An active matrix substrate of the present invention includes a TFT and a substrate. The TFT formed on a substrate includes, when viewed in a normal direction of the substrate: a first region in which a gate electrode overlaps a source electrode via a semiconductor layer; a second region in which the gate electrode overlaps a drain electrode via the semiconductor layer; and a third region in which the semiconductor layer overlaps neither the gate electrode, source electrode, nor the drain electrode. The third region includes a portion adjoining the source electrode lying outside the first region and/or a portion adjoining the drain electrode lying outside the second region. The gate electrode includes: a main body, which includes a portion constituting the first region and the second region; and a protrusion from the main body. At least a part of the protrusion of the gate electrode is in between the drain electrode and the portion of the third region adjoining the source electrode, or between the source electrode and the portion of the third region adjoining the drain electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active matrix substrate composed of a substrate having transistors formed thereon, and more particularly to an active matrix substrate to be suitably used for a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, display devices such as liquid crystal display devices and organic EL display devices incorporating active matrix substrates are in wide use.
As active matrix substrates, those employing thin film transistors (TFTs) as active elements are mainly used (hereinafter referred to as "TFT substrates"). With the improvement in display quality in recent years, further optimization of TFT structures is being studied.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-190605 discloses a structure for suppressing fluctuations in the parasitic capacitance of a TFT. In FIG. 3 of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-190605, for example, there is described a TFT including a semiconductor layer which partially spreads outside a gate electrode. This TFT is structured so that, within the region of the semiconductor layer spreading outside, a portion which is located over a source electrode and a portion which is located over a drain electrode are shielded by a gate electrode.
However, the inventors have conducted a study to find that the aforementioned conventional structure has a problem in that the display quality is likely to be affected by the precision of the patterning which the semiconductor layer is subjected to. The reason behind this is that, as will be specifically described later with reference to comparative examples, within the region of the semiconductor layer spreading outside the gate electrode, a portion which is located over a source electrode and a portion which is located over a drain electrode are connected via a semiconductor layer whose potential is not controlled by the gate electrode, thus allowing a leak current to occur between the source electrode and the drain electrode.
Moreover, in a structure where a semiconductor layer is formed so as to overlay a gate insulating layer at an intersection between a source bus line and a gate bus line, this being in order to prevent short-circuiting between the source bus line and the gate bus line, an unwanted residual semiconductor film may be left, possibly causing a leak current associated with the residual semiconductor film. Such a leak current also degrades display quality.

Active matrix substrate and display device


An interchangeable lens assembly including a first lens, a lens bracket coupled to the first lens, and at least one connection portion disposed around at least a portion of a perimeter of the lens bracket. A goggle including a goggle frame and at least one coupling point disposed on the goggle frame and adapted to couple to the at least one connection portion on the lens bracket. The at least one coupling point and the at least one connection portion may be corresponding magnetic portions adapted to couple to each other by a magnetic interaction, and/or the at least one connection portion may be a protrusion, and the at least one coupling point may be an aperture adapted to receive and couple to the protrusion. This allows the lens assembly to be attached to and detached from the goggle frame quickly and easily with reduced manual dexterity.

Snow and sand goggles and their variations have been around for many years. There are many kinds of goggles used by skiers, snowboarders, motocross, and ATV riders to help their vision remain clear while they are in the process of their activities. Goggles have continued to evolve including new aesthetic and functional features. The standard goggle consists of a frame and a secured lens which is permanently attached to the frame. Recently, there have been some goggles developed which enable the user to replace the viewing lens. The current replaceable lens technology can be burdensome and difficult to manipulate, especially with a gloved hand while in the field, and typically requires the user to remove the glove and/or leave the field to change the lens. Additionally, the basic framework around the typical ski goggle creates a seal around the face but also results in a decreased peripheral viewing ability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A driving apparatus for causing an optical modulator to output modulated light, which has a PIN structure composed of a buffer layer, a light absorption layer and a clad layer and wherein an absorbed amount of light waves inputted to the light absorption layer varies in response to an applied voltage applied in the reverse direction to the PIN structure, includes a voltage waveform converter for deforming an input signal waveform so as to correct the non-linear characteristics of the absorbed amount with respect to the applied voltage of the optical modulator or a level shifting circuit for shifting a voltage level of the input signal to a forward voltage side to the PIN structure within a built-in voltage to correct the displacement of a cross point of an eye pattern of modulated output light outputted from the optical modulator of the electrical field absorption type.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a driving apparatus for an optical modulator of the electrical field absorption type for use with an optical communication system or an optical information processing system and a driving apparatus for a modulator integrated light source wherein the optical modulator is integrated together with a light source, and more particularly to a driving apparatus for an optical modulator and a driving apparatus for a modulator integrated light source by which a good eye pattern is obtained with modulated output light.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as the speed and the distance of communication of an optical communication system increase, drawbacks of a direct modulation method for a semiconductor laser which has conventionally been used are becoming a reality. The direct modulation method is a technique for outputting modulated light directly from a semiconductor laser and has a problem in that so-called wavelength chirping occurs wherein the oscillation wavelength varies transiently upon modulation and deteriorates the transmission waveform in an optical fiber. This phenomenon appears more conspicuously as the transmission speed of a signal increases and as the transmission distance increases, and becomes a serious problem particularly with an optical communication system which employs an existing 1.3 .mu.m zero dispersion normal fiber. Further, if wavelength chirping occurs, even if it is tried to increase the transmission distance using a light source of the wavelength 1.55 .mu.m band with which the fiber propagation loss is comparatively low, the transmission distance is limited by a dispersion of the fiber (a phenomenon that occurs become the refractive index of the fiber is different between different wavelengths, that is, the propagation velocity is different between different wavelengths).
However, the problems which arise from wavelength chirping can be reduced by adopting an external modulation method wherein a semiconductor laser is driven to emit light with a fixed power and the light is modulated using an optical modulator separate from the semiconductor laser.
While known optical modulators used in the external modulation method employ a dielectric such as LiNbO.sub.3 or a semiconductor such as InP or G&aAs, expectations are increasing for optical semiconductors made of a semiconductor which can be integrated together with another optical element such as a semiconductor laser or an optical amplifier or with an electronic circuit element such as an FET and can be formed in a small size and operate with a low voltage.
Available as optical modulators which employ a semiconductor are optical modulators of the electrical field absorption type (hereinafter referred to as electrical field absorption type optical modulators) which effect optical intensity modulation making use of an effect that the absorption wavelength of light is shifted to the longer wavelength side (the light absorption coefficient is varied) by an applied voltage such as a Franz-Keldysh effect of a bulk semiconductor and a quantum confined Stark effect of a multi quantum well structure and optical modulators of the Mach-Zehnder type which make use of a variation in refractive index caused by a Pockels effect or a quantum confined Stark effect of a bulk semiconductor.
With the optical modulator of the Mach-Zehnder type, wavelength chirping can be reduced to zero in principle. However, since it has a structure of the interference type and does not have a structure which has such a simple linear waveguide as in the electrical field absorption type optical modulator, it is complicated in methods of producing and driving the same.
On the other hand, while the electrical field absorption type optical modulator provides a much smaller amount of wavelength chirping than that of the direct modulation method of a semiconductor laser, it cannot still reduce the wavelength chirping to zero. However, a pre-bias application method has been proposed recently wherein a fixed voltage is applied to the electrical field absorption type optical modulator and a signal is superposed on the fixed voltage. It has been confirmed that the pre-bias application method can reduce wavelength chirping of an optical modulator to raise the dispersion withstanding property of an optical fiber with respect to laser light of the 1.55 .mu.m band and overcome the limitation to the transmission distance by the dispersion.
As an example of the type described, a device wherein a DFB (distributed feedback) laser and the electrical field absorption type optical modulator are integrated is reported in Morito et al., Collection of Lecture Papers of the Meeting in 1995 of the Electronics Society of the Electronic Information Communication Society of Japan, Separate Volume 1, p.301 (Lecture Number: C-301).
In this report, a fixed pre-bias (-1.1 V) is applied in advance to the electrical field absorption type optical modulator to increase the dispersion withstanding property of an optical fiber to achieve data transmission of 100 km at 10 Gb/s. In this manner, while the electrical field absorption type optical modulator has a structure which includes a simple linear waveguide, also in regard to reduction of the wavelength chirping, it has been or is being improved to such a degree that it has a performance higher than the other optical wavelengths.
However, in such conventional electrical field absorption type optical modulators as described above, since the relationship of the output power (optical output) to the applied voltage is not linear as seen from FIG. 1, a cross point of an eye pattern of modulated output light outputted from the optical modulator is displaced to the lower side (OFF side of light) from the center as seen in FIG. 2, and there is a problem in that, because of the displacement of a cross point, an eye mask specification required for an optical communication system is not satisfied.
More particularly, since the relationship (hereinafter referred to as quenching characteristics) of the absorbed light amount with respect to the applied voltage of the electrical field absorption type optical modulator presents a smooth curve which exhibits a comparatively linear increase with a low applied voltage and soon exhibits a gradual saturation, a cross point of an eye pattern is displaced to the lower side (OFF side of light) from the center by the non-linear quenching characteristics.
In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to either devise the structure of the electrical field absorption type optical modulator to change the non-linear quenching characteristics to a linear characteristics or devise the driving apparatus to convert the non-linear quenching characteristics into an apparently linear quenching characteristics.

Driving apparatus for optical modulator and driving apparatus for modulator integrated light source


A shift position detection apparatus for a variable speed gear wherein a shift shaft is moved in an axial direction to perform a speed changing operation. A variable speed gear includes a clutch sleeve disposed for movement in an axial direction on a counter shaft with a shift shaft disposed so as to extend in parallel to the counter shaft. A shift fork is coupled and attached to the shift shaft and has an end engaged with the clutch sleeve. The clutch sleeve is moved in the axial direction through the shift fork to select a shift position. A shift position detection apparatus includes F, R and N shift detection portions provided on the shift fork. The F shift detection portion and the R shift detection portion are spaced by approximately 60 degrees in a circumferential direction on substantially the same plane perpendicular to the axis of a cylindrical portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a variable speed gear wherein a shift shaft and a shift fork are moved in an axial direction in response to a shift movement of a shift operation member to move a clutch member on a power transmission shaft and to select a shift position.
2. Description of Background Art
Various types of variable speed gears for use with a gear type variable speed mechanism which includes a plurality of gear trains are conventionally known for selecting one of the gear trains. As a speed change mechanism for use with a variable speed gear of the type described, for example, a speed change mechanism of the selective sliding type is provided wherein a power transmission gear is moved on a power transmission shaft to select meshing of the gear. In addition, another speed change mechanism of the normally meshing type is provided wherein a power transmission gear is normally held in a meshing state and control for engagement and disengagement of the power transmission gear is performed. A power transmission shaft is provided on which the power transmission gear is supported for rotation. The above device is well known and conventionally. It is to be noted that also it is well known to use a synchromesh mechanism (synchronous mesh mechanism) for the normally meshing type speed change mechanism.
A transmission which uses such a variable speed gear as described above is popularly adopted as transmissions for two-wheeled vehicles, four-wheeled vehicles and so forth. A variable speed gear disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3325843 is consider as an example of a transmission of this type. This variable speed gear includes a clutch member disposed for movement in an axial direction on a power transmission shaft with a shift fork having an end held in engagement with the clutch member. A shift drum is provided on which the shift fork is attached with a cam mechanism provided between the shift drum and the shift fork. The shift drum is rotated in response to a shift operation to move the shift fork in the axial direction through the cam mechanism to move the clutch member in the axial direction on the power transmission shaft thereby to select a shift position.
A variable speed gear is usually configured such that, when a selection of a shift position (that is, a speed changing operation) is performed, the shift position is detected and control corresponding to the shift position is performed. Therefore, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3325843 mentioned hereinabove detects a rotational angular position of the shift drum to detect the shift position.
In addition, not only is a variable speed gear of the type which uses a shift drum as described above available but also another variable speed gear is available which is configured such that a shift fork is coupled and attached to a shift shaft disposed to extend in parallel to a power transmission shaft such that the shift shaft and the shift fork are moved in an axial direction in response to a shift operation to move a clutch member in the axial direction on the power transmission shaft to select a shift position. In a variable speed gear wherein a shift shaft is moved in an axial direction to perform a speed changing operation in this manner, such a shift position detection apparatus as described in Japanese Patent No. 3325843 mentioned hereinabove cannot be used. A plurality of position sensors for detecting the position of the shift shaft in the axial direction corresponding to the individual shift positions are required. Therefore, the variable speed gear encounters a problem wherein the configuration of the shift position detection apparatus is liable to have an increase in scale and be complicated.

Shift position detection apparatus for variable speed gear


The visibility of a laser beam emitted by a laser diode in a scanner is enhanced to facilitate aiming the laser beam at a symbol to be read. An aperture stop in an optical train has an increased dimension along a non-scan direction. The magnification of a focusing lens in the optical train is increased. Laser diode astigmatism is affirmatively used to enhance visibility. What results is an aiming spot (or aiming scan line) at a farther plane (d6) that is more visible to the user than the scanning spot at a closer plane (d3), at which closer plane the scanner is able to read a bar code.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to laser scanning systems for reading indicia having portions of different light reflectivity such as bar code symbols and, more particularly, to a lightweight, multi-component, portable laser diode scanning head supportable by a user and aimable at each symbol to be read and, still more particularly, this invention relates to increasing the visibility of the laser beam emitted by the laser diode in the head to facilitate aiming the laser beam at the symbol.
2. Description of Related Art
Various optical readers and optical scanning systems have been developed heretofore to optically read bar code symbols printed on labels affixed to objects in order to identify the object by optically reading the symbol thereon. The bar code symbol itself is a coded pattern comprised of a series of bars of various widths, and spaced apart from one another to bound spaces of various widths, said bars and spaces having different light-reflecting characteristics. Such readers and systems electro-optically decoded the coded patterns to a multiple alpha-numerical digit representation descriptive of the object. Scanning systems of this general type, and components for use in such systems, have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,251,798; 4,360,798; 4,369,361; 4,387,297; 4,593,186; 4,496,831; 4,409,470; 4,460,120; 4,607,156; 4,673,805; 4,736,095; 4,758,717; 4,760,248; 4,816,660; 4,816,661; 4,806,742; 4,835,374; 4,845,350 and 4,871,904, as well as in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 7,775 and 193,265; all of which have been assigned to the same assignee as the instant application and are incorporated herein to show the state of the art.
As disclosed in some of the above patents and applications, a particularly advantageous embodiment of such a scanning system resided, inter alia, in optically modifying and directing a laser light beam from a hand-held head which was supported by a user; aiming the head and, in some cases, the laser beam itself at a symbol to be read; repetitively scanning the laser beam and/or the field of view of a detector across the symbol; detecting the laser light reflected off the symbol during scanning; and decoding the detected reflected light.
When the laser beam was generated by a helium-neon gas laser which emitted a red laser light at a wavelength of about 633 nm, the red laser light was readily visible to the user and, thus, the user, without difficulty, could properly aim the head and position and maintain the emitted red laser light on and across the symbol during the scanning.
When the laser beam was generated by a semiconductor laser diode which emitted infrared laser light at a wavelength of about 780 nm, the infrared laser light was, for all practical purposes, invisible. As explained, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,248, the user could not see the invisible infrared laser light when the scanning occurred in a well-lit environment and at rapid scanning rates. Aiming of the head relative to the symbol was thus rendered difficult because, simply put, the user could not see the infrared light. The user was required to hunt around by trial and error, hope that the infrared light was eventually properly positioned on and across the symbol, and wait until the system advised him, typically by the lighting of an indicator lamp or by the sounding of an auditory beeper, that the symbol had indeed been successfully decoded and read.
To overcome the inefficiencies and time-consuming nature of the trial-and-error hunting technique, U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,374 described an aiming light arrangement for visually locating and, in some cases, tracking each symbol when the head emitted and/or received such invisible laser light. Although generally satisfactory for its intended purpose, the aiming light arrangement added weight, size, cost and power consumption to the head and, in the context of making the head as low in weight, as small in size, as inexpensive in cost, and as energy efficient as possible, was a less-than-ideal solution.
With the advent of laser diodes which emit laser light at a wavelength of about 670 to about 680 nm, the emitted laser light is at least marginally visible to the human eye. By way of comparison, laser light at a wavelength of 670-680 nm is about one-tenth as visible to the human eye as the red laser light emitted by a helium-neon gas laser at a wavelength of about 633 nm, but is more visible than the infrared laser diode light whose wavelength is about 780 nm. Nevertheless, in use, at rapid scanning rates on the order of 40 scans per second and in well-lit environments such as a supermarket, the visibility of the laser light at the 670-680 nm wavelength suffers, particularly when far-out symbols located well away from the head are to be read.
It will be recalled that the laser beam is optically modified and focused to form a beam spot having a minimum beam cross-section or waist at a reference plane, and that a symbol can be read at either side of the reference plane. For ease of description, a symbol located between the reference plane and the head is defined as a "close-in" symbol, whereas a symbol that is located on the other side of the reference plane away from the head is defined as a "far-out" symbol. The term "close-in" symbol is also intended to cover the situation where the symbol actually is contacted by the head, or where the reference plane is located immediately outside the head. The range between minimum and maximum distances at which the system can read a symbol is often defined as the "depth of field". The depth of field is, of course, different for symbols of different densities.
With these definitions in mind, it will be appreciated that even marginally visible laser light (of wavelength 670-680 nm) can be readily seen on a close-in symbol, primarily because the speed of the beam spot across the symbol is slower for a close-in symbol than for a far-out symbol. However, such marginally visible laser light cannot, or at least not very readily, be positioned on a far-out symbol where the beam spot speed is faster.
It would be very desirable to have a laser diode-based system wherein both close-in symbols (including symbols contacting the head) and far-out symbols could be readily aimed at and read without the use of hunting techniques or aiming light arrangements.

Laser diode scanner with enhanced visibility at an aiming distance relative to the reading distance


A digital sub-network interface unit includes a primary digital lighting interface port to couple to a primary lighting network. An address of the digital sub-network interface unit on the primary lighting network is manually set at the digital sub-network interface unit. The digital sub-network interface unit also includes a secondary digital lighting interface port to couple to a secondary lighting network. The digital sub-network interface unit further includes a lighting sub-network processor. The lighting sub-network processor is configured to assign addresses to a plurality of secondary lighting fixtures, and to receive commands from a primary digital lighting controller in association with an address of the digital sub-network interface unit. The lighting sub-network processor is also configured to control a plurality of secondary lighting fixtures based on the commands received from the primary digital lighting controller.

A Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) network system typically includes a number of lighting fixtures that are attached to a network. A control device that is also attached to the network controls the lighting fixtures. The control device is also generally limited to a control over a particular maximum number of lighting fixtures that are attached to the network. If more than the maximum number of lighting fixtures need to be connected to the network, a separate second network with its own control device is typically required. The lighting fixtures in excess of the maximum number of lighting fixtures directly supportable by the first control device would typically be attached to the second network that has the second control device attached to it.
Further, the control device typically assigns addresses to the lighting fixtures after the lighting fixtures are installed on the network. Thus, identifying individual installed lighting fixtures or groups of lighting fixtures based on addresses assigned by the control device may be time consuming, particularly when a large number of lighting fixtures are installed on a network and/or when the control device assigns the addresses independently of relevant user input.
A device that is relatively easy to install and that enables extending the number of lighting fixtures beyond the maximum number of lighting fixtures that are directly supportable by a control device is desirable. Further, a device that facilitates identification of installed individual light fixtures and groups of lighting fixtures is also desirable.
The drawings illustrate only example embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope. The elements and features shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the example embodiments. Additionally, certain dimensions or placements may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles. In the drawings, reference numerals designate like or corresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements.


A disk spring may include an annular base body, a central longitudinal axis of which defines an axial direction of the base body. A profile of the base body in a profile plane containing the central longitudinal axis may have a wave-shaped contour with two minima including a radially inner minimum and a radially outer minimum and with an intermediate maximum disposed between the two minima. The wave-shaped contour may extend from a radially inner end point to a radially outer end point. The radially inner end point may be arranged offset in the axial direction with respect to the radially outer end point.

Disk springs in variable turbine geometries of exhaust gas turbochargers typically fulfil two functions: on the one hand, they serve as a heat shield in order to shield waste heat generated during operation in the exhaust gas turbocharger with respect to the kinematics of the variable turbine geometry. Furthermore, specific components of the variable turbine geometry can be pre-tensioned by means of the disk spring.
Such conventional disk springs are known, for example, from DE 10 2008 032 808 A1 and from WO 2009/092678 A1.
A disadvantage with such conventional disk springs is that as a result of the typically very high operating temperatures of up to 850° C. in the exhaust gas turbocharger, the disk springs relax, therefore can undergo plastic deformation, especially as they usually have a very high tension level in the installed state. In addition, typically only a little installation space is available in the exhaust gas turbocharger which causes a short spring deflection and a high stiffness for the disk spring.

Disk spring for a variable turbine geometry of an exhaust gas turbocharger


A send client can send a message or multiple segments of a message to a receive client via a computer network. A data exchange server can receive the message and store the message in a storage device. If the send client sent the message in multiple segments, the data exchange server can store the message segments in the storage device once it receives all the message segments. The data exchange server can send the message in multiple segments to a receive client. The data exchange server can send a send receipt to the send client upon sending the message to a next destination. The data exchange server can send a receive receipt to the send client upon receiving the message. The data exchange server can send messages of an ordered set in the order in which they are received from a send client.

Over the years, as businesses have adopted computer-based systems and networks to assist in performing business-related functions and operations, they have looked for ways to exchange business information with other businesses reliably and securely. One challenge such businesses typically face includes the exchange of information over incompatible computer systems or platforms. For example, certain applications may have been written in different languages (or in different versions of the same language), or they may use different middleware, programming languages, or network protocols.
One way such businesses could overcome this challenge is for one of the businesses participating in the exchange to adopt the computer system or platform of the other business. However, in practice, this is not a feasible solution. Another way businesses could overcome this challenge is to use standard formats for exchanging business information. For example, in the conventional art, businesses typically use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which is a standard format for exchanging such business information. Additionally, they typically hire a value-added network (VAN), a private network provider, to facilitate in the exchange of EDI information between businesses over a proprietary network. VANs use a variety of network protocols, such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), frame relay, Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC), and Systems Network Architecture (SNA), as well as other proprietary protocols, to facilitate the exchange of the EDI business information.
However, the minimum monthly fees and per-character charges incurred by businesses using a VAN can be expensive, particularly when the businesses must exchange large amounts of information. For example, it is not uncommon for businesses to exchange greater than twenty Megabytes of information and even product catalogs that are greater than two Gigabytes in size. Consequently, there is a need in the art for a cost-efficient and reliable means of exchanging business information over a non-proprietary medium, such as the World Wide Web. Additionally, there is a need in the art for a reliable and secure means of exchanging information between businesses that offers point-to-point non-repudiation without involving a third party VAN. Last, there is a need in the art for a cost-efficient and reliable means for allowing businesses operating in heterogeneous computing environments to exchange business information using industry standards for exchanging information and the World Wide Web.

System and method for reliably exchanging information across a computer network


A metal halide lamp comprises a refractory, light-transmitting airtight container defining therein a discharge space with an internal volume of not more than 0.1 cc, electrodes sealed in the container, opposing each other with a distance of not more than 5 mm interposed, and a discharge medium sealed in the container and including a metal halide material and a rare gas. The metal halide includes first and second halide materials. The first halide material contains scandium (Sc) and sodium (Na) halides. The second halide material contains at least one of indium (In) and zinc (Zn) halides. The discharge medium contains substantially no mercury. The load on the wall of the container in a stable state is 50 W/cm2 or more. A/B≦0.21 where A represents the intensity of an impurity chromium (Cr) spectrum in lighting spectra, and B represents the intensity of a scandium (Sc) spectrum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal halide lamp with no mercury sealed therein and a lighting device using this lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
In high-pressure discharge lamps, a pair of electrodes are sealed in a discharge space defined in a light-transmitting, airtight container made of refractory materials, and a discharge medium using a metal vapor as a main component is sealed in the container. Such electrodes generally have a structure wherein: Their proximal ends are welded to respective metal leaves airtightly buried in a pair of slim sealing portions formed integral with the opposite ends of the airtight container. Their intermediate portions are loosely supported by the respective sealing portions. Further, their distal ends, i.e., electrode main portions, protrude into the discharge space.
High-pressure discharge lamps are used for various purposes. Among them, compact high-pressure discharge lamps of a high output used in, for example, vehicle headlights are characterized in that their airtight container has a small internal volume, the pressure of the discharge medium is high during lighting, and the operating temperature is high. Therefore, the influence of impurities discharged from their structural components mounted on or sealed in the airtight container upon the long-term brightness or life of the lamps is relatively high.
Furthermore, in the high-pressure discharge lamps for vehicle headlights, the luminous power. 1.5 output immediately after ignition is lower than a predetermined value. To compensate for this, power several times higher than in a stable state is supplied at the start of lighting. More specifically, immediately after ignition, a lamp current several times larger than in the stable state is produced between the electrodes, thereby accelerating increase in luminous power to promptly activate the high-pressure lamp. At the same time, the lamp is controlled to be promptly stabilized.
On the other hand, high-pressure discharge lamps with an internal volume of 0.1 cc or less, which are used as metal halide lamps for vehicle headlights or spot lights, generally have a structure in which a rare gas, halides of light-emitting metals and mercury are sealed in a light emission tube with a pair of opposing electrodes. These high-pressure discharge lamps exhibit a relatively high efficiency and a high color-rendering characteristic. Therefore, they are widely used. However, at the present stage at which environmental problems have become serious, it has become significantly important also in the field of lighting devices to reduce or stop the use of mercury whose environmental impact is high. To this end, various proposals have been made for eliminating mercury from metal halide lamps. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-238488 discloses a technique for adding, instead of mercury, a material having a high vapor pressure, such as ZnI2, to a light-emitting halide material, such as ScI3—NaI, thereby acquiring the same electric characteristic and light emission characteristic as those acquired from a mercury-containing lamp.
However, metal halide lamps without mercury cannot provide the advantage of thickening a discharge arc, obtained when the light emitted from mercury atoms is absorbed by the atoms themselves. Therefore, the resultant discharge arc is inevitably thin. The thickness (width) of a discharge arc influences the design of optical systems, and hence it is stipulated in regulations (e.g., EU Regulation No. 99 and Japan Electric Lamp Manufacturers Association Regulation JEL 215 "Vehicle Headlight HID Light Source"). If the arc is thin, it departs from the regulation.
The inventor of the present invention has found that when chromium (Cr), an impurity, exists in the airtight container, it emits light and thins the discharge arc, and that the discharge arc can have a thickness satisfying the regulation if the emission spectrum of chromium is kept at a predetermined value or less. The present invention has been developed based on this finding.


The invention provides contaminant-reducing agent delivery compositions that are useful for the control of organic or inorganic contaminants in aquatic or terrestrial environments. The compositions comprise one or more superabsorbent solid organic polymers and at least one contaminant-reducing agent. These superabsorbent polymers act as the primary carriers of one or more contaminant-reducing agents effective for the control of organic or inorganic contaminants in aquatic or terrestrial environments. Contaminant-reducing agents include film-forming agents, microbial agents, nutrient agents, and mixtures thereof. The invention also provides a method to entrap and accumulate organic and inorganic contaminants in one or more superabsorbent polymer compositions containing no contaminant-reducing agent. The invention also provides a method to entrap water in superabsorbent polymers to activate natural and applied microbial and nutrient contaminant-reducing agents in terrestrial environments.

During this century, the demand for petroleum as a source of energy and as a primary raw material for the petrochemical industry has resulted in an increase in world production from 29 to over 2,400 million metric tons per year. This dramatic increase in the production, refining and distribution of crude oil has also brought with it an ever-increasing problem of environmental pollution. In part, this has been a consequence of the massive movements of petroleum by oil tankers from the areas of high production to those of high consumption. It has been estimated that 0.5% (12 million metric tons per year) of transported crude oil finds its way into sea water, largely through accidental spills and deliberate discharge of ballast and wash waters from oil tankers.
The toxicity of crude and refined oil to the environment and, even more directly, to man is well documented (D. F. Boefsch et al., "Oil Spills and the Marine Environment", Ballinger Publ., Cambridge, 1974 114 pp.; A. Nelson-Smith in the collected papers edited by P. Hepple, "Water Pollution by Oil", Elsevier, N.Y., 1971, pp 273-80) and need not be discussed in detail. It is sufficient to state that crude oil contains mutagenic, carcinogenic and growth inhibiting chemicals and that even small quantities (5-100 mg per liter) of certain petroleum fractions destroy microalgae and juvenile forms of microorganisms. Furthermore, it has been reported (I. Chett et al., Nature, 261, 308-9 (1976)) that petroleum inhibits microbial decomposition of organic matter in sea water by interfering with the ability of the microorganisms involved to move or orient themselves. Put simply, oil pollution in the ocean in general and in the coastal waters in particular presents a serious problem to commercial fisheries, recreational resources and public health.
Oil pollution is only one source among many which contaminate the environment. Environmental pollutants also include non-petroleum organic contaminants, which can be generated from various sources. Such organic and inorganic contaminants can be found in industrial waste produced by carpet and textile mills, pulp and paper mills, citrus processing plants, commercial kitchens, fast food restaurants, and food processing plants, for example. Such organic contaminants include pesticides, such as herbicides, growth inhibitors, growth regulators, sterilants, and the like.
Different approaches to reducing the concentration of environmental contaminants have been explored. One such approach is bioremediation, which is the use of living organisms to break down organic and inorganic contaminants into more basic components, remove environmental pollutants, restore contaminated sites, and prevent the accumulation of further pollutants. Generally, bioremediation is accomplished using bacteria, although other microorganisms, namely fungi and algae, have been used. See, for example, Ronald M. Atlas, Chemical & Engineering News, Apr. 3, 1995, pp. 32-42. There still exists a need, however, to reduce the amount of organic and inorganic contaminants in aquatic and terrestrial environments.

Process for the persistence control of chemicals released into the environment


The storage system includes a disk drive and a processor, the processor serving as a file system input/output processing unit and a block input/output processing unit. In the storage system, the block input/output processing unit provides, to the file system input/output processing unit, storage areas of the disk drive as plural volumes including a first volume, a second volume, and a third volume, the second volume storing a block write history, the third volume storing replication data of the first volume at a specific time. The block input/output processing unit refers to the block write history in the second volume to overwrite the replication data in the third volume with replication data of the first volume being at a different time from the specific time. The block write history in the second volume further includes information about which block is associated with which file.

This invention relates to a storage system and, in particular, a technique of restoring stored data.
An information system of a corporation has a fear of shutting down abnormally due to a hardware breakdown, a bug in software, operational error on a user's part, or the like. Such cases are often accompanied by data error or a data breakdown. The data restoration technique is therefore important for corporation information systems.
For instance, a technique of restoring data using journal is disclosed in JP 2004-252686 A. According to this data restoration technique, a secondary volume is created as a copy of a primary volume, and update data written in the primary volume is stored in a journal volume.

Method of restoring data by CDP utilizing file system information


An automatic, electromechanical microwave tuner, used for load pull transistor testing, employs three horizontally and vertically adjustable RF probes; the tuner creates very low mechanical vibrations, because it is capable of generating all microwave reflection factors required for complete load pull and noise measurement operations, using only vertical probe movement; it also provides high tuning dynamic range, large frequency bandwidth and continuous choice of tuning target areas.

This invention relates to load pull and noise testing of microwave power and low noise transistors using automatic microwave tuners in order to synthesize reflection factors (or impedances) at the input and output of said transistors.
Modern design of high power microwave amplifiers, oscillators and other active components used in various communication systems, requires accurate knowledge of the active device's (microwave transistor's) characteristics. In such circuits, it is insufficient and inaccurate for the transistors operating in their highly non-linear or very low noise regions, to be described using analytical or numerical models only. Instead the devices must be characterized using specialized test setups under the actual operating conditions.
A popular method for testing and characterizing such microwave components (transistors) is "load pull" (for high power operation) and "source pull" (for low noise operation). Load pull or source pull are measurement techniques employing microwave tuners and other microwave test equipment. The microwave tuners are used in order to manipulate the microwave impedance conditions under which the Device Under Test (DUT, or transistor) is tested (FIG. 1).
There are essentially three types of tuners used in such test setups: a) Electro-mechanical slide screw tuners [1], (FIG. 1), b) Electronic tuners [2] and c) Active tuners [3], (FIG. 2).
Electro-mechanical tuners [1] have several advantages compared to electronic and active tuners, such as long-term stability, higher handling of microwave power, easier operation and lower cost. Electro-mechanical tuners use adjustable mechanical obstacles (probes or slugs)(1) inserted into the transmission media of the tuners (FIG. 3) in order to reflect part of the power coming out of the DUT and to create a "real" impedance presented to the DUT, instead of a "virtual" impedance created using active tuners in a setup as shown in FIG. 2.
Electro-mechanical tuners, as used in set-ups shown in FIG. 1, use the 'slide screw' principle, a tuning mechanism, as shown in FIG. 3; in this configuration the capacitive coupling between the vertical probe (1) and the central conductor (2) of the slofted airline (slabline)(3) creates a wideband reflection, Γ (or S11), of which the amplitude can be adjusted by modifying the distance "S" between the probe and the central conductor and therefore by changing the value of the capacitive between the central conductor and the probe.
In order to change the phase of the reflection factor S11 the RF probe (1), already inserted in the slabline (3), must be moved horizontally along the axis of the slabline and at constant distance from the center conductor (FIG. 3). This is accomplished using a lead-screw mechanism coupled with a stepper motor (FIG. 6); the lead screw (4) pushes a mobile carriage (5) along the slabline (6) axis; the carriage itself holds the RF probe (7) and can move it vertically in and out of the slabline.
The combination of both horizontal and vertical movement of the RF probe inside the slabline allows the creation of complex reflections factors S11 covering the entire Smith Chart (FIG. 8). Starting at point a, which corresponds to no reflection at all, we move the probe close to the central conductor thus creating a reflection and reach point b. Then we move the probe horizontally and turn on a circle of constant radius on the Smith Chart and reach point c.
There are two disadvantages to this approach: The first is that moving horizontally in order to change the phase of S11 takes a long time, especially at lower frequencies; the necessary horizontal travel, in order to cover 360° of phase, is lambda/2, where lambda is the electrical wavelength at a given frequency; at 1 GHz this is 15 cm, at 2 GHz 7.5 cm, etc. The second more important disadvantage, is that if the tuners are used in on-wafer setups, horizontal movement and tuner initialization create mechanical movements and vibrations of the tuners, which are transferred to the wafer probes (8) and may destroy the DUTs (=chips on-wafer) (9). FIG. 6 illustrates how the change of the center of gravity creates a "tilting" of the tuner and a movement of the wafer probes, which can be measured and is shown in FIG. 13.
Whereas horizontal RF probe movement is associated with movement of the massive mobile carriage (5), thus creating vibration problems, vertical movement (FIG. 7), even if it is also created using stepper motors, is associated with accelerating and decelerating much lower mechanical mass, and thus creates negligible or no mechanical vibrations (FIG. 15).
In order to determine the configuration necessary for this type of tuner to be able to tune over a considerable area of the Smith Chart using only vertical movement of the probes, a certain electrical distance between the probes L1 and L2 (FIG. 9) has to be chosen and maintained. The optimum configuration has been determined using an electrical equivalent circuit (model) (FIG. 11).
The model allows analyzing the microwave behavior of the circuit for the various horizontal and vertical positions of the probes and generates impedance plots on the Smith Chart (FIGS. 17–23).
It is the aim of this invention to propose a new tuner structure that employs, during normal measurement operation, only vertical movements, using three RF probes (slugs), inserted in the same type of slabline as tuners described in prior art.

Triple probe automatic slide screw load pull tuner and method


An information processing device that includes an exposure control unit alternately repeats a first frame and a second frame. An infrared light irradiation control unit performs irradiation of infrared light in a predetermined infrared light irradiation period which is equal to or less than an aggregate period of the first frame and the second frame. An image signal acquisition unit acquires a first image signal which is the image signal in the first frame and a second image signal which is the image signal in the second frame. An extraction unit extracts a visible light intensity per unit time and an infrared light intensity per unit time from the first image signal and the second image signal. A generation unit generates an image signal corresponding to visible light and an image signal corresponding to the infrared light.

In the related art, cameras such as monitoring cameras used at night include pixels corresponding to visible light and infrared light. An image sensor outputting an image signal including the visible light and the infrared light is used. In the image signal output by the image sensor, an infrared light signal is added to a visible light signal. Thus, a signal level is higher than in the image sensor outputting only a visible light signal. Therefore, an image with excellent visibility can be obtained even in a low luminance environment such as night. However, since the infrared light signal is added to the visible light signal, an obtained image is an image with inferior color reproducibility. Accordingly, imaging devices that temporarily separate the visible light signal and the infrared light signal from the image signal including the visible light and the infrared light, mix the visible light signal and the infrared light signal based on a predetermined ratio, and obtain an image signal according to a use such as visibility emphasis or color reproducibility emphasis have been proposed. A method of separating the visible light signal and the infrared light signal through image signal calculation has been proposed as a method of separating the visible light signal and the infrared light signal from an image signal including the visible light and the infrared light (for example, see Patent Literature 1).

Image processing device, imaging device, and imaging method

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


An integrated bus architecture for transmitting trace information from a plurality of processors included on an integrated chip having one or more peripheral I/O channels comprises a segmented bus having a plurality of segments arranged in a ring topology and configured to transmit trace information in a circular pathway from upstream segments to downstream segments, and one or more trace output circuits each connected to a respective segment and each including a switch configured to be dynamically toggled between enabled and disabled states. The plurality of segments includes a respective segment for each processor having a coupling unit connected to a trace port of the processor. The coupling unit is configured to receive trace information from the trace port, to receive trace information from the adjacent upstream segment, and to transmit items of trace information to the adjacent downstream segment. Each trace output circuit is configured to transmit trace information to a respective peripheral I/O channel when in the enabled state. Each trace output circuit is configured to transmit trace information to the adjacent downstream segment when in the disabled state.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to performing diagnostics on an integrated circuit and, more particularly, to obtaining real-time trace information on programs being executed by multiple processors fabricated on integrated circuits.
2. Description of Background
Tracing instruction or program execution flow is helpful in debugging, or locating causes of problems in software programs being executed by a processor. The term tracing generally refers to process of logging occurrences of specific events during instruction execution. More particularly, the tracing of instruction fetches allows for a captured history of code that has been executed to be obtained. From this information, a determination can be made of steps taken during the program execution to reach the present instruction and state of operation. This is often helpful and sometimes necessary to remove programming errors and to diagnose common problems. In on-line or real-time tracing systems, the target program and the other programs run concurrently, and the data is conveyed between them during instruction execution.
In computer architecture, the combination of a processor (or more than one processor in multiprocessor systems) and main memory (that is, memory that the processor can read and write to directly, with individual instructions) is generally considered to be the heart of a computer. Real-time trace information of program operations executed by a processor can be obtained using the trace function of the processor. For example, the processor may have a physical, dedicated I/O for outputting trace information so that state of the processor can be monitored from outside. In other situations in which the processor has no dedicated I/O for tracing, the operating information of the processor can be output through its General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) ports.
The term system-on-a-chip (SoC) is used to refer to a single integrated circuit or chip that includes all the components of a computer or other electronic system. As a result of continued advancements in the very-large-scale integration (VLSI) process, more and more circuitry is able to be integrated onto each chip. Thus, the number of processors that can be integrated on a single SoC has been increasing, and it is foreseeable that a single SoC chip may integrate 16 to 128 or more processors in the future. Currently, to obtain real-time operation information for all the processors on such a chip, a separate peripheral I/O channel for tracing each of the integrated processors would be required. For instance, an SoC integrating 128 processors would require 128 peripheral I/O channels for tracing. Because of bandwidth limitations, however, such a large number of peripheral I/O channels are not practical. Furthermore, because the amount of hardware required for a circuit to perform tracing increases as the number of processors increases, it is desirable to implement simpler circuitry for performing tracing.
The number of the peripheral I/O channels available for obtaining trace information on an SoC is also limited by the availability of bus connector placement and issues raised by specific wiring regions on the board, as well as the manufacturing cost. As the parameters of these limitations do not typically manifest until the board is actually being designed and manufactured, the number of peripheral I/O channels that will be available for tracing is hard to estimate prior to designing the SoC. For example, assuming there is an SoC having four processors and four sets of peripheral I/O channels available for tracing, if only one bus connector for tracing can be placed on the board, only one of the four processors can be connected to the bus to provide tracing information. As a result, the trace of the remaining three processors cannot be obtained. Thus, it is desirable to provide for flexibility in connector placement and wiring of the peripheral I/O channels available for tracing on an SoC at the time the board is manufactured to enable trace information on all the processors on the SoC to be obtained.
First Silicon Solutions Ltd. (FS2) has developed a system called Multi-Core Embedded Debug (MED) for performing tracing in multi-core chips. This system provides for a debugging bus in a chip so that information required for debugging can be propagated on the bus for storage in a trace buffer. In particular, the trace information from the processors on the chip is placed on the debugging bus and recorded in the trace buffer. Because the system relies on the connections between this bus and the trace output from each of the processors on the chip, the number of connections that must be made with the bus to obtain trace information for all the processors increases with the number of processors on the chip. If an independent connection to the bus cannot be provided for each processor, more than one processor will compete for a single bus, and only one processor can get the bus grant at a time. This causes the load on the bus to increase, which in turn lowers the operating frequency of the system. That is, even as the number of processors on the chip increases, it becomes difficult to increase the operating frequency of the tracing mechanism. Furthermore, if the number of processors in the design of the chip changes, a corresponding change in the design of the arbitration logic for the bus connections is required, and this has the effect of decreasing the modularity of the system. Accordingly, it is difficult to implement a scalable design in such a system that enables high-speed operation equivalent to the operating frequency of the processor.

Method and apparatus for obtaining trace information of multiple processors on an SoC using a segmented trace ring bus to enable a flexible trace output configuration

International Business Machines Corporation


A phase-locked loop (PLL) is provided. The PLL may include a local oscillator configured to generate an output signal, a feedback divider configured to generate a feedback signal in response to the output signal, a phase detector configured to operate the local oscillator based on a comparison between a reference signal and the feedback signal, and a reset controller in communication with each of the phase detector and the feedback divider. The reset controller may be configured to hold each of the phase detector and the frequency divider in reset, and enable each of the phase detector and the frequency divider such that at least the feedback signal is in substantial synchronization with the reference signal.

Phase-locked loop circuits are commonly used in applications that rely on stable and programmable output frequencies. A typical PLL may be provided in conjunction with a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to produce a desired output frequency that is phase-locked to a reference frequency from a local oscillator, for example. More specifically, a PLL may include a feedback divider for generating an output frequency as a function of programmable ratios and the VCO output, and a phase detector for monitoring phase differences between the reference frequency and the divided output frequency. In addition, a PLL may include a charge pump for generating a signal that is proportional to the phase difference assessed by the phase detector. In response to the charge pump signal, a loop filter of the PLL can be used to output the appropriate voltage or current to adjust the VCO and the output frequency thereof to match the phase of the reference frequency.
Due to the initially arbitrary phase-offset, there are certain delays inherently associated with the phase-matching processes of conventional PLL circuits. Upon startup, for instance, the PLL can incur at least some delay while assessing the phase offset and reducing the offset over one or more cycles. Such delays can adversely affect not only the overall performance of the PLL, but may also contribute to the collective delays associated with other devices relying on the accuracy of the PLL. These delays may further translate into an increase in overall energy consumption, and in relation to mobile or portable electronic devices, a decrease in battery life. A need therefore exists for more efficient PLLs.

Apparatus and methods for phase-locked loop startup operation


Laser beams respectively emitted from a SHG blue laser unit and a red semiconductor laser unit that have photo detectors respectively are turned into parallel lights by a collimator lens and then coupled by a dielectric multi-layer film mirror so as to be propagated on the same optical axis. The dielectric multi-layer film mirror is configured so as to transmit light with a wavelength of 500 nm or shorter and reflect light with a wavelength of 500 nm or longer for both P wave and S wave. The lights that are transmitted and reflected by the dielectric multi-layer film mirror pass through a polarizing hologram and a phase variable wave plate and are focused on an optical disk by an objective lens. In this manner, a simple configuration can realize a compatibility with many types of optical disks and a stable signal detection even when using a polarizing optical detection system.

In 1996, a DVD (digital versatile disk) system having a recording capacity of 4.7 GB was developed by using an AlGaInP red semiconductor laser (a wavelength of approximately 650 nm). A conventional CD (compact disk) system had used an AlGaAs near infrared semiconductor laser (a wavelength of approximately 780 nm) and had a recording capacity of 650 MB.
There are many points differentiating the DVD system from the CD system. One of them is the base material thickness of an optical disk used. Specifically, the base material thickness of the optical disk is 1.2 mm in the CD system, while it is 0.6 mm in the DVD system. Accordingly, in order to obtain a compatibility with the CD system, various methods are being suggested in the DVD system.
One of them is a configuration using a bifocal lens (for example, see "Optical Review," Vol. 1, No. 1, pages 27–29 (1997)).
The bifocal lens is a lens in which concentric circular hologram elements are formed on an objective lens with a numerical aperture NA of 0.6 designed for the 650 nm wavelength. This bifocal lens can separate light that is focused without aberration on a CD with a base material thickness of 1.2 mm by using a + first order light of the hologram element from light that is focused without aberration on a DVD with a base material thickness of 0.6 mm by using the usual objective lens (a zeroth-order light of the hologram element), thereby achieving the compatibility between the CD and the DVD.
However, although the optical system using the bifocal lens realizes the compatibility with the CD, it cannot yet achieve that with a CD-R. This is because a sufficient reproducing signal cannot be obtained due to the rather poor reflective properties of the CD-R in the red region. Thus, an optical pickup having two integrated units 125 and 126 (wavelengths of 650 nm and 780 nm) as shown in FIG. 21 is suggested.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 21, a laser beam with a wavelength of 650 nm emitted from the integrated unit 125 for DVD passes through a wavelength branching prism 127, a polarizing hologram 128 (diffraction gratings are formed on a LiNbO3 substrate by a proton exchange) and a wave plate 129 (a ( 5/4) λ plate for 650 nm wavelength), and then is focused on an optical disk (DVD-ROM) 131 by an objective lens 132. The light reflected by the optical disk 131 enters the wave plate 129 by which a polarization direction thereof is rotated by 90° from that of an incident light, is diffracted by the polarizing hologram 128 and is imaged on a photo detector (PD) in the integrated unit 125 for DVD. In this optical detection system, the focusing direction is controlled by a SSD (spot size detection) method, and the tracking direction is controlled by a phase difference detection method.
On the other hand, a laser beam with a wavelength of 780 nm emitted from the integrated unit 126 for CD passes through a plastic hologram element 126b with a narrow pitch and is reflected by the wavelength branching prism 127. Then, as the laser beam with a wavelength of 650 nm from the integrated unit 125 for DVD, it passes through the polarizing hologram 128 and the wave plate 129, and is focused on an optical disk (CD or CD-R) 130 by the objective lens 132. The light reflected by the optical disk 130 passes through the wave plate 129 and the polarizing hologram 128 again. In this case, since the wave plate 129 functions as a λ plate for 780 nm wavelength, the polarization direction is maintained and not diffracted by the polarizing hologram 128. The light reflected by the wavelength branching prism 127 and then diffracted by the plastic hologram element 126b is imaged on a photo detector (PD) in the integrated unit 126 for CD. In this optical detection system, the focusing direction is controlled by the SSD method, and the tracking direction is controlled by a three-beam method.
The objective lens 132 is designed so that the 780 nm wavelength light causes small aberration for the optical disk (CD or CD-R) 130 with a base material thickness of 1.2 mm and the 650 nm wavelength light causes small aberration for the optical disk (DVD-ROM) 131 with a base material thickness of 0.6 mm.
With the optical pickup having the above configuration, the optical disk (CD or CD-R) 130 with a base material thickness of 1.2 mm is reproduced by the laser beam with a wavelength of 780 nm emitted from the integrated unit 126 for CD, and the optical disk (DVD-ROM) 131 with a base material thickness of 0.6 mm is reproduced by the laser beam with a wavelength of 650 nm emitted from the integrated unit 125 for DVD, thereby obtaining excellent reproducing properties.
The recording capacity of a current DVD is 4.7 GB, and approximately two hours of NTSC (National Television System Commitee standard) broadcast data can be recorded. However, in order to develop media for image data of a high-vision or a high-definition (generally referred to as "HD" in the following), it is essential to further improve the recording density of the optical disks.
As means for improving the recording density of the optical disks, (1) changing a light source so as to produce a shorter wavelength and (2) increasing the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens can be considered. However, making the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens larger than the current value of 0.6 is difficult both from the viewpoints of margins on systems and of compatibility with the CDs and the DVDs.
On the other hand, the light source can be changed so as to produce a shorter wavelength by using a second harmonic generation (SHG) technique of a near infrared semiconductor laser, or by using a GaN semiconductor laser. The use of blue light with a wavelength of approximately 400 nm can improve the recording density by approximately 2.3 times over the current DVD. In the following, the DVD that is obtained as above will be referred to as "HD-DVD".
Also in the era of HD-DVDs using blue light, it is important to obtain compatibility with the DVDs and the CDs. In line with the CD-R, a pigment-type DVD-R is currently being developed. However, the reflective properties of the CD-Rs and the DVD-Rs deteriorate in the blue region. Therefore, in order to achieve compatibility, an optical pickup that is provided with coherent light sources respectively emitting lights in three wavelength regions of blue region, red region and infrared region is necessary.
However, since the optical pickup that is configured with the coherent light sources of multiple wavelengths necessitates many optical components, it is difficult to design an optical pickup that can be mass-produced on a practical level. For example, problems described below are caused.
(1) Due to the increase of the number of the optical components, higher precision in aberration of respective optical components becomes necessary, and integration thereof becomes difficult, leading to the difficulty in designing a small-size (thin) optical pickup, and
(2) Since it is necessary to simultaneously achieve the optical detection systems corresponding to respective lights of multiple wavelengths, the configuration of a ¼ wave plate becomes complex when using a polarizing hologram element and a polarization branching element in the optical detection systems.

Optical pickup, optical information recording/reproducing apparatus using the same, and phase variable wave plate used in the pickup and the apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A lens assembly suitable for use in miniature cameras is disclosed. The lens assembly can have a plurality of glass lenses having spherical surfaces and a single plastic lens having aspheric surfaces, for example. Optionally, all of the lenses can be disposed within a common lens barrel. A pupil plane can be located just in front of the first lens to provide a small chief ray angle. Both the cost of the lens assembly and alignment sensitivity are advantageously mitigated.

Miniature cameras are well known. Miniature cameras are widely used in contemporary cellular telephones. They are also used in other devices, such as laptop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Miniature cameras can even be used as stand alone devices for such applications as security and surveillance.
Contemporary miniature cameras, such as those used in cellular telephones, are fixed focus cameras. That is, the focus of the cameras is preset. The camera has a small enough aperture so as to provide sufficient depth of field such that focus is generally acceptable over a wide range of distances. However, such stopping down of the camera lens severely limits the camera's use in low light conditions.
Variable focus cameras can use larger apertures, since the greater depth of field required for fixed focus cameras is not needed. The use of larger apertures substantially enhances the camera's performance in low light conditions. However, the use of larger apertures necessitates the use of higher quality lenses because more of the lens surface is used. Higher quality lenses are typically made of glass, have aspheric surfaces, and often include a plurality of elements so as to mitigate the effects of undesirable aberrations that tend to degrade an image.
However, higher quality lenses cost more than lower quality lenses. Aspheric surfaces are inherently more costly to fabricate. Further, higher quality lenses tend to be more sensitive to centering errors, because aspheric surfaces must be more precisely aligned.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a lens assembly having sufficient performance characteristics so as to facilitate the use of the larger apertures that are needed in a variable focus camera, while at the same time minimizing the cost of manufacturing the lens assembly.


The present invention provides a braking device of a linear motor table which can stop in a fixed state of the table when the electrical feed is cut off. A braking device 11 is installed, which comprises: a shaft 12 extending in the direction of movement and attached to the table 42; a retainer 14 movably inserted onto the shaft 12; balls 15 inserted into the pocket of the retainer 14 and rolling along the shaft 12; an outer cylinder 16 located including the retainer 14 and having a tapered surface 16a on the inside of the outer cylinder; a coil spring 18 for urging retainer 14 to be jammed onto the tapered surface 16a; and a linear electromagnetic solenoid 17 which urge the retainer 14 for making the balls 15 release the tapered surface 16a. When the electrical feed is cut off, the balls 15 are jammed on the tapered surface 16a by the action of a wedge, and the table is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braking device of a uniaxial positioning table apparatus mounted on a machine tool, an industrial robot or the like so as to position and guide a object (a driven object) with a high-accuracy, and especially, of a linear motor positioning table apparatus having a linear electromagnetic actuator as a driving source (hereafter, referred to simply as a linear motor table).
2. Description of the Prior Art
In FIG. 1, a linear motor table of the prior art is shown.
As shown in FIG. 1, the linear motor table has a long rectangular bed 1 and a table 2 moving on the bed 1 in the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of rollers installed in the table 2 rolls along a track (not shown in the figure) formed in the longitudinal direction of the bed 1, so that the table 2 may be guided along the bed 1.
Furthermore, the detecting means for detecting the position of the table 2 relative to the bed 1 comprises a linear scale 4 provided on the overhang portion 1a, which is formed at one side portion of the bed 1, a light emitting element 5a and a light receiving element 5b attached through a bracket 2a to the side portion of the table 2 corresponding to the overhang portion 1a.
The linear motor table is composed of a linear direct current motor, which comprises a primary side composed of a plurality of armature coils 7 arranged on the bed 1 along the longitudinal direction and a secondary side composed of a field magnet (not shown in the figure) attached to the under surface of the table 2 facing the armature coils 7.
The field magnet is magnetized so that a plurality of magnetic poles N and S may be arranged by turns in the direction of movement of the table 2.
The linear motor table feeds each armature coil 7 at a prescribed timing, so that the table 2 may move in the longitudinal direction of the bed 1, and the positioning action may be performed at a desired position on the basis of the detection signal of the detecting means.
The linear motor table has a problem in that it performs stopping and positioning of the moving table 2 only by the magnetic force, so that no braking force may operate when the electrical feed is cut off because of a power failure or the like and the table 2 cannot perform stopping and positioning and may move.
Especially, there is such a problem that the table 2 may drop on an occasion when the linear motor table is used in a state of a vertical axis (the direction of operation is vertical) or in a state of an approximately vertical axis so that the electrical feed may be cut off.


A method and apparatus are disclosed for generating fine mists of liquids using a rotating turbine blade disposed within an enclosure. A mixture of a liquid and a carrier gas are flowed into the enclosure such that it immediately impacts on the rotating turbine blade disposed near a lower end of the enclosure, and the resulting mist is withdrawn under vacuum near an upper end of the enclosure. A method and apparatus are also disclosed for chemical vapor deposition of thin films of complex chemical compounds using the discussed mists.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for flexibly generating fine mists of liquids such as chemical solutions over a wide range of operating parameters, and to methods and apparatus for forming high quality thin films of various complex chemical compounds in a practical and efficient manner using mists of solutions containing the chemical compounds. More particularly, the invention relates to non-reactive, liquid source chemical vapor deposition (LSCVD) methods and apparatus for depositing high quality, stoichiometrically-correct, thin films of a large variety of complex chemical compounds in a practical and efficient manner utilizing mists of stable chemical solutions.
2. Description of Relevant Art
As discussed in the Background section of parent application Ser. No. 660,428, there are known methods and apparatus for depositing thin films of complex chemical compounds such as metal oxides, ferroelectrics, super-conductors, materials with high dielectric constants, gems, etc., although such known methods and apparatus have significant disadvantages associated therewith which prevent them from being adopted for manufacturing thin films of the chemical compounds on a practical, large scale.
In parent application Ser. No. 660,428, applicant has previously proposed novel methods and apparatus involving non-reactive LSCVD techniques which overcome the many problems and disadvantages associated with known deposition techniques for depositing thin films of complex chemical compounds and which can be used for easily and economically producing the thin films.
FIGS. 1-6 of the present application are duplicated from the Ser. No. 660,428 application and are representative of the methods and apparatus disclosed in the parent application.
Although applicant's previously proposed methods and apparatus function very effectively, applicant has found that such methods and apparatus remain to be improved, especially in relation to flexibility in processing parameters for depositing thin films of various chemical compounds.
Particularly, although applicant's previously proposed methods and apparatus can be used to efficiently deposit high quality thin films of many different chemical compounds on a practical, large scale, it is necessary to tune the deposition apparatus (especially the mist generators thereof, such as the one shown in FIG. 4) for each specific chemical which is to be deposited in relation to many processing parameters including temperature, viscosity of the chemical solution, vacuum level, volume of mist to be generated, etc. Once the proper combination of parameters is established for a given chemical compound, the previously proposed methods and apparatus function excellently to deposit high quality thin films of the compound, but the different operating parameters required for depositing different chemical compounds makes if difficult to quickly and efficiently utilize the previous methods/apparatus to deposit thin films of different compounds in succession.
The present invention has been developed to overcome the above disadvantages associated with applicant's previously proposed methods/apparatus, and to generally fulfilled a great need in the art by providing methods and apparatus for quickly, flexibly and efficiently depositing high quality thin film of different complex compounds in succession.
Additionally, according to applicant's previously proposed methods/apparatus different embodiments were disclosed in which thin films of chemical compounds are deposited using mists of solutions containing the compounds either by depositing thin films of the mists at ambient temperatures and subsequently drying same (as disclosed in relation to present FIGS. 1 and 6) or by dissociating the chemical compounds from the mists at elevated temperatures using various heating means in combination (one of which is a UV, spectral heat bath) such that the chemical compound deposits directly on a substrate (as disclosed in relation to present FIG. 5).
Applicant has discovered that a modification or hybrid of such previously disclosed methods works exceptionally well in obtaining high quality thin films of many complex compounds such a ferroelectrics. The modification involves implementation of a UV curing step between the drying step P.sub.11 and the high temperature annealing step P.sub.12 used according to the previously disclosed method shown in FIG. 6. More particularly, applicant has found that after a thin film of a solution is deposited from a mist at ambient temperature and subsequently dried according to the previously disclosed method, but before the thin film is high temperature annealed, if the dried film is cured under a UV spectral bath, the desirable dielectric characteristics of the film are tremendously improved.
The UV curing step is preferably carried out at relatively low temperatures of 100.degree.-350.degree. C., which are much less than the temperatures of 600.degree.-850.degree. C. typically required for the high temperature annealing of step P.sub.12. The UV curing is effectively a "cold annealing" step which functions to create better thin films of chemical compounds by breaking residual solvent bonds remaining in the dried films, thereby inducing additional, desirable crosslinking between molecules of the desired chemical compound in the film. For example, excess hydroxyl groups (OH) typically remain in a dried film according to applicant's previously disclosed methods/apparatus when the solvent of the chemical solution used is an alcohol. When excess hydroxyl groups in the thin film are broken, the resulting oxygen radicals link with other atoms in the film, thus enhancing the oxygen content in the thin film and creating better/stronger linking within the film.

Apparatus for forming a thin film with a mist forming means


A controller system for a CD-ROM drive or other slow access device such as a magneto-optical device using a conventional hard disk drive as a cache memory. In some embodiments, the hard disk cache is partitioned to use a portion thereof to clone the most often used data blocks on the CD-ROM disk such as the directory/file allocation table, while the balance of the hard disk is used to cache some or all of the balance of the CD-ROM disk using conventional cache memory least recently used rules. Three bus controllers for the host computer, CD-ROM drive and the hard disk cache are controlled by a microprocessor which runs a control program that implements the cloning and cache rules. The three bus controllers are connected by a DMA bus for faster transfer of data. The microprocessor controls the directions of the DMA transfers by data written to a control register.

The invention pertains to the field of performance enhancing devices for CD-ROM devices and other slow access memory devices.
CD-ROM devices, and other devices like magneto-optical disk drives and tape drives are notoriously slow in accessing data. For example, in so called 1X CD-ROM devices typical access times are 390 milliseconds (hereafter msec) and data transfer rates are typically 150 kilobytes/second (hereafter KB/sec). Even so called 2X CD-ROM drives are not much faster, averaging 200-290 msec access times and 300 KB/sec transfer rates, and 4X devices average 190 msec access time and 600 KB/sec transfer rates.
In an attempt to alleviate this problem, manufacturers of CD-ROM devices have been incorporating random access memory into their devices to help speed up access.
The random access memory is managed as a cache. Typical cache sizes of up to 256 kilobytes of random access memory have been used. The problem with this approach is that the capacity for data storage in CD-ROM devices is so huge, that a 256 kilobyte (hereafter KB) cache does not significantly speed up access. For example, typical data transfer rates for a 1X CD-ROM with a 256 KB cache are only speeded up to 170-180 KB/sec and 4X device have their data transfer rates speeded up to only 700 KB/sec.
In another approach to solving this problem, some manufacturers such as Insignia Software Solutions, with its RapidCD software product, have introduced drivers for CD ROM devices which use the hard disk and RAM of the host computer as look-ahead cache memory. Another example of this type of product is the CD-ROM Toolkit by FWB Software, Inc. The problem with this approach (which will be called the software cache approach herein) is that using part of the host hard disk and RAM for cache purposes for the CD-ROM device lowers the capacity of the host hard disk and RAM for other purposes such as storing application programs and data. In many cases, especially where a multitasking environment is in effect such as in Windows and Macintosh environments, the remaining space on the host hard disk and RAM is insufficient to support all necessary operations. Further, although a program may initially run, it may ultimately crash as more demands on the host RAM and hard disk for storage are made. This can lead to loss of whatever data is currently displayed which has not yet been saved to hard disk.
The software cache approach also requires that the host CPU be used to manage the cache such as reading the least recently used table, storing data into the cache, intercepting read requests and examining the cache map and extracting data from the software cache or from the CD-ROM as appropriate.
The software cache approach also utilizes the file operating system of the host. Typically, such operating system functions require a fairly large amount of overhead even for a simple data transfer.
Also, software cache operation is not universally compatible with all operating systems and hardware platforms.
The software cache approach is also not terribly efficient, because to store data in the host hard disk cache area, the data is first transferred from the CD-ROM into the host RAM, and from there into the host hard disk cache area. This two step process involves overhead for each of the two storage transactions and ties up the host CPU, the host RAM and the host hard disk thereby precluding these assets from being used for other multitasking purposes during the transactions.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a method and apparatus to vastly speed up access times and data transfer rates for slow access time rotating media bulk storage memory devices which solves the above noted problems and is completely transparent to the host computer.

Hard disk cache for CD-ROM and other slow access time devices


A rear view mirror combination is particularly suitable for monitoring obstructions in typical blind spot locations as well as directly to the rear. An accessory for a rear view mirror includes a base for mounting to a structure that supports a main mirror nominally oriented in a main reflection plane; a first auxiliary mirror mounted to the base and extending generally vertically relative to the structure and vertically offset from the main rear view mirror, the first auxiliary mirror is angled outwardly between approximately 25 degrees and approximately 50 degrees from the main reflection plane. The base can have a vertically projecting face portion for fastening to a forwardly facing surface of the structure, or a generally downwardly facing face portion for fastening to an upwardly facing surface of the structure. The accessory can include a second auxiliary mirror mounted to the base, the first and second auxiliary mirrors forming a dihedral angle of between 155 degrees and 175 degrees, the first auxiliary mirror being angled from about 20 to about 40 degrees outwardly with respect to the main mirror. In a further aspect, the invention provides a method for visually monitoring obstructions relative to a vehicle being driven.

The present invention relates to rear view mirrors for vehicles, and more particularly to mirrors having extended fields of view.
Mirrors and mirror assemblies having extended fields of view are known, including cylindrically, spherically, and ellipsoidally curved mirrors, and combinations of such mirrors with a planar mirror. It is also known to provide interior vehicle rear-view mirrors having a lateral series of planar mirrors that are mounted with progressively angled orientations. These mirrors of the prior art are not entirely satisfactory for use as vehicle rear-view mirrors, and especially outside rear-view mirrors. For example:
1. Laterally spaced multiple mirrors are unsuitable for use as outside mirrors in that excessive side clearance is required if the elements are to have sufficient size to provide a reasonable field of view per element;
2. Existing multiple planar element mirrors would be unsuitable for side viewing even if outside clearance were not a factor, in that each mirror blocks the lateral field of the next inner mirror, and the housing connecting the mirrors blocks the lateral field of the farthest mirror; and
3. Curved mirrors in any form, and even when used in combination with planar mirrors, introduce distortion, the distortion being quite dangerous if the curvature were to be sufficient to provide both rear and side viewing using a single mirror element.
Thus there is a need for an outside rear-view mirror that is suitable for both rear and side viewing, and that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.


System and methods for cache coherence in a multi-core processing environment having a local/shared cache hierarchy. The system includes multiple processor cores, a main memory, and a local cache memory associated with each core for storing cache lines accessible only by the associated core. Cache lines are classified as either private or shared. A shared cache memory is coupled to the local cache memories and main memory for storing cache lines. The cores follow a write-back to the local memory for private cache lines, and a write-through to the shared memory for shared cache lines. Shared cache lines in local cache memory enter a transient dirty state when written by the core. Shared cache lines transition from a transient dirty to a valid state with a self-initiated write-through to the shared memory. The write-through to shared memory can include only data that was modified in the transient dirty state.

The present invention relates in general to the caching of data in multiprocessor systems and, more particularly, to simplified cache coherence protocols for shared memory multi-core processing systems utilizing self-invalidation and multiple write policies to maintain coherence in a private/shared cache hierarchy.
In a multiple processor environment, two or more microprocessors (referred to as multiple core, multi-core and many-core) reside on the same chip and commonly share access to the same area of main memory via a cache hierarchy. Shared-memory microprocessors simplify parallel programming by providing a single address space even when memory is physically distributed across many processing nodes or cores. Most shared-memory multiprocessors use cache memories or "caches" to facilitate access to shared data, and to reduce the latency of a processor's access to memory. Small but fast individual caches are associated with each processor core to speed up access to a main memory. Caches, and the protocols controlling the data access to caches, are of highest importance in the multi-core parallel programming model.
To satisfy coherence definitions, coherence protocols react immediately to writes and invalidate all cached read copies. Shared-memory systems typically implement coherence with snooping or directory-based protocols. Directory-based cache coherence protocols are notoriously complex, requiring a directory to constantly track readers and writers and to send invalidations or global broadcasts or snoops. Directory protocols also require additional performance and transient states to cover every possible race that may arise. For example, the GEMS [23] implementation of the MESI directory protocol, a direct descendant of the SUNfire coherence protocol, requires no less than 30 states. Verification of such protocols is difficult and in many cases incomplete [1].
Significant complexity in current protocols comes from strategies for efficicent execution of sequential applications. Complexity in cache coherence protocols also translates into cost. Storage is needed for cache-line state, the directory (or dual-ported/duplicate tags for snooping), and the logic required by complex cache and directory controllers. Significant effort has been expended to reduce these costs, especially the storage cost, but also the verification cost.
In terms of performance and power, complex protocols are characterized by a large number of broadcasts and snoops. Here too, significant effort has been expended to reduce or filter coherence traffic with the intent of making complex protocols more power or performance efficient. In particular, in the many-core cases, a simple and efficient implementation of coherence is of great importance to match the simplicity of the many thin cores. Furthermore, some many-core programming models (e.g., CUDA [21] and CELL [16]) exercise explicit control of the ownership of shared data. In the following description, the term "multi-core" will be used to refer to both multi-cores and many-cores, as the systems and methods described herein have application in all multiple processor core systems. The coherence schemes commonly utilized in the current processing environment have been developed for multi-chip SMPs or distributed shared memory machines where the trade-offs are markedly different from a multi-core cache hierarchy.
Recent research has realized the importance of classifying private and shared data. Some of this research has focused on using hardware for classifying private vs. shared data. Other research has focused on using the operating system or the compiler to perform the classification. The advantage of hardware mechanisms is that they can work at a granularity of a cache line. However, these mechanisms can also have prohibitive storage requirements. Techniques which employ the operating system do not require extra hardware, as the data classification can be stored along with the page table entries (PTEs) at a page granularity. However, if a single block in a page is shared (or even if two different private blocks within the same page are accessed by different cores) the whole page must be considered as shared, thus leading to misclassified blocks. Finally, the disadvantage of the compiler-assisted classification is that it is difficult to know at compile time if a variable is going to be shared or not.
Different proposals have used the private verses shared data classification to reach different goals. Some have utilized the classification to perform an efficient mapping for NUCA caches [14, 20]. While others have used the classification to reduce the number of broadcasts required by a snooping protocol [18], or to reduce the size of the directory cache in a directory-based protocol [11, 12]. Finally, others use the classification for choosing among different behaviors for the coherence protocol [28, 15].
Dynamic self-invalidation and tear-off copies were first proposed by Lebeck and Wood as a way to reduce invalidations in cc-NUMA [19]. The basic idea is that cache blocks can be teared off the directory (i.e., not registered there as cached copies) as long as they are discarded voluntarily before the next synchronization point by the processor that created them. As noted in their paper, this can only be supported in a weak consistency memory model (for sequential consistency (SC), self-invalidation needs to be semantically equivalent to a cache replacement). Lebeck and Wood proposed self-invalidation and tear-off copies as an optimization on top of an existing cc-NUMA protocol. Furthermore, they made an effort to restrict its use only to certain blocks through a complex classification performed at the directory. Their design choices reflect the tradeoffs of a cc-NUMA architecture: that self-invalidation should not be applied indiscriminately because misses to the directory are expensive.
Self-invalidation was recently used by Kaxiras and Keramidas in their "SARC Coherence" proposal [17]. In their proposal, the authors observe that with self-invalidation, writer prediction becomes straightforward to implement. The underlying directory protocol is always active to guarantee correctness. Despite the advantage for writer prediction, however, their proposal increases the complexity of the base directory protocol with another optimization layer and leaves the directory untouched.
Finally, Choi et al. use self invalidation instructions, inserted by the compiler after annotations in the source program, in their application-driven approach [10]. Based on the properties of disciplined parallelism, Choi et al. simplify coherence. However, their approach relies on significant feedback from the application, which must define memory regions of certain read/write behavior, and then convey and represent such regions in hardware. This requires programmer involvement at the application layer (to define the regions), compiler involvement to insert the proper self-invalidation instructions, an API to communicate all this information to the hardware, and additional hardware near the L1 to store this information. The DeNovo approach described by Choi et al. self-invalidates the "touched" data in a phase. The DeNovo approach still implements a directory ("registry") that tracks the writers (but not the readers), and implements the directory in the data array (since shared cache data are stale in the presence of a writer). Although the directory storage cost is hidden, there is still directory functionality in the shared cache.
Consequently, a significant need exists for an improved method of maintaining cache coherence within a multi-core architecture to simplify the verification process and; thereby, reduce the cost and complexity throughout a shared memory processing environment without sacrificing power and performance. Additionally, a significant need exists for a simplified method of maintaining cache coherence which eliminates the need for directories, invalidations, broadcasts and snoops while maintaining or improving performance. Existing prior art cache systems and protocols need improvements to fully take advantage of the multi-core architecture. In particular, the number of unnecessary operations needs to be significantly reduced.

System and method for simplifying cache coherence using multiple write policies