An optical information recording-reproducing apparatus includes a light source unit producing a light beam applied to an optical information recording medium, a first optical device disposed in an optical path leading from the light source unit to the optical information recording medium for directing the light beam from the light source unit to the optical information recording medium and separating the light beam passed through the optical information recording medium from the light beam from the light source unit, a second optical device for condensing the light beam passed through the optical information recording medium and separated by the first optical device, the second optical device including a first condensing lens, a holding member for holding the first condensing lens, and a second condensing lens mounted on the holding member, a first light receiving member for receiving the light beam condensed by the second optical device to obtain the focus control signal and/or a tracking control signal of the light beam directed to the optical information recording medium through the first optical device, and a second light receiving member for receiving the light beam condensed by the second optical device to obtain a reproduced signal of information recorded on the optical information recording medium.

This invention relates to an optical head provided in the head unit of an optical information recording-reproducing apparatus such as a magneto-optical disk apparatus.
Along with the present day development of optoelectronics, there have been manufactured optical information recording-reproducing apparatus capable of recording and/or reproducing and/or erasing audio or image formation at a high performance and at random by the use of a light beam.
For example, in an optical video apparatus, recorded information comprising a projection (pit) pattern on a disk surface formed of transparent acrylic resin, transparent polycarbonate or the like is detected by an optical head and is photoelectrically converted, whereafter it is properly gain-adjusted by an amplifier and is further converted into a predetermined analog amount through a reproducing circuit such as a D-A converter, whereafter it is output by the use of an output device.
Originally, an optical head displays its function as an optical head only by having various optical parts being mounted therein. As shown, for example, in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, a semiconductor laser 1 and a collimator lens (mounted in a collimator lens barrel 2) are adjusted, or as also shown in FIG. 1, polarizing beam splitters (PBS's) 3, 6, 7, an objective lens (mounted in an objective lens barrel 4), a condensing lens barrel 5, a servo sensor 8 for obtaining the focus control signal and/or the tracking control signal of a light beam directed to a recording medium, and an RF sensor (a magneto-optical signal detecting sensor) 9 for obtaining the reproduced signal of information recorded on the recording medium are mounted in the head body.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of optical parts in an optical head according to the prior art.
Here, a beam condensed by the condensing lens 5 passes through the polarizing beam splitter 6 and further passes through a toric lens 11 adhesively secured to the polarizing beam splitter 6 and reaches the servo sensor 8. To narrow the pull-in range of the focus and increase the sensitivity of the focus when a focus error signal is obtained by the servo sensor, it is necessary to make the focal length (back focal length) of the condensing lens 5 great and also necessary to bring the radii of the meridional line and latitudinal line of the toric lens 11 close to each other. However, to provide a compact and light-weight optical head, it is necessary to shorten the distance from the condensing lens 5 to the servo sensor 8 and therefore, there has been a construction as shown, for example, in FIG. 1 wherein the toric lens 11 is adhesively secured to the polarizing beam splitter 6.
However, in the so-called separation optical type as shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings which has a fixed head portion 21 in which a laser 33, etc. are fixed to the apparatus body, if instead of adopting an arrangement similar to the so-called unitary type in which a laser, an objective lens, etc. are made into a unitary construction, an attempt is made to narrow the pull-in range of the focus and thereby increase the focus sensitivity, the distance from the condensing lens 5 to the servo sensor 8 will become long. Particularly, the distance from the toric lens 11 to the servo sensor 8 will also become long, and this will pose a serious problem when making the drive device compact from a full height size to a half height size.
Further, the adjustment of the toric lens 11 to the optic axis is effected through the polarizing beam splitter 6 and therefore, the error is increased, and in the combined use type wherein the sensor 8 obtains a focus error signal and a tracking error signal, this has led to a problem that the leak from the tracking error signal into the focus error signal, i.e., the so-called cross talk amount, becomes great.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-noted problems and an object thereof is to provide an optical head in which it is possible to increase the accuracy of adjustment of a condensing lens barrel and a toric lens on the optic axis and reduce the cross talk amount and to make a drive device compact.
The above object is achieved by the following optical information recording-reproducing apparatus of the present invention.
The optical information recording-reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises:
a light source unit producing a light beam applied to an optical information recording medium;
first optical means disposed in an optical path leading from said light source unit to the optical information recording medium for directing the light beam from said light source unit to the optical information recording medium and separating the light beam passed through said optical information recording medium from the light beam from said light source unit;
second optical means for condensing the light beam passed through said optical information recording medium and separated by said first optical means, said second optical means comprising a first condensing lens, a holding member for holding said first condensing lens, and a second condensing lens mounted on said holding member;
a first light receiving member for receiving the light beam condensed by said second optical means to obtain the focus control signal and/or the tracking control signal of the light beam directed to the optical information recording medium through said first optical means; and
a second light receiving member for receiving the light beam condensed by said second optical means to obtain the reproduced signal of information recorded on said optical information recording medium.
More particularly, the apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a toric lens or a cylindrical lens is joined to a condensing lens barrel provided on the optical path of the light beam after being passed through the optical information recording medium, at the emerging position of the light beam passed through said lens barrel.

Optical information recording-reproducing apparatus including a condensing lens secured to a lens barrel


The present invention provides a π-conjugated polymer containing a repeating unit expressed by the following General Formula (I):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new π-conjugated polymer useful as a material for organic electronics such as photoelectric conversion elements, FET elements and light-emitting elements and a manufacturing method of the π-conjugated polymer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since π-conjugated polymers have π-electron system extended one-dimensionally along the main chains, they exhibit unique electronic and optical features. The most typical examples are conductive polymers; however, applications of these π-conjugated polymers are actively spread not only for use as a conductive material but also to various function elements such as photoelectric conversion elements, FET elements and light-emitting elements in recent years. The organic polymers are used because of low production cost, sufficient flexibility, strength and lightweight, capability of having larger dimension and possibility of a broad range of designs on the molecular level.
Typical examples of π-conjugated polymer include polyacetylene, poly-p-phenylene, polythiophene, polyallylenevinylene, and the like. Because of diverseness of molecular designs in recent years, various π-conjugated polymers are being examined aiming for more sophisticated elements. Many proposals have been made, for example, poly(alkyl)thiophene (Appl. Phys. Lett., 69 4108 (1996)) and polymers having fluorene structure as a basic structural unit (U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,070). In particular, π-conjugated polymers in U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,070 are actively applied to FET elements.
Furthermore, polymer materials having alylamine unit as a repeating unit are also being examined (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 10-310635, 08-157575, 2002-515078, International Publication No. WO97/09394, Synth. Met., 84 269 (1997)).
And polymers having carbon-carbon triple bond are being examined energetically (JP-A Nos. 06-166743, 2000-344873, Macromol. Chem. Phys. 202 2572 (2001), Chem. Rev. 100 605 (2000)).
The mobility, a typical parameter of the materials for organic electronics, of the polymer materials in these related arts has been improved remarkably. However, polymers of higher mobility are still desired considering the application to organic FET elements as materials for organic electronics.
In order to utilize the most important features such as low production cost, sufficient flexibility and strength, lightweight and capability of having larger dimension as an element using organic materials, a sufficient solubility in organic solvent is needed. Generally, the structure of π-conjugated polymers in which conjugation is stretched is often rigid, and this lead to lowering of solubility. Therefore in the current situation, many polymer materials in above related arts are not satisfactory in terms of solubility and various molecular designs are being examined to avoid this problem.

π-Conjugated polymer and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: where, in the General Formula (I), Y and Ar represent one of a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon and a substituted or unsubstituted divalent group of aromatic heterocyclic ring, Y1 represents one of a substituted or unsubstituted unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon and a substituted or unsubstituted divalent group of aromatic heterocyclic ring and R represents one of a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group.


The present invention discloses a program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment that, at the time of compiling and executing the two device test programs including a common program specification command, executes the common program based on an intermediate code inserted at a position corresponding to this program specification command independently of the two device test programs.

The present invention relates to a program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment that tests a DUT (device under test) based on a device test program for semiconductor testing equipment, and in particular, to a program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment that conducts tests based on a plurality of device test programs configured by commonly using a predetermined program file.
Conventionally, semiconductor testing equipment that carries out predetermined operation tests on various semiconductor elements is known. Examples of these semiconductor elements as DUT are semiconductor memory, logic IC and linear IC, etc., and these semiconductor elements are tested with semiconductor testing equipment suited to each of these semiconductor elements. This semiconductor testing equipment is used to conduct predetermined function tests and DC tests (DC parametric tests) by executing a predetermined device test program created by the user. This semiconductor testing equipment is connected to a workstation that creates a device test source program, which becomes the source of device test program, operates as an interface for the user to instruct various operations, displays and analyzes test results of the semiconductor testing equipment.
In general, a device test source program created by a workstation is subjected to interpretation of preprocessor commands as represented by a xe2x80x9c#includexe2x80x9d command of the C language and converted to a pre-processed source program by a preprocessor. The converted pre-processed source program is compiled and converted to a plurality of object file groups by a compiler. The plurality of compiled object file groups are subjected to linkage processing together with other object files by a linker and converted to a device test program, which is an execution file. Such a series of operations results in a device test program, which is executed by the semiconductor testing equipment. The semiconductor testing equipment operates based on this device test program and conducts predetermined tests on semiconductor elements.
Such semiconductor testing equipment is configured by including a tester control section that controls the operation of the entire semiconductor testing equipment, a tester that actually creates test signals, etc. under the control of this tester control section and supplies them to semiconductor elements, etc. and test heads on which the semiconductor elements are mounted. This semiconductor testing equipment normally includes two test heads and efficiently conducts tests by using both test heads alternately. If semiconductor elements of a same type are mounted on both test heads to conduct identical tests, these tests can be conducted by using a same device test program by simply alternating between the two test heads. Furthermore, if semiconductor elements of different types are mounted on the two test heads to conduct different tests, the semiconductor testing equipment stores two device test programs for their respective semiconductor elements in a program area of memory separately and selects one of them according to the test head.
However, if a device test source program is configured by using the above described xe2x80x9c#includexe2x80x9d command, a common file specified by this xe2x80x9c#includexe2x80x9d command is directly inserted into a specified location of the source program. The inserted common file is compiled as it is and converted to an object file. When the compiled device test program is executed by the semiconductor testing equipment, the common file is simply executed with the same inserted contents, and variables and functions, etc. defined by that common file are redefined every time it is executed. Therefore, the prior art stores a test result of a semiconductor element mounted on one of the two test heads as a variable or function defined by the common file, but the prior art is unable to reflect the test result in processing based on the device test program controlling a test of the semiconductor element mounted on the other test head. Moreover, if the program contents with variables and functions defined by the common file are changed due to execution of other files, the prior art is unable to reflect the changed contents of the program in the processing based on the device test program controlling a test of the semiconductor element mounted on the other test head, either.
The present invention has been achieved by taking into account the points described above and it is an objective of the present invention to provide a program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment capable of sharing a test result or changed contents of the program resulting from execution of the device test programs controlling their respective test heads.
The program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment according to the present invention includes first program supply unit that supplies a first device test program configured by including a program specification command specifying a common program as a test program for a DUT mounted on the first test head, second program supply unit that supplies a second device test program configured by including a program specification command specifying the common program as a test program for a DUT mounted on the second test head, and execution unit that, by inserting an intermediate code for a linkage to the common program specified by the program specification command at the positions of the program specification commands in the first and second device test programs, compiles the first and second device test programs and executes the common program independently of the first and second device test programs based on the intermediate code at the time of executing the compiled first and second device test programs above.
In particular, the execution unit includes compiling unit that compiles the first and second device test programs into the intermediate code group above and interpreter unit that interprets and executes the intermediate code group output from the compiling unit.
At the time of compiling the first and second device test programs, the program executing system according to the present invention inserts an intermediate code for a linkage to a common program, instead of simply developing and inserting a specified common program at the position as in case of compiling a xe2x80x9c#includexe2x80x9d command, which is a conventional program specification command. Then, at the time of executing the compiled first and second device test programs, the execution unit executes the common program linked by the intermediate code independently of the first and second device test programs. This allows the executed common program to become a different program independent of the first and second device test programs, and therefore even if the contents of the common program are changed, the changed contents are commonly reflected in the first and second device test programs. Furthermore, at the time of compiling the first and second device test programs, the program execution unit converts the entire program to an intermediate code group, and especially for the program specification command that especially specifies the common program, the program execution unit converts to an intermediate code for a linkage to the common program specified by the program specification command. Because of this the interpreter unit only needs to interpret and execute these intermediate codes.
It is particularly preferable that the compiling unit be provided on the workstation side, the interpreter unit be provided on the tester control section side, and the first and second device test programs be transferred from the workstation to the tester control section by unit of the intermediate code group. Since the compiling unit is provided on the workstation side, the tester control section need not perform compilation processing but perform interpreter processing on the intermediate code group, making it possible to reduce the processing load on the tester control section.
Furthermore, it is also preferable that a xe2x80x9cusexe2x80x9d command be used as the program specification command. At the time of writing the source processor of the tester control section in the C language, etc., using a special xe2x80x9cusexe2x80x9d command not used there makes it possible to differentiate it from the xe2x80x9c#includexe2x80x9d command.

Program executing system for semiconductor testing equipment


The present invention relates to an LED strip, comprising a plurality of LEDs mounted on a LED mounting surface of a flat, flexible substrate, wherein said LED mounting surface is light reflective, wherein said flexible substrate is shaped to form at least one conical structure, and wherein a subset of said plurality of LEDs is located inside at least one of the at least one conical structure.

LED strips including a plurality of LEDs arranged on a ribbon of a flat, flexible PCB which provides electrical connection of the LEDs, are increasingly used in various lighting applications such as in retail and at home. The LED strips may be integrated with control circuitry to have increased functionality such as connectivity etc.
In a conventional LED strip, to facilitate manufacturing, all LEDs are placed on the same side of the flexible PCB. Therefore the light emission is in the same direction. It is of course possible to mount LED on both sides of the PCT ribbon, but that increases manufacturing cost. It is desirable to provide a more cost efficient way to allow light emission from a LED strip in different directions. Also, in some applications it is desirable to provide LED strips with collimated light emission.
In US 2011/0267812 an LED lighting device is disclosed in which—amongst others—a lighting device is shown comprising a frusto-conical carrier which is provided with an LED strip that is spirally connected to said carrier.

LED strips with conical structure for collimated light emission


Methods and apparatus for providing separable billing services. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory for storing a data address associated with a first type of communication and a processor for receiving a data packet, the data packet comprising a destination data address. The processor compares the destination data address to the data address associated with the first type of communication, and routes the data packet to the destination data address if the destination data address matches the data address associated with the first type of communication and bills an account associated with the first type of communication.

I. Field
The methods and apparatus described herein relate to communication billing systems. More particularly, methods and apparatus are described for providing separable billing services for use with a packet-based communication system.
II. Description of the Related Art
Wireless networking has become commonplace in much of the world today. Typically, this involves transmitting and receiving packet data over a wireless communication network, such as a cellular, PCS, or satellite communication system. One such application involves the use of a mobile communication terminal, or MCT, located onboard a commercial vehicle such as a long-haul tractor-trailer. A vehicle operator may send and receive data communications using the MCT over a satellite communication network, for instance. A typical data application comprises accessing the Internet via the MCT or other data terminal.
A vehicle owner may equip the vehicle with an MCT so that the vehicle operator can access the Internet for business purposes. Such business related communications may include the need to report load status, location, and condition of a fleet vehicle, and/or instructions to the fleet driver as to the next desired destination. Typically, transmitting this type of information using mobile communications reduces the need for the vehicle driver to stop, and therefore increases fleet use efficiency. However, it may also be desirable to allow the vehicle operator to use the MCT for personal reasons as well for purposes of maintaining or establishing good relations between vehicle operators and vehicle owners.
The vehicle owner typically maintains an account with a wireless service provider relating to the use of the MCT. The wireless service provider typically bills this account in proportion to the amount of use of the wireless communication system. For example, in a satellite communication system, vehicle owners are typically charged each time a message is transmitted, as well as by the length of each message. Other wireless communication systems may charge vehicle owners on the basis of the amount of data transmitted or time used to transmit data.
In any case, there is presently no way for vehicle owners to distinguish between business and personal use of the MCT. Hence, there is a need for vehicle owners to distinguish between personal and business use of the MCT so that vehicle operators can be billed for their personal data networking usage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for providing separable billing services


In a clutch manipulation assist device which includes a clutch assist actuator, the actuator is arranged at a position where it is possible to suppress the influence of heat from an engine on the actuator without requiring the heat insulation structure or the like. In a clutch manipulation assist device which includes a clutch mechanism 61 which is arranged in a power transmission path for transmitting a rotational driving force of an engine to a wheel, a clutch-manipulation mechanism in which a clutch manipulation force is inputted, and an actuator which generates a clutch assist force in response to a manipulation of the clutch manipulation mechanism, the actuator is arranged in front of the engine and outside a main frame.

The present invention relates to a clutch-manipulation assist device which is preferably applicable to a motorcycle or the like.
Conventionally, for reducing a load of a clutch manipulation in a motorcycle of a large displacement particularly, there has been proposed a clutch-manipulation assist device which includes an actuator for assisting a clutch manipulation and assists the clutch manipulation using the actuator (for example, see JP-A-07-285482).


A system for removal of toner particles from a transfer support member surface without the necessity of an independent toner recovery system. A cleaning blade on the transfer support member collects and accumulates residual toner particles. When a non-image area on the photoconductor passes beneath the blade, the blade is spaced from the photoconductor and a reverse bias applied to the transfer support member so that the accumulated particles are transferred to the photoconductive surface. Subsequently, the cleaning system associated with the photoconductive member removes these toner particles.

Generally, the process of electrostatographic printing is executed by exposing a light image of an original document onto a substantially uniformly charged photoconductive member. Exposing the charged photoconductive member to a light image discharges the photoconductive surface thereon in areas corresponding to non-image areas in the original document while maintaining the charge in image areas, thereby creating an electrostatic latent image of the original document on the photoconductive member. Toner particles are subsequently deposited onto the latent image to form a toner powder image. This toner powder image is then transferred from the photoconductive member, either directly or after an intermediate transfer step, to a final support sheet. The transferred image may then be permanently fused to the sheet. In a final step, the photoconductive surface of the photoconductive member is cleaned to remove any residual developing material thereon in preparation for successive imaging cycles.
This printing process is well known and is commonly used for light lens copying of an original document. Analogous processes also exist in other electrostatographic printing applications such as, for example, ionographic printing and reproduction, where charge is deposited on a charge retentive surface in response to electronically generated or stored images. A laser beam may also be used to imagewise discharge the photoconductive member in accordance with stored electronic information.
The process of transferring toner particles from the photoconductive surface is realized at a transfer station. In a typical transfer station, transfer is achieved by applying electrostatic force fields in a transfer region sufficient to attract the toner particles from the photoconductive surface to the final support sheet or an intermediate transfer belt.
Intermediate transfer belts are used in conjunction with one (tandem) or more (non-tandem) photoconductive members for transport of a developed toner powder image to a final support sheet. For example, intermediate transfer belts are used in non-tandem applications where successive color toner powder images are individually transferred to the transfer belt where they are sequentially superimposed onto the previously transferred color toner powder image. A composite image is formed and then transferred from the transfer belt to a final support sheet. Alternatively, the composite image may be formed on the photoconductor before being transferred to an intermediate transfer belt, and then to a final support sheet. In a tandem apparatus, each of multiple photoconductive members transfers an individual color toner powder image to the intermediate transfer belt in sequential superimposed registration onto the previous color toner powder image, thereby forming a full composite image on the intermediate transfer belt.
Transfer of developed toner images between support surfaces is often accomplished by using a corona generating device. The intermediate transfer member or final support sheet, is placed in direct contact with the developed toner image on the photoconductive surface. The corona generator sprays the intermediate member or final support sheet with ions having a polarity opposite that of the toner particles, thereby transferring the toner particles from the photoconductive surface to the intermediate member or final support sheet.
Alternatively, transfer can be induced by applying a potential difference between the intermediate member or final support sheet by a biased member contacting therewith. For example, a biased transfer roll system (BTR) defines a nip with the photoconductor through which the intermediate member or final support sheet passes. The pressure and electrical field in the nip transfers the toner image from the photoconductor to the intermediate member or final support sheet.
An electrostatic transport belt is commonly used in conjunction with a corona generator. Generally, an electrostatic transport belt transports the final support sheet into and out of contact with the photoconductor at a transfer station. A corona generator for accomplishing transfer, is located behind the electrostatic transport belt. U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,199 to Silverberg discloses such a system, the relevant portions of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Transfer could alternatively be accomplished with a biased transfer roller, rather than a corona generator, positioned against the back side of the electrostatic transport belt.
Thus, transfer support members such as those hereinbefore described, (e.g. bias transfer roll, intermediate transfer belt, electrostatic transport belt), have in common their function of directly supporting the transfer of a developed toner powder image from a photoconductive member. Due to the varying electrostatic force fields involved in the transfer process, stray toner and debris particles may adhere to the surface of the transfer support member. Consequently, there is a need to clean the surface of the transfer support member so as to prevent degradation of the quality of subsequent copies and/or prevent toner particles from being fused to the backside of the final support sheet. Typical cleaning methods include wiping with a brush, a web, a blade and the like, a magnetic brush, air flow, or a combination of these. All of these, alone or in combination, require that collected residual toner and debris be removed from the cleaning device.
Thus, it is necessary to clean this residual material from the transfer support member surface with a cleaning system separate from the cleaning system used to clean the photoconductor.
The following disclosures may be relevant to various aspects of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,105 to Meagher discloses a biasing transfer roller for electrostatic transfer of charged particles to a transfer member using constant current control of the bias voltage supply in a transfer roller system, rather than constant voltage control. A cleaning brush with its associated vacuum housing is described as positioned adjacent to the bias transfer roller to clean stray toner and dirt from the outer surface of the roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,479 to Lindblad et al. discloses a cleaning apparatus for cleaning residual toner and paper fiber residue from a biased transfer roll using high velocity air and substantially contactless flexible biased conductive shims. The air flow created evacuates the air with debris particles therein through a vacuum chamber, where a filter collects the residue which is then deposited in a filter bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,374 to Ueno et al. discloses a second cleaning blade for cleaning residual toner from the intermediate transfer body, with a contact pressure applied to the intermediate transfer body being larger than that applied by a first cleaning blade to the photoconductive body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,279 to Fukuchi et al. discloses a cleaning roller rotating in contact with an intermediate transfer member, wherein the cleaning roller uses a structure such that the outer layer consists of a porous or fibrous substrate and is covered with toner or a resin identical or compatible with the toner. The toner sticking to the cleaning roller member is removed by being scraped by a blade at a stage when it has become substantially hardened on the roller. Periodic replacement of the cleaning roller is also described as an option for removal of accumulated toner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,572 to Slayton et al. discloses a transfer belt which rotates with photoconductor belt whereby a cleaning knife disengages with the transfer belt during the cycles when toner is building an image onto the intermediate transfer belt, and engages with the transfer belt after the toner image has been transferred from the transfer belt, for removal of residual toner. The cleaning knife disengages with the transfer belt at a defined seam area so that the "streak" of toner from disengaging action is left on the transfer belt outside of the imaging area of the photoconductor belt. Slayton et al. describes a receptacle bin for collection of residual toner particles scraped from the transfer belt by the knife, which fall into the receptacle by gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,023 to Hosaka et al. may also be found to be relevant to the present invention. Hosaka discloses an electrostatographic apparatus wherein transferring and fixing of the toner image onto a transfer material is performed simultaneously using a heating means and a soft roller transfer unit. In the developer unit an AC voltage is superimposed over a DC voltage so that development of the current image formation, accomplished by the DC voltage, occurs at the same time as removal of the residual toner created during the previous image formation, which is accomplished by the AC voltage. When improper feeding of the recording sheet occurs, Hosaka et al. describes applying a reverse bias voltage to the transfer roller while operating the recording machine in an opposite direction, to allow toner that attaches to the transfer roller to return back to the photosensitive drum.

Transfer apparatus and method for removing residual material from a transfer member


A system, a voltage regulator and a method for regulating power are disclosed, wherein the system may include a processor, a voltage regulator circuit, and a memory unit. The voltage regulator circuit may be configured to generate a first power supply voltage provided to the memory unit. The voltage regulator circuit may be further configured to adjust a voltage level of two output nodes dependent upon a level of the first power supply voltage and a level of a reference voltage. The voltage regulator circuit may be further configured to adjust the level of the first power supply signal dependent upon the level of at least one of the two output voltages. The voltage regulating circuit may also provide the first output voltage to the second output voltage via an impedance.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments herein are related to the field of integrated circuit implementation, and more particularly to the implementation of memory power management.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computing systems may include one or more systems-on-a-chip (SoC), which may integrate a number of different functions, such as, graphics processing, onto a single integrated circuit. A computing system may include memory, either as a part of the SoC, or as a separate die from the SoC and coupled by a memory controller. Various memories may be included, one or more on the die with the SoC and one or more separate to the SoC. Memories may be a significant part of the power consumption of a computing system, so for portable computing systems, such as, for example, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, it may be desirable to reduce the power consumption of one or more memories in the computing system.
One way of reducing the power consumption of a memory is remove power from the memory when it is not in use. For a volatile memory, however, the removal of power may result in a loss of data. A method for reducing power in a volatile memory without losing any data is to place the volatile memory into a data retention mode. A data retention mode may refer to a mode in which a memory may retain the data, but power consumption is reduced by limiting read and write operations to the memory, and reducing the supply voltage level to portions of the memory, such as, one or more memory sub-arrays, for example.
The lower voltage levels necessary for a data retention mode may require the use of a regulated power supply. A potential issue with the use of a regulated power supply is that a voltage drop may be introduced when switching a sub-array from an operational power supply to the regulated power supply due to the sudden increase in load on the regulated supply from the added sub-array.
A voltage regulation method is, therefore, desired that can respond quickly as sub-arrays are switched to and from the regulated supply. A system is disclosed herein that may provide for a voltage regulator capable of stabilizing quickly in response to sudden changes in loading, thereby reducing the magnitude of voltage drops.

Voltage regulation for data retention in a volatile memory


The present invention relates to a reaction or separation device, wherein the materials circularly flow in a container and a pipe. Said device contains a container and an external circular pipe, wherein the container is a double-chamber structure. The inner chamber consists of an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder with the latter being jacketed by the former, and there is a space between the walls of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. The lower end of the outer cylinder is open and higher than the bottom of the container, and the outer cylinder is fixed to the wall or bottom of the container. The upper end of the inner cylinder is open and its lower end connects with the external circular pipe through the feed outlet. A continuous passage is sequentially formed from the spaces between the wall of the outer cylinder and that of the container, between the lower end of the outer cylinder and the bottom of the container, between the wall of the outer cylinder and that of the inner cylinder, and in the inner cylinder. The external circular pipe connects with the bottom of the container and leads to the inner chamber, and connects with the sidewall at the lower part of the container and leads to the outer chamber, respectively. The present invention also relates to a continuous esterification process, which comprises feeding liquid reaction materials to the reaction device and carrying out reaction under reaction conditions.

In chemical production, there exist a large number of container devices for reaction or separation that use external circular heating, such as devices for producing polyesters, wherein the container may be a kettle or a tower. The raw materials to be heated generally enter an external heat exchanger from the bottom of the container through a pipe for heating, and then return to the container from the wall at the lower part of the container through the pipe. There exists a density difference of the materials before and after heating, which creates a driving force for the materials from the bottom of the container to automatically return to the container through the heat exchanger, said driving force being known as thermal siphon.
Polyesters mainly comprise poly diethyl p-phthalate, poly dibutyl p-phthalate, and dipropyl p-phthalate. Presently, their preparation processes are mostly direct esterification, i.e. carrying out esterification from phthalic acid and the corresponding diol directly. The existing processes for producing esters are mostly continuous ones. There are many technological routes, but they are basically composed of three continuous procedures, i.e. esterification, prepolycondensation, and polycondensation, wherein esterification is at the forefront and therefore is the most vital part of the whole technological route. It will exert significant effect on the operability of the subsequent procedures and the quality of the final product. The esterification device must meet the requirements of a heavy heat duty, uniform heating of the materials, instant removal of excessive diol and water generated in esterification to facilitate further reaction, and a flow of the materials in the system near the plug flow as much as possible to make the residence time of various parts of the materials distribute uniformly. The importance of the esterification reaction and its high requirements for the esterification device make the study of the esterification device become the most attractive part in the study of the polyester process.
In the prior art, the earlier esterification device was the continuous stir reactor, which uses a jacket or internal tube heat exchanger for heating and exerts violent stirring. In addition, series multiple kettles are used to improve the distribution of the residence time of the materials. The drawbacks of the continuous stir reactor are evident, i.e., the occurrence of the temperature field and concentration field of the internal materials caused by the amplification of the device, which affect the uniformity of the materials, a high investment resulted from large numbers of the devices and powerful stirring equipments, and a considerable operation cost of the stirring equipments. Latter developed externally circular heating esterification device made a great progress, such as the device introduced in JP Tokkai-Hei 10-87805 and JP Tokkai-Hei 11-116536. Such an externally circular heating esterification device mainly comprises an external tube heater and a reaction kettle. A solid/liquid two-phase mixed slurry of phthalic acid and diol is first injected into the circulating oligomer, then fed into a tube heater to complete heating and carry out primary esterification reaction, and finally fed into the reaction kettle for further esterification. The product is discharged from the bottom of the kettle, a part of which returns to the heater for circulation. Various baffle components are equipped in the reaction kettle, so that the stream in the kettle approaches the plug flow as much as possible. The merits of the externally circular heating esterification device are to better meet the need for powerful heat duty, to use no stirring equipment, and to make the residence time distribution of various parts of the materials more uniform.
However, such a prior externally circular heating esterification device has an evident drawback. The driving force for the stream only comes from the thermal siphon, but the flow rate is generally difficult to meet the requirement of the process only using the driving force generated by thermal siphon for the materials to automatically circularly flow. Installation of pumps in the pipe between the bottom of the container and the heat exchanger is a commonly used remedial method, but the use of pumps in chemical devices will not only increase the energy consumption, but also increase the routine maintenance cost. Another scheme for overcoming the drawback is to increase the loading of the diol in the reaction materials, the large amount of excessive diol serving as a carrier for the flow of the reactants. Taking the preparation of bis-hydroxyethyl p-phthalate (BHET) from p-phthalic acid (PTA) and ethylene glycol (EG) as an example, the molar ratio of feeds EG to PTA is generally 2.0-2.2:1, and the excessive diol increases unnecessary energy consumption from evaporation to recovery by condensation.

Device for reaction or separation and a continuous esterification process using the device

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Corporation Limited


A diffuser assembly is provided herein. In certain embodiments, the diffuser assembly may include an outer boundary member and an inner boundary member, with the inner boundary member being positioned radially inward of the outer boundary member. The diffuser assembly also may include an exhaust flow path defined between the outer boundary member and the inner boundary member. Further, the diffuser assembly may include at least one flow deflecting member operatively attached to the outer boundary member. The flow deflecting member may be adjustable about the outer boundary member to produce a substantially uniform velocity distribution within the exhaust flow path.

Gas turbine engines are widely utilized in fields such as power generation. A conventional gas turbine engine may include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor may supply compressed air to the combustor, where the compressed air may be mixed with fuel and burned to generate a working fluid. The working fluid may be supplied to the turbine, where energy may be extracted from the working fluid to produce work. The working fluid may exit the turbine via an exhaust section having a diffuser assembly.
At partial loads, the total pressure profile of the working fluid at the inlet of diffuser assembly is generally tip (i.e., outer wall) strong. A tip strong profile causes flow separation at the inner wall (i.e., hub side of the diffuser assembly). The skewed profile does not allow the working fluid to distribute evenly in the diffuser assembly, thus reducing the diffuser assembly performance. Moreover, skewed or non-uniform velocity profiles deteriorate the performance of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) assembly positioned downstream of the diffuser assembly, which leads to premature failure or damage of the HRSG assembly. Accordingly, there is a need to produce a substantially uniform velocity distribution of the working fluid within the exhaust flow path of the diffuser assembly, which in turn may be supplied to the HRSG assembly.

Diffuser assemblies having at least one adjustable flow deflecting member


A method that involves receiving, from a host server in a serverless computing architecture, a list of functions comprising a deployed function on the host server, wherein the functions execute within a function as a service (FaaS) platform; receiving validation data for each of the functions; executing a validation process for each of the functions using the validation data; and generating a validation alert in response to the deployed function failing the validation process.

Computing platforms that are not under the complete control of the developer are vulnerable to security threats at both the integration and deployment phase of software development. A challenge is to ensure that the functions deployed to a computing platform have not been tampered with by hackers when complete control of the computing platform is not available.

Preventing serverless application package tampering


A portable computer including a housing having first and second sections, the first section having an information input device and the second section having a case having a first fastening element; a display panel including a second fastening element at a rear surface of the panel, the case and the display panel being attached through the first and second fastening elements; a hinge coupling the first and the second sections to each other; and a display panel support member having a third fastening element, the display panel support member being attached to the display panel through the third fastening

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos. 98-44475, filed on Oct. 23, 1998 and 98-44973, filed on Oct. 27, 1998, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a flat panel display device, and more specifically, to a flat panel display device mounting structure and a method of mounting the flat panel display device to a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panel display devices include liquid crystal display devices (LCD) which are being used widely, plasma display panels (PDP), and field emission displays (FED) which have been studied recently and may be applied to computers in the near future. For convenience of explanation, the present invention will be discussed with respect to the LCD as an example of the flat screen type display devices and a portable computer mounted with the LCD.
Referring to FIG. 1, a general portable computer such as a laptop or notebook computer typically includes a body 100, a flat panel display device assembly 110 coupled to the body 100 via a hinge mechanism 124. The flat panel type display device assembly 110 has a flat panel display device 111 and a display case 122 supporting the flat panel display device 111. The body 100 has an input device 102 such as a keyboard. As a flat panel type display device 111, the LCD is widely used in portable computers and flat screen monitors.
Referring to FIG. 2 which shows conventional assembly structure of the LCD device applied to a conventional portable computer, the display case 122 has a rear case 123 and a front case or frame 121 for mounting the LCD device 130. The rear case or frame 123 has an outer surface and an inner surface and connecting ribs 123a are formed at the corners.
The LCD device 130 has an LCD panel 132, a backlight device 134 fixed to the back of the LCD panel 132, and a supporting frame 136 for assembling the LCD panel 132 and the backlight device 134 along the edge.
At the corners of the supporting frame 136, corresponding to the positions of the ribs 123a of the rear case 123, a plurality of protrusions 136a having holes are formed.
For mounting the LCD device 130 to the display case 122, the LCD device 130 is placed on the rear case 123 and the holes of the supporting frame 136 and the ribs 123a are fastened together preferably by screws 138. The front case 121 is coupled to the rear case 123.
Hereinafter, the way in which the LCD device is mounted to the case from the front toward the rear direction is defined as the front mounting method, and the assembled structure of the LCD device and the case formed through the front mounting method is defined as the front mounting structure.
In the front mounting structure of the LCD device, since the protrusions 136a require additional space corresponding to the protruded width d, the display area of the LCD device is reduced in comparison to the fixed size of the display case 122.
The front mounting structure may also include an additional feature to further support the LCD device panel, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a conventional LCD device assembly 110 includes an LCD panel 112 and a backlight device (not shown) for the LCD panel 112, and display case 122 supporting the LCD device 111. The LCD panel 112 and the backlight device are assembled by a supporting frame 114 along the edges.
The display case 122 is coupled to a body 120 via a hinge mechanism 124, which may extend from the body 120. The display case 122 and the hinge mechanism 124 are assembled through a hinge arm 126, allowing the flat panel display device assembly 110 to pivotally move with respect to the body 120.
Two opposite sides of the supporting frame 114 include flanges 114a for assembling the LCD device 111 to the display case 122, and corners include flanges 114b for assembling the LCD device 111 to the hinge arm 126. Hereinafter, the former is referred as a fixing flange and the latter is referred as a mounting flange in this specification for distinction purposes. As shown in FIG. 3B, the fixing flanges 114a have a protruding width d2 and the mounting flanges 114b have a protruding width d1. A screw hole is formed in each of the flanges. 114a and 114b. On the inner surface of the display case 122, ribs 122a are formed corresponding to the holes of the fixing flange 114a.
To mount the LCD device 111, the hinge arm 126 and the mounting flanges 114b are screwed together, and the fixing flanges 114a and the ribs 122a are screwed together by bolts 128.
In the mounting structure shown in FIG. 3B, the supporting frame 114 requires side spaces for the flanges 114a and 114b. Therefore, the side space D (d1+d2) results in a reduction of the display area of the LCD panel 112 relative to the display case 122. Moreover, as the display size increases, the display case becomes undesirably large, especially for a portable computer such as a laptop computer.
To solve the above problem and to provide a large display area with minimal display case size, a new mounting structure is needed for the LCD device.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a portable computer and method for mounting a flat panel display device thereon that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to minimize the non-display area of the LCD device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer having a flat panel display device with a maximum display area and a minimal display case size.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a portable computer includes a body having an information input device; a case coupled to the body and having inner and outer surfaces; and a flat panel display device having a display surface and a rear surface, the rear surface being fixed to the inner surface of the case.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a portable computer includes a body having an information input device; a flat panel display case coupled to the body; a flat panel display device having a display surface and a rear surface; and a hinge mechanism having a hinge mount and a hinge arm fixed to the rear surface of the display device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of mounting a flat panel display device to a hinge mechanism having a hinge mount, a hinge arm, and a pin portion rotating in the hinge mount, the flat panel display device having a display surface and a rear surface, the method including a step of fixing the rear surface of the flat panel display device to the hinge arm. The fixing step is preferably carried out by attaching the hinge arm and the rear surface of the flat display device using a screw.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, an LCD device coupled to an outer case includes an LCD panel having a display surface and a rear surface; a backlight device having a first surface facing the rear surface of the LCD panel and a second surface attached to the outer case; and a supporting frame for assembling the LCD panel and the backlight device.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Portable computer having a flat panel display device


A differential microdischarge detector system. The system comprises two microdischarge detectors (MDDs). One of the MDDs is connected to receive sample analytes to be measured, while the other MDD is connected to receive a reference sample that contains interfering gases and none or a much lower concentration of the sample analytes to be measured. The outputs of the two MDD's are fed to a circuit that generates either a difference or a ratio between the measurements of the two MDDs. In addition, the current, impedance or voltage across the electrodes of the two MDDs may be measured and processed to generate either a difference or a ratio signal, thus obtaining additional information about the sample gas analytes.

Microdischarge detectors (MDDs) or sensors may be used for detecting the presence of molecules in a gas sample on the basis of their optical emission spectrum as excited and emitted by that discharge.
A microdischarge detector comprises a chamber within which a sample (e.g., a gaseous or vapor fluid) is introduced so as to flow between two closely spaced electrodes. The electrodes typically might be spaced on the order of 20-200μ apart. A voltage is generated across the electrodes so as to cause an electrical discharge between the electrodes. Typical voltages for a microdischarge detector might be on the order of 200-600 Volts. This voltage and associated current could be continuous (i.e., DC) or alternating AC. As the sample fluid passes between the electrodes and gets hit by the electrical discharge, the elemental components of the fluid will emit electromagnetic waves. Every element has a characteristic emission spectrum or signature spectrum. One or more photodetectors detect the emission spectrum. Typically, the microdischarge detector will have an array of photodiodes, each photodetector filtered to receive a different, narrow bandwidth of radiation. The emission spectrum can then be analyzed to determine what element or elements comprise the sample.
One particular scientific measurement instrument in which a microdischarge detector is used is a gas chromatograph (GC). In a gas chromatograph, a sample pulse of gas is introduced into a carrier stream of another gas. The carrier stream typically comprises helium, hydrogen, or nitrogen. However, other carrier gases, such as air (environmental or a patient's breath) may also serve as a carrier gas, especially in a micro gas chromatograph, such as PHASED (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,894).
A pump pushes or pulls the carrier gas through a tortuous capillary path containing a polymer that adsorbs and desorbs the molecules of the gases. The polymer, for instance, may be a coating on the internal walls of the capillary path. The sample gas whose composition is to be determined is introduced as a pulse into the carrier gas at the inlet to the capillary path. The polymer coating adsorbs and desorbs the molecules in the gas mixture (including the molecules of the carrier gas as well as the molecules of the sample pulse gas). The heavier the molecule within the mixture, the more slowly is it adsorbed and desorbed. Accordingly, the heavier the molecule, the longer it will take to pass through the capillary from the inlet to the outlet. The outlet of the capillary is connected to a microdischarge detector. The microdischarge detector, therefore, detects not only the electromagnetic emission spectrum as peaks pass through the electrodes, but also the time at which the peak passes through the electrodes. Accordingly, the output information from the microdischarge detector provides two dimensions of data that can be used to determine what atoms and/or molecules are in the sample gas, namely, 1) the time delay through the capillary for each peak peak, and 2) the emission spectrum of each peak.
Since polymer adsorbs and desorbs the carrier gas also, the signature emission spectrum of the carrier gas also is detected by the microdischarge detector. This background signal, i.e., the electromagnetic emission lines/bands and/or electrical plasma properties of the carrier gas essentially constitute interference with the measurement of the analytes to be detected and carried by the sample gas. This is particularly problematic if the carrier or sample gas is air since air is a mixture containing N2, O2, H2O, Ar, CO2, NOx and additional trace gases, all of which have emission spectra. The emission bands of all of these molecules may mask the sample gas microdischarge emission properties and "signatures" of the analytes of interest. They also can change as a function of pressure, time and temperature, further diminishing the ability to obtain an accurate measurement.
Conventionally, zero spectral emission between the active emission bands is used as a reference baseline in spectrometers. As an improvement of that, commercial spectrometers, such as those by Ocen Optics, provide means for subtracting the carrier gas spectrum from the sample gas or peak-gas emission spectrum, to better visualize and measure the bands of interest. However, such spectrometers record the two spectra sequentially in time before subtracting one from the other.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved microdischarge detector system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved gas chromatograph.

Microdischarge detector method and apparatus


There is provided a vehicle brake system wherein it is possible to prevent the ingress of brake fluid leaking from the cylinder main body of an electric brake actuator constituting the vehicle brake system, and to dispose the electric brake actuator in a power plant storage chamber in a space-efficient manner. A vehicle brake system configured by disposing an input device and a motor cylinder for generating brake fluid pressure by driving a hydraulic pressure controlling piston stored in a cylindrical cylinder main body by means of an electric motor at least in accordance with the brake operation, the vehicle brake system being characterized in that: the motor cylinder is attached in a manner such that at least a portion of the cylinder main body overlaps with a power plant in the vehicle up and down direction; and the electric motor is disposed on top of the cylinder main body.

Vehicle brake systems, which are provided with a servo unit for boosting the braking effort when a brake pedal is pedaled, are widely known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electric brake actuator (electric servo unit) using an electric motor as a force boosting source.
The electric brake actuator disclosed by Patent Document 1 is configured as follows. A main piston is formed by a shaft member that moves forward and backward by an operation of a brake pedal, and a booster piston is formed by a cylindrical member outer fitted to the shaft member (main piston). The electric brake actuator is arranged such that a thrust force that is input from the brake pedal to the shaft member (main piton) and a thrust force applied by an electric motor to the cylindrical member (booster piston) generate a hydraulic brake pressure to boost the braking effort.


An external terminal fabrication method for a ball grid array (BGA) semiconductor package for directly forming a bump on a substrate includes the steps of forming a plurality of conductive islands spaced from each other on an upper surface of a substrate, forming a photoresist film on the substrate, exposing the respective islands through the photoresist film, forming a conductive bump member on each of the exposed islands, and removing the photoresist film remaining on the substrate.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device package fabrication method, and more particularly to an external terminal fabrication method for a semiconductor device package. Although the present invention has a wide range of applications, it is particularly suitable for a ball grid array (BGA) package.
Discussion of the Related Art
In a conventional BGA package, as shown in FIG. 1, there are provided a plurality of inner leads 2 formed of copper that pass through a substrate 1 to connect the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 1. A plurality of bonding fingers 2a are formed at respective upper portions of the inner leads 2. A die paddle 3 is mounted on the surface of substrate 1. A semiconductor chip 4 is attached on paddle 3 using an adhesive 5. The bonding fingers 2a of inner leads 2 are respectively connected to bonding pads on the chip 4 by metal wires 6. Molding unit 7 surrounds the chip 4 and metal wires 6 and covers a certain area on substrate 1 by using an epoxy compound. A plurality of solder balls 8 are attached to the respective copper islands 10 formed on respective lower ends of inner leads 2 at the lower surface of substrate 1 and electrically connected to the chip 4 via the respective inner leads 2 passing through substrate 1.
The conventional BGA package is manufactured by the following steps.
First, a plurality of via holes are formed in a substrate by patterning a thin printed circuit board (PCB) and by punching the patterned portions to fabricate a package substrate. A plurality of PCBs with the via holes formed therethrough are stacked and then the substrate 1 having inner leads 2 therethrough is formed by filling Cu metal into the respective via holes to connect the upper and lower surfaces of substrate 1.
Next, the die paddle 3 on which the adhesive pad 5 is glued is mounted on substrate 1 having inner leads 2 therethrough, and a die bonding is carried out for attaching chip 4 onto adhesive 5. A wire bonding is carried out using metal wires 6 to connect respective bonding pads (not shown) formed on chip 4 with respective bonding fingers 2a formed at respective upper ends of inner leads 2. To protect chip 4 and wires 6 from external damage, a molding unit 7 is formed thereover using an epoxy molding compound.
For better adhesion of copper islands 10 and solder balls 8 provided at the lower surface of substrate 1, a flux step is carried out for spreading solder cream on substrate 1.
The position between substrate 1 and a ball mounting device (not shown) is adjusted and solder balls 8 are mounted accordingly. After mounting solder balls 8, solder residue is removed, a reflow step is carried out for leveling the balls, and the surface of the substrate is cleaned using alcohol, acetone or the like to thereby complete the BGA package manufacture.
However, in the conventional BGA package fabrication method, during the ball mounting step for attaching solder balls 8 on the lower surface of substrate 1, it is difficult to align or match the positions between the substrate and the ball mounting device (not shown). Thus, the solder balls are not accurately mounted on desired positions for the copper islands 10 which are on respective lower ends of inner leads 2. Accordingly, a connection fault may occur between inner leads 2 and solder balls (outer leads) 8, or a poor adhesion may result between solder balls 8 and inner leads 2 after ball mounting, thereby resulting in the solder balls becoming detached from the outer leads. Also, an expensive ball mounting device is required which increases the production cost.
Moreover, since a standard diameter for solder balls is 0.76 mm, there is a limit to minimizing the size of the solder balls, and its application has been more difficult in the case of a high density multi-pin structured semiconductor package.

External terminal fabrication method for semiconductor device package


A power-split transmission for a traction drive includes a hydraulic power branch and a further power branch. In order to control a velocity, a displacement volume of a hydraulic pump of the hydraulic power branch is configured to be adjusted by a hydraulic actuating device. For the purpose of adjustment, a control pressure medium can be applied to the actuating device by a control valve. An additional pressure-control device is configured to be used to set a control pressure of the control pressure medium to a setpoint value which is dependent on a drive range of the transmission or of the traction drive.

The disclosure relates to a power-split transmission for a traction drive and to a method for controlling the transmission.
Power-split transmissions of the generic type for a traction drive, in particular of a mobile working machine, for example of a wheel loader, have not only a mechanical power branch which can be operated with a fixed transmission ratio or with a variable transmission ratio but also a further power branch. The latter is embodied as a hydraulic transmission branch having a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic motor in a closed hydraulic circuit. At least the hydraulic pump is embodied here with an adjustable displacement volume, with the result that the entire transmission ratio of the power-split transmission is infinitely variable by means of the hydraulic transmission branch. Both power branches can be combined here by means of a summing section of the transmission and in this way they act on a common output shaft of the transmission. Both power branches can be coupled or are coupled via a transmission input shaft to a drive machine of the traction drive, for example to a combustion engine, in particular a diesel engine.
In previous transmissions, the displacement volume has been adjusted by means of an electromagnetically activated 4/3-way proportional directional control valve with mechanical feedback, which valve is actuated electromagnetically by a control device of the transmission or of the traction drive. For example, an accelerator pedal or a joystick of the traction drive is connected as a setpoint value transmitter of a velocity to the control device. The setpoint value of the velocity determines here the actuating current which is transferred to the 4/3-way proportional directional control valve, and in this way the quantity of control pressure medium which is applied to an actuating device in order to adjust the displacement volume of the hydraulic pump. Feedback of the current velocity to the control device takes place by means of a rotational speed sensor. Power-split transmissions of the generic type are presented, for example, in laid-open patent applications DE 10 2007 037 107 A1 and DE 10 2007 037 664 A1.
A purely hydraulic drive range in which the transmission of power takes place only via the hydraulic power branch and the mechanical power branch is decoupled is particularly suitable for a working operating mode of the vehicle in which only low speeds are required but a drive torque has to be adjustable over wide ranges. A power-split drive range or a purely mechanical drive range are, on the other hand, predominant suitable for the drive operating mode with restricted dynamics with respect to velocity and traction force or with a virtually constant operating point.
A disadvantage of the known solutions is that the transmissions cannot be adapted flexibly enough to these different requirements of the drive ranges. It is therefore possible, for example, for suddenly increasing loads to occur in a drive range with a low speed if a wheel loader penetrates heavy bulk material with its shovel. Actuating times of conventional, electro-proportional volume flow controllers are then frequently too slow to prevent the drive machine from stalling at this relatively unstable operating point.
An alternative, likewise customary way of controlling the control pressure of the pump makes it possible to react to such load increases but gives rise to a limited controlling capacity of the speed in the power-split ranges.
In contrast with the above, the disclosure is based on the object of providing a power-split transmission for a traction drive, which can be adapted better to drive-range-specific requirements. Furthermore, the disclosure is based on the object of providing a control method for such a transmission.

Power-split transmission for a traction drive and method for controlling the transmission


A neighborhood zone covering an enclosed or surrounded environment, such as a man-made building or high-rise, is defined within a mobile telecommunications network by associating a plurality of base stations with respective cell areas. A same neighborhood list indicating all measurement channels being utilized within the neighborhood zone by said plurality of base stations is then further defined. The defined same neighborhood list is then transmitted by each of the base stations within its respective coverage area. A mobile station traveling within the neighborhood zone then scans and reports measurements from the indicated measurement channels to the serving mobile telecommunications network. The mobile telecommunications network then effectuates a handover in accordance with the received signal measurements. An idle mobile station further utilizes the measurements to effectuate a cell re-selection.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile telecommunications network and, in particular, to the association of a uniform neighborhood list with a plurality of cell areas within a particular service area.
2. Description of Related Art
Within a cellular telecommunications system, a plurality of base stations each providing radio coverage over a particular geographic area are interconnected to form a system offering continuous and contiguous radio coverage. However, since a number of available or allocated radio frequencies or channels are fixed, the available frequencies or channels are accordingly planned and reused within a particular service area. As an illustration, an architecture having cells and clusters of cells is utilized to repeatedly reuse the available frequencies to provide radio coverage over a particular service area and to reduce co-channel interference created therewith.
While engaged in a call connection, a mobile station traveling within a particular mobile telecommunications network frequently moves out of a coverage area of a first base station and moves into a new coverage area being served by a second base station. As a result, unless the call is correctly and accurately transferred (handover) from the first base station to the second base station, the existing call connection is undesirably interrupted. Furthermore, mistakenly utilizing a frequency associated with a non-optimum cell by a mobile station further increases the level of co-channel interference created for a resulting air interface. It may further require an additional handover to improve the speech connection.
One of the ways for effectively handing over a mobile station from a first cell area to a second cell area is known as a mobile-assisted-handover (MAHO). A mobile station continuously measures signal strength from neighboring or adjacent base stations, reports the measurements back to the serving mobile telecommunications network, and assists in the handover between two adjacent base stations. Therefore, in order to enable a mobile station traveling within a particular cell area to measure beacon, pilot, control, or measurement frequencies associated with neighboring cells, the serving base station needs to identify a list of frequencies to be measured by the mobile station. Such a list is referred to as a "neighbor list", which is then continuously sent to mobiles after a call has been established. The mobile station then measures the identified frequencies to assist in determining whether a handover, for example, from the current cell area to one of the identified adjacent cell areas is needed.
A similar measurement is also made by a mobile station in idle mode as the mobile station roams from a first cell area, for example, to a second cell area. Such a process for selecting a new cell is referred to as a cell re-selection process. In this case the neighbor cell list broadcast on the control channel of the serving base station is specifying which channels to measure on.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which is a pictorial diagram of a service area 10 illustrating a plurality of cell areas each being served by a respective base station. Each base station is further associated with a measurement channel for identifying its coverage area. Such measurement channels are also known as beacon, control, page, and pilot channels. For exemplary purposes, only one measurement channel is shown assigned to each cell area in FIG. 1. But it will be understood that a plurality of channels, including traffic channels, are typically assigned to a single base station serving a particular cell area.
In a conventional manner, when a mobile station is located within a cell area being served by measurement channel number one 20, a base station associated with that cell area transmits a neighbor list identifying frequencies to be monitored by the mobile station. As an illustration, while being served by channel number one in cell 20, the associated base station instructs the mobile station to monitor and to measure signal strength associated with a neighbor list including measurement channel numbers two, three, four, five, six, and seven in cells 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80, respectively. The transmitted neighbor list therefore instructs the mobile station to measure signals received over the indicated measurement channels from all possible cell areas into which the mobile station may possibly travel. Such a neighbor list is independently defined for (i.e., unique to) each cell. Accordingly, when the mobile station travels out of the current cell area 20 associated with measurement channel number one and into an adjacent cell area 40 being served by measurement channel number three, a base station serving the new cell area similarly transmits a new neighbor list instructing the mobile station to monitor a new set of measurement channels in neighboring cells. For example, while traveling within the cell area 40 associated with channel number three, the mobile station is similarly instructed to measure a neighbor list including measurement channel numbers eight, nine, ten, four, one, and two in cells 90, 100, 110, 50, 20 and 30, respectively.
However, such an implementation for providing a cell area dependent neighbor list is inconvenient and inefficient. During cell planning, for example, an operator or planner has to tediously define a plurality of neighboring frequencies or channel numbers for each cell within a particular network. Such an association may further require manual signal measurements within each of the associated cells to identify and to define a neighbor list. Furthermore, creating such a neighbor list in a certain environment may even be impractical. Such an environment, for example, includes man-made buildings or high-rises.
In order to effectuate a radio interface even within an enclosed environment, such as a building or high-rise, the concept of pico cells or indoor cells has been introduced. Reference is now made to FIG. 2 illustrating a building 200 being served by a plurality of base stations 210 located internally therein. Accordingly, when a mobile station enters the building 200, the mobile station effectuates mobile service by communicating radio signals with base stations (BSs) 210 strategically placed throughout the structure. Within such a three-dimensional layout, defining a customized neighbor list for each base station becomes very tedious and inconvenient. Furthermore, as furniture and walls are moved and/or rearranged, an associated neighbor list specifying the optimum neighboring channels may change. Moreover, due to interferences and fading, a base station located not adjacent to the current location may unexpectedly provide better radio communication to a particular mobile station than the most adjacent base station. As a result, the best cell candidate may not even be included within the provided neighbor list. Accordingly, within such a topography, a manually defined neighbor list may not provide the best channel candidate during a cell selection process for a mobile station.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanism to enable a serving mobile telecommunications system to select a better cell candidate for a traveling mobile station.

Providing a neighborhood zone within a mobile telecommunications network


The present application discloses a signal processing apparatus. Particularly, it discloses a signal processing apparatus comprising a first decoder for generating video data by decoding data and a second decoder for generating video data by decoding data, wherein, regarding predetermined operations for generating the video data by decoding the data, the number of the predetermined operations that can be executed by the second decoder for each unit time is lower than that of the predetermined operations that can be executed by the first decoder for each unit time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Television broadcast receivers with two tuners capable of displaying two programs at a time are known. Examples of such receivers are described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H9-9166 (1997-9166). In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H8-79641 (1996-79641) discloses a television receiver having a plurality of processing modules.


A digital memory array includes memory cells having respective anti-fuse layers. Write signals that vary in at least one of current, voltage, and pulse length are applied to selected ones of the memory cells to disrupt the respective anti-fuse layers to differing extents, thereby programming the selected memory cells with resistances that vary in accordance with the degree of anti-fuse layer disruption. The state of a selected memory cell is read by applying a voltage across the cell and comparing the resulting read signal with two or more thresholds, thereby reading more than one bit of digital data from each memory cell.

The present invention relates to digital memory arrays of the type that include anti-fuse layers within the individual memory cells, and in particular to such arrays that provide high-density data storage.
Memory arrays that use anti-fuse layers to store digital data are well known to those skilled in the art. Such arrays operate as write-once memories, and they are generally field programmable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,882 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/560,626, both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose two such memory arrays.
The memory arrays of these documents include memory cells that are arranged in three-dimensional arrays. Each memory cell includes a diode and an anti-fuse layer. The anti-fuse layer initially is insulating, and it blocks forward current through the memory cell. The memory cell can be programmed by passing a write current through the memory cell to disrupt the anti-fuse layer, thereby lowering the resistance of the memory cell. The contents of the memory cell can be read as a logic 1 if the memory cell resistance is in a lower range, indicating that the anti-fuse layer has been disrupted, and as a logic 0 if the resistance is at the much higher initial level.
Though the memory arrays discussed above provide high-density, low-cost, write-once memories, further improvements to the data storage density of the array would further lower cost.
By way of general introduction, the preferred embodiments described below generate two or more write signals that differ in power level. Depending upon which of the write signals is applied to a particular memory cell, the anti-fuse layer of that memory cell is disrupted to a varying extent, and the electrical resistance of that memory cell is programmed accordingly. The contents of the memory cell can be read by applying a voltage across the memory cell and comparing the resulting current with two or more thresholds. In this way, more than two logical states are stored in each memory cell of the array.
The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and they should not be used to limit the scope of the following claims.

Digital memory method and system for storing multiple bit digital data


A method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging of Doppler energy-related parameters is described. An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer for transmitting an ultrasound signal into a body and receiving a reflected ultrasound signal. The system determines the energy of the reflected signal from tissue within the body. Signal processing circuitry determines a Doppler intensity spectrum of the signal reflected from the tissue. The Doppler spectrum represents energy of the tissue-reflected signal as a function of Doppler frequency and time. Integration circuitry integrates the Doppler spectrum over Doppler frequency to determine the energy of the tissue-reflected signal as a function of time for display in strip mode. The system also determines an energy-velocity product. The integration circuitry may comprise circuitry for raising the Doppler intensity spectrum to a power m to generate a first spectral function and for raising a velocity-related function to a power n to generate a first velocity function. The integration circuitry integrates the product of the first spectral function and the first velocity function to determine the energy-velocity product function as a function of time.

In B-mode medical ultrasound imaging, an ultrasound scanner transmits an ultrasound signal into a patient and detects the intensity of the signal reflected from different depths. The scanner thus provides an image of structures within the body. Conventional Doppler imaging goes one step further and detects the velocity of moving tissues and fluids in the direction of the transmitted ultrasound signal. The conventional Doppler ultrasound machine employs two imaging modalities for measuring velocity: color flow imaging and strip Doppler imaging. Ultrasound scanners typically implement strip Doppler imaging in one of three different modes: PW or pulse wave imaging, HPRF or high pulse repetition frequency imaging, and CW or continuous wave imaging. According to the pulse Doppler technique, the ultrasound scanner places a range gate over the region of interest, and interrogates the region with multiple ultrasound pulses. The scanner samples the returning echoes and determines velocities using the Doppler principle. The velocity of the target is calculated and displayed based upon the sampled echoes.
HPRF imaging is similar to PW imaging. The difference is that the imaging system places and receives echoes from multiple range gates within the body. In HPRF mode, echoes from prior transmissions reflected from deep structures within the body are received at the same time as echoes from shallow structures. The system samples the composite echo from all range gates, and displays the frequency spectrum (converted to velocity scale) of the composite echo.
In continuous Doppler imaging, the scanner transmits and receives continuous ultrasound signals to and from the body. The scanner calculates the Doppler frequency spectrum according to continuous-time techniques.
All three strip Doppler imaging modes employ the same display mechanism. The Doppler frequency spectrum is plotted along the ordinate against time along the abscissa. In practice, the frequency axis is converted into a velocity axis using the Doppler equation. Velocity of the target toward and away from the transducer is displayed along the positive and negative halves of the ordinate, respectively. The system modulates the brightness of the pixels in each frequency bin to display the energy of that bin.
In addition to displaying the Doppler frequency spectrum graphically, the ultrasound system typically converts the Doppler frequency information to audio signals. The system distinguishes between the velocity of the target toward and away from the transducer by sending it to different speakers.
Variance is an inherent attribute of all velocity estimates obtained from a Doppler system. The width of the Doppler spectrum is one measure of variance. The spectral width obtained using any of the methods outlined above is due to one or more of many factors, including flow characteristics, signal bandwidth, transit time effects and variance in parameter estimates.
The sensitivity of the Doppler method in measuring the velocity of the target is best if the velocity is parallel to the ultrasound propagation direction. The velocity estimates tend to have a large variance if the angle between the propagation direction and the velocity is larger than sixty degrees. In those situations, velocity estimates are not good indicators of the presence of flow.
Further, the amount of flow is not readily apparent from the conventional strip display mechanism discussed above. As an example, if there are two plug flows that are identical in velocity and different in flow volume, this difference would be difficult to perceive, especially if the difference in volume is small. In that instance, both flows would cause the same frequency or velocity band to be bright and the resulting small difference in brightness would be the only indication of the difference between the two flows.
Audio processing of Doppler information also has the same disadvantages listed above. If the velocity estimates experience a wide variance, the audio output will be noisy. Furthermore, the strength of the audio output is no indication of the amount of flow in conventional systems.
To overcome these problems, some ultrasound systems employ Doppler techniques to measure reflected energy or power. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,987, issued to Shiba, describes an ultrasound system for measuring the backscattering power of blood. Shiba employs high pass filtering and thresholding to eliminate reflections from slow-moving structures, such as tissue. The Shiba system displays the intensity of the echo signal by varying the brightness of a gray scale image or the hue of a color display, or as a three dimensional plot of Doppler spectrum against frequency and time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,788, issued to Arenson, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, provides a Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) system that produces a color Doppler image of moving tissue representing estimates of velocity and reflected energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,710, issued to Maslak, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a color Doppler imaging system that processes Doppler-shifted echoes into blood flow information, including velocity, variance and power. Further, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/691,204, entitled "Imaging Modality Showing Energy and Velocity," and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a color Doppler imaging system having a mixed mode in which luminance is a function of the product of the velocity and the energy of the echo signal. All of the patents, applications and other references discussed herein are incorporated by reference herein.
One disadvantage of color display techniques is that the display frame rate is relatively slow with respect to the cardiac cycle. Further, because of the relatively low number of samples used to compute Doppler shift, color systems exhibit a relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing more flexibility in the diagnostic parameters available in ultrasound machines implementing other display modes.
Further, the invention has potential advantages over another imaging technique--integrated backscatter imaging. This imaging technique is generally used for estimating the echo-density over a region of integration. B-mode information is integrated over a region and displayed instead of the usual echo intensity. The principle behind this technique is the assumption that the energy reflected from a region is related to the density of the reflecting medium at that location. A corollary mode currently exists whereby the integrated backscatter information can be obtained via Doppler processing through the use of Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) in the energy mode.

Doppler energy-related parameters in an ultrasound imaging system