An electronic device is provided that, while traveling, easily performs message exchange exploiting unit information. An electronic device includes: a display unit; a wireless communication unit that receives information including user information related to a sender and message information desired by the sender to be transmitted to a correspondence party which are sent and received, the user information including identification information for identifying the sender and unit information for identifying an affiliation of the sender; and a display mode control unit that provides a first display position associated with the attribute information in the display unit, and displays at least either of the identification information or unit information by arranging at the first display position.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program, method and electronic device for performing communication (exchange of messages) between people moving by transportation means such as vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles traveling on roads, or boats, and/or between electronic devices carried by pedestrians (people) (hereinafter referred to as "mobile device"). Hereinafter, vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, boats, or the like are also referred to as "vehicles, etc.". For example, as the mobile device, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), notebook computer, mobile telephones, and other portable electronic devices equipped with a wireless communication function possessed by the rider of a transportation means such as a vehicle, or navigation devices including PND (Portable/Personal Navigation Device) and on-board navigation devices can be exemplified. In particular, it relates to a program, method and electronic device for performing exchange of messages whereby a person (user) riding in the vehicle, etc. can perform mutual understanding (interchange of messages) such as a short text exchange-type conversation (so-called chat) by way of character data, by an electronic device by way of an easy operation via wireless communication with another mobile device.
Related Art
There is a demand for a plurality of people, dividing between a plurality of transportation means such as vehicles, wanting to enjoy conversation through wireless communication between people riding in different vehicles.
For example, when touring in a group, there is a demand for setting information of good points for sightseeing in advance in the mobile device, and when coming to this site, achieving a mutual understanding (sending a message) in real time between group members, while looking at the outside scenery. In addition, for example, there is a demand for achieving a mutual understand (sending a message) between group members at a moment having approached a rest area that had been decided beforehand.
In this way, for a short text exchange-type conversation by way of character data, etc. (hereinafter also referred to as "chat"), the acts in themselves of reading/writing and sending/receiving are also the targets of enjoyment, and the number of events transmitted and displayed, types of information included in the transmitted data of one event, and the visibility of these increase the enjoyment.
For this reason, irrespective of the people conversing and people not conversing, a chat is desired that can make an atmosphere in which all of the participants of the chat are present inside the loop of the story to bring about an atmosphere where the conversation is being enjoyed by everyone.
In addition, in a case like doing a certain action together in the group, chat is desired that can provide an atmosphere in which a sense of solidarity in touring by car or motorcycle, etc., a group feeling, and a sense of unity as a community can be enjoyed.
Patent Document 1 discloses an invention related to chat between users (travelling persons) via mobile telephones set to a positional information setting mode. The invention described in Patent Document 1 can make contact even without having contacted a mail address in advance. Then, this invention described in Patent Document 1 provides a chat display screen to a lower portion within a position display screen. The respective positions of a user 0 and users 1 to 3 (icons 500 and 501 to 503) are displayed on a display unit 107 within the position display screen.
Patent Document 2 discloses an invention related to a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile telephone device that realizes a chat function using email. The invention described in Patent Document 2 registers a member participating in a chat in advance to be associated with a member image. By configuring in this way, the complete text of the chat mail is displayed within a chat screen D1 in chronological order along with member images mp1 to mp4 as chat messages. The chat screen D1 is a display screen of a liquid crystal display device built into the mobile telephone device 1.
Patent Document 3 describes an invention related to an information processing device that makes an association between a virtual living object (avatar) that is an alter ego of the user and chat text, in virtual space. The invention described in Patent Document 3 provides a serif data display area 151 within the screen of a wide screen 140 serving as virtual space, displays a balloon at a position corresponding to an avatar therein, and inside thereof, has the text of chat displayed.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2007-166189    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-18423    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2000-99225

Method and electronic device for performing exchange of messages


A liquid crystal display device includes a gate electrode; a gate insulating layer on the gate electrode; an active layer on the gate insulating layer corresponding to the gate electrode; source and drain electrodes on the active layer; a first passivation layer on the source and drain electrodes; a common electrode on the first passivation layer; a second passivation layer on the common electrode, covering the common electrode, and having a separate region from the first passivation layer at a thickness of the common electrode; a pixel electrode on the second passivation layer and connected to the drain electrode through a drain contact hole; and a common line at a same layer as the pixel electrode and connected to the common electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an advanced horizontal in-plane switching (AH-IPS) type liquid crystal display device (LCD) and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An LCD displays images using a liquid crystal panel and a backlight unit. Conventionally, a twisted nematic (TN) type LCD is used. Alternatively, vertical alignment (VA) type and in-plane switching (IPS) type LCDs are widely used.
Recently, an AH-IPS type LCD is developed. The AH-IPS type LCD provides a better viewing angle and contrast ratio than the IPS type LCD.
Figure (FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an AH-IPS type LCD according to related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the LCD includes an array substrate including a display region OA and a non-display region NA.
In the array substrate, a thin film transistor Tr, a pixel electrode 52 connected to the thin film transistor Tr, and a common electrode 51 are formed on a substrate 10. In the non-display region NA, a gate line (not shown), a data line 20, a gate pad 25 at an end of the gate line, and a data pad 26 at an end of the data line 20 are formed.
The thin film transistor Tr includes a gate electrode 11, a gate insulating layer 12 on the gate electrode 11, an active layer 23 on the gate insulating layer 12, and source and drain electrodes 22 and 21 on the active layer 23. The thin film transistor Tr has an inverted staggered structure. Alternatively, the thin film transistor Tr may have a coplanar structure.
First and second passivation layers 41 and 42 are formed on the thin film transistor Tr. The second passivation layer 42 functions as a planarization layer. When a planarization is not required, the second passivation layer 42 may be omitted.
A common electrode 51 is formed on the second passivation layer 42. A third passivation layer 43 is formed on the common electrode 51 and covers the common electrode 51. A pixel electrode 52 is formed on the third passivation layer 43.
In this configuration, a fringe field is produced between the common electrode 51 and the pixel electrode 52, thus arrangement of liquid crystal molecules is changed by the fringe field.
In the related art LCD, the array substrate for the LCD is manufactured with as many as 6 or 7 mask processes. For example, the array substrate for the LCD is manufactured with one mask process to form the gate electrode 11, one or two mask processes to form the active layer 23 and the source and drain electrodes 22 and 21, one mask process to pattern the first and second passivation layers 41 and 42, one mask process to form the common electrode 51, one mask process to pattern the third passivation layer 43, and one mask process to form the pixel electrode.
Therefore, manufacturing processes of conventional AH-IPS type LCDs are inefficient and manufacturing costs are increased.

Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof


An information recording device according to the present invention includes an HDD 5, a DVD 6 and a VCR 7. During transferring and recording information from DVD 6 onto VCR 7, a transfer control circuit 20 short-circuits between an input node and an output node. Accordingly, an image signal line L1 or L2 is electrically connected to an image signal line L3 through a switch SW and transfer control circuit 20. Namely, information is transmitted to the VCR without providing a direct information transmission path from DVD 6 to VCR 7. The configuration according to the present invention enables bidirectionally transferring information among HDD 5, DVD 6 and VCR 7 with a single switch, thereby enabling dubbing with a simple configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dubbing function of an information recording device incorporating, for example, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a VCR (Videocassette Recorder) and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, there have been developed various types of recording media and recording devices for recording information and sound onto such recording media, and these recording media and devices have been used in manners suitable for their applications. However, these recording media have respective recording techniques, which make it difficult to provide compatibility thereamong. This requires utilization of recording devices suitable for respective recording media, thus causing the problem of necessity of complex operations.
Therefore, an information recording device having a dubbing function has become a mainstream, wherein the dubbing function is the function of recording information recorded on VCRs and the like, which have been conventionally commonly domestically utilized, onto other recording media such as a hard disc and a DVD medium to catalog information. For example, there is a DVD recording device incorporating an HDD.
Conventionally, there have been suggested various types of dubbing functions, namely techniques for transferring information from recording media which store information recorded thereon to other recording media. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 05-089644 discloses a technique for efficiently conducting editing operations using a hard disc or the like, for dubbing information recorded on a video tape being reproduced onto another video tape. Further, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-104287, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-260452 and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3070837 disclose techniques for temporally recording information into a hard disc and then recording it from the hard disc onto another recording medium, for dubbing. Further, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 05-036244 discloses a technique for recording information onto a magneto-optical recording medium such as a DVD medium and then transferring and recording it from the magneto-optical recording medium into a hard disc for dubbing, which enables easily and efficiently performing editing operations and the like using information recorded in the hard disc or the like, since information is temporally recorded in the hard disc or the like and then is transferred and recorded into another recording medium.
On the other hand, in the case of dubbing for simply transferring and recording information from a recording medium onto another recording medium without performing editing operations, it is more efficient to directly perform dubbing without temporally recording the information into a hard disc or the like, which can reduce the dubbing time.
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the flow of information during dubbing in a conventional information recording device 10.
Referring to FIG. 3, a single information recording device 10 incorporates an HDD recorder (hereinafter, simply referred to as an HDD) 11, a DVD recorder (hereinafter, simply referred to as a DVD) 12 and a videocassette recorder (hereinafter, referred to as a VCR) 13. HDD 11, DVD 12 and VCR 13 are configured to enable dubbing bidirectionally and, therefore, information recording device 10 is also referred to as a triple recorder.
There are illustrated in FIG. 3 information transmission lines L1, L2 and L3, wherein information transmission line L1 is an information transmission line from DVD 12 to the other two recorders HDD 11 and VCR 13. Accordingly, an output node for outputting information from DVD 12 is connected to input nodes of HDD 11 and VCR 13. Information transmission line L2 is an information transmission line from VCR 13 to the other two recorders HDD 11 and DVD 12. Accordingly, an output node for outputting information from VCR 13 is connected to input nodes of HDD 11 and DVD 12. Information transmission line L3 is an information transmission line from HDD 11 to the other two recorders DVD 12 and VCR 13. Accordingly, an output node for outputting information from HDD 11 is connected to input nodes of DVD 12 and VCR 13.
Switches SW1 to SW3 are provided in correspondence with HDD 11, DVD 12 and VCR 13, and control signals CT1 to CT3 are input to the respective corresponding switches for switching among the information transmitting paths.
More specifically, in HDD 11, switch SW1 electrically connects one of information transmission lines L1 and L2 to the input node of HDD 11, in accordance with control signals CT1. In DVD 12, switch SW2 electrically connects one of information transmission lines L2 and L3 to the input node of DVD 12, in accordance with control signals CT2. Similarly, in VCR 13, switch SW3 electrically connects one of information transmission lines L1 and L3 to the input node of VCR 13, in accordance with control signals CT3.
With this configuration, by selectively providing control signals CT1 to CT3 during dubbing, it is possible to easily perform dubbing bidirectionally in HDD 11, DVD 12 and VCR 13.
However, information recording device 10 is configured such that switches SW1 to SW3 are provided in correspondence with the respective recording units: HDD 11, DVD 12 and VCR 13. Also, it is necessary that control signals CT1 to CT3 to be provided to switches SW1 to SW3 are selectively transmitted from the control circuits (not shown) of the respective recording units, and the respective recording units can be individually operated, which causes the problem of complexity of controls.

Information recording device having dubbing function


An intersub-valence band quantum well detector (52), comprising alternating quantum wells (30') and barriers (32'), provided with differential strain permits obtaining hole mean free paths similar to the electron. Consequently, the gain and responsivity should dramatically increase. In addition, the absorption coefficient should increase, while the noise current should decrease; thus, the quantum efficiency and the detectivity (D*) should increase, compared to a detector without the added differential strain.

The primary focus of the present invention is sensitive and fast detection of infrared signals, with particular emphasis on imaging arrays. Until recently, two main classes of infrared photoconductive detectors have been under investigation. These either employ band-to-band transitions or dopant-to-band transitions. The band-to-band detectors usually require semiconductors whose band edge is close to the wavelengths to be measured. In the infrared, such detectors are typically fabricated in materials which are difficult to make into imaging arrays, such as HgCdTe. Alternatively, the detectors requiring dopants operate at very low temperature. For this reason there has been a search for new detectors.
Recent advances designed to overcome the limitations of either band-to-band or dopant-to-band detector have used intersub-band transitions. The first example is in quantum wells using the intersub-conduction band transitions first reported by L. C. West and S. J. Eglash, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 46, pp. 1156-1158 (1985). This detector uses quantum wells to provide discrete energy level subbands for the electrons. Transitions take place within subbands. B. F. Levine et al, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 56, pp. 851-853 (1990) have improved the quantum well infrared photodetector by using the confined energy level to unconfined miniband transition. The unconfined miniband lies above the barrier level. With this transition, the detectivity of the detector has reached as high as 1.times.10.sup.10 cm Hz.sup.1/2 /W. However, this detector has a serious limitation, in that because of selection rules, as described by D. D. Coon and R. P. G. Karunasiri, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 45, pp. 649-651 (1984), light incident from above onto the detector is not absorbed. Hence these detectors require an end-fire coupling, or a corrugated surface (for grating coupling), which automatically reduces their sensitivity. Furthermore, even with proper optical coupling, there is automatically a reduction of a factor of two in quantum efficiency because of the selection rules which utilize only one polarization of light. An additional problem for this detector is that the dark current is extremely large.
B. F. Levine et al, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 59, pp. 1864-1866 (1991), proposed and demonstrated a detector that is sensitive to light incident from above. This detector uses intersub-valence bands; that is, transitions between the occupied confined heavy hole and the unoccupied continuum states.
These two detectors are compared in Table I below, which provides a comparison of the responsivity, gain, quantum efficiency, absorption coefficient of the quantum well, mean free path of the carrier, dark current, D*, and geometry for the 40 .ANG. n-doped GaAs/Al.sub.0.3 Ga.sub.0.7 As intersubconduction band detector (West and Eglash, supra; Levine et al, 1990, supra) at 10.7 .mu.m at 4 V and a 40 .ANG. p-doped GaAs/Al.sub.0.25 Ga.sub.0.75 As intersub-valence band quantum well detector (Levine et al, 1991, supra) at 8.4 .mu.m at 5 V. The size of both detectors was 200.times.200 .mu.m, with 50 quantum wells each.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Comparison of the Properties of Two Prior Art Detectors. 40 .ANG. p-doped 40 .ANG. n-doped Intersub-valence Intersub-conduction Band Quantum Band Quantum Well Detector Well Detector ______________________________________ Responsivity (A/W) 0.039 1.0 Gain 0.024 0.8 Quantum efficiency 28% 20% Absorption Coeffi- 8,212 13,000 cient (1/cm) Mean free path (.ANG.) 408 13,800 Dark Current (A) .apprxeq.1 .times. 10.sup.-7 A .apprxeq.3 .times.10.sup.-5 A D* (cm Hz1/2/W) 1.7 .times. 10.sup.10 4.0 .times. 10.sup.10 Geometry Normal Non-normal ______________________________________
The advantage of the intersub-valence band detector is that it can be used with normal incident light. The problem with the intersub-valence band detector is that its responsivity and gain are low. This is the result of the heavy hole being much more massive than the conduction electron, which causes a very short mean free path of the heavy hole after it leaves its potential well. In the barriers, the heavy and light hole states are degenerate, which decreases the lifetime of the hole carriers, since scattering between states insure some heavy hole nature in the carriers. It is this decreased mean free path and lifetime which causes the gain and responsivity much lower than the intersub-conduction band quantum well detector. Although the dark current decreases by a factor of 300, further reduction in the dark current is desirable.
Thus, what is desired is a quantum well detector that combines the advantages of intersub-valence band detectors, namely, the use of incident light normal to the detector, with the higher responsivity and gain of the intersub-conduction band detector. In addition, the dark current must be reduced.

Light detector using intersub-valence band transitions with strained barriers


The present invention entails an elongated upright post that includes a series of supports secured on and around the elongated post and which are movable up and down adjacent the post. Each of the supports includes an elongated section that runs adjacent the post and an outwardly projecting section that extends outwardly with respect to the post for supporting a flower or plant-type hanging basket or other object. A series of set screws are attached adjacent the supports. The set screws are operative to engage a support and to effectively retain the support in a fixed vertical position. However, the set screws can be released from the supports and the supports can be moved up and down so as to adjust their vertical height.

Hanging baskets that hold plants and flowers are commonly used by homeowners and gardeners on porches, patios, gazebos and other areas around a home or building. However, the use of such hanging baskets is fairly limited because they do require some form of overhead structure for supporting the hanging baskets. Typically, in the case of a porch, for example, a screw hook can be secured within an overhead structure or the ceiling. In such cases, the hanging basket typically includes a series of wires that extend upwardly from the basket and are secured around the downwardly extending hook.
There have been attempts in the past at designing an upright stand or structure for supporting plants. For example, see the disclosures found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 47,664; 37,070; 5,037,049; 4,991,344; and 2,794,554. These patents generally show a support structure that comprises a post, a base for supporting the central post, and a plurality of outwardly directed supports or hangers. There are numerous drawbacks and disadvantages to these plant support structures. Many plant support structures of the prior art have utilized fixed hangers or supports, that is supports that are not vertically adjustable. Thus, in such designs, the supported plants or hanging baskets are always supported in the same fixed vertical position. Obviously, one cannot adjust the hangers or supports to particularly accommodate certain size plants or give one the capability of positioning the plants at various elevations with respect to each other to yield different overall appearances.
In addition, plant stands of the prior art have often been unduly complicated, included many parts, and generally been unstable and unsafe. In the end, they have been expensive and sometimes impractical to manufacture.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for a sturdy plant stand that is practical and relatively easy to manufacture. In addition, it is desirable that the plant stand include a plurality of vertically adjustable supports that can be moved up and down relatively easy and stationed at various heights.

Support structure for supporting plants and other objects


A battery pack communicates intrinsic battery information with a battery powered device over its battery voltage terminals. The battery pack detects a start-up voltage transition across the battery voltage terminals. In response to the detected transition, a sequence generator generates a data burst representing the intrinsic battery information. While the data durst is being communicated over the battery terminals, a current limiter limits battery current supply for a current-limiting time period.

This invention generally relates to the field of battery packs and, more particularly, to those battery packs that communicate intrinsic information over battery voltage terminals.
Many of today's electrical and electronic devices are powered by batteries that require identification of their characteristic. This is specially true for rechargeable batteries where their chemical characteristic plays an important role in their charge and discharge requirement. For example, by identifying battery type, a battery charger may apply a suitable level of charge current for charging the battery. Alternatively by determining safety features of the battery, the charger could stop applying the charge current in time to avoid an overheating condition, which may result in a battery explosion. It is also desired to power an electronic device, such as a cellular phone, by a wide variety of battery types, such as Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydrate, Nickel Cadmium, etc. The battery type identification allows the device to adjust its operating characteristic to accommodate a particular battery type.
Conventionally, various techniques have been used for communicating information between a battery and a battery powered device or a battery charger. Generally, the battery incorporates a non-volatile storage device that stores intrinsic battery information, such as battery type, safety features, model number, etc. In this way, the intrinsic battery information may be communicated over one or more battery terminals according to a predefined communication protocol, which is often a serial protocol. Usually, the device includes a microprocessor for processing the intrinsic battery information received from the battery according to a predefined program.
For communicating intrinsic information, some conventional approaches use dedicated battery terminals, which are separate from battery voltage terminals. For example, many batteries used in portable computer systems include dedicated terminals for communicating intrinsic information to and from the computer system. In smaller portable devices, such as cellular phones and the like, however, the addition of extra terminals complicates mechanical design and adds to manufacturing cost.
Another conventional approach uses the battery voltage terminals to convey intrinsic battery information to a battery charger. In this way, additional battery terminals are not necessary, since the terminals that supply the battery voltage are also used for communicating intrinsic batter information. Using a serial link, intrinsic data relating to a battery identification number and battery usage history may be communicated between the battery and the charger over the battery voltage terminals. Under this approach, the link is provided by a modulated a.c. signal, which is superimposed upon the battery voltage terminals. The modulated a.c. signal consist of a high frequency carrier, for example, 1 MHz, which is frequency or amplitude modulated for identifying two binary states. For example, a frequency modulated a.c. signal may have a first modulating frequency representing a binary state "1" and a second modulating frequency representing a binary state "0." In this way, a collection of logical signals constitute a data sequence representing intrinsic information, which is communicated between the battery and the charger over the battery voltage terminals. In yet another approach, the data sequence may be created by a high power low energy pulse imposed on the battery voltage terminals, to communicate intrinsic information stored in a low impedance battery, such as an acid battery.
Under noisy conditions, however, the conventional methods do not provide reliable communication of intrinsic battery information over the battery terminals. When a battery powered device is turned on, the noise present, due to loading conditions, for example, may distort the communication link with the battery. In order to provide reliable communication, the conventional approaches must transmit the intrinsic data continuously or periodically. This arrangement, however, results in high battery current consumption, which reduces the battery's charged life.
Therefore, there exists a need for a simple way of reliably communicating intrinsic battery information over battery voltage terminals, while consuming very little battery current.

Battery pack that communicates intrinsic information over battery voltage terminals


In an edge detector process, a working plane (A) is scanned by a focussed light beam, e.g. a laser beam emitted by a light source (L) projected at an angle of typically 40.degree. to 45.degree. from the working plane. A first and a second detector (D1, D2) receive the scattered light from the working plane. The first detector (D1) is positioned behind a focussing imaging optics (0), such as an off-axis parabolic mirror, which is arranged coaxially, i.e. all round the laser beam, or is positioned below the emitted light beam relative to a main working plane (H). The second detector (D2) is positioned approximately over the light spot produced by the emitted light on the main working surface. The stray light measured by the first detector (D1) is therefore received at an angle to the main working plane, which is equal to or smaller than the angle between the emitted light and said plane.. An apparatus according to the invention has imaging optics (0) and one of the detectors is positioned in such a way that it measures scattered measured light along the main axis of the incident laser beam or at an angle which is smaller than that between the main laser light axis and the main working plane.

It is known that in light dispersion or scattering on a matt surface, e.g. on white paper, the intensity of the dispersed light is dependent on the angle of incidence of the light and the observation direction of the dispersed light. It is possible to derive from indicatrix, that with two detectors receiving the dispersed light from a light spot on white paper at different angles, a clear decision can be made as to whether the paper rests flat on the substrate or is strongly inclined (Reflexionsspektroskopie, G. Kortum 1969, Springer-Verlag, Berlin). With suitably chosen angles this phenomenon is similar to the case of a slightly to highly glossy surface. The stray light intensity in the reflection direction is increased strongly, whereas in the remaining directions there is an overall intensity decrease. If the stray light intensity is indicated as a function of the observation angle, this roughly gives the shape of a circle with a lobe in the reflection direction. In other words, when the light strikes the surface obliquely, the stray light intensity in a direction area close to the reflection direction (forward scattering) is greater than the stray light intensity in a direction area close to the direction of the incident light (backward scattering). The difference in the ratio of the light intensities of rearward and forward scattering is increased with a decreasing angle between the surface and the incident light. For certain surface characteristics, there can be a deterioration in the detection compared with white paper, but this is normally small. Only in rare cases are surfaces obtained which diverge from this and, in addition to a forward brightness or gloss in the reflection direction, also have a rearward brightness or gloss in the laser beam direction. A disturbing rearward gloss or brightness does not occur in the case of raw or printed paper.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,352 to Olsson discloses a process and an apparatus for measuring this type of reflection with a light source and several, namely at least three detectors (an apparatus with two light sources and two to three stray light detectors is also described in WO-85/05206). Both apparatuses are used as scale flow detectors for the non-contacting counting of printed products and are correspondingly designed. As the light source for illuminating the printed products, exactly parallel laser light is proposed in the first specification and is used for obliquely illuminating the object to be measured and a plurality of photosensitive detectors, preferably three such detectors are used for the comprehensive measurement of the stray light from different directions for faultfree counting of the printed products in a scale flow. As a result considerable costs are involved for ensuring the necessary reliability of the measurement.
According to the prior art, overlapping objects are moved as a scale flow with the edges oriented in the running direction on a plane and the edges of the objects are illuminated in oblique manner with laser light at an acute angle to the plane. The laser light scattered by the objects is measured by at least two measuring cells, which are positioned in such a way that they measure the stray light along at least two propagation directions with different angles to the plane on which the objects are conveyed. One measuring cell is at an acute angle to the plane and the irradiation direction of the laser on the other side of a vertical line through the laser spot, while the other measuring cell is between the propagation direction on the other side of the vertical line and the incident laser beam, so that when an object edge enters said light beam compared with the light reflected back to the first measuring cell, said other measuring cell or cells receive more light. This arrangement illustrates why the necessary measuring reliability cannot be obtained with two detectors through the lack of adequately good resolution and as a result attempts are made to increase this information by using three or more detectors.

Process and apparatus for the non-contacting detection of edges of objects


The present invention provides a centrifugal brake which, according to one aspect of the invention, has a center hub from which extend flex members terminating in tabs extending from the flex members. Disposed on the opposite side of each flex member from the tab, is a friction portion. The friction portion is brought into contact with a braking surface when the centrifugal brake is rotated at sufficient speeds so that the centrifugal force acting on the tabs causes the flex members to bend and bring the friction portions into contact with the braking surface thereby resisting further acceleration of the centrifugal brake.

Centrifugal brakes are useful in numerous applications where it is necessary to resist the further acceleration of a rotating object. For various reasons, the speed at which a given device moves must be limited and if the device rotates or includes rotating parts, a centrifugal brake may often be used to take advantage of the centrifugal force generated by the rotating component. As the rotation velocity reaches a given level, the centrifugal brake engages to limit the rotational velocity and thus the speed of the moving device.
A typical situation where centrifugal brakes are helpful involves controlling the spring return rate of a rotary electric actuator. Such actuators are used in a variety of situations for controlling the position of devices such as valves, mechanical dampers, and the like, as employed in process control systems. For example, process control systems frequently use valves which may be adjusted to control the flow of fluids within a conductor system such as a pipeline. Other types of fluid flow control devices, often encountered in process control systems, include dampers which may be actuated for modulating the flow of gases.
Process control systems which use these actuators include heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that usually employ a plurality of air handling units comprising interconnected duct work associated with mechanical dampers. The duct work and dampers cooperate for controlling the flow of outside ambient air into a conditioned space, for controlling the flow of air from the space to the ambient, and for controlling air flow between cool and warm air ducts.
In the above-mentioned actuator systems, a power transmission is typically connected between a damper and an electric motor. The motor provides the power to turn the transmission and thus actuate the damper, valve, etc. Often, damper movement must be carefully controlled by an electronic control system so that the damper is appropriately positioned for the desired air flow. However, in the event of a power failure, the damper is usually returned to a fail safe position, such as completely closed or completely open. Spring returns are typically connected to the power transmission to return the actuator to the desired fail safe position.
In many applications, the return spring must be sufficiently strong to hold the actuator at the desired fail safe position with substantial force. For instance, it may be necessary to hold a building's air flow dampers in a closed position with substantial force to promote safety should there be a fire in the building.
When power to the electric motor is interrupted, the strength of the return spring causes great acceleration of the actuator, its power transmission, and the electric motor towards the fail safe position. This rapid rate of acceleration and high component velocities can cause damage to the actuator, the damper, or their component parts, particularly when the device reaches its fail safe position and abruptly stops.
It would be advantageous to use a centrifugal brake which responds to increasing rotational velocity to restrict further acceleration of the components once the rotational velocity reaches a certain level. In this fashion, the return spring would still quickly move the actuator to its fail safe position, but not at a rate which would cause damage.
The present invention addresses the foregoing drawbacks of systems which include rotational components subject to excess velocity.


Systems and methods for updating an electronic map of a facility are disclosed. The electronic map includes a set of map nodes. Each map node has a stored image data associated with a position within the facility. The method includes collecting image data at a current position of a self-driving material-transport vehicle; searching the electronic map for at least one of a map node associated with the current position and one or more neighboring map nodes within a neighbor threshold to the current position; comparing the collected image data with the stored image data of the at least one of the map node and the one or more neighboring map nodes to determine a dissimilarity level. The electronic map may be updated based at least on the collected image data and the dissimilarity level. The image data represents one or more features observable from the current position.

The following paragraphs are not an admission that anything discussed in them is prior art or part of the knowledge of persons skilled in the art.
An automated guided vehicle ("AGV") operates along pre-determined paths, defined by specific infrastructure, such as a magnetic strip. AGVs cannot deviate from the pre-determined path. In contrast, a self-driving material-transport vehicle can operate without specific infrastructure and are not limited to a pre-determined path. A self-driving material-transport vehicle can sense its environment and navigate its environment without human input.
A self-driving material-transport vehicle typically stores an electronic map of its environment and identifies its location within the environment based the stored electronic map and what it has sensed in its environment. However, the electronic map can become out of date as the environment changes.


Technologies pertaining to retrieval of contextually relevant attribute values for an automatically identified named entity in a document are described herein. Named entity recognition technologies are employed to identify named entities in the text of a document. Context corresponding to an identified named entity is analyzed to probabilistically assign a class to the named entity. Attributes that are most relevant to the class are determined, and attribute values for such attributes are retrieved. The attribute values are presented in correlation with the named entity in the document responsive to user-selection of the named entity in the document.

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents that are accessible via the Internet. Through utilization of a web browser, a user can load a web page that includes text, images, videos and other multimedia, and can navigate between webpages by way of selection of hyperlinks. The amount of information that is available on the World Wide Web has increased dramatically since its inception, causing retrieval of information that is relevant to a particular user's interests to be a complex problem. Search engines have been developed, wherein a search engine is tasked with indexing web pages, receiving textual queries from users, and providing a ranked list of web pages that are believed to be most relevant to the users (based upon the queries). Due to the massive number of web pages that are available, however, it is often times difficult to provide users with relevant information.
To help users access information, computer-executable systems have been developed that attempt to address the need for machine-readable web content, where the World Wide Web is no longer perceived as being a collection of web pages, but rather a web of entities with relations therebetween. While technologies and specifications exist for identifying named entities in web pages available on the World Wide Web (and annotating such web pages to identify named entities), there is currently a lack of technologies that "bridge the gap" between the web of documents (web pages) and the web of data (entities and their relations). In other words, conventionally, to retrieve additional information about a named entity in a document, users must employ hyperlinks to seek out contextual information from external sources. In an example, a web page may include the named entity "Barack Obama", and such named entity can be automatically identified. A hyperlink can be added to the text, wherein the hyperlink links the web page with another web page (e.g., a Wiki page) that includes additional information about the named entity. Therefore, if a user wishes to acquire additional information about the named entity, the user can select the hyperlink and be directed towards another web page.
Oftentimes, however, owners of a web page will desire that the user remain on such web page for an extended amount of time. For instance, search engines aim to keep users viewing their pages longer by presenting structured data from external sources locally, thereby increasing the likelihood of generating revenue from that user (e.g., when the user selects an advertisement). Acquiring structured data in a manner that is not time and labor intensive, however, is a focus of ongoing research.

Enrichment of named entities in documents via contextual attribute ranking


Organo-metal oxide chelates stable in aqueous compositions are provided by the reaction of metal alkoxide--where the metal is titanium, zinc, tungsten, or tin--and a polyalkylene glycol. Specific compounds are the reaction product of tetra alkyl titanates with diethylene glycol. Aqueous coating compositions containing the chelates may be applied to fiber glass at the filament stage or after forming into mats. When heat treated, the coated fiber glass serves as photocatalytic media.

This invention involves the known photocatalytic effect of certain metal oxides such as titanium dioxide. More particularly, it involves compositions for coating the photocatalytic metal oxides onto carrier surfaces, thereby permitting practical means for bringing liquids or gases to be treated into contact with the catalytic material.
The use of metal oxides such as titanium dioxide to photocatalytically decompose organic material has been extensively treated in the prior art. In addition to titanium dioxide, the photocatalytic effect has been reported to have been achieved with the oxides of zinc, tungsten, and tin.
The utility of the photocatalytic compounds depends largely upon providing a solid carrier with large surface area so as to increase the contact area with the liquid or gas being treated. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,288 a layer of catalyst particles is loosely supported on a filter or in a granular bed. A more practical approach is to coat a solid support member with the catalyst. For example, use of porous ceramic substrates to support titanium dioxide coatings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,784. Because the photocatalytic effect requires exposure of the catalyst to ultraviolet radiation, the use of a transparent substrate such as glass has been suggested. In particular, it has been recognized in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,712; 4,966,759; and 5,032,241 (all to Robinson et al.) that fiberglass combines both transparency and high surface area, whereby carriers made from matrices of fiberglass are ideally suited for this purpose. Moreover, the art of fabricating high surface area materials from fiber glass (e.g., mats, filters, and fabrics--both woven and non-woven) is highly advanced and versatile. It would be highly advantageous for the sake of efficiency and cost to be able to apply a photocatalytic coating to fiber glass filaments and/or strands as they are being formed, prior to being processed into more complex product configurations. In other words, it would be desirable to apply these coatings in the same manner as sizing compositions are conventionally applied to fiber glass during its primary manufacturing stage. However, to be compatible with fiber glass sizing operations, the coating compositions need to be water based. This presents a problem because the organo-metallic compounds recommended by the prior art for photocatalytic coatings tend to be unstable in aqueous solutions due to premature gelation in the presence of water due to hydration which leads to polymerization. Providing metal oxide photocatalytic compounds that are stable in an aqueous environment would be useful in overcoming this problem.
Organic titanates available from DuPont under the name TYZOR are tetra alkoxy titanium compounds would be suitable for forming photocatalytic coatings but for their tendency to rapidly undergo hydrolysis in the presence of water. Because the suggested methods for making aqueous solutions of these organic titanates involve the use of large amounts of acid or organic solvent, these methods are unsuitable for large-scale industrial applications such as coating of fiber glass. The TYZOR line of titanates also includes chelated versions that provide some stability in aqueous media. Monofunctional ligands displace a portion of the alkoxy groups of the titanates in preparing these commercially available chelates. The chelated compounds include acetoacetates, lactates, and chelates of triethanolamine. Although useful in providing aqueous stability, these titanate chelates have been found to fall short in their film forming ability, apparently due to relatively low molecular weight increase when polymerized.
The prior art suggests the use of sol-gel techniques to apply metal oxides onto formed substrates such as woven fiber glass media (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,759). It has been observed that the sol-gel approach results in rather thick layers of metal oxide that tend to be friable and poorly adherent to fiber glass substrates. It would be desirable to provide a durable, adherent metal oxide coatings on fiber glass from aqueous coating compositions.

Water soluble titanium complexes and use as fiber glass sizing


The present invention relates to a multi-level read only memory cell that can store two bits and the fabrication method thereof. The multi-level ROM cell has the storage capacity of two bits and the resultant NAND type ROM memory array can provide four logic states of two bits, thus increasing the data storage capacity.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a mask read only memory cell. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for forming a multi-level mask read only memory and a multi-level mask read only memory.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, the mask read only memory (ROM) can be divided as NOR type mask ROM and NAND type mask ROM. Although the NOR type mask ROM usually affords larger cell currents, the fabrication processes are more complicated. On the other hand, the NAND type Mask ROM can provide dense cell sizes and employ fabrication processes compatible with the standard Logic processes.
In general, the structure of the mask ROM includes a plurality of bit lines and a plurality of polysilicon word lines bridging over the bit lines. Channel regions of the memory cells are beneath the word lines and between two neighboring bit lines. The mask ROM cells can be programmed to store data. For the NAND type mask ROM cell programming, the stored logic data is either "0" or "1" depending on whether the ions are implanted into the channel regions or not. Such implantation process, implanting ions or dopants into the specific channel regions, is so called code implantation process.
The NAND type ROM memory consists of series MOS transistors, including depletion mode MOS transistors and enhancement mode MOS transistors. Providing the intrinsic MOS transistor is the enhancement mode NMOS transistor and the threshold voltage is positive, the ROM code implantation implants impurities into the channel region of the depletion mode NMOS transistor and changes its threshold voltage to be negative. In general, for the conventional mask ROM, each memory cell can be programmed to store only one bit data (i.e. either "0" or "1") at one time.
However, as high performance ROM memory is highly demanded and the chip size keeps decreasing, it is desirable to increase the storage capacity of the ROM memory cell.

Method for forming multi-level mask ROM cell and NAND multi-level mask ROM


A method for fabricating shallow trench isolation using a gradient-doped polysilicon trench-fill and a chemical/mechanical polishing that improves substrate planarity was achieved. The method involves forming shallow trenches in a silicon substrate having a silicon nitride layer on the surface. After selectively oxidizing silicon exposed in the trenches, a second silicon nitride layer is deposited, and a composite polysilicon layer consisting of an undoped polysilicon layer and a gradient-doped polysilicon layer is deposited filling the trenches. The composite polysilicon layer is then chemical/mechanically polished back. The gradient-doped polysilicon layer improves the removal rate uniformity across the substrate (wafer) by removing the heavily doped regions at a faster rate than undoped or lightly doped regions. This results in improved global planarity which improves the polysilicon dishing in the trenches near the edge of the substrate. A step-wise doping gradient was found to achieve the best removal rate uniformity across the substrate. The undoped polysilicon remaining in the trenches is then thermally oxidized to eliminate dishing in wide trenches, and the silicon nitride layers are removed by selectively etching to complete the shallow trench isolation.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuits, and more particularly to a method for forming planarized shallow trenches across the semiconductor substrate (wafer) using a gradient-doped polysilicon trench fill and a chemical-mechanical polish back.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Field oxide isolation is used to electrically isolate the discrete devices on semiconductor substrates for Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI). Typically a LOCal Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS) is used in the semiconductor industry in which a patterned oxidation barrier mask (silicon nitride) is used and the silicon substrate is selectively oxidized. This results in long thermal budgets and in lateral oxidation under the barrier mask that limit the minimum spacing between adjacent active device areas and therefore prevents further increases in device packing densities. Also, as minimum feature sizes are further reduced, it is necessary to maintain a planar surface for exposing the higher resolution photoresist etch mask patterns, since the higher resolution induces a much shallower depth of focus (DOF). Also, the planarity is necessary for anisotropic plasma etching distortion-free patterned structures without residue in the overlying conductive and insulating layers that are later formed on the substrate. Since the expansion of the oxide in the vertical upward direction by the LOCOS method results in a more uneven topography, there is a strong desire to explore alternate isolation methods.
One method being explored as a replacement for the conventional LOCOS isolation is the shallow trench isolation (STI) depicted in FIGS. 1 through 5. This STI method minimizes the thermal budget, minimizes spacing between adjacent active device areas, and provides a more planar surface. The method involves filling the trenches with an oxide or undoped polysilicon which is then chemical/mechanically polished (CMP) back to form a planar structure. As shown starting with FIG. 1, the method involves growing a stress-release first thermal oxide 12 on a silicon substrate 10 and depositing a silicon nitride layer 14. Conventional photolithographic techniques and anisotropic plasma etching are used to define a photoresist mask 16 and to etch the trenches 2 in the substrate 10 where the field oxide isolation is required. As shown in FIG. 2, after removing the photoresist 16, a second thermal oxide 18 is grown on the exposed silicon surface in the trenches 2 to eliminate plasma etch damage, while the silicon nitride layer 14 prevents the oxidation of the top surface of the silicon substrate where the active device areas for fabricating the semiconductor devices are required. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, a conformal undoped polysilicon layer 20 is deposited to fill the trenches 2 (alternatively a silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2) can be used). The undoped polysilicon layer 20 is then planarized by chemical/mechanical polishing back to the silicon nitride layer 14, as shown in FIG. 4 to form the polysilicon-filled trenches 3. Finally, as shown in FIG. 5, the silicon nitride layer 14 is removed by etching in a hot phosphoric acid (H.sub.3 PO.sub.4) wet etch, and the first thermal oxide 12 is removed by wet etching in a buffered oxide etch (BOE) to complete the shallow trench isolation 3 surrounding the device areas on the substrate on and in which the devices are built.
The most important step in this conventional process is the polishing back according to the nature of chemical/mechanical polishing (CMP). Usually, different polishing rates cause the non-uniformity across the wafer. Moreover, the different removal rates between the filling material and the stop layer result in dishing 4, as shown in FIG. 4. Large differences in selectivity have a more serious dishing problem. Therefore, there are several disadvantages to this conventional method for using both silicon oxide and polysilicon trench filling. First, if a silicon oxide is used to fill the trenches, then an over-polishing step is necessary to ensure the silicon oxide layer has been removed completely, or the silicon nitride will not be etched out due to the residual oxide. However, there is a difficulty in the detection of endpoint because the polish back is not very highly selective to the underlying silicon nitride layer 14 (about 3:1 to 5:1), therefore, it can result in substrate damage. Thus, the time-mode control has been used instead of endpoint control in the conventional process.
The undoped polysilicon-filled trench not only results in a much better polish-back selectivity to the silicon nitride layer 14 (about 25:1), but also the latitude of process window for overpolish is enlarged. Also, the endpoint signal is much stronger, so the endpoint control is feasible. However, it also causes a more severe dishing in the wide trenches.
One method of improving the polish-back uniformity across the wafer for forming planarized dielectric layers for intermetal dielectrics (IMD) over the interconnecting conductive lines is described by Meikle et al. in U.S. Pat No. 5,449,314. The method employs a gradient-doped silicon oxide insulating layer which is then chemical/mechanically polished back. The chemical/mechanical polishing removes relatively fast the heavily doped elevated portions while removing more slowly the lightly doped regions resulting in a more global planarity across the wafer. However, Meikle does not teach or suggest the method for making STI regions on a substrate, and does not teach the use of a polysilicon for filling trenches.
Although there are a number of methods for forming shallow trenches and for planarizing dielectric layers, there is still a strong need to provide improved methods for forming shallow trenches with large overpolishing process window, an obvious endpoint, no dishing, and having a more planar surface with improved global planarity.

Method for making an improved global planarization surface by using a gradient-doped polysilicon trench--fill in shallow trench isolation

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Light fixture comprises light panels hingedly connected and reconfigurable between area lighting, wherein their collective light is emitted horizontally substantially 360 degrees radially outward, and spot lighting, wherein their light-projecting directions are substantially in the same direction and their light outputs are the same. Light panels can be positioned between area and spot lighting configurations to produce any continuous arc of light output. In an alternate embodiment, light fixture is incorporated into a portable task light reconfigurable between a cylindrical configuration for transport and stowage and a use configuration for providing illumination, generally including a main body, stand to erect the body, a telescoping pole, and reconfigurable light fixture connected to top end of the pole.

High output portable lights have been developed to assist workers in the field, particularly emergency personnel, such as police and firefighters.
In many instances it is desirable to have a spot light for providing illumination in a specific direction, for example to illuminate the side of a burning building to see where people are trying to escape, or illuminate an area where a lighting device can't be placed.
In many instances it is desirable to have an area light for illuminating an area for multiple persons working on multiple tasks such as at a traffic accident or first aid or medical station.
These portable lights are often, of necessity, quite large because they commonly include a power source, such as batteries, that must last for a long time. Also, area lights, in particular, typically include a telescoping pole to elevate the light fixture well above the area to be illuminated to enlarge the lighted area and to prevent shadows as much as possible. These portable lights usually weigh in excess of forty pounds. The portable lights are typically stowed in an emergency vehicle.
Prior art light fixtures are configured to provide either area or spot illumination, such that more lights than may be necessary must be carried in the emergency vehicle or, because of size or weight limitations, a decision must be made as to which type of light to carry and hope the other is not needed.

Light fixture reconfigurable between area lighting and spot lighting configurations


A video controller and related method for controlling a manner in which input data is printed is provided. Specifically, the controller contains a first AND gate, a buffer, a second AND gate, a third AND gate, and a bus holder. The first AND gate inputs the input data and a chopping control signal and outputs a corresponding chopping output signal. The buffer inputs delayed input data and a buffer control signal. The delayed input data corresponds to the input data which has been delayed for a predetermined period of time, and the buffer outputs the delayed input data as a shrinking control signal in accordance with the buffer control signal. The second AND gate inputs the shrinking control signal and the input data and outputs a corresponding shrinking output signal. The third AND gate inputs the chopping output signal and the shrinking output signal and outputs corresponding output data. Finally, the bus holder maintains an output state of the buffer at an appropriate level.

In order to reproduce video data (e.g. graphic data or text data) on a tangible medium, the data may be printed via a laser printer. Furthermore, the video data may be subjected to two types of operations in order to prepare the data to be printed. Specifically, the data may be subjected to a chopping operation and a shrinking operation.
The chopping operation is used to determine whether or not a portion (e.g. a bit) of data is divided into several sections of data. As a result, the chopping operation may generate a segment of data corresponding to each of the sections. The shrinking operation is used to determine whether or not a portion (e.g. a bit) of data is shrunk and the degree to which such data is shrunk.
Furthermore, a register may be provided to store data or other information to control the chopping and shrinking operations. For example, when the bit of data is divided in accordance with the chopping operation, the bit may be divided into sections based on a bit number stored in the register. In particular, each bit of a predetermined number of bits in the register may represent an enabling state of a related section of the data signal.
However, a conventional video controller which performs chopping and shrinking operations has several disadvantages. For instance, such controller is only capable of performing either the chopping operation or the shrinking operation at any given time. As a result, the chopping operation and the shrinking operation cannot be simultaneously performed, and thus, the video controller cannot efficiently process the video data.

Video controller and video control method for chopping and shrinking data


A system and method for audio/visual displaying, capturing, streaming, recording and playback is disclosed. The invention has many applications including distance learning and video capture of legal proceedings. The video deposition embodiment of the present invention facilitates paperless depositions by allowing the simultaneous, single channel recording and streaming of a deponent (witness) and his or her exhibits during a litigation deposition or similar process, such as courtroom record-making and teleconferencing. One aspect of the present invention is the paperless, digital display of rich media exhibits at the deposition on a large-format display such as an LCD, DLP, or plasma screen that is positioned next to the deponent, facing the camera, displaying exhibits in a digital (paperless) format. Another aspect of the present invention is the capability of video recording, video teleconference (VTC) and/or video streaming the combined images of both the deponent and the displayed exhibits in a single frame-of-view permitting transmission of a single video signal for storing, streaming, replaying and viewing, all in a single window.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems for recording audio and video (A/V) and for playback of same. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for A/V capturing, recording, streaming, videoconferencing and for live and on-demand playback. The capture function of the system and method is often referred to as "event capture" generally and sometimes more specifically as, "lecture capture" and "deposition capture" among types of events that can be AV captured for recording and/or streaming and/or videoconferencing.
2. Description of Related Art
This invention is to all types of event capture but perhaps the most demanding is the capture of courtroom and deposition proceedings where the captured, recorder and/or streamed and/or videoconferenced record is often an "official" record, demanding perhaps the highest quality of all event capture. Litigation of any sort in the United Stated is widely considered too expensive and too slow to reach resolution. Generally, the legal industry has been slow to adopt technology to improve productivity and increase access. Electronic filing of pleadings and motions is becoming more commonplace. However, the legal industry's use of what little video it now deploys is largely inefficient. For example, it is not uncommon for some courtrooms that have begun using video to have separate cameras for making (1) an official record, (2) security, and (3) videoconferencing, thus resulting in duplication, financial waste and needless complexity. In another example, a deposition where all available legal technology is deployed, separate rather than integrated systems are typically brought in for (1) making the video of the deposition, (2) videoconferencing in a witness or attorney at a remote site, and (3) evidence presentation (systems occasionally used in trial but rarely during depositions). Moreover, shorthand stenographic equipment may also be brought in to make yet another record. Some stenographers have hardware and software allowing the text transcript itself to be fed in real-time for viewing by parties on and off site.
Most depositions today are still recorded by stenographic court reporters who make the record in shorthand, often with the aid of computer-aided-transcription (CAT) machines (steno keypads connected to a computer and special software). A lesser number of those stenographic reporters are also trained and equipped to offer real-time reporting, i.e., their computers output real-time transcriptions of what is being said to attorneys' and judges' laptops during depositions, hearings and trials.
A minority of depositions today are videotaped, despite the fact that a video record is more accurate and cheaper to make than a stenographic record. In addition, a video deposition is a much better tool for hearings and trials because the body language of the deponent is visible and the inflection in the responses can be heard. Such nuances are typically lost when only a stenographic record is available. It is also typically the case that when depositions are captured on video, it is in addition to, rather than in lieu of, stenographic reporting, despite the fact that federal and many state rules permit electronic instead of stenographic recording. This represents needless duplication and expense for clients.
Some trials are considered "paperless." The term "paperless trial" describes the electronic presentation of evidence on courtroom displays rather than on paper. A paperless trial does not mean the complete absence of paper or that digital documents are never used in a paper trial. Rather, in a paperless trial as of this writing, electronic methods are the primary method of storing and showing exhibits with paper as a supplement or backup, e.g., exhibit binders, or available on-demand via a printer. Experts would generally agree that the digital presentation of evidence during trials can dramatically cut trial time, perhaps by as much as a third. The same would hold true with other legal proceedings, such as depositions.
Almost no depositions taken today are paperless and, thus, do not feature the digital presentation of evidence, e.g., documents, timelines, photos, charts and video clips. Most exhibits are usually copies of documents, shown to the deponent in paper format. Occasionally, charts and diagrams might be displayed on an easel or whiteboard, paper photos might be shown, and video might be played from a conventional video cassette recorder (VCR) and associated monitor. Interestingly, more and more discovery documents are either generated or stored as digital documents only to be printed back to paper for depositions and trials.
The use of edited deposition video testimony instead of live witnesses during a trial occurs very infrequently. It may be the case that if more depositions were video recorded, and if more witnesses appeared electronically in trial (digital testimony, edited down to essential testimony), trial duration might be cut even further, in addition to time savings through paperless evidence presentation.
Most depositions in the United States are manually, stenographically recorded as text-only by court reporters. Conventional video cameras and tape decks (occasionally with CD or DVD digital backup) are used to record the relatively few depositions that are conventional video-recorded depositions. A mere fraction of those video recorded depositions use additional equipment to stream the signal in real time (live) for viewing at remote sites. When streamed, which is rare, most often only the video and audio of the deponent (the so-called talking head) is streamed live and not the exhibits. The exhibits are usually faxed, mailed or emailed before the proceeding takes place and viewed during the proceeding on paper or digitally on a second display or window separate from the deponent's display. If both the deponent video and exhibits are streamed simultaneously—a rare occurrence—the two are usually transmitted on separate channels and are displayed, in separate windows or on separate screens at the remote site. For example, conventional transmission of deponent video and exhibit video might be displayed on two screens (see FIG. 4A), a split screen (see FIG. 4B), tiled (picture-in-picture, see FIG. 4C), or a three window version for displaying (1) the talking head, (2) the exhibits and (3) scrolling text of the deposition from a stenographer (see FIG. 4D). Note that some software tools tailored to the legal industry for video deposition playback, add that third window to include scrolling text of the deposition. Examples of such software tools for video depositions that have this or a similar feature include: DepositionDirector™, available from in Data Corporation, Gilbert, Ariz., and Visionary Viewer™, available from Visionary Legal Technologies, Dallas, Tex. The two-channel transmission of conventional video depositions is obviously more expensive than a single video feed, adds to the complexity of setup and use, and is displayed in disjointed fashion at the end point, requiring viewers' eyes to dart back and forth among windows.
Thus, it would be highly advantageous to have a method or system wherein the deponent is positioned next to a display which is simultaneously viewable by those on-site in the room and by anyone off-site watching via streamed video in real-time or afterwards, on demand, via a recording. Furthermore, the combination of electronic document presentation and greater use of edited witness testimony could combine to cut the length of a typical trial.

Method and system for audio/video capturing, streaming, recording and playback


Various specific meningococcal proteins are disclosed. The invention provides related polypeptides, nucleic acids, antibodies and methods. These can all be used in medicine for treating or preventing disease and/or infection caused by meningococcus, such as bacterial meningitis.

Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) is a non-motile Gram negative diplococcus that is pathogenic in humans. It colonises the pharynx and causes meningitis (and, occasionally, septicaemia in the absence of meningitis).
All pathogenic meningococci have a polysaccharide capsule. These polysaccharides form the basis of available vaccines against meningococcus serogroups A, C, W135 and Y, but they are inappropriate for use against serogroup B. There has thus been a great deal of research into identifying alternative antigens for immunising against serogroup B. Such alternatives have included proteins, the lipopolysaccharide, and outer membrane vesicles.
References 1 to 7 disclose various polypeptides derived from the genome sequence of a serogroup B meningococcus, and they select specific sequences for use in vaccines. Genome sequence for a serogroup A strain is disclosed in reference 8.
It is an object of the invention to provide further polypeptides for use in the development of vaccines for preventing and/or treating meningococcal infections. In particular, it is an object to provide polypeptides for use in improved vaccines for preventing and/or treating meningococcal meningitis. The polypeptides may also be useful for diagnostic purposes, and as targets for antibiotics.


Polyolefin resin compositions having a sea and island structure wherein cycloolefin resin, graft modified cycloolefin resin and graft modified elastomer components are finely dispersed in polyamide by melt kneading the cycloolefin resin, graft modified cycloolefin resin, graft modified elastomer and polyamide. Molded products formed by using the polyolefin resin compositions of the present invention are high in impact strength and surface characteristics, particularly less in surface delamination, and also excellent in surface glossiness. The molded products are low in water absorption properties and also excellent in oil resistance.

Conventionally, polyolefins are known as resins excellent in chemical resistance and solvent resistance. However, when polyolefin is low in crystallinity index, it cannot be said that the polyolefin has sufficient rigidity, heat resistance and solvent resistance.
On that account, there is adopted a process for improving polyolefin in heat resistance and rigidity by the addition thereto of a nucleating agent or a process for enhancing polyolefin in crystallinity index by cooling a molten polyolefin gradually. However, it is hard to say that the effect obtained thereby is sufficient.
Apart from such polyolefins as referred to above, it is reported that copolymers obtained by the reaction of ethylene with bulky monomers are excellent in properties such as heat resistance in comparison with conventionally known polyolefins (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,372 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 14910/1971).
In this connection, on the basis of the acquired information on the fact that cyclic random copolymers obtained by copolymerization of specific cycloolefins as bulky monomers and ethylene are excellent in heat resistance, heat aging characteristics, dielectric characteristics and rigidity, the present applicant has already proposed random copolymers obtained by using specific cycloolefins (see Japanese Patent L-O-P Publications Nos. 168708/1985, 120816/1986, 115912/1986, 115916/1986, 271308/1986, 272216/1986, 252406/1987 and 252407/1987).
On the other hand, an attempt has been made to incorporate other resins into polyamides for the purpose of improving characteristics inherent in polyamides. In spite of various improvements suggested as above, there was much room for further improvement on various characteristics such as water absorption properties, molding shrinkage or heat-resisting rigidity.

Polyolefin resin compositions containing a cycloolefin resin and processes for the preparation thereof


The invention relates to optical beam steering. There is described an optical beam steering apparatus, comprising: a splitter arranged to split an optical beam into at least a first part having a first polarization and a second part having a second polarization, said first and second polarizations being substantially mutually orthogonal; a first liquid crystal device region arranged to receive said first part and to have director orientation substantially aligned to said first polarization; and a second liquid crystal device region arranged to receive said second part and to have director orientation substantially aligned to said second polarization.

Within telecoms communication systems, light entering an input port of a device may have any possible polarisation state and this may be time varying. If such light is routed through a device, it is preferable that the light that appears in the output port has an amplitude, which does not depend on the input polarisation state.
In order to allow operation with modulated signals, a device or system preferably 'honours' polarisation, i.e., paths of beams of different polarisation are matched in order to allow operation without disturbance of relative polarisation between the beams of different polarisation. For example, polarisation insensitive phase modulation may ensure that the intensity of steered or routed output beams are substantially unaffected by the polarisation state of the input beam. More particularly, polarisation insensitive phase modulation may provide a known, minimal and/or time independent insertion loss.
An optical device or system may use Liquid Crystals (LC). The liquid crystalline molecules in a material exhibiting a nematic or ferroelectric LC phase are typically rod shaped. The direction of preferred orientation of such LC molecules in the neighbourhood of any point can be represented by n (a dimensionless unit vector), where n and −n are fully equivalent. In other words, an LC device has a liquid crystal director that can be regarded as an arrow, which indicates the average preferred orientation of liquid crystalline molecules in a liquid crystal material. Both directions (180 degrees apart) of the arrow are equivalent.
Ferroelectric liquid crystalline (Sc*) materials switch largely in the plane of a Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon (LCOS) device. When an electric field is applied to such a device, the director changes its orientation in the plane of the device. An array of pixels switched such that one of two opposite positions are taken around the director cone produces (under certain conditions) an array with binary phase levels 0 and pi. Such a binary phase array produces diffraction peaks in the device output plane that include both the first order (routing) peak and unwanted higher and symmetric orders which results in power loss and potential crosstalk. The loss of a device using this effect will not depend on the input polarisation state, i.e. it is polarisation insensitive, but will depend on the LC layer thickness and the switching angle.
LC may be provided in a Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon (LCOS) device having the liquid crystalline material on a silicon substrate that is coated with a reflective layer. LC applied to such a reflective substrate may be controllable to allow light to be reflected or blocked. Specifically, a LCOS may comprise a silicon CMOS chip having a reflective coating (e.g., comprising aluminium) that is covered with LC, and a glass layer over the LC.
The field of optical beam steering continues to provide a need for improvements such as, for example, reduced insertion loss and/or polarisation insensitivity.
For use in understanding the present invention, the following disclosures are referred to:    "High information-content projection display based on reflective LC-on-silicon light valves", R. L. Melcher, M. Ohhata, K. Enami, J. SID 6 Apr. 1998 p. 253-256).    "Semiconductor manufacturing techniques for ferroelectric liquid crystal microdisplays", M. Handschy, Solid State Technology May 2000, 151-161.    "The Silicon Backplane Design for an LCOS Polarization-Insensitive Phase Hologram SLM", Moore, J. R.; Collings, N.; Crossland et al.; IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 20, Issue 1, Jan. 1, 2008 Page(s):60-62.    J. Ertel et al "Design and performance of a reconfigurable liquid crystal based optical add/drop multiplexer", JLT 24(4) (2006) pp. 1674-80.    J. M. Roth et al., "Large-aperture wide field of view optical circulators", IEEE PTL 17(10) (2005) pp. 2128-30.    U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,149 "Compensation of Polarisation Dependent Loss", 8 Jul. 2002, Nortel Networks LTD    U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,371 "Reconfigurable Add-Drop Multiplexer", 27 Nov. 2000, Nortel Networks LTD    US 2003/0161567 "Tunable Wavelength Multiplexer", 28 Feb. 2002, Engana PTY LTD    US 2003/0210727 "Narrowband Filter Method and Apparatus", 7 May 2002, Engana PTY LTD    U.S. Pat. No. 7,092,599 "Wavelength Manipulation System and Method", 12 Nov. 2003, Engana PTY LTD    US 2005/0100277 "Wavelength Manipulation System and Method", 12 Nov. 2003, Engana PTY LTD    US 2005/0276537 "Dual-Source Optical Wavelength Processor", 14 Jun. 2004, Engana PTY LTD    WO 2006/034533 "Wavelength Selective Reconfigurable Optical Cross-connect", 23 Sep. 2005, Engana PTY LTD    WO 2006/047834 "Optical Calibration System and Method", 8 Nov. 2004, Engana PTY LTD.    Dynamic digital holographic wavelength filtering; Parker, M. C. Cohen, A. D. Mears, R. J.; Fujitsu Telecommun. Europe Ltd. Res., Colchester; Journal of Lightwave Technology, Publication Date: July 1998, Volume: 16, Issue 7, page(s): 1259-1270    Holographic optical switching: the "ROSES" demonstrator; Crossland, W. A., Manolis, I. G., Redmond, M. M. et al.; Journal of Lightwave Technology, 18 (12). pp. 1845-1854. ISSN 0733-8724    100-GHz-resolution dynamic holographic channel management for WDM; Cohen, A. D.; Parker, M. C.; Mears, R. J. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Volume 11, Issue 7, July 1999 Page(s):851-853    Design and performance of a versatile holographic liquid-crystal wavelength-selective optical switch; Fracasso, B.; de Bougrenet de la Tocnaye, J. L.; Razzak, M.; Uche, C.; Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume 21, Issue 10, October 2003 Page(s): 2405-2411    A polymer-dispersed liquid crystal-based dynamic gain equalizer; Barge, M.; Battarel, D.; de la Tocnaye, J. Ld. B.; Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume 23, Issue 8, August 2005 Page(s): 2531-2541    Reconfigurable free-space optical cores for storage area networks Wilkinson, T. D.; Crossland, B.; Collings, N.; Fan Zhang; Fan, M.; IEEE Communications Magazine, Volume 43, Issue 3, March 2005 Page(s): 93-99    Dynamic WDM equalizer using opto-VLSI beam processing; S. Ahderom; M. Raisi; K. E. Alameh; K. Eshraghian; IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Volume 15, Issue 11, November 2003 Page(s):1603-1605    Dynamic holographic spectral equalization for WDM; M. C. Parker; A. D. Cohen; R. J. Mears; IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Volume 9, Issue 4, April 1997 Page(s):529-531    US2002131702 "Combined multiplexer and demultiplexer for optical communication systems", Morey William W; Chen Ray T; Fluisar Corporation.    US2004136071 "Diffractive optics assembly in an optical signal multiplexer/demultiplexer", Morey William W; Deng Xuegong; Chen Ray T.    Reflective liquid crystal wavefront corrector used with tilt incidence; Zhaoliang Cao, Quanquan Mu, et al., Applied Optics, Vol. 47, Issue 11, pp. 1785-1789    Design and performance of a reconfigurable liquid-crystal-based optical add/drop multiplexer; Ertel, J.; Helbing, R.; Hoke, C.; Landolt, O.; Nishimura, K.; Robrish, P.; Trutna, R.; Journal of Lightwave Technology; Volume 24, Issue 4, April 2006 Page(s): 1674-1680    Five-channel surface-normal wavelength-division demultiplexer using substrate-guided waves in conjunction with a polymer-based Littrow hologram, Maggie M. Li, Ray T Chen, Optics Letter, 1 Apr. 1995, Vol. 20, No. 7, p. 797    Large-aperture wide field of view optical circulators; Roth, J. M.; Bland, R. E.; Libby, S. I.; IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Volume 17, Issue 10, October 2005 page(s): 2128-2130

Cambridge Enterprise Limited, University of Cambridge


A system includes a device that is disposed within an environment and is adapted to communicate over a radio frequency communication link. The system also includes a wireless access point disposed within the environment, including a wireless transceiver in communication with the device over a radio frequency communication link using a plurality of channels, and recording a channel state information data set for the radio frequency communication link. The system also includes a monitoring device including a memory storing a plurality of activity profiles, each of which includes an activity and a channel state information profile corresponding to the activity, and a processor receiving, from the wireless access point, the channel state information data set and determining, based on a comparison of the channel state information data set to the channel state information profile of each of the plurality of activity profiles, the activity of the person in the environment.

Activity monitoring in home environments has become increasingly important and has the potential to support a broad array of applications including elder care, well-being management, and latchkey child safety. By tracking a sequence of meaningful activities and generating statistics for a person, it may be possible to monitor well-being and suggest behavioral changes that can improve health. In aging-in-place settings, such tracking can be helpful to understand whether established routines are still followed, since the absence of usual activities can be an important indicator for detecting falls and other situations of need.
Traditional activity identification approaches involve wearable sensors and specialized hardware installations. Sensors can be either attached to a person's body, or placed on target objects with which people interact. In one previous technique, an accelerometer is attached on human body to detect falls in Philips Lifeline. In another, a motion sensor is attached to a door to detect movement. Other previous techniques involve a wearable acoustic sensor for classifying activities, such as eating and coughing. Vision based systems can also be used to track user movements and gestures. These dedicated sensors can achieve fine-grained activity recognition. However, they need the installation and maintenance of dedicated sensors, which usually entail high costs and are thus not scalable.
A single wireless monitor used to detect human movement or location can also be used for activity recognition. The granularity of the activity can be inferred from these systems is either modest or fine-grained. However, these systems all require a specialized WiFi monitor for extracting the carrier wave.

Device-free activity identification using fine grained WiFi signatures

THE TRUSTEES OF THE STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY


A curable coating composition is provided which comprises an acrylic resin having an epoxy group and a hydroxyl group in the side chain (A) and a compound having an amino group (B). The composition may further comprise a silane compound having an epoxy group or an amino group in the molecule (C).

The functions or properties required for coatings include adhesion to a material to be coated, protection of the coated material and good appearance. Various types of coatings have been developed for these purposes and are put in practical use. Off course, the factor that influences and defines the properties of a coating is a coating resin used in the coating.
The materials to be coated themselves have been bewilderedly changed with the progress of times, and recently more complicated properties and functions have been required for the materials, such as light weight, frame retardancy, recycling properties, easy biodegradability and safety, as well as high strength. Under these circumstances, as the materials to be coated, the following materials have been often used: metals having light weight, high strength and abundant resources and easy recycling properties (e.g., magnesium alloys, aluminum alloys and titanium alloys) as construction materials; plastics having high strength and good transparency (e.g., polycarbonate) as alternatives to glass; and plastics having good flame retardancy (e.g., Noryl, PPS and PC/ABS resin alloy) for application in household electrical appliances.
These materials are generally hard adhesive, and particularly those materials which contains as a constituent a metal atom (e.g., Mg, Al and Zn), such as magnesium alloys, aluminum alloys and titanium alloys, appear to be hardly adhered with a coating. From the standpoint of coatings, these materials are deemed to be hard to adhere, and widely available acrylic melamine resin coatings, acrylic urethane resin coatings, acrylic silicone resin coatings and the like cannot adhere to the surface of these materials. Therefore, use of primers such as so-called "two-part" epoxy resin coatings are needed.
Inconveniently, these metals belong to the most non-noble class from the viewpoint of electroconductivity. Therefore, there are frequent troubles such as electric corrosion on the coated material due to improper application of the coating to the metals, blistering of the coati film observed in the environmental tests (e.g., water resistance test), or readily peeling of the coat film.
To improve and ensure the adhesion of a coating to the materials, it has been widely employed to apply an epoxy resin coating, which is known to have good adhesive properties, as an under coat (primer). Subsequently, the epoxy resin coating is baked, cured, and coated with a top coating (e.g., acrylic melamine resin coating, polyester resin coating, fluorine resin coating), baked and cured. However, in this treatment, it is difficult to ensure the sufficient corrosion resistance of the base material. In practical applications, chemical conversion treatments has been employed, such as formation of a chromium chromate film or a phosphate-chromate film.
When a chemical conversion film is formed as mentioned above, this coating process can provide a coat film having good properties by virtue of the outstanding adhesion and corrosion resistance of an epoxy resin. However, the coating process is called "2C2B" (two times of coating and two times of baking) or "3C3B" (three times of coating and three times of baking; often performed when the coating appearance is disapproval), and the coating workability is quite poor and the yield of the coating is low. Moreover, it takes much time for the coating pretreatment (chemical pre-treatments, such as chemical conversion treatment with a chromate, etc.) and the coating process, the coating cost increases, and the efficiency of production of final products is extremely low. Since the epoxy resin forms a tightly cross-linked coat film, the adhesion of a re-coating is insufficient.
The present invention has been made for overcoming the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a coating having an excellent balance of various properties and a good adhesion to hard adhesive materials, in particular hard adhesive metals and plastics such as magnesium alloys, aluminum alloys, PPS and polypropylene, by using a specific acrylic resin as a coating binder.
Another object of the present invention is to remarkably improve the corrosion resistance of an electrically less noble metals such as magnesium alloy and aluminum alloy.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a coated article which is coated with the coating, in particular coated article containing, as a constituent element, a magnesium alloy, an aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, PPS, polypropylene, ABS resin, PC/ABS resin alloy and the like.


A method and system for communication with a set-top box is disclosed. An embodiment is disclosed that receives security information and the security information has identification information for a user assigned to a set-top box, services a request to create a notification preference for the set-top box in response to successful entry of security information, establishes the notification preference for the set-top box and the notification preference has a rule for providing information in a notification on media content available to be received by the set-top box, sends the notification to the recipient in accordance with a notification preference, receives a communication for the set-top box from a user device and the communication comprises a partial command for a set-top box, interprets the partial command in view of the notification, and sends a command to the set-top box based on the partial command and the notification.

The use of communication networks has grown nearly exponentially in recent years. The growth can be attributed to greater reliability, protocols, and hardware available for improved communication networks. As such, users have come to expect better communication from home, work, and on the go. With the availability of improved communication networks, users desire the ability to communicate easily with other users and user appliances. Thus, there is a need to provide improved communication to users with the set-top box as well as with others through the use of a set-top box.

Method and system for communication with a set-top box