A cyclic amine compound represented by the following general formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel cyclic amine compounds which have inhibitory effects on both cell adhesion and cell infiltration and are useful as anti-asthmatic agents, anti-allergic agents, anti-rheumatic agents, anti-arteriosclerotic agents, anti-inflammatory agents, anti-Sjogren""s syndrome agents or the like, and medicines containing such compounds.
2. Description of the Background Art
In various inflammatory diseases, infiltration of leukocytes into inflammatory sites is observed. For example, infiltration of eosinophils into the bronchus in asthma (Ohkawara, Y et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 12, 4-12 (1995)), infiltration of macrophages and T lymphocytes into the aorta in arteriosclerosis (Sakai, A. et al., Arterioscler Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 17, 310-316 (1997)), infiltration of T lymphocytes and eosinophils into the skin in atopic dermatitis (Wakita, H. et al., J. Cutan. Pathol., 21, 33-39 (1994)) or contact dermatitis (Satoh, T. et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 27, 85-91 (1997)), and infiltration of various leukocytes into rheumatoid synovial tissue (Tak, PP. et al., Clin. Immunol. Immunopathol., 77, 236-242 (1995)), have been reported. Sjogren""s syndrome in humans is an organ-specific autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration into the salivary and lacrimal glands, resulting in symptoms of dry mouth and dry eye due to insufficient secretion (Fox RI et al.: xe2x80x9cSjogren""s syndrome: proposed criteria for classificationxe2x80x9d Arthritis Rheum 29, 577-585 (1986).
Infiltration of these leukocytes is elicited by cytokines, chemokines, lipids, and complements produced in inflammatory sites (Albelda, S M. et al., FASEB J., 8, 504-512 (1994)). Activated leukocytes adhere to vascular endothelial cells through an interaction called rolling or tethering with endothelial cells activated likewise. Thereafter, the leukocytes transmigrate through endothelium to infiltrate into the inflammatory sites (Springer, T A., Annu. Rev. Physiol., 57, 827-872 (1995)). In adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular endothelial cells in this process, various cell adhesion molecules such as an immunoglobulin superfamily (ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and the like), a selectin family (E-selectin and the like), an integrin family (LFA-1, VLA-4 and the like) and CD44, which are induced on the surfaces of the cells by stimulation by cytokines or the like, play important roles (xe2x80x9cRinsho Meneki (Clinical Immune)xe2x80x9d, 30, Supple. 18 (1998)), and a relationship between the disorder state and aberrant expression of the cell adhesion molecules is noted.
Accordingly, an agent capable of inhibiting cell adhesion or cell infiltration can be useful as an agent for preventing and treating allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma, dermatitis, rhinitis and conjunctivitis; autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, nephritis, Sjogren""s syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes and arteriosclerosis; and chronic inflammatory diseases. In fact, it has been reported that antibodies against adhesion molecules or leukocytes such as LFA-1, Mac-1 and VLA-4 on antibodies against ICAM-1, VCAM-1, P-selectin, E-selectin and the like on vascular endothelial cells, which become ligands thereof, inhibit infiltration of leukocytes into inflammatory sites in animal models. For example, neutralizing antibodies against VCAM-1 and VLA-4, which is a counter receptor thereof, can delay development of diabetes in an NOD mouse model which spontaneously causes the diabetes (Michie, S A. et al., Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol., 231, 65-83 (1998)). It has also been reported that an antibody against VLA-4 or ICAM-1 and its counter receptor, LFA-1, inhibits infiltration of eosinophils in a guinea pig and mouse allergic conjunctivitis model (Ebihara et al., Current Eye Res., 19, 20-25 (1999); Whitcup, S M et al., Clin. Immunol., 93, 107-113 (1999)), and a monoclonal antibody against VCAM-1 inhibits infiltration of leukocytes in a mouse DSS-induced colitis model to attenuate colitis (Soriano, A. et al., Lab. Invest., 80, 1541-1551 (2000)). Further, an anti-VLA-4 antibody and an anti-CD44 antibody reduce the incidence of disease symptoms in a mouse collagen arthritis model (Zeidler, A. et al., Autoimmunity, 21, 245-252 (1995)). Even in cell adhesion molecule deficient-mice, inhibition of infiltration of leukocytes into inflammatory tissues is observed likewise in inflammatory models (Bendjelloul, F. et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol., 119, 57-63 (2000); Wolyniec, W W. et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 18, 777-785 (1998); Bullard, D C. et al., J. Immunol., 157, 3153-3158 (1996)).
However, it is difficult to develop antibody-based drugs because they are polypeptides and so oral administration is a problem. Moreover, the possible side effects due to antigenicity and allergic reactions are problems.
On the other hand, there have been various investigations of low-molecular weight compounds having an inhibitory effect on cell adhesion with a view toward permitting oral administration. These compounds include benzothiophene derivatives (Boschelli, D H. et al., J. Med. Chem., 38, 4597-4614 (1995)), naphthalene derivatives (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-147568), hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-182550), lignans (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-67656), 2-substituted benzothiazole derivatives (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-086641 through PCT route), condensed pyrazine compounds (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-319277 through PCT route), 2,6-dialkyl-4-silylphenol (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-509070 through PCT route) and the like. However, the goal has not often been sufficiently achieved under the circumstances. Cyclic diamine compounds described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 9-143075 and 11-92382 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-271220 do not exhibit a sufficient inhibitory effect on cell adhesion, and so there is a demand for further improvement in activity.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substance having inhibitory effects on both cell adhesion and cell infiltration, plus excellent anti-asthmatic effects, anti-allergic effects, anti-rheumatic effects, anti-arteriosclerotic effects, anti-inflammatory effects and anti-Sjogren""s syndrome effect.
With the foregoing circumstances in mind, the present inventors carried out an extensive investigation to find a substance which inhibits cell adhesion and cell infiltration. As a result, we found that compounds represented by the general formula (1) having phenyl-pyridyl or biphenyl groups at both ends of the cyclic amine, have excellent cell adhesion-inhibiting effects and cell infiltration-inhibiting effects and are useful as anti-allergic agents, anti-asthmatic agents, anti-rheumatic agents, anti-arteriosclerotic agents or anti-inflammatory agents or anti-Sjogren""s syndrome agents.
The present invention provides a cyclic amine compound represented by the following general formula (1):
wherein,
R1,R2 and R3 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, or hydroxy, alkyl, halogen-substituted alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, carboxyl, alkoxycarbonyl or alkanoyl group;
W1 and W2 each independently represent N or CH;
X represents O, NR4, CONR4 or NR4CO;
R4 represents a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl, or substituted or unsubstituted heteroaralkyl group; and
l, m and n each represents a number of 0 or 1.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a medicine comprising the above cyclic amine compound, a salt thereof, or a hydrate thereof as an active ingredient.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising the above cyclic amine compound, the salt thereof, or the hydrate thereof and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided a method for treating a disease caused by cell adhesion and/or cell infiltration, which comprises administering an effective amount of the above cyclic amine compound, a salt thereof, or a hydrate thereof to a patient who requires such treatment.
The compound of the present invention is characterized in that the cyclic amine has two phenyl-pyridyl or biphenyl groups, or phenyl-pyridyl and biphenyl groups. It has not been known at all that compounds having such structure have both of excellent cell adhesion-inhibiting effects and cell infiltration-inhibiting effects.
In the general formula (1), the halogen atoms for R1,R2 and R3 include fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine atoms.
The alkyl group for R1, R2, R3 and R4 typically includes straight, branched or cyclic C1-C8 alkyl groups, such as straight or branched C1-C8 alkyl groups, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl and octyl groups, and C3-C8 cycloalkyl groups, for example, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexylmethyl and cyclohexylethyl groups. Among them, particularly preferred are C1-C6 alkyl groups such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl and the like.
The halogen-substituted alkyl group for R1, R2 and R3 typically includes C1-C8 alkyl groups substituted with 1 to 3 halogen atoms. Among them, particularly preferred are C1-C6 alkyl groups substituted with 1 to 3 halogen atoms, such as trifluoromethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, etc.
The alkoxy group typically includes straight, branched or cyclic C1-C8 alkoxy groups, such as straight or branched C1-C8 alkoxy groups, for example, methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy, pentyloxy and hexyloxy groups; and C3-C8 cycloalkyloxy groups, for example, cyclopropyloxy, cyclobutyloxy, cyclopentyloxy, cyclohexyloxyl, cyclohexylmethyloxy and cyclohexylethyloxy groups. Among them, particularly preferred are C1-C6 alkoxy groups such as methoxy, ethyoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy and n-butyloxy groups.
The alkylthio group typically includes C1-C8 alkylthio groups, and is preferably a C1-C6 alkylthio group such as, for example, methylthio, ethylthio, n-propylthio, isopropylthio or the like.
The alkoxycarbonyl group typically includes C1-C6 alkoxycarbonyl groups, and is preferably a C1-C6 alkoxycarbonyl group such as methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, tert-butoxycarbonyl or the like.
The alkanoyl group typically includes C1-C6 alkanoyl groups and is preferably a C1-C4 alkanoyl group such as acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, isobutyryl or the like.
The alkenyl group for R4 typically includes C3-C8 alkenyl groups and is preferably a C3-C6 alkenyl group such as 2-propenyl, 3-butenyl or the like. The alkynyl group typically includes C3-C8 alkynyl groups and is preferably a C3-C6 alkynyl group such as 2-propynyl, 3-butynyl or the like.
The aryl group for R4 typically includes C6-C14 aryl groups and is preferably phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, indenyl, indanyl, 5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthyl or the like. The heteroaryl group for R4 typically includes heteroaryl groups of 5- or 6-membered ring containing 1 to 4 nitrogen atoms in the ring, and is preferably imidazolyl, pyridyl, pyrimidinyl or the like. The aralkyl group typically includes C6-C14 aryl-C1-C6 alkyl groups such as phenyl C1-C6 alkyl groups and naphthyl C1-C6 alkyl groups, for example, benzyl, naphthylmethyl, phenylethyl, phenylpropyl, etc. The heteroaralkyl group typically includes 5- or 6-membered ring heteroaryl containing 1 to 4 nitrogen atoms-C1-C6 alkyl groups, such as imidazolylxe2x80x94C1-C6 alkyl, pyridyl-C1-C6 alkyl, pyrimidinyl-C1-C6 alkyl, etc.
The groups which can substitute the above-mentioned aryl, heteroaryl, aralkyl and heteroaralkyl include 1 to 3 groups or atoms selected from alkyl, alkoxy, halogen-substituted alkoxy, alkylthio, halogen, nitro, amino, acetylamino, trifluoromethyl and alkylenedioxy, wherein said alkyl, alkoxy and alkylthio include those illustrated for R1xcx9cR3. The halogen-substituted alkoxy includes C1-C8 alkoxy groups substituted by 1 to 3 halogen atoms, and is preferably a C1-C6 alkoxy group substituted by 1 to 3 halogen atoms such as trifluoromethoxy or 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy. The alkylenedioxy group typically includes C1-C3 alkylenedioxy groups such as methylenedioxy, ethylenedioxy and propylenedioxy groups.
Preferably, X represents NR4. More preferably, X represents NR4 and R4 represents a substituted or unsubstituted C6-C14 aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted 5- or 6-membered ring heteroaryl group containing 1 to 4 nitrogen atoms in the ring. The compounds of the formula (1) wherein X represents NR4 have particularly strong cell adhesion-inhibiting action as shown later in Test Example 1.
Preferably, R1, R2 and R3 are attached to the phenyl group at the 3, 4 and 5-positions thereof. In this case, it is more preferable that R1 and R3 (at the 3- and 5-positions of the phenyl ring) are an alkoxy group. It is also preferable that R2 (at the 4-position of the phenyl ring) is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, or a hydroxy, alkyl, halogen-substituted alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, carboxy, alkoxycarbonyl or alkanoyl group. 1 denotes 0 or 1, and is preferably 1.
Preferably, W1 represents N.
Preferably, W2 represents N.
Most preferable compounds include the compounds of the formula (1), wherein X represents NR4, R4 represents a substituted or unsubstituted C6-C14 aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted 5- or 6-membered ring heteroaryl group containing 1 to 4 nitrogen atoms in the ring and W2 represents N.
No particular limitation is imposed on the salts of the compounds (1) according to the invention as long as they are pharmaceutically acceptable salts. Examples include the acid-addition salts of mineral acids, such as hydrochlorides, hydrobromides, hydroiodides, sulfates and phosphates; and acid-addition salts of organic acids, such as benzoates, methanesulfonates, ethanesulfonates, benzenesulfonates, p-toluenesulfonates, oxalates, maleates, fumarates, tartrates, citrates and acetates.
The compounds of formula (1) may be present in the form of solvates typified by hydrates, and the solvates are embraced in the present invention.
The compounds of formula (1) can be prepared in accordance with the following processes Axcx9cJ:
Process A: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0, n=1 and X=CONR4
wherein, W1, W2, R1, R2, R3 and R4 are as defined above, W3 has the same meaning as W1 or W2, and B denotes a leaving group such as a halogen atom, or methanesulfonyloxy or p-toluenesulfonyloxy group.
Compound (2) and an N-(2-nitro)benzenesulfonylamine derivative (3) are reacted to give compound (4). The resulting compound (4) is treated with thiophenol in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate to eliminate the 2-nitrobenzenesulfonyl group, thereby giving amine compound (5). Alternatively, when R4 is H, it is possible to react compound (2) with potassium phthalimide and then treat the resulting phthalimide derivative (6) with hydrazine to give the corresponding amine compound (5).
On the other hand, compound (2) is reacted with ethyl isonipecotate (7) in a solvent such as acetonitrile, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), tetrahydrofuran (THF), dioxane, toluene, benzene, etc. in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature overnight, to give compound (8). The compound (8) is subjected to a usual alkaline hydrolysis to give the corresponding carboxylic acid compound (9).
The carboxylic acid compound (9) is reacted with the amine compound (5) using a dehydration condensing agent such as 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (water-soluble carbodiimide), 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU) or the like in a solvent such as chloroform, dichloroethane, THF, dioxane, acetonitrile, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 12 hours, to give an end product (1A).
Process B: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m =0, n=1 and X=O
wherein, B, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and J denotes a protecting group such as benzyloxycarbonyl, tert-butoxycarbonyl, acetyl, benzoyl or benzyl group. Incidentally, in the reaction schemes shown above and below, the expression xe2x80x9c(W2xe2x86x92W1)xe2x80x9d following the term xe2x80x9ccompound(2)xe2x80x9d means that W2 in the formula representing compound (2) is changed to W1.
4-hydroxypiperidine compound (10) with a protected amino group is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of sodium hydride or potassium iodide in a solvent such as DMF, DMSO, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 2 days, to give compound (11). The protecting group in the compound (11) is removed in a known manner. The resulting compound (12) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give an end product (1B).
Process C: Preparation of the Compound of the formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0, n=0, X=NRCO4 and R4=H or Me
wherein, B, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes a hydrogen atom or methyl group.
Isonipecotamide (13) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate or the like in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (14). The compound (14) is subjected to Hofmann rearrangement reaction to give amine compound (15).
On the other hand, by subjecting the compound (14) to Hofmann rearrangement reaction in ethanol, carbamate compound (16) is obtained. Then, by subjecting the compound (16) to a reduction reaction using lithium aluminum hydride, methylamine compound (17) is obtained.
By reacting carboxylic acid compound (18) with the amine compound (15) or methylamine compound (17) similarly to the condensation reaction in Process A, an end compound (1C) is obtained.
Process D: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0, n=1 and X=NR4
wherein, B, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl or heteroaralkyl group.
The amine compound (15) mentioned in the above is reacted with 2-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride (19) according to a known manner to give compound (20). The compound (20) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (21). The benzenesulfonyl group of the compound (21) is removed similarly to the procedure for the compound (4) in Process A to give an end compound (1D) (R4=H). The compound (1D) is reacted with R4xe2x80x94B in the presence of a base such as sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate or the like in a solvent such as acetonitrile, THF, dioxane, chloroform, dichloromethane, DMF, DMSO or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at 80xc2x0 C. for 12 hours, to give compound (1Dxe2x80x2).
On the other hand, the methylamine compound (17) is reacted compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give an end compound (1Dxe2x80x3) (R4=Me).
Process E: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0 or 1, n=1 and X=NR4,
wherein, B, J, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl or heteroaralkyl group.
Aminopiperidine derivative (22) in which the amino group on the ring is protected is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (23). The compound (23) is reacted with R4xe2x80x94B in the presence of a base such as sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate or the like in a solvent such as acetonitrile, THF, dioxane, chloroform, dichloroethane, DMF, DMSO or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at 80xc2x0 C. for 12 hours, to give compound (24). After removal of the protecting group, the compound (25) is reacted compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (1E).
Process F: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0, n=1 and X=NR4,
wherein, B, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group.
4-piperidone ethylene ketal (26) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (27), which in turn is deketalized by using an acid to give ketone compound (28).
On the other hand, 4-piperidone (29) is reacted compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane or the like at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (28). Using the compound (28), amine compound (30) can be prepared according to either of the following two synthesis processes: Synthesis process 1: The compound (28) is reacted with an amine compound of the formula: R4xe2x80x94NH2 in the presence of molecular sieves in toluene or benzene at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at reflux temperature for 12 hours, followed by reaction with a reducing agent such as sodium borohydride or sodium cyanoborohydride at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several minutes to several days, preferably at room temperature for 1 hour, to give the amine compound (30). Synthesis process 2: The compound (28) is reacted with an amine compound of the formula: R4xe2x80x94NH2 in the presence of a reducing agent such as sodium triacetoxy boron hydride in a solvent such as dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, methanol, ethanol, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several minutes to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give the amine compound (30).
The resulting compound (30) is reacted compound (2) in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give an end product (IF).
Process G: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=1, m=0, n=1 and X=NR4
wherein, B, J, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group.
4-piperidone derivative (31) in which the amino group on the ring is protected is reacted with an amine compound R4xe2x80x94NH2 similarly to the procedure for preparation of compound (30) in Process F to give compound (32). The compound (32) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (33). After removal of the protecting group from the compound (33), the resulting compound (34) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give an end product (1G).
Process H: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=0, m=0, n=l and X=NH
wherein, B, J, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above.
3-aminopyrrolidine derivative (35) with a protected amino group on the ring is reacted with 2-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride (19) under usual conditions to give a benzenesulfonyl derivative (36). The derivative (36) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (37). The protecting group of the amino group is removed from the compound (37) to give compound (38), which in turn is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (39). By subjecting the compound (39) to a reaction similar to that in the preparation of compound (5) in Process A, an end product (1H) is obtained.
Process I: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein l=0, m=0, n=1 and X=NR4
wherein, B, J, W1, W2, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined above, and R4 denotes an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl or aralkyl group.
Compound (36) is reacted with R4xe2x80x94B in the presence of a base such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, etc. in a solvent such as acetonitrile, THF, dioxane, chloroform, dichloroethane, DMF, DMSO, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at 80xc2x0 C. for 12 hours, to give compound (40). The amino-protecting group is removed from the compound (40), and the resulting compound (41) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give compound (42). By subjecting the compound (42) to a reaction similar to that in the preparation of compound (5) in Process A, compound (43) is obtained. The compound (43) is reacted with compound (2) in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate in a solvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO, THF, dioxane, etc. at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several hours to several days, preferably at room temperature for 4 hours, to give an end product (1I).
Process J: Preparation of the Compound of the Formula (1) wherein R2=OH
wherein, X, W1, W2, R1, R3, l, m and n have the same meanings as initially defined.
By reacting methoxy compound (1J) with iodotrimethylsilane in a solvent such as toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane, etc. at a temperature between xe2x88x9225xc2x0 C. and a reflux temperature for several minutes to several days, preferably at 0xc2x0 C. for 2 hours, there can be obtained an end product (1Jxe2x80x2).
The compounds (1) according to the present invention are obtained by any of the above-described processes and may further be purified by using an ordinary purification means such as recrystallization or column chromatography as needed. As needed, the compounds may also be converted into the desired salts or solvates in a method known per se in the art. When the compounds (1) have an asymmetric carbon atom, the present invention includes any configurational isomers.
The compounds (1) according to the present invention, or salts or solvates thereof thus obtained have an excellent inhibitory effect on cell adhesion as demonstrated in the examples, which will be described subsequently, and are useful as medicines for treatment and prevention of diseases of animals including humans, caused by cell adhesion or cell infiltration, for example, asthma, allergy, rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, inflammation, Sjogren""s syndrome, etc.
The medicine according to the present invention comprises a compound (1), a salt thereof, or a solvate thereof as an active ingredient. The form of administration may be suitably selected as necessary for the therapeutic application intended without any particular limitation, including oral preparations, injections, suppositories, ointments, inhalants, eye drops, nose drops and plasters. A composition suitable for use in these administration forms can be prepared by blending a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in accordance with the conventional preparation method publicly known by those skilled in the art.
When an oral solid preparation is formulated, an excipient, and optionally, a binder, disintegrator, lubricant, colorant, a taste corrigent, a smell corrigent and the like are added to compound (1) and the resulting composition can be formulated into tablets, coated tablets, granules, powders, capsules, etc. in accordance with methods known in the art.
As such additives described above, any additives may be used which are generally used in the pharmaceutical field. Examples include excipients such as lactose, sucrose, sodium chloride, glucose, starch, calcium carbonate, kaolin, microcrystalline cellulose and silicic acid; binders such as water, ethanol, propanol, simple syrup, glucose solution, starch solution, gelatin solution, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl starch, methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, shellac, calcium phosphate and polyvinyl pyrrolidone; disintegrators such as dry starch, sodium alginate, agar powder, sodium hydrogencarbonate, calcium carbonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, monoglyceryl stearate and lactose; lubricants such as purified talc, stearic acid salts, borax and polyethylene glycol; and taste corrigents such as sucrose, orange peel, citric acid and tartaric acid.
When an oral liquid preparation is formulated, a taste corrigent, buffer, stabilizer, smell corrigent and/or the like are added to compound (1) and the resulting composition can be formulated into internal liquid preparations, syrup preparations, elixirs, etc. in accordance with methods known in the art. In this case, vanillin as the taste corrigent, may be used. As the buffer, sodium citrate may be mentioned. As examples of the stabilizer, tragacanth, gum arabic and gelatin may be mentioned.
When an injection is formulated, a pH adjustor, buffer, stabilizer, isotonicity agent, local anesthetic and the like may be added to compound (1) according to the present invention, and the resultant composition can be formulated into subcutaneous, intramuscular and intravenous injections in accordance with methods known in the art. Examples of the pH adjustor and buffer in this case include sodium citrate, sodium acetate and sodium phosphate. Examples of the stabilizer include sodium pyrosulfite, EDTA, thioglycolic acid and thiolactic acid. Examples of the local anesthetic include procaine hydrochloride and lidocaine hydrochloride. Examples of the isotonicity agent include sodium chloride and glucose.
When a suppository is formulated, a carrier preparation known in the art, for example, polyethylene glycol, lanoline, cacao butter, fatty acid triglyceride or the like, and optionally, a surfactant such as Tween (trade mark) and the like are added to the compound (1), and the resultant composition can be formulated into suppositories in accordance with methods known in the art.
When an ointment is formulated, a base material, stabilizer, wetting agent, preservative and the like, which are generally used, are blended with compound (1) as needed, and the resulting blend is mixed and formulated into ointments in accordance with known method known methods. Examples of the base material include liquid paraffin, white vaseline, bleached beeswax, octyldodecyl alcohol and paraffin. Examples of the preservative include methyl p-hydroxybenzoate, ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate and propyl p-hydroxybenzoate.
Besides the above preparations, inhalants, eye drops and nose drops may also be formulated in accordance with known methods.
The dose of the medicine according to the present invention varies according to the age, weight and condition of the patient to be treated, the administration method, the number of times of administration, and the like. It is however preferred that the medicine is generally orally or parenterally administered at once or in several portions in a dose of 1 to 1,000 mg per day in terms of compound (1), for an adult.

Cyclic amine compounds and pharmaceutical composition containing the same

Abstract: wherein,

Abstract: R1, R2 and R3 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or an alkoxy group;

Abstract: W1 an W2 each independently represent N or CH;

Abstract: X represents O, NR4, CONR4 or NR4CO;

Abstract: R4 each independently represents a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, aralkyl, or heteroalkyl group; and

Abstract: l, m and n each represents a number of 0 to 1, a salt thereof and a hydrate thereof are provided.

Abstract: These compounds have inhibitory effects on both cell adhesion and cell infiltration and are useful as anti-asthmatic agents, anti-allergic agents, anti-rheumatic agents, anti-arteriosclerotic agents, anti-inflammatory agents, anti-Sjogren""s syndrome agents or the like.


A method and apparatus for assembling component parts of a product manufactured by assembling a plurality of kinds of component parts coaxially. First, component parts of one kind are held by a reference jig and component parts of another kind by a superposing jig. Then, the component parts held by the superposing jig are made to approach the component parts held by the reference jig and are fitted thereto by being pushed in by pushers, while the superposing jig is being guided through insertion of guide rods disposed on the reference jig into respective guide holes provided in the superposing jig such that the axis of each component part held by the superposing jig is aligned with the axis of each component part held by the reference jig, to thereby form subassemblies. Finally, component parts of still another kind held by another superposing jig are assembled to the subassemblies in a manner similar to the second step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for assembling component parts of products manufactured by assembling a plurality of component parts coaxially.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing products by assembling a plurality of component parts coaxially, e.g., in manufacturing motors by assembling various component parts such as a stator and a rotor in a yoke, jigs are generally used to assemble the various component parts.
Conventionally, in the case of motors, for instance, after individual parts such as stators and rotors are fabricated, the individual parts are fetched separately for each kind, and are assembled by means of jigs provided independently for each kind of component parts. That is, with the conventional method and apparatus for assembling component parts, the jigs for assembling the component parts as well as the assembling processes are made independent of each other and, hence, lacked interrelatedness in the operation.
For this reason, it has been difficult to set the assembling processes in a continuous manner and assemble a plurality of products simultaneously, so that there has been the problem that the operational efficiency in assembly is poor.

Method and apparatus for assembling component parts


To feed stably fuel through a fuel injection valve for a long period and to stabilize pressure controlling characteristics of a fuel pressure controlling valve, a fuel case is partitioned to form a fuel introduction chamber, a pump receiving chamber and a fuel discharge chamber. A fuel pump is received in the pump receiving chamber, an intake passage thereof communicates to the fuel introduction chamber and a discharge passage is opened to the inside of a filter in fuel discharge chamber. Fuel discharged from the fuel pump is fed into the inside of the filter from the discharge passage and clean fuel is fed into a cleaned fuel discharge chamber. The clean fuel within the cleaned fuel discharge chamber is fed from a fuel discharge passage to a fuel distribution pipe and fed from a fuel introduction passage of the fuel pressure controlling valve to the fuel chamber thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injector for increasing a pressure of fuel within a fuel tank by a fuel pump and feeding the boosted fuel through a fuel injection valve arranged in a fuel distribution pipe.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
A fuel injector is composed of a throttle body, a fuel distribution pipe provided with a fuel injection valve, a fuel pump, a fuel pressure controlling valve, a filter and the like. Among these components, the fuel pump, the fuel pressure controlling valve and the filter as a fuel pressure increasing portion, a fuel pressure controlling portion and a fuel filtering portion respectively, are received and disposed in a single fuel case in view of the mountability to a vehicle, assembling property and compactness. For example, this is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-108700 applied by the present applicant.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel feeding device for a fuel injector in which a fuel pump, a fuel pressure controlling valve and a filter are arranged in a single fuel case, that can stably feed an accurately measured fuel for a long period of time through a fuel injection valve and stably control the pressure controlling characteristics of the fuel pressure controlling valve for a long period of time.
In a fuel feeding device for a fuel injector according to the present invention, in order to attain the above mentioned objects, a fuel case is partitioned to form, from one side to the other, a fuel introduction chamber, to which a fuel introduction passage is opened, a pump receiving chamber for receiving a fuel pump, and a fuel discharge chamber, to which a fuel discharge passage is opened and which receives a filter; an intake passage of the fuel pump disposed in the pump receiving chamber is opened to the fuel introduction chamber and a discharge passage of the fuel pump is in direct communication with an inside of the filter disposed in the fuel discharge chamber; a fuel pressure controlling valve is partitioned into a spring chamber and a fuel chamber by a diaphragm, a fuel introduction passage is opened to the fuel chamber, and a fuel return passage that is opened and closed by a valve that moves synchronously with the diaphragm is opened to the fuel chamber; an upstream of the fuel introduction passage of the fuel pressure controlling valve and an upstream of the fuel discharge passage are disposed to be opened in a cleaned fuel discharge chamber formed by an inside of the fuel discharge chamber and an outside of the filter; the fuel chamber of the fuel case is in communication with the fuel tank and the fuel discharge passage of the fuel case is in communication with a fuel distribution pipe provided with a fuel injection valve; the fuel return passage is in communication with a fuel tank through a pump receiving chamber and a discharge passage.
Fuel in the fuel tank is sucked into the fuel pump through a fuel introduction passage provided in the fuel case and a suction passage of the fuel pump, and the fuel whose pressure has been boosted by the fuel pump is fed directly from the discharge passage of the fuel pump to the inside of the filter received and disposed in the fuel discharge chamber. A foreign matter in the fuel is removed by the filter and the cleaned fuel discharge chamber formed by the inside of the fuel discharge chamber and the outside of the filter is thus filled with the clean fuel. Then, a part of the clean fuel in the cleaned fuel discharge chamber is fed into the fuel chamber of the fuel pressure controlling valve through the fuel introduction passage of the fuel pressure controlling valve and the remaining part of the clean fuel in the cleaned fuel discharge chamber is fed to the fuel distribution pipe through the fuel discharge passage.


Described herein are representative embodiments of amplifier bypass paths and amplifiers using such bypass paths. In certain exemplary embodiments, the amplifiers are operated as linear power amplifiers, such as may be used in wireless communications systems. According to one exemplary embodiment, an amplifier circuit is described comprising an amplifier path coupled between a first node and a second node. The amplifier path comprises one or more amplifiers. The circuit further comprises a bypass path coupled between the first node and the second node. The bypass path comprises two impedance inverting networks and a ground path that is selectively coupled to the bypass path at a third node located between the two impedance inverting networks. In this embodiment, the third node is configured to remain coupled to the two impedance inverting networks when the ground path is coupled to the bypass path.

In the past two decades, the market for wireless communication systems has shown unprecedented growth. In addition to the widespread proliferation of mobile phone services, wireless local area networks (WLANs) operating according to wireless standards such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, and IEEE 802.16 are becoming more common. As the popularity of wireless systems increases, so does the demand for improved performance in the wireless transceivers supporting such systems.
One of the components in a wireless transceiver that can affect performance, particularly battery life and talk time, is the power amplifier. In general, power amplifiers for mobile transceivers can be divided into two groups: linear and saturated (non-linear). Generally speaking, a power amplifier operating in linear mode (referred to as a linear power amplifier) produces an output waveform having amplitudes that are directly proportional to the input waveform. Typically, the gain of this class of power amplifier remains fixed during operation and the output power is varied by varying the amplitude of the input waveform. For instance, a linear power amplifier may be preceded by a variable-gain amplifier (VGA). Linear amplification is typically used in transceivers to support signal processing methods such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wide-band CDMA (W-CDMA), and Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE) processing.
Power amplifiers operating in non-linear (saturated) mode (referred to as saturated power amplifiers) do not produce output waveforms that are directly proportional to the input waveforms. Instead, the output stage is driven on and off between a saturated state and an off state. Thus, a saturated power amplifier effectively operates as a switch and can be much more efficient than a linear amplifier. The output power in a saturated power amplifier generally varies with the supply voltage. Accordingly, for this class of power amplifier, the input power is typically fixed and either the supply voltage or the transistor bias voltages are varied to control gain, and thus the output power. Saturated power amplifiers are typically used in transceivers to support signal processing methods such as Group Speciale Mobile (GSM).
Because of the mobile nature of many wireless devices, the power amplification required for proper transmission is not necessarily constant. The power required for proper transmission is typically dependent on factors such as the distance of the handset to the corresponding base station or local terrain, and thus varies as the handset is transported from location to location. Consider, for example, a typical CDMA and GSM handset used in a cellular telephone network. Typical CDMA handsets are desirably capable of producing output powers of up to about +28 dBm, and typical GSM handsets are desirably capable of producing outputs power of up to about +34.5 dBm. The average output power that is necessary for such handsets, however, is far less than this maximum, and is generally closer to 0 dBm.
Further, GSM power amplifier modules are typically implemented with a controller (for example, a CMOS controller) used to modulate either the supply voltage or the base bias voltages in order to vary the gain of the amplifiers. A typical CMOS controller reduces excess voltage by dissipating it resistively. Consequently, lower-power operation can be very inefficient. For example, a typical saturated power amplifier with an efficiency of 55% at maximum output power is only about 24% efficient when the output power is reduced by 6 dB. Efficient operation at multiple power levels down to 0 dBm is therefore desirable for both linear and saturated amplifier applications, particularly for battery operated, mobile devices.
Conventional methods of implementing multi-power-mode amplifier functionality have traditionally involved complex switching arrangements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,359 describes a multiple power mode power amplifier having a bypass circuit with a first bypass delay line having a line length of a quarter wavelength and a second bypass delay line having a line length of a quarter wavelength. The described bypass circuit further includes a switch circuit having three on-off contact switches. In particular, the switch circuit has a first on-off contact interposed between the bypass delay lines, a second on-off contact interposed between a grounding line and the connection between one side of the first contact and the first bypass delay line, and a third on-off contact interposed between a grounding line and the connection between another side of the first contact and the second delay line. When the first on-off contact is opened, the second and third contacts are closed, and when the first on-off contact is closed, the second and third contacts are opened. This complex switching arrangement completely isolates the bypass delay lines from one another during high-power operation by breaking the signal path through the switching circuit. The switch circuit and corresponding control circuitry, however, require significant amounts of hardware to implement this functionality. Moreover, the lengths of the bypass delay lines in the described design also require significant amounts of area in the overall design. Accordingly, the overall area required to implement the described bypass circuit is undesirably large, especially in view of today's demand for smaller power amplifier sizes. Further, in low-power operation, the switch circuit continuously draws a current in order to close the first on-off contact. Consequently, the switch circuit will exhibit undesirable power dissipation in low-power operation.
International Publication No. WO 03/065598 A1 describes a power amplifier having a variable gain amplifier, a first impedance matching unit, a second impedance matching unit, a power stage, a power stage output matching unit, an impedance transformer, and a switch. The switch in the described power amplifier is connected in parallel to the power stage to bypass the power stage according to the mode determined by the output power level. In high output power mode, the switch is closed and the first impedance matching unit and the second impedance matching unit are interoperated to constitute an interstage matching circuit. Thus, in the high output power mode, the second impedance matching unit and the path to ground created by closure of the switch are used as part of the interstage impedance match. The impedance and phase shift through the second impedance matching unit are thus constrained by matching requirements at the node where the bypass path begins.
Other multi-mode power amplifiers use bypass paths that exclude switches or other active elements of variable impedance or resistance altogether. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,692 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0083117 describe a multiple power mode power amplifier that does not use any switches and that is free from external control circuits provided to control the switches. The described amplifier has a driver for amplifying input power, a power stage for receiving power amplified by the driver through a first impedance matching unit connected to the driver and through a second impedance matching unit connected to the first impedance matching unit, and an applied voltage control circuit connected to the power stage for controlling applied voltages corresponding to a low-power mode and a high-power mode. The described amplifier further has an impedance transformer on a bypass arm for receiving power amplified by the driver through the first impedance matching unit and transferring the power to a fourth impedance matching unit. The described design also has a third impedance matching unit connected in series to the power stage for transferring power amplified by the power stage to the fourth impedance matching unit. The described amplifier requires a compromise in insertion losses between the high- and low-power modes. Consequently, in high-power mode, the described amplifier operates with reduced efficiency. Further, because of the inherent insertion losses in the design, higher amplifier gain (and thus more power) is required in both modes. Moreover, because the bypass arm is not highly isolated from the amplified path during high-power operation, the amplifier can be unstable due to signal feedback through the bypass arm. In fact, because phase shift changes with frequency, in high-power mode the undesired energy coupled through the bypass arm can also result in amplitude and phase distortions to the desired signal. Still further, because the bypass arm produces a frequency dependent load on the output, it is difficult to achieve desirable harmonic performance in implementations of the design.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved amplifiers that are compact and that can operate with enhanced efficiency in multiple power modes, thereby providing the necessary peak power in one mode and efficient, low-power operation in another.

High efficiency amplifier circuits having bypass paths


A method of registering a luminal network to a 3D model of the luminal network with real-time feedback is disclosed, including generating the 3D model of the luminal network based on images of the luminal network, generating an electromagnetic field about the luminal network, inserting a location sensor into the electromagnetic field, tracking the location of the sensor within the luminal network, comparing the tracked locations of the sensor with sensors located outside of the luminal network and the portions of the 3D model representative of open space, and presenting on a user interface an indication of which portions of the luminal network have been sufficiently traversed by the sensor to register that portion of the luminal network to the 3D model.

A common device for inspecting the airway of a patient is a bronchoscope. Typically, the bronchoscope is inserted into a patient's airways through the patient's nose or mouth and can extend into the lungs of the patient. A typical bronchoscope includes an elongated flexible tube having an illumination assembly for illuminating the region distal to the bronchoscope's tip, an imaging assembly for providing a video image from the bronchoscope's tip, and a working channel through which instruments, e.g., diagnostic instruments such as biopsy tools, therapeutic instruments can be inserted.
Bronchoscopes, however, are limited in how far they may be advanced through the airways due to their size. Where the bronchoscope is too large to reach a target location deep in the lungs a clinician may utilize certain real-time imaging modalities such as fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopic images, while useful present certain drawbacks for navigation as it is often difficult to distinguish luminal passageways from solid tissue. Moreover, the images generated by the fluoroscope are two-dimensional whereas navigating the airways of a patient requires the ability to maneuver in three dimensions.
To address these issues, systems have been developed that enable the development of three-dimensional models of the airways or other luminal networks, typically from a series of computed tomography (CT) images. One such system has been developed as part of the ILOGIC® ELECTROMAGNETIC NAVIGATION BRONCHOSCOPY® (ENB™), system currently sold by Covidien LP. The details of such a system are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,820, entitled ENDOSCOPE STRUCTURES AND TECHNIQUES FOR NAVIGATING TO A TARGET IN BRANCHED STRUCTURE, filed on Mar. 29, 2004, by Gilboa, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
While the system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,820 is quite capable, there is always a need for development of improvements and additions to such systems.

Real-time automatic registration feedback


A packet radio data network includes a gateway node (GGSN), at least one serving node (SGSN) coupled to the gateway node, a plurality of radio access nodes (RAN) coupled to the serving node (SGSN), the packet radio network transporting packet data from an external packet data network. The external packet data network includes, an Internet Service Provider (ISP), to mobile stations (MS) wirelessly attached to radio access nodes (RAN). A mobile station (MS) issues a membership report message requesting content of a specific multicast group, whereupon the gateway node (GGSN) issues a multicast context activation message to the serving node (SGSN). The serving node (SGSN) informs the radio access network (RAN) that the mobile station is joining the respective multicast group and sends a multicast activation response to the gateway node (GGSN).

As is known, unicast is a point-to-point distribution, whereby one stream of data exists per recipient on every link connecting a given recipient and the source.
Multicasting is a service that permits a source to send a message to a plurality of specific recipients. The notion multicasting ideally involves that only one copy of the message will pass over any link in a network and copies of the message will be made only where paths diverge. From a network perspective, multicasting dramatically reduces overall bandwidth consumption, since data is replicated in the network at appropriate points.
Receivers join a particular multicast session group by informing a corresponding multicast router whereby traffic is delivered to all members of that group by the network infrastructure. The transmission can be performed either from one user to many users, the so-called one-to-many multicast or many users send information to many receivers, the so-called many-to-many transmission.
For typical local area networks, LAN, utilising CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiplex Access) where nodes share a common communication medium, multicasting is easy to support. A specially addressed packet can be read off the communication medium by multiple hosts. Ethernet, for instance, supports uni-cast addresses, multicasting addresses and the network broadcast address.
Extending multicasting capabilities to inter-networks however led to the introduction of a router at the edge of a network in order to figure out dynamically how to forward the datagram, whereby a datagram denotes a data packet, which is established on the IP layer. The way of forwarding is deducted from the address included in the header of the datagram and from the routing table, which is administrated by the router.
With Internet Protocol IP multicast, receivers do not need to know who or where the senders are and senders do not need to know who the receivers are. Neither senders nor receivers need to care about the network topology as the network optimises delivery. The distribution of information via IP multicast is performed on the base of a hierarchical connection of the hosts, like for example a tree. Several algorithms have been proposed for building multicast distribution trees, like for example spanning trees, shared-trees, source-based trees, core-based trees. The descriptions of the corresponding algorithms can be found in "IP telephony: Packet-based multimedia communications systems" O. Hersent, D. Gurle, D. Petit, Addison-Wesley, Harlow, 2000. After the establishment of the distribution tree, the distribution of the information is done by the IP multicast routing protocols.
A specific IP multicast address denotes that a given datagram belongs to a multicast group rather than the addresses of individual recipients, as is the case with normal IP addresses. There are various possibilities of assigning multicast addresses to multicast groups. The task of a given multicast router is to encode the destination addresses and to route multicast datagrams according to information in its routing table.
For IP multicast, the membership of a multicast session group may be dynamic, that is, hosts may join and leave groups at any time. Hence, multicast routers need to update information on which other hosts and routers are present members of a given multicast group.
The Internet Group Management Protocol, IGMP, is a protocol that allows inter-domain routing of IP multicast data. Multicast routers use IGMP to learn which multicast groups have members on each of their attached physical networks. IGMP allows group termination to be quickly reported to the routing protocol, which is important for high-bandwidth multicast groups and sub-nets with highly volatile group membership.
According to IGMP, multicast routers periodically send a General Query to the all systems multicast group (220.127.116.11) (address) in order to determine if other multicast routers are present on the segment. A mechanism secures that only one multicast router adopts the state of Querying multicast router on a given segment. The querying router issues Group Specific Queries. In response, hosts send a Membership Report, informing whether the host is a member of the particular multicast group to the Querying router. When a router on the other hand receives a Report, it adds the group being reported to the list of multicast group memberships on the network on which it received the Report and sets a timer for membership. When a host joins a multicast group, it immediately transmits an unsolicited membership report. IGMP has been specified in Network Working Group RFC 2236.
Multicast Listener Discovery, MLD, is an alternative protocol to IGMP that allows the use of IPv6(Internet Protocol version 6). In MLD, a Multicast Listener Report message corresponds to the Membership Report of IGMP. Furthermore according to MLD, the message Multicast Listener Done, corresponds to a Membership Report. MLD is specified in Network Working Group RFC 2710.
Currently there is activity within the 3'rd generation partnership project, 3GPP, regarding the introduction and support of multicast services in packet data mobile systems.
According to known GPRS and UMTS networks, the mobile terminated down-link traffic is routed using identities which are designed to only handle point to point traffic.
As is known in the art, in order to perform unicast transport, a data structure denoted mobility management (MM) context exists in the mobile station and the SGSN. Moreover, a Packet data protocol (PDP), context, which e.g. comprises an IP address for allowing the mobile station to participate in an IP session with an Internet service provider exist at the mobile station, the SGSN and the GGSN.
The technical background about GPRS in GSM and UMTS is covered in the following:    3GPP TS 03.60V7.5.0(2001-01) 3rd Generation Partnership Project;    Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects,    Digital cellular Telecommunications System (Phase 2+),    General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),    Service Description, Stage 2(Release 1998).    3GPP TS 23.060V3.6.0(2001-01)    3rd Generation Partnership Project;    Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects,    General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),    Service Description, Stage 2(Release 1999).

Multicast support in packet switched wireless networks


A device for determining a parameter history indication of at least one external parameter includes, in at least one embodiment, a first electrode portion, in consuming contact with a first electrolyte, and a second electrode portion, in consuming contact with a second electrolyte. A consumption process of the second electrode portion, in at least one embodiment, is controllable by an amount of consumption of said first electrode portion. The electrolytes are so arranged that consumption rates of the first electrode portion and the second electrode portion present different dependencies on the at least one external parameter. A kit of parts including such a device, and a method for determining a parameter history indication of at least one external parameter are also disclosed.

It is generally desirable to know whether a temperature-sensitive good, at any point in time, has been subjected to an undesirable temperature, and thus may have been damaged.
It would also be desirable to know at what point in time the good was subjected to such undesirable temperature, such that measures may be taken to prevent such undesirable temperatures in the future, or such that responsibility may be allocated.
It would also be desirable to know for how long time the good was subjected to such undesirable temperature.
With such additional knowledge, it would be possible to determine, with greater accuracy, whether the good has actually been damaged or not.
A frequently occurring type of goods that would be desirable to monitor, is groceries, in particular groceries that are to be kept cold or frozen. However, as many groceries are produced in large volumes and are subject to cost restraints, a suitable monitoring device would need to be capable of being produced at a low cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,090 A discloses a device that is to be attached to objects, such as groceries, for recording what temperatures the object has been subjected to. The device comprises multiple electrode sets interacting with an electrolyte. Temperature sensors are arranged to complete an electrical circuit including two electrodes at a predetermined temperature. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,090 A is, however, relatively complex, and it is unlikely that this device can be produced at a sufficiently low cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,701 B1 discloses an electrochemical timer for use with groceries, involving electrodes and an electrolyte. Consumption of one of the electrodes enables measuring the time. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,701 B1 does not provide any knowledge of what temperatures the good has been subjected to.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,275 A discloses an indicator device for indicating the time integral of a monitored parameter. However, the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,275 A does not provide any information as to when the monitored object was subjected to a particular temperature, or for how long.
GB 903,967 A discloses an indicator for temperature history of a frozen grocery, wherein the electrolytic action is temperature-dependent, with substantially no electrolytic action taking place below a predetermined temperature level. Hence, the device of GB 903,967 A is only capable of indicating the time integral of the temperature for the period when the predetermined temperature was superseded. Hence, the device of GB 903,967 A also does not provide any indication of when the monitored object was subjected to a particular temperature.
EP 0 735 368 A1 discloses a method for monitoring an accumulated value of temperature and time. The method involves contacting an oxidation-polymerizable dyestuff and an oxidation agent, the reaction between which being controlled by time and temperature. Hence, the method of EP 0 735 368 A1 also does not provide any indication of when the monitored object was subjected to a particular temperature.
Hence, there is a need for an improved device for monitoring a parameter history.

Device, kit and method for monitoring a parameter history


When an operating state indicated by a set of operation data measured during normal operation becomes a state satisfying an operation data obtaining condition, the set of operation data at the time is obtained as a set of operation data for initial learning, and an inner volume of a refrigerant extension piping is calculated based on the obtained set of operation data for initial learning. A total amount of refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit 10 is calculated based on the calculated inner volume of the refrigerant extension piping and the current set of operation data, and the calculated total refrigerant is compared with a reference amount of refrigerant to determine a presence or absence of refrigerant leakage.

Conventionally, in a split type refrigeration and air-conditioning apparatus configured by connecting an outdoor unit that is a heat source device to an indoor unit that is a use side through refrigerant extension piping, there is a technique of calculating an inner volume of the refrigerant extension piping by implementing an extension piping inner volume determining operation (two operations with different densities in the refrigerant extension piping during cooling operation), by calculating the change in amount of refrigerant in the two operating state other than the refrigerant in the refrigerant extension piping, and by dividing the amount of change by amount of density change in the refrigerant extension piping, and calculating an amount of refrigerant in the refrigerant extension piping by using the inner volume of the refrigerant extension piping (see, e.g., Patent Literature 1).

Refrigeration and air-conditioning apparatus


An image processing apparatus includes a reading unit, a determining unit, a converting unit, a recording unit, and a control unit. The reading unit moves sensors corresponding to a predetermined number of pixels aligned along a sub-scanning direction in a main scanning direction to read an image having a predetermined width of an original. The determining unit determines an area designated by a marker in the original in accordance with pixel data of a pixel read by the reading unit and pixel data of pixels surrounding the pixel. The converting unit converts the pixel data of the pixel read by the reading unit in accordance with a determination result from the determining unit. The recording unit drives recording elements corresponding to the predetermined number of pixels aligned along the sub-scanning direction in accordance with pixel data from the converting unit and moving the recording elements in the main scanning direction to record the image having the predetermined width on a sheet. The control unit moves the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction by a distance corresponding to pixels less than the predetermined number of pixels to perform a next main scanning operation after the reading unit completes a main scanning operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus capable of performing marker editing.
2. Related Background Art
When image editing is to be performed in a conventional color copying machine, prescanning is performed in advance to store data necessary for editing. For this purpose, a large memory is required. Hence, a serial scanning method has been receiving a great deal of attention because it needs no large memory.
If the serial scanning method is applied to the conventional image processing apparatus, a large memory is unnecessary. However, since an original is scanned for every band, the image cannot be processed using information in a wide image area, and much time is needed to read all the images. For this reason, image processing by color marking using the serial scanning method (to be referred to as marker editing hereinafter) is currently out of use.

Image processing apparatus capable of reforming marker editing


A navigation system has an interface for accessing a memory unit, in which an electronic road map is stored with a large number of road sections, each of which has at least one first cost element assigned thereto, and has a computer unit, which is designed such that at least one second cost element is assigned or will be assigned to at least some of the road sections. In order to compute a route, a cost value is assigned or will be assigned to each of the road sections, wherein the computation of the cost value for the first road sections is based in each case on the first and the second cost element and for the second road sections is based in each case on the first and not on the second cost elements.

The invention relates to a navigation system and a method for computing the total costs of a route, for example, within the framework of determining a good or optimal route.
With navigation systems it is possible to compute, based on a digital road map, the routes between a starting point and a destination point in such a way that the routes are optimized according to different criteria. For this purpose it is proposed that individual digitized sections of the road be assigned cost values (for example, the travel time, the distance, the energy consumption, etc. or any combination based thereon) and to determine a route at a low or minimal total cost.
Routes that are determined automatically in such a fashion often deviate, especially at the starting point and the destination point, from the route that a user would have chosen or actually chooses due to his or her specific knowledge of the place.
At this point the object of the present invention is to provide an improved navigation system and method for computing the overall costs of a route.
This and other objects are achieved by a navigation system comprising an interface for accessing a memory unit, in which an electronic road map is stored with a large number of road sections, each of which is assigned at least one first cost element, and a computer unit, which is designed such that at least one second cost element is assigned or will be assigned to at least some of the road sections. In order to compute a route, a cost value is assigned or will be assigned to each of the road sections, wherein the computation of the cost value for the first road sections is based in each case on the first and the second cost element and for the second road sections is based in each case on the first and not on the second cost element.
A navigation system according to the present invention includes an interface for accessing a memory unit, in which an electronic road map is stored with a large number of road sections, each of which has at least one first cost element assigned thereto.
A computer unit, such as a program-controlled processor unit, is designed or configured in such a way that at least one second cost element can be assigned, is assigned, or will be assigned to at least some of the road sections. As used herein, the term "assigned" is to be interpreted as including "assignable," "assigned" or "to be assigned."
In order to compute a route, a cost value is assigned or will be assigned to each of the road sections. The computation (determination) of a cost value or a cost value for the first road sections is based in each case on the first and the second cost element. The computation (determination) of a cost value or a cost value for the second road sections is based in each case on the first and not on the second cost element, in particular, independent of whether a second cost value does or does not exist for the second road sections.
The result is that in order to compute a route, specific road sections, which are located, for example, in close proximity to the starting place or the destination place, can be assigned in a flexible and dynamic manner cost values that consider the second cost elements. These second cost elements allow, for example, personal driving habits of a user or the route preferences of a user to be taken into account. At the same time these second cost elements are preferably not stored as a part of the electronic road map, or preferably not stored on the same memory medium as the electronic road map. The present invention avoids having to consider the second cost elements for all sections of the road, because for long routes such a procedure would increase the computing time required to compute the route.
The term "road section" also includes a data object that describes a section of the road.
The first cost elements can be based, for example, on the travel time, the distance or the speed of a corresponding section of the road. In addition to the first cost elements and the second cost elements, it goes without saying that third or additional cost elements can be provided and can be considered.
Cost elements, in particular second cost elements, can also be negative. For example, whenever a section of the road is traveled, a negative value is assigned to that section of the road as the second cost element.
If a cost value is based only on a first cost element, then the cost value can be determined, for example, by means of the first cost element. If a cost value is based on a first and a second cost element, then the cost value can be determined, for example, by means of a sum of the first and second cost element.
Second cost elements can be stored or are stored in each case as a function of the starting place, as a function of the destination, as a function of the day of the week, as a function of the driver and/or as a function of the time of day; and/or the second cost elements can be used in each case as a function of the starting place, as a function of the destination, as a function of the day of the week, as a function of the driver and/or as a function of the time of day for computing the cost values.
The first memory unit can be, for example, an optical removable memory medium, a hard disk or a memory of a central server unit, which the navigation system can access by way of a mobile communications device.
A navigation system comprising a computer unit for computing the total costs of a route composed of sections of the road, wherein a first cost element and at least to some extent a second cost element are assigned to each of the road sections, is also within the scope of the invention.
The computer unit is configured in such a way that a cost value is assigned or will be assigned to each of the road sections, wherein the computation of the cost value for the first road sections is based in each case on a first and a second cost element; and the computation of the cost value for the second road sections is based in each case on the first and not on the second cost element. The total costs of the route are based on the cost values of the road sections that are an essential part of the route.
A method for computing the total costs of a route also falls within the scope of the invention. According to this method, a first cost element and at least to some extent a second cost element are assigned to each of the sections of the road defining the route; and a cost value is assigned or will be assigned to each of the road sections. In this case the computation of the cost value for the first road sections is based in each case on a first and a second cost element; and the computation of the cost value for the second road sections is based in each case on the first and not on the second cost element; and the total costs of the route are based on the cost values of the road sections that are an essential part of the route.
In a further aspect of the invention, the second cost elements are based on a usage history. Second cost elements describe, for example, when, by whom, how often, with which destination, with which starting place and/or how (how fast, with which average consumption) the associated road section was used or was traveled. Second cost elements can be determined and/or stored according to the specific motor vehicle, the specific motor vehicle manufacturer, the specific user and/or the specific motor vehicle model. For example, whenever the associated road section is traveled, a negative value can be added to a second cost element. In design variants the second cost elements can be, for example, determined and stored according to the specific destination and can be used for computing a route or for computing the total costs.
It is an additional further development of the invention that in particular on average the first road sections are located closer to the starting point of the route and/or closer to the destination point of the route than the second road sections.
The result of this arrangement is that second cost elements are considered precisely for the road sections that a user often drives, contrary to a route computed in the conventional way, because of his knowledge of the starting place or the destination place. For this reason the higher computational complexity associated with the consideration of second cost elements is implemented to take into account in a targeted way the usage patterns only or preferably for route sections, for which the user's request deviates with a high probability from a route that is computed in a conventional way.
It is a further development of the invention that the number of first road sections or the ratio of the number of first road sections to the number of second road sections is varied from route to route as a function of the utilization of the computer unit. If the current utilization of the computer unit is low, because, for example, the route is short, or if other processes, which are executed by the computer unit (for example, independently of the navigation), still require relatively little computing power, then the number of road sections having cost values that consider the second cost elements can be increased and/or vice versa.
Second cost elements change preferably over time as a function of the user's behavior. Therefore, cost values are recomputed preferably contemporaneously, in particular, before or during the computation of a route or the computation of the total costs, and are stored. If the corresponding second cost elements have not changed since the last computation of the cost value, then in order to compute a new route or new total costs, the cost value of the corresponding road section is preferably not recomputed, but rather the stored cost value is used. This approach allows the current user behavior to be considered continually and at the same time reduces the computational complexity.
In a further aspect of the invention, the second cost elements are stored or will be stored in a second memory unit. A second memory unit is, for example, a permanently installed component of the navigation system, of the vehicle or of the computer unit. In particular, the second memory unit is configured preferably independently of the memory unit for the electronic road map. This feature facilitates a user-specific or motor vehicle-specific storage and usage of second cost elements. However, it also falls within the scope of the invention that the first memory unit is identical to the second memory unit.
It is an additional further development of the invention that a route is computed, and for this route the sum of the cost values of the road sections defining the route is minimal.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Navigation system and method for computing the overall costs of a route

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A punch processing method for electrical steel sheets to manufacture core segments includes: stacking a plurality of electrical steel sheets; and punching out the plurality of electrical steel sheets in a stacked state simultaneously to manufacture the core segments, wherein in a case where the core segments are applied to a stator core in which a maximum magnetic flux density at a tooth portion is to be higher than a maximum magnetic flux density at a back yoke portion, degrees of Vickers hardness of an electrical steel sheet located second from a bottom side and above in the stacked state are set to 180 HV or higher, and 10 HV or higher than a value of degree of Vickers hardness of an electrical steel sheet located on the bottom side in the stacked state.

In recent years, in order to reduce weights of motors and generators of mainly electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, each of the motors and the generators has been intended to have a smaller core. Further, the rotational speed (frequency) of the motor and the generator is increased to ensure outputs thereof. Consequently, from the viewpoint of reducing the core loss of the core, a demand is increasing for an electrical steel sheet having a thickness of 0.30 mm or smaller that is smaller than before.
The core of the motor and the generator is manufactured by using, as a base material, an electrical steel sheet having a small thickness for reducing the core loss, and by punch processing the electrical steel sheet. In the punch processing, a core is manufactured by: setting a processing die in a pressing machine; punching out parts of the core while the base material that has been slit into a predetermined width is being fed by a coil feeder; and integrating the parts of the core by crimping inside the die, or by taking out core segments (electrical steel sheets after punch processing and before being integrated together into the core) on which the punch processing is performed from the die and integrating the core segments by welding or by fastening with bolts. The core manufactured by stacking the electrical steel sheets having a small thickness and integrating them together as described above is called a "laminated core".
In an industrial manufacturing process of the laminated core, the following method is generally employed. The manufacturing process includes a plurality of processes having different dies and punches corresponding to the processes. The base material is sequentially fed to the next pressing process to form a shape of the core, and the periphery of the core is punched out in the final pressing process to separate a core segment from the base material. In an industrial production of the core using the crimping technique, a method is also employed in which the core materials are separated from the base material in a final pressing process, and then, are integrated together into the laminated core by fitting crimping projections with each other using a descending operation of a punch. FIG. 3 illustrates such a punch processing. FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an example of the punch processing using a progressive die. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, a slot portion 12 is first punched out from a base material S while leaving behind a portion corresponding to a tooth portion 11 of a core, and then, a central portion 13 of the core is punched out. An outer peripheral portion of a back yoke portion 14 of the core is punched out to form each of a plurality of core segments 15, and the plurality of core segments 15 are integrated together to manufacture a laminated core 16. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 17 represents a scrap of the base material S generated in the punch processing.
The pressing process as described above is generally used because of being excellent in productivity. However, in the normal punch processing, the core segments need to be punched out one by one. As a result, the efficiency rapidly drops with reduction in thickness of the base material. Therefore, as a way of solving such a problem, a technique has been proposed where a plurality of base materials are punched out in a stacked state, and a solution to accompanying problems have further been proposed. For example, to solve a problem of misalignment between base materials when the plurality of base materials are stacked and simultaneously fed into the die, methods have been proposed in which the base materials are fixed to each other by, for example, crimping in a process during an initial period of the pressing process in the die before the punch processing is performed (refer to Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
A method has also been proposed in which combination locking portions are formed to fix the base materials to each other, and in addition, the projections are flattened using a push back process to prevent the projecting shapes of the combination locking portions from being obstacles in a lamination process (refer to Patent Literature 3). All these conventional techniques provide countermeasures against the problem of deterioration in accuracy of dimensions when the plurality of base materials are simultaneously punched out. Furthermore, methods have also been proposed in which a die including inside a plurality of portions corresponding to punches and dies can simultaneously perform the punch processing on the plurality of base materials in one pressing process while preventing droops and burrs from increasing (refer to Patent Literatures 4 and 5).

Punch processing method for electrical steel sheets and method for manufacturing laminated core


Processing transport format information to prevent MAC header redundancy, by providing a transmitting side that attaches one header to received data blocks, transmits the data blocks with the header attached thereto during one transmission interval on a data channel, and further transmits information about the size of each data block and the total size of the data blocks during a time interval corresponding to the transmission interval on a control channel, and by providing a receiving side that performs procedures corresponding to those of the transmitting side.

The present invention relates to effectively using radio resources in a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), which is a European type IMT-2000 system, and more particularly, to techniques employed at the transmitting side (transmitter) to configure the size information of data to be received by the receiving side (receiver), and how much size information is to be transmitted.
The UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is a third generation mobile communications system that evolved from the European GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) system, with the purpose of providing further improved mobile communications service based upon a GSM core network and W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology.
FIG. 1 depicts a typical UMTS network (100) architecture. The UMTS broadly consists of user equipment (UE 110), a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN 12), and a core network (CN 130). The UTRAN consists of one or more radio network sub-systems (RNS 121, 122), and each RNS consists of one radio network controller (RNC 123, 124) and one or more base stations (Node Bs 125, 126) that are managed by the RNC. The Node B, being managed by the RNC, receives data sent from a physical layer of the UE via the uplink and transmits data to the UE via the downlink, to thus act as an access point of the UTRAN with respect to the UE. The RNC handles the allocation and management of radio resources, and acts as an access point with the CN.
FIG. 2 depicts a radio interface protocol architecture based upon a 3GPP radio access network specification between the UE and the UTRAN. The radio interface protocol of FIG. 2 is divided horizontally into a physical layer, a data link layer, and a network layer, and is divided vertically into a user plane for data transmissions and a control plane for transfer of control signaling. Namely, the user plane is the region in which traffic information of the user (such as voice, IP (Internet Protocol) packets and the like) is transferred, while the control plane is the region in which control information (such as the interface of the network, maintaining and managing calls, and the like) is transferred. The protocol layers of FIG. 2 may be divided into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) based upon the lower three layers of an open system interconnection (OSI) model that is a well-known in communications systems.
Each layer depicted in FIG. 2 will now be described in more detail. The first layer (L1) is a physical layer (PHY) that provides information transfer service to upper layers by using various radio transmission techniques, and is connected to a medium access control (MAC) layer that is located thereabove via a transport channel through which data travels between the MAC layer and the physical layer. In particular, the data blocks delivered between the MAC layer and physical layer via the transport channel are called transport blocks.
The MAC layer provides services to a radio link control (RLC) layer, which is an upper layer, via a logical channel. In general, when information of the control plane is transmitted, a control channel is used. When information of the user plane is transmitted, a traffic channel is used.
The MAC layer is sub-divided into a MAC-b sub-layer, a MAC-d sub-layer, a MAC-c/sh sub-layer, and a MAC-hs sub-layer, according to the type of transport channel that is managed.
The MAC-b sub-layer manages a BCH (Broadcast Channel), which is a transport channel handling the broadcasting of system information.
The MAC-d sub-layer manages a dedicated channel (DCH), which is a dedicated transport channel for a specific terminal. Accordingly, the MAC-d sub-layer of the UTRAN is located in a serving radio network controller (SRNC) that manages a corresponding terminal, and one MAC-d sub-layer also exists within each UE.
The MAC-c/sh sub-layer manages a common transport channel, such as a forward access channel (FACH) or a downlink shared channel (DSCH), which is shared by a plurality of terminals. In the UTRAN, the MAC-c/sh sub-layer is located in a controlling radio network controller (CRNC), and one MAC-c/sh sub-layer exists for each cell because the channels shared by all UEs within a cell are managed.
The MAC-hs sub-layer manages a HS-DSCH (High-Speed Downlink Shared Channel), which is a shared transport channel that transmits high-speed data on the downlink.
The radio link control (RLC) layer supports reliable data transmissions, and performs a segmentation and concatenation function on a plurality of RLC service data units (RLC SDUs) delivered from an upper layer. When the RLC layer receives the RLC SDUs from the upper layer, the RLC layer adjusts the size of each RLC SDU in an appropriate manner upon considering processing capacity, and then creates certain data units when header information added thereto. The created data units are called protocol data units (PDUs), which are then transferred to the MAC layer via a logical channel. The RLC layer includes a RLC buffer for storing the RLC SDUs and/or the RLC PDUs.
There is a radio resource control (RRC) layer at a lowermost portion of the L3 layer. The RRC layer is defined only in the control plane, and handles the controlling of logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels with respect to establishment, reconfiguration, and release of radio bearers (RBs). The radio bearer service refers to a service that the second layer (L2) provides for data transmission between the terminal and the UTRAN in order to guarantee a predetermined quality of service by the UE and the UTRAN. And in general, the radio bearer (RB) establishment refers to regulating the protocol layers and the channel characteristics of the channels required for providing a specific service, as well as respectively setting substantial parameters and operation methods.
When the RRC layer of a particular UE and that of the UTRAN are connected to allow RRC messages to be sent and receive therebetween, that UE is said to be in RRC connected state. If there is no such connection, that UE is said to be in idle state.
Hereafter, the characteristics of an E-DCH (Enhanced Dedicated Channel) will be explained. The E-DCH is a transport channel used when a particular UE is to transmit high-speed uplink data. To support high-speed uplink data transmission, a MAC-eu sub-layer is located in the MAC of the UTRAN and UE, respectively. The MAC-eu sub-layer of the UE is positioned below the MAC-d sub-layer. The MAC-eu sub-layer of the UTRAN is located in the Node B. The E-DCH is a transport channel that is currently being introduced in 3GPP, and thus its particulars have not yet been agreed upon at this time.
A method of delivering the size information of a transport block from the transmitting side to the receiving side will now be explained. One transport block is delivered via one transport channel in (during) one transmission time interval (TTI). When there is a transport block(s) to be transmitted, the MAC of the transmitting side delivers to the physical layer, one or more transport blocks in units of TTI. The physical layer of the transmitting side performs encoding on the transport blocks received from the MAC, and performs transmission to the physical layer in the receiving side. Here, to aid the physical layer in the receiving side for accurately decoding the encoded data, the transmitting side also transmits to the receiving side, transport format (TF) information together with the encoded data. Upon receiving the TF information transmitted from the transmitting side, the physical layer of the receiving side uses this TF information to perform decoding of the received data and reconfigures the transport blocks. These reconfigured transport blocks are then delivered to the MAC of the receiving side in units of TTI.
The TF information includes the various attributes that one transport channel has. These attributes in the TF information can be divided into two categories, referred to as 'attributes of the semi-static part' and 'attributes of the dynamic part.' The attributes of the semi-static part referred to the TF information that can change slowly because it is transmitted by RRC messages. The attributes of the dynamic part refer to the TF information that can change quickly because it is transmitted by units of TTI or units of radio frames. Here, the attributes of the dynamic part are delivered (transported) by means of a TFCI (Transport Format Combination Indicator). The Transmitting side transmits the TFCI to the receiving side via the control field of the physical channel.
In the related art, transport block size and transport block set size are the representative types of attributes of the dynamic part. Here, a transport block set is defined as a set of transport blocks that are transmitted in a TTI.
As in FIGS. 3, 4A, and 4B, one transport block is defined as one MAC PDU (Protocol Data Unit) that includes a MAC SDU (Service Data Unit) and a MAC header, and one or more transport blocks may be delivered during one TTI. Here, the length of the transport blocks transmitted during one TTI are the same. Thus, the length of the transport block set is a multiple of the length of a transport block.
The RRC performs in advance, the configuration of the set comprising the transport block length values and the transport block set length values through the RRC messages. Thus, each time a transport block is transmitted in units of TTI, the transmitting side selects one transport block length and one transport block set length, among those in the configured set, and delivers these values to the receiving side.
In the related art, each transport block has its own MAC header. One reason for using this scheme is because the transport block length (that includes the MAC header length) is used to inform the TF information. However, in this scheme, if there are two or more transport blocks during one TTI, and the transmitted MAC header contents are the same, the redundancy in MAC header content is problematic. That is, MAC headers having the same content are unnecessarily used redundantly. Thus, the related art suffers from disadvantages due to the waste of radio resources caused by MAC header redundancy.
A gist of the present invention involves the recognition by the present inventors of the drawbacks in the related art.
The present invention provides a transport block transmission method that divides the length of the transport block, to be transmitted from the transmitting side to the receiving side, into a header length and a length of the transport block excluding the header length, and transmits these via respectively different channels or respectively different messages. Also, the header length included in the transport block is fixed, and the header length and the length of the transport block excluding the header length are transmitted with respectively different frequency or regularity.