A container and closure package in that includes a container having a body, a finish wall extending from the body with at least one external thread, a circular throat at an axial edge of the finish wall remote from the body and having a lesser inner diameter than the finish wall, and a pour spout extending axially from the throat at greater inner diameter than the throat. The container body, finish wall, throat and pour spout are of integrally blow molded construction as formed, with the inside diameter of the throat being optionally reamed as required for sealing engagement with the closure. The closure has a base wall, a peripheral outer skirt extending from the base wall with an internal thread for receipt over the external thread on the container finish wall, and an internal skirt extending from the base wall and spaced radially inwardly from the outer skirt for sliding plug-sealing receipt within the throat, with the pour spout being disposed between the inner and outer skirts of the closure.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,917,269, 5,207,356 and 5,941,422 disclose liquid containment and dispensing packages in which the container has a pour spout that extends from the container dispensing opening to facilitate dispensing of the liquid content of the container into a dosage cap/closure. In containers for packages of this type, the pour spout is typically formed either separately from the container and secured as a fitment, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,422, or is formed integrally with the finish of the container in an injection molding operation, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,917,269 and 5,207,356. Forming a separate fitment for securement to the container finish in a post-molding operation undesirably increases the cost of manufacture. Likewise, use of injection molding apparatus to form the container finish and pour spout, followed by extrusion blow molding of the container body, undesirably increases the cost of manufacture by increasing the cost of manufacturing tooling. It has been proposed in the past to form the container body, finish and pour spout in a single blow molding operation (followed by trimming as required), but the results have not been entirely satisfactory.
It is a general object of the present invention, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, to provide a container and closure package, and a method of making the same, in which the container body, finish and pour spout are integrally blow molded in a single operation, and in which the container finish has an internal throat of reduced diameter adapted for sliding plug-sealing engagement with an inner skirt of the closure, while the outer skirt of the closure has an internal thread received over an external thread molded into the container finish. It is another object of the present invention, in accordance with a second aspect of the invention, to provide a container for dispensing liquid product, a method of making such container, and a container and closure package, in which a pour lip is formed on the container spout during the molding and/or trimming operation, for reducing drippage from the pour spout, and/or in which one or more drip ledges extend around the external surface of the pour spout for capturing any liquid that may drip from the edge of the pour spout and feed such liquid back to the inside of the container. It is a further object of the invention, in accordance with a third aspect of the invention, to provide a closure for a container and closure package in which the closure is constructed for enhanced sealing engagement with the container finish.
The present invention embodies several aspects, which may be used separately from or in combination with each other, and different aspects of the invention have a number of alternative preferred embodiments. A container and closure package in accordance with one aspect of the invention includes a container having a body, a finish wall extending from the body with at least one external thread, a circular throat at an axial edge of the finish wall remote from the body and having a lesser inner diameter than the finish wall, and a pour spout extending axially from the throat at greater inner diameter than the throat. The container body, finish wall, throat and pour spout are of integrally blow molded construction as formed, with the inside diameter of the throat being optionally reamed or otherwise trimmed as required for sealing engagement with the closure. The closure has a base wall, a peripheral outer skirt extending from the base wall with an internal thread for receipt over the external thread on the container finish wall, and an internal skirt extending from the base wall and spaced radially inwardly from the outer skirt for sliding plug-sealing receipt within the throat, with the pour spout being disposed between the inner and outer skirts of the closure. The internal skirt may optionally have a circumferentially continuous external bead for interference sliding fit within the container throat to enhance sealing engagement between the internal skirt and the container throat. The pour spout has an angulated upper edge formed by trimming a moil from the spout in the container as molded. A pour lip of increased inside diameter may extend part-way around the upper edge, and may be formed by molding a portion of the spout wall radially outwardly offset from the remainder of the spout and then trimming the spout edge along a plane that intersects this offset portion of the spout wall.
A container for dispensing liquid product in accordance with another aspect of the invention includes a hollow body, a finish wall extending from the body with an external thread, a circular throat at an axial edge of the finish wall remote from the body and having a lesser diameter than the finish wall, and a cylindrical spout extending from the throat coaxially with the throat and the finish wall at a greater inner diameter than the throat. The pour spout terminates in a planar edge at an angle to the axis of the spout to form a pour opening. A planar ledge externally extends around the spout at greater angle than the edge to the axis of the spout so as to be spaced from the edge at one side of the spout and to intersect the edge at an opposing side of the spout. The container body, finish wall, throat, pour spout and ledge are of integrally blow molded construction as formed. Any liquid product that may drip from the pour spout is captured by the planar ledge and fed by gravity back into the container body when the container body is moved to an upright position. In the preferred embodiments, the body includes an integrally formed handle, and the planar ledge is angled to intersect the edge of the pour spout adjacent to the handle.
A closure for a container and closure package in accordance with a further aspect of the present invention includes a base wall having a peripheral outer skirt with an internal thread for receipt over an external thread on a container finish. An inner cylindrical skirt extends from the base wall and is spaced radially inwardly from the outer skirt for sliding plug-sealing receipt within a throat on the container. The inner skirt may have an outer surface with a radial step that is so positioned with respect to the thread on the outer skirt that the thread on the outer skirt engages a thread on the container finish before the step engages the finish throat. The internal skirt may include a circumferentially continuous external bead for interference fit within the container throat for improving the sealing engagement between the inner skirt and the container throat. This bead preferably lies in a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the closure, and preferably is axially positioned to make sliding contact with the container finish during the last half-turn of the closure onto the finish.
In the preferred embodiments of the invention, a pour lip extends around an upper edge of the spout remote from the handle. The pour lip in various embodiments of the invention includes an undercut molded into an outer surface of the spout immediately beneath the edge, a hook-shaped lip that extends radially outwardly from the spout at the edge, and a part-cylindrical wall portion radially outwardly offset from the pour spout. In several preferred embodiments, there are a pair of parallel planar drip ledges externally extending around the spout and axially spaced from each other for enhanced capture of any liquid that may drip from the pour lip.

Liquid dispensing package and method of manufacture


Integrated circuit devices including Fin field effect transistors (finFETs) and methods of forming those devices are provided. The methods may include forming a fin on a substrate and forming a gate line on the fin. The method may also include forming a first recess in the fin having a first width and a first depth and forming a second recess in the first recess having a second width that is less than the first width and having a second depth that is greater than the first depth. The method may further include forming a source/drain region in the first and second recesses.

Present inventive concepts generally relate to the field of electronics, and more particular to integrated circuit devices.
Integrated circuit devices, such as semiconductor devices, have been developed to perform high-speed operation at low voltage. Further, manufacturing processes of integrated circuit devices have been developed to increase integration of the devices.
Manufacturing processes that increase integration of integrated circuit devices including field effect transistors (FETs), however, may cause a short channel effect. Fin field effect transistors (finFETs) that include non-planar channels have been developed to reduce a short channel effect.

Integrated circuit devices including finFETs and methods of forming the same


This invention relates to telecommunications systems. In a subscriber loop carrying high speed data signals, noise cancellation is achieved by a data signal demodulator having first and second inputs 81,82, arranged to receive differential data signal and local field RFI input signals respectively. A feedback signal of the demodulator is sampled, processed, vector modulated and then combined with the local field RFI input signal of the demodulator. The combined signal is summed with the differential input signal to thereby reduce interference coupled with the first input.

Public telecommunications networks were originally developed to provide voice communications between subscriber terminals. In recent years traditional wire has been replaced by fibre optics for long distance communications. With the expansion of such networks from the traditional telephone or POTS service into the provision of a variety of digital services, there is now a need to provide improved subscriber access to the network. Presently data traffic operates at frequencies below 5 KHz. Increasing amounts of data traffic are beginning to saturate the available channels and it is becoming apparent that higher operating frequencies are required to handle the increasing amounts of data, for example, from video on demand networks, direct digital broadcasts, and high capacity links for computers.
Typically subscribers are coupled to a telecommunications network with a twisted pair wire loop commonly referred to as the subscriber loop. This twisted pair connects to a node associated with an optical distribution network which can be some 1000 m away from the subscriber. Such an arrangement is depicted in FIG. 1. The first 950 m or so of cabling 12 from a junction box 10 is covered underground with trunking containing many twisted pairs of underground feeders 14, and the final 50 m or so of wire from a distribution point 16 to a subscriber's installation is normally above ground and consists of an individual twisted pair 18 to each house 20. Thus, for the last length of cable, the wires are ordinary telephone wires. If a subscriber's equipment is located proximate to a source of radio interference, for example transmissions from a radio amateur, then signals can be picked up very strongly on the two wires.
Typically, in twisted pair copper loop networks, signals are transmitted in differential mode; that is to say, the signals are transmitted along both wires and any Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) will be picked up by both wires approximately equally with the wanted signal being determined by the differential signal between the two wires, at the receiver. Since high speed data is transmitted in this fashion, there should be no transmission problems in such an arrangement. However, there may be present a certain amount of breakthrough between the common mode and the differential mode and some interference leaking through differentially, even though the interference is predominantly received in common mode. Differential interference signals may be up to 30 dB less than the common mode interference signal, but this can cause problems if it is strong enough to distort the output of the associated analogue-to-digital converter, ADC, in addition to providing an increase in the background interference resulting in a corresponding decrease in the output carrier-to-noise ratio, CNR.

Interference reduction in telecommunication systems


A heating and cooking apparatus inside the cooking chamber of a 3D food printer includes a laser cooking apparatus controlled by a processor implementing particular computer program instructions specific to the operation of the heating and cooking apparatus. The laser cooking apparatus includes at least one laser system with at least one laser beam able to heat the food product to its cooking temperature. Each laser system provides two or more laser beams, each of which can be deflected and focused into the food product with a beam spot of adjustable diameter. The heating and cooking apparatus also can include an electromagnetic radiation heating apparatus that is controlled by the processor and emits electromagnetic radiation to warm the food product inside the cooking chamber to a temperature below its cooking temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for cooking a food product using laser beams, and optionally for heating the food product to a temperature lower than its cooking temperature, using electromagnetic radiation. A method is also provided to use such cooking and heating apparatus to cook a food product created using an additive manufacturing 3D printing process, cooking the food product layer by layer, and optionally also to warm the food product using electromagnetic radiation.
2. Definitions
The following definitions and terms are used herein:
Food product: any substance consumed to provide nutritional support.
Beam spot: area where a laser beam impinges a surface, which in the context of the present invention, is the surface of a food product or a plate on which the food product is deposited.
Stacked laser array: an array in which at least two lasers are stacked one above the others and connected in phase to increase the power.
3D printing or Additive Manufacturing is a processes of making a three-dimensional object from a 3D model or other electronic data source primarily through additive processes in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control.
3. Related Art
Some previous patents and published patent applications describe different systems to use lasers in conjunction with cooking.
Japanese Patent Publication No. JP63003131A2 by Terakubo Kiyoshi for a Laser Cooking Device, published on Jan. 8, 1988, describes how to improve thermal efficiency, by utilizing laser beams as a cooking means, where a laser oscillator is used to heat the bottom of a cooker. This device does not heat the food directly with a laser and it employs a laser oscillator to heat the bottom of a cooker.
Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2002147762A2 by Asano Hideki for a Food Cooking Apparatus, published on May 22, 2002, describes a microwave oven that has a semiconductor laser irradiation unit which irradiates a laser beam having a specific wavelength (0.8 μm and 1.5 μm) onto foodstuffs accommodated in a cooking chamber.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 20080282901 by Boris Muchnik, published on Nov. 20, 2008, describes a Laser Cooking Apparatus device. Muchnik shows an apparatus and method for cooking food directly with a CO2 laser, which is known to reach a higher temperature compared to other types of laser. The laser beam is directed at a beam splitter, which splits the laser beam in half; and then mirrors are used to focus the beam to either side of the food. The split beam reaches a higher temperature than most types of lasers and thus, most foods will be cooked in less than a second.
US Pat. Publication No. 20130344208 A1 by Inderjit Singh, published on Mar. 11, 2013, describes a method and apparatus for plasma assisted laser cooking of food products. A method and apparatus that can apply laser energy to a food product in order to cook it. This system allows applying energy with a laser emitter very close to the food product. The application of the energy can be controlled according to a profile to generate plasma inside and around the food product during a cooking period. The application of energy can be adjusted according to the feedback from the controlled application of energy to the food product.

Apparatus and method for heating and cooking food using laser beams and electromagnetic radiation


A network communication apparatus that includes a function for performing communications via an IP network and that includes an ITU-T standard T.38 communication function but does not include a voice communication function is disclosed. The network communication apparatus includes: a unit configured to generate a call connection signal including T.38 communication capability and dummy voice capability to start call connection operation; and a unit configured to perform T.38 communication operation after sending a dummy CNG packet when detecting that a second network communication apparatus at the other end does not include the T.38 communication function based on a call connection signal received from the second network communication apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network communication apparatus that does not include a voice communication function and that includes an ITU-T standard T.38 communication function and a function for performing communication via an IP network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, for performing facsimile communication (real time facsimile communication) via the IP network, the ITU-T standard T.38 scheme for packetizing and exchanging ITU-T standard T.30 signals and the ITU-T standard G.711 (PCM) scheme for performing communications by dealing with facsimile data as voice data and the like are in practical use (refer to non-patent document 1: TTC standard JT-H323).
For performing facsimile communication by the ITU-T standard T.38 scheme, since voice ability is not essential, communication can be performed only having ability necessary for facsimile communication conforming to the ITU-T standard T.38.
In addition, in the ITU-T standard G.711 (PCM) scheme, communication can be performed by converting facsimile data to voice data and exchanging the voice data via a voice channel.
Therefore, for performing real time facsimile communications by the ITU-T standard T.38 scheme, it is only necessary to establish a facsimile communication channel. In addition, for performing real time facsimile communications by the ITU-T standard G.711 (PCM) scheme, it is only necessary to establish a voice channel.
On the other hand, in recent years, telephone conversation between a telephone terminal within an IP network and a telephone terminal connected to an analog public circuit network (PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network) is becoming available by connecting between the IP network such as the Internet and the analog public circuit network via a VoIP (voice over IP) gateway.
The VoIP gateway has a gateway function that can be used by the ITU-T standard H.323 terminal and a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) terminal, for example. The T.38 terminal apparatus for performing real time facsimile communication in the ITU-T standard T.38 scheme is included in H.323 terminals. Thus, by using the VoIP gateway, facsimile communications can be performed between the T.38 terminal in the IP network and the group 3 facsimile apparatus connected to the analog public circuit network.
However, when the T.38 terminal originates a call to the group 3 facsimile apparatus that is connected to the analog public circuit network, there is a case in which following problem occurs.
That is, as mentioned above, when the T.38 terminal apparatus originates a call to the group 3 facsimile apparatus, the T.38 terminal apparatus is connected to the analog public circuit network via the VoIP gateway.
In VoIP gateways currently used, there are some VoIP gateways that include the T.38 gateway function, but that report T.38 communication availability to the origination-side T.38 terminal apparatus after verifying that a destination-side terminal apparatus (PSTN side) includes the group 3 facsimile communication function.
Therefore, when the T.38 terminal apparatus originates a call to the group 3 facsimile apparatus, there is a case in which call connection cannot be properly performed according to the function of the relaying VoIP gateway, so that facsimile communication cannot be performed.

Network communication apparatus and method for performing a T.38 communication function using a voice capability of a gateway apparatus


A workpiece size alignment device includes a rail set including a plurality of guide rails each having a top face formed with an elongated guide channel extended longitudinally, and a ruler set mounted on the rail set and including a plurality of rulers each removably mounted in the guide channel of a respective one of the guide rails. Thus, the workpiece size alignment device has multiple rulers having different units for use and replacement, so that the operator can select the rulers having different units according to different working requirements, thereby greatly facilitating the operator working the workpiece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a size alignment device for a drilling machine, and more particularly to a workpiece size alignment device that can refer ruler scales to obtain a working position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional drilling machine 1 in accordance with the prior art shown in FIG. 7 comprises a worktable 11 for placing a workpiece 2, a blade seat 12 movable upward and downward relative to the worktable 11, two first guide rails 13 spaced from each other and extended along the transverse direction of the worktable 11, and a second guide rail 14 mounted between the two first guide rails 13 and extended along the longitudinal direction of the worktable 11. Each of the two first guide rails 13 has a top face 131 provided with a plurality scales 132, and the second guide rail 14 has a top face 141 provided with a plurality scales 142. Thus, when the workpiece 2 is placed on the worktable 11, the operator can refer the scales 132 of the two first guide rails 13 and the scales 142 the second guide rail 14 to obtain the working position of the workpiece 2. Then, the blade seat 12 moved downward relative to the worktable 11 to drill the workpiece 2. However, the scales 132 and 142 of the two first guide rails 13 and the second guide rail 14 only have a single unit (such as the metric system or the English system), so that the drilling machine 1 is only available for a fixed unit and cannot fit other different units, thereby limiting the versatility of the drilling machine 1.


An electrically conductive gasket for paint masking. In one embodiment of the present invention, the gasket includes a core, an electrically conductive cover that is applied to the core with adhesive. A film of material is attached to the outer surface of the electrically conductive cover which functions as a removable mask. The various embodiments of the gasket may be fabricated from materials capable of withstanding relatively high temperatures and may be provided in a variety of different shapes.

1. Field of the Invention
Various embodiments of the subject invention relate to gaskets and, to gaskets for inhibiting and preventing leakage of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and radio frequency radiation (RFI) with the ability to act as a paint mask.
2. Description of the Invention Background
Ever since Benjamin Franklin flew his famous kite in a lightening storm and discovered electricity, countless numbers of electrically powered devices and components have been developed to make man's life easier. Such components range from, for example, motors, switches, relays, timers, computers, etc. Indeed, the list of electrical components seems endless and continues to grow.
With the development and use of such a myriad of electronic components came additional problems that had to be solved to effectively use such components to achieve desired results. An example of one problem is the occurrence of electromagnetic interference (EMI) that is an undesirable electric disturbance that is induced or radiated from electric or electronic devices. Such EMI problems commonly manifest themselves when several electrical components are located in close proximity to one another wherein the EMI radiating from one-component hampers or debilitates the effective operation of another component mounted nearby.
To combat problems encountered by EMI, electrical components are often placed or often placed or mounted in shielded enclosures that serve to prevent or inhibit the leakage of EMI there from. Such enclosures are commonly made of all metal construction. To prevent or inhibit the leakage of EMI between the doors at their points of connection a variety of gaskets and methods of attaching them have been developed. One type of gasket that has been developed is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in this Figure, gasket 1 includes a resilient or flexible core 2 that is covered by an electrically conductive cover 3. The core 2 generally comprises conventional open cell or closed cell foams, rubbers, plastics or metals and the electrically conductive cover 3 may comprise plated fabric (woven, non-woven or knitted), plated plastic, plated rubber, electrically conductive foil, electrically conductive woven wire or electrically conductive wire mesh. These gaskets 1 are commonly affixed to the electrically conductive surface 10, which may comprise a cabinet panel, doorframe, etc. (depending upon the particular application) by adhesive 4 or other fastening medium. To achieve an electrical path the metal surface must be masked prior to painting or coating the unit or the paint or coating must be cleaned off prior to applying the gasket.
Such attachment approaches, however, are time consuming adding labor costs and requiring special precautions when removing the paint. If the cleaning is not complete it can leave an undesirable barrier between the electrically conductive cover material 3 and the electrically conductive surface 10. If a conductive path is not established between the cover material 3 and the conductive surface 10 to which the gasket 1 is attached, the gasket's effectiveness is compromised and, in extreme cases, may be destroyed.

Electrically conductive gasket with paint masking


An embodiment of a memory device of SRAM type is proposed. The memory device includes a plurality of memory cells each for storing a first logic value represented by a first reference voltage or a second logic value represented by a second reference voltage. Each memory cell includes a bistable latch—having a main terminal, a complementary terminal, a set of main storage transistors for maintaining the main terminal at the reference voltage corresponding to the stored logic value, and a set of complementary storage transistors to maintain the complementary terminal at the reference voltage corresponding to the complement of the stored logic value—a main access transistor and a complementary access transistor for accessing the main terminal and the complementary terminal, respectively. The memory device may further include biasing means for modifying a value of a threshold voltage of at least one of the main transistors to a first threshold voltage value or to a second threshold voltage value and for modifying a threshold voltage value of at least one of the complementary transistors to the second threshold voltage value or to the first threshold voltage value during a write operation of the first logic value or of the second logic value, respectively, in the memory cell.

For some time the market of electronic products has increasingly focused on mobile devices (computers, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants, for example). Batteries that have a limited availability of energy provide power needed to operate these mobile devices. Thus the need of reducing the power consumption of all the electronic components (central processing unit, memory, display, etc.) included in mobile devices arose, in order to extend the autonomy of such mobile devices with the same batteries used.
Typically, the electronic components are Systems On A Chip or SOCs, i.e., complete electronic systems integrated on a single chip of semiconductor material. In this case, the desired reduction in power consumption is achieved through a reduction in operating voltages of transistors included in the SOCs. In particular, the SRAMs included in such SOCs comprise a number of transistors which is equal to 50%-90% of the total number of transistors present on the same SOC. Considering that the power consumption of electronic components affects the total power consumption of the SOC in proportion to their number of transistors, it is clear that the reduction of the operating voltage of the SRAM memories results in a substantial reduction in the power consumption of the entire SOC.
As it is known, a random access memory or RAM is a special type of memory wherein each memory cell (capable of storing a binary data, or bit) may be directly accessed with the same access time. In particular, a SRAM memory does not require any refresh operation of the stored data, as it retains data values for a theoretically infinite time (at least up to a shutdown of an electronic system wherein the SRAM memory is used).
The reference memory cell in the SRAM memories (for example, commonly used in CMOS-type technology) is formed by six transistors, and therefore it is usually called "6T" memory cell. In particular, a 6T memory cell includes a bistable latch formed by two crossed logic inverters (i.e., with an input of each inverter connected to an output of the other inverter), each of which includes two transistors. The bistable latch has two stable equilibrium conditions corresponding to the two possible logic values (i.e., 0 or 1) of the stored bit. Two access transistors are used to selectively access the bistable latch during a read or write operation of the corresponding memory cell.
Unfortunately, the reduction of the operating voltages of the transistors may generate serious problems related to the reliability of the memory cell. Indeed, at a low operating voltage it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to force the switching of the transistors for writing the memory cell (as the operating voltage may be not sufficient to overcome a threshold voltage of the transistors required for their switching). However, the circuit specifications required for a reliable writing (i.e., able to properly write the wanted bit in the memory cell) are opposed to the circuit specifications needed to achieve a stable reading (i.e., a reading that does not change the bit stored in the read memory cell) and to obtain a stable standby condition (i.e., where no changes occur in the bit stored upon time). In more detail, for achieving a correct writing, the access transistors should be very conductive to force the bistable latch to change its equilibrium condition, while for ensuring a stable reading and a stable standby condition, the access transistors should have a reduced conductivity to avoid an undesired switching of the bistable latch (though this conductivity may not be kept too low so as to allow transferring the read bit). Therefore, known expedients concerning ratios between the transistor sizes or form factors of the transistors themselves may not be successfully applied; for example, optimizing the form factors of the transistors to obtain a reliable writing may result in a memory cell with low stability in reading and in standby condition and, conversely, optimizing the form factors to have a stable memory cell in reading and in the stand-by condition may result in a low reliability in writing.
The problem of the stability in reading and in the standby condition is exacerbated by the increasingly size reduction (scaling) of the transistors. In this case, the transistors are much more sensitive to changes in voltage at their terminals, and this may lead to unwanted currents even for small voltage fluctuations (e.g., tenths of a volt). In addition, transistors with very reduced dimensions are subject to greater fluctuations in the values of their physical parameters (due to the increased weight of aberrations in an optical lithographic technique commonly used for their formation). Therefore, transistors formed at different times and/or in different regions of the same chip may present mismatches in their physical parameters, undermining the correct and stable operation of devices wherein a good degree of symmetry is important (as in case of memory cells).

Dynamically configurable SRAM cell for low voltage operation


Systems, methods and/or devices are used to reduce declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device in a storage system. In one aspect, the method includes, detecting an amelioration trigger for reducing declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device, and in accordance with the detected amelioration trigger, performing an amelioration process to reduce declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, the performing including: moving a portion of data used by a host from the storage device to another storage device of the storage system, and reducing declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device. In some embodiments, the storage device includes one or more flash memory devices. In some embodiments, the detecting, the performing, or both are performed by the storage device, or by one or more subsystems of the storage system distinct from the storage device, or by the host.

Semiconductor memory devices, including flash memory, typically utilize memory cells to store data as an electrical value, such as an electrical charge or voltage. A flash memory cell, for example, includes a single transistor with a floating gate that is used to store a charge representative of a data value. Flash memory is a non-volatile data storage device that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. More generally, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, as well as other types of non-volatile memory implemented using any of a variety of technologies) retains stored information even when not powered, as opposed to volatile memory, which requires power to maintain the stored information. Increases in storage density have been facilitated in various ways, including increasing the density of memory cells on a chip enabled by manufacturing developments, and transitioning from single-level flash memory cells to multi-level flash memory cells, so that two or more bits can be stored by each flash memory cell.
Repeated erasure and reprogramming of flash memory cells causes degradation of the charge storage capability (wear). Eventually, the charge storage capability degrades to the point where it becomes impossible or infeasible to recover the original data (e.g., an unrecoverable codeword is read from the flash memory device, the computational resources required to recover a codeword exceed a predefined threshold, or a count of program-erase (PE) cycles for the flash memory device exceeds a threshold value) and the device is considered worn out. Wear-leveling technology is often used to distribute the wear across the multiple portions of a flash memory device. In a typical system, once the wear limit of a portion of a flash memory device is reached, the entire flash memory device is considered to have failed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process and apparatus to reduce declared capacity of a storage device by moving data


A method for content delivery to a user device, that helps to reduce bandwidth requirements and increases security of the content. The method includes receiving a download request from the user device, the download request including request data corresponding to characteristics of the user device, analyzing the request data to select a bootstrap module; transmitting the bootstrap module to the user device for download; analyzing an authentication characteristic to determine that the user device is authenticated for content viewing; transmitting a content catalogue to the user device; and upon receiving a user selection of a content item from the content catalogue, transmitting the user selected content item to the user device.

Software applications may be used in contexts where a software application is provided by a primary service provider on behalf of a number of secondary service providers. An example is an over the top (OTT) video streaming service, such as a sports content service provided by a sports content provider. The primary provider may provide content such as sports on behalf of secondary service providers, for example television, telephone and/or broadband service providers. In this and other situations it is often desirable for the software to behave in a specific way for each secondary service provider, to behave in a specific way based on a country in which the service is to be consumed, based on a subscription a user has, based on the device or type of device on which the software is intended to run and the like. One approach to this is to build a software application that covers all these options and selects a desired behavior based on information, such as a user profile or other locally stored information, when the software is executed. To cover all the possible options, such a software application will be large in size and have significant persistent storage memory requirements.
Web applications are software applications, typically written in JavaScript, that are served to a client device inside a web browser and run in the web browser. A popular approach for implementing a web application is to provide a single page application (SPA) that is loaded in a single browser page request and, once downloaded, runs locally. Since a SPA needs to be fully downloaded before it is run, the large size of an application covering many options as described above is problematic for web applications and in particular SPAs.
In addition to the bandwidth limitations that can occur due to the large size of the OTT streaming software applications for the reasons noted above, many content streaming applications are downloaded onto the user device and allow the user to access content directly from the application. However, this type of accessibility can lead to security issues. In particular, as the entire application is downloaded before a user has been authenticated, tech savvy users can "hack" into the application and access content or playback functionality without paying or otherwise subscribing to the content.

Software maintenance, distribution and loading


The present invention provides a micro flow-channel chip formed of two or more parts, wherein a first part has a through hole that forms a flow-channel connection portion, a second part has a projecting portion, the projecting portion of the second part is inserted into the through hole of the first part, thereby a volume of the flow-channel connection portion is reduced, and furthermore, both of the first part and the second part are molded with a die.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro flow-channel chip, a method for manufacturing the same, and a device for analysis.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technology is proposed which enables an inspection with a unit of several μL to nL, by forming a fine reaction field by using a lithographic process technology or a thick-film process technology. A technology using such a fine reaction field is referred to as μ-TAS (Micro Total Analysis system).
The μ-TAS is applied to: a region of a genetic test, a chromosomal test and a cytoscopy of a human, and the like; a biotechnology; a test of a trace amount of a substance in an environment; an investigation on a farming environment of an agricultural product and the like; a genetic test for an agricultural product; and the like. In μ-TAS, in many cases, a flow channel with a micro size (micro flow-channel and micro channel) is used, which is formed on a substrate. Such a substrate is referred to as a chip, a microchip, a micro flow-channel chip or the like.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0058519 discloses a micro flow-channel chip (Interface chip) having a plurality of specimen introduction portions, and a second micro flow-channel chip (reaction chip) in which a specimen delivered from the micro flow-channel chip is analyzed. In addition, a device is disclosed in which these micro flow-channel chips are combined with each other. This device introduces a specimen into the first micro flow-channel chip, and analyzes the introduced specimen therein, while changing a plurality of trace specimens from one to another. The change described here means that two or more kinds of specimens are repeatedly and continuously introduced into the microchip.
In the device described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0058519, which analyzes specimens while changing trace specimens from one to another, a cross-sectional area of the flow channel increases in a connection portion between a flow channel and a flow channel or between a flow channel and an introduction port and the like, and a place is formed in which the specimen is detained. There has been a problem that the specimen results in being mixed with the previous specimen when the specimen liquid is continuously sent, in the place in which the specimen is detained. Accordingly, a first subject of the present invention is to provide a micro flow-channel chip in which the previous specimen resists remaining in the chip when the specimen is changed.
A second subject of the present invention is to provide a micro flow-channel chip which can be manufactured by die molding. A portion of the micro flow-channel chip, in particular, out of the whole of the micro flow-channel device, is disposed in many cases, and it is important to reduce a manufacture cost of the chip. In order to reduce the cost, the micro flow-channel chip is desirably manufactured by die molding.

Micro flow-channel chip, method for manufacturing the same, and device for analysis


An optical parametric oscillator/laser system includes an optical pump source for generating pump radiation and an embedded dual optical resonator containing an optical parametric oscillator/laser crystal. The embedded dual optical resonator includes a laser resonator and an optical parametric oscillator resonator. The OPOL crystal is an optical parametric oscillator material doped with ions that exhibit lasing transitions. The pump radiation stimulates generation of laser radiation. When the laser radiation reaches the parametric threshold, optical parametric radiation is generated. In one embodiment, the laser resonator and the OPOL resonator are each defined by spaced-apart mirrors. In another embodiment, the OPOL system includes an OPOL rod having end caps at each end. Each end cap includes surfaces for internally reflecting the laser radiation and the parametric optical radiation in a closed loop path so that the OPOL rod and the end caps define an optical resonator. The parametric radiation of the OPOL system is tunable over a broad wavelength range.

A significant drawback of most lasers is that they are tunable, at most, over a very limited wavelength range. This drawback is overcome to some extent by optical parametric oscillator systems which are used to generate secondary (parametrically generated) radiation from monochromatic coherent primary radiation by means of parametric interaction with an optically nonlinear medium. In the optical parametric process, primary incident radiation having a known frequency propagates through a nonlinear medium and is converted into secondary radiation at two lower frequencies (longer wavelengths). The secondary or parametric radiation has two components, typically referred to as a signal wavelength and an idler wavelength. The secondary components can be adjusted in wavelength by a suitable tuning arrangement, typically by rotation of the optically nonlinear medium within the optical resonator of the parametric system. The optical parametric system can be used in combination with a coherent source of primary optical radiation such as a laser to provide a source of optical radiation whose wavelength can be varied within a prescribed frequency range.
A tunable optical system including a laser and a separate optical parametric oscillator is relatively complex and expensive. In the optical parametric oscillator, the nonlinear medium is typically located within an optical resonator formed by mirrors so that the radiation passes repeatedly through the nonlinear medium. Since laser radiation must be coupled into the optical resonator, mirrors which are highly transmissive for the primary laser radiation and highly reflective for the secondary parametric radiation must be used. This requirement is difficult to meet when the wavelength of the secondary radiation is to be continuously tunable, since the mirrors must be highly reflective at a wavelength that is close to the wavelength of the primary radiation. The mirrors should exhibit high reflectivity over a wide range of wavelengths. Even the most highly developed dichroic mirrors made of multiple dielectric layers only partially meet this requirement and then at great cost.
A triply resonant optical parametric oscillator is described by W. Brunner et al in "Theory of Optical Parametric Amplification and Oscillation", Progress in Optics, Vol. XV, North-Holland, 1977, pp. 44-49. An internally Q-switched, solid state laser is described by Cordova-Plaza et al in IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE-23, No. 2, February 1987, pp. 262-266.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide optical parametric oscillator/laser systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tunable source of coherent optical radiation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an optical source wherein laser radiation and optical parametric radiation are generated in an embedded dual optical resonator.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an optical source wherein laser radiation and optical parametric radiation are generated within a single nonlinear optical medium.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a triply resonant optical parametric oscillator/laser system.

Internally stimulated optical parametric oscillator/laser


An NDIRTY cache line lookahead technique is used to expedite cache flush and export operations by providing a mechanism to avoid scanning at least some cache lines that do not contain dirty data (and therefore will not have to be exported). The exemplary cache organization uses one-line lookahead where each cache line but the last has associated with it an NDIRTY bit that indicates whether the next cache line contains dirty data. For cache flush and export operations, when a cache line (N) is read to check for dirty data that must be exported, the NDIRTY bit for that cache line is also tested to determine whether the next cache line (N+1) contains dirty data--if the NDIRTY bit is clear, indicating that the next cache line is clean, then that line is skipped and the scan proceeds with the line after that (N+2). This exemplary one-line lookahead implementation is readily extendible to N-line lookahead. The cache line lookahead technique reduces the number of cache line accesses required during flush/export operations, with the attendant advantages of reduced flush/export penalty cycles and power, thereby improving overall system performance.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly relates to cache memory systems. In even greater particularity, the invention relates to cache flush mechanisms.
In an exemplary embodiment, the invention is used in connection with the internal L1 (level 1) cache on an x86 processor.
2. Related Art
Processors (such as microprocessors) commonly include an internal L1 (level one) cache. The L1 cache is typically operated in either of two modes: write-through or write-back (copy-back).
In write-through mode, each write to a cache line also results in an external bus cycle to write the corresponding data through to system DRAM--as a result, the cache and system DRAM always have the same data (are always coherent). In write-back mode, to reduce external bus traffic, writes to the cache are not automatically written-back to system DRAM, but rather, external write-back cycles are run to update system DRAM only if a cache line containing "dirty" data is replaced, invalidated, or exported (without invalidation) in response to a cache inquiry--in particular, a cache coherency protocol including cache inquiry cycles is required to ensure memory coherency during DMA (direct memory access) operations in which an external device (such as a disk drive) may directly access system DRAM (including locations that are also in the L1 cache).
In addition, under certain conditions, the entire L1 cache is invalidated or exported. If the cache is operated in write-back mode, then cache invalidation is implemented as a "flush" (export-then-invalidate)--each line of the cache is scanned for dirty data, and any dirty data is written-back prior to invalidating that cache line.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, this background information is provided in the context of a specific problem to which the invention has application: reducing the time required to export or flush the entire internal L1 cache of a processor. More generally, the problem is to reduce the time to export or flush any cache, internal or external, operating in write-back mode.
A common goal of processor design is to increase cache size. As caches become larger, the time to flush/export the entire cache increases. Typically, merely scanning the cache and checking dirty bits to identify cache lines (or data) that must be exported requires one clock cycle per line (the number of additional clocks required to complete the flush depends on the number of dirty lines and whether only the dirty data in a cache line or the entire cache line is exported).
Thus, for an 8K cache organized into 4 sets of 128 lines per set, over 500 clocks will be required to complete an export flush, while for a 16K cache organized into 4 sets of 256 lines per set for a total of 1024 cache lines, this flush/export penalty jumps to over a thousand clocks.
In the typical case, most of the data in a cache will be coherent with system DRAM, so that only a subset of the cache actually needs to be exported. However, for current cache designs, each flush/export operation still requires a full scan of the cache.


An electrical junction box, which is assembled by first inserting a circuit board assembly into a primary housing via an opening of the primary housing, and after that inserting a secondary housing into the primary housing, includes a connector block that has a projection that widens the opening that has been narrowed. A plurality of ribs are formed on front and rear walls of the thin primary housing from the side of the opening in an insertion direction of the circuit board assembly. A concave groove formed between a pair of the projections engages with the rib of the front wall. The ribs on the rear wall are close to a circuit board of the circuit board assembly. The connector block has protuberances that abut against the ribs.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrical junction box, and, in particular, to an electrical junction box which has a primary housing and a secondary housing and is obtained by accommodating a circuit board assembly and other components inside of the primary housing, and then inserting the secondary housing into the primary housing.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A conventional electrical junction box is illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The electrical junction box 61 has a (a) low-profile primary housing 62, (b) a circuit board assembly 64, and (c) an upper cover 65 (i.e., the secondary housing).
The primary housing 64 has a low profile and is made of a synthetic resin. The circuit board assembly 64 is configured to be inserted in a vertical direction into the primary housing 62 via an opening 63 of the primary housing 62 so as to be accommodated thereinside. The opening 63 of the primary housing 62 opens on an upper side of the primary housing 62. The upper cover 65 is made of synthetic resin and configured to cover the opening 63 of the primary housing 62.
Terminals 68 are provided in two or more rows on an upper end of a circuit board 66. Also, terminals 69 are provided in two or more rows on a lower end of the circuit board 66. The terminals 68 extend upwardly while the terminals 69 extend downwardly.
Bodies 70 and 71 of a connector block are made of synthetic resin and adapted to align and secure the terminals 68 and 69, respectively. A plurality of relays (electrical components) 67 are found in an intermediate region of the circuit board 66.
Mounting members 73 are provided on an upper wall of the upper cover 65 adapted to allow the terminals 68 to protrude. Holes 74 are formed on a bottom wall 72 of the primary housing 62, likewise allowing the terminals 69 to protrude. A connector block 75 includes the terminals 68 and the body 70 while another connector block 76 includes the terminals 69 and the body 76. Each of electric fuses (not shown) is attached to the corresponding mounting member 73 and connected to the corresponding terminal 68 of the connector block 75. For details, refer to the description and, in particular, FIGS. 1 and 2 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-348732.
The description and, in particular, FIGS. 1 to 3 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-328842 discloses another type of the conventional electrical junction box (not shown). The electrical junction box of this type has the primary housing that is thinner and taller than that of the prior art shown in FIG. 6. This primary housing has openings on upper and bottom sides of the primary housing. Via these upper and lower openings, a bus bar circuit, an insulating plate, and terminals for electric fuse connection are mounted inside of the primary housing. The upper opening is covered by a fuse mounting part (i.e., the secondary housing) made of synthetic resin.
These existing electrical junction boxes need improvement. For instance, when the primary housing 62 made of synthetic resin is formed thin and tall so as to be mounted in a narrow space inside of an automobile, the wall of the primary housing 62 may warp inwardly. Such inward warpage of the wall of the primary housing 62 causes the opening 63 to be narrowed and restricted, making it difficult to mount the circuit board assembly 64, the secondary housing 65 and/or other components inside of the primary housing 62. In addition, when mounting the circuit board assembly 64, the wall of the primary housing 62 might be pressed inwardly from without. The inwardly pressed wall may interfere with the terminals 68, 69 and/or other components of the circuit board assembly 64 (e.g., the relay 67 and a resistor), in some cases deteriorating solder connection thereof. In particular, when the opening of the primary housing is only provided on either of the upper and lower walls thereof, insertion and/or mounting of the circuit board assembly inside of the primary housing is further deteriorated.


This invention relates to microwell array compositions which are coated with one or more thin film coatings. The invention includes the process of fabricating and using thin film coated microwell arrays.

The ability to perform parallel microanalysis on minute quantities of sample is important to the advancement of chemistry, biology, drug discovery and medicine. Today, the traditional 1536-well microtitre plate has been surpassed by microwell arrays which have an even greater number of reaction chambers and use lesser amounts of reagents due to efforts focused on maximizing time and cost efficiencies. Although there are several types of microwell arrays available, many microwell materials prove to be incompatible with the components of bioassays and chemical reactions and result in problems such as low sensitivity, high background signal, and lack of reproducibility. Thus, there continues to be a need for the development of improved microwell arrays.
One solution to the problem of incompatible materials is to apply a thin film coating of a compatible material to the microwell array to enhance its surface properties and function. Patil, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,483 has disclosed a method to coat polymeric substrates with mask layers comprised of metallic and metal-oxide for use in high-density microarray applications. Yon-Hin, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,645 has described a process to use a photoimageable thin film on a polymer substrate to form microwells or channels. Heller, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,957 describes the deposition of metal, insulator and passivation coatings of substrates to form microelectrode arrays, and to form microwells over the individual microelectrodes. Walt, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,721 has disclosed coating the interior surfaces of the microwells on fiber optic arrays with a thin film or a layer of biologically compatible material.
Certain fiber optic bundles have been used to create arrays. Several methods are known in the art for attaching functional groups (and detecting the attached functional groups) to reaction chambers etched in the ends of fiber optic bundles. See, e.g., Michael, et al., Anal. Chem. 70: 1242-1248 (1998); Ferguson, et al., Nature Biotechnology 14: 1681-1684 (1996); Healey and Walt, Anal. Chem. 69: 2213-2216 (1997). A pattern of reactive functional groups can also be created in the reaction chamber, using photolithographic techniques similar to those used in the generation of a pattern of reaction pads on a planar support. See, Healey, et al., Science 269: 1078-1080 (1995); Munkholm and Walt, Anal. Chem. 58: 1427-1430 (1986), and Bronk, et al., Anal. Chem. 67: 2750-2757 (1995).
An array of functional groups on a substrate can be constructed using lithographic techniques commonly used in the construction of electronic integrated circuits as described in, e.g., techniques for attachment described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,854, 5,445,934, 5,744,305, and 5,800,992; Chee et al., Science 274: 610-614 (1996); Fodor et al., Nature 364: 555-556 (1993); Fodor et al., Science 251: 767-773 (1991); Gushin, et al., Anal. Biochem. 250: 203-211 (1997); Kinosita et al., Cell 93: 21-24 (1998); Kato-Yamada et al., J. Biol. Chem. 273: 19375-19377 (1998); and Yasuda et al., Cell 93: 1117-1124 (1998). Photolithography and electron beam lithography sensitize the substrate with a functional group that allows attachment of a reactant (e.g., proteins or nucleic acids). See e.g., Service, Science 283: 27-28 (1999); Rai-Choudhury, HANDBOOK OF MICROLITHOGRAPHY, MICROMACHINING, AND MICROFABRICATION, VOLUME I: MICROLITHOGRAPHY, Volume PM39, SPIE Press (1997). Alternatively, an array of functional groups can be generated using thin film technology as described in Zasadzinski et al., Science 263: 1726-1733 (1994).
One major disadvantage of this type of fiber optic array is the constraint of the materials comprising the fiber optic bundle. To act as an efficient waveguide, each fiber element should include a high refractive index core surrounded by a low refractive index cladding. These fiber optic materials are often incompatible with many reaction conditions, particularly bioassays which are often conducted in aqueous solutions and contain sensitive enzymatic reagents. Two major sources of incompatibility are the dissolution of the fiber optic substrate into the solution contained in the reaction chamber and the actual chemical reaction of the fiber optic substrate with components contained in the chamber. For example, core components, such as barium and lanthanum oxides, can form hydroxides which are water soluble, particularly at elevated temperatures. Multivalent heavy metals, such as barium and lanthanum, can interact unfavorably with enzymes, especially those enzymes with metal ion co-factors. Heavy metal oxide surfaces tend to be positively charged at the solution interface and tend to non-specifically bind negatively charged species such as nucleic acids. All of these effects will tend to degrade the performance of assays and reactions conducted in the fiber optic reaction chambers. Increasing miniaturization also tends to exacerbate these unfavorable effects.
The fact that the fiber optic substrate is comprised of two materials (core and cladding) also can limit the effectiveness of any surface modification of the reaction chambers with a monolayer (e.g. functional groups). For example, a singly charged surface is modified by binding to the charged surface of functionalized polyelectrolytes which contain an opposite charge. The core and cladding materials of the fiber optic substrate each have different types of charges. Thus, any modification of the fiber optic substrate with a single polyelectrolyte is impossible since the substrate does not contain a single uniform charge.
The optical properties of a fiber optic substrate are also limited. During a photochemical reaction carried out in the reaction chamber of a fiber optic faceplate, photons are generated which run through the fiber core and eventually reach through the other end of the fiber. At the same time, photons can also penetrate through the cladding material and travel until they are trapped by another fiber of an adjoining reaction chamber. These photons which travel through the transparent cladding are often referred to as optical scattering and result in problems such as optical bleeding and physical interferences (e.g., cross-talk) between neighboring reaction chambers.
There is a clear need for microwell arrays which are compatible for any bioassay or reaction condition and which have superior optical properties.

Thin film coated microwell arrays and methods of using same


A method for confirming the authenticity of an article including placing a semi hard piece of material on an article then printing a magnetic pattern on the semi hard piece of material. In order to view the pattern, a viewer containing a suspension of materials will be placed over the semi hard piece of material. The suspension of materials will then orient in the presence of a magnetic field adjacent to the magnetic material.

The invention relates generally to detecting the authenticity of products and more particularly to a system and method for confirming the authenticity of an article utilizing a magnetic reader.
Various products which are covered by United States Patents and Trademarks arc manufactured overseas and then imported into the United States. When products are imported into the United States, customs officials will inspect products for their authenticity. A problem which arises deals with that of "knock offs" or gray market goods. Knock off goods are those which are manufactured not by the owner of the patents or trademarks covering these products, but rather by third party individuals attempting to pass off their goods for those of the legitimate patent and trademark owners. Gray market goods are those goods which are intended for one market, but diverted to another. Thus, a need has arisen for a system through which an inspector can quickly and easily determine the identity of an authentic article as opposed to counterfeit goods or to keep track of gray market goods.
Previously manufacturers would mark their products in order to distinguish them from counterfeit goods. This system had been satisfactory, however, often this would ruin the aesthetics of the product or be easily copied by the counterfeiter. Accordingly, what is needed is a system for recognizing legitimate products as opposed to counterfeit goods which is not readily observable with the naked eye or easily reproducible. Thus, for the purpose of protecting from counterfeiting or diversion it is desired to have markers on the goods which are to be produced hard to copy, and do not affect the aesthetics of the article.
Accordingly, a system and method for detecting authentic articles is not satisfactorily found in the prior art.

System for confirming the authenticity of an article using a magnetic reader


An electronics module comprises an electronics assembly having a first connector and a second connector. The first and second connectors are disposed on opposite ends of the electronics assembly. A case encloses the electronics assembly. The first connector is accessible through a first side of the case and the second connector is accessible through a second side of the case. A locking tab is disposed on the case and is biased to an extended position. A sliding member is slidably coupled to the case and is operable to move the locking tab to a retracted position.

The invention relates to methods and apparatus for retaining sub-components within an assembly. More specifically, embodiments of the invention are related to systems and apparatus for simplifying the installation and removal of an electronics assembly into a housing.
In oil and gas applications, flow computers are used for high-performance measurement and control functions, such as fiscal metering, custody transfer, batch loading, meter proving, multi-stream measurement, station monitoring/control and other applications. In order to provide flexible configurations and simplify maintenance, many of these flow computers utilize separate electronics modules to perform individual functions. Because a particular flow computer may only perform a limited number of functions, only those modules required to perform the needed functions are installed in the flow computer at a given time.
In order to provide a high level of configurability and customization, many flow computers are constructed so that the electronics modules can be easily changed or replaced. The electronics modules are often coupled to the flow computer by a retention system that supports field removal and replacement of electronics modules. Many of these retention systems utilize mechanical coupling mechanisms that require the use of a screwdriver, or other tool, to actuate. Many mechanical retention systems also take up valuable space within the flow computer housing, both for the retention system and for the space needed to provide tool access. In some instances the space needed for the retention system requires larger enclosures and system footprints.
Thus, the embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and apparatus for retaining an electronics module that seek to overcome these and other limitations of the prior art.


An enhanced mechanism for the reverse link power control in a wireless communication system, especially for high speed data applications and fixed wireless communication applications, dynamically adjusts the power control step size of the reverse link power control. The power control step size is dynamically adjusted based on various factors including types of service, number of reverse supplemental code channels, total received power at the base station, estimated diversity gain and required mobility, among others. The system which includes stationary infrastructure, can query a subscriber unit's capability in the support of a pre-defined set of power control step sizes before assigning it to the subscriber unit. Furthermore, the subscriber unit may decide its optimized power control step size based on certain feedbacks from the system. In a specific embodiment, enhancement to the ANSI EIA/TIA-95 system is provided such that it supports a variable subscriber unit power control step size and associated signaling in accord with this invention.

A wireless communication system typically consists of one or more base stations providing communications coverage over a service area to one or more Subscriber Units (SUs). Each SU, which may be stationary or moving within the service area, establishes wireless links with one or more base stations. Communications are transmitted by the base station to the SU on the forward link and communications are transmitted by the SU to the base station on a reverse link. The forward link and the reverse link are normally separated by a frequency which limits interference between transmitters and receivers.
Different radio frequency technologies may be used in a wireless communication system. One example is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In typical CDMA systems, many users communicate over the same frequency channel with different communication links being identified by an unique set of modulation codes. For a given user, transmissions by other users appear as noise with respect to the given user's signal at the base station receiver. For the receiver to be able to successfully decode the transmission from a particular user, the intended signal must be of sufficient strength when compared to the "noise" from transmissions by other SUs. For this reason, the power level at which SUs transmit is very important.
CDMA systems are an example of wireless systems where it is important for each base stations to control the transmit power received from SUs communicating over reverse links. The means by which the base station controls the transmit power over reverse links is called Reverse Link Power Control, The goal of Reverse Link Power Control is to keep each SU transmitting at the absolute minimum power level necessary to ensure an acceptable service quality. The number of simultaneous users that the system can support depends greatly on how precisely the transmit power of all users can be maintained at ideal levels. If a SU transmits at excessive power, it increases the interference to the transmissions of other SUs. Transmission at higher than required levels also impacts negatively on the battery life of SUs.
The importance of Reverse Link Power Control is further exacerbated by high speed data (HSD) reverse links that use multiple code channels. For high speed data reverse links, several code channels are used simultaneously by a given SU to provide a high data rate. As the Reverse Link Power Control mechanism adjusts the transmit power on the reverse link, the power level of all code channels assigned to an SU change in unison. This increases the variance of the received power level at the receiver and this increase may cause a degradation in service quality as well as a negative impact on the system radio capacity.

Enhanced reverse link power control in a wireless communication system


A gas spring assembly that is suitable for use on a vehicle suspension system includes a first end member and a second end member that is spaced from the first end member. A flexible wall is secured between the first and second end members and at least partially defines a first gas chamber therebetween. A confinement at least partially forms a second gas chamber that is in communication with the first gas chamber. A porous flow restrictor is operatively disposed between the gas chambers. A suspension system including such a gas spring assembly as well as a method is also included.

The present disclosure broadly relates to the art of vehicle suspension systems and, more particularly, to a gas spring assembly suitable for use on a vehicle suspension system. The gas spring assembly includes a porous flow restrictor capable of maintaining laminar gas flow between two gas chambers that are interconnected by the porous flow restrictor.
Vehicle suspension systems typically include a plurality of spring elements for accommodating forces and loads associated with the operation and use of the vehicle. In such vehicle suspension system applications, it is often considered desirable to select spring elements that have the lowest suitable spring rate, as this favorably influences ride quality and comfort. That is, it is well understood in the art that the use of spring elements having higher spring rates (i.e., stiffer springs) will transmit a greater magnitude of road inputs into the sprung mass of the vehicle and that this typically results in a rougher, less-comfortable ride. Whereas, the use of spring elements having lower spring rates (i.e., softer, more-compliant springs) will transmit a lesser amount of the road inputs to the sprung mass and will, thus, provide a more comfortable ride.
With more specific reference to gas springs, it is possible to reduce the spring rate of gas springs, thereby improving ride comfort, by increasing the volume of pressurized gas operatively associated with the gas spring. This is commonly done by placing an additional chamber, cavity or volume filled with pressurized gas into fluid communication with the primary spring chamber of the gas spring, as is well known by those of skill in the art. Such additional volumes can be formed within a component of the gas spring itself, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,316, or provided separately and connected through one or more passages, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,989.
Vehicle suspension systems also commonly include a plurality of dampers or damping elements that are operative to dissipate undesired inputs and movements of the vehicle, particularly during dynamic operation thereof. Typically, such dampers are liquid filled and operatively connected between the sprung and unsprung masses of the vehicle. In other arrangements, however, the damping elements can be of a type and kind that utilize gaseous fluid rather than liquid as the working medium. In such known constructions, the gas damper portion permits gas flow between two or more volumes of pressurized gas, such as through one or more orifices, as shown, for example in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0124571 A1, or through one or more valve ports, as shown, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0173723. Generally, there is some resistance to the movement of pressurized gas through these passages or ports, and this resistance acts to dissipate energy associated with the gas spring portion and thereby provide some measure of damping.
Various disadvantages exist with known gas spring constructions that include additional gas volumes to assist in reducing the spring rate of the gas spring, and at least some of these disadvantages involve the movement of air between the two volumes. That is, the flow of pressurized gas between the two volumes is at least partially dependent upon the size, length, shape and number of fluid pathways connecting the two volumes. It will be appreciated that one or more, very large, fluid-communication pathways would permit increased quantities of pressurized gas to flow between the two volumes. However, such pathways would provide reduced resistance to gas flow and, thus, provide minimal damping characteristics. What's more, such very large pathways are often difficult to provide, given the limited operating and mounting envelopes normally associated with vehicle suspension systems.
Increased damping performance can, of course, be provided by reducing the size, increasing the length, altering the shape and/or reducing the number of fluid pathways between the two volumes. However, such alterations would normally provide increased damping performance at the expense of other performance characteristics of the gas spring. That is, the changes that increase the resistance to flow through the passages and, thus, increase damping performance will typically also decrease the effectiveness of the additional gas volume to reduce the spring rate of the gas spring. For example, such alterations can render a pathway more susceptible to choked flow conditions, during which gas flow through the passageway is substantially reduced or even stalled.
Another disadvantage of such known arrangements, is that a pathway, orifice or valve port of a given size is normally only capable of providing damping performance over a relatively small range of frequencies, such as from about ±2.5 Hz to about ±5 Hz. So, for an orifice that is sized to damp a nominal frequency of 10 Hz, a range of frequencies of from about 7.5 Hz to about 12.5 Hz or possibly a range of frequencies as wide as from about 5 Hz to about 15 Hz may be damped. Unfortunately, vibrations associated with the operation and use of a vehicle normally range from very low frequencies, such as from about 0.1 Hz to about 40 Hz, for example, as well as significantly higher frequencies, such as from about 40 Hz to about 100 Hz, for example. Thus, it is often desirable for a vehicle suspension system to attenuate vibrations within a wider range of frequencies, such as from about 0.1 Hz to about 100 Hz, for example, than is normally damped by a gas damper that simply uses one or more orifices. Unfortunately, known gas damping devices are generally incapable of attenuating such a wide range of frequencies of vibration.
Thus, it is desired to develop a gas spring assembly as well as a vehicle suspension system using the same that overcomes the foregoing and other problems and disadvantages associated with known constructions.


A method for producing a mapping tool, a PC game having the mapping tool and operation method therefore is disclosed. The mapping tool is created by means of linking a remote motion signal generated from a remote device which is operated by user with a keyboard signal from the inside of the conventional keyboard mapping table. User may operate the PC game through the mapping tool. The present invention employs the said mapping tool to replace the conventional keyboard motion mapping table, thereby achieving the objectives of providing natural ergonomic and consistently using the existing PC game having the keyboard motion mapping table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a mapping tool, a PC game having the mapping tool and operation method therefore; in particular, to a system and method which replaces the keyboard mapping table with the mapping tool, and uses the remote signal generated by a remote device to operate conjunctively with the mapping tool to control the PC game.
2. Description of Related Art
In human daily lives, apart from working, studying and sleeping, the rest of time is mostly devoted to activities for recreation and entertainment. Among these activities, video game sites are widely favored by people, and there in such sites usually place various types of video games to allow people to play. Recently, thanks to rapid development and advancement of computer industry, many video games originally designed for large video game machines have been transplanted to stand-alone computers, commonly referred as PC games.
When the computer industry arose, many game design companies veered to design many popular PC games. In order to match the computer peripheral input devices, all actions of each character in a PC game needs to receive the signal transferred by the computer peripheral input devices. Taking the keyboard and direction keys as the computer peripheral input device for example, it may be like that: jump up motion is represented by the Up key (↑) on the keyboard, jump down motion indicated by the Down key (↓), forward motion by the Left key (←) and backward motion by the Right key (→). All motions of each character of the PC game have been programmed by the game design company as a keyboard motion mapping table in advance and stored in the PC game; when a user plays the aforementioned PC game and operates the direction keys on the keyboard, the PC game can understand the motion instructed by the user through the above-said keyboard motion mapping table, thereby generating corresponding actions.
However, the said scheme for PC game design may cause the following drawbacks:
1. although such a PC game design approach may satisfy computer industry's needs, it does not fit human ergonomics, probably inducing injuries or negative influences on user's fingers;
2. such a PC game design approach may at last lead to the competitions in speed between the user's control and the computation of PC operations, totally losing the effects of recreational activities;
3. the above-mentioned input devices of the PC game are limited to the keyboard or mouse, so the user can only play the PC game within a certain restricted space, as a result the extent of entertainment has been significantly reduced.
Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have considered the improvable defects illustrated hereinbefore, particularly devoted to the relevant development and, in conjunction with theoretical applications and expertise, proposed the present invention of reasonable design which provides effectiveness in resolving the aforementioned issues.

Method for producing a mapping tool, a PC game having the mapping tool and operation method therefore


A transmitting apparatus and transmission method are capable of easily and correctly mixing an in-phase component and a quadrature-phase component in a quadrature modulator. A local signal with a duty ratio of 25% or smaller is generated without using frequency which is a multiple of frequency of the local signal. Without providing switches in series to the outputs of I and Q amplifiers, a duty ratio of 25% or less is obtained. for the local signal, and class-D unit amplifiers are operated such that one of the I amplifier and the Q amplifier is connected to the output side in any state regardless of whether an output power control signal is at an on-level or an off-level. In producing the 25% duty ratio, a local signal with a 50% duty ratio is converted so as to have a duty ratio of 25% by I and Q duty converters.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a transmitting apparatus and a transmission method for reducing power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
To reduce power consumption of a transmitter used in wireless communication, it is generally effective to reduce power consumption of a power amplifier which consumes high power. A class-D amplifier is known as an example of a power amplifier capable of operating with low power consumption. The class-D amplifier is equivalent to a circuit configuration in which one of two switches is disposed between the power supply and the output and she other one is disposed between the ground and the output, and these two switches are alternately turned on such that the power supply voltage and the ground voltage are alternately output. In an ideal operation state, no shoot-through current flows between the power supply and the ground, and thus a high power efficiency is achieved.
However, in practical circuits, rounding of a signal or a timing error may cause the two switches to turn on simultaneously in this situation, a current can flow between the power supply and the ground, which results in a reduction in power efficiency. To handle the shoot-through current, it is known to use a non-overlapping clock technique.
In the non-overlapping clock technique, when the switch disposed between the power supply and the output and the switch disposed between the ground and the output are alternately turned on, a time period (non-overlapping period) is intentionally provided such that the both switches are in the off-state during this time period thereby preventing an occurrence of a shoot-through current that can cause a reduction in the power efficiency. This technique is very effective to increase the efficiency of the class-D amplifier, and thus this technique is widely used.
Next, a method of controlling output power of the class-D amplifier is described below briefly. As described above, the output of the class-C amplifier is ideally connected to a power supply or ground via a switch, such that the output voltage amplitude swings between the power supply and the ground. This makes it possible to control the output voltage by varying the power supply voltage. To vary the power supply voltage, a low-noise and high-response voltage regulator is necessary. However, a power loss occurs in the voltage regulator, and thus use of the voltage regulator results in an increase in power consumption.
In practice, the class-C amplifier is realized using a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) structure. However, the switches in this structure are not ideal but have a finite on-resistance. By changing the sizes of transistors in the CMOS structure, it is possible to change the on-resistance of the switches thereby controlling the output voltage. However, to achieve a sufficiently large variable output power range, it is necessary to vary the on-resistance over a large range from an extremely low value to a great value.
In addition to the technique described above, it also known to use a pulse-width modulation technique. In this technique, the duty ratio of the on-state is varied depending on the output power. Note that the duty ratio is defined by the ratio of an on-period relative to one period of a signal with a constant frequency. In the pulse-width modulation technique, there is a lower limit beyond which a further reduction in the duty ratio is difficult. This makes it difficult to reduce the output, power to a sufficiently low value, and thus it is difficult to achieve a sufficiently wide variable output power range (see, for example, 1999 IEEE High-Efficiency Switched-Mode RF Power Amplifier).
One of known techniques to handle the above situation associated with the controlling of output power is a switched capacitor power amplifier (hereinafter referred to as a SCPA) (see, for example, A Switched-Capacitor RF Power Amplifier, IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, VOL. 46, NO. 12, DECEMBER, 2011). In the SCPA, the above-described problem with the controlling of output power is solved while maintaining the high efficiency property of the class-D amplifier.
For example, as in the amplifier 803 illustrated in FIG. 1, an equivalent circuit of the SCPA includes a plurality of class-D unit amplifiers that are connected in parallel such that the AND output thereof is obtained via a services capacitor. Among class-L) unit amplifiers connected in parallel, as many class-D unit amplifiers as proportional to the output power control signal are turned on, and the AND output of the other class-D unit amplifiers is grounded. In this configuration, the output signal of each D-class unit amplifier in the on-state is transferred to the output side via the corresponding series capacitor, and the output signal of each D-class unit amplifier in the off-state (the AND output of which is grounded) is transferred to the ground via the corresponding series capacitor. That is, the amplitude of the output signal from each D-class unit amplifier in the on-state is transferred to the output side via a capacitive attenuator, and the output power is determined by a capacitance ratio.
In a case where the SCPA is implemented in a semiconductor LSI or the like, it is possible to achieve high relative accuracy among elements in the semiconductor LSI or the like. Therefore, by implementing the SCPA of the above-describe type in a semiconductor LSI or the like, it is possible to achieve very high linearity and a wide variable output power range. Another feature of the SCPA is that when the amplifier 803 is seen from the node Cout 313, which is the output node of the amplifier 803 in FIG. 1, the impedance thereof is constant regardless of the level of the output power control signal. This is because the series capacitor of the AND output is always connected to the ground or the power supply, which can be regarded as being at the ground level for AC signals, regardless of whether the D-class unit amplifier is in the on-state or off-state. As a result, a combination of the series capacitor and an inductor 310 has a constant LC resonance frequency regardless of the output power control signal, which ensures that it is possible to extract a fundamental harmonic component from a signal output from the amplifier 803. Therefore, it is possible to achieve small leakage power to adjacent channels due to an impedance fluctuation, which can occur in the class-A amplifier.
In a transmitting apparatus formed using a plurality of switching circuits such as conventional class-D amplifiers, it is known to use frequency equal to a multiple of the frequency of the local signal in addition to the local signal serving as a carrier wave (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,750,749).
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmitting apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,750,749. In FIG. 2, reference numerals 90, 92, 96, and 98 denote transistors that turn on/off according to local signals input to gates thereof. Reference numerals 90 and 100 denote transistors that turn an/off according to the frequency of signals input to gates thereof wherein the frequency is a multiple of that of the local signal. At voltage transition of signals LOi and LOiB, a signal Vosc is off, while a signal VoscB is off at voltage transition of signals LOq and LOqB. By performing the control in this manner, the effective duty ratio of the local becomes 25%, and the phase of the output signal is determined by the signals Vosc and VoscB, which allows it to achieve low phase noise.
In general, a balun is used to mix I and Q signal components. However, when the balun is formed on an integral circuit, the resultant integral circuit has a large size, which besides results in an increase, in cost. Furthermore, another demerit, thereof is a large power loss in the technique disclosed in "A 45 nm Low-Power SAW-less WCDMA Transmit Modulator Using Direct Quadrature Voltage Modulation", 2009 ISSCC, like the technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,750,749, a signal LO with a duty ratio of 25% is generated using frequency equal to a multiple of the frequency of the local signal (see FIG. 3). Use of the duty ratio of about 25% makes it possible to connect one of switches M1 to M4 to the output side in any state. As a result, it is possible to achieve isolation between I and Q mixers, which makes it possible to directly connect the outputs of I and Q mixers without using a balun such that no interference occurs and good orthogonality is maintained.
As for the quadrature modulator configured to perform IQ mixing without using a balun using the technique disclosed in "A 45 nm Low-Power SAW-less WCDMA Transmit Modulator Using Direct Quadrature Voltage Modulation", 2009 ISSCC, numerical formula analysis is performed in "Analysis of Direct Conversion IQ Transmitters With 25% Duty Cycle Passive Mixers", 2011 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS. In this analysis, a mathematical expression shows that a spectrum appears at all, odd order harmonic components of the local signal which is the carrier wave. In the SCPA described above, these odd order harmonic components are removed, using an LC filter formed by the series capacitor connected to the AND output and an inductor 310. As described above, the LC resonance frequency is constant regardless of the output power control signal, and thus it is ensured that it is possible to remove the unnecessary odd order harmonic components other than the fundamental harmonic component.
In the SCPA (disclosed in "A Switched-Capacitor RF Power Amplifier", 2011 IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, VOL. 46, NO. 12, DECEMBER), a quadrature modulator is formed using two amplifiers 803 in FIG. 1 for an in-phase (I) component and a quadrature-phase (Q) component, respectively, and, as with the quadrature modulator in FIG. 3 according to the technique disclosed in "A 45 nm Low-Power SAW-less WCDMA Transmit Modulator Using Direct Quadrature Voltage Modulation", 2009 ISSCC, a switch is added in series to the output of each amplifier 803 such that one of I and Q is connected to the output side. In this case, as for a transistor used as the switch to pass the output, power of the SOPA which is a power amplifier, the transistor needs to have a high breakdown voltage and a very low on-resistance. As a result, a very large transistor size is required. However, the large transistor has large parasitic capacitance. As described above, the class-D amplifier is realized using the CMOS structure including P-channel (Pch) and N-channel (Nch) elements such that he output voltage is alternately connected to the power supply and the ground via switches realized by the Pch and Nch elements. Therefore, the large parasitic capacitance causes an occurrence of a charging/discharging current to/from the parasitic capacitance, which results in a reduction in power efficiency of the SCPA. Furthermore, the parasitic capacitance causes the output signal to be rounded and thus distorted.
Note that the SCPA is formed using a plurality of class-D unit amplifiers illustrated in FIG. 4 connected in parallel. As many class-D unit amplifiers as proportional to the output power control signal are turned on (signal BB Data 326=H) and the output voltage thereof is alternately connected to the power supply and the ground via switches. On the other hand, the other class-D unit amplifiers are turned off (signal HF Data 326=L), and the AND output thereof is always grounded unless there is a change in the output power control signal.
However, in the case where the quadrature modulator is formed using two amplifiers 803 in FIG. 1 for the in-phase component and the quadrature-phase component, respectively, the AND output of the amplifier turned off by the output power control signal (signal BB Data 326=L) is always at the ground level even when the local signal with the duty ratio of 25% is used as described in the "A 45 nm Low-Power SAW-less WCDMA Transmit Modulator Using Direct Quadrature Voltage Modulation", 2009 ISSCC illustrated in FIG. 3. Therefore, when the amplifiers 803 for the in-phase component and the quadrature-phase component are directly connected, the in-phase component and the quadrature-phase component interfere with each other, and thus the orthogonally, which should be achieved, is lost.

Transmitting apparatus and transmission method