A protective case for receiving and retaining a portable electronic device is provided. The case comprises dampening features disposed in at least two corners of the case to protect the electronic device from inadvertent impact and the resultant forces. Various embodiments of the case comprise multi-materials designs and features that allow utilize of various controls and features of the electronic device.

Electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet computers and e-readers have become increasingly popular. An inherent convenience of these devices is that they are highly portable. With increased portability, however, comes the need to protect the device from the surrounding environment, impact from drops, abrasion, and other negative influences. Accordingly, as the popularity of the devices continues to increase, so does the need and desire to protect or surround the device with a cost effective protective case. There is a need not only for protecting and transporting electronic devices, but also to accommodate devices of varying sizes, shapes, and having various different features and controls.
Known devices for protecting smartphones and similar items provide a one-piece co-formed hard shell case for surrounding a smartphone. U.S. Pat. No. 8,204,561 to Mongan et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses one such case wherein an elastomer liner is disposed in the hard shell, which adds considerable bulk. This case relies on the material properties of the elastomer lining to protect the smartphone from drops and impulse forces. Thus, such devices fail to provide various novel features of the present invention including various features for receiving, retaining, and protecting a device while still allowing for a preferred level of access to the device.
Other known devices for protecting smartphones include two-piece clamshell designs wherein two rigid portions surround and enclose a portable electronic device. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,609,512 and 6,995,967, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, much like the one-piece co-formed devices, the clamshell designs add considerable bulk to the case-electronic device combination and fail to provide novel features of the present invention.

Protective case for an electronic device


The semiconductor device fabrication method comprises the step of forming a first insulation film 48 on a semiconductor substrate 10 and a ferroelectric capacitor 42; the step of forming first interconnections 56a–56c; the step of forming a second insulation film 60; the step of planarizing the surface of the second insulation film 60; the step of making heat treatment with a heat treatment furnace to remove water from the second insulation film 60; the step of making heat treatment in a plasma atmosphere generated by using N2O gas or N2 gas; the step of removing water from the second insulation film 60 and nitriding the surface of the second insulation film 60; the step of forming a barrier film 62 on the second insulation film 60; the step of forming contact holes 68 in the barrier film 62 and the second insulation film 60; and the step of burying conductor plugs 70 in the contact holes 68.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating semiconductor device, more specifically, a method for fabricating a semiconductor device including ferroelectric capacitors.
Recently, the use of ferroelectric film as the dielectric films of the capacitors is noted. The FeRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) using such ferroelectric capacitor can operate at high operating speed and has low electric power consumption. The FeRAM is a non-volatile memory characterized by good write/read durability, etc. and prospects for further development.
However, the ferroelectric capacitor has a characteristic that the characteristics are easily deteriorated by hydrogen gas or water from the outside. Specifically, for the ferroelectric capacitor of a standard FeRAM, having the lower electrode of Pt film, the ferroelectric film of PZT film and the upper electrode of Pt film sequentially stacked, it is known that when the substrate is heated to a temperature of about 200° C. in an atmosphere of an about 40 Pa (0.3 Torr) hydrogen partial pressure, the PbZr1-XTiXO3 film (PZT film) substantially loses the ferroelectricity. It is known that when the substrate is subjected to heat treatment with the ferroelectric capacitor adsorbing sufficiently water or with water being present near the ferroelectric capacitor, the ferroelectricity of the ferroelectric film of the ferroelectric capacitor is much deteriorated.
Because of this characteristic of the ferroelectric capacitor, in the FeRAM fabrication process, a process which generates water as little as possible and is made at low temperatures is selected as the process following the formation of the ferroelectric film. As the process for forming the inter-layer insulation film, a film forming process by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or others using a raw material gas which generates a relatively small amount of hydrogen is selected.
Furthermore, as the technique for preventing the deterioration of the ferroelectric film by hydrogen or water are proposed the technique of forming a barrier film of aluminum oxide film covering the ferroelectric capacitor and the technique of forming a barrier film of aluminum oxide film on an inter-layer insulation film formed on the ferroelectric capacitor. The barrier film of aluminum oxide, film has the function of preventing the diffusion of hydrogen or water. Accordingly, the proposed techniques can prohibit hydrogen or water from arriving at the ferroelectric film and prevent the deterioration of the ferroelectric film due to the hydrogen or water.
However, the barrier film simply formed on an inter-layer insulation film having steps in the surface does not have good coverage and cannot sufficiently prevent the diffusion of hydrogen or water. When hydrogen or water arrives at the ferroelectric film of the ferroelectric capacitor, the metal oxide forming the ferroelectric film is reduced with the hydrogen, and the electric characteristics of the ferroelectric capacitor are deteriorated.
Then, a technique of planarizing the surface of the inter-layer insulation film and forming the barrier film on the planarized inter-layer insulation film is proposed. The flat barrier film has very good coverage and can surely prevent the diffusion of hydrogen or water.
Following references disclose the background art of the present invention.
[Patent Reference 1]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2005-217044
[Patent Reference 2]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2003-152165
[Patent Reference 3]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2004-23086
[Patent Reference 4]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2004-153031
[Patent Reference 5]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2002-76296
[Patent Reference 6]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Hei 10-144681
[Patent Reference 7]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2003-158247
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Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2004-303995
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Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2003-273325
However, when the flat barrier film is formed on the inter-layer insulation film, the conductor plugs buried in the inter-layer insulation film are not formed well, and the fabrication yield is often lowered.


Presented is a system and method for determining a user's intent. Specifically, constituents and a topology are derived from the user's expression of intent, which can be stated broadly or stated in specific detail. The intent is expressed verbally, written, or in an XML format. The constituents and topology are resolved into a configuration based upon contexts. The contexts, which include a resource context, a user context, and an application context, includes information about the user's preferences, location, restrictions, device and network availability, and content availability. The configuration is then implemented.

The processing capability of computer components is continually increasing. The industry has responded by creating applications and operating systems that take full advantage of these performance enhancements. However, as additional functionality was added, these applications generally became more complex, requiring the user to become increasingly knowledgeable about the applications and operating systems to be able to take full advantage of the enhancements.
In response to user aggravation, industry created simpler interfaces that are easier to use so that the average user did not have to be as knowledgeable about the application and the operating system. For example, commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 09/650,481, "System and Method for Identifying Audio/Visual Programs to be Recorded," filed Aug. 29, 2000, provides for a token schema that provides sufficient program criteria to enable a recording system that receives the token to record the identified program based on the token. The token provides the user with the capability to record a program without having to know the broadcast time for the program or the broadcast channel.
However, while these simpler interfaces significantly enhance the user's experience, the user must still know what program to use and, in many cases, how the program works in order to use the program. A method is needed whereby a program or operating system component can select and configure network components based on user intent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention relates to the selection of at least one dynamic node, in a mobile network, as a candidate for relaying a data communication signal between a transmitting entity and a receiving entity of the network. In terms of the invention: at least one first area around at least one first entity among the transmitting and receiving entities is defined, beyond which a data communication signal is attenuated beyond a first predetermined threshold; and the selection of nodes as possible candidates for relaying the communication signal on the basis of the definition of the first area is limited.

It is more particularly related to an implementation of cooperative communications making use of dynamic relays in a mobile network, notably a cellular network in which base stations have a radio coverage over respective cells of the network. With reference to FIG. 1 illustrating the situation of a cellular network, a cooperative communication denotes a transmission technique where:                in downlink mode DL, terminals TER receive useful signal from a base station BS via other terminals REL1 (one or more) which relay the useful signal transmitted by the base station BS, and        in uplink mode UL the base station BS receives useful signal coming from a transmitter terminal TER via other terminals REL2 (one or more) which relay the transmitted signal to the base station.
For clarity of presentation in FIG. 1, only the links via relays REL1, REL2 are shown. In practice, however, the same signals can be transmitted via various paths:                via relays (as shown in FIG. 1), and        directly between the base station BS and the terminal TER.
With for example two signals carrying the same information and coming from different nodes of the network (coming for example directly from the base station, on the one hand, and from one or more relays, on the other), this diversity of communication "paths" taken allows the signal-to-noise ratio on reception of the signals to be improved.
Cooperative communications in a cellular network allow the terminals (or the base stations, respectively) to receive useful signal from the base station (or from the terminals, respectively) and also from other nodes of the network (typically relay nodes) which relay the useful signal.
A transmission that makes use of the relay nodes must use a relay protocol. The most well known relay protocols are:                the protocol "Amplify-and-Forward" (AT), according to which the relay amplifies the signal that it receives and retransmits the signal thus amplified, and        the protocol "Decode-and-Forward" (DT), according to which the relay decodes the signal received before retransmitting the signal, which allows the noise initially present in the received signal to be eliminated.
The relay nodes in a cellular network may be static or dynamic. Static relay nodes belong to the infrastructure of the network and they are deployed in particular chosen points of the cell. Dynamic relays are generally mobile nodes which can for example be terminals that are situated within a given cell and which behave as relay nodes by assisting the transmission toward one destination (or more), where this destination can be a terminal ("downlink" case) or a base station ("uplink" case).
Cooperative communications (use of the relay nodes) within a cellular network can increase the coverage of the cell, improve the reception of the signals (by offering a gain in diversity for example) and increase the spectral efficiency of the network (which is defined in bits per second, per Hertz and per cell). The easiest way of making use of relays is simply to deploy a few static relays at particular points of the cell. This practice makes the selection of the relays, for a particular transmission, reasonably easy because the potential relays are limited.
The selection of the relays participating in a particular transmission is obligatory in a system where many relays (either static or dynamic) may exist. The most relevant relays and those truly providing a gain in performance when they assist a transmission must therefore be chosen. Furthermore, it could be that, in certain situations, it is impossible to find relevant relays, such that the direct transmission between the source and the destination must be imposed. Moreover, if static relays are deployed, the points of deployment of the relays may be chosen so as to guarantee a sound link between the relays and the base stations, which can enhance the efficiency of the relay operation.
However, the deployment of the static relays increases the cost of the systems because it requires other infrastructure elements (relay nodes) to be added. In contrast, the implementation of dynamic relays does not require an additional infrastructure cost. The user terminals available in a cell can relay signals in order to assist the transmission to other terminals. Dynamic relays may be applied both in the downlink direction and in the uplink direction. Nevertheless, the use of dynamic relays poses problems of complexity and of loading on the return channel. The return channel denotes a transmission from the terminal to the base station intended to supply control information on the terminal to the base station, such as for example the quality of its channel.
The information transmitted over the return channel represents a loss of spectral efficiency for the system, since it occupies radio resources which cannot be used for the transmission of useful signals. Indeed, in order to select the relay (or relays) to ensure the transmission to a destination, the base station (an entity that usually takes such decisions in a cellular system) must acquire information on the state of the transmission channels (or "CSI" for "Channel State Information") between the source and the potential relays, and also between the potential relays and the destination. The CSI information may for example consist of channel transmission coefficients or of other, more concise, information on the quality of the channel, such as for example the gain of the channel or a signal-to-interference and signal-to-noise ratio, or other types.
Hereinafter, "gain of the channel" will be understood to mean the ratio between the power received at the receiver antennas and the power emitted by the transmission antennas. This gain depends:                on the propagation losses (or "pathloss"), which increase with the distance between a transmitter node and a receiver node,        on the "shadowing" effect,        and also on the "fast fading" of the channel.
Hereinafter, "attenuation" is also understood to mean the cumulative effect of the pathloss and of the "shadowing" effect; in practice, the attenuation can be estimated for example by the inverse of the gain of the channel (and then depends on the fast fading). By estimating an average of the inverse of the channel gain over several successive values, the dependency of the estimated attenuation on the fast fading can be reduced.
The transmission of the information on the state of the transmission channels CSI increases the load on the return channel, together with the complexity of the process of selection of the relays. This is because the load on the return channel and the complexity of the selection process are proportional to the number of candidate terminals for the relay operation. No technique is currently known for reducing the number of potential relays capable of assisting the transmission to a terminal or a base station. Thus, the number of candidate relay nodes for a particular transmission is not currently reduced and the complexity of the selection, together with the load on the return channel, makes the relay operation difficult in a cellular network.
In the framework of ad-hoc networks employing multihop transmission, a technique has been developed for the selection of relay nodes in:
"Geographic Random Forwarding (GeRaF) for Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks: Multihop Performance", M. Zorzi and R. R. Rao, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, Vol. 2, No. 4, Pages 337-348 (October-December 2003).
According to this technique, the node transmitting data ("source node") knows its geographical coordinates and the coordinates of the node that wants to receive the message from the source ("destination node"). The source transmits a packet which contains its coordinates and the coordinates of the destination node. All the nodes that receive the packet estimate their distance to the source and to the destination, basing this on the received coordinates. The nodes that are closer to the destination than the source become candidates for the relay operation. In order to define the relay, a priority level is assigned to each candidate node according to their proximity to the destination, and the node having the highest priority (the closest to the destination) is finally selected. This technique is targeted for ad-hoc networks and does not take into account the shadowing effect, which is however essential for cellular networks, nor the fast fading of the channel. Moreover, this technique requires the nodes to use a receiver of the GPS (for "Global Positioning System") type in order to estimate their geographical coordinates, a fact which increases the cost of the system.
One technique for the selection of the best relay between a source and a destination based on the quality of the instantaneous source-relay and relay-destination channels has been developed in:
"A Simple Cooperative Diversity Method Based on Network Path Selection", A. Bletsas, A. Khisti, D. P. Reed and A. Lippman, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 24, No. 3, Pages 659-672 (March 2006).
In this technique, a source sends an RTS packet (called "Ready-To-Send" in this document) and all the nodes in the neighborhood estimate the gain of the channel between the source and themselves. This packet is detected by the destination node that sends a CTS ("Clear-To-Send") packet, which allows the nodes in the neighborhood to estimate the gain of the channel between the destination and themselves. After the reception of the CTS packet, the potential relays trigger a timer that expires depending on the current quality of the two channels (source-relay and relay-destination). Thus, the relay that has the timer which expires the fastest is the best relay and it sends a flag packet. This flag packet is then detected by other candidate relays which stop their timers.
This particular technique does not take into account the structure of the cellular networks that may be exploited to simplify the relay selection method.
The techniques developed by Zorzi et al (2003) and Bletsas et al (2006), which are really designed for ad-hoc networks, are therefore based on the principle that the transmission between the source and the destination is always assisted by a relay node (where potential relays exist). However, the use of a relay does not always increase the capacity of the transmission. Accordingly, in a real system, a relay must be used only if it truly enhances the performance of the transmission.
The performance of the transmission can be estimated for example on the basis of a capacity of the transmission making use of a particular relay, where the capacity of the transmission can then be a performance criterion. "Capacity of the transmission" is taken to mean, depending on the chosen metric, the data rate offered for the transmission, or its quality of service (or "QoS"), or again its signal-to-noise ratio, or any other criteria of this type. It should then be pointed out that, for example for the criteria on data rate offered, a relay results in a loss of resource, in terms of resource allocation time interval (or "TTI" for "transmission time interval"), which decreases the total data rate of the system.
For example, for a transmission in "half-duplex" mode (since the relay does not transmit simultaneously in uplink and in downlink mode), the use of a relay requires two transmission time intervals ("TTI"):                one for transmitting from the source to the relay, and        the other for transmitting from the relay to the destination.
The period TTI is conventionally the elementary interval of time during which radio resources can be allocated to a terminal. Therefore, the capacity of a transmission attained with the aid of a relay node is divided by a factor of two in the "half-duplex" mode of operation. Thus, the performance of the relay operation in "half-duplex" mode is limited by this factor. As a result, in all the modes of operation (half-duplex or full-duplex), if the transmission via a relay node does not truly increase the capacity of the transmission, the relay operation is counter-productive.

Selection of dynamic relays for cooperative communications in a mobile network


The present invention relates to a method for searching a document database such as the Internet and ranking the results obtained from such a search. The invention also relates to ranking of a set of numerical data according to a set of user specified preferences, including target range, fuzziness and bias. A fuzzy score is calculated for each database record satisfying a query and the results ranked according to fuzzy score. The fuzzy score is calculated using a Lorentzian fuzzy score formula.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information retrieval in a data processing system. The present invention further relates to a method for searching a document database such as the Internet and ranking the results obtained from such a search.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer's logic is both its strength and its weakness; it can only perform what it is told to do. If an alarm clock is set to go off at 6:00 PM, it will go off at exactly that time, even if it was obviously meant to go off at 6:00 AM. People in the real world can solve problems and make decisions relatively easy, but even the simplest decisions are often too difficult to be handled by computer. Fuzzy logic query processing helps to bridge the gap.
Databases are strategic tools because they support business processes. In order for a database to be useful, data must be compiled into information using tools such as queries. Queries allow a user to specify what data to retrieve from a database, and in what form. Fuzzy querying provides a way to retrieve data that was intended to be retrieved, without requiring exact parameters to be defined.
Non-fuzzy query processing relies on Boolean logic, which limits results to true or false (1 or 0). Fuzzy query processing is a superset of Boolean logic that can handle partial truths. Instead of a search results being limited to return a value of true or false, the query returns values as x % true or x % a member of a subset.
Fuzzy queries rely on the use of fuzzy quantifiers. Dr. Lotfi A. Zadeh, the founder of fuzzy logic theory, defined two kinds of quantifiers: absolute and relative. An absolute quantifier can be represented as fuzzy subsets of the non-negative numbers and use words such as at least three or about five. Relative qualifiers are represented as fuzzy subsets of the unit interval and use words such as most, at least half, or almost all.
Fuzzy queries do not take the place of the more structured queries, but expand the alternatives available. Boolean systems use selection and then ordering as a mechanism, where a fuzzy system relies on a single mechanism of overall membership degree. A fuzzy system allows for compromise between the various criteria, where a Booleen system can produce a subset of previously selected elements. There are times when Booleen logic is too rigid to be meaningful to a user. A fuzzy query allows a user to find elements that satisfy a criterion and ranks the results.
FIG. 1 illustrates the typical flow of a fuzzy database query. After identifying the need for a report 100, the user queries a database 110. The database returns a record, which is matched against predefined criteria 120 to determine the degree to which a match has occurred. The degree is then compared to a threshold value 125 to determine whether the record satisfies the users query 130 or whether the record should be discarded 135. In general, a fuzzy database query differs from a non-fuzzy query by adding steps to match the data to predefined criteria and compare the value to a threshold specified in the query.
An object can be a member of multiple sets with a different degree of membership. The degree of membership is a scale from zero to one. Complete membership has a value of one, and no membership has a value of zero. When running a fuzzy query in a control system, the output is calculated based on the value of membership a given input has in the configured fuzzy sets. Each combination of sets is configured to have a specified output. The output is based on the weighted sum of the amount of membership in each set. The fuzzy models may be used in conjunction with probabilistic models to find a solution.
FIG. 2 shows the three transformations of the system inputs 200 to outputs 205 in a fuzzy system. The process of "fuzzification" 210 is a methodology to generalize any specific theory from a precise form to continuous form. It decomposes a system input or output into one or more fuzzy sets. After the decomposition into fuzzy sets, fuzzy rule association 215 applies a set of rules to a combination of inputs. The rules determine the action and relate the variable into a numeric value. Once the numeric value is determined, de-fuzzification 220 converts the fuzzy result into an exact output value.
For example, telling a driving student to apply the brakes 74 feet from the crosswalk is too precise to be followed. Vague wording like "apply the brakes soon", however, can be interpreted and acted upon. The instruction is received in a fuzzy form, the person associates the message using past experiences, then defuzzifies the message in order to actually apply the brakes at the appropriate time. Fuzzy queries expand query capabilities by allowing for ambiguity and partial membership.

Data ranking with a Lorentzian fuzzy score

Science Applications International Corporation


An improved relative humidity sensor apparatus that provides a more accurate measurement of humidity in the presence of water condensation. A series capacitive sensor includes a thin porous platinum top plate, a humidity sensitive polyimide dielectric, and two metal bottom plates on a semiconductor substrate. The two capacitors can be wired in series such that the metal bottom plates form independent, electrically driven connections. The thin top layer can form a top plate. Changes in humidity affect the humidity sensitive dielectric thereby causing changes in the capacitive value. A P-well layer and a P-plus layer can be added at the perimeter of the substrate to create a path for a parasitic capacitance caused by water condensation to connect to one or more connection nodes, thereby preventing erroneous measurements of humidity in the presence of water condensation.

Humidity plays a very major role in various industrial and commercial applications. Monitoring and controlling humidity is of great importance for the reliable operation of various systems. For example, solid-state semiconductor devices are found in most electronic components today. Semiconductor-based sensors are fabricated using semiconductor processes. Humidity sensors represent but one class of semiconductor-based sensors finding a useful industrial application. Modern manufacturing processes, for example, generally require measurement of moisture contents corresponding to dew points between −40° C. and 180° C., or a relative humidity between 1% and 100%. There is also a need for a durable, compact, efficient moisture detector that can be used effectively in these processes to measure very small moisture content in gaseous atmospheres.
Humidity can be measured by a number of techniques. In a semiconductor-based system, for example, humidity can be measured based upon the reversible water absorption characteristics of polymeric materials. The absorption of water into a sensor structure causes a number of physical changes in the active polymer. These physical changes can be transduced into electrical signals which are related to the water concentration in the polymer and which in turn are related to the relative humidity in the air surrounding the polymer. Two of the most common physical changes are variations in resistance and the change in dielectric constant, which can be respectively translated into a resistance change and a capacitance change. It has been found, however, that elements utilized as resistive components suffer from the disadvantage that there is an inherent dissipation effect caused by the dissipation of heat due to the current flow in the elements necessary to make a resistance measurement. The result includes erroneous readings, among other problems.
Elements constructed to approximate a pure capacitance avoid the disadvantages of the resistive elements. It is important in the construction of capacitive elements, however, to avoid problems that can arise with certain constructions for such elements. In addition, there can also be inaccuracy incurred at high relative humidity values where high water content causes problems due to excessive stress and the resulting mechanical shifts in the components of the element. By making the component parts of the element thin, it has been found that the above-mentioned problems can be avoided and the capacitance type element can provide a fast, precise measurement of the relative humidity content over an extreme range of humidity as well as over an extreme range of temperature and pressure and other environmental variables.
A conventional capacitive humidity sensor, in general, can include a semiconductor substrate, and a pair of electrodes, which are formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate and face each other across a particular distance. A humidity-sensitive film may also be placed between the electrodes and formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The capacitance of the film changes in response to humidity. The sensor detects humidity by detecting changes in capacitance between the pair of electrodes in response to variations in the surrounding humidity. The capacitance of the film changes in response to humidity, and the sensor detects humidity by detecting changes in capacitance between the electrodes with respect to changes in the surrounding humidity.
Humidity sensing elements of the capacitance sensing type usually include a moisture-insensitive, non-conducting structure with appropriate electrode elements mounted or deposited on the structure, along with a layer or coating of a dielectric, highly moisture-sensitive material overlaying the electrodes and positioned so as to be capable of absorbing water from the surrounding atmosphere and attaining equilibrium in a short period of time. Capacitive humidity sensors are typically made by depositing several layers of material on a substrate material.
Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of the basic components of a prior art semiconductor-based humidity sensor 100 are illustrated. A semiconductor humidity sensor 100 is generally fabricated on a silicon substrate 110. The active sensor components include respective lower and upper electrically conductive plates 120, 140 sandwiching a humidity sensing medium 130, such as a polymer. The polymer material is sensitive to humidity, and its electrically conductive properties (e.g., resistance and/or capacitance) change as it absorbs moisture, or as it dries. The lower and upper plates 120, 140 can be electrically connected to sensor circuitry (i.e., not shown in FIG. 1). A protective layer 150 can be used to protect the active components of the sensor (e.g., top plate 140 and sensing medium 130) from debris 160. Upper plate 140 can be designed to be porous in order to enable humidity to enter into the sensing medium from an external environment of interest 170 (i.e., the monitored environment of interest).
Referring to FIG. 2, a cut-away side view of a prior art relative humidity sensor 200 is illustrated. The example humidity sensor 200 depicted in FIG. 2 includes a substrate 210. Insulating materials 220 can function as a buffer between the substrate 210 and respective first and second lower capacitor plates 240, 245. First lower capacitor plate 240 is electrically connected to a first connector 230. Second lower capacitor plate 245 is electrically connected to a second connector 235. A sensing medium 260 is generally disposed on top of the first and second lower capacitor plates 240, 245. A porous platinum top capacitor plate 250 is then disposed on top of the sensing medium 260. A protective layer 255 can also be disposed above the top plate 250 for protection of the top plate 250 and sensing medium layer 260. Two capacitors Cx1 and Cx2 are schematically illustrated in respective positions within the sensing medium 260 between the first lower capacitor plate 240 and top capacitor plate 250 and the second lower capacitor plate 245 and the top capacitor plate 250. The gap/barrier 265 can be between the first and second lower contact plates 240, 245, to create the series capacitor configuration for Cx1 and Cx2.
As depicted in the prior art illustration of FIG. 2, capacitor Cx1 can include a common top plate 250 (common to both Cx1 and Cx2) and a first lower capacitor plate 240 in further electrical contact with a first electrical contact 270. Capacitor Cx2 generally includes common top plate 250 as its first contact and a second lower capacitor plate 245, which is in further electrical contact with second electrical contact 275. Also illustrated is a parasitic capacitor Cct which can be located between the upper plate 250 and the silicon substrate 210. The total capacitance between the pair of electrodes in response to changes in the surrounding humidity can be expressed in the form of equation (1) as follows:CTotal=(CX1*CX2)/(CX1+CX2+Cct)  (1)
Condensation occurs whenever the surface temperature of the sensor's active area drops below the ambient dew point of the surrounding gas. The condensation of water can be formed on the sensor or any surface even if the surface temperature momentarily drops below the ambient dew point. Small temperature fluctuations near the sensor can unknowingly cause condensation to form when operating at humidity levels above 95%. Because of this, a sensor's recovery period from either condensation or wetting is much longer than its normal time response.
The problem associated with prior art capacitive humidity sensors such as, for example, sensor 200, is that the condensation of liquid water on the sensor creates a capacitive path 225 having parasitic capacitance CW with respect to the substrate 210 as depicted in FIG. 2. This effect causes the total capacitance value CTotal to decrease, and therefore generates an erroneous low humidity value. In the event of water condensation, the total capacitance value can be expressed as indicated in equation (2) below:CTotal=(CX1*CX2)/(CX1+CX2+Cct+CW)  (2)
As shown in equation (2), the total capacitance value CTotal decreases due to the presence of water condensation, which results in an inaccurate measurement of humidity.
Various packaging techniques exist which are designed to prevent condensation on the sensing surface. These can be useful, but limitations in cost and packaging do not always allow for these solutions. Hence, another solution is needed that avoids the deleterious effects of condensation without modifications to the packaging. The current invention accomplishes this by embedding the solution in the circuit without adding cost. This is accomplished by modifying the circuit so that the parasitic capacitance created by water condensation is redirected to a different part of the circuit.
Based on the foregoing it is believed that a need exists for an improved relative humidity sensor that redirects the path of parasitic capacitance due to condensation to provide a more accurate measurement of humidity.

Structure for capacitive balancing of integrated relative humidity sensor


An inner electrode formed inside a dielectric body and a surface electrode formed on a surface of the dielectric body. The surface electrode is formed in a grid pattern with pointed parts formed inside the grid section. Each pointed part is in the shape of a triangle whose vertices are two arbitrary points on a side of the grid section and an arbitrary point inside the grid section, or a quadrangle whose vertices are a crossing of grid lines, an arbitrary point near a straight line connecting crossings of grid lines in the diagonal positions, and two arbitrary points on sides of the grid section. An ion generating element is formed which can generate positive ions and negative ions. The ion generator can be used in an air conditioning apparatus, cleaner or refrigerator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ion generating element capable of emitting both of positive ions and negative ions into a space and disinfecting bacteria floating in the air, an ion generator using the ion generating element, an air conditioning apparatus, cleaner and refrigerator using the ion generator. The present invention more particularly relates to an ion generating element capable of emitting positive ions and negative ions in a stable manner, reducing noise caused by the emission of ions, and decreasing the emission of ozone by designing a surface electrode formed on a surface of a dielectric body to have a special shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a closed room which is ventilated less frequently, such as an office and a conference room, when there are many people in the room, the air polluting substances such as carbon dioxide discharged by breathing, smoke of cigarettes and dust increase, and consequently negative ions which have the effect of relaxing human are reduced in the air. Sometimes a large amount of negative ions are lost by cigarette smoke particularly and the negative ions are reduced to about ½ to ⅕ of the usual amount.
Therefore, a number of ion generators have been sold in the market to supply negative ions into the air, but all the generators just generate only negative ions by a DC high voltage system. Such a conventional ion generator for generating only negative ions can supply negative ions into the air, but can not positively remove the floating bacteria in the air.
The present inventors eagerly studied and, as a result, have invented a structure of emitting H+(H2O)n (n is a natural number) as positive ions and O2−(H2O)m (m is a natural number) to enclose the floating bacteria in the air with the ions, make a chemical reaction, and disinfect the floating bacteria in the air by the decomposition function of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and/or hydroxyl radical (·OH) that are active species generated in the chemical reaction.
The applicant of the present application proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-166118 an ion generating element comprising a surface electrode formed on a surface of a dielectric body, and an inner electrode provided in parallel to the surface electrode inside the dielectric body. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the ion generating element, and FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the ion generating element. As shown in these figures, a dielectric body 104 made of ceramics is composed of an upper dielectric body 102 and a lower dielectric body 103, and a strip-like inner electrode 106 is formed between the upper dielectric body 102 and the lower dielectric body 103.
On the other hand, on a surface of the upper dielectric body 102, a surface electrode 105 is formed in parallel to the inner electrode 106. The surface electrode 105 is screen-printed using tungsten, on the upper dielectric body 102, and also formed in a grid pattern as shown in FIG. 10 so as to emit a large amount of positive ions and negative ions into the air. In short, the grid-like surface electrode 105 is formed on a surface of the dielectric body 102 by screen printing so as to efficiently generate positive ion and negative ions.
In addition, the ion generating element 101 comprises: a coating layer 109, made of alumina or the like, covering the surfaces of the dielectric body 102 and surface electrode 105; a surface electrode connecting part 111 whose one end is connected to the surface electrode 105 and the other end is connected to a surface electrode contact 108 provided on the lower face of the lower dielectric body 103; and an inner electrode conducting part 112 whose one end is connected to the inner electrode 106 and the other end is connected to an inner electrode contact 107 provided on the lower face of the lower dielectric body 103. By connecting the inner electrode contact 107 and the surface electrode contact 108 to a voltage applying circuit, not shown, and applying an AC voltage to the inner electrode 106 and the surface electrode 105 formed in a grid pattern on a surface of the upper dielectric body 102, a large amount of positive ions and negative ions are generated.
In the ion generating element proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-166118, however, it is necessary to take a voltage fluctuation during the actual use into account and apply a voltage for satisfactory generation of ions. In other words, the relation between the voltage and ion generation has characteristics that ions are generated by application of a voltage equal to or higher than a certain value and the amount of ions increases with an increase in the voltage, but the ion increase rate decreases when a higher voltage is applied. In a stable region, there is a problem of big discharge sound on the electrode surface, and it is necessary to decrease noise as small as possible in actual application.
Furthermore, since ozone harmful to human body is generated with the generation of ions, it is necessary to decrease the generation of ozone as low as possible while maintaining the emission of ions.
The inventors of the present application conducted experiments repeatedly by changing the conditions of the surface electrode formed on a surface of the dielectric body, and found that it was possible to generate ions from a lower voltage region and generate ions in a stable manner in a wide range of applied voltage by further extending the grid-like surface electrode to form a pointed surface electrode inside the grid squares. Accordingly, since stable ion generation is performed even at a low voltage, the inventors also found that it was possible to reduce noise and the generation of ozone by optimizing the shape and size of the surface electrode.
The present invention has been made based on the findings and with the aim of solving the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ion generator capable of generating positive ions and negative ions in a stable manner under a wide range of applied voltage while reducing noise and also capable of reducing the generation of ozone, by forming the surface electrode in a special shape, and to provide an ion generator using the ion generating element.
Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning apparatus capable of being incorporated in various apparatuses such as an air conditioner, a microwave oven and a washing/drying machine by using the ion generator of the present invention and a blower for sending ions generated by the ion generator to the outside.
Furthermore, it is still another object of the present invention to provide a cleaner and a refrigerator, capable of effectively reducing dirt in air such as dust generated during cleaning and unpleasant smells in the refrigerator, by installing the ion generator of the present invention and a blower for sending the generated ions out of the cleaner or into the refrigerator.

Ion generating element and ion generator, air conditioning apparatus, cleaner and refrigerator containing the same


A method for auto-addressing a device in communication with a controller is disclosed. The method includes communicating a pulse from a first contact of a controller, receiving the pulse at a second contact of a device in communication with the controller, communicating a number of pulses from a first contact of the device, and receiving the number of pulses at a second contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates a number of devices in communication with the controller.

Installation and configuration of a control and/or monitoring system can be an expensive and time-consuming process. In particular, addressing and identifying each component and/or device for operation in the system often requires that each individual device be manually configured and identified. Ethernet, Zigbee or other network-based systems may address this by utilizing intelligent devices and assigning them a network identification and/or alias. However, these devices and network-based systems are more expensive and complex than may be necessary for a given application.
It would be desirable to provide a system, device and method that could address these areas in a simple and low cost manner.

Auto addressing devices on a common power and communication bus structure and method therefor


An LED source for a liquid crystal display includes a heat sink having a top surface and a first side surface and a plurality of LEDs arranged in a row. Each LED includes a base and a first lead and is disposed such that the base of each LED contacts the top surface of the heat sink. A first circuit board is disposed such that the first circuit board contacts the first side surface of the heat sink.

A typical commercial available Liquid Crystal Display ("LCD") as shown in FIG. 6 uses one or more fluorescent lamps 601 as its light source. A light guide 603 projects light from these fluorescent lamps 601 through the LCD screen based on the principle of total internal reflection. Typically, a wedged light guide is used when the lamp or lamps are located only at one side of the display and a parallel light guide is used when the lamps are located at two opposite sides of the display. Usually, there is also one or multiple driver boards 705 (see FIG. 7) located behind the light guide to control the operation of the LCD.
High powered Light Emitting Diodes ("LEDs"—for example Luxeon 1, 3 and 5 watt LEDs manufactured by Lumileds) are available for a backlight for sunlight readable LCD. With energy efficiency over 20 lumens per watt, these LEDs can provide more than a hundred of lumens of light output from a compact package. Because these LEDs have a very high power density, a significant amount of heat is generated. Thermal management becomes one of the most critical factors in LED source design.
Typically, the above mentioned LED has an anode and a cathode lead spreading horizontally for conducting electrical current in or out from the device as well as a metallic bottom slug for heat transfer. Conventionally, the LED is soldered to a metal core printed circuit board, which is parallel to the bottom surface of the metallic slug of the LED. The printed circuit board is then bonded to a large heat sink. Since there is a printed circuit board between the LED and the heat sink, the overall thermal resistance is increased. The cost of the metal core printed circuit board is high, and the width of the final assembly is wider than the total width of the LED.
Night Vision Image Systems ("NVIS") that are compatible with such sunlight readable LCDs are also known in the art. Normally, in order to combine a sunlight (or daylight) readable LCD with a NVIS, existing fluorescent lamps and light guides associated with a commercial off-the-shelf LCD display are removed, and replaced with a diffuser and an array of LEDs. In many cases, the LCD driver board must be relocated to make room for the LED array. Such an approach requires significant repackaging work and adds considerable cost to the display manufacturing process. Furthermore, internal cooling fans or heat sinks are required to remove the heat generated by the LED array. This also increases the depth and bulk of the display.


Method and apparatus for electronic detection and determination includes detecting a signal T0 in a detection zone and a signal R0 in a reference zone before a sample is added; adding a sample and detecting the signals in each of the detection zone and the reference zone at an interval of a second preset period; calculating a judgement value based on 2k immediately previous signals in each of the detection zone and the reference zone, the signal T0 in the detection zone before the sample is added, and the signal R0 in the reference zone before the sample is added, each time when k successive signals are detected in each of the detection zone and the reference zone; and determining a judgement result based on m successive judgement values and a preset result threshold corresponding to a current detection time.

Conventional electronic analyzer for analyzing analyte, such as an electronic pregnancy test, usually involves inserting a test strip, such as a colloidal-gold-labeled immunochromatographic test strip, into an electronic analyzer and adding a sample to be analyzed to the strip. Once a preset detection time elapses, the electronic analyzer scans a detection zone, a quality-control zone, and a reference zone on the test strip and performs analysis and calculation according to a preset program, the results of which are output for a user. Such an electronic analyzer provides assay results by detection of a detection zone and a reference zone and automatic analysis of the detection results, thereby preventing human errors in manual judgement. Current electronic analyzers typically only perform analytical determination for once before outputting the results, such as, in a determination approach using the assay determination apparatus as disclosed in CN 102384890. Colloidal gold flows downwards with the sample during the chromatographic process of the test strip, and remains in a state of free mobility before captured by a coating at the quality-control line and the detection line at completion of the reaction. An electronic analyzer performs analytical determination in accordance with the aggregation and color development of the colloidal gold on the strip. Before the chromatographic process finally stabilizes, the colloidal gold is still mobile on the test strip. While a preset reaction time, after the elapse of which the electronic analyzer performs detection, analysis, and result determination, is a generalized value, variation may exist among individual test strips due to their materials, coating, and subtle differences in the manufacturing processes, which may potentially render small deviations in the time for reaction result to stabilize. As a result, if the electronic analyzer initiates reading before the stabilization of the sample reaction on the test strip, errors or even misjudgment may occur in the assay results that mislead the user.


An improved dilatation catheter is described which has an oblong transverse cross-section along essentially its entire length and a stiffening mandrel extending within the proximal section and a part of the distal portion. In a presently preferred embodiment, the large dimension of the proximal section of the catheter shaft is greater than the corresponding large dimension of the distal shaft section and a tapered region is provided between the proximal and distal shaft sections. The stiffening mandrel has a proximal section with at least one dimension greater than the corresponding dimension of the distal section and a tapered transition section is provided between the proximal and distal mandrel sections. The length of the proximal section of the mandrel is such so as to locate the tapered transition section of the mandrel within the proximal section of the catheter shaft. This results in a smoother overall transition between the proximal and distal sections of the catheter shaft.

This invention relates to the field of intravascular catheters and, more particularly, to a dilatation catheter for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).
In PTCA procedures a guiding catheter having a preformed distal tip is percutaneously introduced into the patient's femoral artery by means of a conventional Seldinger technique and retrogradely advanced until the distal portion of the guiding catheter is located within the patient's ascending aorta with distal tip of the guiding catheter seated in the ostium of a desired coronary artery. The proximal end of the guiding catheter is torqued from outside the patient to guide distal tip of the guiding catheter into the desired ostium. A guidewire is positioned within an inner lumen of an dilatation catheter and then both are advanced through the guiding catheter to its distal end. The guidewire is first advanced out of the distal end of the guiding catheter into the patient's coronary artery until the distal end of the guidewire crosses a lesion to be dilated. Then the dilatation catheter, having an inflatable balloon on the distal portion thereof, is advanced into the patient's coronary anatomy over the previously introduced guidewire until the balloon of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned across the lesion. Once properly positioned, the dilation balloon is inflated with liquid one or more times to a predetermined size at relatively high pressures to expand the arterial passageway. Generally, the inflated diameter of the balloon is approximately the same diameter as the native diameter of the body lumen being dilated so as to complete the dilatation but not overexpand the healthy artery wall on either side of the stenosis. After the balloon is finally deflated, blood flow resumes through the dilated artery and the dilatation catheter can be removed therefrom.
Commercially available over-the-wire dilatation catheters for angioplasty and other vascular procedures usually comprise an elongated shaft with an inflatable dilatation member on a distal section of the shaft and an adapter on the proximal end of the shaft for the delivery of inflation fluid through an inner lumen extending through the catheter shaft to the interior of the inflatable dilatation member.
Over-the-wire dilatation catheters generally have relatively stiff proximal sections to provide pushability to the catheter shaft and relatively flexible distal sections to facilitate passing through tortuous coronary anatomy. The difference in mechanical property requirements between the proximal and distal sections of the catheter shaft usually requires the use of different materials, which in turn complicates the catheter manufacturing because the proximal and distal sections must be separately made and then secured together by heat or fusion bonding or a suitable adhesive. The difference in mechanical properties between the proximal and distal shaft sections also increases the difficulty in forming a smooth transition between the proximal and distal sections of the catheter shaft.
What has been needed is an easily manufactured dilatation catheter which has a relatively stiff proximal section for pushability, a very flexible distal section to facilitate advancement over a guidewire, i.e. trackability, within a patient's coronary anatomy and a smooth transition between the proximal and distal sections. The dilatation catheter of the present invention responds to these and other needs.

Catheter with reinforced oblong transverse cross section


Devices and processes used to treat ankle conditions. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a brace and the corresponding method of use to treat ankle conditions by stretching the Gastrocnemius muscle, soleus muscle, and plantaris muscle.

Dorsiflexion is the movement of the foot toward the body by bending the ankle by drawing the toes backward toward the shins. Plantarflexion is the movement, of the foot away from the body by bending the ankle such as when standing on tiptoes or when pushing down on the gas pedal while driving. Both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion depend on the muscles of the ankle and calf to work properly.
Equinus is typically described as a condition in which the upward bending motion of the ankle is limited. Equinus is defined as the inability or lack of ankle joint dorsiflexion less than a right angle relative to the leg.
Equinus may result in a lack of flexibility past the right angle relative to the leg. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, someone suffering with equinus may lack the flexibility to bring the foot 18 past a right angle (90°) relative to the leg. A typical maximum ankle range of motion for dorsiflexion is indicated as twenty-five degrees (25°) less than a right angle relative to the leg. Equinus may also be characterized as a limited ankle range of motion for dorsiflexion which is no more than five (5°), ten (10°) or even fifteen degrees (15°) less than a right angle relative to the leg.
An injury to any one of the muscles supporting the act of plantarflexion will limit the range of motion of the foot. Ankle injuries are one of the most common ways to severely limit plantarflexion.
There are several possible causes for limited range of ankle motion. Limited range of ankle motion is often due to tightness in the calf muscles (the soleus muscle, the plantaris muscle and/or the gastrocnemius muscle). Shortening of the gastrocnemius muscle (also known as gastroc equinus) is a very common condition which may affect most people because the gastrocnemius muscle crosses two joints. Gastrocnemius muscle 24 originates above knee 12 joint, while soleus 26 originates below knee 12 joint. Both muscles join to form the Achilles tendon, which attaches to the heel. Therefore, the gastrocnemius muscle crosses two joints: knee 12 and ankle 16, while soleus muscle 26 only crosses ankle 16 joint.
Regardless of the cause of limited ankle motion, someone suffering with equinus can develop a wide range of foot problems. There are several ways to treat limited ankle range of motion, such as gastroc equinus, including stretching exercises, orthotics with heel lifts, padding, molded shoes, serial casting, as well as night splints, braces, and boots.
Many current night splints and braces are awkward and uncomfortable for sleeping. Since night splints and many current braces are supposed to be worn throughout the night, an awkward or cumbersome night splint or brace may cause user 22 to either not get a good night's sleep or cause user 22 to remove the device. If user 22 does not get a good night's sleep, user 22 may not choose to use the device in the future. This lack of compliance leads to the current devices not performing their intended function.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 8,777,884 (DeHeer, et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,814,815 B2 (DeHeer, et al.), describe a hinged equinus brace device constructed with a footplate and a plurality of adjustable elongated rods (lateral and medial) to run along lateral and medial portions of the leg which extend above the knee of the user to the foot of the user for placement into the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,375,342 B2 (DeHeer et al.) describes a brace to treat ankle equinus. The brace locks the knee in full extension while clorsiflexing the ankle joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,922,677 (Daiju) describes a brace for rectification of clubfoot. The foot bottom plate can rotate 20 degrees in dorsiflexion and 45 degrees in, plaritarflexion. The brace includes a dorsal midfoot strap, and it does not include an ankle strap or toe wedge. There is no means to reduce painful friction to the heel, and the brace is not molded to gently approach the heel and Achilles tendon.
US Patent Application Pub No. 20040030275A1 (Morinaka) describes a body orthosis especially effective as a body corrective orthosis for talipes equinovarus. The foot sole plate can rotate 20 degrees in dorsiflexion and 45 degrees in plantarflexion. The brace includes a dorsal midfoot strap. However, there is no means to reduce painful friction to the heel, and the brace is not molded to gently approach the heel and Achilles tendon.
US Patent Application Pub No. 20130226059A1 (Philip George Littleavon Morris) describes an ankle foot orthopedic device for the treatment of various conditions of the ankle and foot. The device can be arranged to permit up to 90 degrees of plantarflexion and up to 30 degrees of dorsiflexion. The device does not contain a dorsal midfoot strap. However, there is no means to reduce painful friction to the heel, and the brace is not molded to gently approach the heel and Achilles tendon.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,707,118 B1 (Meyer at al.) describes a orthosis designed for increasing the range of motion and correcting the alignment of a patient's foot and ankle. The orthosis includes a dorsal midfoot strap but does not include an ankle strap. There are no means for plantarflexion. Dorsiflexion is limited to the range of approximately 18 to 22 degrees. There is no means to reduce painful friction to the heel, and the brace is not molded to gently approach the heel and Achilles tendon.
Therefore, a need remains for a device with ankle hinge positions which allow for either dorsiflexing or plantarflexing the ankle joint while extending the knee, where the device is molded to gently approach the heel and Achilles tendon.
A need also remains for a device that locks the knee in full extension while either dorsiflexing or plantarflexing the ankle joint.

Dorsiflexion/plantarflexion extension above the knee brace


Inductor topologies for filters used in broadband applications are described. In one implementation, an apparatus, such as an interface module includes a printed circuit board and a filter. The filter includes a generally circular high Quality factor (Q) value spiral planar inductor etched directly into the printed circuit board. The generally circular high Q value spiral planar inductor is configured to operate in a broadband application. Other implementations involve the use of decoupling structures with respect to the planar inductors as well as a design methodology for the filters.

"Broadband" generally refers to methodologies used to send and receive data over high-speed networks. Broadband, as opposed to narrowband, usually implies a bandwidth capability of greater than 45 Mbps where there is voice quality movement of data. Broadband is commonly associated with, although not limited to, a way of connecting a local computer or other device to a high-speed network, such as the Internet.
Broadband connections, whether through cable, digital subscriber lines, optical, wireless, or satellites, typically involve the use of some type of interface module, such as a modem, for handling bi-directional transmissions of data. Many interface modules use various types of filters to remove information content such as high and/or low frequencies, for example. These filters usually include one or more high quality factor (Q) torroidal inductors. "Q" represents the efficiency of an inductor in terms of storing a magnetic field.
Torroidal inductors having high Q values are discreet parts typically fabricated by manually wrapping wires around ferromagnetic cores. The fabrication process is labor intensive and can lead to high manufacturing costs. There are also problems associated with procuring parts and correctly installing them on a printed circuit board. All these problems can lead to higher manufacturing costs.

Inductor topologies and decoupling structures for filters used in broadband applications, and design methodology thereof


Interfaces for flexible storage management. An embodiment of a system includes a data storage, the data storage including one or more of a first storage system, the first storage system including a file structure that is coextensive with a set of memory devices, or a second storage system, the second storage system including a storage structure that is coextensive with a set of memory devices, the storage structure including zero or more file structures. The system further includes an interface system for the data storage, the interface system being used for both the first storage system and the second storage system.

A storage server is a special-purpose processing system used to store and retrieve data on behalf of one or more client processing systems ("clients"). A storage server can be used for many different purposes, such as to provide multiple users with access to shared data or to back up mission critical data.
A file server is an example of a storage server. A file server operates on behalf of one or more clients to store and manage shared files in a set of mass storage devices, such as magnetic or optical storage based disks or tapes. The mass storage devices may be organized into one or more volumes of Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). Another example of a storage server is a device that provides clients with block-level access to stored data, rather than file-level access, or a device that provides clients with both file-level access and block-level access.
A client may use interfaces to access and manage data maintained by a storage system, such as a file server. The interfaces may be in various formats, including command line interfaces, application programming interfaces (APIs), and others. Using such interfaces, a management system for a storage system may provide the ability to take management actions that are directed to the storage system, such as commands to create, destroy, and modify storage structures and files.
However, multiple different versions or types of storage systems may exist. In one example, the design of a storage system may be modified over time, with new versions of the system being developed. This change process may result in there being one or more legacy storage systems that require support, as well new systems that may utilize different types of data storage and file structures.


The present invention relates to an inspection system and more particularly to a system and method for inspection of wet ophthalmic lens, preferably in an automated lens manufacturing line. The inspection system provides for capturing multiple images of an ophthalmic lens using multiple cameras, each with a customized optical unit which may use wavelength filters, and the ophthalmic lens illuminated by multiple lighting modules each configured for a different wavelength, or a different polarization and triggered to strobe the illumination at the same instance or at different instances in the time domain. Suitable filters used in the optical module for each camera ensures appropriate images at different illuminating wavelength, especially when all the illuminations are strobed at the same time. Images captured and inspected by this configuration aids in improvement in method of inspection with enhanced degree of reliability and quality.

Ophthalmic lens is widely used and the high demand has created a need to produce very high quality lenses both standard and cosmetic lenses, in large quantities. It is a generally a known fact that lenses produced in an automated manufacturing line is more reliable than those manufactured by a manual system of production which suffers from unpredictable problems. It is also a widely accepted fact that inspection systems are an essential part of an automated manufacturing line to inspect the lenses and maintain a consistent and high quality inspection process to deliver premium quality product to customers. Regular tweaking of parameters and generating configuration files that contain inspection characteristics for various ophthalmic lens models enables flexible adaption of the inspection system for different types of lens. Ophthalmic lenses are intended for use in the human eye not just to correct the vision but also to enhance the cosmetic look of the eye by printing designs on the ophthalmic lens. Therefore great care must be taken to ensure that they are defect free. These ophthalmic lenses are produced in very high volumes in an automated manufacturing line. In order to ensure that each one of the lenses is manufactured as per strict quality control standards, it is essential that the lenses are inspected just before packaging, using automated inspection methods.
Before packaging, the ophthalmic lenses are placed in lens holders, which are transparent. Each holder holds one lens, which is generally immersed in a liquid solution. The wet lens inside the holder is inspected as the lens carrier moves along the conveyor in an automated manufacturing line. In order to increase the throughput of the manufacturing line, it is essential that the lenses are inspected as quickly as possible.
The holder used should preferably be made of clear glass with no coating on its bottom surface. Where the bottom surface of the holder is coated, it can result in images with uneven background.
The commonly used techniques for inspection of wet ophthalmic lenses are bright-field imaging, dark-field imaging and images captured using illumination in the Infra Red region. There are different types of illumination that use halogen lamps, xenon lamps, Lighting using LEDs. Etc. By using different illumination, many different types of defects are enhanced, which makes the images captured easy to detect very fine types of defects thus minimizing false rejects.
Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,661 discloses the use of combining bright-field imaging and dark-field imaging in order to provide a good quality of inspection of defects. However, as is evident from later patents from the same inventor (Prior Art U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,663,742 and 7,855,782), the use of just bright field imaging in combination with dark-field imaging, is not enough for comprehensively inspect all types defects in anophthalmic lens.
Prior Art U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,782 and 7,663,742 disclose the use of combining phase contrast imaging along with either bright-field imaging or dark-field imaging in order to inspect all types of defects like accuracy of size, surface defects, tears, peripheral ruptures, inclusions such as bubbles and foreign bodies, as well as small defects at the edges of the ophthalmic lens.
In the prior arts discussed above inventions, monochromatic illumination light source is used along with beam splitters and other optics to split the light into secondary beams and one of the secondary beams is used for phase contrast imaging while the other is used for either bright-field imaging or dark-field imaging. By sequentially switching the light source for either bright-field imaging or dark-field imaging along with phase contrast imaging, complete inspection of the ophthalmic lens is achieved. This is time consuming and susceptible to Parasitic effect between illumination and external light. Furthermore, the use of holder with a flat bottom surface makes it difficult to consistently locate the edge of object to be inspected, as they can move around the holder. The lack in depth of focus also affects the sharpness of the image at the some areas of the ophthalmic lens, which impacts the edge detection ability and subsequent inspection of defects.
There is therefore a need for capturing multiple high-resolution images of the ophthalmic lens using multiple cameras for inspection, under different illumination wavelengths, different polarization, and to be able to trigger the illumination and camera shutters at the same instance or different instances as the user chooses, without sacrificing the image quality. This is the objective of the present invention.

System and method for inspection of wet ophthalmic lens


A method and system is provided for identifying and recognizing products such as mail pieces and, more particularly, a method and system of object recognition based mail piece fingerprinting is provided to be used with sorting and/or sequencing processes. The system for identifying product transported through a machine includes a first system configured to extract one or more unique features from each of a plurality of product and a data storage system configured to store the extracted one or more unique features for each of the plurality of product. The system further includes a second system configured to identify each of the plurality of product by matching the stored extracted one or more unique features with subsequently extracted unique features from each of the plurality of product as the plurality of product continue to be conveyed through a transportation system.

The sorting of mail is a very complex, time-consuming task. In general, the sorting of mail is processed through many stages, including front end and back end processes. For example, and as discussed in further detail below, these processes include reading delivery information, and sorting and/or sequencing the mail in delivery order sequence. These processes can either be manual or automated, depending on the mail sorting facility, the type of mail being sorted such as packages, flats, letters and the like. A host of other factors may also contribute to the automation of the mail sorting, from budgetary concerns to modernization initiatives to access to appropriate technologies to a host of other factors.
Also, the delivery of mail is known to be critical to commerce and the underlying economy. It is thus critical to commerce and the underlying economy to provide efficient delivery of such mail in both a cost effective and time efficient manner. This includes, for example, reading delivery destination information from the mail, and arranging the randomly deposited mail into a sequential delivery order for delivery to a destination point based on the destination information.
In current sorting processes, optical character recognition (OCR) systems may be used to capture destination information. These optical character recognition systems read, for example, the destination information of the mail pieces. A bar code is then assigned to the destination information of the mail pieces. The bar code (tag) is used as a mail piece identification that can be used to identify the mail piece in the mail stream. This process alters the original mail piece and requires both a bar code printer and reader, which adds operational expense in that printers and readers have to be purchased and maintained by the facility. Although additional machinery is needed, in current systems the use of bar codes is advantageous in that it allows rapid and accurate reading of the mail pieces to be performed thus increasing the overall efficiencies of the sorting and/or sequencing processes.
Although OCR processes have reached a relatively high level of sophistication in order to accommodate hand-written indicia as well as many different fonts of many different or even varying sizes, it certain instances, the delivery destination information cannot be read accurately by the OCR. In these cases, it is not possible to put a bar code on the mail pieces until such information is resolved. This, of course, takes additional processing time which effectively slows the sorting and/or sequencing of the mail pieces. For example, in the case that the destination information cannot be resolved, the captured information is sent to an operator. The operator has to read the destination information, key in the correct destination information and send it back to the processing facility. Once the processing facility receives the destination information, the bar code printer can then tag the mail piece with a bar code.
As another issue, the amount of information which can be encoded in a bar code or similar machine-readable indicia may often be limited. Additionally, bar code or machine-readable indicia are subject to sources of error such as being performed in response to a possibly erroneous optical character recognition process or incorrect bar codes being applied by a sender which do not correspond to the written address. Moreover, bar code or machine readable indicia may not be applied to all articles subjected to the automated process.
The invention is designed to overcome one or more of the above problems.

Method and system for identifying and recognizing products for sorting/sequencing operations


In an optical pickup apparatus which includes at least a laser light source and an object lens and can apply a laser beam to different types of optical discs, an aberration correction liquid crystal device is placed on the optical axis of the laser beam emitted from the laser light source. The aberration correction liquid crystal device includes a first electrode section being placed on the side of the laser light source and having a first electrode pattern for correcting aberration concerning a first optical disc, a second electrode section being placed on the side of the optical disc and having a second electrode pattern for correcting aberration concerning a second optical disc different from the first optical disc in type, and liquid crystal being sandwiched between the first and second electrode sections.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aberration correction liquid crystal device and an optical pickup apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical discs such as a CD and a DVD from and onto which data is read and written using a laser beam become widely available in general. The optical disc is formed with small indentations called pits on a disc-like substrate for recording digital bit information. The pits are coated with a reflection layer of metal and a transparent, permeable protection layer, the reflection and protection layers being deposited on each other.
A new standard called Blu-ray Disc (BRD) higher in recording density than a DVD is also proposed. In the BRD, a violet laser having a wavelength of 405 nanometers is used to write a signal onto a record track of about a half of that of the DVD (0.32 microns). The BRD makes it possible to write 27-GB data onto a 12-cm single-layer disc and attention is focused on the BRD as the next-generation digital high-definition recording standard.
To read information from an optical disc, an optical pickup apparatus is used. In the optical pickup apparatus, a laser beam emitted from a laser light source is converged on the optical disc through an object lens and reflected light on the optical disc is received and is converted into an electric signal and information written into each pit is read.
In the optical disc pickup, generally a plurality of aberrations occur. There are disclosed relating arts to correct two different aberrations, in JP-A-11-110802 (See pages 5-13; and FIGS. 1-14) and in JP-A-10-269611 (See pages 3-5, FIGS. 1-5).
The document JP-A-11-110802 discloses aberration correction means for correcting comatic aberration occurring due to a tilt of an optical disc, particularly comatic aberrations about two directions of radial direction and tangential direction. The aberration correction means described in JP-A-11-110802 has segment electrodes and common electrodes formed with electrode patterns for correcting aberrations in the different directions.
In JP-A-11-110802, comatic aberrations in the radial direction and the tangential direction always simultaneously occur at the disc recording/playing back time and thus it is necessary to apply voltage to both electrodes for correcting the comatic aberrations in the radial direction and the tangential direction at the same time.
In correcting the aberration, both plus and minus directions exist as the correction direction. For example, to correct tilt of a disc, voltages are applied to electrodes on both sides of the reference electrode depending on the disc tilt direction. That is, the potential of each electrode needs to be made higher or lower than the potential of the reference electrode depending on the disc tilt direction. Taking the electrode configuration shown in FIG. 4 as an example, 3 V and 1 V may be applied to electrode 2 and electrode 3 respectively or 1 V and 3 V may be applied to electrode 2 and electrode 3 respectively with electrode 1 as the center (for example, fixed to 2 V) depending on the disc tilt direction; it is necessary to turn the voltages applied the electrodes 2 and 3 depending on the disc tilt direction. To do this, a circuit for applying voltages in response to the two cases mentioned above becomes necessary.
The document JP-A-10-269611 discloses wave front aberration correction means for correcting wave front aberration (spherical aberration) occurring depending on the thickness (distance) difference between the layers of a multilayer disc. The aberration correction means described in patent document 2 has segment electrodes and common electrodes formed with electrode patterns for correcting aberrations in different directions.
To correct the spherical aberration occurring due to the disc thickness difference, the disc thickness may be larger or smaller than the reference thickness value and to correct the aberration, the remaining electrode potentials relative to the reference electrode potential need to be turned in response to the thickness variation direction. For example, in the electrode configuration in FIG. 4, reference voltage 2 V and 4 V and 1 V may be applied to electrode 2 and electrode 3 and electrode 1 respectively or reference voltage 2 V and 1 V and 4 V may be applied to electrode 2 and electrode 3 and electrode 1 respectively; it is necessary to make the voltages applied to the electrodes 3 and 1 need to be made higher and lower than the voltage applied to the electrode 2 depending on which direction the disc thickness varies from the reference value in. To do this, a circuit for applying voltages in response to the two cases mentioned above becomes necessary.
As described above, according to the related arts disclosed in JP-A-11-110802 and JP-A-10-269611, the segment and common electrodes are provided with the different patterns of electrodes, thereby simultaneously correcting different aberrations occurring at the optical disc recording/playing back time. Thus, voltages must be applied to both segment and common electrodes for correcting both aberrations at the same time.
Since the aberration caused to occur in a liquid crystal device (phase difference) is determined by the voltage difference between segment and common electrodes, it is desirable that one electrode potential should be set to 0 V to provide a larger phase difference. However, to drive both electrodes at the same time, it is virtually impossible to set one electrode to 0 V.
Both plus and minus directions exist as the aberration correction direction and thus any other electrode potential than the reference electrode potential needs to be made higher or lower than the reference electrode potential.

Aberration correction liquid crystal device and optical pickup apparatus


The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for delivering applications from a desktop operating system. A delivery module may receive a request from a client device of a user for access to an application, and identify that a desktop session can host the requested application. An agent may extract presentation layer elements of the requested application from presentation layer elements of other components of the desktop session, and provide, via a presentation layer protocol, the isolated presentation layer elements in a first application session to the client device for display. The delivery module may receive a second request from the user for the application, identify that the application is hosted by the desktop session and delivered in the first application session, and provide a second application session of the application from the desktop session to the user responsive to the determination.

Typically, remote application systems deliver seamless applications from a terminal server OS platform. There exists a number of applications that do not work or are not supported on a terminal server platform, and it may not be possible to remote certain devices, e.g. USB, on the terminal server platform. Delivery of desktop environments to a user may provide more functionality to a user, including access to more types of applications. Desktop delivery to a client device, however, may consume more bandwidth as well as resources on the client device as compared to application delivery using terminal services.

Methods and systems for delivering applications from a desktop operating system


A system and method for hybrid tracking in surgical navigation is disclosed. A plurality of tracking technologies is used in a medical procedure where a reconciler determines an active tracking technology. The reconciler determines the active tracking technology during the medical procedure. A switch may then activate one or more tracking technologies. The determination of which technology or technologies are to be activated may be based, for example, on metrics measured by each of the technologies, such as an accuracy measurement. In addition, a display may present representations based on at least data obtained by one or more of the tracking technologies. The switch may employ weighted switching to gradually switch the display of a first representation corresponding to a first tracking technology to the display of a second representation corresponding to a second tracking technology, where the first technology is deactivated and the second technology is activated.

The present invention generally relates to navigation in a medical procedure. Specifically, the present invention provides a system and method for hybrid tracking in surgical navigation.
Medical practitioners, such as doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals, often rely upon tracking or navigation systems when performing a medical procedure. Such systems may provide positioning and/or orientation ("P&O") information for a medical instrument or implant with respect to the patient or a reference coordinate system, for example. A medical practitioner may refer to the tracking system to ascertain the P&O of the medical instrument when the instrument is not within the practitioner's line of sight with regard to the patient's anatomy, or with respect to non-visual information relative to the patient. A tracking system may also aid in pre-surgical planning.
A tracking system allows the medical practitioner to visualize the patient's anatomy and track the P&O of the instrument. The medical practitioner may use the tracking system to determine when the instrument or implant is positioned in a desired location or oriented in a particular direction. The medical practitioner may locate and operate on, or provide therapy to, a desired or injured area while avoiding other structures. Increased precision in locating medical instruments within a patient may provide for a less invasive medical procedure by facilitating improved control over smaller, flexible instruments having less impact on the patient. Improved control and precision with smaller, more refined instruments may also reduce risks associated with more invasive procedures such as open surgery.
Tracking systems may be optical, ultrasonic, inertial, electromagnetic, or sonic, for example. Generally, each system includes its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, optical tracking is typically considered the most accurate tracking technology. However, optical tracking requires a line-of-sight. During the course of a surgical procedure, a line-of-sight path may become impossible to achieve. If the surgeon relies on optical tracking alone, navigation of the instrument or implant may be temporarily unavailable.
At such a point during a medical procedure, the surgeon may wish to employ another tracking technology, such as an electromagnetic tracking system. Electromagnetic tracking systems allow for a surgeon to track a position and/or orientation of one sensor relative to another, without requiring a line-of-sight. However, due to electromagnetic interference caused by, among other things, metal objects in the operating environment, electromagnetic tracking systems may not always be the most accurate of the available tracking systems. Thus, at another point during the procedure, the surgeon may wish to again switch from the electromagnetic tracking system to another system.
While some current systems and methods may allow for a surgeon to employ more than one tracking technology during a medical procedure, such systems and methods typically do not allow for a dynamic change of tracking technologies. In other words, most of such systems and methods may allow for a surgeon to determine, before a medical procedure begins, which tracking technologies are to be used during the procedure.
However, current systems and methods do not allow for a surgeon to switch from one tracking technology to another "on the fly." In other words, at some point during a procedure, one or more unused tracking technologies may be more accurate than the currently used technology. At that point, the surgeon may wish to switch from the currently used technology to one or more of the unused technologies. The surgeon may therefore ensure that he or she is constantly and consistently utilizing one of the most accurate tracking systems available to the surgeon.
Thus, a need exists for a system and method for hybrid tracking in surgical navigation. Such a system and method can provide for dynamic switching between two or more tracking technologies during a medical procedure to assist in the accuracy of navigation during a medical procedure.

System and method for hybrid tracking in surgical navigation


A system for determining shared broadcast domains. The system includes a network having devices which have physical ports and/or logical interfaces, and having a network management system. The network management system having a mechanism for learning features about ports or interfaces of devices of the network. The system includes a mechanism for identifying which ports or interfaces on each device are part of a same broadcast domain from the learned features. The identifying mechanism in communication with the network management system. A network management system. A method for determining shared broadcast domains of network devices and ports or interfaces includes the steps of learning features about ports or interfaces of devices of a network by a network management system. There is the step of identifying which ports or interfaces on each device are part of a common broadcast domain from the learned features.

Multi-port Network Devices such as Ethernet, ATM or multiservice IP/MPLS Switches can support multiple broadcast domains via 802.1Q Virtual LANs (VLANs), Port-based VLANs, ATM VLANs and ELANs (Emulated LANs), or MAC address-based VLANs. When several such devices are connected together, it can be difficult to determine which physical switch ports or logical switch interfaces (such as ATM or Frame Relay Virtual Circuits or MPLS Label Switched Paths) are in the same broadcast domain, i.e., are able to receive broadcasts from other devices attached to other switch ports or interfaces. The present invention uses the learned MAC addresses, device IDs, ports or interfaces, and VLAN names or VLAN IDs (VIDs) that are learned by a Network Management System (NMS) to construct a table that accurately determines which ports or interfaces on each device are part of the same broadcast domain. This is a critical component for supporting Discovery and Provisioning of Transparent LAN Services (TLS) by a Service Provider (or large Enterprise) from any customer's LAN to other LANs belonging to the same customer via the Service Provider's network. Without such a technique, an NMS or Element Management System (EMS) could mistakenly provision switch ports or interfaces into the wrong broadcast domain/VLAN, thereby introducing network traffic from one customer's LAN into another customer's LAN. This would not only result in a security breach of the customers' networks, but could also adversely impact the customer's network routing, switching, and addressing configuration such that internal customer network services would be disrupted or disabled.

Method and apparatus for determining shared broadcast domains of network switches, ports and interfaces


A certificate management method is provided whereby a plurality of service providers have different reliable certificate authorities and, when certificates issued from the certificate authorities are implemented into a smart card, merely by revoking the certificate issued from the certificate authority on which the first service provider relies, all other implemented certificates can be revoked, and the certificates can be individually revoked. A system for implementing the method is provided. The certificate authorities n (n≧2) issue a certificate n by using a private key n′ corresponding to certificate n′ generated by using a certificate 1 issued from a certificate authority 1 which has previously been installed in the smart card and a corresponding private key 1. Thus, the issued certificates have a hierarchical chain relation. When the user wants to revoke all certificates, the certificate 1 issued from the certificate authority 1 is revoked.

The invention relates to a certificate management system using a storing medium such as a smart card or the like and a method for such a certificate management system and, more particularly, to certificate management system and method for improving efficiency of a certificate revocation in the case where a plurality of certificates are implemented into a storing medium such as a smart card or the like.
A technique for implementing applications and data into a smart card by separating a storing area every service provider has been known. For example, refer to "Global Platform Card Specification Version 2.1", page 27, Global Platform Inc. of U.S.A., June, 2001.
There is also a technique which provides a scheme such that the user of a smart card applies for a public key certificate and obtains it, the obtained public key certificate is implemented into the smart card, and the public key certificate is actually issued. For example, refer to JP-A-2002-298088.
There is also a technique which provides a scheme for allowing a public key and a public key certificate implemented in a smart card to be safely rewritten from a remote position. For example, refer to U.S. patent application Publication No. 2003/0056099A1.

Certificate management system and method