A method (and apparatus) for coding an audio signal, the method comprising the steps of partitioning the audio signal into a sequence of successive frames; calculating one or more noise thresholds for each of a plurality of frames in the sequence, each noise threshold for a particular one of the frames corresponding to a different perceptual coding quality for the particular frame; estimating a bit demand for each of a corresponding one or more perceptual coding qualities for each frame, wherein each estimated bit demand comprises a number of bits which would be used to code a given frame at the corresponding perceptual coding quality; selecting one of the perceptual coding qualities for the coding of a particular frame based upon the estimated bit demand for the perceptual coding quality for the particular frame, and further based on one or more bit demands estimated for one or more other frames; and coding the particular frame based on the noise threshold corresponding to the selected perceptual coding quality for the particular frame. In particular, and in accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the average bit demand for coding each of a plurality of frames at each of a plurality of different perceptual coding qualities is advantageously estimated, and based on these estimates, each frame is coded so as to maintain a relatively consistent perceptual coding quality from one frame to the next.

The present invention relates generally to the field of perceptual audio coding (PAC) techniques and more particularly to a bit allocation scheme which achieves relatively consistent perceptual quality across consecutively coded frames.
In present state of the art audio coders for use in coding signals representative of, for example, speech and music, for purposes of storage or transmission, perceptual models based on the characteristics of the human auditory system are typically employed to reduce the number of bits required to code a given signal. In particular, by taking such characteristics into account, xe2x80x9ctransparentxe2x80x9d coding (i.e., coding having no perceptible loss of quality) can be achieved with significantly fewer bits than would otherwise be necessary. In such coders, typically known as perceptual audio coders, the signal to be coded is first partitioned into individual frames, with each frame comprising a small time slice of the signal, such as, for example, a time slice of approximately twenty milliseconds. Then, the signal for the given frame is transformed into the frequency domain, typically with use of a filter bank. The resulting spectral coefficients may then be quantized and coded. In particular, the quantizer which is used in a perceptual audio coder to quantize the spectral coefficients is advantageously controlled by a psychoacoustic model (i.e., a model based on the performance of the human auditory system), and by the specific number of bits that are available to code the given frame. An illustrative Perceptual Audio Coder (PAC) is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,217, issued on Aug. 13,1991 to K. Brandenburg et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,217 is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Due to the nature of audio signals and the effects of the psychoacoustic model, the bit demand (i.e., the number of bits requested by the quantizer to code the given frame) typically varies with a large range from frame to frame. Therefore, it is invariably necessary to provide for a bit allocation scheme, which, inter alia, makes sure that the average bit rate remains relatively close to the desired bit rate (e.g., the bit rate of the channel over which the coded signal is ultimately to be transmitted, or the amount of available storage per frame if the coded signal is simply to be stored). In addition, the bit allocation scheme must ensure that the coder""s output xe2x80x9cbit bufferxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbit reservoirxe2x80x9d (which provides the coder with the bits which are available) never runs empty (which is referred to as an underflow condition) or full (which is referred to as an overflow condition). (The use of a bit buffer or reservoir in audio coders is fully familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art.)
A typical prior art bit allocation scheme is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,627, 938, issued on May 6, 1997 to J. Johnston, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,627, 938 is hereby incorporated by references as if fully set forth herein. Specifically, this prior art bit allocation scheme operates as follows. Each frame of the signal to be coded is initially coded with quantizer step sizes that are determined by a masked threshold which is computed by the psychoacoustic model. The masked threshold corresponds to a transparent coding quality. That is, setting the quantizer step sizes based on the masked threshold will, in general, provide for a coding which when reconstructed will sound (to the human ear) identical to the original signal.
Given the bit demand of the initially coded frame and the state of the bit buffer (i.e., the degree of xe2x80x9cemptinessxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfullnessxe2x80x9d thereof), the bit allocation scheme decides how many bits are actually given to the quantizer to code the frame. That is, the bit allocator can be viewed as a controller which controls the number of bits allowed, given both the initial bit demand and the buffer state. Specifically, the quantizer step sizes are then modified in an attempt to match the allowed number of bits, and the frame is then re-coded with the modified step sizes, after which the bit allocator again makes a determination of the number of bits to actually be given to the quantizer. This process iterates until the frame is quantized and coded with a number of bits close to the number actually granted by the bit allocator. (This iterative process is referred to in the audio coding art as the xe2x80x9crate loop,xe2x80x9d and the processor which performs it is referred to as the xe2x80x9crate loop processor.xe2x80x9d)
Note that when the average bit demand of successive initially coded frames is either significantly higher or significantly lower than the average overall bit rate of the coder, the performance of this rate loop process is limited by the fact that the bit buffer necessarily has a substantial influence on the bit allocation. As such, the process fails to adequately account for the perceptual impact of the resulting bit allocation. In other words, the bit buffer becomes essentially the sole factor in the decision of how much the allocated number of bits diverge from the actual number of initially demanded bits.
To partially address this problem, prior art audio coders such as PAC employ what is known as a noise threshold, which exceeds the masked threshold by a predetermined amount. Typically, this results in an average bit demand which is closer to the desired bit rate. In this manner, the bit buffer state remains relatively well behaved (i.e., having a low risk of suddenly running empty or of overflowing), and the control task of the bit allocator becomes relatively straightforward.
Clearly, the bit demand of the noise threshold which results in an appropriate given range of average bit demand can be well below the bit rate which would be necessary to achieve transparency. Therefore, one disadvantage of having to use different noise thresholds for different target bit rates is the necessity of manually tuning the psychoacoustic model of the coder for each specific target bit rate, in order to achieve a reasonable level of efficiency and performance. However, since different types of audio signals result in significantly different bit demands, even providing for such a manual tuning process may not result in a coder that works well for all types of audio signals, or even one that works well for a single audio signal having characteristics which change over time. The typical result is that the coder provides a quality level which often varies significantly (over time), due to a failure of the bit allocator to allocate bits to consecutive frames in such a manner so as to ensure that they are coded with a relatively consistent quality level. In fact, this inconsistent behavior becomes more severe with increasing divergence between the target bit rate and the bit demand of the initially coded frames.
It has been realized that a more consistent perceptual quality over time provides for a far more pleasing auditory experience to the listener. In other words, significant variations in perceptual quality of a reconstructed audio signal is typically even more disconcerting to a listener than a reduced, but nonetheless consistent level of quality would be. It has also been realized that to provide a consistent perceptual quality over time, it is not sufficient to allow the bit allocation process to be controlled by merely the frame""s initial bit demand and the state of the bit buffer. Rather, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the bit allocation process is further controlled by taking into account the characteristics of a plurality of frames and by analyzing the bit requirements of coding each of these frames at various levels of perceptual quality.
More specifically, the present invention provides a method (and apparatus) for coding an audio signal, the method comprising the steps of partitioning the audio signal into a sequence of successive frames; calculating one or more noise thresholds for each of a plurality of frames in the sequence, each noise threshold for a particular one of the frames corresponding to a different perceptual coding quality for the particular frame; estimating a bit demand for each of a corresponding one or more perceptual coding qualities for each frame, wherein each estimated bit demand comprises a number of bits which would be used to code a given frame at the corresponding perceptual coding quality; selecting one of the perceptual coding qualities for the coding of a particular frame based upon the estimated bit demand for the perceptual coding quality for the particular frame, and further based on one or more bit demands estimated for one or more other frames; and coding the particular frame based on the noise threshold corresponding to the selected perceptual coding quality for the particular frame. In particular, and in accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the average bit demand for coding each of a plurality of frames at each of a plurality of different perceptual qualities is advantageously estimated, and based on these estimates, each frame is coded so as to maintain a relatively consistent perceptual quality from one frame to the next.

Perceptual audio coder bit allocation scheme providing improved perceptual quality consistency


Routing methods for an integrated circuit design layout are disclosed. The layout can include design netlists and library cells. A multiple-level global routing can generate topological wire for each net. An area oriented graph-based detail routing on the design can be performed. A post route optimization after the detail routing can be performed to further improve the routing quality. Some methods can be single threaded all or some of the time, and/or multi-threaded some or all of the time.

An integrated circuit (IC) comprises cells of similar and/or various sizes, and connections between the cells. A cell includes several pins interconnected by wires to pins of one or more other cells. A net includes a set of pins connected by wires in order to form connections between the pins. A set of nets, called a netlist, defines the connections of an IC.
A router reads in the netlist of an IC, then generates wires, interconnecting pins of nets in the netlist. Once the nets in the netlist are connected, the IC will function correctly. However, due to the large number of nets in the netlist, it typically takes a long time for conventional routers to finish the connection task. In addition, the connections may be too numerous and/or overcrowded, such that conventional routers fail to finish the routing, particularly generating interconnections, without creating one or more design rule violations.
Many of these problems result from the strict adherence of routers to a grid representation of nodes with a uniform structure from layer to layer, and from routing the entire IC design at the same time. Such routers demand excessive amounts of memory and/or take a very long time to route the IC design.

Routing interconnect of integrated circuit designs with varying grid densities


A permanent fluid filtering system includes a cylindrical body having an upper end, to which an inlet tube is connected, and a lower end, to which an outlet tube is connected, and a latitude thread filter assembly disposed within the cylindrical body. The latitude thread assembly is compressible and expandable in accordance with a fluid flowing direction, thereby varying a porous structure of the filter assembly. The permanent fluid filtering system further includes a fluid flow stabilizing plate for stabilizing the flow of dirty fluid fed inside the body through the inlet tube.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid filtering system, and more particularly, to a permanent fluid filtering system in which a filter layer can be effectively refined by pressurized air and clean fluid that are reversely fed into the system in a state where a filter layer is varied.
2) Description of Related Arts
Generally, a micro fluid filtering system is used, in a filtration plant, for pre-treating dirty and polluted fluid by filtering suspended solids contained in the fluid before the fluid goes to next highly processing steps (active carbonate, ozone, photocatalyst, and/or membrane separation processes).
The micro fluid filtering system has a filter provided with a fixed porous structure. This fixed porous structure makes it difficult or impossible to reversely refine the filter when the fixed porous structure is obstructed by dirty residue after being used for predetermined hours. Therefore, the filter must be replaced.
That is, since the porous structure is not changed during the reverse refining process of the system using pressurized air and clean fluid, the dirty residue obstructed in the porous structure is not easily removed, thereby reducing the reverse washing rate.

Fluid filtering system with variable filter layer

Haengoon Villa 101, 119-30 Bangee 2-dong


The invention provides a laser catheter for pinpointed application of laser light on the walls of intracorporal vessels, having a ring-shaped arrangement of optical fibers which surround a central longitudinal channel. A stop element at the distal region of the laser catheter widens the outer circumference, through which the optical fibers pass in beam direction. At the distal catheter tip, the fibers form a planar, ring-shaped light, exit area. The longitudinal channel of the laser catheter is provided at its distal end with a perforated member which is disposed at a short distance from the plane, ring-shaped light exit area in a direction opposite the beam direction. A second element is provided which is attached to a vessel wall as a spacer and engages, during the laser light application procedure with the element widening the circumference of the light catheter.

The present invention relates to a laser catheter for pinpointed application of laser light on the walls of intracorporal vessels, the laser catheter having optical fibers which are disposed ring-shaped and surround an inner hollow channel.
There are increasing possible uses of laser catheters in surgery due to the growing number of different structural designs of laser catheters and their distal end regions.
For instance, laser catheter tips are known which can, in particular, be employed in bypass surgery and which are especially distinguished by the fact that the cross section of the distal end of the laser catheter at which the light exits is completely composed of optical fibers. Such catheters are referred to, by way of illustration, as "full multifiber catheters".
With the aid of the aforementioned type of catheter, techniques for laser-aided anastomosis (surgical joining of two hollow organs, such as, attaching an additional blood-carrying channel (bypass) to a bloodchannel artery whose flow cross section is narrowed by deposits) are known, which permit bypass surgery without interrupting the blood flow in the main artery. For instance, the essays published by Rudolf Verdaasdonk et al. ("End-to-Side Anastomosis of Small Vessels Using an Nd:YAG Laser with a Hemispherical Contact Probe"; J. Neurosurg Vol. 76, March 1992; "Use of the Excimer Laser in HighFlow Bypass Surgery of the Brain", J. Neurosurg, Vol. 78, March 1993) deal with a surgical technique presenting bypass surgery in the brain with the aid of neodym-YAG or excimer lasers, without impairing the blood flow of the main blood-carrying artery affected by the surgery.
First a bypass is sewn onto the outer circumference of the artery to be treated. Through this bypass, a laser catheter tip, which is designed elastically at the distal end, is inserted and positioned within the bypass, onto the outer wall of the main artery to be treated. The laser is activated and by means of an ablation process makes a hole in the main artery (through which a part of the blood flow can be diverted) in the region of the light exit at the distal end of the optical fiber.
In addition to the great advantage of being able to conduct bypass surgery without interrupting the main artery, which is especially vital in bypass surgery in the brain, however, this known surgical technique has the drawback that the ablated material from the vessel wall resulting from-the light impingement by the laser catheter tip remains inside the blood stream and, under unfavorable circumstances may reach points in the blood stream of smaller diameter and obstruct them totally. In particular, in the brain, such tiny particles of tissue in the blood stream circulation are the cause of spontaneous strokes.
The described bypass surgery technique and the optical fiber arrangement therefor for the distal end regions of catheters, are discussed in a publication of the Medical Laser Center, Heart-Lung Institute, Department of Neurosurgery entitled "Multifiber Excimer Laser Catheter Design Strategies for Various Medical Applications" by R. Verdaasdonk et al.
The object of the present invention is to design a laser catheter for pinpointed application of laser light at the walls of intracorporal vessels, such laser catheter having optical fibers which are ring-shaped and surround an inner hollow channel, in such a manner that the risk of ablation remains obstructing blood-carrying vessels following the application of laser light is completely eliminated.
Another object of the invention is to provide a laser catheter arrangement such that the separation of the vessel wall to be treated corresponds exactly to the geometry of the tip of the laser catheter in order to permit a predefined cross section for the vessel wall penetration.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the present invention, which is based on the one hand on a special design of the tip of the laser catheter that makes it possible for the first time to make a geometrically exactly predefined hole in the wall of a vessel to be treated, and at the same time ensures that separated remains of the vessel wall do not stay in the blood stream, but rather are brought out of the body with the aid of the laser catheter.
For this purpose, the laser catheter according to the invention has optical fibers which are disposed in a ring-shaped configuration surrounding an inner hollow channel, and is provided at the outer circumference of its distal end with a circumference-widening element through which the optical fibers penetrate in the beam direction. With this arrangement of the optical fibers, the distal tip of the laser catheter thus assumes the form of a planar, ring-shaped light exit area.
The element widening the outer circumference of the laser catheter serves basically as a type of stop device which permits the surgeon to determine when the ring-shaped optical fibers projecting at its distal end have reached the maximal penetration depth through the region of the vessel wall which is to be ablated. The surgeon must terminate the penetration procedure at the latest when the edge of the outer circumference of the widening elements comes into contact with the outer wall of the vessel itself or with an object joined to the outer wall of the vessel. By the stop edge coming into contact with the outer wall of the vessel, the outer wall of the vessel is pressed into the same shape as the design of the stop edge, ensuring that the optical fibers rest evenly on the vessel wall.
Furthermore, the ring-shaped arrangement of the optical fibers permits separation of a circular disk of the wall vessel which is deposited inside the optical fiber arrangement. If the laser catheter is carefully extracted from the cut vessel wall, no ablation remains stay in the blood circulation system, because the circular, separated piece of vessel wall is held inside the laser catheter, by means of the low pressure prevailing therein.
The invented laser catheter is also provided with a perforated member disposed at its distal end terminating the hollow channel. The distance from the perforated member to the planar, ring-shaped light exit area of the optical fibers corresponds at least to the thickness of the to be ablated vessel wall. With such dimensioning, the elastic vessel wall is sucked to the top side of the perforated member by the low pressure prevailing inside the hollow channel, in an advantageous manner. Consequently, on the one hand, the light exit area of the optical fibers comes fully into contact with the surrounding vessel wall and, on the other hand, the vessel wall lies largely very close to the inner profile yielded by the ring-shaped optical fiber channel and the perforated member in order to ensure circular separation of the vessel wall.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the separation procedure can be optimized by the catheter tip's engaging, during application of the laser light, with a particularly disposed ring-shaped element, on the one hand ensuring that the separation of the piece of the vessel wall occurs completely and on the other hand preventing any further injury to vessel walls, (such as to the opposite vessel wall of the blood-carrying artery). The ring-shaped element is joined to the bypass channel independent of the catheter tip in such a manner that the vessel wall is made taut during application of the laser light. Thus, the ring-shaped laser catheter tip rests evenly on the vessel wall, which is a prerequisite for a homogeneous light impingement.
The laser catheter tip according to the invention thus permits for the first time the achievement, from exterior of a vessel wall, of a controlled penetration through the vessel wall, without creating possible burnt waste products which may occur when the laser light is applied at the vessel wall, or other small pieces of vessel wall which can form for other reasons during cutting of the vessel wall. Consequently, the risk potential of blockage at distant bottlenecks in the blood stream due to burnt waste products is completely eliminated.
In an especially advantageous embodiment, if the hollow channel, which is surrounded by the ring-shaped optical fibers and is joined to a low pressure source, is provided at its distal end with a perforated member having an arrangement of concentrically disposed boreholes therein. Such boreholes perforate the member in such a manner that an even suction effect can be achieved in order to fix the separated vessel wall evenly to the surface of the perforated member, by means of the low pressure.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Medolas Gesellschaft fuer Medizintechnik GmbH


A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting section, a lens, and a movement control section, the movement control section changing an illumination position and a spot size of a laser beam in the light-emitting section by changing a relative position of the lens with respect to the light-emitting section.

In recent years, researches have been actively made into a light-emitting device which uses, as illuminating light, fluorescence that a light-emitting section containing a fluorescent body generates in response to an excitation light beam emitted from a semiconductor light emitting element such as a light emitting diode (LED) or a semiconductor laser (LD: Laser Diode).
A technique related to such a light-emitting device is exemplified by light-emitting devices disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 through 4.
Patent Literature 1 allows a vehicle headlamp having variable lighting characteristics to be mechanically simply structured and improves obstacle resistance and response speed. Patent Literature 2 discloses a headlight which, while restraining an enlargement, is capable of (i) reducing electric power consumption and (ii) forming desired density in a light-distribution pattern. Patent Literature 3 discloses a vehicle lamp capable of electrically switching between a horizontally wide light-distribution pattern and a light-distribution pattern suitable for AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System) casting light beams leftward and rightward. Patent Literature 4 discloses a light source device which prevents a device from getting large-sized, increasing in weight, and getting high in manufacturing cost even in the light source device equipped with a function of varying light distribution.
In other words, the techniques of Patent Literatures 1 through 4 can also be as described below.
The vehicle headlamp of Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of laser elements, a light collecting lens which collects light emitted from the respective plurality of laser elements, and a drive electronic circuit which causes the plurality of laser elements to selectively emit light. This allows lighting characteristics of the vehicle headlamp to comply with a running drive condition and an ambient condition.
The headlight of Patent Literature 2 includes an emission unit which emits, by performing scanning, light from a respective plurality of laser elements in accordance with a determined light-distribution pattern. This allows formation of a desired light-distribution pattern. Further, since this headlight includes an output adjusting section which adjusts respective outputs of the plurality of laser elements, density can be formed in a light-distribution pattern.
Note that Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose that the plurality of laser elements may be replaced with a plurality of LEDs.
According to the vehicle lamp of Patent Literature 3, a projection lens and a horizontally long surface light source including a plurality of LEDs are disposed so that respective optical axes thereof are inclined by a given angle with respect to an axis extending in a front-to-rear direction of a vehicle. According to this, in a case where an LED on the outer side than a focal point of the projection lens is on, the horizontally wide light-distribution pattern is realized. Meanwhile, in a case where an LED on the inner side than the focal point of the projection lens is on, the light-distribution pattern suitable for AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System) casting light beams leftward and rightward can be realized. Namely, it is possible to switch between the foregoing two light-distribution patterns.
The light source device of Patent Literature 4 includes light control means for changing an emission range and/or a light intensity distribution of an excitation light beam emitted from a solid light source to a fluorescent body. This allows a light distribution to be variable by a simple method.

Light-emitting device, floodlight, and vehicle headlight


The present invention relates to a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:9 or 7. The invention further pertains to nucleic acids encoding the polypeptide, pharmaceutical compositions and vaccines.

House dust mites (HDM) are one of the most important risk factors associated with the development of allergic diseases such as rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and asthma (1, 2) and more than 50% of all allergic patients worldwide suffer from HDM-allergy (3).
So far, 23 different proteins were identified and characterized as HDM allergens (4, 5). Group 1 and group 2 allergens from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus represent the clinically most important HDM allergens with IgE binding frequencies of more than 80% (6-9), and which can be found at high concentrations in mites and in mite feces (10, 11). Allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) represents the only causative and disease-modifying approach with long-lasting effects (12-16), which is based on the administration of increasing doses of the disease-eliciting allergens. At present, SIT is performed with natural allergen extracts. But several recent studies have revealed the low quality of natural allergen extracts from pollen, animal dander and house dust mites which may limit clinical efficacy of SIT (17-19). Furthermore, SIT may induce severe side-effects in allergic patients, which limit the broad applicability of this treatment in particular for house dust mite allergy.
Many efforts have been made to engineer recombinant hypoallergenic derivatives in order to improve the safety and efficacy of SIT. And several hypoallergenic derivatives of group 2 mite allergens have already been developed and shown to be suitable for immunotherapy (20-26). In contrast, only a few hypoallergenic derivatives of group 1 mite allergens exist, which are not well characterized (27, 28).
Most strategies using hypoallergenic derivatives can only treat either Der p 1 or Der p 2 allergy and over 50% of HDM-allergic patients react with both allergens, Der p 1 and Der p 2 (29). The advantages of hybrid molecules are that they contain all T-cell epitopes in one molecule and former studies showed that hybrid molecules induce stronger and earlier IgG responses than individual smaller molecules (30, 31).
WO 2009/118642 A2 describes hypoallergenic hybrid proteins composed of fragments of allergens Der p 1 and Der p 2. A similar disclosure can be found in Asturias et al. (2009) Clinical & Experimental Allergy 39, 1088-1098. However, one of the derivatives, i.e., QM1, described in Asturias showed almost the same IgE reactivity as the natural allergen. The second derivative described by Asturias, i.e., QM2, showed reduced IgE reactivity but it is not demonstrated that immunization with this derivative induced IgG antibodies specific for the Der p 1 allergen. Furthermore, the mean inhibition of house dust mite allergic patients IgE by anti-QM2 IgG antibodies to a mix of Der p 1 and Der p 2 was not higher than a 20% mean inhibition.
Bussières et al. (2010) International archives of allergy and immunology 153/2, 141-151 describe studies on recombinant fusion proteins assembling Der p 1 and Der p 2 allergens from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. These derivatives show no or only a modest reduction of approximately 10 fold of their allergenic activity and it has not been investigated whether immunization with these derivatives induces allergen-specific IgG which inhibits allergic patients IgE binding.
Chen et al. (2008) Molecular Immunology Volume 45, Issue 9, 2486-2498 describes studies on the reduction of allergenicity of Der p 2 by genetic engineering. This derivative includes only Der p 2 but not Der p 1 and therefore cannot be used to treat Der p 1-allergic patients.
The inventors of this application used the hybrid technology to construct a hypoallergenic combination vaccine for immunotherapy of HDM allergy. The two constructed mosaic proteins consisting of fragments derived from Der p 1 and Der p 2. One construct contained the original amino acids of the two wildtype allergens (Der p 2/1C, also referred to herein as Dp 2/1C) whereas in the other construct cysteine residues were replaced with serine residues (Der p 2/1S, also referred to herein as Dp 2/1S). These two mosaic proteins are characterized by an almost complete lack of IgE reactivity and allergenic activity and are therefore different from QM1 described by Asturias and the derivatives described by Bussieres. Both derivatives include all Der p 1 sequence elements and are therefore different from the derivatives described by Chen. IgG antibodies induced by both derivatives (i.e., Der p 2/1C and Der p 2/1S) inhibited allergic patients IgE binding to each of the two allergens, Der p 1 and Der p 2 (Table I), which has not been shown for IgG induced by QM2 made by Asturias.
Unexpectedly, IgG antibodies induced by Der p 2/1S which differs only by the replacement of Cysteine residues to Serine residues, inhibited allergic patients IgE binding to Der p 1 more than double as well as those induced by immunization with Der p 2/1C (See example 6 and the data in Table I). The present invention is therefore specifically directed to the polypeptides comprising the amino acid sequence of Der p 2/1S or substantially the same amino acid sequence.

Hypoallergenic polypeptides for the treatment of house dust mite allergy


An amplifier is disclosed including at least three integrator stages connected to provide a low-frequency path from a signal input to a signal output, and a relatively high-frequency bypass path around the first integrator stage. The first integrator stage uses dynamic offset reduction such as chopper stabilization, and an analog low-pass filter reduces artifacts of the dynamic offset reduction. The paths converge at a current summing node. To prevent instability when the integrators are saturated by large signals, the paths have respective saturation current limits selected so that the relatively high-frequency path is not saturated when the low-frequency path saturates. To ensure that the conditional stability is substantially unaffected by adjustment of closed-loop gain, a current feedback input adjusts the open-loop gain in a fashion inversely proportional to resistance presented to the current feedback input by a feedback circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to conditionally-stable operational amplifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art
An operational amplifier is a relatively high gain amplifier capable of being used in various kinds of feedback circuits for performing certain mathematical operations. For example, operational amplifier circuits can provide programmable gain, signal summation, integration, and differentiation, and various other useful functions too numerous to mention here.
The most popular variety of operational amplifier has high-impedance differential signal inputs and a low impedance signal output, and functions as a high-gain differential voltage amplifier. Another kind of operational amplifier, known as an "operational transconductance amplifier," has high-impedance differential signal inputs and a high-impedance signal output, and functions as a differential voltage to current converter.
High accuracy operational amplifier circuits require large gain from zero frequency up to a certain closed-loop bandwidth. Most general-purpose operational amplifiers are constructed with a dominant pole in the open-loop frequency response in order to guarantee stability when any purely resistive voltage divider provides a feedback signal. When the operational amplifier has such an open-loop frequency response, an enormous gain-bandwidth product is required for high accuracy. Therefore, designers of low-power or high-accuracy operational amplifier circuits have considered conditional stability as a way of avoiding the gain-bandwidth product limitation of unconditionally-stable operational amplifiers. A conditionally-stable operational amplifier has at least 180 degrees of phase lag for a frequency less than the frequency at which the operational amplifier has an open-loop unity gain, but the phase lag decreases to less than 180 degrees as the frequency increases to the open-loop unity gain frequency.
One circuit technique proposed for constructing a conditionally-stable operational amplifier is known as multipath conditionally-stable compensation. The multipath technique is introduced in Rudy Eschauzier and Johan H. Huijsing, Frequency Compensation Techniques for Low-Power Operational Amplifiers, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1995, pp. 167-173. An operational amplifier using this technique includes a series of integrators, and each integrator includes a first transconductance stage, a second transconductance stage, and a capacitor connected from the input to the output of the second transconductance stage. The series of integrators forms a low-frequency path. Because a series of integrators has at least two integrators and each integrator in practice has slightly more than 90 degrees of phase shift, the series of integrators tends to be neither conditionally stable nor unconditionally stable. In order to make the operational amplifier conditionally stable, the operational amplifier further includes one or more high-frequency bypass paths around the integrators in order to "roll back" the phase shift to less than 180 degrees as the frequency reaches the open-loop unity gain frequency. The bypass path includes a transconductance bypass stage having an input driven by an input of the operational amplifier and an output connected to the second or higher integrator in the series. The output of the transconductance bypass stage is connected to the node interconnecting the first transconductor output, the second transconductance input, and the capacitor of the second or higher integrator in the series. Each integrator stage has a unity-gain frequency (in radians per second) equal to the ratio of the transconductance of its first stage divided by the capacitance of its capacitor. In order for the bypass stage to "roll back" the phase lag, the ratio of the transconductance of the bypass stage to the capacitance of the capacitor to which the bypass stage output is connected must be substantially less than the open-loop unity gain frequency (in radians per second). For a high-order multipath operational amplifier having three integrators, for example, each integrator has the same unity gain frequency, and there are two bypass transconductors, each of which has a take-over frequency (i.e., ratio of the transconductance to the capacitance connected to the bypass transconductor output) that is about one-fifth of the open-loop unity gain frequency.
In practice, a number of related problems have been discovered during the design of a conditionally-stable high-order multi-path operational amplifier. A first problem is the voltage offset and 1/f noise in the low-frequency path. For a high-accuracy operational amplifier, it is desired to have a relatively low voltage offset and low 1/f noise.
A second problem is instability caused when the integrators become saturated by large signals or transients. When an integrator saturates, its open-loop frequency response is changed, so it is possible for the operational amplifier to become unstable.
A third problem is the limited range of closed-loop gain over which the conditionally-stable operational amplifier is stable, and the fact that this limited range of stability may prevent an integrated circuit design from being useful as a general-purpose building block for a variety of applications.

High-order multipath operational amplifier with dynamic offset reduction, controlled saturation current limiting, and current feedback for enhanced conditional stability


The braking system for one or both of the skates such as in-line skates. The braking system uses a hand held RF transmitter activated by a switch to initiate braking action by a receiver located on the skate. The brake, once actuated, can work directly off the ground and be a friction pad type device on the skate and when activated it drags on the ground or a two-fold friction device composed of a extra back wheel that can be restrained by a pad braking device before it is then lowered to having a restricted roll friction on the ground. The braking device can work directly onto the rolling wheels with a friction pad or again it can be a twofold friction device composed of a small convex braking wheel above the rolling wheels that is slowed by a friction pad device before it is used then to restrict the rolling wheels. The remote radio signal device generates the radio signal which is tied to the braking function of the skate to provide either continuous force or a variable braking force. The system also uses wheel rotation and terrain incline data as an input sent by RF signal to said hand held unit to generate skater data such as distance travelled, speed and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to roller skates such as in-line skates and particularly to a braking system and an information retrieval system using RF signals linking a hand held unit to a braking located on the skate.
2. Prior Art
In-line skating has become a popular sport but one of the more difficult aspects of this type of skating is braking and speed control, for example when descending a hill. Various roller skate brakes have been developed to aid the skater in braking and speed control but suffer from a number of deficiencies. The two general types currently in use depend on friction being applied directly to the ground with a dragging surface or friction applied to the rolling wheel or wheels, like car and bicycle brakes. The dragging surface method can involve lifting the toe of the skate which often proves to be difficult for beginners or novices.
Another system involves cuff rotation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,419 where the top portion of the boot rotates backward activating the dropping of a dragging surface to the ground or braking of the rolling wheels. The activation of this technique for this braking means involves placing one or both legs in distorted positions with the front foot extending far forward during braking. While this method is easier than the dragging frictional method, it is nonetheless difficult for beginners or novices. In addition, this method involves building a multi-part hinged boot which is more complicated, more expensive, and does not provide the rigidity desired by skaters. The systems which are the easiest to activate are the hand control activated braking systems. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,439,238; 5,340,131 and 5,411,276 are representative of such systems. These devices generally use a hand held or belt held lever device that activates a wire, cable or fluid line which is connected to a brake on the skate which can be a pad which directly contacts the ground or some type of friction braking applied to the rolling wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,238 uses a cable running from the skates to the hand of the skater which when activated causes a dragging pad to be dropped to the ground. U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,276 uses friction applied to the rolling wheels.
These systems, although they are easier for novices and beginners to learn to use, are not ideal for a number of reasons. These brake controls inhibit the motion of the skaters hands, arms and legs by restricting them with a cable which runs down the arm area, back to their belt area, and then down their legs to the skates. In addition, any cables strung on the arms, torso, and legs can be dangerous if it were to catch on a passing protrusion such as bench, fire plug or tree. Due to the extreme movement involved in skating, cables also tend to rub and cause discomfort on the skaters skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,238 discloses a bicycle type squeeze lever which can be stored in the waist belt area while not being used. While this systems allows the motion of the arms to be uninhibited, it results in slower braking reaction times as the skater must quickly reach and attempt to locate the control.


A frame transfer prober 1, for carrying out an electrical property test on a number of semiconductor chips 10 fixed on a dicing tape 11, comprises a separation detection unit 9 for detecting the separation and/or protrusion of the semiconductor chips 10 from the dicing tape. The separation detection unit has a light emitting portion 91 for emitting a laser beam L, a light receiving portion 92 for receiving the laser beam L so emitted and a determination portion 93 for determining the separation and/or protrusion of the semiconductor chips through an increase or decrease in amount of the laser beam L so received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame transfer prober for performing electrical property tests on a number of semiconductor chips fixed to a dicing tape and, more particularly, to a frame transfer prober which can detect the separation of a semiconductor chip from the dicing tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
A number of semiconductor devices having the same electric device circuit formed thereon are formed on a surface of a wafer and, in order to test the electrical properties of each electric device circuit before the electric device circuits are cut into individual semiconductor devices (semiconductor chips), the electric device circuits are tested by a prober to see whether they are good or not good. In general, the prober has a probing needle which corresponds to each semiconductor device on the wafer and is constructed such that a probe card connected to a tester is made to correspond to each semiconductor device on the wafer sequentially so that the probing needle is brought into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device to thereby implement an electrical measurement.
In recent years, in order to realize a miniaturization in size, weight and thickness of electronic apparatuses such as mobile phones, digital cameras and portable information terminals, the installation techniques for semiconductor integrated circuits have entered the stage of chip size package (CSP) or wafer level chip size package (WCSP). In a CSP, semiconductor chips are stacked for use.
Due to this, wafers have been in demand which are thinned to 100 μm or smaller and, in wafers which are so thinned, the occurrence of failure becomes highly probable while the wafer is cut into individual semiconductor chips in a dicing process that is carried out after the electrical property test has been performed on the semiconductor chips by the prober. In addition, it has been desired to reduce the defective fraction of actually installed semiconductor chips by performing the electrical property test at as late a stage as possible where processed semiconductor devices are close to being final semiconductor chip products.
It is conventional practice to perform the electrical property test on semiconductor chips using a frame transfer prober. In this case, in order to prevent individual semiconductor chips which are cut in the dicing process from scattering, the wafer is diced after a dicing tape has been applied to a surface of the wafer where the number of semiconductor devices are not formed. The dicing tape is formed into a circular shape which is similar to the shape of the wafer, and the dicing tape is extended to increase the diameter thereof after the wafer has been diced and is then held in the extended state by a ring-shaped metallic frame. Namely, individual semiconductor chips so produced are held while being affixed to the dicing tape in a state where intervals (cuts) between the individual semiconductor chips are slightly expanded. The semiconductor chips are transferred in that state on a frame, and the electric property test is performed on each semiconductor chip while the semiconductor chips are held on a stage of a frame transfer prober.
In the conventional method, however, there sometimes occurs a case where a semiconductor chip is separated from the dicing tape. In the event that the electric property test is performed in this state, there has been caused a problem that the semiconductor chip that is separated is brought into contact with a probe card needle of the frame transfer prober, whereby the probing needle and the chip are damaged, or the separated semiconductor chip collides against an alignment camera when aligning the chip for positioning, whereby the alignment camera and the chip are damaged.


The aim of the present invention is to provide a method capable of producing an optically active pyrimidinamide derivative on an industrial scale.

The pyrimidinamide derivative represented by the below-mentioned formula (V) is known as a Raf protein kinase inhibitor and a therapeutic drug for cancer and the like.
The following method is known as a production method of the optically active form.
Patent Document 1 discloses that an optically active form of an amine compound represented by the below-mentioned formula (III) is produced by subjecting the corresponding ketone compound successively to oximation, reduction, and optical resolution with di-p-toluoyl-(D)-tartaric acid, and the objective optically active form of a pyrimidinamide derivative represented by the below-mentioned formula (V) is produced from the optically active amine compound.
As a production method of an optically active amine compound, non-Patent Document 1 discloses a reductive asymmetric amination reaction of an aryl acetone with benzhydrylamine using an iridium complex as a catalyst, and non-Patent Document 2 discloses an asymmetric reduction reaction of a compound having a diphenylmethylimino group.

Method for producing optically active compound

Abstract: Compound (I) or a salt thereof is subjected to an asymmetric reduction reaction, the obtained compound (II) or a salt thereof is subjected to a deprotection reaction, and the obtained compound (III) or a salt thereof is reacted with compound (VI) or a salt thereof to obtain compound (V) or a salt thereof.

Abstract: wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification.


A method of manufacturing passive integrated optical devices from polymeric materials, the method comprising providing a step structure at each transition between a fiber alignment structure and the preform for the light waveguide structure, wherein both of these structures are produced simultaneously. Passive integrated optical devices having ridges or trenches with rectangular cross sections and manufactured to this method are also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing passive integrated optical devices form polymeric materials for optical fiber networks employing glass fibers or polymer fibers as transmission media, and further relates to devices and molded pieces manufactured according to the method. A "molded piece" as used herein will be understood to mean a plastic article manufactured from a polymeric material by means of a casting or molding operation. The functional device for optical fiber network (FONs) is comprised of such a molded piece along with optical fiber pigtails which are to be coupled, and, possibly, a cover plate.
The aim of the invention is to provide more economical means of manufacturing such devices without detrimentally affecting the usable characteristics of the device.
FONs are becoming continually more important in communications engineering. For communications in the long-distance range and medium-distance range, the transmission medium principally used is single mode fibers comprised of quartz. In the short-distance range and in sensor networks, multimode fibers comprised of quartz or polymeric material are principally used.
FONs are comprised of optical fibers, active components (senders and receivers), controllable components (e.g. switches and modulators), and passive components (e.g. branches, couplers, interferometer structures, wavelength multiplexers, and wavelength demultiplexers). The manufacture of these components has heretofore been costly.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to manufacture passive components comprising miniaturized components from geometrical optics, such as lenses, prisms, and mirrors (Lutzke, D., 1986, "Lichtwelienleitertechnik", pub. Pflaum-Verlag, Munich). This miniaturization is subject to limits, in practice.
In Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,366,110, the manufacture of couplers comprised of glass optical fibers is described. The protective sheathing is removed from the optical fibers and the fibers are positioned in proximity and may be twisted together. Under tension they are fused together at a certain temperature. With the use of suitable fibers, multimode or single mode fiber couplers can be manufactured. For a 1.times.N coupler with N>2, a plurality of 1.times.2 couplers are connected in a sequence. This consumes excessive space, and is costly.
Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,315,874 discloses optical couplers for polymer optical fibers wherein 2-1000 polymer optical fibers are oriented in the same direction and bundled together. The fibers may be twisted together over a certain longitudinal distance. A piece of heat-shrinkable plastic tube is pushed over the node. After the heat-shrinkable tube is heated, the fibers are in a state of being tightly bundled together or fused together. The node can be stretched.
In Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,290,329, the manufacture of integrated optical single mode waveguide structures is described. The principle of wave guiding on the substrate by means of a strip waveguide, and the lithographic manufacturing process, allow integration and simultaneous manufacture of diverse optical functions on a substrate. Coupling of optical fibers with integrated optical waveguides manufactured by the described method is costly in terms of resources and finances.
In Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,451,549, optical couplers comprised of polymers, for multimode polymer FONS, are described which couplers are manufactured by injection molding. The coupler element is solid and of a single unit construction, and may be coated with a polymer having a lower index of refraction than the coupler. In the manufacturing method a polymer melt is injected into an injection mold which is comprised of two or more mold elements. After the melt solidifies, the finished coupler element comprised of the junction region with the pigtails of the optical fibers is removed from the mold. According to another method, channels are formed in the surface of a plastic plate, by injection molding, and the optical fibers are inserted in said channels. The void space between the fiber pigtails is filled with castable resin. The injection mold is fabricated by machining or spark erosion, followed by polishing. The channels for the optical fibers have a square or round cross section, and a diameter or side length of 0.1-3 mm.
Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,324,492 discloses a coupler for optical fibers which coupler is comprised of a stepped base plate which bears, on two sides, a number of "trenches" for introducing the ends of the waveguiding means. In the middle part of the plate the coupling structures are produced by a photolithographic process which may involve a plurality of stages.
In Eur. Pat. Appl. 0,420,173 a method of manufacturing finned waveguide structures from polymeric materials is described wherein a metal mold is filled with a liquid material which is cured by the action of energetic radiation. The time consumed in this method is typically greater than with, e.g., injection molding methods.
The known methods are characterized by a relatively costly technology wherein the waveguide structures and the alignment structures for the optical fibers are produced in or on the substrate. Some of the known methods allow only manufacture in the form of a single unit structure, or require special machinery. Some of the couplers have relatively high transmission losses and/or are not mechanically robust. For coupling of optical fibers to an integrated optical switching circuit, heretofore no satisfactorily economical and time-stable solution has been discovered. Previously it was difficult to produce the required vertical and horizontal cavity structures in precise positions for alignment with the relatively small waveguide structures. Only components for multimode polymeric FONs could be successfully produced with the use of economical mold processes, under known technology. Heretofore there was no known suitable transition means between a fiber alignment structure and a waveguide structure for multimode glass optical fibers or single mode glass optical fibers, for adjusting for the differing diameters of fiber cores and cladding.

Method of manufacturing devices for optical fiber networks, and devices manufactured thereby

Microparts Gesellschaft fur Mikrostrukturtechnik mbH


A device for handling a contact lens during insertion and removal thereof. The inventive device includes a finger mounting assembly for positioning over a finger of a human hand. A lens engaging assembly is mounted to a tip of the finger mounting assembly for engaging a contact lens. The lens engaging assembly can include a concave receiver for engaging an exterior surface of a lens and a pneumatic bulb positioned in fluid communication with the receiver for securing the lens thereto by vacuum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ophthalmic lens holders and more particularly pertains to a contact lens handling device for handling a contact lens during insertion and removal thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of ophthalmic lens holders is known in the prior art. More specifically, ophthalmic lens holders heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art ophthalmic lens holders include U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,259; U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,396; U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,601; U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,921; U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,320; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,283.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a contact lens handling device for handling a contact lens during insertion and removal thereof which includes a finger mounting means for positioning over a finger of a human hand, and a lens engaging means mounted to a tip of the finger mounting means for engaging a contact lens, wherein the lens engaging means can include a concave receiver for engaging an exterior surface of a lens and a pneumatic bulb positioned in fluid communication with the receiver for securing the lens thereto by vacuum.
In these respects, the contact lens handling device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of handling a contact lens during insertion and removal thereof.


Systems and techniques for detecting a target substance, such as THC, in a breath constituent sample are provided.

With legalization of marijuana expanding and the risk of marijuana-associated impaired driving increasing, it is anticipated by the present inventors that there will be an increased need for portable and accurate measurement devices for quantifying levels of cannabinoid compounds, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that are present in a person's breath, e.g., such as during a traffic stop for suspected driving-under-the-influence. THC detection poses significant challenges since the amounts of THC that may be present in an exhaled breath are quite minute—much more so than is the case with alcohol. Furthermore, THC detection in human breath is generally the only reliable way to determine if a suspected marijuana user is under the influence. Unlike with alcohol, which the body can purge in relatively short order, e.g., less than a day, THC compounds may be present in a person's body long after they are no longer under the influence of the THC. Thus, detection of THC via blood or urine sample may result in false positives. Testing for THC in breath at the roadside would be convenient, non-invasive, and leverages the wide acceptance of administering a breath test at the roadside, as is commonly employed for alcohol.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for target substance identification


The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling steering of a platooning vehicle to prevent a trailer from departing from the road on a curved road by controlling steering of a tractor in consideration of a distance between the center of an overall width of the trailer and a left lane and a distance between the center of the overall width of the trailer and a right lane.

In general, in the situation where several vehicles travel simultaneously to one destination, when most drivers do not know a road to the destination and when one driver knows the road, when persons want to move using a specific path among several paths to the destination because there is a person who knows a shortcut through a side road, when persons move to look for a good place without a specific destination, or when persons pass an undecided stop such as a rest area during movement to the destination, platooning is performed to prevent a vehicle from parting from accompanying vehicles.
In such platooning, several vehicles move together while maintaining a minimum safety distance. When such platooning is performed, air resistance of following vehicles may be reduced to enhance gas mileage, the risk of accident may be reduced, and convenience of a driver of each vehicle may be increased. An interval between vehicles may be reduced to increase the number of vehicles which use the road 3 to 5 times.
Recently, technologies capable of performing platooning of each vehicle in the state where a driver does not ride in a following vehicle which follows a leading vehicle as well as the leading vehicle have been developed.
A conventional technology of controlling steering of platooning vehicles is applied to an integrated vehicle such as a sedan, a van, or a truck. In case of a vehicle, such as a tractor trailer, a tractor and a trailer of which are connected by a coupler, the trailer is bent at a certain angle from the tractor when the tractor travels on a curved road, such that the conventional technology is difficult to be applied to the tractor trailer.
In other words, in the tractor trailer, a type (size) of the trailer connected to the tractor is frequently changed and an angle bent on a curved road varies with the weight of freight carried on the trailer. Thus, the conventional technology of controlling steering of the tractor to follow the center of the road does not prevent the trailer from departing from the curved road.

Apparatus and method for controlling steering of platooning vehicle


A dispersive optical waveguide tap comprises a blazed refractive index grating in the core of the waveguide, coupling means, focusing means and utilization means. The grating is selected such that guided mode light of predetermined wavelength will, in the absence of the coupling means, be directed into one or more cladding modes of the waveguide. The presence of the coupling means, in optical co-operation with the waveguide, changes the guiding conditions such that the cladding modes are substantially eliminated from a portion of the waveguide that includes the cladding, whereby the grating directs the guided mode light into one or more radiation modes. The blaze angle typically is .ltoreq.15.degree.. The focusing means serve to bring the radiation mode light substantially to a focus in at least one dimension, the focal point (or line) depending on the wavelength of the light. The utilization means exemplarily comprise an array of photodetectors, and the coupling means exemplarily comprise an appropriately shaped glass member and index matching means. Dispersive waveguide taps are advantageously used in WDM optical communication systems, e.g., to provide status information (e.g., channel wavelength, channel power, including presence or absence of a channel) to, e.g., a system maintenance unit. The status information facilitates maintenance of operating conditions by conventional feedback control. Any optical element that can bring the tapped radiation to a focus on the utilization means can serve as a focusing element. Exemplary focusing elements are optical lenses (cylindrical or non-cylindrical), diffraction gratings, volume gratings (holograms), and combinations thereof.

In multi-wavelength optical fiber communication systems (usually referred to as "wavelength division multiplexed" or "WDM" systems), efficient wavelength-selective means for tapping electromagnetic radiation (to be referred to herein as "light", regardless of wavelength) from the optical fiber could be advantageously used in a variety of functions, e.g., as a wavelength monitor, channel monitor, demultiplexer, amplifier monitor, or in a feedback loop with an optical amplifier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,032 to G. Meltz et al. discloses an optical fiber tap that comprises a blazed, chirped refractive index grating selected to redirect light guided in the fiber such that it comes to a focus at a point outside of the fiber. The patent also discloses that ". . . the angle of the external path that results in the constructive interference is peculiar to the respective central wavelength .lambda.".
The tap of the '032 patent has some shortcomings. For instance, due to the relatively large (exemplarily .gtoreq.22.degree.) blaze angle that is required to achieve the desired redirection of the light guided in the fiber core to light in space outside of the fiber, the arrangement is subject to undesirable polarization effects, i.e., the fraction of light that is redirected by the grating depends on the polarization of the incident guided light. Whereas for low blaze angles (<10.degree.) the polarization dependent difference in the amount of redirected light is at most about 0.54 dB, this difference increases rapidly with increasing blaze angle, being about 2.86 dB and about 6.02 dB for blaze angles of 22.degree. and 30.degree., respectively. Furthermore, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the fraction of redirected light decreases with increasing blaze angle, for a given index change. See, for instance, T. Erdogan et al., J. of the Optical Society of America-A, Vol. 13(2), p. 296 (1996).
In view of the many important potential uses of an efficient, wavelength-selective fiber tap, it would be desirable to have available a fiber tap that is substantially free of the shortcomings of the above discussed prior art tap. This application discloses such a tap.

Article comprising an optional waveguide tap


This document relates to providing a thermal management system for a device. One example determines temperature readings associated with one or more components of the device, and comparing the temperature readings to optimal operating temperatures. This example can selectively couple or decouple heat-dissipating elements based at least on the temperature readings associated with the one or more components of the device in order to reach the optimal operating temperatures.

The increased use of mobile devices throughout the world has spurred greater advancement in efforts to increase processing capabilities associated with the mobile devices. At the same time, ease of carrying such mobile devices is of extreme importance, and therefore mobile devices have become thinner and more convenient to carry. Due to the thinness of modern mobile devices, heat dissipation can be difficult, especially due to the increase in processing capabilities of the mobile devices and the lack of available room to sufficiently provide heat sinks for processing elements. Therefore, heat can often accumulate in the mobile device, which can lead to a deterioration of components and a reduction in overall efficiency for the mobile device.


A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor array panel is provided, the method includes: a substrate; a data line disposed on the substrate; an interlayer insulating layer disposed on the data line; a gate line disposed on the interlayer insulating layer and including a gate electrode; a gate insulating layer disposed on the gate line and the interlayer insulating layer, the gate insulating layer and the interlayer insulating film having a contact hole exposing the data line; a first electrode disposed on the gate insulating layer and connected to the data line through the contact hole; a second electrode disposed opposite the first electrode with respect to the gate electrode; an organic semiconductor disposed on the first and the second electrodes and contacting the first and the second electrodes; and a passivation member disposed on the organic semiconductor.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic thin film transistor array panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
(b) Description of Related Art
Electric field effect transistors including organic semiconductors have been vigorously researched as driving devices for next generation display devices.
Organic semiconductors may be classified into low molecule compounds such as oligothiophene, pentacene, phthalocyanine, and C6O; and high molecule compounds such as polythiophene and polythienylenevinylene.
The low molecule semiconductors have a high mobility in a range of about 0.05–1.5 msV, and superior on/off current ratios. However, conventional processes for manufacturing organic thin film transistors (TFTs), including low molecule semiconductor compounds, can be complicated in that they require a low molecule semiconductor pattern be formed by using a shadow mask and vacuum deposition in order to avoid solvent-induced, in-plane expansion caused by organic solvents.
On the contrary, the organic thin film transistors based on the high molecular weight semiconductor materials show rather a low mobility in a range of about 0.001–0.1 cm2/Vs even though they have a merit for mass production due to their solution processibility, such as coating and inkjet printing process.
In addition, the organic semiconductor has a tendency to change its characteristics or to be damaged due to subsequent processing, thereby deteriorating the characteristics of organic TFTs.

Organic thin film transistor array panel and manufacturing method thereof


The myo-electric information of the user is transmitted to the data center, learning with a high computation load for generating recognition parameters required for recognizing the utterance content based on the myo-electric information is performed, not by the mobile communication terminal, but by the data center. By this, compared with the case when learning is performed in the mobile communication terminal which has stricter limitations on processing speed and memory than a stationary type computer, efficient learning in a shorter time becomes possible. Since the recognition parameters acquired at the data center are transmitted to the mobile communication terminal, hereafter utterance content recognition can be appropriately performed by the recognition parameters matching the user only by the mobile communication terminal, without the mobile communication terminal transmitting/receiving information with a learning device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal which recognizes the content of an utterance based on the information on the movement of the articulation organs when the user speaks, a learning device which generates recognition parameters related to the recognition of the content of an utterance, an information recognition system which includes these, and a learning method which is performed in this information recognition system.
2. Related Background Art
An information recognition method where the content of an utterance is recognized based, not on the sound information, but on the information on the movement of the articulation organs, such as myo-electric information around the mouth of an individual who performs utterance action and the image of their lips, has been known. By this method, the content of an utterance can be recognized from the movement of the mouth and lips, even when the speaker does not utter a sound, and as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-181888, for example, this method is applied to a device which recognizes the content of an utterance of an individual having no pharynx, who cannot vocalize due to sickness or an accident, by the movement of their lips.
When the content of an utterance is recognized based on such information on the movement of the articulation organs, it is important to learn information on the movement of the articulation organs adaptively for each speaker, so as to support various speaking features of the speaker, generate unique recognition parameters for the speaker, and recognize the content of an utterance based on the recognition parameters for each speaker, and by this, the recognition accuracy of the content of an utterance can be improved.

Learning device, mobile communication terminal, information recognition system, and learning method


One embodiment provides a system for distributing packets within a trust domain. During operation, the system receives, by an ingress node in the trust domain, a message. The system creates a property vector for the message, where the property vector indicates a number of properties that have been determined for the message. The system generates a first authenticator for the message based on the property vector and a secret key shared by a plurality of nodes in the trust domain. The system transmits the message, the property vector, and the first authenticator to another node in the trust domain, thereby facilitating secure and efficient distribution of messages within the trust domain without requiring intermediate nodes to determine the properties indicated in the property vector.

1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to the distribution of digital content. More specifically, this disclosure is related to pre-calculating and verifying properties of a message in a named data network, and delegating the burden of this property validation to border routers within a trust domain.
2. Related Art
The proliferation of the Internet and e-commerce continues to fuel revolutionary changes in the network industry. Today, a significant number of information exchanges, from online movie viewing to daily news delivery, retail sales, and instant messaging, are conducted online. An increasing number of Internet applications are also becoming mobile. However, the current Internet operates on a largely location-based addressing scheme. The two most ubiquitous protocols, the Internet Protocol (IP) and Ethernet protocol, are both based on location-based addresses. That is, a consumer of content can only receive the content by explicitly requesting the content from an address (e.g., IP address or Ethernet media access control (MAC) address) closely associated with a physical object or location. This restrictive addressing scheme is becoming progressively inadequate for meeting the ever-changing network demands.
Recently, content centric network (CCN) and named data network (NDN) architectures have been proposed in the industry. CCN brings a new approach to content transport. Instead of having network traffic viewed at the application level as end-to-end conversations over which content travels, content is requested or returned based on its unique name, and the network is responsible for routing content from the provider to the consumer. Note that content includes data that can be transported in the communication system, including any form of data such as text, images, video, and/or audio. A consumer and a provider can be a person at a computer or an automated process inside or outside the CCN. A piece of content can refer to the entire content or a respective portion of the content. For example, a newspaper article might be represented by multiple pieces of content embodied as data packets. A piece of content can be associated with meta-data describing or augmenting the piece of content with information such as authentication data, creation date, content owner, etc.
In a CCN or NDN, content objects and interests are identified by their names, which are typically hierarchically structured variable-length identifiers (HSVLI). Generally, interests and content objects travel through a number of links before they can reach their destination. In CCN, specialized hardware might be required to calculate and verify certain properties potentially at line rate. These operations include, but are not limited to, a hash of a content object, signature verification when an embedded key is present, a hash of an interest, and other properties that can communicate state information within a trust domain. While some routers (such as border routers) in a CCN trust domain are designed for these computationally expensive line rate calculations, other routers (such as backbone core routers) in the same domain could experience significant delay if required to calculate and verify these various properties.

Border property validation for named data networks


A method for detection of underground anomalies including in a system of distributed antennas (10), which are leaky transmission lines, disposed in 16 boreholes (12) formed in a ground, a transmitter (14) being connected to one of the antennas (10), and a receiver (16) being connected to another of the antennas (10), injecting an electromagnetic pulse into one of the antennas (10), wherein the pulse gradually leaks out, and wherein if a speed of propagation in the line in which the pulse is injected is faster than a speed of propagation in the ground, a shock wave is transmitted through the ground, called a transmitted signal, and received as a received signal at another of the antennas (10), and wherein an underground anomaly diffracts the shock wave, resulting in a detectable disturbance in the received signal, and locating the anomaly as a function of a time delay of the disturbance relative to the transmitted signal.

Detection and ranging of underground anomalies is important for a variety of applications, such as detecting underground cavities, unmapped infrastructure pipelines, and ores. The magnetic method measures anomalies with respect to the earth magnetic field. This method, however, is sensitive to ferromagnetic bodies only. The acoustic method uses sound waves transmitted through the ground and is sensitive to the contrast in acoustic impedance of the anomaly. The EM method uses radio waves and is therefore sensitive to the difference in the EM impedances of the anomaly and surrounding media.
A common EM technique is the ground penetration radar (GPR) in which the transmission and reception of waves is performed from above the ground. This method, however, has limited penetration ability in a ground with high conductivity. In order to increase the depth of penetration, lower frequencies, which suffer less from attenuation, have to be used. However, low frequencies result in low resolution. Typical attenuation factors could be from 1 dB/m to tens of dB/m.
Another EM technique uses radiation from one borehole to another. This method has the same disadvantage of penetration vs. resolution. However, since the signal travels one way (and not into the ground and back as in the GPR method), the penetration vs. resolution is better tolerated. Another advantage of the borehole measurement compared to the GPR is that transmitting and receiving the signal from underneath the ground can reduce the man-made noise level, thereby achieving better performance.
Both methods can be used to create an image of the ground. The GPR can be moved along a path above the ground in order to generate a synthetic aperture image. A cross-section image can be made between the two boreholes by tomographic reconstruction, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,185,578 and 4,742,305 to Stolarczyk et al. This method requires scanning the locations of the transmitter and the receiver along their boreholes, respectively. This scan is typically done mechanically and takes a long time to complete.
The present invention is most relevant to the borehole tomography technique. The invention exploits the phenomenon that when an EM pulse is injected into a leaky transmission line placed along a dielectric bulk, an EM shock wave will be radiated inside the dielectric bulk, if the signal velocity inside the line is faster than the phase velocity in the dielectric bulk. This radiation is similar to Cerenkov radiation. See D. Grischkowsky, I. N. Duling, III, J. C. Chen, and C.-C. Chi, "Electromagnetic shock waves from transmission lines", Physical Review Letters, vol 59, pp. 1663-1666 (1987).

Underground cavity detection by electromagnetic shock waves


A light receiving circuit includes a light receiving element, a first transistor that includes a control terminal which is connected to the light receiving element through a first node, a first terminal and a second terminal, a first load circuit that is connected between a power supply potential and a second node connected to the second terminal, and outputs a voltage signal to a third node, wherein the voltage signal is based on a current signal in the light receiving element, a first feedback resistor that is connected between the first node and the third node, a first limiter circuit that is connected in parallel with the first feedback resistor, and limits an increase of voltage at both ends of the first feedback resistor, and a first circuit that is connected between the second node and the reference potential, includes a second transistor which is diode-connected.

In recent years, in a device which transmits a signal using light, such as a light coupling element or a light data link, characteristics such as a light emitting efficiency of a light emitting element have improved, and transmission loss of plastic light fiber, which forms a light transmission line, also has been decreased. For this reason, such a device makes it possible to perform high capacity and low cost light data communication. In such light data communication environment, it is necessary to increase the dynamic range of a light receiving circuit and to maintain stable operation over a wide operation range.
As transmission distance of a light transmission line increases, the strength of a light signal to be transmitted ranges from a very low level to a very high level, so that increasing the dynamic range of a light receiving circuit poses a serious problem. For example, in a light receiving circuit that includes a light receiving element and a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) at an input stage, if a very low level light signal is received, the gain of the trans-impedance amplifier may be set accordingly, but if signal strength is also strong (or becomes strong), the trans-impedance amplifier becomes saturated, and oscillation may occur. Thus, it is difficult to expand a dynamic range of a light receiving circuit.

Light receiving circuit and light coupling device


A fault tolerant computer system is disclosed which uses redundant voting at the hardware clock level to detect and to correct single event upsets (SEU) and other random failures. In one preferred embodiment, the computer (30) includes four or more commercial processing units (CPUs) (32) operating in strict "lock-step" and whose outputs (33, 37) to system memory (46) and system bus (12) are voted by a gate array (50) which may be implemented in a custom integrated circuit (34). A custom memory controller (18) interfaces to the system memory (46) and system bus (12). The data and address (35, 37) at each write to and read from memory (46) within the computer (30) are voted at each CPU clock cycle. A vote status and control circuit (38) "reads" the status of the vote and controls the state of the CPUs using hardware and software. The majority voted signals (35) are used by the agreeing CPUs 32 to continue processing operations without interruption. The system logic selects the best chance of recovering from a detected fault by resynchronizing all CPUs (32), powering down a faulty CPU or switching to a spare computer (30), resetting and re-booting the substituted CPUs (32).

The natural radiation environment on Earth and in space can often cause short term and long term degradation of semiconductor devices used in computers. This hazard is a problem for computers where fault-free operation is required. In addition to these radiation effects, computer chips are subject to random failures due to undetected defects and weaknesses that evolve over the course of time. Trace radioactive materials in semiconductor packages may also cause faults. When computers must operate for long periods in a remote environment, or where these devices must operate without fault for long periods of time, the need for systems which are protected from faults or failure becomes critical. Remote or vulnerable environments include remote oil platforms, submarines, aircraft and isolated sites such as Antarctica. Systems that operate in Earth orbit and beyond are especially vulnerable to this radiation hazard.
The presence of cosmic rays and particularly high energy particles in space near the Van Allen radiation belt can produce a disturbance called a single event effect (SEE) or a single event upset (SEU). The magnetic field of the Earth deflects particles and changes their energy levels and attributes. The Earth's magnetic field also traps charged particles that travel from the Sun and other stars toward the Earth. Some particles that are not trapped by the Earth's magnetic field are steered by that field into our atmosphere near the poles. These particles can penetrate the electronic devices aboard satellites.
When high energy particles and gamma rays penetrate a semiconductor device, they deposit charge within the computer circuit and create transients and/or noise. This phenomenon can "upset" the memory circuits. One type of upset occurs when a single bit of data stored in the chip's memory changes its value due to radiation. In this instance, a logical value of "one" can change to a logical value of "zero" and vice versa. An upset may be generally defined as a mis-stated output of a component. This output may comprise one or more signal bits.
Radiation can also induce a "latchup" of circuits in a chip. Latchup is an electrical condition of a semiconductor in which the output of the device is driven and held at saturation because of the deposition of charge within a semiconductor circuit by the high energy particles. The cause of the latched condition may be only a temporary upset. If power is removed then reapplied, the component may function normally.
The upset rate of a component depends on the construction features of the chip, including its size, operating voltage, temperature and internal circuit design. The upset rate for a particular part can vary from ten per day for a commercial one megabit random access memory chip (RAM), to 1 every 2800 years for a radiation-hardened one megabit RAM. A radiation-hardened component is a device that has been specially designed and built to resist the hazards of radiation. These devices tend to be much more expensive and slower than conventional chips. They typically lag the state-of-the-art by one to three years.
Current computer chips that are utilized in conventional applications on the ground are generally not threatened by cosmic radiation. This immunity is due to the protection offered by the Earth's atmosphere. There are, however, some terrestrial uses of computer chips that are subject to radiation upsets. Trace radioactive material in semiconductor packages can cause an upset. Radiation emitted from diagnostic or therapeutic medical devices can similarly affect semiconductor components. As devices become more complex, secondary and tertiary particles from atmospheric cosmic ray penetration will cause them to suffer upsets.
In their paper entitled Review of Commercial Spacecraft Anomalies and Single-Event-Effect Occurrences, Catherine Barillot et al. describe the upset events that have been observed in space since 1975. The events and their origins are traced and analyzed. Data are presented which show that the number of upsets encountered on the TDRS satellite follows the modulation of cosmic rays with the solar cycle.
L. D. Akers of the University of Colorado published a paper concerning upsets entitled Microprocessor Technology and Single Event Upset Susceptibility. The author points out that current satellites which employ powerful microcircuits to control every aspect of a spacecraft are increasingly vulnerable to heavy ion induced SEU. He predicts that the advent of microdevices having lower power and higher speed, combined with the expected increase of particles from large solar flares, will result in much higher rates of SEUs. He believes that the designers of small satellites will need to implement SEU mitigation techniques to ensure the success of future satellite missions.
Previous attempts to mitigate the radiation hazards that affect computer chips have met with mixed results. Work relating to fault tolerant computers has principally dealt with error detection at a high level, for example, at the register level. In their paper entitled Synchronization and Fault-Masking in Redundant Real-Time Systems, IEEE, 1984, pp. 152-157, C. M. Krishna et al. describe hardware synchronization and software synchronization of a number of phase-locked clocks in the presence of "malicious" failures. The authors describe a simple hardware voting strategy in which the output values of a clock are compared with the incoming signal of a reference clock. Non-faulty clocks are locked in phase. As processors fail, they are replaced by spares if they are available. This method applies to many redundant computers having multiple clocks which operate in close synchrony. Krishna et al. also describe the use of software algorithms to enable a system of many processors with their own clocks to operate in close synchrony.
The software solutions like those utilized by Krishna et al. employ voting procedures at software block levels. These solutions generally involve comparing computer outputs at a high level to see if each separate computer agrees with the others. Such systems pay a heavy price in weight, bulk, cost and power consumed to achieve high levels of redundancy.
Krishna et al. do not address the problem of momentary upset of a system. Nor have the authors addressed the problem of faults limited to within any one component of a processor. The recognition of a fault in a system, such as that described by Krishna et al., means the entire device has failed. But a radiation upset does not necessarily result in a failed device. The upset condition can be temporary.
In a paper entitled Single Event Upset and Latchup Sensitive Devices in Satellite Systems published by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Richard M. Maurer and James D. Kinnison recognize the hazard of single event upset and latchup. They offer a decision tree as an aid to eliminating single event effects sensitive parts from a design, or using SEE sensitive parts "as-is" to provide some measure of protection in the design of circuits in which the parts will function.
In their article on Reliability Modeling and Analysis of General Modular Redundant Systems, published in IEEE Transactions on Reliability, Vol. R-24, No. Dec. 5, 1975, Francis Mather and Paulo T. de Sousa explain that hardware redundancy has been used to design fault-tolerant digital systems. They describe majority voting of redundant modules and quadded logic (replacement of every hardware gate by four gates) as hardware redundant structures.
E. J. McClusky published a paper entitled Hardware Fault Tolerance, in the Sixteenth Annual Institute in Computer Science at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Aug. 25, 1986. McClusky describes the basic concepts and techniques of hardware fault tolerancing. One such technique is "error masking," the ability to prevent errors from occurring at system outputs. Error masking is achieved, according to McClusky, with "massive redundancy." System outputs are determined by the voting of signals that are identical when no failures are present. The usual forms of massive redundancy are triple-modular redundancy, quad components, quadded and voted logic. McClusky reports that voted logic involves connecting all copies of a module to a voter. The outputs of each module are passed through the voter before being transmitted to other parts of the system. Voting is carried on at high level in the entire system. Quadded logic is described as replacing every logic gate with four gates. Faults are automatically corrected by the interconnection pattern of the gates. Such a system would clearly incur weight, power and cost penalties on the system that is being protected from radiation hazards.
While McClusky suggests that triple-modular redundancy can be applied to small units of replication as well as an entire computer, he does not describe how such a scheme might be implemented, except for the use of error correcting codes and certain software programs. Error correcting code methods rely on error correcting circuitry to change faulty information bits and is, therefore, only effective when the error correcting circuitry is fault-free. The software methods cited by McClusky require that several versions of a program be written independently. Each program runs on the same data and the outputs are obtained by voting. Such a technique may be effective for temporary faults, but requires a great deal of time and system overhead.
H. Schmidt et al. discuss the numerous critical issues which must be resolved prior to a detailed design of a reconfigurable computer, such as computers used for real time control systems in Critical Issues in the Design of a Reconfigurable Control Computer, IEEE, 1984, pp. 36-41.
In his paper entitled Fault Tolerant Multiprocessor Link and Bus Network Architectures, published in the IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. 34, No. 1, Jan. 1985, pp 33-45, Dhiraj K. Pardha presents a general class of regular networks which provide optimal or near optimal fault tolerance for a large number of computing elements interconnected in an integrated system.
Earlier high performance processors comprised a number of logic chips, a floating point chip and many memory chips used as local caches. Current processors contain all of these fuinctions in a single chip. This centralization of functions within a single chip permits the application of fault-tolerant methods to just a few chips in a processor system at the chip hardware level. As more and more devices are contained on one substrate, the processor chips become more and more dense. These devices, particularly complementary metal oxide, gallium-arsenide, and bipolar semiconductors devices and others, are then increasingly affected by radiation.
In their book entitled Reliable Computer Systems, Second Edition, published by Digital Press in 1992, Daniel P. Siewiorek and Robert S. Swarz discuss error detection, protective redundancy, fault tolerant software and the evaluation criteria involved in reliability techniques. Chapter Three of this text presents a comparison of computer output at the system level, register or transfer level, bus level module level and gate level. The authors describe triple-redundant modules plus voting that isolates or corrects fault effects before they reach module outputs. They also discuss use of back-up spares in a hybrid redundant system. That is, a core of N-modules operating in parallel, with a voter determining system output and with a set of back-up spare modules that can be switched in to replace failed modules in the core. FIG. 3-31 of this text depicts majority voting at the outputs of three module and/or three voters. Siewiorek et al. aver that this technique results in signal delay and decreases in performance. FIG. 3-57 shows the fault tolerant computer of Hopkins, Smith and Lala (1978) implemented from a set of processor/cache, memory and input/output modules, all interconnected by redundant, common serial buses. The computations of the computer are performed in triads: three processor/caches and three memories performing the same operation in voting mode and synchronized at the clock level. Because most processing utilizes the cache, voting is not performed at every clock cycle, but whenever data is transferred over the bus. The authors do not describe a system that includes multiple processors coupled by individual buses to a voter, which has a voter output connected to a single memory. Siewiorek and Swarz do not describe a system whose processor outputs and inputs are voted at each clock cycle. The authors do not discuss means for controlling power to dysfunctional processors as part of such a system.
The development of a fault tolerant computer based on commercially available parts for use in military and commercial space vehicles would offer significant operational and cost advantages. Such an invention would offer higher levels of performance and would cost less to manufacture than existing approaches based on radiation hardened chips. The invention could be used for remotely installed computer systems and other processors that are subjected to random failures or to a radiation environment which produces single event upsets at unacceptably high rates. Such radiation upset protection would discover and correct errors. It would be extremely beneficial if a fault tolerance method could be applied at a very low hardware level, for example, within a processor chip, instead of at the computer register or the output of computer modules. Such a system would fill a long felt need in specialized computer and satellite industries.

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