A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material has at least one silver halide emulsion layer on a support, wherein the silver halide emulsion layer contains a silver halide emulsion consisting of tabular silver halide grains not containing a cavity extending through two major planes opposing each other and having an average aspect ratio of 1.5 or more, except that 20% or more of the tabular silver halide grains started to be developed containing a cavity extending through the major planes when the silver halide emulsion was developed with a color developer containing a silver halide solvent and a p-phenylenediamine-based color developing agent for 60 sec. A method for forming images includes the step of performing color development for the material for 25 to 90 sec by using a color developing solution containing thiosulfate, methanethiosulfonate, thiocyanate or at least one of the silver halide solvents represented by the formula (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E) each defined in the specification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material suited to very rapid processing and, more particularly, to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material which achieves a high sensitivity, a high image quality (graininess and sharpness), and a high color reproduction when color-developed for a short time period by using a color developer having an improved solubility of a silver halide.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, photo studios (called miniature laboratories) in which a small automatic processor is installed behind the counter are built in many places, and so it becomes possible to perform photographic processing near users. Accordingly, demands for rapid processing are more and more increasing. However, the speed of the conventional processing is increased in a desilvering step after a color development step. That is, there has been almost no reduction in the time of the color development step since the color development time was shortened to 3 min 15 sec by C-41 processing introduced by Eastman Kodak Co. in 1972.
Presently, the ratio of the color development time in the whole development time is more and more increasing. Therefore, to achieve a higher processing speed it is essential to develop a technique by which the color development time is largely shortened.
Generally, in the color development step a color developing agent approaches (contacts) the surface of each silver halide grain and forms a latent image in an exposed silver halide grain. In a portion (development start point) where this latent image exists, an oxidation-reduction reaction occurs between the color developing agent and the silver halide. The silver halide is reduced to produce silver, releasing halogen ions into the developer. On the other hand, the color developing agent is oxidized to become semiquinone and then quinonediimine, and this quinonediimine reacts with a color coupler (coupler) to form a dye image.
To shorten the color development step, it is well known to raise development activity by increasing the temperature or pH of a developer or increasing the density of a color developing agent. Unfortunately, neither method can achieve a high enough processing speed. Furthermore, a developer is greatly deteriorated resulting in increase in the density (stain) in an unexposed portion or degradation of the image quality such as the graininess or the color reproduction.
To raise the developing speed of a silver halide, a method of increasing the silver chloride content is also usable. As described previously, a silver halide grain beginning to be developed releases halogen ions into a developer when silver is produced in a latent image portion. A silver halide which releases halogen ions more easily (i.e., which has a higher solubility) has a higher developing speed. Accordingly, the developing speed is increased in the order of silver iodide, silver bromide, and silver chloride. This method of raising the developing speed by increasing the silver chloride content is disclosed in JP-A-3-149546 ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application). Unfortunately, the method has the drawback that the sensitivity decreases and the image quality such as the graininess also decreases when the silver chloride content is increased. Therefore, the method has not been applied yet to photographic color negative light-sensitive materials required to have a high sensitivity and a high image quality.

Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material and method for forming images


A method is disclosed to calculate combining weight vectors associated with a received composite information signal comprising at least one data stream transmitted from at least four antennae. The method starts with computing a parametric estimate of an impairment covariance matrix including at least a first impairment term associated with common pilots deployed by the antennae. The first impairment term captures effects of interferences of the common pilots. The impairment covariance matrix further includes a data covariance term capturing effects of the at least one data stream and an interference term caused at least partially by contribution of thermal noise of receiver branches. The impairment covariance matrix includes a second impairment term associated with at least one dedicated pilot. Then the method computes the combining weight vector using the computed impairment covariance matrix. A network device performs such method is also disclosed.

Spread-spectrum communication systems are well known and widely deployed. One class of spread-spectrum communication systems combines multiple antenna transmission techniques with advanced signal processing algorithms to create "smart antenna" using multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technology. MIMO technology may offer significant increases in data throughput and link range without additional bandwidth or increased transmit power by spreading the same total transmit power over the antennas to achieve an array gain that improves the spectral efficiency or to achieve a diversity gain that improves the link reliability. Because of its technical advantages, MIMO technology has become an important part of wireless communication standards such as IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi), the fourth generation mobile (4G), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE), worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and evolved high-speed packet access (HSPA+).
An N×M MIMO system utilizes N transmit antennas and M receiver antennas. The system may transmit up to N streams of data, each precoded with a length N precoding vector. At the receiver, a G-rake receiver may be used for demodulation transmitted streams. The Rake receiver derives its name from its rake-like structure, where multiple receiver "fingers" are used to receive multiple signal images in a received multipath signal. By coherently combining the finger outputs in a weighted Rake combiner, a conventional Rake receiver can use multipath reception to improve the Signal to Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) of the received signal. A Generalized Rake (G-Rake) receiver improves interference suppression performance over a conventional Rake receiver using more sophisticated generation of the combining weights.
A MIMO system utilizes pilots in its transmission of data streams. Three types of pilots are known in MIMO technology, and they are dedicated pilots, common pilots, and scheduled common pilots.
Dedicated pilots are precoded or beam-formed with data transmitted. Precoding may be done through coding with a vector and beam-forming may be performed through combining elements in a phased array so that signals at particular angles experience constructive combination while others experience destructive combination. Dedicated pilots may be used for precoded data demodulation when explicit precoder information is not included in control signaling. The advantage of dedicated pilot is that it can support high number of physical transmitting antennas.
Common pilots are pilots that are not precoded or beam-formed. Common pilots are generally used for 1) control channel demodulation, 2) non-precoded data demodulation, 3) downlink precoded data demodulation with explicit precoder information included in control signaling, and 4) channel quality indication (CQI) and MIMO channel measurement. Because channel estimation using common pilots does not need to be confined within a resource block, channel estimation performance can be improved with lower pilot density compared to dedicated pilots. Common pilots and dedicated pilots are not mutually exclusive. For example, in one MIMO system, common pilots may be used for CQI measurement and dedicated pilots may be used for MIMO channel measurement.
In addition, scheduled common pilots may be deployed in a MIMO system. Schedule common pilots are common pilots deployed in a branch only when the branch is utilized. For example, in a 4×4 MIMO system, common pilots may be used for CQI measurement. Additionally, for demodulation purposes, two additional common pilots are utilized whenever a four-branch user equipment (UE) is scheduled. That is, common pilots are used for CQI measurement while scheduled common pilots are used for data demodulation. The main objective of these additional pilots is to improve the performance of channel estimation (by transmitting at high power) while at the same time not transmitting these pilots all the time. At higher level, the scheduled pilots has the potential of achieving good performance of four-branch MIMO UE, while at the same time reduce the interference to other legacy users.
For demodulation, while prior art has explored inter-stream interference relating to multiple pilots in certain scenario within a 2×2 MIMO system, the accuracy of impairment covariance estimation has room for improvement with regard to common pilots. For 4×4 or higher dimension MIMO systems, there is no known effective and accurate estimation of interference caused by dedicated pilots and scheduled common pilots.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system of receiver parametric computation for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission


A chemical formulation for cleaning and treating plastic and other surfaces comprises linseed oil in a concentration of 43%-59% wt.; mineral spirits in a concentration of 41%-57% wt.; and carnauba wax in a concentration of 2%-10% wt. A method of using the chemical formulation comprises applying it the composition to a surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of cleaning and polishing solutions. More specifically, this invention relates to a solution for the treatment of various surfaces.
2. Background
Solutions for protection of plastic, painted, and other surfaces have been developed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,189,530 teaches a composition that comprises 7.38% carnauba wax, 66.07% linseed oil, and 26.55% mineral spirits. Other solutions include different ratios of similar elements. For example, United States Patent Application Publication Serial Number 2007/0037001 discloses compositions with wax/linseed oil ratios of 100:1 or 1:100, preferably 10:1 or 1:10, in addition to mineral spirits. None of the compositions described in the prior art, however, provide a formulation that has the desired durability and consistency. For example, linseed oil remains in liquid form and is slippery and greasy for too long to have any practical uses. This causes dust and dirt to stick to such solution and impractical to apply to certain surfaces that are required to be stood on or gripped. Such products become discolored and wear off easily when they come in contact with water. Finally, excess of such compositions are difficult to remove because they smear all over the surface upon which they are applied.


The invention belongs to the technical field of vehicles, and aims to provide a headlamp mounting structure which can achieve a trade-off between the “weakness” for pedestrian safety and protection and the “strength” for durability, impact resistance and modal parameters. To this end, the invention provides a vehicle headlamp mounting assembly and a vehicle. The vehicle headlamp mounting assembly includes an upper mounting bracket, a middle mounting bracket, a lower mounting bracket, a fender bracket, a connecting plate, and a reinforcing bracket. A bottom end of the reinforcing bracket is connected to the lower mounting bracket via at least one blind rivet. A first mounting structure is provided near an inner end of the upper mounting bracket. The fender bracket is provided with a second mounting structure. A third mounting structure is provided near the bottom end of the middle mounting bracket. A fourth mounting structure is provided near the bottom end of the reinforcing bracket. When assembled, an upper part of a headlamp is fixed via the first mounting structure and the second mounting structure, and a lower part of the headlamp is fixed via the third mounting structure and the fourth mounting structure.

A headlamp (also called a headlight) is a lighting device mounted on either side of the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead for traveling during darkness. The headlamp can be mounted with a headlamp mounting assembly. Under the new pedestrian protection regulations, higher requirements are set for mounting structures of headlamps. Specifically, in order to protect pedestrians, after a collision in a headlamp area, the mounting structure of the headlamp needs to be easily collapsed or displaced, that is, the mounting structure of the headlamp needs to be "weak"; meanwhile, in terms of modal parameters, durability, and impact resistance of the headlamp, the headlamp need to maintain sufficient rigidity under external excitation, that is, the mounting structure of the headlamp needs to be "strong". Therefore, the difficulty of the design lies in achieving a trade-off between the "weakness" for pedestrian safety and protection and the "strength" for durability, impact resistance and modal parameters.
Accordingly, there is a need in the field for a novel vehicle headlamp mounting assembly and a vehicle to solve the above problem.

Vehicle headlamp mounting assembly and vehicle


In an embodiment, an apparatus includes a first signal path to receive and process a radio frequency (RF) signal of a first band and which has a first programmable digitizer to convert the RF signal of the first band into a digitized signal without downconversion. In addition, the apparatus further includes a second signal path to receive and process an RF signal of a second band, where at least portions of one or more of the paths may be shared during operation in the different bands.

Many different types of radio receivers exist. Some receivers are configured for operation only at a single band while other receivers are configured as multi-band receivers. For example, familiar car and other radio receivers are often implemented as an AM/FM receiver in addition to possibly other bands. In some cases each band is configured as a separate receiver. However in doing so increased component counts, size, complexity, cost and power consumption occur. Thus many receivers implement some fashion of sharing of components between the different bands.
One type of known sharing is to provide parallel signal processing paths for the different bands for at least part of the processing and then share other components between the bands. For example, it is common to share back end processing such as digital processing and so forth. Furthermore, some receivers provide for shared digitizers such as analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that are fixed to operate at a bandwidth set by the largest channel bandwidth in the supported radio bands. While this enables reuse, certain difficulties are present in that many components in front of this digitizer are not shared. For example, independent mixers are present for the different signal paths, which can cause interference and noise originating from mixer artifacts and harmonics of a mixing signal. As to the ADC, by configuring it to operate at a higher bandwidth for this largest bandwidth, an increase in converter performance is needed. This increased performance is very expensive in terms of current, die size, digital filtering, and so forth.

Efficient dual channel conversion in a multi-band radio receiver


It is an object of the present invention to propose a sheet computer that eliminates the drawback in operational speed caused by clock delays of a system clock and that is capable of high speed operation. In order to achieve this object, in the sheet computer of the present invention, a display circuit and peripheral circuits connected to the display circuit are fabricated on the same substratum and the peripheral circuits constitute an asynchronous system without global clocking. In the asynchronous system, processes constituting minimum function circuits perform mutual handshaking by channels and drive events actively or passively. The asynchronous system does not use global clocking and it is therefore possible to implement lower power consumption and a higher operational speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sheet computers, wearable computers, display devices, fabrication methods, and electronic devices thereof, and, more particularly, to improved technologies for implementing multifunctional and high-performance electronic circuits that are fabricated on thin substrata.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays have come into widespread use in the fields of information and consumer electronics, and so forth. However, the technology known as 'System-On-Panel' that is oriented toward further performance increases and cost reductions is still under development. 'System-On-Panel' is an integration technology for forming a liquid crystal display and peripheral circuits on the same substratum. In addition to making it possible to implement increased reliability and cost reductions due to shortening the manufacturing and testing processes of the display units, this technology makes it feasible to develop the application products that are of a high density, more multifunctional and more compact than ever before.
As a means of implementing the System-On-Panel, there have been attempts at using the poly-silicon TFT technologies, which perform thin film deposition at lower process temperature of 500° C. or less, in order to form TFT circuits on glass substrata. However, the wiring resistance and the critical path delay of the circuits tends to increase as the feature size of the TFT technology reduces and the chip area increases. In addition, in comparison with single-crystal TFT, the mobility of poly-silicon TFT is lower, and hence the operating speed of the poly-silicon TFT circuits is kept lower, especially in synchronous design where the global clock drives the circuits.
This is because the maximum operating frequency of conventional synchronous circuits with the global clocking is the reciprocal of the total delay of the critical path including design margin of delay against temperature and supply voltage variation. Plus both clock jitter and skew must account for the drawback in the expected operating frequency.
As a means of solving this problem, local clocking has been considered. This technique divides the whole circuit into a plurality of sub-blocks from functional perspective, and supplies dedicated local clocks to each of the sub-blocks. The critical path of sub-block must be substantially shorter than that of the original whole circuit. While each of the sub-blocks is constituted as a synchronous circuit that is synchronously driven by the local dock, each sub-block connects the other asynchronously. That is, although the circuit as a whole operates asynchronously, locally, the circuits operate synchronously. By a means of reducing the delay of the critical path, the performance of the whole circuit can be greatly improved.
As patent publications that make reference to local clocking, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-516926, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-326826, and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-14914, and so forth, are known, for example. Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-523857, or the like, is known as a patent that refers to reusing synchronous circuit blocks as IPs by asynchronously connecting them as a whole.
However, because the phase of the local clocks differs for each sub-block, the process of designing a circuit in which sub-blocks operating in local clocks are asynchronously connected is extremely complex and difficult in order to form a high-performance large-scale circuit on a glass substratum as a System-On-Panel, the development of new design technique that makes it possible to disregard the dock skew is desirable. In addition, because the amount of power dynamically consumed in conventional synchronous circuit driven by a global clock is large, circuit design technique implementing low power consumption is required.

Display panel having a substratum and a plurality of scan lines formed on the substratum, a display device, and electronic device thereof


Combining profiles based on priorities associated therewith to create an effective profile are provided. A plurality of profiles defining one or more rules that are applicable to a functional computing object are identified. A priority corresponding to each applicable profile is determined. The applicable profiles are combined by the computing device based on the corresponding priorities to create an effective profile that includes no conflicting rules.

Functional computing objects, including hardware and/or software, generally include configuration options or rules that specify the behavior of the functional computing object. Such rules may be combined to create a profile, and the profile may be associated with a functional computing object, such that all the rules contained in the profile are applied to the functional computing object. Further, the profile may be associated with a plurality of functional computing objects to achieve identical or similar behavior from each of the functional computing objects.


One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for improving the flexibility and programmability of a graphics pipeline by adding application programming interface (API) extensions to the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) that provide native support for integer data types and operations. The integer API extensions span from the API to the hardware execution units within a graphics processing unit (GPU), thereby providing native integer support throughout the graphics pipeline.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to graphics programming and more specifically to integer-based functionality in a graphics shading language.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the past decade, the cost of adding on-chip logic to processors has substantially decreased. Consequently, certain types of processors, such as advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), now include functionality not previously available in earlier GPU designs. For example, the newest GPUs are now able to perform full integer processing operations; whereas, such operations could not be effectively performed on the GPU. One benefit of this new capability is that more efficient graphics processing may now be performed on the GPU, thereby increasing overall performance in the graphics pipeline.
To fully realize additional processing capabilities of advanced GPUs, as much GPU functionality as possible needs to be exposed to graphics application developers. Among other things, doing so enables graphics application developers to tailor their shader programs to optimize the way GPUs process graphics scenes and images. Exposing new GPU processing capabilities, like full integer processing, to graphics application developers requires that the application programming interface (API) be configured with new calls and libraries that make new features and functionalities directly accessible by developers.
Some graphics APIs expose an interface to graphics application developers that consists of a set of calls written in a high-level programming language. To access specific capabilities of a target GPU, graphics application developers typically write shader programs for the target GPU in a high-level programming language such as the OpenGL shading language (GLSL). The shader programs are conveyed through the API to driver software that is configured to compile and assemble the shader programs into machine code programs. The machine code programs are then executed on the appropriate GPU processing units, as specified in the original shader program text.
As is well-known, floating-point values are useful in representing parameters related to graphics image data, such as light intensity or object depth, floating-point values are inappropriate in more general data processing that involve bit-wise operators or data structure indices. Integer values, however, are commonly used for processing bit-wise operators and computing data structure indices. Therefore, shader programs include constructs for storing and processing data in both integer and floating-point formats. One drawback of prior art APIs is that values that are encoded within the shader program using an integer format are not guaranteed to be processed using integer data types within a target GPU. In fact, integer variables within prior art APIs are typically converted to a floating-point format for processing within the GPU, precluding many integer related functions such as bitwise and pointer operators. For example, in OpenGL™ an integer value "2" used within a shader program is actually converted to a floating-point value "2.0" for processing within the GPU since integers are not supported as a native data type within the existing OpenGL™ API. The fact that OpenGL™ always casts values to a floating-point representation for processing within the GPU limits the applicability of OpenGL™ and GLSL to more general computational tasks desirable is more advanced graphics pipeline architectures. This API limitation thus restricts developers from taking advantage of native integer math support recently added to a new generation of GPUs.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is an application programming interface that exposes new processing capabilities of GPUs, such as the ability to perform native integer math operations, to graphics application developers.

Integer-based functionality in a graphics shading language


Methods and systems are provided for measuring a velocity of a droplet passing through a microfluidic channel.

Microfluidic methods involve passing small volumes of fluid through microfabricated structures and manipulating these volumes to carry out biological or chemical reactions. To stage such reactions, samples, reactants, solvents, or other reagents can be encapsulated in discrete droplets having volumes on the order of nanoliters or less. A droplet is typically immersed in a carrier fluid from which it is phase-separated, and transported along with the carrier fluid through microfluidic channels. In sufficiently small channels, this transport occurs at low Reynolds number and exhibits laminar flow. Reactions can be facilitated by, for example, merging droplets (causing droplet fusion), splitting droplets (causing droplet fission), injecting material into droplets, or extracting material from droplets.
To control the movement of droplets in a microfluidic device, it can be useful to measure the velocities of droplets in real time as they pass through microfluidic channels. Similarly, for droplets subject to injection or extraction of material, it can be useful to measure the widths or volumes of these droplets at one or more points in a microfluidic channel. These measurements can be fed back to systems governing the flow rate of the carrier fluid or the manipulation of droplets, allowing optimization of droplet-based reactions. Measuring droplet velocity or size is challenging, however, because of the small dimensions of microfluidic devices and the droplets themselves. Imaging individual droplets with conventional optics requires a high level of magnification and a limited field of view. A droplet traveling through a microfluidic channel at typical velocities can traverse the field of view faster than two images of the droplet can be acquired in consecutive video frames. To obtain two or more images of the same droplet and measure a change, more sophisticated optics can be employed to expand the field of view, or a high-speed camera can be used instead of a conventional video camera. These solutions are expensive and difficult to implement.


In one embodiment, there is provided a detection device (1) for a system for inspection of cargo, comprising: at least one scintillator (4) configured to re-emit light in response to: interaction with successive first radiation pulses (5) emitted by a generator (6), and/or interaction with second radiation (5) generated by a radioactive source (8) located in the cargo (3) to inspect; at least one first acquisition line (9) configured to measure a quantity associated with the light re-emitted by the at least one scintillator in response to interaction with the successive first radiation pulses; and at least one a second acquisition line (10) configured to measure a quantity associated with the light re-emitted by the at least one scintillator in response to interaction with at least the second radiation.

Inspection systems use inspection radiation for inspecting cargo (such as a vehicle), for example to detect hidden objects (such as weapons or dangerous material). Dangerous material may include radioactive source (such as gamma radiation or neutron radiation), e.g. located in the cargo to inspect.
It is known to provide dedicated detectors to detect the radioactive source, additionally to detectors detecting the inspection radiation. However, the known additional detectors are often expensive and cumbersome.
Aspects of the present invention address some of the above issues.

Scanning apparatus and method for the detection of objects concealed in cargo


The present invention discloses a heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material comprising a support having thereon photographic constituent layers which comprise at least one photographic light-sensitive layer comprising a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion, a developing agent, a compound capable of forming a dye by a coupling reaction with the oxidation product of the developing agent, and a binder, wherein at least one photographic constituent layer contains at least one of the compounds expressed by the formula (I), (II), (III), or (IV) below, and wherein at least 50% of the total projected area of silver halide grains contained in the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion is taken up by tabular silver halide grains at least 50% of which are composed of silver chloride.. As a result, a heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which minimizes adverse effects on the environment and which is suitable for simple and rapid process and which has high sensitivity and the finished print obtained by which has low fogging is presented. ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material and to a method of forming colored images. To be more specific, it relates to a heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which does little harm to the environment, and is suitable for simple and rapid image formation. What is more, it relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, having a high speed of sensitivity and low fogging. Also the present invention relates to a simple and rapid process of forming colored images by using said heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, in which process the environment is not adversely affected and the finished prints can have low fogging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the past few years light-sensitive materials which use silver halides for color photography have developed so much that now it is very easy to get high quality color images. For example, in what is usually called the color photographic method, color negatives are used for camera use, and after development the image information recorded on the negatives is optically printed onto color photographic paper to give the color prints.
In recent years this process has developed to a high level and large amounts of color printing can be produced on a large scale efficiently. Compact and simple printing processers set up in color printing labs or shops (the so called mini-labs) make color photography easy and fun for all.
The color photography now in common use reproduces color by the subtractive color process. Generally, a color negative film comprises a transmittable support and light-sensitive layers thereon utilizing a silver halide emulsion as a light-sensitive component having a sensitivity to the blue, green or red wavelength region of the spectrum, and a so-called color coupler capable of producing a yellow, magenta or cyan dye as a complementary hue of the sensitive wavelength region of the respective layers. A color negative film which has been exposed imagewise, is developed in a color developer containing an aromatic primary amine developing agent. In this process, the developing agent develops, i.e., reduces the exposed silver halide grains and the oxidation product of the developing agent formed during the foregoing reduction, and undergoes a coupling-reaction with the color coupler to form a dye. The silver (developed silver) generated by the color development and the unreacted (unexposed) silver halide are removed by means of a bleaching and fixing process. This creates an image on the color negative film. Consequently, color photographic paper which comprises a reflective support and light-sensitive layers formed thereon having the same combinations of light-sensitive wavelength region and hue to be produced as in the color negative film, is subjected to exposure through the developed negative film, and color-developing, bleaching and fixing the color photographic paper in the same manner as in the case of the negative film to obtain a color print having a color image as a reproduction of an original image thereon.
Although these systems are widely adopted at the moment, there is a growing demand for a simpler system. The first reason for this is that expertise and skilled operators are necessary due to the requirement of strict control of the composition and the temperature of the processing solution in a processing bath for the above procedure composed of color development, bleaching and fixing. The second reason for this is that closed equipment used exclusively in the developing process is often required, due to substances, such as a developing agent and, as a bleaching agent, an iron chelate compound, the discharge of which is regulated from the standpoint of environmental protection, contained in the processing solution. The third reason for this is that the currently available system does not perfectly fulfill the requirements for rapid reproduction of images, as the above developing process still requires a long time.
In recent years many technical improvements have been presented as a result of this background. Many techniques involving the use of emulsions containing high levels of silver chloride have been presented with the specific aim of developing simple and rapid developing processes. By using such emulsions, advantages like speeding up development, and increasing the re-usability of the processing solutions can be realized. Because of this, the majority of printing light-sensitive materials in use today are printing light-sensitive materials, such as color photographic paper, using such emulsions.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,264,337, No. 5,292,632, No. 5,310,635, and WO 94/22054 and others disclose the use of an emulsion having a high content of silver chloride tabular grains, made up of a (100) plane, in a color photographic light-sensitive material as a technique utilizing an emulsion having a high content of silver chloride to a photographic light-sensitive material for the purpose of speeding up the developing process. These techniques obtain high speed development through the use of high level silver chloride emulsions. Also there are such advantages as being able to use the same processing solution for both photographic light-sensitive materials and for printing light-sensitive materials. However, development processing with processing solutions has always been necessary which is environmental problem.
On the other hand, as attempts different from these, a simpler system which does not utilize the developing agent and bleaching agent now in use for a conventional color image forming system and which accordingly minimizes the adverse effects on the environment has been reported on. For example, IS&T's 48.sup.th Annual conference Proceedings, p.180, discloses a system for carrying out a developing process without the use of a bleach-fixing bath, which has traditionally been indispensable in the conventional photographic process. The procedure comprises transferring the dye formed in the developing reaction to a mordant layer and thereafter stripping a light-sensitive material from an image receiving material bearing the mordant layer so that the developed silver and unreacted silver halide are removed. However, even this technique does not solve the environmental problems perfectly because the developing process still needs the processing bath.
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. has proposed the Pictography System which dispenses with the need for a processing solution containing a color developing agent. In this Pictography System, the dyes formed in the development are fixed in the dye fixing layer. This is suitably used as a dye image for appreciation of images. This Pictography System comprises supplying a small amount of water to a light-sensitive material containing a base precursor and plying the light-sensitive material with an image receiving material and thereafter heating the materials to cause a developing reaction. This procedure does not use the aforementioned processing bath, and in this regard is advantageous with respect to the environment. It is possible to apply such a non-processing-solution-system to the processing of color photographic recording materials in order to solve the above problems.
However, when using high concentration silver chloride emulsions for colorphotographic light-sensitive materials to be heat-developed without the above processing solutions to enable rapid processing, various problems with the developing characteristics of the emulsions arise. Firstly, in order to get good graininess, it becomes necessary to inhibit the development of the grains which initiate the development while the process is still running. But when heat developable light-sensitive materials using high concentration silver chloride emulsions, it becomes difficult to inhibit the development because the rate of development is so high. As a result the graininess deteriorates. When the development is inhibited at a level where the graininess does not deteriorate, the development initiation timing of the light-sensitive grains becomes inconsistent, and it becomes more difficult to get a sensitive photographic response in the early stages of development. Secondly, fogging due to the high developability of the high concentration silver chloride emulsions, and the high temperature development becomes extremely high.
The combination of (100) plane, tabular silver chloride emulsion with the development inhibitor (mercaptotetrazoles, mercaptooxathiazol, benzotriazoles etc.) is outlined in the specification of WO94/22,054, noted above. However, nothing is mentioned in it about prevention of fogging in heat development.
The combination of (100) plane, tabular silver chloride emulsion with heat development is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 7-120014, but this disclosure concerns a method of image formation through the use of dye-providing chemicals. Mention of fogging resistance with regard to the light-sensitive materials used in the coupling reaction heat development is not made. Silver bromide and silver chlorobromide containing 80% silver bromide were given as examples. Fogging prevention due to concentrated silver chloride was not satisfactorily disclosed, and as a result, research into fogging prevention brought about by concentrated silver chloride emulsions of the light-sensitive materials presented in coupling reaction heat development has long been due.

Heat developable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material and a method of forming colored images


An antenna system has N antenna units stacked on a mast. Each unit has elements for responding to, e.g., GPS signals, and a phasing network that produces mutually orthogonal primary and auxiliary pattern modes at corresponding mode ports of the unit. A number of power dividers are each associated with a different mode, and each divider has N input ports coupled to the associated mode port of a corresponding antenna unit. The power divider associated with the primary pattern mode produces a reference beam and an auxiliary beam, and remaining power dividers produce different auxiliary beams. All beams have approximately both a common phase center and a common group delay center. An adaptive processor combines the reference and selected auxiliary beams to obtain a composite antenna reception pattern in which nulls are inserted at certain angles to suppress interfering signals, without degrading authentic signals arriving at other angles.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to antennas, particularly a GPS antenna operative to null or suppress reception of interfering signals.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system featuring a constellation of 24 satellites that traverse six circular orbits around the Earth twice a day, with four satellites in each orbit. The satellites transmit coded L-band microwave radio frequency (RF) signals, and are always positioned so that signals from at least four of the satellites can be received at any point on Earth.
Specifically, each GPS satellite presently transmits its signals using two RF carrier frequencies, viz., 1575.42 MHZ (referred to as "L1") and 1227.60 MHZ ("L2"). A third frequency of 1176.45 MHZ ("L5") has also been allocated for civilian use in 2009. The L1 signal is modulated by two different spread spectrum codes, namely, an unclassified coarse acquisition (C/A) code intended for use in commercial civil navigation equipment, and a Y code that is modulated on the L1 carrier in quadrature with the C/A code and with half the power of the C/A code. The Y code is a product of an unclassified P (precise) code, and a classified W code. The C/A and the P codes are unique for each satellite. The satellite antennas are configured so that the GPS signals have a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) as they propagate toward the Earth.
Basically, a GPS receiver compares time data as encoded on a signal received from a given satellite, with a local time at which the signal was received. The time difference is then used to calculate the distance between the receiver and the transmitting satellite. Using calculated distances from at least three satellites, the receiver determines its position on Earth by known triangulation techniques. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine its altitude as well. Once the receiver's position is determined, it may calculate other information such as speed, bearing, and distance to a given destination.
The transmitted signals are subject to degradation by several factors including, inter alia, signal multipath which occurs when a GPS signal reflects off of objects such as buildings or other tall surfaces before reaching the receiver. The calculated distance to the transmitting satellite based on a reflected GPS signal will be greater than the actual line of sight distance, thus causing error in the position determined by the receiver. Other degrading factors may include receiver clock errors, orbital (ephemeris) errors, number of satellites visible (the fewer satellites in view, the lower the accuracy), and the relative positions of the satellites at any given time (accuracy degrades when the satellites are spaced angularly close to one another as seen from the receiver). In a tactical or military environment, intentional jamming is another factor that must be overcome to maintain GPS receiver accuracy.
Differential GPS (DGPS) is a system that operates to correct errors which may exist in GPS signals as they are being received in a certain geographical area, wherein a base station in the area transmits certain correction data to other GPS receivers in the area which, in turn, use the data to increase the accuracy of position and other information they derive from the GPS signals. DGPS has been adopted to assist in the landing of aircraft on ground airport runways as well as on decks of aircraft carriers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,212 (Nov. 1, 1994) discloses a DGPS landing assistance system wherein a ground station in the vicinity of a landing strip includes a GPS receiver, and a transmitter for sending data to an approaching aircraft over a wireless data link. The transmitted data includes GPS correction data and a global position of two points that define a desired aircraft glide path associated with the landing strip. Equipment aboard the aircraft includes a GPS receiver, a separate data link receiver for receiving the correction data and the global position of the points defining the glide path, and a computer for determining a corrected global position of the aircraft along with lateral and vertical deviations of the aircraft from the glide path. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,194 (May 10, 1994), which discloses a GPS precision aircraft approach and landing system wherein the transmitted correction data is modulated on an L-band carrier or "pseudolite" signal that is synchronized with GPS time by way of a GPS timing signal. Both of the mentioned '212 and '194 U.S. patents are incorporated by reference.
For greatest accuracy and safety, a ground station or aircraft carrier in a DGPS landing system deploys so-called reference antennas that are configured to respond optimally to the right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) signals from the GPS satellites, and to supply the signals to GPS receivers and correction data generating equipment at the station or aboard the carrier. Due to the complex physical and electromagnetic environment of an aircraft carrier, as many as three or more precision GPS reference antennas may need to be installed at determined locations on the carrier so that accurate position correction and other critical data can be determined and transmitted to approaching aircraft or other landing platforms.
To avoid position offset errors, each reference antenna must have a well-defined phase center, and introduce known carrier phase and code phase delays into signals arriving at any given angle of the antenna's reception pattern. The phase center of a GPS receiving antenna is defined as the precise point whose position is being measured in response to GPS signals incident on the antenna. The location of the phase center may vary with the direction of arrival of a given GPS signal mainly as a function of satellite elevation, while azimuth effects may be introduced locally by the environment around the antenna. Thus, it will be understood that ignoring variations in the phase center of a GPS receiving antenna can lead to serious errors in position measurement. See, e.g., G. L. Mader, GPS Antenna Calibration at the National Geodetic Survey, at −http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/ANTCAL/images/summary.html=; F. Czopek, et al., Calibrating Antenna Phase Centers, GPS World (May 2002); and A. Boussaad, et al., A Tale of Two Methods, GPS World (February 2005).
Carrier phase delay is a delay induced on a received GPS signal at its carrier frequency, while code phase delay is a delay induced on the signal over the signal's bandwidth. An ideal GPS right-hand circular polarization reference antenna should have a carrier phase progression of one degree of carrier phase delay per degree of azimuth arrival angle, and remain constant relative to elevation at any given azimuth angle. The antenna should also have a constant code phase delay with angle. Accordingly, ground and ship based reference antennas for DGPS assisted aircraft approach and landing guidance must perform within strict electrical tolerances.
As mentioned, GPS reference antennas are subject to unintentional (lateral and sea multipath) and intentional (jamming) interference which can adversely affect approach and landing guidance. Conventional adaptive array techniques may be employed to form a null in the reception pattern of a given antenna array at an angle that coincides with that of an interfering signal. See, e.g., R. A. Monzingo, et al., Introduction to Adaptive Arrays, Scitech Publishing, Inc. (2004), at pages 6-8 and 260-66; and B. Pattan, Robust Modulation Methods & Smart Antennas in Wireless Communications, Prentice Hall PTR (2000), at pages 241-50. In DGPS applications, the known techniques can act to degrade the overall precision of the system, however. For example, the array's code (group) phase delay and carrier phase delay may be modulated independently for each satellite signal when certain offset elements of a GPS antenna array are weighted and combined. Also, if the array dimensions are too small, it becomes difficult to break the null sharply; that is, the reception pattern stays attenuated over a relatively large angle away from the desired angle of the null. Thus, authentic GPS signals arriving at angles near but not identical to that of the interfering signal go undetected. A reference antenna that suppresses interference without degrading system performance for GPS signals arriving in directions other than that of the interfering signal(s), is therefore highly desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,882 (Jul. 9, 1996), incorporated by reference, discloses a GPS antenna comprised of a number of radiator or antenna units stacked one above the other along a vertical support or mast. Each element array includes four dipoles supported in a circular array about the mast, wherein the feed points of the dipoles lie in a horizontal plane and are spaced circumferentially by 90 degrees from one another. Each dipole of a given antenna unit is oriented broadside to the radial direction, and its feed point is aligned vertically with respect to the feed points of corresponding dipoles of the other units. The arms of each dipole are also inclined at a 45 degree angle with respect to the horizontal.
The dipoles of each antenna unit have their feed points coupled with transmission lines that introduce certain progressive phase delays to the dipoles. Also, the dipoles of units above and below a center or reference unit on the mast, have associated phase delays that are offset by, e.g., minus 90 and plus 90 degrees, respectively, from the phase delays associated with the corresponding dipoles of the reference unit. Signals from all the transmission lines are combined to produce an overall reception pattern for the antenna that is optimally responsive to right hand circularly polarized GPS signals arriving from slightly above the horizon (zero degrees) to zenith (90 degrees) in elevation, but which suppresses all signals arriving at or below the horizon, e.g., lateral and ground or sea multipath reflections.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,510, also incorporated by reference, discloses a self-contained, four dipole antenna unit with a progressive phase omni-directional (PPO) network that introduces phase delays that increase in 90 degree increments for each dipole. The patent also discloses a GPS antenna including (i) one of the units disposed centrally along the length a vertical antenna mast, (ii) an upper set of ten of the units stacked on the mast above the central unit, and (iii) a lower set of ten of the units stacked on the mast below the central unit. All of the units are spaced from one another along the mast by approximately one-half the operating wavelength. Significantly, the antenna has a unitary phase center for avoiding errors in position determinations, as well as a uniform group delay.
The PPO network associated with the central antenna unit is connected via a transmission line (coaxial cable) to a signal combiner. The unit disposed immediately above the central unit, i.e., the first of the upper ten units, and every odd numbered unit beyond in the upward direction, are also connected by transmission lines to the signal combiner. Further, the unit disposed immediately below the central unit, i.e., the first of the lower ten units, and every odd numbered unit beyond in the downward direction, are connected by transmission lines to the signal combiner. Thus, 11 of the PPO networks (that of the central antenna unit, five of the upper set of units and five of the lower set) are connected to the signal combiner via transmission lines all of which are preferably of equal length. The remaining PPO networks of the upper and the lower sets of units are not connected to the combiner and are simply terminated. The GPS antenna of the '510 patent has a right-hand circularly polarized GPS reception pattern with uniform gain from slightly above the horizon to zenith in elevation, and a sharp cutoff at and below the horizon. As mentioned, the antenna has a unitary phase center as well as uniform group delay.
A compact GPS aircraft antenna whose reception pattern may be adapted when necessary to null or suppress jamming signals arriving from a given azimuth direction, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,016 (Sep. 9, 2003) which is incorporated by reference. The antenna is in the form of a rectangular cavity about five inches square by one and one-half inches high, with a sheet metal lower surface, conductive peripheral side and interior partition walls, and an upper surface including a printed circuit board. Four slot elements are formed in the upper surface and extend radially from a central vertical axis at 90 degree intervals in the plane of the upper surface. In addition, four bent monopole elements project above the upper surface in a circular array, wherein each monopole element is disposed between a pair of the slot elements and faces broadside to the radial direction.
Each of the slot and the monopole elements has an associated feed point that connects with a corresponding input port of a coupling assembly. The four input ports associated with the slot elements of the antenna connect directly with four output ports of the coupling assembly, and the four input ports associated with the monopole elements connect with a beam forming network contained in the coupling assembly. The beam forming network provides an additional four output ports of the coupling assembly. As disclosed, the antenna of the '016 patent is capable of forming eight different reception patterns depending on which output port of the coupling assembly is processed. A primary beam pattern available at one of the output ports provides omnidirectional (360 degree azimuth) RHCP hemispherical (zero to 90 degree elevation) coverage. The remaining seven patterns including a clover leaf and slot element patterns at four different angular positions, are also available at the output ports and may be combined to form nulls in the antenna's primary beam pattern where and when needed.
Another airborne GPS antenna suitable for anti-jam adaptive processing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,291 (Nov. 16, 2004), also incorporated by reference. The antenna of the '291 patent features eight monopole elements mounted in a circular configuration above a ground plane with equal circumferential spacing of 45 degrees from one another. Including a protective radome, the overall dimensions of the antenna are about 3.75 inches in diameter by less than two inches height. The antenna includes an orthogonal excitation or coupling network having eight element ports each of which connects to a different monopole element via a transmission line, and eight mode ports (numbered I to VIII in the patent) each representing a different reception pattern for the antenna with respect to incident signals arriving at various angles.
Mode I provides a 45 degree counter clockwise (CCW) progressive phase (PP) coupling of the monopole elements to yield a first omnidirectional RHCP hemispherical or "primary" reception pattern for the antenna. Mode II provides a 45 degree clockwise (CW) PP coupling of the monopole elements to yield a second omnidirectional LHCP hemispherical pattern. Modes III and IV provide 90 degree CCW and CW PP coupling, respectively. Modes V and VI provide 135 degree CCW and CW coupling, respectively. Mode VII provides 180 PP coupling to yield an eight lobe reception pattern for the antenna, and mode VIII provides same phase coupling for all the monopole elements to obtain a uniform phase omnidirectional pattern. Like the antenna of the '016 patent, the antenna of the '291 patent together with the disclosed excitation network can obtain a primary reception pattern (mode 1) allowing omnidirectional RHCP hemispherical coverage in elevation, and the remaining seven or "auxiliary" modes may be combined to effect appropriate nulls in the antenna's primary reception pattern when jamming signals are detected, using known adaptive array processing techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,417,597 (Aug. 26, 2008), incorporated by reference, discloses a GPS antenna having a vertical mast, with 13 four-dipole element arrays stacked vertically on the mast. Each element array is identical or similar to the element arrays disclosed in the mentioned '510 U.S. patent, and includes a progressive phase omnidirectional (PPO) network coupled between a common feed port and each of the four dipoles of the array. Counting from the lowermost element array on the mast, the second, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth and twelfth arrays are designated as primary radiator units, and the remaining arrays are designated as auxiliary radiator units. Outputs from the feed ports of the primary radiator units are individually weighted and input to a first signal combiner, and outputs from the feed ports of the auxiliary radiator units are individually weighted and input to a second signal combiner. Outputs from the two signal combiners are then subtractively combined by an adjustable signal combiner under the control of an adaptive control system.
The control system is operative to steer a single, omnidirectional null in the antenna's reception pattern so as to suppress an interfering signal arriving at an elevation angle between minus eight and plus five degrees relative to the horizon. In the event multiple interfering signals are detected at different elevation angles, the null may be steered to a determined angle between the interferers, but such a solution is not effective to eliminate all potential errors attributable to the interferers.
The patented GPS ground antennas described above are in the form of vertical collinear arrays of individual antenna units that are phased to produce primary reception patterns that are hemispherical above the horizon, and which cut off at and below the horizon with low side lobes. The phasing inherently suppresses ground and sea multipath. Lateral multipath is suppressed when the GPS satellites are at low elevation angles due to the right hand circular polarization of the antennas. That is, reflections of GPS signals off of ship structures including tall aircraft, as well as off of the water, will acquire a left hand circular polarization which is orthogonal to the right hand circular polarization of the primary reception pattern of the antennas. The antennas are also constructed so as to have point group and phase delay centers that closely coincide with the group and the phase delay centers of the auxiliary radiator units of the antennas so that the centers are preserved during adaptive processing, and precision approach and landing guidance is maintained in the presence of interference and jamming.
The GPS antenna of the mentioned '597 U.S. patent enables a single null to be steered in a low elevation plane of the antenna's reception pattern for jamming rejection. More complex threats in the form of multiple jammers each at differing elevation angles of arrival may exist, however. Such threats require an ability to induce discrete nulls in the antenna's pattern at multiple angles of azimuth and elevation. Thus, there is a need for a GPS antenna that will enable discrete azimuthal nulls to be steered to suppress interfering signals arriving near the horizon but at different elevation angles. There is also a need for a GPS antenna that will enable multiple nulls to be induced in its reception pattern at any elevation angle above the horizon.

GPS antenna array and system for adaptively suppressing multiple interfering signals in azimuth and elevation

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A disk drive is discloses comprising a disk, a head connected to a distal end of an actuator arm, and a voice coil motor (VCM) for rotating the actuator arm about a pivot in order to actuate the head radially over the disk. If when a power failure occurs the radial location of the head is less than a predetermined distance from the outer diameter of the disk, the VCM is controlled to move the head toward the inner diameter of the disk and stopping the head before it reaches the inner diameter of the disk. The VCM is then controlled to move the head toward the outer diameter of the disk until the actuator arm unloads onto a ramp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk drive employing momentum based unload during power failure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1A shows a prior art disk drive comprising a head 2 connected to a distal end of an actuator arm 4 which is rotated about a pivot by a voice coil motor (VCM) in order to actuate the head 2 radially over a disk 6. The VCM comprises a voice coil 8 that generates a magnetic flux when energized with current. The magnetic flux generated by the voice coil 8 interacts with magnetic flux generated by permanent magnets (not shown) to generate a torque that rotates the actuator arm about the pivot.
A spindle motor (not shown) rotates the disk 6 while the head 2 accesses a target data track on the disk 6. During a power failure, the head 2 is parked using the back EMF (BEMF) voltage present over the spindle motor windings due to the angular momentum of the spindle and disk assembly. Energy stored in a capacitor may provide additional current to assist the parking operation. In disk drives that employ ramp load/unload, the VCM rotates the actuator arm 4 toward the outer diameter of the disk 6 and onto a ramp 10. Due to torque constraints of the VCM, prior art disk drives typically rely on the momentum of the actuator arm 4 when it reaches the ramp 10 to help carry the actuator arm onto and up the ramp 10. This requires the velocity of the actuator arm 4 to reach a predetermined threshold before it reaches the ramp 10.
FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate a prior art technique for ensuring the actuator arm 4 reaches the desired velocity before reaching the ramp 10 during the unload operation. As shown in FIG. 1B, when a power failure occurs, the BEMF of the spindle motor is used to move the head 2 to the inner diameter of the disk 6. A constant voltage is applied to the voice coil 8 until a tang 12 coupled to the voice coil 8 contacts an inner arm 14A of a crash stop 16. As shown in FIG. 1C, a constant voltage is then applied to the voice coil 8 to move the head 2 toward the outer diameter of the disk 6 at a constant velocity. This ensures the actuator arm will reach the desired velocity and corresponding momentum to carry the actuator arm 4 onto and up the ramp 10. The outer arm 14A of the crash stop 16 contacts the tang 12 to limit further outward movement once the actuator arm 4 is safely unloaded onto the ramp 10.
Moving the head 2 to the inner diameter of the disk 6 and then to the outer diameter of the disk 6 to ensure the actuator arm 4 reaches the desired velocity results in an inefficient use of power since it is not necessary for the actuator arm 4 to traverse its entire stroke to attain the desired velocity. This increases the overall cost of the disk drive as it requires a more efficient (expensive) VCM to ensure the unload operation finishes before the BEMF voltage generated by the spindle motor dissipates. There is, therefore, a need to improve power efficiency when unloading the actuator arm 4 onto the ramp 10 during power failure.

Disk drive employing momentum based unload during power failure


Disclosed is a variable gain control circuit for executing automatic-gain-control on a variable gain amplification block composed of a plurality of amplifiers on which discrete gain setting is executed by a programmable-gain-amp method. A baseband amplifier (a variable gain amplifier) is composed of a plurality of amplifiers on which discrete gain setting is executed by a programmable-gain-amp method. A programmable-gain-amp control processing block references a programmable-gain-amp control data table on the basis of a difference between a current receive signal level and a predetermined receive signal level to determine the gain of the baseband amplifier, thereby making a programmable-gain-amp data generator generate programmable-gain-amp data. A programmable-gain-amp control processing block references a direct-current offset cancel table on the basis of current programmable-gain-amp data and next programmable-gain-amp data to generate corresponding direct-current offset cancel data, converts the generated direct-current offset cancel data into an analog voltage, and adds the analog voltage to the baseband amplifier output.

The present invention relates generally to a variable gain control circuit and a receiver apparatus using this variable gain control circuit.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a configuration of a direct conversion receiver for use in a DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access) mobile communication system for performing AGC (Automatic Gain Control) by a general analog voltage signal. In the figure, reference numeral 300 denotes an RF-IC which contains a baseband amplifier (or a variable gain amplifier) (the same holds with other accompanying drawings).
A signal received by a terminal apparatus (hereafter referred to simply as a terminal) at its external antenna is differentially amplified by a low-noise amplifier 301 to be divided into two. The direct current component is cut by a capacitor (this is called C-cut) and the resultant signal is down-converted from RF signal to baseband signal at a stretch by a quadrature mixer 302. At this moment, the RF signal is mixed with a signal with a local oscillation signal (LO) supplied from a local oscillator 304 divided by a divider 303 into in-phase component (I) and quadrature component (Q), so that baseband signals having in-phase component and quadrature component are generated. These baseband signals are each removed by a lowpass filter (LPF) 305 of the signal power of the interference wave of an adjacent channel for example, thereby providing only a desired wave signal. Next, each resultant baseband signal is amplified by a baseband amplifier 306 with its gain variably controlled by an analog voltage 309. An LPF 307 subsequent to the baseband amplifier 306 is a filter inserted to make a 50% roll-off characteristic downlink signal at the sender side be 100% roll-off characteristic as a total transfer function. After maximizing the S/N of the baseband signal through the LPF 307, the resultant baseband signal is quantized through an A/D converter 308 to be converted from analog to digital signal. The above-mentioned analog voltage signal 309 is also referred to as an AGC signal, which is controlled by a baseband signal processing block (not shown) so that the baseband signal received at the A/D converter 308 always has a optimum dynamic range.
However, it is difficult for the AGC control based on an analog voltage signal to provide precision AGC control due to wide variations between component parts of and between temperatures in the baseband amplifier 306. Especially, the problem of these variations is serious because the amplitude deflection of I and Q signals affects BER (Bit Error Rate) characteristic. In addition, BER characteristic is also affected by the digital noise on the board, thereby requiring to arrange an RC LPF (not shown) at the AGC input terminal.
To circumvent the above-mentioned problems, a configuration is receiving attention in which a PGA (Programmable Gain Amplifier) variable by 3-wire serial data setting is used instead of the AGC control based on the analog voltage signal 309. Three-wire signals are data, clock, and strobe signals. In synchronization with a clock signal, data are captured by shifting them in a serial manner and the captured data are latched in accordance with a strobe signal. Since the PGA is digitally controlled, it is hardly affected by the fluctuations in component part or temperature, thereby realizing precision setting of the gains of I and Q signals. Further, a high linearity of the baseband amplification block may be achieved by switching each linear resistor.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-36358
As described above, the PGA method is advantageous in various points as the ACG controlling for the direct conversion receiver, but at the cost of the following problems.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a direct conversion receiver apparatus for use in a DS-CDMA mobile communication system with its AGC control based on PGA.
Instead of the AGC control based on the analog voltage signal 309, 3-wire serial digital data 312 are set and decoded by a PGA control circuit 311, thereby discretely switching the gains of baseband amplifiers 306. A DC offset canceller circuit 310 detects the DC component at the final stage of the baseband amplifier to apply negative feedback in an analog manner, thereby canceling the DC offset (refer to Patent Document 1). Although not shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the DC offset canceller circuit 310 is also usually installed on the direct conversion receiver in which AGC control is executed by the analog voltage signal described with reference to FIG. 1. As described above, the PGA method decodes the 3-wire serial digital data 312 by the PGA control circuit 311 to discretely switching the gains of baseband amplifiers 306. Suppose here the case in which gains are switched from one to another by 1 dB upward.
The following briefly describes this case with reference to FIG. 3. It is supposed that, if the PGA data for the sequence of differential amplifiers configuring the a baseband amplification block change from "0111" to "1000", the first stage amplifier which has been off be switched by the PGA control circuit 311 from 0 dB to 20 dB, the subsequent three amplifiers providing a gain which is 19 dB less than the current gain. As a total gain, only 1 dB is added. However, in this differential amplifier sequence, the discrete switching of gains causes a stepwise DC offset due to the variation in transistor pair. Depending on manufacturing processes, this DC offset may reach several mV or higher on the input basis. Hence, largely switching the gain at the initial stage of the amplifier sequence results in a fairly large DC offset at the final stage. This stepwise DC offset component due to the gain switching is not affected by the C-cut and therefore interferes the desired wave signal component, thereby deteriorating the S/N.
FIG. 4 shows how the above-mentioned stepwise DC offset interferes the desired wave signal. As shown in the figure, the stepwise DC offset component that is interfering is indicated by a hatched portion, in a wideband desired wave signal, generated by Fourier transform.
In the above-mentioned circuit shown in FIG. 2, the DC offset canceller circuit 310 is mounted, but, due to the circuit configuration based on analog negative feedback, a waveform as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained in the IQ output at the final stage. The large glitch component at gain switching shown in FIG. 5 saturates the A/D converter 308 shown in FIG. 2, thereby pushing up the moving average deviations necessary for AGC control which are computed from the received IQ signal. If the frequency of this glitch increases, the moving average deviations eventually converge to the AGC value which depends on the glitch value. Consequently, proper AGC control is not performed on each regular receive signal and therefore the level set lower than the optimum level in the A/D converter 308, resulting in a deteriorated reception characteristic due to quantization noise.
Generally, in analog DC offset canceller circuits, the time of DC level convergence is related with the cutoff frequency of the LPF at the time of DC feedback. If the cutoff frequency of the LPF is around 5 kHz, it takes around 100 microseconds or more for DC offset convergence. Hence, a method has recently been proposed in which the gain is set by the PGA and then the cutoff frequency of the LPF is temporarily lifted up to around 100 to 200 kHz for about 10 microseconds for example, thereby increasing the speed of DC offset convergence. Further, to take actions against the glitch component adversely affecting AGC control, a method has been proposed in which the IQ signal data in a period of 10 microseconds in the above-mentioned method are masked at the output stage, thereby preventing the waveform shown in FIG. 5 from being outputted.
On the other hand, the standardization is currently in progress on the DS-CDMA method at 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and its specifications define a signal having SF (Spreading Factor)=4 as downlink DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) signal. In this case, the data length of one symbol is 1 microsecond, so that if the IQ signal is masked for a period of 10 microseconds as described above, about 10 symbols of data are lost.

Variable gain control circuit and receiver apparatus using the circuit

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.


A Fisher's exact test calculation apparatus includes: a condition storage 1 that has stored therein a condition for determining whether a result of Fisher's exact test corresponding to input is significant or not, the input being frequencies in a summary table; and a calculation unit 2 that obtains the result of Fisher's exact test corresponding to the frequencies in the summary table by inputting the frequencies in the summary table to the condition read from the condition storage 1.

Fisher's exact test is widely known as one of statistical test methods. An application of Fisher's exact test is genome-wide association study (GWAS) (see Non-patent Literature 1, for instance). Brief description of Fisher's exact test is given below.
TABLE 1XYTotalAaba + bGcdc + dTotala + cb + da + b + c + d (=n)
This table is an example of a 2×2 summary table that classifies n subjects according to character (X or Y) and a particular allele (A or G) and counts the results, where a, b, c, and d represent frequencies (non-negative integers). In Fisher's exact test, when the following is assumed for a non-negative integer i,
      p    i    =                              (                      a            +            b                    )                !                                    (                      c            +            d                    )                !                                    (                      a            +            c                    )                !                                    (                      b            +            d                    )                !                            n        !                          i        !                                    (                      a            +            b            -            i                    )                !                                    (                      a            +            c            -            i                    )                !                                    (                      d            -            a            +            i                    )                !            it is determined whether there is a statistically significant association between the character and a particular allele based on the magnitude relationship between:
  p  =            p      a        +                  ∑                                            ma                                                                                x                                                  (                                      0                    ,                                          a                      -                      d                                                        )                                                      ≤            i            ≤                          m                                                                                i                                                                                n                                                  (                                                            a                      +                      b                                        ,                                          a                      +                      c                                                        )                                                                                p              i                        <                          p              a                                                        p        i            and a threshold T of a predetermined value. In genome-wide association study, a summary table like the above one can be created for each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and Fisher's exact test can be performed on each one of the summary tables. Genome-wide association study involves an enormous number of SNPs on the order of several millions to tens of millions. Thus, in genome-wide association study, there can be a situation where a large quantity of Fisher's exact test is performed.
Meanwhile, in view of the sensitivity or confidentiality of genome information, some prior studies are intended to perform genome-wide association study while concealing genome information via encryption techniques (see Non-patent Literature 2, for instance). Non-patent Literature 2 proposes a method of performing a chi-square test while concealing genome information.

Fisher's exact test calculation apparatus, method, and program

NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION


Non-transitory, computer-readable storage media, terminal devices, and methods are disclosed herein. The terminal device includes a processor and communicates selectively using one of many wireless communication systems comprising a first and second wireless communication system. The computer-readable media store computer-readable instructions therein. The instructions instruct the processor to generate first specific image data representing a first image when the first wireless communication system is specified. The instructions instruct the processor to store the first specific image data when the terminal device receives a first print instruction to print the first image while the first wireless communication system is specified. The instructions instruct the processor to provide first print data, based on the stored first specific image data, to the printing device when the wireless communication setting is changed from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system after storing the first specific image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to terminal devices that communicate by selectively using one of a plurality of wireless communication systems, computer-readable media comprising computer-readable instructions for controlling such terminal devices, and systems comprising such terminal devices and printing devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A known terminal device communicates with another device selectively using one of a plurality of communication systems. In particular, the known terminal device provides print data to a printing device selectively using one of the plurality of communication systems that is compatible with a communication system of the printing device.

Terminal devices that process image data in different systems based on wireless communication setting, methods of controlling such terminal devices, and media storing computer-readable instructions for such terminal devices


An apparatus records and reproduces digital video signals on a tape such that recording by another digital VTR or another analog VTR can be blocked, both through a digital interface and an analog interface, to provide a copy protection through various techniques, such as AGC or color striping. The digital recording format includes a recording area for encoded video signals and a recording area for auxiliary information configured in packs. A disturbance signal generating flag is included in an auxiliary information pack and recorded in the auxiliary information recording area. Based on the status of the flag, a disturbance signal may be inserted as a copy protection signal that is reproduced from the encoded video signals into the analog video signal.

This invention broadly relates to digital video tape recording and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for recording and reproducing video signals as a function of copy information associated with those video signals.
Two countermeasures, namely automatic gain control (AGC) and color striping, have been generally used for assuring copy protection of a video signal on an analog videotape recorder (VTR). That is, disturbance signals, which disturb the automatic gain control function of the recording VTR, are inserted in the blanking period of television signals for copy protection in a conventional analog VTR. If a pre-recorded video tape is dubbed illegally, i.e. without authorization, the recording made on the dubbed tape becomes non-reproducible, thus assuring copy protection.
A processing known as color striping has also been proposed, wherein the phase of the color sub-carrier signal is inverted every 20 lines in the effective viewing area. Although a television receiver is not affected by such processing because of non-acute AFC control, the phase-locked loop of the AFC circuit in a VTR tends to follow such phase inversion closely, causing the reversal of the color phase to produce color bands.
These measures, however, are effective only for analog video signals. That is, in a digital VTR having no analog input and only a digital interface, the disturbance signal has no prohibitive effect on the recording even if copy protection exists. Thus, when the digital video signals are restored and outputted as analog signals, subsequent recording can be done on the VTR even though the original analog signals were copy-protected.

Method and apparatus for recording and reproducing digital video signals as a function of copy protection of a tape


An optical pickup which includes first to third light sources each emitting a light beam each having a first to third wavelength; an objective lens condensing each of the light beams emitted from the light sources on a signal recording face of an optical disc; a collimator lens provided between the light sources and the objective lens to convert a divergent angle of each of the light beams emitted from the light sources so as to obtain a parallel light beam; and a diffractive optical element provided between the collimator lens and the objective lens. The diffractive optical element includes first and second diffractive parts which respectively diffract the light beam having the second wavelength and the third wavelength. The second diffractive part has a diffraction structure formed by a plurality of concentric ring zones, having first to fourth optical faces, each having a different height in an optical axis direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup and an optical disc apparatus, which use light beams having different wavelengths to record and/or reproduce information on/from a plurality of types of information recording mediums such as optical discs.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a next-generation optical disc format, a format using a blue-violet semiconductor laser which emits a light beam having a wavelength of about 400 nm to 410 nm as a light source is currently employed.
For providing an optical pickup compatible with the next-generation optical discs, an optical pickup having compatibility with optical discs in different format such as existing CD (Compact Disc) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is desired. As described above, an optical pickup and an optical disc apparatus, which have compatibility with optical discs in formats using different disc structures and different laser specifications in accordance with the different disc structures, are required.
As an optical pickup for recording and reproducing an information signal on/from a plurality of types of optical discs using different wavelengths as described above, there exists an optical pickup including a plurality of objective lenses compatible with the respective optical discs.
The optical pickup using a plurality of objective lenses includes a correspondingly large number of components. Therefore, there is a possibility that the size of the optical disc apparatus or the fabrication cost may be increased.
As an optical pickup for recording and reproducing an information signal on/from a plurality of types of optical discs using different wavelengths, an optical pickup including a single objective lens and an optical element for converting a divergent angle of a light beam incident on the objective lens in accordance with its wavelength is conceivable.
Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) 2005-38575 discloses an optical pickup 100 as shown in FIG. 8. The optical pickup 100 uses an objective lens 103 for focusing a light beam having a first wavelength of about 405 nm on a signal recording face of a first optical disc compatible with the first wavelength. The optical pickup 100 includes a first diffractive element using the objective lens 103 to change an incident angle of a light beam having a second wavelength of about 660 nm so that the light beam is focused on a signal recording face of a second optical disc compatible with the second wavelength and a second diffractive element 104 using the objective lens 103 to change an incident angle of a light beam having a third wavelength of about 785 nm so that the light beam is focused on a single recording face of a third optical disc compatible with the third wavelength.
As the second diffractive element 104, a diffraction grating having a grating height equal to integral multiples of 405 nm and 660 nm corresponding to the first wavelength and the second wavelength as shown in FIG. 9 is used.

Optical pickup and optical disc apparatus


An electric steering lock device has a lock body to be installed in a mounting hole part of a steering column post of a vehicle, a drive part which generates a rotation drive power, a rotation shaft to be rotated by the rotation drive power of the drive part through a gear mechanism, a lock stopper to be screwed with the rotation shaft to move axially by rotating of the rotation shaft, a lock bar which moves between a lock position for locking a steering shaft by movement of the lock stopper and an unlock position for unlocking the steering shaft, and a bush. The bush has a load receiving part to receive thrust loading of the rotation shaft at least at one side of the rotation shaft, an installation claw part to be installed by inserting in a hole part of the lock body, and a bearing claw part to receive radial load by fitting to be slidably rotatable with an external diameter of the rotation shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric steering lock device and an assembling method, to be applied to vehicles such as automobiles.
2. Related Art
As conventional electric steering lock devices, for example, JP-A-2004-231123 and JP-A-2003-276565 disclose, respectively, an electric steering lock device comprising a worm gear which rotates by a rotary motor, a helical gear which rotates by rotation of the worm gear, a lock arm and a cam which operate in association with rotation of this helical gear, a lock stopper which moves between a lock position and an unlock position with respect to a steering shaft, a lock bar, and a lock body housing these parts has been known.
This electric steering lock device has a configuration, in which the lock bar is moved between the lock position and the unlock position with respect to the steering shaft by mutually rotating the rotary motor in opposite directions. However, according to the electric steering lock device of JP-A-2004-231123 etc., as mentioned above, since the helical gear is rotated by the rotary motor through the worm gear and the rotary motor is mutually rotated in opposite directions, thrust load is applied on the helical gear in a rotational direction at each motor rotation, and there is a disadvantage in that abnormal noise such as impact sound etc. is generated by contacting strongly with a bearing.

Electric steering lock device and assembling method


A method and device are provided for use in a network including at least one existing device. At least one virtual sub-network is established within the network and a certain trust level is assigned to the at least one virtual sub-network. The device is assigned a first trust level. The device receives a token correlated with the assigned first trust level. The device is permitted into the at least one virtual subnet upon presentation of that token if the first trust level corresponds or includes the certain trust level.

IT (information technology) systems are used for control and supervision of complex systems that are used for, e.g., traffic control, industrial automation, etc. For exchange of information, the systems are linked by interfaces. Some interfaces are used, e.g., for core functions, others for integrating office IT systems.
However, security risks arise due to the increasing degree of integration, the change from closed, domain specific networks such as, e.g., field bus systems as Profibus, CAN, etc., to open communications standards such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, WiFi, or Ethernet based industrial network technologies such as Profinet, Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT etc., access from public networks, e.g., from the Internet, a geographical spread of the systems, e.g., because cloud services are integrated, or varying security requirements due to the lifecycle of the system, e.g., during bootstrapping or operation.
Information security, e.g., who is allowed to access what information from systems cut off from the outside world, and functional safety, e.g., may an attack or a falsely configured sub-system affect negatively the overall system, should be maintained.
Networks used for industrial automation are referred to as production networks and may include several production devices or modules, e.g., a conveyer belt or milling machine, that offer production services, e.g., transporting or milling. Once a production network is set up, changing the production network is labor intensive. To facilitate this process and enable plug & automate, in the context of industrial automation, cyber physical production systems (CPPS) are used that include cyber physical production modules (CPPM) that offer an interface to a communication network.
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) may refer to integrations of computation with physical processes. Embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes, for example, with feedback loops where physical processes affect computations and vice versa. Cyber-physical systems include a combination of real or physical objects with virtual objects that process information. The combination is realized by using open, connected information networks.
For classical production and automation networks the security problem is solved by using a "cell security concept", where the network is separated into a plurality of protected cells. The transition between cells as well as the transition to a surrounding network such as office IT or a public network is realized by special security modules. The individual security cells are formed according to geographical, e.g., location, or functional, e.g., production lines.
The structure of the security cells may be mapped to the physical structure of the network. The fixed connections of the communication infrastructure hamper service and restructuring of a production plant. Apart from engineering tasks for the production process, additional effort is required for engineering tasks for the communication network and network security.
An example of such approaches may be found in EP 2 816 760 A1, which relates to a method, a server, and a client for providing secured communication in a power distribution communication network.


Device and method for removing artifacts in physiological measurements. The method can comprise the steps of obtaining a physiological signal of a user; obtaining corresponding motion data representative of motion of the user; determining whether the physiological signal is distorted; and if the physiological signal is determined to be distorted, identifying a noise reference and filtering the physiological signal with the noise reference.

Physiological sensors are generally highly sensitive to motion artifacts. An example of such sensors is a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor. A PPG sensor relies on the light emitting diodes and photo detectors to produce a PPG signal that can be used to monitor various parameters, such as heart rate and oxygen saturation level in blood. Therefore, it would not be desirable that the measurement unit utilizes a PPG signal that is corrupted by motion artifacts.
One way to detect motion artifacts in a PPG signal from a device is to incorporate an accelerometer (ACC) sensor, preferably a tri-axial ACC, to detect whether motion is present. With the tri-axial ACC sensor, the device can sense more specifically how the motion is along each axis and thus, the output of the ACC sensor can be used as a reference indicative of motion artifacts in the PPG signal and to correct the PPG signal accordingly.
Adaptive filtering with motion signals captured by ACC provides a promising method for the removal of artifacts from PPG data distorted by motion. However, there are cases when the ACC signals are not correlated with the PPG distortion, and in such cases the signal quality of the PPG will deteriorate after filtering with the ACC signal as noise reference.
Furthermore, existing methods either combine the ACC signals along all the three axes or simply specify the ACC signal along a particular axis as the noise reference. However, under different motions, the motion artifacts in the PPG may be correlated with ACC signals along a different axis. In other words, either by using the ACC signals along a specified axis only or by combining the tri-axial ACC signals, it may not be possible to obtain a noise reference that is always well correlated with artifacts in PPG under different motions, thus lowering the performance of the adaptive filtering approach.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for removing artifacts in physiological measurements that seek to address at least one of the above problems.