Method, system, device and medium for determining a blood flow velocity in a vessel are provided. An example method includes receiving a 3D model of the vessel, which is reconstructed based on X-ray angiography images of the vessel. The method further includes specifying a segment of the 3D model by a start landmark and a termination landmark. Moreover, the method includes determining the blood flow velocity based on length of the segment and perfusion time for the segment by normalizing the blood flow velocity to correspond to a cardiac cycle. The method has a better accuracy in calculating blood flow velocity, and requires no additional modalities other than the original X-ray angiogram sequences used to visualize coronary arteries.

Myocardial ischemia arises due to insufficient blood supply to the heart as a result of coronary artery lesions. Conventional assessment of coronary lesions requires coronary X-ray angiography where X-ray images are captured while a contrast agent is being injected into coronary vessels. X-ray angiography is an economical and convenient measure for visualizing the geometry, occlusion, blood development abnormality of coronary vessels. Yet, visual assessment of stenosis from X-ray angiography does not directly predict the functional blood supply and the hemodynamic significance at a stenosis. As a result, interventional cardiologists tend to overestimate the significance of moderate coronary lesions, which may lead to unnecessary percutaneous coronary intervention. The Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is an index acquired by maneuvering a pressure guide wire to gauge the pressure at the distal end of a lesion and the catheter end, thus giving a more precise appraisal of the functional blood flow and subsequently informing the decision of coronary revascularization. However, several limitations of FFR include the cost of wire and occasional adverse response to the wire and other related chemical agents. To circumvent these limitations, virtual FFR, the estimation of FFR without invasive pressure measurements, was introduced by leveraging the recent technological advances in medical imaging and high-performance computing. The existing virtual FFR methods are based on physics models such as computational fluid dynamics solvers or empirical fluid dynamic equations, both of which utilize a coronary blood flow velocity calculation adapted from the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction frame count method. Particularly, blood flow velocity is used as boundary condition in performing computational fluid dynamics solvers or as intermediate parameters in empirical fluid dynamic equations to determine the descriptors and parameters of the physics models, so as to determine FFR. While calculating blood flow velocity, the number of frames needed for contrast agent to reach distal landmarks is counted. By combining frame counts with the 3-D geometry of the coronary vessel of interest, the average blood flow velocity can be derived. Nonetheless, this method does not take into consideration the variation of blood flow velocity at various phases of a cardiac cycle.
FIG. 1 illustrates blood flow velocity at a left anterior descending artery for three cardiac cycles, from cycle 1 to cycle 3. As seen in FIG. 1, blood flow fluctuates dramatically in one cardiac cycle, and frame count that starts and ends at different phases, for example period 1 and period 2, may indicate significantly different flow velocities for the same vessel segment. And the blood flow velocity calculated for each of period 1 and period 2 cannot accurately deliver the blood flow velocity attribute for a complete cardiac cycle.
Conventional algorithms may include utilizing the electrocardiography (ECG) signal coupled with angiograms to estimate cardiac cycles and normalize frame counts. However, recording ECG and aligning ECG with X-ray sequences entail considerable workload and discourage clinical utilization. Other algorithms, such as optical flow, are widely used in object tracking to analyze the dynamics of coronary arteries solely from X-ray angiograms. Such methods also have drawbacks as being sensitive to noise and table movement.

BEIJING KEYA MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


In a toilet splash guarding system, a splashguard is placed between a toilet bowl and a toilet seat so as to pop up and take an operational shape when the seat is lifted. The splashguard is attached to the bowl by means of suction cups and to the seat by a strap. It is provided with a hole of adjustable size made in the frontal surface, whereby urine and water are prevented from being splattered on and around the bowl.

Cleanliness and hygiene is a primary consideration in a bathroom, which requires special cleaners and detergents due to the nature of the bacteria. As is well known and understood in the art, a very common problem, and one of the chief causes of the unsanitary conditions found in the bathroom, particularly associated with men and boys, is the problem of splashing. The splashing causes problems of odor, soil and the like, in most cases behind the toilet seat and on the floor to the rear of the toilet and beneath the toilet tank. These problems can be further exaggerated in hospitals and other large facilities where many people use the bathrooms or where elderly or infirm individuals use the bathrooms.
Various attempts have been made to solve the problems of cleanliness and hygiene. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,062 for "Lifting apparatus for toilet seat" issued on 1979 Jan. 9 to Burley R. Fulbright, Jr., discloses a spring loaded lifting apparatus with a retractable splash shield connected to the toilet seat and the rim of the toilet bowl. The connection of the splash shield allows for frontal access to the bowl by a male while shielding the back and sides of the toilet bowl. The entire pivot mechanism for the toilet seat and cover is changed to the new spring-loaded system. This not only makes for a displeasing appearance, but the shielding means still leaves open the front half of the toilet bowl thus not completely preventing splashing.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,776 for "Collapsible splash shield for toilet" authored by Dale C. Sarjeant and published on 14 Sep. 1982, a collapsible splash guard is provided which is adapted to be mounted in a toilet, and which is constructed for movement between an extended operative position when the toilet seat is in a raised position and a collapsed storage position when the seat is in a lowered position. The splashguard comprises a plurality of segments assembled in nested relation with one another and normally arranged in a collapsed storage position within the bowl of the toilet when the seat of the toilet is in the lowered position. The innermost of the nested segments is connected to the toilet seat in such a manner that when the toilet seat is lifted to the raised position, the innermost segment is lifted upwardly from within the bowl and the nested segments are moved with respect to one another from a nested relationship into an extended overlapping relationship positioned above the toilet bowl and forming an enclosure shieldingly surrounding the back and side portions of the bowl.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,925 for "Retractable urinal for toilet seat" authored by Frank Blaha and published on 11 Jan. 1994 is a urinating aid for use with a commode having a bowl and seat including a cover with a front end and a back end. The back end is pivotally connected to the seat. The cover includes a lower lid and an upper lid pivotally connected to the lower lid for movement between an open and a closed position. A collapsible shield is connected to the upper lid and the lower lid. A raising and lowering plate moves the shield between a lowered inoperative position and a raised operative position so that when the upper lid is closed, the shield is in the lowered inoperative position. When the upper lid is opened, the raising and lowering plate moves the shield between the lowered inoperative position and the raised operative position to provide a raised urinating aid.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,135 for "Toilet bowl splash guard" authored by Clifford D. Jones et al. and published on 15 Oct. 1996, a collapsible splashguard is provided that is relatively permanently secured to the lower surface of a toilet seat. The splashguard includes a base plate shaped and sized to substantially conform with the shape and size of the toilet bowl rim, a pleated, substantially U-shaped splash shield, and attachment members for attaching a first portion of the splash shield to the base plate. The splashguard also includes pivotal securing members for pivotally securing a second portion of the splash shield to the base plate and members for hingedly attaching the splashguard to the lower face of the toilet seat. The attachment members can either permanently or removable attach the first portion of the splashguard to the base plate. The splashguard can further include a flange which extends downwardly from an inner edge of the base plate such that the attachment members either permanently or removably attach the first portion of the splash shield to an inner face of the flange. The splashguard can further include a wall extending upwardly along an outer edge of the base plate. The toilet seat rests on the top surface of the upwardly extending wall when the seat is in a lowered position. The splashguard can further includes three pairs of elongate lift arm members. Hinges to the base plate secure the first pair of elongated members. Each of the second pair of elongated lift members is hingedly secured to one of the first pair of elongated members. Each of the third pair of elongated lift members is hingedly secured to one of the second pair of elongated members and is also hingedly secured to the lower face of the seat.
Known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,851 for "Collapsible urinal splash shield" authored by Reginald S. Perry and published on 6 Oct. 1998 is a urinating splash shield for use with conventional toilets, which includes a splash shield and radial attachment ring. The splash shield is flipped up for use and down for nonuse. The attachment ring enables the splash shield to seat within the toilet bowl mouth. The device isolates the toilet seat from the urine stream thereby negating any additional need to clean the toilet seat.
Disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,034 for "Extensible and retractable urine deflecting apparatus for use with a toilet" published on 23 Oct. 2001 and authored by Jose Miguel Perez Urrutia, is an extensible and retractable urine deflecting apparatus for use in combination with a toilet and toilet bowl. The apparatus comprises three distinct segments all contiguously connected. Preferably the 1st segment consists of a pair of flush mounted attach, connect, and support structures, but may be limited to one. Preferably the 2nd segment consists of a pair of extensible and retractable mechanical arms, but may be limited to one. The 3rd Segment consists of a urine deflecting device or any of various methods including but not limited to absorbent paper, cascading water, stream of air, or lightweight mini urinal device. The extensible and retractable urine deflecting apparatus readily converts any typical toilet into a fully functional urinal so that a user from a non sitting position may reliably deliver and deposit a stream of urine by first deflecting and then redirecting the urine into the intended inside portion of the toilet bowl in a sanitary fashion. The extensible and retractable urine deflecting apparatus provides a closer target of superior angle. The urinal mode easily converts back to toilet mode and both modes share the same drain.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,785 for "Urine shield removably attached to toilet seat" issued on 14 May 2002 to Carol S. Linden discloses a rectangular flexible shield that is placed into the toilet bowl shielding the back and sides of the bowl to prevent or reduce urine spills. The urine shield is removably attached to the raised toilet bowl seat by a generally unshaped hook.
A need exists for a simple-in-structure and easy in use and convenient toilet seat cover, which includes a collapsible splash shield.


A ski rack which includes a frame from which extends a ski retaining section, the ski retaining section being dimensioned and adapted to support a set of skis by a binding of the skis. Each ski retaining section can be shaped and dimensioned to hold therein a set of skis and optionally a set of poles. The ski retaining section is shaped and dimensioned so that when a set of skis have been joined together with their bases facing each other, the ski bindings are lifted over upstands which extend from the ski retaining section before the skis are fitted into an open U-shaped, in plan, region formed by the ski retaining section.

At present most people store their skis in homemade racks or they are placed in corners when they are not in use. This is unsightly and a waste of space.
An object of the invention is to provide a simple inexpensive ski rack for one or more sets of skis and optionally poles which at least offers consumers a useful alternative choice.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only.


A system is disclosed which allows communication between various kinds of languages. The conversion processing portion (300) rewrites components of the representation in the natural language constructing given natural language representation to universal language elements corresponding thereto in the universal language dictionary (210). The conversion processing portion (300) joins multiple rewritten universal language elements by applying the rewriting rules (220) in accordance with an order in universal language element and creates representation in universal language, which is represented in the binary relation. A reverse-conversion processing portion (350) resolves representation in universal language represented in the binary relation to universal language elements constructing joins therein with reference to the rewriting rules (220) in accordance with rules for representation in the binary relation, which are included in the rules. The reverse-conversion processing portion (350) rewrites the resolved universal language elements to components constructing the natural language representation with reference to the universal language dictionary (120) in order to create representation in natural language.

Today in the Internet age, people's activities have been spread internationally. During international activities, communication is the most important. Accordingly, difference in language is an important matter. However, a perfect global common language does not exist at the present time. Even widely-used English cannot be the global common language. In fact, people belong to various language zones, and each of them desires communication by using his/her native language.
Currently, in order to achieve the communication between different languages, translation between these languages is necessary. In some cases, another language which can be converted from both languages must lie between. Translation generally relies on human power. Alternatively, translation software has been developed for some languages, and machine translation may be performed therefor.
In fact, conventional translation software analyzes a construction and a meaning of a sentence written in a certain language. Then, words to be translated into are used to rewrite elements of the sentence according to the grammar thereof. Therefore, perfect translation is significantly difficult to achieve. Even the translation between very similar language can hardly reach to 100%.
Human beings create information expressed in languages under various conditions in various fields such as reporting, transaction, literature, and entertainment regardless of their used languages. Information written in a language is generally stored individually in each form such as printed form, digital data form, or the like in the language the information is originally written. The information may be translated into a different language and may be stored in translated form as well. Therefore, having the same content information may be stored in each different language. This cannot be considered efficient way in the network age. Especially, when the content is changed, not only the original text must be changed but also the changed part must be translated in all of the translated text. Accordingly, it is not efficient way either in view of document management.
In general, information originally written in one language is not translated into a different language in many cases. Especially, it is rare to translate it into many languages. Therefore, exchanges of information between people using different languages are naturally limited.
Under this condition, it is desirable to develop a system which can achieve communication among people using various kinds of languages easily and accurately with small cost. Further, it is desired to accumulate information independent of a specific language and to translate the information into a desired language as necessary.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A water conservation system comprising a reservoir for storing water; a toilet water tank for storing water, the toilet water tank is disposed below the reservoir; and a tube fluidly connecting the reservoir and the tank, wherein the tube is configured such that a first end of the tube reaches near a bottom surface of the reservoir, a second end of the tube reaches near a bottom surface of the tank, and an elevated portion with a crest that is oriented above the first end.

Oftentimes a user must open a hot water faucet for several minutes before hot water arrives at the faucet. This causes a large quantity of water to be wasted. The present invention features a water conservation system for capturing and using this water that would otherwise be wasted. The water conservation system allows a user to harvest the water from a hot water faucet and store it in a reservoir for use in a toilet. The reservoir is connected to a toilet tank via a siphon tube whereby the stored water in the reservoir can be used to fill the toilet tank when the toilet is flushed.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.


The present invention provides a battery charger for cell phones which operates off the cigarette lighter receptacle of a vehicle. The battery charger includes a visual indication that is activated by electromagnetic induction from the ringing current that is generated when the cell phone receives an incoming call. An incoming call sensing circuit operates to receive the electromagnetic signal that includes the incoming call signal to the user's cell phone. The electromagnetic signal is filtered and rectified by a conditioning and activation circuit such that only an incoming call signal remains thereafter the incoming call signal is transmitted to a visual indicator circuit having at least one light source for causing the at least one light source to illuminate such that the user is alerted to the incoming call.

Portable devices such as cell phones and handheld computers are often charged by using a battery charger that couples to the cigarette lighter receptacle of a vehicle. During charging the cell phone remains fully functional for the user to make outgoing calls or to receive incoming calls. Sometimes the sounds being output by the radio while riding in a vehicle makes it difficult to hear a cell phone ring upon receipt of an incoming call, and/or the cell phone may not be equipped with display/keypad backlighting to alert the user to the incoming call. At other times, the cell phone may be resting in a position that prevents the user from seeing a visual indicator of an incoming call that is disposed on the phone preventing the user from being alerted to the incoming call. Accordingly, the present invention provides a cell phone battery charger for use in a vehicle that includes a means for providing a visual indication to the user that an incoming call is being received by the cell phone when the radio output level is high and when a visual indicator disposed on the phone cannot be seen due to the phones position.

Cell phone charger with incoming call indicator


A user input is obtained at a central monitoring device to deploy in a destination monitoring server a monitoring configuration stored at a source monitoring server. The source monitoring server is configured to monitor at least one parameter for a first set of computing devices and the destination monitoring server is configured to monitor the at least one parameter for a second set of computing devices. The central monitoring device accesses the source monitoring server using a first service account and exports the monitoring configuration to generate an export file. The central monitoring device then accesses the destination monitoring server using a second service account and transfers the export file to the destination monitoring server. The central monitoring server then deploys the monitoring configuration at the destination monitoring server based on the export file.

In large enterprises, monitoring performance of computing systems and applications is a formidable task. For example, a large enterprise typically maintains a distributed enterprise network including multiple clusters of computing nodes spread over a large geographical region which makes the network difficult to monitor. Existing monitoring solutions do not provide an efficient method to deploy uniform monitoring rules across multiple monitoring nodes. Accordingly, the performance of an enterprise network may not currently be monitored in a predictable and consistent manner across the network.

Consistent deployment of monitoring configurations on multiple computing systems


A secure shared storage infrastructure accessible by more than one customer is separated into a plurality of logical storage areas. A customer is associated with at least one logical storage area within the shared storage infrastructure. The customer and its logical storage areas are associated with at least one port in the shared storage infrastructure. Each customer has access only to the logical storage areas associated with the customer and cannot access the logical storage areas of any other customer.

In today's business world, a company's data is often one of its most important company assets. With today's voluminous amounts of important data come the problems associated with storing the data and managing access to the data. In the beginning, computer systems had only as much storage as was available on the disk drive of the individual computer system. As the company's data grew, companies had to constantly purchase larger and more expensive memory disk space to keep pace with its increasing data storage requirements. In this very basic scenario, data storage was as secure as the physical location of the computer system, that is, only those individuals with physical access to the device or with permission to use the connected computer system could have access to the data. This process, however, was not cost efficient, as each individual computer system frequently had unused storage capacity.
Over the years, storage of data on external disk devices became common and other models for data storage emerged. In a host-centric legacy environment, one or more centralized data storage devices would be connected to a host computer and managed by the IT department. This system allowed for better management of storage space and the IT department was able to control the security of the storage space.
The advent of client/server and network computing has allowed for more complex, but economical data sharing configurations, but often at the expense of data security. For example, most companies operate a local area network (LAN) with client computers, application servers, and a combination of storage devices. Individual users operate client computers (also called "network" computers, if connected to a network) for data entry and presentation. The users run applications on application servers and access data stored on various storage devices, which may be directly connected to the client or network computer or accessible over a network. Today's storage systems even allow data to be shared over a wide area network such as the Internet. In the typical LAN, however, data storage is decentralized and therefore hard to manage and control. Companies rarely know exactly how much storage they have or where valuable data may be located. Companies that do not accurately plan for future storage needs may find themselves suddenly needing extra capacity that they do not have or with excess capacity that is wasted while sitting idle. Additionally, decentralized storage suffers the additional drawback in that application processing speed is often adversely affected because the server is spending precious processor cycles monitoring data movement between storage spaces. Furthermore, decentralized data storage is also difficult to secure properly as anyone with access to the network may be able to access the data.
One fairly recent improvement in data storage management has been the introduction of the Storage Area Network (SAN). A SAN is a centrally managed network of multi-vendor storage devices interconnected by routers, bridges, switches, and gateways, which is managed using storage management software. SANs may be dedicated to one server, but more commonly are shared between multiple servers. SANs are constructed from storage interfaces and therefore support direct, high-speed data transfers between servers and storage devices.
However, even SANs fail to solve all the problems of storage management. For example, companies must still plan for future storage needs and purchase costly storage devices on a regular basis to handle the company's growing storage needs. Additionally, if a company downsizes, it is frequently left holding costly unused data storage devices. Consequently, many companies are outsourcing their data storage and management functions to a Storage Service Provider (SSP). Conventional SSP arrangements are flexible and allow a business to pay only for the storage it uses or reserves within a particular time frame. Therefore, if a company has a sudden need for new or additional storage, it can obtain the additional storage quickly and easily without the need to wait for additional hardware to be installed.
The SSP model is particularly attractive to small businesses because many small businesses do not have the space, time, money, or staff to build and maintain their own storage infrastructure. In the SSP model, small businesses are able to afford state-of-the-art storage without making costly long-term investments in expensive equipment. Furthermore, subscribers have access to fully maintained storage architectures without hiring and training additional computer professionals.
One of the problems with the SSP model is that a company must trust another organization to maintain the availability and security of its information assets. Current SSPs use a one-to-one service provisioning model. This means that for each customer, the SSP maintains at least one dedicated storage device. This system provides some assurance to the customer that other customers will not be able to access the customer's confidential information. This system, however, is largely inflexible and more costly to operate for SSPs because the SSP must purchase and support separate equipment for each customer, even though a larger percentage of the storage device is not currently being used by the customer. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for allowing SSPs to securely share storage resources between multiple customers without compromising the security of any customer's data.


A thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate has improved electrical properties and reduced appearance defects and a method of fabricating the TFT substrate, are provided. The TFT substrate includes: gate wiring which is formed on a surface of an insulating substrate; oxide active layer patterns which are formed on the gate wiring and include an oxide of a first material; buffer layer patterns which are disposed on the oxide active layer patterns to directly contact the oxide active layer patterns and include a second material; and data wiring which is formed on the buffer layer patterns to insulatedly cross the gate wiring, wherein a Gibbs free energy of the oxide of the first material is lower than a Gibbs free energy of an oxide of the second material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film transistor ("TFT") substrate and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a TFT substrate which has improved electrical properties and reduced appearance defects and a method of fabricating the TFT substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays ("LCDs") are one of the most widely used flat panel displays ("FPDs"). An LCD includes two substrates having electrodes formed thereon and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. In the LCD, voltages are applied to the electrodes to rearrange aligned liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer and thereby control the amount of light that passes through the liquid crystal layer.
A thin-film transistor ("TFT") substrate requires active layer patterns, which can supply or block electric charges when power is turned on or off. Currently, hydrogenated amorphous silicon ("a-Si:H") is widely being used for active layer patterns. Wiring of a TFT substrate using a material with low resistance in order to reduce the signal delay of the TFT substrate is also being considered for active layer patterns.
Disadvantageously, hydrogenated amorphous silicon has a relatively low charge mobility and on/off current ratio. In addition, since hydrogenated amorphous silicon has a small optical band gap, leakage photocurrent is generated from a backlight unit, and an afterimage is created due to an increase in the number of dangling bonds. Consequently, properties of a TFT substrate may deteriorate if active layer patterns of the TFT substrate are made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon.
When an oxide semiconductor is used for active layer patterns and when a material with low resistance is used for data wiring, leakage current and signal delay can be reduced. In this case, however, materials included in the active layer patterns may react with materials included in the data wiring. As a result, defects may occur, such as, for example, where a surface of the data wiring may protrude.

Thin-film transistor substrate having oxide active layer patterns and method of fabricating the same


A method and apparatus for use in forming pre-positioned solder bumps (104) on a pad arrangement (100) of a substrate (101) include placing a predetermined pattern (306) of solder preforms (304) in contact with a meltable adhesive fluxing agent (302) on a carrier tape (402), and then heating the fluxing agent (302) to melt it. Next, the fluxing agent (302) is cooled to resolidify it, thereby securing the solder preforms (304) to the carrier tape (402). The carrier tape (402) is then aligned over the pad arrangement (100) and the solder preforms (304) are transferred to the pad arrangement (100) by heating the solder preforms (304) to form the solder bumps (104) in the predetermined pattern (306).

Direct chip attachment (DCA), also known as "flip chip" technology, is well known to those skilled in the art of integrated circuit mounting techniques. In DCA, the integrated circuit chip has a plurality of terminations on its active surface that are interconnected to a corresponding mounting pad arrangement on a substrate. The interconnections typically are made by raised areas of solder, or solder "bumps," between the substrate and the chip that are remelted during a reflow soldering process, or by heating with a laser. Because of the extremely tight spacing of the interconnections, e.g., 0.5 mm, placing the solder bumps requires great precision to avoid shorts and other defects.
One method that has been used to form the raised areas of solder is to electroplate a layer of tin/lead onto a pad arrangement through a laminated dry film plating resist--a time consuming process. Another method screens and reflows a solder paste onto the pad arrangement, unfortunately producing a high defect rate and resultant low yield. Yet another method forms the solder bumps on the chip itself, but this method typically is done by the chip manufacturer and is not practical or available for any but the most expensive of chips. The overall result of these conventional methods of solder bumping is a substantially increased board or chip cost.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for providing solder bumps for use in DCA technology. The method and apparatus should be inexpensive and fast, and should produce a high quality interconnection. Ideally, the method and apparatus should be compatible with field repair applications as well as factory production applications.

Method and apparatus for use in forming pre-positioned solder bumps on a pad arrangement


Recombinant pox viruses capable of expressing an immunogenic fragment of the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen are disclosed. The recombinant viruses can be used as vaccines to prevent the establishment of or treat tumors or pre-tumorous cells expressing the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen. The vaccines can be provided as an admixture comprising: (1) a recombinant pox virus encoding the immunogenic fragment of the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen, and (2) a recombinant pox virus encoding a T-cell co-stimulatory factor. The vaccine admixture can be used, e.g., to prevent establishment of tumors or pre-tumorous cells expressing the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen. The MUC1 specific cytotoxic T-cells can be isolated and expanded and used in a method for treating a host having a tumor expressing MCU1 positive tumor cells.

The immunotherapeutic approach to the treatment of cancer is based on the observation that human tumor cells express a variety of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) that are not typically expressed in normal tissues. These antigens, which include viral tumor antigens, cellular oncogene proteins, and tumor-associated differentiation antigens, can serve as targets for the host immune system and elicit responses which result in tumor destruction. This immune response is mediated primarily by lymphocytes; T cells in general and class I MHC-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes in particular play a central role in tumor rejection. Hellstrom, K. E., et al., (1969) Adv. Cancer Res. 12:167–223; Greenberg, P. D. (1991) in Advances in Immunology, vol. 49 (Dixon, D. J., ed.), pp. 281–355, Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Fla. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the high incidence of cancer in the population, the immune response to neoplastic cells often fails to eliminate tumors. The goal of active cancer immunotherapy is the augmentation of anti-tumor responses, particularly T cell responses, in order to effect complete tumor destruction.
Most attempts at active immunization against cancer antigens have involved whole tumor cells or tumor fragments. However, the cloning of TAAs recognized by CD8+ T cells has opened new possibilities for the immunotherapy of cancer based on the use of recombinant or synthetic anti-cancer vaccines. Boon, T., et al., (1994) Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12:337–365; Brithcard, V., et al., (1993) J. Exp. Med. 178:489–495; Cox, A. L., et al., (1994) Science 264:716–719; Houghton, A. N. (1994) J. Exp. Med. 180:1–4; Pardoll, D. M. (1994) Nature 369:357–358; Kawakami, Y., et al., (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91:3515–3519; Kawakami, Y., et al., (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91:6458–6462.
DF3/MUC1 (MUC1) is a cell surface glycoprotein that is overexpressed in breast, ovarian, and pancreatic tumors. The major extracellular portion of MUC1 is composed of tandem repeat units of 20 amino acids which comprise immunogenic epitopes. The full length major extracellular MUC1 protein is composed of up to 100 tandem repeat units of 20 amino acids containing 0-glycosylation sites which act as a framework for the formation of a highly glycosylated structure, which is highly immunogenic.
The term "tandem repeat unit" of MUC1 refers to the 20 amino acid repeated sequence of MUC1 (see, e.g., Gendler, S. J., et al (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265:15286–15293).
(SEQ ID NO:1) GSTAPPAHGVTSAPDTRPAP
There is an abnormal glycosylation pattern found in carcinoma cells making the tumor-derived mucin antigenically distinct from normal mucin. Monoclonal antibodies specific for these peptide epitopes as well as their unique sugar side chains can identify >90% of breast tumors.
See Kufe, D., et al. (1984) Hybridoma 223–32; Taylor-Papadimitriou, J., et al. (1994) Trends Biotechnol. 12:227–33; Fontenot, J. D., et al. (1993) Cancer Res. 53:5386–94; Siddiqui J., et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:2320–3; Merlo et al. (1989) Cancer Res. 49:6966–6971; and Abe, M., et al. (1989) Biochem Biophys Res Commun 165:644–9.
Accordingly, using the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen (TAA) has been proposed in developing cancer vaccines, particularly against tumors expressing MUC1. Multiple copies of tandem repeats are required for optimal native conformation and immunogenicity (see Fontenot et al., supra). A comparison of synthetic peptides containing 3, 4, or 5.25 tandem repeats of MUC1 revealed that the 5.25-copy version most closely mimicked the native structure of MUC1 and showed the most anti-mucin reactivity (Kotera et al. (1994) Cancer Res. 54:2856–2860). Previous recombinant vaccinia viruses containing the MUC1 gene with numerous tandem repeats were found to be unstable; homologous recombination resulted in deletion of most of the repeats, reducing the efficacy of the vaccine. See, e.g., Acres, R. B., et al. (1993) J. Immunother. 14:136–43; Bu, D., et al. (1993) J. Immunother. 14:127–35; Hareuveni, M., et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 87:9498–502; and Finn O. J. et al. infra.
The use of recombinant vaccinia viruses for anti-tumor immunotherapy has been discussed. (Hu, S. L., Hellstrom, I., and Hellstrom K. E. (1992) in Vaccines: New Approaches to Immunological Problems (R. W. Ellis, ed) pp. 327–343, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston.) Anti-tumor responses have been elicited using recombinant pox viruses expressing TAAs such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and prostrate specific antigen (PSA). (Muraro, R., et al., (1985) Cancer Res. 4S:5769–5780); (Kantor, 3., et al. (1992) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 84:1084–1091); (Robbins, P. F., et al. (1991) Cancer Res. 51:3657–3662) (Kantor, 3., et al. (1992) Cancer Res. 52:6917–6925.) No toxicity with these vectors was observed.
In general, viral vaccines are believed to mediate tumor rejection by activating class I MHC-restricted T-cells, particularly cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). T-cell activation is often potentiated by providing a suitable immunomodulator, for example a T-cell co-stimulatory factor such as those of the B7 gene family. See e.g., Greenberg, P. D. (1991) in Advances in Immunology, Vol. 49 (Dixon, D. J., ed.), pp. 281–355, Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Fla.; Fox B. A. et al. (1990) J. Biol. Response Mod. 9:499–511.
It would be useful to have a recombinant pox virus encoding a MUC1 fragment containing a number of tandemly repeated sequences that will generate a cytotoxic T-cell response to MUC1, but which is stable, undergoing minimal excision as a result of homologous recombination in the gene encoding MUC1. It would also be useful to provide the recombinant pox virus in a vaccine format which is capable of potentiating T-cell activity against such tumors, particularly established or pre-existing tumors expressing the MUC1 TAA.

Recombinant pox virus for immunization against MUC1 tumor-associated antigen

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A computer-implemented method for establishing a VOIP communication between a PBX system and a first terminal device is disclosed. The first terminal device has a VOIP application or video call application. The PBX system and the first terminal device are able to communicate via a first communication connection and a second communication connection. When the PBX system receives a call to be forwarded to the first terminal device the PBX system verifies whether the first terminal device is logged in. If the PBX system verifies that the first terminal device is not logged in, the call is rejected. If the PBX system verifies that the first terminal device is logged in, the PBX system determines whether the application on the first terminal device is running in a background mode or in a foreground mode. When the PBX system determines that the application is running in the foreground mode, the PBX system uses the first connection for forwarding the call. When the PBX system determines that the application is running in the background mode the PBX system uses the second connection to receive information about the communication connection being used.

Telephony, like voice or video communications, nowadays may be performed via the Internet which, in particular, for long-distance calls may be very cost-saving and economical compared to regular landline networks, like for example, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), since so-called the Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) allows voice communications, video communication, or multimedia sessions of Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. With increasing use of Internet telephony, PBX development is directed more and more to using the Internet Protocol for carrying out calls.
Therefore, in prior art, PBX systems which are adapted for connecting to terminal devices, like mobile devices, through Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) (through Network Address Translation (NAT)) or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, are known. For being able to carry out VOIP communication, a corresponding VOIP or video call application or the like has to be installed on the mobile device. Also other terminal devices, like non-mobile devices, may be connected to such PBX systems.
The procedure for carrying out VOIP communication with such known systems is as follows. Usually, a terminal device like for example a non-mobile device, is able to directly communicate with the VOIP application of, for example, another terminal device like a mobile device through the PBX system. In such a case, the mobile device may answer the call or may reject it.
However, there cases may occur when the VOIP application is paused after a while meaning that the application is moving from a foreground mode to a background mode. A reason for such a shift from foreground to background mode may be that another application is used, or the device has been locked, or even just because the VOIP application has not been used for a long time. The shift can ensure long battery life and reduce memory and CPU usage. In those cases mentioned above, it is necessary to perform this shift from foreground to background mode. Specifically, with respect to mobile devices sold by Apple, Inc. having the iOS brand operating software provided by Apple, Inc., this is indispensable. But it is also considered to be rather important for other mobile operating systems supporting remote notification services.
Since the VOIP application on a terminal device to be connected to an incoming call may be in background mode, for either one of the reasons outlined above, the PBX system needs to be able to send any notifications to the terminal device through a remote notification server. Apple branded Push Notification Service (APNS) of Apple Inc., and the Firebase branded Cloud Messaging of Google LLC (GCM) and other proprietary services which are using a unique identification (ID) number in order to send it successfully to the correct device are examples of these types of services.
Thus, usually, if the non-mobile terminal device mentioned above makes a call to the VOIP application of the mobile device mentioned above which at that point of time is in background mode, a remote notification is sent to the mobile device through the remote notification server. When the user receives the notification, then the user can move the VOIP application into the foreground mode again, so as to then be able to answer or reject the call.
Apart from routing VOIP calls, a PBX system may also deflect a VOIP call to another network, like GSM or to another device, if required. For example, this may be necessary in such cases, where the VOIP application is not registered with the PBX system, or the VOIP application is not allowed to register with the PBX system, because it tries to connect from a WAN/GSM network which is not considered to be secure or trustworthy by the PBX system or the mobile device. Another case may be that the PBX system does not allow VOIP calls from applications that do not support specific codecs, such as G.722.
However, when a user's mobile device changes network and moves, for example, from a WAN to a GSM network while the VOIP application is in the background mode, then a problem occurs for the PBX system which at that time is not connected to the VOIP application and thus, when receiving an incoming call to be forwarded to the mobile device, does not "know" whether or not it can reach the mobile device, if it should send a remote notification with a call message, or if it should act differently, like, e.g., deflecting the call to Voice Mail or to a GSM call.
Therefore, there is no need for a computer-implemented method for establishing a VOIP communication between a PBX system and a first terminal device in a communication network, a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system, and a communication network which in which roaming mobile terminal devices may be better integrated.

Computer-implemented method for establishing a VOIP communication


The speed of large SRAMs is improved by embedding sense amplifiers into the SRAM core. In this way, the bit line length that the SRAM cells must drive is very short and, thus, the slew rate is fast. An additional layer of metal is employed to route and accumulate the sense amp results vertically over the entire SRAM core. To reduce the required pitch of the additional metal layers, a sense amp muxing scheme is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
SRAM access time can be dominated by the bit line swing in large SRAMs. The present invention relates to embedding multiple sense amps into the SRAM core with the SRAM cells and interconnecting the sense amps over the array, thereby reducing the effective bit line length and improving access time significantly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
SRAMs consist of an array of SRAM cells. To access a given set of cells, a given word line is activated which is connected to every SRAM cell in a given row. Depending on the state of the SRAM cell, an activated SRAM cell either pulls charge out of the true or complement column lines which are referred to as bit lines. The bottom of the array consists of sense amplifiers that are connected to the differential bit lines and which sense and amplify the resultant signal from the SRAM cells. Various multiplexing schemes both before and after the sense amps reduce the data output width to the desired size.
Particularly in large SRAMs, where there are many rows of SRAM cells (e.g., over 100), the slew rate on the bit lines is very slow. This is because the capacitance on the bit lines is high and the SRAM cell current is small and, hence, the access time is poor.
There are three standard techniques for improving the bit line slew rate:
1. Increase the cell current. This must be accomplished without increasing the cell size significantly or the improved current will have a larger capacitance to drive, which will nullify its effect. PA1 2. Reduce the number of cells on the bit line by reducing the number of rows in the array. The desired SRAM size can then be preserved either by increasing the number of columns and muxing or by building multiple banks of SRAM cells and muxing the results together. PA1 3. Reduce the signal swing required for the sense amp to accurately sense the bit lines.
Approaches (1) and (3) have been applied successfully over many generations of relatively small SRAMs. For large, fast SRAMs, approach (2) has recently also been used. In particular, most large, fast SRAMs employ multiple small banks to achieve their faster access times.
Multiple banks of smaller SRAMs, however, have a set of problems. Muxing the banks together increases the overhead of the periphery circuitry and adds to the access time, partially negating the increased access time of the individual banks. Some of the muxing and wiring can be eliminated in the banked approach by muxing the output of each bank down to a single output bit, for example. However, this requires each bank to be accessed on every cycle, thus greatly increasing the power consumption of the overall SRAM.

Fast SRAM design using embedded sense amps


A polyherbal preparation for the prevention of atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia comprising a mixture of Commiphora mukul, Boswellia serrata, Semecarpus anacardium Strychnox nux vomica, Terminalia arjuna and Shankha Bhasma.

Atherosclerosis is one of the major problems for young age death. It is an active process of inflammation and cell proliferation. It starts when normal vascular functions go away. Basically, there is blockage in the coronary artery, which leads to the heart attack. This blockage could be due to deposition of lipid, formation of wound or sudden release of lipid from the endothelial wall due to bursting of plaque. Slow and gradual deposition of fat in the intimal layer of artery is called fatty lesion or plaque. Slowly these fatty lesions get fibrosed and calcium is deposited in it. Initially, it is a reversible process but after fibrosis, it becomes irreversible. In fact, fat deposition in the blood vessel is a natural process with aging, but in some individuals, its rate of formation is significantly high and therefore leads to pathological state of coronary artery disease.
There are several reasons for this deposition. However, the basic cause is considered to be the faulty metabolism of lipid in the body. High cholesterol diet or high level of endogenous cholesterol synthesis in the body is the basic cause of arteriosclerosis. Of course, there are several precipitating factors for this pathology, such as stress, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, age, male sex, family history leading to elevated homocystein, high serum lipoprotein-a and infection with cytomegalovirus or chlamydia. More free radical production leading to rapid oxidation of LDL, followed by the excess uptake of oxidized LDL by the macrophages leading to the formation of foam cells is the basic pathology.

Polyherbal preparation for the prevention of atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia


For a reliable closing of the electric circuit between the inner and outer part of a contact rail on an electric warp stop, a contact drop wire with a chamfered drop wire head is provided, wherein the inner edge of the drop wire head that faces the contact rail slot of the drop wire has at least two sections which are differently chamfered.

The present invention relates to a contact drop wire for an electric warp stop having a chamfered drop wire head.
The contact drop wire for the known electric warp stop is held in a specific position by the warp thread during the weaving operation. If the warp thread tears, the drop wire falls on the contact rail and, due to its shape, closes the electric circuit between the inner and outer part of the contact rail. The current flowing through it serves to turn off the weaving machine. Imperfect fabrics are avoided with these measures.
The shape of the currently widespread contact drop wires is largely internationally standardized. Depending on the system of the drawing-in machines that are used, the angle .alpha.(see FIG. 1) is fixed at 30.degree. or 37.degree.. This large slope has been fixed a long time ago which assumes that it suffices to reliably and rapidly close the electric circuit between the inner and outer part of the contact rail. However, it has been demonstrated more and more that this requirement is not adequately met. Especially for weaving machines with weft insertion numbers exceeding 600 per minute, the contact does not, with any degree of frequency, effect a shutting down of the weaving machine fast enough. In contrast, experience shows that the drop wire slope does not effect a sufficiently rapid sliding on the contact rail in order to reliably close the electric current. In particular, upon soiling of the warp thread due to the abrasion of the sizing, the sliding of the drop wire and is impeded the transition resistance between the drop wire and contact rail increases.
To remedy this problem, the drop wire could be designed to slide faster on the incline by the provision of a steeper angle so as to also increase the contact pressure with respect to the contact rail. Unfortunately, this solution is not commercially feasible. Most of the larger weaving mills pull in the warp threads automatically and, in particular, also by means of the drop wires. These machines are arranged now in such a manner that the drawing-in means are adapted precisely to the drop wire incline of 37.degree. or 30.degree.. As apparent from FIGS. 2 to 4 of the accompanying drawings, a modification in the angle would change the position of the drop wire. This, however, is not Permissible. Either the drop wire or the automatic drawing-in machine would be damaged. Normally retrofitting the drawing-in machne is not a solution, since othewise the old shapes of drop wire that are in circulation in the hundreds of millions could no longer be manufactured. In particular, drawing-in mills, which work by job orders, would never proceed in such manner.

Contact drop wire for an electric warp stop


A field configurable device, such as an FPGA, supports secure field configuration without using non-volatile storage for cryptographic keys on the device and without requiring a continuous or ongoing power source to maintain a volatile storage on the device. The approach can be used to secure the configuration data such that it can in general be used on a single or a selected set of devices and/or encryption of the configuration data so that the encrypted configuration data can be exposed without compromising information encoded in the configuration data.

This invention relates to secure configuration of a field configurable logic device.
Field configurable devices, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), are typically configured using data that is supplied to the device after the device is deployed in an application. For example, the configuration data is provided to the device when the device is powered on.
It may be desirable to avoid disclosure of the configuration data. For example, the configuration data may include secrets, such as cryptographic keys or procedures, that are necessary to keep private. It may be also desirable to prevent configuration of the device with unauthorized configuration data.
Referring to FIG. 1, one approach that has been used to provide security for an FPGA 110 is to implement a decryptor function 140 (e.g., a 3DES decryptor) and a volatile memory function 120 (e.g., static RAM) on the same devices as the configurable logic 150. The volatile memory holds a cryptographic key 125 that is provided to the decryptor function. Configuration data 160 for the device is provided to the device in an encrypted form 180 and a configuration module 145 uses the decryptor 140 to decrypt the configuration data as it is loaded into the device before it is used to configure the configurable logic. The cryptographic keys are set and stored on the device before it is deployed, and a dedicated battery 130 is used to maintain the volatile memory—if the battery is removed then the keys are erased. The provider of the configuration data knows the keys stored in the device and therefore can encrypt (170) the configuration data suitably for a particular device. An example of this approach is type of approach is commercially available in the Xilinx Virtex II™ family of FPGAs.
Authentication of integrated circuits has been suggested using device characteristics that vary from device to device based on variation in the fabrication process. Some such approaches are described in US Application Publication US2003/0204743A1, titled "Authentication of Integrated Circuits," which is incorporated herein by reference.


A photovoltaic device (e.g., solar cell) includes: a front substrate (e.g., glass substrate); a semiconductor absorber film; a back contact including a first conductive layer of or including copper (Cu) and a second conductive layer of or including molybdenum (Mo); and a rear substrate (e.g., glass substrate). A selenium blocking layer is provided between at least the Cu inclusive layer and the Mo inclusive layer.

Many different types of photovoltaic devices are known in the art (e.g., see U.S. Patent Document Nos. 2004/0261841, 2006/0180200, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,335,266, 4,611,091, 6,784,361, 6,288,325, 6,631,603, and 6,123,824, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties). Examples of known photovoltaic devices include CIGS (approximately Cu(In, Ga)(Se,S)2 and/or CuInx-1GaxSe2) solar cells. CIGS films are conductive semiconductor compounds that are often referred to as an absorber or light absorbing layer(s). Generally speaking, CIGS type photovoltaic devices include, from the front (or light incident) side moving rearwardly, a front transparent cover sheet (or substrate) such as glass, a front electrode comprising a transparent conductive layer(s) (e.g., a transparent conductive oxide), a light absorption semiconductor film (e.g., CIGS), a rear electrode/contact, and a rear substrate of a material such as glass or metal foil for certain example flexible applications. In some instances, an adhesive may be provided between the front substrate and the front electrode. It is also the case in some instances that the device is provided with window layer(s) (e.g., of or including CdS, ZnO, or the like). Photovoltaic power is generated when light incident on the front side (or front substrate) of the device passes through the front electrode and is absorbed by the light absorption semiconductor film (e.g., CIGS) as is known in the art.
For example, with reference to FIG. 1, there is generally provided a schematic cross-sectional diagram illustrating various elements of a CIGS-type photovoltaic device 10. The solar cell includes a rear glass substrate (or back glass) 12. A back contact made up of a metal layer, such as, for example, molybdenum (Mo) 14 is typically deposited on the rear glass substrate 12. The first active region of the device 10 comprises a semiconductor layer 16 which is typically a p-type copper indium/gallium diselenide (CIGS) which may be deposited by coevaporation. A thin "window" layer of n-type compound semiconductor 18, typically comprising cadmium sulfide (CdS), may then be wet deposited on CIGS layer 16. A front electrode 20 (e.g., of conductive zinc oxide) is deposited on the CdS layer 18 and acts as a transparent front contact for the photovoltaic device 10. The device 10 may be completed by including a series of front face contacts (not shown) in the form of, for example, a metal grid on top of the transparent front contact 20 to facilitate the extraction of generated electrons, and a front glass substrate 22. A large solar cell may also be divided into a number or smaller cells by means of scribes, such as, for example, laser or mechanical scribes or the like, traditionally referred to as P1, P2 and P3, which allow individual cells to be connected in series.
As noted above, a metal such as Mo may be used as the rear electrode (or back contact) 14 of a photovoltaic device, such as, for example, a CIGS solar cell 10, to extract positive charges (holes) generated in the CIGS semiconductor absorber 16. In certain instances, the Mo rear electrode 14 may be sputter-deposited using, for example, direct-current magnetron sputtering, onto the back glass substrate 12. However, using Mo alone as the material for the back contact 14 of the solar cell 10 suffers from certain disadvantages. For example, Mo has a relatively high material cost and sometimes suffers from the problem of delamination from the back glass substrate. In addition, Mo typically exhibits relatively low conductivity and suffers from a relatively slow deposition rate, and thus causes correspondingly low production line throughput. As a result, using Mo as the material for the back contact accounts for a substantial portion of the total device cost. Moreover, a frequent desire for a back contact for CIGS type solar cells is to achieve a sheet resistance (Rs) on the order of less than or equal to about 1 ohm/square. In order for a pure Mo back contact to alone meet this requirement, the Mo thickness must typically range from 300-900 nm, depending upon the CIGS deposition method. In other words, the thicker the film, the lower its sheet resistance. This results in the back contact making up about 15-25% of the total photovoltaic module cost.
Attempts have been made to use other types of metals as the sole material to form the back contact. These attempts have resulted in limited success with only a few other materials, such as, for example, tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb), exhibiting sufficient compatibility with the CIGS absorber, e.g., not reacting with the CIGS absorber. However, these alternatives result in a lower CIGS device efficiency as compared to devices using Mo as the material for the back contact.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, a substantial portion of the Mo back contact is substituted with copper (Cu), which is a less expensive and a more conductive alternative. It has been found that substituting Cu for a portion of the Mo of the back contact does not significantly compromise cell performance in a CIGS cell. The many advantages of using Cu as the bulk (or at least part) of the back contact include, for example, lower cost—Cu sputtering targets are typically at least two times less expensive than using Mo sputtering targets. Additionally, the sputter deposition rates of Cu are typically at least two times greater than that of Mo. Another advantage of using Cu in the back contact is that sputtered Cu has greater conductivity as compared to sputtered Mo. The Cu portion of the rear electrode/contact is preferably separated from the CIGS absorber by at least a layer of or including Mo.
When a Cu layer is provided in the rear electrode, a Mo layer is provided as part of the rear electrode/contact between the Cu layer and the CIGS absorber in order to prevent or reduce Se penetration into the Cu so that significant Se from the CIGS does not react with the Cu during the high-temperature selenization process. One or both of the Cu and/or Mo layers may be reflective layers in certain example embodiments. In example embodiments of this invention, in order to allow for a reduced thickness of the conductive Mo inclusive layer, a selenium blocking layer(s) is located between the conductive Cu based layer and the conductive Mo inclusive layer in the rear electrode/contact. The selenium blocking layer may contain, for example, Cu and at least one more element selected so that its enthalpy of formation is smaller compared to copper selenide so that there is no or substantially no replacement of the portion of the compound material with selenium. The selenium blocking layer may be of or include CuO, Cu2O, CuN2O6, CuN2 and/or MoN in certain example embodiments of this invention.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a photovoltaic device, comprising: a front substrate; a semiconductor absorber film; a rear contact comprising a first conductive layer comprising copper, a second conductive layer comprising molybdenum, and a selenium blocking layer located between at least the first conductive layer comprising copper and the second conductive layer comprising molybdenum; and a rear substrate; wherein the first conductive layer comprising copper is located between at least the rear substrate and the selenium blocking layer, and wherein the semiconductor absorber film is located between at least the back contact and the front substrate.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a method of making a coated article for use in a photovoltaic device, the method comprising: providing a substrate; depositing a conductive layer comprising Cu over at least said substrate; depositing a selenium blocking layer on the substrate over at least the conductive layer comprising Cu; depositing a conductive layer comprising Mo on the substrate over at least the first conductive layer and the selenium blocking layer; and forming a CIGS absorber film over at least said second conductive layer.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a photovoltaic device comprising: a front substrate (e.g., glass substrate); a semiconductor absorber film (e.g., CIGS inclusive); a rear contact comprising a conductive layer comprising copper, a layer comprising molybdenum which may or may not be conductive, and a layer comprising an oxide and/or nitride of copper located between at least the conductive layer comprising copper and the layer comprising molybdenum. The device further includes a rear substrate (e.g., glass or foil substrate), wherein the conductive layer comprising copper is located between at least the rear substrate and the layer comprising the oxide and/or nitride of copper, and wherein the semiconductor absorber film is located between at least the back contact and the front substrate.
These and other example embodiments and example advantages are described herein with respect to certain example embodiments and with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:

Back contact having selenium blocking layer for photovoltaic devices such as copper—indium-diselenide solar cells


A vibration dampening system for a work vehicle may include a cab frame having a plurality of structural frame members, with the structural frame members including a first frame member extending along a first side of the cab frame and a second frame member extending along a second side of the cab frame. The second side is opposite the first side. In addition, the system may include a vibration damper coupled between the first and second frame members. The vibration damper may extend lengthwise between a first end coupled to the first frame member and a second end coupled to the second frame member. The vibration damper is configured to reduce an amount of vibrations being transmitted through the cab frame.

A wide range of off-highway, work vehicles have been developed for various purposes. In smaller work vehicles, seats and other operator supports may be sufficient, and these may be mounted on various forms of springs and other suspension components. However, in larger or more complex work vehicles, such as certain tractors and construction equipment, a partially or fully enclosed cab is more desirable, providing one or more operators with a comfortable location from which the vehicle may be operated. Such cabs, sometimes referred to as "operator environments" also provide a central location to which controls and operator interfaces may be fed, and from which most or all of the vehicle functions may be easily controlled.
Work vehicles typically include a number of components that create vibrations at various frequencies. Exemplary sources of vibration include engines, transmissions, tracks, axles, pumps, etc. Such vibrations are typically transferred from a chassis of the work vehicle, through its suspension system, and ultimately to the cab. In certain situations, the energy from the mechanical vibrations may be converted to airborne noise that can be heard by the operator. Further, these mechanical vibrations may cause discomfort in the operator's hands and/or feet.
Conventionally, suspension systems for mounting a cab relative to a vehicle's chassis include rubber isolators beneath the corners of the cab frame. While this type of mounting configuration can provide some reduction in vibration transmission from the chassis during vehicle operation, a significant amount of vibration energy is still transferred to the cab. Over a typical work period of several hours, the resulting noise and vibration can fatigue the operator and ultimately reduce his or her productivity.
Accordingly, an improved vibration dampening system that reduces the amount of vibrations transmitted to the operator's cab of a work vehicle would be welcomed in the technology.

Vibration dampening system for a work vehicle with cab dampers


A serial interface interacting with a transmission pad system circuitry wherein a differential impedance is reckoned across the system voltage source, includes a scheme for controlling transmitter rise-fall transitions (to selectively speed up or slow down transitions) without requiring additional timing controls or affecting reflection coefficient of the transmitter port. The scheme uses at least one pre-charged capacitor, e.g., PMOS capacitor, interacting with the transmitter pad and connected through resistances or otherwise across the differential impedance with a switch. A modified scheme uses first and second parallely connected PMOS capacitors connectable with the transmission pad by switches, which may be NMOS switches. The scheme may be used in a MIPI D-PHY compliant DSI transmitter operating at, for e.g. 800 Mbps, and low signal common-modes. The scheme controls signal transition times of high speed circuitry including transmitters and uses a DATA signal which is already available to the circuitry.

In high speed signal circuitry such as transmitters which might be used with serial interfaces, it is desirable to have controlled rise/fall times for output transitions. Very fast transitions cause EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) and very slow transitions result in poor receiver performance.
The rise and fall times at the transmitter pad are determined by: the output impedance of the driver, the characteristic impedance of the transmission line and the total lumped capacitance on the pad. The rise and fall times can be represented by simple RC charge and discharge. (Herein, the word capacitance is written abbreviated sometimes as "cap").
FIG. 1 shows a prior art type of current mode driver and a voltage mode driver in the context of a transmitter pad. It is noted in the context of FIG. 1 that the rise-fall times, as shown by way of example are first order RC.
The output impedance of the driver of the transmitter is generally matched with the characteristic impedance of the line, for design purposes. The value of each impedance is determined by factors such as transmission line design, output voltage swing, and dc power consumption. Typically and as an example, both the impedances may be of the order of 50 Ohms. In some cases they may be of the order of 100 Ohms. In some current mode drivers, the termination impedance may be chosen to be much larger than the line impedance, in order to save power. The transitions are still an RC phenomenon, but they are now controlled by the line impedance more than the transmitter termination impedance.
Once the line impedance is known, the total capacitance on the pad is one parameter with which to control the rise and fall times. In some applications, especially at high data rates, it is desirable to keep the pad capacitance to a minimum so as to prevent reflections at high frequencies. In such cases the rise/fall times become very small, and a method is required to increase the transition times. In some other applications, there might be too much pad capacitance on the pads, owing to high-capacitance ESD structures or the self-capacitance of other transmitters and receivers sharing the same pads. In such cases, the rise/fall times are very large and the transition times need to be reduced.
In prior art, often short duration current pulses (lasting a fraction of the transition time, for example) are used to either slow down or speed up transitions. In known art, current sources provide extra charge which helps either to speed up or slow down the transition. Such a prior art scheme is shown in FIG. 2. There are two disadvantages to the prior art scheme shown in FIG. 2. First, the width of the current pulse needs to be controlled. This implies generating an accurate timing which is a small fraction of the data rate itself, which is a difficult and jitter-prone proposition at high data rates. Second, for low voltage swing, low common mode applications (and these are becoming increasingly popular) the current sources which sink current (I_2 and I_4) will not have enough voltage headroom.
A design example addressing the problems referenced in the previous paragraphs is presented in the present and the next paragraph in the context of MIPI D-PHY standard. As known, MIPI D-PHY standard is a PHY standard for serial interfaces used in mobile phones. Examples of such include camera and display system applications conveying data between the cell phone processor chip and display or camera chips. MIPI D-PHY standard requires a voltage mode driver with 50 Ohm single-ended impedance. The common-mode is 200 mV and the differential swing is ±100 mV on top of the common mode. Stringent high-frequency reflection requirements translate to a max capacitance limit on the pad=1.5 pF (see FIG. 3). The minimum rise time (20% to 80% of dc value) allowed is 150 ps. A simple RC across process variation gives the worst case, minimum rise time of 70 ps. In such a case, the nominal value of time constant=(50∥50)*1.5 pf=30 ps and around two time constants are required for a 20%-80% charging. Hence a scheme to slow-down transmission times is required.
FIG. 3 is a design example addressing problems referenced above and illustrates a MIPI D-PHY transmitter showing the line state when the transmitter is driving a differential '1'. The voltage levels, with 100 mV minimum, offer too less of a voltage head-room with which to design low capacitance current sources. The scheme based on current pulses will be difficult to design. Also, generating accurate pulses with width in 10 s of pico-seconds is a difficult and costly proposition.
An improved scheme is required to control transmitter rise-fall times for a serial interface without requiring additional timing or dedicated additional current pulses. Such improved scheme also needs to work for low common mode, low differential swing applications.

Scheme for controlling rise-fall times in signal transitions


A shot of a focus-monitoring mark is provided on a wafer at a first focus position (ΔDF) defocused from a second focus position (Fk) by a certain amount to measure a dimension (La) of the focus-monitoring mark. The actual focus position (F) of the defocused shot is calculated by the measured dimension (La) and the defocused direction of the defocused shot, using a calibration quadratic function curve (1). The difference (F−ΔDF) between the actual focus position and the defocused amount represents the magnitude and direction of deviation of the actual focus position from the optimum focus position.

The present invention relates to a focus monitoring method which is suited for controlling a focus condition of exposure equipment used for photolithography in manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device.
In the photolithography process of manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, the focus can be dislocated or deviated from the predetermined focus point because of the unevenness of the surface of a wafer caused by mechanical impreciseness of exposure equipment and/or irregularity of process condition. Such a focus-deviation can produce deviation of a pattern transferred onto the wafer and reduce the production yield.
According to a conventional method, a focus-monitoring pattern is provided in a reticule, which is transferred onto the wafer, and the dimension of the transferred focus-monitoring pattern is periodically monitored to detect the focus-deviation, then, the focus is corrected according to the result of the detection to prevent the reduction of the manufacturing yield.
With the recent advance of the technology for a very fine device pattern, it has been difficult to secure a sufficient process margin of the value of exposure and the depth of focus during the photolithography. Therefore, there is a demand for a new technology enabling to precisely monitor the focus of exposure equipment by utilizing a small process margin in order to prevent the reduction of the manufacturing yield.
Conventional focus-monitoring methods are described below. In non-patent document entitled "Edge Die Focus-Expose Monitoring and Comparison to Improve CD Distributions" (Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 5375), a reticule having a focus-monitoring pattern (mark) formed by a plurality of fine lines 15 such as shown in FIG. 12 has been used. The quantity or magnitude of retreat of the ends of such fine lines is sensitive to the focus. Accordingly, precise focus-monitoring is possible by monitoring the quantity of the end-retreat of the fine lines. In FIG. 12, a dimension L between the fine lines 15 of a focus-monitoring pattern is measured to substantially monitor the quantity of the end-retreat of the fine lines.
FIG. 13 shows the relationship between the dimension L and the focus position, wherein the focus position of the most suitable or optimum focus is located at the origin of the coordinate axes. The horizontal axis (x-axis) denotes the focus position and the vertical axis (y-axis) denotes the dimension L. In this specification, the optimum focus means the focus position at which the desired characteristics of a manufactured product are obtained. As shown in FIG. 13, the dimension L is variable substantially symmetrically in respect to the focus position. Data, which is shown in the FIG. 13, is obtained in advance before focus-monitoring in order to utilize the above-mentioned relationship between the focus position and the dimension L as a calibration curve. The dimension L at the shot of the optimum focus is measured and the actual focus position is determined from the dimension L of the optimum focus and the calibration curve. The difference between the obtained focus position and the optimum focus is the quantity of the focus-deviation.
This conventional method, however, has the following disadvantages.
As described above, the dimension L of a focus-monitoring pattern is changed substantially symmetrically with respect to the focus position (FIG. 13), which means that there is a plurality of solutions of the focus position even if the dimension L is determined. Therefore, the focus position is not determined uniquely from the calibration curve of the focus position and also the direction of the focus-deviation can not be determined. Accordingly, when the focus position is corrected, the correction in the direction of focus-deviation has been made in accordance with some assumption. For the above reasons, it has been difficult to set suitable focus conditions.
Also, the change of the dimension L with respect to the focus position is not sensitive in the vicinity of the focus position where the calibration curve passes the extreme value. It reduces the precision of the focus-monitoring. The optimum focus is usually set in the vicinity of the focus position at the extreme value of the calibration curve because the focus characteristics of the device region, which becomes a judging criterion for the optimum focus, are similar to those of the focus-monitoring pattern. For these reasons, it is natural that the precision of the focus-monitoring is reduced in the vicinity of the optimum focus.
In Japanese Patent Application Kokai Number 2001-189264, it is proposed that the defocus characteristics of two focus-monitoring patterns are changed by intentionally providing a phase difference to lights passing through the two focus-monitoring patterns in order to precisely monitor the focus-deviation including the direction.
FIG. 14 illustrates the outline of such a method. FIG. 14(a) is a sectional view of a reticule. The reticule is composed of three layers; a glass board 161, a semi-transparent film 162, and a light shielding film 163. FIG. 14(b) is a plan view of the reticule, FIG. 14(c) is a plan view of a focus-monitoring pattern 140, and FIG. 14(d) is a partly enlarged plan view of the focus-monitoring pattern 140. The focus-monitoring pattern 140 has a semi-transparent film section 801 in the periphery, a shielding film section 802 in the center, first monitor marks 101 constituting opening sections, and second monitor marks 102 constituting opening sections. Each of the first and second monitor marks 101 and 102 has a rectangular pattern and a fine tapered pattern (FIG. 14(d)) formed on one side of the rectangular pattern. For the purpose of providing a phase difference of right (90 degrees) angles between the exposure light passing through the semi-transparent film and the exposure light passing through the opening section, a portion of the glass board 161, where the first monitor mark 101, is located is etched down to a depth of, for example, 124 nm, as shown in FIG. 14(a).
FIG. 15 shows a difference in the quantity or magnitude of the focus deviation relative to the defocus of the first and second monitoring marks 101 and 102. FIG. 16 shows the magnitude of deviation S (=S2−S1) of the relative positions between the first and second monitoring marks 101 and 102. FIG. 17 shows the relationship between the defocus and the magnitude of deviation S from the optimum focus. Since the magnitude of deviation S is monotonically increased, the magnitude of deviation S can be monitored including the direction of deviation S.
As described above, in Japanese Patent Application Kokai Number 2001-189264, the special technique is required so that a part of the glass reticule is not useful for the monitoring.
In addition, as for one of the two monitoring marks, as shown in FIG. 15, since the measurement is taken in the vicinity of the focus position at the extreme value of the calibration curve, the precision of the focus-monitoring is reduced in the same way as the above-mentioned non-patent document.


A mobile device including: at least an imaging element; and a light-emitting device that irradiates a subject in accordance with imaging of the imaging element, in which the light-emitting device includes a semiconductor light-emitting element, and the difference of the normalized spectral power distribution at a wavelength of 580 nm and a value B representing a difference between normalized spectral power distributions in a wavelength range from 540 nm to 610 nm and a wavelength range from 610 nm to 680 nm are appropriate values. By providing a wavelength control element, it is possible to improve the color reproducibility and the like of a captured image. The mobile device achieves both sensitivity improvement and color reproducibility in a trade-off relationship.

Imaging devices such as video cameras and digital cameras have been miniaturized, and extremely compact digital cameras and video cameras are being developed. Although not a digital camera, an imaging element in a mobile phone now also has a greatly improved performance, and small-sized mobile devices that can obtain high quality images have become widespread.
In order to capture beautiful images even at night and backlighting, many such compact imaging devices are equipped with light-emitting devices (flashlights) as standard.
As a light-emitting device used for a flashlight, a xenon type (see, for example, Patent Document 1) and an LED type (see, for example, Patent Document 2) are known.
Incidentally, in order to evaluate a light emitted from a light-emitting device of general illumination, an indicator "color rendering property Ra" defined by CIE has been used for a long time. This indicator uses a light of the perfect radiator as a reference light, and numerically expresses a color shift from the reference light.
On the other hand, from a viewpoint different from the color rendering property Ra, illumination that can realize a natural, vivid, highly visible, and comfortable color appearance of subjects actually irradiated with light has been developed (for example, see Patent Documents 3, 4, and 5).


A method performed by a wireless device for determining a search space for a physical control channel in a wireless communications network is provided. The wireless device is configured with a first search space of a physical control channel which first search space is associated with a first synchronization signal. The wireless device attempts to receive the first synchronization signal from a first network node. The wireless device then determines a search space for a physical control channel based on whether or not the attempt to receive said first synchronization signal was successful. When the attempt to receive said first synchronization signal was successful determining a first search space for the physical control channel, and when the attempt to receive said first synchronization signal was not successful determining a second search space for any one or more out of: the physical control channel and a second physical control channel.

In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or user equipments (UE), communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a "NodeB" or "eNodeB". A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the wireless device within range of the radio network node.
A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for user equipments. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for third generation networks, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. This type of connection is sometimes referred to as a backhaul connection. The RNCs and BSCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.
Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS), also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, for example to specify a Fifth Generation (5G) network. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access network wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of an RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially "flat" architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they are not connected to RNCs. To compensate for that, the E-UTRAN specification defines a direct interface between the radio network nodes, this interface being denoted the X2 interface.
Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.
In many wireless communication networks Reference Signals (RSs) play a crucial role to obtain good performance. In LTE, network nodes transmit Primary Synchronization reference Signals (PSS) and Secondary Synchronization reference Signals (SSS) which are used by wireless devices to obtain radio frame, subframe, slot and symbol synchronization in time and frequency domain of a channel such as a control channel. In particular the frequency synchronization from PSS and SSS are further used to identify a center frequency of the carrier to enable a correct resource mapping of system information, random access procedure and the control channel. Cell-specific Reference Signals (CRS) where in early releases of the LTE standard used to determine both large scale channel properties as well as fine-grained channel estimation in a demodulation of a received signal. LTE later developed a support possibility to transmit data and control information to a wireless device from potentially multiple transmission points such as network nodes. To enable this without performance degradation the concept of Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) was introduced. Simplified described, two signals are said to be quasi-co-located with respect to a specific set of radio parameters if the specific set of radio parameters for the two signals can be considered equal. For example, signals transmitted from the same antenna may be considered to have equal delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, and average delay. The two signals may therefore be said to be quasi-co-located with respect to these radio parameters. Another example is that signals transmitted from two antennas mounted on the same antenna site may be considered to have same Doppler spread and Doppler shift when received by a wireless device and the two signals are hence said to be quasi-co-located with respect to Doppler spread and Doppler shift.
An evolved Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH) that appeared in Release 11 of the 3GPP specification enabled transmission from transmission points being different from transmission point for the CRS. This was accomplished by a possibility to configure up to two ePDCCH sets where each of the ePDCCH sets can be quasi-co-located with different Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS) which are configured to be quasi-co-located with the same or different CRSs. Hence, the ePDCCH relies on the CRSs to obtain good performance. Each of the ePDCCH sets has a search space wherein a wireless device is configured to search for Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages. The wireless device hence determines a union search space comprising the union of search spaces, i.e. the set of search space entries belonging to either or both of the search spaces for the configured ePDCCH sets. For each ePDCCH set and each search space entry the wireless device obtains channel properties from CRSs and CSI-RSs which it uses in a demodulation method for a blind decoding attempt of a possible DCI transmitted in said search space entry. Each ePDCCH supports multiple formats and the format used is a priori unknown to the wireless device. The wireless device needs to blindly detect the format of the ePDCCHs by performing a decoding attempt for each of the possible formats. In each subframe, the wireless device will attempt to decode all the ePDCCHs that can be formed from the CCEs in each of its search spaces.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified illustration how a Wireless device determines a search space to perform blind decoding attempt according to prior art. In FIG. 1, synchronization signals SS1 and SS2 are two pairs of signals each comprising a CRS and a CSI-RS signal, used to obtain fine synchronization, i.e., obtain large scale channel properties. The CRSs are transmitted every subframe while the CSI-RS are also periodic but transmitted with a larger periodicity. In this document they are regarded them as two synchronization signals for simplicity. In this example it is desired to transmit data to the Wireless device from two different cells represented here by Network node 1 and Network node 2. The two network nodes 1 and 2 periodically send 11, 12 their own pair of CRS and CSI-RS signals, Network node 1 transmits SS1 while Network node 2 transmits SS2. The two CRSs may be the same CRS also. To enable the Wireless device to receive DCI messages from both Network node 1 and Network node 2, the Wireless device is configured with two ePDCCH sets with search spaces S1 and S2 respectively. As mentioned above, each of the ePDCCH sets are configured to be quasi-co-located with a CSI-RS, and a CRS, which means that the search spaces are associated with a synchronization (sync) signal. In FIG. 1, search space S1 is configured to be associated with synchronization signal SS1 while search space S2 is associated with synchronization signal SS2. Once the Wireless device is configured with the search spaces and has obtained 13 them it may in each subframe determine 14 a union search space and search 15, i.e. blindly decode 16, for a DCI in search space entries of S1 and S2. When performing a blind decoding attempt for a search space entry in S1 the wireless device uses 17 a demodulation method based on SS1 and when performing a blind decoding attempt for a search space entry in S2 the Wireless device uses a demodulation method based on SS2. In the example illustrated in the figure the Wireless device will determine a successful blind decoding attempt in search space entry x in S2.
There are several problems with the prior art method described above.
It relies on CRSs and CSI-RS that need to be periodically transmitted. Always-on signals such as CRSs are un-desirable for energy efficiency, interference, and forward compatibility reasons.
In future systems, such as e.g. Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), there will likely be requirements that the wireless device is capable of receiving control messages from a lot of network nodes. Configuring the wireless device with a search space for each network node that it need to receive control messages from will rapidly result in that the wireless device need to perform a huge number of decoding attempts.
However, performing decoding attempts will consume a lot of resources in the wireless device.

Wireless device and method therein for determining a search space in a wireless communications network


In ACK/NAK responses with repetition, the ACK/NAK response from the user equipment to a Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) transmission is repeated in consecutive frames a predetermined number of frames following receipt. This repeat ACK/NAK causes a problem when a PSCCH transmission directed to the same user equipment occurs in consecutive subframes. In a first embodiment, the first ACK/NAK response repeats preempting any ACK/NAK response to the later PDSCH transmission. In a second embodiment, the first ACK/NAK response does not repeat and the ACK/NAK response to the later PDSCH transmission occurs.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless telecommunications network 100. The illustrative telecommunications network includes base stations 101, 102 and 103, though in operation, a telecommunications network necessarily includes many more base stations. Each of base stations 101, 102 and 103 are operable over corresponding coverage areas 104, 105 and 106. Each base station's coverage area is further divided into cells. In the illustrated network, each base station's coverage area is divided into three cells. Handset or other user equipment (UE) 109 is shown in Cell A 108. Cell A 108 is within coverage area 104 of base station 101. Base station 101 transmits to and receives transmissions from UE 109. As UE 109 moves out of Cell A 108 and into Cell B 107, UE 109 may be handed over to base station 102. Because UE 109 is synchronized with base station 101, UE 109 can employ non-synchronized random access to initiate handover to base station 102.
Non-synchronized UE 109 also employs non-synchronous random access to request allocation of up link 111 time or frequency or code resources. If UE 109 has data ready for transmission, which may be traffic data, measurements report, tracking area update, UE 109 can transmit a random access signal on up link 111. The random access signal notifies base station 101 that UE 109 requires up link resources to transmit the UEs data. Base station 101 responds by transmitting to UE 109 via down link 110, a message containing the parameters of the resources allocated for UE 109 up link transmission along with a possible timing error correction. After receiving the resource allocation and a possible timing advance message transmitted on down link 110 by base station 101, UE 109 optionally adjusts its transmit timing and transmits the data on up link 111 employing the allotted resources during the prescribed time interval.

Transmission of acknowledge/not-acknowledge with repetition