The present invention provides a thin film head having a magnetoresistance effect element which includes at least two magnetic films, a nonmagnetic film sandwiched between the magnetic films, and leads connected to the magnetoresistance effect element wherein the width of one of the magnetic films, which essentially responds to a signal magnetic field, is not more than a distance between leads. The present invention provides a thin film head having a magnetoresistance effect element which includes at least two magnetic films and a nonmagnetic film sandwiched between the magnetic films, which makes use of a change in magnetic resistance caused by spin-dependent scattering, wherein at least a portion of one magnetic films, which essentially respond to a signal magnetic field extends in a direction same as that of the signal magnetic field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film head to be used as a head of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as the density of magnetic recording has increased more and more, systems with a high recording density of 500 Mb/inch.sup.2, as a VTR, and 200 Mb/inch.sup.2, as an HDD, have been put into practical use. These systems primarily make use of an induction type magnetic head. In recent years, however, a thin film head is beginning to be used in place of the induction type magnetic head not only in systems for reproducing fixed head type tape media but in compact HDDs with a low relative velocity of several meters/sec, since the magnetoresistance effect head has a high S/N ratio.
Recently, it is known that a very large magnetic resistance change, a magnetic resistance change of a maximum of larger than 100%, appears in a multilayered film, the first example is an artificial lattice film which is formed by stacking ferromagnetic films and nonmagnetic films, such as Fe/Cr or Co/Cu, under certain conditions (Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 61, 2472 (1988), Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 64, 2304 (1990)). It is also reported that the rate of change in magnetic resistance varies periodically when the thickness of the nonmagnetic film is changed. It is explained that this change is brought about since the ferromagnetic film periodically experiences ferromagnetic coupling or antiferromagnetic coupling depending on the thickness of the nonmagnetic film. The electrical resistance of the stacked film is high in an antiferromagnetic coupled state and low in a ferromagnetic coupled state.
The second example is a system in which two types of films with different coercive forces are used, and a magnetic resistance change is realized by setting magnetizations of these two magnetic films in an antiparallel state by using the difference in coercive force (The Journal of The Japan Applied Magnetics Society, Vol. 15, No. 5, 813 (1991), a so-called Shinjo type).
The third example is a system in which an exchange bias generated by an antiferromagnetic film is applied to one of two magnetic films sandwiching a nonmagnetic film to thereby lock magnetization of that magnetic film, and magnetization of the other magnetic film is reversed by an external magnetic field. This realizes a large change in a magnetic resistance by producing states in which the magnetizations of the magnetic films are parallel and antiparallel to each other via the non-magnetic film (Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 45806 (1992), J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 69, 4774 (1991), a so-called spin valve type).
FIG. 1 shows a conventional magnetoresistance effect element.
This conventional magnetoresistance effect element has a contact region B for connecting a lead 101 on each side of a region A corresponding to a track width Since a high-permeability soft magnetic film 102d which responds to magnetization of a medium exists in this region B, this portion also senses recorded information. For this reason, information from the adjacent track is also mixed upon off-track, and this reduces the S/N ratio and makes the track width obscure. When the recording density is 200 Mb/inch.sup.2, for example, the track width is 7 .mu.m, and the track spacing is about 2 .mu.m. In this case, since the track width is relatively large and the space between track is also large, the contact region B does not exist on the neighboring track if the width of the contact region B is set to about 1 .mu.m or less. Therefore, a leakage output (crosstalk) from the neighboring track is negligible in off-track with a track spacing of 1 .mu.m or less.
In FIG. 1, numeral 102a represents an undercoat film, numeral 102b represents a soft magnetic film for applying a bias, numeral 102c represents a nonmagnetic film, and numeral 102e represents a protective film.
If, however, the recording density is, e.g., 10 Gb/inch.sup.2, the track width and the track spacing decrease to approximately 1 and 0.2 .mu.m, respectively, and so the output itself also decreases. This makes the contact region B to exist on the adjacent track upon off-track, and the leakage output from the adjacent track can no longer be neglected. To avoid this inconvenience, the width of the contact region B may be decreased to about 0.2 .mu.m which is equal to the track spacing. In this case, however, imperfect ohmic contacts readily form in mass production.
The first object of the present invention is as follows.
As described above, as the recording density approaches 10 Gb/inch.sup.2, the output leaking from the neighboring track through the contact region B upon off-track becomes no longer negligible. If the area of the contact region B is decreased in order to avoid this leakage output, there arises another problem of the difficulty in forming even ohmic contacts.
In the magnetoresistance effect element, use of a magnetoresistance effect film with a high antiferromagnetic coupled state increases the saturation magnetic field because of a high coupling force of the film. Therefore, there have been reported several systems which use a phenomenon, in which the resistance changes between a parallel magnetization state and an antiparallel magnetization state, rather than the antiferromagnetic coupled state.
The second object of the present invention is as follows.
Another method of precisely defining the track width in a magnetic head is to use a conventional magnetoresistance effect element which extends in the direction of applying the signal magnetic filed as is shown in FIG. 2A or in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 2A, to acquire an improved sensitivity. Whichever direction the magnetoresistance effect element extends, however, no uniform bias magnetic field can be applied to the magnetoresistance effect element. This is because the magnetoresistance effect element has its resistance-changed with the angle between its axis of magnetization and the curved path of sense current. Consequently, the magnetoresistance effect element cannot provide a reliable output. It cannot be used in practice, particularly for tracks which are so narrow that the sense-current path is curved greatly.
Conventional magnetoresistance effect elements include a type constituted by two magnetic films sandwiching a nonmagnetic film as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C (J. Appl. Phys. 53(3), 2596, 1982). Referring to FIGS. 2B and 2C, reference numeral 105 denotes a lower magnetic film; 106, a nonmagnetic film; 107, an upper magnetic film; and 108a and 108b, leads. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, a sense current flows into the lead 108a and out from the lead 108b. The magnetoresistance effect element with such an arrangement is affected by a magnetic field generated by a self-current. Assuming that a magnetic field generated by a current flowing through the lower magnetic film and the nonmagnetic film is applied to the upper magnetic film, the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the self-current when the film thickness of each layer is equal to or smaller than the mean free path of conduction electrons is given by Relation (1) below. Note that the mean free path is approximately 300 .ANG. for 300 K in the case of bulk Cu. EQU H.sub.x1 to J*(t+d)/2 . . . (1)
wherein J represents a current density, t represents a thickness of the upper magnetic film, and d represents a width of the upper magnetic film.
As an example, H.sub.x to 700 (A/m)=9 (Oe) when J=2.times.10.sup.7 A/cm.sup.2, t=20 .ANG., and d=50 .ANG..
A magnetic field H.sub.x2 applied to the lower magnetic film is given by H.sub.x2 =-H.sub.x1 because it is generated by a current flowing through the upper magnetic film and the nonmagnetic film.
Under these conditions, therefore, the magnetic moments (magnetizations) of the upper and lower magnetic films are antiparallel to each other if an anisotropic magnetic field of each layer is small (up to 3 Oe) like that of a thin permalloy film. However, a domain wall called an edge curling wall is present in an edge portion of the element due to the influence of a demagnetizing field (IEEE Trans. Magn., Vol. 24, No. 3, May 1988), so this portion essentially becomes a dead region.
That is, the performance of the magnetoresistance effect element as described above can be maximally exhibited if the magnetic moment of each individual layer is uniform in the layer. However, if the edge curling wall exists, the magnetic moment cannot be uniform any longer, and the response of this portion to an external magnetic field is degraded. Consequently, the reproduced output from this magnetoresistance effect element decreases by a ratio corresponding to the width of the edge curling wall.
When magnetic anisotropy is imparted in the width-wise direction of the element, the width of this edge curling wall is obtained by Equation (2) below (IEEE Trans. Magn. Vol. 24, No. 3, May 1988): EQU .pi..DELTA./2={.pi..sup.3 M.sub.s *d*t/(2H.sub.k)}.sup.0.5 . . . (2)
where M.sub.s is the saturation magnetization and H.sub.k is the magnitude of an anisotropic magnetic field. For example, if H.sub.k =3 Oe and M.sub.s =800 G in the above element, .pi..DELTA./2=0.2 .mu.m. When a sense current is flowed, H.sub.k in Equation (2) becomes H.sub.k +H.sub.x, and consequently .pi..DELTA./2=0.1 .mu.m.
In ultra-high-density magnetic recording with a surface density of 10 Gb/inch.sup.2, the area per bit is about 0.07 .mu.m.sup.2, and the track width is 1 .mu.m or less. In this case, the dimensions of the element also decrease to a similar extent (a square of 1 .mu.m side). Therefore, a ratio that the width of the edge curling wall occupies 20% of the whole element; that is, only an 80% portion of the element is usable as an active region. This problem similarly arises in an element in which magnetic films and nonmagnetic films are stacked alternately as well as in an element having two magnetic films.
The third object of the present invention is as follows.
As discussed above, in the magnetoresistance effect element formed by alternately stacking magnetic layers and nonmagnetic films, the magnetic moment of each individual layer in an edge portion of the element tends to be parallel to this edge portion, producing an edge curling wall. When the element is miniaturized, a ratio that this edge curling wall occupies in the entire element increases. In an extreme case, magnetization near a central portion also acquires a component parallel to the edge portion. This lowers the reproduced output from the magnetoresistance effect element.
If an antiferromagnetic film is arranged on at least one side of the above magnetoresistance effect element to apply an uniaxial biasing in the widthwise direction of the element, this edge curling wall can be eliminated. Since, however, an FeMn-based antiferromagnetic film currently being developed in practice has a very low corrosion resistance, it is not possible to make an arrangement in which this antiferromagnetic film is exposed to the atmosphere.
Conventional thin film heads using a permalloy or the like have a practical problem of Barkhausen noise which is derived from an irreversible behavior of a magnetic domain appearing in a magnetic film. As a technique to prevent this problem, there has been proposed a method by which an exchange bias is obtained by stacking antiferromagnetic films consisting of, e.g., FeMn, or a method by which a magnetic substance is allowed to have a single magnetic domain by arranging a magnetic material in the vicinities of both the edges of an element (IEEE MAG-14, 521 (1978), Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 64-1112).
The fourth object of the present invention is as follows.
In the above conventional technique, a single-layered magnetic film or a multilayered magnetic film in which magnetizations of individual magnetic layers point in the same direction can be allowed to have a single magnetic domain by applying a bias magnetic field in one direction. If, however, a magnetic film is constituted by three or more layers and magnetizations of these magnetic layers do not point in the same direction, there is no means for forming a single magnetic domain to each magnetic layer.
The fifth object of the present invention is as follows.
A thin film head is known, wherein the direction of the signal magnetic field is substantially parallel to the direction of the sense current supplied to detect resistance changes, leads are arranged on the surface which opposes the recording medium and at which the magnetic flux density is maximal. To improve the magnetic permeability of the magnetoresistance effect element, the element is elongated about 10 .mu.m in the direction in which the sense current flows, thereby reducing the intensity of the anti-magnetic field extending in the direction of the signal magnetic field. Notwithstanding, in the case of a so-called shield-type magnetoresistance effect head, the magnetic flux form the recording medium leaks into the shield at 1 to 2 .mu.m from the surface of the recording medium. Thus, the resistance changes in a region extending only 1 to 2 .mu.m from the recording medium. Since the magnetoresistance effect element is rather long (about 10 m), the resistance is proportionally high, inevitably generating a large thermal noise generally known as "Johnson noise."
The sixth object of the present invention is as follows.
Some of the conventional magnetoresistance effect elements having a magnetization-locking film made of anti-ferromagnetic material such as FeMn generate much heat when a current is supplied to them in a high density of 10.sup.6 A/cm.sup.2 or more, to exhibit but a very smally resistance changing rate.
The seventh object of the present invention is as follows.
As is known in the art, a magnetoresistance effect element utilizing spin-dependent scattering has a maximum resistance changing rate if the nonmagnetic portion sandwiched between the magnetic portions is made of Cu. As is disclosed in J. Appl. Phys. 69(8), Apr. 15, 1991, a magnetoresistance effect element of type has a maximum resistance changing rate if the magnetic surface portions are made of Co. In ordinary thin-film heads, NiFe is used as recording material and shield material NiFe has highly corrosion resistant. Hence, a shield made of NiFe was used and arranged close to a magnetoresistance effect element made of Cu and Co. Then, the Cu and Co forming the magnetoresistance effect element were electrolytically corroded during the processing of the head. Furthermore, while a data-reproducing head having only the magnetoresistance effect element was being processed, the Cu and Co forming the magnetoresistance effect element were electrolytically corroded.
The eighth object of the present invention is as follows.
When a hard disk drive (HDD) is operated at a write frequency of 10 MHz or more, the phase difference between the recording current and the recording magnetic flux increases and become problematical. This is because the pole takes a closure domain structure so that the head may record data not only by the magnetization rotation, but also by moving the magnetic barrier. No method of preventing the phase difference has been proposed.
The ninth object of the present invention is as follows. In a system that a current flows in a direction perpendicular to a film surface of a magnetoresistance effect element, electrical resistance is extremely small. Therefore, the system is impractical system.
The tenth object of the present invention is as follows.
A so-called "granular magnetic alloy," in which magnetic regions (formed mainly of Co, Ni, Fe or the like) are isolated form one anther, and nonmagnetic regions (formed mainly of Ag, Au, Cu or the like), is reported to exhibit as great a magnetoresistance effect as does a magnetic/nonmagnetic multi-layered film, more precisely a resistance changing rate of several tens per cent. This alloy cannot be practically used in a magnetic sensor (i.e., a saturation field), however, since it requires an intense magnetic field (10 kA/m or more) to have such a high resistance changing rate. An attempt has been made, wherein a bias film is laid on one surface of a granular magnetic alloy film so that the alloy film may perform its function in a low-intensity magnetic field. Contrary to the objective, the film yet requires a considerably intense saturation field to exhibit a sufficiently high resistance changing rate. Thus far no granular magnetic alloy film has been formed which can exhibit an adequate resistance changing rate in a weak magnetic field as does a spin-valve type multi-layered magnetoresistance effect film.

Thin film magnetic head responsive to spin-dependent scattering


A process for the preparation of a protein solution is described which is not prone to flock or particle formation even on heat treatment, the heat treatment being carried out in a glass vessel which has been rinsed out beforehand with a detergent solution and then with distilled water or another detergent-free solvent.

The invention provides a process for the preparation of a protein solution which is not prone to floc or particle formation even on heat treatment.
It is known that particles or flocs are frequently formed in protein-containing solutions. In particular in the case of preparations which are administered parenterally to the patient, floc or particle formation poses a serious problem. These particles have to be removed prior to administration using a filter specifically provided for this purpose or, if this is not possible, the preparation has to be discarded. The causes of such a particle formation are often unclear, but this problem is observed in particular on heat treatment of protein solutions. This can be illustrated using albumin as an example:
For a long time, albumin, which is prepared from human plasma by purification, has been administered to patients in emergencies for substituting the blood volume. The albumin is usually obtained from human plasma by fractional alcohol precipitations in the cold, by which the other plasma components are separated off. For medicinal use, it is customary to employ albumin solutions which contain this protein in amounts of 5, 20 or 25%. To eliminate the risk of an infection of the patients by bacteria or viruses which may be present in a contaminated albumin solution, the albumin solution is as a rule subjected to a heat treatment in the final container. Here, in the presence of stabilizing additives, the albumin solution is pasteurized, for example by heating at approximately 60xc2x0 C. for at least 10 hours.
During pasteurization, floc-like particles may form which, when the filled containers are gently shaken, become evident as opalescent and/or white conglomerates of greater or smaller size. Since parenteral administration of such particles has to be avoided, it is necessary to segregate and discard such filled containers. Filtration of a particle-containing solution prior to administration is not practicable, since the filtration of the protein solution through a sterile filter is hindered by its relatively high viscosity.
Since the particles formed by protein aggregation are formed primarily during the pasteurization process and since it is not possible to remove them subsequently from the final filled container, it has already been attempted to reduce floc formation, or to prevent it entirely, by adding suitable agents. Thus, the European Patent 0 341 103 describes a process for stabilizing human albumin solutions in a container with the aid of a stabilizer where, in addition to the stabilizer, a surfactant, such as Tween(copyright) 80, Tween(copyright) 20, Pluronic(copyright) F68 or the laurate of polyethylene glycol 600 is added prior to the heat treatment. Here, above a certain detergent concentration, a considerably reduced number of flocs is observed, which is reduced even more, or completely prevented, when the detergent content is increased. However, it is a disadvantage that the detergent remains in the protein solution and is therefore administered to the patient together with the albumin. Although certain detergents are entirely suitable in certain concentration limits for administration since they can be tolerated and broken down in the organism, a preparation with as low a detergent content as possible, if any at all, is preferred and aimed for.
It was therefore the object to develop a process permitting the preparation of a protein solution which only contains very little detergent, if any at all, and which is not prone to floc or particle formation even on heat treatment.
It has now been found that such a protein solution can be prepared when the heat treatment is carried out in a glass vessel which has been rinsed out beforehand with a detergent solution and then with distilled water or another detergent-free solvent.
It is surprising that filling in a detergent-containing solution into the glass vessel intended for receiving the protein solution reduces or prevents the amount of flocs or particles formed on the subsequent heat treatment of the albumin solution which is then filled into this vessel, even though the vessel is rinsed with distilled water or another detergent-free solvent before the protein solution is filled in, so that only traces of detergent, if any at all, are still detectable in the pasteurized protein solution, but that nevertheless the proportion of particles is significantly reduced.
Suitable detergents are substances known to the person skilled in the art. Here, particular preference is given to nonionic detergents which are known under the trade names Tween(copyright), Triton(copyright) and Pluronic(copyright). The upper limit of the concentration of the detergent in the solution which is brought into contact with the glass vessel is defined solely by the solution in the liquid. However, the concentrations in solutions should not be less than 0.000001% by weight. The inner surface of the glass vessel should be wetted as completely as possible, and there is no limit to the duration of the incubation. The subsequent rinsing of the vessel with water or a detergent-free solution is intended to ensure the detergent in the ready-to-use protein solution is present only in traces, preferably in a concentration of less than 0.0002% by weight, or no longer detectable at all. This treatment of the glass vessel leads to the unexpected result that the proportion of particles in the filled-in protein solution after pasteurization is very low, as demonstrated by the example below.
The cause of the formation of flocs or particles in a protein solution during the heat treatment has hitherto not been understood completely, but the results of the present invention indicate that the inner surface of the vessel may be an important factor here. It is possible that the detergent prevents the formation of flocs by saturation of appropriate interaction sites which act as xe2x80x9cparticle nucleation centersxe2x80x9d. A particular advantage of the process according to the invention is the fact that only traces of detergent, if any at all, go into solution, and that the preparation is consequently only contaminated to a small extent, if it all.
Using the process according to the invention, it is possible to prevent floc or particle formation in various protein solutions. The process has proved to be very particularly successful for stabilizing albumin solutions and for solutions of blood clotting factors. The proteins can either be isolated from natural material, or they can be prepared by recombination or transgenically. The invention can be realized with all customary container glass types, in particular with those made from type I and type II glass.
It is not in every case that floc or particle formation in protein solution occurs only during heat treatment. Sometimes, a particle formation which can be prevented or reduced by the process according to the invention is observed even at room temperature or during prolonged storage. Quite generally, it can be said that the formation of protein oligomers, dimers or multimers induced by the surfaces of vessels can be reduced by the invention.

Process for the preparation of a protein solution


A device for heating or cooling a fluid. A heat transfer probe (tubular member) is insertable into the fluid to heat or cool the fluid. The tubular probe has a plurality of thermoelectric modules mounted in the wall thereof and the modules are in contact with air in the center of the tubular probe and with fluid in the container. Each module is comprised of mating N and P semiconductors. Heat or cooling is generated by the modules dependent on the direction of electrical current flow through the modules. Fins are bonded to the modules and extend into the ambient air in the tube to facilitate thermal transfer between the ambient air which flows across the modules in the tube. Fins are also bonded to the opposite side of the thermoelectric module and extend into the fluid to facilitate thermal transfer in the fluid.

The need for a portable heat transfer mechanism manifests itself in numerous circumstances. Cool fluids are required by outside workers in desert environments and hot summer weather, conversely warm fluids are required by the same persons in cold environments and cold/freezing winter weather. Other applications include the need of home brewers to maintain a specific temperature range for their fermenting beer, home vintners for their fermenting wine. Most portable mechanical heating and cooling devices have inherent disadvantages. Heating devices usually operate at elevated temperatures and many require flammable fuel. Both can be extremely hazardous. Cooling mechanisms are bulky, heavy, mechanically complex and frequently employ materials designated as ozone depleting substances or otherwise environmentally adverse.
Thermoelectric modules (Peltier elements) based upon the Peltier effect, for heating and cooling, are well known in the art. Research and technical advances have been dramatically lowering the cost and broadening the applications for these devices. Small, portable food warmer/chillers powered from vehicle electrical systems, small air coolers, and cooling modules for electronic circuitry have been expanding areas of thermoelectric module application.


A transmission system for a motor vehicle with two powered axles has an engine aligned perpendicular to the driving direction and a transmission parallel to the axis of the engine shaft and includes an angle gear housing flangemounted on the side of the transmission housing, both housings having a lubricant supply for centrifugal or splash lubrication of the corresponding gear parts. The lubricant supplies, which are separated from each other by a partition, are interconnected by at least one first partition opening which serves as a lubrication inlet and at least one second partition opening which serves as a lubrication return. The second partition opening is located not below a first horizontal plane which passes approximately through the lower edge of a shaft bearing arrangement in the partition for the connecting shaft and the first partition opening is located above a second horizontal plane which passes approximately through the uppermost second partition opening. In addition, a lubricant-collecting and -conducting device is located inside the transmission housing.

This invention relates to transmissions for motor vehicles having two powered axles and, more particularly, to transmissions for vehicles having an engine mounted transverse to the direction of travel and having a transmission with its centerline parallel to the engine shaft.
In such known transmissions, as described, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 33 17 247, one driven axle of the vehicle is powered by an output drive gear which also serves as a flywheel for a centrifugal or injection lubricating system for the transmission. To power the second driven axle of the vehicle, the drive system contains an angle drive connected to the transmission output drive gear by a connecting shaft which may be a hollow shaft. The housing for the angle drive is arranged on the side of the transmission housing adjacent to the output drive gear connection for the transmission and a shaft support for the connecting shaft leading from the output drive gear to the angle drive preferably consists of tapered roller bearings mounted in a partition between the two housings. Both housings are filled with a supply of lubricant for centrifugal or injection lubrication of the gear parts contained therein.
The lubricant supply for a centrifugal and injection lubricated transmission should be so proportioned that adequate lubrication is provided in each phase of operation while, at the same time, the quantity of lubricant used is limited to the minimum actually required so as to inhibit heating resulting from agitation that would impair the lubricating function of the lubricant. Problems can arise from this, particularly in the case of high-power angle drives, i.e., angle drives transmitting a large amount of power.
In the first place, the interior volume of the angle drive is relatively small, compared to that of the transmission, and hence its lubricant content is correspondingly small. In the second place, a high-power transmission always involves a correspondingly high evolution of heat which has to be removed by the lubricating oil. For reasons of space, an effort is maintained to provide the greatest compactness, economy of space and small volume in the design of the angle gear but, at the same time, the oil supply in the comparatively confined angle gear housing cannot easily be replenished. Any additional oil would escape through the bearings for the connecting shaft into the transmission housing, where the oil level when the vehicle is stationary is generally lower than the shaft bearings.

Transmission unit for a motor vehicle having two powered axles


An apparatus, method, and system for an inline connector for coupling/uncoupling regulators to a plumbing conduit is disclosed herein.

Plumbing conduits are often fit with nozzles in order to provide a discharge flow with a particular set of flow characteristics. For example, a shower head nozzle may be attached to a shower pipe fixture in order to provide a diffuse spray for bathing. These nozzles are often permanently, or at least semipermanently, affixed to their corresponding fixture. However, there may be many situations where it is desirable to provide adaptability to the flow characteristics of a particular fixture.
Prior art devices have attempted to address these situations by providing nozzles with adjustable flow characteristics, e.g., a shower head that has different selection settings. However, this does not account for other functions that may be provided from the fixture. Additionally, having one shower head with adjustable flow characteristics does not ensure the flexibility to accommodate all preferences.
Other prior art devices attempt to provide dual functionality by providing a nozzle fixture having both a shower head and a connector for other functional attachments. Not only does this prove to be a bulky and unsightly extension of the fixture it also sacrifices the flexibility of the shower head flow's characteristics.


A photoelectric conversion element which converts incident light to an electrical signal and detects the signal, the element including: a lower electrode; an insulating layer, provided on the lower electrode; a light-receiving section, which is provided on the insulating layer and receives incident light on the surface; and a groove-like slit, provided such that the insulating layer is exposed from a surface of the light-receiving section, wherein the incident light is converted by the slit to surface plasmons which are wave-guided along the insulating layer, and the surface plasmon is detected as an electrical signal between the light-receiving section and the lower electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion element for converting light to an electrical signal through plasmonics, and a photoelectric conversion element array using the photoelectric conversion element.
2. Description of Related Art
As for photoelectric conversion elements formed by use of the conventional photoelectric conversion technology, elements using semiconductor band gaps, such as a photodiode and a quantum infrared sensor, have been in the mainstream, but these elements cannot possess optical resolution exceeding optical diffraction limits. For example, in the case of applying a semiconductor photoelectric conversion element to a sensor, there has been occurred a problem of detection limits due to the optical diffraction limits. As opposed to this, there has been proposed a photoelectric conversion element that converts surface plasmons without the diffraction limits to a current (JP 08-264821, A).

Photoelectric conversion element and photoelectric conversion element array


Disclosed are methods for marking a pharmaceutical product, container or pharmaceutical packaging system with a scent to establish the identity and/or source of the pharmaceutical.

Authentic pharmaceuticals are vulnerable to being diverted from e.g., legal pathways of distribution, for reasons of abuse (e.g. stealing pills to get high or to maintain addiction) or for unauthorized distribution and illegal sale (e.g, selling pharmaceuticals for profit on the gray market). When pharmaceuticals are misused or abused, they potentially pose danger to those who choose to use them in a manner other than as directed by a physician.
When law enforcement intercepts these diverted products, it may be difficult to determine their origin since they may not be in their original packaging. When a product is diverted, it is important to be able to identify/trace its origin in order to investigate and remedy the breakdown in integrity. A diffuse investigation wastes both time and resources (e.g. conducting searches of one factory, when the breech is in another factory). A delay in remedying the source of the diversion and/or counterfeiting can create more economic and personal harm. Remedying the problem quickly may serve to prevent further unintentional or intentional risk from misuse or abuse. Being able to authenticate the product and trace its manufacturing source may help to identify a breech in integrity quickly and efficiently.
Many pharmaceuticals are vulnerable to counterfeiting and false liability based on product substitution. After customers have acquired trust in products provided with a particular visually distinctive appearance, the products become vulnerable to counterfeiting, since a visually distinctive appearance can be susceptible to being imitated. Typically, a counterfeit product is made to resemble the genuine product as closely as possible with a view to misleading the purchaser into believing that the genuine product is being bought. Patients, pharmacists, wholesalers, and manufacturers may not be able to determine that the product is a counterfeit. Customers buy the counterfeit product with the expectation that they are buying the genuine product, with potentially life-threatening consequences, since the counterfeit may not meet the governmentally approved standard of quality, by providing treatment that is excessively potent, sub-therapeutic, or non-therapeutic. Being able to authenticate a product would assure quality and reduce risk. A method for marking a pharmaceutical that is not easily imitated or counterfeited, would help to authenticate the product.
There exists a need in the art, for compositions and methods of marking a pharmaceutical in a safe and reliable manner other than one that identifies it visually. In an effort to reduce misuse, abuse and diversion, and to comply with a risk management program, a new method of authentication and sourcing is disclosed.
All documents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.


A sheet comprising a net-like structure, being coated with a dark paint on the rear surface side, and being provided with a description including characters, pictures or the like on the front surface side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a sheet, or of a broad thin piece of material in the form of a sheet which is air-permeable and through which anything is substantially not seen at a front or rear side of the sheet.
2. Prior Art
Advertising material is often provided directly on buildings themselves. For example, at department stores or large-scale store buildings an advertising banner is used as an advertisement media to be suspended from the roof onto the outer wall, which is cheaper to install and has excellent workability in removal and replacement, among various types of advertisement provided in the similar manner, such as advertising balloons, large signboards, electric bulletin boards, special painting on the outer wall of buildings, or the like.
The advertising material in the form of a sheet is generally set outside the buildings and has a defect as likely affected by winds. The banner suspended from the building roof onto the outer wall may be gotten turned up or twisted even by a gentle wind, whereby advertisement provided or shown on the banner is put out of sight and ropes tightening the banner are disconnected or torn off, occasionally causing serious accidents.
The sheet material is used also for various portable tents for changing clothes, showering or getting sunshade on the beach or the like crowded with many people. The sheet material used for the tents is generally not of air-permeability and users feel uncomfortable in the tent. An opening which may be provided for ventilation in the tent will be closed when users change clothes, resulting in the change of clothes under a poor or uncomfortable circumstance.
The material in the form of a sheet, such as fabric for the above advertising banner and the tents, or others, when used to divide a space, does not at all provide sight through the material. For example, the advertising banner, when suspended from the roof onto the outer wall as covering any windows of the building, hinders any views from being afforded through the windows. Similarly, the foregoing tents even when set up at a location with a fine view do not allow users to enjoy the view from the inside of the tents while simultaneously preventing people outside the tent from looking inside.


A light-emitting element, comprises: a substrate; a light-emitting semiconductor stack over the substrate and comprising an active layer; and a Distributed Bragg reflective unit under the substrate comprising a first Distributed Bragg reflective structure under the substrate and comprising a first number of pairs of alternately stacked first sub-layers and second sub-layers, and a second Distributed Bragg reflective structure under the first Distributed Bragg reflective structure and comprising a second number of pairs of alternately stacked third sub-layers and fourth sub-layers, wherein the first number is different from the second number.

Optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are now widely used in optical display devices, traffic lights, data storage devices, communication devices, lighting devices, and medical devices.
Besides, the light-emitting diode as mentioned above is able to be combined with other structures to form a light-emitting device. FIG. 13 schematically shows a conventional light-emitting device. As shown in FIG. 13, a conventional light-emitting device 6 comprises a submount 62 comprising an electrical circuit 64; a solder 66 on the submount 62, wherein the solder 66 is used for stabilizing an LED 61 on the submount 62 and thus renders the LED 61 electrically connected to the electrical circuit 64 of the submount 62, wherein the LED 61 comprises a substrate 63; and an electrical connecting structure 68 used for electrically connecting an electrode 65 of the LED 61 to the electrical circuit 64 of the submount 62; wherein the submount 62 is a lead frame or a large-scale mounting substrate.

Light-emitting element comprising a reflective structure with high efficiency


A method for chlorine purification in which crude chlorine containing nitrogen and/or oxygen is purified to separate the nitrogen and oxygen from the chloride, characterized in that the crude chlorine containing nitrogen and/or oxygen is contacted with 1,2-dichloroethane to cause the 1,2-dichloroethane to absorb the chlorine contained in the crude chlorine, and a process for producing 1,2-dichloroethane which comprises reacting ethylene with the chlorine contained in the chlorine containing 1,2-dichloroethane.

As a method for purifying chlorine, which comprises separating nitrogen and/or oxygen from crude chlorine containing nitrogen and/or oxygen, a method for separating a liquid or gas containing chlorine as a major component and a gas containing nitrogen and/or oxygen as major components by compressing and/or cooling, is illustrated, but there are problems that not only the compressing and/or cooling requires great energy, but also the installation cost is large and separation efficiency is bad.
Further, as a method for producing 1,2-dichloroethane by reacting chlorine with ethylene, for example, a method of reacting chlorine with ethylene by supplying simultaneously chlorine purified by the above-mentioned method and ethylene into 1,2-dichloroethane, is known.

Method of chlorine purification and process for producing 1,2-dichloroethane


A packet loss detection method includes: a receiving end receives a service packet whose color belongs to a first color spectrum; counts the number of the service packets whose color belongs to the first color spectrum; after receiving a detection packet, continues counting the number of the service packets whose color belongs to the first color spectrum, where the detection packet carries the number of service packets whose color belongs to the first color spectrum and that are sent by a sending end; when a preset condition is satisfied, the receiving end stops counting the number of the service packets whose color belongs to the first color spectrum, where the number of the service packets counted by the receiving end and the number of the service packets sent by the sending end carried in the detection packet are used for calculating the number of lost packets.

In an Internet protocol (hereinafter referred to as IP) bearer network, packet loss is one of important measurement indexes for quality of service (Quality of Service, hereinafter referred to as QoS).
Packet loss detection may be performed in various manners, where an existing packet loss detection manner is detection based on the counting of service packets. In a method of detection based on the counting of service packets, the number of lost packets may be calculated according to the number of service packets that are received by a receiving end before the receiving end receives a detection packet. For example, within one counting period, a sending end sends four service packets, and then sends one detection packet. For the receiving end, the counted number of received packets is the number of the service packets before the detection packet is received. If three service packets are received before the detection packet is received, the number of lost packets is 4−3=1.
However, when a packet transmitting path is a load sharing multipath, or QoS scheduling exists in a packet transmitting device, a disorder may occur, that is, a sending end sends packets in order, but this order changes when the packets reach a receiving end. For example, the foregoing sending end first sends a service packet and then sends a detection packet; while at the receiving end, a case that first the detection packet is received and then the service packet is received may occur, which causes that during calculation of the number of lost packets, a service packet received after a detection packet is not counted, so that the calculated number of lost packets is inaccurate.

Packet loss detection method and system, sending device, and receiving device


A divided photodiode includes a semiconductor substrate; a semiconductor layer formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; and a plurality of isolating diffusion regions formed in a plurality of regions in the semiconductor layer so as to respectively extend from a surface of the semiconductor layer opposite to the other surface thereof in contact with a surface of the semiconductor substrate and to reach regions under the surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby dividing the semiconductor layer into at least three semiconductor regions. A first buried diffusion region is further formed under the other isolating diffusion regions except for a particular one located in an isolating section in a combination of a plurality of the semiconductor regions which are adjacent to each other via the isolating section, and a depletion of the semiconductor substrate in a region under the other isolating diffusion region by the application of a reverse bias thereto is suppressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a divided photodiode incorporated into a light-receiving element used for an optical pickup device or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a divided photodiode having a structure which can provide an improved response speed therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical pickup device is used for various types of optical disk apparatus including those used for a CD-ROM, a DVD and the like. In recent years, a DVD, in particular, has been developed more and more actively and rapidly. Such optical disk apparatus are now required to process a large amount of data necessary for storing a moving picture and the like. In addition, it is very probable that a DVD having a response speed twice or even four times as fast as that of a currently available DVD will be developed in the near future. In view of these circumstances, there is a strong demand for realizing an even higher response speed of an optical pickup device.
A divided photodiode element, in which a light-receiving region is divided into a plurality of light detecting sections, has conventionally been used as a signal detector element for an optical pickup device.
As high-performance optical disk apparatus of smaller size have been realized in recent years, it has become increasingly important to reduce the size and weight of an optical pickup device. In order to realize such an optical pickup device, an optical module including a single hologram element, into which a tracking beam generation portion, a light branching portion and an error signal generation portion have been integrated, has been proposed. The optical module is provided on a top surface of an integrated single package incorporating a laser diode, a photodiode and the like in the inside thereof.
FIG. 18 shows a schematic arrangement of an optical system for an optical pickup device including such an optical module.
Hereinafter, the signal detection principle of the optical system will be briefly described. Light emitted from a laser diode LD is split by a tracking beam generating diffraction grating 30, which is formed under the lower surface of a hologram element 31, into three optical beams. i.e., two sub-beams used for tracking and one main beam for reading out an information signal. Then, the light beams are transmitted through the hologram element 31 formed on the upper surface of the package as zero-order light, transformed by a collimator lens 32 into parallel light beams and then converged by an objective lens 33 onto a disk 34.
The light is reflected from the disk 34 with being modulated by the pits formed on the disk 34, transmitted through the objective lens 33 and the collimator lens 32, and then diffracted by the hologram element 31 so as to be guided as first-order diffracted light beams onto a five-divided photodiode PD, on which five divided light-detecting sections D1 to D5 (hereinafter, also referred to as "light-detecting photodiode sections D1 to D5") are formed.
The hologram element 31 includes two regions 31a and 31b having respectively different diffraction periods. When the reflected light of the main beam is incident onto one of the two regions, the light is converged onto an isolating section which isolates the light-detecting sections D2 and D3 from each other. On the other hand, when the reflected light of the main beam is incident onto the other region of the hologram element 31, the light is converged onto the light-detecting section D4. The reflected light beams of the two subbeams are converged by the hologram element 31 onto the light-detecting sections D1 and D5, respectively.
In this optical system, the incidence positions of the reflected main beams on the photodiode PD are moved along the longitudinal direction of the pair of light-detecting photodiode sections D2 and D3 in accordance with the variation of a distance between the hologram element 31 and the disk 34. In the case where the main beam is in focus on the disk 34, the reflected light beam thereof is incident onto the isolating section between the pair of light-detecting sections D2 and D3 of the photodiode PD.
Thus, assuming that the outputs of the light-detecting sections D1 to D5 of the five-divided photodiode PD are denoted by S1 to S5, respectively, a focus error signal FES is given by the equation: FES=S2-S3.
On the other hand, a tracking error is detected by a so-called "three-beam method". Since the two subbeams for tracking are converged onto the light-detecting sections D1 and D5, respectively, a tracking error signal TES is given by the equation: TES=S1-S5. Thus, when the tracking error signal TES is zero, the main beam is correctly located on the target track which is intended to be irradiated with the main beam.
Furthermore, a reproduced signal RF is given as a sum of the outputs of the light-detecting sections D2 to D4 for receiving the reflected light of the main beam, based on the equation: RF=S2+S3+S4.
FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line a-a' of the conventional light-detecting divided photodiode shown in FIG. 18. It is noted that various components including multi-layer wires, protective films and the like to be formed during the respective process steps succeeding a metal wire processing step are omitted in FIG. 19. In FIG. 19, D1, D2, D3 and D5 denote the light-detecting sections.
Hereinafter, a method for fabricating the divided photodiode will be described with reference to the cross-sectional views shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B. In FIG. 19 and FIGS. 20A and 20B, the same components are identified by the same reference numerals.
First, as shown in FIG. 20A, P-type isolating diffusion regions 2 are formed in the regions in a P-type semiconductor substrate 1 which are to be the isolating sections for isolating the light-detecting sections D1 to D5 from each other.
Next, as shown in FIG. 20B, an N-type epitaxial layer 4 is formed over the entire surface of the P-type semiconductor substrate 1. Then, P-type isolating diffusion regions 5 are formed in the regions, corresponding to the respective P-type isolating diffusion regions 2, in the N-type epitaxial layer 4. These P-type isolating diffusion regions 5 are formed so as to vertically extend from the surface of the N-type epitaxial layer 4 to reach the upper part of the P-type isolating diffusion regions 2. In other words, each pair of P-type isolating diffusion regions which consists of the regions 2 and 5 is formed so as to range from the surface of the N-type epitaxial layer 4 to the surface of the P-type semiconductor substrate 1. As a result, the N-type epitaxial layer 4 is divided into a plurality of (four, in the example shown in FIG. 20B) electrically isolated N-type semiconductor regions, so that the respective light-detecting sections D1 to D5 are formed (though the light-detecting section D4 is not shown in FIG. 20B).
Next, N-type diffusion regions 6 are formed in the respective sections of the divided photodiode in the surface of the N-type epitaxial layer 4. The serial resistance of the photodiode is reduced by these N-type diffusion regions 6. As a result, a CR time constant thereof is reduced and thus high-speed response characteristics are realized.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 19, an oxide film 12 having through holes is formed on the N-type epitaxial layer 4 including these N-type diffusion regions 6, and electrodes 13 are formed on the oxide film 12. In this manner, the conventional light-detecting divided photodiode shown in FIG. 19, in which each of the electrodes 13 is electrically connected to an associated one of the isolating diffusion regions 5 via an associated one of the through holes, can be formed.
A high-speed operation is required for the light-detecting sections D2, D3 and D4 for processing the reproduced signal RF. In the case where a light beam is irradiated onto the isolating section between the light-detecting sections D2 and D3, the light-detecting sections D2 and D3, in particular, are required to be operated at an even higher speed. However, in the case where a light beam is irradiated onto the isolating section between these light-detecting sections D2 and D3, the cutoff frequency of the divided photodiode PD is decreased as compared with the case where a light beam is irradiated onto the center of the light-detecting section D2 or D3. Herein, the cutoff frequency means a frequency at which a gain is decreased by about 3 dB as compared with a gain in a low frequency region.
The experimental results demonstrating the decrease in cutoff frequency of the divided photodiode PD are shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B.
FIG. 21A is a cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the pair of light-detecting sections D2 and D3 of the divided photodiode PD shown in FIG. 19. On the other hand, FIG. 21B is a graph showing the dependence of the cutoff frequency of the divided photodiode PD upon the position of a light beam. In FIG. 21B, the axis of abscissas represents the positions of the light beams of the diffracted light which have been incident in the vicinity of the light-detecting sections D2 and D3, and the axis of ordinates represent the cutoff frequencies fc (MHz) at the respective positions. The measurement results shown in FIG. 21B are obtained under the conditions where the specific resistance of the P-type semiconductor substrate 1 is set at about 15 .OMEGA.cm, the reverse bias applied to the photodiode is set at about 1.5 V and the load resistance is set at about 380.OMEGA..
As can be understood from FIG. 21B, when the incident light beam is located in the vicinity of the isolating section between the pair of light-detecting sections D2 and D3, the cutoff frequency fc is decreased as compared with the case where the light beam is located in the center of the light-detecting section D2 or D3. In the case where the light beam is incident onto the isolating section between the light-detecting sections D2 and D3, the cutoff frequency has a value slightly larger than 20 MHz. Thus, the photodiode having such a cutoff frequency can be adapted to a DVD. However, the photodiode cannot be operated with an even higher response speed for a double-speed DVD, a quadruple-speed DVD or the like.
The cutoff frequency is decreased when a light beam is incident onto the isolating section between the light-detecting section D2 and D3, because the optical carriers, which have been generated in the region of the P-type semiconductor substrate 1 under the P-type isolating diffusion region 2, make a detour around the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 to reach a depletion layer formed in a P-N junction between the N-type epitaxial layer 4 and the P-type semiconductor substrate 1. More specifically, since the optical carriers, which have been generated under the P-type isolating diffusion region 2, are required to diffusively move over a distance of about several tens of .mu.m. Such a long movement distance decreases the cutoff frequency of the photodiode.
FIG. 22 shows the results of the simulation performed for obtaining current paths in the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 and in the vicinity thereof corresponding to the isolating section between the light-detecting sections D2 and D3, in which the directions of the current are indicated by arrows. In FIG. 22, the position represented by an ordinate of 0 .mu.m corresponds to the surface of the substrate, and the lower end of the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 is located under the surface of the substrate.
The electrons functioning as optical carriers move in the opposite directions to those indicated by the arrows in FIG. 22. As can be understood from FIG. 22, the optical carriers make a detour around the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 functioning as the isolating section to reach the depletion layer existing in the P-N junction formed between the N-type epitaxial layer 4 and the P-type semiconductor substrate 1.
FIG. 23 is a graph showing the potential distribution in the isolating section between adjacent light-detecting sections in the depth direction. In FIG. 23, the axis of ordinates represents a potential (Volts) and the axis of abscissas represents a depth (.mu.m) from the surface of the substrate. The region 5 corresponds to the P-type isolating diffusion region 5 and the region 2 corresponds to the P-type isolating diffusion region 2.
As can be understood from FIG. 23, in this potential distribution, the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 has a large potential, thereby functioning as a potential barrier against the electrons which are the optical carriers moving in the substrate 1 toward the surface thereof. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22, the optical carriers move while making a detour around the P-type isolating diffusion region 2.
Typically, the specific resistance of a commonly used P-type semiconductor substrate 1 is about 15 .OMEGA.cm. Thus, in the case where the reverse bias of about 1.5 V is applied to the light-detecting photodiode sections constituting the respective light-detecting sections is about 1.5 V, the distance over which the optical carriers run while making a detour becomes about several tens of .mu.m as shown in FIG. 22.
In order to solve the above problems, various measures have been taken.
For example, a divided photodiode having such a structure as that shown in FIG. 24 is suggested in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-166284 (corresponding to Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 9-153605).
The divided photodiode shown in FIG. 24 uses a substrate having a high specific resistance as the P-type semiconductor substrate 1, unlike the conventional divided photodiode shown in FIG. 19. Thus, when a reverse bias at an equal level is applied to the photodiodes shown in FIGS. 19 and 24, the area of the depletion layer 21 expanding in the P-N junction between the N-type epitaxial layer 4 and the P-type semiconductor substrate 1a in the photodiode shown in FIG. 24 becomes larger as compared with the photodiode shown in FIG. 19. Accordingly, the depletion layer expands to a larger degree toward the region below the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 located in the isolating section between the light-detecting sections D2 and D3. As a result, the distance over which the optical carriers generated in the P-type semiconductor substrate 1 under the P-type isolating diffusion region 2 run while making a detour around the P-type isolating diffusion region 2, is shortened. Consequently, the response speed and the cutoff frequency of the photodiode are increased. The higher the specific resistance of the substrate is set to be, the shorter the running distance of the optical carriers can be and the higher the response speed of the photodiode can be.
However, as a result of more detailed researches, the present inventors found that the response speed cannot always be satisfactorily increased merely by increasing the specific resistance of the substrate.


A method for high level synchronization between an application and a graphics pipeline comprises receiving an application instruction in an input stream at a predetermined component, such as a command stream processor (CSP), as sent by a central processing unit. The CSP may have a first portion coupled to a next component in the graphics pipeline and a second portion coupled to a plurality of components of the graphics pipeline. A command associated with the application instruction may be forwarded from the first portion to the next component in the graphics pipeline or some other component coupled thereto. The command may be received and thereafter executed. A response may be communicated on a feedback path to the second portion of the CSP. Nonlimiting exemplary application instructions that may be received and executed by the CSP include check surface fault, trap, wait, signal, stall, flip, and trigger.

Current computer applications are generally more graphically intense and involve a higher degree of graphics processing power than predecessors. Applications, such as games, typically involve complex and highly detailed graphics renderings that involve a substantial amount of ongoing computations. To match the demands made by consumers for increased graphics capabilities in computing applications, like games, computer configurations have also changed.
As computers, particularly personal computers, have been programmed to handle programmers' ever increasingly demanding entertainment and multimedia applications, such as high definition video and the latest 3D games, higher demands have likewise been placed on system bandwidth. Thus, methods have arisen to deliver the bandwidth for such bandwidth hungry applications, as well as providing additional bandwidth headroom for future generations of applications.
For these reasons, current computer systems oftentimes include multiple processors. For example, a graphics processing unit (GPU) is an example of a coprocessor in addition to a primary processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), that performs specialized processing tasks for which it is designed. In performing these tasks, the GPU may free the CPU to perform other tasks. In some cases, coprocessors, such as a GPU, may actually reside on the computer system's motherboard along with the CPU, which may be a microprocessor. However, in other applications, as one of ordinary skill in the art would know, a GPU and/or other coprocessing devices may reside on a separate but electrically coupled card, such as a graphics card in the case of the GPU.
A coprocessor such as a GPU may often access supplemental memory, such as video memory, for performing its processing tasks. Coprocessors may be generally configured and optimized for performing specialized tasks. In the case of the GPU, such devices may be optimized for execution of three dimensional graphics calculations to support applications with intensive graphics. While conventional computer systems and coprocessors may adequately perform when running a single graphically intensive application, such computer systems and coprocessors may nevertheless encounter problems when attempting to execute multiple graphically intensive applications at once.
It is not uncommon for a typical coprocessor to schedule its processing workload in an inefficient manner. In some operating systems, a GPU may be multitasked using an approach that submits operations to the GPU in a serialized form such that the GPU executes the operations in the order in which they were received.
One problem with this approach is that it does not scale well when many applications with differing priorities access the same resources. In this nonlimiting example, a first application that may be currently controlling the resources of a GPU coprocessor needs to relinquish control to other applications for the other applications to accomplish their coprocessing objectives. If the first application does not relinquish control to the other waiting application, the GPU may be effectively tied up such that the waiting application is bottlenecked while the GPU finishes processing the calculations related to the first application. As indicated above, this may not be a significant bottleneck in instances where a single graphically intensive application is active; however, the problem of tying up a GPU or other coprocessor's resources may become more accentuated when multiple applications attempt to use the GPU or coprocessor at the same time.
The concept of apportioning processing between operations has been addressed with the concept of interruptible CPUs that context switch from one task to another. More specifically, the concept of context save/restore has been utilized by modern CPUs that operate to save the content of relevant registers and program counter data to be able to resume an interrupted processing task. While the problem of apportioning processing between the operations has been addressed in CPUs, where the sophisticated scheduling of multiple operations is utilized, scheduling for coprocessors has not been sufficiently addressed.
At least one reason for this failure is related to the fact that coprocessors, such as GPUs, are generally viewed as a resource to divert calculation-heavy and time consuming operations away from the CPU so that the CPU may be able to process other functions. It is well known that graphics operations can include calculation-heavy operations and therefore utilize significant processing power. As the sophistication of graphics applications has increased, GPUs have become more sophisticated to handle the robust calculation and rendering activities.
Yet, the complex architecture of superscalar and EPIC-type CPUs with parallel functional units and out-of-order execution has created problems for precise interruption in CPUs where architecture registers are to be renamed, and where several dozens of instructions are executed simultaneously in different stages of a processing pipeline. To provide for the possibility of precise interrupts, superscalar CPUs have been equipped with a reorder buffer and an extra stage of "instruction commit (retirement)" in the processing pipeline.
Current GPU are becoming more and more complex by including programmable and fixed function units connected by multiple FIFO-type buffers. Execution of each GPU command may take from hundreds to several thousand cycles. GPU pipelines used in today's graphics processing applications have become extremely deep in comparison to CPUs. Accordingly, most GPUs are configured to handle a large amount of data at any given instance, which complicates the task of attempting to apportion the processing of a GPU, as the GPU does not have a sufficient mechanism for handling this large amount of data in a save or restore operation.
Modern GPU configurations that have evolved so as to handle large amounts of data have taken upon complex shapes that involve new mechanisms for synchronization for the pipeline units in data stream processing. Using programmable parallel processing units in addition to main fixed function graphics pipeline units involves maintaining the order of graphics primitive data that may be received and updated in the different stages of the GPU pipeline. Plus, maintaining multiple contexts simultaneously with interruptability in the graphics pipeline of the GPU involves the resynchronization of such interrupted context with minimal performance loss and smooth switching between an interrupted and resumed graphics context. Current GPU configurations, however, do not handle synchronization of contexts well, instead resulting in a complete flush of the pipeline, thereby resulting in less efficient operation and reduced graphics capabilities.
Further, multi pass rendering when a GPU renders a surface that becomes a source surface for a next pass also involves synchronization to avoid RAW data hazards when a second pass starts to access the shared surface. Plus, synchronization with CPU task execution when a GPU is supposed to start and/or resume a certain context execution depending upon events in CPU threads and current GPU context is also an issue in current GPU processing implementations. Yet, current CPUs are simply unable to communicate and respond to such changes in a timely manner so as to maintain pace with the increasing demands of graphics applications.
Thus, there is a heretofore-unaddressed need to overcome these deficiencies and shortcomings described above.

GPU pipeline multiple level synchronization controller processor and method


A sensor for measuring the magnetic flux of a sample material includes a first pick-up coil for generating a pick-up signal and a second pick-up coil for generating another pick-up signal. The first and second pick-up coils are arranged such that they have a substantially equal sensitivity with respect to a background field and a substantially equal sensitivity with respect to deviations from a central position within the coils. The coils have a different sensitivity with respect to a field generated by the sample. The sensor can be used to measure the magnetic response of magnetic material in a varying background field, e.g. for full hysteresis measurement equipment using pulsed magnetic fields. The invention also has applications in a meter for magnetic moment and in measuring induced currents in metallic samples, where it is necessary to make a measurement in the presence of an unwanted background field.

Permanent magnet materials are often used in devices to transform electrical energy into mechanical. In these devices, mechanical force is generated by the interaction of the magnetic field of a permanent magnet and the magnetic field generated by electrical current flowing through a coil. A typical example of such a device is a permanent magnet motor where current flowing through a winding generates a field which interacts with a field generated by a permanent magnet to drive a rotor. Another example is a loudspeaker where a winding is freely movable with respect to a permanent magnet. An amplified audio signal passes through the winding and the resulting magnetic field causes the winding and a loudspeaker cone to generate an audio signal. The permanent magnet is thus often used with a counteracting external field.
For the stability of the device, it is desirable to know that the permanent magnet material used within the device can withstand the external magnetic field without deterioration of its magnetic state. With increasing strength of the counteracting magnetic field, the magnetisation direction becomes unstable and the magnetisation will ultimately reverse. The ability to withstand an external field is described in the technical literature with a set of curves of the magnetic moment per unit volume (the magnetisation M) as a function of the magnetic field H. These curves are called hysteresis curves as they describe the memory of the magnetic state of a material and its resilience to change.
For typical applications, it is the behavior of the magnetisation combined with a counteracting magnetic field which is of importance. On the graph of magnetisation versus external field, this region of importance is located in the second quadrant. The parameter describing the magnetic field required to start reversing the magnetisation of the material is the coercive field HcJ. FIG. 1 shows the second quadrant of a typical hysteresis curve for a permanent magnetic material.
The advent of strong permanent magnetic materials such as NdFeB and SmCo created a revolution in devices because magnetic fields could be generated with significantly less material, thus saving weight and volume. Using such materials, it is now possible to produce a permanent magnet material in which the coercive field is greater than 2 MA/m.
In order to produce a hysteresis graph it is necessary to test a magnetic material by generating a magnetic field (i.e. a coercive field) over a wide range of strengths. With coercive fields above 2 MA/m, the generation of the magnetic field capable of measuring the full hysteresis curve requires special techniques. Conventional laboratory electromagnets with table-top sized iron yokes and pole shoes can achieve a field of 1.6 MA/m. Above this figure, generating the field can require in excess of 10 kW of electrical power. Superconducting magnets can achieve fields in the range 10 MA/m but they require special cryogenics. They are therefore relatively expensive in purchase and running costs. Magnetic fields generated from pulsed power supplies such as capacitor banks circumvent the need for large installed electrical power as the power is derived from an energy storage power supply. The consequence is that the pulse is limited in time by the available stored energy. Present day pulsed field installations at research facilities reach fields up to 50 MA/m and above. Laboratory equipment based on compact capacitive discharges reach fields up to 25 MA/m. In view of this, it is desirable to generate the magnetic fields required for measuring the complete hysteresis of highly coercive materials by using capacitive energy storage discharges.
One known way of measuring the magnetic moment of a sample material is to measure the magnetic flux emanating from the sample using pick-up coils. The voltage induced in the pickup coils (e.g. integrated over time) is proportional to the magnetic moment. One of the most common pick-up coil systems is the Helmholtz coil pair. The Helmholtz coil pair geometry is a special geometry for which the response is rather insensitive to the sample position, i.e. the displacement from the center position is only visible in the fourth order. Typically, the displacement can be as large as half the radius of the coils before the response changes by 1%. Higher order compensation is possible using more coils. The insensitivity to sample position of the Helmholtz coil is used both for measuring large sample sizes and for coarse sample positioning.
The Helmholtz coil is a pair of identical circular coils with a common axis. The distance of the coils is equal to the radius of the coils. Coil sets with a smaller distance have sensitivity similar to a single coil, with a maximum at the center and decreasing when moving away on the axis. The response as a function of the axial distance shows a negative second order dependence. For coil sets with a larger distance, the response is similar to the response of two independent coils, showing a maximum near the center of each coil and a minimum at the middle. Due to the increase of the sensitivity when moving away from the middle and in the direction of each coil center, the sensitivity shows positive second order dependence. FIG. 2 schematically shows the geometry of Helmholtz coils, taking a section through the coils in the half-plane. The axis of rotation is located at the left; the coils are shown as two squares. The intensity of the response is shown as a grayscale ranging from 95% to 105% with steps every 0.5%.
Alternative methods for measuring the magnetic moment are measuring the force on the sample when placed in a gradient of a magnetic field. Another method is to measure the magnetic flux density (B field) generated by the sample at a fixed position. This method is geometry dependent.
The method of measuring the magnetic moment using a Helmholtz coil pair can only be used when there is a steady background field. Due to its geometry, the Helmholtz coil pair is an even better sensor for the flux of a background field than for the flux of a magnetic sample in the center of the coils. Variations of the background field therefore generate a parasitic signal in the Helmholtz coil pair, or in any coil. However, as explained above, the high coercive field needed to generate a full hysteresis curve requires techniques for which the background field is not constant.
For measurement of the magnetic moment in a changing background field, compensation techniques are required for any method based on the inductive measurement. Compensation would be based on the use of two coil sets with different response: one coil set to measure the more of response of the sample and the other coil set to measure more of the response of the background field. The proper signal of the sample needs to be reconstructed by subtracting the latter from the first. However, if the first set would have Helmholtz geometry, the signal of the second set would be sensitive to the position of the sample. The difference of both signals would show increased position sensitivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,370 describes an apparatus for detecting the presence of a magnetic tag in a specimen. The apparatus comprises a plurality of magnetic field detecting coils which have outputs balanced against one another in a uniform magnetic field and in some instances also balanced in a field with uniform gradient. The coils are separated from one another so that at least one coil is disposed closer to the specimen under test than at least a second coil. The apparatus measures gradient of nearby source and the compensation technique is to balance in uniform background field. Measurement of gradient makes the sensor sensitive to the position of the sample under test. The coils are moved past the stationary specimen under test. If a tag is present in the specimen in the area under examination, the multiple coils will detect different magnetic fields. The output of the balanced coils system will no longer indicate cancelled fields. Instead, the coils will indicate the detection of a difference between the magnetic fields which effect the different coils. Once the difference is detected, a signal is generated to advise the user of the existence of the additional magnetic field and thus the existence of the magnetic tag in the specimen in question.
GB 2 382 149 provides a method for measurement of desired magnetic gradients from a far target source based upon direct magnetic gradiometers, where an immunity to near noise-like magnetic signals is provided. The gradiometer comprises two first direct magnetic gradiometers placed side by side and having their sensitivity axes aligned along a same x-direction in order to distil near signals from far signals and a complementary pair of direct magnetic gradiometers placed along a y-direction. Each of the four direct magnetic gradiometers is placed vertically and measures one of the off-diagonal components of the magnetic gradient tensor. By differencing the output of the two first direct magnetic gradiometers an output signal containing information on the near signals but not on the far signals is obtained. The device according to GB 2 382 149 measures a gradient of a nearby source and the compensation technique is balanced using a (uniform) reference signal.
US 2004/0196035 describes a magnetometer in which structure dissymmetries, such as irregularities of the diameter of the wire or the turns, or even the number of turns, between the windings in a receiver coil or their relative positions with respect to excitation coils that have an influence on the mutual inductance between the excitation and induction coils, are corrected. The magnetometer according to US 2004/0196035 measures a gradient of a nearby source and the compensation is performed electronically.
Up to now, no sensor was developed which shows both proper background compensation and the position insensitivity of the Helmholtz coil pair.
The present invention seeks to improve the accuracy of measuring the magnetic flux or moment of a sample, particularly in a varying background field.


A timepiece including a dial defining an XY plane, an automaton disposed above the dial, the automaton having at least one first member and one second member, which are articulated in order to reproduce beating movements, and a driving mechanism of the automaton. The first member is provided in order to pivot about a first axis which is non-parallel to the XY plane and the second member is provided in order to pivot about a second axis which is different from the first axis. The driving mechanism of the automaton includes actuators of the first and second members, provided in order to make the first and second members respectively pivot according to non-symmetrical pivoting movements and in order to coordinate the pivoting movements of the first and second members so that the combination thereof gives a beating effect of the first and second members.

Such a timepiece is for example described in the Utility Model CN 202975610. The automaton in the form of a butterfly comprises two symmetrical wings which are articulated on each side along the same longitudinal axis forming the body of the butterfly. Each wing is actuated by its own mechanism, comprising a rod, provided in order to make each wing oscillate symmetrically relative to the body of the butterfly, between a high position and a low position relative to the dial. The wings are positioned such that, in low position, the wings are parallel to the dial and form, between them, an angle of 180°, in high position, the wings form respectively an angle of approx. 20° relative to the dial and therefore, between them, an angle of 140°. Positioning of the wings and also the driving mechanism thereof represents a high spatial requirement which makes it necessary to leave available a certain height above the dial. The timepiece must then have a certain thickness which can prove to be unaesthetic. When the wings, in low position, are parallel to the dial, the butterfly does not appear distinctly if the timepiece is viewed in profile. Furthermore, the driving mechanism comprising the double rod system can prove to be complex to manufacture then to synchronise and to be of a fragile constitution, in particular because of relative wear and tear of the components.

Timepiece comprising an automaton which is able to reproduce beating of wings


Methods and associated systems for improving the visual quality of real-time interactive multimedia presentations, by blending 2-D image data derived from a plurality of 3-D scene views associated with one or more 3-D scenes in accordance with presentation data modifiable by user input in real-time. The 2-D image data rendered from the perspective of the individual scene views are blended together using an associated blend mode in a back to front order producing a 2-D composite image for projection on a display device to a user of the real-time interactive multimedia presentation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to real-time, interactive multimedia and more specifically relates to rendering and blending techniques and systems used in the creation and presentation of real-time, interactive, three-dimensional (3-D) multimedia content on computer systems.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There exist standard rendering techniques referred to as "image composition." Image composition generally involves taking multiple static images and blending or mixing them together to form a more visually complex and appealing image.
There are several key steps to traditional image composition methods. First, several images are created independently through any of a variety of standard techniques. For example, a digital camera can record a picture in digital memory, or a three-dimensional (3-D) modeling and animation software package can render a digital, two-dimensional (2-D) image projection of a 3-D scene and save it as a computer file.
Using a plurality of such static images, the selected images are loaded into a composition software application. The images are typically created in a digital format or may be converted to a digital format from their original form.
Next, "layers" of images are combined or rendered together. Each image may be associated with a layer. A layer may be envisioned as a sheet of clear plastic imprinted with a 2-D image. Composition may then be envisioned as the stacking of multiple such layers one atop another and taking a picture of the final result.
Merely stacking such layers of images is insufficient to create a complex composite image. Rather, each layer must be "blended" with other layers, so that layers underneath a higher layer show through as desired in the final resulting image. As known in the art, such blending often uses extra image information known as "alpha channel" or "alpha" information that, for example, may be used to define the level of transparency for each object or pixel in the particular layer. Referring back to the metaphor of a clear plastic sheet imprinted with an image, one can further imagine that the alpha channel information may be used to define where different areas of the plastic sheet (different portions of the imprinted image) are more or less transparent than other areas of the plastic sheet.
In traditional image composition, there are two distinct types of image composition. A first type, considered more primitive, is often referred to as "masking" wherein particular portions of the combined images are either fully transparent or completely opaque. A second type of image composition, generally considered more advanced, is herein referred to as "blending", wherein each portion of an image may be combined mathematically with another image, allowing for example, each portion of the image to have any level of transparency in a spectrum ranging from fully transparent through completely opaque.
The techniques of advanced image composition can be applied to traditional video presentations, as videos are merely a series of static images presented to the viewer in quick succession. Postproduction video image composition generally involves taking multiple video clips from independent sources such as video cameras and 3-D graphics software, and blending or mixing their frame images together to form a more visually complex and appealing video. This step is typically called "postproduction" because it is a time intensive step that occurs after the primary video sources are created. Video presentations created with advanced image composition techniques using blending during postproduction can be more visually captivating and information dense compared to video presentations that do not use these techniques.
There exists a common media form known as "real-time interactive multimedia". Real-time interactive multimedia generally involves the real-time construction of a graphical presentation on an end-user's computing device, and the subsequent display of the constructed presentation on a video monitor or viewing device. Such presentations typically consist of a variety of media objects such as 2-D graphics, 3-D graphics, video, and text, all brought together in a single presentation. Real-time interactive multimedia presentations usually animate or modify these media objects through time for visual or functional effect. The modifications are often in response to user interaction with an input device such as a computer mouse or keyboard.
Computing devices include end-user computers such as personal computer ("PCs"), set-top devices, personal digital assistants ("PDAs") and workstations (all referred to herein synonymously as "computers", "personal computers", "user systems" or "PCs").
The term "real-time" as used herein refers to the fact that a computer system is constructing, or dynamically rendering, a presentation image in time for it to be displayed without the viewer losing a sense of visual continuity. The term "visual continuity" refers to the ability to cause the human visual cortex to see a continuous progression of visual events from a time sequence of discrete frames or images that are displayed in quick succession. This technique is used in movie theaters, by displaying a time sequence of pictures at a rate of 24 frames per second. Experts in human vision and signal processing observe that visual continuity decreases as the rate at which a series of pictures is displayed decreases, also known as the "frame rate". There are many dependent factors that affect visual continuity at a given frame rate, such as the type of multimedia presentation, the activity of the media objects within the presentation, among other factors. Generally speaking, 6 to 7 frames per second may be considered low quality, 8 to 19 frames per second may be considered good quality, and 20 frames per second and above may be considered high quality for multimedia presentations. Visual continuity may be achieved for special purposes in special sequences of images at rates of 5 frames per second or lower. In general, for most common multimedia presentations, visual continuity requires a frame rate of at least 5 frames per second.
Because each frame, or visual image, of a real-time interactive multimedia presentation is usually constructed after the last frame was presented to the viewer, but before the time at which visual continuity would be suspended, input to the computer by a user can affect the course of events in the presentation. Such interaction by the user allows the personal computer to produce a visual image, or frame, that differs from what would have been constructed and presented had the user not interacted with the presentation. This differs significantly from traditional video, where a series of static, pre-created images are displayed to a viewer in quick succession.
Real-time interactive multimedia presentations are usually stored as descriptions that tell the computer how to use various media objects to construct, or render, frames of images through time. Additionally, such descriptions instruct the computer as to how it should respond to user input during the presentation, allowing for increased utility for the user. Subsequently, real-time interactive multimedia presentations can produce large quantities of visual information from relatively small descriptions based on mathematical and algorithmic descriptions, by combining and rendering media objects in real-time on a viewer's computer. Such a description for constructing real-time interactive multimedia imagery is also known herein as "presentation data."
More specifically, the presentation data used for the creation or rendering of a real-time interactive multimedia presentation typically includes scenes and scene views. As used herein, a "scene" is an algorithmic and mathematical description of media objects and their behavior through time, existing within a common coordinate system. As known in the art, a scene may have one or more associated virtual "cameras", also known herein as "scene views", or simply "views". A scene view is a description of how image data should be calculated or rendered from an associated scene. A scene view is described in relation to a coordinate system in which media objects belonging to that scene are situated, enabling imagery to be derived from the scene. The properties of a view, such as where the view is spatially situated within the scene coordinate system and how the view is rotated in relation to the scene coordinate system, affect the imagery that is derived from the scene. Additionally, the scene view may specify additional properties that affect how the image data is rendered or calculated from the scene.
Real-time interactive multimedia presentation files tend to be much smaller, measured in bytes, than a comparable-quality digital video file that displays the same visual information. Additionally, traditional video is not generally interactive, and therefore does not allow a user to change the course of events in a presentation while it is being viewed. Consequently, real-time interactive multimedia is very desirable for many applications where traditional video is too large, such as delivery over a bandwidth constrained computer network, or where traditional video does not provide the required interactivity, such as educational applications.
However, real-time interactive multimedia systems typically use forms of image composition that are inferior in quality and style to advanced postproduction image composition techniques used with static images and traditional video. Specifically, real-time interactive multimedia systems allow for limited forms of image composition using real-time 2-D and 3-D scenes, but do not allow image composition involving the blending of imagery derived from multiple real-time 3-D scene views. The blending of imagery derived from multiple real-time views in relation to one or more 3-D scenes yields a graphical style similar to the advanced postproduction-oriented image composition used in the creation of static images and traditional video. Consequently, the real-time image composition methods operable in current real-time interactive multimedia systems handicap the visual quality of their presentations, rendering them less visually captivating and less information dense.
In sum, present media systems confront the user with a choice-they can use visually appealing video with advanced image composition but sacrifice dynamic interactivity and smaller file sizes, or they may use size-efficient, real-time interactive multimedia, but sacrifice the visually appealing features of blended, layered 3-D image composition.
It is evident from the above discussion that a need exists for an improved method of rendering real-time interactive multimedia presentations.

Methods and systems for real-time, interactive image composition


A kit of two liquid reagent components for determining the fructosamine content of a blood sample measured by color change, and methods of determining fructosamine content of a blood sample using these two liquid reagents are disclosed.

An important parameter in monitoring metabolic control in diabetes is a measurement of blood or serum fructosamine. Fructosamine is formed by non-enzymatic glycosylation of proteins by glucose. In addition, since the fructosamine linkages formed by this glycosylation are stable, fructosamine content is much less variable than glucose content. Therefore, fructosamine content is a useful index of the average glucose levels. An accurate means of fructosamine determination as provided by this invention is important in diagnosing and monitoring diabetes.
European Patent Publication No. 85 263 describes a simple method of determining the fructosamine content in serum samples. This method is based on the fact that fructosamines in alkaline solution form eneaminols which act as reducing agents on tetrazolium salts, such as for instance nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT), thereby causing a change in color which can be photometrically determined, the measured change in color in a defined time interval being proportional to the quantity of fructosamines present in the sample.
This method however has a number of drawbacks. Problems may arise in particular when using serum as sample material, because other serum components, such as bilirubin, uric acid or proteins with free thiol groups also act as reducing agents on the color indicators or reagents. Besides, lipids, when present in high concentration, may cause turbidity of the sample, which has negative effects on photometric measurements and makes determination of the fructosamine content difficult, if not impossible.
To overcome these drawbacks, it has been proposed in European Patent Publication No. 309 882 to treat the sample before the color reaction, at a nearly neutral pH, with reagents which remove the interfering sample components, and then to set a basic pH which is necessary for the color reaction, and start the color reaction by adding the color indicator or reagent. This process is practically carried out with a set of two separate ready to use liquid reagents, the first reagent being an almost neutral buffer, which contains the reagents for removing the interfering sample components, and the second reagent being an alkaline buffer, which contains the color reagent. In order to use this process on automated clinical analysers, the color reagent and the alkaline buffer must be present in a relatively high concentration. It has been found however that the color reagents, usually tetrazolium salts, are not stable in alkaline medium in the presence of relatively high concentrations of color reagent and buffer salts, so that said second reagent is not shelf-stable.
In commercially available kits (Fructosamine Plus and Unimate Fructosamine, Hoffmann-La-Roche, Basel, Switzerland), this disadvantage has been avoided by separating the reagent components as follows: the first reagent consists of a tablet, which contains the color indicator and agents for removing non specifically reducing sample components, such as uricase; the second reagent component consists of an alkaline buffer which contains the remaining agents. In order to make the ready to use solution necessary for the analysis, the tablet (first reagent) must then first be dissolved in the second reagent. This way of proceeding gives excellent results but has following drawbacks: dissolution of the tablet takes at least 15 minutes and cannot be automated; the thus obtained solution of mixed reagents has a usable life time of less than two weeks.
There is therefore a need for reagents for determining the fructosamine content which do not have the above drawbacks. The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide such reagents. This problem is solved by providing the set of reagents of this invention.