A vehicle headlamp of the present invention is provided with a lamp housing and a leveling device. The lamp housing has: a mount portion in which a circular through hole is provided; and an abutment protrusive portion which is provided at the mount portion. The leveling device has: a housing for providing a cylinder portion which is inserted into the circular through hole, and is mounted at a rim of the circular through hole; and an abutment face protrusive portion which is provided partly of the housing and allows the abutment protrusive portion to be in abutment against. As a result, the vehicle headlamp of the present invention allows the abutment protrusive portion to be in abutment against the abutment face protrusive portion, making it possible to ensure a stable distance between the lamp housing and the leveling device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp such as a headlamp or a fog lamp, for example, having a leveling device for adjusting an optical axis.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle headlamp having a leveling device, of this type, is conventionally known (Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 2835927, for example). Hereinafter, the conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device will be described. In the conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device, a holding cylinder portion of a casing body of the leveling device is inserted into an insert hole of a lamp body and the holding cylinder portion is mounted on a rim of the insert hole; and an adjusting screw, protruding from the holding cylinder portion of the leveling device, is mounted on a reflection mirror, allowing a fixing wall of the lamp body to be abutted against the casing body of the leveling device. Afterward, by driving a drive mechanism in the casing body of the leveling device, the adjusting screw is driven and the mirror is tilted with respect to the lamp body, and an optical axis of the vehicle headlamp is adjusted.
In the above-described conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device, the holding cylinder portion of the casing body of the leveling device is mounted on the rim of the insert hole of the lamp body; the leveling device is mounted on the lamp body; and further, the fixing wall of the lamp body is allowed to abut against the casing body of the leveling device, allowing the lamp body and the leveling device to be mounted in a stable manner without a backlash.
Incidentally, the above-described conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device allows the fixing wall of the lamp body to merely abut against the casing body of the leveling device, thus so that the entire thickness of the casing body against which the fixing wall abuts is substantially uniform. Thus, in the conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device, if a protrusive portion or a rib exists inside of the casing body, a surface sink occurs with an exterior face of the casing body corresponding to the protrusive portion or rib, and the exterior face of the casing body may be deformed. As a result, the conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device makes it difficult to ensure a stable distance between the casing body and the lamp body, thus entailing is a problem in stably mounting the lamp body and the leveling device without a backlash.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem that the conventional vehicle headlamp having the leveling device entails difficulty in ensuring a stable distance between the casing body and the lamp body.


A navigation system comprises: a GPS for detecting a current position; a DVD drive for reading a map from a DVD on which a plurality of partially overlapping maps are recorded; a Memory card for storing information to identify a portion overlapping with another map, in a map being used for navigation; and a CPU for judging, based on coordinates of a current position and the information stored in the Memory card, whether the coordinates of the current position are contained in the overlapping portion or not, and for controlling, in response to a judgment that the coordinates of the current position are contained in the overlapping portion, the DVD drive to read from the DVD the map sharing the overlapping portion. Consequently, map data to be loaded can be smoothly changed according to the current position.

Conventional navigation systems have been performed navigation by reading map information recorded on DVDs.
A navigation system capable of playing back a desired DVD during navigation is described in Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2001-153674. The navigation system described in the patent document comprises a GPS receiving section for detecting a current position, a DVD-ROM drive, and a hard disk. When the DVD-ROM drive detects a DVD ejection operation, map data for a specified area is transferred from the DVD to the hard disk according to a current position detected by the GPS receiving section. At this time, a block map around a current position of a vehicle or on the route to a destination is transferred to the hard disk. After the DVD is ejected, the navigation system performs the navigation operation including a display process, using the map data on the hard disk.


Processing of a received code division multiple access, CDMA, burst (405) when a spreading factor of the CDMA burst (405) has been changed from an allocated spreading factor (SF0) to a new spreading factor (SFn). The received burst (405) is processed with a CDMA detector (310), using the allocated spreading factor (SF0), to provide a CDMA detector output; the new spreading factor (SFn) of the burst is determined; and the CDMA detector output is decimated by a factor determined from the new spreading factor (SFn). The decimator may be a FIR decimator (315) and tap weights may be determined using the values of the new spreading factor (SFn) and the allocated spreading factor (SF0). Application in a Node B (150A) of a UMTS system (100), particularly in UTRA TDD mode, for processing received uplink communication is described.

In the field of this invention it is known that in CDMA systems, such as UMTS, particularly UTRA TDD mode, the data part of a burst is spread with a channelisation code that can have different spreading factors, i.e., different numbers of elements in the code. In UTRA TDD, the spreading factors that may be used for uplink physical channels are 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16.
For each physical channel an individual minimum spreading factor SFmin is transmitted by means of the higher layers to the user equipment (UE), e.g. a mobile telephone, i.e. the UE is allocated a spreading factor. The UE determines or is currently using a transport format combination (TFC), comprising for example the type of forward error correction, the power etc. for its uplink transmission. In UTRA TDD, for example, the UE then has two options with respect to the spreading factor it has been allocated:                1. The UE uses the spreading factor SFmin, independent of the current TFC.        2. The UE autonomously increases the spreading factor depending on the current TFC (e.g. if the UE decides it does not have sufficient power to use a spreading factor as low as the allocated spreading factor, it may increase the spreading factor, i.e. use a new spreading factor in its uplink transmission). This invention relates to this second option.
In UTRA TDD mode the UE includes in its uplink burst an item known as a Transport Format Combination Indicator (TFCI) which informs the receiving communication unit, e.g. a Node B, of the TFC being used i.e. the TFCI data bits are used to inform the receiving end which transport channels are active for the current Radio Frame; this information also allows the receiving end to determine the spreading factor allocated/employed. An uplink burst (405) in UTRA TDD mode is as shown in FIG. 1, and as known from the technical specification '3GPP TS25.221' (available from the website www.3gpp.org) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, where the TFCI bits (410A, 410B) are inserted either side of the midamble (415), (Note TPC (Transmit Power Control) bits (420) are also included as are data symbols (425A, 425B)). In the uplink of UTRA TDD mode, the TFCI bits are usually encoded producing a TFCI codeword, the TFCI codeword and TPC bits are always spread at spreading factor 16 irrespective of the spreading in the data portions of the burst.
When the UE autonomously changes the spreading factor, it is only allowed to do so in certain ways effectively governed by rules, which in UTRA TDD specify that the spreading factor may only be increased by moving the channelisation code along the lower branch of the allowed orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) sub tree.
The OVSF tree (505) is shown in FIG. 2, where CSFk is the channelisation code, k is the code number, and SF is the spreading factor. Let ko and SFo be the original code number and spreading factor respectively, such that the associated channelisation code is given by Coo. If the UE selects a new spreading factor, SFn, then the position of the new channelisation code in the OVSF sub tree is given by
      k    n    =                    SF        n                    SF        o              ×          k      o
Suppose a UE is allocated the following channelisation code C43, but decides to change autonomously the spreading factor to SFn=16. According to the above equation, the position of the new channelisation code is given by
      k    n    =            16      4        ×    3  where the new channelisation code is defined by C1612. By inspection of the OVSF tree shown in FIG. 2, we see that C1612 belongs to the lower branch of the C43 sub tree.
Considering the uplink burst in UTRA TDD mode, on the receive side, the Node B is unaware of the fact that the UE has changed spreading factor. However, there is a unique association between TFCI and spreading factor. Since the TFCI bits are always spread using the channelisation code in the lowest branch of the OVSF sub tree, the receiving end knows a priori the TFCI channelisation code. Therefore, by first detecting and then decoding the TFCI codeword, the receiving end can determine SFn. Once SFn is known, it can calculate the position of the new channelisation code Cnn from the original channelisation code C00 using the equation
      k    n    =                    SF        n                    SF        o              ×          k      o
Thereafter, the burst will need to be processed in a manner taking account of the new spreading factor.
A need therefore arises for a CDMA receiver adapted to accommodate the possibility of the spreading factor having been changed by the UE.


A method and computer program for efficient cell failure rate estimation in cell arrays provides an efficient mechanism for raising the performance of memory arrays beyond present levels/yields. An initial search is performed across cell circuit parameters to determine failures with respect to a set of performance variables. For a single failure region the initial search can be a uniform sampling of the parameter space and when enough failure points have been accumulated, a mean is chosen from the mean of the detected failure points. Mixture importance sampling (MIS) is then performed to efficiently estimate the single failure region. For multiple failure regions, a particular failure region is selected by varying the memory circuit cell parameters along a random set of vectors until failures are detected, thus identifying the boundary of the failure region of interest as the closest failure region. A new mean is chosen for MIS in conformity with the location of the detected boundary.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to memory circuit design methodologies and programs for designing digital memory circuits, and more particularly to a method and computer program for estimating cell failure rates in cell arrays.
2. Description of the Related Art
As memory array architectures are pushed to their practical limits by increasing requirements for density and speed, accurately estimating the cell failure rate of a design becomes increasingly critical. Since a finite number of redundant rows and/or columns is available to replace those containing defective cells, a number of failed cells above this level of redundancy will yield a defective device. The number of defective devices, or device yield is then directly related to the cell failure rate. The larger arrays being fabricated today have increasingly stringent failure rate control requirements. For example, in order to achieve a yield of 90% in a one-million cell array without redundancy, a failure rate below 5σ must be held.
Traditional techniques such as Monte-Carlo analysis produce accurate results at a cost of a large number of iterations, due to the random sampling of the entire probability space of the independent variables that are treated in the analysis. As the cell failure rate decreases, the number of samples and iterations required for accurate analysis becomes increasingly large, because of the relatively sparse distribution of samples in the distribution tail(s) that correspond to failed cells. The effect of circuit changes on cell read and writeability, as well as minimum read and write cycle times and margins are difficult to estimate at very low failure rate levels, so such low failure rates cause further complications for adjusting designs to achieve the best result.
Techniques other than Monte-Carlo analysis have been implemented for estimating cell failure rates, each with related drawbacks. Sensitivity analysis is a well-known technique in which the gradients of the various independent variables are used to determine the bounds of the non-failure confidence region. However, accurate estimates of the failure rate are not typically produced by sensitivity analysis, as sensitivity analysis by its very nature cannot determine the exact overlapping impact of all independent variables on the cell failure rate at once. Another technique that can accurately estimate the failure rate is the grid analysis approach, in which the grid size can be made arbitrarily small. However, the number of simulations increases exponentially with the number of independent variables and typically a large amount of custom coded program control (scripting) must be employed to direct the analysis.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method for accurately and efficiently determining cell failure rates under extremely low failure rate conditions.

Method and computer program for efficient cell failure rate estimation in cell arrays

International Business Machines Corporation


A liquid crystal module includes a liquid crystal panel, a light source, a frame, a first flexible printed wiring board and a second flexible printed wiring board. The frame houses the liquid crystal panel and the light source. The frame has a side face with a main access component and first and second sub-access components. The first flexible printed wiring board extends through the main access component. The first flexible printed wiring board is electrically coupled to one of the liquid crystal panel and the light source. The second flexible printed wiring board extends through one of the first and second sub-access components. The second flexible printed wiring board is electrically coupled to the other of the liquid crystal panel and the light source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid crystal module. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal module having a flexible printed wiring board.
2. Background Information
A conventional liquid crystal module includes a light reflecting sheet, a light guide plate, a light diffusing sheet, a prism sheet, a liquid crystal panel and a frame. The light guide plate has a light source disposed at a side end face. The light source is connected to a sub-flexible printed board. The liquid crystal panel is connected to a main flexible printed board. The light reflecting sheet, the light guide plate, the light diffusing sheet, the prism sheet and the liquid crystal panel are stacked and housed in the frame. With the liquid crystal module, the frame is redesigned and produced every time the shape or location of the sub-flexible printed board or the main flexible printed board varies. Therefore, the cost of the liquid crystal module is increased.
With another conventional liquid crystal display device, a wiring board is taken off along a surface of a second rear frame from between a first rear frame and the second rear frame (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-139020, for example). A terminal part of the wiring board is taken off from the second rear frame to an outer side of the liquid crystal display device. As a result, the terminal part of the wiring board protrudes to the outside at a place desired merely by changing a shape of the wiring board, but without changing shapes of the first and second rear frames.
This liquid crystal display device makes use of a special access method in which the wiring board extends along the surface of the second rear frame from between the first rear frame and the second rear frame. As a result, the shapes of the first and second rear frames are shared with different models. However, this structure cannot be applied to a liquid crystal module in which a reflecting sheet, a light guide plate, a light diffusing sheet, a prism sheet and a liquid crystal panel are stacked and housed in a rectangle frame. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve a shared (common) frame for the liquid crystal module with this structure.
A conventional electronic device includes a liquid crystal panel and an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) connected to the liquid crystal panel (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-292284, for example). The FPC has a main FPC and an I/F-use FPC. The main FPC is shared. The I/F-use FPC is changed according to specifications of the electronic device. With the electronic device, sharing the main FPC is accomplished by dividing the FPC connected to the liquid crystal panel into the main FPC and the I/F-use FPC.
With a conventional display device, a single FPC is shared by a main display component and a sub-display component (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-11441).
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved liquid crystal module. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Liquid crystal module having flexible printed wiring boards and a housing comprising multiple recesses to accommodate them


A multi-piece double ball construction is described in which there is: a first piece of durable material having an essentially linear shape along its middle section and terminating at a first end in a first essentially hourglass shaped section and at a second end in a second essentially hourglass shaped section; a second piece of durable material having an essentially hourglass shape essentially similar in size to the hourglass shape of the first hourglass shaped section; a third piece of durable material having an essentially hourglass shape essentially similar in size to the hourglass shape of the second hourglass shaped section; a first deformable core positioned between the second piece of durable hourglass shaped material and the first hourglass shaped section of the first piece; a second deformable core positioned between the third piece of durable hourglass shaped and the second hourglass shaped section of the first piece; first stitching for securing the second piece of durable hourglass shaped material to the first hourglass shaped section of the first piece around the first deformable core so as to form a first spherical shape at the first end of the first piece of durable material; and second stitching for securing the third piece of durable hourglass shaped material to the second hourglass shaped section of the first piece around the second deformable core so as to form a spherical shape at the second end of the first piece of durable material; wherein the middle section of the first piece hold the first and second spherical shapes together so as to allow the first and second spherical shapes to move together when thrown by a player during play.

This invention is directed generally to a double ball device and more particularly to a double ball device of a unique construction.
The game of double ball is an old Indian game. Originally a game appealing to Indian women, the game is played with two balls and a tossing stick. A cord tied between the two balls keeps the balls together when the balls are moved. Placement of the tossing stick underneath the cord allows the balls to be picked up and moved.
The game is typically played on a field. The Pima Indian women are known to have played this game on a smooth 400 yard stretch of terrain. A pair of spaced apart goal posts is located on either end of the field for scoring. Each player is provided a stick. The object of the game was to move the double ball downfield toward the other team's goalpost using a stick. A player scored by placing the double ball over a crossbar that hung between goal posts using the stick.
Sticks used to play double ball are known to have varied in size and shape. The Pima Indian women of Arizona were known to have used willow or alder tossing sticks. Typically, the sticks varied from 2 to 6 feet. Often sticks about 45 inches in length were known to have been used. On one end, the sticks were shaped to form a handle. On the other end, the sticks were typically thinner in construction and slightly curved so as to make it easier to pick up the ball by the cord.
Several materials were used to make the balls. Buckskin fastened together with a rawhide cord a toot or so long served as a good double ball for some groups. Some tribes stuffed hair inside a buckskin pouch forming the ball. The Sauk and Foxes and other Algonkian tribes often weighted their balls with sand. The Chippewa, Papago, Hupa, and Klamath Indians made their balls out of short cylinders of wood, or bone, and tied the balls together with a rawhide cord. Others played with two wooden billets. Still others used blocks of wood.
The cord holding the balls together were typically a rawhide cord a foot or so long. A special construction was used by the Pima women who were known to have knotted two balls to a stout leather thong. One known thong was constructed from a 6-inch, 4- strand, 2-ply leather. The cords or thongs could be attached to each ball in a number of ways. As shown in FIG. 1, two openings 22, 23 on one ball 20 could allow one end of cord 30 to be threaded through the opening, run along the inside of the ball and out of a second opening. The free end of the cord can be tied to the part of the cord extending between the balls so as to form a knot 32. The other ball 20' is attached in the same way.
Where attachment of the cord to the balls is by a knot formed in the connecting cord at each ball each knot is found to create a point that interferes with the free movement of each ball with respect to the cord connecting the two balls. This point of interference makes it more difficult to throw the double ball accurately. In addition, the ball needs to be modified to allow the cord to be attached to the ball. This is found to weaken the point of connection of the ball to the cord. Excessive wear and tear resulting from friction between the knot, the ball and the cord can lead to premature breaks in the cord, resulting in a delay of game.
In some constructions, the cord and the ball were made from a single piece of material. Maricopa Indians were know to have used strips of leather or willow bark about 9 inches long, with a heavy knot at either end. In a double ball constructed from a single piece of material, there is no point of connection between the cord and the balls which create the foregoing type of interference with ball movement. The tradeoff, however, is an interference of another kind resulting from the single piece of material constraining the movement that can be taken between the connection and the balls. With reduced degree of motion permitted the balls by a one piece construction, some of the fun in the game is found to be taken away. In addition, forming balls by knotting the ends of a single piece of material does not give the balls much weight. As a result, the balls move with less momentum, farther detracting from the fun of the game.


In accordance with an embodiment, a temperature sensor includes a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) current generator having a first current output configured to provide a first temperature dependent current, a first curvature compensation circuit configured to provide a first compensating current to an internal node of the PTAT current generator, and a second curvature compensation circuit configured to add a second compensating current to the first current output. The first compensating current has a first non-linearity with respect to temperature, a portion of the first non-linearity is present in the first temperature dependent current, the second compensating current includes a second non-linearity with respect to temperature, such that the second non-linearity in the second compensating current substantially cancels out the first non-linearity in the first temperature dependent current.

Temperature sensors are commonly used in a variety of applications including thermostats for homes and for industrial use, safety systems, automotive systems, as well as various self-monitoring electronic systems. For example, a temperature sensor may be included on a same die as other electronic circuitry in order to detect increases in ambient temperature. When a high temperature is detected using such a temperature sensor that exceeds a particular limit, the system may take protective action such as shutting down the entire system or portions of the system. Temperature sensors may be further included in integrated circuits, such as a CPU to provide the temperature information for the whole IC for the purpose of thermal management. This information may be used by the integrated circuit to adjust parameters to improve the performance of the circuit over a certain temperature range.
Temperature sensors may be constructed in a variety of ways. For example, a temperature sensor may be constructed using a bi-metallic strip using two metals having different thermal expansion coefficients. The mechanical deflection of such a bi-metallic strip serves as an indication of the temperature of the bi-metallic stip.
Another way to implement a temperature sensor is electronically using solid state circuitry. For example, the junction voltage of a diode, which has an almost linear temperature dependency with negative slope, may be used to provide a measure of temperature.
In another example, a voltage difference between two diodes having two current densities may also be used to measure temperature. A circuit that uses such a voltage difference is commonly referred to as a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) generator, and produces an output signal that has linear temperature dependency with positive slope. To provide a digital output which is related to absolute temperature, a reference voltage is compared to an output signal of the PTAT generator. This reference voltage is expected to be temperature independent, and is typically derived from the PTAT generator by combining a junction voltage of diode and a scaled voltage difference between the two diodes. However, since the junction voltage of diode has some nonlinearity with respect to temperature, the resulting reference voltage has a nonlinear temperature dependency that produces a nonlinearity at temperature sensor's digital output.

System and method for temperature sensing


A power seat apparatus for a vehicle includes a lower rail, an upper rail, a screw member, a feed nut member fixed to the lower rail and meshed with the screw member, a retention member fixed to the upper rail, a fitting member rotatably held by the retention member and fixed to the screw member, a gear box mounted on the retention member and rotatably supporting an output rotation member, a drive unit transmitting a rotation drive force to the screw member, and first and second cut-and-lifted portions formed at first and second longitudinal walls of the upper rail respectively, the cut-and-lifted portions making contact with the fitting member when a load is applied to the screw member in an axial direction thereof to distribute the load to the upper rail, the cut-and lifted portions being formed by bending portions of the first and second longitudinal walls.

A known power seat apparatus is disclosed in JP2002-192996A (Reference 1). The power seat apparatus disclosed in Reference 1 includes a lower rail fixed to a vehicle floor, an upper rail supported by the lower rail so as to be slidable in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and supporting a vehicle seat, and a screw shaft provided between the lower rail and the upper rail so as to extend in a direction where the upper rail is slidable. The power seat apparatus further includes a nut member fixed to the lower rail to engage with the screw shaft, a gearbox supported by the upper rail and connected to one end of the screw shaft, and a motor transmitting a drive force to the screw shaft via the gearbox. The screw shaft is driven to rotate by rotations of the motor to thereby slide the upper rail relative to the lower rail in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
According to Reference 1, as a security measure for a possible application of a large load to the vehicle seat, two washers and a collar are provided at the screw shaft in a manner that the collar is arranged between the two washers. Then, a recess, which is formed by making two cuts in a side face of the upper rail and bending a portion between the two cuts inward, faces a portion between the washers so as to be arranged between the two washers. As a result, the excessive load applied to the vehicle seat (specifically, the upper rail) is transmitted, through the recess that makes contact with either of the washers, to the lower rail to thereby endure the excessive load.
However, according to the Reference 1, the two washers and the collar are additionally provided, thereby increasing a cost and an assembly time.
A need thus exists for a power seat apparatus for a vehicle which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.


An improved method and apparatus for forming a plasma-polymerized methylsilane (PPMS) photo-sensitive resist material includes the steps of pressurizing the chamber to between about 1 to about 2 Torr, heating the substrate to between about 50.degree. C. and about 200.degree. C., and plasma-polymerizing the precursor methylsilane gas to deposit a stable film having high-photosensitivity at high deposition rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally a method and apparatus for photolithographic semiconductor processing and more particularly to method and apparatus for depositing photoresist films.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Deposition of plasma polymerized methylsilane (PPMS) photoresist layers has been described in: an article by Weidman et al. entitled "New photodefinable glass etch masks for entirely dry photolithography: Plasma deposited organosilicon hydride polymers", published in Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 62, No. 4, 25 Jan. 1993, pp. 372-374; U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,780 to Joshi et al.; and an article by Weidman et al. entitled "All Dry Lithography: Applications of Plasma Polymerized Methylsilane as a Single Layer Resist and Silicon Dioxide Precursor" published in Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1995), pp. 679-686. As described in these references, a PPMS film having an amorphous organosilicon hydride network structure is deposited by plasma polymerization of a methylsilane precursor gas. When the PPMS film is exposed to UV radiation in the presence of an oxidant such as ambient air, exposed portions of the PPMS film undergo photo-oxidation to form a glasslike, siloxane network material (PPMSO). The resulting patterns can be developed utilizing chlorine plasma etching to provide negative tone patterns. Optionally, the developed pattern may be further oxidized and annealed to convert the remaining material to a hard oxide suitable for further processing. Advantageously, the deposition, development, patterning, and etching steps may all be performed in the gas phase, i.e., using dry plasma processing techniques.
For use in commercial processes, a PPMS film is required to have: (a) good stability, (b) high photosensitivity; and (c) a high deposition rate. Stability of a photoresist film relates to its resistance to degradation of exposure and processing characteristics when the film is exposed to oxidants such as ambient oxygen after the film is removed from a deposition chamber. Typically, in commercial processes the film may not be developed immediately after exposure. Thus, if the film is not stable, the exposed pattern will degrade before the film is developed. Photosensitivity of the photoresist film is the exposure dose ( measured, for example, as mJcm.sub.-2) required to develop patterns that are useful in subsequent pattern transfer steps. High photosensitivity is required in commercial processes so that a short exposure time can be utilized for each substrate. Lastly, deposition rate of the photoresist film (measured, for example, as .ANG./min) is the rate of increase of the film thickness during deposition. High deposition rates are required for high throughput.
The processes for depositing PPMS films disclosed in the above-identified references are not suitable for commercial use. Specifically, the references disclosed PPMS film deposition at low (ambient) temperature and at low (approximately 500 mTorr) pressure to avoid deposition of particles. However, the disclosed deposition rates at the low temperature and pressure are too low for commercial processes that require high wafer throughput.
Thus, in light of the above, there is a need in the art for commercially useful method and apparatus for depositing PPMS film.

Method and apparatus for depositing deep UV photoresist films


The invention relates to a method and a rock drilling rig for drilling a hole in a rock. In the method the hole is drilled with a so-called top-hammer rock drilling rig including a drill rod and a cone roller bit at the end of the drill rod. During drilling with the percussion device, stress pulses of low amplitude are produced at a high frequency of at least 200 Hz. In the rock drilling rig, the cone roller bit (3) at the end of the drill rod and the percussion device are configured to feed stress pulses of low amplitude, at the frequency of at least 200 Hz, via the drill rod and the cone roller bit to the rock.

The invention relates to a method for drilling a hole in rock with a top-hammer rock drilling rig comprising a rock drill, to which is attached a drill rod, at one end of which there is attached a drill bit, and which includes a percussion device and a rotation motor, in which method the drill rod and the drill bit are rotated with the rotation motor, and stress pulses are directed with the percussion device via the drill rod and the drill bit to the rock for breaking the rock. The invention further relates to a rock drilling rig for drilling a hole in rock, the rock drilling rig comprising a top-hammer rock drill, a drill rod attached thereto and a drill bit attached to the end of the drill rod, and the rock drill includes a percussion device for providing stress pulses via the drill rod and the drill bit to the rock and a rotation motor for rotating the drill rod and the drill bit.
When hard rock types are concerned, rock drilling is carried out with so-called top-hammer rock drilling rigs, which comprise a rock drill, a drill rod consisting of one or more interconnected parts attached thereto and a tool at the end of the drill rod, i.e. a drill bit. In known solutions, the drill bit has a fixed body in whose surface facing the direction of drilling there are embedded hard metal buttons which perform the actual rock breaking by the effect of a stress pulse from the percussion device. The known solutions have a drawback that rock breaking requires great forces, and therefore the hard metal buttons must be designed more in view of the duration of loading than efficient rock breaking. As the diameter of the hole increases the number of buttons breaking the bottom of the hole should also be increased. The increase in the number of buttons, in turn, makes it more difficult to design the drill bits, because the buttons are to be loaded in an even manner. The fact that, in practice, the buttons are loaded in a relatively uneven manner, decreases the drilling rate.
Further, it is also difficult to drill large holes, the maximum hole size being 5.5 to 6 inches, with top-hammer drilling rigs, because considerable problems already arise in drilling holes having a diameter of 5 inches. In the known top-hammer rock drilling rigs also the amount of energy required for rock breaking is very high, typically about 600 to 800 J. In current rigs, the hard metal buttons of the drill bits are subjected to extremely high strain. As the drill bits are pushed against the rock with great force and the buttons move sliding on the rock surface, the result is intense wear, which must also be taken into account in button shape design.
Large holes having a diameter of 8 to 10 inches are typically drilled with rotary drills operating without percussion and using drill bits provided with rotary cone roller bits. These have a problem that rock breaking requires extremely great static force, and consequently these so-called rotary drilling rigs are heavy and require sturdy bases.

Method and rock drilling rig for hole drilling


Fiber network for interrogating fiber-optic sensors in a first Passive Optical Network (PON) and in a second PON, the fiber network comprising a test signal transceiver for emitting query signals and for receiving response signals, a first PON and a second PON. Each PON comprises a light source for generating telecommunication signals and a fiber-optic sensor. Each PON can transmit the telecommunication signals to a plurality of subscribers, and is optically connected to the test signal transceiver such that the query signals can be fed into the respective PON and propagate in the PON to the fiber-optic sensor, and such that the test signal transceiver can receive response signals from the fiber-optic sensor through the PON. The fiber network further comprises a query signal splitter, optically connected to the test signal transceiver and to the PONs such that it can feed a query signal into the PONs simultaneously, and such that it can feed response signals from the PONs into the test signal transceiver.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fibre network comprising passive optical networks and sensors.
Background
Passive optical networks are used to transmit optical signals through optical fibres. In passive optical telecommunications networks, optical telecommunication signals are transmitted from a central office of a telecom provider to a number of telecommunications customers or subscribers. A typical passive optical network ("PON") connects approximately thirty subscribers to the central office, but PONs connecting fewer or many more subscribers exist as well. A typical PON comprises a combined light source/detector device, sometimes called an "Optical Light Terminal" ("OLT"), optical fibres, splitters and optical network units ("ONUs") at the subscriber locations. The OLT generates telecommunication signals which are transmitted through the optical fibres to the subscribers connected to the PON, and it receives telecommunication signals from the subscribers. At one or two stages of a typical PON, an optical splitter splits the signal of one fibre into several signals which are transmitted in separate optical fibres. Telecommunication signals are thereby cascaded to the ONUs of several subscribers. In order to provide thousands of subscribers with telecommunication services, a great number of PONs are required, each transmitting separate telecommunication signals from the central office to a number of subscribers.
In order to detect external effects like, for example, damage, vandalism, unauthorized access to elements of a PON, or environmental effects, some PONs comprise fibre-optic sensors. These sensors are mostly passive sensors, i.e. they do not require electrical energy to operate. Such fibre-optic sensors are often connected to a central office of the network operator through optical fibres of the PON, either through dedicated sensor fibres, which do not carry an additional communication signal ("dark fibres"), or through fibres that are used for the transmission of communication signals. In response to an external effect, such fibre-optic sensors can modify e.g. the attenuation of the fibre via which they are connected to the central office. Fibre-optic sensors in a PON can be interrogated or "read" by a test signal transceiver, for example by an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer ("OTDR"). For reading a fibre-optic sensor, the OTDR emits an optical query signal into the PON, and measures the intensity of a response signal, which originates from the query signal. Query signals and/or response signals may be called test signals. In order to obtain a stronger response signal, a fibre through which a fibre-optic sensor is connected to other elements of the PON (a "sensor fibre") is often equipped with a reflector, placed at the end of the sensor fibre and in the vicinity of the sensor. The response signal then originates from the modification, e.g. attenuation, of the query signal by the sensor. In a "normal" state of the fibre-optic sensor, the response signal has, for example, an intensity of 100%, while in an "activated" state of the sensor, the response signal has an intensity of 30%. The time delay between the emission of the query signal and the arrival of the response signal at the OTDR indicates the position of the fibre-optic sensor in the PON and can be used to identify a specific sensor. Interrogating fibre-optic sensors in a PON with such an OTDR technique is advantageous because OTDRs are traditionally used to locate fibre faults in fibre-optic networks and specifically in PONs. This traditional process of locating a fibre fault makes use of the fact that where a fibre is damaged, i.e. at a fibre fault, the signal transmission of the fibre is reduced, and the attenuation is high. The OTDR query signal is thus attenuated at the fibre fault, and the response signal is weaker than a response signal from an undamaged fibre. The OTDR determines the position of the fibre fault from the time delay between emission of the query signal and the receipt of the response signal. A fast OTDR measurement takes about one second, because the OTDR requires a certain amount of time for receiving the response signal and for subsequent data processing. However, due to dynamic range limitations, standard OTDR measurements for fibre fault location take significantly longer, since numerous individual measurements must be performed and averaged. Since fibre faults occur rarely, this time delay is normally not critical. The same OTDR device and the same technique can, in principle, be used to interrogate fibre-optic sensors in PONs.
Some fibre-optic sensors in a PON can be interrogated infrequently, for example a flooding sensor as described in the Japanese patent document JP 2010-212767 A2. Such sensors can therefore be interrogated using traditional, "slow" techniques for monitoring the fibres of a PON. One of those traditional "slow" fibre monitoring techniques is described in the European patent application EP 1980834 A1, where a network monitoring unit determines a failed fibre, and an optical switch is used to select the optical fibre to be tested. An OTDR launches an optical pulse signal into the optical fibre via the optical switch, and receives returning light reflected from reflectors in ONUs of the PON in which the failed fibre is located. It is stated in the document that it takes about 90 seconds per PON to carry out one measurement with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio for easy determination of a point of rupture of the fibre.
In order to protect the network infrastructure effectively, some sensors in a PON must be interrogated more frequently. For example, a sensor for detecting the opening of a door of a splice cabinet of a PON must be read not less frequently than about every 5 to 10 seconds. Otherwise, the door might be opened, an unauthorized activity done in the cabinet, and the door be closed again between two interrogations of the sensor, in which case the opening and closing of the door would remain unnoticed. The traditional technique of optically connecting one test signal transceiver, specifically an OTDR, to one PON via a switch, interrogating the sensors in the PON, then connecting the OTDR to a next PON and interrogating the sensors in this next PON, and so on, until all PONs have been connected to the OTDR and all sensors have been read, cannot provide a frequent-enough interrogation of a specific sensor in a specific PON. On the other hand it would be a very expensive solution to connect a dedicated test signal transceiver, e.g. an OTDR, to each PON, in order to read all sensors frequently enough. It is desirable to interrogate fibre-optic sensors in two or more PONs at a high frequency and using only a single test signal transceiver. The present disclosure seeks to address this problem.


Representative embodiments disclose mechanisms to complete partial queries entered by a user. Users enter a partial query. The partial query is used to search a short text index comprising the titles of documents. The search yields a list results. The top k entries of the list are selected and a language model is created from the top k entries. The language model comprises n-grams from the top k entries and an associated probability for each n-gram. A query completion generator creates query completion suggestions by matching n-grams with the partial query, removing candidate suggestions that to not comply with suggestion rules, and filtering the remaining suggestions according to a filtering criteria. The top N results are returned as suggestions to complete the query.

Many systems allow users to enter queries and/or questions (hereafter referred to collectively as queries) into a system for a variety of purposes, such as search, providing instructions to a digital assistant, and so forth. As the user types in the query, the system can monitor the keystrokes and provide a list of suggestions on how the query can be completed. When the user sees a query they are trying to type and/or that they like, they can scroll down and press 'enter' or otherwise indicate that is the query they would like to submit. The goal of autocomplete systems is to eliminate work on the part of the user (i.e., prevent the user from having to type in the complete query).
Modern autosuggest or autocomplete systems memorize the most common queries/questions (hereafter referred to as queries). A probability chain is established where the system predicts the likely next word(s)/term(s) given what has been entered so far.
Modern autocomplete systems typically use a trie data structure for extreme efficiency because the suggestions must be returned in a few milliseconds to avoid disrupting the user's typing pattern. (Suggestions should not be shown substantially slower than user keystroke speed.) A trie is a densely packed tree data structure where each vertex node in the tree contains entries. For query autocomplete purposes, the path to the node is encoded as the series of characters of the query prefix. This approach relies on memorization of past queries that can be stored in the trie, and thus cannot make suggestions when query prefixes are not already stored in the trie.
A variant approach to this one supports simple rotations of terms from the prefix that do have entries in a trie. This extends the coverage beyond exact query prefix matching, but still relies on known queries being stored in the trie. Due to performance considerations, it is not possible to consider all possible permutations of the prefix.
It is within this context that the present embodiments arise.

Corpus specific generative query completion assistant


Using an in silico testing environment, host-pathogen interactions can be modeled and simulated by, in any effective order, identifying a plurality of biological events associated with a pathogen's invasion of a host; identifying for each biological event, at least one agent associated with the event; describing the state for each agent and/or identifying at least one action for each agent; identifying at least one interaction between agents; simulating a temporal course of the host-pathogen interaction using the plurality of biological events; and displaying the results of the simulation phase. The simulation phase may be accomplished using an agent-based simulation system that includes a feedback loop. The feedback loop is configured for continuously using output of at least one simulation as input for at least another simulation until an end is met.

In the wake of the September 2001 attacks and mailing of anthrax-laced envelopes, policymakers and the public have become increasingly more concerned with bioterrorism and the emergence of disease-causing organisms (pathogens). Currently, computational models indicate the social effect of such pathogens on a human population. However, to understand how these diseases work, and to effectively aid emergency responders in any epidemic or bioterrorist attacks, a model needs to be developed to predict what may happen to and within a person when a person becomes infected.
The onset, duration and outcome of a disease state or infection are complex dynamic processes that are mediated by interactive responses in which both the pathogen and the infected host play opposing roles. Pathogenic mechanisms are normally investigated using laboratory (in vitro) and live (in vivo) studies. The in vitro approach provides a means of investigating and testing the pathogenic mechanism using components of the host against which the pathogen demonstrates a virulence effect. In vivo studies, using natural hosts or genetic variants (mutants) that exhibit modified susceptibility, provide data on living systems.
Specific in vivo studies may include either outcome observations using the intact host or directed observation of host components after onset of the disease. The use of in vitro and in vivo studies, while providing a sound basis for the study of the host-pathogen interaction in the disease, each exhibit limitations. It is also frequently difficult to link the in vitro (mechanistic) studies to the in vivo observations. Furthermore, for some diseases (e.g., human diseases like anthrax) the lethal effects on the test subjects precludes in vivo studies that involve human (host) exposure to a disease-causing organism (pathogen). Nonetheless, the ability to understand and describe the host-pathogen interaction is a key factor in enabling practitioners to test the current intervention strategies and possibly devise strategies based on simulation studies.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have a model that can simulate what may happen to an individual when that individual is exposed to the pathogen or contracts a disease. Not only can such model facilitate a better understanding of the potential effects that a pathogen may have on a person, but it can also provide a time range as to how much time emergency responders or medical practitioners have to save an individual before life-threatening symptoms manifest. Moreover, such a model can help perform "what if" studies and develop testable hypotheses concerning a host-pathogen relationship. It would also be desirable to have a computational model to predict host-pathogen interactions that would ease concerns regarding animal testing. In addition, it would be desirable to have such a model to save hours of research time and costs.

Modeling long-term host-pathogen interactions

George Mason Intellectual Properties, Inc.


Search results are generated using aggregated context data from two or more contexts. When two or more programmable search engines relate to a similar topic, context data associated with the programmable search engines are aggregated. The context is then applied to a query in order to present, in an integrated manner, relevant search results that make use of context intelligence from more than one programmable search engine.

The development of information retrieval systems has predominantly focused on improving the overall quality of the search results presented to the user. The quality of the results has typically been measured in terms of precision, recall, or other quantifiable measures of performance. Information retrieval systems, or "search engines" in the context of the Internet and World Wide Web, use a wide variety of techniques to improve the quality and usefulness of the search results. These techniques address every possible aspect of search engine design, from the basic indexing algorithms and document representation, through query analysis and modification, to relevance ranking and result presentation, methodologies too numerous to fully catalog here.
Regardless of the particular implementation technique, the fundamental architectural assumption for search engines has been that the search engine's operational model is fixed and non-alterable by entities external to the system itself. That is, the search engine operates essentially as a "black box" that receives a search query, processes the query using a preprogrammed search algorithm and relevance ranking model, and provides the search results. Even where the details of the search algorithm are publicly disclosed, the search engine itself still operates only according to this algorithm and nothing more.
An inherent problem in the design of search engines is that the relevance of search results to a particular user depends on factors that are highly dependent on the user's intent in conducting the searched (in other words, the reason they are conducting the search) as well as the user's circumstances (in other words, the facts pertaining to the user's information need). Thus, given the same query by two different users, a given set of search results can be relevant to one user and irrelevant to another, entirely because of the different intent and information needs. Most attempts at solving the problem of inferring a user's intent typically depend on relatively weak indicators, such as static user preferences, or predefined methods of query reformulation that are nothing more than educated guesses about what the user is interested in based on the query terms. Approaches such as these cannot fully capture user intent because such intent is itself highly variable and dependent on numerous situational facts that cannot be extrapolated from typical query terms.
Consider, for example a user query for "Canon Digital Rebel", which is the name of a currently popular digital camera. From the query alone it is impossible to determine the user's intent, for example, whether the user is interested in purchasing such a camera, or whether the user owns this camera already and needs technical support, or whether the user is interested in comparing the camera with competitive offerings, or whether the user is interested in learning to use this camera. That is, the user's situational facts (e.g., whether or not they own the camera currently, their level of expertise in the subject area), and their information need (e.g., the type, form, level of detail, of the request information) cannot themselves be reliably determined by either analysis of query terms, or resort to previously stored preference data about the user.
Another method of inferring intent is the tracking and analysis of prior user queries to build a model of the user's interests. Thus, some search engines store search queries by individual users, and then attempt to determine the user's interests based on frequency of key words appearing in the search queries, as well as which search results the user accesses. One problem with this approach is the assumption that queries accurately reflect a user's interests, either short term or long term. Another is that it assumes that there is a direct and identifiable relationship between a given information need, say shopping for a digital camera, and the particular query terms used to find information relevant to that need. That assumption however is incorrect, as the same query terms can be used by the same (or different users) having quite different information needs. Furthermore, such a technique is limited in its effectiveness because only one type of data (prior searches) is used. Other contextual and situational information is not captured or represented in query history and cannot therefore be used in such a methodology.
Perhaps because in part of the inability of contemporary search engines to consistently find information that satisfies the user's information need, and not merely the user's query terms, users frequently turn to websites that offer highly specialized information about particular topics. These websites are typically constructed by individuals, groups, or organizations that have expertise in the particular subject area (e.g., knowledge about digital cameras). Such sites, referred to herein as vertical content sites, often include specifically created content that provides in-depth information about the topic, as well as organized collections of links to other related sources of information. For example, a website devoted to digital cameras typically includes product reviews, guidance on how to purchase a digital camera, as well as links to camera manufacturer's sites, price comparison engines, other sources of expert opinion and the like. In addition, the domain experts often have considerable knowledge about which other resources available on the Internet are of value and which are not. Using his or her expertise, the content developer can at best structure the site content to address the variety of different information needs of users.
However, while such vertical content sites provide extensive useful information that the user can access to address a particular current information need, the problem remains that when the user returns to a general search engine to further search for relevant information, none of the expertise provided by the vertical content site is made available to the search engine. Many vertical content sites provide a search field from which the user can access a general search engine. This field is merely used to pass a user's search query back to the general search engine. However, none of the expertise that is expressed in the vertical content site is directly available to the general search engine as part of the user's query in order to provide more meaningful search results. The expert content developer has no formal, programmatic way of passing information to the general search engine that expresses his or her expertise in their particular knowledge site.
In other words, there are no contemporary search engines that can be programmed by external entities, such as vertical content sites, during the search process itself, in way that can enhance the search process with the expertise of the content developer of the vertical content site.
Furthermore, there is generally no mechanism for aggregating context data that has been harvested from a number of programmable search engines. Furthermore, there is generally no mechanism for automatically determining how to redirect and/or process search queries in accordance with programmable search techniques, even when the user has not entered the query at a vertical search site. Finally, there is no mechanism for leveraging aggregated context data in order to determine how to redirect and/or process search queries.

Aggregating context data for programmable search engines


Method for determining the number of applications of erasing pulses, including extracting two pairs of the accumulated number of the erasing pulses Np and the ratio Re of the number of erased memory cells in the target block to be erased after the accumulated number of the erasing pulses Np has been applied, converting the two ratios Re into normalized variables S(Re) through normalizing the random variables of the normal distribution probability with standard deviations, converting the two accumulated numbers of the erasing pulses Np into common logarithms Log(Np), calculating a common logarithm Log(Nt) through extrapolating from two sets of coordinates [Log(Np), S(Re)], and determining the number of applications of the remaining erasing pulses so that the extrapolation erasing pulse number Nt is the target accumulated number of applications of erasing pulses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for setting erasing pulse determining the number of or time for applications of the erasing pulses in a block erasing operation where a target block which consists mainly of a number of memory cells to be erased in a nonvolatile memory is erased by applying the erasing pulses plural times for erasing its block data together. Also, the present invention relates to a method for screening erasing defects in the nonvolatile memory and, more particularly, to a screening method capable of specifying defective memory cells which are slower in the erasing operation than the normally erased memory cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical example of the nonvolatile memory is a flash erasable, electrically programmable read-only memory (flash EEPROM) including an electrically insulated MOS gate called a floating gate (see "A Single Transistor EEPROM Cell and Implementation in 512 k CMOS EEPROM" by S. Mukherjee et. al, IEDM Technical Digest, p. 616, 1985).
FIG. 1 illustrates a memory cell structure of such a conventional flash EPROM. The structure has a layer arrangement where the floating gate 1 is disposed to control directly a channel 2 and store data (electrons) and a control gate 4 is stacked over the floating gate 1 via an insulating layer 3. As apparent from an equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 2, the floating gate 1 is isolated from the external terminals by the insulating layer and its potential is controllably determined by capacitance coupling of the four external terminals. As the data writing operation is based on the mechanism of hot carrier phenomenon which is equal to the principle of writing operation on an ultraviolet ray erasable EPROM, it allows the electrons to be loaded with a higher level of energy than the barrier height of a tunnel gate oxide layer 5 serving as the insulating layer and injected in the floating gate 1. The erasing operation based on the mechanism of Fowler-Nordheim tunnel phenomenon involves releasing the electrons across the tunnel oxide layer 5 of an overlap region between the floating gate 1 and the source diffusion 6. This can control the number of electrons in the floating gate 1. The reading operation which is equal to that of a common NOR type MOS memory involves sensing a difference in the driving current for the accumulated data (the number of electrons) in each memory cell selectively activated through the bit line (drain 7) and the word line (control gate 4).
A conventional erasing operation for a nonvolatile memory involves applying an erasing voltage to a number of memory cells (bits) at once in a target block to be erased simultaneously. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the erasing operation of a control circuit over the target block in a memory cell array.
The procedure starts with setting an erasing voltage generation circuit with a voltage condition for the erasing operation (step 301). A target block to be erased is selected (step 302). As the erasing pulses have been applied (step 303), unerased bits are counted at the erase verification level (reference threshold voltage for verification) (step 304). When the number of unerased bits is not zero (step 305), the procedure repeats a loop of the pulse applying operation in step 303 and the unerased bit counting operation in step 304 until the number of unerased bits turns to zero or the number of applications of the erasing pulses reaches its maximum.
The erasing operation for a conventional flash EPROM is disclosed with an erasing algorithm in JP-A 02-10596.
The erasing operation on the conventional nonvolatile memory involves applying an erasing voltage to a number of memory cells (bits) at once in a target block to be erased simultaneously. Since all the bits in the target block to be erased are subjected at once to the erasing operation, the distribution of threshold voltages after the erasing operation which is ideally a normal distribution as denoted by (a) in FIG. 4 may be interrupted by various factors in the manufacturing process thus exhibiting irregular groups of bits (b) and (c) off the normal distribution. The bit group (b) is called over erased bits. When the threshold voltage in the memory cells is too low, it may increase leaks during the readout operation from unselected memory cells connected to the common bit lines, whereby the readout current at the memory cells will hardly be determined (erroneous readout). The bit group (c) is called slowly erased bits. The erasing operation in the prior art includes monitoring the number of unerased bits at the erase verification level (reference threshold voltage for verification) or the number of bits higher than the threshold voltage of the erase verification level. When the number of unerased bits turns to zero, the erasing operation is ended. If a group of slowly erased bits (c) exist, an extra number of erasing pulses is applied for decreasing the threshold voltage to lower than the erase verification level. As a result, the threshold voltage will be declined to a much lower level with the ideal normal distribution (a) and the over erased bit group (b) than that where the bit group (c) is absent. This will increase the number of memory cells at lower levels of the threshold voltage, permitting the unselected memory cells to be read out with difficulty due to the occurrence of off-leak currents.
For screening the defective bits (c), the method of the prior art includes presetting the maximum of erasing pulse application time, conducting the erasing operation through a procedure shown in FIG. 3, and discarding as the slowly erased bits unerased bits which are unerased when the pulse application time has exceeded its preset absolute maximum. FIG. 5 illustrates a profile of distribution of the threshold voltages when the maximum number of erasing pulses has been applied.
However, the erasing operation depends largely on and may be disturbed in the characteristics by the effect of variations in the factors at the manufacturing process which include the tunnel oxide layer thickness, the coupling rate of the floating gate, and the threshold voltage at the erasing operation with ultraviolet ray. It will be very difficult for conducting the erasing operation with a margin not to over-kill the normal distribution because the variations declining the accuracy are eliminated only at the area denoted by (d) in FIG. 5. Also, as the width (e) of the distribution of the threshold voltages shown in FIG. 4 is varied during the manufacturing process, it will additionally decline the accuracy.
The method of the prior art includes a sequence of controlling the memory array control circuit provided on a chip form of the memory where the number of unerased bits is counted (examined) whenever the erasing pulses are applied. As the result, the erasing operation will be increased in the time consumption by a length expressed by (the total number of erasing pulses×the time for examining unerased bit number).

Method for setting erasing pulses and screening erasing defects of nonvolatile memory


The aspect ratio information of an input video signal is detected and rewritten in such a way that the contents of the aspect ratio information of RDI located at the head of each video object unit and the contents of the aspect ratio information in the sequence header of the compressed video data in the VOBU to which the RDI belongs are coordinated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus provided with a functional feature of coordinately processing restrictive information such as aspect ratio information including small units of data and larger units of data containing such small units.
This invention may typically be applicable to a recording/reproducing apparatus such as one adapted to use a DVD (digital versatile disk), one comprising a hard disk or a built-in large capacity semiconductor memory, or one adapted to simultaneously use a hard disk and a removable DVD, or similar, storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in the technology of image compression, a DVD Standard employing both the MPEG 2 (Moving Image Coding Expert Group) System that is currently used as an international standard and the AC3 Audio Compression System has been proposed.
This standard is adapted to support the MPEG 2 System for moving image compression and also the AC3 Audio Compression System and the MPEG Audio Compression System for audio compression. It is also adapted to handle sub image data obtained by run length compression of bit map data for superimposition in movies and karaoke videos. This standard also provides addition of control data (navi-pack) for special reproduction operations, such as fast forwarding and fast rewinding in reproducing apparatuses. Furthermore, this standard is also adapted to support the standards for ISO9660 and micro UDF.
Additionally, the standard for DVD-RAMs (with a storage capacity of about 4.7 GB) has been completed for the media and DVD-RAM drives have been popularly marketed as peripheral devices of computers.
Still additionally, the standard for RTR (real time recording)-RAMs which is a standard allowing DVD videos to record/reproduce information on a real time bases has been almost completed and the verifying operation will soon be over. This standard is based on the standard for currently marketed DVD videos. Efforts for providing a standard for file systems corresponding to such RTR-DVDs are currently being made.
Meanwhile, systems for recording/reproducing broadcast signals by utilizing a hard disk drive (HDD) built in a recording/reproducing apparatus are being discussed currently. Data with a volume more than 100 G bytes can be stored by means of a hard disk drive.
Along with the development of image compression technology, efforts are being paid for developing recording/reproducing apparatus that are adapted to effectively utilize information storage media (DVDs, hard disks, semiconductor memories, etc.) for the purpose of recording broadcast signals.
In a possible mode of utilization of such an apparatus, a signal of a broadcast program (or a signal reproduced from some other recording medium) is input to a recording/reproducing apparatus, which converts the program signal into a predetermined format and stores it in a recording medium. Such recording operations will be carried out in preset intermittent program recording time slots. A number of programs will be temporarily stored in a built-in storage medium (hard disk). Then, different programs will be combined and edited by cutting off parts of them.
In such a mode of utilization, however, television programs with different aspect ratios may be arranged.
However, the mutual relationship between the aspect ratio information defined for the format of DVD-RAM and the aspect ratio information defined for the MPEG format is not specifically defined in apparatuses adapted to use a DVD-RAM. This means that, if aspect ratio information is contained in the management information (RDI pack to be used for navigation) added in the form of a video object units defined for the format of DVD-RAM, it may be different from the aspect ratio information in the video sequence header. When such a contradiction exists, the right aspect ratio may not be determined for a video reproducing operation and the information recording/reproducing apparatus may operate in a wrong way. Additionally, a wrong aspect ratio may be selected for a video reproducing operation.

Information recording/reproducing apparatus and method of coordinately processing pieces of aspect ratio information


A hinge assembly (1) includes a housing (10) encasing a rotating mechanism (30) and an elastic plate (40) therein, with an open end (12) of the housing being covered by an end cover (50). The rotating mechanism has a cam portion (32), and a connector (31) and a shaft (33) located at opposite ends of the cam portion. The connector rotatably extends through a hole (51) of the end cover. The rotating mechanism is rotatably engaged in the housing, with the shaft being rotatably received in a bushing (13) inside the housing. The cam portion has an arcuate cam surface (322) defining at least one flat surface (324) thereon. The elastic plate abuts between an inside wall of the housing and the arcuate surface. During rotation of a cover of a folding phone, the arcuate surface is rotatably engaged with the elastic plate until the elastic plate is positioned on the flat surface of the cam portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for hinging together the housings of foldable devices, and particularly to an apparatus for hinging together the housings of a foldable mobile phone.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable radiotelephones having two housings joined by a type of hinge that allows the housings to fold upon one another are well known in the art. Some such folding radiotelephones have most of the electronics in one housing, called the main housing, and fewer electronics in the other housing, called the cover. Other such folding radiotelephones have all the electronics in the body, with the cover serving only to cover the keypad and/or the display of the radiotelenhone. Manufacturers have tried to reduce the volume, size and weight of portable radiotelephones. Thus, it is desirable that the hinge coupling the main housing with the cover is modularized and miniaturized. A modularized hinge is required to have a unified structure for holding moving parts of the hinge such as a cam member, a cam follower and a spring. For miniaturization, the size and the number of parts of the hinge should be reduced.
Such kind of hinge assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,387, and is represented in FIG. 5 herein. The hinge assembly has a can 21, a first hinge member 22, a second hinge member 23, and a spring 24. The first hinge member 22, the second hinge member 23 and the spring 24 are inserted into the can 21 with an open end 217 of the can 21 being partially covered by way of bending protrusions 213 of the can 21. The first hinge member 22 is inserted through the open end 217 of the can 21 with a shaft 222 thereof extending trough a hole 211 of the can 21. The second hinge member 23 is inserted through the opene end 217 of the can 21 so that two protrusions 223 of the first hinge member 22 can be engaged with peaks 235 and valleys 236 of a cam portion 233 of the second hinge member 23, and a cylindrical guide column 234 is located between the two protrusions 223 for guiding the relative motion between the first and second hinge members 22, 23. The spring 24 exerts an elastic force on the second hinge member 23 to push the second hinge member 23 toward the first hinge member 22. However, the cylindrical guide column 234 may deviate from the rotating axis during rotation, and as a result, the second hinge member 23 cannot smoothly and stably move relative to the first hinge member 22. Furthermore, it is hard to keep the spring 24 move longitudinally, since there is no longitudinal support or guide member for fixing the spring 24. Thus the spring 24 can easily be damaged, and the second hinge member 23 cannot smoothly and stably move relative to the first hinge member 22.
Therefore, an improved structure of a hinge assembly which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art is desired.


A drill string in a borehole can be cut at the drill collars. A torch is lowered into the drill string and positioned at a joint of the drill collar string. The joint has a pin component and a box component. The torch has one or more openings in the pattern of a vertical slot. The torch is ignited and the pin component is cut in a direction along the length of the drill string. The joint uncoupled, even though the box component need not be cut. The uncoupling of the joint effectively cuts the drill string at the joint.

In oil and gas wells, a drill string is used to drill a well bore into the earth. The drill string is typically a length of drill pipe extending from the surface into the well bore. The bottom end of the drill string has a drill bit.
In order to increase the effectiveness of drilling, weight in the form of one or more drill collars is included in the drill string. A string of drill collars is typically located just above the drill bit and its sub. The string of drill collars contains a number of drill collars. A drill collar is similar to drill pipe in that it has a passage extending from one end to the other for the flow of drilling mud. The drill collar has a wall thickness around the passage; the wall of a drill collar is typically much thicker than the wall of comparable drill pipe. This increased wall thickness enables the drill collar to have a higher weight per foot of length than comparable drill pipe.
During drilling operations, the drill string may become stuck in the hole. If the string cannot be removed, then the drill string is cut. Cutting involves lowering a torch into the drill string and physically severing the drill string in two, wherein the upper part can be removed for reuse in another well bore. The part of the drill string located below the cut is left in the well bore and typically cannot be retrieved or reused. Cutting is a salvage operation. A particularly effective cutting tool is my radial cutting torch described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,679.
The radial cutting torch produces combustion fluids that are directed radially out to the pipe. The combustion fluids are directed out in a complete circumference so as to cut the pipe all around the pipe circumference.
It is desired to cut the drill string as close as possible to the stuck point, in order to salvage as much of the drill string as possible. Cutting the drill string far above the stuck point leaves a section of retrievable pipe in the hole.
If, for example, the drill bit or its sub is stuck, then in theory one of the drill collars can be cut to retrieve at least part of the drill collar string. Unfortunately, cutting a drill collar, with its thick wall, is difficult. It is much easier to cut the thinner wall drill pipe located above the drill collars. Consequently, the drill collar string may be left in the hole, as the drill string is cut above the drill collar.
It is desired to cut a drill collar for retrieval purposes.

Removal of downhole drill collar from well bore


An image recording apparatus (1) causes a recording head (20) to move through a distance corresponding to one half of the recording width of the recording head (20) in a sub-scanning direction each time a recording drum (10) makes one rotation. This, light emitting devices (23, 24) record two line data in advance, and thereafter following light emitting devices (21, 22) record the same line data repeatedly at the same position. This increases the energy of laser light beams given to a recording position on a printing plate (P) to accomplish the recording of an image with reliability. The recording speed is not extremely decreased because not all light emitting devices (21 to 24) are used to make the repeated recordings at the same position on the printing plate (P). Further, the construction of optical systems and driving systems in the image recording apparatus is not complicated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by scanning a surface of the recording medium with a light beam.
2. Description of the Background Art
An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a surface of a printing plate by scanning the surface of the printing plate with a light beam has conventionally been known. For example, an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a surface of a printing plate for use in flexographic printing and letterpress printing has been known. The surface of the printing plate for use in flexographic printing and letterpress printing is made of a photosensitive resin. When irradiated with a light beam, the surface of the printing plate becomes uneven, whereby an image is recorded on the printing plate.
For the recording of an image on such a printing plate with reliability, it is desirable to increase the energy given from the light beam to a recording location on the printing plate. For the increase in the energy given from the light beam, National Publication of Translation No. 11-500962 (1999) discloses the technique of irradiating a printing plate with a plurality of laser light beams brought together on the same optical axis, and Japanese Patent No. 3556204 discloses the technique of recording at the same position on a printing plate sequentially with a plurality of beams.
The technique disclosed in National Publication of Translation No. 11-500962, however, requires the provision of an optical system for bringing the plurality of laser light beams together to present a problem in that mechanical parts including the optical system have a complicated structure. The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3556204 presents the problem of significant decrease in image recording speed because all of the beams sequentially impinge upon the same position on the printing plate. Increasing the speed of rotation of a recording drum and the speed of feed of a recording head can improve the image recording speed. However, there are definite limits to the increase in the speed of operation of systems for driving the recording drum, the recording head and the like.

Apparatus for and method of recording image


Path-relevant information is provided by a backend server system to a vehicle without an input or request from the vehicle operator. Program applications, including a web browser application, records vehicle route data in a local memory during vehicle travel. Such vehicle route data may include current GPS coordinates, time of day, day of week, etc. The recorded vehicle route data may then be used to locally generate one or more route prediction models. A predicted vehicle route may be generated from the route prediction models. Once a vehicle route has been predicted, coordinate data corresponding to the predicted route may be transmitted to a backend server. Thereafter, path-relevant information, based on the transmitted coordinate data, may then be received from the backend server, and without the vehicle operator having to provide any input or request.

"Geographically-relevant information" is generally used to describe information that has the potential to be useful to someone at a particular physical location. For example, geographically-relevant information may include business locations, weather conditions, traffic conditions, safety information, street/road topologies, upcoming speed limit changes, points of interest, naturally occurring physical structures, etc.
While there are known systems that provide geographically-relevant information to vehicle operators, such systems suffer from two drawbacks. First, they are typically limited to providing geographically-relevant information based only on the vehicle's current position. This is disadvantageous because the driver may not have sufficient time to react to the information (e.g., location of a gas station, road conditions, etc.) before it is too late.
An improvement on the above system that some modern in-vehicle navigation systems have realized is to use destination information entered by the vehicle operator to access geographically-relevant information. However, requiring the vehicle operator to enter such destination information is tedious and distracting. And in cases where the driver has not taken the trouble to enter any destination information, at best the driver will only be able to access information that is potentially relevant to the vehicle's then-current position.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method of automatically presenting path-relevant information to a vehicle operator based on a predicted route.

System and method for automatically receiving geo-relevant information in a vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A book support of the clip-on type including a label holder having at least one transparent label viewing surface which may releasably engage to the front wall of the book support in covering, spaced relation thereto. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the label holder includes two planar label viewing surfaces which lie in orthogonally oriented planes. When attached to the front wall of the book support, the label holder and front wall form a substantially triangular transverse cross-section. A label having shelf-identifying indicia printed thereon may be removably inserted between the label holder and the front wall of the book support for viewing through the label holder viewing surfaces. The indicia is printed twice in symmetrical arrangement on the label such that the indicia appearing through the first label viewing surface is the same indicia that appears through the second label viewing surface. As such, the shelf-identifying indicia is displayed about a large viewing angle of at least 180.degree.. The large viewing angle proves especially useful to person perusing down consecutive aisles of book shelves in that the person need not have to stand directly in front of the book support to see the label.

This application relates to book supports and, more particularly, to a book support of the type which clips onto the forward edge of a shelf. The book support further includes novel label holder and viewing means providing at least two vertically and orthogonally oriented, transparent viewing windows.
Clip-on book supports are known in the art and comprise an upper, book-contacting support structure with a clip projecting rearwardly from the bottom front portion of the book-contacting support structure. The book support is attached to a shelf upon which books are positioned in the conventional vertically oriented, cover-to-cover arrangement. The clip of the book support engages the forward edge of the shelf with the upper book-contacting structure firmly resting upon the shelf in an up-right, standing position by the clip. The book support is selectively positioned upon the shelf with the book-contacting structure thereof firmly abutted against the exposed cover of the end book of a stack of books. The book-contacting structure provides a laterally directed force against the end book thereby preventing the books from falling over on the shelf. An example of such a book support may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,838 issued to Cooke on May 4, 1982.


A pressure exchange device is provided that utilizes an integral high pressure boost pump that is in fluid communication with a pressure exchange unit. An optional low pressure boost pump unit may also be provided. The pressure exchange unit comprises a rotating rotor assembly inside a housing to transfer the pressure of a fluid from one high pressure fluid to another low pressure fluid.

This invention relates to pressure exchangers for transfer of energy from one liquid flow to another. More specifically, this invention relates to pressure exchangers having an integral pump for the transfer of energy from one liquid stream to another.
The present invention provides a device that can be appropriately described as an engine for exchanging pressure energy between relatively high and relatively low pressure fluid systems, which the term fluid being defined here as including gases, liquids and pumpable mixtures of liquids and solids. The engine for pressure energy exchange of the present invention is a highly efficient device with well over 90% of the energy of pressurization in a pressurized fluid system being transferred to a fluid system at a lower pressure. The device employed for achieving this highly efficient transfer has a long and trouble free operating life which is not interrupted by the plugging and fouling of valves, or the binding or freezing of sliding pistons or the like.
In accordance with the prior art, a typical application of such a pressure exchange apparatus required the use of externally fitted boost pumps to assist the flow of the fluid through the process. This approach would require the use of two separate motors, additional plumbing fittings and often separate power supplies. The present invention provides a device that provides both the pressure exchange function and the boost pump function in a single, efficient package. This approach reduces the need for separate motors, reduces the plumbing requirements and power supply requirements. In this fashion, a system employing the present invention will be less expensive to set up, more reliable and less costly to maintain.
In some industrial processes, elevated pressures are required only in certain parts of the operation to achieve the desired results, following which the pressurized fluid is depressurized. In other processes, some fluids used in the process are available at high pressures and others at low pressures, and it is desirable to exchange pressure energy between these two fluids. As a result, in some applications, great improvement in economy can be realized if pressure exchange can be efficiently transferred between the two fluids.
By way of example, a pressure exchange engine finds application in the production of potable water using the reverse osmosis membrane process. In this process, a feed saline solution is pumped into a membrane array at high pressure. The input saline solution is then divided by the membrane array into super saline solution (brine) at high pressure and potable water at low pressure. While the high pressure brine is no longer useful in this process as a fluid, the pressure energy that it contains has high value. A pressure exchange engine is employed to recover the pressure energy in the brine and transfer it to feed saline solution. After transfer of the pressure energy in the brine flow, the brine is expelled at low pressure to drain.
Accordingly, pressure exchangers of varying design are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,747 to Hashemi et al. teaches a pressure exchanger for transfer of pressure energy from a liquid flow of one liquid system to a liquid flow of another liquid system. This pressure exchanger comprises a housing with an inlet and outlet duct for each liquid flow, and a cylindrical rotor arranged in the housing and adapted to rotate about its longitudinal axis. The cylindrical rotor is provided with a number of passages or bores extending parallel to the longitudinal axis and having an opening at each end. In accordance with the prior art, a boost pump is employed to reintroduce pressure exchanged fluid into the filtration system. As mentioned previously, this boost pump is a stand alone device employing a separate motor and additional plumbing.
Describing this filtration system in more detail, refer to FIG. 3 which shows a filtration system in accordance with the prior art. A salt water filtration system 300 is shown that uses a reverse osmosis process for the production of potable water which comprises a pressure exchange device 10a in accordance with the prior art.
An unfiltered salt water reservoir 201 provides a supply of unfiltered salt water which is pumped to a high pressure pump 204 by reservoir pump 202. Typically the reservoir pump 202 supplies unfiltered salt water to both the high pressure pump 202 and the pressure exchange device 10a at approximately 30 psi pressure at approximately equal flow rates. The high pressure pump 204 boosts the pressure to approximately 1000 psi and supplies the unfiltered salt water to a filter element 208. In this particular application, and not by way of limitation, the filter element 208 comprises a reverse osmosis type filter device which removes the impurities from the water and provides a fresh water supply 210. A pressure drop occurs in the filter element 208 such that a supply of waste water 209 exits the filter element 208 at approximately 980 psi. Rather than dump this waste water 209 at this elevated pressure, the waste water 209 is supplied to a high pressure inlet 104 of the pressure exchange device 10a. This high pressure waste water is thus used to pressurize additional unfiltered salt water for use in the filtration process. Reuse of the pressure energy contained in the high pressure waste water 209 thus provides for a highly efficient filtration system 200.
As mentioned previously, the reservoir pump 202 supplies unfiltered salt water to a low pressure inlet 100 of the pressure exchange device 10a. The pressure exchange device 10a is configured to raise the pressure of the unfiltered salt water supplied to it by the reservoir pump 202 to a pressure equal to the pressure of the waste water 209 supplied to the high pressure inlet 104.
A high pressure outlet 106 located on the pressure exchange device 10a is in fluid communication with a separate boost pump 214. The pressure energy of the waste water 209 from the high pressure outlet 106 is supplied to the separate boost pump 214 for example at approximately 960 psi and the boost pump 214 raises the pressure to the high pressure pump discharge pressure and supplies the unfiltered salt water to the filter element 208 for filtration. Thus, a closed loop system is provided that maximizes the use of the waste water and reuses the high pressure of the waste water to increase system efficiency.
However, the use of a separate boost pump in accordance with the prior art has proven problematic and costly. A separate pump reduces overall system reliability and also increases operating and fabrication costs.
There therefore is a need for a pressure exchanger which provides for an integral boost pump feature.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pressure exchange apparatus with integral pump