In a digital filter, data is received through an input path, and data in the filter is transported to an output through an output path. At least one delay element is disposed on the input path, and at least another delay element is disposed on the output path. The specific positions of the delay elements on the respective paths are selected to yield an optimal combination of filter parameters including the maximum computation delay, cost, and power consumption of the filter.

Digital filters are commonly employed in signal processing applications. FIG. 1 shows a finite impulse response (FIR) filter in a well-known direct form. As shown in FIG. 1, filter 100 comprises multipliers 103a through 103e having five taps with filter weights or tap coefficients, w.sub.0 through w.sub.4, respectively. These filter weights represent multiplicands to be multiplied by input data traversing input path 101. In accordance with the direct form, delay elements 105a through 105d, which may be shift registers, are inserted on input path 101 and each disposed between two multipliers. In addition, adders 107a through 107d are disposed on output path 111 and each connected at the output of a multiplier. With such an arrangement, the z-transform of the output of filter 100, Y.sub.100 (z), is: EQU Y.sub.100 (z)=w.sub.0 +w.sub.1 z.sup.-1 +w.sub.2 z.sup.-2 +w.sub.3 z.sup.-3 +w.sub.4 z.sup.-4. (1)
In high-speed signal processing applications, the direct form filter is not desirable in that its critical path, corresponding to the maximum computation delay in generating an output, includes many computational elements contributing to the delay. For example, the critical path of filter 100 includes five computational elements, namely, multiplier 103e, and adders 107a-d on output path 111. Furthermore, this computation delay increases with the number of taps in the direct form filter.
However, use of digital filters in a transpose form overcomes the above computation delay problem. FIG. 2 shows FIR filter 200 in the transpose form. The z-transform of the output of filter 200, Y.sub.200 (z), is: EQU Y.sub.200 (z)=w.sub.0 +w.sub.1 z.sup.-1 +w.sub.2 z.sup.-2 +w.sub.3 z.sup.-3 +w.sub.4 z.sup.-4. (2)
By comparing expression (2) with expression (1), one realizes that filter 200 has the same transfer function as filter 100. However, unlike filter 100, no delay element is disposed on input path 201 in filter 200. Rather, in accordance with the transpose form, delay elements 205a through 205d are disposed on output path 211 and each inserted between multiplier/adder pairs. This being so, the critical path in filter 200 includes a multiplier and an adder, resulting in the maximum computation delay incurred by a multiplication and an addition. Furthermore, such computation delay does not depend on the length, or the number of taps, of filter 200.
Nonetheless, one of the drawbacks of a transpose form filter is that the multipliers in the filter present a substantial capacitive load at the filter input, resulting in a significant input delay and a substantial level of power consumption. Power consumption becomes a major issue when it affects the choice of packaging for the filters, and the packaging becomes expensive if it is required to dissipate heat efficiently. Furthermore, the capacitive load increases with the number of filter taps, thus requiring use of buffers to provide an amount of charge proportional to the number of taps.
Another drawback of a transpose form filter is that because the delay elements are disposed on the output path of the filter, these delay elements, typically shift registers, are relatively large, with respect to those in a direct form filter, to accommodate the relatively long bit strings representing sums of products on the output path. Such large delay elements are relatively expensive, and contribute more power consumption in the filter.
Another type of FIR filter employs the well-known systolic architecture. Representative W1 and W2 systolic FIR filters are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. Among other things, systolic filters are desirable in that they are arranged in a pipeline (or modular) form and comprise a number of structurally identical modules. Each module in the respective filter is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by a dashed box enclosing the module. Since the modules are independent of one another, the layouts of the W1 and W2 systolic filters simply involve an assembly of identical predefined modules.
Like the transpose form filters, the computation delay of the systolic filters is independent of the number of filter taps. However, additional delay elements have been inserted in the systolic filters to reduce both the computation delay and input capacitive load. The undesirable effect occasioned by these additional delay elements is apparent from examining the z-transforms of the respective systolic filter outputs. The z-transform of the W1 systolic filter output, Y.sub.W1, is: EQU Y.sub.w1 (z)=z.sup.-1 (w.sub.0 +w.sub.1 z.sup.-2 +w.sub.2 z.sup.-4 +w.sub.3 z.sup.-6 +w.sub.4 z.sup.-8). (3)
From expression (3), the factor z.sup.-1 indicates that the latency of the W1 systolic filter output equals a clock cycle. That is, it takes a clock cycle after the data is input to the filter to obtain the corresponding filter output. Although the latency of a clock cycle may be tolerable, the remaining expression, w.sub.0 +w.sub.1 z.sup.-2 +w.sub.2 z.sup.-4 +w.sub.3 z.sup.-6 +w.sub.4 z.sup.-8, which is a function of z.sup.-2, presents a more challenging problem in a high-speed signal processing application. In order to maintain the input data bit rate, the clock rate at which the filter operates must be double the input rate. This is challenging because the input rate is already very high in the high-speed application.
Turning to the W2 systolic filter of FIG. 4, the z-transform of the filter output, Y.sub.W2, is: EQU Y.sub.W2 (z)=z.sup.-5 (w.sub.0 +w.sub.1 z.sup.-1 +w.sub.2 z.sup.-2 +w.sub.3 z.sup.-3 +w.sub.4 z.sup.-4). (4)
From expression (4), the factor z.sup.-5 indicates that the latency of the filter output equals five clock cycles. In general, the latency of a W2 systolic filter output equals N clock cycles, where N is the number of filter taps. In many signal processing applications, such large latency is simply unacceptable.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a digital filter design characterized by a short computation delay and latency, low power consumption, and an inexpensive and uncomplicated construction.

Zero-latency pipeline architecture for digital filters


A composition comprising Human Serum Albumin and an Amino Acid Solution, a method of making the same, and a method for use, including treating acute hypovolemia due to any number of medical conditions due to sepsis with shock, hemorrhagic shock, hypovolemic shock, burn injury, capillary leak syndrome, hypoalbuminemia, nephritic syndrome, or multi-organ failure with third space fluid loss from any other medical disease.

Human Serum Albumin is a Human blood derived product that is used to treat "Hypovolemia" as a blood replacer. Hypovolemia basically means low blood volume. "Hypo" means "low", "vol" is for volume, and "emia" refers to blood. Symptoms of hypovolemia may include cold hands and feet, lightheadedness, infrequent urination, increased heart rate, and weakness. Current estimate of use reports the current total volume of 450 metric tons of Human Serum Albumin is used world wide each year. Multiple products are under investigation as blood replacement products. Hetastarch, glycosolated hemoglobin. Polyethelene Glycol Modified Albumen, and Dextran compounds are some products that are currently used despite the limitations and complications associated with each product. Therefore, volume expansion or volume replacement with Human Serum Albumin continues to be a mainstay of current medical therapy.
A problem of displacement of albumin quite rapidly into the extracellular space limits the effectiveness and the benefit is therefore relatively short lived. This short half-life is a major problem especially if vascular integrity is compromised as the albumin leak may even exacerbate the extracellular space accumulation of water.
Extensive medical research about the effects of albumin is available. Likewise, extensive research is also available for basic amino acid solutions. Patterns and criteria for preparation and infusion of both components are well known.
Published U.S. Patent Application No. 200050187139 discloses a composition comprising an albumin-based coloid composition having at least one protected thiol region, method of making the same, and method for use, including treating hopovolemic conditions such as capillary leak syndrome and shock. One aspect of the application relates to a composition comprising an albumin-based colloid composition. In one aspect, the albumin-based colloid composition is modified such that its hydrodynamic radius is sufficiently large to preclude its leaking through the capillaries while retaining its oncotic properties and its ability to bind ligands such as sodium ions, fatty acids, drugs, and bilirubin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,193 to Nakamura et al. discloses an albumin preparation containing amino acids.


To provide a display device that gives a viewer a strong stereoscopic effect or sense of depth or a natural stereoscopic effect or sense of depth in a two-dimensional image, a display device including a display portion having a curved surface is provided. The display portion may be bent in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. Alternatively, the display portion may have a convex surface or a concave surface on a display surface side. The display device may include a frame portion. A display device including a frame portion and a display portion which has a display surface on a frame portion side, is located so as to be apart from the frame portion with a distance therebetween, and has a curved surface, in which the display portion overlaps with an opening of the frame portion, and an end portion of the display portion overlaps with the frame portion, is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a display device, a semiconductor device, and a light-emitting device.
Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above technical field. One embodiment of the invention disclosed in this specification and the like relates to an object, a method, and a manufacturing method. In addition, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. Specifically, examples of the technical field of one embodiment of the present invention disclosed in this specification include a display device, a semiconductor device, a light-emitting device, a power storage device, a storage device, an electronic device, a lighting device, an input device (e.g., a touch sensor), an output device, an input/output device (e.g., a touch panel), a driving method thereof, and a manufacturing method thereof
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of display devices ranging from large display devices such as television receivers to small display devices such as cellular phones are put on the market. As higher value added products, display devices capable of displaying stereoscopic images have been actively developed to provide more realistic images.
Physiological factors in recognition of objects as stereoscopic objects by humans are binocular parallax, convergence, focus slide, motion parallax, object size, spatial layout, contrast, shading, and the like.
For example, a display device that displays a stereoscopic image using binocular disparity is known. Such a display device is configured to display, on one screen, an image to be seen from the position of the left eye of a viewer (an image for left eye) and an image to be seen from the position of the right eye of the viewer (an image for right eye). The viewer sees the image for left eye with the left eye and the image for right eye with the right eye and is thus allowed to see a stereoscopic image.
As one example of display devices using eyeglasses, there is a display device which displays an image for left eye and an image for right eye alternately on a screen in synchronization with a shutter provided in eyeglasses, whereby the left eye of a viewer is allowed to see only the image for left eye and the right eye of the viewer is allowed to see only the image for right eye. Thus, the viewer can see a stereoscopic image.
Furthermore, in a display device using a parallax barrier which allows a viewer to see a stereoscopic image with naked eyes, a screen is divided into a plurality of regions for left eye and a plurality of regions for right eye (e.g., strip-like regions) arranged side by side. A parallax barrier is provided to overlap with the boundaries of the regions. On the divided screen, an image for left eye and an image for right eye are displayed at the same time. With the parallax barrier, the regions for displaying the image for right eye are hidden from the left eye of a viewer and the regions for displaying the image for left eye are hidden from the right eye of the viewer; consequently, the left eye is allowed to see only the image for left eye and the right eye is allowed to see only the image for right eye. Thus, the viewer can see a stereoscopic image.
Note that a display device including a switchable parallax barrier for achieving switching between a two-dimensional image display mode and a stereoscopic image display mode is known (Patent Document 1).
In addition, a light-emitting element using an electroluminescence (hereinafter also referred to as EL) phenomenon is also known. This light-emitting element is a self-luminous type; therefore, high contrast and high speed of response to an input signal are achieved. Furthermore, a display device to which this light-emitting element is applied and which consumes low power, is manufactured in a simple process, and is easily adapted to the increase in definition and the size of a substrate is known (Patent Document 2).

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A hypodermic syringe and needle disposal container ("disposal container") is disclosed. The disposal container comprises a plastic hinged case sized for encasing the majority of sizes of hypodermic syringes, with needles. Two securing tabs, opposite the hinge, secure the case in the closed position, thus securing the contents in the disposal container and preventing any contact with the secured contents by the handler. The disposal containers further includes a seal along its interior border for inhibiting fluids from leaking from the container. The disposal containers are retrieved by messengers for disposal in designated sites.

The present invention relates generally to the safe disposal of hypodermic syringes and needles. In the past, medical personnel and others, in the course of using and disposing of hypodermic syringes with needles, have suffered needle stick injuries which have presented serious health problems. Diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS may be transmitted by needle stick injuries. These diseases can lead to serious health problems, even the possibility of death. In recent years due to the increasing threat of AIDS, medical personnel who have contact with hypodermic syringes with needles must take increasing care to insure their safety.
An existing method used for protecting the handler from possible needle stick accidents from hypodermic syringes with needles is through the use of the protective sheath which is typically provided for covering the hypodermic syringe needle prior to the use of the syringe. With non-retractable syringes, the protective sheath could be used to recover the needle after use. Unfortunately, such use causes an inherent risk of a needle stick injury due to the possible careless or improper handling of the needle or sheath, especially reinstalling the sheath over the needle. Moreover, the United States Center for Disease Control guidelines now recommend against the recapping of syringes with the needle sheaths after use.
Another existing method used to minimize the risk of needle stick injuries is the use of a retractable syringe. A retractable syringe retracts and retains the possibly contaminated needle into the barrel of the syringe, and thus, protectively isolates the needle from further human contact. However, it is possible for some retractable syringes to leak contaminated fluids or residue through the opening where the needle is retracted into the syringe barrel. If excess contaminated fluids or residue leak, there is a risk of the contaminating virus or bacteria contaminating other medical tools or equipment in the area, and possibly infecting persons who subsequently come into contact with such tools, equipment, or the syringe. This existing risk of exposure to contaminated material gives rise to the need for further syringe and needle disposal protection.
Others have conceived and prepared models of the idea of a rigid, opaque, plastic case made up of identical sides to hold a single size hypodermic syringe and needle. The plastic case has a hinge, and there are multiple protuberances on one side to be received by openings on the other side.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safe method of disposal for used hypodermic syringes with needles through use of a disposal container which is secured by tabs which are not easily reopened, securing the contents inside the disposal container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposal container which will hold the majority of sizes of syringe and needle configurations available to medical and veterinary personnel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of disposal of the hypodermic syringe and needle by including a well closure cover which will inhibit the leaking of contaminated fluids or residue which may happen to leak out of the syringe barrel or needle after use.
It is another object of the present invention to encase a hypodermic syringe and needle in such a fashion where it is unlikely that the syringe and/or needle may shift sufficiently to breach the disposal container in any manner, at any time during the transportation or disposal of the container and its contents.


The invention relates to a stent for transluminal implantation in a hollow organ, comprising a plurality of circumferentially interconnected stent members forming at least two chains. The chains are linked together via several intermediate members having at least a section disposed at a slant angle relative to the stent longitudinal axis, in order to compensate, at least partly, for the longitudinal shortening upon expansion of the stent. This longitudinal shortening, occurring during stretching of the stent, is reduced owing to the provision, between the chains which are close to the first stent members and linked by intermediate members, of at least one other stent member having a higher elastic deformability than the first stent members.

This invention relates to a stent for the transluminal implantation in tubular organs, especially blood vessels, the said stent comprising
an essentially tubular body which is modifiable from a compressed state having a first given diameter to an expanded state with an enlarged diameter,
a first set of several circumferentially connected basic expansion elements forming at least two chains,
several intermediate elements which serve to connect expansion elements of neighboring chains and which incorporate at least one section extending at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the stent so as to compensate at least in part for the reduction in length of the stent upon its expansion.
A stent of this type has been described in EP 734 698 A2 and is used for the reopening of. pathologically changed tubular organs such as blood vessels. By way of an insertion catheter the compressed stent is introduced to the target area within the tubular organ where it is then expanded for instance by means of a special balloon catheter. The stent will remain in position in its expanded state, supporting the wall of the vessel in a manner that essentially restores the original form of the vessel. While in its compressed state the stent should be as slim as possible so as to facilitate its passage to the target area, its expanded state, by contrast, should be such that the forces generated by the expansion of the vessel can be reliably transferred yet leave the latter as flexible as possible, requirements for a stent which tend to be mutually contradictory. To compensate for the reduction in length as the stent is expanded, a reduction which is undesirable since it hinders accurate placement of the stent, the earlier document already suggests the use of intermediate elements which stretch in the longitudinal direction so that the circumferentially positioned expansion elements of the stent would remain in nearly the same location in both the compressed and the expanded states. These intermediate elements are V- or loop-shaped, permitting appropriate longitudinal expansion as the V or loop is stretched.
Still, that approach fails to adequately minimize linear contraction and the radially extended expansion elements of the stent retain their recoil effect, tending to resile into their compressed position so that in one third of all cases, despite the design concept in question, the vessels treated are blocked again within 6 months after the operation.
DE 295 21 206 U1 describes a stent in which two meander-shaped structures, one extending in the longitudinal and the other in the circumferential direction of the stent, are linked together. Loops between the two structures are designed as the intermediate elements serving to disengage the meander structures from each other. In this case as well, there is the risk of a recoil effect in that, while the loops do indeed separate the structures and to an extent accomplish a compensation for the length reduction, the structures themselves are not expanded past the point of elasticity. Moreover, the amount of structural material involved requires suitably high pressures for expanding the stent, entailing the risk of injury to the vessels.
DE 43 03 181 A1 describes a stent with circumferentially meandering structures which are directly connected only at certain points so as to ensure the necessary flexibility. Since that design does not include any intermediate elements, the stent tends to shorten as it is expanded. Because the individual meandering structures do not provide for a specific permanent expansion, the recoil effect is a factor in this case as well. Due to the evenly distributed pattern of the meandering structures the stent involved as well as those referred to earlier are flared by the so-called xe2x80x9ctrumpet effectxe2x80x9d, i.e. the ends of the stent expand to a larger diameter than does the center section as a result of which the stent is hooked at its ends into the wall of the vessel. Any linear contraction can damage the wall of the vessel, potentially defeating the intended self-healing process of the vessel.
Against the background of such prior art, it is the objective of this invention to provide an enhanced stent of the type mentioned in which any length reduction upon expansion is minimized.
This is accomplished by providing, between the basic expansion elements of neighboring chains connected by intermediate elements, at least one additional expansion element the elastic deformability of which is greater than that of the basic expansion elements.
This stent employs intermediate elements as described in prior art, linked to basic expansion elements. However, positioned between these basic expansion elements is at least one additional expansion element with an elastic deformation coefficient greater than that of the basic expansion elements. The result is a higher level of plastic deformation of the basic expansion elements which in conjunction with the intermediate elements counteracts linear contraction. At the same time, radial expansion is ensured by the more elastic, additional expansion elements which therefore do not have to be fully deformed to the plastic level, thus retaining the necessary support strength for reliably supporting the wall of the vessel. This in turn requires no or only very little circumferential overexpansion, thus minimizing the recoil effect and consequently any complications, repeat procedures and new blockages. Overall, this stent is therefore extremely economical.


A method to improve the frequency resolution and phase noise of a synthesized RF signal results in superior instantaneous frequency change and phase modulation capability, wide frequency set ability, and suitability for implementation in a digital ASIC. The RF signal synthesis is achieved from a higher reference frequency clock signal using a variable pulse stretching technique. The amount of the pulse stretch in each cycle is set by a phase increment value and is implemented using programmable delay lines. Pulse stretching can be extended beyond one cycle by pulse swallowing, allowing the generation of an RF signal with frequencies from DC up to the input reference frequency. Phase modulation is incorporated by digital control of the phase stretching with the phase modulation bits.

In communication systems an oscillator subsystem is used as a fundamental building block. Oscillators are commonly used for up or down frequency conversion. They are also essential subsystems for direct frequency modulators and many other systems. The quality of a fixed frequency oscillator is most often measured by the frequency accuracy and the phase noise performance. In communication systems the basic RF oscillator is used in conjunction with additional circuitry used to control the frequency of the oscillator. Free running RF oscillators do not have adequate frequency accuracy for most communication system requirements. It is well understood that crystal oscillators provide a high degree of frequency accuracy and phase noise performance. Therefore, it is common in prior art to lock the RF oscillator frequency to a lower frequency crystal oscillator and achieve the desired frequency stability. Some of the other highly sought after qualities include the ability to tune a single oscillator over a wide frequency range with a very fine frequency resolution control, and the ability to change the frequency very rapidly. Further, it is common to add phase modulation to an oscillator by changing the phase of the oscillator versus time. Numerous prior art methods exist for implementing oscillators with varying compromises and limitations. Some of those methods are described below.
The first common method is frequency multiplication wherein lower frequency crystal oscillator signals are converted to higher frequency signals using frequency multiplication. One example of this arrangement is described in detail hereinafter.
The second method uses a phase locked loop (PLL). PLLs are available in a variety of forms such as fixed modulus, dual modulus, and fractional N. Many integrated circuit implementations are available. One example of this arrangement is described in detail hereinafter. So the design objective is to set the loop bandwidth as wide as possible to track out as much close in phase noise as possible. Further out phase noise, outside the loop bandwidth, is limited by the oscillator phase noise characteristic. However, there is a compromise well understood by people skilled in the art. This compromise results from the fact that smaller frequency step size (higher resolution) requires division to a lower common phase detector frequency. A PLL with lower loop bandwidth thus has to be used which consequently degrades the phase noise. Phase modulation is achieved by adding a second control of the VCO frequency. This control will only work if the loop bandwidth is narrow enough to not track out the phase modulation that is added.
The third method is a digital delay lock loop (DLL). This has the advantage that the oscillator is suitable for implementation in an ASIC. A variable delay control is used in conjunction with the phase detector to lock the oscillator frequency to a multiple of the input reference frequency. One example of this arrangement is described in detail hereinafter this method suffers from limitations to the PLL implementation. It also faces additional problems with frequency agility as well as the jitter introduced by the delay lock loop because of mismatched delays. Phase modulation is generally not added to DLLs, but could be added to the reference input or after the loop filter similar to the PLL method.
The fourth method is known as direct digital synthesis (DDS). One example of this arrangement is described in detail hereinafter. This method results in very fine frequency resolution, but produces undesired spurious signals and the output signal frequency is limited by the speed of the DAC. The signal frequency for the DDS is limited to Nyquist frequency which is half of the clock frequency to the DAC. Output signal level drops as the Nyquist frequency is approached. Phase modulation bits are commonly available in DDSs.
A fifth method is through phase interpolation as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,914. This method is limited in its factional capability and still uses a VCO, phase detector, and loop filter. Normal conflict between better phase noise and higher frequency resolution still exists for this method. The addition of phase modulation would have similar limitations to the PLL method.
In phase modulation systems it is understood in the art that it is desirable to control the shape of the phase change. Sudden phase changes result in splatter of energy outside the bandwidth allocated to the signal, and degrades other channels. It is common to digitally generate the phase modulation and shape it using digital filtering such as sin x/x. The resulting digital signal is processed through a Digital to Analog converter (DAC) using a conversion clock that is at least twice the rate of the phase change information. Using a low pass filter commonly referred to as a reconstruction filter, the conversion clock frequency and the aliasing components resulting from the DAC are filtered off to reconstruct the desired baseband signal. Without the reconstruction filter, the baseband signal contains many undesired components. It is understood in the art that the conversion clock generally has to be of significantly higher frequency than the baseband rate in order to produce enough frequency separation between the baseband and the clock/aliasing components. This thereby allows the implementation of a low pass filter with enough rejection to remove the undesired components without adding significant amplitude and group delay to the desired baseband signal. Interpolating DACs that accept a digital baseband signal at a lower rate and multiply the sample rate (conversion clock) by 2 or 4 times are now common. They typically provide an interpolation according to a sin x/x curve to fill in the additional sample values. This simplifies the reconstruction filter and reduces the processing requirements that would be required to produce a higher sampling rate signal. These methods are based on the use of a DAC and require reconstruction filtering of the output to achieve the desired signal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus for fractional RF signal synthesis with phase modulation


A canopy apparatus includes a support assembly extending from an attached bracket configured to be fixed to a bicycle to an attached canopy extending outwardly from the support assembly over the bracket for providing shade or shelter from the Sun and weather conditions, and a caution flag, or increasing the visibility of the canopy apparatus, depending downwardly from the canopy to an intermediate position of the support assembly between the bracket and the canopy. The support assembly includes a plurality of segments releasably secured with lock pins and compression couplings.

People have become increasingly concerned about protecting themselves from the Sun's inherently harmful ultraviolet light. At the same time, more people are spending time outdoors enjoying a variety of outdoor activities to promote an active and healthy lifestyle. One of the most popular recreational activities is bicycling.
Cycling has gained in popularity as a fun sport for adults and kids all over the world. In addition to being pleasurable, cycling even short durations can improve and boost metabolism, promote weight loss, balance, and coordination, strengthen the muscles, and prevent the risk of heart disease. In addition, many people now use bicycling as a means of transportation, whether by necessity or choice.
Although bicycling is a popular recreational activity and for some a regular means of transportation, bicycling inherently exposes riders to the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays in addition to inclement weather conditions. Although skilled artisans have developed a variety of shade structures useful with bicycles, needed is yet another that is easy to install, adjust, that is collapsible for being stored during periods of non-use, and that inexpensive, and that is made to be highly visible for safety purposes.

Canopy apparatus and bicycle formed therewith


A remote management system includes a remote management apparatus and a user interface. The remote management apparatus has an network interface, a computer interface, and a console interface. The network interface is coupled to a first computer via a network. The computer interface is a signal transmitting interface between the remote management apparatus and a second computer. The user interface corresponds to a set of cursor control device and monitor. The user interface provides a plurality of functional options corresponding to a plurality of functions managing the remote management apparatus respectively. The user interface also shows a plurality of steps on the screen needed for the user to perform the function corresponding to the functional option on the remote management apparatus in response to one of functional options selected by the user to guide the user to finish the function interactively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a remote management system and method, and in particular, it relates to a remote management system and method that provides an operation guide wizard to assist users to complete operating instruction of specific functions on remote computers and also provides users with homonyms and synonyms search functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) switches are connected between a user end control console and multiple controlled computers, so that a user may use one set of keyboard, monitor ad mouse to control multiple controlled computers. Over-IP KVM switches, also known as IP-based KVM switches, are a type of KVM switches that have a network interface for users of desktop or laptop computers to control remote computers through computer networks. In addition, over-IP serial-interface management apparatus and power management apparatus also allow desktop or laptop computer users to manage multiple remote serial devices or power supplies of the controlled remote computers.
The above described over-IP KVM switches, over-IP serial-interface management devices and over-IP power management devices all have different properties (hereinafter collectively referred to as "over-IP apparatus"), so they all have their own management interface programs, and users must switch between them to select different types of over-IP apparatus. For example, when a user is operating through an over-IP KVM, if the user wants to control the power supply of the computer controlled by the over-IP KVM, the user must switch to the management interface program of the over-IP power management apparatus. This is often inconvenient in remote management operation.
To solve these problems, recently a remote management apparatus known as "control center" or "command center" has been developed to combine the management interface programs of the three different over-IP apparatus into a single management interface program. An example of such remote power management apparatus is a model number CC2000 control center provided by ATEN International Inc. of Taiwan. The management interface of CC2000 can simultaneously manage all three different types of remote over-IP apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, which illustrates a user end first computer 1 connected through network 2 to an above described control center 3A to control multiple over-IP apparatus 3 and also indirectly visit and control the computers 4a-4c controlled by the multiple over-IP apparatus 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the user end first computer 1 is coupled through network 2 to control center 3A (e.g., CC2000), and through the control center 3A to control multiple over-IP apparatus 3, so the user of the first computer can visit and control multiple remote second computers 4a-4c through over-IP apparatus 3. The monitor of the user end first computer 1 will display the image of the console interface of the remote second computers 4a-4c for the control operations by the user.
However, the number of over-IP apparatus managed by such a remote management apparatus can be over one thousand, which forms a huge and complicated remote management system. For an ordinary user who has not studied in detail the operation guides of the remote management system and the over-IP apparatus, it is hard to understand how to manage the complicated remote management system and utilize the complicated functions of the over-IP apparatus, such as the system configuration set up, backup and restore functions. Moreover, the newer generation over-IP apparatus come with more diverse and complicated functions. Users, particularly novice users, need to spend a lot of time and efforts to memorize the operation process steps of each function before they can comfortably operate and control the remote management systems and over-IP apparatus. For ordinary users this is very inconvenient.

Remote management system and operating method thereof


A digital signal processing device applicable to a signal processing system using a CPU is mainly configured by an external memory and a digital signal processor (i.e., DSP), which are connected together using a data bus and an address bus. The external memory stores multiplier data and coefficient data as well as basic instructions. In the DSP, an ALU calculates addresses for accessing the external memory via the address bus. A bus control unit identifies the multiplier data, coefficient data and basic instructions respectively, which are read from the external memory. The DSP performs calculations containing multiplication using the multiplier data and coefficient data. The DSP is controlled in operations in response to a CPU mode and a DSP mode, one of which is selected by decoding the basic instruction(s) identified by the bus control unit. At the CPU mode, the basic instructions of sixteen bits are subjected to coding to produce high-speed instructions of thirty-two bits for controlling the DSP. At the DSP mode, high-speed instructions, which are stored inside of the DSP, are subjected to consecutive reading and are used for controlling the DSP. Such consecutive reading of the high-speed instructions is started by the basic instruction(s). Thus, it is possible to improve the processing speed and memory use efficiency with respect to the digital signal processing device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital signal processing devices such as digital signal processors (DSP), which are applicable to signal processing systems using central processing systems (CPU).
This application is based on Patent Application No. Hei 10-122188 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some of the conventional digital signal processing devices are designed based on the so-called xe2x80x9cHarvard Architecturexe2x80x9d. This architecture is suitable for the high speed calculations such as multiplication and is designed to have three memories. That is, two memories are used for storing coefficient data and multiplier data which are input to adders and multipliers and are used for addition and multiplication, while one memory is used for storing DSP instructions. The digital signal processing devices employing the aforementioned Harvard architecture have an advantage that speed of digital signal processing can be increased because both of the coefficient data and multiplier data can be simultaneously set to the adders and multipliers.
However, each of the aforementioned digital signal processors requires address spaces independently for the three memories respectively. For this reason, they have disadvantages that a number of address lines becomes large while an area (or size) of a chip should be enlarged. In other words, the three memories cannot mutually exchange the DSP instructions, coefficient data and multiplier data therebetween. So, even if the memory exclusively used for storing the multiplier data runs out vacant space thereof, it is impossible to use vacant space of the memory exclusively used for storing the coefficient data. So, the conventional digital signal processing devices suffer from a problem that a memory use efficiency is not so good.
It is an object of the invention to provide a digital signal processing device which is capable of improving speed of digital signal processing and memory use efficiency and which is applicable to a signal processing system using a CPU.
According to this invention, a digital signal processing device applicable to a signal processing system using a CPU is mainly configured by an external memory and a digital signal processor (i.e., DSP), which are connected together using a data bus and an address bus.
The external memory stores multiplier data and coefficient data as well as basic instructions. In the DSP an ALU calculates addresses for accessing the external memory via the address bus. A bus control unit identifies the multiplier data, coefficient data and basic instructions respectively, which are read from the external memory. The DSP performs calculations containing multiplication using the multiplier data and coefficient data. The DSP is controlled in operations in response to a CPU mode and a DSP mode, one of which is selected by decoding the basic instruction(s) identified by the bus control unit. At the CPU mode, the basic instructions of sixteen bits are subjected to coding to produce high-speed instructions of thirty-two bits for controlling the DSP. At the DSP mode, high-speed instructions, which are stored in an internal memory of the DSP, are subjected to consecutive reading and are used for controlling the DSP. Such consecutive reading of the high-speed instructions is started by the basic instruction(s).
Because the digital signal processing device uses the external memory for storing the multiplier data and coefficient data as well as the basic instructions of sixteen bits while using an internal memory for storing the high-speed instructions of thirty-two bits, it is possible to improve the memory use efficiency. In addition, because the high-speed instructions are subjected to consecutive reading at the DSP mode, it is possible to reduce the access time of the high-speed instructions, in other words, it is possible to avoid reduction of the processing speed of the DSP.


An image pickup apparatus having function for synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts to generate wide dynamic range, synthesized image is provided with: at least two control means among a taking control means based on a normal taking mode, a taking control means based on a forced wide dynamic range taking mode, and a taking control means based on an automatic wide dynamic range taking mode for selectively generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image automatically on the basis of object information or information set for the image taking; and means for selectively setting one image taking mode out of the taking modes respectively corresponding to the two control means. It is thereby possible to take image by selecting one image taking mode from at least two taking modes among the normal taking mode, the forced wide dynamic range taking mode, and the automatic wide dynamic range taking mode.

The present invention relates to image pickup apparatus having a function for obtaining a wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts outputted from an image pickup device.
Solid-state image pickup devices such as CCD image pickup device are generally used in image pickup apparatus as TV camera, video camera, digital camera, etc. There is a problem however that the dynamic range of a solid-state image pickup device is much narrower than that of a silver halide photographic film.
To eliminate this problem, there have been proposed techniques in which image signals corresponding to two frames taken at different exposure amounts are read out from a single image pickup device and are synthesized to obtain an image having increased dynamic range. For example, an image pickup apparatus having the following construction is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2522015. In particular, a disclosure has been made with respect to an image pickup apparatus including: image pickup means for converting object image into electrical signals; image pickup control means for selectively executing a first mode or second mode, said first mode for successively outputting images of different exposure amounts in cycles by cyclically changing charge accumulation time at the image pickup means, image portions at suitable level being synthesized to form a synthesized frame of said predetermined cycle by respectively comparing signal level of each portion of a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts outputted from said image pickup means with a predetermined reference value, said second mode for providing output by using a constant charge accumulation time at said image pickup means; and switch control means for switching the image pickup control means to the first mode when an occurrence of object having a large luminance difference within a frame is detected in said second mode by comparing signals obtained from said image pickup means in said second mode with a predetermined level. This image pickup apparatus, when in the first mode, is capable of obtaining an image of which all the portions of a frame are at suitable signal level. Even when object having a large luminance difference exists within a frame as in a backlighted condition, lack of detail at high level portion thereof for example does not occur within the frame and it is in effect possible to provide a wider dynamic range. Further, without an operator's decision on the conditions of object, etc., it is automatically switched to the first mode by the switch control means when object having a large luminance difference exists within a frame in the second mode, making it possible to automatically correct a backlighted condition, etc.
In the above described image pickup apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2522015, however, switching to the first mode for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image is automatically made when an existence of object having a large luminance difference is detected within a frame which is obtained in the second mode. No consideration has been made therein about a normal image taking mode where the generation of wide dynamic range, synthesized image is automatically prohibited or about a mode for forcing the generation of wide dynamic range, synthesized image. This results in a problem of a reduced operability. Further, there is another problem in the image pickup apparatus as disclosed in the abovementioned publication that, since means for displaying ON/OFF status of the generation processing of wide dynamic range, synthesized image are not provided, it is difficult to identify the switched state of ON/OFF of synthesized image.


A method for preparing an ultrathin Li complex includes the steps of preparing an organic transition layer on a substrate in advance, and contacting the substrate having transition layer with molten Li in argon atmosphere with H2O≤0.1 ppm and O2≤0.1 ppm. The molten Li spreads rapidly on the surface of the substrate to form a lithium thin layer. The ultrathin Li layer stores lithium on the current collector beforehand. It can be used as a safe lithium anode to inhibit dendrites.

With the rapid development of portable electronic equipment and electric vehicles, the performance of lithium-ion batteries in energy storage has been increasingly demanded. Lithium has attracted attention of battery researchers as its extremely high theoretical capacity (3860 mA·h·g−1) and the lowest redox potential, which has becoming the research hotspots in the next-generation secondary batteries. The main obstacles in the commercialization of lithium metal anode are the uneven deposition of lithium and the side reactions between lithium metal and the electrolyte, especially the lithium dendrites caused by the uneven deposition of lithium, which leads to not only a decreased Coulombic efficiency, but also the possibility of punctuation of the separator that causes short-circuit inside the battery, thereby inducing significant safety problems. Therefore, the safety design of lithium metal is of great importance during its application.
The commercial lithium, which still even has a thickness of 50 μm in the thinnest state, was chosen a thickness of 600 μm for cost reasons by universities and other research institutes. With the areal capacity matching of current cathode materials, the areal capacity of commercialized lithium is far excessive. In order to save lithium and solve the problems such as dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency during the cycling of lithium, electrodeposition was adopted to prepare the high-safety lithium anodes by many researchers in recent years. The study shows that the usage of porous current collectors would restrain the lithium dendrite to a certain extent. Some anode materials, such as Si/C materials, are expected to improve their performance if the prelithiation technology is used. The lithium needed in the prelithiation technology is generally thin (˜3 mAh·cm−2, the corresponding thickness is 15 μm). The combination of ultrathin Li metal and Si/C composite materials will make the Si/C anodes have wider application prospects. In addition, it is very important to realize the controllable preparation of ultrathin Li, since making it into a controllable Li layer will facilitate widely use thereof in electronic devices.
At present, the preparation of the lithium ribbon is mainly through the thermal melting method. CN104332586A has disclosed a production method of lithium ribbon, which includes the following steps: pre cooling a separator (S10): lowering the temperature of the separator in advance by a pre-cooling equipment; melting the lithium ingots (S20): increasing the temperature of the lithium ingot with a heating device, so that the solid lithium become molten lithium; coating the molten lithium (S30): applying the molten lithium onto the separator that has been pre-cooled; cooling the separator (S40): further decreasing the temperature of the battery separator coated with molten Li via a cooling device so as to solidify the molten Li into lithium ribbon. Simultaneously, an equipment for preparing lithium ribbon using the above method is also disclosed. By providing a method and equipment for manufacturing lithium ribbon to replace the traditional rolling production of ultrathin lithium ribbon, the problems of lithium ribbon discoloration and unevenness of thickness during the rolling process has been avoided, and thus a simple, efficient and reliable production of lithium ribbon has been achieved. In addition to heating and melting method, the lithium ribbon can also be prepared by electrodeposition. CN106702441A discloses a continuous electrodeposition method for preparing lithium ribbon, and the method comprises the following steps in order: A, pretreatment process: the metal was activated; B, electrodeposition of lithium with a constant current density: the current density was set 5-50 mA/cm2 with time of 0.5-10 s, and then the current density was adjusted to the range of 0.02-1 mA·cm−2 with a deposition time of 1-10 h; C, post-treatment: passivate the metal ribbon after electrodeposition to obtain metal lithium ribbon. The lithium metal ribbon is uniformly dense throughout. By adjusting the current density and the time of dipping into the solution, the thickness of the lithium could be controlled, which makes the process for the lithium ribbon of various thickness easily. However, the electrodeposition condition should be controlled very precisely. Compared with the thermal melting method, the required time is also longer, the process parameters are relatively complex, and the production efficiency is low.
The ultrathin lithium anodes prepared by a thermal melting method are facing the main problem of the poor wettability between molten lithium with many substrates, which limits the large-scale preparation and applications. In order to solve the problem of poor wettability between molten lithium and the substrate, Liang Z. et al. sputtered silicon on the substrate via CVD and used it as a lithiophilic coating to achieve spreading of molten lithium on foam copper and other substrates. Additionally, patent application CN106898753A discloses a silicon coated vertical graphene/lithium metal composite material and its preparation and application. The method comprises the following steps: sputtering a Si modified layer on the surface of vertical aligned graphene by magnetron sputtering technology, and Si@VG composite array structure was obtained, which improves the wettability between vertical graphene array and liquid metal lithium; heating the lithium metal at a temperature above 200° C. to a molten state, then after a full reaction of molten Li with the Si@VG array for 5-30 min, the Si@VG/Li composite lithium anode was obtained. Lin, D et al. realized the molten lithium infusion into the pores of the reduced graphene oxide with the help of O—H, C—H, C—O—C and other functional groups on the surface of the reduced graphene. Patent application CN106784635A discloses a preparation method of the composite lithium anode for solid-state battery. The method comprises infusing or depositing lithium in three-dimensional carbon materials or foamed porous materials to prepare lithium anode composite. Three-dimensional carbon materials and potassium hydroxide were mixed, and then was put into a tubular furnace at a temperature of 800° C. for 1 h under the nitrogen atmosphere, and the functional groups on three-dimensional carbon materials included C═C, C═N, C═O and N═N. Liu, Y. et al. sputter ZnO on the substrate by atomic layer deposition, thereby spread the molten Li onto the substrate via the reaction between ZnO and Li. The methods of ALD and CVD are not only costly but also complicated and tedious. According to the literature, it requires up to 50 times for deposition of ZnO via ALD, which consume serious costs of manpower and material resources. Although it is reported that rGO can directly infuse molten lithium into its internal pores, it is not universally applicable to other substrates, thus presenting a poor design ability. Patent application CN105449165A discloses a Li-rich electrode for lithium-ion battery and a preparation method thereof. During the Li-rich process, since the surface tension of molten lithium is large, the thickness of the Li-rich layer need to be controlled. Ceramic particles are added to the molten lithium, and the ceramic particles serve as pinning points in the molten lithium to prevent the tendency of the molten lithium becoming pellets. The ceramic materials are selected from alumina, titanium dioxide, silica, magnesium oxide, oxide skin, zirconium oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum phosphate etc. The invention has high requirements on the particle size and water content of the ceramic particles. At present, various interphases that have been reported are inorganic coatings, and most of the preparation processes need nanotechnology, such as CVD or ALD, possessing high cost and inconvenient for large-scale preparation. The further development of ultrathin lithium technology can not only solve the waste of lithium resources and security problems from the too thick Li, but also bring flexibly designed of lithium metal anode combining Li with porous collector, which could be used to the prelithiation technology for anodes and achieve controlled ultrathin Li preparation in electronic devices applications via patterning. This is of great significance. As a result, the development of a simple and universal method of preparing ultrathin lithium will have a far-reaching impact in the field of lithium metal batteries.
The present patent creatively coated the substrate with a transition layer of organic compounds to improve the wettability of molten Li on the substrate. Ultrathin Li anodes were obtained via controlling the parameters during the preparation. The obtained ultrathin lithium could not only be used as high safety anode and in prelithiation technology, but also be controllable for ultrathin Li preparation via patterning design to be applicable in electronic devices. The transition layer between the substrate and molten lithium shows universality for many substrates. The preparation process is simple and suitable for large-scale preparation, which has broad application prospects and advantages.    1. Liang, Z.; Lin, D.; Zhao, J.; Lu, Z.; Liu, Y.; Liu, C.; Lu, Y.; Wang, H.; Yan, K.; Tao, X.; Cui, Y, Composite lithium metal anode by melt infusion of lithium into a 3D conducting scaffold with lithiophilic coating. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2016, 113 (11), 2862-2867.    2. Lin, D.; Liu, Y; Liang, Z.; Lee, H. W.; Sun, J.; Wang, H.; Yan, K.; Xie, J.; Cui, Y, Layered reduced graphene oxide with nanoscale interlayer gaps as a stable host for lithium metal anodes. Nat Nanotechnol 2016, 11 (7), 626-632.    3. Liu, Y.; Lin, D.; Liang, Z.; Zhao, J.; Yan, K.; Cui, Y., Lithium-coated polymeric matrix as a minimum volume-change and dendrite-free lithium metal anode. Nat Commun. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10992.

Ultrathin lithium composite and preparation method and use thereof

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


The present invention provides an electrochemical gas sensor for the detection of nitrogen dioxide comprising a housing and a working electrode and a counter electrode disposed within the housing. Each of the working electrode and the counter electrode are fabricated from an electrically conductive carbon. The present sensor also preferably comprises a reference electrode fabricated from an electrically conductive carbon.

In an electrochemical gas sensor, the gas to be measured typically diffuses from the atmosphere into the sensor housing through a gas porous or gas permeable membrane to a working electrode (sometimes called a sensing electrode) where a chemical reaction occurs. A complementary chemical reaction occurs at a second electrode known as a counter electrode (or an auxiliary electrode). The electrochemical sensor produces an analytical signal via the generation of a current arising directly from the oxidation or reduction of the analyte gas (that is, the gas to be detected) at the working and counter electrodes.
To be useful as an electrochemical sensor, a working and counter electrode combination must be capable of producing an electrical signal that is (1) related to the concentration of the analyte and (2) sufficiently strong to provide a signal-to-noise ratio suitable to distinguish between concentration levels of the analyte over the entire range of interest. In other words, the current flow between the working electrode and the counter electrode must be measurably proportional to the concentration of the analyte gas over the concentration range of interest.
In addition to a working electrode and a counter electrode, an electrochemical sensor often includes a third electrode, commonly referred to as a reference electrode. A reference electrode is used to maintain the working electrode at a known voltage or potential. The reference electrode should be physically and chemically stable in the electrolyte and carry the lowest possible current to maintain a constant potential.
Electrical connection between the working electrode and the counter electrode is maintained through an electrolyte. The primary functions of the electrolyte are: (1) to efficiently carry the ionic current; (2) to solubilize the analyte gas; (3) to support both the counter and the working electrode reactions; and (4) to form a stable reference potential with the reference electrode. The primary criteria for an electrolyte include the following: (1) electrochemical inertness; (2) ionic conductivity; (3) chemical inertness; (4) temperature stability; (5) low cost; (6) low toxicity; (7) low flammability; and (8) appropriate viscosity.
Electrochemical gas sensors of the type discussed above are generally disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,132,616, 4,324,632, 4,474,648; and in European Patent Application No. 0 496 527 A1. A comprehensive discussion of electrochemical gas sensors is also provided in a paper by Cao, Z. and Stetter, J. R., entitled "Amperometric Gas Sensors," the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In general, the electrodes of an electrochemical cell provide a surface at which an oxidation or a reduction reaction occurs to provide a mechanism whereby the ionic conduction of the electrolyte solution is coupled with the electron conduction of the electrode to provide a complete circuit for a current. It is generally believed that the half cell reactions of the working electrode and the counter electrode, respectively, for nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2) electrochemical gas sensors (using H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 as the electrolyte) are as follows: EQU NO.sub.2 +2H.sup.+ +2e.sup.- .revreaction.NO+H.sub.2 O EQU H.sub.2 O.revreaction.1/2O.sub.2 +2H.sup.+ +2e.sup.-
The above reactions result in the following net cell reaction: EQU NO.sub.2 .revreaction.NO+1/2O.sub.2
The measurable current arising from the above cell reaction is directly proportional to the rate of reaction. Preferably, therefore, a high reaction rate is maintained in the electrochemical cell. For this reason, the counter electrode and/or the working electrode of the electrochemical cell generally comprise an appropriate electrocatalyst on the surface thereof to enhance the reaction rate. If the reaction rate of either half cell reaction is impeded, resulting in a low exchange current density, the equilibrium current of the electrochemical cell may be easily perturbed during measurement. Such deviation can result in undesirable side reactions and/or nonlinear behavior over the range of nitrogen dioxide concentrations desired to be detected.
The phrase "exchange current density" as used in connection with the present invention refers generally to the normalized exchange current or exchange current per unit area. The exchange current is generally defined as the level of balanced faradaic activity or net chemical change occurring at an electrode when the net current is zero. The exchange current is proportional to the native rate at which either, or in the ideal case, both, the anodic and cathodic reactions occur for a given chemical species at an electrode. The lower the exchange current density, the more sluggish is the electrode reaction, and the more difficult it is to obtain useful output from the system. On the other hand, the larger the exchange current, the faster the electrode reaction occurs. At high exchange currents, large currents can be supplied by the system with ease. "The exchange current can be viewed as a kind of `idle speed` for charge exchange across the electrode-electrolyte interface." Bard, A. J. and Faulkner, L. R., Electrochemical Methods, Fundamentals and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 100-107 (1980).
To achieve adequate exchange current density in existing electrochemical sensors for detecting nitrogen dioxide, the counter electrode generally comprises an electrocatalyst such as, for example, platinum (Pt) or iridium (Ir), suitable to catalyze the oxidation reaction occurring at that electrode. Such an electrochemical sensor is presently available, for example, from City Technology of Portsmouth, England. In the City Technology sensor (that is, the Nitrogen Dioxide CiTicel), the working and reference electrodes are fabricated from carbon, while the counter electrode comprises a Pt electrocatalyst.
As somewhat evident from the above discussion, the type, rate, and efficiency of the chemical reactions within an electrochemical gas sensor are controlled, in significant part, by the material(s) used to make the working electrode and counter electrode. Indeed, extensive research efforts are expended to develop improved working electrodes, counter electrodes and electrochemical systems generally. See Cao, supra, at 49. As part of these efforts, manufacturers of electrochemical sensors continuously attempt to simplify the manufacturing process and to reduce the costs involved therein, while maintaining suitable sensor performance specifications.
It is desirable, therefore, to develop new electrodes and electrode combinations for use in electrochemical gas sensors for the detection of nitrogen dioxide which achieve the above-referenced goals.

Electrochemical gas sensor for the detection of nitrogen dioxide


A rotating air conditioner apparatus and method comprising an elongated shaft, whereby one or more of a condenser coil, an evaporator coil, and a compressor rotate around the elongated shaft. In one embodiment, balancing weights rotate with the shaft and are positioned to prevent uneven rotation of rotating air conditioner during operation. The evaporator and condenser contain a plurality of fins and/or fan blades and coils for refrigerant. Inlets and/or adjustably directed outlets on the evaporator and/or the condenser provide for circulation of air through the rotating air conditioner apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to air conditioner systems and apparatuses, and more specifically to an electronic rotating air conditioner apparatus.
2. Background of the Invention
There are many different types of air conditioning systems, including through-the wall window-unit systems, split-system central air conditioners, portable air conditioners, automotive air conditioners, and the like. However, all air conditioner systems generally contain four primary components: a motor driven compressor, a condenser, a metering device, and an evaporator. Moreover, virtually all air conditioners are heavy and bulky.
These components work in conjunction to remove heat and humidity from the surrounding air, creating a cooler ambient temperature of the surrounding air. The compressor, driven by the motor, acts to pump refrigerant from the evaporator to the condenser and pressurizes the refrigerant. The condenser turns the refrigerant vapor into a condensed liquid refrigerant by running the vapor through condenser coils, thereby removing any latent heat. The metering device acts to limit the flow of liquid refrigerant to the evaporator, consequently lowering the pressure of the refrigerant. As the low pressure liquid refrigerant enters the evaporator, it absorbs heat and then vaporizes into the evaporator coils. This cycle continues until a thermostat senses that the air temperature is at a desired temperature, and disengages the air conditioner system.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 depict diagrams of two common prior art air conditioners systems often encountered. Stationary air conditioner 300 is a general configuration for a window air conditioner. Relay thermostat switch 310 controls compressor motor 312 through electric line 328 and controls fan motor 320 by way of electric line 311. A refrigerant such as Freon flows between evaporator 322 and condenser 316, changing states between gas and liquid. The Freon flows through high pressure lines 314, 318 and low pressure line 324. Evaporator 322 and condenser 316 are stationary. Blower 330 and fan motor 320 circulate the conditioned air as it passes through evaporator 322. Condenser 316 may also comprise a blower and cooling fins.
Air conditioner 400 for use in a vehicle similarly uses stationary evaporator 428 and condenser 420 as depicted in FIG. 4. Relay thermostat switch 410 controls clutch 414 electrically by electric line 411. Power to clutch 414 is provided by pulleys 415, 416 and belt 417 operably connected to a motor in the vehicle. Blower 426 is controlled by electric motor 424, connected to relay thermostat switch 410 by electric line 408. Evaporator 428 and condenser 420 are relatively heavy, increasing the weight of the vehicle.
The following patents discuss background art related to the above discussed subject matter:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,081 to Justice, issued Feb. 9, 1960 discloses a rotating air conditioner without internal mechanical parts comprising three concentric rings, or containers, each acting as one of a condenser-compressor, an evaporator, and a reservoir for refrigerant. Interconnecting conduits allow these functions to operate without independent valves or moving parts. Internal power to flow liquid radially outward from the reservoir was furnished by centrifugal force when the entire structure was rotated by a motor or otherwise. The liquid flowed through a conduit into the compressor where it accumulated and pressurized the gas to liquefy. The low pressure caused by the liquid leaving the reservoir was effective through another conduit to draw gas from the evaporator ring or container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,400 to Gray, issued Dec. 28, 1976, discloses a unique rotary hermetic heat pipe is disclosed for transferring heat from an external source to an external heat sink. The heat pipe has a tapered condensing surface which is curved preferably to provide uniform pumping acceleration, the heat pipe being rotated at a velocity such that the component of centrifugal acceleration in an axial direction parallel to the tapered surface is greater than 1G and so that the condensing surface is kept relatively free of liquid at any attitude. The heat pipe may be incorporated in an air conditioning apparatus so that it projects through a small wall opening. In the preferred air conditioning apparatus, a hollow hermetic air impeller is provided which contains a liquefied gaseous refrigerant, such as Freon, and means are provided for compressing the refrigerant in the evaporator region of the heat pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,808 to Rock et al., issued Mar. 9, 1999, discloses a rotating heat exchanger. A rotating heat exchanger has a first air turbine connected to a first end of an axle. The second end of the axle is connected to a second air turbine. A heat pipe extends from the first air turbine to the second air turbine, providing for a heat exchanger that does not need external power.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,585 to Kelm et al., issued Jun. 8, 2004, discloses an electric air conditioner system. The electric air conditioner system includes a compressor, an engine and an electric motor. The engine and the electric motor selectively rotate the compressor. When the engine is rotating the compressor and the engine stops, the electric motor is synchronously activated to maintain continuous rotation of the compressor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,981 to Ueda et al., issued Sep. 17, 2002, discloses an air passage controlling system for selecting an air outlet mode of an air conditioning apparatus includes a driving shaft, an intermediate shaft, a driven shaft and a film door disposed between the shafts. The film door has a door opening through which air flows, and is disposed inside an air duct to be opposite to a duct opening of the air duct. The duct opening is opened and closed by moving the film door to select an air outlet mode. The driving shaft and the driven shaft are respectively connected to a driving pulley and a driven pulley which are linked via a wire. The driving shaft is rotated by a DC motor, and a rotation angle of the driving shaft is detected by a multi-rotation type potentiometer. The DC motor is controlled by an ECU according to the detected rotation angle of the driving shaft so that the film door is moved to a set position. Thus, due to the potentiometer, a low-priced DC motor is employed for the air passage controlling system instead of a high-priced step motor, resulting in cost reduction of the system.
There exists a need for a more lightweight and compact air conditioner. Consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate the present invention.


In some embodiments, a method for generating a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal in response to a horizontal B-format signal by performing a mixing operation. In other embodiments, a method for generating a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal, including steps of generating microphone output signals (by capturing sound with a microphone array), and performing a mixing operation on the microphone output signals, where the mixing operation is equivalent to generating a horizontal B-format signal in response to the microphone output signals, and generating the matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal in response to the horizontal B-format signal. The microphone array is typically a small array of cardiod microphones (e.g., an array consisting of three cardiod microphones). Other aspects include systems (e.g., encoders) programmed or otherwise configured to perform any embodiment of the method for generating a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and systems for generating a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal, in response to a horizontal B-format signal, or in response to the output signals of a microphone array.
2. Background of the Invention
Throughout this disclosure, including in the claims, the term "render" denotes the process of converting an audio signal (e.g., a multi-channel audio signal) into one or more speaker feeds (where each speaker feed is an audio signal to be applied directly to a loudspeaker or to an amplifier and loudspeaker in series), or the process of converting an audio signal into one or more speaker feeds and converting the speaker feed(s) to sound using one or more loudspeakers. In the latter case, the rendering is sometimes referred to herein as rendering "by" the loudspeaker(s).
Throughout this disclosure, including in the claims, the terms "speaker" and "loudspeaker" are used synonymously to denote any sound-emitting transducer. This definition includes loudspeakers implemented as multiple transducers (e.g., woofer and tweeter).
Throughout this disclosure, including in the claims, the expression performing an operation "on" signals or data (e.g., filtering, scaling, or transforming the signals or data) is used in a broad sense to denote performing the operation directly on the signals or data, or on processed versions of the signals or data (e.g., on versions of the signals that have undergone preliminary filtering prior to performance of the operation thereon).
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the expression "system" is used in a broad sense to denote a device, system, or subsystem. For example, a subsystem that implements an encoder may be referred to as an encoder system (or an encoder), and a system including such a subsystem (e.g., a system that generates X output signals in response to multiple inputs, in which the subsystem generates M of the inputs and the other X-M inputs are received from an external source) may also be referred to as an encoder system (or an encoder).
Throughout this disclosure including in the claims, the verb "includes" is used in a broad sense to denote "is or includes," and other forms of the verb "include" are used in the same broad sense. For example, the expression "a filter which includes a feedback filter" (or the expression "a filter including a feedback filter") herein denotes either a filter which is a feedback filter (i.e., does not include a feedforward filter), or filter which includes a feedback filter (and at least one other filter).
A matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal can be rendered (typically, including by performing a decoding operation thereon) by a speaker array to produce a multi-channel sound field. For example, one type of matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal can be decoded to determine N (where N is greater than two) audio channels for rendering by a speaker array (e.g., an array of N speakers).
Matrix encoding is a method for mixing one or more (e.g., two, three, four, or five) source audio signals into a pair of encoded audio signals, such that each source signal is mixed into the encoded signals according to directional encoding rules. The directional encoding rules operate on the assumption that there is a source azimuth angle θ associated with each source audio signal, where θ is defined as in FIG. 1. Specifically, the source shown in FIG. 1 is the source of an audio signal having the time-varying audio waveform "SourceSig" which is received by a microphone array (e.g., a single microphone) or listener at the origin of the indicated X-Y coordinate system. In FIG. 1, positive values along the X-axis correspond to positions in front of the listener (or microphone array), and azimuth θ is measured anticlockwise from the X-axis.
The directional rules that must be satisfied to generate a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal can be expressed in terms of a simple set of instructions as follows:
1. The matrix-encoded audio signals are referred to as left channel signal Lt and right channel signal Rt (a matrix-encoded pair of audio signals). To generate a matrix-encoded audio signal indicative of a source audio signal having the time-varying audio waveform, SourceSig, and source azimuth, θ, the source audio signal should be mixed into the Lt and Rt signals with a pair of encoder gains (GLt, and GRt, which are functions of θ), such that:Lt=GLt(θ)×SourceSig,  (1)Rt=GRt(θ)×SourceSig, and  (2)|GLt|2+|GRt|2=1.  (3)Equation (3) is sometimes referred to as the constant power rule. Note that, in keeping with common nomenclature, the gains (GLt and GRt) may be complex valued, where the argument of the complex gain corresponds to a phase-shift in the mixing operation;
2. Any source audio signal that has a source azimuth of 0° (θ=0), corresponding to the centre-front channel of a multi-channel audio stream, for example, should be encoded into the Lt and Rt signals with encoder gains satisfying GLt=GRt;
3. Any source audio signal that has a source azimuth of 90° (θ=π/2), corresponding to the left channel of a multi-channel audio stream, for example, should be encoded into the Lt and Rt signals with encoder gains satisfying |GLt|=1 and GRt=0;
4. Any source audio signal that has a source azimuth of −90° (θ=−π/2), corresponding to the right channel of a multi-channel audio stream, for example, should be encoded into the Lt and Rt signals with encoder gains satisfying GLt=0 and |GRt|=1; and
5. Any source audio signal that has a source azimuth of 180° (θ=π), corresponding to the centre-rear channel of a multi-channel audio stream, for example, should be encoded into the Lt and Rt signals with encoder gains satisfying GLt=GRt.
It can be shown that the above rules can be satisfied by using gain values (each a function of source azimuth θ) defined as follows:GLt=ejΦ(θ)×cos(θ/2−π/4), and  (4)GRt=ejΦ(θ)×cos(θ/2+π/4),  (5)where Φ(θ) is an arbitrary real valued function defined over the interval −π<θ≦π.
The function Φ(θ) effectively applies an azimuth-dependent phase shift to the Lt and Rt signals equally. Note that a Matrix Decoder operates by examining the relative amplitude and phase of the Lt and Rt signals, but has no way of detecting a bulk phase shift that has been applied equally to both Lt and Rt. Hence, the general case for matrix-encoded signals includes this Φ(θ) term.
Another audio signal format is the horizontal B-format. Similar to the way that matrix-encoded signals may be defined in terms of azimuth-dependent gain functions GLt(θ) and GRt(θ) (and a source signal waveform, SourceSig), a horizontal B-format signal (indicative of a source audio signal having waveform, SourceSig, and azimuth θ) is defined herein as being composed of three audio signals, W, X and Y, as follows:W=SourceSig,  (6)X=cos θ×SourceSig,  (7)Y=sin θ×SourceSig.  (8)Some authors define the W signal with a reduced amplitude, as
      W    =                  1                  2                    ×      SourceSig        ,but that definition is not used herein. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill that the present invention applies to B-format signals with alternative scaling of their audio signal components, without loss of generality.
A variety of methods are known for recording an acoustic performance (or other acoustic event) in the form of a B-format signal.
Gerzon proposed (in M. A. Gerzon, "Ambisonics in Multichannel Broadcasting and Video," Preprint 2034 of the 74th Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York, October 1983) a method for mixing the W, X, and Y channels of a horizontal B-format signal into two channels (i.e., a UHJ format stereo signal; not a matrix-encoded stereo signal) to enable more convenient handling in a transmission and playback environment. The UHJ format stereo signal comprised two signals (Σ and Δ) which could be converted to UHJ format L and R stereo channels as follows:
      Σ    =                  0.9397        ×        W            +              0.2624        ×        X                  Δ    =                            j          ×                      (                                                            -                  0.3420                                ×                W                            +                              0.7211                ×                X                                      )                          +                  0.9269          ×          Y                                                              L                    =                                                  Σ              +              Δ                        2                                                                        R                =                                            Σ              -              Δ                        2                    .                    Note that the above UHJ encoding equations for Σ, Δ, L, and R are based on the assumption that the W, X, and Y signals are scaled according to above equations (6), (7), and (8); not with application of a
  1      2  scaling factor to W].
The UHJ encoding equations set forth above may be written in matrix form as:
                              [                                                    L                                                                    R                                              ]                =                              [                                                                                0.4698                    -                                          0.1710                                            j                                                                                0.1213                    +                                          0.3605                                            j                                                                                0.4634                                                                                0.4698                    +                                          0.1710                                            j                                                                                0.1213                    -                                          0.3605                                            j                                                                                -                    0.4634                                                                        ]                    ×                      [                                                            W                                                                              X                                                                              Y                                                      ]                                              (        9        )            Gerzon's method for mixing the three channels of a horizontal B-format signal into a stereo pair is intended to provide a reasonable stereo listening experience, as well as to provide some ability to regenerate an approximate version of the original W, X, and Y signals from the UHJ format L and R stereo signals. However, the stereo UHJ format has significant disadvantages:
UHJ encoding (per equation (9) does not encode an original source signal (with azimuth θ) with power independent of θ. Rather, the power of the UHJ format L and R signal pair (or the corresponding Σ and Δ signal pair) depends on the azimuth θ of the source signal. Sounds from the front will be encoded (by equation (9)) with greater amplitude than sounds from the rear. Indeed, it was the design intention of UHJ encoding to give greater prominence to frontal signals; and
an original source signal with azimuth equal to zero (i.e., a front-center source signal) is encoded into the UHJ format L and R channels with a phase shift between the channels (i.e., the UHJ format L and R channels generated in response to a front-center source each have form kW+j(mW), where k and m are nonzero coefficients). This means that a clear phantom-center image will not be formed by the stereo UHJ signal.
Typical embodiments of the present invention generate a matrix-encoded two-channel (stereo) signal in response to in response to a horizontal B-format signal (or in response to the output signals of a microphone array). These matrix-encoded stereo signals are useful for many purposes. For example, matrix-encoded two-channel signals generated by typical embodiments of the invention are useful as input to decoders which implement Dolby ProLogic II decoding. Such decoders are in widespread use throughout the world.
Also, until the present invention, it had not been known how to use the outputs of microphone arrays (e.g., simple arrangements of simple microphones, such as for example, cardiod microphones with 1st-order directivity patterns) to generate matrix-encoded signals via a simple linear mixing process. Matrix-encoded two-channel signals are generated by some embodiments of the invention by capturing an acoustic event with any of a variety of commonly available microphone arrangements (e.g., B-format microphones) and encoding the resulting microphone outputs into a matrix-encoded signal pair.

Method and system for generating a matrix-encoded two-channel audio signal

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


The invention includes a multi-material structure comprising at least two components through which light is propagated. At least two structure components are of different materials and are joined to one another at an end surface of each either directly or indirectly. The end surfaces are at angles other than normal to the direction of light propagation. The multi-material structure has a polarization dependent loss less than if the components had end surfaces normal to the direction of light propagation. Embodiments of the invention are particularly applicable to a waveguide substrate/fiber capillary interface. Also included is a method of reducing polarization dependent loss between joined components through which light is propagated.

The invention relates to multi-material assemblies through which light is propagated, and more particularly to waveguides.
Polarization dependent loss (PDL) in a waveguide is caused by the difference of propagation losses between vertically polarized (TM) and horizontally polarized (TE) light waves. Typically, TM light has higher propagation loss than TE light. When a light wave passes through a boundary between two optical materials of different refractive indices, the reflection loss at the boundary also depends on the polarization.
For optical waveguide devices with metal electrodes above and/or below the waveguide, a conventional method of reducing the PDL of a device is to increase the thickness of a buffer layer between the waveguide and an electrode. A thicker buffer layer may cause the device to have a higher operating voltage, which is not desirable. Therefore, a need exists for a waveguide having a reduced PDL while substantially maintaining or reducing its operating voltage.
The invention includes a multi-material structure comprising at least two components through which light is propagated. The components are of different materials and are joined at an end surface of each. The end surfaces are at angles other than normal to the direction of light propagation. A device having the multi-material structure has a polarization dependent loss less than if the components had end surfaces normal to the direction of light propagation. Embodiments of the invention are particularly applicable to a waveguide substrate/optical fiber interface.
Also included is a method of reducing polarization dependent loss between joined components through which light is propagated.

Multi-material structure with reduced polarization dependent loss and method therefor


The present invention provides an apparatus having a part of a current detecting circuit configured to detect current to a heater in a fixing unit so that a main body of the image forming apparatus may have one configuration for 100 V and 200 V and provides an equal resolution of current detection for an apparatus for 100 V and an apparatus for 200 V.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses applying an electrophotography recording technology and fixing units each attachable to an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In some cases, one model of image forming apparatus may be designed to be usable both in a district where commercial power supply voltage is 100 V series (such as 100 V to 127 V) and in a district where it is 200 V series (such as 220 V to 240 V). An image forming apparatus applying an electrophotography recording technology may include a fixing unit configured to heat-fix an unfixed toner image formed on a recording material to the recording material. In order to allow the fixing unit to be usable in districts with different power supply voltages, a resistance value of a heater in the fixing unit may need adjustment based on the power supply voltage in each of the districts. This is because resistance values of heaters not based on power supply voltages may result in variations of amount of heat generated by the heater between the districts.
For setting a resistance value of a heater based on power supply voltage, heaters having different resistance values from each other may be mounted correspondingly in an apparatus for a 100 V district and an apparatus for a 200 V district (as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-022224). For example, a heater having a resistance value of 10Ω may be mounted in an apparatus for a 100 V district while a heater having a resistance value of 40Ω may be mounted in an apparatus for a 200 V district. Though this method may require two types of heater, an apparatus for 100 V and an apparatus for 200 V may advantageously be manufactured at low costs.
By the way, the speeds of such image forming apparatuses have been enhanced in recent years, and some apparatuses may include a current detection function configured to detect current fed to the heater to support such increased speeds of the image forming apparatus. The current detection function may detect current fed to the heater and thus is usable for applications such as monitoring for prevention of supply of excessive power to the heater.
The ranges of values of current fed to heaters may be different between an apparatus for 100 V and an apparatus for 200 V as described above. For example, when an apparatus including a heater having a resistance value of 10Ω for 100 V is used by connecting to 100 V power supply voltage, the power consumption may be equal to 1000 W at a maximum, and the range of current values fed to the heater is equal to 0 to 10 A. When an apparatus including a heater having a resistance value of 40Ω for 200 V is used by connecting to power supply voltage 200 V, the power consumption may be equal to 1000 W at a maximum, and the range of current values fed to the heater (which will be called a heater current value) is equal to 0 to 5 A.
The ranges of heater current values in an apparatus for 100 V and the range of heater current values in an apparatus for 200 V are different. Among image forming apparatuses having a current detection function, such different ranges of heater current values may result in different resolutions of the current detection and thus result in different accuracies of the current detection between the apparatus for 100 V and the apparatus for 200 V.
Accordingly, it may be considered that an element (such as a resistance element) for prevention of such a difference in resolution for current detection between an apparatus for 100 V and an apparatus for 200 V may be attached to a main body of the apparatus for 100 V only while not attaching to a main body of the apparatus for 200 V.
However, in order to manufacture an apparatus for 100 V and an apparatus for 200 V, not only two types of fixing unit for 100 V and 200 V may be required therein, but also two types of apparatus main bodies may be required for 100 V and 200 V. This may complicate unit management during the manufacturing process and may thus increase the manufacturing costs.

Image forming apparatus and fixing unit attachable to image forming apparatus


A method and apparatus for recommending artifacts based on collaboration events in a collaborative environment comprising inferring, based on dynamic interaction, a group of close collaborators for a current user from at least one collaboration event, suggesting relevant artifacts based on one or more interaction patterns of the inferred group of close collaborators and grouping the suggested relevant artifacts into one or more high-level explanations for the current user based on the at least one collaboration event.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to task software, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for recommending work artifacts based on collaboration events.
2. Description of the Related Art
In collaborative environments, diverse groups of people contribute to an expanding pool of resources in a largely unstructured and un-curated manner. The resulting information overload makes it difficult for a user to locate relevant items and stay informed of relevant changes made by others. Standard approaches to finding relevant items and changes, such as search, browsing, rule-based filters and recent items lists, have limitations in collaborative environments. In collaboration systems (such as wikis, task managers, and Sharepoint) there is a critical need to find task-relevant artifacts (e.g., documents, webpages, and project files). This information retrieval process is more challenging in collaborative than non-collaborative environments for several reasons: (1) a large number of contributors leads to an overwhelming number of resources, (2) many resources are made available to all users but only interest a small fraction of users, and (3) the content is difficult to curate, resulting in out-of-date items and many duplicated-then-slightly-changed items, which obscures the true items of interest.
Successful browsing requires familiarity with the navigational hierarchy of the item or topic, and even this presupposes that the navigation hierarchy was designed appropriately. Browsing quickly breaks down in large repositories, the likes of which are often characteristic of an active collaborative environment with multiple contributors. Rules-based filtering requires users to describe and anticipate ahead of time the type of items that would potentially be important. User studies with Task Assistant, disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/476,020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, have shown that users are poor at judging ahead of time the kinds of information that they would define as important. Filters are potentially successful when they properly define the characteristics of known items of interest. However, defining unknown items of interest, which are common to collaborative environments, is difficult, if not impossible. Although search is also a powerful means of information retrieval, it requires the user to know something concrete and differentiating about the target item in order to formulate a successful query. The same holds true for items the user is unaware of, which occurs frequently in fast paced collaborative environments.
Most current work in "recommender systems" (i.e., systems that identify information that may be important to a user) focuses on large datasets, where users explicitly rate or otherwise express an interest in items. Examples include movie-review and online shopping sites, which may have thousands of users and millions of ratings or purchase events. These recommender systems focus on intrinsic properties of the items being recommended (e.g., features of movies or products), and the characteristics of the users choices in the system. The techniques used for these systems do not work well for smaller domains, such as for documents that are very specific to an organization, nor do they work for items just recently created, which have few properties beyond a name associated with them
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for recommending more relevant work artifacts in a collaborative environment.

Method and apparatus for recommending work artifacts based on collaboration events