In a system having a plurality of snooping masters coupled to a Bus Macro, a snoop filtering device and method are provided in at least one of the plurality of snooping masters. The snoop filtering device and method parse a snoop request issued by one of the plurality of snooping masters and return an Immediate Response if parsing indicates the requested data cannot possibly be contained in a responding snooping master. If parsing indicates otherwise the at least one plurality of snoop masters searches its resources and returns the requested data if marked updated.

In a system wherein there are multiple devices that share a common main memory, and each device can individually cache data from addresses in main memory, to ensure data consistency among devices, a mechanism often used is known as hardware enforced cache coherency of data. A portion of this mechanism is known as "snooping". When a processor, or other snooping master, makes a coherent access to main memory, that access is first broadcast to all the other snooping masters (the "non-originating snooping masters") as a "snoop request" by a central resource, called the "Bus Macro". The non-originating snooping masters react to the snoop request by returning a snoop result that indicates the state of that master's cache for the address provided with the snoop request. The bus macro receives all the snoop results and takes one of several possible actions based on the values of the snoop results. One action may be to allow the main memory access to complete. Another action may be to delay the main memory access until the non-originating snooping masters write modified data from their caches back to main memory. Other actions are also possible. Note that the most common type of snooping master with a cache is a processor, although other devices, such as DMA controllers, can be used.
Typically, when memory coherence is required, all snooping masters continuously snoop all main memory accesses to ensure data consistency. However, there are often times when a non-originating master knows that it cannot contain the data for a particular snoop request. In these cases, it is desirable for the non-originating master to not snoop its resources. This is desirable for several reasons:
1) Unnecessary power is consumed by the non-originating snooping masters that cannot contain the requested data checking their resources.
2) Once the request is made to the non-originating snooping master, that snooping master must snoop its cache to see if it has a cached copy of the requested address location. This snooping of the cache may interfere with the non-originating snooping master from accessing the cache locally, thus decreasing the performance of the non-originating snooping master.
3) If one of the non-originating snooping masters takes many clock cycles to snoop its cache the originating master will be stalled until the slowest non-originating snooping master has completed the snoop, thus decreasing the originating master's performance.

Reducing snoop response time for snoopers without copies of requested data via snoop filtering

International Business Machines Corporation


Improved compatibility of MRI with radiation imaging is provided by MRI RF coils having transmissive coil sections. The transmissive coil sections are substantially transparent to the penetrating radiation employed by the radiation imaging system. Thus the transmissive coil sections can be disposed in a field of view of the radiation imaging system without introducing artifacts into the radiation images. Transparency to penetrating radiation can be achieved by substantially including only low atomic number (i.e., Z<29) elements in the transmissive coil sections. Preferably, the transmissive coil sections are fabricated substantially from aluminum.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been employed for various applications (e.g., medical imaging) for some time. In medicine, combined use of MRI with radiation therapy and with radiation imaging have both been investigated. Such multi-modality systems provide significant advantages compared to single modality systems where a patient may need to be moved or transferred from one system to another system. Such transfers can be difficult and time-consuming, and they can compromise results by complicating image registration.
MRI in combination with a radiotherapy accelerator has been considered by Raaymakers et al. in an article "Integrating a MRI scanner with a radiotherapy accelerator: a new concept of precise on line radiotherapy guidance and treatment monitoring". In this article, an MRI system is described having main magnet coils and gradient coils disposed out of the path of the therapeutic radiation. Although the RF coils of the MRI system are in the radiation path, they do not cause enough absorption heterogeneity to significantly degrade therapy. More specifically, the RF coils in this work had an equivalent Al thickness of about 2.3 cm, which apparently is sufficiently low for the therapy being considered.
Combination of MRI with radiation imaging is more demanding than combination of MRI with radiation therapy. More specifically, if conventional MRI RF coils are disposed in the radiation path of a radiation imaging system, undesirable coil artifacts will tend to be present in the radiation images. For this reason, when MRI is performed in combination with radiation imaging (as opposed to radiation therapy), all coils of the MRI system, including the RF coils, are typically disposed out of the radiation path. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,319 considers a split magnet MRI system having all MRI coils disposed out of the radiation path of an X-ray system.
Unfortunately, MRI performance can be undesirably degraded by a requirement to place the MRI RF coils outside the field of view of a radiation imaging system. For example, surface RF coils are often placed directly on a subject being imaged for maximum MRI image quality. Such a surface coil is in the field of view of any radiation imaging system that is directed to the same part of the subject as the MRI system, which is the situation of greatest practical interest. Thus conventional combined MRI and radiation imaging can oblige an undesirable choice among accepting reduced MRI image quality (by placing the RF coils out of the radiation system field of view), accepting RF coil artifacts in the radiation images (by placing the RF coils in the radiation system field of view), or moving the MRI RF coils to one position for MRI imaging and to another position (out of the field of view) for radiation imaging.
Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide radiation imaging compatible MRI RF coils. It would also be an advance in the art to provide radiation imaging compatible MRI systems, either separately or in combination with a radiation imaging system.

Magnetic resonance imaging having radiation compatible radiofrequency coils

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A piping system employs a friction layer of windings, beads or pellets placed between insulation layers and/or on the outermost layer, that being the insulation layer if no jacket is employed or the jacket if it is employed. The windings, beads or pellets are wrapped or applied while the layer is uncured or warm so as to embed themselves into the surface and create a uneven, bumpy or undulating surface. The resulting product increases friction both internally and externally to better restrain or inhibit pipe movement in underground, marine, or subsea applications or provide restraint to the surrounding environment (earth, concrete, etc.).

Underground, marine, or subsea pipes carry fluids such as hot water, chilled water, cold liquefied gases, hot gas and hot oil. As a result, the pipes can naturally expand and contract due to the temperature of the fluids they are carrying. Expansion and contraction can also be caused by environmental (e.g., ground) fluctuations in temperature due to the season and weather conditions. In addition, loads encountered during handling and installation can cause movement between the pipe and insulation, jacket and coating layers.
The present invention is a system to increase the friction between the insulated pipe and its environment so as to minimize and/or prevent movement of the pipe relative to the surrounding ground or environment. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A portable storage device which is used by being connected to terminals of an external apparatus, comprises a main body of a rectangular cover case, in which an opening is formed at a front and a fit opening is formed in a wall; a rectangular terminal enclosure supported inside said main body of the cover case, and having a terminal portion at a front for connection with the external terminals, and having a fit portion which is formed in a wall so as to be opposed to said fit opening when inserted into said main body of the cover case; a circuit board which is supported in said terminal enclosure and provided with connector terminals at a front; a semiconductor memory device which is mounted on said circuit board, sealed with resin and connected to said connector terminals; and a fitting member which is inserted into said fit opening of said main body of the cover case so as to be fitted to said fit opening, and to be fitted to said fit portion of said terminal enclosure to thereby fix said main body of the cover case and said terminal enclosure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable storage device provided with a terminal enclosure for accommodating a circuit board on which a semiconductor memory device is mounted, and provided with a cover case main body for protecting the terminal enclosure.
2. Background Art
Conventional cover cases for portable storage devices have been used not only for the purpose of protecting electronic parts mounted on a circuit board, but also for providing excellent safety and usability.
One of the conventional portable storage devices is provided with a substrate to which a USB connector head is connected, a lower cover for protecting the substrate from the side of an under surface of the substrate, an upper cover for protecting the substrate from the side of a top surface of the substrate, and a case cover for accommodating the USB connector head. The substrate is sandwiched between the upper cover and the lower cover for accommodation, and these covers are fixed by means of bolts (For example, refer to Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3086524).
However, the above conventional art, which requires at least two or more parts, as mentioned above, on a front side and a back side, invites complexity in a technique for attaching a substrate to a protection case (the upper cover and the lower cover).
One of the conventional portable storage devices is provided with a substrate having USB terminals at its front, a terminal enclosure for inserting therein the substrate from a front opening to support the substrate, and an end cap (cover case) which is connected to a rear of the terminal enclosure to serve as a handhold at the time the portable storage device is carried or loaded on an external apparatus (see, for example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0153595).
In the above conventional art, however, merely inserting the terminal enclosure into the end cap can only provide poor adhesiveness therebetween, resulting in that the terminal enclosure easily comes off from the end cap. Under such circumstances, it has been required to coat a liquid adhesive material inside the end cap or stick a sheet-like adhesive material thereto, then insert the terminal enclosure, and perform drying to increase adhesiveness.
In use of liquid adhesive materials, many factors should be controlled for coating conditions (amount of coating, position of coating, etc.) and curing conditions of the liquid adhesive materials. This causes technical difficulty in achieving fixation between the end cap and the terminal enclosure, which leads to complicated processes and expensive equipment for the processes.
In use of sheet-like adhesive materials, many factors should also be controlled for sheet sizes, sticking conditions (pressure, temperature, time, etc.), and curing conditions of the sheet-like adhesive materials, also causing technical difficulty in achieving fixation between the end cap and the terminal enclosure.
As described above, according to conventional art, there has been a problem that assembling time and manufacturing costs of portable storage devices cannot be reduced.


A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell which has a catalyst layer therein and which receives supply of a reactive gas to generate power, and a refrigerant system which supplies a refrigerant to the fuel cell to control its temperature. A method for stopping an operation of the system is also provided. When operated in a low-temperature environment, the system cannot be restarted due to freezing in the fuel cell. When the temperature of the fuel cell during the next system start is a predetermined temperature or less, the supply of the refrigerant is stopped during the system stop, and the supply of the refrigerant is resumed after elapse of a predetermined time.

In recent years, a fuel cell system has received attention in which a fuel cell to generate a power by an electrochemical reaction of a fuel gas with an oxidizing gas (these gases will hereinafter be referred to as a reactive gas) is used as an energy source. For example, when a solid polymer type fuel cell is disposed in a low-temperature environment at 0° C. or less, proceeding of the electrochemical reaction is disturbed owing to freezing in the fuel cell, especially freezing of a catalyst layer. In such a case, when the fuel cell cannot be restarted after stopping an operation of the fuel cell or even when the fuel cell can be started, a power generation efficiency is remarkably impaired.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-151601, a technology is disclosed in which to stop the fuel cell system, a flow rate of a coolant to the fuel cell is reduced to lower a cooling performance and in which the operation of the fuel cell is continued to raise a temperature of the fuel cell by use of heat generated by the electrochemical reaction. Moreover, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-322527, a technology is disclosed in which after the power generation of the fuel cell is stopped and when a temperature difference between a temperature detected by a stack inner temperature sensor and a temperature detected by a stack peripheral temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined value, the coolant is cooled and then introduced into a fuel cell stack.

Fuel cell system and its operation stop method


A heat exchanger comprises an as-cast combined header and tank having a header portion integral with a tank portion. The cast header and tank combination has a plurality of openings originally cast in the header portion of the combination and at least one opening originally cast in the tank portion of the combination for passage of coolant into or out of the cast header and tank combination. Tubes are received in and extends through the header portion openings, and resilient grommets seal the tubes to the header portion to prevent leakage around the tubes. In making the heat exchanger, there is provided an inner mold section and outer mold section corresponding respectively to the interior and exterior configurations of a desired combined header and tank having a header portion integral with a tank portion. The inner mold and outer mold sections are connected through the header and tank portion openings to support the inner mold section within the outer mold section and create a space therebetween corresponding to the configuration of the combined header and tank. The space is filled with molten metal and solidified to create the combined cast header and tank having the header portion integral with a tank portion. The outer mold section is removed and the inner mold section is removed from inside the cast header and tank through an opening in the header portion and/or through an opening in the tank portion. Following removal of the mold portions, the method may include inserting a tube from a heat exchanger core into an opening in the cast header portion and securing the tube therein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to heat exchangers and, more particularly, to motor vehicle heat exchangers utilizing grommets in the tube-to-header joints.
2. Description of Related Art
Heat exchangers, particularly those utilized in motor vehicles, may be liquid-to-air heat exchangers, (e.g., radiators for engine coolant, air conditioning condensers and evaporators, and oil coolers) or may be air-to-air heat exchangers (e.g. charge air coolers). Liquid-to-air and air-to-air heat exchangers are typically composed of an inlet tank or manifold, an outlet tank or manifold, and a large number of tubes extending between the tanks or manifolds which carry the fluid to be cooled. Headers are normally provided on the tanks for mechanical attachment and fluid connection of the tubes. Fins attached to the tubes transfer heat between the liquid or gas inside the tubes and the ambient atmosphere outside. A mechanical framework or structure is usually included to provide structural strength to the assembly and to provide means for mounting the unit to the vehicle or other machinery on which it is used.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a typical heat exchanger core, in this case radiator core 20, is comprised of a plurality of vertical, parallel, spaced tubes 22 between which are interposed heat transfer fins. These fins may be of the flat type 24 or the serpentine type 26 in the composite core depicted in FIG. 1. Any of these fin styles may include louvers (not shown) to enhance heat transfer. The fins are typically formed of strips of aluminum, brass, copper or other thermally conductive metal or alloy. Flat fins 24 are generally made of sheet metal which has a collar formed about a hole. Tubes 22 may be inserted through the collared openings and a plurality of fins may be stacked in order to make up the fin array within the core. Serpentine fins may extend in a serpentine pattern wherein the strips are configured with a plurality of alternating bends between adjacent tubes. The root of the bend is generally secured by brazing or soldering to the tube. A strip portion between the roots extends between the tubes. In serpentine fins 26 the pattern is similar to that of a sine wave, while in serpentine fins 30 (FIG. 2) the pattern is zig-zag. The ends of tubes 22 extend beyond the fin array of core 20 to connect to the headers and tanks.
Headers 28a and 28b are at the top and bottom, respectively, of core 20 and are plates having openings therein to receive and seal the upper and lower ends of the tubes 22. Upper and lower tanks 34a and 34b, respectively, are normally welded or soldered to headers 28a and 28b respectively and contain an inlet 36 and outlet 38 for the heat exchanger. Side support rails 32 or other structure may be used to secure the tanks and headers on either side of the core and enable the completed heat exchanger to be secured within the vehicle or machinery frame.
The tubes utilized may be either round or oval, or may be oval with circular ends. Prior art methods of welding tube-to-header joints are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,004, the disclosure which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In use, heat from the hot liquid or air within generally causes the tubes to expand and grow in length due to thermal expansion. Since the tanks or manifolds are fixed with respect to each other by the unit framework or structure, the growth in length of tubes places high mechanical stresses on the tanks and the associated headers, particularly in the area of the joints between the tubes and headers. In addition, the pressure of the hot liquid or hot air within the heat exchanger tends to distort the tanks or manifolds and headers, creating further stresses on the tube-to-header joints. The combination of stress resulting from thermal expansion and internal pressure can result in early failure of heat exchangers. Cracks in the joints between the tubes and the headers are the most common mode of failure. Many approaches have been taken to avoid heat exchanger failures due to thermal expansion and internal pressure. Most approaches fall into one or two categories: 1) those which improve the strength of the areas prone to failure and 2) those which provide resilience in the areas prone to failure. Approaches which provide resilience have appealed to designers because they provide a solution to the stresses of thermal expansion and internal pressure with a greater economy than any approach which must provide more material to achieve an improvement in strength.
Engine cooling radiators for vehicles have sometimes been designed with resilient tube-to-header joints. Locomotive radiators have been manufactured by the assignee of the present invention for over thirty (30) years using headers of special resilient design as shown in FIG. 3. Metallic headers 28 are mechanically attached to tanks (not shown), such as by bolting, and have oversized holes or openings in them to receive oval brass tubes 22 extending from the radiator core. Fins 24 of the flat plate-type design have collars 25 fitted around the tubes. Within the openings in the header there are placed oval brass ferrules 44. These ferrules are bonded to the header by molded silicone rubber 40. The ferrules are then soldered to the core tubes extending therethrough to form a leak-free, resilient joint between the tubes and the headers. While this has been an extremely effective design under typical operating conditions for locomotives, it is expensive to produce.
In the 1970's, radiators for automobiles were produced which utilized round aluminum tubes, aluminum plate fins, aluminum headers and plastic tanks. A sheet of molded rubber provided resilient grommets at each tube hole in the header, and also provided a gasket for sealing the headers to the plastic tanks, which were attached to the headers by means of crimped tabs on the headers. The insertion of the tubes into the rubber grommets in the header holes compressed the rubber of the grommets providing a resilient sealing attachment of the tubes to the headers. However, considerable force was required to insert all the core tubes into the header holes simultaneously. This design was limited to relatively small units because of the problems of core and header distortion during assembly and because of the close tolerance which was required to accomplish the mating of the core tubes to the header with the desired amount of grommet compression.
Other radiators have also utilized rubber grommets in their tube-to-header joints. These radiators have been designed around individual finned tubes having round ends and oval cross-sections which are finned along most of their length. As in the previous design, sealing of the tubes to the header was accomplished by compression of the grommets between the tubes and the header. However, in this alternative design, the tubes were assembled to the headers individually thereby avoiding high assembly forces. This allowed the construction of very large radiators for heavy construction equipment. However, it has been found that the use of tubes with round ends limits this design to cores having rather wide tube spacing which results in relatively poor thermal performance compared to most radiator core designs.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,756,361 and 5,205,354 describe a radiator which utilizes tubes which are circular in cross-section throughout their length. This type of design is shown in FIG. 4 in which tubes 22 are pressed through collar openings 25 in flat plate fins 24. The tube ends extend through silicone rubber grommets 42 which are disposed in openings within header plate 28. The grommets have a central peripheral groove and top and bottom lips or flanges which extend outward on the top and bottom of the header plate. Because of its round tubes, this design also suffers from poor thermal performance compared to most radiator designs and must have close tolerances to achieve the required compression of the grommet between the tube and header opening to seal the joint. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,052,475 and 5,226,235 disclose use of circular grommets to seal circular tubes into soldered tanks and welded tanks, respectively. British Patent No. 29,777 discloses the use of round tubes and grommets with a tube plate cast integrally with the header, but the tube openings are drilled or otherwise formed in the tube plate after the casting is made.
Currently, air-to-air heat exchangers using brazed aluminum cores having oval tubes are being produced commercially. Aluminum headers having oversized oval openings are welded to cast aluminum manifolds. (Full cast tank/header combinations are not believed to be used.) Oval silicone rubber grommets, otherwise similar to those described in the aforementioned '361 patent, are inserted into the openings in the headers of the welded tanks. Such extensive soldering, welding and machining relating to the tank/header combinations heat exchangers utilizing grommets adds undesirable handling and other costs to the manufacturing process.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved heat exchanger which utilizes grommets in a tube-to-header joints and may be readily manufactured without welding or soldering.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method of assembly of a heat exchanger which utilizes grommets in the tube-to-header joint of a tank which integrally includes the header manufactured with a minimum of machining.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing a header and tank assembly for a heat exchanger.

Heat exchanger assembly utilizing grommets and integral cast tanks


An optical element retaining device has a substrate and a convex section integrally bonded to the substrate for retaining at least one optical fiber. The convex section includes at least one groove for retaining the optical fiber. A mold having at least one groove is used to form the convex section. A mixture of, for example, ceramic powder and a binder is filled in the groove of the mold. The substrate is brought into contact with the mold with the mixture being placed between the mold and the substrate. Then the mold is removed from the substrate while leaving the mixture defining the convex section on the substrate. The substrate and the molded convex section are burned or sintered to permanently bonded to one another.

The present invention relates to an optical element retaining member for retaining optical fibers, optical semiconductor elements which are used in optical connectors, optical modules and so on.
Conventionally substrates are used which are provided with a plurality of grooves as the retaining members for the optical fibers. For example, a retaining member 10 shown in FIG. 6, (a) and FIG. 6(b) is a plate-shaped body with a V-shaped groove 13 being formed for retaining the optical fiber. When bare fibers 21 each having the jacket of the optical fiber 20 peeled off are arranged side by side in the V-shaped grooves 13. Glass 16 is fixedly filled in the gap of both by covering the bare fibers with a cover body 15, each bare fiber 21 is firmly supported at three points and a plurality of optical fibers 20 can be retained in regular order with high accuracy. Furthermore, a groove 14 can be provided in order to insert a guide pin for positioning use into both the end portions of the groove 13 for retaining the optical fiber use (refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Tokkaisho 62-215208).
It can be used as an optical connector with the end face 10a of the retaining member 10 being brought into contact with each other or it can be used as an optical module with an optical waveguide path being connected with the end face 10a of the retaining member 10 or a receiving light emitting element being connected.
As a material quality of the retaining member 10 and the cover body 15 various types of ceramic or glass can be used. A groove 13 precisely worked is formed through a precise working operation on the retaining member 10. Since a step of forming the groove 13 by conducting the precise working operation upon the retaining member 10 requires much labor extremely, it is required to work with high accuracy the groove 13 by a step as simple as possible.
Recently, it is conducted to form a V-shaped groove by an etching operation by using a silicon substrate. As shown in FIG. 7(a), a heat oxide film is formed as masking 31 on the retaining member 10, made of a single crystal silicon plate-shaped body made to become a predetermined crystal bearing. As shown in FIG. 7(b), The resist 32 is patterned to remove the heat oxide film in a portion for forming the groove 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 7(c) the heat oxide film is etched using buffer fluorine to form an opening portion 33. As shown in FIG. 7(d), only a portion free from masking 31 is etched by conducting an anisotropy etching operation with the use of potassium hydroxide or the like. In addition, an etching operation is conducted along the V-shape along the crystal face of the silicon, so as to form the V-shaped groove 13. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7(e), the V-shaped groove 13 of a determined depth can be formed into high precision by the managing of the etching conditions.
The receiving light emitting element 22 is directly mounted, as shown in FIG. 7 (f), on the retaining member 10 made of silicon and the optical module can be constructed by retaining the optical fiber 20 in the groove 13.
In the retaining member 10 made of silicon shown in FIG. 7, there is a problem in that long time is required to work the groove 13 for etching operation. A plurality of grooves 13 different in depth cannot be formed at the same time due to formation of the groove 13 by an etching operation. For example, as is shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), two types of grooves 13 for retaining the optical fiber and the grooves 14 for guide pin inserting use cannot be formed in the same time. Since the etching operation can be conducted further along the crystal face in the etching operation of the silicon, a working operation can be conducted only in the V shape, preventing an angular groove or a round groove from being formed. A reinforcing plate is inconveniently required, because the retaining member 10 made of silicon is lower in strength.
In the retaining member 10 of ceramic or glass, much labor is required in working the groove 13, as aforementioned above, although the strength is high.
The optical element retaining member of this invention is characterized in that a plurality of convex portions made of ceramic, glass, silicon or the like are integrally spliced with each other on a substrate made of ceramic, glass silicon or the like, and optical elements such as optical fibers, optical semiconductor elements or the like are retained in the concave portions among the convex portions.
In the invention, the intervals of these convex portions are made concave for retaining the optical elements by integrated bonding operation of the convex portions in the predetermined position on the substrate, instead of shaving the concave portions such as grooves from the substrate. Thus, the etching and precise working operations are not necessary to be conducted. The concave portion of high precision can be formed by a simple step.
The optical elements of the invention are referred to as the general optical elements such as ferrules or the like for retaining lens, filter, mirror, optical isolator, optical fiber, in addition to the optical fibers and optical semiconductor elements. The concave portion of the invention indicates not only a groove, but also a position of shape lower than the surrounding.
According to the invention, a mixture material between powder such as ceramic, glass, silicon or the like, and a binder composed of a solvent and an organic filling material is filled into a mold having a concave portion for convex portion use. Then, an optical fiber retaining member is produced from a step of bonding and integrating the mixtures material with the substrate face composed of ceramic, glass, silicon or the like.
Therefore, the mixture material of the convex portion material is filled into a mold including the concave portion, for convex portion use, prepared in advance and the mixture is bonded and integrated on the substrate, so as to transfer the shape of the mold as they are on the substrate. Thus, when the mold is made in advance with high precision, it is possible to mold with high precision the convex portion and the concave portion formed between them.
The integral bonding operation of the convex portion and the substrate includes steps of filling the mixture material into the mold including the concave portion, having releasing, burning operations after fixedly adhering it onto the substrate, or steps of filling the mixture material into the mold, fixing it and then, releasing it, adhering it on the substrate, burning it, or steps of filling the mixture into the mold, fixing it and then, releasing, burning it, bonding it on the substrate or thermally adhering it. It is possible to use a method of bonding between the general glass or the ceramic.

Optical element retaining member and method of manufacturing same


A system for transmitting subchannel data over the same media as high speed data, especially DC balanced high speed data. A digital transmitter receives subchannel data and modulates it onto a subchannel carrier as the host signal in the preferred embodiment using frequency shift keying. The FSK subchannel carrier is added by superposition to the high speed data signal. Because of the ability to have very narrow bandwidths for the passbands of digital IF filters, the receiver is more sensitive and less susceptible to the need for tuning to accommodate manufacturing variations in the rise times of the high speed data signals.

In many large computer systems such as are found in banks, at credit card transaction processing centers, etc., huge amounts of data must be moved and stored. Typically, very large disk arrays are used to store the data and these disk arrays are connected to file servers. These type systems require of the server/disk connection high reliability, high speed, large throughput and large bandwidth since huge amounts of information are being processed and a system shutdown or slowdown adversely impacts customers (and possibly safety in the case of large air traffic control computer systems). Because these systems can be spread out over several buildings or even if all the servers and disk arrays are within the same building, the easiest way to interconnect all the servers and disk drives for maximum redundancy is through a local area network usually with a hub having drop lines connected to all servers, disk drives and other units. Because disks fail frequently and must be replaced by redundant disks, there is a large amount of management and control traffic that must go back and forth over the server/disk array connections and through the hub to the management and control process. This management and control traffic is necessary to determine which disks are on-line, where those disks are on the network, operational disk status, how many fans are still running (because when a fan fails, the disk it cools will probably be next), what servers are still operational, network fault status, network traffic conditions and statistics, etc.
Most if not all such digital data transmission systems require the bidirectional transmission of digital management and control data between nodes to collect data regarding the performance of the system and manage the various nodes, bridges etc. in the system. The out of band management and control data will be hereafter referred to as subchannel data.
There are many ways of modulating subchannel data onto a high speed digital signal, many of which are taught in a prior co-pending application of the assignee of the present application, which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, many of these prior art methodologies will only work in some systems and not in others. For example, modulating the subchannel data onto the clock by phase or frequency modulation will cause too much jitter in some systems, and also requires access to the high speed transmitter and receiver clock generation and clock recovery circuts. This is not possible in all cases, so a methodology that does not requires such access is preferred. The embodiments disclosed herein do not require such access. Amplitude modulation of the data with the subchannel modulation will not work in systems where digital buffers stand between the subchannel transmitter and the transmission media such as occurs where the high speed data media is fiber and a digital electronic-to-light media driver transducer is used to convert the digital high speed data to light signals.
Out of band management topologies get management data to and from the hub easily enough on separate network segments, which has its own set of problems described below. However, getting management and control data to and from the disk arrays in-band is more difficult. The management and control data sits in registers on a board in the disk array. In order to get this low speed, low priority data onto the high speed data path, special circuitry must be built in each disk array which interfaces these registers to the high speed data path. This circuitry functions to collect and format the management and control data into the type of data packets used in the high speed data path and to transmit these packets with the correct communication protocol to the hub. Since the management and control data does not consume an entire packet of the size used to send data on the high speed data path, some packet Space is empty and wasted. The need for this special circuitry to put the management and control data in the high speed data path makes the disk arrays more expensive and complex and placing management and control data in the high speed data packets wastes network throughput.
Some disk arrays store the management and control data on a separate disk drive which can be polled. However, this approach does not solve the problem of the need for special circuitry to get the management and control data into packets in the high speed data path and the resulting extra complexity and wasted throughput. It only allows time shifting thereby enabling transmission of the management and control data when network traffic volume is low and the throughput loss is not as significant. This time shifting is implemented by providing more storage capacity for the management and control data than is provided in the registers of the other prior art type disk arrays described above.
In some networks, management traffic is transmitted in-band by placing the management and control packets inside empty data packets and shipping these partially filled packets over the existing network connections between the server, hub and disk drives. This causes loss in throughput since the data packets are large and the management data does not fill the data packets entirely. This leads to wasted bandwidth. Further, arbitration by the management process to have one or more packets awarded to it for management traffic and to have access to the network so that transmissions to all servers and disk drive arrays of management messages consumes processing resources and network throughput unnecessarily.
One proposal has been made in the prior art to interleave special management and control packets in with the packet stream on the high speed data path to alleviate the above mentioned problem. However, this makes the design of the integrated circuits that implement the processing on the various network protocol layers more complex and difficult. So far this approach has been a commercial failure.
Another approach that has been tried in the prior art for transmission of management and control packets is to provide an entirely separate network for the management and control data such that each server and disk array is connected to the out of band management and control process running on a separate diagnostic processor by its own network segment. This substantially increases the wiring and connection cost of the system, especially in distributed systems, as every server and disk array must have an additional network segment connected thereto. In addition, each server and disk array uses a card slot for the management and control network card which adds to the expense, complexity and failure point count of each of these units.
A multiplexing approach that has been used in the prior art to send multiple television signals over the same media is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,105. This patent teaches receiving multiple video signals and translating each one to a different channel or subband and adding all the subband signals together to form a composite signal. The composite signal is then applied to the frequency control input of a VCO having a nominal frequency of 750 mHz. The output of the VCO is applied to one input of a pulse width modulator the other input of which receives an 18 gHz carrier. The pulse width modulator serves to key the 18 gHz carrier in accordance with the period of the signal from the VCO so that what is transmitted is a train of 18 gHz waves the width of each wave or "pulse" being set by the instantaneous period of the signal output from the VCO.
Another approach to implement a subchannel or auxiliary channel over a digital communication system is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,203 to Dragoo. This patent teaches an auxiliary channel implemented on a time division multiplexed carrier system by modulating the pulse repetition rate of the digital bitstream on the transmit side of the transaction. Each transceiver transmit section includes a FIFO shift register acting as a buffer. Modulation of the auxiliary channel data is carried out by varying the rate at which the digital information of the main channel is clocked out of the FIFO shift register at the transmitting end. The modulating signal varies the pulse repetition rate of a voltage controlled multivibrator which has its output coupled to the clock out input of the FIFO shift register and to a phase comparator of a phase lock loop. Data is clocked in using a clock signal derived from the incoming serial data stream. One drawback of this system is that the capacity of the FIFO can be exceeded if the clock out rate falls substantially behind the clock in rate because of the nature of the modulating signal during certain intervals.
Another approach which has been tried in the prior art is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,642 to Moses et al. This patent teaches sending digital data simultaneously with analog signals over the same media used by an analog signal communication system such as a telephone or television video. This is done by converting the digital data into very low power multifrequency signals consisting of fundamentals and harmonics. Although the harmonics are in the frequency range of the main signals, their low power does not cause substantial interference. Complicated filter arrangements at the receiver end separate out the harmonics and fundamentals that encode the digital signals and demodulation circuitry at the receiver decodes these frequencies back into digital data. This approach is not well suited to a system where the main data flow is digital and requires complex filtering and decoding arrangements at the receiver and is therefore unduly expensive and complex.
Another approach that has been tried in the prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,608 to Forsberg. This patent teaches a method of implementing a service channel over a fiber optic system line which carries high data rate, e.g., 34 megabits/sec, data encoded with a code the power spectrum of which is heavily suppressed for low frequencies. The low frequency section of the media bandwidth is used to transmit a service channel with a low bandwidth. The service channel signals are frequency modulated, and this frequency modulated signal carrying the service channel data is then used to pulse width modulate pulses forming the high speed data stream.
It is critical to note in fully understanding the invention that this Forsberg scheme only transmits high speed data in the RZ or return to zero format on the fiber optic media, and, if NRZ format high speed data is input to the pulse width modulator, the NRZ format high speed data is converted to RZ format high speed data for transmission on the fiber optic media by performing an AND operation with the clock, as shown in FIG. 5 (see Col. 3, lines 58-61). Either way, the RZ data is a stream of pulses (during logic 1 bit times only) that are pulse width modulated by the subchannel carrier signal. RZ format high speed data is not compatible with standard high speed data receivers designed in accordance with the Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet standards which are the network environments in which the various species of the invention disclosed herein are intended to work. Also, with RZ data, the number of transitions from one logic state to another is approximately double the number of transitions of NRZ data over the same number of bit times. Forsberg's system pulse width modulates each pulse representing a logic 1 so he gets perturbations of the time of crossing a reference voltage for both a rising edge and a falling edge of that pulse. With RZ data, if two consecutive logic 1's are followed by two consecutive logic 0's over four bit times, there will be a pulse with two transitions in each of the first two bit times (representing two consecutive logic 1's) and no pulses in the next two bit times. In contrast, with NRZ data for the same hypothetical, there will be a rising edge at the beginning of the first bit time and a falling edge at the end of the second bit time and no transitions during the third and fourth bit times.
The critical distinction is that NRZ data has a transition density which is variable over time depending upon the content of the data even if the data is D.C. balanced, while D.C. balanced RZ data does not have a variable transition density. RZ data is also incompatible with Fibre Channel networks. Since the subchannel information in Forsberg's system is expressed in the form of perturbations of the time of crossing the reference voltage on each transition of all logic 1 pulses, his system has a known and reliable number of transitions in which to send subchannel energy. Therefore, Forsberg does not have a variable transition density problem, and teaches no circuitry to deal with the fact that where pulse width modulation is in used to carry the subchannel information, transition density variations vary the magnitude of the subchannel signal at the receiver. Because RZ data is used exclusively in the Forsberg system as the data format on the media, a much stronger and nonvarying amplitude subchannel signal is available at the subchannel receiver which is easier to detect in the presence of noise.
Forsberg's system apparently was designed to work in telephony systems built by Ericsson (the assignee of the Forsberg technology) which are not transmitting One Gigabit digital data on a local area network. This conclusion can be drawn from the teachings at Col. 2. line 65 where the subchannel data rate is indicated to be 0.3-4 kHz, and Col. 3, line 6 where the FM modulated subchannel data signal is indicated to be 35-65 kHz, and from Col. 2, line 54 where the high speed bit rate is taught to be f0 and Col. 3, lines 21 and 22 where the clock rate is taught to be f0=1/T and Col. 3, lines 35-36 where the clock frequency is taught to be around 40 MHz.
The prior art subchannel transmitter described in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/063,633, filed Apr. 20, 1998, entitled SUBCHANNEL MODULATION SCHEME FOR CARRYING MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL DATA OUTSIDE THE REGULAR DATA CHANNEL solved these problems by using a form of pulse width modulation implemented by summing the high speed data with frequency shift keyed subchannel data modulated onto a carrier having a frequency that is much lower than the 1 GB high speed data. The frequency shift keyed carrier signal instantaneous amplitudes were added to the 1 GB data stream, but since the carrier frequency of the frequency shift keyed subchannel carrier was so much lower than the 1 GB data rate, the effect was as if a reference voltage level from which the logic 1 and logic 0 levels were measured was being changed at a slow rate relative to the high speed data rate. This raised and lowered the logic 1 and logic 0 levels of the high speed data in accordance with the lower frequency subchannel data, but these raised and lowered logic 1 and logic 0 levels were lost when the high speed data signal was passed through a digital buffer. However, the raised and lowered levels also changed the timing of zero crossings of the high speed data, so the subchannel data survived the digital buffer as pulse width modulation in the form of the perturbed timing of the zero crossings of the high speed data. Low pass filtering and pulse width demodulation techniques are used in the receiver to recover the subchannel data since the carrier frequency of the subchannel lies in the range of frequencies where the spectrum of the high speed data does not contain much energy since 8B/10B encoding or other DC balanced encoding schemes are used for the high speed data.
While this system works well, receiver sensitivity can be improved, and the subchannel transmitter and receiver can be made both smaller and cheaper by using digital techniques. The original subchannel receiver was relatively inexpensive since it was constructed with standard off the shelf ceramic filters that had a passband of about 110 kHz. Since these were readily available, they were inexpensive. However, that bandwidth is vastly greater than is needed to receive the relatively slow baud rate of the subchannel data. Thus, a need arose for a receiver design with a more narrow bandwidth that could be made more selective so as to reject more of the spurious noise in the frequency range of the subchannel signal. Narrower receiver passband characteristics allows subchannel signals with worse signal-to-noise ratios to be received.
Also, the original subchannel transmitter used an expensive numerically controlled oscillator and a high speed digital-to-analog converter and was not a one chip design so it was relatively expensive to build. The reason this particular analog design was selected was for flexibility purposes because it allowed the subchannel carrier frequency to be programmed. At that time, it was unclear what the subchannel carrier frequency should be to get best performance in the Fourier spectrum of the 8b/10b encoded high speed data. Certain GBICs and other third party vendor equipment that the subchannel signal had to pass through would attenuate the subchannel carrier more than other equipment. This was a problem because the subchannel carrier signals does not have much more power than the frequency components in the same frequency range caused by the 8b/10b encoded high speed data signal. The signal power of the subchannel carrier signal cannot be increased at will to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, because to do so causes greater pulse width modulation excursions which are interpreted in the high speed data receivers as jitter. Excessive jitter in the high speed data receivers can cause an intolerable bit error rate, and, in particularly bad cases, can cause loss of clock synchronization.
However, experience in actual operations in the field has brought to light the best frequency for the subchannel carrier. Further, the frequency deviation between the Mark and Space carrier frequencies that propagate best through the third party vendor components in the high speed signal path is better understood. Thus, there is a need for a subchannel transceiver design which can also be made both less expensive and smaller. Preferably, this subchannel transceiver is implemented as a one chip digital design with no programmability of the subchannel carrier frequency but a single chip is not absolutely required. Also, lack of programmability of the subchannel carrier frequency is not essential to the invention, and transceivers with programmable carrier frequencies are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto.
Further, with the prior subchannel transceivers, much attention had to be paid to adjusting the transmit levels of the analog frequency shift keyed subchannel signal to avoid causing excessive jitter and to compensate for manufacturing variations in the other components used in the high speed signal path. This need for scrutiny and adjustment for every installation is inconvenient and is labor intensive. Thus, a need has arisen for a subchannel transceiver structure with less of a requirement for adjustment at the site of the manufacturer of equipment into which the subchannel transceivers are included. However, since there are many analog systems still deployed in the field, any new subchannel transmitter and receiver structures for the subchannel data must be compatible with these legacy systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Digital subchannel transceiver for transmitting data


A battery voltage measuring system includes an analog/digital converter configured to receive a higher reference voltage and a lower reference voltage which is lower than the higher reference voltage and to outputs a digital output value based on an input voltage which is lower than the high voltage reference voltage and is higher than the low voltage reference voltage. A battery supplies a battery voltage as the higher reference voltage to the analog/digital converter; a first power supply supplies a first reference voltage as the input voltage to the analog/digital converter; and a second power supply supplies a second reference voltage as the lower reference voltage to the analog/digital converter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery voltage measuring system for measuring voltage of a battery mounted in a portable device. This Patent Application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-004274. The disclosure of the Japanese Patent Application is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable devices driven by cells or batteries have been known. The portable devices are such as a notebook-sized PC (Personal Computer), a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera, a digital video (digital video camera) and a portable audio device. In recent years, capabilities of the portable devices have been dramatically improved by accompanying downsizing and advancement of semiconductor devices built therein. In conjunction with this, a control of voltage of the battery built in the portable device (battery voltage) has become important to operate the portable devices stably. The precise battery voltage needs to drive the portable device with the battery for a long time. For this reason, a battery voltage measuring system for precisely measuring the battery voltage is demanded.
Hereinafter, a conventional battery voltage measuring systems will be described. Japanese Laid Open Utility Model Application (JU-A-Heisei 5-47871) describes a battery voltage detecting circuit as a first conventional example. Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 4-291820) describes an A/D conversion circuit for battery voltage detection as a second conventional example.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of the battery voltage detecting circuit 110 of the first conventional example. The battery voltage detecting circuit 110 has a power source 101, a battery 105 and an analog/digital (A/D) converter 106. The A/D converter 106 has a reference top terminal to which a higher reference voltage VRT is supplied, a reference bottom terminal to which a lower reference voltage VRB which is lower than the higher reference voltage VRT is supplied, an input terminal to which an analog input voltage VIN between the higher reference voltage VRT and the lower reference voltage VRB is supplied, and output terminals. The reference bottom terminal (VRB) is grounded. In other words, the lower reference voltage VRB is 0[V]. The A/D converter 106 generates a digital output value Dout1 as a result of comparison of a difference between a value of the input voltage VIN and the lower reference voltage VRB and a difference between a value of the higher reference voltage VRT and the lower reference voltage VRB and outputs the digital output value Dout1 through the output terminals thereof.
An anode of the battery 105 is connected to the reference top terminal (VRT) of the A/D converter 106, and a cathode of the battery 105 is grounded. Thus, a battery voltage Vbat is supplied from the battery 105 to the reference top terminal of the A/D converter 106 as the higher reference voltage VRT. An anode of the power source 101 is connected to the analog input terminal (VIN) of the A/D converter 106, and the cathode of the power source 101 is grounded. Thus, a reference voltage Vref1 is supplied to the input terminal VIN of the A/D converter 106 as the input voltage VIN. The A/D converter 106 generates the digital output value Dout1 as a result of comparison between a value of the battery voltage Vbat and the reference voltage Vref1 and outputs the digital output value Dout1. In this manner, the battery voltage detecting circuit 110 in the first conventional example detects the battery voltage Vbat by the digital output value Dout1 outputted from the A/D converter 106. A measurement range is limited to the state Vbat≧Vref1.
FIG. 2 shows a relationship between the battery voltage Vbat and the digital output value Dout1 in the battery voltage detecting circuit 110 of the first conventional example. Provided that resolution of the A/D converter 106 is of n bits, the digital output value Dout1 of the A/D converter 106 in the battery voltage detecting circuit 110 is obtained according to the following equation (1).
                              D                      out                                                                          1                          =                                            V                              ref                                                                                1                                                                                V                  bat                                -                0                                                              2                  n                                -                1                                              =                                    (                                                2                  n                                -                1                            )                                                                  V                                  ref                                                                                1                                                            V                bat                                                                        (        1        )            Here, the resolution is n and the reference voltage Vref1 are both constant, and the equation (1) becomes a linear fractional function having only the battery voltage Vbat as a variable. As shown in the equation (1), when the battery 105 discharges electricity (the portable device is driven by the battery 105), the digital output value Dout1 of the A/D converter 106 increases as the battery voltage Vbat decreases. As shown in the equation (1) and FIG. 2, as battery voltage Vbat decreases, an increase amount in digital output value Dout1 to a decrease amount in the battery voltage Vbat is larger.
FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 according to a second conventional example. The battery voltage detecting circuit 120 has power sources 102 and 103, the battery 105, the A/D converter 106 and a voltage divider 107.
The A/D converter 106 has the reference top terminal VRT to which the higher reference voltage VRT is supplied, the reference bottom terminal VRB to which the lower reference voltage VRB lower than the higher reference voltage VRT is supplied, the analog input terminal VIN to which the input voltage VIN between the higher reference voltage VRT and the lower reference voltage VRB is supplied, and the output terminals. The A/D converter 106 generates a digital output value Dout2 as a result of comparison of a difference between the input voltage VIN and the lower reference voltage VRB (Vref3) and a difference between the higher reference voltage VRT (Vref2) and the lower reference voltage VRB (Vref3) and outputs the digital output value Dout2 from the output terminals.
The voltage divider 107 has an input terminal, an output terminal and a ground terminal. The anode of the battery 105 is connected to the input terminal of the voltage divider 107, and the cathode thereof is grounded. Thus, the battery voltage Vbat is supplied to the voltage divider 107. The output terminal of the voltage divider 107 is connected to the analog input terminal (VIN) of the A/D converter 106. The voltage divider 107 generates a divided battery voltage xVbat obtained by dividing the battery voltage Vbat in a voltage division ratio x (0<x≦1) and supplies the divided battery voltage xVbat as the input voltage VIN to the A/D converter 106. The anode of the power source 102 is connected to the reference top terminal (VRT) of the A/D converter 106, and the cathode thereof is grounded. Thus, a reference voltage Vref2 as the higher reference voltage VRT is supplied to the A/D converter 106. The anode of the power source 103 is connected to the reference bottom terminal (VRB) of the A/D converter 106, and the cathode thereof is grounded. Thus, a reference voltage Vref3 as the lower reference voltage VRB is supplied to the A/D converter 106. In this case, the A/D converter 106 generates the digital output value Dout2 based on the divided battery voltage xVbat as a result of comparison of a difference between the divided battery voltage xVbat and the reference voltage Vref3 and a difference between the reference voltage Vref2 and the reference voltage Vref3 and outputs the digital output value Dout2.
In this manner, the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 according to the second conventional example detects the battery voltage Vbat from the digital output value Dout2 outputted from the A/D converter 106. The detection range is limited to a range of Vref3≦xVbat≦Vref2 or Vref3/x≦Vbat≦Vref2/x.
FIG. 4 shows a relation of the battery voltage Vbat and the digital output value Dout2 in the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 according to the second conventional example. Provided that resolution of the A/D converter 106 is of n bits, the digital output value Dout2 of the A/D converter 106 in the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 is obtained according to the following equation (2).
                              D                      out                                                                          2                          =                                                            xV                bat                            -                              V                                  ref                                                                                3                                                                                V                                      ref                                                                                2                                                  -                                  V                                      ref                                                                                3                                                                                2                  n                                -                1                                              =                                    (                                                2                  n                                -                1                            )                                                                                xV                  bat                                -                                  V                                      ref                                                                                3                                                                                V                                      ref                                                                                2                                                  -                                  V                                      ref                                                                                3                                                                                (        2        )            Here, the resolution n, the reference voltages Vref2 and Vref3 and the voltage division ratio x are constants, and the equation (2) becomes a linear fractional function having only the battery voltage Vbat as a variable. As shown in the equation (2), when the battery 105 discharges electricity (the portable device is driven by the battery 105), the digital output value Dout2 of the A/D converter 106 decreases as the battery voltage Vbat decreases. As shown in the equation (2) and FIG. 4, a decrease amount in the digital output value Dout2 to a decrease amount in the battery voltage Vbat becomes constant (linear fractional function).
As described above, to stably operate the portable device, it is important to control the battery voltage. Especially, in detection of the battery voltage, a voltage at the time when the battery has been used for long time so that it cannot discharge electricity (discharge end voltage) needs to be acquired. For this reason, it is desired to measure the battery voltage near the discharge end voltage with high accuracy.
However, to measure the battery voltage near the discharge end voltage, the battery voltage detecting circuit 110 according to the first conventional example requires an A/D converter having a high resolution. In this case, scale of circuit becomes large, resulting in an increase in power consumption.
In the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 according to the second conventional example, when the voltage division ratio x is made smaller to measure the battery voltage near the discharge end voltage with high accuracy, the measurement range of the battery voltage Vbat becomes larger. That is, as x in Vref3/x≦Vbat≦Vref2/x is smaller, Vref3/x and Vref2/x become larger. Furthermore, as measurement accuracy is made higher, the measurement range becomes smaller. Moreover, the battery voltage detecting circuit 120 requires the voltage divider 107 in addition to the A/D converter 106.
Further improvement is demanded in the battery voltage detecting circuits 110 and 120.


Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate to a single monolithic IC to perform simultaneous optogenetic neural inhibition and extracellular electrophysiological recording in-vivo. Some embodiments include a low input capacitance (e.g., 9.7 pF) amplifier particularly tailored for the use of high-impedance electrodes to conduct single neuron extracellular recording integrated with programmable high current drivers for optogenetic stimulation or inhibition on the same IC chip. Some embodiments use a noise model to guide the IC design process to obtain parameters for optimal signal-to-noise ratio. The performance of the IC chip was demonstrated on an anesthetized gerbil expressed with inhibitory optogenetic protein (Halorhodopsin). Spontaneous action potentials from the fifth nerve of the brainstem were recorded by the amplifier and were subsequently inhibited by laser illumination. As a result, various embodiments of the IC allow neuroscience research and neural engineering applications to be conducted in an entirely new direction and can potentially be used in treatments for human mental diseases in the future.

Electrophysiological recordings of action potentials in the brain have been one of the most important research tools for neuroscientists to decipher the function of neuronal circuits. This class of electronic recording techniques which uses conductive electrodes and low-noise precision amplifiers to monitor voltage signals in the brain gives researchers and neurosurgeons the ability to observe neural signals with great precision. In addition, recent advances in neural stimulation techniques, including direct current injection and activation of optogenetic light-sensitive proteins, make manipulating signals in the brain possible, With these external stimulation techniques, direct intervention of the functioning of neural circuitries can enhance, interrupt, or correct how neural signals are processed.
One such method that recently received much attention is the experimental manipulation of neuronal circuits with light (optogenetics) to control complex neuronal functions, including behavior. Optogenetics is a biomolecular technique in which DNA of light-sensitive ion channels can be introduced into neurons of interest. Light-sensitive ion channels will then be expressed and transported to the cell membrane by the native protein translation mechanisms of the cells. Once introduced into neurons, these light-sensitive ion channels can then be activated by light, and become permeable for either positive (kation) or negative (chloride) ions, depending on the type of optogenetic protein. For example, the blue-light (peaked at ˜480 nm) sensitive Channelrhodopsin (ChR) selectively allows positively charged ions to enter neurons and thereby stimulate the firing of action potentials. In contrast, the orange-light (peaked at ˜580 nm) sensitive Halorhodopsin (NpHR) is a chloride pump by which negatively charged chloride ions are pumped into neurons, inhibiting action potential firing.
Therefore, by choosing the type of optogenetic protein for transfection and the corresponding wavelength for a light source, action potentials can be selectively triggered or inhibited. In addition, cell type specificity within the neuronal target can be achieved by selecting different promotors, or using genetic approaches such as the Cre-Lox recombination technique. In comparison, controlling neuronal activity via electrical stimulation is much more limited, in that action potentials cannot be inhibited, and the electrical stimulation is not cell type specific. This kind of flexibility makes optogenetics the technique of choice to control neuronal circuits under various experimental conditions, and enables certain types of studies that used to be extremely difficult if not impossible. This technology also has the potential to be translated into future treatment options for neural disorders in human patients.

Integrated circuit for simultaneous electrophysiology recording and optogenetic neural control

The Regents of the University of Colorado


A medicament delivery system comprises a nebulizer device, an open-faced mist chamber-defining element having a tubular input/output port, a tubular inhalation port connecting to the output port of the mist chamber-defining element, and a sealed unit dose ampoule adapted to fit within the mist chamber-defining element. The nebulizer device includes an ultrasonic transducer responsive to applied electrical energy to generate ultrasonic energy, an ultrasonic transmission horn between an input energy surface at an input end and an energy delivery surface at an output end. The sealed unit dose ampoule can be placed directly into the nebulizer device and acts as both the dose cup and baffle, so that the chance of spillage of drug and the number of components to be cleaned are minimized.

Nebulizers are well known for dispensing medicament to the lungs of a patient for treating asthma, for example. A typical prior art nebulizer assembly for such therapeutic purposes includes a nebulizer which contains an electrically driven ultrasonic energy source and a dose cup acoustically coupled to receive ultrasonic energy from the source. A domed element is removably disposed over the dose cup, establishing a substantially closed mist chamber-defining element therein. An inhalation port extends from the domed element, permitting a user to inhale the contents of the mist chamber-defining element. The conventional practice of nebulizing an aqueous solution in ultrasonic (or jet) nebulizers, involves a first step of removing the domed element (permitting user access to the dose cup), followed by breaking an ampoule or vial containing the medicament, and introducing the contents into a dose cup or chamber. The domed element is then replaced, and the ultrasonic energy source is activated, whereby the ultrasonic energy is transmitted to the dose cup, where it nebulizes the medicament. A user may then inhale via the inhalation port, as desired.
The method of introducing the medicament to the dose cup involves prolonged handling of the medicament by the patient and therefore may lead to hygiene issues and volume loss due to spillage or incomplete emptying of the ampoule. A further issue is the number of components which require cleaning following nebulization—dose cup, domed element, inhalation ports of the inhalation port, for example.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved nebulizer apparatus and method which minimizes spillage of drug and the number of components to be cleaned.
Another object is to provide an improved nebulizer. Most conventional nebulizers allow free flow of air through a dose chamber during nebulization, which results in the exhalation of the patient forcing nebulized mist back into the dose chamber and device during exhalation. As a consequence, a large proportion of the dose condenses on the inside of the device and is therefore not delivered to the lung. It is another object of this invention to provide more efficient air control during inhalation and particularly exhalation, to significantly improve nebulizer performance.

Breath-enhanced ultrasonic nebulizer and dedicated unit dose ampoule


The invention comprises a user storage and display container for an individual compact disc (CD-audio, CD-ROM, CD-Interactive and others) which is constructed from a single prescored, precut and preprinted unitary blank or sheet. The container has a Disc Holder Panel that enables automated insertion of a compact disc directly down into the Disc Holder Panel which holds the disc at four points on its outer periphery without touching any part of the playable surface of the disc. The container allows display of the full face of the disc and allows easy removal of the disc from the container without the need for sliding the disc over any surface of the container, thereby eliminating any danger of scratching the disc. The container includes one or more Cover Panels to enclose and protect the disc.

Choices of containers for a compact disc up until now have been limited to containers constructed entirely of plastic, containers constructed partially of plastic, expensive "set-up" boxes which do not fold up flat before they are used and which require a great deal of hand operations for fabrication from paperboard and paper liners, or a variety of paperboard sleeves and folders which hide all or a significant part of the disc from view until the disc is removed from the container and which can potentially scratch the disc.
The container of choice for compact discs (CD's or CD-ROM's) for recorded music or computer data at this time is the plastic "jewel-box". Because the design of the jewel-box requires the panel holding the compact disc to grip the disc by outward pressure on the periphery of the center hole of the disc, and also requires clear, rigid top and bottom panels to allow visibility of printed inserts, the material used must be injection molded plastic of the polystyrene type.
The environmental concerns of some recording artists, record labels and CD-ROM publishers have created a desire and need for a compact disc container that is not constructed of plastics, and especially polystyrene, which have serious environmental impact in their manufacture and which, at this time are not practically recyclable when they break or are discarded. These problems are solved by the invention disclosed herein which can be constructed from recycled and recyclable paperboard.
Current alternatives to the plastic jewel-box include the AGI DigiPak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,812; December/1987; Kosterka, which uses the same method of gripping the disc as the jewel-box and therefore requires a plastic CD holder similar to the one used in the jewel-box. Further, this alternative adheres the plastic disc holder to a blank of paperboard, creating a mixed material container that is virtually not recyclable. The invention disclosed herein avoids the use of plastic in its construction and is recyclable.
Other alternatives to the plastic jewel-box include paperboard or card stock folders like Leverick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,318; February/1992: Kaplan et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,413; February/1987: and, Foreign patent number 2,278,594; February/1976; France and others where the disc, which frequently is decorated on its non-playing surface with designs, graphics or important information, is completely hidden or substantially hidden from view in a pocket. Further, these containers with pockets require insertion of the disc at the time of manufacture by expensive hand methods as opposed to automated insertion. Removal of the disc from a container with a pocket makes possible the scratching of the playing surface of the disc which is a more serious problem in regard to computer CD-ROM discs. All of these problems are eliminated in the invention disclosed herein, which allows display of the full surface of the disc, while holding it securely in a way that allows removal straight up and out of the container without the threat of scratching and enables automated loading directly down into the CD Holder Panel.


A muffler for an internal combustion engine having a housing with an inlet end with an inlet opening formed for a flow of exhaust gases into the housing and an outlet end with an outlet opening formed for a discharge of exhaust gases from the housing; at least a first chamber, a intermediate and a last chamber sequentially arranged within the housing, the intermediate chamber containing a deflection element; a pipe passing longitudinally through the first chamber so as to open at its downstream end into the intermediate chamber, thereby directing the exhaust gases toward the deflection element; and a perforated pipe extending through the last chamber, the perforated pipe having an upstream opening into the intermediate chamber and configured to channel the exhaust gas to the outlet opening. A sound-attenuating material is deployed in at least one of the first chamber, the intermediate chamber and the last chamber.

The present invention relates to sound-attenuating mufflers for internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to sound-attenuating mufflers generating reduced back pressure.
Numerous muffler constructions have been proposed for the attenuation of the sound component of an exhaust gas stream from an internal combustion engine. The present invention belongs to the group of low back-pressure sound-attenuating mufflers described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,623 and 6,776,257 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/170,443 to the present inventor and incorporated herein by reference.
The low back-pressure sound-attenuating mufflers of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,623 and 6,776,257 are well suited for sports cars.
There is therefore a need for a low back-pressure sound-attenuating muffler having a lower decibel output than the previous mufflers so as to be usable on regular passenger vehicles.

Sound-attenuating muffler having reduced back pressure


A method of initiating re-enumeration of a USB device without manual intervention is provided. The method involves a sequence emulating detachment and re-attachment of a device to the host while the device remains attached to the host. As the device remains attached to the host throughout the sequence, the host OS is manipulated to receive a plurality of preset device states in order for it to perceive a device change and to eventually initiate device enumeration. The sequence, which involves a series of command exchanges between the device and the host, may be initiated by a software application residing in the host upon an event requiring device enumeration.

Removable Universal Serial Bus (USB) data storage devices have gained popularity due to their large capacities and shrinking physical sizes which allow the devices to be portable. Multiple partitions may be provided of which one or more partitions may be secured to allow authenticated access to data stored in the secured partitions, while other partitions remain unsecured to allow unrestricted access to data stored therein.
At times, users of storage devices may need to modify their storage requirements. For example, users may need to modify a partition into two partitions. Each time a storage device is repartitioned, a host to which the device is connected to, e.g., a personal computer, is required to re-enumerate the device. Enumeration is automatic if the device is cold-plugged to the host. However, if the device is repartitioned while remaining connected to the host, the host is unable to automatically enumerate the device upon completion of repartitioning. Manual intervention, e.g., physically detaching the device from the host and re-attaching it, is required to initiate re-enumeration of the device.

Method for using host controller to solicit a command failure from target device in order to initiate re-enumeration of the target device


An electrical power circuit assembly including an insulated metal substrate (IMS) printed circuit board (PCB), a filter (PCB), and one or more bus bars disposed between the IMS PCB and the filter (PCB), the bus bar geometry configured to reduce the inductance between semiconductor power devices on the IMS PCB and capacitors on the filter PCB. For one embodiment, low profile bus bars are used between the IMS PCB and a fiberglass PCB. The fiberglass PCB has a plurality of filter capacitors electrically connected across the bus structure. The geometry and layout of the bus bars provides a connection from the IMS PCB to the fiberglass PCB with very low parasitic inductance between surface mounted semiconductor power devices on the IMS PCB and filter capacitors on the fiberglass PCB.

This invention pertains to power electronics design and manufacture.
IMS circuit board materials are comprised of a metal substrate, usually aluminum or copper with a typical thickness from 0.040″ to 0.125″. A thin insulating material is bonded to the substrate and a layer of copper foil is bonded to the insulating material.
The IMS material is processed into printed circuit boards in much the same way as a typical fiberglass PCB where a photo mask is applied to the copper foil and the unwanted copper is chemically etched away, leaving the desired traces and pads.
For high power applications, IMS printed circuit boards have only one usable layer and are only suitable for surface mount components. Fiberglass boards can have many layers and a mix of through-hole and surface mount components. When power semiconductor devices are soldered onto an IMS printed circuit board, very low thermal resistances from the power components to the metal substrate are had. In high power applications, the metal substrate is in turn mounted to a heatsink. Low thermal resistance enables higher power to be processed with less silicon die area, which translates to lower costs and higher volumetric power density. The soldered connection of power devices to the heat transfer surface is much more reliable than any mechanical clamping method. Also, robotic pick-and-place assembly methods can be used on IMS PCB's assemblies having large numbers of surface mount power devices.
There are, however, two problems with the IMS materials for high power applications. First, the mechanical strength of the bond between the copper and insulating material and insulating material and substrate is limited. This weakness precludes the use of physically large, soldered, surface mounted terminals to hold large cables. A typical prior art method uses multiple, low-current, surface mount connectors, pins or headers to make the transition to a fiberglass PCB where a single, high current, high mechanical strength termination can be made. Second, the metal substrate layer is typically used only for mechanical support and heat transfer. It is desirable in most switch mode power converter applications to have a low AC impedance DC bus which requires a two layer circuit board or other laminated bus assembly. The IMS material is limited by effectively having only one layer and moreover cannot except the larger through-hole electrolytic capacitors typically required to achieve a low AC impedance DC bus.
Another prior art method disclosed under U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,141 by Karlsson describes a method of using conductive metal tubes between an IMS PCB and a fiberglass PCB. Machine screws are inserted through clearance holes in a top fiberglass PCB, through the center of the metal tubes, through clearance holes in a bottom IMS PCB and are threaded into a heatsink. The method provides local clamping pressure, at the screw and tube locations, between the IMS PCB and the heatsink. The tubes also provide current paths between the fiberglass PCB and the IMS PCB and act as spacers between the two PCBs.
The invention disclosed by Karlsson is limited to conductive spacing and clamping elements having a specific tubular geometry. It is not clear from Karlsson's patent that the method of conducting current from one PCB to another PCB using a tubular spacer or standoff is claimed as novel, a method that was obvious and known prior to the Karlsson patent.
The new invention uses a novel geometry and assembly for conductive spacing and clamping elements which allow the clamping pressure between an IMS PCB and a heatsink to be distributed over a much greater surface area compared to the prior art. The new invention also enables very low current densities to be achieved at board-to-board connections and in board-to-board connectors compared to the prior art. Both characteristics are a direct result of the bus bar geometry disclosed in the new patent and a novel method of easily facilitating the incorporation of these bus bars.
Other prior art methods, including the Karlsson patent, do not provide a method of collecting or summing the currents in multiple conductors (tubes in the Karlsson case) into a higher current conductor. The prior art does not include a method of making high current connections to external power sources and loads to/from IMS substrates. Most importantly, prior art methods do not enable low AC impedance connections to be made from the semiconductor switching devices on the IMS PCB to filter capacitors or other components on a second PCB, a key requirement in high frequency power converters.
What is new and novel is an arrangement of a heatsink, an IMS printed circuit board with power semiconductors, bus bars of a specific geometry, a fiberglass printed circuit board with capacitors and a mechanical clamping method which together allow surface mount power semiconductor switching devices to optimize the superlative heat transfer properties of IMS materials and operate from a very low AC impedance DC bus, characteristics that were mutually exclusive in the prior art.
With this invention, the bus bars perform multiple functions by spreading the clamp force to provide low resistance electrical contacts with the PCBs, distributing the clamp force between the IMS board and the heatsink for enhanced heat transfer, acting as a spacer between PCBs, providing a means to interface external sources and loads with the IMS PCB, presenting low DC impedances to currents in the bus bars and providing a low AC impedance interface to circuit boards mounted to the bus bars.
What is old and known are the power circuit topologies used on the IMS printed circuit board and the control methods commonly used with these circuit topologies to perform power conversion.
What is old and known is how to form a low AC impedance DC bus on a fiberglass printed circuit board by using different layers as power planes for various DC bus poles.
What is old and known is the composition and characteristics of Insulated Metal Substrates (IMS) materials.
FIG. 1 shows a section view of the invention preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 shows the top view of the IMS printed circuit board referenced in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows the top view of the fiberglass printed circuit board referenced in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 shows the electrical schematic for the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated from an electromechanical perspective in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 shows a simplified schematic of the half-bridge circuit topology used for the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4.
FIG. 6 shows a simplified schematic for a half-bridge circuit topology that incorporates a bipolar DC bus.
FIG. 7 shows a simplified schematic for a full-bridge circuit topology intended for use with a mono-polar DC source.
FIG. 8 shows a simplified schematic for a full-bridge circuit topology intended for use with a bipolar DC source.
FIG. 9 shows a simplified schematic for a three-phase bridge circuit topology intended for use with a mono-polar DC source.
FIG. 10 shows a simplified schematic for a three-phase bridge circuit topology intended for use with a bipolar DC source.

High power density insulated metal substrate based power converter assembly with very low BUS impedance


A method and apparatus used by a communication system (100) to register communication system users which use service provider equipment. Multiple-user and special purpose single-user communication units (110) are provided and/or operated by service providers. MCUs (110) can be located on mobile vehicles or in fixed locations. The system along with MCUs (110) collect registration information and usage information for individual users (440) and individual MCUs (110). Service providers receive billing information concerning the usage of their MCUs (110) by communication system users. After communication system (100) registers each user whose registration information is contained within the at least one combined request message, communication system (100) provides communication services to each user and billing information services to the service provider for the communications service and the service provider furnishing the communications equipment.

A communication system user in a mobile communication system occasionally performs a service request procedure which can be used to inform the system of the communication system user's current location. Location registration is required to enable the system to contact the communication system user when an incoming communication attempt is destined for the communication system user. Location registration information is also useful for billing purposes. As the communication system user moves, the communication system user must occasionally re-register with the system.
The communication system users use various devices (e.g., a cellular telephone or pager) to communicate with other communication system users within the communication system. Each communication process involves an exchange of messages between the communication system user and the system. Registration is one of these communication processes. Each registration process involves an exchange of registration messages between the communication system user and the system. These registration messages contain only information concerning particular system users and do not contain any service provider information.
In existing cellular networks which use the "Global System for Mobile Communications" standards (referred to herein as GSM) for subscriber control and network behavior, no provision has been made to allow isolated local networks supporting more than one fixed telephone set to access a communication network using procedures for efficient resource utilization. Further, no provision has been made to allow service providers who operate and control these local networks to recover costs associated with providing these isolated local networks. These isolated local networks are generally so large that to allocate a radio access resource dedicated to each fixed telephone set would be economically and physically prohibitive.
The lack of service provider information is particularly trouble-some when groups of communication system users which are located on a mobile vehicle (e.g., communication units on-board an airplane) individually register with the system. Prior-art mobile group registration procedures require each communication system user to register individually with the system but provisions were not made to register service providers with the system. This lack of service provider information results in a large amount of non-revenue generating work which has to be performed to accurately identify and compensate the service providers.
Billing in GSM systems is based on the individual subscriber and not on the equipment being used. Under certain circumstances a provisioned subscriber may be constrained to, or prefer to use equipment owned by another agency. For instance, the use of a private mobile station might be prohibited on board a commercial airliner. However, the airliner might contain equipment which could be used for connection into the Public Land Mobile Network for a usage fee. If during use of the airliner equipment the previously provisioned subscriber would prefer to maintain his/her system identity (to provide a location for incoming calls, for instance) he/she might provide the previously provisioned Subscriber Information Module (SIM) to the airliner system. If this were to occur, the billing and settlement system would be able to identify the subscriber, but the service provider which provisioned the airline and the airline identification would be masked by the previously provisioned information on the SIM.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for billing individual members of a group of communication system users who are located in a mobile vehicle. Further needed is a method and apparatus to reduce the amount of non-revenue bearing work which has to be perform to accurately identify and compensate the service providers. What is also needed is a billing methodology which allows service providers to recover costs associated with providing user access to service provider furnished communications equipment.

Method and apparatus for providing billing services for a mobile group of communication system users


A system and method are disclosed for controlling an internal combustion engine in which actual concentration of combusted gas in the intake is compared with desired concentration of combusted gas in the intake. When a difference is detected, at least one of start of injection timing and quantity of fuel injected is adjusted in accordance with the difference. The actual concentration of combusted gas in the intake is estimated based on engine sensors such as an oxygen sensor coupled to an engine intake. The adjustment of injection timing and/or quantity of fuel is performed, according to some embodiments, during a transition between a low temperature combustion mode and a standard diesel combustion mode.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling an internal combustion engine.
2. Background Art
Faced with stricter emissions standards, new and increasingly sensitive combustion modes, e.g. low temperature combustion (LTC), have been developed to reduce the exhaust emissions of internal combustion engines. However, these combustion modes tend to be less robust than standard diesel combustion modes in regards to errors or deviations between the desired and actual composition of the intake gas. Such deviations are difficult to overcome during transient operating phases in which EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) rate and/or the intake pressure are commanded to change rapidly to accomplish the transition.
When actual FMAN (proportion of combusted gas in the intake on a mass basis) is less than desired FMAN, NOx emissions and combustion noise tend to be higher. When actual FMAN exceeds desired FMAN, combustion may become unstable, which can lead to loss of torque, increased fuel consumption, and increase emission of CO and unburned hydrocarbons.

Method for controlling an internal combustion engine