A system and method are provided for retrofitting a fluorescent lighting system, for example a passenger cabin fluorescent lighting system on a vehicle such as an aircraft. The present system may include at least one LED lighting unit for replacing, in situ, at least one fluorescent light of the fluorescent lighting system, and a control module for replacing, in situ, at least one ballast-type unit of the fluorescent lighting system that illuminates the at least one fluorescent light. The present system may further include a master control module, which may replace, in situ, an inverter of the fluorescent lighting system. The present method may include steps of: replacing at least one fluorescent light, in situ, with at least one LED lighting unit; and replacing at least one ballast-type unit, in situ, with at least one control module configured to control illumination of the LED lighting unit.

Fluorescent lighting fixtures have been employed ubiquitously for the past several decades, in residences, offices, institutional, commercial, industrial, and a host of other environments, as energy-efficient alternatives to incandescent and other types of lighting fixtures that use less efficient light sources. Fluorescent light sources are significantly more efficient than incandescent light sources of an equivalent brightness, because more of the energy consumed by a fluorescent light source is converted to usable light and less is converted to heat (allowing fluorescent lamps to operate at cooler temperatures than incandescent and other light sources). In particular, an incandescent lamp may convert only approximately 10% of its power consumption into visible light, while a fluorescent lamp that produces as much useful visible light energy may require only one-third to one-quarter as much power. Furthermore, a fluorescent light source typically lasts between ten and twenty times longer than an equivalent incandescent light source. For at least the foregoing reasons, fluorescent lighting fixtures are popular choices for many lighting applications.
One conventional fluorescent lighting system is shown in FIG. 1. The illustrated fluorescent lighting system 100 is generally installed within an aircraft cabin to provide ambient illumination for aircraft passengers and crew. The system 100 includes at least one fluorescent lamp, at least one lamp control module (also known in the art as a power protection unit or PPU) and an inverter module. The inverter module 120 is connected to a DC power source in the aircraft to receive at its input a DC power (i.e., voltage and current). The inverter module 120 converts the DC power to an AC power, and outputs AC voltage and current to a lighting power bus 140. The inverter module 120 may also be connected to an input device such as a switch, cabin control unit, etc. in the aircraft (e.g., at a flight attendant station or in the cockpit) that may be operated/actuated by an aircraft crew member to output a dimming signal. Upon receiving the dimming signal (e.g., a momentary switch to ground signal), the inverter module 120 may vary the AC voltage and/or current at its output to dim or brighten the illumination intensity from the at least one fluorescent lamp.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes at least one PPU 160 and at least one fluorescent lamp 180 connected to each lamp control module 160. Although six PPUs 160 are shown with a total of twelve fluorescent lamps 180 connected thereto (the PPUs 160 and lamps 180 defining six areas or zones), the system could be configured otherwise. For example, fewer or additional lamps 180 and/or fewer or additional PPUs 160 may be provided relative to, for example, the configuration and/or number of inverter modules 120. As shown, the PPUs 160 are electrically connected to the bus 140 in a parallel configuration. Each PPU 160 receives AC power from the bus 140 and converts the AC input power to an appropriate AC output voltage and/or frequency to operate the one or more fluorescent lamps 180 connected thereto. The PPU 160 may include ballast-type circuitry for starting the fluorescent lamps 180, maintaining illumination thereof and protecting the system 100 and the lamps 180 in the event of a malfunction such as open or short circuits, broken output wires, improperly installed lamp connector assemblies, arcing, broken lamps or overheated lamp connectors/ends which occur as a lamp nears the conclusion of its life.
Although fluorescent lighting systems are more energy efficient than comparable incandescent lighting systems, fluorescent lighting systems that are installed in aircraft passenger cabins (e.g., the foregoing-described system 100 that is shown in FIG. 1) present aircraft operators with a number of challenges in operating and maintaining the systems. One challenge is that fluorescent systems employ glass lamps/bulbs that are subject to breakage, and therefore, are often difficult and/or time-consuming to replace safely. Furthermore, fluorescent bulbs use high voltage AC power (e.g., 1000Vp-p) and sometimes have a short service life (e.g., approximately 9000 hours) that requires airline operators to periodically inspect, maintain and replace bulbs that have failed or are near the end of their useful lives. Additionally, fluorescent bulbs emit ultra violet (UV) light that may cause plastic parts adjacent the bulb to become embrittled and/or break down over time. For example, UV light is known to affect exposed lamp connectors which may cause them to fail and result in a short circuit/arcing condition. Moreover, lamp control modules (i.e., ballast-like devices) of fluorescent systems often emit electromagnetic interference (EMI) which may interfere with other aircraft systems. Finally, fluorescent bulb systems are difficult to dim and illumination intensity is not typically customizable to a variety of levels. Conventional fluorescent systems are not continuously variable in their output illumination intensity and are instead generally constrained to discrete dimming levels (e.g., full brightness, off, and a brightness level intermediate off and full brightness). Additionally, when fluorescent bulbs/lamps are operated at dimmed illumination intensity (i.e., not full brightness), the useful life of the bulb/lamp is degraded/shortened.
In view of the foregoing-described challenges, it is desirable for airline operators to replace fluorescent-based lighting systems with light emitting diode (LED) based systems. However, existing replacement processes require aircraft operators to: 1) take an aircraft out of service for an extended period; access AC wiring and lighting system components (i.e., lamps and modules); and 2) replace existing AC wiring and lighting system components. At an average cost of $35M to have the aircraft on the ground to replace a fluorescent system with an LED based lighting system, it can be appreciated that existing replacement processes have significant drawbacks. In view of the foregoing, a new LED lighting system for an aircraft cabin that retrofits fluorescent lighting systems would be an important improvement in the art.

LED lighting system for retrofitting an aircraft cabin fluorescent lighting system


A system for power conversion includes a power converter having switching elements, a detector, and a controller is provided. The detector detects a parameter and provides electrical signals indicative of the parameter. The controller receives the electrical signals transmitted from the detector, and sends commands to instruct the power converter to perform power conversion by operating the switching elements in accordance with switching signals at a different frequency in response to a detection of the system condition. A method for operating the system is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to systems and methods of using converters for power conversion, and, more particularly, relate to switching frequency control of the converters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power converters are used for converting power from one form to another in a variety of applications. For example, power converters may be used in renewable energy power generation systems, such as wind and solar power generation systems, for converting electrical power that can be transmitted over an electrical grid. In one specific type of wind turbine embodiment, an AC/DC converter known as rectifier converts AC power to DC power, and a DC/AC converter known as inverter converts DC power to AC power. In another example, converters may be used in switch-mode power supplies of consumer electronic devices such as personal computers and liquid crystal display televisions (LCD TVs). Converters used in the consumer electronic devices typically convert alternating current (AC) power drawn from a main power supply to direct current (DC) power for normal operations of the consumer electronic devices.
The converter typically includes one or more switching elements used for performing power conversion in response to switching signals provided from a controller. The frequency of the switching signals provided to the converter is typically maintained at a fixed value. When selecting the frequency to be used by a given converter, higher frequency switching signals lead to increased power losses whereas lower frequency switching signals tend to generate undesired harmonic components.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for control the frequency of converters to address the above-mentioned problems.

System and method for converter switching frequency control


A system and method for translating character strings into another national language and displaying the translated character strings without updating any source code. The character strings are displayed on GUI environment upon the execution of the object computer program. The method for displaying character strings on GUI environment provided by a computer program comprises the steps of; (a) providing an executable program; (b) providing a text file including the character strings and being openable with the executable program; (c) executing the executable program (301); (d) retrieving the text file from the executable program (307); and (e) displaying the character strings included in the opened text file (315).

Application programs (hereafter, to be referred to simply as applications) developed for specific purposes of users are executed interactively through various message provided to the users. Usually, personal computers employ a human interface referred to as a GUI (Graphic User interface) so as to use icons, characters, graphic images, etc. denoting execute command and functions in processings concerning computers and facilitating users' understanding of the meanings and functions of those items intuitively.
An application, when it is operated under such an operating system (OS) as the Windows (a trademark of Microsoft Corp.) and OS/2 (a trademark of IBM Corp.), which supplies the GUI environment, uses the API Application Program Interface) included in a library of each of those operating systems so as to facilitate user display of input environments, input methods of commands, and data by means of characters and graphics on windows, as well as processing results, etc. And, since the system of distributing commodities for applications is expanding more and more throughout the world, opportunities to use applications developed by a national language in other language countries are increasing rapidly. Consequently, it has been strongly demanded that characters used in those applications corresponded to many national languages.
Usually, an application is created so as to match with the language of its employed operating system. For example, an operating system created in English displays the GUI messages in English. And accordingly, applications running on the OS are developed so as to display, messages in English. In addition, if an application calls an OS, the application sends a character string message to the OS and the OS determines the language type (English, Japanese, etc.), the size (full size, half size, etc.), the character font, etc. with respect to each character string and receives the message as a correct one only when the message agrees to a predetermined definition before executing the processing in some cases.
Assume now that a French person uses an application in English developed under an English OS. In this case, the character strings of the application should preferably be translated into French. This is because the French user could understand messages of the application displayed on the GUI environment if the messages appear in French rather than in English.
Usually, an application includes both code part describing instructions executed by a CPU and data part describing their parameters. One type of data included in such an application is referred to as a resource. A resource includes icons, cursors, menus, dialog boxes, characters of a specific language, etc. Such resources are used widely in the GUI, multi-media programs, etc.
When developing an application corresponding to many national languages, it would thus be convenient to divide the application into the main file and its subroutines, that is, resource files. Applications are described in a source code format in accordance with such a program language as Assembler, COBOL, FORTRAN, C/C++, PL1, etc. that can be understood by human beings.
A resource file includes character strings created in a specific language and in a specific format. Those character strings are used for messages provided to the GUI and the subject OS. If a source program created in a national language is to be translated into another national language, then character strings that are used for messages of the source code of the resource file are translated; the source code in the main file is not modified at all. Because the computer cannot understand any source codes, the source codes of both main file and resource file are compiled respectively into object codes. Then, libraries provided by the OS are assembled in the object codes as needed, thereby creating an executable program. Such object code is also referred to as the machine language represented by "0" and "1."
The main file opens a resource file dynamically so as to provide character strings used for messages included in the resource file to the user through the GUI and/or provides the character strings directly to the OS. Consequently, if an attempt is made to translate messages of an application into another national language so as to operate the application, it is necessary to translate the character strings in the resource file described with a source code so as to prepare a resource file described in each national language, then compile the resource file again, thereby creating an executable program.
Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 10-116185 discloses a technique for creating such a resource file. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,775 discloses a technique for separating the text part in an application from the program body, thereby registering it in a library so as to make it easier to translate messages into many national languages. A library includes character strings for displaying texts related to a plurality of applications and character strings related to a specific application.
If an application is created so as to support many national languages, the conventional method has to translate character strings equivalent to messages of the resource file described with the source code first, then compile the resource file so as to be combined with the main file and create an executable program, and finally verify the operation of the program. The developer of the application has therefore to create the application described with a source code as many as the number of the supported languages beforehand and compile each of those applications so as to convert it into an executable program comprising an object code before delivering the program. Consequently, if the program is requested to be translated into still another non-supported language after it is delivered, the developer has to update the source code of the program.
If an attempt is made to run an application program described in English under the control of an English language OS that supports Japanese fonts in Japan, it is naturally demanded that at least important messages should be displayed in Japanese. For example, a message for prompting the user to use an AC adapter when the residual capacity of the battery of his/her portable computer reaches the low level is important from the viewpoint of preventing loss of work data. In many cases, therefore, it has been demanded that at least such a message should be displayed in Japanese as long as the translation does not affect the program badly.
Furthermore, even under the control of the same OS language, if the OS version is upgraded, a problem often arises; the applications having been developed in accordance with the old OS do not run normally. Character strings in a resource file are used as messages to the OS. In some cases, therefore, even in applications developed under the control of a Japanese language OS, if the OS version is upgraded, such that, for example, the OS accepts messages described only with full-size characters at first and after the version-up, the OS is modified so as to accept messages described only with half-size characters. In such a case, the character strings in the resource file described with a source code must be described with half-size characters. And, in order to solve such a problem, there is a need that character strings can be modified easily without modifying any source codes of the main file and the resource file.
Under such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for creating a computer program, a program structure, and a recording medium which can be modified easily.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for creating a computer program, a program structure, and a recording medium that can modify character strings therein without modifying any source program.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for creating a computer program, a program structure, and a recording medium that can modify character strings therein easily so as to cope with changes of languages and changes of program operation environments which may occur in a computer program that provides the GUI environment including display of character strings.

International Business Machines Corporation


An automatic band conveying device includes a band transmitting device employed to pass a band into a band rail, and a pressing rail device composed of an electromagnetic valve, a connecting rod and a pressing plate. As the electromagnetic valve is electrified, it can generate magnetic force to enable a movable member pivotally formed on its top to be moved, so that the connecting rod can be driven by the movable member to push a pressing side of the pressing plate to press on the band rail. Thus the automatic band conveying device is simply structured and easy to operate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a strapping machine, particularly to one installed with a simple automatic band conveying device able to easily and automatically transmitting a band by means of an electromagnetic valve to drive a connecting rod to push a pressing plate to press on a band rail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional automatic band conveying device includes a band conveying device 10 used to transmit a band 11 into a band rail 12, and a pressing rail device 20 which is composed of a gear motor 21, a brake 22, a band passage pressing rod 23 and a proximity switch 24. The gear motor 21 is fixed at one side of the band rail 12. The brake 22 and the band passage pressing rod 23 are orderly mounted on a rotating axis 211 of the gear motor 21. By means of the proximity switch 24, the rotating axis 211 of the gear motor 21 can drive the band passage pressing rod 23 to rotate for a preset angle. And, the gear motor 21 is then to be stopped by the brake 22 to keep the band passage pressing rod 23 pressing on a band passage 13 of the band rail 12 for the band 11 to pass through to a lower separate mechanism 14. Next, the brake 22 can automatically release the gear motor 21 to let it rotate in reverse and the band passage 13 is elastically pushed back to its original position by a compression spring 15. However, in operation, the position and the rotating direction of the gear motor 21 and the brake 22 must be detected and controlled by the proximity switch 24, creating a complicated operation to be apt to pose a shutdown or a breakdown of the conventional automatic band conveying device. Moreover, with too many proximity switches 24 used in the conventional automatic band conveying device, not only the operation is much lowered because of frequent malfunction of the proximity switch 24, but also the cost is high.


A CT scanner is employed having a first coordinate system called the CT coordinate system related to the CT scanner for determining an actual position of a structure of an object to be examined. A coordinate measuring instrument (MI) is employed which is either a tactile or an optical or multisensor or an ultrasonic coordinate measuring instrument and which has a second coordinate system, the MI coordinate system, related to said coordinate measuring instrument. According to a variant, a) the coordinates of the object are determined in the MI coordinate system, b) the target position of the structure is predefined, c) after steps a) and b) the target position is determined in the MI coordinate system, d) and, the object is positioned in such a way that the target position of the structure comes to lie within a volume detected by the CT scanner using the result of step c).

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to processes and to a device for determining the actual position of a structure of an object to be examined in a coordinate system.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Computed tomography scanners serve to create three-dimensional images, namely, so-called CT scans, of objects such as, for example, workpieces or human bodies or body parts, whereby these images also show internal structures of the object.
In computed tomography technology, abbreviated as CT technology, X-rays are used to take images of an object or of a part thereof from many different directions, that is to say, the object is X-rayed sequentially from many different directions. Thus, a computed tomography scanner, hereinafter referred to as a CT scanner, has an X-ray source and a two-dimensional position-resolving detector, for example, a CCD matrix, that is sensitive to the radiation emitted by the X-ray source. The X-ray source emits radiation, typically, for instance, of 450 keV. The object is positioned between the X-ray source and the detector and it is rotated incrementally with respect to the X-ray source or to the screen, or conversely, the CT scanner is rotated incrementally around the object, which in this case remains stationary.
When it is not the CT scanner but rather the object that is rotated, the CT scanner generally has an object support stage on which the object is placed. The object support stage can travel in such a way that the object can be positioned in the beam path of the X-rays. Moreover, the object support stage is rotatable so that the object can be rotated in order to create the CT image. Typically, the object is rotated, for example, in increments of 0.9° each, so that 400 rotation steps amount to a full revolution of the object. In this manner, the CT scanner can detect a certain volume that comprises either the entire object or a part thereof.
For each of the rotational positions that the object passes through, the detector takes a two-dimensional transmission X-ray image of the object. On these two-dimensional images, the object appears larger than it is in reality since its size on the image corresponds to a centered projection of the object on the detector surface, whereby the X-ray source is the center of projection.
Based on the array of two-dimensional individual images obtained in this manner, a computer is used to calculate a three-dimensional digital image of the volume detected by the CT scanner, i.e. of the object or of a part thereof, said image also showing internal structures that are completely enclosed in the object, insofar as these internal structures have an absorption coefficient for the radiated X-rays that differs from their surroundings, which is the case, for example, with cavities such as drilled holes.
After each full revolution of the object, the object support with the object can be shifted translatorily by a certain distance and the process explained above can be carried out again.
Such a commercially available CT scanner is described, for example, in the brochure: "RayScan 3D-X-Ray Computed Tomography", PRO-RS-A-E000 11/01, made by Hans Walischmiller GmbH, D-88677 Markdorf, Germany.
Such CT scanners can be used to examine the internal structures of objects, for example, drilled holes in workpieces. In order to examine a structure of the object in this manner, first of all, a CT image of the entire object, including the structure of interest, can be created.
A drawback here is that, as a rule, the image of the structure only occupies a small part of the image field of the CT scanner since the CT scanner can only achieve a limited relative spatial resolution. This is especially due to the finite diameter of the exit pupil of the X-ray source and to the limited number of pixels of the CCD matrix; typically, a relative lateral resolution of, for example, 1:4000 can be achieved.
Therefore, in this case, a structure of the object whose extension is, for example, 1% of the object size, is only imaged at a relative resolution of 1:40 which, in most cases, is insufficient for a detailed examination of the structure.
Therefore, the CT image of the object can be used to determine the location of the structure within the object with respect to the coordinate system of the CT scanner and to carry out a second CT scan of the object, while regulating the CT scanner in such a way that only the immediate vicinity of the structure is detected by the CT scanner and a second CT image of this vicinity is made with a greater magnification factor. In this manner, the relative resolution of the image of the structure is enhanced, that is to say, more details of the structure become visible.
However, this also entails disadvantages. For example, it is a demanding procedure to determine the location within the object on the basis of the first CT image. Moreover, such a localization of the structure is imprecise since not only the structure itself but also the surface of the object can only be detected with the limited resolution of the CT scanner, as a result of which the appertaining measuring uncertainties become greater.
Moreover, additional time is required to create the second CT image. In view of the very high operating costs of a CT scanner, this need for additional time is a substantial cost factor in examining the structure.
Furthermore, in order to create the second CT image, the object is once again exposed to a certain dose of ionizing radiation. This is especially disadvantageous or problematic if the object consists of living biological matter. The repeated radiation exposure can also have a detrimental effect on non-living material. Ionizing radiation can trigger, for example, ageing, transformation, discoloration or degradation of plastics, it can have an altering effect on crystal structures or it can destroy electronic modules.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Processes and a device for determining the actual position of a structure of an object to be examined

MYCRONA Gesellschaft fur innovative Messtechnik GmbH


A first set-value calculating unit calculates a first set value of a black-level feedback based on a reflection amount that increases a speed of tracking to a black-level target value in a black-level feedback control. A second set-value calculating unit calculates a second set value of a black-level feedback based on a reflection amount that slows down a tracking to a black-level target value as compared to the speed of tracking of the first set-value calculating unit. A selecting unit selects and outputs any one of the first set value and the second set value and outputs selected value as a set value. A controlling unit controls selection of any one of the first set value and the second set value by the selecting unit based on the black differential value and a gain of the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a black-level feedback device that controls an output of a black-level period of a photoelectric conversion element to an optional device, an image reading device such as an image scanner, a digital copying machine, and a facsimile machine, and also relates to a black-level feedback control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among various kinds of image reading devices such as an image scanner, a digital copying machine, and a facsimile machine, there are some devices that sample image data of a light non-incident part of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) as photoelectric conversion elements, and set a concentration level as a black reference level, at the time of carrying out a quantization (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-14188).
Further, among conventional image reading devices, there are devices that carry out image signal processing including a black-level correction process as shown in FIG. 21. As shown in FIG. 21, a CCD 201 reads an image of a document, and outputs an analog image signal to a signal processing integrated circuit (IC) 202. The signal processing IC 202 includes a sample holding circuit 203, a programmable gain amplifier 204, an analog-to-digital (AD) converter 205, and black-level correcting circuits 206 to 209. The sample holding circuit 203 samples an analog image signal from the CCD 201, based on a sample pulse, and holds a sample level, thereby forming a continuous analog image signal. The programmable gain amplifier 204 amplifies the continuous analog image signal at a predetermined gain. The AD converter 205 converts this signal into digital data. The digital data obtained by conversion by the AD converter 205 is supplied to the latter stage for processing, and is also feedback to the black-level correcting circuits 206 to 209.
The feedback processing carried out by the black-level correcting circuit is explained. A black average processor 206 averages assigned pixels of image data in one line during a black level period or a period corresponding to a black level (hereinafter, a result of the average processing is described as a black detection level). The black average processor 206 calculates a difference (hereinafter, "black differential") between a black-level target value 207 determined in advance and the black detection level. The black average processor 206 converts a black differential value into a digital-to-analog (DA) converter code by a proportion set in advance by a digital-to-analog-conversion (DAC) set value calculator 208, and reflects the DA converter code to a black correction DAC 209. This processing is carried out for each one line, thereby converging the black detection level to the black-level target value 207. The above series of a black correcting circuit operation are hereinafter described as a black-level feedback control.
FIG. 22 is a schematic of an image format of image data output from a CCD. XLSYNC is a cycle line of one line. After XLSYNC="L", the CCD 201 outputs image data in the order of a preliminary-feeding image, an optical black (OPB) image, and a valid image. Both the preliminary-feeding image and the OPB image are black-level image data of the CCD 201. BLKCLP becomes active during the black level period of the CCD 201. The black average processor 206 averages the assigned pixels during an "H" period, and establishes a black detection level.
According to the above conventional example, when the pixel density becomes higher, and also when the image reading speed becomes faster, this increases a clock frequency for driving the photoelectric conversion element such as the CCD 201 which reads images and the signal processing IC 202 which carries out various processing to the image signals output from the photoelectric conversion element at the latter stage. Accordingly, unnecessary radiation of electromagnetic waves increases.
To prevent this inconvenience, a spread spectrum clock generator (SSCG) as a frequency spreader is provided inside or at a latter stage of an oscillator which is used to generate a clock frequency, thereby decreasing the strength of the unnecessary radiation of a peak part of the frequency. In other words, as shown in FIG. 23, the SSCG spreads the clock frequency of a spectrum characteristic S1 to obtain a spectrum characteristic S2, thereby decreasing the strength of the unnecessary radiation to a level smaller than that of the spectrum characteristic S1 of the frequency before the spreading.
However, when the SSCG is used for a driving clock of an analog system, an image signal level cyclically changes in one line even when the same concentration level is read, due to a variation of an output waveform of the CCD 201 and a variation of a sample timing of the signal processing IC 20. Therefore, high and low levels of the image occur.
This problem is explained with reference to FIG. 24. In general, a CCD driving signal is generated from a high-precision reference clock having oscillation precision of 50 parts per million and 100 parts per million, for example. When the frequency is spread to avoid unnecessary radiation, the frequency changes along lapse of time, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 24, where the lateral axis represents time and the vertical axis represent frequency. In other words, the frequency is structured to change smoothly, in a predetermined width of ±0.5% and ±1.0% around a reference frequency. Usually, the frequency has a regular frequency spread cycle (frequency cycle). As shown in the lower part of FIG. 24, the frequency changes by a predetermined modulation width to a direction (a high-frequency side: + side) in which the clock cycle becomes short relative to the reference frequency. After this, the frequency changes by a predetermined modulation width to a direction (a low-frequency side: − side) in which the clock cycle becomes long along the same characteristic curve. The frequency repeats this modulation cycle, and returns to the reference frequency. Accordingly, the reference frequency and the phase match together at every one half cycle of the modulation cycle. The upper part of FIG. 24 represents an image level variation relative to the modulation cycle. It is understood from this graph that the image level changes in synchronism with the modulation cycle, where the lateral axis represents time and the vertical axis represent an image level. There is also a system in which the modulation cycle changes at random or following a specific rule.
When the above variation of the image level is repeated in many lines, high and low levels occur as fine strings in the read image, and these fine strings appear as lateral strings in human eyes. In other words, a variation of a sub-scanning image level occurs due to the main-scanning image level variation.
A process in which the sub-scanning image level variation occurs is explained with reference to FIG. 25. FIG. 25 depicts a main-scanning black level variation in six lines. The modulation cycle of the SSCG is not synchronized with one line cycle of the device. Therefore, the black level variation has a different phase for each line. In FIG. 25, the phases of the black-level variation match in five-line unit. To average the black levels during the BLKCLP="H" period to obtain a black-level target value, the black-level feedback control is carried out, as described above. However, in the example shown in FIG. 25, the black-level average values detected for each line are different. Because the black-level feedback control is carried out to the different black detection levels to obtain a black-level target value, the offset of the black level varies for each line. Therefore, the sub-scanning offset variation of the same pattern occurs in five lines. This sub-scanning offset variation appears as a thick lateral string in the variation line cycle unit. In the human eyes, the image variation in a constant width tends to be most noticeable. Therefore, rather than the lateral-string image due to the main scanning variation, the lateral-string image due to the sub-scanning variation becomes a problem.
In other words, because the image level variation according to the SSCG has no change in the center level (the black-level center shown in FIG. 25), this image level variation should not basically be corrected by the black-level feedback operation. A variation that needs to be corrected by the black-level feedback operation is the image level variation of which center level changes. For example, there is a phenomenon called a smear in which a black level in a white region is raised when the white region and the black region of a document are being read. In this case, because the center level of the image level variation changes, the image level variation needs to be corrected by the black-level feedback operation.

Black-level feedback device, image reading device, and black-level feedback control method


A method of responding to a call and mobile communication terminal implementing the same are disclosed. The present invention includes a call request receiving step of receiving a call request from a calling party, a text message preparing step of preparing a text message, and a message communication step of converting the prepared text message to a voice message and transmitting the voice message. Accordingly, in case that a terminal user has difficulty in answering an incoming call from a calling party or intends to continue using the mobile communication terminal prior to receiving the incoming call, the terminal user is able to continue having a conversation using a text message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a method of responding to a call and mobile communication terminal for implementing the same. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for responding to a call received from a calling party.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, remarkable developments in the information communication technology bring rapid transitions of information and communication environments. A mobile terminal capable of mobile communications such as a mobile phone and the like is regarded as a necessity in a modern society to be globally used. In order to meet the user's demand according to the base expansion of the mobile terminal, various functions including broadcast reception, multimedia contents playback, web-browsing, picture (moving picture or still picture) photographing and the like as well as a general voice calling are provided to the mobile terminal.
Meanwhile, it happens that a user may have difficulty in answering a phone from a calling party in the course of conference, movie viewing or the like. Moreover, while a user views a broadcast or multimedia contents (e.g., MP3, moving pictures), performs web browsing, photographs pictures, or the like, if an incoming call takes place, a user occasionally wants to respond to the incoming call while keeping the present work processed by a mobile communication terminal.

Method of responding to a call and mobile communication terminal for implementing the same


A heat exchanger is provided comprising a stack of heat exchanger plates (1, 1a, 1b, 1c) formed of sheet metal having a three-dimensional structured pattern (2, 3), each heat exchanger plate (1,1a, 1b, 1c) having a groove (10), a gasket (9) being arranged in said groove (10) and resting against an adjacent heat exchanger plate (1a), said groove (10) having a bottom inner surface (11), said inner surface bottom (11) having at least a protrusion (14, 15) directed to said adjacent heat exchanger plate (1a). It is intended to minimize the risk of a leakage. To this end in the region of said protrusion (14, 15) said gasket (9) is compressed more than in a region out of said protrusion (14, 15).

Such a heat exchanger is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,490,660 B2. The gasket has a recess which fits to the protrusion. At the side facing the adjacent heat exchanger plate the gasket has a protrusion fitting in a recess which is formed on the lower side of the adjacent heat exchanger plate. The recess is the negative form of the protrusion on the upper side of the adjacent heat exchanger plate.
The space between the heat exchanger plate and the adjacent heat exchanger plate forms part of the primary flow path or part of a secondary flow path through the heat exchanger. The gasket seals the flow path from the outside or in the region of supply and return openings of the heat exchanger plates from the other flow path.
In order to achieve a good heat transfer from one flow path to the other flow path the heat exchanger plates are relatively thin. This causes a problem in that the pressure of the fluid within a flow path may deform the heat exchanger plate. This is especially the case in the area around the openings forming a supply or a return opening, respectively, of the respective flow paths. In the region of these openings, there is in many cases no sufficient connection between a heat exchanger plate and the adjacent heat exchanger plate.
The solution disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,490,660 B2 helps to keep the gasket in position, i.e. between the groove of the heat exchanger plate and in the recess of the adjacent heat exchanger plate. Furthermore, the sealing line has been made longer than without the recesses and protrusions. However, when the heat exchanger plate deforms under the pressure in one of the flow paths, there is still the risk of a leakage when the heat exchanger plate is lifted off the gasket. In this case an opening may appear between the recesses and the gasket, thus giving leaks.


A flexible electric bandage protector for use on a bandage or an animal. The protector comprising a flexible thin battery and a conductive layer disposed on one side of the battery. The conductive layer is in the form of two sets of conductive traces, the conductive traces not being conductively connected to each until touched by the mouth of the animal and wherein the battery has sufficient voltage to cause discomfort to the animal.

The present invention relates generally to devices that discourage animals from instinctively licking their wounds.
In the past, various devices have been proposed and/or employed for use in discouraging animals from licking their wounds. These devices, for the most part, have been cumbersome.
Examples of prior art devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,896,830, 6,000,366, 6,453,850, 6,561,136 and Des. 417,529.


The present disclosure provides a display assembly manufacturing apparatus and a method for manufacturing a display assembly. The display assembly manufacturing apparatus includes a holding platform configured to hold a display device; a covering plate configured to cover the display device, such that a supporting film molding space is formed between an inner surface of the covering plate and a surface of the display device, wherein the supporting film molding space is configured to receive a liquid material which is cured in the supporting film molding space, such that the liquid material is molded into the supporting film. According to the present disclosure, a supporting film having a smaller thickness is integrated with the display device.

Generally, a traditional display assembly includes a display device and a supporting film. The supporting film is stacked on and integrated with the display device.
In conventional methods, the supporting film is stacked on the display device and the supporting film is integrated with the display device. The conventional methods includes steps of disposing the supporting film on conveyor, transporting the supporting film to a location above the display device, aligning the supporting film with the display device, detaching the supporting film from the conveyor, and attaching the supporting film to the display device.
However, there are some problems existing in the prior art, as described below.
In the conventional methods, it is difficult to attach a supporting film, having a small thickness, to a display device, therefore it is required to have the supporting film have a larger thickness to be integrated with the display device. That is, according to the conventional methods, a supporting film, having a smaller thickness, cannot be integrated with a display device.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a new technical scheme to solve problems encountered in the prior art.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing display assembly

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A low cost antenna horn for outdoor use having an extended housing with a unibody construction to enclose a waveguide and polarizing septum, the assembly of which rigidly retains and orients the waveguide and polarizing septum without using traditional hardware or sealants.

Communication systems that use circularly polarized signals require antennas with circular reflector profiles that decouple the two vector components that are separated by 90 degrees. Circularly polarized antennas maintain signal integrity by maintaining substantially the same signal magnitude at substantially the same orthogonal relationship. Circularly polarized antennas are useful for two-way satellite communications in which signals are transmitted in circular polarity.
Feed horns, those known in the art, are generally multi-piece construction in order to manufacture the individual components such as the horn, the polarizer housing, the waveguide, and the polarizer. Many drawbacks exist in multi-piece feed horns, particularly those for use in outdoor applications, including expensive gaskets and complicated assembly. Normally, the polarizer housing contains the waveguide and polarizer, which is then coupled to the horn and transceiver. These components are assembled with great care to ensure high performance with no moisture ingress. Even small gaps between components can contribute to large efficiency loss in signals, and provide an entry point for moisture that can then damage transceiver electronics. Complex, custom tooling and fixtures are used in order ensure alignment of the components and to facilitate manufacture. Thus, there is a need for a low cost, high volume, high performance, and highly reliable feed horn for outdoor applications.


A transistor having a bottom gate formed from a layer of gate material and a channel region formed from a layer semiconductor material. In some examples, the layer of gate material is patterned separately from the layer of semiconductor material. In some examples the patterning of the layer of gate material also leaves other conductive structures that may be, in some examples, used to provide a bottom gate bias voltage to the bottom gate. In some examples, the layer of semiconductor material is formed by bonding two wafers together with a substrate of one of the wafers being cleaved, wherein a remaining portion of the semiconductor substrate is a semiconductor layer from which the channel region is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and more specifically to transistors.
2. Description of the Related Art
As transistors shrink in dimension, the ability to scale down the gate length of a conventional bulk silicon MOSFET diminishes due to the Short Channel Effect (SCE). Single Gate Fully Depleted Semiconductor-on-Insulator (FDSOI) technology has been established as one solution to reduce Short Channel Effect as well as to reduce un-wanted parasitic capacitances. However, Single Gate FDSOI technology may require stringent thickness and uniformity control of the thin silicon film on insulator to achieve full depletion. Furthermore, the Drain-Induced Virtual Substrate Biasing (DIVSB) effect is another challenge for Single Gate FDSOI technology. In contrast, Double-Gate FDSOI technology may require a less stringent requirement on the thickness of a semiconductor on insulator, may reduce the Drain Induced Virtual Substrate Biasing (DIVSB) effect, and may maintain better Short Channel Effect (SCE) control and high transconductance. However, it has been difficult to build a simple, manufacturable planar Double Gate FDSOI transistor with good alignment between the top gate and bottom gate.
What is needed is an improved method that can be used in forming a multiple gate transistor.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Method of forming a transistor with a bottom gate


A method, a system and an access device for implementing error correction are disclosed. The method includes upon receiving a data stream, identifying, by an access device, the data stream on which a forward error correction (FEC) needs to be performed and performing FEC coding on the data stream, and then sending out an FEC data stream generated by FEC coding together with a raw data stream, or sending out directly a data stream on which the FEC does not need to be performed. The system includes a data source for sending out a data stream and an access device for receiving the data stream from the data source, identifying the data stream on which a FEC needs to be performed, performing FEC coding on the data stream, and then sending out an FEC data stream generated by FEC coding together with a raw data stream, or sending out directly a data stream on which the FEC does not need to be performed. The bandwidth can be saved when the FEC is performed in data stream transmission, and it can be adapted to conditions of different access lines according to the invention.

At present it has become a business demand of more and more service providers to enable a Triple-Play network (data, voice and video). The video service is an important component of the Triple-Play network. The service providers wish to provide the video service over Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Passive Optical Network (PON), or a wireless access such as Wireless LAN (WLAN) and a microwave access such as World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).
Since the amount of information contained in video is large, it is almost impossible to transmit an uncompressed raw video stream via a network, which then leads to an introduction of a video coding technique. At present, the frequently used video coding techniques include MPEG2, H.264, VC-1, MPEG4, etc. An MPEG video stream includes three types of frames: I-frame, P-frame, and B-frame. Each frame is of different significance. The I-frame is a key frame of primary significance, the loss of which will make it impossible for the following P-frame and B-frame to be normally decoded, having severe influence on the video quality. The P-frame is a key frame of secondary significance, the loss of which will have influence on the decoding of the B-frame and the following P-frame, and often bring the visible distortion of video. The B-frame is a non-key frame, the loss of which will have influence only on itself and very limitedly on the video quality. When a relatively small number of B-frames are lost, the influence on the video may be negligible. It can be seen that the introduction of the video coding technique raises stricter requirements on the transmission quality of the video stream: as to the video on which the inter-frame compression is not performed, one packet lost may have influence on quality of merely one frame and the influence is limited; but as to the video stream on which the inter-frame compression is performed, a packet lost, if having influence on a key frame, may further have influence on the decoding of a plurality of the following frames and have severe influence on the video quality. Consequently, the video stream on which video coding is performed is highly sensitive to the packet lost, and a very low IP Packet Lost Rate (IPLR) must be maintained for the video service. Also, the Bit Error Ratio (BER) of a transmission line is closely related to the IPLR. A higher BER of the line will result in a higher IPLR, which may fail to meet the requirement of the video service on the IPLR.
In light of the above, a prior art solution is to only provide a video stream with a relatively low bandwidth, such as a video stream with lower quality, or to increase the compression ratio when the video stream is being compressed, based on the fact that the video stream with a lower bandwidth is relatively less sensitive to the IPLR than the video stream with a higher bandwidth. However, such a solution can not provide video programs of high quality, such as High-definition Digital Television (HDTV), and increasing the compression ratio usually needs to increase the interval of I-frames and thus results in increase in terminal decode delay, and may also enlarge the influence of one packet lost.
Another prior art solution is to provide the video service only on a DSL line with high quality and short distance, since the DSL line with high quality and short distance has a lower BER and a lower IPLR, and thus easily satisfying the requirements of the video service. However, this solution can not provide the video service for a wide range of subscribers and the video service can only serve subscribers of the DSL line with high quality and short distance, but not a great number of other subscribers.
As an improvement, there is a third solution in which a mechanism of end-to-end application layer Forward Error Correction (FEC) is employed in the video service. The so-called mechanism of application layer FEC lies in that FEC coding is employed at the application layer to add redundant error correction information. Thus, even if an error occurs in transmission that can not be corrected at the network layer, error correction may be performed at the receiving terminal through this application layer FEC coding redundancy information. In this solution, the video stream sent from a video source includes not only an ordinary video stream on which video coding has been performed, but also an FEC stream formed by an ordinary video stream through FEC coding. Thus a data stream with redundancy information can be provided for the receiving terminal, and the lost and damaged video stream may be recovered to some extent by means of the FEC. Specifically, this solution includes the following steps.
A1. At a video source, FEC coding is performed on a video stream on which video coding has been performed to generate an FEC stream.
For the same FEC coding, the greater the overhead of the FEC coding is, the better the error correction ability is. In other words, to reach the same target IPLR, the higher the IPLR without the FEC is, the greater the needed overhead of the FEC coding is.
A2. The raw video stream and the FEC stream is transmitted.
The transmitted raw video stream and the FEC stream are to be transmitted to a user terminal via a core network and an access network line, such as a DSL line.
A3. The user terminal receives the raw video stream and the FEC stream, and recovers the damaged data in the raw video stream according to the FEC data.
However, the above method has the following drawbacks.
1. The bandwidth of the network is wasted.
In general, the Quality of Service (QoS) of the core network can satisfy the requirements of the video service and the application layer FEC is not required. The FEC is only required in the access network. Thus such an end-to-end FEC actually wastes the bandwidth of the network.
2. The method can not be adapted to different access lines.
The conditions of access networks are different from one another. The BER of different access lines may differ greatly due to the quality, length and electromagnetic environment of the lines. There may be even a coexistence of different access techniques, such as the coexistence of DSL and WLAN. However, if an end-to-end method is used, the worst condition has to be considered to meet the requirements of all the lines. It is thus required that the video source employ the FEC with a maximum overhead. In fact, only a very small number of lines need the maximum overhead, and more lines just need less overhead. Many lines even do not need the application layer FEC at all, since these lines may meet the requirements by themselves. In other words, as to certain lines, this method wastes a large amount of bandwidth of the network and the line.
3. It is necessary for the video source to support the FEC function that most of the existing video sources do not support, resulting in limiting of the application of the video service.
4. Since the subscriber line is influenced by many external factors, its BER may vary within some range, which makes it difficult to determine how much the overhead of the FEC is needed to meet the requirements of all the subscribers.

Method, system, and access device for implementing error correction


A wall stud detector comprises a housing having a surface for moving over a substrate and a recess in the surface extending into the housing. A target associated with the housing comprises an outer casing and a magnet located in the outer casing. The outer casing comprises a central enclosure for the magnet and an outer peripheral portion. The outer peripheral portion of the target is spaced from the outer peripheral portion of an adjacent target when the target and the adjacent target are stacked with respect to each other.

This invention relates generally to a wall stud detector and magnet. The wall stud detector and magnet may operate as a locator and marker for metal studs in walls or beams or the like. More specifically, the invention is directed towards a device which can be used on a wall or other relevant surface, and which can, through the use of magnets, identify and locate metal objects, such as screws, nails, tacks or the like, in the wall which are used to secure wooden beams in the framing of walls and other structures. Further, the invention relates to magnetic markers which can be magnetically held on a wall at an area of a nail, screw or the like, for the purposes of marking a spot, or securing an object to the wall. Such an object will typically comprise relatively light objects such as paper, photographs or the like. However, where stronger magnets are used, this may facilitate the ability for the wall stud locator and marker of the invention to hold heavier objects. Such heavier objects may include, but are not limited to, chains, lights, levels and the like.


It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image which is focused on all portions of a sample and to provide a charged particle beam apparatus capable of obtaining a two-dimensional image which has no blurred part over an entire sample. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises means for changing a focus condition of a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source, a charged particle detector for detecting charged particles irradiated from a surface portion of said sample in response to the emitted charged particle beam, and means for composing a two-dimensional image of the surface portion of the sample based on signals on which said charged particle beam is focused, said signals being among signals output from the charged particle detector.

The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus, and more particularly to a charged particle beam apparatus having a function of properly adjusting the focus of an image obtained by charged particle beam irradiation.
A charged particle beam apparatus such as a scanning electron microscope is suitable for measuring or observing patterns formed on a semiconductor wafer, which has been becoming finer. Incidentally, samples used for such a purpose have taken a shape extending more three-dimensionally as semiconductor wafers have been multilayered. For example, currently, deeper contact holes have been formed in a sample.


A male housing (20) has cavities (23) into which male terminal fittings (10) are insertable and locks (24) for locking the male terminal fittings (10) in the cavities (23). Each lock (24) is deformed temporarily resiliently during insertion of the male terminal fitting (10), and is restored resiliently to lock the male terminal fitting (10) when the male terminal fitting (10) reaches a proper depth. Lowered parts (35) of bottom walls (34) of the cavities (23) facing the locks (24) with deformation spaces (S) therebetween are provided at their portions coupled to the locks (24) with bulges (49) bulging toward the locks (24). Each bulge (49) is inclined such that a bulging distance thereof gradually increases toward the corresponding lock (24).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a lock and to a resin molding method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-325814 and FIG. 10 herein disclose a connector with a lock for locking a terminal fitting. With reference to FIG. 10 the connector has terminal fittings 1 that are locked in cavities 2 in a housing 4. The housing 4 is formed with locks 3 for locking the terminal fittings 1 inserted into the cavities 2. The locks 3 are deformed into deformation spaces and towards walls 6 of the cavity 2 in the process of inserting the terminal fittings 1. The locks 3 then are restored resiliently when the terminal fittings 1 reach a proper depth to lock the terminal fittings 1.
The housing 4 is molded by filling a molten resin into a forming mold. The forming mold then is opened when the resin is solidified. The connector can be miniaturized by thinning the walls 6 of the housing 4 that face the locks 3. However, it becomes more difficult for the molten resin to flow into couplings between the walls 6 and the base ends of the locks 3, thereby creating a potential for molding error. Thicker walls 6 improve the flow of resin, but lead to a larger connector. This problem could not be easily solved.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to avoid molding errors without enlarging a connector.

Connector and resin molding method therefor


Methods and systems are described for removing branches from a computer program. The system receives code for a computer program, with the code including a number of branches. Each branch is part of a branching path and includes a jump instruction. The system executes the code, and upon encountering a branching path at runtime, the system proceeds with a number of steps. First, the system computes the result of the branch, then prefetches independent instructions outside of the branch to be executed. The system then executes one or more of the prefetched independent instructions and removes an if statement within the jump instruction of the branch at the computed result of the branching path. The system then executes the jump instruction of the branch at the computed result of the branching path.

In computer processor architecture, instruction pipelining is a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. Pipelining attempts to keep every part of the processor busy with some instruction by dividing incoming instructions into a series of sequential steps (i.e., the "pipeline") performed by different processor units with different parts of instructions processed in parallel. A processor is said to be "fully pipelined" if the processor can fetch an instruction on every cycle. Thus is some instructions or conditions require delays which inhibit fetching new instructions, the processor is not fully pipelined.
Modern processors are "superscalar" architectures, which means that they are capable of executing many instructions at once. For example, some processors can retire four or six instructions per cycle. Additionally, many processors can initiate instructions via "out-of-order execution" to minimize the number of wasted cycles. In out-of-order execution, a processor can start working on instructions that appear much later in program code; that is, the processor executes instructions in an order governed by the availability of input data and execution units, rather than by their original order in a program. In doing so, the processor can avoid being idle while waiting for the preceding instruction to complete and can, in the meantime, process the next instructions that are able to run immediately and independently.
One complicating factor for out-of-order superscalar execution is that most computer program code contains branches. Branches, such as if-then clauses, are instructions which can direct a computer to begin executing a different instruction sequence, and thus deviate from its default behavior for executing instructions. Such branch instructions are implemented as "jumps" wherein the processor is instructed to conditionally either execute instructions further away, or continue executing instructions on its current path. For out-of-order superscalar execution, branch instructions create branching dependency paths within a computer program, such that for a particular instance of a program in a specific state, there is a definite dependency tree for the program. There can be many different possible dependency trees based on different program states, leading to a combinatorial explosion of paths (i.e., valid instruction sequences the processor could follow) as multiple branches are traversed. The number of branching paths, in turn, leads to memory fetch and blocked instructions, and thus major stalls in execution.
Sophisticated branch predictors have been built to help cope with this combinatorial explosion. Branch predictors allow for the prefetching of data to prevent stalls in execution. Upon encountering a branch (and thus a jump instruction), branch predictors attempt to predict which path will be taken. Branch predictors often work quite well, particularly when the branch is easy to predict. For example, it is often safe for the processor to predict that a loop will continue forever, as the processor will therefore only mispredict one branch per loop. However, if a branch is difficult to predict, the program execution becomes very slow. This is because the cost of the mispredicted branches is exponential, i.e., it impacts the pipeline, ability to prefetch data, and other aspects of the processor. While branch predictors work very well in certain contexts and certain computer programs, when they do not, removing branches from a computer program (and thus the need for branch prediction as well) would allow the rest of the CPU to operate faster and more efficiently. However, branches are not deterministic and it is thought that they cannot be predicted statically, so implementation of branch removal has proven to be a significant challenge.
Thus, there is a need in the field of computer science to create a new and useful system and method for removing branching instructions from a computer program to provide major speed optimizations to processors performing execution of the program. The source of the problem, as discovered by the inventors, is a lack of ability to deterministically predict substitutions for branch instructions.

Removing branching paths from a computer program


A contact resistance check circuit and method for verifying that a sufficient electrical connection is established between a source and a sense lead of a Kelvin connection. The circuit includes a microprocessor for driving a transformer that is connected to the source/sense probe (i.e., contact resistance) with an input pulse. The input pulse is altered in relation to the magnitude of the contact resistance to produce a check pulse. A comparator is used to compare the check pulse with a threshold voltage and for generating a fault indication signal. A flip flop then stores the fault indication signal so that the fault indication signal may be monitored by the microprocessor.

The present invention generally relates to a device and method for verifying that a sufficient electrical connection is established between a source and a sense lead of a Kelvin connection.
It is common to test some devices by making a remote sensed measurement using a Kelvin connection. In a Kelvin connection, the device under test, or DUT, is probed by source leads at contact points of the DUT. Each contact point is also probed by a sense lead. The source and sense leads operate in combination to test the DUT by making appropriate electrical measurements.
There is a need in the art for a contact check to verify that a sufficient electrical connection is established between the source and sense leads of a Kelvin connection. The contact check must be made in such a way as to minimize any interference with the test being conducted and be completed in the shortest possible time. The contact check must be able to be made concurrently or consecutively with the test measurement.

Test contact connection checking method and circuit


The present invention provides a method for equivalent high sampling rate FIR filtering based on FPGA, first, the coefficients h(k) of FIR filter are found by using MATLAB, multiplied by an integer and then rounded for the purpose that the rounded coefficients h(k) can be directly used into a FPGA, then the ADC's output of high data rate fs is lowered by dividing the ADC's output x(n) into M parallel data streams xi(n) of low data rate, and the M×L samples in one clock cycle is obtained by delaying the M parallel data streams xi(n) simultaneously by 1, 2, . . . , L′ periods of the synchronous clock, at last, the samples yi(n) of FIR filtering output is calculated according to the samples selected from the M×L samples, and the filtered data y(n) of data rate fs is obtained by putting the samples yi(n) together in ascending order of i. Thus, the continuous FIR filtering of an ADC's output sampled with high sampling rate is realized, while the data rates before and after the FIR filtering are unchanged.

FIR filter stands for finite impulse response filter, and is also called as non-recursive filter. FIR filter is the most basic electronic component in digital signal processing system. FIR filter has a strict linear phase-frequency characteristic under any amplitude-frequency characteristic, and its unit sample response is limited. So FIR filter is a stable system, and is widely applied to communication, image processing, pattern recognition and so on.
Before being sent to a FIR filter, a analog signal needs to be converted into a digital signal by an ADC. To avoid distortion in signal processing, the sampling rate must satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem. Generally, the frequency of 4 to 5 times of cutoff frequency of the analog signal is taken as the sampling rate. FIR filter can be realized in FPGA or DSP (Digital Signal Processor). FPGA features regular logic array and abundant interconnects, which is particularly suitable for digital signal processing. Compared with DSP, which is serial operation-led, FPGA has a better parallelism and expandability. Therefore, by using the fast multiple-accumulating algorithm in FPGA, a high sampling rate FIR filter can be realized.
With the development of science and technology, various kinds of electronic signals exhibit the characteristic of complexity and diversity, resulting in more wider frequencies of the signals. Consequently, the more higher sampling rate is needed to digitalize the signals by ADC. The ADC with sampling rate of tens, even hundreds of GSPS is available in prior art, its output is of high data rate. However, the highest system clock frequencies of most of the high end FPGAs are lower than 1 GHz. As a result, it is impossible to directly use a FPGA to perform FIR filtering for the high data rate output of the ADC.
There are two common methods for FIR filtering for the high data rate output of the ADC.
The first method is shown in FIG. 1. The sampling rate of the ADC shown in FIG. 1 is 1 GSPS. For the reason that a FPGA can't directly process 1 GSPS data rate output of the ADC, a high-speed receiver in the FPGA is used to receive the 1 GSPS data rate output and divide it into 4 data streams of 250 MSPS data rate respectively. The 4 data streams of 250 MSPS data rate are stored in 4 FIFOs (First In First Out) respectively. Each FIFO has a storage depth of 1 K samples. When the FIFO is full, the write access to a FIFO will be stopped. Then, under the control of 250 MHz clock, the samples in the 4 FIFOs will be read out in turns and combined into one data stream of 1 GSPS data rate with the length of 4 K samples. The combined data stream of 1 GSPS data rate is performed with FIR filtering, Finally, a filtered digital data with length of 4 K samples is obtained. In the method, the combined data stream of 1 GSPS data rate is obtained by combining 4 data streams of 250 MSPS data rate. And the write accesses to the 4 FIFOs is inactive during the combination and FIR filtering, while the ADC is still in sampling, which leads to the lost of the data sampled in FIR filtering. As a result, the pipeline operation of FIR filtering cannot be implemented in FPGA.
The second method is based on polyphase filtering theory, which is shown in FIG. 2. The sampling rate of the ADC is fs, i.e. the data rate of the ADC's output x(n) is fs, which is higher than the highest system clock frequency of the FPGA. As shown in FIG. 2, Ei(z) (i=0, 1, . . . , M−1) is the polyphase branch of the prototype filter designed with sampling rate fs. A high-speed receiver in the FPGA receives and divides the ADC's output x(n) into M parallel data streams xi(n) (i=0, 1, . . . , M−1) of fs/M data rate, then the M parallel data streams xi(n) will be filtered by the M polyphase branch of the prototype filter respectively. After being filtered, the M parallel data streams xi(n) is combined into one data stream y(n), the data rate of which has be lowered to 1/M of the data rate of the ADC's output x(n), i.e. fs/M. There is no cache in the polyphase branch of the prototype filter, so the pipeline operation of filtering can be implemented in FPGA. However, the data rate of the filtered output, i.e. data stream y(n) is different from that of the ADC's output x(n), which means that the filtering with the ADC's sampling rate cannot be equivalently realized.
When a filtering of an ADC's output is needed to be performed in pipeline, and the data rates before and after the filtering are unchanged, the two common methods for FIR filtering mentioned above cannot satisfy the requirements.

Method for equivalent high sampling rate FIR filtering based on FPGA

UNIVERSITY OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA


A system and method for maximizing throughput in a telecommunications system is disclosed. The system includes an antenna system using fixed narrow beams that transmits and allows improved capacity gain to be realized without degrading call performance. The system can include: forming a plurality of directional narrow uplink beams at a main antenna; receiving communications signals on the plurality of directional uplink beams; periodically scanning across the plurality of uplink beams associated with a given call; assessing a set of beams from the plurality of uplink beams based upon a quality of reverse link information; selecting a first subset from the set of beams to be turned off when the quality of reverse link information reaches a first predetermined value; and instructing the subset to not transmit a traffic channel and to continue to transmit the power control sub channel.

The following disclosure relates generally to communications systems and, more particularly, to improving capacity gain while maintaining call performance in a wireless communications system.
CDMA digital cellular systems are currently in widespread use throughout North America providing telecommunications to mobile users. In order to meet the demand for transmission capacity within an available frequency band allocation, CDMA digital cellular systems divide a geographic area to be covered into a plurality of cell areas.
A base station is positioned within each cell that communicates to a plurality of mobile stations within the cell. In general, it is desired to have as few base stations as possible, since base stations are expensive, and require extensive effort in obtaining planning permission. In addition, in some areas, suitable base station sites may not be available. In order to minimize the number of base stations, each base station ideally has as large a capacity as possible in order to service as many mobile stations as possible. The key parameters that determine the capacity of a CDMA digital cellular system are: processing gain, ratio of energy per bit to noise power, voice activity factor, frequency reuse efficiency and the number of sectors in the cell-site antenna system.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for maximizing capacity gain while maintaining call performance in a telecommunications system.

System and method for improving capacity gain while maintaining call performance in a wireless communications system


A medical diagnostic device for analyzing gases in expired breath. The device includes a spectroscopic analyzer component for obtaining a patient's breath concentration profile; a computer operably coupled to the analyzer component; a memory component operably coupled to the computer; and a database stored within the memory component containing spectroscopic breath analysis profiles. Each profile is characteristic of at least one of a plurality of medical conditions. A computer program compares the obtained patient's breath profile to the stored database of spectroscopic breath profiles, such that diagnosis of the presence or absence of a medical condition is facilitated.

The potential for the use of exhaled breath as a diagnostic tool has long been recognized. Recently, researchers have shown that the chemical composition of expired breath can be an accurate, timely, and painless indicator of the health of an individual. See Phillips, M. et al., J. Chromatography (1999), B729, 75, hereby incorporated by reference herein. For example, a number of exhaled gases such as ammonia, nitric oxide, aldehydes and ketones have been associated with kidney and liver malfunction, asthma, diabetes, cancer, and ulcers. (Alving, K et al., Eur. Respir. J. (1993), 6, 1368; Paredi, P. et al., Chest (1999), 116, 1007; and Atherton, J., Gut (1994), 35, 723.) Other exhaled compounds like ethane, butane, pentane, and carbon disulfide have been connected to abnormal neurological conditions, including schizophrenia. (Phillips, M. et al., J. Clin. Pathol. (1993), 46, 861; and Phillips, M. et al., J. Clin. Pathol. (1995), 48, 466).
There is a relatively long history of using light absorption and emission by molecules as a means for qualitatively identifying which molecules are present in a mixture, and quantitatively determining what concentration of each is present. Commonly, molecules with two or more atoms show distinct absorptions in the infrared region of the spectrum, generally defined as light with a wavelength between 1 μm and 15 μm (11 μm=10−6 m). The detailed characteristics of these "fingerprint" absorptions can be extremely sharp at low pressure for molecules that are in the gas phase, enabling both the qualitative and quantitative assays with very high selectivity.
A large number of industrial pollutant gases such as NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, and CH4 have also been readily detected using laser spectroscopy. Such gases are often detected in high concentrations at their sources and in very low concentrations in ambient atmosphere and stratosphere. One example is nitric oxide, found at very high concentrations in automobile emissions at the tailpipe, but detected at level of only ppm or less in the atmosphere. By characterizing the optical absorptivity of a sample of known concentration, the concentration of an unknown sample can then be determined. In order to facilitate such determinations, various techniques have emerged over the years allowing the accumulation of the required spectroscopic parameters for a wide variety of molecular gases. For example, development of conventional measurements of light throughput, calorimetry, cavity-ring down spectroscopy, (see O'Keefe, A. et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. (1988) 59, 2544 and Scherer, J. J. et al., Chem. Rev. (1997), (Washington, D.C.) 97, 25.), and thermal distortion spectroscopy (see Bailey, R. T. et al., in Photoacoustic, Photothermal, and Photochemical Processes, Topics in Current Physics, ed. Hess, P. (Springer, Berlin), (1989) Vol. 46, pp. 37–60) have greatly aided such endeavors. In particular, ultra low-absorption measurements using calorimetric techniques, thus allowing sub-ppb detection of many gaseous components, have been shown to be widely applicable (see Patel, C. K. N. in Monitoring Toxic Substances, ACS Symposium Series, ed. Schuetzle, D. (Am. Chem. Soc., Washington, D.C.), (1978), Vol. 94, pp. 177–194).
Recently, Narasimhan et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2001), 98, 4617, hereby incorporated by reference herein) showed that optoacoustic spectroscopic analysis of ammonia levels in patients with end-stage renal disease during hemodialysis could be correlated with blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels. Such a correlation allowed a means for assessment of nitrogenous waste loading in a patient's bloodstream in real time, as compared to a 24-hour (or more) delay for standard blood sample analysis for blood urea nitrogen and blood creatinine levels.
Many of these technologies are complex, expensive and difficult to calibrate. They have not been economically adapted for individual health care use. It has been suggested, however, that self-administered breath alcohol tests could be used (See, Brown et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,575) by multiple individuals at bars or other locations where alcoholic beverages are served, to detect a predetermined level of breath alcohol.
There is also a product for analyzing bad breath on the market, a portable sulfide monitor, popular with dentists (see The Science of Bad Breath in Scientific American, April, 2002, p. 78).

Spectroscopic breath profile analysis device and uses thereof for facilitating diagnosis of medical conditions


The present invention relates to a method of identifying a haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) or progeny thereof comprising the steps of: obtaining a cell sample including HSC or progeny thereof; detecting the presence of at least one carbohydrate sequence having a sequence of at least one disaccharide repeat of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine or an equivalent thereof; and identifying a HSC or progeny thereof having the sequence or equivalent thereof. The invention also relates to methods of enriching cell populations for HSC or progeny thereof, for isolating HSC or progeny thereof and cell preparations obtained using the methods of their invention and their uses.

There exist a strong interest in identifying specific cell types in an effort to gain enriched populations of the cells. Having possession of an enriched population may allow for a better understanding of the specific cell types or even provide uses in various situations including transplantation, gene therapy, treatment of disease including cancers such as leukaemias, neoplastic cancers including breast cancers, or repair of tissues and skin.
Stem cells give rise to cells, which ultimately contribute to various parts of the plant or animal. One type of stem cell is the haematopoietic stem cell.
Hematopoietic cells are responsible for an extraordinarily diverse range of activities. They are divided into several lineages, including lymphoid, myeloid and erythroid. The lymphoid lineage, comprising B cells and T cells, produces antibodies, regulates cellular immunity, and detects foreign agents such as disease-causing organisms in the blood. The myeloid lineage, which includes monocytes, granulocytes, and megakaryocytes, monitors the blood for foreign bodies, protects against neoplastic cells, scavenges foreign materials, and produces platelets. The erythroid lineage includes red blood cells, which carry oxygen.
Haematopoietic stern cells are capable of self-renewal, multilineage proliferation and differentiation, and long-term support of the haematopoietic and lymphoid systems. They form a subpopulation within the haematopoietic progenitor compartment (HPC), which mainly comprises cells of more limited potentiality. HPC cells are mainly located within the bone marrow stroma, where complex interaction with stromal cells, extracellular matrix components and cytokines, permits regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. HPC cells are also present in the blood under a variety of physiological, pathological and iatrogenic circumstances. HPC can be harvested from bone marrow or peripheral blood, and will re-engraft the bone marrow following intravenous infusion in patients who have received ablative (i.e. destructive) doses of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, leading to regeneration of haematopoiesis and immunity. Thus, HPC cell transplantation is of considerable clinical utility in the management of patients with haematological and solid malignancies, bone marrow failure, and inborn errors of haematopoiesis, immunity or metabolism.
There is thus a need for supplies of autologous HPC cells which may be cultured in vitro prior to reintroduction into a patient whose HPC cell population has been depleted due to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The populations of such HPC cells may take many weeks or months to recover naturally to their normal levels. The use of autologous cells from the patient themselves avoids rejection of the transplanted cells.
In vivo, HPC cells are generally located within the bone marrow stroma. In vitro, HPC cells are able to adhere to bone marrow stromal layers before proliferating and releasing more committed progenitors. Stem cells undergo marked proliferation and differentiation into multiple lineages, ultimately giving rise to fully differentiated cells or progeny, such as red blood cells, platelets, a variety of white blood cells, and also immune cells such as T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. Thus, the reintroduction of HPC cells or stem cells into the patient who is depleted therein, allows efficient repopulation of these haematopoietic cell types.
The relative paucity of hematopoietic stem cells has prevented extensive research on stem cells and hematopoietic differentiation in general. The ready availability of a cell population enriched in hematopoietic stem cells would make possible the identification of biological modifiers affecting stem cell behavior. For example, there may be as yet undiscovered growth factors associated with (1) early steps of dedication of the stem cell to a particular lineage; (2) the prevention of such dedication; and (3) the ability to control stem cell proliferation.
The availability of sufficient numbers of stem cells in an enriched population would also be extremely useful, for example, in reconstituting hematopoiesis in patients undergoing treatments which destroy stem cells, such as cancer chemotherapy.
Considerable evidence supports the proposal that the localization of hemopoiesis to the bone marrow (BM) in adult mammals involves developmentally regulated interactions between primitive hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and the stromal cell mediated hemopoietic microenvironment (HM) of the marrow.
Anatomical location of maturing hemopoietic cells within the BM is better understood than the spatial distribution of more primitive cells. Previous studies in the mouse have established that lineage restricted clonogenic hemopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) also conform to a well-defined spatial distribution across the axis of the femur with greatest numbers near the central longitudinal vein. In contrast, hierarchically more primitive progenitors, colony-forming unit spleen (CFU-S), exhibit the converse distribution with low numbers in the central region of the marrow and greatest enrichment in a region adjacent to bone the endosteum.
The reestablishment of hemopoiesis by intravenously infused cells requires several coordinated events including homing, migration and lodgement of HPC within the BM HM. The initial event, homing, is the specific recruitment of circulating HSC to the BM and involves the selective recognition of HSC by the microvascular endothelium of the marrow and trans-endothelial cell migration into the extravascular hemopoietic space. In contrast, lodgement encompasses events following extravasation and is defined as the selective migration of cells to suitable HM niches in the extravascular compartment. Current data suggests that homing involves a similar cascade of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) to those participating in the extravasation of mature leukocytes into tissues. Primitive hemopoietic cells exhibit a broad repertoire of CAMs including various members of the integrin, sialomucin, Ig super family and CD44 families. Current data suggest key roles for the sialomucin receptor for P-selectin, PSGL-1, the β1 integrin VLA-4 and the receptor for SDF-1, CXCR4 in HSC homing to the BM. In contrast, very little is known about the molecules that influence the site of HSC lodgement following homing to the BM.
However, identification of these specific cell types by cell surface markers has generally proven to be the best means of identification. The identification of additional cell surface antigens would clearly be of major value in the identification, isolation and further characterization of hematopoietic stem cells.
Until recently, it has not been possible to define the spatial distribution of hemopoietic stem cells (HSC) within the BM. This is due to the rarity of HSC and the lack of a single, unique antigenic marker allowing their unambiguous identification in situ.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least alleviate some of the problems of the prior art.

Identifying haematopoietic stem cells based on cell surface markers


An antenna design, having two symmetrical phased array blade antenna elements which provide improved lateral target coverage with an increased effective radiated power and exhibits smooth null-free unidirectional antenna patterns. The direction of the unidirectional antenna pattern is dictated by a switching command under control of a user. Each blade antenna element is coupled to a 90-degree hybrid coupler and an RF switching device by a semi-rigid RF cable. Each blade antenna element is also connected to a sub-resonant choke balun for improved impedance matching and resultant distortion-less antenna patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronically steered radio frequency beam transmitted by a phased array blade antenna assembly for use on an airborne platform whose mission is electronic warfare. The electronically steered radio frequency beam is dynamically directed to either the left or right side of the airborne platform in order to directionally maximize the power of the radiated radio frequency signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The industry has a number of airborne antennas used with different airborne amplifiers and covering a broad range of frequencies. However, most of the antennas, especially those covering lower frequency bands, provide less than optimal pattern coverage and thus reduced Effective Radiated Power (ERP) performance. An attempt to address these problems can be found in a U.S. Pat. No. 7,280,083 issued to this inventor. Although the '083 patent reference provides added benefits of good impedance stability versus frequency and stable monotonic antenna pattern characteristics in proximity to an irregular ground plane, the overall design approach imposes the following limitations: the design has an inherent bidirectional antenna pattern vice a unidirectional antenna pattern, a lower amount of radiated power is directed towards the intended target as a result of the bidirectional antenna pattern, the antenna pattern is fixed to radiate symmetrically from the host platform vice a left only or right only radiation pattern, the phased array blade antenna described in the '083 patent reference is not capable of switching the direction of radiation in response to control commands and most importantly, the reference results in a lower gain and thus a shorter standoff distance between a jammer and a target.
There are no known airborne antenna designs in the prior art that will operate in the desired frequency range, at the desired power level, respond to main lobe directional control commands and increases the standoff distance between the jammer and the target. The increased standoff distance provided by the directionally controlled antenna pattern is important in raising the probability of mission success by moving the jamming aircraft further from potential threats. In addition, the unidirectional antenna pattern provides enhanced control of undesirable ownership EMI effects and a potential of significant fratricide reduction.

Electronically steered phased array blade antenna assembly

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy