A heat exchanger with enhanced spacing and sealing characteristics is formed by folding a continuous strip of material having a rectangular pattern stamped thereon. The pattern includes rectangles which constitute base walls and side walls with multiple tabs on the periphery of the strip which comprise wall tabs and bonding tabs respectively. The continuous strip when folded forms a series of alternatingly stacked air passageways, created by the union of each of the base walls, side walls and wall tabs on the periphery of the strip. The bonding tabs may form a seal with a base wall internally, or the bonding tabs may form a seal with another matching bonding tab externally of the created air passageways. The heat exchanger formed upon folding has a number of alternating air passageways which are of a sufficient width for effective transfer of thermal energy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a heat exchanger, and more particularly to a continuous strip which when folded along a pattern imposed thereon, creates a heat exchanger with alternating flow passages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heat exchangers provide a means for transferring thermal energy from one fluid stream to another while permitting no mixing of streams to occur. Heat exchangers are often used in indirect evaporative coolers whereby a water spray evaporatively cools scavenger air in the passages thereof.
Early heat exchangers were fabricated by joining separate plates in an adjacent manner so as to provide passageways for air flow. However, the large number of edges needed to be bonded, combined with the ineffectiveness of such bonds, led to problems such as cross leakage and inefficient transfer of energy. Such problems prompted the bonding of the edges of many separate plates to be replaced by the folding of a continuous strip of material.
The continuous strip of material forming most conventional heat exchangers, is usually patterned with fold lines thereon and folded along such lines to arrive at a configuration appropriate for thorough heat exchange. By folding as many edges of the strip as possible, the number of edges that must be bonded is greatly reduced.
Although this process has led to a reduction in the number of edges which require bonding, the pattern on the strip and the manner in which the edges have been bonded has led to limitations on the spacing between walls of the heat exchanger. The spacing of the walls determines the effectiveness of air flow. Spacing is lessened when the parallel walls forming the flow passageways are directly adhered to one another.
An example of such a system is shown in German Publication No. 25 21 351 whereby a heat exchanger is fabricated from a foil-like material folded 180.degree. several times in a zig-zag fashion. An alternating system is achieved, in that the flow through channels are open alternately in directions that are 90.degree. to one another. However, the spacing between the exchanger walls is significantly narrow. This is due to the attachment of the edges of the walls directly to one another. By joining the walls in such a fashion, crossflow is severely inhibited as the air flow passage created by the walls is of an extremely small width.
Ineffective spacing leading to improper crossflow is also a problem with the heat exchanger of U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,355 to Goloff et al. In this system, the unitary material has sections which are fastened through the use of tabs. However, these tabs are welded so as to form a circular wall joining the sections which form the parallel walls of the fluid passages. There are many problems inherent in such a construction. Since a wall of the passageway is formed by a joinder of tabs there is a high probability of air leakage in in the area of the tabs during use. Additionally, in this system an alternating type heat exchanger is not achieved, as air flow is unidirectional.
Another system in which air flow is restricted is in U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,611 to Fung, whereby the end edges of a unitary material are pinched closed along their length to form a wall. Having the walls of the exchanger being formed by such a pinched seam decreases the effectiveness of air flow through the exchanger, as the distance between the parallel walls due to the pinched seam is small. Additionally, the strength and durability of such a pinched seam is speculative, given the tendency of the walls being pinched together to exert forces opposing such an attachment. Also in this system, an alternating pattern of air flow is not achieved.
Another heat exchanger also possessing inadequate spacing between air flow passages is set forth in Japanese Publication No. 53-128047. A unitary strip of material is folded so as to achieve an alternating type heat exchanger. In this exchanger, a tab forms a wall of the exchanger by attachment to the edge of another wall. Although the attachment provides a certain amount of spacing for airflow, a part of the tab itself must be sealed to a parallel wall. Thus, there is a tendency that a portion of the width of the tab will be provided for attachment to a wall, leading to decreased spacing between the parallel walls of the passageway. Additionally, the possibility of air leakage is great with such a construction.

Cross flow heat exchange device and method of fabricating said heat exchange device


In accordance with the present invention, an intermediate toner transfer member includes a substrate and an outer surface layer that includes a ceramer comprising a polyurethane silicate hybrid organic-inorganic network. The ceramer is formed by a crosslinking reaction between a polyurethane with reactive alkoxysilane terminal moieties and a tetraalkoxysilane. The silane-terminated polyurethane is the reaction product of one or more aliphatic polyols with terminal hydroxyl groups and an alkoxysilane-substituted alkyl isocyanate compound. Further in accordance with the present invention is a process for forming an intermediate toner transfer member having an outer surface layer comprising a polyurethane silicate hybrid organic-inorganic network.

The use of intermediate toner transfer members in electrostatography has been suggested for several reasons, including simplified receiver sheet handling, single pass duplexing, reduced wear of photoconductors, and superposition of multiple images to form multicolor images. Typically, a toner image is created on a photoconductive member electrostatographically and is transferred by conventional, electric field assisted processes to an intermediate roller or web. For example, a negatively charged toner image is transferred from a photoconductor having a grounded backing electrode to an intermediate web or roller biased to a strong positive polarity. The toner image is then transferred from the intermediate member to a receiver sheet under the influence of a second electric field that can be created without changing the field on the intermediate member by placing a roller or a corona behind the receiver sheet that is biased still more strongly in a positive direction.
Of the reasons mentioned above for the use of intermediate toner transfer members, probably the most important use relates to the formation of multicolor images. For this application, two, three, or four separate images of different color can be transferred in registration to the intermediate transfer member to form a multicolor image that can then be transferred in one step to a receiver sheet. This method has several advantages over the approach in which the receiver sheet is secured to the periphery of a roller and rotated repeatedly into transfer relation with the photoconductor to receive the separate color images directly. Probably the most important advantage is that the receiver sheet itself does not have to be attached to a roller, which is a source of image misregistration and apparatus complexity. Other advantages associated with wear and tear on the photoconductive element and a direct receiver sheet path are also important.
As color electrostatography, especially electrographic color printing, continues to improve, increasingly higher image resolution will be required. In order to obtain high resolution, toners of fine particle size are necessary. Toners with particle size less than 20.mu., and especially those less than 10.mu. in size, give substantially improved resolution in color imaging with high quality equipment.
Unfortunately, fine particle toners are more difficult to transfer electrostatically than more traditional coarse toners. This is a problem in conventional electrostatography utilizing a single transfer of fine toner particles. It is a substantially more difficult problem using an intermediate transfer member in color electrostatography, which entails two transfers each of a plurality of different color images.
An intermediate toner transfer member typically includes a substrate on which is formed a relatively thick, resilient blanket and a relatively thin, hard outer layer on the blanket. The blanket, which may be integral with the substrate, is formed from a compliant polymeric material, frequently a polyurethane, that facilitates contact of the toner particles with the member during the transfer process. The blanket may be electrically modified to enhance the electrostatic attraction of the toner particles. Because compliant materials such as polyurethanes do not release toner very well, a relatively thin, hard surface layer is applied over the blanket layer.
Several properties of the intermediate transfer member surface are especially important. First, the surface energy must be sufficiently low to facilitate release of the fine toner particles, whose diameter may be on the order of 3-4.mu.. In addition, the intermediate member surface must have good wear properties against the highly abrasive conditions of the transfer process. During transfer, pressure is exerted on the particles of toner and, optionally, carrier at the first nip formed by the photoconductor and intermediate transfer member. Even higher pressure is typically exerted at the second nip, where the receiver, most often paper, is brought into contact with the toner on the intermediate transfer member surface. Residual toner is removed at a cleaning station that may include a blade, a fur brush, or a magnetic brush.
The material comprising the transfer member surface must also have sufficient flexibility to prevent cracking during the transfer process just described. The hardness of the substrate and blanket upon which the overcoat is applied can vary over a considerable range, so it is necessary to adjust the flexibility of the overcoat appropriately. Finally, the intermediate transfer member surface layer must be sufficiently thin to prevent its acting as an insulator against the development of the field necessary for electrostatic attraction of the toner particles. It must also not counteract the compliant properties of the material constituting the blanket of the transfer member.
In summary, it is very important to control the surface energy, wear, and flexibility properties of the transfer member surface layer. These properties can be evaluated by, respectively, contact angle measurements, abrasion test measurements, and storage modulus determinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,735, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an intermediate transfer member whose thin, relatively hard outer skin has a Young's modulus greater than 5.times.10.sup.7 newtons/m.sup.2.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,129 discloses an intermediate toner transfer component having a substrate coated with a composition comprising integrated, interpenetrating networks of haloelastomer, preferably fluoroelastomer, and silicon oxide and, optionally, polyorganosiloxane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,938 describes a low surface energy material comprising an elastomer composition that is a substantially uniform integral interpenetrating network of a hybrid graft composition of a fluoroelastomer and a polyorganosiloxane.
An intermediate transfer member having a blanket member overcoated with a thin layer of a thermoplastic, a sol-gel, or, preferably, a ceramer is described in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/653,518, filed May 24, 1996, by Rimai et al., ELECTROSTATOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED TRANSFER OF SMALL PARTICLES, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,496.
There is a continuing need for an electophotographic intermediate toner transfer member whose surface exhibits superior properties of wear, surface energy, and flexibility. The present invention meets this need.

Electrostatographic intermediate transfer member having a ceramer-containing surface layer


A telescopic body for an external bone fixation device includes a central core body and cylindrical outer parts having a bore extending therethrough, all disposed about a center axis. The outer surface of the core body is in the form of a keyed shaft, and the bore in the outer parts has keyways that mate with the shaft, thereby permitting the outer parts to be telescoped in a rotationally fixed, torsion-resistant fashion. Threaded drive spindles housed in the outer parts can be screwed into and out of the core body at either end, permitting the overall length of the telescopic body to be changed. Terminal elements are provided in the ends of the outer parts to limit travel of the drive spindles. At least one of the terminal elements may be a dynamic progression cap which, when progressively unscrewed, allows the axial clamping tension of the threaded spindle to be released in millimeter increments to permit relaxation of the axial clamping of the spindle. The degree of rigidity of the telescopic body as a whole is selectable by suitable choice of materials for each component.

The invention relates to a device for use in the external fixation of parts of broken bones. More particularly, the invention relates to a telescopic body about which components of an external fixation system are mounted.
A number of devices for use in the external fixation of bones are already known. One such device is disclosed in EP 0 011 258 A1 to ORTHOFIX, and includes an elongated central body with two parts that can be shifted relative to each other and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the central body. Each of the parts of the central body support a clamping unit for use in the insertion of nails or bone screws in a bone section, and a pressure and traction element acts on the two parts of the central body. The clamping units are ball-joint-mounted at the ends of the movable parts in a manner as to permit three-way rotation of the clamping units as well as the nails or screws intended for insertion in the bone sections.
Another fixation rod for the external fixation of bones is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,335 to Wagenknecht. The fixation rod is telescopable if necessary, and includes connecting parts having curved support surfaces for receiving clamping elements that hold bone-fastening pins. Brackets are used to attach the clamping elements supporting the connecting parts to the fixation rod. The connecting parts permit three-way rotation of the clamping elements relative to the brackets.
Although the fixation rod used with these external fixation devices is telescopable in a sense in that it permits parts mounted thereon to be moved relative to each other, the drawback in the case of both of these earlier devices is that the movement of the parts is brought about by a pressure and traction element that is externally attached to the fixation rod and/or with the aid of a clamping screw on the fixation rod. In addition, the fixation rod of these devices permits extension at one end only, and/or does not have a uniform diameter over its entire length. Thus, fastening clamps cannot be mounted at all possible desired points along the fixation rod.
There exists a need for an improved connecting element which is extensible internally as well as at both ends, thus permitting bilateral extension that advantageously may reduce the duration of the external fixation treatment. Such a reduction in treatment duration may even realize a fifty percent decrease in time. There further exists a need for an improved connecting element with a rigidity that is selectable due to the interchangeability of the various parts that are formed from different materials. The present invention provides an improved connecting element that is capable of providing these improvements.
The present invention is related to an external bone fixation device. The device includes a first support having outer and inner surfaces, a pair of second supports slidably engagable with the outer surface of the first support, and a driving mechanism disposed at least partially in contact with the inner surface of the first support. The first support, second supports, and driving mechanism are coaxially disposed about a center axis, and engagement of the driving mechanism with the first support permits the device to change overall length without rotation of the first and second supports with respect to each other. The second supports are hollow and have outer and inner surfaces, with the inner surface of each second support being at least partially in contact with the outer surface of the first support. The first support has proximal and distal ends, with the driving mechanism being engagable with at least one of the ends.
In one embodiment, the driving mechanism comprises at least one shaft threadably associated with the inner surface of the first support. The axial locations of the at least one shaft and at least one of the second supports along the center axis are fixed with respect to each other. Typically, the axial locations of the at least one shaft and at least one of the second supports along the center axis are movable with respect to each other.
In another embodiment, the driving mechanism has two shafts threadably associated with the inner surface of the first support, with each shaft being independently engageable with an end of the first support. Each second support has a proximal end and a distal end, and the device further includes at least one cap for bearing against an end of the shaft that is operatively associated with that support at the distal end of each second support. At least one of the caps is movable with respect to its respective second support so that the shaft associated with that support is permitted to move axially along the central axis therewith.
Typically, the second supports have a uniform diameter over substantially their entire length, and the first support is keyed and mates with keyways formed in the inner surfaces of the second supports to prevent rotation therebetween.
In another embodiment, the device includes an intermediate support positioned between the second supports and disposed upon the first support about the central axis. The intermediate support and the second supports have outer diameters that are substantially the same, and the intermediate support has a longitudinal slot to facilitate placement of the intermediate support on the first support.

Telescopic body for an external fixation system


A container has a body with a body opening. A spout fitment base is positioned within the body opening. A spout has a threaded engagement with the spout fitment base for movement between a retracted position and an extended position. A cap has a removed condition disengaged from the body, spout fitment base, and spout. The cap has an installed condition having a threaded engagement with at least one of the body and spout base fitment. An unscrewing of the cap from its installed condition rotates the spout so that the threaded engagement with the spout with the spout base fitment drive the spout from the retracted condition toward the extended condition.

The invention relates to containers. More particularly, the invention relates to pour spouts for containers for liquid laundry detergent and the like.
There has been an evolution in the configuration of containers for liquid laundry detergent, fabric softener, and the like. The dominant form of container is a wide mouth bottle having an attached spout with a drain-back trough and aperture. In a typical group of container configurations and their methods of assembly, a bottle, spout fitment, and cap are individually molded (e.g., of high density polyethylene (HDPE)). Exemplary bottle molding is via roto-molding whereas exemplary spout fitment and cap molding are by injection molding. An exemplary spout fitment includes the spout and a continuation of the spout defining the base and outboard wall of the trough. The fitment further typically includes a flange (e.g., extending outward at an upper end of the outboard extremity of the trough).
The spout fitment may be inserted through a mouth of the bottle (e.g., so that an outer surface of the outboard trough wall whereof another wall outboard thereof engages the inner surface of the bottle neck). The spout fitment may be secured and sealed to the bottle such as by spin welding. The bottle may be filled and the cap may be installed. Exemplary caps typically have either an externally threaded skirt for engaging an internally threaded portion of the fitment or an internally threaded skirt for engaging an externally threaded portion of the fitment or bottle neck. With a typical externally threaded skirt, the cap includes an outwardly projecting flange above the skirt. Upon installation of the cap to the fitment, the flange underside contacts and seals with the fitment flange upper surface to seal the bottle.
Various examples of bottles are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,923,341, 5,941,422, 5,566,862, and 5,603,787.


The present invention relates to the field of electromechanical equipment for use in the vehicular field. More specifically, it relates to a selector, doser and transmitter of torque and power between one or more engines and one or more final transmission shafts. Applied for example on a vehicle without a gearbox, the new mechanism allows for selection of the ratio between the speed of rotation of one or more driving sources (such as an internal combustion engine drive shaft) and the final transmission shaft. In a preferred configuration, this selection is controlled electronically, managing the broad scope of possibilities provided by the mechanical configuration of this mechanism to dose the torque and power and regulate the rpm of the driving sources, in a hybrid motorization system.

Mild Hybrid Systems (MHS) are known in the art. For example, various systems with rotor motor-generator arrangements are known in the art, but none of those systems manages to optimize operation of the internal combustion engine, the motor/generator rotor, and the transmission.
For example, the MHS announced by VALEO comprises a motor/generator that uses a single rotor, installed in between the internal combustion engine and the transmission. The single rotor rotates at the same speed as the internal combustion engine.
In addition, an MHS announced by DELPHI comprises a motor/generator that uses a single rotor, which is installed next to the internal combustion engine's front power take off (PTO), and which is coupled to it by a belt.
The company AVL has disclosed two alternative MHS arrangements. One comprises a motor/generator that uses a single rotor, installed next to the internal combustion engine's front power take-off and connected via a belt-drive or directly to the crankshaft. The other disclosed arrangement comprises an internal combustion engine and an electric motor that are not connected mechanically.
The current state of the art focuses on, and considers optimal, the use of a single rotor motor/generator, which is designed to have the optimal size to perform specific tasks. Current, known 48-volt mild hybrid systems, such as those developed by Valeo, Continental, and Delphy, among others, all require conventional transmissions coupled to an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electrical machine (EM). Planetary mechanisms do not apply.
The system in Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles, as well as other hybrid vehicles, apply a satellite mechanism, but work exclusively with high voltages and with a specific connection of an ICE to the Carrier; from an electric motor-generator to the SUN and from an electric motor to the Ring.
These systems do not require a conventional transmission, but the rpm variance is produced exclusively and directly by the electric motor connected to the Ring and consecutively arranged 2 or more reducers before reaching the required rpm for the final transmission shaft.

Multi-functional electromechanical device for a mild hybrid system including an internal combustion engine, with or without use of a gearbox


An apparatus comprising a clock generation circuit, a detect circuit and a select circuit. The clock generator circuit may be configured to generate an output clock signal in response to a control signal. The detect circuit may be configured to generate a detect signal in response to (i) the output clock signal and (ii) an input signal. The select circuit may be configured to generate the control signal by selecting (i) a first input when in a first mode (ii) the detect signal when in a second mode. The first and second modes are selected in response to a selection signal.

Consumer electronics products are extremely price sensitive. Anything that can be done to reduce the cost of the product is very important. One way to reduce cost is to reduce the die size of the chip. Another way to reduce cost is to reduce the pin count of the chip and/or the number of components needed to support the chip.
In conventional DVD or CD-Recordable chip sets one timing loop (known as the read channel path) is used to recover user data from the disc. A second timing loop (known as the wobble data path) is used to recover pre-formatted information. These timing loops include analog loop filters and voltage controlled oscillators (VCOS). Duplicating similar timing loops uses additional die area, pin count, and passive components when compared to a single loop system.
One hallmark of a recordable DVD or CD disc is the preformatted position information encoded independently of user data. In contrast, a read only DVD and CD has coarse position information that is encoded in the headers of the user data blocks. Pits and lands representing user data are used to calculate the fine track error. The preformatted information is used to provide positioning information in the absence of user data. There is no user data on a new (or blank) disc.
Consequently, a recordable system needs a way to recover this preformatted information. A timing loop is implemented separately from the timing loop used to recover the user data. The particular details of the extra timing loop depends on the particular format of the recordable DVD/CD. Recordable media normally wobble the track slightly at a constant frequency to generate a clock signal used to synchronize the writing of data to the disc. The wobble ensures that the data is written to a known location. In addition to the wobble clock, coarse position information is written on the disc. The way the coarse information is written depends on the particular format of the recordable disc.
The CD-R and CD-RW formats use frequency modulation to encode a bit stream containing synchronization information and data block number. The DVD-R and DVD-RW formats use pre-formatted pits on the land adjacent to the track. Such land pre-pits (LPP) occur at particular times relative to the wobble. Detection involves opening a window in relation to the phase of the wobble. Finally, the DVD+R and DVD+RW formats encode the position data using a single cycle binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation method on the wobble so that a small set of the wobble cycles are opposite in phase to the rest.
Because the coarse position information is recorded in or synchronously to the wobble, the term "wobble data" is used to distinguish the coarse position information from user data. A common factor for each of the recording formats is that the recording system needs an accurate timing loop to (i) demodulate the encoded coarse position data and (ii) properly align the write data with the wobble.
Conventional systems use a timing loop dedicated to the wobble channel to accomplish such timing. Since the read channel also uses a timing loop, conventional systems implement two timing loops to simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously (i.e., one to read user data and one to demodulate the wobble data). Since each timing loop includes a phase detector, a loop filter, and a VCO, much of the circuitry in the device is redundant. The primary disadvantage of conventional solutions is that such solutions duplicate circuitry, which increases the cost of the device.
It would be desirable to implement a CD or DVD recording system that combines components from a read channel and a wobble channel to reduce the total number of components.

Single VCO/loop filter to control a wobble and read circuit of a DVD and/or CD recorder


A bimetal composite wire including, in cross-section, an outer shell or tube formed of a first biodegradable material and an inner core formed of a second biodegradable material. When formed into a stent, for example, the first and second biodegradable materials may be different, and may have differing biodegradation rates. In a first embodiment, the first biodegradable material of the shell may degrade relatively slowly for retention of the mechanical integrity of a stent during vessel remodeling, and the second biodegradable material of the core may degrade relatively quickly. In a second embodiment, the first biodegradable material of the shell may degrade relatively quickly, leaving a thinner structure of a second biodegradable material of the core that may degrade relatively slowly. The biodegradation rates may be inherently controlled, such as by selection of materials, and also may be mechanically controlled, such as by material thicknesses and the geometric configuration of the shell, core, or overall device. In any embodiment, the metallic scaffold may also be coated with a drug-eluting, biodegradable polymer, to further inhibit neointimal proliferation and/or restenosis.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to wire used in biomedical applications and, in particular, relates to a biodegradable composite wire for use in medical devices such as stents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stents are artificial tube-like structures that are deployed within a conduit or passage in the body to alleviate a flow restriction or constriction. Stents are commonly used in coronary arteries to alleviate blood flow restrictions resulting, e.g., from cardiovascular disease. However, stents may also be used in non-coronary vessels, the urinary tract and other areas of the body. Non-coronary applications range broadly from compliant pulmonary vessels of children with congenital heart disease (CHD), to atherosclerotic popliteal arteries of older patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). Stented lesions may be long and tortuous as in the case of severe infrainguinal lesions, or short and relatively uniform as in mild pulmonary artery stenoses.
Examples of non-coronary stent applications include arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) or false aneurysms, which may occur as a result of trauma due to gunshot wounds, falling accidents, or other blunt force incident. Such phenomena often occur in the upper limbs of the body where lack of perfusion can manifest as gangrene, severe pain, or local cyanosis. Critical limb ischemia associated with atherosclerosis can also result in the need for radial or axillary artery stenting, for example, to avoid amputation or other more serious morbidities. In contrast to most thoracoabdominal implantation sites (such as in coronary arteries), upper and lower limb anatomy is typically subjected to greater range of motion, thereby potentially increasing mechanical fatigue.
Typically, stents are made of either biocompatible metal wire(s) or polymeric fiber(s) which are formed into a generally cylindrical, woven or braided structure of the type shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. These types of stents are typically designed to be either "self-expanding", in which the stent may be made of a shape memory material, for example, and deploys automatically by expanding upon removal of a constricting force when released from a containment device, or "balloon-expanding", in which the stent is forcibly expanded from within by an inflatable balloon.
When a stent is implanted, it applies a radial force against the wall of the vessel in which it is implanted, which improves vessel patency and reduces acute closure or increases vessel diameter. In either case, the vessel usually achieves a new equilibrium by biological remodeling of the vessel wall over a period of weeks or months. After such remodeling is complete, the stent may no longer be needed for mechanical support and could potentially inhibit further natural positive remodeling of the vessel or limit re-intervention, for example. However, removal of the stent may be difficult.
Many known stents are formed of corrosion-resistant and substantially non-biodegradable or non-bioresorbable metal materials which maintain their integrity in the body for many years after implantation. Design efforts for creating bioabsorbable stents have focused primarily on balloon-expandable technology for coronary pathologies, and may include polymer biodegradable stents using poly-L lactic acid (PLLA) and poly-L glycolic acid (PLGA), nutrient metals of magnesium (Mg), including alloys or powder metallurgy forms of magnesium, and iron (Fe), and iron-manganese alloys. Some research methods have also focused on hybrids including layered biodegradable polymers and bioabsorbable polymer coated nutrient metals. While such materials are resorbable, they may have low mechanical strength and resilience, and/or may confer inadequate control over the rate of bioabsorpotion (i.e., by biodegrading too slowly or quickly in vivo).
What is needed is a biodegradable metallic wire with sufficient mechanical properties and appropriate degradation rates for use in biomedical applications, which represents an improvement over the foregoing.

Biodegradable composite wire for medical devices

Fort Wayne Metal Research Products Corporation


The invention provides a method of polishing a substrate comprising a noble metal comprising (i) contacting the substrate with a CMP system and (ii) abrading at least a portion of the substrate to polish the substrate. The CMP system comprises an abrasive and/or polishing pad, a liquid carrier, and a sulfonic acid compound.

Compositions and methods for planarizing or polishing the surface of a substrate are well known in the art. Polishing compositions (also known as polishing slurries) typically contain an abrasive material in an aqueous solution and are applied to a surface by contacting the surface with a polishing pad saturated with the slurry composition. Typical abrasive materials include silicon dioxide, cerium oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, and tin oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,423, for example, describes a method for chemically-mechanically polishing a metal layer by contacting the surface with a polishing slurry comprising high purity fine metal oxide particles in an aqueous medium. Alternatively, the abrasive material may be incorporated into the polishing pad. U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,233 discloses the use of polishing pads having a surface texture or pattern, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,794 discloses a fixed abrasive polishing pad.
Conventional polishing systems and polishing methods typically are not entirely satisfactory at planarizing semiconductor wafers. In particular, polishing compositions and polishing pads can have less than desirable polishing rates, and their use in the chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor surfaces can result in poor surface quality. Because the performance of a semiconductor wafer is directly associated with the planarity of its surface, it is crucial to use a polishing composition and method that results in a high polishing efficiency, uniformity, and removal rate and leaves a high quality polish with minimal surface defects.
The difficulty in creating an effective polishing system for semiconductor wafers stems from the complexity of the semiconductor wafer. Semiconductor wafers are typically composed of a substrate, on which a plurality of transistors has been formed. Integrated circuits are chemically and physically connected into a substrate by patterning regions in the substrate and layers on the substrate. To produce an operable semiconductor wafer and to maximize the yield, performance, and reliability of the wafer, it is desirable to polish select surfaces of the wafer without adversely affecting underlying structures or topography. In fact, various problems in semiconductor fabrication can occur if the process steps are not performed on wafer surfaces that are adequately planarized.
Various metals and metal alloys have been used to form electrical connections between interconnection levels and devices, including titanium, titanium nitride, aluminum-copper, aluminum-silicon, copper, tungsten, platinum, platinum-tungsten, platinum-tin, ruthenium, and combinations thereof. Noble metals present a particular challenge in that they are mechanically hard and chemically resistant, making them difficult to remove efficiently through chemical-mechanical polishing.
The following patents disclose polishing compositions for noble metals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,219 discloses a semiconductor memory device comprising a noble metal conductive layer and a polishing composition comprising a halo-compound for polishing the noble metal. U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,063 discloses polishing compositions for nickel substrates comprising a chemical etchant (e.g., aluminum nitrate), abrasive particles, and an oxidizer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,736 discloses a chemically active polishing composition for noble metals comprising an abrasive and a halogen in basic aqueous solution. JP 63096599 A2 discloses a method of dissolving metallic ruthenium. JP 11121411 A2 discloses a polishing composition for platinum group metals (e.g., Ru, Pt) comprising fine particles of an oxide of the platinum group metal. JP 1270512 A2 discloses a dissolving solution for noble metals comprising hydrogen peroxide, alkali cyanide, and phosphate ion and/or borate ion. WO 00/77107 A1 discloses a polishing composition for noble metals (e.g., Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt) comprising abrasive, a liquid carrier, an oxidizer, and a polishing additive including EDTA, nitrogen-containing macrocycles (e.g., tetraazacyclotetradecanes), crown ethers, halides, cyanides, citric acid, phosphines, and phosphonates. WO 01/44396 A1 discloses a polishing composition for noble metals comprising sulfur-containing compounds, abrasive particles, and water-soluble organic additives which purportedly improve the dispersion of the abrasive particles and enhance metal removal rates and selectivity.
A need remains, however, for polishing systems and polishing methods that will exhibit desirable planarization efficiency, uniformity, and removal rate during the polishing and planarization of substrates, while minimizing defectivity, such as surface imperfections and damage to underlying structures and topography during polishing and planarization. Improved polishing systems are particularly needed for the polishing of chemically stable and mechanically hard noble metal-containing substrates.
The present invention seeks to provide such a chemical-mechanical polishing system and method. These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method of testing an integrated circuit that includes supplying the integrated circuit in static conditions; biasing the p-type body regions with a potential more negative than the negative pole of the supply and the n-type body regions with a potential more positive than the positive pole of the supply; setting a current threshold value; measuring the current absorbed; comparing the current measured with the threshold current; and accepting or rejecting the integrated circuit if the comparison shows that the current measured is less than or is greater than the threshold value, respectively.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for testing an integrated circuit, and, more particularly, to a method of measuring absorbed current of an integrated circuit in a quiescent state and a related test circuit.
Upon completion of the process to manufacture a plurality of identical integrated circuits on a wafer of semiconductor material, even before the individual devices are separated from one another, they are subjected to final testing on the wafer (final wafer test) by suitable automatic apparatus. The test comprises various programmed electrical measurements which are intended to ascertain whether each device conforms to certain functional requirements defined at the design stage. Devices which do not satisfy all of these requirements are identified after testing so that they can be rejected after the wafer has been divided up into chips, whilst the devices which have passed the test go on to subsequent assembly and encapsulation stages.
A parameter which is the subject of one of the most significant electrical measurements in the testing of digital or mixed analog and digital integrated circuits of large dimensions produced with the use of CMOS technology is the current at rest, in static conditions, that is, the current absorbed by the integrated circuit when it is connected to the supply but is functionally inactive and in a waiting condition (stand-by mode) or when the supply is deactivated (power-down mode). This parameter is commonly indicated IDDQ, where I indicates the current, DD indicates direct-current supply, and Q indicates the xe2x80x9cquiescentxe2x80x9d or rest state.
The IDDQ current measured is given basically by the sum of the so-called sub-threshold currents of the MOS transistors, including those which constitute the memory cells, and of the leakage currents due to manufacturing defects or material defects. Further leakage currents of the semiconductor junctions (junction leakage currents) are at least two orders of magnitude lower and are thus negligible. If the sample subjected to testing is defective in the sense which will be explained further below, the current measured also includes a contribution resulting directly from the defect.
For each integrated circuit subjected to testing, the IDDQ current measured is compared with a threshold value Ith, which is set beforehand by examining test samples of the same device and by taking into consideration suitable tolerance margins. If the comparison shows that the IDDQ value is equal to or greater than the value Ith, the device tested is identified for subsequent rejection.
The method of measuring the IDDQ current is recognized as being very important in programs for testing CMOS integrated circuits but becomes ever more difficult to perform as the complexity of the integrated circuits increases, that is, with increases in the density of integration and in the number of logic gates, which generally indicates the degree of complexity of a digital integrated circuit. To explain this fact further, it should be borne in mind that, with the refinement of integration techniques, there has been a change, within a short time, from IDDQ currents of between 1 xcexcA and 10 xcexcA for integrated circuits containing 1,000-10,000 logic gates produced by 1.5-1.0 xcexcm technology to IDDQ currents of between 100 and 10,000 xcexcA for integrated circuits containing 100,000-10 million logic gates produced by 0.5-0.2 xcexcm technology.
It is known that the contribution of subthreshold currents to the IDDQ current increases in proportion to the number of transistors. On the other hand, the threshold current Ith must be set in a manner such that a defective device can be identified. That is, it must be equal to the sum of the IDDQ current measured for a good device and of a current smaller than the current If due to the presence even of a single electrical defect such as a short-circuit or a floating node in the integrated circuit. Since this current If is substantially independent of the complexity of the integrated circuit, the difference between the IDDQ current measured for a good device and the current Ith is smaller, as a percentage, the greater is the number of transistors in the integrated circuit. By way of example, if the IDDQ current for a device without electrical defects is 10 xcexcA and if the current If due to a defect is at least 50 xcexcA, the threshold current Ith may be fixed at 60 xcexcA, that is, six times the IDDQ of a good device. If, however, the IDDQ of a good device is 1 mA, in order not to risk accepting as good those devices which have even a single defect contributing 50 xcexcA to the IDDQ measurement, the threshold voltage Ith must be fixed at 1.05 mA, that is, at a value which differs from the IDDQ of a good device by only a fraction thereof ({fraction (1/20)} in this example). In conclusion, in the first case, the difference between IDDQ and Ith is 50 xcexcA, which is 500% of the IDDQ current to be compared and, in the second case, the difference is still 50 xcexcA, but this is only 5% of the IDDQ current to be compared. To ensure reliable results of the measurement even for devices with a high density of integration it is therefore necessary to use ever more sensitive and hence more complex detection circuits and ever more critical measurement methods.
To prevent this problem, it has been proposed to perform the IDDQ measurements by keeping the wafer containing the integrated circuits to be tested at a temperature much lower than ambient temperature, for example xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C. In these conditions, the sub-threshold currents are reduced whilst the leakage currents due to defects of the structure increase (because of the increased mobility of the charge-carriers at low temperatures). Although this technique is effective, it is not applicable in practice in the mass production of integrated circuits because it requires extremely expensive apparatus designed to operate at low temperature.
The embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method of measuring the IDDQ current during the testing of integrated circuits with a high density of components which requires neither particularly sensitive detector circuits nor expensive apparatus.
This is achieved by the implementation of the method defined and characterized herein.
The method is directed to testing an integrated circuit having n-channel MOS transistors in p-type body regions and p-type MOS transistors in n-type body regions, and includes setting a current threshold value; supplying the integrated circuit in static conditions with a voltage supply having a positive pole and a negative pole; performing a biasing operation by applying to the p-type body regions a voltage potential that is negative relative to the negative pole of the supply and applying to the n-type body regions a voltage potential that is positive relative to the positive pole of the supply; measuring the current absorbed by the integrated circuit and comparing the current measured with the threshold value; and accepting the integrated circuit when the comparison shows that the current measured is less than the threshold value and rejecting the integrated circuit when the comparison shows that the current measured is greater than the threshold value.
In accordance with another aspect of the foregoing, the method includes setting the current threshold value that further comprises measuring the currents absorbed by a plurality of integrated circuits of the same type as those to be tested, supplied in static conditions and subjected to the above-mentioned biasing operation; and performing a statistical analysis of the results of the measurement.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an integrated circuit is provided that includes a plurality of n-channel MOS transistors having source regions connected to a first common conductive strip, p-type body regions containing the n-channel MOS transistors and connected to a second common conductive strip, p-channel MOS transistors having source regions connected to a third common conductive strip, and n-type body regions containing the p-channel MOS transistors and connected to a fourth common conductive strip, the first and third strips being connected to respective supply terminal pads, the second and fourth strips also connected to respective body biasing terminal pads.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of testing a transistor is provided that includes coupling the transistor to a voltage supply; increasing the absolute value of the body potential of the transistor; measuring current absorbed by the transistor; and comparing the measured absorbed current with a current threshold value.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a test circuit is provided that includes an integrated circuit having n-channel MOS transistors in p-type body regions and p-channel MOS transistors in n-type body regions, the n-channel MOS transistors having source regions connected to a first common conductive strip, p-type body regions containing the n-channel MOS transistors and connected to a second common conductive strip, p-channel MOS transistors having source regions connected to a third common conductive strip, and n-type body regions containing the p-channel MOS transistors and connected to a fourth common conductive strip, the first and third strips connected to respective supply terminal pads, and the second and fourth strips connected to respective body biasing terminal pads; a voltage supply coupled to the first, second, third, and fourth pads, the voltage supply configured to bias the p-type body regions and the n-type body regions to increase the absolute value of the body potential.
In accordance with another aspect of the foregoing embodiment of the invention, the test circuit includes first and second voltage supplies coupled to the first and second and the third and fourth pads, respectively, the first and second voltage supplies further configured to apply to the p-type body regions a voltage potential that is negative relative to the negative pole of the voltage supply and applying to the n-type body regions a voltage potential that is positive relative to the positive pole of the supply.
In accordance with another aspect of this embodiment of the invention, a current measuring device is provided that is coupled to the integrated circuit and configured to measure the current absorbed by the integrated circuit in a quiescent state. Ideally, a comparator is provided that is adapted to compare the measure of the absorbed current to a threshold value.


Detectors and detection systems are disclosed. According to certain embodiments, a detector comprises a substrate comprising a plurality of sensing elements including a first sensing element and a second sensing element, wherein at least the first sensing element is formed in a triangular shape. The detector may include a switching region configured to connect the first sensing 5 element and the second sensing element. There may also be provided a plurality of sections including a first section connecting a first plurality of sensing elements to a first output and a second section connecting a second plurality of sensing elements to a second output. The section may be provided in a hexagonal shape.

Detectors can be used for sensing physically observable phenomena. For example, electron microscopes may comprise detectors that collect charged particles projected from a sample, and that output a detection signal. Detection signals can be used to reconstruct images of sample structures under inspection and may be used, for example, to reveal defects in the sample.
In some applications, an area detector may comprise a pixelated array of electron sensing elements that may detect one or more electron beams projected thereon. Detectors may include an active area in which electric current is generated in response to being hit with charged particles. In a pixelated array of electron sensing elements, there may be provided a grid of discrete detection elements that have separate active areas. Active areas may be surrounded by isolation areas to separate one pixel from neighboring pixels.
Detectors such as those discussed in U.S. Application No. 62/555,032 may be provided with switching regions between sensing elements. In such detectors, dead area may be reduced and detection performance may be enhanced. For example, isolation areas between the sides of adjacent sensing elements may be eliminated so that multiple sensing elements may be merged when covered by an electron beam spot.
In some detectors, however, the number of switching regions may depend on the shape of sensing elements. For example, a square shaped sensing element may be configured to be connected with adjacent sensing elements on each of its four sides. Thus, four switching regions may surround each sensing element.

Pixel shape and section shape selection for large active area high speed detector


An ultra-thin backlight display panel has an upper housing, a lower housing, and a backlight module. Each of the two housings has a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) for generating light. The backlight module has a light guide plate, a transparent film, and a reflection film. The light guide plate has four sides, where two of the four sides are connected with the upper housing and the lower housing, and the other two sides are respectively covered with a reflective material. The transparent film is positioned on a first plane of the light guide plate, and the reflection film is positioned on a second plane of the light guide plate to reflect light from the two cold cathode fluorescent lamps.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a display panel, and more particularly to an ultra-thin backlight display panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Basically, traditional advertisement boards use fluorescent tubes as light sources to enhance their surface illumination. However, the fluorescent tubes have high-energy consumption and short lifetime. Besides, because the prior art advertisement boards must be large enough to install the fluorescent tubes, the thickness and the volume of the prior art advertisement boards could not be decreased easily. Therefore, the prior art advertisement boards have heavy and thick appearances and are not beautiful and fashionable at all.


A positive photoresist composition is provided, which comprises an alkali-soluble novolak resin and at least one light-sensitive material represented by formula (III), ##STR1## wherein R.sub.27 and R.sub.28 may be the same or different and which represents --OH, ##STR2## R.sub.29 and R.sub.33 may be the same or different and each represents --H, --OH, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryloxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyloxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted acyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted acyloxy group, a halogen, a nitro group, a cyano group, ##STR3## R.sub.34 to R.sub.39 may be the same or different and each represents --H, --OH, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted acyloxy group, ##STR4## with the proviso that the number of ##STR5## substituent groups is at least 2 and not more than 7, and at least four of R.sub.34 to R.sub.39 is a substituent selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, and an acyloxy group.

Generally used positive type photoresist compositions include compositions comprising an alkali-soluble resin and a naphthoquinone diazide compound as a light-sensitive material. Examples of such compositions include novolak type phenol resin/naphthoquinone diazide-substituted compounds as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,666,473, 4,115,128, and 4,173,470. Most typical examples of such compositions include novolak resin made of cresol-formaldehyde/trihydroxybenzophenone-1,2-naphthoquinonediazide sulfonic acid ester as disclosed in L. F. Thompson, "Introduction to Microlithography", ACS, No. 219, pp. 112 -121 (1983).
As a binder, novolak resin can be dissolved in an alkaline aqueous solution without swelling. The novolak resin can also exhibit a high resistance particularly to plasma etching when an image thus produced is used as a mask for etching. Thus, novolak resin is particularly useful in this application.
As a light-sensitive material, naphthoquinone diazide compound serves as a dissolution inhibitor for reducing the alkali solubility of novolak resin but is peculiar in that it decomposes upon irradiation with light to produce an alkali-soluble substance which enhances the alkali solubility of the novolak resin. Because of the great change in properties by irradiation with light, naphthoquinone diazide compound is particularly useful as a light-sensitive material for a positive type photoresist.
Many positive type photoresists comprising a novolak resin and a naphthoquinone diazide light-sensitive material have previously been developed and put into practical use. These positive type photoresists have attained sufficient results in using lines of a width of 1.5 to 2 .mu.m.
However, integrated circuits have increased in their degree of integration. A recent tendency is to use ultrafine patterns formed of lines of a width of 1 .mu.m or less in the production of semiconducting substrates for SLSI circuit and the like. In such an application, a photoresist having a high resolution, a high accuracy of reproduction of exposure mask pattern and a high sensitivity for high productivity has been desired. The above mentioned previously known positive type photoresists cannot meet these requirements.

Positive type photoresist composition comprising polyaromatic hydroxy quinone diazide esters as the photosensitive ingredient


A method and data processing system assesses the security vulnerability of a network by creating a system object model database representing a network. The system object model database supports the information data requirements of disparate network vulnerability analysis programs. The system object model database is exported to the disparate network vulnerability analysis programs. The network is analyzed with each network vulnerability analysis program to produce data results from each program. Data results are correlated to determine the security posture of the network.

Information systems and computer network infrastructures currently under development are now being built with consideration for what constitutes an acceptable risk (or adequate protection). System assets, such as the hardware, software and system nodes of a computer network, must be protected to a degree consistent with their value. Additionally, these assets must be protected only until the assets lose their value. Any security features and system architecture should also provide sufficient protection over the life of the processed data. To assess whether or not any risk associated with a network is acceptable, a security engineer typically gathers all pertinent information, and then analyzes the risk associated with the network.
Risk analysis is a complex and time consuming process, which is necessary to determine the exposures within a network and their potential harm. As an example, when analyzing the security risks in a computer network, the security engineering typically follows the following steps:
1) Identify assets of the overall computing system.
2) Identify vulnerabilities of assets. This step typically requires imagination in order to predict what damage might occur to the assets and from what sources. The three basic goals of computer security are ensuring secrecy, integrity and availability. A vulnerability is any situation that could cause loss of one of those three qualities.
3) Predict likelihood of occurrence (exploitation), i.e., determining how often each exposure will be exploited. Likelihood of occurrence relates to the stringency of the existing controls and the likelihood that someone or something will evade the existing controls.
4) Compute any uncovered cost per year (expected annual loss) by determining the expected cost of each incident.
5) Survey applicable controls and their costs.
6) Project annual savings of control.
This last step of the analysis is a cost-benefit analysis, i.e., does it cost less to implement a control or to accept the expected cost of the loss? Risk analysis leads to a security plan, which identifies responsibility for certain actions to improve security.
Today, the rapid evolution of technology and proliferation of computers with increased power mandate the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components for cost effective solutions. This strong dependence on COTS implies that commercial grade security mechanisms are sufficient for most applications. Security architectures, therefore, must be structured to build operational, mission-critical computer systems with relatively weak COTS components. Higher assurance components can be placed at community or information boundaries, forming an enclave-based security architecture that implements a defense-in-depth approach to information assurance.
There are some design tools, i.e., software programs, available to the system architect to assist in maximizing the available protection mechanisms while remaining within the development budget. Current generation risk analysis tools usually are single vendor solutions that address a particular aspect or aspects of risk. These tools tend to fall into one of three categories:
1) Tools that work from documented vulnerability databases and possibly repair known vulnerabilities. Tools of this type are vendor-dependent for database updates, either through new product versions or by a subscription service. Examples from this category include ISS' Internet Scanner, Network Associates, Inc.'s CyberCop and Harris' STAT.
2) Monolithic tools that use various parameters to calculate a risk indicator. These tools are difficult to maintain and hard to keep current with the rapidly evolving threat and technology environment. An example of this tool category is Los Alamos Vulnerability Assessment (LAVA) tool.
3) Tools that examine a particular aspect of the system, such as the operating system or database management system, but ignore the other system components. SATAN, for example, analyzes operating system vulnerabilities, but ignores infrastructure components such as routers.
The use of multiple tools from a variety of vendors for a single computer network analysis is a labor-intensive task. Typically, a security engineer will have to enter a description or representation of the system (network) multiple times in multiple formats. The security engineer then must manually analyze, consolidate and merge the resulting outputs from these multiple tools into a single report of a network's security posture. Afterwards, the security engineer can complete the risk analysis (calculating expected annual loss, surveying controls, etc.), and then repeat the process to analyze alternatives among security risks, system performance, mission functionality and the development budget.
Also, none of these tools use an aggregate "snapshot" approach to the system with a "drill down" or layered approach to facilitate how one addresses risk at various layers (network, platform, database, etc.) of the system. These tools provide little assistance to system designers when analyzing alternatives among security risk, system performance and mission functionality. Instead, a "risk solution" is provided that addresses the particular aspect of risk that a given tool was designed to calculate. To develop a comprehensive risk assessment, a security engineer would have to become proficient in the use of several tools and manually correlate the resulting outputs.
One aspect of successful risk analysis is a complete and accurate accumulation of data to generate system models used by the analysis tools. Many current risk analysis tools depend on surveys filled out by users, system operations personnel, and analysts to acquire the data for development of a system model used in the analysis. Alternatively, a tool can actively scan a computer network to test various vulnerabilities against system components.
However, these methods have drawbacks. Textual or survey-based knowledge solicitation techniques are labor intensive and potentially tedious for the analyst. Many of the existing tools reuse the same information to analyze different aspects of the system security. It would be more advantageous to use a centralized repository of modeling data, which could provide a basis for shared inputs among existing tools. This repository could be used to generate data sets for use by risk analysis tools, allowing multiple tools to be run against the same system without separate input activities, thus reducing the possibility of operator error. The use of multiple risk analysis reasoning engines, or backbends, would allow various aspects of the system to be analyzed without the cost of developing one tool to perform all types of analysis. Integration of the information and the resulting informed assessments available by applying multiple tools would produce a more robust and accurate picture of a system's security posture. These results can facilitate more informed system design decisions, providing a framework for alternative evaluation and comparison.

System and method for assessing the security posture of a network


Included are: a calibration information acquiring unit for acquiring three-dimensional coordinates for at least one gaze target for calibration, the three-dimensional coordinates indicating a position of each gaze target for calibration; a sample acquiring unit for acquiring multiple samples indicating a line-of-sight direction of a user; a calibration model generating unit for generating multiple calibration models indicating three-dimensional coordinates that are candidates for a position of the user on the basis of the three-dimensional coordinates indicating a position of each of the gaze targets for calibration and the samples indicating the line-of-sight direction of the user gazing at each of the gaze targets for calibration; and a calibration parameter calculating unit for calculating calibration parameters on the basis of the generated calibration models.

In recent years, it is expected to utilize a measured line-of-sight direction of a person in various fields. For example, utilization in driving assistance for drivers of vehicles includes determining the recognition state of a driver toward the surroundings such as the degree of attention to pedestrians or the like or inattentive driving on the basis of a measured line-of-sight direction of the driver, or displaying assistance information in the line-of-sight direction.
Generally, the measured line-of-sight direction includes a measurement error. Therefore, in a case where a measured line-of-sight direction is used, technology for calibrating a measurement error included in the measured line-of-sight direction is also used in combination.
Patent Literature 1 describes a line-of-sight direction measurement device that extracts a corneal reflection image from each of the driver's eyes from images captured by two cameras, detects the eyeball positions having the center between the eyeballs at the intersection of two straight lines connecting coordinates of the two corneal reflection images and the focal points of the corresponding cameras to detect the rotation angles of the eyeballs with respect to the imaging direction of the cameras, and calculates the line-of-sight direction on the basis of the detected eyeball positions and the rotation angle of the eyeballs. The line-of-sight direction measurement device described in Patent Literature 1 starts calibration operation when a specific device such as a navigation device is operated by an occupant, and calculates a correction coefficient that matches the line-of-sight direction of the driver calculated as described above with a straight line passing through the center of the eyeballs and a specific device.

Line-of-sight direction calibration device, line-of-sight direction calibration method, and line-of-sight direction calibration program


A method of decoding coding blocks of a coding tree unit in an image. The method comprises obtaining the coding tree unit in the image from a bitstream, the coding tree unit having chroma channels and a luma channel; and determining luma split options for the luma channel of the coding tree unit according to dimensions of a region of the coding tree unit. The method also comprises determining chroma split options for the chroma channels of the coding tree unit according to dimensions of a region of the coding tree unit, the chroma split options being different to the luma split options, the allowable chroma split options resulting in chroma intra predicted blocks with a minimum size of 16 samples; and decoding the coding blocks by determining flags from the bitstream to select one of the determined luma split options and one of the determined chroma split options.

Many applications for video coding currently exist, including applications for transmission and storage of video data. Many video coding standards have also been developed and others are currently in development. Recent developments in video coding standardisation have led to the formation of a group called the "Joint Video Experts Team" (JVET). The Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) includes members of Study Group 16, Question 6 (SG16/Q6) of the Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), also known as the "Video Coding Experts Group" (VCEG), and members of the International Organisations for Standardisation/International Electrotechnical Commission Joint Technical Committee 1/Subcommittee 29/Working Group 11 (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11), also known as the "Moving Picture Experts Group" (MPEG).
The Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) issued a Call for Proposals (CfP), with responses analysed at its 10th meeting in San Diego, USA. The submitted responses demonstrated video compression capability significantly outperforming that of the current state-of-the-art video compression standard, i.e.: "high efficiency video coding" (HEVC). On the basis of this outperformance it was decided to commence a project to develop a new video compression standard, to be named 'versatile video coding' (VVC). VVC is anticipated to address ongoing demand for ever-higher compression performance, especially as video formats increase in capability (e.g., with higher resolution and higher frame rate) and address increasing market demand for service delivery over WANs, where bandwidth costs are relatively high. At the same time, VVC must be implementable in contemporary silicon processes and offer an acceptable trade-off between the achieved performance versus the implementation cost (for example, in terms of silicon area, CPU processor load, memory utilisation and bandwidth).
Video data includes a sequence of frames of image data, each of which include one or more colour channels. Generally one primary colour channel and two secondary colour channels are needed. The primary colour channel is generally referred to as the 'luma' channel and the secondary colour channel(s) are generally referred to as the 'chroma' channels. Although video data is typically displayed in an RGB (red-green-blue) colour space, this colour space has a high degree of correlation between the three respective components. The video data representation seen by an encoder or a decoder is often using a colour space such as YCbCr. YCbCr concentrates luminance, mapped to 'luma' according to a transfer function, in a Y (primary) channel and chroma in Cb and Cr (secondary) channels. Moreover, the Cb and Cr channels may be sampled spatially at a lower rate compared to the luma channel, for example half horizontally and half vertically—known as a '4:2:0 chroma format'. The 4:2:0 chroma format is commonly used in 'consumer' applications, such as internet video streaming, broadcast television, and storage on Blu-Ray™ disks. Subsampling the Cb and Cr channels at half-rate horizontally and not subsampling vertically is known as a '4:2:2 chroma format'. The 4:2:2 chroma format is typically used in professional applications, including capture of footage for cinematic production and the like. The higher sampling rate of the 4:2:2 chroma format makes the resulting video more resilient to editing operations such as colour grading. Prior to distribution to consumers, 4:2:2 chroma format material is often converted to the 4:2:0 chroma format and then encoded prior to distribution to consumers. In addition to chroma format, video is also characterised by resolution and frame rate. Example resolutions are ultra-high definition (UHD) with a resolution of 3840×2160 or '8K' with a resolution of 7680×4320 and example frame rates are 60 or 120 Hz. Luma sample rates may range from approximately 500 mega samples per second to several giga samples per second. For the 4:2:0 chroma format, the sample rate of each chroma channel is one quarter the luma sample rate and for the 4:2:2 chroma format, the sample rate of each chroma channel is one half the luma sample rate.
The VVC standard is a 'block based' codec, in which frames are firstly divided into a square array of regions known as 'coding tree units' (CTUs). CTUs generally occupy a relatively large area, such as 128×128 luma samples. However, CTUs at the right and bottom edge of each frame may be smaller in area. Associated with each CTU is a 'coding tree' for the luma channel and an additional coding tree for the chroma channels. A coding tree defines a decomposition of the area of the CTU into a set of blocks, also referred to as 'coding blocks' (CBs). It is also possible for a single coding tree to specify blocks both for the luma channel and the chroma channels, in which case the blocks are referred to as 'coding units' (CUs), each CU having a coding block for each colour channel. The CBs are processed for encoding or decoding in a particular order. As a consequence of the use of the 4:2:0 chroma format, a CTU with a luma coding tree for a 128×128 luma sample area has a corresponding chroma coding tree for a 64×64 chroma sample area, collocated with the 128×128 luma sample area. When a single coding tree is in use for the luma channel and the chroma channels, the collections of collocated blocks for a given area are generally referred to as 'units', for example the above-mentioned CUs, as well as 'prediction units' (PUs), and 'transform units' (TUs). When separate coding trees are used for a given area, the above-mentioned CBs, as well as 'prediction blocks' (PBs), and 'transform blocks' (TBs) are used.
Notwithstanding the above distinction between 'units' and 'blocks', the term 'block' may be used as a general term for areas or regions of a frame for which operations are applied to all colour channels.
For each CU a prediction (PU) of the contents (sample values) of the corresponding area of frame data is generated (a 'prediction unit'). Further, a representation of the difference (or 'residual' in the spatial domain) between the prediction and the contents of the area as seen at input to the encoder is formed. The difference in each colour channel may be transformed coded as a sequence of residual coefficients, forming one or more TUs for a given CU. The applied transform may be a Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) or other transform, applied to each block of residual values. This primary transform is applied separably, i.e. that is the two dimensional transform is performed in two passes. The block is firstly transformed by applying a one-dimensional transform to each row of samples in the block. Then, the partial result is transformed by applying a one-dimensional transform to each column of the partial result to produce a final block of transform coefficients that substantially decorrelates the residual samples. Transforms of various sizes are supported by the VVC standard, including transforms of rectangular-shaped blocks, with each side dimension being a power of two. Transform coefficients are quantised for entropy encoding into a bitstream.
When spatial prediction ('intra prediction') is used to generate PBs, a set of reference samples is used to generate predicted samples for the current PB. The reference samples include samples adjacent to the PB that have already been 'reconstructed' (the addition of residual samples to intra predicted samples). These adjacent samples form a row above the PB and a column to the left of the PB. The row and column also extend beyond the PB boundary to include additional nearby samples. Due to scanning blocks in a Z-order scan, some of the reference samples will have been reconstructed in the immediately preceding block. The use of samples from the immediately preceding block results in a feedback dependency that may limit the throughput of blocks through a video encoder or decoder.

Method, apparatus and system for encoding and decoding a tree of blocks of video samples


In a tube connection, particularly for connecting two tubular elements of the airframe of a substantially tubular a missile, the tubular elements to be interconnected have end portions of substantially identical shapes. Each end portion has a smaller-diameter first circumferential section extending through substantially 180.degree. and a larger-diameter second circumferential section also extending through substantially 180.degree.. The larger-diameter circumferential section of each tubular element overlies the smaller-diameter circumferential section of the other tubular element. The circumferential sections are provided with radial bores for connection screws. Arcuate elements having threaded bores are arranged inside the thus interconnected circumferential sections. These threaded bores are aligned with the radial bores of the circumferential sections and threadedly receive the connecting screws.

For connecting tubular elements, such as airframe parts of a missile, the prior art provides end portions having different diameters on said tubular elements to be interconnected. These different-diameter end portions are telescoped and are interconnected by radial screws. In order to achieve positive locking, the inner tubular element has to be radially widened and the outer tubular element has to be compressed, when the screws are tightened. This deformation consumes a large amount of the screwing force. The positive locking achieved thereby is poor.
The prior art type of tube connection is particularly unsatisfactory, when tubular elements of the airframe of a highly manoeuverable missiles are interconnected. Here, excessive loads are exerted on the tube connections.

Tube connection in particular for connecting two tubular elements of the airframe of a missile


The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for controlling a vehicle (100) during a downhill start. The vehicle comprises a service brake (131a, 131b; 132a, 132b; 33a, 133b), an engine (119) and a transmission (120) being arranged between the engine and at least one driven axle (123), wherein the service brakes, the engine and the transmission are controlled by an electronic control unit (140). The method involves registering that the vehicle is located on a downhill gradient; registering an action from the driver, indicating a request to start the vehicle; controlling the service brake to maintain the vehicle stationary during a predetermined time after the request before initiating a controlled service brake release; controlling a gradual release of the service brake in response to at least one detected first vehicle operating parameter; and releasing the service brake when detecting that a predetermined threshold for at least one second vehicle operating parameter has been attained.

When a heavy-duty vehicle is driven off in severe conditions, such as steep downhill gradient, the operator must exercise special care to avoid problems and damage to the vehicle. Starting the vehicle on a steep negative gradient requires the operator to pay special attention to the operation of the vehicle brakes and the transmission, in particular if the vehicle is carrying a high load, in order to avoid an uncontrolled acceleration down the hill. Controlling the vehicle speed using the service brake only can cause the brakes to fade due to overheating and can cause undesirable brake wear.
A missed upshift might lead to a situation where the vehicle is rolling with no gear engaged and the vehicle will accelerate quickly down the hill. This can be a problem when attempting to perform an upshift from a crawler gear or first gear into a higher gear while the driven wheels will act on the transmission output shaft through an axle differential gear. The transmission in a heavy duty vehicle can have a gear ratio of 1:30 or higher when a crawler gear is engaged. Even at low vehicle speeds the gear ratio will cause the clutch to rotate at high speed and the weight of the vehicle can transmit a high torque through the transmission. The rotary speed and torque applied to the transmission via the output shaft can seriously damage the main clutch during an improper gear change.
Hence it is desirable to provide an improved method and arrangement for controlling a vehicle during a downhill start in order to overcome the above problems.

Method and a system for controlling a vehicle during a downhill start


To establish an appropriate communication path of a mobile terminal to a local network in accordance with a connection configuration of a mobile base station. A mobile base station device of the present invention includes: a base station processing unit that receives a connection request from a mobile terminal accommodated by the mobile base station device; and a switching processing unit that switches connection of the mobile terminal to a local network to either of local IP connection or remote IP connection, in accordance with backhaul media to which the mobile base station device is connected, based on the connection request from the mobile terminal.

As a measure for expanding the coverage of a cellular communication system, the introduction of femto base stations that form cells for covering narrow areas such as residential houses, schools, and enterprises has proceeded. Further, expectation for local IP access services to be connected to local networks utilized through femto base stations managed by homes, schools, enterprises and the like has increased. This is expectation for the high level of QoS guarantee and security according to the use of cellular technology, as compared to local network connection using a wireless LAN in the related art.
The local network connection through the femto base station has been studied in standard-setting organizations that formulate cellular standard technology. Particularly, in 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), as local IP access (LIPA), the formulation of network architecture, procedures, and protocols have proceeded (Non Patent Literature 1).
Non Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of causing a mobile terminal to specify an access point name (hereinafter, referred to as an APN) as an identifier indicating a local network (hereinafter, also referred to as a LIPA network) serving as a connection destination and performing local IP access (LIPA).
Here, a use case (remote access to a local network; hereinafter, also referred to as Remote IP Access or RIPA) is considered in which secure connection to a local network is performed from the outside of home, schools, or enterprises using a femto base station.
The femto base station installed in home is connected to a core network of an operator through a broadband channel. When a cable for connection to the broadband channel is detached, the femto base station is connected to a neighboring macro base station through a cellular channel to establish connection to a core network, and maintains the connection of the mobile terminal located down the femto base station. In this manner, technology for expanding the coverage of a cellular communication system using the cellular channel is particularly called relay technology (or mobile relay technology). The relay technology in 3GPP has been examined in TR36.806.
As mentioned above, when the mobile terminal accommodated in a moving femto base station (hereinafter, referred to as the mobile base station) moves together with the mobile base station, the movement thereof in the cellular system is hidden. That is, when seen from the mobile terminal, the high-position base station does not change and thus the movement is not detected. Therefore, a mobility management process (Tracking Update Procedure specified in TS23.401, Location Update Procedure specified in TS23.060, or the like) or a handover process is not performed. Thereby, when the mobile base station accommodates a plurality of mobile terminals, it is characterized by being capable of reducing mobility management signaling from individual mobile terminals, and reducing traffic costs. However, as previously stated, the connection to a local network is performed by the explicit specification of the mobile terminal, and it is assumed that the switching of the LIPA and RIPA is also performed by the reconnection of the mobile terminal or a handover process.
Based on these factors, in an environment in which the mobile base station accommodates the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal cannot detect its own movement, and thus there is a problem in that the connection to the local network cannot be correctly switched at the time of the movement associated with the mobile base station. That is, there is a problem in that the movement along with the mobile base station causes a communication session to be cut off unexpectedly, and user convenience is considerably damaged. In order to solve such problems, a method of causing the mobile base station to establish a secure tunnel such as a home gateway and a VPN (Virtual Private Network) at home, and collectively accommodating the local network connection of the mobile terminal located down the mobile base station is considered.

Communication system, communication method, mobile terminal, and mobile base station device

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA


A liquid cooling device includes body. The body has liquid inlet and liquid outlet. The liquid outlet has first internal thread on its inner wall. The liquid inlet has second internal thread on its inner wall. Another liquid cooling device has body, first thread adapter and second thread adapter. The first thread adapter is movably disposed on the liquid outlet, and has a first internal thread on its inner wall. The second thread adapter is movably disposed on the liquid inlet, and has a second internal thread on its inner wall. Still another liquid cooling device has a body. The body has a liquid passage. The liquid passage has internal thread on its inner wall. Yet another liquid cooling device has body and thread adapter. The body has a liquid passage. The thread adapter is movably disposed on the liquid passage, and has internal thread on its inner wall.

Generally, electronic devices have processors to process and analyze data. As the processing ability of the processors improves, the processors generate more heat. If heat is not removed fast enough from the processors, it will cause the processors to overheat. Accordingly, the electronic devices are usually equipped with a liquid cooling device for dissipating heat.
The liquid cooling device has a nozzle adapted to connect a pipe. The diameter of the nozzle is related to the heat dissipating efficiency of the liquid cooling device. In detail, the liquid cooling device with a larger diameter of the nozzle has better heat dissipation performance. Therefore, the nozzle will be replaced with a nozzle having larger diameter when the electronic device requires higher heat dissipation. However, it is inconvenient to replace the nozzle, thus users would rather buy a new liquid cooling device than replace the nozzle, but buying a new liquid cooling device costs much more money than replacing the nozzle.


Methods and systems for estimating propellant transfer in an ion propulsion system are disclosed. One example is a method for estimating transfer of a propellant between a first tank and a second tank in an ion propulsion system during a transfer event. The first tank and the second tank are separated by a valve. A flow rate of the propellant through the valve is calculated based on an initial pressure and an initial temperature of each of the first tank and the second tank for a beginning of the transfer event, calculating, based at least in part on the flow rate, a mass of propellant transferred through the latch over a period of time ending at an intermediate time before an end of the transfer event, and determining an intermediate pressure and temperature for each of the first tank and the second tank for the intermediate time.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to propellant transfer and, more particularly, to methods and systems for estimating propellant transfer in an ion propulsion system.
Some known satellite propulsion systems include two storage tanks separated by a high pressure latch valve. Gas propellant for the satellite's propulsion system is stored in the storage tanks. When propellant is transferred from one storage tank to another, the amount of gas transferred between tanks and the amount of propellant remaining in each tank is estimated. Some known systems use a propellant P-V-T Gauging Tool to estimate the transfer of gas propellant. The latest pressure and temperature sensor reading for each tank are used to determine the volume of propellant in each tank and to retrieve the corresponding fluid density from a properties table. The mass of the gas propellant is calculated based on the calculated volume and retrieved density. During transfer of the gas, these known systems do not update the pressure and temperature profile. Rather, the measurements and calculations described above are performed before the transfer begins, the time to transfer the desired amount of gas propellant is calculated based on the initial estimations, and the calculations are not updated or repeated until after the transfer is completed. During transfer of the gas propellant, temperature and pressure typically change, resulting in changes in the characteristics of the gas propellant and variations in the flow rate of the gas. These changes may lead to inaccuracies in the estimation of the amount of gas transferred.

Methods and systems for estimation of propellant transfer in an ion propulsion system


Compact CMOS pixel sensors containing three or four total transistors and four or five control lines provide a high percentage of sensor area for the photodiode that measures light intensity. The CMOS pixel sensors thus have good light sensitivity. The CMOS pixel sensors also provide active reset operations yielding low noise when resetting node voltages. The low transistor count is achieved using the same transistors during both reset operations and readout operation. Reversing the current direction through a pixel sensor during readout allows the row selection transistor to act as a buffer for a transistor having a gate coupled to the photodiode node.

Charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors are the two major types of electronic image sensor currently in use. CCD image sensors can provide excellent light sensitivity and high image quality, but manufacturing of CCD image sensors generally requires specialized fabrication processes that make CCD sensors more expensive to make and more difficult to integrate with associated circuitry. CMOS image sensors, on the other hand, can be inexpensively fabricated using standard CMOS manufacturing technology and can be easily integrated on the same die with circuit blocks serving other imaging and non-imaging functions. However, high light sensitivity and high image quality are more difficult to achieve with CMOS image sensors.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional CMOS image sensor 100, which includes an array 110 of pixel sensors 120. Control lines (e.g., row lines 112 and column lines 114) in array 110 connect pixel sensors 120 to control circuits such as row control block 130 and column control block 140 that are outside array 110. Generally, a selection signal can be asserted on one of row line 112 to select a row of pixel sensors 110 for reading via column lines 114. FIG. 1 shows only row lines 112 and column lines 114 connected to pixel sensors 120, but more generally, the circuitry in each pixel sensor 120 also connects to additional control lines (not shown).
Capturing an image with CMOS image sensor 100 generally includes a reset operation, an integration operation, and a readout operation. The reset operation resets nodes of the photodiodes in pixel sensors 120 to a reference voltage level. After the photodiode node voltages are reset, the integration operation partially discharges (or charges) the photodiode nodes via currents that flow through the photodiodes. The current through each photodiode depends on the intensity of the incident light on the photodiode, so that the voltage on the photodiode node in a pixel sensor 120 at the end of the integration operation indicates an integral of the intensity of the incident light on that pixel sensor 120 during the integration operation. The readout operation samples or measures the voltage on photodiode nodes, and those voltages can be converted to digital pixel values.
Signal noise can be a significant problem in CMOS image sensor 100, particularly during the reset operations. Ideally, a reset operation always sets the photodiode node of a pixel sensor to the same reference voltage level. If a particular pixel sensor 120 is charged to different levels during different reset operations, the pixel values readout from the pixel sensor will be inconsistent from one image to the next, leading to poor image quality.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a conventional pixel sensor 200 that is designed to provide low noise levels during reset operations. Pixel sensor 200 includes a photodiode 210, an amplifier 220, and NMOS transistors 230, 240, 250, 260, and 270. A reset operation in pixel sensor 200 includes asserting a preset signal Vpr that turns on transistor 230 to pull down a voltage Vpd on the photodiode node of pixel sensor 200. Transistor 230 is then turned off, and a signal Vg is asserted to turn on transistor 240, which connects the output of amplifier 220 to the gate of transistor 250 and completes a feedback loop for resetting of photodiode voltage Vpd. In particular, current through transistor 250 charges the photodiode node until amplifier 220 determines that voltage Vpd, which is applied to a negative input of amplifier 220, is equal to a reference voltage Vr that is applied to a positive input of amplifier 220. Amplifier 220 then shuts off transistor 250. The reset operation thus dependably charges photodiode voltage Vpd to the level of reference voltage Vr.
Transistors 240 and 250 are off during image integration to disable the feedback loop while current through photodiode 210 changes photodiode voltage Vpd. After integration, the readout operation asserts a signal WORD on the word line 112 that is coupled to pixel sensor 200, thereby turning on transistor 270. The bit line 114 connected to pixel sensor 200 is then pulled up via a current through transistor 260, which has a gate at photodiode voltage Vpd, permitting measurement of photodiode voltage Vpd through the effect on bit line 114. U.S. Pat. No. 6,424.375, entitled "Low Noise Active Reset Readout for Image Sensors" further describes operation of pixel sensors similar to pixel sensor 200.
Pixel sensor 200 has some significant drawbacks. In particular, pixel sensor 200 has an NMOS transistor 240 in the control line for the gate of NMOS transistor 250, which pulls up photodiode voltage Vpd during the reset operation. Accordingly, the upper limit of photodiode voltage Vpd must accommodate the threshold voltage drops of two NMOS transistors, which limits the dynamic range of voltage Vpd. Pixel sensor 200 is also relatively complex requiring at least six transistors and seven independent control or voltage supply lines. The circuit area required for these transistors and lines reduces the available area for photodiodes 210. As a result, the sensor array has a lower fill factor and a corresponding loss of light sensitivity.
In view of the drawbacks of existing CMOS image sensors, pixel sensors are sought that contain fewer transistors and control lines while still implementing low-noise reset operations.

Compact pixel reset circuits using reversed current readout