A low cost charger circuit with pre-charge functionality can include a DC/DC converter arranged in parallel with a charger device. When used for electrified vehicle applications, the DC/DC converter can be configured to operate during vehicle propulsion, restorable energy storage system (RESS) recharging, and while only the DC/DC converter needs to be energized. A DC/DC converter can be coupled to a first high voltage bus on a load side of a primary contactor, and to a second high voltage bus on an energy side of a primary contactor. A pre-charge circuit can controllably charge a voltage bus and protect a DC/DC converter against high inrush current. An auxiliary contactor can controllably couple a DC/DC converter to a load portion of a high voltage bus. It can also couple a charger thereto. A charger contactor can controllably couple a charger device to an energy portion of a high voltage bus.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to charging circuits for high voltage batteries, and more particularly to high voltage circuits for a vehicle with an electrified propulsion system.
2. Background Art
Electric and hybrid electric vehicles rely on a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), such as a high voltage battery or battery pack, to provide power for an electric drive system. While regenerative braking during vehicle operation can re-energize a high voltage (HV) battery to a limited extent, additional battery recharging is also necessary. Accordingly, a typical high voltage battery pack can cooperate with a charger device configured to couple it to a power source such as an electric utility. For example, a charger can plug into an electrical outlet at a residence or charging station to enable battery pack recharging.
A charging process is typically conducted while a vehicle is parked and turned off. In a typical electrical architecture, a RESS can be associated with one or more main contactors for coupling the RESS to the high voltage electrical bus for a vehicle, and one or more charger contactors for coupling the RESS to an electrical charger device. During a typical charging process performed while a vehicle is turned off, the charger contactors are closed while the main contactors are open, allowing energy transfer to the RESS while preventing energy transfer to vehicle systems and devices coupled to the high voltage bus. Similarly, during vehicle operation, the main contactors are closed, coupling the RESS to a high voltage power conversion system and other electrical loads, but the charger contactors are open so that a charger device is not energized during vehicle operation.
A vehicle electrical system can include a DC/DC converter configured to step down the high voltage of the RESS to a lower voltage. It is desirable that the DC/DC converter be configured to provide the stepped down voltage during vehicle operation so that the RESS can energize a low voltage vehicle battery and support various low voltage vehicle devices and accessories. Consequently, a DC/DC converter is often coupled to the high voltage bus on the "vehicle side" of the main contactors so that it is coupled to the RESS when the main contactors are closed for vehicle operation.
However, the charging process itself can require various communications and operations by low voltage devices. In addition, preconditioning operations that require low voltage battery support may be performed during vehicle recharging. For example, a consumer may desire that a vehicle cabin be brought to a desired temperature. Because the main contactors are typically open during the charging process, a DC/DC converter coupled to a high voltage bus on the vehicle side of the main contactors cannot be energized by the RESS during the charging process, and therefore cannot support the low voltage battery and vehicle loads associated with the charging or preconditioning processes. As a result, the low voltage vehicle battery can be drained while supporting the preconditioning process during recharging of the RESS.
A possible solution can include closing the main contactors to energize the high voltage buses that couple the DC/DC converter and other vehicle systems to the RESS. However, this solution would, in addition to coupling the DC/DC converter, couple other systems, such as the propulsion system, vehicle heating and ventilation systems, and other various systems during the charging process. A solution that adds loads that reduce the efficiency of the charging process is generally undesirable. A further solution can include moving the DC/DC converter to the RESS side of the main contactors; however, in this configuration the DC/DC converter would be energized at all times unless additional contactors or protective devices were added. Such a condition is generally undesirable because parasitic loads at the DC/DC converter can drain energy away from the high voltage battery. In addition such a configuration can complicate servicing procedures. Finally, a solution can comprise inclusion of a dedicated DC/DC converter, perhaps integrated with a charger device, configured to operate during a charging process. However, this approach requires duplication of sophisticated circuitry and control, which is redundant and not cost-efficient.


An image heating apparatus that enables a temperature of an image heating element to be stably maintained at a target temperature as a fixing speed varies. A Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller determines whether a temperature control computation results in a range that allows temperature control with one IGBT, and a linear control is performed if the result is at least equal to a minimum power obtained as IH output. PWM control is performed at minimum power if the power is less than a required minimum power. Thus, a computation method of a supply power computator need not be switched according to the fixing speed, and a calorific value of a fixing belt can be controlled using one computation method.

An induction heating (IH) type of image heating apparatus is known as an image heating apparatus of this kind. This image heating apparatus generates an eddy current through the action of a magnetic field generated by an induction heating apparatus upon an image heating element, and heats an unfixed image on a recording medium such as transfer paper or an OHP (Over Head Projector) sheet through Joule heating of the image heating element by means of this eddy current.
This IH image heating apparatus has the advantage of higher heat production efficiency and faster fixing speed than an image heating apparatus that uses a halogen lamp as the heat source of the heat-producing section that heats the image heating element. Also, with an image heating apparatus that uses a thin sleeve, belt, or the like, as the image heating element, the thermal capacity of the image heating element is small, and the image heating element can be made to produce heat in a short time, enabling startup responsiveness to be greatly improved.
With an IH image heating apparatus, the image heating element is normally maintained at a predetermined fixing temperature (target temperature) by having power supplied to the heat source controlled by a value calculated from a predetermined control rule in accordance with the temperature detected by a temperature detection section located in contact with or close to the image heating element.
With this PID control, not only is the operation amount of the power control section made proportional to deviation between the temperature detected by the temperature detection section and the target temperature of the image heating element based on the development increase/decrease trend, but a factor proportional to a deviation integral and a factor proportional to a deviation derivative are also taken into consideration in performing control.
Also, temperature information from the temperature detection section is sampled in a certain cycle (sampling cycle), and is incorporated into the control rule for PID control.
With this kind of image heating apparatus, to increase the glossiness of a fixed image, or improve the transparency of a fixed image on an OHP sheet, a slower fixing speed than normal is used. Furthermore, with this kind of image heating apparatus, a slower fixing speed than normal is also employed when using a recording medium such as thick paper that requires a large amount of heat for heat-fixing of an unfixed image.
However, with an IH image heating apparatus, when the power supplied to the heat source is controlled by means of the above-described PID control, if the fixing speed varies according to the type of recording medium undergoing heat-fixing, there is a risk that temperature control of the image heating element will become unstable.
That is to say, the image heating element of an IH image heating apparatus rises in temperature through the supply of a predetermined amount of heat by the heat source, but, since the heat production efficiency of the image heating element is high, when the fixing speed changes the amount of heat received from the heat source also changes. For example, if the fixing speed is halved, the amount of heat received by the image heating element from the heat source approximately doubles. Consequently, in this kind of image heating apparatus, even if the power input to the heat source is fixed, the speed of a rise in temperature of the image heating element increases when the fixing speed is reduced.
Also, with this kind of image heating apparatus, there is a certain time lag between execution of power adjustment as a result of PID control computation and detection of the temperature change of the image heating element that is the result of this control.
Thus, with this kind of image heating apparatus, this time lag is taken into consideration in deciding the sampling time for detected temperature information from the temperature detection section. However, with this kind of image heating apparatus, when the fixing speed changes, this sampling time shifts, and the PID control results cannot be fed back accurately.
Thus, a deficiency of this kind of image heating apparatus is that, since the speed of a rise in temperature of the image heating element and the sampling time change due to a change in the fixing speed, PID control of the amount of power supplied to the heat source cannot be performed optimally, and the temperature of the image heating element fluctuates above and below the target temperature.
That is to say, with an image heating apparatus that performs PID control of the amount of power supplied to the heat source, when the fixing speed is slow, variation of the temperature of the image heating element in response to variation of the supply power is large, and, when the value of PID control proportional gain K is large, the results of computation of the operation amount of a switching element (IGBT: Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) due to PID control are prone to swing. Thus, when the fixing speed is slow, the temperature of the image heating element fails to converge to the target temperature due to overshoot and so forth. On the other hand, when the fixing speed is fast, if the value of PID control proportional gain K is small, the operation amount of the switching element cannot keep up with temperature variations of the image heating element due to disturbances.
Thus, a problem with this kind of image heating apparatus is that it is not possible to achieve uniform gloss of a fixed image on a recording medium in-plane or uniform transparency of an image on an OHP sheet due to swings in the temperature of the image heating element as described above. Furthermore, a problem with this kind of image heating apparatus is the occurrence of fixing defects known as hot offset and cold offset if the temperature of the image heating element moves outside a temperature range within which fixing is possible that includes the target temperature.
Thus, an image heating apparatus has been proposed whereby the method of deciding the operation amount of a switching element by means of PID control is varied according to the rotational speed of fixing film acting as the image heating element (see Patent Document 1, for example).
In the image heating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the slower the fixing speed (the rotational speed of the fixing film), the smaller is the value of PID control proportional gain K. For example, in this image heating apparatus there is a proportional gain K table for three fixing speeds, proportional gain K corresponding to the current fixing speed is referenced from this table in accordance with a drive speed signal, and switching element on/off times are calculated according to the PID control rule. Then, with this image heating apparatus, temperature control of the fixing film is performed by adjusting the time of voltage application to an exciting coil functioning as the heat source by means of these switching element on/off operations. Patent Document 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-169410

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Petroleum derived fuel compositions of improved efficiency for use with finished gasoline and diesel fuels in compression ignition engines and spark ignition engines include a catalytic clean-combustion-promoter composition to improve fuel efficiency and reduce their air polluting effects. The catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions utilize ketones as solvents, alcohols as cosolvents, ethers as octane supporters, nitroparaffin compounds as combustion supporters, and, to promote the chemical reactions a catalytic medium is used in combination with aromatic amines. When all the compounds are combined in the recited quantities, the molecular structure and surface tension of the fuel is transformed through chemical bonding to produce a synergistic effect, which increases the combustion characteristic of the fuels to be burned and reduces the tendency of the fuel to create deposits, and therefore reduces the exhaust emissions. Engines operating with the catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions added to the fuel do not require the use of fuels with a high cetane or octane number for maximum performance. Such compositions may be employed in micro-amount ranging from 400 to 2,500 parts per million relative to the volume of the basic liquid of engine fuel. The present catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compounds meet the standards of the EPA "Clean Air Act" as amended in 1990.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to additives for gasoline and diesel fuels, and more particularly to a catalytic clean-combustion-promoter composition to improve fuel efficiency and reduce air polluting effects of liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "Clean Air Act" sets the standards for fuel emissions. The Clean Air Act was amended in the Fall of 1990 to limit pollution from 189 toxic substances. Focusing on toxicity and exposure potential, the EPA has designated the following chemicals as toxic enemies No. 1 through 17: benzene; cadmium and its compounds; cyanides; dichloromethane; lead and its compounds; mercury and its compounds; methyl ethyl ketone; nickel and its compounds; tetrachloroethylene; toluene; 1,1,1-trichloroethane; trichloroethane; and xylene(s).
Gasoline and diesel fuel additives are known which when added to the basic fuel will improve fuel efficiency and reduce air polluting effects of the fuel. There are several patents on such additives. However, many of these compositions contain chemicals identified by the EPA as posing the greatest threats to human health and making them unsuitable or illegal to use.
Fenske, U.S. Pat. No. 3,002,827, discloses a fuel composition for diesel engines, where he uses an aliphatic nitro-compound selected from the class consisting of nitro-alkanes, alkyl nitrates, alkyl nitrites, and nitro alcohol nitrates as an ignition promoter and in the ratio of from about 0.5% to 1.5% in volume (5,000 to 15,000 parts per million). The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes nitro-paraffins selected from the group consisting of 1-nitropropane, 2-nitropropane, and nitro ethane as combustion supporters for gasoline and diesel fuels and in the ration of only from 4 to 1,125 parts per million by volume.
Calvino, U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,504, teaches the use of alkyl pyrrolidone as an inhibitor of aqueous haze formation in the ratio of from about 1.0% to 2.0% in volume (10,000 to 20,000 parts per million). The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone which is blended with aromatic amines and serves as a catalytic medium which increases the chemical reaction rate of the catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions when they are added in liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone catalytic medium ratio is only from 4 to 500 parts per million.
Michaels, U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,297, discloses a fuel composition which uses nitroparaffin compounds blended with gasoline and a liquid ester lubricant. The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes nitroparaffin compounds only as combustion supporters for gasoline and diesel fuels.
Eckerd, U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,360, discloses the use of nitropropane combined with calcium compounds to reduce smoke emissions. The calcium sulfonate used by Eckerd creates deposits which cause plugging of the fuel injectors in a combustion engine, and results in reduced engine efficiency and increased emission of air pollutants. The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes nitroparaffin compounds as combustion supporters for gasoline and diesel fuels and in combination with other compounds which increase engine efficiency and reduce emission of air pollutants.
Simmons, U.S Pat. No. 4,073,626, discloses a diesel fuel additive which uses an iron salt of an aromatic nitro acid as ferrous picrate, and a nitro aliphatic compound as 1-nitropropane blended with an aromatic petroleum solvent as xylene, toluene, etc., to increase the fuel's combustion. The xylene and toluene compounds utilized by Simmons are now forbidden by the EPA "Clean Air Act" as amended in 1990. The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes nitroparaffin compounds as combustion supporters for gasoline and diesel fuels and contains none of the toxic chemicals referred to in the 1990 "Clean Air Act" amendment.
Gonzalez, U.S. Pat. No. 4.131,434, discloses a catalytic additive composition for combustion engine fuels which includes benzene, toluene, or xylene, and methyl ethyl ketone. These compounds are now forbidden by the EPA "Clean Air Act" as amended in 1990. The present invention, on the other hand, contains none of the toxic chemicals referred to in the 1990 "Clean Air Act" amendment.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a catalytic clean-combustion-promoter composition for use with finished gasoline and diesel fuels in compression ignition engines and spark ignition engines to improve fuel efficiency and reduce air polluting emissions. The catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions utilize ketones as solvents, alcohols as cosolvents, ethers as octane supporters, nitroparaffin compounds as combustion supporters, and, to promote the chemical reactions a catalytic medium is used in combination with aromatic amines. When all the compounds are combined in the recited quantities, the molecular structure and surface tension of the fuel is transformed through chemical bonding to produce a synergistic effect, which increases the combustion characteristic of the fuels to be burned and reduces the tendency of the fuel to create deposits, and therefore reduces the exhaust emissions. Engines operating with the catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions added to the fuel do not require the use of fuels with a high cetane or octane number for maximum performance. Such compositions may be employed in micro-amounts ranging from 400 to 2,500 parts per million relative to the volume of the basic liquid engine fuel. The present catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compounds meet the standards of the EPA "Clean Air Act" as amended in 1990.

Catalytic clean-combustion-promoter compositions for liquid hydrocarbon fuels used in internal combustion engines


To provide an image processing system and the like which can correct image distortions and provide properly overlapped images when a plurality of projectors are used to project overlapped images, a projector includes: an image projection section projecting an image based on image signals to display the image in a manner to overlap another image projected from another projector at a projection target area; sensing section sensing an image and generating sensing information; overlap-area detecting section detecting projection areas for the projection target area, and detecting an overlap area at which the projection areas overlap, based on the sensing information; correction information generating section generating correction information indicating information for positions of the projection areas and a position of the overlap area; and projection area correction section correcting image signals, based on the correction information, to project an image onto a region corresponding to the overlap area.

The present invention relates to an image processing system, projector, program, information storage medium and image processing method which can correct image signals so that images projected by a plurality of image projection means are overlapped at a projection target area.
To secure the brightness of an image and to improve the dynamic range and color in the image, there has been realized an image display system comprising a plurality of projectors for projecting images so that they could be overlapped one another at a projection target area such as a screen. Such a projection of images is also called "stack projection".
In such an image display, however, the projection angles of the projectors are different from one another and consequently a distortion will occur in an image consisting of the projected and overlapped images. If a single projector is used to project an image and even when a distortion occurs therein, it is only required to regulate the distortion. If a plurality of projectors are used, however, it is required to regulate the projected mages to their proper display positions in addition to the regulation of the image distortions.
For such a reason, technical knowledge and great labor are required to perform the stack projection.
To facilitate the alignment in such overlapped images, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-168039 has proposed a projection type display system which is operative to synthesize inspection for inspection patterns and video signals or to intermittently generate inspection signals, to project an image onto a screen, to detect the position of an inspection pattern image in the image projected onto the screen, to control the projecting position so that there is no misalignment.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-168039, however, it is presumed that a projected image is of rectangular shape. The projection type display system merely changes an optical projection axis in a hardware manner by detecting the position of the inspection pattern image and determining the amount of misalignment.
For such a reason, it is difficult that the technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-168039 causes the projection type display system to properly align the image positions under such a condition that a distortion of an image occurs as when a plurality of projectors are used or when a projector is not opposed directly to a screen.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-168039 does not describe at all the fact that the projection type display system will change the color of a composite image by superimposing images.

Image processing system, projector, program, information storage medium and image processing method


The present invention provides a dialog system in which the subsystems are integrated under a single technology model. In particular, each of the sub-systems uses stochastic modeling to identify a probability for its respective output. The combined probabilities identify a most probable action to be taken by the dialog system given the latest input from the user and the past dialog states. An additional aspect of the present invention is an embodiment in which the sub-systems communicate with one another through XML pages, thus allowing the sub-systems to be distributed across a distributed network.

The present invention relates to methods and systems for defining and handling user/computer interactions. In particular, the present invention relates to dialog systems.
Nearly all modern computer interfaces are based on computer driven interactions in which the user must follow an execution flow set by the computer or learn one or more commands exposed by the computer.
In other words, most computer interfaces do not adapt to the manner in which the user wishes to interact with the computer, but instead force the user to interact through a specific set of interfaces.
New research, however, has focused on the idea of having a computer/user interface that is based on a dialog metaphor in which both the user and the computer system can lead or follow the dialog. Under this metaphor, the user can provide an initial question or command and the computer system can then identify ambiguity in the question or command and ask refining questions to identify a proper course of action. Note that during the refinement, the user is free to change the dialog and lead it into a new direction. Thus, the computer system must be adaptive and react to these changes in the dialog. The system must be able to recognize the information that the user has provided to the system and derive a user intention from that information. In addition, the systems must be able to convert the user intention into an appropriate action, such as asking a follow-up question or sending an e-mail message.
Note that the selection of the proper action is critical in that the quality of the user experience is dictated in large part by the number of questions that the system asks the user and, consequently, the amount of time it takes for the user to reach their goal.
In the past, such dialog systems have been created through a combination of technologies. Typically a stochastic model would be used to identify what the user has said. Such models provide probabilities for each of a set of hypothesis phrases.
The hypothesis with the highest probability is then selected as the most likely phrase spoken by the user.
This most likely phrase is provided to a natural language parsing algorithm, which applies a set of natural language rules to identify the syntactic and semantic structure of the identified phrase.
The semantic structure is then passed to a plan based system, that applies a different set of rules based on the semantic meaning and the past dialog statements made by the user and the computer. Based on the execution of these rules, the dialog system selects an action that is to be taken.
Some systems have attempted to use stochastic models in the conversion from what was said to the semantic meaning of what was said. For example, in "The Thoughtful Elephant: Strategies for Spoken Dialog Systems" E. Souvignier et al., IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing, Vol. 8, No. 1 (January 2000), a stochastic model is applied to both the step of identifying of what has been said and the step of converting what has been said into a semantic meaning.
Other systems have used stochastic models to determine what action to take given a semantic meaning. For example, in "A Stochastic Model for Machine Interaction for Learning Dialog Strategies", Levin et al., IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing, Vol. 8, No. 1, pg. 11-23 (January 2000), a stochastic model is used in the conversion from a semantic meaning to an action.
Although stochastic models have been used in each of the stages separately, no system has been provided to use stochastic models in all of the stages of a dialog system that are designed to optimize the same objective function. Because of this, the sub-systems in these dialog systems do not integrate naturally with each other.
Another problem with current dialog systems is that they are not well suited for distributed computing environments with less than perfect quality of service. Telephone based dialog systems, for example, rely heavily on the telephone links. A severance in the phone connection generally leads to the loss of dialog context and interaction contents. As a result, the dialog technologies developed for phone based system cannot be applied directly to Internet environments where the interlocutors do not always maintain a sustained connection. In addition, existing dialog systems typically force the user into a fixed interface on a single device that limits the way in which the user may drive the dialog. For example, current dialog systems typically require the user to use an Internet browser or a telephone, and do not allow a user to switch dynamically to a phone interface or a hand-held interface, or vice versa, in the middle of the interaction. As such, these systems do not provide as much user control as would be desired.

Method and apparatus for performing plan-based dialog


A light guiding plate is manufactured with accuracy and at low cost. This invention comprises a cylindrical roller, which has a heater built-in, rotating while fixing a stamper having a dot pattern formed on its surface, substrate fixing means for reciprocating along a lower portion of the cylindrical roller in accordance with rotation of the cylindrical roller as fixing a resin substrate, and pressing means for pressing the stamper, which is fixed to the cylindrical roller, onto a surface of the resin substrate, which is fixed to the substrate fixing means, with a constant pressure.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a light guiding plate used in a backlight device of a liquid crystal display device and its method.
The so-called edge light type light guiding plate, which lets in light from one side surface (light incident surface) of a transparent plate that is a square plate-like member, and which outputs the incident light from a surface (light output surface), is used in a backlight device of a liquid crystal display device for a word processor, personal computer, thin type television and the like. Such a backlight device is provided with a tubular light source placed on at least one side surface of the light guiding plate, and an element (hereinafter referred to as a "deflection element") placed on a surface (light reflective surface) opposite to the light output surface that outputs light so as to change an angle of light that passes through the light guiding plate or an angle of light that is reflected by the light guiding plate.
Incident light from the light incident surface of the light guiding plate is changed in its direction at the light reflective surface and light output surface and the like, and outputs light from the light output surface. Moreover, light is totally reflected by the light reflective surface and transmits in the light guiding plate. Generally, the density distribution of deflection element and the shape thereof are determined such that luminance of light output from the light output surface becomes uniform at the entire surface of the light output surface.
The aforementioned deflection element can include the following three types {circle around (1)} to {circle around (3)}.
{circle around (1)} The surface of light guiding plate is coated with white ink that scatters or reflects light;
{circle around (2)} Dot pattern by which light is scattered or reflected is formed on the surface of light guiding plate; and
{circle around (3)} A light diffusion particle is dispersed in the light guiding plate.
The light guiding plate of type {circle around (1)} is manufactured by screen printing and the like. However, when the film thickness of print layer with white ink becomes uneven, distribution occurs in reflective power, so that luminance of light output from the light output surface becomes uneven. Further, if dust in the air is mixed into white ink during a print operation process and adhered onto the print side, light scattering is caused by dust, so that evenness of luminance cannot be obtained. Furthermore, the light guiding plate of type {circle around (3)} has difficulty in dispersing the light diffusion particle in a base material with high reproducibility in order to attain a predetermined density distribution.
For the above reason, type {circle around (2)} that is, the light guiding plate provided with the dot pattern (hereinafter referred to as "dots"), that is, the deflection element, which scatters and/or reflects light onto the surface, is used as a backlight device of a liquid crystal display device in many cases.
Conventionally, as a method for manufacturing the light guiding plate having dots, the manufacturing method with an injection moulding as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,636 is generally used. However, in the manufacturing method with the injection moulding, there is a problem existing in that the large-size injection moulding machine is needed in accordance with an enlargement of the light guiding plate resulting in rising in the manufacturing cost. Another problem exists in that a relatively long modeling time for pressuring and cooling was required to ensure high transcription rate.
As a method for solving the above problems, attention is focused on a method in which a resin substrate, made of acrylic, polycarbonate, polystyrene, and the like molded in the form of sheet beforehand, is subjected to surface treatment so as to manufacture a light guiding plate. As one example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-147255 discloses a method in which the dots are formed onto the substrate of resin surface by a cylindrical roller having a pattern, corresponding to the dots, engraved on the surface so as to manufacture a light guiding plate.

Light guiding plate manufacturing apparatus and light guiding plate manufacturing method


A liquid crystal panel includes: a p-type liquid crystal material sandwiched by a pair of substrates and comb-teeth shape electrodes for applying, to the p-type liquid crystal material, an electric field parallel to a substrate surface. The p-type liquid crystal material is aligned vertically with respect to the substrate surface at the time when no electric field is applied. The comb-teeth shape electrodes have an electrode width of 5 μm or less, and an electrode spacing of 15 μm or less. A product of a dielectric constant anisotropy Δε and a refractive index anisotropy Δn of the p-type liquid crystal material is 1.3 or more and 3.1 or less.

Liquid crystal display devices have a small thickness, a light weight, and a low power consumption as characteristics, and are used in various fields. Display performance of such liquid crystal display devices is drastically improved year by year. As a result, recently the display performance of liquid crystal display devices has become superior to that of CRTs (cathode ray tubes).
A display mode of a liquid crystal display device is determined by how liquid crystal is aligned in a liquid crystal cell. Conventionally, various display modes are known as display modes of liquid crystal display devices. Examples of such display modes known are a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, an MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment) mode, an IPS (In-Plain Switching) mode, and an OCB (Optically Compensated Birefringence) mode. Liquid crystal display devices employing these display methods have been mass-produced conventionally.
Among the liquid crystal display devices of these various display modes above, for example, a liquid crystal display device employing the TN mode is generally used in a wide range.
However, a liquid crystal display device employing the TN mode has disadvantages such as a slow response and a narrow viewing angle.
The MVA mode (Refer to, for example, "K. Ohmuro, S. Kataoka, T. Sasaki, and Y. Koike, 'Development of Super-High-Image-Quality Vertical-Alignment-Mode LCD', SID 1997 Digest, No. 33.3, p. 845-848, 1997." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 1") and "H. Yoshida, T. Kamada, K. Ueda, R. Tanaka, Y. Koike, K. Okamoto, P. L. Chen and J. Lin, 'Multi-domain Vertically Aligned LCDs with Super-wide Viewing Range for Gray-scale Images', Asia Display/IMID'04 Digest, No. 12.2, (2004)." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 2")) is a display mode according to which a fringe field is formed by providing a slit to each pixel electrode on an active matrix substrate and, further, providing a rib for controlling liquid crystal molecule alignment to a counter electrode on a counter substrate, thereby providing a plurality of alignment directions of liquid crystal molecules.
The MVA mode liquid crystal display device achieves a wide viewing angle by having a plurality of divisional directions (Multi-domains) in each of which liquid crystal molecules are tilted at the time when a voltage is applied. Further, employing a vertical alignment mode, the MVA mode liquid crystal display device can obtain a higher contrast as compared with liquid crystal display devices of other modes such as the TN mode, the IPS mode, and the OCB mode. However, the MVA mode liquid crystal display has disadvantages such that (i) a production process is complex and (ii) as with the TN mode liquid crystal display device, a response speed is slow.
Among the other display modes described above, the IPS mode (Refer, for example, to "R. A. Soref, 'Field Effects in Nematic Liquid Crystals Obtained with Interdigital Electrodes', J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 5466-5468, 1974." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 3") and "R. Kiefer, B. Weber, F. Windschield, and G. Baur, 'In-Plane Switching of Nematic Liquid Crystals', Proc. The 12th Int'l Disp. Res. Conf. (Japan Display'92), No. P2-30, p. 547-550, 1992." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 4")) is known as a display mode according to which a wide viewing angle is achieved by using a simpler configuration. Switching the liquid crystal molecules within a plane, the IPS mode liquid crystal display device has a very wide viewing angle. However, the IPS mode also has a disadvantage such that a response speed is slow as with the TN mode and the MVA mode. Further, the IPS mode is not suitable for mobile devices or in-vehicle devices for which a high speed at a low temperature is required.
Meanwhile, among the various display modes, the OCB mode (Refer, for example, to "P. L. Bos and J. A. Rahman, 'An Optically "Self-Compensating" Electro-Optical Effect with Wide Angle of View', Technical Digest of SID Symp., p. 273-276, 1993." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 5") and "Y. Yamaguchi, T. Miyashita, and T. Uchida, 'Wide-Viewing-Angle Display Mode for the Active-Matrix LCD Using Bend-Alignment Liquid-Crystal Cell', Technical Digest of SID Symp., p. 277-280, 1993." (hereinafter, referred to as "Non-Patent Document 6")) is an only display mode that can achieve a high-speed response by using a simple configuration in which a nematic liquid crystal is merely sandwiched by two substrates having been subjected to alignment treatment in parallel directions. Therefore, the OCB mode is particularly spotlighted for in-vehicle applications in which a response characteristic at a low temperature may become a problem.
However, while exhibiting such a high-speed response, the OCB mode requires a transition operation from a splay alignment that is an initial alignment to a bend alignment in driving when power supply is turned on. Accordingly, the OCB mode requires an initial transition driving circuit in addition to an ordinary driving circuit. Therefore, a factor to increase cost is inherent in the OCB mode. Further, the OCB mode is inferior in a viewing angle characteristic to the MVA mode and IPS mode.
Other than the display mode as described above, another display mode is proposed for solving a process problem of the MVA mode. This display mode carries out driving by a lateral electric field in a vertical alignment mode, employing a p-type nematic liquid crystal as a liquid crystal material (Refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukaishou, No. 57-618 (published on Jan. 5, 1982) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 1"), Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukaihei, No. 10-186351 (published on Jul. 14, 1998) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 2"), Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukaihei, No. 10-333171 (published on Dec. 18, 1998) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 3"), Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukaihei, No. 11-24068 (published on Jan. 29, 1999) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 4"), Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukai, No. 2000-275682 (published on Oct. 6, 2000) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 5"), and Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukai, No. 2002-55357 (published on Feb. 20, 2002) (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 6")).
In this display mode, while a high contrast characteristic due to vertical alignment is maintained, driving is carried out by using a lateral electric field so that an alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules is defined. In the display mode, a pixel configuration is simple because alignment control by a rib as in the MVA mode is not necessary. Further, the display mode has an excellent viewing angle characteristic.
Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose that: a bent electric field is formed by electric field application; two domains having liquid crystal directors in directions different from each other by 180 degrees are formed; and, as a result, a wide viewing angle is obtained.
However, the display mode described above has a serious problem such that a driving voltage is high and a light transmittance is low, though having a high contrast and an excellent viewing angle characteristic as described above. Further, as in the MVA mode, a response characteristic of the display mode is not sufficient for moving image display. Therefore, this display mode has not been put to practical use yet.
Therefore, there has been no known liquid crystal panel and liquid crystal display device each of which can simultaneously achieve characteristics of a high-speed response, a wide viewing angle, and a high contrast.

Liquid crystal panel and liquid crystal display device


A vehicle control system makes it possible to properly decide the passableness of a road curve in the forward direction of a subject vehicle by setting a tentative position ahead of an actual position by a tentative position setting mechanism M4, and calculates an estimated passage speed at the tentative position by an estimated passage speed calculating mechanism M5 on the basis of the distance between the actual position and the tentative position. A curve curvature radius calculating mechanism M6 and a curve length calculating mechanism M7 calculate the radius of curvature and length of a curve existing on a road ahead of the tentative position, on the basis of a map data outputted by a map data outputting mechanism M1, and a proper passage speed calculating mechanism M8 calculates the proper curve passing speed on the basis of the curvature radius and length of the curve. A passableness deciding mechanism M9 decides the passableness of the vehicle by comparing the estimated passing speed and the proper passing speed so that a vehicle control mechanism M10 controls the vehicle to allow it to pass the curve when it is decided that the vehicle cannot safely pass the curve.

1. Technical Field to Which the Invention Belongs
The present invention relates to a vehicle control system for controlling a vehicle on the basis of a road shape, as decided on the basis of map data comprised of a set of coordinate points obtained by a navigation system.
2. Discussion of Relevant Art
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-36187, there is well known a technique in which a control system decides whether or not a subject vehicle can pass a curve ahead thereof in its running direction at the current speed by estimating the radius of curvature of the curve on the basis of map data obtained by a navigation system, so that a warning or automatic deceleration is performed if the system decides that the curve is not passable.
Here, the aforementioned well known technique decides whether or not the vehicle can pass a curve, by employing the radius of curvature of the curve as a parameter. Even if curves have the same curvature radius R, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, the passage is easy for a curve having a smaller length R.multidot..SIGMA..theta. (as should be referred to FIG. 7A), but the passage is difficult for a curve having a larger length R.multidot..SIGMA..theta. (as should be referred to FIG. 7C). In order to properly decide whether or not a curve can be safely passed, therefore, it is necessary to consider not only the curvature radius of the curve but also the length of the curve.
According to the known technique, when a curve is difficult to pass, the vehicle speed is automatically reduced to pass the curve. In this case, any voluntary decelerating operation or steering operation of the driver and the aforementioned automatic deceleration may interfere with each other to give the driver an unfamiliar or unpleasant feeling.


A retainer for a portion of an electric power cord includes a guide that guides the cord into a space between a pair of ears that cooperate with a grooved part of a handle to define two V notch passageways for the cord leading the cord into a groove which wraps around the handle. The floor of the guide defines with the groove a path for the cord past the ears which is substantially in a plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power cord retainer for the handle of a portable electric appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous methods of retaining all or a portion of an electrical power cord attached to an electrical appliance are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,433 to Simm et al. teaches an insert member for a grip unit of a suction hose of a vacuum cleaner which includes a cord retaining groove where the cord leaves the groove and then projects out between two ears which are in the plane of the groove. U.S. Pat. No. 670,552 to Brown teaches a handle for electric lights which includes a groove in which an electric cord is wound. The cord passes out of the plane of the groove through an opening in the handle. U.S. Pat. No. 741,154 to Meyer teaches a cord retainer with a slot along the handle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,879 to Bunyea et al. teaches a cord retainer for an electric trimmer. A cord passes through a cavity in a handle of the trimmer and a spring retains the cord in the cavity.
Other patents are relevant and the following is a non-exhaustive list of patents teaching retainer devices for electrical power cords:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Date ______________________________________ 627,215 Stewart 06/20/1899 1,643,656 Hasselton 09/27/27 2,383,031 Wilson 08/21/45 3,141,359 Bennett et al. 07/21/64 4,365,141 Weiss 12/21/82 4,585,194 Schwob 04/29/86 4,712,972 Nakashima et al. 12/15/87 4,910,3621 Kinner 03/20/90 Des. 254,565 Brown 03/25/80 Des. 298,673 Slany et al. 11/22/88 ______________________________________


In one embodiment, a sender device in a network sends a plurality of uncompressed messages to a receiver device in the network. The sender device generates a sender-side compression dictionary based on the plurality of uncompressed messages. The receiver device also generates a receiver-side compression dictionary based on the uncompressed message. The sender device obtains an approval of the sender-side compression dictionary from the receiver device by sending a checksum of the sender-side compression dictionary to the receiver device, whereby the receiver device generates the approval by comparing the checksum of the sender-side compression dictionary to a checksum of the receiver-side compression dictionary. The sender device sends a compressed message to the receiver device that is compressed using the sender-side compression dictionary, after obtaining the approval of the sender-side compression dictionary from the receiver device.

The Internet of Things, or "IoT" for short, represents an evolution of computer networks that seeks to connect many everyday objects to the Internet. Notably, there has been a recent proliferation of "smart" devices that are Internet-capable such as thermostats, lighting, televisions, cameras, and the like. In many implementations, these devices may also communicate with one another. For example, an IoT motion sensor may communicate with one or more smart lightbulbs, to actuate the lighting in a room, when a person enters the room.
With the increased proliferation of networked devices in the IoT, the amount of data flowing between IoT devices, as well as to and from the cloud, is also rapidly increasing. For example, a networked thermostat in a home may send data regarding the current temperature in the home to the cloud, to allow the homeowner to monitor the temperature in the home, remotely. In another example, a sensor in an industrial setting may provide sensor data to a controller. In turn, the controller may send control signals to an actuator, thus affecting the sensor readings of the sensor and forming a control loop.
Unfortunately, the vast number of IoT devices and their associated communications can overwhelm some networking infrastructure, making data compression an attractive option for sending IoT data over a network. However, the nature of IoT data also necessitates the development of new compression approaches.

In-flight building and maintaining dictionaries for efficient compression for IoT data


Described herein is a novel cyclotide able to activate the unique receptor of angiotensin-(1-7) (AT1-7), the MAS1 receptor. This cyclotide may be used in the treatment of cancer and myocardial infarction.

Modulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) by angiotensin-(1-7) (AT1-7) is recently emerged as an attractive and novel chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive treatment for lung cancer. AT1-7 is a component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) with vasodilator, antiproliferative and anti-angiogenic properties. Recent studies have shown that AT1-7 is able to reduce serum-stimulated growth of human lung cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo through activation of the unique AT1-7 receptor, MAS1. In results with human lung adenocarcinoma xenografts, AT1-7 was able to inhibit tumor growth through reduction in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity and production of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. In contrast, AT1-7 had no effect on cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) activity in the same xenograft tumor. All these suggest that selective activation of the MAS1 receptor may represent a novel treatment for lung cancer through reduction of COX-2 activity. Unfortunately, AT1-7 has a limited clinical potential due to its unfavorable pharmacokinetic profile.

Proteolically resistant cyclotides with angiotensin 1-7 like activity


The present invention provides an electronic ballast for a high intensity discharge lamp such as a metal halide lamp. The ballast includes an inverter and a resonant circuit with an ignition capacitor between the resonant circuit and the lamp. The ignition capacitor serves to provide the necessary start-up energy and also serves to provide a low impedance discharge path. A single ignition capacitor may be sufficient, but if a long cable is used to connect the lamp to the ballast, then two ignition capacitors in parallel at opposite ends of the cable may be used. The ballast further provides means for monitoring and controlling lamp power by monitoring a nominally constant dc link voltage, and means for detecting short-circuit and open circuit conditions. A retrial mechanism is provided in the event of the lamp failing to ignite that includes a temporary disabling of the inverter in order to keep the rms lamp voltage low.

Among various light sources, high-density-discharge (HID) lamps exhibit the best combination of the high luminous efficacy and good color rendition with the high power compact source characteristics. HID lamps have been used in many applications, such as wide area floodlighting, stage, studio, and entertainment lighting to UV lamps.
The use of a high frequency electronic ballast can reduce the size and the weight of the ballast and improve the system efficacy. This feature is especially attractive for low wattage HID lamps because the overall lighting system is expected to be of small size. Moreover, as the operating frequency increases, the re-ignition and extinction peaks disappear, resulting in a longer lamp lifetime. The load characteristic of a HID lamp can be approximated as a resistor and the lamp (power) factor approaches unity. There is no flickering effect and the stroboscopic effect in the light output and the light lumen can be improved. However, the operation of high pressure HID lamps with high-frequency current waveforms is offset by the occurrence of standing pressure waves (acoustic resonance). This acoustic resonance can lead to changes in arc position and light color or to unstable arcs. Instability in the arcs can sometimes cause the arcs to extinguish.
The common explanation for acoustic resonance is that the periodic power input from the modulated discharge current causes pressure fluctuations in the gas volume of the lamp. If the power frequency is at or close to an eigenfrequency of the lamp, traveling pressure waves will appear. These waves travel towards and reflect on the discharge tube wall. The result is standing waves with large amplitudes. The strong oscillations in the gas density can distort the discharge path, which in turn distorts the heat input that drives the pressure wave (W. Yan, Y. K. E. Ho, and S. Y. R. Hui, "Stability study and control methods for small-wattage high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps," IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 1522–1530, September–October 2001). The lamp eigenfrequencies depend on arc vessel geometry, gas filling and gas thermodynamic state variables (such as pressure, temperature and gas density).

Circuit designs and control techniques for high frequency electronic ballasts for high intensity discharge lamps


The invention relates to a one-step fluoropolymer, especially polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), coating for use on metals, especially use on metal fuel line and brake tubes, etc, to provide a protective barrier with superior chemical resistance, impact resistance and heat resistance as well as good flexibility. The coating composition contains, on a resin solids basis, 75-94 percent polyvinylidene fluoride resin, 5-20 percent acrylic resin, and 1-15 percent polyepoxide resin. The coating has excellent adhesion on metal substrates, particularly on non-pretreated galvanized steel, without the need for a primer coating.

Metal tubes such as brake tubes and metal fuel lines are required to have chemical resistance, salt spray corrosion resistance, impact resistance as well as heat resistance. Protective coatings are generally applied to the metal which are capable of withstanding chemical erosion and mechanical erosion.
Fluorocarbon-based resins are known to provide excellent protection to metals, as well as imparting a durable and aesthetic appearance. Unfortunately, the resins themselves adhere very poorly to metal substrates.
One method for increasing adhesion of a fluorocarbon-based coating to a metal is to apply a primer coating or other surface treatment, which improves the adhesion of the topcoat to the substrate and also improves the corrosion resistance of the substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,565 and US 2002/0090528 disclose a multilayer corrosion resistant PVDF coating for automobile brake tubes. The metal substrate is surface treated with a zinc or zinc-nickel plating layer and a chromate film of trivalent chromium, and was primed with an epoxy layer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,885 discloses an acrylic based coating composition especially useful as a primer for metal substrates.
The problem with these methods for providing a PVDF coating is that they involve two steps to ensure good adhesion of the PVDF film—an undercoating followed by the PVDF coating, which adds the expense and complexity of an added manufacturing step.
A one-step polyvinylidene coating for metal surfaces is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,201. A very wide range (10 to 95%) of vinylidene fluoride and a very wide range (1 to 80%) of a poorly compatible resin, such as an epoxy resin, is described. A maximum of 70% PVDF resin and a 7.5% minimum of a curing agent is exemplified.
The problem with the one-step coating of the '201 reference is that it sacrifices some of the protective properties of the coating by teaching lower levels of PVDF in the coating, and it also describes a highly cross-linked system with little flexibility, that can result in cracking of the coating.
There is a need for a one-step coating having good adhesion, excellent chemical resistance such as brake fluid resistance, excellent protective properties, and flexibility for coating metal substrates, especially in applications such as for metal fuel lines and brake tubes.
Surprisingly it has been found that a fluoropolymer coating having good adhesion, superior chemical resistance, impact resistance, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, heat resistance and good flexibility, can be formed from a composition having greater than 75% fluoropolymer, 5-20% of an acrylic resin, 1-15% of a polyepoxide resin, and low level of crosslinking. This coating provides the properties required for metal fuel lines and brake tubes. An additional advantage is that brake tubes coated with the composition of the invention have excellent brake fluid resistance.

Polyvinylidene fluoride coating for metal substrates


The application is directed to a method for automatically classifying intracardiac electrograms, and a system for performing the method. In a further aspect, it concerns an implantable cardioverter defibrillator which incorporates the system and uses the method to monitor cardiac activity and deliver appropriate treatment. The method uses a combination of timing analysis and pattern matching using a neural network in order to correctly classify the electrograms. This technique allows both changes in rate and morphology to be taken into account.

The automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD or "implantable cardioverter defibrillator") is a device used in the treatment of a class of patients prone to life threatening tachycardias. Currently, implantable cardioverter defibrillators classify signals derived from a single channel; a ventricular sensing electrode. Many single channel intracardiac electrographic classification methods have been proposed, including frequency domain analysis, gradient pattern detection, sequential testing, median frequency, correlation waveform analysis, the Bin area method and neural networks. However, they have been found to be unreliable in their classification of many common tachycardias. This often causes inappropriate therapy to be delivered by the implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Many of the incorrect classifications made by current devices are caused by the overlap of heart rate ranges between sinus tachycardia (ST), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and ventricular tachycardia (VT).
Previous work on the classification of intracardiac electrogram signals derived from two channels have concentrated on the analysis of timing sequences. These studies show that the addition of an atrial sensing electrode can greatly improve the reliability of the classification, when compared with classification using a single intracardiac lead.
The improvements are especially marked in differentiating between supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), sinus tachycardia (ST), and ventricular tachycardia (VT). Tachycardias with timing similar to normal sinus rhythm (NSR) such as ventricular tachycardia with 1.1 retrograde conduction (VT 1:1) cannot be identified using these techniques. However, morphological considerations can often resolve this distinction.

Method and system for automatically classifying intracardiac electrograms


A memory device may include a memory core block, a data patch unit, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) generating unit, and/or a serializer. The data patch unit may be configured to patch parallel data read from the memory core block in response to a first read pulse. The CRC generating unit may be configured to generate the CRC code based on the parallel data in response to a second read pulse, the second read pulse delayed by a period of time from if the first read pulse is generated. The serializer may be configured to convert the parallel data to serial data in response to the first read pulse, and/or arrange the CRC code in a order for a number of bits of the serial data to generate a systematic code.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor memory device and/or a method thereof, and for example, to a memory device employing dual clocking for outputting a systematic code and/or a method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In digital data transfer systems, detecting and correcting bit errors caused during transmission without requiring retransmission of data which contains errors is preferable. In conventional error correction systems, a transmitter generates a code in which certain redundant check bits are added to original data that is to be transmitted.
In a channel coding theory, a systematic code including original data and redundant parity bits associated with the original data is defined.
As the operating speeds of semiconductor memory devices increase, a channel bit error rate (BER) increases. Accordingly, a technique for detecting and correcting channel errors is required. Accordingly, semiconductor memory devices use a method of internally generating a systematic code and transmitting the systematic code to external controllers.
In a systematic code, data output from memory cell arrays becomes original data, and bits obtained by coding the output data of the memory cell arrays become redundant parity bits.
Because the redundant parity bits are generated by logic circuits performing an exclusive OR operation on the original data, a significant latency is required. Accordingly, in semiconductor memory devices which output systematic codes, a read data latency is higher.

Memory device employing dual clocking for generating systematic code and method thereof


A low-noise directional microphone system includes a front microphone, a rear microphone, a low-noise phase-shifting circuit and a summation circuit. The front microphone generates a front microphone signal, and the rear microphone generates a rear microphone signal. The low-noise phase-shifting circuit implements a frequency-dependent phase difference between the front microphone signal and the rear microphone signal to create a controlled loss in directional gain and to maintain a maximum level of noise amplification over a pre-determined frequency band. The summation circuit combines the front and rear microphone signals to generate a directional microphone signal.

Directional microphone systems are known. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a known method for implementing a directional microphone system 1. The system 1 includes a front microphone 2, a rear microphone 3, a delay 4, an adder 5, and an equalizer 6. The microphones 1, 2 are typically omnidirectional pressure microphones, but matched, directional microphones are also used. The system 1 forms a directional response pattern, with a beam pointing toward the front microphone 2, by subtracting a delayed rear microphone signal from a front microphone signal. The equalizer 6 then equalizes the directional response pattern to that of a single, omnidirectional microphone. In this manner, a variety of directional patterns can be implemented by varying the amount of delay.
Typical directional hearing instruments include a directional microphone system 1, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1, having a two microphone first order differential beamformer in which a 6 dB per octave roll off in the low end of the frequency response is realized. As a result of this decreased signal strength at lower frequencies, typical directional hearing instruments have a reduced signal to noise ratio (SNR). Thus, the frequency response is typically equalized, as shown in FIG. 1, by applying gain at lower frequencies. Internally generated microphone noise, however, is typically amplified along with the signal, minimizing the improvement to the SNR of the microphone system 1. Similarly, wind noise is typically higher in directional hearing instruments due to the additional gain required to equalize the frequency response.
FIG. 2 is a graph 7 illustrating noise amplification (in dB) 8 in a typical directional microphone system 1, plotted as a function of frequency. The noise amplification 8 plotted in FIG. 2 is typical for a conventional, two microphone system, as shown in FIG. 1, with a port spacing of 10.7 mm and a hyper-cardioid beam pattern. As illustrated, the amount of noise amplification, i.e., the microphone self-noise, in a typical microphone system 1 increases at low frequencies and, at 100 Hz, the microphone self-noise may be amplified by 35 dB.


A mechanism for evicting a cache line from a cache memory includes first selecting for eviction a least recently used cache line of a group of invalid cache lines. If all cache lines are valid, selecting for eviction a least recently used cache line of a group of cache lines in which no cache line of the group of cache lines is also stored within a higher level cache memory such as the L1 cache, for example. Lastly, if all cache lines are valid and there are no non-inclusive cache lines, selecting for eviction the least recently used cache line stored in the cache memory.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to processor cache operation, and more particularly to cache replacement mechanisms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern processors use a number of cache memory hierarchies in an effort to expedite data retrieval from main memory. In particular, most all processor cores will have at least a level one (L1) cache that is proximal to the core. In many cases, and especially in multi-core designs, a processor will also have a level two (L2) cache, and in some cases a level three (L3) cache. The L2 and L3 caches are in many cases shared among the various processor cores. The multiple cache hierarchies allow a processing system to keep copies of data that is accessed frequently in the local faster cache memory hierarchy, rather than having to access main memory which is typically slower.
However, even with the increasing size of the L2 and L3 caches, they do fill up, and older cache lines need to be evicted. Generally speaking it is typically the case that the least recently used (LRU) cache line is the line that is evicted. There have been many LRU algorithms used to determine which cache line to evict. For example, round robin algorithms among others are frequently used. Many of these algorithms do work. However, many of them have drawbacks that evict cache lines that for a variety of reasons should have been kept.

Least recently used mechanism for cache line eviction from a cache memory


A method, system, and article of manufacture provide for an interactive geographic information system on a thin client. Geographic information may be viewed and interacted with on the thin client. The information is available while the thin client is connected or disconnected to/from a network. The thin client has functionality commonly available in a standard client including raster maps for multiple zoom levels of multiple tiles, raster zooms, selectable vector geometry, geo-referencing information for map navigation, metadata in the form of layer definitions, links to object attributes in databases, links to object reports generated by corporate web servers, uploadable, sharable redlining data, offline access, and a compact database.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic maps and geographic information, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for providing access to maps and geographic data on a personal digital assistant (PDA).
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer implemented geographic information systems (GIS) are known in the art. Such GIS provide for the retrieval and display of geographic information (e.g., maps). A GIS is a system of software, hardware, and data that delivers geographic data (street maps, property boundaries, power transmission lines, etc.) along with any associated attribute information. It can show you where a street is and also tell you the street name, when it was last paved, whether it is a one-way street, etc. Using a GIS, a user can perform complex queries (from a web browser to a server) to discover such things as how many people live near the street, what their income level is, and what the zoning laws are. A GIS can operate on a network/internet wherein the geographic information is stored on a server and transmitted to a client/user where the information (map picture and other data) is displayed on a web browser.
For the client to properly display the geographic information, a computer system with the appropriate processing capabilities, software, and memory is required. For example, a client may be required to utilize a computer with a web browser such as INTERNET EXPLORER or NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR and have a minimum of 10 megabytes of available memory. Additionally, to display the geographic data such that a user does not have to wait an inordinate amount of time to retrieve and load the data, an appropriate internet connection (e.g., a 28.8 Kbps (kilo bits per second) modem) and a computer system with significant processing power (e.g., a minimum speed of 100 megahertz) may be required.
Field/utility technicians such as gas company employees, salespersons, plumbers, insurance adjusters, or any type of employment that requires travel to different locations, often utilize or require access to maps and geographic information. Further, such technicians often need to interact with a map to obtain relevant information. For example, a plumber/contractor may want to determine where the main gas line or water line on a street is located. However, while out in the field, the technicians often do not have a network connection, and carrying a laptop or desktop computer is cumbersome and impractical. Thus, it is desirable to have a small (handheld) portable computing device with the capabilities to display and interact with geographic information both online and offline.
Prior art handheld computing devices (also referred to as palm PCs or personal digital assistants (PDAs)), are often used to access and utilize personal information. Many handheld computing devices are available in today's marketplace. Typically, handheld computing devices are only slightly larger than the size of one's palm (hence, the name palm PC) and have a small display screen for viewing a plethora of items. Software can be installed on a PDA to provide enhanced functionality. For example, a personal productivity tool may be installed to provide access to a calendar, contacts, email, Internet browsing, audio books, and audio recording capabilities. Card slots may also be available to provide additional memory or other functions (e.g., a modem). Additionally, some PDAs have infrared (IR) ports for communication.
The PDA environment, however, poses several challenges for geographic information systems in terms of memory, storage, processor speeds, wireless transmission rates, and display attributes. For example, PDAs commonly only maintain 96 K or less of memory, 2 Mb (megabytes) or less storage, a 13 MHz processor speed, and a black and white or gray scale display mechanism. Further, field technicians using a PDA need to view and interact with maps displayed. The low bandwidth offered by wireless transmission services, coupled with the slow processors result in unacceptable download times. Also, the technicians in many instances work in trenches or other places where it is not possible to establish a connection to the servers (requiring offline usage).
Thus, there is a need for a geographic information system that overcomes the above described deficiencies on a portable handheld electronic device such as a PDA.
To help better understand embodiments of the invention, it is useful to describe the data utilized in prior art geographic information systems. Prior art geographic information systems display map pictures that are generated using raster data. Raster data represents a map picture with points in a grid. For example, on an X-Y axis, there may be a thousand points in the X direction and seven hundred and sixty points in the Y direction. Each of these points represents a color. For example, some computer systems enable each point to represent one of eight colors. A map picture is then created by determining a color for each point in the grid.
Each map picture is static in that portions of the map picture cannot change independently of each other. That is, a portion of a map picture cannot be modified while viewing the map picture. Thus, while a map image may contain several layers of information, the information is merely a picture with no live data. When a portion of the map picture is to be modified, queried, or to perform any GIS analysis, the browser must request more data from the main server and the entire map picture is replaced. For example, each map picture, such as one representing the United States (US), may contain several layers of information, such as states, counties, and streets. When a user is viewing a map picture of the United States and wishes to view the counties in a particular state, the map picture is replaced with another map picture that contains the additional information. Typically, the additional information is stored at a server computer and the map picture is displayed at a client computer. When the map picture that is displayed is to be modified, the additional information is downloaded from the server computer. Because this additional information is in the form of taster data, it is typically time-consuming to download.
Additionally, some computer systems display schematics generated from vector-based data in computer aided design (CAD) files. Vector-based data uses descriptions of elements of the schematic to create the schematic. For example, if the schematic contains a line segment, the CAD file describes the line segment with an endpoint and a length. Moreover, these computer systems enable users to view data in CAD files from the Internet and Intranets. For instance, when a user at a computer system wishes to view a schematic, the computer system downloads all of the data in the CAD file for that schematic from a data storage device via the Internet. The CAD file typically contains data corresponding to different levels of design of the schematic. In some instances, a user may wish to view only some of the data in the files, for example, the highest level of design of the schematic. In this case, although only a portion of data is required to display the schematic requested by the user, the computer system has already downloaded all of the data in the CAD file. Because it is time-consuming to download all of the data, it is inefficient to do so when only a portion of the data is required to satisfy a user's request. Further, it may not be possible to download all or even a portion of the data onto a PDA.

Method and apparatus for providing access to maps on a thin client


A screen panel is provided. The screen panel can have a screen frame and a screen mesh positioned over the frame. The screen mesh can be attached to the frame with hooks that can be selectively insertable and removable from the frame. The screen mesh can be attached to a portion of the frame and rolled around itself for shipping, and unrolled and attached to the remainder of the frame for use.

Conventional screen panels require screen spline to attach screen mesh to a screen frame. The screen spline must be "rolled" in on the jobsite or in a manufacturing facility using specialized tools and specialized skills. Conventional screens assembled in a manufacturing facility can be expensive to ship and easily damaged because of the size of the assembled screens typically requiring wide, thin rectangular boxes. Conventional screen panels rolled in on the jobsite can be expensive and time-consuming because of the skill required to form an assembled screen.


A sensing circuit for a dynamic random access memory structure is disclosed having first and second bit lines, one of the bit lines being a reference bit line which is held at a precharge voltage when a sense amplifier in the sensing circuit is latched, the sense amplifier includes first and second nodes and first, second, third and fourth transistor devices, the first and second transistor devices form an N-device cross-coupled pair and the third and fourth transistor devices form a P-device cross-coupled pair. The first node is connected to the first bit line and to the second and fourth transistor devices, and the second node is connected to the first and third transistor devices. A first isolation transistor device is connected to the first bit line and a second isolation transistor device is connected to the second bit line. A first clock signal line is connected to the first isolation transistor device and a second clock signal line is connected to the second isolation transistor device. A first equalization transistor device is connected to the first bit line and a second equalization transistor device is connected to the second bit line, a voltage signal line having a voltage value V.sub.EQ thereon is connected to the first and second equalization transistor devices, and a third clock signal line is connected to the first equalization device. A fourth clock signal line is connected to the second equalization transistor device, a fifth clock signal line is connected to the first and second N devices, a sixth clock signal line is connected to the third and fourth P devices. The first, second, third, fourth and fifth and sixth clock signal lines have clock signals thereon which occur during a time sequence for precharging the first and second nodes to a precharge voltage value V.sub.EQ.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dynamic random access storage memory circuits, and more particularly to improved precharge and input/output operation for power savings in random access memories.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,449 issued Jan. 7, 1983 to Masuda, entitled PROGRAMMABLE MEMORY DEVICE HAVING REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION UPON UNSELECTION, discloses a memory device capable of operating in a power down mode in which peripheral memory circuitry is inactivated, the power down mode being assumed in response to an unselect signal at any one of a plurality of chip enable terminals. In response to a write potential at the output terminal of the memory, a detector circuit will leave the output circuit inactivated but will activate any peripheral circuitry necessary for the write operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,996 issued Sep. 20, 1983 to Stewart, entitled PRECHARGE WITH POWER CONSERVATION, describes a circuit having a "selected" and a "deselected" state and a controllable pulse generating network which is operable when the circuit is "selected". The latch senses and stores a signal evidencing a change of state of any one of certain input signals to the circuit when the circuit deselected. The pulse network is responsive to the stored signal and produces a pulse, indicative of the occurrence of a change when the circuit is subsequently selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,679 issued Oct. 11, 1983 to Kurafuji et al, entitled STATIC MEMORY CIRCUIT, discloses a static memory circuit incorporating memory cells of a MOS static type comprising a plurality of potential setting circuits for setting the ground side potential of one selected memory cell to be lower than those of other non-selected memory cells. Thus, reducing power dissipation by reducing current flowing through half-selected and non-selected memory cells without reducing read speed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,646 issued Jul. 9, 1985 to Ochii et al, entitled SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY WITH SELECTIVELY ENABLED PRECHARGE AND SENSE AMPLIFIER CIRCUITS, discloses bit line precharge circuits, sense AMP circuits and input-output line precharge circuits which are respectively divided into two groups by select circuits which are controlled by a select control signal. Only the selected precharge circuits and the sense AMP circuits are enabled before a readout operation. The peak current for precharging bit lines is reduced to one-half as compared to conventional circuits due to the decrease of stray capacitance to be precharged.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,070 issued Dec. 24, 1985 to Armstrong, entitled INTEGRATED CIRCUIT MEMORY, discloses an integrated circuit memory wherein an array of memory elements is addressed by a decoder circuit responding to an address signal. The decoder circuit includes a plurality of sections, each one thereof being used to address a different section of the array. A decoder section selector is provided which, in response to the addressing signal, determines the section of the array being addressed and electrically couples the one of the plurality of decoder circuit sections which is coupled to such addressed array section to a power source while electrically decoupling the remaining section of the decoder circuit from such power source. With such arrangement, only a portion of the decoder circuit is electrically coupled to the power source when addressing the array thereby reducing the power consumption of the integrated circuit memory.
U.S. Pat. 4,570,243 issued Feb. 11, 1986 to Sud et al, entitled LOW POWER I/O SCHEME FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORIES, describes a low power I/O scheme which is particularly useful in wide word semiconductor memories which include redundant memory cells as well as regular memory cells. Conventional load transistors for a main data bus are turned off during all write operations to conserve power. In addition, predata lines which carry data between memory cells and the main data bus include load transistors that are turned off during normal read or write operations to conserve additional power, and turned on during spare read or write operations to preserve the stability of unselected regular cells. The predata lines are held above ground potential during read or write operations to prevent conduction of deselected column select transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,342 issued Oct. 7, 1986 to Miyamoto, entitled SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE, discloses a semiconductor memory device that comprises word lines connected to a row of memory cells, pairs of bit lines each connected to a different column of memory cells, word line drive means for driving the word line, and data sensing means. The word line drive means drives a selected word line only during a predetermined time duration which is shorter than the time duration of a word selection signal. The data sensing means includes a differential amplifier including a pair of bipolar transistors connected at their base electrodes to a pair of bit lines. Within the predetermined shorter time period, the differential amplifier senses the data stored in a selected memory cell and that sensed data is latched by a latching circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,683 issued Jan. 14, 1988 to Wada et al, entitled STATIC SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE COMPRISING WORD LINES EACH OPERATING AT THREE DIFFERENT VOLTAGE LEVELS, describes a semiconductor memory device that operates in response to an address transition detection (ATD) signal for detecting a change in an x address as well as to a write enable signal WE to make the signal on a selected word line vary according to the read mode and the write mode, whereby dissipation of electric power can be reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,562 issued Jul. 26, 1988 to Ohtani, entitled MOS STATIC MEMORY CIRCUIT, discloses voltage converters arranged in units of columns in a memory device. Each voltage converter is connected to a column decoder. The column decoder receives a column address signal and supplies a column selection signal to the voltage converter. The voltage converters apply a ground level voltage to the source junctions of the drive transistor pairs of the memory cells of the selected columns, and a voltage higher than the ground level voltage to the source junctions of the drive transistor pairs of the memory cells of the non-selected columns so as to decrease power consumption in the non-selected columns as compared with that in the selected columns.

Power saving semsing circuits for dynamic random access memory

International Business Machines Corporation


A data storage system that uses a magnetic head assembly having a write head and a read head mounted on a slider to write on and read from a disk. A portion of the coil of the write head is used as a wear sensor for detecting wear on the surface of the slider. A head IC monitors the coil voltage and, when it goes lower than a reference voltage, detects the occurrence of a fault in the write head due to excessive wear on the slider surface. In response to the detection of the fault in the write head by the head IC, a control driver prohibits a write operation and saves data already recorded on the disk.

The present invention relates to a disk storage system, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), which uses a magnetic head system in which a read head and a write head are separately mounted on a common moving arm and a disk as a storage medium, and performs an operation of reading from or writing on the disk with the heads floating so close to the disk or being in physical contact with the disk.
In order to achieve a further improvement in data recording density, magnetic head systems have been used in hard disk drives in recent years, which use a magnetoresistive (MR) head as the read head and an inductive head as the write head. In order to increase the recording density, it is effective to make the head-to-disk spacing (the flying height of the heads) small.
The magnetic heads are mounted on an air bearing slider (referred to simply as a slider.). The slider is supported by a suspension in the HDA (head/disk assembly) so that it can move across the surface of the disk while maintaining separation from the disk. The slider is formed with a surface called an ABS (air bearing surface) that is opposed to the disk surface and thus floats by the air bearing mechanism due to air flow rotating with the disk.
In order to realize a flying height that is very low, say, of the order of 30 nm, a technique has been developed which forms a protection film on the ABS and forms a protection film or a film of lubricant on the disk surface, thereby maintaining mechanical reliability even if the slider comes in contact with the disk. With such a very low flying height system or a system in which the slider surface and the disk surface are placed in contact, it becomes possible to increase the disk recording density.
With such a system, since the slider comes in contact with the disk, the degree of wear on the slider surface (ABS) or the disk surface will become large. Usually, some wear is taken into account at the time of design of HDD and such a protection film on the slider surface or disk surface as described above is a measure against wear. However, when the HDD is used in such an environment as accelerates wear (for example, an environment which receives a shock from outside), there arises a high possibility that the wear may exceed the allowable range to cause a failure in the HDD.
In particular, when the slider surface wears too much, the gap length of the write head widens, resulting in a failure to perform a write operation properly. On the other hand, since the MR element forming the read head wears when the slider surface wears, its cross-sectional area decreases. At first the resistance of the MR element will increases, leading to the increased apparent reproduction sensitivity. With an increase in the resistance of the MR element the temperature to which the MR element is heated will increase. It is known that the temperature of the MR element is proportional to the square of its resistance and the life of the MR element is exponentially proportional to the reciprocal of the temperature of the MR element. Therefore, the life of the MR element will be exponentially reduced with increasing wear. When the life of the MR element comes to an end, its reproducing capability is lost.
In the event that an error occurs in the write head, subsequent data recording will become impossible. Also, in the event that the read head does not function properly as a result of wear on the MR element, an operation of reading data retained on the disk will become impossible. In the worst case, there is the possibility that all the data retained may be lost.
For this reason, an apparatus has been proposed which is equipped with sensing means for detecting wear on the surface of a magnetic head (electromagnetic transducer) that comes in contact with the disk surface (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-89522). The sensing means comprises two optical waveguides acting as a wear sensor on the surface of the magnetic head and optical detecting means for detecting the phase difference between laser beams reflected by the disk surface back into the optical waveguides. In that Patent Publication, sensor means is also described which comprises two resistor blocks acting as a wear sensor and electrical detecting means which detects the difference in resistance between the two resistor blocks.
That is, the system described in the Patent Publication needs to equip the HDA with additional optical or electrical means. For this reason, the arrangement of the HDA becomes complex, resulting in an increase in the manufacturing cost of the HDD.

Apparatus for detecting error in magnetic head for use in disk storage system


A reflector has a curved part covering the light source and a pair of end parts extending at the two sides of the curved part. The inside surface of each end part has a plurality of substantially parallel projections or depressions. The light-guiding plate has an incident surface and an emission surface substantially perpendicular to the incident surface, the incident surface having a plurality of projections or depressions extending substantially parallel to the emission surface. Also, the reflection surface of the light-guiding plate has projections.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflector, a light, a light-guiding plate, and a display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a display of a PC, a liquid crystal television, etc., a side light type light is used. In the case of a transmission type liquid crystal display device, a planar lighting device (backlight) is arranged on the back surface side of the liquid crystal panel. A side light type backlight includes a light-guiding plate, a light source arranged on one side of the light-guiding plate, and a reflector.
A reflector has for example a semicircular sectional shape or U-shape and is arranged to cover the light source, extend to the end parts of the light-guiding plate, and partially overlap the light-guiding plate. The light striking the incident surface of the light-guiding plate proceeds inside the light-guiding plate while being reflected. Therefore, to make the light be emitted from the emission surface of the light-guiding plate, the light-guiding plate is formed into a wedge sectional shape or an optical element comprised of a prism array, microlens array, etc. is arranged there.
Light striking the light-guiding plate by a large angle is emitted from a position of the emission surface of the light-guiding plate near the light source and sometimes becomes a cause of bright lines at the emission surface. Further, the weak intensity light sometimes becomes a cause of dark lines at the emission surface. In a side light type backlight, there is the problem of the occurrence of uneven brightness including bright lines and dark lines.
Further, in a conventional side light type backlight, the entering surface is not processed at all, so there is the problem of the luminance near the light source ending up falling. FIG. 30 shows the results of verification of the luminance distribution in a perpendicular direction from the light source due to differences in treatment of entering surfaces. The reflection surface of the light-guiding plate uses a prism light-guiding plate and emits light from the emission surface inclined from the normal by 60 to 70 degrees. The emitted light is bent in the normal direction by the downward-facing prism lens sheet. From the results, it can be confirmed that the conventional luminance distribution in the flat state of the entering surface with no treatment given exhibits a drop in the luminance near about 20 mm near the light source.
To solve this problem, it has been proposed to roughen the incident surface of the light-guiding plate to eliminate the uneven luminance (see for example Patent Document 1 below). The light strikes the roughened incident surface and is scattered. The amount of light emitted from the part of the emission surface of the light-guiding plate near the light source increases, but the amount of light emitted from the part of the emission surface of the light-guiding plate far from the light source ends up becoming smaller. Further, part of the light scattered at the incident surface of the light-guiding plate is not effectively propagated inside the light-guiding plate and the efficiency of utilization of the light drops. The roughening is performed uniformly over the entire incident surface of the light-guiding plate.
FIG. 30 shows the luminance distributions in the case of attaching diffusion treated tapes instead of diffusion treatment of the entering surface. By diffusion treatment of the entering surface, the luminance near the light source rises, but the amount of light at the far part becomes smaller, so there was the problem that the luminance ended up gradually falling.
Further, there is a proposal to arrange a prism sheet between the light source and the light-guiding plate (for example, see Patent Documents 2 and 3 below). The diffusion light emitted from the light source is condensed by the prism sheet to become highly oriented light which strikes the incident surface of the light-guiding plate. However, if highly oriented light strikes the incident surface of the light-guiding plate, the amount of emission of light from the end part of the light-guiding plate near the light source becomes smaller and the uneven luminance at the end part of the light-guiding plate near the light source is not eliminated.
Further, there is a proposal to form grooves extending perpendicular to the emission surface of the light-guiding plate at the incident surface of the light-guiding plate (for example, see Patent Document 4 below). This prior art has as its object the provision of a display becoming darker at the end part positioned at the electrode of the lamp forming the light source.
Further, there is a proposal to form an inclined surface reflecting light at an end part of a reflection sheet arranged at a reflection surface side of a light-guiding plate at the side opposite to the emission surface (for example, see Patent Document 5 below). In this prior art, the phenomenon of wide angle light emitted from the light source being reflected at the end part of the reflection sheet and striking the light-guiding plate is prevented by making such light be reflected at the inclined surface of the reflection sheet and returning it to the light source side. Due to this, the appearance of bright lines at the emission surface of the light-guiding plate is prevented. However, this prior art can only be used in a basic configuration where the end part of the reflection sheet is arranged between the light-guiding plate and one end part of the reflector, and the other end part of the reflector is in close contact with the light-guiding plate. When the end part of the reflection sheet is arranged at the outside from one end part of the reflector or when there is a gap between the other end part of the reflector and the light-guiding plate, this prior art cannot be applied.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 9-160035
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 9-166713
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 2000-260216
Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 10-253957
Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 2002-216522

Light-guiding plate, lighting device and display device