A phantom-resource memory address mapping system reduces access latency in a memory configured as a stacked-hybrid or filly-interleaved hierarchy of memory resources. The address mapping system comprises memory access circuitry having a topology that combines an interleaved-based translation function in parallel with a stacked-based translation operation. The translation functions operate in conjunction with a phantom-resource memory mapping technique. The memory address mapping system reduces the latency incurred when accessing data in response to a memory reference address, while allowing flexibility with respect to the sizes and amounts of memory resources (e.g., modules, arrays and banks) that may be populated in a data processing system.

Computer memory systems typically comprise a plurality of elemental memory storage components, such as discrete Random Access Memory (RAM) chips, aggregations of RAM chips on Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMMs) or Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMMs). These elemental memory components are available in a variety of storage capacities and organizations. A memory system of a computer may comprise a fixed or varied number of these components of a single storage capacity or of multiple storage capacities. In addition, the components may be aggregated into larger entities of a memory system. A memory array, for example, may comprise multiple DIMMs of a common storage capacity.
A computer having a memory system described above typically employs an address mapping function to direct data requests issued by a processor to the specific memory component or aggregation containing the requested data. The address mapping function generally "maps" the address location of a data request to a memory storage component which is then activated to satisfy the request. Address mapping functions may vary according to the organizations of the memory storage components with the resulting complexity of a function impacting both the performance and flexibility of the computer. For example, if the addressing mapping function is complex in nature, it can delay activation of a memory storage component which increases memory read latency and, in turn, diminishes system performance. A simple address mapping scheme, on the other hand, may exhibit low memory read latency, but may also limit the number of configurations into which the memory storage components may be organized. This latter scheme may limit a system's ability to configure around a failing memory component, as well as limit the system's upgradability.
Interleaving is a memory organization technique wherein memory address locations are distributed consecutively across multiple memory storage components to create a common memory address space. A fully interleaved memory system distributes addresses consecutively across all memory storage components to create a single memory address space for the entire system. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional fully interleaved memory system 100 comprising a plurality of memory resources which, in this case, are memory arrays. The number sequences shown among the arrays indicate the distribution of consecutive memory addresses. Note that a total of eight arrays are shown with every eighth address mapped to the same array.
The address mapping function for the fully interleaved memory system of FIG. 1 is quite simple: the three low-order bits of a memory address are a binary encoding of an array number that maps to the address. This type of mapping function is fast and efficient, providing little memory read latency penalty. Such a mapping scheme, however, restricts the configurations into which the memory storage components may be organized. Specifically, a fully interleaved memory organization requires that (i) all memory storage components (i.e. arrays) be of a common storage capacity and (ii) the number of memory storage components (i.e. arrays) be a power-of-2.
Stacking is another memory organization technique wherein the system memory address space is divided into a plurality of memory address sub-spaces. Consecutive memory address locations are initially distributed within a first memory address sub-space until all storage capacity within that sub-space is exhausted. Thereafter, subsequent memory address locations are distributed within a second memory address sub-space. This process repeats until all storage locations within all sub-spaces have been assigned addresses.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional memory system 200 comprising a plurality of stacked memory resources or arrays. In contrast to the fully inter-leaved system, the stacked memory system 200 contains a number of memory arrays that is not a power-of-2 and the arrays are apportioned into a number of address sub-spaces that is not a power-of-2. Moreover, the arrays are of varied sizes, with array 0 having a capacity of sixteen storage locations, arrays 1 and 2 having capacities of four storage locations, array 3 having a capacity of four storage locations, array 4 having a capacity of two storage locations and array 5 having a capacity of one storage location. It should be noted that in a stacked configuration addresses may be distributed within an address space in an interleaved manner and address sub-spaces, such as address space 1 in FIG. 2, may be formed by combining and interleaving similarly-sized memory storage components.
The address mapping function for a stacked memory system is generally more complex than the mapping function of a fully interleaved memory. In the former case, the mapping function first determines the address sub-space to which a referenced address maps. This determination is generally made based upon the size of the sub-space and the starting address of the sub-space. Next, the address mapping function determines the interleave mapping within an address sub-space in substantially the same manner as a fully interleaved address mapping function; namely, by means of a binary decode of the low order address bits. The additional determination imposed on a stacked memory address mapping function makes such a scheme expensive in terms of memory read latency and system performance. Yet, the flexibility of the stacked mapping scheme allows a wide variety of combinations of memory storage components, regardless of the size or number of those components.
The present invention is directed to a memory address mapping system that supports a third memory organization technique which exhibits desirable properties of both the fully interleaved and stacked memory configurations. This third technique, referred to as a stacked-hybrid configuration technique, assembles memory storage components into one stacked memory address space which is then fully interleaved. Since the entire memory is interleaved, a simple, performance efficient, fully interleaved address mapping function can be employed. While the fully interleaved aspect of the stacked-hybrid configuration mandates that all memory storage components in a stack have compatible interleave capability, thereby restricting the flexibility of the system somewhat, the configuration still allows different memory storage components in a stack to have different capacities.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a stacked-hybrid memory system 300 that includes six memory arrays, arranged in two three-deep stacks 310, 320, which is eight-way fully interleaved. Although the arrays of stack 310 differ in size, they are similarly sized with respect to corresponding arrays of stack 320; that is, Arrays A0 and A1 are the same size, Arrays A2 and A3 are the same size, and Arrays A4 and A5 are the same size. In a stacked-hybrid configuration, interleaving is permissible between the similarly-sized pair of arrays from each stack. Referring to A0 and A1, addresses 0-3 are located in A0, addresses 4-7 are in A1, addresses 8-11 are in A0, addresses 12-15 are in A1, and so on. Essentially, the stacked-hybrid memory system 300 presents a single address space interleaved two ways across the pairs of stacks.
As an illustration of a mapping function, refer to the schematic diagram of a conventional memory reference (physical) address 400 shown in FIG. 4. Five bits are needed to encode an array number that maps a 32-resource (array) address space. Similarly, four bits are needed to encode an array number that maps a 16-resource address space. The low-order bits of a memory reference address generally specify the resource within an address space, whereas the high-order bits of the reference specify the address space. In a fully-interleaved memory system, there is only one address space so the high-order address bits do not have to be examined; only the low-order bits need decoding to determine the location of data within the address space.
In contrast, a stack-hybrid configuration may have many different address spaces, each with its own number of interleaved resources. To support this type of system, mechanisms are provided to indicate (i) the size of the address space referenced and (ii) the number of bits needed to determine the interleaving arrangement within the address space; in both cases, the mechanism is typically a mask. The number of bits needed to define an address space may vary depending upon the size of the address space. Combinatorial logic used for address decoding generally requires application of a mask to a memory address issued by a processor to indicate the number of bits needed to define such an address space. Similarly, the logic utilizes masks to assess the number of bits of a particular address space that are needed to resolve the number of interleaved resources. Address mapping may further require comparison operations between the issued memory reference address and an address stored in a mapping register of the system, along with operations to combine an address-based check with an interleaved-based check to determine the resource storing the requested data.
The present invention is directed to a memory address mapping system that provides flexibility in the use of different sized memory resources while providing the latency advantages of a fully-interleaved memory system.

Phantom resource memory address mapping system


A bracelet includes at least one electronic display unit. Each display unit has a display having a plurality of display elements arranged in a sequence lying along the length of the bracelet and/or arranged in a sequence lying substantially around the perimeter of the display. The bracelet has a control circuit to control the display elements so that the characters displayed by the display elements appear to move along the sequence of display elements with time. In the alternative, the characters appear to move along a discrete face which is provided along the bracelet.

The present invention relates to a bracelet.
The term, xe2x80x9cbraceletxe2x80x9d, when used in this specification, is not limited to a wrist bracelet but is intended to include bracelets such as ring or belt bracelets which may be worn on other parts of the body, such as the ankle, a finger or even around the waist. Furthermore, such bracelets need not be solely for human use but could be worn by animals, e.g. as collars, or, if desired, attached to inanimate objects.
A known bracelet which displays information is a digital watch, having a watch face with a liquid crystal display. Typically, the watch face has at least four conventional seven-segment numerical display elements so that the time can be displayed digitally using the standard 24 hour clock notation.
The watch will usually have additional functions such as an alarm, a stop-watch, etc. and so a solid state chip/integrated circuit is included to implement these functions together with a quartz crystal to keep time and a battery for powering the watch.
A In DE-A-3 813 409 (Osterhage) there is disclosed a wrist watch with a multi-digital display, consisting of a continuous chain of individual bracelet links, each bracelet link being constructed as a digital display, controlled by a piezoelectric control circuit which provides a multi-digit display which is pulsed from bracelet link to bracelet link so that the digital display pulses in time around the bracelet.
The present invention provides a bracelet having an electronic display unit including a display region comprising a plurality of display elements, each display element capable of displaying a character of one or more characters so that the display elements together can display said characters, in the display region; the display elements being arranged in a sequence lying along the length of the bracelet and/or in a sequence lying substantially around at least part of the perimeter of the display region; wherein control means is provided to control the display elements so that the characters displayed by the display elements in the display region appear to move along the sequence of display elements with time.
In one embodiment, the bracelet has a single display unit extending along a portion of the length of the bracelet.
Preferably, the single unit has a plurality of display elements each comprising a lattice of liquid crystal or LED segments. The liquid crystal or LED segments may be selectively energised to display one of a plurality of different characters. Preferably, the liquid crystal or LED segments are arranged, and may be selectively energised, to display numerical and/or alphabetical characters.
However, it will be appreciated that abstract characters and shapes could be formed by the display elements to give the appearance of a moving pattern.
The control means may be a solid state chip/integrated circuit which can control the display elements to display information in the form of characters. The solid state chip may control the display elements so that the characters displayed appear to move along the sequence of display elements in the display region, element by element, with time.
The display region can be divided into a plurality of sub-regions each comprising a plurality of display elements forming a portion of the sequence of display elements. It is then possible for the display elements to display information simultaneously within each sub-region and the control means may control the display elements such that the information displayed in each sub-region appears to move, preferably element by element, from a first end of said respective portion of said sequence of display elements to a second end of said respective portion of said sequence of display elements with time.
In another embodiment, the bracelet comprises a plurality of electronic display units each having a predetermined number of display elements. The display elements of the display units together form a display region, each display element being capable of displaying a character of one or more characters so that the display elements together can display information, in the form of said characters, in the display region. The display units are arranged so that collectively their display elements form a sequence lying along the length of the bracelet. The display units are preferably arranged in groups of at least three adjacent units, each group forming a sub-region of said display region so that the display elements can display information simultaneously within each sub-region. Control means is provided to control the display elements to display characters such that the characters are displayed in each group of display units, firstly, in the first unit of the group of display units, secondly in the second unit of the group of display units and thirdly in a third unit of the group of display units so that the characters appear to move, within the sub-region of said display region, with time.
Further preferred and advantageous features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying claims.


There is provided an antenna apparatus in a CDMA mobile communication system. A pair of pre-processors are assigned to each of n sectors for transmission and reception diversity. Each pre-processor has a transmission port and a reception port to separate a transmission signal from a reception signal. A pair of triangular antennas are assigned to each sector. In each triangular antenna, a transmission antenna unit transmits a transmission signal received via a transmission port in its sector in the direction of the sector, and a reception antenna unit, connected to the transmission antenna unit at a predetermined horizontal angle xcex8, receives a signal directed to an adjacent sector and transmits the received signal to the reception port of a pre-processor in the adjacent sector.

This application claims priority to an application entitled xe2x80x9cAntenna Apparatus in Mobile Communication Systemxe2x80x9d filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Aug. 18, 2000 and assigned Serail No. 2000-47970, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an antenna apparatus in a CDMA mobile communication system, and in particular, to an antenna apparatus with a reduced number of antennas in a W-CDMA mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Antennas are arranged generally in three sectors in a second generation (2G) (CDMA and PCS) mobile communication system.
FIG. 1 illustrates an antenna layout in the 2G mobile communication system.
Referring to FIG. 1, antennas are arranged in three sectors, each sector containing 120xc2x0 and adjacent to two of the sectors. For reception diversity (Rx diversity), two antennas are provided in each sector. One of the two antennas is used for the dual purpose of transmission and reception (TX/RX antenna) and the other is used exclusively for reception (RX antenna). Each transmission antenna transmits a signal in the direction of a corresponding sector and each reception antenna receives a signal directed to the sector. A received signal is input to a reception port of a pre-processor (not shown) connected to the antenna. A transmission signal generated in the communication system is transmitted through a transmission port of the pre-processor and the transmission/reception antenna (TX/RX antenna) in the corresponding sector. The pre-processor usually operates in a duplexing method. In this structure, an antenna is fabricated with an array of dipole resonators to cover both transmission and reception frequencies. Beyond a predetermined bandwidth, however, the functional efficiency of the resonators is markedly decreased.
For example, in a system having a 250 MHz transmission/reception frequency band between 1920 and 2170 MHz such as an IMT2000 system, the antenna currently in use is composed of such resonators resulting in limitations in the reliability of the overall system. In one attempt to solve this problem, the transmission/reception antenna is separated into a transmission antenna and a reception antenna, resulting in the number of antennas per sector increasing to four (two transmission antenna and two reception antenna) in an IMT2000 system supporting transmission/reception diversity as compared to the 2G system.
Use of four antennas per sector for transmission/reception of signals occupy too much space and requires increased antenna height.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an antenna apparatus that overcomes the conventional antenna problems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an antenna apparatus having a reduced number of triangular shaped antennas, each triangular antenna incorporating a transmission antenna unit for transmitting a transmission signal in the direction of a corresponding sector and a reception antenna unit for receiving a signal directed to an adjacent sector in a mobile communication system.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an antenna apparatus in a CDMA mobile communication system. In the antenna apparatus, a pair of pre-processors are assigned to each of n sectors for transmission and reception diversity. Each pre-processor has a transmission port and a reception port to separate a transmission signal from a reception signal. A pair of triangular antennas are assigned to each sector. In each triangular antenna, a transmission antenna unit transmits a transmission signal received via a transmission port in its sector in the direction of the sector, and a reception antenna unit, connected to the transmission antenna unit at a predetermined horizontal angle xcex8, receives a signal directed to an adjacent sector and sends the received signal to the reception port of a pre-processor in the adjacent sector.

Antenna apparatus in mobile communication system


An optical amplifier site comprising: (i) a distributed Raman amplifier providing a first signal gain level; (ii) an optical amplifier located downstream from the distributed Raman amplifier, the optical amplifier being indirectly coupled to the distributed Raman amplifier, the optical amplifier including a first amplification medium, providing a second signal gain level; (iii) at least one optical signal loss element located between the distributed Raman amplifier and the optical amplifier and, contributing at least 0.5 dB optical loss to the amplifier site; (iv) a second amplification medium located down-stream from the first amplification medium; and (v) at least another one optical signal loss element, this at least another one optical signal loss element being located between said first amplification medium and said second amplification medium.

This invention generally concerns optical amplifiers, and is particularly directed to a method of distributing loss among two or more optical amplifiers to reduce overall noise accumulation from an amplifier site.
Optical amplifiers for amplifying photonic signals transmitted through optical fiber networks are well known in the art. Such amplifiers are used to extend transmission distances and to compensate for losses from various network elements. Presently, there are several known types of optical amplifiers, including erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), and Raman amplifiers.
EDFAs typically comprise at least one pump laser whose output is optically coupled to at least one coil of erbium-doped optical fiber. In operation, the output of the pump laser excites the atoms of the erbium-dopant within the fiber. These excited atoms release their excess energy in proportion to the strength of the incoming optical signal, which results in an amplified output. By contrast, Raman amplifiers achieve amplification without the need for erbium-doped optical fibers. Therefore, Raman amplifiers may use optical fibers without Er dopant as their gain fiber.
In one type of Raman amplifier, the output of a pair of orthogonally polarized pump-diode lasers provides backward propagating pump power in the gain fiber. Alternatively, a single pump and a de-polarizer may also be utilized to provide pump power in the gain fiber. Forward-propagating signals are amplified in the gain fiber by higher energy (shorter wavelength) pump photons scattering off the vibrational modes of the optical fiber""s lattice matrix and coherently adding to the lower-energy (longer wavelength) signal photons.
Raman amplifiers may be one of two types, depending upon the type of the gain fiber used therein. Distributed Raman amplifiers advantageously use the optical transmission fiber itself as the gain fiber. By contrast, discrete Raman amplifiers utilize their own optical fiber as the gain fiber. While the dopant used in the gain fiber of a discrete Raman amplifier is typically the same as used in the optical transmission fiber (e.g., germanium), the gain fiber of the discrete Raman amplifier usually contains higher concentrations of dopant (such as germanium) than a conventional optical transmission fiber and is designed to operate with a decreased fiber effective area in order to provide gain fiber with a a higher non-linear coefficient.
Furthermore, with the increasing demand for more data traffic, more transmission system providers are interested in providing high bit rate (40 Gbs, or higher) transmission systems. For transmission systems operating at a high bit rate, Signal to Noise ratio (S/N) becomes more of a problem than for the slower transmission systems. Therefore, managing generation and accumulation of optical noise in in transmission systems is very important. This optical noise is generated by the amplification process itself (for example, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise).
One way of improving the Signal to Noise ratio in a high bit rate transmission system is to utilize the distributed Raman amplifiers in conjunction with EDFAs or other discrete optical amplifiers. Distributed Raman amplifiers distribute amplification along the length of the transmission fiber, resulting in a lower optical noise contribution from the optical amplifier sites (also referred to as huts). More specifically, the optical noise becomes attenuated because the amplification is spread over the length of the transmission fiber and is not concentrated at the site location. An optical amplifier site or hut includes one or several discrete optical amplifiers situated proximately to one another and coupled to the transmission fiber. It may also include a Raman pump module for the distributed Raman amplifier which comprises one or more pump sources; pump power or temperature control unit(s); environmental change sensor(s) or other optical components such as couplers, connectors or taps.
An optical An optical amplifier site connected to a distributed Raman amplifier fiber, the optical amplifier site comprising:
(i) a distributed Raman amplifier pump module, connected to the distributed Raman amplifier fiber, such that the Raman amplifier fiber and the pump module form a distributed Raman amplifier that provides a first signal gain level, the first gain level being greater than 10 dB;
(ii) an optical amplifier located downstream from the distributed Raman amplifier, the optical amplifier being indirectly coupled to the distributed Raman amplifier, the optical amplifier including a first amplification medium, providing a second signal gain level;
(iii) at least one active optical signal loss element located between the distributed Raman amplifier and the optical amplifier, the at least one loss element contributing to optical loss of the amplifier site and providing at least 0.5 dB loss;
(iv) a second amplification medium located down stream from the first amplification medium;
(v) at least another one active optical signal loss element, the at least another one optical signal loss element being located between the first amplification medium and the second amplification medium.
One advantage of the present invention is the reduction of noise of the transmission systems and to increase in performance of amplifier sites.

Optical amplifier site with reduced noise and transmission system utilizing such


A pitching, throwing or kicking training device having a support frame, a strike zone frame which is fully adjustable in height and positionable within the support frame, and a catcher target behind the strike zone frame which is adjustable in height and position. A simulated batter is provided to aid in visualization of the strike zone, adjustable in height and reversible to simulate right- or left-handed batters. The strike zone frame may also be distorted into non-rectangular parallelograms if desired to emphasize pitching techniques. The invention is also adaptable to training lacrosse or soccer players or the like by appropriate choice of strike zone frame size and position and possibly change of player silhouette.

Baseball is played on an area divided into an infield of standard proportions and an outfield of varied dimensions. The infield is square, with 90 ft on each side. The corner farthest from the outfield fence is home plate, and the other bases--first, second, and third--run counterclockwise. The pitcher's mound, an 18-ft circle inclining upward toward a small rectangular robber slab in the center, lies inside the square 60 ft 6 in. from home plate.
The team at bat sends its nine men to the plate in a specified sequence. Each batter attempts to hit the pitcher's deliveries, which the latter tries to vary in speed and in placement within the strike zone (the area over home plate and between the batter's knees and armpits). Throws which cross the plate outside the strike zone are not desirable, as they count as "balls" if the player does not swing at them.
It is thus important that the pitcher be able to throw the ball within the limits of the strike zone, while being able to vary the speed and placement within those limits. This accuracy requires practice to attain, especially for young players, who must contend with the combination of lesser inherent coordination and a smaller strike zone. The pitcher can simply practice with a catcher, but must then envision an abstract strike zone for the hypothetical batter.
In training a player to throw accurately, a coach will not only want him to practice throwing at a specific point, but to practice placing the ball at various spots within the strike zone. The coach may want to force the pitcher to adapt to the real-life problems of differently sized players, right-/left-handed batters, etc. by changing the size and location of the simulated strike zone and the simulated catcher's mitt/target.
A number of pitching targets have been previously patented. These include the following.
Rovane, U.S. Pat. No. 1,592,005, shows a pitching practice guide comprising a pair of upright posts supporting a pair of cross-posts, which define a strike zone simulation. There is no central target for the pitcher to aim at, and the cross-posts are not easily adjustable. The shape of the strike zone is fixed. There is no simulated batter.
Kleb, U.S. Pat. No. 1,879,316, shows a baseball strike zone target which is defined by colors on a number of ropes suspending an iron plate. A smaller ball target is also supplied, independent of the strike zone, adjustable in height by the pitcher by moving ropes extending out to the mound. A gutter returns balls which hit a flat canvas backstop. The strike zone and ball targets are not related, the strike zone is not adjustable, there is no simulated batter.
Fowler, U.S. Pat. No. 2,126,102, shows a pitching target in front of a backstop cage. The strike zone is a rectangle subdivided by diagonals to define multiple areas. The size of the strike zone is not adjustable. There is no separate catcher target.
Ziel, U.S. Pat. No. 2,254,986, shows a target in the form of a suspended canvas sheet with a batter and catcher drawn on it. A hole in the center of the catcher's mitt forms a target, as well as four others for inside and outside high and low balls. The targets (being holes) are not adjustable in size or location, and them is no strike zone.
Respini, U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,898, shows a mesh backstop with a target (circles) imprinted upon it. The target is not adjustable, there is no strike zone or simulated batter.
Ciccarello, U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,329, shows a swinging rigid strike zone supported by a simulated batter. The strike zone is not adjustable in size or location and there is no separate catcher target.
Britton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,158, shows a strike zone target made of chains which can be suspended in front of a backstop. The size of the strike zone is not adjustable (additional chains may be added to define other zones), and there is no catcher target or simulated batter.
Playter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,952, shows a pitching practice device in the form of a sheet of canvas with a rectangular strike zone window subdivided into a number of sections. The strike zone (window) is not adjustable in size or location. There is no catcher target or simulated batter.
Newland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,250, shows a pitching practice device having a yielding strike zone target which allows the ball to pass through the target into a photoelectric detector. The strike zone is not adjustable in size or location. There is no separate catcher target.
Paquet, et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,505 shows another electronic pitch analyzer which can detect the speed and location of the ball as it passes through the sensor. There is a solid target zone behind the sensors which is not adjustable in size or location.


In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, there are provided methods, systems, mechanisms, techniques, and apparatuses for managing mixed deployments of vectored and non-vectored VDSL. For example, in one embodiment, there are included means for establishing an operational interface to a communications system, in which the communications system includes a plurality of copper telephone lines organized into at feast a vectored group having a first subset of the plurality of copper telephone lines and a second group having a remaining one or more of the copper telephone Hoes which are not part of the vectored group; means for estimating one or more achievable performance targets such as achievable bit rates for each of the vectored group and the second group; means for selecting an operating point for each of the vectored group and the second group based on the estimated achievable performance targets; means for assigning configurable values to approximate the operating point selected for each of the vectored group and the second group; and means for configuring the communications system via the operational interface to adopt the assigned configurable values. Other related embodiments are further disclosed.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to embodiments of the claimed subject matter.
Vectored DSL technology aids in mitigating crosstalk effects that degrade performance in deployments of DSL lines operating at high speeds. Crosstalk may be a significant noise source in multi-pair copper cables used for DSL transmission. High speed DSL deployments, such as those with VDSL, are particularly vulnerable to crosstalk for both the downstream and the upstream transmission directions; data rates being limited typically by Far-End-Crosstalk (FEXT). When multiple DSL line pairs share, the same cable they induce crosstalk into each other which negatively affects performance.
Vectored DSL uses advanced signal processing techniques to mitigate crosstalk and thus, improve performance. However, where mitigation techniques may be further improved, additional performance gains are possible. Moreover, mixed deployments of vectored and non-vectored DSL lines are common in the field, and as such, not all lines within a particular cable participate in a vectoring scheme. These non-participating lines escape application of beneficial crosstalk mitigation techniques through vectoring and yet, these non-vectored lines may nevertheless negatively affect the operation of the vectored lines due to, for example, crosstalk coupling onto the vectored lines. Crosstalk cancellation is only performed among the lines within a "vectored group," and if there are multiple distinct vectored groups then the crosstalk between groups may negatively affect operation.
The present state of the art may therefore benefit from systems and methods for managing deployments of mixed vectored and non-vectored DSL and deployments of multiple vectored groups using communication technologies including VDSL as is described herein.

Systems and methods for managing mixed deployments of vectored and non-vectored VDSL


The invention is generally directed to an intraluminal catheter system with an improved transition between a proximal shaft portion and a more flexible distal shaft portion. The improvement provides enhanced flexibility and kink-resistance, thus, facilitating advancement through tortuous anatomy. The present catheters may be used for either or both angioplasty and stent deployment.

The invention relates to the field of intravascular catheters, and particularly to a catheter suitable for angioplasty and/or stent deployment, and the like.
In percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures a guiding catheter is advanced in the patient""s vasculature until the distal tip of the guiding catheter is seated in the ostium of a desired coronary artery. A guidewire is first advanced out of the distal end of the guiding catheter into the patient""s coronary artery until the distal end of the guidewire crosses a lesion to be dilated. A dilatation catheter, having an inflatable balloon on the distal portion thereof, is advanced into the patient""s coronary anatomy over the previously introduced guidewire until the balloon of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned across the lesion. Once properly positioned, the dilatation balloon is inflated with inflation fluid one or more times to a predetermined size at relatively high pressures so that the stenosis is compressed against the arterial wall and the wall expanded to open up the vascular passageway. Generally, the inflated diameter of the balloon is approximately the same diameter as the native diameter of the body lumen being dilated so as to complete the dilatation but not overexpand the artery wall. After the balloon is finally deflated, blood flow resumes through the dilated artery and the dilatation catheter and the guidewire can be removed therefrom.
In such angioplasty procedures, there may be restenosis of the artery, i.e. reformation of the arterial blockage, which necessitates either another angioplasty procedure, or some other method of repairing or strengthening the dilated area. To reduce the restenosis rate of angioplasty alone and to strengthen the dilated area, physicians now normally implant an intravascular prosthesis, generally called a stent, inside the artery at the site of the lesion. Stents may also be used to repair vessels having an intimal flap or dissection or to generally strengthen a weakened section of a vessel or to maintain its patency. Stents are usually delivered to a desired location within a coronary artery in a contracted condition on a balloon of a catheter which is similar in many respects to a balloon angioplasty catheter, and expanded within the patient""s artery to a larger diameter by expansion of the balloon. The balloon is deflated to remove the catheter and the stent left in place within the artery at the site of the dilated lesion. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,768 (Lau et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,615 (Klemm et al.), which are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, stents are used to keep open a stenosed vessel, and strengthen the dilated area by remaining inside the vessel. Instead of first using one catheter to dilate the body lumen and a second catheter to deploy the stent after the dilatation, the stent may be mounted on a balloon catheter and deployed at the same time the balloon is inflated to dilate the stenotic region.
Conventional balloon catheters for intravascular procedures, such as angioplasty and stent delivery, frequently have relatively stiff proximal shaft sections to facilitate advancement of the catheter within the patient""s body lumen and a relatively flexible distal shaft sections to facilitate passage through tortuous anatomy such as distal coronary and neurological arteries without damage to the luminal wall. Typically, there is an intermediate shaft section or junction between the relatively stiff proximal shaft section and the relatively flexible distal shaft section which provides a transition between the proximal shaft section and less flexible than the distal shaft section.
A variety of intermediate shaft or junction designs have been utilized to provide a relatively smooth transition between the stiff proximal shaft section and the flexible distal shaft section. However, it has been difficult to develop a catheter design with an intermediate catheter shaft junction which provides a smooth transition and improved flexibility and which is also leak free when utilizing high pressure inflation fluid to inflate the balloon on the distal shaft section of the catheter for dilatation or stent deployment. Furthermore, they tend to kink when bent, into tight radius curves. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.
The invention is generally directed to an intraluminal catheter system with an improved transition between a proximal shaft portion and a more flexible distal shaft portion. The improvement provides enhanced flexibility and kink-resistance, thus, facilitating advancement through tortuous anatomy. The present catheters may be used for either or both angioplasty and stent deployment.
The improved flexibility allows the device to turn tight corners along the vasculature without applying large forces against the wall of the vessels, thus minimizing the surface friction between the catheter and the vessel. This allows more distal access. This optimization of flexibility may aggravate the kinking dynamic, as for example, bending stiffness discontinuities can be more pronounced as some softer catheter members are more likely to kink than stiffer members. Kinking of the catheter is also a common constraint to distal access. The kink creates a hinge point in the catheter so that the catheter can no longer navigate tight radius turns in the vasculature. Kinks often occur at the interface of two regions along the device having substantially different bending stiffness (i.e., have a discontinuity in the bending stiffness).
The kink resistance has been achieved by minimizing the differential in bending stiffness at the troublesome regions. The present invention includes various embodiments for minimizing the bending stiffness differential as well as increasing the overall flexibility of the catheter.
The catheter of the invention has an elongated proximal shaft section which transitions to a more flexible distal shaft section through an improved transition disposed between the proximal and distal shaft sections. An inflation lumen extends within the catheter shaft to a location spaced proximal to the distal end. An inner tubular member having a guidewire receiving lumen extends within at least the distal shaft section of the catheter. The proximal shaft section has proximal and distal ends and a portion of the inflation lumen extending therein. The distal tip of the proximal shaft section is preferably tapered distally to smaller transverse dimension. The distal shaft section has the inner tubular member extending within the distal shaft section to the port in the distal end thereof, and at least part of the inflation lumen extending within the distal shaft section to a location proximal to the distal end of the distal shaft section. An inflatable member such as a balloon is preferably provided on the distal shaft section which has an interior in fluid communication with the inflation lumen.
The transition includes a proximal portion of the distal shaft section and a distal portion of the proximal shaft section. At least a portion of the transition further includes, a tubular support member with an inner lumen extending therein, secured at a proximal end to the distal end of the proximal shaft section. Preferably, the tubular support member includes, a composite tubular member, which in turn, can include a tubular metallic member. The tubular metallic member includes at least one layer of metallic strand, in forms such as a metallic wound (or coil) or braid. Preferably, the composite tubular member includes polymeric inner and outer layers disposed on either side of the tubular metallic member.
In a preferred embodiment, the distal portion of the tubular support member further includes a tubular polymeric member having proximal and distal ends, with the proximal end extending proximal the distal end of the composite tubular member.
An intermediate portion of the tubular support member forms a junction 202, with the outer tubular member and the inner tubular member, the junction having a proximal end substantially being at the same longitudinal point as the outer tubular member aperture where the inner tubular member enters the outer tubular member, and is distally spaced apart from a distal end of the tubular support member. The junction may be formed by suitable adhesives, or mechanically connected by a suitable fastener or secured by a variety of other suitable means. The junction, preferably, is fusion bonded.


A golf game apparatus which has at least three rotatable targets activatable by a golf ball, which has a horizontal supporting arrangement for rotatably supporting the targets, wherein each target has a rest position indicating a forward facing target surface in the rest position; a rotation-detecting arrangement coupled to each target, a computing arrangement coupled to the rotation-detecting arrangement for computing game-related scores and parameters.

For golf players it is frequently desirable to have means available that allows the player to practice various aspects of the game in a setting away from a regular golf course. The present invention addresses such practice means and especially the putting aspect of the game.
Inventors have in the past disclosed devices for aiding a player in practicing the putting of a golf ball. U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,414 shows a golf ball direction indicator in which a photosensitive element is placed in front of a golf ball with three other photosensitive elements for indicating a straight, a left or a right ball and a timer coupled to the photosensitive elements for computing the speed of the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,469 shows a golf game practicing apparatus for simulating practicing of putting shots. It has a curved curb for receiving balls from a starting point and a display for displaying and computing an imaginary ball trajectory.
The known game apparatus, however, suffer from the drawbacks that they do not emulate an actual golf playing environment in which scores are earned and displayed, based on the degree of putting skill exhibited, nor do they emulate the environment in which several players can compete against each other and play various types of games, such as "shootout", "skins", and the like.
It is accordingly an object of the instant invention to provide a golf game playing apparatus that to a high degree realistically emulates golf as played on a putting green optionally with a number of participating players, which computes the scores of each layer, provides feedback as to the distance each ball would actually have run on an actual putting green, and which allows the players to engage in various types of games.


A process for fabricating films improved in interface characteristics, which comprises depositing an oxide insulating film by sputtering under an irradiation of a light in an atmosphere comprising an oxidative gas at an amount larger than that of an inactive gas is disclosed. Particularly, a light having a wavelength of 300 nm or shorter is used for the irradiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming oxide insulating films having excellent interface properties, which comprises depositing films by sputtering under irradiation of a light beam, more particularly to a method of forming oxide insulating films suitable as gate insulator films of insulated gate field-effect transistors (FETs) which are used in semiconductor integrated circuits and as driver devices of large-area liquid crystal displays, as well as insulator films of thin film semiconductor devices (e.g., photoelectric conversion devices) which are mounted on substrates. The present invention relates also to a method of forming an insulated gate field effect transistor comprising such an oxide insulating film and to a method of forming a capacitor comprising such an oxide insulating film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Much attention is now paid to active devices or semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) or capacitors which take advantage of oxide insulating films or oxide dielectric films fabricated by methods such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The insulating films (since the dielectric films of capacitors also are insulating films, the dielectric films of capacitors are referred to simply as insulator films or insulating films hereinafter, together with the insulating films of the ICs and the active devices) have been conventionally fabricated by a method such as CVD, which advantageously allows the films to be deposited at a temperature as low as 450.degree. C. or even lower, thus economizing on substrates by using those made of, for example, soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass.
As alternative methods for fabricating oxide insulating films at a low temperature comparable to that of CVD, there are also known depositing silicon oxide films by plasma-assisted CVD or by sputtering using a sputtering gas in which Ar atoms account for 80 to 100%.
Furthermore, there is also proposed fabricating silicon oxide films by photochemical vapor deposition, to use the films as gate oxide films of insulated gate field-effect transistors (FETs). This process is advantageous in that the film thus deposited achieves a density of interface states (interface level density) of about 2.times.10.sup.10 eV.sup.-1 cm.sup.-2 without suffering any damage which may be caused by the reaction with the underlying semiconductor or electrode material. However, it takes too long a time for the film deposition (i.e., too low in the film deposition rate) to be an industrially feasible process. The use of hydrogen also induces a hot-electron effect, which causes problems concerning the long reliability of the film.
In short, the insulating films thus fabricated by any of the conventional methods suffer a problem of having an unwanted density of interface states developed at the interfaces with the semiconductor layers, due to the presence of hydrogen or impurity, such as sodium, which functions as a fixed charge, or by the presence of a dangling bond.

Method of forming an oxide insulating film

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention concerns a backbone osteosynthesis system comprising an elongated element, a vertebral screw, and a connecting element comprising two branches for clamping between them the linking element, at least one first branch being capable of being engaged onto the screw. The system comprises a second vertebral screw, the first branch having an extension capable of being engaged onto the second screw. The system may comprise a second elongated linking element.

The invention concerns spinal osteosynthesis systems, in particular for anterior fixation.
Spinal osteosynthesis systems for anterior fixation are known in which the connection elements are formed by plates, and others are known in which the connection elements are formed by rods. Because of their bulk, the systems based on plates are difficult to use, if they can be used at all, via the endoscopic route. Moreover, their limited size (length) means that they can only be used for simple vertebrectomies involving a single vertebra, or perhaps two. It is impossible to treat scoliosis with this type of implant. Finally, the plates are difficult to adapt to the morphology of the vertebra in which they are anchored. Moreover, the systems based on rods generally comprise fairly voluminous connectors which cannot always be used via the endoscopic route.
A spinal osteosynthesis device is also known from document FR-2,731,344, the counterpart of WO-96/27340, which device comprises a connector with two branches which can clamp a connection rod between them, the branches being able to be engaged on a vertebral pedicle screw. However, this connector, while well suited for posterior fixation of the spine on the vertebral pedicles, does not ensure sufficient stability with a view to anterior fixation of the spine.
An object of the invention is to make available a spinal osteosynthesis system of a different type, adapted for anterior fixation, easy to fit, ensuring good stability of the system on the spine, and compatible with being fitted via the endoscopic route.
To achieve this object, the invention provides a spinal osteosynthesis system comprising an elongate connection element, a vertebral screw, and a connector including two branches which are able to clamp the connection element between them, at least a first of the branches being able to be engaged on the screw, the system comprising a second vertebral screw, the first branch having an extension which can be engaged on the second screw.
Thus, the connector can be rendered less voluminous so that it can be put into place via the normal or endoscopic route. Moreover, the fixation of the connector to the vertebra by means of the two screws permits precise, stable and reliable positioning of the connector and thus of the connection element. This connector is easy to join to the connection element and to the screws. These advantages make this connector particularly well suited to anterior fixation of the spine. The connector will preferably be in one piece.
Advantageously, the extension has an opening for receiving the second screw.
Advantageously, the extension has a spherical recess at one edge of the opening intended to be remote from the vertebra.
Thus, it is possible to control the angle of the second screw relative to the connector in order to better adapt the system to the configuration of the vertebra.
Advantageously, one of the branches which is intended to be remote from the vertebra has an opening for receiving the first screw, and a spherical recess at one edge of the opening intended to be remote from the vertebra.
Thus, it is possible to control the angle of the first screw relative to the connector in order to better adapt the system to the configuration of the vertebra.
Advantageously, the extended branch can be bent manually, in particular using a tool.
Thus, it is possible to adapt the shape of the connector to that of the vertebra and in particular to position the connector very close to the latter.
Advantageously, the first screw includes a head and a flange distinct from the head and able to cooperate with one of the branches which is intended to be adjacent to the vertebra, in order to immobilize the connector in terms of rotation relative to the first screw.
Thus, upon fitting, prior immobilization of the connector relative to the first screw is obtained, facilitating the positioning of the other elements and making it possible to effect positional corrections, all this before final clamping of the fitted system.
Advantageously, the flange has a face, which is in particular a conical face, able to immobilize the connector by friction.
Advantageously, the first screw has a threaded orifice, the system comprising a clamping screw which can constitute a screw-nut connection with this orifice and is able to bear on one of the branches which is intended to be remote from the vertebra in order to clamp the branches.
Thus, it is possible first to fit the first screw, the connector and the second screw, and only later to install the clamping screw in order to proceed with clamping of the assembly.
Advantageously, the system comprises a ring which can be engaged on the rod and received between the branches, the connector and the ring being designed to permit control of the orientation of the rod in two mutually perpendicular planes before the branches are clamped.
Advantageously, the two branches form part of a single component which is elastically deformable in order for the branches to be closed towards each other.
Advantageously, the connector can be fixed to the vertebral screw and to the first connection element by choosing an angular position of the connection element relative to the connector.
It has also been noted that the device in document FR-2,731,344 mentioned above does not always afford sufficient rigidity for anterior fixation of the spine.
Consequently, a subsidiary object of the invention is to provide a system suited for anterior fixation and ensuring a particularly high degree of rigidity.
To achieve this object, the system advantageously comprises a second elongate connection element, the connector being able to be fixed simultaneously to the two connection elements.
Thus, the presence of the two connection elements gives the system very great rigidity, without complicating its assembly, without increasing the volume of its various components (which renders it compatible with fitting via the endoscopic route), and while maintaining the possibility of controlling the angular position of the connector relative to the first connection element. The system according to the invention does not require identical bending on the two connection elements. Moreover, the number of connectors can remain small.
Advantageously, the system is designed in such a way that the second connection element can be fixed to the connector only in a single angular position relative to the connector.
Thus, the shape of the second connection element dictates the relative angular position of the connectors which are fixed to it. This angular position can therefore be chosen in advance depending on the prior curvature given to this connection element, either at the time of manufacture or, better still, during the surgical intervention.
Advantageously, the second connection element has less resistance to bending than the first connection element.
Thus, the first connection element has mainly a function ensuring support of the connectors, and the second connection element has mainly a function ensuring relative angular positioning of the connectors.
Advantageously, the branches can simultaneously clamp the two connection elements.
Advantageously, the system is designed in such a way that the second connection element, when fixed to the connector, extends in a trajectory of the second vertebral screw for its disengagement from the connector.
Thus, the second screw is prevented from starting to come out at an inopportune moment.
Advantageously, the system comprises a second connector, the two connectors each being able to be fixed simultaneously to the two connection elements.
Advantageously, the system is intended to be fixed on the anterior part of the spine.
The invention also provides a connector for a spinal osteosynthesis system, including two branches which can clamp an elongate connection element between them, at least a first of the branches having an opening which can be engaged on a vertebral screw, and in which the first branch has an extension having an opening which can be engaged on a second vertebral screw.
This connector is adapted to form part of the system according to the invention.

Spinal osteosynthesis system for anterior fixation


The invention relates to a dosing system for an inhalation device which is capable of aliquoting a precise and accurately metered volume from a larger pre-defined fill volume. The dosing system comprises a filling chamber for receiving a liquid to be aerosolized, the filling chamber having a lateral wall, an inlet opening and an outlet opening with a closing means (11) for closing the outlet opening. The dosing system further comprises an overflow chamber surrounding the inlet opening of the filling chamber and a plunger which can be inserted, at least partially, into the filling chamber, and which sealingly contacts the lateral wall such as to displace liquid from said filling chamber upon insertion, and push a metered volume of the liquid out from the filling chamber through the outlet opening and feed it to the nebulizing means of the inhalation device.

Inhalation devices are devices capable of delivering aerosols to the body via the lungs. An aerosol is a dispersion of small solid particles or fine liquid droplets in a continuous gas phase. Aerosols of liquid formulations containing a bioactive agent or drug are required for numerous medical applications, such as the inhalative treatment of asthma, cystic fibrosis (CF), and a number of other respiratory diseases. Alternatively, inhalation devices may also be used for the inhalative administration of prophylactic or diagnostic formulations. The inhalation can either be through the mouth (oral inhalation) or through the nose (nasal inhalation); both routes requiring specifically shaped patient interfaces, such as mouthpieces, to reduce aerosol losses to ambient air. More common, especially when targeting the central and/or peripheral airways of the lungs, is oral inhalation.
In some cases, it is desired that the administered aerosol reaches even the smallest branches of the peripheral lungs, such as bronchioles and alveoli to ensure optimal absorption. In order to achieve the desired homogeneous droplet distribution in the gas phase, liquid formulations are typically atomized by the inhalation device. In some cases, the formed droplets may solidify to minute powder particles upon evaporation of the liquid carrier, once the aerosol cloud is expelled from the inhalation device.
Typical inhalation devices include dry powder inhalers (DPI), pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI), soft mist inhalers or Rayleigh spray inhalers (such as Respimat® inhaler, Medspray®) and nebulizers (such as ultrasonic nebulizers, jet nebulizers or vibrating mesh nebulizers).
Nebulizes are inhalation devices capable of converting a liquid into an inhalable aerosol in a continuous manner using a nebulizing means (or atomizing means, or aerosol generator), for example a piezo-electrically driven vibrating mesh assembly. Unlike DPIs, pMDIs and soft mist inhalers, which emit metered aerosols only upon actuation and within a very short time frame of few milliseconds, nebulizers operate continuously over the course of a few breaths up to about 45 min (or even longer if the patient requires breaks during an inhalation treatment). During this time, they emit aerosol either constantly or in pulses which are adapted to the user's breathing pattern; e.g., triggered by the onset of inhalation. The duration of the aerosol pulse may also be adapted to the patient's breathing pattern and/or lung function parameters. Nebulizers further differ from the afore mentioned inhalation devices (DPIs, pMDIs and soft mist inhalers) in that they do not per se emit metered amounts of aerosols, because they operate continuously, unless switched off, until the reservoir for the liquid formulation is empty.
An option for dosing the amount of medicine to be inhaled is the use of pre-filled single-use cartridges which are emptied completely into the inhalation device and subsequently nebulized in entirety. While being a favorable approach with regard to dosing reproducibility and hygiene, the dosing flexibility of such pre-filled single-use cartridges is limited.
In cases when the prescribed amount of medicine to be inhaled does not match the volume of the liquid formulation supplied in the container, it would be desirable that the nebulizer is capable of ensuring that only the prescribed amount of liquid is delivered in aerosol form.
A dosing system for such purpose is shown in EP 1 465 692 B1 which discloses a nebulizer including nebulization device and a reservoir which has a metering chamber and a second chamber. The metering chamber defines the volume of the substance to be nebulized and is arranged so as to feed said volume to the nebulization device, while any substance poured into the metering chamber in excess of its volume is received and retained in the second chamber. In other words, the metering chamber is filled until the liquid overflows into the second chamber, and only the metered volume inside the metering chamber is subsequently nebulized. This approach, as depicted as prior art in FIG. 1, is also not very flexible. In addition, dosing reproducibility may be negatively affected e.g. if the user does not keep the device in a horizontal orientation during filling or use. Moreover, any changes in the prescribed dose would require substantial modification of the device and a complete replacement of the metering chamber assembly. Furthermore, the metering system is not suitable for metering very small amounts of liquids which are substantially affected by adhesive and cohesive forces and do not easily flow from one chamber to another.
GB 2 272 389 A discloses another dosing system which is equipped with a manually actuated, syringe-type metering pump comprising a cylinder of defined inner volume and a movable piston. Upon withdrawal of the piston, liquid from a larger liquid supply tank is filled into the cylinder via an inlet valve. When pushing the piston into the cylinder, a droplet of liquid (e.g. 20 μL) is expelled via an outlet valve. An actual metering step occurs only with complete in/out strokes of the piston, making the system inflexible to the dosed volume. Further, due to the manual operation mode the system may fail to provide dosing accuracy and reproducibility.
Further dosing systems are disclosed in EP 1 205 199 A1 and US 2012/0216800 A1. The dosing system shown in both documents comprises a cylindrical filling chamber with a wider top portion and a narrower bottom portion which at its bottom end is closed by a valve. A plunger is inserted into the filling chamber from its wider top end along the chamtier's longitudinal axis. Once the plunger reaches the narrower bottom portion, a seal between plunger and the inner walls of the bottom portion is formed, so that liquid cannot be displaced towards the wider top end anymore. Thus upon continued insertion of the plunger, a metered amount of liquid is pushed out of the filling chamber's bottom portion through the valve, while the excess liquid remains in the filling chamber above the seal. When the plunger is retracted from the bottom portion, this excess liquid can flow into the bottom portion and can also be pushed out through the valve when the plunger is inserted once or several times more.
This can be advantageous in cases, where the filling chamber is deliberately filled with a multi-dose amount of liquid and the dosing system is supposed to be actuated repeatedly. However, it is highly undesirable in cases where such re-dosing is unintended and/or may even be harmful due to overdosing; e.g. when only specific fractions of typically marketed volumes are supposed to be administered to neonates, infants, children or to subjects with an improving health-condition. For instance, a nebulizer solution may only be available in ampoules containing 1 mL or more, while the subject should receive only 200 μL. The above described dosing systems would either allow the unintended administration of an extra 800 μL to a subject, or they would not nebulize all of the intended 200 μL due to adhesion- and cohesion induced losses in the metering chamber.
It is thus the aim of the invention to provide a dosing system for an inhalation device which overcomes any of the limitations of the prior art; e.g. by allowing for a higher dosing flexibility, reducing dosing deviations by minor handling errors and/or considerably decrease the risk of unintentional re-dosing. Another object is to provide a dosing system which is easy for the user to assemble and/or use and which has limited (losable) components. A further object is to provide a dosing system with high dosing accuracy even for small volumes.


A method of selecting a slice configuration of a medical imaging apparatus is provided. The method includes: picking out two or more candidate slice configurations from available slice configurations of the medical imaging apparatus; determining a scan dose corresponding to each of the two or more candidate slice configurations; and selecting a candidate slice configuration corresponding to a minimum scan dose as a target slice configuration, where the target slice configuration is used for a current scan protocol.

The present disclosure relates to selecting a slice configuration of a medical imaging apparatus.
Computed Tomography (CT) is to perform profile scans one by one for a particular region of a human body by using precisely collimated x-rays and a detector of extremely high sensitivity around the particular region of the human body, thereby obtaining an image of the scanning region for examination of a plurality of diseases.
When a CT apparatus is utilized to perform a spiral scan on a subject, a total scan length may include an effective scan length and a pre-scan length. Where, the effective scan length is a length of a desired scan range selected by a doctor for which a diagnostic image may be produced. The pre-scan length is a part of the total scan length other than the effective scan length and is to be scanned for applying an imaging algorithm. For slice configurations on a CT tube, the wider a selected slice configuration is, the longer a pre-scan length is, resulting in a larger scan dose and a shorter scan time accordingly. On the contrary, the narrower a selected slice configuration is, the shorter a pre-scan length is, resulting in a smaller scan dose and a longer scan time.
NEUSOFT MEDICAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (NMS), founded in 1998 with its world headquarters in China, is a leading supplier of medical equipment, medical IT solutions, and healthcare services. NMS supplies medical equipment with a wide portfolio, including CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), digital X-ray machine, ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and biochemistry analyser. Currently, NMS' products are exported to over 60 countries and regions around the globe, serving more than 5,000 renowned customers. NMS's latest successful developments, such as 128 Multi-Slice CT Scanner System, Superconducting MRI, LINAC, and PET products, have led China to become a global high-end medical equipment producer. As an integrated supplier with extensive experience in large medical equipment, NMS has been committed to the study of avoiding secondary potential harm caused by excessive X-ray irradiation to the subject during the CT scanning process.

Selecting slice configuration of medical imaging apparatus

BEIJING NEUSOFT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A guide vane segment 10 for a turbomachine includes a radially inner shroud plate 13 having a shroud plate surface 14 that is adapted to be configured in the turbomachine to face a rotor blade 20 adjacent to the guide vane segment, and thereby essentially extend along an outer conical surface K1 whose cone axis coincides with the axis of rotation A of a rotor shaft 30. In a radially inner region, a rotor blade 20 for a turbomachine has a base plate 23 having a base plate surface 24 that is adapted to be configured in the turbomachine to face a shroud of a guide vane row 10 adjacent to the rotor blade and thereby essentially extend along an outer conical surface K2 whose cone axis coincides with the axis of rotation A of a rotor shaft 30.

Turbomachines (such as aircraft engines and stationary gas turbines) have a rotor that includes a plurality of rotor blades, as well as at least one axially adjacent guide vane row. The guide vanes are used for optimizing the flow conditions for the rotor blades; the guide vanes and the rotor blades are serially disposed in the primary flow direction. Along the lines of the present invention, the term "guide vane" or "guide vane segment" is to be broadly understood, in particular in the sense of a "stator ring." Thus, this term also encompasses flow-deflecting profiles which, as constituent parts of what is generally referred to as a turbine exit case, are disposed axially downstream of the last rotor blade row of a low-pressure turbine, as well as flow-deflecting profiles, which, as constituent parts of a turbine intermediate case, are disposed between two turbine regions, such as the low-pressure turbine and the high-pressure turbine, for example.
A guide vane row may include a radially inner and a radially outer shroud, as well as a plurality of guide vane airfoils disposed therebetween; in this text, the designations "radial," "axial," and "circumferential" always relate—unless indicated otherwise—to the axis of rotation of an (existing or intended) rotor shaft that is surrounded by the guide vane row. The axis of rotation generally corresponds to what is commonly known as the machine axis of the turbomachine. The guide vane row can be composed of a plurality of guide vane segments, which can each include a radially inner and/or a radially outer shroud plate, as well as a guide vane airfoil or a plurality of guide vane airfoils. Together, the radially inner shroud plates thereby form the inner shroud, and the radially outer shroud plates, the outer shroud; in each case, the shrouds are preferably configured as a closed ring which forms a radial delimitation for the main gas flow.
Analogously, in a radially inner region, the rotor blades can have a base plate that is adapted to be secured to a rotor shaft via a blade root that is insertable or inserted into a rotor disk, for example. A base plate of this kind preferably has an axial projection that, together with a shroud of a guide vane row facing the projection, is adapted for diminishing any radial leakage flow.
Turbomachines having such guide vane assemblies and rotor blade assemblies have been continually improved over the course of time. The publications, German Patent Application DE 10 2008 011 746 A1, U.S. Patent Application 2007/0243061 A1 and European Patent Application EP 2 236 748 A1, describe options for reducing disadvantageous leakage flows, for example.

Run-up surface for the guide-vane shroud plate and the rotor-blade base plate


This image processing apparatus includes a first determination section, a first control section, a second determination section, and a second control section. If the first determination section determines that there are images whose outer shapes are not rectangular, the first control section performs control operations to connect edges of the images to combine the images. The second determination section determines whether the outer shape of the combined image, which is made of the images combined by the first control section, is rectangular or whether the combined image is bilaterally symmetric with respect to a predetermined line passing through the center of the combined image. If the second determination section determines that the outer shape of the combined image is rectangular or that the combined image is bilaterally symmetric, the second control unit performs control operations to produce a composite image of the images with the edges connected to each other.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method.
Some of known image processing apparatuses read images on pieces of a torn document to obtain a plurality of image data sets and connect the image data sets to output a composite image data set of the document.
There are conventionally known techniques of connecting image data sets of pieces of a document and outputting a composite image of the document.
A typical image processing apparatus is characterized by including an image data inputting unit that reads images on a plurality of document pieces to input image data sets of the document pieces, a feature value extracting unit that extracts a feature value representing the shape of the individual document pieces from the corresponding input document data sets, a calculation unit that calculates a positioning parameter to be used to position the image data sets based on the extracted feature values, and an image-compositing and outputting unit that composites the image data sets based on the calculated positioning parameter and outputs the composite image data set.

Image processing apparatus and processing method for combining multiple images with accuracy verification thereof


A yieldable disc blade assembly for individual disc blades which prevents structural damage of the disc blades when such blades contact a rock or other obstruction in the field. Once the disc blade is tripped by the force of the blade encountering an obstruction, the assembly requires a decreased force to move the disc blade from the normal working position to the yielding position away from the obstruction.

The present invention relates generally to yieldable ground working implements and more particularly to an assembly which permits the individual disc blades of a disc harrow implement to yield when such blades encounter an obstruction in the field.
Yieldable mountings for disc harrows presently available include structures with heavy flat spring support standards interconnecting the implement frame and the disc gang. Typically, three standards support a disc gang of nine disc blades; and the standards must have enough holding force to keep all nine disc blades in their ground engaging working positions. If the center disc blade encounters a rock, the blade must overcome the holding force of all three standards before yielding. Thus, an individual disc blade is subjected to the force required to hold nine disc blades in their working position. Further, as the disc blade moves away from its normal working position the force required is progressively increased.
Other structures providing for the yielding of individual disc blades also require progressively increasing force as the disc blade moves away from the obstruction. The increasing force required magnifies the damage to the disc blades's sharp edge and the entire disc blade structure.
Those concerned with the lost time and expense involved in the repair and replacement of disc blades recognize the need for an improved yieldable disc blade assembly.


A musical tone generating device is capable of simulating various special playing techniques for a stringed instrument in which the harmonic spectrums of produced sound is enhanced, or otherwise altered. The device includes a delay circuit wherein an input signal thereto is delayed and output; a closed loop circuit comprising multiple feedback pathways to which the output of the delay circuit is supplied and processed therein, after which the processed signal is returned toward the delay circuit as an input signal; an excitation device in response to a predetermined control signal, generating an excitation signal and supplying it to the closed loop circuit, such that the excitation signal corresponds to an excitation vibration in the stringed instrument being simulated; and a control device wherein the predetermined control signal is generated and whereby the delay interval of the delay circuit and the processing carried out in the multiple feedback pathways are controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to musical tone generating device, and more particularly, to musical tone generating devices applicable to simulation of the sound of plucked string-instruments and rubbed string-instruments.
2. Prior Art
Various conventional musical tone generating devices exist, wherein tone generation elements thereof utilize waveform data stored in waveform memory for the generation of musical tones. The waveform data stored in waveform memory most commonly consists of digital representations of a plurality of fundamental waveforms. The data corresponding to one or more fundamental waveforms can be modified, combined and otherwise manipulated so as to generate any of a great number of more complex waveforms, whereby generation of a great variety of musical tones and simulation of many types of conventional non-electronic instruments become possible. Although considerably versatile, this variety of conventional musical tone generating device has certain limitations when applied to simulation of the sound of plucked string-instruments such as the guitar, or rubbed string-instruments such as the violin or cello. In particular, techniques entailing the use of feedback, and certain techniques effecting alteration of the harmonic spectrum of sound produced by a stringed instrument are not readily simulated with this type of conventional tone generating device.
In the repertoire of violinists, guitarists, and musicians playing certain other stringed instruments, special techniques exist whereby performers playing these stringed instruments can produce particular tonal and pitch variations. An example of such a technique is the harmonics playing method, wherein by lightly touching one or more strings at a position which is located at a point along the respective string or strings separated from the upper or lower fixation point thereof by a distance which is an integral fraction of the total length of the respective string or strings, i.e. 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, . . . of the total length thereof, variations in the harmonic makeup of the produced tones can be achieved when the corresponding string or strings are plucked or played with a bow. That is to say, a node is produced in the vibration of each string played in this way, whereby the intensity of the fundamental pitch and the intensity of particular harmonics of the fundamental pitch of the string or strings being played in this way are augmented or diminished.
In the above discussion, the lower fixation point of a string generally refers to where the string meets the bridge, whereas the upper fixation point refers to where the string meets the nut at the upper end of the finger board in the case of an open string. With a closed string, that is, a string which is being fingered and therefore has a fundamental pitch higher than that when the same string is open, the upper fixation point refers to the lowest fret against which the string is held in the case of a guitar, and the point on the finger board against which the string is being held in the case of a fretless instrument such as a violin.
Returning to the discussion of the harmonic playing method from a mechanistic point of view, a portion of vibrational waves propagating along a given string from the direction of the bridge of the instrument are reflected when they reach the point where the performer's finger is lightly in contact with the string, after which the reflected vibrational waves travel back again toward the bridge. The portion of the vibrational waves which travel past where the performer's finger is lightly in contact with the string continue as far as the upper fixation point of the string where they are then reflected downward in the direction of the bridge. A portion of the vibrational waves reflected downward from the upper fixation point are again reflected upward when they meet the performer's lightly touching finger, whereas the remainder continue on to the bridge. In this way three pathways are effectively formed over which vibrational waves circulate back and forth mutually interacting and interfering with one another, namely, the pathway formed between the upper fixation point and the lower fixation point, the pathway formed between the upper fixation point and the performer's lightly touching finger, and the pathway formed between the performer's lightly touching finger and the lower fixation point.
It can be seen from the above discussion that by employing techniques such as the harmonic playing method, in each string of a stringed instrument being played according to the method, the performer in effect establishes multiple pathways over which vibrational waves propagate and hence circulate. In that each pathway thus established in a given string shares a portion of its course with a portion of at least one other pathway in that string, each pathway in the string is in effect coupled either directly or indirectly with all of the other pathways formed in that string. In this way, constructive and destructive interaction takes place between the waves circulating in any pathway and those circulating in all of the other pathways of a given string, thereby leading to a rich harmonic spectrum in the audible tones finally created.
In addition to the above described harmonic playing method for stringed instruments, various other techniques and situation exist whereby coupling or feedback pathways are established. One example of such is the electric guitar, wherein the vibrations of strings being played are picked up with one or more magnetic pickups and converted therein to an electrical signal. The electrical signal is subsequently amplified and then output from one or more speakers as audible sound which can interact with the strings of the same guitar if sufficiently loud at the position where the guitar is located. At lower volumes, various types of interaction occur between the output of the speakers and the vibrating strings as well as other strings not damped by the performers hand, whereby alterations in the harmonic spectrum of the sound produced are generated. At a sufficiently high amplitude and if the speakers are sufficiently close to the guitar, a feedback loop is established leading to the generation of an oscillating component at a characteristic frequency which is included in the output signal from the guitar and amplified, thereby producing howling in the output of the speakers.
Due to the complexity and great variety of the underlying mechanisms whereby the above described special effects are achieved, these effects cannot readily be simulated using conventional musical tone generating devices which utilize waveform data for the generation of musical tones. Moreover, as stated in the Nyquist theorem, sampling of waveform data must be carried out at a rate twice the frequency of the highest frequency of which production thereof is desired. Accordingly, faithful reproduction of the harmonic spectrum produced by techniques such as the harmonic method requires sampling of waveform data at a very high rate in order to reproduce the highest frequency components thereof. For this reason, such a device would be considerably expensive due to need for additional processing power, high speed D/A converters and the like.
Additionally, using waveform data to simulate, for example, the above described harmonic method requires several times more waveform data than that of the conventional playing method for the same instrument. For which reason, in addition to the matters described in the preceding paragraph, implementation of such a device becomes very expensive.

Musical tone generating device with simulation of harmonics technique of a stringed instrument


A video telephone device has a video display unit tiltably mounted on a base and a video camera unit supported in the video display unit on one side of a video display panel of the video display unit. The video display unit includes an outer housing and a video display panel disposed in the outer housing and angularly movably supported on the base. The video camera unit is disposed in the outer housing and includes a camera mount and a video camera supported on the camera mount, the camera mount being angularly movably supported on the video display panel. A link is angularly movably coupled to the camera mount and the base. The base, the video display panel, the camera mount, and the link jointly serve as a parallel link mechanism for keeping the video camera unit in a substantially constant angular position with respect to the base regardless of angular movement of the video display unit with respect to the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video telephone device having a video camera unit mounted in a tiltable video display unit.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
There is known a video telephone device with a video camera unit mounted in a video display unit that is manually tiltable for the user to view a clearer image displayed on a video display panel in the video display unit. However, when the video display unit is tilted to avoid reflections from light sources such as fluorescent lamps for a better displayed image on the video display unit, the video camera unit is also tilted with the video display unit. When tilted, the video camera unit changes its field of view, and transmits an image that is different from an intended image to the video telephone device of the other party with whom the user communicates. For example, after the video camera unit has been tilted with the video display unit, the video camera unit that has been transmitting an image of the user's face may send an image of the user's neck and breast. Therefore, each time the video display unit is tilted, the user is required to manually adjust the angle of the video camera unit such that the video camera unit is directed toward the user's face again.

Video telephone device with automatic video camera angle adjustment


An article, particularly a metallic article, is coated with a multi-layer coating having the color or appearance of dark copper. The coating comprises a chromium, refractory metal or refractory metal alloy adhesion promoting layer, a titanium-zirconium alloy nitride or titanium-zirconium alloy carbonitride protective and color layer, and a titanium-zirconium alloy oxide or titanium-zirconium oxynitride color enhancing layer.

This invention relates to protective and decorative coatings for articles, particularly titanium or titanium alloy articles.
It is currently the practice with various brass articles such as lamps, trivets, candlesticks, door knobs, door handles, door escutcheons and the like to fist buff and polish the surface of the article to a high gloss and to then apply a protective organic coating, such as one comprised of acrylics, urethanes, epoxies, and the like, onto this polished surface. While this system is generally satisfactory it has the drawback that the buffing and polishing operation, particularly if the article is of a complex shape, is labor intensive. Also, the known organic coatings are not always as durable as desired, particularly in outdoor applications where the coated articles are exposed to the elements and ultraviolet radiation.
This disadvantage has been remedied by applying a physical vapor deposited coating including a refractory metal nitrogen containing compound wear resistant layer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,667,904; 5,478,660, inter alia, describe such a coating. This coating has a brass color and includes at least one nickel basecoat deposited directly on the surface of the coated article. The nickel basecoat is deposited by plating. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,399,219 and 6,391,457 describe vapor deposited coatings containing a polymeric basecoat.
It would be very advantageous if a coating could be provided which had a dark copper color and did not require the nickel or polymeric basecoat, as this would eliminate a cumbersome and expensive plating or polymeric deposition operation. The present invention attains these objectives, particularly with a titanium or titanium alloy substrate.
The present invention is directed to an article or substrate, particularly a metallic article such as stainless steel or titanium, having a multi-layer coating on at least a portion of its surface. The article has deposited on its surface a coating comprised of strike layer of chromium, refractory metal or refractory metal alloy such as titanium-zirconium alloy, over the strike layer is a color layer comprised of titanium-zirconium alloy nitride or carbonitride, over the color layer is deposited a zirconium-titanium alloy oxide or zirconium-titanium alloy oxynitride. The coating is decorative and also provides corrosion resistance and wear resistance. The coating provides the appearance or color of dark copper, i.e., has a dark copper color tone. Thus, an article surface having the coating thereon has a dark copper color with a highly polished or textured surface.
The first layer deposited directly on the article or substrate is an adhesion promoting or strike layer comprised of a metal, preferably chromium, refractory metal or refractory metal alloy. Over the strike layer is an opaque color layer comprised of a titanium-zirconium alloy nitride or carbonitride. This color layer is important to the color of the final product. The top layer is a semi-transparent layer comprised of a titanium-zirconium oxide or titanium-zirconium oxynitride.
The strike layer and color layer are preferably applied by a vapor deposition such as physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition.

Coated article having a dark copper color


A skateboard having extra sets of gears compared to a regular skateboard and also has a lower support platform is provided. When an individual jumps on the skateboard, the support platform and extra gears cause the skateboard to automatically travel forward due to the interaction between the support platform, the extra gears, and the existing wheels on the skateboard.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a skateboard and, more particularly, the invention relates to a skateboard which automatically travels in a forward direction when an individual jumps and/or bounces on the skateboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,776 B2, issued to Todd, discloses a skateboard for use on a hard surface, with the skateboard being configured to simulate the response of a snowboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,163 B2, issued to Lee, discloses a combined skateboard scooter/exerciser which comprises a handlebar, a board, a steering device, a transmission device, and a wheel drive.


The invention concerns a floppy disc drive unit in which all the movements are made automatically with the aid of two motors. Using a positioning motor positioning a magnetic head on various tracks of the floppy disc, the floppy disc is automatically drawn into the floppy disc drive unit and ejected therefrom. With the aid of a driving motor provided to drive the floppy disc, the floppy disc is clamped and unclamped and felt pressure pads are lowered and raised automatically.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a floppy disc drive unit in which a driving motor drives a floppy disc by means of a clamping device and in which a positioning motor positions a magnetic head disposed on a head carrier on various tracks on the floppy disc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,678,481; 3,768,815; 3,890,643 and 3,898,814 are typical of the prior art and are fully incorporated herein by this reference.
In the floppy disc drive unit known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,481 the floppy disc is inserted by hand. Before insertion, the lid of the floppy disc drive unit is raised. Then, the floppy disc is inserted and the lid is closed again. Simultaneous with the closure of the lid, a clamping device is actuated which centers the floppy disc and through which the floppy disc is driven. If with this known floppy disc drive unit, the floppy disc is inserted incorrectly, the result can be damage to the floppy disc. For example, the floppy disc is damaged if it has not been inserted fully and the clamping device is actuated or the lid closed. After the floppy disc has been inserted, a magnet arrangement is actuated which lowers felt contact pads onto the floppy disc. One felt pressure pad presses the floppy disc against a positionable magnetic head while a second felt pressure pad near the magnetic head presses down on the floppy disc. Because of the use of the magnet in this known floppy disc drive unit, the lowering and raising of the felt pressure pads is relatively expensive.