An apparatus is provided for detecting agronomic information on a field to be cultivated. The apparatus has at least one sensor configured to detect agronomic information from an area of interest from within a field. The agronomic information detected over space and time being desirable to facilitate the optimized growing of a crop. A mobile carrier is configured to carry the sensor in close proximity to the area of interest. The sensor is constructed and arranged to detect the agronomic information from the area of interest as it passes near the field. The computer has a central processing unit, a memory coupled to the central processing unit, and an electronic interface coupled between the memory and the sensor for transferring sensed information into the memory. The computer is configured to collect detected agronomic information from the areas of interest within the field. An apparatus is also provided for facilitating cultivation of an agriculture field via an interface device. One interface device is a detector. Another interface device is an effector. The apparatus can detect/measure and control the optimized growing of a crop.

The cultivation of agricultural crops has evolved over the years from the growing of crops on a large number of small family farms to the growing of crops on large scale farms. Irrespective of a farm's size, variations in terrain, soil conditions, and weather exposure can result in non-uniformities of field conditions during the preparation and growing of crops.
Individual farmers, who typically do not farm with irrigation equipment on their plots of land have learned to selectively fertilize and harvest each plot according to its specific needs. Pursuant to topological variations, some plots of land are exposed to more sunlight due to the presence of a hillside slope, better exposing the land to rays of light. Similarly, other plots of land can have an overall increased moisture content due to their presence in a valley where water is likely to collect when it rains. Typically, an individual farmer faced with the task of cultivating a small family farm, will consciously be aware of such variations. Hence, the farmer will make decisions to cultivate certain plots of land based upon their personal knowledge of soil conditions and crops being grown on each plot. Such a growing/cultivating strategy is realizable by a small scale farmer who does not have to cultivate a large number of plots of land.
In addition to sunlight exposure, individual farmers keep track of rainfall, humidity and temperature, as well as soil conditions and the occurrence of bug infestations. In some cases, soil is analyzed to determine nitrogen levels and various other conditions. In other cases, visual observation is made by a farmer as he walks through a field to detect the presence of bugs or other crop-damaging conditions. However, it is only feasible for a farmer who collects data in such a manner, to grossly categorize such agronomic information when attempting to tailor a farming strategy that maximizes crop yield therefrom. Hence, improvements that enable better collection and management of such information have been needed by individual farmers.
Additionally, the trend in agriculture has been an increase in the number of large scale farms that contain vast amounts of land, frequently divided into many plots of land. Many of these farms are run by corporations, or large groups of individuals. Due to the large amount of land being cultivated and the large number of individuals involved in such cultivation, the collection and tracking of detailed knowledge about soil and crop information over all regions of land being cultivated can be lost.
Additionally, some large scale farms employ sprinkler irrigation systems for applying water and chemicals to a crop being raised. One type of sprinkler system consists of a center-pivot irrigation device configured to apply water and chemicals to a circular plot of land. Such devices can also be adapted to irrigate square plots of land by providing end features for irrigating corner portions of such a plot via provision of a controllable end gun or articulating end boom contained therealong. A typical center pivot irrigation device has a fixed pivot, and a long body carried by an array of towers having support wheels. A plurality of sprinklers are fixed in spaced-apart relation along the arm, each sprinkler being activated via a solenoid valve to enable turning "on" and "off" of a sprinkler nozzle to regulate application of water and chemicals therefrom. In operation, the arm is rotated about the fixed pivot via the towers, as drive motors on each tower drive the support wheels, causing the device to rotate thereabout. Each sprinkler is activated via the solenoid valve to distribute water at a desired rate. The rate of application depends on the radial location of each particular sprinkler, so as to produce a somewhat uniform distribution of water around the field.
Recently, attempts have been made to enable a variable-rate application of water and chemicals to a field in order to deliver water and chemicals to regions of the field in differing amounts. One such effort is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,164 to McCann et al., entitled "Method and Apparatus for Variable Applications of Irrigation Water and Chemicals". A center pivot irrigation device has a plurality of sprinkler assemblies oriented in a fixed array. The array of sprinklers are operable to distribute an adjustable amount of water over a zone of ground as the arm is pivoted about the fixed pivot.
An additional area of development in the field of irrigation involves in-ground sprinkler systems that are used to irrigate relatively small plots of land. Typically, such systems consist of irrigation sprinklers that are buried in the landscaped ground surrounding large commercial buildings. Other applications include implementation of such systems on golf courses where maintenance of healthy ground cover is desirable. In one such system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,802 to Iggulden et al., entitled "Smart Irrigation Sprinklers", an irrigation sprinkler is disclosed which has a plurality of moisture sensing probes buried in the soil adjacent each sprinkler head. Each sensing probe is configured to develop an electrical signal representing the moisture content of soil surrounding the probe. Irrigation logic receives information on moisture content, and can compare such information with pre-established limits for preventing the supply of water to a sprinkler head when the ground is already sufficiently moist. However, such systems are impractical for use when farming large plots of land. In-ground systems are not suitable for applications where the ground must be turned over and tilled when preparing a field for the planting of crops. Likewise, in-ground sensors prove impractical because normal harvesting operations will damage or disrupt the placement of such devices. Furthermore, an extremely large number of sensing devices would be required in order to detect information from an entire field. Therefore, such an irrigation implementation on an agricultural field would prove extremely expensive. Furthermore, such a system would only provide a coarse distribution of information, because sensors would have to be spaced apart a rather significant distance in order to provide anything close to a cost-effective data collection implementation.
Another area of recent improvement in the field of agriculture involves the use of precision agriculture products. Such products typically utilize variable-rate application devices such as the above-mentioned pivot-end irrigation device, global positioning system (GPS) devices, and geographic information system (GIS). Satellite-based global positioning systems enable the determination of precise locations within a field of interest. Geographical information systems enable data management of detected conditions on a field of interest.
One presently available suitable differential global positioning system is manufactured by Trimble, and is sold under the product name Direct GPS for Arc View, Trimble Surveying and Mapping Division, 645 North Mary Avenue, P.O. Box 3642, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94088-3642.
One suitable geographic information system (GIS) is presently available from Environmental System Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), 380 New York Street, Redlands, Calif. 92373-8100, under the name "ARCVIEW.RTM., for Agriculture". Such a GIS system enables the management of agricultural information by way of a graphical user interface. The GIS system consists of software loaded into memory and implemented on a computer, and forms a graphical user interface that easily enables a user to tabulate data and evaluate collected data for making decisions about a crop being cultivated.
The use of precision agriculture products has been coupled with far-distance data collection techniques for determining certain agronomic features on a field being studied. Satellite imaging techniques and aerial photography techniques have enabled the collection of large amounts of data in order to characterize agronomic information and features on large fields of interest. For example, thermal imaging cameras have been used to determine certain thermal characteristics that manifest themselves on a field being observed. However, such cameras produce a gray scale array of pixels having limited resolution, and further, only collect information periodically when weather conditions permit flight overhead. Such flight-based collection is performed a far distance above a field being monitored. In some circumstances, the presence of certain crop and soil conditions will manifest themselves in the form of a thermally detectable variation upon the land. Similar detection can be performed in the visible, infrared and ultraviolet ranges, enabling the determination of correlated features with such information.
However, the ability to collect agronomic information on a field of interest via far-distance detection techniques often-times has limited capabilities. For example, inclement weather conditions can prevent the collection of information by blocking the ability to detect agronomic features. For cases of satellites, even the presence of moderate cloud cover can disrupt detection of such information. During certain periods of a growing cycle for a crop, the detection of such information can be critical to successful harvesting, as well as to the implementation of remedial measures that must be taken in order to counteract the effects of a bug infestation or fungal attack on plants. Hence, an improved technique which enables the detection of such agronomic information during any time of day, and under any type of weather condition, is desired. Furthermore, a sensing device that enables the detection of an increased number of different agronomic features is also desired. Additionally, a detection device that does not harm crops during the detection process, yet enables the collection of agronomic information while crops are being grown, is also desirable.
Although a number of precision agriculture products have recently been made available to the farming community, little has been done to enhance the ability to collect large amounts of data in a way which does not interrupt with the preparation and growing of a crop on a field. Therefore, there is a present need to enhance the ability to detect information about soil conditions and crops, while substantially leaving the field uninterrupted during the data collection process.
Another presently unresolved problem is a general inability to monitor and evaluate the condition of crops during each growing cycle. Presently, an individual farmer has to selectively sample and/or observe crop characteristics during a growing cycle in order to make projections about yield and productivity. However, such a crop-yield productivity system is dependant heavily upon the number of sample observations made by an observer, as well as the particular location of such sample sights being selected. Therefore, there is a need to improve the monitoring and sampling of crop status and growing conditions in order to better make projections on crop-yield during a particular growing cycle. Such information would prove useful in predicting overall crop yields, as well as making decisions on whether or not a crop surplus is available for selling to particular customers and foreign governments.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a system which provides for collection of such agronomic information, and further provides for collection of such information in a format suitable for use with presently available geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS). Hence, there is a need to provide input of such information to crop modeling programs, either on request, or automatically.
Yet another presently unresolved problem is a general inability to precisely apply water and/or chemicals locally to specific locations on a field and according to detected needs. More particularly, there is a need to apply water and/or chemicals locally, yet over large plots of land being cultivated, particularly in response to detected needs. Even further, there is a need to combine local detection of agrarian needs and application of water and/or chemicals to meet such needs within a single device capable of detecting needs and/or applying water/chemicals to meet such needs.

Mobile mounted remote sensing/application apparatus for interacting with selected areas of interest within a field


Upon successfully authenticating a client device with a server system, the client device and server system share auto-reconnect data. Upon subsequently losing and re-establishing communications with the server system, the client sends an auto-authenticate request to the server. The auto-authenticate request includes a session verifier that is based at least in part on the shared auto-reconnect data. The server validates the session verifier. If the validation is successful, the server automatically re-authenticates the client device.

Certain versions of the Microsoft® Windows® server operating system support "Terminal Services." Using Terminal Services, a server system can deliver a conventional Windows® desktop, as well as the latest Windows®-based applications, to a remotely located desktop computing device which is referred to as a client device or remote terminal. The remote terminal is often a personal computer running specialized terminal emulation software. In the Microsoft® Windows® environment described herein, the remote terminal runs software that is specifically designed for operation with Windows® Terminal Services.
When a user runs an application in this environment, most or all of the application execution, data processing, and data storage take place on the server; only things such as keyboard, mouse, display, and print information are transmitted back and forth between the server and the remote terminal.
A single server system can support multiple users and corresponding user sessions. Each user logs on and sees only their individual session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system and is independent of any other client session.
Communications between the server system and the various remote terminals are frequently by means of a network of some sort. The network might be a private local-area network, a private or public wide-area network, or a publicly-accessible network such as the Internet. Various forms of encryption are utilized between the server system and the remote terminals to ensure privacy and data integrity over these otherwise unsecure forms of network communications. Both the server system software and the remote terminal software are designed to support this encryption.
Microsoft® Windows® Terminal Services utilizes RDP (remote desktop protocol), a presentation services protocol that governs communications between the server system and the remote terminals. RDP uses its own video driver on the server system to render display output by constructing the rendering information into network packets and sending them over the network to the client device. The client receives the rendering data and interprets it into corresponding Win32® GDI API calls. Similarly, client mouse and keyboard messages are redirected from the client to the server. At the server, RDP uses its own virtual keyboard and mouse driver to receive these keyboard and mouse events. In addition to these basic input/output functions, RDP provides support for various other features, such as print redirection, clipboard mapping, remote control, and network load balancing. In addition, RDP enables data compression, data encryption, and logon and logoff services. RDP communications are typically packaged or embedded within the TCP/IP protocol.
The server system is capable of executing a number of different sessions. Each user session is typically associated with a single user and remote terminal, although the same session might be associated with different remote terminals during different time periods. To initiate a user session, the user establishes a secure connection between a particular client device and the server system. The server system then utilizes the I/O capabilities of the client device to authenticate the user, in a process referred to as a "logon" process. Authentication is typically performed by requesting user credentials, which normally comprise a user name and password. Upon receiving valid credentials, the server system creates a session and connects the client device to that session.
In many networked environments, and particularly in the Internet environment, data connections are unreliable and can be easily lost. In the Terminal Services environment described above, losing data communications between the server system and the client device does not necessarily terminate the session associated with that client device. Rather, the session is kept active for a predefined time period, and the user can log back on to that session using the same client device or a different client device. The logon process is similar to the initial logon process, in that the server system authenticates the user by requesting user credentials. Rather than creating a new session, however, the server system recognizes the user as being associated with an existing session, and reconnects the user to that session. In some systems, the client device might retain a session identifier from the previous session and submit the session identifier during the subsequent logon process to reconnect to that session.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An assembly for fitting together multiple exhaust pipes in a multi-cylinder engine into a single unit is provided. The assembly includes a cap and a choke pipe connected to the cap. The cap includes a surface with multiple sockets protruding from the surface in a direction opposite to the choke pipe whereby the sockets engage the exhaust pipes. The cap also includes a skirt, which surrounds a perimeter of the surface. The skirt extends from the surface in a direction toward the choke pipe. An internal surface of the sockets, an internal surface of the skirt and an internal surface of the choke pipe are linearly arranged with respect to each other.

In a multi-cylinder engine, exhaust pipes extend from the exhaust ports of the cylinders, and these exhaust pipes are brought together in an appropriate manner. The member used to bring the pipes together is an exhaust pipe manifold. Main exhaust pipes (usually one or two) extend from the exhaust pipe manifold and pass under the floor of the vehicle body to the rear of the body.
The exhaust pipe manifold inevitably has a complicated structure. In view of this, assemblies for fitting together a plurality of exhaust pipes are known, such as the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-240450 (JP 2000-240450 A). FIGS. 8 through 10 hereof show the assembly disclosed in JP 2000-240450 A.
Referring to FIG. 8, an assembly 100 is comprised of a perforated cap 101, a choke pipe 102 connected to the perforated cap 101, and a flange 103 provided at the exit of this choke pipe 102.
The choke pipe 102 is a cylinder in which the entrance has a large diameter, the exit has a small diameter, and the inside diameter decreases gradually.
The perforated cap 101 shown in FIG. 9 is comprised of a flat surface 104, a skirt 105 bent downward from the edge of the flat surface 104, a plurality (four in this example) of holes 106 formed in the flat surface 104, and sockets 107 formed by extending the edges of the holes 106 upward by means of burring. The distal ends (the bottom ends in the drawing) of exhaust pipes 108 are inserted into the sockets 107 and are fixed in place by welds 109, as shown in FIG. 8.
Since the skirt 105 is displaced further outward (to the left in the drawing) than the sockets 107 as shown in FIG. 10, pockets 111 can be formed in the portions enclosed by the bottom ends of the exhaust pipes 108, the top end of the choke pipe 102, and the skirt 105.
First currents 112 flowing along the internal peripheral surfaces of the exhaust pipes 108 form eddy currents in the pockets 111. These eddy currents increase pressure loss and are a hindrance to the flow of exhaust gas.
Second currents 113 slightly nearer to the center than the first currents 112 strike the internal surface of the choke pipe 102 and move in irregular fashion. The irregular movement creates turbulence and impedes the smooth flow of exhaust gas.
A smoother flow of exhaust is desired in the areas where the exhaust pipes are fitted together, and there is therefore a demand for a structure that does not cause eddy currents or turbulence.

Assembly for fitting together exhaust pipes in multi-cylinder engine


Methods and systems enabling the real-time monitoring of a light-induced procedure in a biological medium, and/or the acquisition of information related to this biological medium are provided. In some implementations, the light beam used for the procedure is modulated at a modulation frequency selected in view of the photoacoustic frequency response associated with the procedure. The photoacoustic feedback signal from the medium during the procedure is then monitored. This monitoring may involve filtering the photoacoustic feedback signal around the selected feedback modulation frequency. Ratiometric comparisons of the contribution of different frequencies to the photoacoustic feedback signal are also considered.

Lasers are used to treat numerous medical conditions, for example, by precise ablation, photo-disruption or photo-thermal (e.g. photocoagulation) treatment of targeted tissues. Due to high levels of inhomogeneity in the optical absorption and scattering properties both within and between tissues in the same individual, as well as between different individuals, consistent dosing of the laser energy delivered to a target remains challenging. Feedback of absorbed dosage by tissues is thus desired to provide consistent and repeatable treatment regimes.
In ocular procedures, for example, a feedback mechanism is highly desired for treatments such as selective retinal therapy (SRT) and subthreshold micropulse diode laser therapy (SDM), which provide no visual feedback for the ophthalmologist. As a result, these treatments are not commonly applied, although studies have been performed and have demonstrated better outcomes for these treatments compared to the more destructive photocoagulation treatments which are routinely used [Brinkmann, R., J. Roider, and R. Birngruber, SELECTIVE RETINA THERAPY (SRT): A review ON. Bull. Soc. Belge Ophtalmol, 2006, 302: p. 51-69]. In procedures such as SRT, laser induced micro-cavitation (micro-cavitation bubble formation) is used to produce confined cellular damage. Currently, laser pulse damage precludes the use of short treatment pulses (<a few 100 ns) due to the formation of large micro-cavitation bubbles which cause extensive damage around the treatment area, resulting in permanent vision impairment. Longer pulses allow greater control of bubble size [Deladurantaye, P. and O. Mermut, LASER-DIRECTED MICROCAVITATION, 2015, U.S. Patent application 2015/0342678]. However, due to the variability within tissues it remains difficult to ensure that the laser treatment is within the window of effectiveness without a readout measure. Due to stress and thermal confinement dynamics as well as microsecond bubble lifetimes (expansion and collapse), both the thermoelastic and the cavitation pressure waves generated are in the ultrasonic MHz frequency range [Roider, J., et al., Selective retina therapy (SRT) for clinically significant diabetic macular edema. Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 248(9), 2010: p. 1263-1272].
Optical feedback is an obvious choice for laser-based treatments since it is noninvasive and, by nature, present in laser treatments. As micro-cavitation forms, the reflectivity at the treated zone changes. By detecting the back-reflected light transients, one can monitor micro-cavitation occurrences. This technique is suited for micro-cavitation detection but not for detecting temperature changes. Monitoring of reflected light is not necessarily indicative of the absorbed dosage since scattering losses and transmission through the target of interest are not accounted for.
Real-time Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is another alternative for monitoring SRT and other phototherapies. Its effectiveness was demonstrated during photocoagulation and sub-threshold laser irradiation. The later treatment is a sub-threshold version of photocoagulation. Both treatments use much longer exposure times than SRT and therefore cause much slower temperature variations [Veritti, D., V. Sarao, and P. Lanzetta, Online optical coherence tomography during subthreshold laser irradiation. European journal of ophthalmology, 2011, 22(4): p. 575-579]. Steiner and his colleagues reported the use of time-resolved high speed OCT to provide feedback during SRT [Steiner, P., et. al., Time-Resolved Ultra-High Resolution optical Coherence Tomography for Real-Time Monitoring of Selective Retina Therapy. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2015, 56(11): p. 6654-6662]. Clinical results have shown that SRT irradiation induces changes in the time-resolved axial OCT scans below the threshold of visual lesions. It is not clear yet if the technique can be sensitive to sub-cavitation tissue changes. As for regular back-reflection measurement, it is not directly indicative of the absorbed dose. Moreover, the maximal permissible exposure (MPE) limits the OCT signal and therefore, most OCT systems are limited to ˜100 kHz, this limits the size of micro-cavitation which can be detected to a few micrometers in diameter as cavitation size and duration are directly related according to Rayleigh's equation.
Photoacoustic (PA) signal, also referred as optoacoustic signal, has the advantage that it is directly dependent on the absorbed energy dosage for short laser pulses and has been successfully used for treatment dosimetry. In SRT, micro-cavitations were detected from PA signal amplitudes or signal repeatability [Schuele, G., et al., Optoacoustic real-time dosimetry for selective retina treatment. Journal of biomedical optics, 2005, 10(6): p. 064022-064022-11], but these methods are either limited to micro-cavitation detection or lack sensitivity, especially near micro-cavitation threshold. It was reported that real time PA dosimetry within a therapeutic window was challenging with long treatment pulses (i.e. exposures of the order of 0.1 μs or greater) [Serebryakov, V., É. Bo{hacek over (i)}ko, and A. Yan, Real-time optoacoustic monitoring of the temperature of the retina during laser therapy. Journal of Optical Technology, 2014, 81(6): p. 312-321], where pulse lengths are significantly longer than the stress confinement times resulting in inefficient generation of pressure waves.
In view of the above, there remains a need for effective feedback mechanisms for monitoring phototherapy procedures.

Light modulation for improved photoacoustic feedback on light-induced treatments and procedures


The present invention regards cancer-specific control sequences that direct expression of a polynucleotide encoding a therapeutic gene product for treatment of the cancer. Specifically, the invention encompasses breast cancer-, prostate cancer-, and pancreatic cancer-specific control sequences. Two breast cancer-specific sequences utilize specific regions of topoisomerase IIα and transferrin receptor promoters, particularly in combination with an enhancer. The prostate cancer-specific and pancreatic cancer-specific control sequences utilize composites of tissue-specific control sequences, a two-step transcription amplification sequence, and a post-transcriptional control sequence. In more particular embodiments, these polynucleotides are administered in combination with liposomes.

The ability to control expression of particular polynucleotides upon gene transfer is a useful function, particularly for applications where specific localized activity is desired. Such is the case for cancer, where it is prudent to confine destructive or lethal gene products to the cancerous cells while preventing at least in part such activity in normal cells.
Breast Cancer Tissue-Specific Expression
Current breast cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy (CT) and radiotherapy, have low selectivity for tumor cells and side effects for normal tissues. To minimize the side effects, these therapies are generally given in an intermittent manner, allowing normal cells to recover between treatment cycles. However, during the recovery period, some surviving cancer cells become more resistant to the treatment because of gene mutation. Consequently, cancer recurrence or progression may occur. Tumor-targeting gene therapy minimizes treatment side effects and the risk of developing resistance by acting on the tumor-specific signaling pathways.
One breast cancer-specific promoter described herein comprises selected portions of the topoisomerase IIα gene. Although the 5′ flanking region of the topoisomerase IIα gene has been known for some time Hochhauser et al., 1992), a particular active region described herein has not been demonstrated to be useful for breast cancer tissue, even when linked to cytomegalovirus enhancer (Mo et al., 1998).
Another breast cancer-specific promoter described herein comprises selected portions of the transferrin receptor promoter. Transferrin receptor expression has been localized in breast tissue (Fuernkranz et al., 1991; Shterman et al., 1991) and in breast cancer (Bauman et al., 1997; Shindelman et al., 1981), but a particular region that provides such activity has not been disclosed.
Prostate Cancer Tissue-Specific Expression
Prostate-specific promoters, such as PSA, probasin, and hK2, have been recently developed. The activities of these promoters are androgen-dependent and the use of androgen-responsive vectors to direct expression of therapeutic genes to prostatic tissue is helpful for numerous disease stages. Although such prostate-specific promoters responsive to androgen receptor have been developed by the present inventors (Xie et al., Cancer Res 2001) and other groups (Zhang et al., Mol Endocrinol 2000), these androgen-dependent promoters may be less active after castration or androgen ablation therapy, which are the main modalities for progressive prostate cancer treatment. Patients treated with compositions comprising these promoters may fail this kind of therapy and die of recurrent androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC). A novel promoter for prostate cancer gene therapy that will be active in both ADPC and AIPC to treat metastatic and recurrent hormonal refractory prostate cancer is lacking in the art.
Pancreatic Cancer Tissue-Specific Expression
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive human malignancies and the fifth cause of cancer death, given that no effective modalities are available. The present invention addresses such a need by providing a promoter effective to regulate expression of a therapeutic polynucleotide specifically in pancreatic cancer cells.

Board of Regents, The University Of Texas System


A method and apparatus for testing rubber tires includes an abrader for rubbing against the surface of the tire and an eraser for removing particles of rubber left on the abrading surface by the tire. The eraser has the capability of absorbing oil or wax included in the tire being tested and in the particles deposited on the abrading surface.

A number of tests are conducted on tires following their manufacture. Among these are indoor tire tests for tread wear including irregular wear, indoor tests for force and moment characterization to confirm the ability of the tire to endure forces expected to be encountered during braking and turning and laboratory abrasion tests for tire tread wear resistance. The tires are subjected to an abrading action longitudinally and laterally with use of an abrading surface. Rotational or other movement of the tire relative to the abrading wheel or other abrading surface results in rubber compound debris accumulating on the abrading surface. The tread rubber compound from which most tires are manufactured have certain amount of oil and/or wax. Particularly for synthetic rubber formulation for tread, such as SBR, large quantities of processing oil is commonly used. It is desirable to immediately remove from the abrading surface such debris and the oil and/or wax contamination accumulated on such abraded surface. The present invention utilizes an eraser wheel for cleaning and removing such debris and oil and wax contamination which is made of a rubber that has no oil and is capable of absorbing the oil and wax typically found in tire tread formulations.

Method and apparatus for testing rubber tires or solid rubber wheel laboratory samples


A light emitting diode array in accordance with the present invention includes a metal substrate, a dielectric layer disposed above the metal substrate, and a plurality of electrically conductive traces disposed on the dielectric layer. A plurality of vias pass through the dielectric layer. The light emitting diode array also includes a plurality of light emitting diodes, each of which is disposed above a corresponding one of said vias and each of which includes a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact electrically coupled to separate ones of the electrically conductive traces. Each of the vias contains a thermally conductive material in thermal contact with the metal substrate and in thermal contact with the corresponding light emitting diode.

The present invention relates to light emitting diodes and more particularly to arrays of light emitting diodes.
Arrays of light emitting diodes (LEDs) may be employed in a variety of high flux (optical energy/unit time) applications such as street lighting, traffic signals, and liquid crystal display back-lighting. It is advantageous in such applications to increase the flux provided per unit area of the LED array. Such an increase in flux per unit area can in principle be accomplished by decreasing the spacing between LEDs in the array (thus increasing the number of LEDs per unit area of the array) and/or by increasing the flux provided by the individual LEDs. However, either approach to increasing the flux per unit area of an LED array also typically increases the amount of heat that must be dissipated per unit area of the array to avoid significantly degrading the performance of the LEDs.
One conventional type of LED array includes LED lamps which each comprise a die attached to a metal leadframe within a molded or cast plastic body. The two metal leads of each lamp are typically soldered to conductive traces on a common printed circuit board of conventional design. The space taken up by the lamps"" plastic bodies and metal leads limits the packing density of lamps in the array. In addition, such lamps typically cannot dissipate much heat, since heat generated in the lamps is conducted away primarily through the leads and the conductive traces. Consequently, the lamps cannot be driven by high current to produce high flux.
In another conventional type of LED array LED dice are attached with silver filled epoxy to the surface of a conventional printed circuit board. Typically, the LED dice are electrically connected to conductive traces on the printed circuit board with wire bonds which limit how closely the dice may be spaced. In addition, the conventional printed circuit board to which the dice are attached is typically not effective at spreading the heat generated by the LED dice. This limits the maximum operating current of the LED dice and thus the maximum flux provided by an individual LED die.
What is needed is a high flux LED array that does not suffer from the drawbacks of prior art LED arrays.
An LED array in accordance with the present invention includes a metal substrate, a dielectric layer disposed above the metal substrate, and a plurality of electrically conductive traces disposed on the dielectric layer. A plurality of vias pass through the dielectric layer. The LED array also includes a plurality of LEDs, each of which is disposed above a corresponding one of said vias and each of which includes a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact electrically coupled to separate ones of the electrically conductive traces. Each of the vias contains a thermally conductive material in thermal contact with the metal substrate and in thermal contact with the corresponding LED. The thermally conductive material may include, for example, a solder material.
In some embodiments, the thermally conductive material in a via is in direct physical contact with the metal substrate, in direct physical contact with the corresponding LED, or in direct physical contact with both the metal substrate and the LED. Such direct physical contact is sufficient but not necessary to establish thermal contact.
The thermally conductive material in a via provides an advantageously low thermal resistance path for heat to flow from an LED disposed above the via to the metal substrate, which then effectively conducts the heat away. Consequently, LEDs in arrays in accordance with the present invention may be operated at higher currents and may be spaced closer together than is conventional without raising their temperatures to levels that degrade their performance. Hence, the inventive LED arrays may provide more flux per unit area than is provided by conventional LED arrays.
In some embodiments, a submount is disposed between an LED and the corresponding via and in direct physical contact with the thermally conductive material in the via. Use of such a submount allows incorporation of additional circuitry and testing of the LED prior to installation in the array.


An information processing method combining television viewing and shopping generally includes (i) storing commercial information in a business server, (ii) broadcasting a television program according to a television program schedule from a broadcast server to a television server thereby enabling viewing of the television program by a consumer, (iii) storing the television program schedule in one of the television server and the personal server, (iv) transmitting an information request from one of the television server and the personal server to the business server, the information request including an identification of the television program and a timestamp, (v) transmitting a portion of the commercial information to one of the personal server and the television server, wherein the commercial information portion is related to the television program and the timestamp, and (vi) displaying items of the commercial information portion and a means for purchase of said items to the consumer.

No federally sponsored research or development, and no sequence listing, table, or computer program listing compact disc appendix is applicable to this application.
The present disclosure relates to the field of television advertising. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method of providing commercial information and purchase opportunities to a viewer of a television program, the commercial information and purchase opportunities relating to products and services displayed in the television program.
Traditional commercial advertising on television consists of a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization, which conveys a message, typically to market a product or service. Modernly, commercial advertising may be embedded within the content of a television program, for example, through product placement. Successful product placement requires that the product be easily identified (e.g., by brand name) and remembered by the viewer.
However, viewers may be interested in purchasing products or services seen in a television program which are not easily identified from the context of the program. For example, viewers may be interested in purchasing articles of clothing worn by the actors in a television show. Viewers may also be interested in booking travel accommodations for locations seen in a television show.
Unfortunately, there does not exist a method by which television viewers may instantly access commercial information relating to products, services, and places seen in a television program. There also does not exist a method by which viewers can purchase the products or book travel accommodations to the places using the same conduit of instant access by which they have received the commercial information.
It is well known that a sales opportunity should be presented to a potential buyer at the moment that the buyer's interest is piqued. Otherwise, the sales opportunity may be lost forever. Presently, a television viewer interested in purchasing a product displayed during a television program must personally conduct a search for the product, for example, on the internet. Such a search is likely to be time-consuming and ultimately fruitless, since the viewer most likely does not have any information about the product other than general appearance. Furthermore, to conduct the search, the viewer must choose to either divert his attention away from the television program, or wait until after the program, at which point the viewer may have entirely forgotten about the desired purchase.
The method of this disclosure overcomes the above problems and has further advantages as described in the following detailed description and related drawing figures.

Television advertisement system and method


An anti-fuse array includes: a plurality of first transistors having a matrix structure over a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of second transistors respectively disposed adjacent to first ends of the plurality of first transistors along a first direction of the matrix structure; and a plurality of third transistors respectively disposed at second ends of the plurality of first transistors along a second direction.

Embodiments relate to an anti-fuse array of a semiconductor device and a method for operating the same, and more particularly to an anti-fuse array technology capable of reducing an area of the anti-fuse array.
In recent times, as information media such as computers have been widely used, technology of a semiconductor device has been developed. Functionally, it is desirable for a semiconductor device to operate at a high speed and to have a large amount of data storage capacity. Therefore, technology for manufacturing semiconductor devices has been developed to increase a degree of integration, reliability, a response speed, and the like.
Defective cells may occur in the fabrication process of a semiconductor device. The defective cells may be detected in early stages of the fabrication process and the functionality of the defective cells may be restored by a repair process.
Anti-fuses are desirable for the above-mentioned repair process. For example, anti-fuses may allow the repair process to be performed on a semiconductor device that has been packaged. On the other hand, increased number of net dies, improved product characteristics, and high degree of integration of a semiconductor device lead to high dependence on devices using a conventional laser fuse and fabrication methods of such devices. Anti-fuses may also be used to reduce this high dependence. Because of the above-mentioned characteristics of the anti-fuse, the anti-fuse has been widely used in various technical fields.

Anti-fuse array of semiconductor device and method for operating the same


A rake shield apparatus used for preventing urination onto the tines of a rake and the rake itself of an automated litter box comprising: a shield, and at least one cord; the distal end of the cord is affixed to the tine of a rake and the other distal end of the cord is affixed with the shield.

Cat owners typically have cat litter boxes in their home for the purpose of collecting cat defecation and urine in a clean and hygienic manner. In order to make the cleanup of these litter boxes easier and more hygienic, automated cat litter boxes have been made. These automated cat litter boxes employ a motorized rake apparatus which automatically rake the cat litter according to pre-programmed or pre-determined cycles. By raking the cat litter the automated rake apparatus deposits the cat litter into a waste receptacle. And since the cat defecation is compartmentalized in a waste receptacle, malodorous fumes are sequestered from the owner's home.
Unfortunately, these automated cat litter boxes have drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is when the cat urinates onto the tines of the rake. When a cat urinates onto the automated rake, the wet tines are thereafter pressed downwards into the wet cat litter. When urine or other liquids are mixed with the litter, the wet litter clumps to the tines of the rake. These clumps in between the tines of the rake prevent the dry granules of the litter from passing between the tines of the rake. As the wet tines of the rake stab directly into the litter, the conglomeration prevents the rake from moving forward sufficiently as the accretion of granules becomes too large. This is because the clump of cat urine and cat litter gets larger as the rake is pressed forward. An analogy would be a snowplow pushing snow in a blizzard which eventually must stop because of the sheer mass of snow which grows rapidly. With the automated rake, the large mass of piled litter forces the rake to retract back to its rest position. Thereafter, the rake cannot complete its cycle after several attempts.
In order for the automated litter box to work effectively the tines of the automated rake must be able to comb through the litter freely. In other words, the granules of the litter must be able to pass through the tines in order for the rake to be able to make it to the waste receptacle. This process is prevented as the urine bonds with the litter which prevents the individual granules from passing through.
Therefore, what is clearly needed in the art is an apparatus which enables the tines of the automated rake to remain dry and thereby enable individual granules of the cat litter to pass through the tines of a rake freely. In turn, the rake will not be impeded from reaching the waste receptacle.


An image processing method includes the operations of receiving N×N raw data from an N×N sub pixel array including a plurality of first exposure pixels and second exposure pixels having different exposure times, respectively; obtaining a difference value between a value obtained by normalizing an interpolated value of the first exposure pixels and an interpolated value of the second exposure pixels for each channel in the N×N sub pixel array based on the N×N raw data; setting a mismatching value to a maximum value among difference values obtained for the respective channels; and setting a corrected value of a central pixel in the N×N sub pixel array based on the N×N raw data and based on the mismatching value and a threshold value.

Embodiments of inventive concepts relate to an image processing method, and more particularly, to a wide dynamic range (WDR) image processing method and/or an image signal processor using the same.
An image processing apparatus includes an image sensor that converts an optical signal to an electrical signal and an image processor that processes and outputs the electrical signal to a display device. WDR technology is used to display both bright and dark areas in an image. At this time, a pixel array of the image sensor includes two types of pixels having different exposure times.
The image processor reconstructs an image based on pixel values. When the image is reconstructed using the pixel values without interpolation of the pixel values, an image of high resolution can be obtained. However, when the pixel values of a fast moving image are directly used, a ghost artifact may be produced.
Meanwhile, a pixel with a long exposure time may cause distortion in an image.

Wide dynamic range image processing method and image signal processor using the same


A support system for adjustably supporting an object such as an electronic device is provide for use with existing cup-holders, such as those found on automotive vehicles. The system include preferably a rigid yet flexible cup insert, rigid yet flexible extension member, and a fixed and/or adjustable cradle to support the object, where the extension member may be manipulated to permit adjustment of the cradle (and thus the object supported on the cradle) relative to the user and the existing cup-holder.

The embodiments herein relate generally to systems for adjustably supporting an electronic device within an existing cup-holder, such as those provided in automotive vehicles, thereby permitting flexible and efficient use of the electronic device in a manner that substantially increases "hands-free" usage. Beneficially, the embodiments herein permit use of the existing cup-holder to still hold contents contained in cups at the same time.

Adjustable support for electronic device within a cup-holder


An improved endoscopic device of the type having a surgical needle; a hollow tube; and a filamentary strand attached at its distal end to the surgical needle, and slideably engaged at its proximal end about the tube with a partially tightened slip knot. The improvement in the device relates to means for pulling the filamentary strand through the hollow tube proximally when the surgical needle is detached from the strand. The device can be used to approximate tissue or ligate a vessel.

This invention relates to an endoscopic device, and particularly, to such a device which facilitates the placement and manipulation of a surgical knot endoscopically for tissue approximation and vessel ligation.
As medical and hospital costs continue to increase, surgeons are constantly striving to develop advanced surgical techniques. Advances in the surgical field are often related to the development of operative techniques which involve less invasive surgical procedures and reduce overall patient trauma. In this manner, the length of hospital stays can be significantly reduced, and therefore the hospital and medical costs ca be reduced as well.
One of the truly great advances in recent years to reduce the invasiveness of surgical procedures is endoscopic surgery. Endoscopic surgery involves the use of an endoscope, which is an instrument permitting the visual inspection and magnification of any cavity of the body. The endoscope is inserted through a tube, conventionally referred to as a cannula, after puncture of a hole into the soft tissue protecting the body cavity. The hole is made with a trocar, which is a sharp-pointed instrument. The trocar includes an obturator, or cutting implement, which is slideably and removably disposed within a trocar cannula. The obturator will puncture a hole in the tissue equal in size to the inner diameter of the trocar cannula. After puncture, the obturator can be slideably withdrawn from the trocar cannula. The surgeon can then perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at the surgical site with the aid of specialized instrumentation designed to fit through the trocar cannula and additional trocar cannulas providing openings into the desired body cavity as may be required.
In many surgical procedures, including those involving endoscopic surgery, it is often necessary to tie knots. For example, suturing to approximate tissue requires the formation of a suture knot for placement of a stitch. Additionally, ligating blood vessels to be cut within the surgical site is often necessary in numerous surgical procedures. The vessels may then be severed between the ligations. The primary reason for ligating the vessels is to maintain the surgical site free of an excess of blood and to reduce blood loss in the patient.
Conventionally, surgeons have closed blood vessels with ligatures, which are long, relatively straight strands of suture material. As is the case with the formation of a suture knot to place a stitch, the surgeon must manually tie a knot on the ligature after the ligature is looped around the vessel desired to be closed. Unfortunately, the formation of a knot on sutures and conventional ligatures is tedious and time-consuming during endoscopic surgical applications where a surgeon's manual operative techniques within the surgical site are severely restricted.
In more recent years, a ligature has been developed which is better adapted for endoscopic surgery. ENDOKNOT gut ligature is a device formed from a suture material of surgical catgut. The catgut ligature is securely fastened within a cannula at one end and attached to a needle at the other end. This device is described in the 1991 package insert for the product sold by Ethicon, Inc., which insert is entitled "ENDOKNOT Suture Made With Chromic Gut". Although ENDOKNOT gut ligature facilitates ligation of vessels through small incisions in bodily cavities, the surgeon is required to manually tie the ligature knot extracorporeally, i.e. outside the body, to ligate a vessel. This is a time consuming and laborious process, especially for inexperienced surgeons, and represents a significant disadvantage to the use of the ENDOKNOT ligature device during endoscopic surgery.
The need for manually tying the knot extracorporeally for ligation or tissue approximation was eliminated by using the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,961. This device has a partially tightened knot secured around a cannula, and the knot can be slid down the cannula onto a suture strand to make a loop which can then be subsequently tightened into a secure knot. Unfortunately, in operation the user must thread the suture strand up through the cannula before sliding the partially tightened knot down the cannula to make the loop. This threading operation is undesirable because it is time consuming and tedious. A similar device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,012,776.
In view of the significant deficiency of the prior art, an endoscopic knotting device which avoids manually tying knots extracorporeally, and threading the suture strand through the cannula, would be highly desired within the medical community.


Display pixels driven by silicon thin film transistors are fabricated on plastic substrates for use in active matrix displays, such as flat panel displays. The process for forming the pixels involves a prior method for forming individual silicon thin film transistors on low-temperature plastic substrates. Low-temperature substrates are generally considered as being incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures greater than about 200.degree. C. The pixel formation process results in a complete pixel and active matrix pixel array. A pixel (or picture element) in an active matrix display consists of a silicon thin film transistor (TFT) and a large electrode, which may control a liquid crystal light valve, an emissive material (such as a light emitting diode or LED), or some other light emitting or attenuating material. The pixels can be connected in arrays wherein rows of pixels contain common gate electrodes and columns of pixels contain common drain electrodes. The source electrode of each pixel TFT is connected to its pixel electrode, and is electrically isolated from every other circuit element in the pixel array.

The present invention relates to active matrix displays, particularly to the formation of pixels for such displays, and more particularly, to a method for the formation of display pixels driven by silicon thin film transistors on plastic substrates.
In recent years substantial effort has been directed to the development of large area low cost electronics, such as flat panel displays, as well as portable electronics, and toys. Also, active matrix displays are being utilized in battlefield operations facilities, interior of ships, tanks and aircraft, as well as field-deployable portable electronics.
Conventional processing techniques used to fabricate active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs), for example, require processing temperatures of at least 300-350.degree. C. and as high as 600-650.degree. C. These high processing temperatures require that quartz or glass substrates be used for the active matrix pixel array, thereby eliminating the use of less expensive substrates such as various types of plastics. Recently, low-temperature processes have been developed to fabricate silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) on low-temperature plastic substrate materials, using substrates being incapable of withstanding processing temperatures greater than about 200.degree. C. These prior low-temperature processes are exemplified by copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/611,318 filed Mar. 5, 1996, entitled "Method For Formation Of Thin Film Transistors On Plastic Substrates", assigned to the same assignee, and incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The present invention involves display pixels driven by silicon thin film transistors on low-temperature plastic substrates and a method for fabricating same. The method of this invention allows the fabrication of transistors on low-temperature plastic substrate materials, such as polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), which cannot withstand process temperatures in excess of 120.degree. C. The process of the present invention involves the integration of the low temperature silicon TFT process with the necessary operational steps to produce: 1) a pixel circuit containing the TFT and an optical element; and 2) an entire array of pixels.

Method of fabrication of display pixels driven by silicon thin film transistors

The Regents of the University of California


A binding element adapted to retain the end of a boot. It includes a body that bears on a jaw. The jaw is vertically movable, and its movement is transmitted to the return spring of the jaw, which constitutes a compensation for a backward fall. The sole of the boot is pinched between a support plate and sole-tightener of the jaw. The support plate is movably mounted about a horizontal and longitudinal axis so that a twisting of the boot causes an elevation of the jaw and thus, activates the compensation mechanism.

It is known that a boot can be retained in support on a ski by means of a front binding element and a rear binding element. Each retention element has a jaw that is borne by a body, which is movable against the return force exerted by an energizing spring, generally a compression spring.
The invention is more specifically related to a front binding element. Usually, the front binding element reacts to a lateral stress from the front end of the boot. Such a bias is a result of a pure torsional bias on the skier's leg. When the fall is complex, such an element reacts to the lateral component of the bias exerted by the boot.
In order to take into account the other bias components, especially the upward or downward vertical components, the binding elements are equipped, in addition, with compensation mechanisms. Thus, some binding elements react to an upward vertical bias. This type of bias means that the skier falls towards the back. European Patent Application No. 102,868 describes such a binding, for example.
Other bindings have a compensation mechanism that reacts in case of a torsional bias combined with a frontward fall of the skier. Such a mechanism is described, for example, in German Patent Application No. 2,905,837. Such a mechanism comprises a vertically movable support plate for the boot, whose movement caused by a downward vertical pressure of the boot reduces the return force that the spring exerts on the jaw.
Another mechanism is described in German Patent Application No. 3,335,878. This mechanism also comprises a support plate for the boot that is vertically movable and that forces the jaw to become displaced in the direction of the release of the boot.
Such devices compensate the increased friction of the boot on its supports that is induced by the frontward component of the fall. Such mechanisms are satisfactory as long as the lateral component of the fall remains preponderant with respect to the vertical component.
However, it is to be noted that in some so-called "pre-torsion" falls, i.e, having a frontward component as well as a lateral component, the lateral component is not enough to cause the lateral pivoting of the jaw. This results in the boot becoming twisted and stuck between the jaw and its support plate. Currently known compensation mechanisms are not active enough to cause the jaw to open. This results in dangerous falls and cause injuries, especially near the skier's knees.


A display panel 13 having a plurality of pixels 14 each divided into P (P=3) sub-pixels 15a, 15b and 15c, and a source driver 12 for driving each pixel 14 in accordance with three J (=8)-bit data values corresponding to the sub-pixels 15a, 15b, and 15c, and a signal processing circuit 12 for distributing K(=12)-bit (K>J) input image data as M (M=6) time-shared frame data values and supplying the frame data values to the source driver 12 are arranged. 2K−J (=16) gray levels insufficient due to the difference between the numbers of bits of K-bit input image data and J-bit driving signals of the source driver 12 is realized by combinations of time-shared frame data of (P×M=18) ways performed for the sub-pixels 15a, 15b, and 15c in accordance with the M time-shared frame data values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display device for performing preferable halftone expression by eliminating flicker and image unevenness and a display method of the halftone expression.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a plasma display device have been recently noticed as power-saving, slim and lightweight image display devices. In case of these display devices, image display is normally performed by a direct driving system in accordance with a digital image signal. Moreover, to display a halftone monochromatic image other than white and black or a color image in accordance with three primary colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B), gray level display referred to as "halftone expression" is necessary. Therefore, the number of gray levels is decided by the number of bits of an image signal to be used and the necessary number of bits of the image signal increases as the number of gray levels increases.
For example, in case of a LCD device, it is difficult to express more than 256 (=28) gray levels because a source driver commonly used only having 8-bit. To display more gray levels, it is necessary to develop and use such as a 12-bit source driver. In this case, however, because a circuit size increases compared to an 8-bit source driver, a problem occurs that the cost of the source driver increases.
Therefore, to express more gray levels without increasing the number of bits which can be processed by a source driver, a method called "Frame-Rate-Control (FRC) method" is proposed. The FRC method sets the number of bits supplied to the source driver to a value equal to or less than the number of bits of an input image data and applies the frame-thinning control corresponding to an insufficient number of bits for an insufficient number of gray levels. For example, 10-bit input image data is divided into four 8-bit frame data. And these frame data is supplied sequentially to an 8-bit source driver to display gray levels for 10 bits using the 8-bit source driver.
However, the FRC method has a problem that it is difficult to increase the number of frames (thinning number of frames) displayed by one input data because flicker or uneven image occurs. To solve this problem, an "error-diffusion frame-thinning system" is proposed in which the difference between voltage of a gray level to be displayed on a certain pixel and the voltage of the nearest gray level which can be displayed predetermined hardware is regarded as an "error" and the error is reflected (diffused) on the voltage of gray level of pixels present around the pixel.
As one of FRC gray level methods for achieving increase of display gray levels above described, there is the "PICTURE DISPLAY METHOD AND PICTURE DISPLAY DEVICE USED FOR THE METHOD" (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-34232). The above method and device are an image display method and device for displaying a monochromatic image having a gray level resolution larger than the reproducing capacity of R, G and B of a color display panel in which a unit pixel is constituted by a combination of three pixels of R, G and B in accordance with the gray level expression corresponding to the input bits of the monochromatic image by using the FRC gray level method when displaying a monochromatic image by the color display panel.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a LCD device 100 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-34232. The LCD device 100 is provided with a color LCD 101 for displaying an image by liquid crystal, a backlight section 102 serving as a light source of the color LCD 101, a data processing section 104 for performing predetermined data processing, a source driver 103 for driving the color LCD 101, and an interface (I/F) 105 for capturing input image data into the data processing section 104.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are locally enlarged views of the color LCD 101. As shown in FIG. 2A, the display screen of the color LCD 101 is constituted so that R-pixel, G-pixel and B-pixel are horizontally lined up when using a color filter. That is, R-pixel, G-pixel and B-pixel are arranged in accordance with "stripe arrangement". Color display according to image data values of R, G and B is normally performed through the R-pixel, G-pixel and B-pixel. In the case of a conventional invention, a monochromatic image is displayed as described below.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the LCD device 100 uses R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3 as an unit pixel p to display a monochromatic image. In this case, the unit pixel p is constituted by the R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3 when using a color filter. Therefore, the set number of a brightness value which can be displayed by one unit pixel p becomes three times larger than the set number of the brightness value which can be displayed by each of the R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3. That is, by setting the brightness range to 1/3, it is possible to increase the number of gray levels of a display image.
Then, as a specific example, the FRC performed by the data processing section 104 is described when 10-bit monochromatic-image data is supplied to the interface (I/F) 105 by assuming that R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3 respectively perform 8-bit display by the 8-bit source driver 103.
In this case, because input image data is 10-bits and the data to be processed by the source driver 103 is 8-bits, the difference between the bits is equal to 2. Therefore, the number of frames in the frame cycle under the FRC becomes 4 (=22). Therefore, 8-bit image data values are successively displayed by each frame from first to fourth frames for each of the R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3.
The data processing section 104 first divides 10-bit monochromatic-image data (original data) into R data, G data and B data. The above division is performed by referring to the conversion table shown in FIG. 3 (numerical notation in FIG. 3 uses decimal numbers). For example, when the original data is "0", then "0" is distributed to R data, G data and B data. When the original data is "10", then "9", "9" and "10" are distributed to R data, G data and B data respectively. Thus, 10-bit R data, G data and B data are generated from 10-bit monochromatic-image data (original data).
Then, because the R data, G data and B data thus generated are respectively 10 bits (1,024-gray level expression), they are distributed to 8-bit data (256-gray level expression) using four frames, that is, 8-bit "frame data". Dividing to the frame data is performed by referring to the conversion table shown in FIG. 4. The numerical notation in FIG. 4 also uses decimal numbers.
That is, 10-bit R data, G data, and B data (0–1023) are converted into 8-bit frame data (0–255) for each of first to fourth frames. The above mentioned corresponds to the fact of constituting one frame cycle by four frames generated in time series in the FRC gray level method. Moreover, the above mentioned corresponds to the fact of using 8-bit frame data included in each of four frames to display a group of 10-bit monochromatic-image data (original data) values by a pixel p. The R-pixel p1, G-pixel p2 and B-pixel p3 are driven in accordance with the frame data thus generated and an image constituted by the pixels p1 to p3 is displayed by the pixel p.
As described above, the conventional LCD device 100 for expressing halftones by using the FRC gray level method shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 makes it possible to express gray levels (2K gray levels) corresponding to K bits of input image data by a J-bit source driver which can express 2J gray levels by setting the number of frames in one frame cycle on accordance with the difference N (=K−J) between the numbers of bits when displaying K-bit (K is positive integer of K>J) input image data by a J-bit (J is positive integer) source driver to 2N and distributing K-bit input data to 2N J-bit frame data values.
However, because the number of frames during a frame cycle of FRC is set to 2N, the frame cycle becomes extremely long as the difference N between the numbers of bits increases. As a result, flicker and image unevenness peculiar to the FRC gray level method are generated and the image quality is deteriorated instead.
The present invention is made in view of the above situation and its object is to provide an image display method and an image display device for expressing preferable halftones by using the FRC method and capable of preventing flicker and image unevenness.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image display method and an image display device for expressing halftones by using the FRC method and capable of keeping the number of frames during a frame cycle at 2N or less when the difference between the number of bits of input image data and the number of bits of a driver is equal to N.
Still other objects of the present invention not described in this specification will become more apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

Image display method and image display device


Methods and systems are provided for controlling pagination in computer software applications. Abstract classes and methods are provided with programming interfaces to improve the ease with which developers can create applications that allow for co-pagination with arbitrary object types, and can create arbitrary object types that can co-paginate with arbitrary applications.

A feature of many modern computer software applications is the ability to determine break points for the presentation of output. Existing applications that support printing, such as MICROSOFT WORD 2000 by the MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Wash., for example, include pagination routines for determining where page breaks should occur. Pagination is the process by which more than one page worth of data is broken up into portions that will each fit on a single page. The techniques of pagination are similarly employed when displaying output to a monitor, or other types of output devices, particularly when the output device is limited to displaying a fixed, finite amount of output at a given time, or when multiple views are presented simultaneously, such as a 2-column view of text.
Many modern computer software applications further have the ability to embed different types of objects within each other. For example, in MICROSOFT WORD 2000, a user may embed a graphical table, graphical drawing, or other graphical object within the context of a word processing document. When documents containing embedded graphical objects are paginated, problems may arise if a page break falls across an embedded graphical object. The embedded objects may not be "co-paginated." That is, unless pagination has been specifically defined for the embedded graphical object's type in the context of the particular application, the embedded graphical object will either not be allowed to break across the page, or will exhibit unpredictable results. Although some existing applications contemplate embedding and pagination for particular object types—such as MICROSOFT WORD allowing embedded tables to break across pages—there does not exist a general, extensible way in which an application can allow co-pagination with arbitrary object types.

Systems and methods for pagination and co-pagination


A method for operating a matrix converter to convert n phases of a generator into alternating voltage with nr (nr<n) phases of a load connected to a network includes the steps of alternatingly connecting the nr phases of the load using a plurality of controllable bi-directional switches disposed in an (n×nr) matrix, wherein nr phases of the generator are always connected with the load and (n−nr) phases of the generator are not connected with the load, and controlling the switching of a phase k of the generator at a time t to a phase c of the grid, using a periodical, continuous, segmented function k(t). The function k(t) defines a broken line having a plurality of segments, wherein each segment i is defined by a starting time ti and a pulsation ωi, and the value of the function k(t) is rounded to the closest integer value.

In power generation, at a specified output, an increase of the rotary speed of a turbine is associated with a decrease in size and costs. Efficiency, too, can be improved. Already, power generation turbines up to 70 MW are connected to generators by way of gearing arrangements, so as to allow operation at higher rotary speeds. As the output increases, the use of gearing arrangements becomes increasingly difficult for safety reasons. In such cases, the turbine is operated at synchronous speed.
The use of a gearing arrangement is associated with the following disadvantages:                a fixed transmission ratio;        a noise level above 100 db for 40 MW, and above 115 db for 70 MW;        mechanical losses irrespective of the particular load; and        exacting requirements with regard to cooling and lubrication with oil.
The use of static frequency converters in the form of rectifier/inverter or the use of cycloconverters (power electronics) represents an alternative. The following advantages could be expected:                reduced costs of the generator in agreement with a constant product of volume and rotational speed;        a standardized generator for both 50 and 60 Hz;        an adjustable speed which allows restoration of the partial-load efficiency of the turbine;        reduced losses in relation to the gearing arrangement, at least in partial load;        a substantial reduction in noise;        clean (oil-free) cooling;        no upper limit of the possible output, resulting in a significant reduction in the cost of the turbine by keeping it small—an option not provided by a gearing arrangement; and        use of the generator as a starter motor (in the case of gas turbine applications).
Both in the case of power generation and in the case of drives, a reduction in losses of the static frequency converters or cycloconverters would bring about substantial cost savings. A reduction of the losses would above all have a bearing on investment costs because cooling accounts for a substantial part of the total costs of the converter.
Furthermore, reduced cooling requirements provide the option of keeping the electronics more compact, thus facilitating integration of the power electronics in the electric power station or even in the generator unit. Close integration of the power electronics in the generator unit would provide the additional advantage of short connection lines, shared coolant devices and a smaller overall volume (savings in building costs).
In the field of large drives of up to several 10 MW, these advantages also arise from the reduced losses, thus providing a competitive advantage compared to direct mechanical drives of a turbine.
The indirect conversion which is used in rectifier/inverters (AC/DC/AC) is caused by generating a directed direct current or a directed direct voltage from the three-phase source (mains in the case of motors; generator in the case of power generation). Subsequently, the direct current or the direct voltage is converted back to an alternating current by means of an inverter.
An inductance (current converter) or a capacitor bank (voltage converter) are switched into the intermediate circuit so as to reduce the ripple component of the current or the spikes.
These days, rectifier/inverters make use of thyristors. If natural commutation of the thyristors is possible, the losses in the converter are reduced. However, induction motors for example, take up reactive power. In order to make this reactive power from the net available, it should be possible to switch off the current in a specified arm of the converter at any desired time. In this case there is forced commutation and thus there are increased losses. In the electrical machine (generator or motor), the phase currents are chopped direct currents. The armature reaction does not rotate at constant speed and amplitude but instead jumps around according to the commutation cycle. A 6-pulse or 12-pulse converter provides six or twelve different angular positions for the armature reaction. This results in strongly pulsating torques and large additional losses in the electrical machine which can lead to deterioration of the machine. In 12-pulse converters the effect is 4 times smaller than in 6-pulse converters.
Voltage converters use GTOs with their inherent high switching losses, as well as IGBTs or IGCTs. The power of the individual components is less than that of thyristors, consequently, a larger number of components are required for a specified voltage or a specified current. Voltage converters can benefit from the use of pulse-width modulation techniques which improve the shape of the current curves and reduce the harmonics. The higher the switching frequencies the better, except with regard to losses and dielectric fatigue. The curve shape of the current can largely be sine-shaped so that a decrease of power of the electrical machine is avoided.
Direct conversion (AC/AC) is for example possible by means of a so-called cyclo-converter. Direct conversion provides significant advantages from the point of view of the electrical machine, because the current is more or less a sine-shaped wave rather than chopped direct current. It reduces the losses which occur additionally within the electrical machine and it also prevents pulsating torques.
However, the use of cyclo-converters limits the achievable frequency range to 0-⅓ of the input frequency. Due to imbalanced operation, exceeding the ⅓ limit results in overdimensioning up to a factor of 3.
Another possibility of direct conversion is provided by a so-called matrix converter in which each phase of a multi-phase source (generator or mains) is connected or connectable with each phase of a multi-phase load (mains, passive load, motors, etc.) by a bi-directional switch (see e.g. N. Mohan et al., Power Electronics, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York pp 11-12). The switches consist of an adequate number of thyristors to withstand the differential voltage between the phases, and the phase currents, and to allow current reversal. They can be regarded as truly bi-directional components with the options of jointly using additional wiring such as snubbers or the power supplies for the drive pulses for the antiparallel components.
The switches are arranged in an (m×n)-matrix at m phases of the source and n phases of the load. This provides the option of establishing any desired connections between the input phases and the output phases; however at the same time it has the disadvantage in that certain switching states of the matrix must not be allowed since otherwise for example a short circuit would result. Furthermore it is desirable to carry out commutation from one phase to another phase such that the lowest possible switching losses result.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,636 describes a matrix converter and a process for its operation in which commutation between the phases is partly carried out as a natural commutation, with a forced commutation where natural commutation is not possible. Although with this type of selection, switching losses are reduced due to natural commutation, those switching losses which arise from forced commutation still remain. Furthermore, the possible forced commutation necessitates the use, in all positions on the matrix, of components which can be switched off. This considerably increases the switching expenditure.
However, it is possible to operate a matrix converter in a way that only natural commutations are being used. This can be achieved by only allowing the switching over from a selected connected phase of the generator to a selected not connected phase of the generator only if certain conditions are met. Such a matrix converter as well as a mode of its operation has been disclosed in DE-A-100 51 222 as well as in the corresponding European patent EP-B-1 199 794.
However, this mode of operation allowing a cheap and reliable control of the matrix converter can only be used to control frequency but not to control the voltage. Voltage is therefore controlled by means of the excitation system, as usual in large power generation.
In the so-called "clock" sequence, intended to be used to generate the firing pulses for the active generator matrix converter commutations are requested with constant time steps and the generator phase number increases by one unit at each commutation.
Some commutations are periodically delayed because of a misfit between current and voltage conditions. The strength of this method results from the low commutation frequency which is undoubtedly the very minimum to obtain the right output frequency, along with the minimum loss dissipation.
The clock sequence inherently leads to delays in commutations which can conflict with the request from the close loop control. Actually if a commutation is anticipated or delayed during the time when they are not possible, nothing will happen. It may result in a rather chaotic behavior of the close loop control.
In addition, as mentioned above, the clock sequence does not allow for voltage fine tuning. Voltage can only be varied using the excitation.


Various embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for managing the reception and/or recording of media content on a base station. In certain embodiments, the base station is configured to transfer media content received by the base station to a portable media device. In one aspect, the portable media device may be a wireless phone with media playback capabilities. One set of embodiments provides a reception manager for managing the reception of media content by the base station. Merely by way of example, embodiments of the present invention may provide for monitoring of the signal strength of broadcast media content, and certain embodiments may provide for receiving and displaying information concerning media content available to the base station. Other embodiments of the present invention may provide for the management of recording and/or storing of media content. Merely by way of example, in some embodiments, a storage processor may determine what media content to record and/or may associate priority values to media content.

The present invention relates generally to the field of media docking stations. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for effectively gathering and managing media content at a docking station at enhanced signal strengths for use in a portable media device.
In recent years, with advances in media technology, in particular the developments in digital electronics, more and more mobile media devices are being produced. Consequently, it is more and more likely that media will increasingly be viewed on devices other than personal computers. These new media devices will be either new products, such as email readers and Internet radios, or existing products such as MP3 players and personal digital assistants ("PDAs"), with new features. Generally, the new media devices will be able to access the Internet and most of the devices will be portable, operating either within a wireless home network, or using wireless networks similar to the current wireless phone network. The success of all of the new portable media devices will depend upon the ability to provide desirable media content to the media user that is economical, interesting and of a quality so that the user does not use a less mobile media device, such as a standard personal computer, to access the content.
Mobile media devices have been in the mainstream marketplace for quite a while. For example, hand-held gaming devices have become commonplace ever since the introduction of the original Nintendo Gameboy in the 1980's. More recently, peripherals have been added to handheld gaming devices including: television receivers, multi-player capabilities, external keyboards, larger power supplies, and modems. As well as gaming devices, PDAs have become more commonplace and more complex, mobile televisions have become smaller with better performance and portable email devices have changed business communications.
However, the device that is most likely to become the platform for a mobile media device is the wireless phone. Wireless phones currently offer email, instant messaging and downloadable media, such as graphics, MIDI files and audio files. Today, there are more than 169 million wireless phone subscribers in the United States. In previous years, industry experts have predicted that wireless phone sales were close to or had reached a saturation point. However, in recent years, a multitude of new features have been added to the basic wireless phone design to entice consumers to make new wireless phone purchases and sign-up for wireless provider plans. Therefore, today wireless phones that provide internet access or contain cameras make up a significant and growing percentage of the overall wireless phone market. Last year about 9 million camera equipped wireless phones were sold in the United States. And this year it is expected that another 28 million camera equipped wireless phones will be sold. Additionally, worldwide 60 million camera wireless phones were sold last year and more than 100 million are expected to be sold this year
Today consumers expect more features on their wireless phones. These features may be for convenience, such as electronic address books and calendars, or leisure, such as electronic games and cameras. It is predicted that the next generation of wireless phones will be a combination of phones, PDAs, digital cameras and handheld gaming devices. In fact, thanks to the digital revolution the feature set of wireless phones has increased to include extras such as games, music players, and text messaging. Future wireless phones might not look radically different from existing wireless phones, but what they will enable users to do will change significantly. It is expected that future wireless phones will include the following features: high-speed data access, Wi-Fi functionality, and high-quality video cameras. Additionally, the ability to store files and documents will mean that the wireless phone may essentially become a desktop computer.
With the recent developments in portable/handheld media devices there now exists in the marketplace a need for effectively providing the new portable media devices with media content. Currently, media content is provided to a user by playing the content back from a memory card on which it is stored. The memory cards storing the media content may be purchased with the content already stored or a wireless phone and/or portable media device user may use their personal computer and/or other recording device to record content to the memory card. These methods of obtaining media content, however, either limit the wireless phone user to the media content that is available on pre-recorded memory cards or requires the user to have the knowledge and accessories to record media content to a memory card.
As described in the co-pending applications, a mobile media device may be adapted to directly receive media content through television tuners, satellite radio receivers, and the like. However, with mobile type devices, the reception of media content may be compromised by the mobility of the mobile media device due to, among other things, signal reception. Additionally, power usage and the ability of the device to contemporaneously receive and manage video content from multiple sources are problems existing in the art. Further, multiple sources of media content exist that a user of a portable media device must connect to and access to download media content.
Consequently, there exists in the art a need for methods and systems for users of portable media devices to derive media content for their portable media devices that address power, signal strength, and media managing issues. It would be advantageous to provide a device for generating media content for mobile media devices that provides for the enhancement of the method of receiving/capturing the media content so that the mobile media device may be provided with high quality media content. Further, it would be desirable to provide user-friendly methods and systems for capturing and managing media content for use on available mobile media devices.