A dual bottle container has two bottles which are releasably interlocked together in side-by-side relation by a plateau on one of the bottles which engages a depression on the other bottle for transverse sliding movement. The plateau is bordered at opposite sides by rounded lip portions and the depression is bordered at opposite sides by rounded groove portions, the lip portions and the groove portions engaging each other to prevent undesired relative movement between the two bottles.

This invention relates to a liquid container, and, in particular, to a dual container having two different bottle portions releasably joined for handling and use.
There are many products which are used together, such as shampoo and hair conditioner, ketchup and mustard, and oil and vinegar. These products are generally provided in two separate containers. Thus, the end-user must keep separate bottles together. For example, after shampooing, it may be difficult for a person in the shower to find a separate conditioner bottle. It is thus desirable to be able to store these related products together so that both may be readily available at the same time.
Dual containers, per se, have been shown in the past. U.S Pat. No. 4,196,808 to Pardo, for example, shows a pair of containers which, as disclosed, may be bonded together or may be held together by shrink wrap. This provides for two containers which are either held together as a unit or are separate. The disadvantage in this is that if one container is emptied before the other, the empty container cannot be readily replaced with a fresh container of the used product.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,426, to Brown, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,445, to Mandelbaum, disclose containers which are removably connected. The Brown, Jr. containers use longitudinal dovetails to lock the containers together and a detent to prevent relative movement of the bottles along the axis of the connection. The Mandelbaum containers, which are designed to store different types of pills for use together, have a large number of transversely oriented dovetail connections joining each container. However, the structures of Brown, Jr. and Mandelbaum are not well suited to many applications. The longitudinal dovetails of Brown, Jr. require more force to join or separate the bottles than can be easily applied, particularly when the bottles are made of plastic. The plurality of small transverse dovetails of Mandelbaum might require less force, but would be cumbersome to align and would not be stable against lateral bending forces.
Therefore, it is desirable in many applications to provide a structure permitting a plurality of containers to be readily joined and separated by a simple manual motion and yet providing a rugged connection in the joined condition.


Disclosed is a secure remote repeater. The secure repeater includes a first remote control signal detector, a remote control signal processor and an emitter. Among other functions, the secure repeater can forward secure remote signals to an electronic device using non-secure commands native to that electronic device. Additionally, the secure remote repeater can filter remote signal chatter.

New universal remote devices designed to turn off almost any television now have the capability of interfering with televisions in public and private forums. An example of such a device is marketed as "TV-B-Gone" by Cornfield Electronics, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif. This device, which looks like an automobile remote, has just one button. When activated, it spends over a minute flashing out over 200 different codes to turn off televisions, the most popular brands first. This kind of non-normal repetitive rapid fire output of control codes that is outside the normal intended operation of a device is an example of chatter. Broadly speaking, chatter may be any type of interfering signals that interfere with the operation of a device.
What is needed is a device that can prevent universal remote devices from controlling devices through their normal remote control reception mechanism against the device owners wishes.


The modular transmission uses only a pair of small and light hydraulic machines of remarkably improved volumetric efficiency with pistons having body portions substantially as long as the axial length of the respective cylinders in which they reciprocate. The two hydraulic machines operate in a closed loop, one being used as a pump driven by the vehicle's engine, and the other used as a motor. Each machine has a fully articulatable swash plate. By computer control, the angles of the swash plates of the two machines are infinitely varied to provide an appropriate optimum ratio of engine/wheel speed for all conditions from start-up, city driving, hill climbing varied according to load and steepness, and over-drive for highway. This complete vehicle operation is attained while the vehicle's engine continues to operate at relatively constant speeds and relatively low RPM.

All-hydraulic transmissions are known in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,286 "HYDROSTATIC DRIVE" to Anderson, issued Aug. 10, 1965, a modular hydraulic drive uses a single pump driving separate motors for each of four wheels to provide step-less acceleration. The hydraulic drive includes control valves at each wheel and recharging of low fluids. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,765 "HYDROSTATIC VEHICLE TRANSMISSION" to Hancock et al., issued Feb. 15, 1975, the four-wheel hydrostatic drive has special sets of one-way valves and restrictive connections to permit differentiation and provide traction control between the front and rear axles.
There is a need in the art for a transmission that permits a return to the proven but considerably lower speed engines with reduced torque loss in order to increase gasoline engine vehicle efficiency and reduce the weight and cost of manufacture of cars. There is also a need in the art for a transmission that allows a car to change speeds, while the engine operates at a more constant speed. Although the transmissions in current use in most automobiles require the engine to cycle between low speeds and very high speeds during acceleration, an engine is much more fuel-efficient when running at a constant speed.
All-hydraulic transmissions have been used effectively in slow-moving heavy machinery such as tractors and lightweight vehicles such as golf carts and all-terrain vehicles (ATV's). Although all-hydraulic transmissions have been contemplated for automobiles, the inefficiency of hydraulic transmissions in the prior art has made them impractical for use in automobiles. Scaling a hydraulic transmission of the prior art for use in an automobile would produce an unacceptably large, heavy, and noisy transmission, and such transmissions would be larger, heavier, and noisier than the transmissions currently used in automobiles.
Although an internal combustion engine is the industry standard for automobiles in the United States, several major automobile manufacturers are researching a homogeneous-charge-compression-ignition (HCCI) engine. In a conventional gasoline engine, the air-fuel mixture is ignited by a spark plug to create power. In an HCCI engine, similar to in a diesel engine, a piston compresses the air-fuel mixture to increase its temperature until it ignites. It is estimated that an HCCI engine is capable of a 30% increase in fuel economy over a standard gasoline internal combustion engine. However, a major hurdle for implementation of HCCI technology in automobiles is a difficulty in controlling the combustion both at low and at high engine speeds.
There is a need in the art for a transmission, which provides the necessary power to run an automobile while allowing its engine speed to remain in a relatively narrow low-to-moderate range where the combustion in HCCI engines is more easily controlled. Such a transmission allows implementation of more fuel efficient HCCI engines on gasoline-powered vehicles.
Hydraulic pumps and motors are also well known and widely used, having reciprocating pistons mounted in respective cylinders formed in a cylinder block and positioned circumferentially at a first radial distance about the rotational axis of a drive element. Many of these pump/motor machines have variable displacement capabilities, and they are generally of two basic designs. In the first basic design, the pistons reciprocate in a rotating cylinder block against a variably inclined, but otherwise fixed, swash plate. In the second basic design, the pistons reciprocate in a fixed cylinder block against a variably inclined and rotating swash plate that is often split to include a non-rotating, nutating-only "wobbler" that slides upon the surface of a rotating and nutating rotor. While the invention herein is applicable to both of these designs, it is particularly appropriate for, and is described herein as, an improvement in the latter type of machine in which the pistons reciprocate in a fixed cylinder block.
The pumps and motors utilized in the invention and described herein are liquid-type hydraulic machines and it should be understood that the terms fluid and pressurized fluid as used herein throughout, are intended to identify incompressible liquids rather than compressible gases. Because of the incompressibility of liquids, the pressure and load duty cycles of these two different types of hydraulic machines are so radically different that designs for the gas compression type machines are inappropriate for use in the liquid-type machines, and visa versa. Therefore, the following remarks should all be understood to be directed and applicable to liquid-type hydraulic machines and, primarily, to such heavy-duty automotive applications as those identified above.
Hydraulic machines with fixed cylinder blocks can be built much lighter and smaller than the machines that must support and protect heavy rotating cylinder blocks. However, these lighter machines require rotating and nutating swash plate assemblies that are difficult to mount and support. For high-pressure/high-speed service, the swash plate assembly must be supported in a manner that allows for the relative motion between the heads of the non-rotating pistons and a mating surface of the rotating and nutating swash plate. Such prior art swash plates have often been split into a rotating/nutating rotor portion and a nutating-only wobbler portion, the latter including pockets that mate with the heads of the non-rotating pistons through connecting "dog-bones".
That is, such fixed-cylinder-block machines have heretofore used a "dog-bone" extension rod (i.e., a rod with two spherical ends) to interconnect one end of each piston with the surface of the nutating-but-not-rotating wobbler. One spherical end of the dog-bone is pivotally mounted into the head end of the piston, while the other spherical end is usually held at all times in a pocket of the swash plate wobbler during all relative motions between the heads of the non-rotating pistons and the pockets of the nutating swash plate. As is well known in the art, these relative motions follow varying non-circular paths that occur at all inclinations of the swash plate away from 0°. These dog-bones greatly increase the complexity and cost of building the rotating swash plates of these lighter machines.
Dog-bone rods are also sometimes used to interconnect one end of each piston with the inclined (but not rotating) swash plates of hydraulic machines with rotating cylinder blocks. However, more often this latter type of machine omits such dog-bones, using instead elongated pistons, each having a spherical head at one end (again, usually covered by a pivotally-mounted conventional shoe element) that effectively contacts the non-rotating flat surface of the swash plate. Such elongated pistons are designed so that a significant portion of the axial cylindrical body of each piston remains supported by the walls of its respective cylinder at all times during even the maximum stroke of the piston. This additional support for such elongated pistons is designed to assure minimal lateral displacement of each spherical piston head as it slides over the inclined-but-not-rotating swash plate when the pistons rotate with their cylinder block.
Generally, these elongated pistons are primarily lubricated by "blow-by", i.e., that portion of the high pressure fluid that is forced between the walls of each cylinder and the outer circumference of each piston body as the reciprocating piston drives or is driven by high pressure fluid. Such blow-by provides good lubrication only if tolerances permit the flow of sufficient fluid between the walls of the cylinder and the long cylindrical body of the piston, and blow-by sufficient to assure good lubrication often negatively affects the volumetric efficiency of the pump or motor machine. For instance, a 10 cubic inch machine can use as much as 4 gallons of fluid per minute for blow-by. While smaller tolerances can often be used to reduce blow-by, the reduction of such tolerances is limited by the needs for adequate lubrication that increase with the size of the pressure and duty loads of the machine. Of course, such blow-by is accomplished by using fluid that would otherwise be used to drive or be driven by the pistons to accomplish work. Therefore, in the example just given above, the 4 gallons of fluid per minute used for blow-by lubrication, reduces the volumetric efficiency of the machine.
The invention disclosed below is directed to improving the volumetric efficiency of such elongated-piston machines while, at the same time, assuring appropriate lubrication of the pistons and simplification of the apparatus used to maintain contact between the pistons and the swash plate.


A semiconductor memory device comprises a memory cell array including plural memory cells provided at the intersections of plural first lines and plural second lines; and a write circuit. The write circuit, on execution of a write operation, executes a first step of applying a voltage across the first and second lines connected to a data-write-targeted, selected memory cell, and a different voltage across the first and second lines connected to a data-write-untargeted, unselected memory cell of the plural memory cells and, after execution of the first step, executes a second step of applying a voltage, required for data write, across the first and second lines connected to the selected memory cell, and bringing at least one of the first and second lines connected to the unselected memory cell into the floating state.

A variable resistance memory (ReRAM: Resistance Random Access Memory) easily formable in three dimensions, for example, has received attention as a semiconductor memory device capable of storing mass data for use. Cells of the variable resistance memory are characterized in the asymmetry of the voltage-current characteristic that greatly changes in accordance with the polarity of the voltage applied to the memory cell.
Conventionally, the semiconductor memory device including the variable resistance memory cells distinguishes a selection-targeted memory cell (hereinafter referred to as a "selected memory cell") from other memory cells (hereinafter referred to as "unselected memory cells") by applying a bias, different from that to the selected memory cell, to all unselected memory cells from external to make access to the selected memory cell. In accordance with setting of the bias, it is possible to increase the margin of failed operation of unselected memory cells, thereby ensuring reliable operation of the cell array. The setting of the bias is not easy, however, and if it is intended to make access under an optimal bias condition, an increase occurs in current consumption, for example, as a problem.
Therefore, if these variable resistance memories are used in mass storage semiconductor memory devices, the size of the access-targeted cell array cannot be increased sufficiently. As a result, the share of memory cells in a semiconductor memory device lowers such that the merit of the three-dimensional structure cannot be exerted sufficiently.    [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-33675A

Semiconductor memory device executing a write operation with first and second voltage applications


An acoustic apparatus comprises an attenuator for attenuating a first audio signal to produce a second audio signal, a low pass filter for reducing high frequency components of the second audio signal to produce a third audio signal, a differential amplifier operative to produce a fourth audio signal corresponding to a difference between the first and third audio signals, and a speaker supplied with the fourth audio signal obtained from the differential amplifier, wherein a cutoff frequency of the low pass filter is selected to be not lower than 2 kHz and not higher than 6 kHz and attenuation of the first audio signal in the attenuator is so selected that a listener is able to recognize a virtual sound source position in front of and at a level higher than an actual position of the speaker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to acoustic apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for providing an audio signal with predetermined signal processing to be supplied to a speaker so that reproduced sound based on the audio signal is obtained from the speaker functioning as a sound source.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been proposed various kinds of acoustic apparatus operative to reproduce sound based on an audio signal. When reproduced sound representing music, speech or the like is obtained by one or more of the acoustic apparatus to be heard by a listener, it is generally desired that a sound source generating the reproduced sound is positioned in front of the listener. This is easily understood in view of the ordinary fact that a listener tends naturally to take his or her position to face a sound source in a limited sound field, such as a space in a hall or the like, if it is unnecessary for the listener to move with the intention of some particular purpose or to be particularly restricted in position or direction of his or her face in the limited sound field.
Accordingly, for example, in the case where sound reproduced by a speaker or plural speakers which are supplied with audio signals is appreciated, such a layout that listeners are positioned to face the speaker functioning as a sound source or a main one of the plural speakers is established. With the layout thus established, each of the listeners can be mentally composed and stabilized.
Further, it is also desired that the sound source generating the reproduced sound is positioned at a listener's eye level in height. That is, in a positional relation in height between the sound source and the listener, the sound source positioned at listener's eye level contributes to causing the listener to be mentally composed and stabilized.
Under the situation mentioned above, when reproduced sound is obtained from a speaker or plural speakers provided for one or more acoustic apparatus to be heard by a listener, a condition wherein the listener is restricted in position, direction of his or her face, posture and so on is often brought about. In such a case, the listener is compelled to be put in a condition wherein the speaker functioning as a sound source is not positioned in front of the listener or is positioned at a level in height apparently different from a listener's eye level.
For example, in the case where sound reproduced by an acoustic apparatus employed in a vehicle (hereinafter, referred to an acoustic apparatus for vehicles) is enjoyed in a cabin of the vehicle, a listener, namely, a driver or other passenger of the vehicle who keeps usually his or her posture to sit down on a seat in the cabin is basically restricted in position, direction of his or her face, posture and so on to listen to the reproduced sound even though the seat is adjustable to some degree in its position and direction. In such a case, since the vehicle is usually furnished with various kinds of equipments each occupying a space limited at maximum in the cabin, a main portion of the acoustic apparatus for vehicles is often provided on a dashboard or a console shelf forming a front end portion of the cabin and speakers connected electrically with the main portion of the acoustic apparatus for vehicles are provided, for example, in lower portions of left and right doors attached to left and right side portions of a body of the vehicle, respectively.
The speakers thus provided in the lower portions of the left and right doors, respectively, are positioned neither in front of the driver or other passenger nor at the eye level of the driver or other passenger. Therefore, the driver or other passenger is compelled to listen to the reproduced sound from the speakers each functioning as a sound source, each of which is positioned at the left to right side or at the back of the driver or other passenger and at a level in height apparently different from the eye level of the driver or other passenger.
There has been previously proposed an improved acoustic system with which one or more speakers function as actual sound sources for generating reproduced sound and a listener can listen to the reproduced sound as if the reproduced sound is obtained from a position different from the positions of the speakers, for example, in front of the listener, in other words, the listener can recognize a virtual sound source at the position different from the positions of the speakers, as shown in, for example, Japanese patent laid-open publication No. HEI 5-316599. It would be possible to solve the aforementioned problems relative to the acoustic apparatus for vehicles if such an improved acoustic system as described above could be favorably applied to the acoustic apparatus for vehicles.
However, it is necessary to provide a circuit structure containing a compensating filter, a filter characteristic of which must be selectable, for causing audio signals to be subjected to predetermined signal processing and then to be supplied to the speakers when the aforementioned proposal of the improved acoustic system is intended to be put into practice and the circuit structure which contains the compensating filter to be provided for putting the improved acoustic system into practice brings about enlargement in scale of the circuit structure and considerable increase in cost. Accordingly, it seems to be quite difficult to apply favorably the improved acoustic system proposed previously to the acoustic apparatus for vehicles.

Apparatus for adjustable positioning of virtual sound source


A computing device, the computing device comprising a processor configured to: receive audio information relating to one or more non-verbal sounds captured by a microphone in an environment of a user; receive motion information that is based on motion sensor data captured by a motion sensor, said motion information relating to motion of said user in the environment; process the audio information and the motion information to recognise an activity of said user; and output an activity recognition notification indicating said activity.

Background information on sound recognition systems and methods can be found in the applicant's PCT application WO2010/070314, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In addition, it is known to detect a user's motion detection based on a motion sensor accelerometer or a location sensor. The present applicant has recognised the potential for new applications of sound recognition systems.

Computer apparatus and method implementing sound detection to recognize an activity


A process for producing 4-isopropoxy-4′-hydroxydiphenyl sulfone useful as the developer for leuco dyes to be used in thermosensible papers, which is excellent in productivity, economical efficiency and safety and permits the production of the compounds from constantly available raw materials. This process is improved in productivity and economical efficiency as compared with those of the prior art both by shortening the production time by the use of an isopropyl iodide, which is more reactive than isopropyl bromide which have been used in the prior art.

Processes for the preparation of diphenyl sulfone compounds of Formula (II) are disclosed in Japanese Patents Laid-open Nos. Sho 58-20493, Sho 58-82788, Sho 60-13852 and Sho 60-56949, that 4,4′-dihydroxydiophenyl sulfone is reacted with a halogen compound, such as alkyl halide, in a polar solvent, such as dimethylformamide or alcohol, in the presence of an alkali. These processes have a drawback of difficulty to improve the selectivity of reactions because of the use of solvents that dissolve reaction reagents and products well. There was a problem that noticeable amounts of diether derivatives, i.e., 4,4′-disubstituted hydroxydiphenyl sulfones, are produced as byproducts.
WO 91/11433 has reported that a reaction of a mole of 4,4′-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone with an alkyl halide in the presence of 1.5 to 3 moles of alkali in 0.3 to 1.5 parts by weight of an aqueous solvent to a part by weight of 4,4′-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone results in satisfactory selectivity and yield. However, when alkyl chlorides are used, it takes a long time to complete the reaction because of their low reactivity. Besides, alkyl iodides are expensive. Therefore, alkyl halides able to use in industry are practically limited to alkyl bromides. The said WO patent reports only examples of using alkyl bromides.
If an alkylation is carried out using an alkyl bromide under the above reaction conditions, crystals are deposited as the reaction proceeds. The inside of the system becomes viscous and heterogeneous, resulting in insufficient stirring. Therefore, there is a problem of incompletion of the reaction.
Of compounds of Formula (II) useful as developers for leuco dyes to be used in thermal recording papers, compounds where R is isopropyl are produced using isopropyl bromide, which is hardly produced domestically. Therefore it is difficult to procure the starting material stably.
It is an object of the present invention to provide industrial processes for the production of diphenyl sulfone compounds of Formula (II) by using alkylating agents that are supplied stably, instead of alkyl bromide, with productivity, economical efficiency and safety.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Industrial process for the production of diphenyl sulfone compounds


A compound semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer providing source and drain regions, and a composite layer consisting of a bottom SiN layer, and SiON layer and a top SiN layer on the second semiconductor layer. A gate electrode has a perpendicular portion extending through an opening in the composite layer and an enlarged region above the top SiN layer to support the electrode at a position closer to the source region than the drain region, and the bottom SiN layer and the SiON layer are recessed so as to be spaced from the gate electrode.

This invention relates to a process for fabricating compound semiconductor devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for fabricating compound semiconductor devices such as high electron mobility transistors (hereinafter referred to simply as "HEMT") that are suitable for use as low-noise amplifying devices operating in the microwave band.
A known process for fabricating a HEMT typically comprises the following steps. In the first step, as shown in FIG. 2a, a GaAs buffer (non-doped GaAs) 1 is overlaid successively with an n.sup.+ -AlGaAs layer 2 and an n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3.
In the second step, as shown in FIG. 2(b), a drain electrode 8 and a source electrode 9 made of a metal establishing an ohmic contact (e.g. AuGe, Ni or Au) are formed on the n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3 by conventional methods. For example, the drain electrode 8 and source electrode 9 may be formed by depositing metal by vacuum vapor deposition with a resist pattern having openings being used as a mask. The n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3 is recessed at later stages to form a drain region 3a and a source region 3b of the HEMT as shown in FIG. 2(f).
In the third step, as shown in FIG. 2(c), a resist pattern 5 having a reversely tapered opening 4 is formed over the n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3 and the electrodes 8 and 9. The opening 4 is reversely tapered in order to facilitate the liftoff process in the sixth step to be described later.
In the fourth step, the part of the n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3 that is exposed through the opening 4 is subjected to recess-etching, with the resist pattern 5 being used as a mask, whereby the n.sup.+ -AlGaAs layer 2 is made exposed as shown in FIG. 2(d). The recess etching is accomplished by wet etching with a commonly used etchant (e.g. a liquid mixture of H.sub.2 O.sub.2 and H.sub.2 SO.sub.4).
In the fifth step, with the resist pattern 5 being used as a mask, a gate metal 6 such as Al and W is deposited vertically by vacuum vapor deposition on the area of n.sup.+ -AlGaAs layer 2 that is exposed through the opening 4, whereby a gate electrode 7 is formed on the n.sup.+ -AlGaAs layer 2 (see FIG. 2(e)).
In the sixth step, the resist pattern 5 is removed so as to lift off the unwanted gate metal 6, whereby the n.sup.+ -GaAs layer 3 as well as the drain electrode 8 and source electrode 9 formed on that layer are made exposed, thus completing the process of HEMT fabrication (see FIG. 2(f)).
Generally speaking, the smaller the distance between a gate and source, the smaller the source resistance and hence the low noise characteristic of a HEMT is accordingly improved. As shown in FIG. 2(f), the distance between the gate electrode 7 and the drain region 3a of the device fabricated by the above process is equal to the distance between the gate electrode 7 and the source region 3b. Hence, if one wants to improve the low noise characteristic of the device by reducing the distance between the gate electrode 7 and the source region 3b, the distance between the gate electrode 7 and the drain region 3a will inevitably decrease, causing a substantial drop in the breakdown voltage between the gate and drain.
With a view to solving this problem, Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 21877/1988 proposed that the distance between the gate electrode and the drain region be reduced by oblique vacuum vapor deposition of a mask material. However, according to this method, the position of an opening in the mask is determined by the amount of the oblique deposition, so that it is very difficult to form the gate electrode at a desired position with high precision.
The most effective way to improve the low noise characteristic of a HEMT is to shorten the gate length, thereby reducing the gate capacitance (C.sub.gs) while increasing the transconductance (g.sub.m) In fact, however, a shorter gate length leads to a greater gate resistance, which may result in a deteriorated low noise characteristic.

Compound semiconductor device with different gate-source and gate-drain spacings


The present invention provides novel ATP-sensitive potassium-channel proteins which are present ubiquitously in the living bodies of animals, and their genes.

The present invention relates to proteins for novel ATP-sensitive potassium channels, huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1, that are expressed in various tissues of human and rat origins, and to genes encoding the same. The said proteins and genes can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents for potassium-channel related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and endocrine insufficiencies.
The etiology for diabetes is known to be mostly owing to disturbances of insulin secretion in the pancreatic xcex2-cells. Consequently, elucidation of the molecular mechanism of insulin secretion is expected to play an important role in the clarification of causes for diabetes and the development of therapeutic agents against diabetes, but no detail has yet been made known on such molecular mechanism.
It has already been made clear that the ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) being present on the cellular membrane plays a leading role in the cellular functions such as secretions and muscular contraction by coupling the state of metabolism in the cells with the membrane potential.
The KATP channel was first discovered in the cardiac muscle in 1983 [Noma, A., Nature 305:147 (1983)] and was thereafter confirmed to be present in tissues such as the pancreatic xcex2-cell [Cook, D. L. et al., Nature 311: 271 (1984), Misler, S. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83: 7119 (1986)], pituitary [Bernardi, H. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 90:1340 (1993)]. skeletal muscle [Spruce, A. E., et al., Nature, 316: 736 (1985)] and brain.
In addition, it has been suggested that there exists the molecular heterogeneity of such KATP channels [Ashcroft, F. M., Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 11: 97 (1988)].
Particularly in the pancreatic xcex2-cells, ATP produced by the metabolism of glucose brings about calcium ion inflow from the calcium channel by closing the KATP channel to cause depolarization, resulting in secretion of insulin. As is evident from this, the KATP channel plays a leading role in regulating the secretion of insulin.
The KATP channel belongs to a potassium channel family exhibiting electrophysiologically inward rectification, whereby the potassium channel family exhibiting inward rectification is classified into the four subfamilies, ROMK1, IRK1, GIRK1 and cKATP-1, on the basis of the degree of amino acid sequence identity.
Nevertheless, there has not been clarified the molecular architecture for the KATP channel in the pancreatic xcex2-cells. In addition, no information has been disclosed on the novel ATP-sensitive potassium channels (huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1) of the present invention for the detailed protein structure and the formation of complexes with other proteins, for example, the sulfonylurea binding protein.
In order to achieve the isolation, identification and functional analyses of a novel membrane channel, there are required the sophisticated techniques, such as molecular biological technique, cellular biological technique and electro-physiological technique.
Such being the case, the present inventors made ample and full use of such techniques to isolate human and rat genomes and cDNAs encoding the novel KATP channel (uKATP-1) expressed in different tissues of mammalians and to identify their amino acid sequences (see FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4). The identified uKATP-1 channel was expressed in the Xenopus oocyte system and mammalian cell lines.
Electrophysiological analysis demonstrated that uKATP-1 is an ATP-sensitive potassium channel exhibiting inward rectification. The uKATP-1 channel being expressed ubiquitously in tissues of mammalians inclusive of man and rats is involved in the maintenance of the membrane potential through the basal energy metabolism.
As is described in the above, the present invention relates to an ATP-sensitive potassium channel (uKATP-1) which is ubiquitously present in mammalians, and encompasses the ATP-sensitive potassium channel proteins, identified DNA sequences encoding the same, plasmid having such sequences incorporated therein and furthermore recombinant cells (tranformants) having such plasmid transfected therein. In addition, this invention comprises the isolated UKATP-1 proteins and recombinant proteins, their related materials such as agonists and antagonists, and drug designs inclusive of diagnostics and drugs for gene therapy.
huKATP-1 of a human origin is composed of 424 amino acid residue (See FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO: 1)) with a molecular weight of 47,965, while the one of a rat origin is likewise composed of 424 amino acid residue (see FIG. 4 (SEQ ID NO: 4)) with a molecular weight of 47,960. These two potassium channels exhibit 98% amino acid sequence identity, and such a marked homology leads us to the assumption that uKATP-1 performs common, structurally and functionally basic actions in all mammalian cells. Among others, uKATP-1 participates in the membrane potential and energy metabolism, suggesting that it could find application as a drug substance acting to prevent disturbances under unusual, extreme metabolic conditions inclusive of endocrine diseases, e.g. diabetes, starvation and ischemia.
For example, the inflow and outflow of calcium ions caused by the opening and closing of UKATP-1 during the onset of ischemia is closely connected with ischemic disturbances. In other words, there is a possibility that the agonists and antagonists for the opening and closing of uKATP-1 would constitute a suppressory agent against ischemic disturbances.
From the comparative studies of huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1 with other potassium channels for the amino acid sequence, it was confirmed that uKATP-1 of the present invention belongs to a novel family of the inward rectifier potassium channels; the central region of the uKATP-1 protein showed incresed homology with other inward rectifier potassium channels. A hydropathy plot indicated the presence of two hydrophobic regions, which are composed of two transmembrane regions characteristic of the inward rectifier potassium channels and one pore region [Nicholas, C. G., Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 14: 320 (1993), Jan, L. Y. and Jan, Y. N., Nature, 371: 119 (1994)].
With reference to ruKATP-1 (Inagaki, N. et al., J. B. C., 270: 5691 (1995)], it was reported that in the second intracellular region, there are two potential cAMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylation sites (Thr-234 and Ser-385) and seven potential protein kinase C dependent phosphorylation sites (Ser-224, Thr-345, Ser-354, Ser-379, Ser-385, Ser-391 and Ser-397), while there are one (Thr-63) and four potential casein kinase II dependent phosphorylation sites (Thr-234, Ser-281, Thr-329 and Ser-354) in the first and second intracellular regions, respectively, with no N-linked glycosylation site being present in the intracellular regions. The same findings were obtained with huKATP-1 [Inagaki, N., et al., in press (1995)].
Then, the present inventors identified the nucleotide sequences and entire amino acid sequences of huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1, thus enabling not only proteins themselves of huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1 but also their mutants to be synthesized in large quantities by expressing the DNAs encoding huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1 and their mutants in bacteria or animal cells with use of the known genetic engineering techniques. It is furthermore added that huKATP-1 and its fragments are useful for the hybridization diagnosis of depleted huKATP-1 DNA, with the mutants of huKATP-1 being of use in the studies on the sugar metabolism in cells, particularly insulin-dependent and independent diabetes.
The DNAs of novel huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1 according to the present invention were identified based on a cDNA library and genome library. The DNA encoding huKATP-1 shows a length of about 9.7 kb, being composed of three exons and is present on the chromosome at 12p11.23. The chromosomal DNA can be obtained by probing a genome DNA library with use of cDNAs for uKATP-1 and its fragment, as well. The isolated uKATP-1 DNA can easily be subjected to nucleotide depletion, insertion or replacement by the known techniques to prepare its mutants.
By employing the known techniques, it is easy to link nucleotide sequences encoding other proteins or synthetic polypeptides to uKATP-1 or its variants at the 5xe2x80x2 and 3xe2x80x2 ends to thereby prepare fusion proteins, or derivatives thereof.
For example, a fusion protein is prepared as a precursor protein and undergoes cleavage in vivo or in vitro to thereby perform functions; such fusion protein provides target-tissue and membrane orientation in addition to its proper function. In such a case, the fusion proteins contain sugar-chain binding amino acids, and can be modified to derivatives having tissue orientation or physiological activities activated by adding new sugar chains.
In order to produce uKATP-1, its mutants or their derivatives, the corresponding coding DNA is incorporated into a reproducible plasmid, and host cells being transformed with such plasmid are incubated. The host cells include bacteria, yeasts and animal cells.
Prokaryotes such as bacteria are suited for the cloning of deoxyribonucleotides. For example, pER 322 plasmid derived from E. coli contains a gene resistant to ampicillin or tetracycline and can provide a practical means of identifying the transformed cells. Furthermore, the microbial plasmids contain a promoter which can be used to express their proteins themselves. In addition to prokaryotes, eukaryotes such as yeasts can work well, with a plasmid YRp7 being utilizable especially in allowing the expression in yeasts of the species Saccharomyces [Stinchomb et al., Nature, 282: 39 (1979)].
Animal cells are also used as a host, and particularly the incubation of vertebra cells is employable easily and constitutes a conventional means [Krause and Paterson, Tissue Culture, Academic Press (1973)]. As the cell lines, there are mentioned AtT-20, Hela cells, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), COSM6, COS-7 and the like. The promoters of Polyomavirus, Adenovirus 2, Cytomegalovirus and Simian virus 40 are used to control the function of expression plasmid in such cell lines, wherein pCMV is a plasmid which finds widened application in the expression systems of animal cells [Thomsen et al., PNAS, 81: 659 (1984)].
The DNA sequences for the channel protein and huKATP-1 and ruKATP-1 according to the present invention begin with the initiation codon xe2x80x9cATGxe2x80x9d. In cases where the recombinant cells are used to synthesize such protein, there is no need to add ATG to the desired DNA, thus making the manipulation easy. When uKATP-1 is expressed in a prokaryote transformed with E. coli, consequently, there is generally synthesized a protein of the amino acid sequence beginning with Met. The N-terminated met of the resultant protein may be eliminated according to the purpose of application.
In cases in which uKATP-1 is synthesized in recombinant animal cells, similarly, proteins having Met contained or eliminated at the N-terminal are bio-synthesized, and both are useful for individually intended application purposes.
uKATP-1 and its fragments can be administered to animals for their immunization to thereby produce antibodies. Also, immunization of animals permits a monoclonal antibody to be produced from cells secreting the desired antibody.
It has become easy to prepare uKATP-1 in large quantities, thus providing better understanding of the same at the molecular level. Accordingly, the production of uKATP-1 and its mutants or analogs raises the possibility to develop diagnostics or therapeutics for the channel-protein related diseases.
In particular, such proteins can be utilized in the procedures of investigating into a substance suited for diagnostics and therapeutics, or a substance that exerts agonistic or antagonistic action on uKATP-1. For example, a testing procedure with animal cells can be conducted by injecting cRNA for uKATP-1 into cells to conduct expression, followed by addition of sulfonylurea to study their interactions [Kayano, T. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265: 13276 (1990), Example 4].
Additionally, the pertinent information has been obtained on the DNA sequence of uKATP-1, facilitating DNA or RNA encoding their fractional sequences to be prepared. Such relatively short DNA sequences possess the capability to hybridize with the gene to be selected, and can find application as a probe, which probe is effective for detection of cDNAs in different tissues.
The probe as prepared with use of uKATP-1 can be utilized to produce nucleic acids capable of hybridization from a variety of organisms and their tissues. The resultant nucleic acids may be the same type as uKATP-1 or its isoform and include nucleic acids encoding the novel proteins.
The prepared probe is utilizable in the gene diagnosis of potassium-channel related diseases; investigation can be conducted into patients"" nucleotide sequences hybridized with the probe capable of detecting the disease genes.
The blocker and opener agents for the potassium channel have heretofore been used as therapeutics against diabetes and hypertension. uKATP-1 and its mutants, their derivatives and monoclonal antibodies to them, when processed into pharmaceutical preparations, can be administered to patients to thereby alleviate through neutralization the adverse effects brought about by an excess of such blocker or opener agents administered clinically. When uKATP-1 itself shows functional insufficiency, such pharmaceutical preparations can be administered to thereby make up for such deficient functions of uKATP-1.
The present invention comprises the preparation of drugs for gene therapy being applicable in the essential treatment method. The nucleotide sequences for uKATP-1 or its mutants and their derivatives can be incorporated into plasmid or stem cells, which are then given patients to open up the possibility of finding application as a drug for gene therapy.
Below described are the examples to illustrate the present invention in more detail, while referring to the appended drawings.

Ubiquitous potassium-channel proteins and their genes

Inohana Shukusha of Chiba University 1-103


A determining unit performs a position determination determining whether a nonvolatile memory is mounted in a right position or in a wrong position. When the determining unit determines that the nonvolatile memory is mounted in the wrong position, a protecting unit protects data stored in the nonvolatile memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording control apparatus, a recording control method, and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical multifunction product (MFP), a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) for storing therein user information and charging information is removably mounted on a control board. Therefore, when the control board has a trouble and needs to be replaced to a new one, the NVRAM removed from the old control board can be mounted on the new control board. With the functional increase of an MFP, a plurality of NVRAM devices is generally mounted on a control board in the MFP.
However, for example, when a service person replaces the control board with a new one, he or she may set the NVRAM devices in wrong positions on the new control board by mistake because the NVRAM devices have the same shape, although the NVRAM devices can be distinguished from one another by labels affixed thereto or the like.
If the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions, hardware terminals are configured not to be damaged by the improper mountings. However, an address different from each storage module is assigned to each of memory areas of each of the NVRAM devices by software, so that when the MFP is powered on, and a boot process of the MFP is started, it may cause the access to the incorrect NVRAM device due to the improper mountings of the NVRAM devices. As a result, for example, important user information stored in the NVRAM device may be lost or rewritten.
In conventional technologies, data stored in each of the NVRAM devices can be checked, for example, based on the sum of data values of which. However, even if the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions, the sum of data values is the same. Therefore, it is not possible to detect that the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions.
To solve such problems, there have been developed various technologies. As an example of the technologies, there is provided a circuit for determining each of modules. However, this technology disadvantageously increases in cost. As another example of the technologies, NVRAM devices are configured to be physically incompatible with one another. However, in this technology, the NVRAM devices or sockets of which need to be physically processed, resulting in the lack in versatility and the increase in production cost.
Furthermore, a disk recording/reproducing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-259939 is configured to verify whether a disk identification data (ID) stored in a main body of the apparatus and a disk ID recorded in a sub data area of a disk are matched. When the disk IDs are mismatched, the disk recording/reproducing apparatus write-protects the disk so that data stored in the main body of which, such as the disk ID and edit data, is protected from being copied onto the disk, and displays an alarm message. The disk recording/reproducing apparatus ensures an arbitrary timing of recording disk management information or the like on the disk and the security of recording information stored therein.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-174474 discloses a data protecting method of a recording apparatus. In this method, at the factory, a computer program or data is encoded with an error correcting code, and the encoded computer program or data is written on the recording apparatus. In addition, check data is also encoded with the error correcting code, and the encoded check data is written in an unused area of the recording apparatus. When the recording apparatus is marketed, the encoded computer program or data and the encoded check data are decoded, and the absence of error is checked. By this method, the recording apparatus can protect data stored therein securely.
However, in the technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-259939 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-174474, there are described about how data is checked and the timing of recording the data, but not described about the protection of data stored in an improperly-mounted device. Therefore, there is a possibility of loss of data.

Recording control apparatus, recording control method, and computer program product


A computerized maintenance management system for the process control environment which integrates a CMMS system with a process control system. The system includes configurator software which allows users to link process control data and maintenance management data using a graphical user interface. Integration provides the ability to identify conditions requiring work order response and to either automatically respond to such conditions or to notify plant operators and engineers of required actions. The integrated system can easily associate work orders, maintenance history and equipment health with operational assets using process control objects such as motors, valves, pumps, alarms, and other device display icons.

Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) are tools for planning and scheduling equipment maintenance and asset management to meet the needs of modern plants and facilities. Using information about system components, CMMS software schedules maintenance, repairs, and inspections of such components. CMMS software notifies operations personnel when maintenance or other action is necessary. One example of CMMS software is the MAXIMO system, offered by Project Software & Development, Inc. (PSDI), of Cambridge, Mass.
Process control software is used in plants and other facilities to monitor, record, and control process conditions. Process control software models system processes using process variables. A process variable may be used to model a characteristic of a system component. A process variable has a range of values corresponding to a possible range of conditions of the aspect of the process being modeled by the process variable. Process control software may obtain process variable data through a number of means including manual input, sensor input, and interpolation and extrapolation from previous data. A process variable may, for example, obtain temperatures from a temperature sensor.
The values of process variables can be set and monitored, and alarms can be signaled upon detection of error conditions. Process variable histories are recorded and can be archived, printed in reports or displayed in graphs, or fed back into the process control software. One example of process control software is the I/A Series system from the Foxboro Company of Foxboro, Massachusetts. Foxboro Company is a subsidiary of Siebe PLC.


A converter and a driving method thereof are provided. The converter includes a main switch and a switching controller. The switching controller controls on/off of the main switch by using a first voltage corresponding to an output voltage and a first current flowing to the main switch. The switching controller determines a reference count according to the first voltage, and determines a peak value of the first current corresponding to a reference count and a switching frequency of the main switch.

1. Field of the Invention
A converter and driving method thereof are provided. In particular, a converter for using a switch to convert an input DC voltage into an output DC voltage and controlling the switch to control the output DC voltage, and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a converter is a device for converting a DC input voltage into a DC output voltage with a different level. A converter can include a transformer and a main switch at the side of the primary coil of the transformer (the primary side), which receives the DC input voltage. The converter may also include a sensor to sense the DC output voltage generated by a secondary coil of the transformer. The main switch can be controlled according to the sensed output voltage, thereby controlling the output voltage itself. Conventionally, a feedback loop transmits the sensed output voltage or current to the primary side through an opto-coupler connected to the secondary coil of the transformer or a shunt regulator.
However, since the feedback loop utilizes expensive and large elements such as the opto-coupler or the shunt regulator, it is difficult to form the converter as an integrated circuit, thus reducing the cost.
Generally, there is a minimum turn-on time for the main switch in the converter due to a leading edge blanking, the turn-on/off of the main switch and the propagation delay. When a light load is connected to an output terminal of the converter, the turn-on time of the main switch may need to be short. In some cases this requirement may conflict with the minimum turn-on time. This can pose a challenge for optimizing the performance of the converter for light loads.
Further, the converter may reduce the switching frequency of the main switch below the audible frequency bandwidth. Such a low frequency may make the user of a device, which includes such a converter, feel uncomfortable.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background and therefore it may contain information that does not form prior art.


An electrified vehicle and method for heating a passenger cabin of an electrified vehicle that may include an internal combustion engine in addition to an electric machine and a traction battery for supplying the electric machine control an electric heating element to store thermal energy while the vehicle is connected to an external power source that is also used to charge the traction battery, and to extract stored thermal energy during operation of the vehicle with the electric heating element turned off to extend the electric driving range of the vehicle while also providing heat to the passenger cabin. The electric heating element may positioned and controlled to heat one or more elements directly by mechanical contact, or indirectly by heating a circulating liquid coolant to a temperature above a current or anticipated external ambient temperature.

In the field of vehicle engineering it is known, in the case of vehicles having conventional internal combustion engines, or in the case of hybrid vehicles, to utilize a waste heat produced during the operation of the internal combustion engine, to heat the passenger cabin. In longer voluntary or enforced pauses in the operation of the internal combustion engine, in which the passenger cabin is occupied by a driver and/or passengers, in many cases the heating of the passenger cabin by the waste heat of the internal combustion engine cannot be continued.
To solve this problem, US 2010/0236769 A1 proposes an air-conditioning system designed to provide heating and/or cooling of air in an occupied space of a vehicle. The system includes a thermal energy storage device, which is designed to take up heat from a waste-heat source in the vehicle, and a heat exchanger, which is coupled by means of a coolant circuit between the thermal-energy storage device and the occupied space of the vehicle. A second heat exchanger is designed to transfer heat from the thermal-energy storage device into the occupied space of the vehicle and/or from the occupied space of the vehicle to the thermal-energy storage device. The thermal-energy storage absorbs thermal energy when the engine is running, and releases the energy when the engine is switched off, in order to heat air that is supplied to the occupied regions of the vehicle.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,843 B2 describes a hybrid electric vehicle, which comprises an internal combustion engine and an electrical energy storage unit. The engine and the energy storage unit are configured to provide drive power for the vehicle. The vehicle has a heating core, which is fluidically connected to the engine, the energy storage unit and the vehicle cabin. The fluid circuit may conduct a fluid, e.g. a coolant, which takes up heat from the engine, as a result of which the temperature of the coolant is raised, in order to cool the engine and to conduct this heat to a cooler. The cooler can remove this heat, as a result of which the temperature of the coolant is lowered. Similarly, the fluid can transport heat from the engine to the heating core. The heating core can transfer this heat to air in the fluid line. This heated air can then be used to heat the cabin.
In other known solutions, use of latent-heat storage devices is proposed.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,130 A describes a vehicle heating system for use with an engine having a fluid cooling circuit, in which a heat storage battery stores latent heat while the engine is operating, and the latent heat is later used to supply heat to the engine and to a passenger-compartment heating system during a subsequent use of the vehicle. A bypass circuit, for bypassing the heat storage battery, is provided within the heating system, thereby preventing recharging of the heat storage battery until the engine of the vehicle has attained a desired operating temperature.
Unlike vehicles having internal combustion engines, in some plug-in electric vehicles, such as battery electric vehicles, there is no significant excess thermal energy available for heating a passenger compartment. Solutions are known in the prior art in which electrical energy, for heating the passenger compartment, is extracted from a drive battery of the electric vehicle. In this case, the electrical energy may be supplied, for example, directly to one or more heating elements (typically PTC (positive temperature coefficient) heating elements), an efficiency of close to 1 being achieved. However, the electrical energy may also be used to operate an electrically operated heat pump, by which an efficiency of >1 can be achieved. A disadvantage is that the electrical energy extracted from the drive battery is no longer available for driving the plug-in electric vehicle, and therefore reduces its range.
For this reason, as a remedy, latent-heat storage devices are also used in plug-in electric vehicles for heating a passenger compartment.
For example, US 2012/0152511 A1 proposes a latent-heat storage device (latent-heat thermal energy storage, LHTES) for an electric vehicle (EV). The latent-heat storage device comprises a chamber, a multiplicity of thermal-conductivity enhancement units, which are arranged in the chamber, and a phase-change material (PCM), which is filled into the chamber to enable cooling energy or thermal energy to be stored. The cooling or thermal energy is generated when the electric vehicle is charged, and the cooling or thermal energy is retrieved when the electric vehicle is driven, in order to regulate the temperature of a passenger compartment of the electric vehicle.
As is known from the prior art, the heat for heating a passenger compartment of a plug-in electric vehicle may also originate from specific components of the plug-in electric vehicle.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,534 A describes a device for heating the interior of an electric vehicle having an air-cooled high-temperature battery. The waste heat of the high-temperature battery is supplied to the interior via a fluid circuit, which has a heat exchanger that can be loaded, in a controllable manner, with the exhaust air of the battery and with fresh air. The fluid circuit is also connected to, and cools, heat-generating components of the electric drive system.
Known from the online news source "Automotive IQ" (available under https://www.automotive-iq.com/electrics-electronics/articles/electric-vehicle-heating-and-cooling) is a cooling system of an electric vehicle. The cooling system is designed to take up heat from electric circuits and from a drive motor. A cooling circuit of the drive motor/electronics is coupled to a cabin cooling system by a heat exchanger. A coolant circuit reverses the effect, to re-liquefy the gas. In hot weather, the original cooling circuit removes the heat. The cabin heating and cooling circuit, which is formed by a glycol circuit, can cool the vehicle via the coolant circuit. In a heating mode, the cabin coolant circuit uses a resistor element for heating. The cooling circuit of the drive motor/electronics may be connected to the cabin heating circuit via control valves. When the two circuits are connected to each other, the waste heat of the motor and of the electronics can be used to heat the cabin, the resistor element being used as a second heat source.
Described in the technical article by Ohno, H. et al., "Development of Waste Thermal Energy Recovery Heat Pump", (available under https://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/en/assets/pdf/innovation/technical-review/vol11/p46-51.pdf on the website of the company Calsonic Kansei, Japan), is a heat-pump system, which recovers the waste thermal heat in electric vehicles (EV) and comprises a HVAC ("heating, ventilation and air-conditioning") system. Waste heat from driving components such as motors and converters is thus used as a heat source for interior heating.
In view of the outlined prior art, the field of heating of passenger compartments of plug-in electric vehicles still offers room for improvements.

Plug-in electric vehicle and method for heating a passenger cabin


A method and system of determining the screen capability and rendering the appropriate display attribute is herein described. The present invention performs this task by using a color table, which contains a list of object types and a corresponding list of display attributes. The application program obtains the correct display attribute for the object by calling the color table, giving it an identifier of the object. The color table is indexed by the identifier of the object and a screen capability flag that is obtained, in one embodiment, from the operating system. The color table provides the display attribute for the specified object based on the screen capability flag. Advantageously, the application program does not need to know the computer's display capability. Furthermore, the application program needs only one piece of computer code, regardless of the number of display capabilities which are possible. Thus, memory space in the palmtop is conserved. In another embodiment of the present invention, the application program is allowed to modify the default values of the display attributes in the color table. Thus, an application program could use its own color to display an object if the default color is undesirable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) within computer systems. The present invention can relate to the field of palmtop computers. Specifically, the present invention discloses an efficient method and apparatus of operating computer systems with multiple screen display capabilities.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the "palmtop" computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can be "palm-sized." Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer and electronic notepads, to name a few.
Since palmtop computer systems are very small, full-sized keyboards are generally not efficient input devices. Palmtop computers using keyboards have keyboard devices that are so small that a user cannot touch-mode. Furthermore, to use a keyboard device, a user must either place the palmtop computer system down onto a flat surface, so the user can move with both hands, or the user holds the palmtop computer system with two hands and moves with thumbs only.
Instead of a keyboard device, some palmtop computers utilize a touch screen and display an image of a small keyboard thereon. When a particular button is pressed or tapped, a small keyboard image is displayed on the display screen. The user then interacts with the on-screen small keyboard image to enter characters, usually one character at a time. To interact with the displayed keyboard image (e.g., "virtual keyboard"), the user taps the screen location of a character with a pen. That corresponding character is then recognized and added to a data entry field, also displayed on the screen. However, even for experienced users, the virtual keyboard input system can be a tedious input process.
Instead of using a keyboard device or a displayed keyboard, many palmtop computers employ a pen and a digitizer pad as an input system. The pen and digitizer pad combination works well for palmtop computers because the arrangement allows a user to hold the palmtop computer system in one hand while writing with the pen onto the digitizer pad with the other hand.
As technology is progressing, palmtop computers are developing greater display capability, such as: monochrome; gray-scale; and color display is suggested. Within each display capability a variety of display attributes are possible. That is, each shade of gray or each unique color constitutes a distinct display attribute. Application programs utilize these display capabilities in a variety of ways, such as: rendering objects with a display attribute that will cue the user that those objects are selectable; choosing an aesthetically pleasing display; and, organizing the screen information in a more meaningful way. However, the possible display attributes for an object depends upon the display capability of each device. That is, an object can be rendered either a shade of gray or a specific color, depending on the display capability of the device. Thus, the color of the object cannot be known until the screen capability is known. Heretofore, different variations of each application program have been written to accommodate the different display types because there are a number of different display types in the consumer palmtop market. This is inefficient, and will grow more inefficient as palmtop computer displays gain more modes of display.
A further problem is the application programmer's task of debugging display programs. As stated, these programs may render various objects in different colors from each other. However, for aesthetic reasons, the colors may be similar to each other. Therefore, when the program is tested, the programmer may not detect when an object is being displayed in the wrong color or gray-scale. The inherently small size of the display makes this especially problematic.
Not only do application programs face problems caused by multiple screen display capabilities, but Internet applications do as well, as it is possible to interface a palmtop computer to the Internet. Thus, Internet applications, such as e-mail, web-browsing, and downloading information all face problems displaying information. Additionally, the operating system of the palmtop must be able to handle the possibility of different display capabilities without resorting to adding substantially more code. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a more efficient way to produce screen display code.

Method and apparatus for using a color table scheme for displaying information on either color or monochrome display


A threaded fastener has a casing enclosing at least three radially inwardly biased arcuate segments positioned to engage the threads of a bolt or hollow threaded member. The casing defines spaced apart internal frustoconical surfaces positioned to engage corresponding surfaces of the segments in the same axial direction. The radially inner ends of the frustoconical surfaces are directed toward a first end of the fastener, and the diameter of the radially inner end of the frustoconical surface away from the first end of the fastener is less than the radially outer diameter of the other frustoconical surface. The threads of the segments substantially fully engage the threads of the bolt or hollow threaded member.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,187 I disclose a quick acting nut assembly having a plurality of internally threaded segments held within a nut casing, the segments being resiliently biased in the radial inward direction. Parallel inclined surfaces on the axial ends of the segments are adapted to slide along similarly inclined surfaces in the interior of the casing. An externally threaded element is received in the bore defined by the segments, to mesh with the threads of the segments.
With this structure, axial forces in one axial direction on the externally threaded element urge the segments in the nut casing radially outward, to permit the threads on the threaded element to step in the axial direction past the threads of the segments, thereby to permit the threaded element to move axially, relatively rapidly and with minimum force. Axial forces on the threaded element in the opposite direction, however, urge the segments radially inward, to enable conventional cooperation between the threads of the segments and the threaded element.
Nut assemblies having split segments with inclined outer surfaces are also disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,021,051 to Desbrueres, 2,896,496 to Jansen, 3,352,341 to Schertz and 3,695,139 to Howe.
In conventional threaded connections, as illustrated in FIG. 16, while the tip to root dimension of the bolt is substantially the same as that of the corresponding nut, the tip diameter of the bolt is substantially less (e.g. 1%) than that of the nut. As a consequence the loading zone of the threads of the nut and bolt is reduced. Since the cross-sectional area of the threads that is subject to shear loads is substantially less than the cross-sectional area at the roots of the threads, the load carrying capacity of the threads is reduced.


A method for reducing a quantity of cable runs to antennas can include the step of providing a circuit of reactive elements coupled between an input terminal and at least two output terminals. The circuit can be used to separate a broadband signal into two or more disjoint expected frequency ranges. The circuit can match the impedance at the at least two output terminals to the impedance expected by the antennas. The elements of the circuit can have reactances and arrangement so that when a broadband RF signal is applied at the input terminal, two or more disjoint expected frequencies can be applied to the respective output terminals. The power at each output terminal can sufficiently match the antennas' expected power, and insertion losses can be minimized.

The present invention is generally drawn to a method and a device for reducing the number of cable runs to antennas.
Antennas can be used in communications. Antennas can receive and/or transmit messages by superimposing information (e.g. by amplitude and/or frequency modulation) on carrier electromagnetic waves, as is known in the art. Traditionally, the signals to/from each antenna can be relayed to/from another part of the communication system via a dedicated cable coupled to each of the antennas (i.e., a dedicated cable run between the antenna and the rest of the communication system, usually the console). The cables can each be a radio frequency (RF) cable.
However, the arrangement in the prior art can become problematic. Often time, the cable, which can be quite heavy and must be run hundreds of feet from the antenna to the rest of the system. As communication needs increase (communication needs rarely decrease), more and more antennas are needed, which means more and more cable runs are needed. This can increase the weight of the hosting platform. For hosting platforms that are naval vessels, the additional weight can be significant enough so that the center of buoyancy is affected. Additionally, the cable must be run through watertight bulkheads, which means that an opening in the bulkhead must be formed, the cable run through the opening, and then the opening must be made watertight again. This can be a tedious, expensive endeavor, and the end result is typically not as watertight as the original bulkhead. Meanwhile, mobile platforms that have such antennas systems, can require communication systems having greatly reduced weight, complexity, and points of failure. Example mobile platforms can be mobile vehicles, submarines, trains, ships, trucks, amphibious vehicles, flying vehicles, launch vehicles, and/or satellites. Some have attempted to solve this problem through the use of multiplexers. However prior art multiplexers are unsuitable for high-power applications. Accordingly, for at least the foregoing reasons, there exists a need for an improved multiplexer.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An optical system is provided for allowing regional focus control. The system uses a variable power optical component system as two optical shear plates that can be laterally displaced with respect to each other to adjust and alter the field curvature of the optical system. This changing of the field curvature creates an area of focus whose particular size and shape within the field of view is controlled through manipulation of the shear plates with respect to each other and the field of view. The area of focus can be repositioned to any point within the field of view so that the area of focus can affect the image light coinciding with that particular region. The shear plates are preferably positioned at the intermediate focal plane of the optical system, between the camera body and the taking lens. The image which has been altered, by the shear plates is then transposed to the camera body by a relay lens and recorded by film at the primary film plane located within the camera body. The end result is a optical system that is suitable for a camera wherein regional focus control is achieved, regardless of the depth of field of the camera taking lens or its aperture settings.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to cameras and camera accessories, and more particularly, to systems for controlling the regions of focus within a field of view of a camera.
b) Description of the Prior Art
During the past century, since the invention of the still-type film camera, photographic technology has introduced many different types of cameras, usually identified by the format of film used. Today, for the most part, three main types of still-type film cameras are commercially available, 35 mm cameras (including point and shoot type camera, disposable cameras, single lens reflex cameras, and rangefinder type cameras), medium format cameras (including twin-lens), and large format cameras (including field-type and view type). These cameras use one of at least six basic systems of focusing: (1) fixed-focus, (2) "zone-focus", (3) rangefinder-type focus, (4) twin-lens reflex ground glass, (5) single-lens reflex, and (6) automatic focus.
In a fixed-focus camera, such as a conventional disposable type camera, there is no means to control the focus of the lens. The focus of the lens is pre-set in the factory to provide acceptable focus at a predetermined distance (usually around 10 feet). This type of camera is essentially a pin-hole camera with a lens.
Camera operators using "zone-focus" cameras must estimate (or actually measure) the distance between the camera and the subject and use this information to control the focus of the lens so that the subject is reproduced in focus at the film plane of the camera.
A rangefinder focusing system uses an optical-mechanical device that produces two images in a viewfinder of the camera. The focusing device effectively functions as adistance measurer (or rangefinder) to help the operator determine the distance between the subject and the camera. In operation, as the operator adjusts the focus control of the lens, the two images within the viewfinder move with respect to each other. A subject is in focus when oth images overlap and appear as one image within the viewfinder.
A twin-reflex camera uses two identical lenses that include synchronized focus controls so that both lenses move simultaneously. One lens focuses an image onto a focusing screen for the operator while the other lens focuses essentially the same image onto the film plane. When the operator adjusts the first lens so that the image is in focus on the focusing screen, the second lens will be properly adjusted so that the image will also be in focus at the film plane.
The single-lens reflex focusing system (or SLR) is one of the most popular focusing systems used in today's cameras. This type of focusing system allows the operator to view the actual image that will be recorded by the film. A pivotal mirror rests in the path of incoming image light and is used to direct the image light from the lens to a focusing screen, which may be viewed by the operator through an eyepiece. The camera operator may manually (or with the assist of an automatic focusing system) adjust the lens focus until the desired image focus appears on the focusing screen. The focusing screen usually includes a focusing reticle to assist the operator in determining when the subject is in "true" image focus. When the shutter release button of the SLR camera is depressed, the pivotal mirror immediately pivots away from the path of incoming image light and allows the image light to continue to the film gate and film. The distance between the lens and the focusing screen is equal to the distance between the lens and the film plane so that a viewed focused image will be recorded in focus. This type of focusing system allows the camera operator to "sample" or test the focus adjustments of the particular lens before any film is exposed.
Finally, cameras that automatically focus include a battery-powered motor drive unit that directly controls the focus of the particular lens assembly, and at least one type of electronic distance sensor, such as sonar, infrared, or phase-contrast. The sonar and infrared sensors essentially determine the distance between the subject and the camera and then cause the motor to control the focus of the lens accordingly. The phase-contrast system measures the contrast of adjacent lines of the incoming image light and similarly, uses this information to control the focus of the lens.
Motion-film cameras or movie cameras typically use a zone-focusing system wherein the camera operator (or an assistant) will actively control the focus of a lens during a particular shoot. If the subject advances towards (or recedes away from) the camera, the camera operator may have to "rack focus" the lens during a shoot to maintain the moving subject within the depth of field of the lens in use and in focus on the film. Regardless of how the focus of a particular lens is adjusted, most of the motion-film cameras used today allow the cameraman to view the image through the lens (i.e., in an SLR manner).
Most of the above-described focusing systems are limited in that they are designed to focus an image evenly across the field of view as centered about a lens pupil (or a center axis). Furthermore, the focus of a lens is dependent on the depth of field of the particular lens. In turn, the depth of field is affected by the lens aperture, the focal length of the lens, and the distance between the camera and the subject. For example, a telephoto lens (having a large focal length, such as 400 mm) will yield a short or narrow depth of field (or depth of focus), resulting in only a slim portion of an object in the field of view being recording in sharp focus. In contrast, the depth of field of a wide angle lens (having a relatively short focal length, such as 14 mm or 28 mm) is close to infinite, resulting in all essentially objects in the field of view (foreground and background) being recorded in sharp focus. To this end, a director may create a mood or mystique within a particular shot by softening or de-focusing part of an image. For example, foreground actors and objects within a particular scene may be effectively "pushed" out from the depth of field (focus range) and thereby de-focused (which will effectively minimize their significance to the viewers), while a particular subject located further from the camera may be kept within the depth of field and will be recorded in focus on the film. Of course, in this situation, the audience will "focus" their attention on what is in focus in the image, the main subject.
Although this method of using the depth of field (created by either the aperture setting and/or the focal length of the lenses is quite effective at directing the audience to what is significant in the image, the method does have several limitations that severely constrain the director's creativity.
In the above example, the director would have to use a lens having mid to long focal lengths (e.g., telephoto) to obtain the desired selective de-focusing effect. Unfortunately, lenses with long focal lengths require a minimum focusing distance, typically between 10 and 20 feet. To achieve the desired selective de-focusing effect, the director would have to position the camera at least 10 feet from the subject. This minimum focusing distance requirement may not easily be met depending on the particular scene being shot. For example, the scene may be located within an elevator or on a submarine, or any other close-quartered environment wherein the minimum focusing distance requirement cannot be achieved without building a "specialized movie set", or using soft-focusing techniques.
A common effects technique used in both still and motion photography to selectively de-focus or soften selective regions of a particular scene includes the use of a translucent medium, such as tissue paper, petroleum jelly or a frosted glass plate. The technique includes applying the translucent medium directly to (or positioning it in front of) the camera lens. The translucent medium effectively diffuses a select portion or region of image light entering the camera so that the resulting recorded image is softened, and selected detail is diluted. Although this de-focusing technique is somewhat effective at creating soft, de-focused regions of an image frame, the technique requires substantial setup time prior to shooting, and substantial clean-up time after the shoot. Also, the technique is difficult to control accurately in selecting exact image regions to dc-focus, and is further difficult to reproduce when a re-shoot is necessary, or in such instances wherein the actors actually move within the scene (which is, of course, often the case).
Also, using this well-known technique, in each situation of a shoot, all subjects located within the depth of focus will be recorded in focus on the film. The director cannot create an image wherein only one of two different subjects and/or objects within the same plane with respect to the camera is in focus. It would be desirable to record an image of a person, for example, wherein only their face and a smoking gun located in their hand (both located in the same image plane) are in focus.
Another technique available to photographers to de-focus or otherwise soften selected regions of an image frame includes what is called a "shift and tilt" mechanism, which pivotally connects a lens to a camera body. The shift and tilt mechanism allows a lens to both pivot and laterally shift with respect to a central optical camera axis, thus enabling a controlled distortion of selected regions of an image frame (to "shift" the lens means to slide it parallel to the viewfinder image, while keeping the lens' optical axis at right angles to the film plane). By tilting the lens up or down (or left or right), photographers can change the angle between the optical axis and the film plane. This allows the photographer to modify the plane of focus in the resulting photographs and in doing so, achieve a variety of effects. One such effect is the ability for the photographer to focus just a specific part of the subject.
A shift and tilt mechanism is used in most large format cameras and is available (as an attachment) for use with motion picture cameras. The mechanism is difficult to use and is subject to unwanted distortion, unless any of a limited number of dedicated lenses are used, which severely limits the director's creativity and control. Also, the regional focus-control offered by the shift and tilt mechanism is limited to single peripheral regions of the image frame, not multiple internally located regions, such as a central region within the image scene.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,206 of Hylen (Applicant) issued Dec. 26, 2000 and entitled "Image Modifiers for Use with Photography", discloses a focus control system for use in photography wherein a modifier located at an intermediate focal plane within the lens system receives image light from the lens, the light is then relayed to the film. According to the patent, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, as if it were reprinted within the present specification, the modifier may be selectively deformed in such a manner as to create different regions of focus within a particular image, as the image light is projected onto the modifier and thereafter, re-focused onto the film. Applicant has been issued three other relevant patents all commonly assigned and of Hylen. These patents are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,285,834 6,201,933 5,649,259. These patents are similarly incorporated by reference, in their entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,294 of Alvarez, issued Feb. 21, 1967 discloses a lens system for aberration correction and control in an optical system. The patented system includes a pair of bicubic phase profile optics, each an inverse of the other. When in perfect registration, the pair of optics produce a null wavefront and do not effect image light passing therethrough. However, translation of one optic relative to the other along one axis results in cylindrical focus (or de-focus) along the particular axis of translation (cylindrical focus or de-focus produces such focus or de-focus occurs only in vertical or horizontal strips, not symmetrically about the optical axis). Translation along both axes produces variable spherical or astigmatic power which may be used for wavefront correction or for a controlled aberration source.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,790 of Baker, issued Jun. 8, 1971, entitled "Variable Power, Analytic, Function, Optical Component in the Form of a Pair of Laterally Adjustable Plates having Shaped Surfaces, and Optical Systems Including such Components" discloses an optical assembly that uses at least two refracting plates. The plates are arranged generally perpendicular to an optical axis and adjacent to each other in a fitted orientation. The plates have quintic or higher order surfaces that are relatively movable laterally in such a manner that provides a zoom function within a lens system. The plates help correct spherical aberration within the lens system.
The above-described U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,305,294 of Alvarez, and 3,583,790 of Baker are hereby incorporated by reference, in their entirety.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a focusing system for use with a camera which overcomes the limitations of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a focusing system for use with a camera which allows select regions of an image frame to be purposely de-focused in a controlled and efficient manner.
It is another object of the invention to provide a special effects device for use in photography which overcomes the limitations of the prior art.

Selective focus system for use in photography


A thermocouple apparatus including a one-piece connector with a terminal header portion that defines a pair of openings on a front end, and a clam shell portion including a cap and a base connected on one side with a hinge to the cap. A pair of terminals are partially disposed within the pair of openings defined by the terminal header portion and extend into a cavity defined between the cap and the base. The pair of terminals may be a pair of prongs or may be a pair of receptacles. A pair of leads from a probe or a pair of leads that are part of an electrical connection to temperature measurement equipment extend through a lead wire opening and into the cavity. The cap clamps each one of the leads to one of the pair of terminals when the cap is in the closed position.

Thermocouples are used to measure temperature in a wide variety of testing systems. For example, in automotive test labs hundreds of thermocouple connectors may be used to sense the temperature of many different components of a vehicle.
Prior art thermocouple connectors generally require a plurality of components to be assembled with fasteners such as screws that are used to connect the leads from a thermocouple probe to the leads of an electrical wire that provides temperature data to an electrical test device. Assembling the connectors including a plurality of separate parts with screws is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
One-piece molded connectors have been proposed that are expensive to manufacture and lack flexibility. The leads of the probe and the receptacle lead wiring must be connected by soldering or crimping before the connectors are molded around the leads and connectors. Molded connectors require a substantial investment in injection molding machines and dies. Connectors with molded bodies are not capable of being easily disassembled and cannot be serviced if there is a problem with the thermocouple.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and other problems as summarized below.


The present application provides an array substrate. The array substrate includes a base substrate; a plurality of light emitting elements on the base substrate; a plurality of driving thin film transistors for driving light emission of the plurality of light emitting elements, each of the plurality of driving thin film transistors including a first active layer; one or more power supply lines configured to supply a driving current respectively to the plurality of light emitting elements; and a light shielding layer configured to shield light from irradiating on the first active layer, the light shielding layer being electrically connected to at least one of the one or more power supply lines.

Metal oxide or metal oxynitride thin film transistors have many advantages such as a higher carrier density and higher mobility. For example, the metal oxide or metal oxynitride thin film transistors can be made smaller, and the display panel made of such thin film transistors can achieve a higher resolution and a better display effect. Moreover, the metal oxide or metal oxynitride thin film transistors have the advantages of lower manufacturing costs, higher transmittance, and higher bad gap. The metal oxide or metal oxynitride thin film transistors have found a wide range of applications in display field. However, oxide and oxynitride thin film transistors are sensitive to light irradiation, resulting in threshold voltage drift.

Array substrate, display apparatus, method of reducing current-resistance drop and data loss in display apparatus, and method of fabricating array substrate

Beijing BOE Technology Development Co., Ltd.


A 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry has a 3-dimensional head to scan an object to be analyzed. The scanning head is operatively associated with a path length variator which in turn is operatively connected to a single mode wavelength coupler. A light source and a photo detector are operatively connected to the wavelength coupler. A computer with software for data reduction and 3-dimensional representation are connected to both the light source and the photo detector to reveal scanning data of an object scanned by the scanning head. A spectrometer is alternately coupled to the photo detector.

Optical low clearance reflectometry (OLCR) methods is a classical optical method which can be used to measure distances to objects with high precision. The method is based on coherent cross-correlation of light reflected from the object being scanned. OLCR methodology has been based upon a transparent cube which is rotated at very high speeds. Some problems occurring include precise alignment, optical stability, vibrations and dynamic deformations due to high rotational speeds.
Among the greatest shortcomings of OLCR high speed methods is that they conventionally scan in a 1-D mode. While attempts have been made to theorize adapting OLCR to a 3-D mode to obtain 3-dimensional data, such 3-D technology has not been readily forthcoming.
Further, existing OLCR scanners are not flexible to enable optimum scan rate, depth and resolution for the subject the user desires to analyze.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a multiple adaptable 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry which is adaptable to enable optimum scan rate, depth and resolution for the subject the user desires to analyze.
A further object of the invention is to provide a multiple adaptable 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry which can be upgradeable with spectrometry to afford the user with a very flexible high sustained value device that is not limited to one application and analysis capability.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a multiple adaptable 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry which couples ultra-high speed topography and spectrometry for simultaneous 3-dimensional analysis of the surface topography and chemical composition of subjects that are not necessarily stationary, but can be.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a multiple adaptable 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry which is capable of detecting the presence, identity and quantity of micro particulates/contaminant imperfections on complex organic or inorganic surfaces.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Multiple adaptable 3-dimensional ultra-high speed scanning system for organic and inorganic surface topography and spectrometry


Apparatus including: a substrate layer having a substantially planar top surface; an optically conductive peak located and elongated on, and spanning a first thickness measured in a direction generally away from, the top surface; the optically conductive peak having first and second lateral walls each including distal and proximal lateral wall portions, the proximal lateral wall portions intersecting the top surface; and first and second sidewall layers located on the distal lateral wall portions, the sidewall layers not intersecting the top surface and spanning a second thickness that is less than the first thickness measured in the same direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ridge and mesa optical waveguides, and methods of making ridge and mesa optical waveguides.
2. Related Art
This section is intended to present to the reader various introductory concepts that may be related to various aspects of the present invention. As such, it is believed that this section may be helpful in providing the reader with information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. The statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions of prior art.
Ridge and mesa optical waveguides are well-known classes of multi-layer structures that are useful for guiding light along a selected pathway. Ridge and mesa optical waveguides can also be, as an example, optically integrated with active and passive electronic devices such as phase modulators and optical switches, configured for controlling and otherwise affecting the path and nature of light propagating through such optical waveguides. Optical waveguides, including ridge and mesa optical waveguides, typically include a core region surrounded by a cladding region. The core region has a higher refractive index than does the cladding region. The resulting refractive index gradient serves to confine a portion of the light to propagation through the core region. The ridge in a ridge optical waveguide additionally serves to optically channel light propagating at the top surface of a substrate located adjacent to the ridge, along a path defined by the lateral position of the ridge on the substrate. In an example, the ridge in a ridge optical waveguide may include portions of the core and cladding regions of the optical waveguide. The ridge may cause light to propagate in the substrate along the path of the ridge on the substrate. The ridge in a ridge optical waveguide may as an example define a path for a portion of an optical circuit. At the same time, wider lateral dimensions of the substrate relative to lateral dimensions of the ridge permits transmission of a greater optical bandwidth, through the substrate along a path in the same direction taken by light propagating through the ridge itself. In a mesa optical waveguide, the entire core and cladding regions may define a substantially integrated optical path.
There is a continuing need for new types of ridge and mesa optical waveguides, and for methods of making such ridge and mesa optical waveguides.