribed high temperature, enabling corrosive gas heated in the reaction chamber to flow while preventing the adhesion and deposition of reaction by-products in the pipe. Thus, obstruction of the pipe can be prevented enabling moisture to be measured constantly even while the process is in progress.
The above pipe heating mechanism can be in the form of a heating wire coiled around the outside of the above pipe in the above moisture monitoring apparatus.
Since the pipe heating mechanism in this moisture monitoring apparatus is equipped with a heating wire coiled around the outside of a pipe, the pipe can be heated with a simple configuration and the temperature of the pipe can be easily controlled by adjusting the current supplied to the eating wire.
Furthermore, the heat insulating and heat retention properties of this heating wire may be improved by covering the wire with a heat-resistant insulating material.
The above moisture meter in the above moisture monitoring apparatus can be a laser moisture meter that directs laser light into a tubular cell body connected to the other end of said pipe and measures the absorption spectrum of the transmitted laser light.
Since the moisture meter in this moisture monitoring apparatus is a laser moisture meter that directs laser light into a tubular cell body connected to the other end of said pipe and measures the absorption spectrum of the transmitted laser light, moisture can be quantitatively analyzed with high precision even in corrosive gas.
The above moisture meter in the above moisture monitoring apparatus may be equipped with a cell heating mechanism that heats the above tubular cell body.
Since the moisture meter in this moisture monitoring apparatus is equipped with a cell heating mechanism that heats the tubular cell body, the tubular cell body is also heated and the adhesion and deposition of reaction by-products inside the cell can be prevented, thereby enabling measurements to be made with high accuracy at all times. Thus, moisture can be quantitatively analyzed rapidly and with high sensitivity even during processing, and the correlation between the quality and conditions of corrosive gas crystal growth, thin film formation and etching and moisture content can be obtained with high accuracy, thereby making it possible to produce high-quality semiconductor wafers, semiconductor devices and other semiconductor apparatuses.
The above moisture meter in the above moisture monitoring apparatus may be composed such that the measurement sensitivity can be adjusted corresponding to the temperature of the above heated corrosive gas.
Some moisture meters are subject to variations in measurement sensitivity following a change in the temperature of the measured gas, and in the case of moisture meters: such as laser moisture meters that require a high level of measurement accuracy in particular, the effects of temperature cannot be ignored. However, since measurement sensitivity of the moisture meter is controlled corresponding to the temperature of the heated corrosive gas in this moisture monitoring apparatus, even if the temperature of corrosive gas being measured is changed by the pipe heating mechanism and so forth, moisture concentration can be measured with high precision according to the adjusted and corrected measurement sensitivity of the moisture meter.
In order to achieve the above third object, the semiconductor production apparatus of the present invention is a semiconductor production apparatus that allows corrosive gas to flow onto a wafer in a reaction chamber and reacts the corrosive gas on the surface of the wafer, and is equipped with the above moisture monitoring apparatus.
Since this semiconductor production apparatus is equipped with the above moisture monitoring apparatus, moisture can be quantitatively analyzed with high sensitivity even during processing, and the correlation between the conditions and quality of crystal growth, thin film formation and etching by corrosive gas and moisture content can be obtained at high accuracy.
This semiconductor production apparatus may be provided with a wafer transport system that transports the above: wafer through sealed space to the above reaction chamber, and may be provided with a moisture meter in said wafer transport system that measures moisture in said sealed space separate from the above moisture meter.
Since the wafer transport system of this semiconductor production apparatus is equipped with a moisture meter that measures moisture in a sealed space separate from the above moisture meter, moisture in sealed space of the wafer transport system can be measured and confirmed separately during transport of a wafer into a reaction chamber with a wafer transport system, thereby being able to prevent inadvertent inflow of moisture in said sealed space into the reaction chamber.

CVD apparatus equipped with moisture monitoring

Mitsubishi Materials Silicon Corporation


Embodiments herein are directed to a vehicle floating fleet vehicle system for determining a location of a user and one or more car-sharing vehicles. The system includes a server computing device operated by a floating fleet service provider. The server computing device includes at least one processor; a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; and machine readable instructions stored in the memory. The machine readable instructions cause the vehicle floating fleet system to perform at least the following when executed by the at least one processor receive a request for the one or more car-sharing vehicles, determine the one or more car-sharing vehicles in one or more nearby gated parking facilities, send information about the one or more car-sharing vehicles to the user, and receive a selected car-sharing vehicle in a nearby gated parking facility of the one or more nearby gated parking facilities from the user.

Car sharing, autonomous vehicle companies and/or car rental services provide the ability for a user to rent a vehicle for a period of time. The cars are provided at a dedicated pick-up and drop-off location that is controlled by the car sharing company. As an example, a user may go to the dedicated pick-up and drop-off location, reserve a car located at the pick-up and drop-off location, drive the vehicle as needed, and then drop-off the car at either the original pick-up and drop-off location or another pick-up and drop-off location. In each case, the user is required to drop-off the car at a dedicated pick-up and drop-off location that is controlled by the car sharing company so that another user may rent the car.
Although this arrangement is convenient, there are several disadvantages. A user is required to travel to a dedicated pick-up and drop-off location to pick-up a car. This location may be far from the user and, because the user needs a car in the first place, it may be difficult for the user to travel to the dedicated pick-up and drop-off location. Additionally, the return pick-up and drop-off location may be far from the user's destination, which may require the user to secure additional transportation from the return pick-up and drop-off location to his or her ultimate destination.

Vehicle floating fleet systems and methods


An attaching apparatus, a substrate and a support that can be uniformly attached through an adhesive layer. The attaching apparatus is equipped with a set plate and a press plate formed of ceramics. The set plate and the press plate have a flatness of 1.0 μm or less when not pressed.

As an attaching technique for attaching a substrate and a support through an adhesive layer, for example, PTL 1 discloses a pressing method of inorganic substrates in which a set combined with a laminate material including an inorganic substrate formed of semiconductors or ceramics and an auxiliary material for laminating is installed between a pair of upper and lower heating plates heated to a predetermined temperature in a decompressing press, and after the pair of heating plates is brought into contact with the combined set, at least, a low-pressure load from the start of pressing to 0.05 MPa is applied for 10 seconds or longer.


A method facilitates assembling a variable vane assembly for a gas turbine engine including a casing and an inner shroud. The method comprises providing at least one variable vane including a radially inner spindle that includes a groove defined therein that has at least one machined face, and coupling the variable vane radially between the casing and the inner shroud such that at least a portion of the radially inner spindle is inserted at least partially through an opening extending radially through the inner shroud. The method also comprises securing the variable vane to the inner shroud by engaging the spindle machined face with a retainer coupled to the inner shroud.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more specifically to variable stator vane assemblies used with gas turbine engines.
At least some known gas turbine engines include a core engine having, in serial flow arrangement, a fan assembly and a high pressure compressor which compress airflow entering the engine, a combustor which burns a mixture of fuel and air, and low and high pressure turbines which each include a plurality of rotor blades that extract rotational energy from airflow exiting the combustor. At least some known rotor assemblies, such as a high pressure compressors', include a plurality of rows of circumferentially spaced rotor blades, wherein adjacent rows of rotor blades are separated by rows of variable stator vane (VSV) assemblies. More specifically, a plurality of variable stator vane assemblies are secured to casing extending around the rotor assembly and wherein each row of VSV assemblies includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced variable vanes. The orientation of each row of vanes relative to the rotor blades is variable to control airflow through the rotor assembly.
At least one known variable stator vane assembly includes a trunnion bushing that is partially positioned around a portion of a variable vane so that the variable vane extends through the trunnion bushing. Each variable vane is coupled radially between the casing and the inner shroud such that the trunnion bushing extends between the casing and a radially outer spindle extending from the vane, and such that an inner bushing extends between the inner shroud and a radially inner spindle extending from the vane. More specifically, and with respect to the radially inner side of the variable vane, the inner shroud is retained to the VSV's by a plurality of cylindrical pins extending through a respective hole formed in the inner shroud and into a matching cylindrical groove formed along the radial inner spindle and the inner bushing. Accordingly, only line-to-line contact is established between each pin and each vane, and as such, to prevent the inner shroud from rotating with respect to the variable vanes coupled thereto, two pins must be used per shroud.
Over time, because only line-to-line sealing is defined between each pin and each variable vane, wear between the pins and variable vanes may cause possible gas leakage paths to develop within the VSV assembly. Such leakage may result in failure of the bushing due to oxidation and erosion caused by high velocity high temperature air. Furthermore, once the bushing fails, an increase in leakage past the variable vane occurs, which results in a corresponding rotor performance loss. In addition, the loss of the bushing allows contact between the vane and the casing and/or inner shroud which may cause wear and increase the engine overhaul costs.

Gas turbine engine variable vane assembly


A method for binding a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device and a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) is disclosed. The method includes: during a process of establishment of a shared key, a Network Application Function (NAF) acquires identity information of the MTC device and identity information of the UICC (101); the NAF establishes a binding relationship between the MTC device and the UICC based on the identity information of the MTC device and the identity information of the UICC, and stores the binding relationship into a binding relationship table stored by the NAF (102). An apparatus and system for binding an MTC device and a UICC and a method and system for establishing a shared key between an MTC device and a UICC are further disclosed, such that the binding relationship between the MTC device and the UICC will not be limited by the life cycle of the shared key when the binding between the MTC device and the UICC is implemented in the manner of Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) with UICC-based enhancements (GBA-U), thus ensuring the security in use of the MTC device and the UICC.

MTC is an application wireless communication technology for implementing machine-to-machine and machine-to-human data communication and exchange. The MTC has a very wide application range, such as intelligent measurement, remote monitoring, tracking, and medical treatment. Compared with the conventional human-to-human communication, the device used for machine-to-machine communication in the MTC (i.e., the MTC device) has a large amount, a wide range of applications, and great market prospect.
The primary long-distance connection technologies in the MTC include a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology/a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and the primary short-distance connection technologies in the MTC include 802.11b/g, bluetooth, Zigbee, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and the like. Since the MTC integrates wireless communication and information technology and can be used for bi-directional communication, such as remote information collection, parameters setting and instruction delivery, the MTC can implement different application solutions, such as security monitoring, automatic vending and goods tracking. Almost all devices involved in daily life are likely to be potential service objects of the MTC. The MTC provides simple means for device real-time data to establish wireless connections between systems, between remote devices, or between the system/remote device and a person individual.
In the existing MTC system, the MTC device communicates with an MTC server through a Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) network.
In the 3GPP system, a shared key may be established between a UICC and a terminal by using a Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) process, which is configured to establish a secure connection and conducting secure communication between the UICC and the terminal, and the secure connection between the UICC and the terminal may be used for binding the terminal and the UICC. The GBA defines a universal key negotiation mechanism between a terminal and a server. As shown in FIG. 1, the illustration of the GBA and reference points among network element entities thereof is described. A User Equipment (UE) is a collective term of a terminal device (such as a cell phone) and a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)/Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, and here, the terminal may be a plug-in card type of mobile terminal (such as a cell phone), or may also be a plug-in card type of fixed terminal (such as a set-top box). An application server (Network Application Function, NAF) is used to implement a business logic function of an application and provide business service to the UE upon completion of the authentication of the UE. A Bootstrapping Servicer Function (BSF) is a core network element of the GBA, the BSF and the UE implement the authentication by an Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol and negotiate a session key subsequently used for communication between the UE and the NAF, and the BSF can set a life cycle for the key according to a local policy. A Home Subscriber Server (HSS) stores authentication data of the USIM/SIM card in the UE, such as the key Ki in the SIM card. The BSF acquires, by searching for a Subscriber Locator Function (SLF), related information of the HSS (such as the name of the HSS) storing related user data, and the SLF is not required in a single-HSS environment or when the BSF is configured to use a pre-specified HSS.
Currently, the 3GPP network supports the establishment of the secure connection between the UICC and the terminal in a shared key manner, and the binding between the UICC and the terminal is implemented by the secure connection. The shared key manner defined by the 3GPP is mainly that: a shared key Ks_local between the UICC and the terminal is established in the manner of GBA with UICC-based enhancements (GBA-U), and then the secure connection between the UICC and the terminal is established by using the shared key Ks_local. Such established binding between the UICC and the terminal can only be valid within the life cycle of the shared key Ks_local.
In the MTC system, since the MTC device needs to conduct communication in the absence of human intervention, the MTC device may be used by illegal users during the process of use. Therefore, the binding of the UICC and the MTC device is also required to avoid the illegal use of the UICC and the MTC device. The method for implementing the binding of the UICC and the terminal in the 3GPP may also be used for the binding between the UICC and the MTC device in the MTC system. However, in the MTC system, the binding relationship between the UICC and the MTC device established in the manner of GBA-U can only be valid within the life cycle of the shared key Ks_local. After the life cycle of the shared key Ks_local expires, the binding relationship between the UICC and the MTC device will be out of action, so that the MTC device may be used by other illegal users or the UICC may be used for illegal MTC devices.
Thus, for the 3GPP network and the MTC system, it is a problem to be solved how to avoid the established binding relationship from being limited by the life cycle of the shared key Ks_local when the binding between the MTC device and the UICC is implemented in the manner of the GBA-U.

Method, apparatus and system for binding MTC device and UICC


Oil and grease resistant paper products are disclosed that include a substrate and, on at least one side of the substrate, a continuous layer of a barrier coating, the barrier coating comprising a binder system and a pigment. The barrier coating, when applied to the substrate and dried to form a barrier layer, has a Pigment Volume Concentration (PVC) that is below a Critical Pigment Volume Concentration (CPVC) of the barrier coating, providing a continuous three-dimensional film of the binder system. In some implementations the binder system comprising a latex and a natural binder and/or the paper product further includes a topcoat disposed on a side of the barrier coating opposite the substrate.

Conventionally, oil and grease resistance has been achieved in paper products, such as paper and paperboard, by the application of fluorinated substances to the fiber matrix or the surface of the fiber substrate. Due to concerns with human health and environmental effects of fluorinated substances, it is desirable to develop new technologies to achieve good oil and grease resistance without the use of these materials. Several decades of paper coating research has focused on developing coatings which can impart oil and grease resistance to paper and paperboard substrates, even after the paper or paperboard is folded or scored or creased. The solutions proposed in the literature generally fall into two main groups. The first group consists of barrier coatings which have very high levels of polymers, with or without crosslinking, which generally cannot be applied using conventional paper coating equipment without creating processing and converting issues. The second group consists of coatings which are formulated to mitigate the processing issues associated with the first group by utilizing appreciable levels of filler materials, at the detriment of oil and grease resistance performance. Another approach that is currently used is to provide polyethylene extruded coatings as a post-processing step to impart barrier properties. This, however, creates downstream problems including non-repulpability.


The height of a surface (21) is determined by measuring the position of a radiation spot (11) located on the surface (21). The radiation spot (11) is formed by a narrow incident beam (10). Radiation reflected in the radiation spot (11) is projected on two position-sensitive radiation detection systems (41, 42). The detection systems (41, 42) are arranged at a different optical distance from the radiation spot (11). With the aid of a partially transparent mirror (3), or in a different manner, it is ensured that the intensity distribution on the detection systems (41, 42) is uniform. A line (G) through the radiation spot (11) is constructed by determining the same characteristic point (G.sub.I, G.sub.II), for example, the point of gravity in the intensity distributions at different optical distances from the radiation spot (11). The height of the spot (11) and hence of the surface (21) is determined by means of this line.

The invention relates to a device for optically measuring the height of a surface of an object, which device comprises a radiation source unit for generating a radiation beam and for forming an essentially stationary radiation spot on the surface by means of said beam, means for selecting a reflected beam from the radiation reflected by the surface in the radiation spot, and a position-sensitive radiation detection system arranged in the radiation path of the reflected beam. An essentially stationary radiation spot is understood to mean that movement of the spot during a measurement is not necessary.
Such a device is used, for example, to check whether a surface has the desired profile, for example, whether a flat plate is really flat and does not have any grooves or projections. The device may also be used to check whether holes and elevations are provided at the correct positions on a substrate plate and it may further be used, for example, for inspecting electronic circuits comprising electrically insulating plates provided with conducting metal strips and electronic components.
A device as described in the opening paragraph is known, inter alia, from EP-A 0,134,597. This document describes a device for performing a triangulation so as to determine the distance between the surface of an object and a reference level. The known device comprises a radiation source from which a narrow radiation beam is incident on the surface where it forms a radiation spot. The radiation spot is focused on a linear radiation-sensitive detector surface by means of one or more objective lenses. The pupil of the objective system selects a reflected beam coming from the radiation spot. The position where the radiation spot is imaged on the detector surface indicates where the radiation beam incident on the object surface impinges upon the latter surface, and hence indicates the height of this surface. A displacement of the position of the radiation across the detector surface involves a change of the surface height of the object to be measured.
The sensitivity of the height measurement, i.e. the ratio between the change of the surface height and the displacement of the position of the incident radiation across the detector surface is dependent, inter alia, on the focusing of the image of the radiation spot on the surface of the position-sensitive radiation detection system. In order to maintain this image focused at any height, the detector surface should be tilted with respect to the direction from which radiation is incident on the surface. Due to such a tilt the fraction of the radiation which contributes to the electric output signal of the detector will decrease, thus rendering the detection system more insensitive.

Device for optically measuring the height of a surface


An apparatus is provided for protectively covering an outcropping, such as a motor prop, of a boat. The cover includes an adjustable collar, a flexible, opaque bag, and an adjustable collar draw line. The bag has an open top end attached to the collar. A closed bottom end of the bag is opposed to the top end, and has a weight attached thereto. The adjustable collar draw line of the collar is such that with the bag placed over the outcropping, the open end of the bag may be closed around the outcropping by pulling the adjustable collar draw line. The collar includes a locking slot for locking the adjustable collar draw line in place around the outcropping. A manipulation handle removably attaches to the collar for facilitating the placement and removal of the cover onto and off of the outcropping. With the cover in place over the outcropping, water and light are prevented from entering the interior of the bag, whereby water borne life forms such as filter feeding creatures and plant life cannot thrive within the cover. As such, the outcropping is kept virtually free of water borne life forms while the outcropping is covered.

Shrouds for the hull of a boat or ship are known in the prior art, and generally are used to prevent water borne organisms from thriving about and growing upon the hull. Shrouds of this type prevent the decrease in aquadynamic performance caused by such organisms attaching to the hull and increasing aquadynamic drag when the boat is in motion. Further, such shrouds tend to keep the surface of the hull from becoming damaged by water borne organisms, and also eliminate the need for poisonous hull coatings, and the like. Clearly, there are many advantages to such hull shrouds, as is taught in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,242 issued on Oct. 6, 1992.
While prior art shrouds are suitable for protecting boat hulls, such shrouds to not typically extend inexpensive protection to boat outcroppings such as engine props and rudders. Further, these prior art devices are difficult to install and require complex and time consuming attachment mechanisms. Because outcroppings are usually not protected with anti-fouling coatings such as hull paint, the growth on such outcroppings is more pronounced than on coated hull surfaces. Water organisms grow on such outcroppings just as easily as they grow on hulls, due to the fact that such outcroppings are continuously submerged. Consequently, prior art shrouds are not in great use today.
Clearly, then, a protective covering device is needed to protect boat outcroppings such as motor props and rudders from water borne organisms, including both plant and animal life. Such a needed device would be easy to install and remove from the outcroppings, and would prevent both light and water from entering the protected volume around the outcroppings. Further, such a needed device would be inexpensive to manufacture and would not require professional installation or set-up. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.


The invention is a coating composition comprising photocatalytic titanium dioxide particles, an opacifying agent, a silicone compound, de-HNO3 particles, styrene resin hollow microspheres, and a solvent. The combination of a silicone compound and styrene resin hollow microspheres in a depolluting coating composition results in improved opacity and durability compared to conventional coatings.

Conventional methods for making the surface of materials soil cleaning comprises treating the surface to confer the ability to remove stains or soils deposited on the surface. In other methods, excellent oxidative degradation activity of a photocatalyst fixed onto the surface is utilized to degrade organic matter or stains or soils deposited on the surface and also any gaseous pollution which comes into contact with the surface.
In particular, heterogeneous photocatalysis has efficiently been used for oxidizing and thereby removing unwanted compounds from fluids, including water, and air. Thus, UV-illuminated catalyst, such as titanium dioxide, absorbs UV light, which produces electrons and holes that migrate to the surface of the catalyst. At the surface, the electrons reduce adsorbed oxygen, while the holes oxidize organic compounds or adsorbed water molecules.
However, satisfactory depolluting properties may not be provided with only such a single photocatalytic coating composition for a long lifetime i. e. over 5 years.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coating composition which, independently of environment, such as indoor or outdoor environment, can semi-permanently and in a single coating exhibits excellent surface depolluting properties, particularly excellent soil cleaning activity against greasy stains, including mildew, mold, algae or soils.
For various reasons, including cost and desired properties, there is always a need to develop new and better depolluting coating compositions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Photocatalytically active polysiloxane coating compositions


An electromechanical device has a coil configuration comprising an insulating substrate (30) carrying a first group of 12 series-connected spiral conductor patterns (21a-21m) and a second group of 12 series-connected spiral conductor patterns (22a-22m). Some of the conductor patterns (21a, 22a, 21d, 22d, 21e, 22e, 21i, 22i, 21j, 22j, 21m and 22m) are disposed on the upper side of the substrate (30). Other ones of the conductor patterns (21b, 22b, 21c, 22c, 21f, 22f, 21h, 22h, 21k, 22k, 21l and 22l) are disposed on the underside of the substrate (30). The conductor patterns on both sides of the substrate (30) are electrically interconnected by means of plated-through connections (40). The first group is in arranged in parallel with the second group by means of common connection electrodes (51 and 52). The conductor patterns (21a-21m) of the first group and the conductor patterns (22a-22m) of the second group are carried by the same substrate (30).

The invention relates to an electromechanical device comprising a coil configuration and a magnet system which generates a magnetic field at the location of the coil configuration, which coil configuration and magnet system are supported so as to be movable relative to one another, the coil configuration comprising a first group of N series-connected spiral conductor patterns on an insulating substrate and a second group of N series-connected spiral conductor patterns on an insulating substrate, the first group being arranged in parallel with the second group.
Such a device is known from EP-A-0 624 to which U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,663 corrresponds. The known device concerns an axial air-coil motor and has a permanent magnet rotor and a stack of foils comprising a plurality of sub-stacks. Each of the foils carries spiral conductor patterns. EP-A-0 624 945 states that, in order to obtain a higher driving power, the sub-stacks can be arranged in parallel with one another. A disadvantage of the known device is that the efficiency of said device is adversely affected by such parallel arrangement.

Electromechanical device, coil configuration for the electromechanical device, and information storage and/or reproduction apparatus including such a device


Methods, systems, and computer program products for operating re-configurable solar energy generators for increasing yield during non-ideal weather conditions are provided herein. A computer-implemented method includes determining, for each of multiple portions of the sky, by using one or more machine learning algorithms, a respective level of diffuse irradiance corresponding to image data from that portion; identifying one or more portions of the image data corresponding to the multiple portions of sky image data that include a higher level of diffuse irradiance, as compared to other portions of the image data; and configuring one or more solar photovoltaic modules based at least in part on the one or more identified portions of image data that include a higher level of diffuse irradiance.

Large solar energy production projects commonly suffer from uncertain yields that can be related to variable weather conditions as well as inefficient grid planning and distribution. In an attempt to increase power production, various configurable add-ons such as reflectors, mirrors etc., are occasionally used in existing approaches. Such configurable add-ons generally require predictions and/or short-term forecasts of solar irradiance, which can be challenging, particularly during cloudy weather conditions. While clear sky models (geometry-based) are applicable on clear days, the azimuth of the sun is typically not indicative of the diffuse irradiance. Diffuse irradiance (DI) can include reflected or diffused light passing through clouds and/or off nearby objects, ground surfaces, etc. DI can also change rapidly with cloud movement, and DI is location- and environment-specific, not correlated with latitude.

Operating re-configurable solar energy generators for increasing yield during non-ideal weather conditions

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods for treating a patient having a disease or damage to at least one kidney are provided. The methods comprise administering cells obtained from human umbilical cord tissue, or administering pharmaceutical compositions comprising such cells or prepared from such cells. When administered, the cells promote and support the repair and regeneration of the diseased or damaged kidney tissue in the patient. Pharmaceutical compositions for use in the inventive methods, as well as kits for practicing the methods are also provided.

Various publications, including patents, published applications, technical articles and scholarly articles are cited throughout the specification. Each of these cited publications is incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety and for all purposes.
Kidney disease is a serious, unmet medical condition with an annual U.S. cost burden exceeding $27 billion. Currently, more than 40 million Americans are at risk for or have kidney disease, and the incidence is increasing at an alarming rate of 6% per year. Therefore, by the year 2020, an estimated one in four people will have end-stage renal disease (ESRD), requiring either dialysis or kidney transplantation. To alleviate these economic and medical challenges, novel, transformational technologies for the treatment of both acute renal failure (ARF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are necessary.
Acute renal failure, also referred to as acute tubular necrosis, is a common syndrome affecting up to 7% of all hospitalized patients (Kelly et al. (2000) Semin. Nephrol. 1:4-19). ARF is the sudden loss of the ability of the kidneys to excrete wastes, concentrate urine, and conserve electrolytes. ARF most often occurs after an individual is exposed to nephrotoxic agents or following an ischemic-reperfusion event. Other causes include infection, urinary tract obstruction and some blood and autoimmune disorders. These insults induce damage to the functional component of the kidney, the nephron. More specifically, cells of the proximal tubule become necrotic. The tubule cells then detach from the tubular basement membrane, obstructing the tubular lumen. This obstruction leads to an increase in intratubular pressure, causing filtrate leakage from the nephron into the surrounding renal parenchyma. The reduction in nephron function and the accumulation of filtrate in the kidney tissue leads to a decrease in the rate of glomerular filtration, and ultimately renal failure ensues. Although ARF is a serious, life-threatening disorder, it is reversible.
Several therapeutic methods have been proposed, aimed at reducing or eliminating ARF. Most notably, advanced dialysis techniques are frequently employed. Nonetheless, the mortality rate among dialysis-treated ARF patients still remains 30-80%, indicating that dialysis has little therapeutic value in treating ARF. (Morigi et al. (2004) J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 15:1794-804). In addition, pharmacological-based therapies such as dopamine, furosmide, mannitol or atrial natriuretic peptide administration, have failed in clinical studies (Haug et al. (1993) Transplantation 55:766-772; Lieberthal and Nigam (2000) Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 278: F1-F12). These data suggest that the traditional strategy for developing an ARF therapy is inadequate and that a new rationale must be implemented.
Recovery of renal function following ARF is dependent on the replacement of necrotic tubular cells with functional tubular epithelium. After injury, tubules are capable of self repair, forming new proximal tubular cells to replace failing or necrotic cells. The origin of the progenitor cells that give rise to new tubular cells is unknown. However, it is possible that tubular regeneration follows the stem cell/transit-amplifying cell paradigm described for more rapidly regenerating organ systems.
Recent studies have demonstrated that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are renotropic and help to repair the kidneys after drug- and ischemia-induced ARF (Morigi et al. 2004). It has also been recently shown that intracarotid administration of 1×106 MSCs per rat with ischemia/reperfusion injury resulted in significantly improved renal function (Togel et al. (2005) Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 289(1):F31-42). It was further shown that the protective effects of MSCs were independent of stem cell differentiation, but rather were the result of secretion of renoprotective trophic factors.
In contrast to ARF, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a gradual and progressive loss of kidney function. It is generally irreversible and ultimately leads to end-stage renal disease. In the United States, CKD is becoming increasingly common and is associated with poor health outcomes and high medical costs. The National Kidney Foundation estimates that 20 million Americans have CKD, and at least 20 million additional people are at risk for developing CKD. If left untreated, CKD can lead to significant morbidity and mortality from anemia, electrolyte imbalances, bone disease, cardiovascular disease, and kidney failure.
Progressive renal disease results from a combination of the initial disease injury (e.g, hypertension), followed by a maladaptive renal response to that injury. Such a response includes the production of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines and growth factors. Therefore, one strategy to slow CKD progression is to ameliorate the inflammatory and fibrotic response as well as repair or reverse existing kidney damage. It has been shown that the administration of growth factors can slow CKD progression. For example, bone morphogenic protein-7 (BMP-7) prevented tubular atrophy, interstitial inflammation and fibrosis in rats with unilateral ureteric obstruction. Similarly, BMP-7 administration reduced tubulointerstitial fibrosis and glomerulosclerosis in the MRL lpr/lpr mouse model of lupus nephritis. In addition, hepatocyte growth factor has been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic efficacy in a wide variety of animal models of kidney injury. Other factors that have shown therapeutic promise include transforming growth factor-β1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), connective tissue growth factor, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), Interleukins, tumor necrosis factor, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1. These studies all demonstrate that the administration of growth factors is a promising therapeutic approach for the preventative treatment of CKD.
Despite existing medical treatment options, mortality rates remain very high and the incidence of kidney disease is on the rise. Therefore, a need exists in the art for an improved, potentially curative therapy. Today, no therapeutic intervention attempts to halt or even reverse kidney disease progression. The present invention provides therapeutic methods that show great renoprotective promise, and promote endogenous renal regeneration, replace necrotic renal cells and ultimately prevent ESRD.

Repair and regeneration of renal tissue using human umbilical cord tissue-derived cells

Advanced Technologies And Regenerative Medicine, LLC


A device and method for treating an ingrown nail condition is provided. The device prevents a solution that is applied during a procedure from coming into contact with the surrounding skin and nail bed. The device includes a plastic tube that has a flap located at one end. An applicator is inserted through the tube to ensure direct application of a phenol or similar solution onto only a nail matrix. As a result, the phenol or similar solution is prevented from coming into contact with the surrounding skin and nail bed, thereby reducing post-operative healing time, post-operative infection and post-operative pain.

An ingrown toenail is a common form of nail disease. It is an often painful condition in which the nail grows so that it cuts into the side of a nail fold. While ingrown nails can occur in both the nails of the hand and feet, they occur most frequently with the toenails. A true ingrown toenail is caused by the actual penetration of the flesh by a sliver of a nail.
The most common cause of an ingrown toenail is cutting one's toenail too short. Other causes of an ingrown toenail can be from wearing socks and shoes that are tight or short, a fungal infection and trauma, for example from stubbing your toe or having an object fall on an individual's toenail.
Symptoms of an ingrown nail can include, without limitation, pain, redness and swelling of the toe or infection. Pain can occur along the margins of the nail with the pain worsening when wearing tight footwear and sensitivity to pressure of any kind. Bumping an affected toe can produce sharp, even excruciating pain as the tissue is punctured further by the nail. By the very nature of the condition, ingrown nails become easily infected unless special care is taken to treat the condition early on and keep the area clean. Signs of infection include redness and swelling of the area around the nail, drainage of fluid and watery discharge tinged with blood or purulent discharge.
Ingrown toenails that are left untreated can eventually lead to osteomyelitis, which is an infection in the bone. This serious infection can be especially severe for individuals with diabetes or circulatory problems in their lower extremities.
Treatment of ingrown toenails depends upon the severity of the condition. A podiatrist may recommend a simple treatment such as soaking one's foot in Epsom salts or in an antibacterial solution. Treatment may also include trimming of the ingrown toenail. However, in many instances, these are only temporary solutions as ingrown toenails tend to reoccur and become chronic.
A more permanent treatment option is to perform what is known as a P & A (phenol and alcohol) or partial matrixectomy procedure. This procedure eliminates the nail matrix, which is located behind and underneath the cuticle where the ingrown toenail grows to ensure that the nail does not grow back where the matrix has been cauterized/ablated so the chances of further ingrowths are substantially reduced. Occasionally, the ingrown nail can reoccur which would then require the procedure to be performed again.
Typically, in a P & A procedure, a podiatrist first injects a local anesthetic into an appendage (e.g., finger, toe) to numb it. The podiatrist next applies a tourniquet to prevent bleeding while the procedure is being performed. The ingrown nail is then removed. The amount of nail that is removed is approximately two to three millimeters or slightly more. In order to remove the nail matrix, a strong acid such as phenol is used in the procedure.
Specifically, in a P & A procedure a cotton tip applicator is saturated with phenol, which is a very strong acid solution. The applicator is then inserted under the skin until it comes into contact with the nail matrix. The applicator is then continuously rotated on the matrix for approximately thirty seconds. The treatment typically comprises a total of three applications for a combined total of approximately ninety seconds. This procedure destroys the matrix area in order to permanently and selectively ablate the matrix that is manufacturing the ingrown portion of the nail (i.e., the nail margin). The surgical site is then irrigated with alcohol to flush out the remaining phenol. A topical antibacterial ointment or cream may thereafter be applied followed by the application of a dry sterile dressing. The tourniquet is then removed.
However, in the above-described surgical procedure, a phenol solution usually comes into contact with the skin and nail bed, which regularly causes burning and damage to these soft tissue structures, producing post-operative pain, prolonging the healing at the surgical site and, in some instances, leading to post-operative infection. Eliminating and/or reducing the contact of phenol with the skin and/or nail bed would aid in reducing burning, post-operative pain and the time required for healing of the surgical site.

Device and method of treating a nail condition


A fluorine-containing urethane compound of the general formula:[Rf-A1-(X1(OH))—(Y1)a—OC(═O)NH—]mI[—NHC(═O)O—Y2]n[—NHC(═O)O—((ClCH2—)X2O)b—R1]k   (1)wherein I is a group remaining after an isocyanate group is removed from a polyisocyanate compound, Rf is a perfluoroalkyl group having 2 to 21 carbon atoms, A1 is a direct bond or a divalent organic group having 1 to 21 carbon atoms, X1 and X2 are trivalent linear or branched aliphatic group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, Y1 is a divalent organic group having 0 to 5 carbon atoms and 0 to 2 nitrogen atoms (provided that at least one carbon atom or nitrogen atom is present) and at least one hydrogen atom, Y2 is a monovalent organic group optionally having a hydroxyl group, and R1 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, can impart high water- and oil-repellency.

Hitherto, various fluorine-containing compounds have been proposed. The fluorine-containing compounds have the advantage that they are excellent in properties such as heat resistance, oxidation resistance and weather resistance. Due to the property that the fluorine-containing compounds have a low free energy, that is, low adhesion, the fluorine-containing compounds have been used, for example, as a water- and oil-repellent agent and a stainproof (or soil release) agent.
The fluorine-containing compounds which can be used as the water- and oil-repellent agent are disclosed in, for example, JP-B-63-60021, JP-B-02-60702, JP-B-02-60702 and JP-B-63-45665. Examples of the fluorine-containing compounds are disclosed also in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,414,111, 5,565,564, EP-A-383365, JP-A-07-505190 (WO93/17165), WO97/25308, U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,894, JP-A-2001-525010 (WO98/51727), JP-A-2001-525871 (WO98/51723), JP-A-2001-525872 (WO98/51726), JP-A-2001-525874 (WO98/51724) and JP-A-2002-504938 (WO98/51725).
These fluorine-containing compounds cannot impart sufficient water- and oil-repellency.

Fluorinated urethane compounds and compositions containing the same


Methods, devices, systems and computer program products are described for implementing on a communication device customized caller ID and remote functional management of a communication device via shared secret exchange between calling and called parties. Customized caller ID provides for a calling party to identify themself regardless of the device they are using to place to call. In addition, other remote functional management, such as call priority tagging, provides for the calling party to prioritize the call or otherwise customize a call ID message to the called party. By exchanging shared secrets amongst the calling and called parties, the customized caller ID method and remote functional management are secure, thereby eliminating the likelihood of unauthorized tampering by unknown parties. Shared secret exchange also provides for authorized callers to remotely access and manage the communication device, such as, for example, to remotely lock down or place the communication device in an off state.

The described aspects relate to caller identification systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods for on demand customization of a caller identification.
Caller identification, otherwise referred to as caller ID, was first invented in the early 1980's and became widely commercially available in the 1990's. Today, caller ID is available to both wired (i.e., landline) and wireless communication devices.
In conventional caller ID, the service provider, such as a telephone company, implements a Frequency Key Shift (FSK) technique to send ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) character data intertwined with the ring signal data. A modem within the call receiving device decodes the bits in the call transmission, such as the ring signal and the caller ID information. The caller ID information may include the calling device identification number (i.e., the calling device telephone number) and, in some applications, the name of the user associated with the calling device telephone number.
In contrast, in a wireless communication device, caller ID is implemented by matching the received over the air phone number with entries in the device's phonebook or contact listings. If a match in the phonebook or contact list is found, then the name associated with the phone number is displayed on the wireless device.
However, in both the conventional caller ID service and in the wireless communication caller ID system, caller identification is limited to identifying the caller typically associated with the phone number. For example, conventional caller ID identifies the party registered with the service provider as the "owner" of the telephone number or the party associated with the telephone number within the receiving device's phone book or contact list. As such, known caller ID systems do not accommodate the situation in which the actual caller is someone other than the party registered with the service provider or the party associated with the telephone number within the receiving device's phone book or contact list.
For example, in the situation in which a telephone, wired or wireless, is borrowed by someone who needs to place a call, a wireless device receiving the call will typically display only the calling telephone number because the phone number will likely not exist in the receiving device's phone book in association with a name. Likewise, if the receiving device is a wired communication device, the caller ID function may provide for display of data that indicates the name of the party associated with the phone number, but not the name of the actual caller.
Thus, a problem arises in that the receiving party does not recognize the displayed telephone number and/or the name of the party associated with the telephone number, and therefore the receiving party may choose to ignore the call. In many instances, this problem may be exasperated when someone is borrowing a telephone to place a call, where the call is of the utmost importance and being able to immediately communicate with the called party is critical.
Additionally, current caller ID systems do not provide for prioritizing the importance of a call to insure that the receiving party answers the call. Such prioritization of communications is commonplace in other forms of communication, such as electronic mail, which uses red flags or exclamation points to signify that a message is high priority. In this regard, prioritization may be desired to highlight the importance of the communications to the recipient. In the land-line telephone hypothetical, a receiving party who is burdened during the workday with frequent calls may routinely choose to ignore such calls and opt to have the caller leave voicemail. However, if the caller is provided with a means for signaling to the receiving party that the importance of the call warrants high priority, then the receiving party may be more prone to answer the call immediately in view of such signaling.
However, in both the situation in which the calling party wishes to customize the caller ID information so as to insure that the called party knows the callers identity, and in the situation in which the calling party wishes to prioritize a call to insure that the called party answers the call, it may be desirable to insure that non-authorized callers, such as scammers, telemarketers or the like, do not have access to customizing their caller ID information or prioritizing their calls. Security in this regard may be useful to insure that scammers do not dupe the receiving party into believing that they are a known party or an important caller based on unreliable information.
Thus, a need exists for methods and systems that provide for customized caller identification. The customization aspect of the system may provide for the calling party to override the standard caller ID information associated with the calling communication device. In addition, customization may provide for the calling party to prioritize calls for the purpose of alerting the receiving party that a call has heightened importance.

Systems and methods for caller identification customization and remote management of communication devices


A method for removing dissolved solids or sludge from amine absorbing solutions for acidic gas in gas sweetening systems is provided comprising contacting a stream of regenerated absorbing solution with CO.sub.2 such that the sludge forms a precipitate and removing the precipitate from the absorbing solution. The stream of absorbing solution may then be returned to a regenerator for removal of CO.sub.2 or returned to the gas sweetening system with the regenerated absorbing solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to removing impurities from amine absorbing solutions for acidic gas in gas sweetening systems. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for removing sludge from amine absorbing solutions by contacting a stream of regenerated absorbing solution with CO.sub.2.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art to treat gases and liquids with amine absorbing solutions to remove acidic gases such as CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 S. The amine usually contacts the acidic gases and liquids as an aqueous solution containing amine in an absorber tower with the aqueous amine solution contacting the acidic fluid countercurrently.
The acid gas scrubbing processes known in the art can be generally broken into three (3) categories.
The first category is generally referred to as the aqueous amine process where relatively concentrated amine solutions are employed during the absorption. This type of process is often utilized in the manufacture of ammonia where nearly complete removal of the acid gas, such as CO.sub.2, is required. It is also used in those instances where an acid gas, such as CO.sub.2, occurs with other acid gases or where the partial pressure of the CO.sub.2 and other gases are low.
A second category is generally referred to as the aqueous base scrubbing process or "hot pot" process. In this type of process, a small level of an amine is included as an activator for the aqueous base used in the scrubbing solution. This type of process is generally used where bulk removal of an acid gas, such as CO.sub.2, is required. This process also applies to situations where the CO.sub.2 and feed gas pressures are high. In such processes, useful results are achieved using aqueous potassium carbonate solutions and an amine activator.
A third category is generally referred to as the nonaqueous solvent process. In this process, water is a minor constituent of the scrubbing solution and the amine is dissolved in the liquid phase containing the solvent. In this process, up to 50% of the amine is dissolved in the liquid phase. This type of process is utilized for specialized applications where the partial pressure of CO.sub.2 is extremely high and/or where many acid gases are present, e.g., COS, CH.sub.3 SH and CS.sub.2.
In the known absorption operations, the enriched absorbent or solvent, after being withdrawn from the absorber column, is passed into a regenerator column where the absorbed H.sub.2 S and/or CO.sub.2 are stripped by countercurrent contacting with steam. The steam is generated at the bottom of the regenerator column by boiling the solution in an indirectly heated tubular heat exchanger or "reboiler". The heat for this boiling may come from steam, or from any hot fluid, or from direct firing. The countercurrent contacting with steam in the regenerator column, followed by boiling, will strip the H.sub.2 S and or CO.sub.2 from the solution down to a very low residual level. The hot stripped solution, known as "lean solution", or regenerated absorbing solution, is withdrawn from the reboiler, cooled, and sent back to the absorber column to complete the cycle of absorption and regeneration.
It has been found, however, that acid gas absorbing solutions can react with elemental sulfur to form dissolved solids (sludge) at temperatures normally found in gas plants. Unless elemental sulfur can be excluded from the system, the sludge will be a permanent feature of gas treatment with amine absorbing solutions. Filtering the sludge from absorbing solution that is heavily loaded with H.sub.2 S (rich absorbing solution) is hazardous. Consequently, there exists a need for an alternative method to remove sludge from acid gas absorbing solutions in gas sweetening systems.

Method for purifying amine gas sweetening systems by addition of CO.sub.2


A high-linearity light source comprising a first semiconductor diode (e.g., a light-source diode such as a laser diode or a light-emitting diode, or a light-receiving diode such as a photodetector) and a nonlinearity compensation network with a second, compensation, semiconductor diode is provided. The first and second diodes are connected in an antiparallel configuration with either an A.C. signal source (for light emission) or a load (for light receiving) and in separated D.C. bias paths.. By varying the relative biasing of the diodes (e.g., using a variable resistor in series with a diode), the capacitance of the combination of diodes cancels, and the linearity of the system improves. With a properly biased compensation diode the even-order nonlinearity distortion can be cancelled completely.

The present invention relates to modulated semiconductor diodes, and more particularly, to reduced nonlinearity distortion of semiconductor diode light sources.
As optical communication demand increases, so does the need for better quality, lower distortion optical communication technology.
At the heart of optical transmission systems lies the light source. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes commonly provide light for these systems. The inherently nonlinear junction capacitance of these devices, however, creates undesired harmonics and intermodulation products which introduce distortion, degrading their performance.
High linearity and low noise in the light source are critical factors in optical transmission systems. Others have sought to improve light-source linearity by improving light-source fabrication technology, reducing predistortion, and implementing feedback control. These methods, however, create undesirable high costs and manufacturing difficulties. The present inventor, in a previous invention (U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,802), improved the linearity by using an anti-series connection of diodes to reduce second- and third-order distortion harmonics.
The present invention uses an antiparallel connection of semiconductor diodes, with one diode reverse-biased, to improve upon the inventor's earlier, anti-series configuration distortion-reducing system, to reduce harmonic distortion while also reducing the D.C. power consumption, low-frequency noise, and heat generation, as compared to the anti-series connected system.

Nonlinearity compensation of laser diode and other semiconductor diodes


A device and method that determine a freewheeling rotation of an electric motor. The method includes steps of measuring first and second signals from respective first and second windings of an unenergized motor, and determining from the first and second signals whether the unenergized motor is rotating. The method may also include determining from the first and second signals the direction of rotation if the unenergized motor is rotating. The method may further include measuring a third signal from a third winding of the unenergized motor, and determining whether the motor is rotating may include determining that the motor is not rotating if the first, second, and third signals are equal. The first and second signals may each include a respective back voltage.

Motors are found in many forms. For the purposes of discussion, a three-phase, brushless DC motor ("BLDC motor") is described. Three-phase brushless DC motors have many uses, among which include both high-speed and low-speed applications. Conventional high-speed applications include spindle motors for computer hard disk drivers, digital versatile disk (DVD) drivers, CD players, tape-drives for video recorders, and blowers for vacuum cleaners. Motors for high-speed applications typically operate in a range from a few thousand rotations per minute (rpm's) to 20,000 rpm's, for example. Low-speed applications include motors for farm and construction equipment, automobile engine cooling fans, HVAC compressors, fuel pumps and the like. Motors for low-speed applications typically operate in a range from less than a few hundred rpm's to a few thousand rpm's, for example. Compared to motors employing brushes, brushless motors enjoy reduced noise generation and improved reliability because no brushes need to be replaced due to wear.
FIG. 1 illustrates a motor system 20 that includes a sensorless BLDC motor 30, a controller 40, a power-supply Vs and a power-supply control circuit 50. The motor 30 typically includes a permanent magnet rotor and a stator having a number of windings, with the rotor typically housed within the stator. Each winding has a winding tap 32 used to couple the windings to the power-supply control circuit 50. The rotor is permanently magnetized, and turns to align its own magnetic flux with the magnetic flux generated by the windings. The voltage signals at the winding tap 32a, 32b, and 32c are represented as voltages Va, Vb, Vc, respectively.
The power-supply control circuit 50 includes a plurality of pairs of switches Xsa and Xga, Xsb and Xgb, and Xsc and Xbc (collectively "switches X"), one pair for each winding. Each of the switches X is connected to a free end of a winding at the winding tap 32a–32c, and either to the power supply Vs Qr to a ground voltage GND. The switches are typically power transistors such as Mosfets or the like. Reverse biased diodes Dsa, Dga, Dsb, Dgb, Dsc, Dgc (collectively "diode(s) D") are placed either in parallel with each of these switches or are inherent in the structure of the switches. The diodes D act as power rectifiers, and typically serve to protect the switches X and the motor windings against induced voltages exceeding the supply or ground voltage.
The controller 40 controls and operates the switches X to power the motor 30, typically in a pulse width modulation (PWM) mode. Connecting wires between the controller 40 and the power-supply control circuitry 50 are omitted for clarity. The PWM mode is a mode of operation in which the power is switched on and off at a high frequency in comparison to the angular velocity of the rotor. For example, typical switching frequencies may be in the range of 20 kHz for low-speed applications. In a typical on-off cycle lasting about 50 μS, there may be 40 μS of "on" time followed by 10 μS of "off" time. Given the short duration of off times, residual current still flows through the motor windings so there is virtually no measurable slow down in the angular velocity of the rotor during these periods. Accordingly, because the switches are either full "on" or full "off," the PWM mode provides a significant power savings over modes in which power is continuously supplied.
The BLDC motor 30 can be represented as having three windings A, B, and C (not shown in FIG. 1), although a larger number of stator windings are often employed with multiple rotor poles. The windings can be connected in a "Wye" configuration, or alternatively in a "Delta" configuration. Typically, in such applications, eight-pole motors are used having twelve stator windings and four N-S magnetic sets on the rotor, resulting in four electrical cycles per revolution of the rotor. The stator windings, however, can be analyzed in terms of three "Wye" connected windings, connected in three sets of four windings, each physically separated by 90 degrees.
In operation, the three representative windings A, B and C are energized with a PWM drive signal that causes electromagnetic fields to develop about the windings. The resulting attraction/repulsion between the electromagnetic fields of the windings A, B, and C, and the magnetic fields created by the magnets in the rotor causes the rotor assembly to rotate. The windings are energized in sequences to produce a current path through two windings of the "Wye", with the third winding left floating (or in tri-state). The sequences are arranged so that as the current paths are changed, or commutated, one of the windings of the current path is switched to float, and the previously floating winding is switched into the current path. The sequences are defined such that when the floating winding is switched into the current path, the direction of the current in the winding that was included in the prior current path is not changed.
The start-up routine for a BLDC motor 30 is handled by the controller 40 and consists of several phases, including pre-positioning the rotor, accelerating the rotor up to a desired speed, and switching to auto-commutated mode, or synchronous mode once the desired speed is reached. In some situations, the BLDC motor 30 may be freewheeling, that is rotating without being driven by the controller 40 before the controller is activated to start and drive the motor. For example, windmilling by an automotive HVAC or engine cooling fan will make the fan motor rotate. Windmilling occurs when air blows across the fan blades, thus causing an unenergized fan motor to rotate. Other situations may occur where the motor 30 is rotating for a reason other than being driven by the controller 40. It is often important to detect the motor 30 rotation direction before beginning the start-up routine. If at the beginning of the start-up routine the motor 30 is turning for a reason other than being driven by the controller 40, the start-up may fail. In addition, the controller 40 or the circuit 50 may be damaged because a high current may flow to the controller 40 if it tries to start the motor 30 while it is rotating in a direction opposite to the desired direction. Further, if the motor 30 is already rotating in a desired direction, the rotation should be preserved rather than losing efficiency by stopping and restarting the motor. Ideally, the controller 40 should "know" the motor 30 rotation in advance of the start-up routine. If the rotation is in the desired direction, then the controller 40 should pick up the speed right away. If the rotation is in the opposite direction, the controller 40 should brake or stop the motor 30 first, and then start the motor in desired direction.
An existing method for determining a pre-start rotation of a motor requires a plurality of sensors installed within the motor structure. Such sensors add components and complexity to a motor system that are used only during motor start up. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and a method of determining the rotation direction of a freewheeling motor that requires few or no additions to and little or no alteration of the motor structure.

Determining rotation of a freewheeling motor


A method and apparatus for image processing which performs pixel defect correction and color demosaicing on pixel image data while held in a line buffer.

An imaging device 10, as shown in FIG. 1, typically includes a plurality of imaging device pixel cells, each having an associated photosensor, arranged in an array 20. FIG. 1 illustrates a CMOS imaging device 10 which employs a column parallel readout to sample the signals generated by the imaging device pixel cells. In a column parallel readout, a column switch associated with a column driver 60 and associated column address decoder 70 for each column of the array selectively couples a column output line to a readout circuit while a row of the array is selected for readout by row address decoder 40 and row driver 30.
A control circuit 50 typically controls operation of the pixel cells of the array 20 for image charge integration and signal readout. Each imaging device pixel cell in a CMOS imaging device 10 is sampled for a reset output signal (Vrst) and a photogenerated voltage output signal (Vsig) proportional to incident light from a scene to be captured. The output signals are sent to the readout circuit which processes the imaging device pixel cell signals. The readout circuit typically includes a sample and hold circuit 72 for sampling and holding the reset output signal Vrst and photogenerated output signal Vsig, a differential amplifier 74 for subtracting the Vrst and Vsig signals to generate a pixel output signal (e.g., Vrst−Vsig), and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 77, which receives the analog pixel output signal and digitizes it. The output of the analog-to-digital converter 77 is supplied to an image processor 110, which processes the pixel output signals from array 20 to form a digital image.
A color filter array may be used to detect separate color components of a scene to be captured so that the imaging device 10 may successfully reflect color details in a digitally produced color image. When a color filter array is placed over the pixel array 20, each imaging device pixel cell receives light through a respective color filter of the color filter array and detects only the color of its associated filter.
A Bayer patterned color filter array 80, illustrated in FIG. 2, is a well known and commonly used color filter array that allows the passage of only red, green, or blue light. Imaging device pixels in an array 20 associated with a Bayer patterned color filter array 80 may be designated as red (R), green (G), or blue (B) pixels according to each pixel's associated filter. Color filters in a Bayer patterned color filter array 80 are arranged in a pattern of alternating rows 90, 95, 90, 95, etc., with each row having alternating colors, i.e., R,G,R,G,R,G, etc. in rows 90 and G,B,G,B,G, etc. in rows 95.
The digital image output of the imaging device 10 using a Bayer patterned color filter array 80 is initially an array of red, green and blue image pixels, where "pixels" refers to individual picture elements that together comprise a digital image. Each pixel value is proportional to the intensity of the respective incident light from the captured scene as received by the imaging device pixel cell through an associated filter. This initial red/green/blue image is referred to as a "raw" image. A number of image processing tasks are required to transform a raw image into an image of a quality that accurately reflects the target scene by human visual standards.
Spatial processing tasks are a type of processing applied to raw image data which acquires pixel values from several pixels in a row or column of an image. Spatial processing includes color mosaic interpolation (i.e., demosaicing), pixel defect correction, image contrast enhancement, and image noise reduction, among other processing tasks. These tasks generally require the use of a plurality of line buffers to store lines of pixel values of the image so that proximal pixel values may be used in various processing calculations. Typically, the line buffers sequentially receive and store lines of pixel values in an image and these pixel values are processed while in the line buffer. Process lines of pixels exit each line buffer as a new next line of unprocessed pixel values are stored.
A line buffer stores a complete row or column of pixel values. Typically, as many as five or more separate line buffers may be used in spatial processing tasks. In a "camera-on-a-chip"implementation, the number of buffers occupies a significant portion of the silicon area used in the chip, which can be a problem due to cost and space limitations.
It is desirable to reduce the required number of line buffers for spatial processing tasks. It is also desirable for the spatial processing tasks to be efficient, low-cost and simple. What is needed is a spatial processing method that requires fewer line buffers and provides increased efficiency and decreased complexity of the spatial processing operations used to achieve, for example, defective pixel correction, interpolation, contrast enhancement and noise reduction.

Method and apparatus for processing a digital image having defective pixels