In a communication network (100), a method (400) of reserving X slots (610) for transmitting data from a source device (110A) to a destination device (110D) via multi-hop relay includes sending a first hop reservation request from the source device (110A) to a second device (110), for transmitting data from the source device to the destination device. The first hop reservation request identifies the source device, the destination device, and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for the first hop. The source device then receives a first message, addressed to the source device from the second device, indicating that the first hop reservation request is pending and that the X slots proposed by the source device have been reserved by the second device. Later, the source device receives a subsequent message indicating whether a final hop reservation request has been accepted by the destination device.

There continues to be a proliferation of wireless communications networks. For example, the FCC has proposed to allow unlicensed radio transmitters to operate within the broadcast television spectrum at locations where one or more of the allocated terrestrial television channels are not being used, so long as such unlicensed transmitters include safeguards that insure no interference with the reception of licensed terrestrial television signals. Various organizations developed ultrawideband (UWB) wireless communication technologies to take advantage of permitted unlicensed wireless device operations in licensed frequency bands.
In particular, the WIMEDIA® Alliance has developed specifications for wireless networks based upon UWB technology. For example, the WIMEDIA® MAC specification provides a fully distributed medium access control (MAC) protocol to support high-speed single-hop transmission between devices that are located in the vicinity of each other, e.g., so-called personal area networks (PANs). Meanwhile, in December 2005, the European Computer Manufacturer's Association (ECMA) published ECMA-368: "High Rate Ultra Wideband PHY and MAC Standard" specifying an ultra wideband physical layer (PHY) and distributed MAC sublayer for a high-speed, short range, distributed access wireless network that may include portable and fixed devices.
As used herein, a device in a wireless network may also be referred to as a terminal or a node. Also as used herein, a wireless network is said to have "distributed access" when there is no central controller, base station, master station, etc. that governs or controls access to the communication resources (e.g., time slots in a reservation-based data transfer protocol) of the wireless network by the other devices in the network.
However, due to the regulatory restriction on transmission power, the transmission range of devices using the current WIMEDIA® MAC is limited, and decreases with any increase of the physical transmission rate. Accordingly, due to transmission range limitations, in some cases it is not possible for one device in a wireless personal area network (PAN) to transmit data to another device in the same network if the two devices are physically separated by too great of a distance. In other cases, where the two devices may be closer together, transmission may be possible, but only at reduced data rates. However, there are a number of applications where it would be highly desirable for devices that are remotely located from each other by a significant distance to be able to send and receive data to and from each other at higher data rates than are supported by the transmission power limitations on the devices.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method of transmitting data from one device to another device in a distributed wireless network even if the two devices are physically separated by too great of a distance for direct wireless transmission. It would also be desirable to provide such a method that supports high data transmission rates and spectrum efficiency. It would further be desirable to provide a method of reserving resources for multi-hop transmission from device to device in a distributed access wireless communications network.
In one aspect of the invention, in a communication network comprising a plurality of devices communicating using a reservation-based data transfer protocol having a superframe comprising a plurality of slots, a method of reserving X slots for transmitting data from a source device to a destination device via multi-hop relay is provided. The method includes sending a first hop reservation request from the source device, addressed to a second device different from the destination device, for transmitting data from the source device to the destination device. The first hop reservation request identifies the source device, the destination device, and X proposed slots to be reserved for a first hop between the source device and the second device. The method also includes, at the source device, receiving a first message, addressed to the source device from the second device, indicating that the first hop reservation request is pending and that the X slots proposed by the source device have been reserved by the second device. The method further includes, at the source device, receiving a subsequent message, addressed to the source device from the second device, indicating that a final hop reservation request has been accepted by the destination device, corresponding to the first hop reservation request of the source device.
In another aspect of the invention, in a communication network comprising a plurality of devices communicating using a reservation-based data transfer protocol having a superframe comprising a plurality of slots, a method of reserving slots for transmitting data from a source device to a destination device via multi-hop relay is provided. The method includes receiving at an Nth device an (N−1)th hop reservation request for transmitting data from a source device to a destination device via multi-hop relay. The reservation request identifies the source device, the destination device, and X proposed slots to be reserved for an (N−1)th hop between an (N−1)th device and the Nth device. The method includes, when the X proposed slots to be reserved for the (N−1)th hop are available at the Nth device: transmitting a message from the Nth device, addressed to the (N−1)th device, indicating that the reservation request is pending and that the X slots proposed by the (N−1)th device have been reserved by the Nth device; and sending an Nth hop reservation request from the Nth device, addressed to an (N+1)th device, for transmitting the data from the source device to the destination device, the Nth hop reservation request identifying the source device, the destination device, and X proposed slots to be reserved for an Nth hop between the Nth device and the (N+1)th device, wherein the X slots proposed by the Nth device to be reserved for the Nth hop are different from the X slots proposed by an (N−1)th device to be reserved for the (N−1)th hop. The method also includes, when the X proposed slots to be reserved for the (N−1)th hop are not available at the Nth device, transmitting a message from the Nth device, addressed to the (N−1)th device, indicating that the reservation request is denied.

Method of reserving resources with a maximum delay guarantee for multi-hop transmission in a distributed access wireless communications network


A scanning backlight for a stereoscopic 3D liquid crystal display apparatus includes a light guide formed from a plurality of segments. Each segment has a first side and a second side opposite the first side, and a first surface extending between the first and second sides and a second surface opposite the first surface. The first surface substantially re-directs light and the second surface substantially transmits light. The plurality of segments are arranged substantially in parallel and with the second surfaces transmitting light in substantially the same direction to provide backlighting for a stereoscopic 3D liquid crystal display. A first light source is disposed along the first side of each segment for transmitting light into the light guide from the first side, and a second light source is disposed along the second side of each segment for transmitting light into the light guide from the second side. Each segment first and second light source is selectively turned on and off in a particular pattern and each segment light source selectively transmits light into the light guide first side or light guide second side to form a scanning backlight.

A stereoscopic 3D display usually presents an observer with images with parallax from individual right and left eye viewpoints. There are two methods of providing the two eyes of the observer with the parallax images in a time sequential manner. In one method, the observer utilizes a pair of shutter or 3D glasses which transmit or block light from the viewer's eyes in synchronization with alternating the left/right image display. Similarly, in another method, right eye and left eye viewpoints are alternatively displayed and presented to the respective eyes of the observer but without the use of 3D glasses. This second method is referred to as autostereoscopic and is sometimes desirable for stereo 3D viewing because separate glasses are not needed though there is limited permissible head motion.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a sample and hold display device such that the image at any point or pixel of the display is stable until that pixel is updated at the next image refresh time, typically 1/60 of a second or faster. In such a sample and hold system, displaying different images, specifically displaying alternating left and right images for an autostereoscopic display, requires careful timing sequencing of the light sources so that, for example, the left eye image light source is not on during the display of data for the right eye and vice versa.
Turning on the light source to light the first or right image at time t=0 provides light to the right image. At time t=16.67 ms (typical 60 Hz refresh rate) the second or left image starts to be put in place. The second image replaces the first image and can take 16.67 ms to complete the transformation. Current systems turn off all the light sources that illuminate the first or right image and then turn on all the light sources that illuminate the second or left image at sometime during the second image transformation. This can lead to "cross-talk" or "ghosting" of the first or right image in the second or left image, degrading the stereoscopic 3D effect.

Stereoscopic 3D liquid crystal display apparatus with slatted light guide


A method of segmenting multiple touches in a touch sensor system is disclosed. The method includes setting a point node by selecting a valid node of a touch sensor panel from among valid nodes having touch data equal to or greater than a threshold value of a touch sensor panel; determining one or more candidate labels for the point node by searching for adjacent nodes around the point node; and when there are two or more candidate labels for the point node, labeling the point node by selecting a label of a label group that has the highest group similarity with the point node and that is from among label groups of the two or more candidate labels, and by assigning the selected label to the point node.

The disclosed embodiments relate to a method of segmenting multiple touches in a touch sensing system using a touch panel, and more particularly, to a method of segmenting touches based on touch data obtained via a touch panel so as to recognize multiple touches in a touch sensing system using the touch panel.
Recently, electronic devices have become small and slim, so that a touch screen is widely used to input, instead of using a button-type interface method including a keyboard. In particular, much research is actively being conducted into a user interface using multiple touches in an electrostatic capacitive-type touch screen.
An electrostatic capacitive-type touch sensing system recognizes the occurrence of multiple touches by sensing a change of an electrostatic capacity between two electrodes. In order to recognize the occurrence of multiple touches, two-dimensional (2D) touch data is segmented, and in this regard, when a conventional technique for image segmentation is used, a characteristic of the touch data is not reflected, such that it may be difficult to satisfy exactness and calculation complexity that are required to calculate touch coordinates. Thus, there is a demand for a method of segmenting multiple touches, which reflects the characteristic of the touch data.

Method of segmenting multiple touches in touch sensing system

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


A device and method using an overdrive function to do smoothing processing of video data including a frame sequence AABB or AABBB is disclosed in the present invention. The device includes a video information generator and an over drive circuit. The video information generator detects a plurality of continuous frames wherein the continuous frames include a current frame and a previous frame. When a second value of the current frame is different from a first value of the previous frame having the same position as that of the second value, the video information generator generates first video information; When the second value of the current frame is the same as the first value of the previous frame having the same position as that of the second value, the video information generator generates second video information. The over drive circuit generates a first target value which is a value between the first value and the second value according to the first video information, and uses the first target value to replace the second value of the current frame; or the overdrive circuit generates a second target value according to the second video information, and uses the second target value to replace the second value of the current frame.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a video processing device and method, and more particularly, to a device and method using an overdrive function to do smoothing processing of video data.
Description of the Related Art
In conventional video playing techniques, inputting a video, for example having repeated frames 22 (AABB) or 23 (AABBB) often has juddering or unsmooth problems during playing. Therefore, video processing, such as motion estimation (ME), motion compensation (MC), is required to have smoother playing effect. Such a process is usually called "de-judder".
However, generally a de-juddering method requires a large amount of resources and high production cost. Thus, how to provide a de-juddering method for smoothing video data is an urgent problem to be overcome.

Device and method for using an overdrive function to do motion smoothing


Novel compounds are disclosed having the structure of Formula I:

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) in Gram-negative pathogens, including the Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter spp., and Stenotrophomonas maltiphilia, pose a significant threat to the effective treatment of infections caused by these organisms (Kibbey, et al.: An integrated process for measuring the physicochemical properties of drug candidates in a preclinical discovery environment. In J Pharm Sci, vol. 90, pp. 1164-1175, (2001); Kang et al.: Risk factors for antimicrobial resistance and influence of resistance on mortality in patients with bloodstream infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Microb Drug Resist, vol. 11, pp. 68-74, (2005); Kang, et al.: Clinical epidemiology of ciprofloxacin resistance and its relationship to broad-spectrum cephalosporin resistance in bloodstream infections caused by Enterobacter species. In Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, vol. 26, pp. 88-92, (2005); Kang, et al.: Bloodstream infections caused by antibiotic resistant Gram-negative bacilli: risk factors for mortality and impact of inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy on outcome Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 49, pp. 760-766, (2005)). The MDR threat has been exacerbated by the recent decrease in commercial efforts to discover and develop new antibacterial agents. In addition, antibacterial agents that have been introduced recently into the clinic or are in development, such as daptomycin, gemifloxacin, telithromycin, and telavancin, are not active against Gram-negative pathogens. Recently approved agents with activity against Gram-negative bacteria include tigecycline and doripenem. While tigecycline is active against bacteria producing a tetracycline-specific pump in vitro, it is pumped out rapidly by the ubiquitous multidrug pumps, and its pharmacokinetic properties will limit its use for treating urinary tract and bloodstream infections (Peleg, et al.: Hospital acquired infections due to Gram-negative bacteria. In N Engl J Med, vol. 362, pp. 1804-1813, (2010)), as will the evolution of resistance during therapy (Anthony, et al.: Clinical and microbiological outcomes of serious infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms treated with tigecycline. Iu Clin Infect Dis, vol. 46, pp. 567-570, (2008)). Clearly, novel strategies for effectively treating infections caused by MDR Gram-negative pathogens are urgently needed.
The MDR phenotype has been attributed to both acquired and intrinsic mechanisms of resistance. Acquired resistance mechanisms include mutations that decrease the affinity of the target for an antibacterial agent, or through acquisition of mobile genetic elements that modify the target or inactivate the antibacterial agent. In recent years, the importance of the role that intrinsic resistance mechanisms play in the development of the MDR phenotype has been fully appreciated (Nikaido, et al.: Broad-specificity efflux pumps and their role in multidrug resistance of Gram-negative bacteria. In FEMS Microbiol Rev, vol. 36, pp. 340-363, (2012); Poole: Bacterial stress responses as determinants of antimicrobial resistance. In J Antimicrob Chemother, vol. 67, pp. 2069-2089, (2012)). Recent genome-wide screens for mutants with altered susceptibilities to antibacterial agents have identified several genes that play a role in intrinsic resistance in E. coli (Tamae, et al.: Determination of antibiotic hypersensitivity among 4,000 single-gene-knockout mutants of Escherichia coli. In J Bacteriol, vol. 190, pp. 5981-5988, (2008)) and P. aeruginosa (Breidenstein, et al.: Complex ciprofloxacin resistome revealed by screening a Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutant library for altered susceptibility. In Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 52, pp. 4486-4491, (2008); Fajardo, et al.: The neglected intrinsic resistome of bacterial pathogens. In PLoS One, vol. 3, pp. e1619, (2008); Gallagher, et al.: Genome-scale identification of resistance functions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa using Tn-seq. In MBio, vol. 2, pp. e00315-00310, (2012)), including genes involved in heat shock, SOS response, membrane stress response, and efflux. A network of proteases FtsH and accessory proteins YccA, HtpX, HflK, HslUV, and HflC are involved in intrinsic resistance to aminoglycoside tobramycin (Hinz, et al.: Membrane proteases and aminoglycoside antibiotic resistance. In J Bacteriol, vol. 193, pp. 4790-4797, (2011)), presumably by removing misfolded proteins. In addition, the SOS has been implicated in intrinsic resistance to quinolone antibiotics (Piddock, et al.: Bactericidal activities of five quinolones for Escherichia coli strains with mutations in genes encoding the SOS response or cell division. In Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 36, pp. 819-825, (1992)). However, the RND efflux pumps of Gram-negative bacteria play a major role in MDR. Because of their broad substrate specificity, overexpression of these efflux pumps results in decreased susceptibility to a wide range of antibacterial agents and biocides (Nikaido, et al.: Broad-specificity efflux pumps and their role in multidrug resistance of Gram-negative bacteria. In FEMS Microbiol Rev, vol. 36, pp. 340-363, (2012)).
The major efflux pump of E. coli is a typical Resistance-Nodulation-Division (RND) pump, which is a tripartite structure consisting of an integral membrane efflux transporter with broad substrate specificity (AcrB), an outer membrane channel (TolC), and a periplasmic protein adapter (AcrA). Antibiotics enter the periplasmic space through a porin or by diffusion through the lipid bilayer, where they interact with the substrate binding pocket of AcrB. The AcrB transporter uses proton motive force to extrude the compound into the TolC channel and to the exterior. These RND family pumps not only produce intrinsic levels of resistance to antibacterial agents, including the fluoroquinolones (FQs; e.g. ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin) and β-lactams (e.g., piperacillin, meropenem, and aztreonam) (Piddock: Clinically relevant chromosomally encoded multidrug resistance efflux pumps in bacteria. In Clin Microbiol Rev, vol. 19, pp. 382-402, (2006)), but also produce an MDR phenotype when overproduced. In addition, inhibition of RND pumps in P. aeruginosa by genetic deletion (Lomovskaya, et al.: Use of a genetic approach to evaluate the consequences of inhibition of efflux pumps in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 43, pp. 1340-1346, (1999)) or with a potent efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) (Lomovskaya, et al.: Identification and characterization of inhibitors of multidrug resistance efflux pumps in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: novel agents for combination therapy. In Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 45, pp. 105-116, (2001)) decreases the frequency of resistance to levofloxacin, and AcrAB-TolC is required for selection of target mutations for FQ resistance in E. coli (Singh, et al.: Temporal interplay between efflux pumps and target mutations in development of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli. Iu Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 56, pp. 1680-1685, (2012)). In addition, RND pumps have been shown to play a role in virulence of the enteric pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Nishino, et al.: Virulence and drug resistance roles of multidrug efflux systems of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. In Mol Microbiol, vol. 59, pp. 126-141, (2006)), and EPIs that target RND pumps have been shown to inhibit biofilm formation in E. coli and K. pneumoniae (Kvist, et al.: Inactivation of efflux pumps abolishes bacterial biofilm formation. In Appl Environ Microbiol, vol. 74, pp. 7376-7382, (2008)). Therefore, EPIs could be used as adjunctive therapies with an FQ or β-lactam antibiotic to improve antibacterial potency at low antibiotic concentrations, prevent the emergence of resistance, inhibit biofilm formation, and decrease virulence of enteric pathogens.
Several potent efflux pump inhibitors have been described in the literature (Thorarensen, et al.: 3-Arylpiperidines as potentiators of existing antibacterial agents. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 11, pp. 1903-1906, (2001); Lomovskaya, et al.: Practical applications and feasibility of efflux pump inhibitors in the clinic—a vision for applied use. In Biochem Pharmacol, vol. 71, pp. 910-918, (2006); Mahamoud, et al.: Quinoline derivatives as promising inhibitors of antibiotic efflux pump in multidrug resistant Enterobacter aerogenes isolates. In Curr Drug Targets, vol. 7, pp. 843-847, (2006); Mahamoud, et al.: Antibiotic efflux pumps in Gram-negative bacteria: the inhibitor response strategy. In J Antimicrob Chemother, vol. 59, pp. 1223-1229, (2007)), however, none have reached clinical development. A family of peptidomimetics, including PAβN (MC-207 110), that exhibited potent inhibition of efflux pumps in P. aeruginosa has been developed for use as an adjunctive therapy (Renau, et al.: Inhibitors of efflux pumps in Pseudomonas aeruginosa potentiate the activity of the fluoroquinolone antibacterial levofloxacin. In J Med Chem, vol. 42, pp. 4928-4931, (1999); Lomovskaya, et al.: Identification and characterization of inhibitors of multidrug resistance efflux pumps in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: novel agents for combination therapy. In Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 45, pp. 105-116, (2001); Renau, et al.: Addressing the stability of C-capped dipeptide efflux pump inhibitors that potentiate the activity of levofloxacin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 11, pp. 663-667, (2001); Renau, et al.: Peptidomimetics of efflux pump inhibitors potentiate the activity of levofloxacin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 12, pp. 763-766, (2002); Renau, et al.: Conformationally restricted analogues of efflux pump inhibitors that potentiate the activity of levofloxacin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 2755-2758, (2003); Watkins, et al.: The relationship between physicochemical properties, in vitro activity and pharmacokinetic profiles of analogues of diamine-containing efflux pump inhibitors. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4241-4244, (2003); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 5: Carbon-substituted analogues at the C-2 position. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 1993-2004, (2006); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 6: exploration of aromatic substituents. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 8506-8518, (2006); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 7: highly soluble and in vivo active quaternary ammonium analogue D13-9001, a potential preclinical candidate. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 15, pp. 7087-7097, (2007)). In addition, pyridopyrimidine EPIs that are specific for the MexAB efflux pump of P. aeruginosa were advanced to the preclinical stage (Nakayama, et al.: MexAB-OprM-specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 1: discovery and early strategies for lead optimization. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4201-4204, (2003); Nakayama, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 2: achieving activity in vivo through the use of alternative scaffolds. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4205-4208, (2003); Nakayama, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 3: Optimization of potency in the pyridopyrimidine series through the application of a pharmacophore model. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 14, pp. 475-479, (2004); Nakayama, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 4: Addressing the problem of poor stability due to photoisomerization of an acrylic acid moiety. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 14, pp. 2493-2497, (2004); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 5: Carbon-substituted analogues at the C-2 position. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 1993-2004, (2006); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 6: exploration of aromatic substituents. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 8506-8518, (2006); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 7: highly soluble and in vivo active quaternary ammonium analogue D13-9001, a potential preclinical candidate. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 15, pp. 7087-7097, (2007)). Some of these inhibitors were validated using in vivo infection models (Nakayama, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 2: achieving activity in vivo through the use of alternative scaffolds. In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4205-4208, (2003); Yoshida, et al.: MexAB-OprM specific efflux pump inhibitors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part 7: highly soluble and in vivo active quaternary ammonium analogue D13-9001, a potential preclinical candidate. In Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 15, pp. 7087-7097, (2007)); however, they were abandoned because of toxicity problems (Lomovskaya, et al.: Practical applications and feasibility of efflux pump inhibitors in the clinic—a vision for applied use. In Biochem Pharmacol, vol. 71, pp. 910-918, (2006)).
The following table lists the classes of reported EPIs and references.
Compound ClassReferences1PeptidomimeticsRenau, et al., J Med Chem, vol. 42, pp. 4928-4931, (1999);Lomovskaya, et al., Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 45, pp. 105-116, (2001);Renau, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 11, pp. 663-667, (2001);Renau, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 12, pp. 763-766, (2002);Renau, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 2755-2758, (2003);Watkins, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4241-4244, (2003);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 1993-2004, (2006);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 8506-8518, (2006);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 15, pp. 7087-7097, (2007))2PyridopyrimidinesNakayama, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4201-4204,(2003);Nakayama, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 13, pp. 4205-4208,(2003);Nakayama, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 14, pp. 475-479, (2004);Nakayama, et al., Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 14, pp. 2493-2497,(2004);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 1993-2004, (2006);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 14, pp. 8506-8518, (2006);Yoshida, et al., Bioorg Med Chem, vol. 15, pp. 7087-7097, (2007)3QuinolinesChevalier, et al., J Med Chem, vol. 44, pp. 4023-4026, (2001);Mallea, et al., Biochem J, vol. 376, pp. 801-805, (2003);Chevalier, et al., Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 48, pp. 1043-1046,(2004);Mahamoud, et al., Curr Drug Targets, vol. 7, pp. 843-847, (2006)4QuinazolinesChevalier, et al., J Antimicrob Agents, vol. 36, pp. 164-168, (2010);Mahamoud, et al., Microbiology, vol. 157, pp. 566-571, (2011))53-ArylpiperidinesThorarensen, et al., In Bioorg Med Chem Lett, vol. 11, pp. 1903-1906,(2001);Bohnert, et al., Antimicrob Agents Chemother, vol. 49, pp. 849-852,(2005)6Repurposed drugs Piddock, et al., J Antimicrob Chemother, vol. 65, pp. 1215-1223, (2010);Bohnert, et al., J Antimicrob Chemother, vol. 66, pp. 2057-2060, (2011);Li, et al., J Antimicrob Chemother, vol. 66, pp. 769-777, (2011)
The need remains for more effective efflux pump inhibitors as a means of combatting bacterial infection.

Abstract: wherein,    n is an integer from 1 to 5;    X is —CN, —F, —Cl, —Br, —I, —NO2;    W is S, SO, SO2, O, NH, or NR5;    R5 is alkyl, aralkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl;    Y is O, S;    Z is NR1R2 or heterocycloalkyl;    R1, R2 are, independently, hydrogen, alkyl, aralkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, or cycloalkyl and may be optionally substituted with halo, hydroxy, alkoxy, amino, alkylamino, carboxy, alkoxycarbonyl, or nitrile groups;    R3 and R4 are, independently, hydrogen, alkyl, aralkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, or cycloalkyl and may be optionally substituted with halo, hydroxy, alkoxy, amino, alkylamino, carboxy, alkoxycarbonyl, or nitrile groups, and may together form a cyclic structure; and    Ar is mono-, di-, or tri-substituted phenyl or heteroaryl,    a pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

Abstract: The compounds are potent bacterial efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs). Such compounds are useful to potentiate the antimicrobial activity of antimicrobial compounds such as beta-lactam antibiotics and quinolone antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria.


A method of making a semiconductor structure includes forming a trench through a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure and into a substrate, and forming a liner including an electrical insulator material on sidewalls of the trench. The method also includes forming a core including a high thermal conductivity material in the trench and on the liner, and forming a cap in the trench and on the core.

A typical bipolar transistor comprises a vertical stack of layers of semiconductor material of alternating conduction type, i.e., NPN or PNP. Normally, the collector is located at the bottom of the stack with the base sandwiched between the collector and the emitter. Forward biasing the base to emitter junction causes current to flow through that junction. Current through the base to emitter junction causes a much larger current to flow between the collector and emitter.
Silicon Germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have found widespread use in high speed applications and, especially in Radio Frequency (RF) applications, high speed wired data transmission, test equipment, and wireless applications. These transistors are commonly used in semiconductor devices for high-speed operation and large drive current applications. Such heterojunction bipolar transistors are increasingly being used for applications in extremely high frequency range technologies such as communications and satellite circuitry.
In advanced SiGe HBTs, as current density increases and devices are scaling down in size and geometry, electrical isolation and heat dissipation are becoming increasingly significant design considerations. Conventional isolation structures including deep trench (DT) and trench isolation (TI) are inadequate for transferring sufficient heat away from the HBT.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

Device isolation with improved thermal conductivity


A method and apparatus for self-adjusting networks including internet-of-things (IoT) devices is provided. An exemplary system includes a source discovery system configured to identify if a source sending a message is in a database, and, if not, add the source to the database and rank the source by link metrics of messages received from the source. A sink discovery system is configured to identify if a sink receiving a message is in a database, and, if not, add the sink to the database. The sink discovery system is configured to rank the sink by link metrics of messages responded to by the sink. A dynamic mapping system is configured to create a dynamic map of communications between a source and a sink, and implement a self-healing subsystem to restore a loss of communications between a source and a sink.

It has been estimated that the Internet of Things (IoT) may bring Internet connectivity to 50 billion devices by 2020. As the number of devices and complexity of Internet of Things and Fog systems increases, human intervention to identify and resolve technical issues may no longer feasible for systems needing high reliability. The complexity of these systems is due in part to multiple integrated technologies, mixed-mode workloads, for example, including sensing, decision making, fractional computation, and mixed-mobility. The reliability of the system must be continually verified. However, manual verification and operations in massive networks may not be feasible. Further, automatic methods and functions for detecting failures and modifying operations during failures are needed.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.


This invention relates to a system and method for delivering a media object associated with a media stream broadcasted from a communication device to a broadcast receiving unit such as a personal computer, a multimedia terminal, a television receiver, a television, or any type of radio receiver, to a terminal such as a phone, a cellular or mobile phone, a personal computer, a television, or a personal office assistant.

Media streams such as a radio or television transmissions, videos, or DVDs are generally controlled and presented by a communication system such as a radio or television receiver, a video recorder or DVD player. A user may control the presentation of the media stream by directly operating the communication device so as to select a particular media stream or particular sequence of the particular media stream. The known media streams and known communication devices are satisfactory in the presentation of a media stream in a sequential fashion. However, when it comes to commercial utilisation of the media stream the known communication systems may be further improved in order to serve multi-technical communication systems, i.e. combinations of communication systems, and to fulfil future customer demands for versatility of their communication devices and media stream products.

System and method for delivering representative media objects of a broadcast media stream to a terminal


A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus includes a write head for recording a signal on a magnetic recording medium, a recording amplifier for supplying a recording current corresponding to the signal to the write head, a read head for reproducing the signal recorded on the magnetic recording medium, a reproducing amplifier for generating a reproduced current corresponding to the signal, an equalizer for correcting a waveform of a reproduced signal reproduced by the read head, a distortion detector for detecting distortion of signal reproduced by the read head, thereby obtaining a distortion evaluation value, and a recording current adjusting section for adjusting a magnitude of the recording current in a direction to decrease the distortion (i.e., in a direction to decrease the recording current) on the basis of a detection output obtained by the distortion detector. An optimum recording current is always supplied to the write head in accordance with the degree of wear of the write head. The degree of wear of the head is detected upon request, and head replacement is prompted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and, more particularly, to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus capable of decreasing an error rate in recording and/or reproduction of a digital signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, digital VTRs for digitizing a video signal and recording/reproducing the digital video signal to obtain a high quality image are becoming popular. For broadcasting systems, digital VTRs based on the D1 and D2 formats have already been commercially available. In a digital VTR of this type, since the amount of data to be recorded is very large, head each having a small gap and a small depth are employed to increase the recording density.
Generally, a magnetic head- is gradually worn by contact with a recording medium. As a result, the depth of the gap formed in the head is gradually decreased. When the gap depth of the head is decreased, the strength of the magnetic field of the gap portion of the write head is relatively increased, and the reproduced output voltage characteristic curve shown in FIG. 10 with respect to the recording current changes from a broken curve a to a solid curve b. As a result, as the wear progresses, the value of the recording current is deviated from an optimum recording current value. At this time, the waveform of the reproduced pulse signal is changed, like from the broken curve to the solid curve, as shown in FIG. 10, and the peak of an FWHM (Full Width Half Maximum) is decreased, like the solid curve in FIG. 10, to widen the curve in the right-and-left direction. As a result, an ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) tends to occur and increases the error rate. In order to solve this problem, wear of the head may be anticipated in advance and the recording current value may be periodically adjusted. With this method, however, the maintenance becomes cumbersome.
Generally, a reproducing system of a digital magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, e.g., a digital VTR, has an equalizer for equalizing the waveform of a reproduced signal. The influence of the "deviation (i.e. separation)" of the recording current from the optimum value may be compensated for by using the equalizer. Equalizers of this type are classified into a fixed equalizer having fixed equalizing characteristics and a variable equalizer having equalizing characteristics which are adaptively controlled in accordance with the residual distortion of the waveform of the reproduced signal.
When a fixed equalizer is used, in order to compensate for the influence of the deviation of the recording current, the equalizing characteristics may be periodically adjusted. However, this maintenance operation is cumbersome just like the manual adjustment of the recording current described above. As a variable equalizer, an equalizer comprising linear filters, e.g., transversal filters, is well known. When such a variable equalizer is used, however, a large number of filter taps are needed in order to remove the distortion from a reproduced signal waveform, which distortion is caused by the deviation of the recording current from the optimum state, resulting in an increase in circuit size of the equalizer.
Even if the reproduced signal waveform is appropriately equalized by a fixed or variable equalizer, since the recording current value itself stays deviated from the optimum value, the S/N ratio of the reproduced signal is decreased.
When wear of the magnetic head progresses to reach a minimum allowable gap depth while the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is used, signal recording and reproduction failures occur. Especially, in an industrial VTR constantly requiring a high image quality, once the minimum allowable gap depth is reached, the head must be immediately replaced. Accordingly, the time of the reaching of the minimum allowable gap depth must be known in advance in order to perform head replacement at an appropriate timing. Conventionally, it is difficult to know the time a minimum allowable gap depth will be reached until wear of the head progresses to considerably degrade the image quality. Therefore, an average use time until the head reaches a minimum allowable gap depth is expediently given as the "service life of the head". The user replaces an old head with a new head when the service life of the head is estimated to have expired on the basis of the head use time.
In fact, however, the service life of the head largely depends on the environmental temperature, humidity, and the like. Sometimes the user replaces the head to avoid trouble even if the head can still be sufficiently used with a large head depth, thus wasting the head.
A conventional method of detecting a distortion in a reproduced signal is taught by, e.g., R.W. Lucky "Techniques for Adaptive Equalization of Digital Communication Systems", BSTJ, 45, 2, pp. 255-286 (1966). That is, a difference between a reproduced signal from a read head and an identified reproduced signal obtained by data-identifying the reproduced signal is defined as an error signal, and a value obtained by correlating or mutually relating the error signal and the data strings of the reproduced signal for a predetermined string length is determined as the "evaluation value of the distortion" of the reproduced signal. In this case, the positive or negative sign of the evaluated distortion value represents an increase or decrease of the distortion.
The method of manually re-adjusting the recording current value in order to remove the distortion in the reproduced signal waveform, as described above, results in cumbersome maintenance.
The method of compensating for the influence caused by wear of the head by utilizing the fixed equalizer of the reproducing system similarly requires manual adjustment of the equalizing characteristics. When a variable equalizer is used to compensate for the influence caused by wear of the head, the circuit size of the equalizer is increased.
In addition, even when either a fixed or variable equalizer is used, the recording current itself cannot be optimized, and the S/N ratio of the reproduced signal is decreased by wear of the head.
Furthermore, conventionally, the time to replace the heads cannot be precisely known by a user.

Magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for decreasing an error rate in recording/reproducing a digital signal


A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressuring rotation body, a drive transmission member, a detected member, and a rotation detecting part. The fixing belt rotates around a rotation axis. The pressuring rotation body comes into pressure contact with the fixing belt to form a fixing nip. The drive transmission member is held by one end part of the fixing belt. The detected member is held by another end part of the fixing belt. The rotation detecting part detects the rotation of the detected member. The fixing belt is configured to co-rotate with the rotation of the drive transmission member by friction force between the one end part of the fixing belt and drive transmission member. The detected member is configured to co-rotate with the rotation of the fixing belt by friction force between the other end part of the fixing belt and detected member.

The present disclosure relates to a fixing device fixing a toner image on a recording medium and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device.
An electrographic image forming apparatus, such as a printer or a copying machine, forms a toner image on a surface of a recording medium, such as a sheet, and then, heats and pressures the recording medium and toner image by a fixing device, thereby fixing the toner image on the recording medium.
As a manner applied in the above-mentioned fixing device, a manner forming a fixing nip heating and pressuring the recording medium and toner image by a fixing roller and a pressuring roller is known. The above-mentioned fixing roller is formed, for example, by covering the outer circumference face of a cored bar made of metal by a resin having high toner releasability. As a heat source heating the above-mentioned fixing roller, for example, a halogen heater is used. The halogen heater is arranged, for example, inside the cored bar of the fixing roller.
On the other hand, another manner (so-called as an "IH (Induction Heating) manner") using an IH coil as the heat source instead of the halogen heater is known. The above-mentioned IH coil produces magnetic field by conducting electricity. In such an IH manner-type fixing device, instead of forming the fixing nip by the fixing roller and pressuring roller, the fixing nip is often formed by a fixing belt and the pressuring roller. The above-mentioned fixing belt is made of a rotatable endless belt. The magnetic field produced by the above-mentioned IH coil acts on the fixing belt so as to produce eddy current, thereby generating heat in the fixing belt.
As a rotating manner of the fixing belt, a manner rotating the fixing belt together with one or more rollers arranged at an internal diameter side of the fixing belt is known. On the other hand, another manner sliding the fixing belt with respect to a pressuring member arranged at the internal diameter side of the fixing belt is also known.
In the fixing device with such a manner, since temperature rising rate of the fixing belt is high, if the fixing belt is heated in a stopping state, there is a possibility that the temperature of a part of the fixing belt is excessively risen and the excessive risen part receives damage. Then, in the above-mentioned fixing device, secure rotation of the fixing belt and detection of the rotation of the fixing belt are important tasks.
As a measure to securely rotate the fixing belt, there is a configuration gluing and fixing a drive transmission member to an end part of the fixing belt, the drive transmission member transmitting the assistive drive to the fixing belt.
As a measure to detect the rotation of the fixing belt, there is a configuration attaching a bias stopping ring to the end part of the fixing belt and detecting rotation of rotation detection blade by a sensor, the rotation detection blade being connected to the bias stopping ring. In such a technique, by meshing a tooth-like shape arranged in the end part of the fixing belt with a tooth-like shape arranged in the outer circumference part of the bias stopping ring, the bias stopping ring is co-rotated with the rotation of the fixing belt.
However, in the configuration gluing and fixing the drive transmission member to the end part of the fixing belt, the end part of the fixing belt is corrected in a roughly precise round shape by the drive transmission member. Therefore, a shape (an imprecise round shape) of a periphery part of the fixing nip of the fixing belt and a shape (a roughly precise round shape) of the end part of the fixing belt are different from each other, and accordingly, there is a possibility that great stress is added to the fixing belt to break down the fixing belt.
In the configuration attaching the bias stopping ring to the end part of the fixing belt, it is necessary to arrange the respective tooth-like shape to the end part of the fixing belt and the outer circumference part of the bias stopping ring in order to co-rotate the bias stopping ring with the rotation of the fixing belt, and accordingly, there is a possibility complicating manufacturing process of the fixing device.
Moreover, in the fixing device using the fixing belt, after the end part of the fixing belt is broken for some reason, a situation of continuously rotating the fixing belt may be caused. With regard to such a point, in the fixing device, the break of the end part of the fixing belt is often detected by a temperature sensor. However, in such a configuration, there is a possibility that the break of the end part of the fixing belt cannot be detected depending on position relationship between an occurrence location of the break and the temperature sensor.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus


A phasing mechanism for an internal combustion is provided. The phasing mechanism includes a stator, a rotor configured to rotate relative to the stator, a first plurality of rolling elements configured to engage and move the rotor in a first rotational direction, a second plurality of rolling elements configured to engage and move the rotor in a second rotational direction, and a piston configured to be hydraulically actuated in: i) a first axial direction to move the rotor in the first rotational direction, and ii) a second axial direction to move the rotor in the second rotational direction.

Phasing mechanisms or phase adjusters can be utilized within IC engines to vary a phase relationship of one rotational element relative to another. One example of a phasing mechanism varies a rotational position of a camshaft relative to a crankshaft to vary a valve timing within a four-stroke engine cycle to optimize the performance and emissions of the IC engine. Another example of a phasing mechanism varies a rotational position of a first shaft relative to a crankshaft within a cranktrain of an IC engine to vary a compression ratio of the internal combustion engine.


Disclosed are systems and methods for prioritizing scan requests. An example method includes reserving, by a computer processor, one or more connections between a thin client and a virtual machine of a computer; when one or more of the reserved connections are not used for communicating on-access scan (OAS) requests or on-demand scan (ODS) requests, allocating said one or more reserved connections for communicating OAS or ODS requests between the thin client and the virtual machine; and when all the reserved connections are used for communicating OAS or ODS requests, and at least one reserved connection is used for communicating ODS requests, reallocating for communicating the OAS requests the at least one reserved connection used for communicating ODS request.

Modern computer operating systems and applications have become increasingly resource intensive when interacting with hardware and software components of the computer system. Although developers continually improve the operation of operating systems and computer applications, as their complexity increases, so does the demand for system resources. An example of a resource-demanding application is an antivirus application. Antivirus applications interact extensively with a computer system's software and hardware components during system scans for malicious software, such as viruses, worms, spyware and other types of malware that threatens security of the computer system.
Some computer applications, including many antivirus applications, periodically scan computer systems to monitor activity and identify malware. Such scans can affect system resource utilization, including server, processor, memory, hard drive and network utilization. In certain instances, computer resource scans may overload the computer system and/or server and impair performance. Accordingly, there is a need for a system architecture and process for efficiently prioritizing scan requests of a computer system.

System and method for prioritizing on access scan and on demand scan tasks


A method for fabricating nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers of substrate, of GaN for example, comprises the steps of: growing a first B.sub.w Al.sub.x Ga.sub.y In.sub.z N layer 2 (where 0.ltoreq.w.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1 and w+x+y+z=1) on a sacrificial sapphire substrate 1 by MOCVD at a growth rate not higher than 4 .mu.m/h; growing a second B.sub.w Al.sub.x Ga.sub.y In.sub.z N layer 3 (where 0.ltoreq.w.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1 and w+x+y+z=1) on the first B.sub.w Al.sub.x Ga.sub.y In.sub.z N layer by hydride VPE at a growth rate higher than 4 .mu.m/h and not higher than 200 .mu.m/h; and removing the sacrificial substrate 1.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for growing nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers and a method for fabricating a nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrate and, in particular, to those suitable for use in a semiconductor device, such as semiconductor laser, using nitride III-V compound semiconductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there is a strong demand for development of semiconductor lasers for emitting green, blue or ultraviolet light with a short wavelength, derived from the demand for optical discs and magneto-optical discs permitting higher recording and reproducing densities and higher resolutions.
Nitride III-V compound semiconductors represented by GaN, AlGaN and GaInN are known as appropriate materials for fabricating semiconductor devices capable of emitting short-wavelength light (for example, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 30(1991) L1998).
Growth of nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers conventionally relies on metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and uses a sapphire (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) substrate or a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate as the growth substrate.
However, nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers grown on a sapphire substrate or a silicon carbide substrate are liable to contain defects or to crack due to a difference from the substrate in lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient. Additionally, when a semiconductor laser is fabricated by stacking nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers by growth on a sapphire substrate or a silicon carbide substrate, it is difficult to make its cavity end surface by cleavage.
These problems will be solved if a nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrate is obtained. That is, nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers grown on a nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrate eliminate the problems of defects or cracking because their lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient coincide with those of the substrate. Also when a semiconductor laser, for example, is fabricated, its cavity end surface can be made by cleavage. In addition to these advantages, the use of a nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrate enables an electrode to be made on the bottom surface of the substrate, and therefore enables high-yield production of highly reliable semiconductor devices, e.g. semiconductor lasers.
However, since the vapor pressure of nitrogen is high, none of typical methods for preparing Si substrates or GaAs substrate can be used for fabricating nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrates.
In addition to MOCVD and MBE, hydride vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) is also known as a method for growing GaN. Hydride VPE can grow a GaN layer as thick as several micrometers to hundreds of micrometers per hour and is considered one of most effective methods for manufacturing GaN substrates. Regarding fabrication of GaN substrates, there is a report that GaN layers were grown on sapphire substrates, GaAs substrates, and so on, by hydride VPE. These GaN substrates, however, do not have satisfactory qualities for use as substrates, due to unacceptable crystallographic properties or surface conditions, or their GaN layers being grown diagonally, and not normally, with respect to the substrates.

Method for growing nitride III-V compound semiconductor layers and method for fabricating a nitride III-V compound semiconductor substrate


A heater mechanism for a crystal pulling apparatus is disclosed. Electrodes made of copper or the like and disposed under a heater are connected to the heater via graphite members. A cover member is attached to each graphite member, so that the downwardly extending portion of the cover member surrounds the outer surface of the graphite member. Accordingly, a leak or splash of a melt is prevented from contacting the electrodes. The length of each graphite member is equal to or greater than the distance between the bottom surface of the heater and the top surface of a melt spill tray which distance is measured when the heater mechanism is raised The cover member is vertically slidable along the outer surface of each graphite member. Thus, even when a material melt leaks out from a crucible, the electrodes of the heater mechanism can be protected from a fusion damage or the like which would be otherwise caused by the leak of the melt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved technique related to a heater mechanism for maintaining at a predetermined temperature a material melt within a crucible of a crystal pulling apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a crystal pulling apparatus wherein a seed crystal is brought into contact with, for example, a melt of silicon (semiconductor material) and is subsequently pulled while the seed crystal is gradually rotated, to thereby grow a single crystal. In such a crystal pulling apparatus, a heater mechanism is disposed around a crucible in which a silicon melt is contained, so as to maintain the silicon melt at a predetermined temperature. Among such heater mechanisms, there has been known a heater mechanism which can be moved vertically so as to vary the temperature of a melt when, for example, it is necessary to control the diameter of a crystal.
FIG. 5 shows an example of such a vertically movable heater. In FIG. 5, a heater mechanism 51 includes a cylindrical graphite heater 52 which surrounds an unillustrated crucible, and an electrode 53 made of copper or the like and connected to the lower portion of the graphite heater 52. The electrode 53 is passed through an electrode insertion hole h formed in a melt spill tray 54, which is disposed under the crucible, so that the heater mechanism 51 can move vertically. However, since the electrode 53 is projected upward from the melt spill tray 54 into a furnace as shown in FIG. 5, the vertically movable heater suffers the following significant drawbacks. For example, if a melt should leak from a crucible due to damage to the crucible, the leaking melt would flow along the heater 52 and reach the electrode 53, or splash onto the electrode 53. In such a case, the electrode 53 made of copper or the like would melt within a short period of time. This may cause a leak of the internal cooling water, resulting in the risk of a serious accident such as a steam explosion. Therefore, it has been desired to solve the above-described drawbacks.

Heater mechanism for crystal pulling apparatus


In the data structure for managing reproduction of text subtitle data, a recording area stores at least one subplayitem. The subplayitem identifies more than one clip information file name, and each clip information file named by the subplayitem indicates an associated clip of auxiliary presentation data to reproduce from the recording medium. The auxiliary presentation data in each clip is associated with at least a portion of main presentation data recorded on the recording medium, and the subplayitem indicates a single presentation interval for the associated clips.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high density recording media such as optical discs, and in particular, blu-ray read-only discs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical discs that are capable of storing large amounts of high-quality video and audio data, have been available on the market. The digital versatile disc (DVD) is one example of such an optical disc. Recently, DVD players and DVD recorders have been available on the market and have become one of the most popular consumer electronic products.
Auxiliary presentation data such as subtitle information that is to be displayed on screen during playback of a DVD title (e.g., a movie) is, in general, recorded on the DVD as bitmap-formatted image data. During playback of main audio/video data recorded on the digital versatile disc, the auxiliary presentation information is read out from the digital versatile disc and output to an external device such as a TV set after a series of signal processing steps so that the auxiliary presentation data is displayed on the screen of the external device. With a DVD player, a user can choose and watch a desired subtitle on a TV set during reproduction of the DVD title.
Recently, the standardization of new higher density optical discs than DVD, for example blu-ray read-only disc (BD-ROM) has been under development. Standard specifications and methods of providing a great level of flexibility in managing and displaying auxiliary presentation data, which are recorded on the optical disc or supplied from a content provider server through the Internet, have not yet been established.

Recording medium having data structure for managing reproduction of auxiliary presentation data and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses


Provided is a method for locking computer resources and for accessing locked computer resources. Resources being used by remote users can be locked such that other remote users and local users have restricted access to those resources. The remote user provides the resource to be locked, the type of lock to place on the resource and the duration of the lock. If the resource is available and the user has the proper credentials and the proper access permissions, the resource is locked and a lock token is provided to the remote user. A resource handle is also provided to the remote user. Once a resource has been locked, the lock token must be provided and verified before access to the resource is granted. Because the locks can be discovered, a security token of the owner of the lock is associated with the lock token. The security token of the remote user must also match the security token associated with the stored lock token before access to the resource is granted. The locks can either expire or be refreshed. If a lock expires, it is removed from memory and the resource handle is released. Also, particular user agents are given a fixed lock token in order to access system resources. These particular agents view the resource as locked, but the non-unique fixed lock token indicates to the system that the resource is not in fact locked. Other particular agents are given an extended timeout period to account for real time latencies of the computer system.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the management of system resources. More specifically, the present invention relates to serializing access to system resources by allowing system resources to be locked.
2. The Prior State of the Art
A significant advantage of computer networks is that a user can remotely access a document, an image, a printer, or other resource. Computer networks, and the internet in particular, have rendered the geographical location of the user irrelevant. The internet contains a vast amount of resources that are available to practically anyone with an internet connection. In a similar manner, local area networks, such as those used by businesses, can make documents, applications, printers, and other resources available to anyone connected to the local area network.
This ability to remotely access a resource has greatly enhanced the ability of people and businesses to work together more quickly and efficiently. This is especially true of a resource that is collaboratively produced. Before the advent of the internet and the prolific use of email, a resource, such as a document, that was produced by a group of authors required a significant amount of time and effort to produce. One reason for this delay is that updates and revisions to the document had to be circulated using regular mail systems. Keeping track of the most current edition of the document was also difficult because all the authors had different copies and were simultaneously making updates and revisions to potentially different revisions of the document.
Currently, email is the method of choice when persons collaborate on a document. Email has significantly reduced the time required to produce a collaborative document, but it is still difficult to keep track of the most current update. When authors are sending a document back and forth via email, each author can acquire multiple copies of a document on their computer. Each copy or revision of the document will most likely have a similar name and updated revisions emailed from various authors may arrive at different times. Because the names of revisions are similar, it is possible for the revision of one author to overwrite the revision of another author. This can require the changes and edits to be entered on yet another document. If the document is large, email can present additional problems which are related to the size of the document, especially when the network is busy. Encoding problems can also prevent a document from being successfully emailed. This is especially true when privacy is a concern.
This problem is rot limited to documents but can apply to a variety of different computer resources. The Internet, for example, is primarily a retrieve and read medium. A web page is downloaded to a local computer and read. For that reason, a web page being designed by several persons presents similar challenges. When a web page designer accesses a web page to make an update, the web page is downloaded to a local computer to be edited by that designer. The original web page, however, is still accessible by other designers. If another designer simultaneously decides to update the same web page, the second designer will download the web page and make changes. The problem is that the designers are not aware of each other or the changes being made. The result of this scenario is that one of the designer""s changes will be overwritten when the other designer uploads an update to the web page.
Using today""s technology, more and more of the work done by people and businesses is being done collaboratively. People work together in groups to create presentations, budgets, Advertisements, business plans, web sites and more. The global nature of he internet permits collaborative groups to be dispersed geographically and existing technology simply does not permit these groups of people to easily collaborate while producing a product. There is a need for protecting the work product of a group of people such that one person""s work isn""t inadvertently destroyed or overwritten. More generally, there is a clear need for a technology that permits remote users and groups of users to more effectively use and monitor computer resources. One effect of such technology would be that documents could no longer be inadvertently overwritten.
In response to these and other problems, the present invention provides systems and methods for serializing access to computer resources. Serialized access is achieved by allowing remote clients to place locks on computer resources. A lock can be a read lock, a write lock or any other type of lock desired by the remote user and supported by the system. The lock is granted for a specific amount of time, which may be refreshed each time the resource is accessed within the amount of time allotted for the lock. The lock is also enforced against local users and clients by passing a resource handle to the remote client when the lock to the resource is granted.
When a remote client or user locks a resource, a lock token is generated. The lock token is given to the remote client and is also stored in the memory of the system being accessed by the remote client. When the remote client attempts to access the resource at a later time, the system responds that the resource is locked. The remote client presents a lock token that must match the lock token stored in memory for that resource before access is granted. As an additional security measure, the identity of the remote user is authenticated when the remote user accesses the system. A security token is generated which is remembered by the system and associated with the lock token stored in memory. In order to access the locked resource, both the lock tokens and the security tokens must match. The reason for employing security tokens is because the list of lock tokens stored in the system memory is discoverable by other remote users. In this manner, system resources can be locked and accessed.
The locks expire or terminate in at least two different methods. First, a lock is removed from memory when a remote user attempts to access a locked resource and the system discovers that the resource has timed out. In this case, the remote user is denied access, the lock token is removed from memory, and the resource handle is released. Second, an idle thread of the system periodically cycles through the lock tokens stored in memory to determine if they have expired. Those that have expired are removed from memory and the associated resource handles are released.
Particular user agents have certain issues related to locks. For some user agents, a fixed lock token is generated and given to that user agent. A fixed lock token is always recognized as valid and access to the resource is granted even though the resource is not actually locked. If the resource is locked by another user agent when a fixed lock is presented, access is denied. In another case, the timeout period granted to some user agents is extended to account for real time latencies that may exist when the user agent attempts to refresh the timeout period near its expiration point.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

Systems and methods for using locks with computer resources


A method of identifying a protein, polypeptide or peptide by means of mass spectrometry and especially by tandem mass spectrometry is disclosed. The method preferably models the fragmentation of a peptide or protein in a tandem mass spectrometer to facilitate comparison with an experimentally determined spectrum. A fragmentation model is used which takes account of all possible fragmentation pathways which a particular sequence of amino acids may undergo. A peptide or protein may be identified by comparing an experimentally determined mass spectrum with spectra predicted using such a fragmentation model from a library of known peptides or proteins. Alternatively, a de novo method of determining the amino acid sequence of an unknown peptide using such a fragmentation model may be used.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods of identifying a protein, polypeptide or peptide by means of mass spectrometry and especially by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Preferred methods relate to the use of mass spectral data to identify an unknown protein where sequence is at least partially present in an existing database.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Although several well-established chemical methods for the sequencing of peptides, polypeptides and proteins are known (for example, the Edman degradation), mass spectrometric methods are becoming increasingly important in view of their speed and ease of use. Mass spectrometric methods have been developed to the point at which they are capable of sequencing peptides in a mixture without any prior chemical purification or separation, typically using electrospray ionization and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). For example, see Yates III (J. Mass Spectrom, 1998 vol. 33 pp. 1-19), Papayannopoulos (Mass Spectrom. Rev. 1995, vol. 14 pp. 49-73), and Yates III, McCormack, and Eng (Anal. Chem. 1996 vol. 68 (17) pp. 534A-540A). Thus, in a typical MS/MS sequencing experiment, molecular ions of a particular peptide are selected by the first mass analyzer and fragmented by collisions with neutral gas molecules in a collision cell. The second mass analyzer is then used to record the fragment ion spectrum that generally contains enough information to allow at least a partial, and often the complete, sequence to be determined.
Unfortunately, however, the interpretation of the fragment spectra is not straightforward. Manual interpretation (see, for example, Hunt, Yates III, et al, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 1986, vol. 83 pp 6233-6237 and Papayannopoulos, ibid) requires considerable experience and is time consuming. Consequently, many workers have developed algorithms and computer programs to automate the process, at least in part. The nature of the problem, however, is such that none of those so far developed are able to provide in reasonable time complete sequence information without either requiring some prior knowledge of the chemical structure of the peptide or merely identifying likely candidate sequences in existing protein structure databases. The reason for this will be understood from the following discussion of the nature of the fragment spectra produced.
Typically, the fragment spectrum of a peptide comprises peaks belonging to about half a dozen different ion series each of which correspond to different modes of fragmentation of the peptide parent ion. Each typically (but not invariably) comprises peaks representing the loss of successive amino acid residues from the original peptide ion. Because all but two of the 20 amino acids from which most naturally occurring proteins are comprised have different masses, it is therefore possible to establish the sequence of amino acids from the difference in mass of peaks in any given series which correspond to the successive loss of an amino acid residue from the original peptide. However, difficulties arise in identifying to which series an ion belongs and from a variety of ambiguities that can arise in assigning the peaks, particularly when certain peaks are either missing or unrecognized. Moreover, other peaks are typically present in a spectrum due to various more complicated fragmentation or rearrangement routes, so that direct assignment of ions is fraught with difficulty. Further, electrospray ionization tends to produce multiply charged ions that appear at correspondingly rescaled masses, which further complicates the interpretation of the spectra. Isotopic clusters also lead to proliferation of peaks in the observed spectra. Thus, the direct transformation of a mass spectrum to a sequence is only possible in trivially small peptides.
The reverse route, transforming trial sequences to predicted spectra for comparison with the observed spectrum, should be easier, but has not been fully developed. The number of possible sequences for any peptide (20n, where n is the number of amino acids comprised in the peptide) is very large, so the difficulty of finding the correct sequence for, say, a peptide of a mere 10 amino acids (2010=1013 possible sequences) will be appreciated. The number of potential sequences increases very rapidly both with the size of the peptide and with the number (at least 20) of the residues being considered.
Details of the first computer programs for predicting probable amino acid sequences from mass spectral data appeared in 1984 (Sakurai, Matsuo, Matsuda, Katakuse, Biomed. Mass Spectrom, 1984, vol. 11 (8) pp 397-399). This program (PAAS3) searched through all the amino acid sequences whose molecular weights coincided with that of the peptide being examined and identified the most probable sequences with the experimentally observed spectra. Hamm, Wilson and Harvan (CABIOS, 1986 vol. 2 (2) pp 115-118) also developed a similar program.
However, as pointed out by Ishikawa and Niwa (Biomed. and Environ. Mass Spectrom. 1986, vol. 13 pp 373-380), this approach is limited to peptides not exceeding 800 daltons in view of the computer time required to carry out the search. Parekh et al in UK patent application 2,325,465 (published November 1998) have resurrected this idea and give an example of the sequencing of a peptide of 1000 daltons which required 2xc3x97106 possible sequences to be searched, but do not specify the computer time required. Nevertheless, despite the increase in the processing speed of computers between 1984 and 1999, a simple search of all possible sequences for a peptide of molecular weights greater than 1200 daltons is still impractical in a reasonable time using the personal computer typically supplied for data processing with most commercial mass spectrometers.
This problem has long been recognized and several approaches to rendering the problem more tractable have been described. One of the most successful has been to correlate the mass spectral data with the known amino acid sequences comprised in a protein database rather than with every possible sequence. In the prior method known as peptide mass mapping, a protein may be identified by merely determining the molecular weights of the peptides produced by digesting it with a site-specific protease and comparing the molecular weights with those predicted from known proteins in a database. (See, for example, Yates, Speicher, et al in Analytical Biochemistry, 1993 vol 214 pp 397-408). However, mass mapping is ineffective if a protein or peptide comprises only a small number of amino acids residues or possible fragments, and is inapplicable if information about the actual amino acid sequences is required. As explained, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) can be used to provide such sequence information. MS/MS spectra usually contain enough detail to allow a peptide to be at least partially, and often completely sequenced without reference to any database of known sequences (See copending application GB 9907810.7, filed Apr. 6, 1999). There are, however, many circumstances where it is adequate, or even preferred, to establish sequences by reference to an existing database. Such methods were pioneered by Yates, et al, see, for example, PCT application 95/25281, Yates (J. Mass Spectrom 1998 vol 33 pp 1-19), Yates, Eng et al (Anal. Chem. 1995 vol 67 pp 1426-33). Other workers, including Mortz et al (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 1996 vol 93 pp 8264-7), Figeys, et al (Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 1998 vol 12 pp 1435-44), Jaffe, et al, (Biochemistry, 1998 vol 37 pp 16211-24), Amot et al (Electrophoresis, 1998 vol 19 pp 968-980) and Shevchenko et al (J. Protein Chem. 1997 vol 16 (5) pp 481-490) report similar approaches.
As explained, it is generally easier to predict a fragmentation mass spectrum from a given amino acid sequence than to carry out the reverse procedure when comparing experimental MS data with sequence databases. A xe2x80x9cfragmentation modelxe2x80x9d that describes the various ways in which a given amino acid sequence may fragment is therefore required. The chemical processes which result in fragmentation are fairly well understood, but because the number of possible routes increases very rapidly with the number of amino acid residues in a sequence it is difficult to build this knowledge into a definite model. The fragmentation models so far proposed (for example Eng et al, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom, 1994 vol 5 pp 976-89) typically incorporate only a small number of possible fragmentation routes and typically produce a predicted spectrum in which all the mass peaks have equal probability. This constrained approach compromises the accuracy of the comparison with an experimental spectrum, which is likely to represent the sum of many different fragmentation pathways operating simultaneously with different degrees of importance. Consequently the degree of confidence that can be placed in the identification of a sequence on the basis of the prior fragmentation models is reduced and the chance of an incorrect identification is increased.
As explained in our copending application (GB 9907810.7, filed Apr. 6, 1999) a realistic fragmentation model is also required to predict spectra from pseudo-randomly generated trial sequences (as opposed to existing sequences comprised in a database). The fragmentation models described in the present application are applicable to both approaches.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of modelling the fragmentation of a peptide or protein in a tandem mass spectrometer to facilitate comparison with an experimentally determined spectrum. It is another object of the invention to provide such a fragmentation model which takes account of all possible fragmentation pathways which a particular sequence of amino acids may undergo. A further object of the invention is to provide methods of identifying a peptide or protein by comparing an experimentally determined mass spectrum with spectra predicted using such a fragmentation model from a library of known peptides or proteins. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a de novo method of determining the amino acid sequence of an unknown peptide using such a fragmentation model.
In accordance with these objectives the invention provides a method of identifying the most probable amino acid sequences which would account for the mass spectrum of a protein or peptide, said method comprising the steps of:
a) producing a processable mass spectrum from said peptide; and
b) using a fragmentation model to calculate the likelihood that any given trial amino acid sequence would account for said processable spectrum, said fragmentation model comprising the step of summing probabilistically a plurality of fragmentation routes which together represent the possible ways that said trial sequence might fragment in accordance with a set of predefined rules, each said fragmentation route being assigned a prior probability appropriate to the chemical processes involved.
In preferred methods, said plurality of fragmentation routes represent all the possible ways that a said trial sequence might fragment.
Preferably the fragmentation model is based on the production of at least two series of ions, the b series (which comprises ions representing the N-terminal residue of the trial sequence and the loss of C-terminal amino acid residues), and the yxe2x80x3 series (which comprises ions representing the C-terminal residue and the loss of N-terminal amino acid residues). Each family of ions behaves as a coherent series, with neighbouring ions likely to be either both present or both absent. This behaviour may be described by a Markov chain, in which the probability of an ion being observed is influenced by whether or not its predecessor was observed. The parameters of the chain may be adjusted to take account of the proton affinities of the residues and their physical bond strengths. The fragmentation model may be refined by including other ion series, particularly the a series (b ions which have lost CO), the zxe2x80x3 series (yxe2x80x3 ions which have lost NH3), and the more general loss of NH3 or H2O, again taking account of the probability of the chemical processes involved. Immonium ions equivalent to the loss of CO and H from the various amino acid residues may also be included. Further, the fragmentation model may comprise the generation of sub-sequences of amino acids, that is, sequences that begin and end at amino acid residues internal to the unknown peptide. It will be appreciated that the more realistic is the fragmentation model, the better will be the accuracy and fidelity of the computation of the most probable sequences. It is therefore envisaged that different fragmentation models may be employed if advances are made in understanding the chemical mechanism by which the mass spectrum of the peptide is produced.
Each of the chemical processes described above may be assigned a prior probability on the basis of the physical strength of the bonds broken in the proposed fragmentation step and the proton affinities of the various amino acid residues, thereby enabling the prior probability of each complete fragmentation route to be calculated. However, using Markov chains to model each of the ion series produced (eg, the b or yxe2x80x3 series) means that it is unnecessary to compute an explicit spectrum for every possible fragmentation route for comparison with the processable spectrum. Instead, the method of the invention arrives at the same result by using the Markov chain representation of the various ion series to factorize the comparison, so that the likelihood summed over all the fragmentation routes can be computed in polynomial time (in the most preferred embodiment, linear time). This summed likelihood is a better basis for comparison with the processable spectrum than the likelihood or other score derived from a single fragmentation route, such as would be produced by prior fragmentation models, because the fragmentation of a real peptide involves many simultaneous routes. By the use of a fully probabilistic fragmentation model, therefore, the method of the invention automatically accounts in a quantitative sense, for this multiplicity of routes.
As explained, using Markov chains to model the fragmentation process allows the sum over all the possible fragmentation patterns to be calculated in linear time (ie, in a time proportional to the number of amino acid residues in the peptide) rather than in a time proportional to the exponentially large number of fragmentation patterns themselves. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the particular fragmentation model described above, but includes any probabilistic fragmentation model that can be integrated computationally in polynomial time.
It will be appreciated that trial sequences used in the method of the invention may be obtained from one or more libraries or databases containing sequences or partial sequences of known peptides and proteins, or may be generated pseudo-randomly in a de-novo sequencing method, as described in our co-pending patent application (GB 9907810.7, filed Apr. 6, 1999). For example, a fragmentation model according to the invention may be used to calculate the likelihood of amino acid sequences comprised in an existing protein or peptide database accounting for an experimentally observed mass spectrum of a peptide. In this way the peptide, and/or the protein from which it is derived, may be identified. Conveniently, in such a method, only sequences or partial sequences having a molecular weight in a given range are selected from the database for input to the fragmentation model.
The method of the invention assigns a likelihood factor to each trial amino acid sequence considered. The most probable amino acid sequences in the database (or pseudo-randomly generated sequences) which would account for the processable spectrum may then be identified as the trial sequences with the highest likelihood factors. However, a more precise method that is particularly appropriate in the case of de novo sequencing, is to use a Bayesian approach. Each trial sequence is assigned a prior probability on the basis of whatever information is known about it, including its relationship to the sample from which the processable spectrum is obtained. For example, in true de novo sequencing the prior probability of a trial sequence may be based on the average natural abundances of the amino acid residues it comprises. In the case of database searches, it may be known, for example, that the sample is derived from a yeast protein, in which case, sequences in the database derived from yeasts may be assigned a higher prior probability.
The probability of a trial sequence accounting for the processable spectrum is then calculated by Bayes"" theorem, that is:
Probability (trial sequence AND processable spectrum)=Prior probability (trial sequence)xc3x97likelihood factor
In Bayesian terminology, the likelihood factor is:
Probability (processable spectrum GIVEN trial sequence).
Although in certain simple cases the processable mass spectrum may simply be the observed mass spectrum, it is generally preferable to convert the observed spectrum into a more suitable form before attempting to sequence the peptide. Preferably, the processable spectrum is obtained by converting multiply-charged ions and isotopic clusters of ions to a single intensity value at the mass-to-charge ratio corresponding to a singly-charged ion of the lowest mass isotope, and calculating an uncertainty value for the actual mass and the probability that a peak at that mass-to-charge ratio has actually been observed. Conveniently, the uncertainty value of a peak may be based on the standard deviation of a Gaussian peak representing the processed peak and the probability that a peak is actually observed may be related to the signal-to-noise ratio of the pea k in the observed spectrum. The program xe2x80x9cMaxEnt3(trademark)xe2x80x9d available from Micromass UK Ltd. may be used to produce the processable spectrum from an observed spectrum.
In order to carry out the methods of the invention a sample comprising one or more unknown peptides may be introduced into a tandem mass spectrometer and ionized using electrospray ionization. The molecular weights of the unknown peptides may typically be determined by observing the molecular ion groups of peaks in a mass spectrum of the sample. The first analyzer of the tandem mass spectrometer may then be set to transmit the molecular ion group of peaks corresponding to one of the unknown peptides to a collision cell, in which the molecular ions are fragmented by collision with neutral gas molecules. The second mass analyzer of the tandem mass spectrometer may then be used to record an observed fragmentation mass spectrum of the peptide. A processable mass spectrum may then be derived from the observed spectrum using suitable computer software, as explained. If the sample comprises a mixture of peptides, for example as might be produced by a tryptic digest of a protein, further peptides may be analyzed by selecting the appropriate molecular ion group using the first mass analyzer.
Viewed from another aspect the invention provides apparatus for identifying the most likely sequences of amino acids in an unknown peptide, said apparatus comprising a mass spectrometer for generating a mass spectrum of a said unknown peptide and data processing means programmed to:
a) Process data generated by said mass spectrometer to produce a processable mass spectrum; and
b) Calculate the likelihood that any given trial amino-acid sequence would account for said processable spectrum using a fragmentation model which sums probabilistically over a plurality of fragmentation routes which together represent the possible ways that said trial sequence might fragment in accordance with a set of predefined rules, each said fragmentation route being assigned a prior probability appropriate to the chemical processes involved.
In preferred embodiments, apparatus according to the invention comprises a tandem mass spectrometer, and most preferably a tandem mass spectrometer that comprises a Time-of-Flight mass analyzer at least as its final stage. A Time-of-Flight mass analyzer is preferred because it is generally capable of greater mass measurement accuracy than a quadrupole analyzer. Preferably also the mass spectrometer comprises an electrospray ionization source into which an unknown peptide sample may be introduced.

Methods of identifying peptides and proteins by mass spectrometry


The present invention is a semiconductor device which includes: a semiconductor substrate; a BOX film disposed on top of the semiconductor substrate; an active layer disposed on top of the BOX film; a base region disposed proximate to a surface of the active layer; a first main electrode region disposed within the base region; a second main electrode region formed from the surface of the active layer to a surface of the BOX film or protruding through the BOX film, and the second main electrode region being spaced from the base region; a gate insulator film disposed on the surface of the base region; a gate electrode disposed on top of the gate insulator film; a first main electrode connected to the first main electrode region; a second main electrode connected to the second main electrode region; and a ground electrode connected to the semiconductor substrate on an opposite side surface from a surface having the BOX film on the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and particularly to semiconductor devices encompassing buried oxide structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
700V class lateral power MOSFETs are often built into intelligent power devices as output elements, for example. Horizontal or lateral DMOSFETs generally have less input capacitance and feedback capacitance than vertical DMOSFETS, and thus are beneficial in high-speed operations. However, with a lateral DMOSFET compared with a vertical MOSFET of the same drain breakdown voltage level, ON resistance is equal or greater, and switching power loss increases. Because of this, in order to expand applications to high power switching power supplies that further reduce electrical power consumption or increase output current, it is essential to reduce the ON resistance without reducing the drain breakdown voltage of a power MOSFET.
Up until presently, SC (Single conduction) structures, DC (double conduction) structures, and TC (triple conduction) structures have been proposed for use as a lateral MOSFET Structure put forth above.
A 700 V class lateral MOSFET, having a DC structure produced with the objective of reducing ON resistance, is already being implemented at present. Using an ion implantation apparatus with high acceleration energy, the DC structure having a dual pass conduction channel is formed within an n type drift region, realizing low ON resistance.
Also a lateral MOSFET, that has a triple pass conduction channel formed within an n type drift region, and having a TC structure exhibiting even less ON resistance than a DC structure, is being implemented with equal or greater breakdown voltage (See, "Improvements in drain breakdown voltage of 700V lateral MOSFETS according to TC (Triple Conduction) structure" Author: Mr. Yasuhiro Takehana et. al., DENKI GAKKAI DENSHI DEBAISU/HANDOUTAI DENRYOKU HENKAN GOUDOU KENKYUKAI, EDD-03-48, SPC-03-115, 2003/09, P. 21–26).
Earlier Silicon On Insulator (SOI) structure lateral MOSFETs include, as shown in FIG. 1, a support substrate 2 made from semiconductor substrate, a buried oxide film (BOX film) 3, an active layer (n− layer) 4, a base region 5, a back gate region 6, a source region 7, a drain region 8, a source electrode 9, a drain electrode 10, a gate electrode 11, and a gate insulator film 12.
In a MOSFET implementing SOI, because the size of the depletion layer is governed by the thickness of the active layer and the thickness of the buried oxide film, it is essential to provide a thick active layer 4 in order to achieve a high breakdown voltage. If the active layer 4 is thick, formation of the element isolation region and wafer processing itself become difficult. And in a case in which a super junction, which enables high breakdown voltage and low ON resistance, is formed in a SOI wafer, if the electric potential of the substrate is established as ground or floating, it is impossible to make use of a high breakdown voltage enabled by the super junction while concentrating an electric field at the drain electrode or source electrode. Further, compared to a vertical MOSFET that flows a current vertically, because it is difficult to increase a pn junction, effectiveness of reduction of ON resistance (Ron) tends to decrease.

Semiconductor device with buried-oxide film