A vehicle controller has multiple vehicle control modes that have different output characteristics of a travel power source relative to an accelerator operation amount. The vehicle control modes include a poor road travel mode used during travel on a poor road, and a first normal travel mode and a second normal travel mode that are used during travel other than on a poor road. A rate of increase in an output of the travel power source relative to a predetermined accelerator operation amount during an initial stage of an accelerator operation is set to increase steadily in order of the poor road travel mode, the first normal travel mode, and the second normal travel mode. When the poor road travel mode is selected, a mode transition to the first normal travel mode is permitted but a mode transition to the second normal travel mode is prohibited.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to vehicle controllers, and more particularly, to the prevention of rapid acceleration unintended by a driver during a transition from a poor road travel mode, in which a rate at which an output increases relative to an accelerator operation during an initial stage of the accelerator operation is suppressed, to another travel mode.
2. Related Art
An apparatus with which various types of control, such as engine characteristic control and shift characteristic control, can be selected from a plurality of modes in accordance with preferences of a driver and a vehicle use condition has been proposed for use in a vehicle such as an automobile.
For example, it has been proposed that a sport travel mode or the like, in which shift control is modified such that a rate at which an engine torque increases in response to an accelerator operation is increased, and in which the engine is more likely to be used at a comparatively high rotation speed, be provided in addition to a normally used vehicle control mode, and that a driver be able to perform an operation to switch between the respective modes.
Conventional vehicle control mode switching includes a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H11-198677. According to the technique, in a vehicle that performs adaptive cruise control (ACC) for maintaining a predetermined inter-vehicle distance to a leading vehicle, adaptive cruise control processing is terminated when it is determined, on the basis of an operation of an antilock brake control device, that the vehicle is traveling on a road surface having a low frictional coefficient such as a snowy road or a frozen road.
Further, a technique disclosed in JP-A No. H2-127156 provides a low speed travel mode in which a brake is operated in conjunction with an accelerator OFF operation, the low speed travel mode being canceled automatically when a cancellation condition relating to a vehicle speed or the like is established.
It has been proposed recently that a poor road travel mode, in which the engine torque increase rate during the initial stage of the accelerator operation is suppressed in comparison with the vehicle travel mode used during normal travel, be provided in an SUV vehicle or the like, in which importance is placed on a travel performance on poor roads, in order to improve operability during travel on poor roads.
However, a vehicle may have a plurality of normal travel modes with different output characteristics relative to the accelerator operation, and when, in such a vehicle, a transition is performed from the poor road travel mode to a normal travel mode, from among the plurality of normal travel modes, in which the output characteristic during the initial stage of the accelerator operation is dramatically different to that of the poor road travel mode, a high output unintended by the driver may be generated, causing the vehicle to accelerate rapidly.


In a process for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a MISFET, in order that a shallow junction between the source/drain of the MISFET and a semiconductor substrate may be realized by reducing the number of heat treatment steps, all conductive films to be deposited on the semiconductor substrate are deposited at a temperature of 500.degree. C. or lower at a step after the MISFET has been formed. Moreover, all insulating films to be deposited over the semiconductor substrate are deposited at a temperature of 500.degree. C. or lower at a step after the MISFET has been formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device having MISFETs (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) and, more particularly, to a technique which is effective if applied to the manufacture of a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
2. Background of the Invention
The LSI, represented by a large capacity DRAM of recent years, has encountered a serious problem in that the high cost of manufacture has been raised by an increase in the number of manufacturing steps, as the manufacturing process becomes more complicated with increases in integration, speed and function. In accordance with this, the number of insulating films and conductive films deposited over a semiconductor substrate at a temperature of 700 to 900.degree. C. has increased to make it difficult to achieve a high performance for the MISFETs by realizing a shallow junction. Moreover, the increase in the wiring resistance resulting from the miniaturization raises an obstruction to the speedup.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device and process for manufacturing the same


A configuration method includes selecting a design configuration, and modeling the solution configuration having a failure event for the selected solution configuration to determine an amount of down time associated with the failure event. A first penalty cost function is applied the amount of down time to determine a first penalty cost associated with the failure event of the selected solution configuration.

Hardware breaks. Software has defects. Viruses propagate. Buildings catch fire. Power fails. People make mistakes. Although it is preferred that these events never occur, it is prudent to defend against them. The cost of data unavailability can be large. Many businesses estimate their outage costs as more than $250,000/hour. Others estimate outage costs at more than $ 1,000,000/hour. The price of data loss is even higher. Recent high-profile disasters have raised awareness to plan for recovery or continuity.
A constant challenge is to construct dependable systems that protect data and the ability to access data. Data is an asset to substantially all businesses. Losing information due to various failures can bring a company to its knees—or put it out of business altogether. Such catastrophic outcomes can readily be prevented using various configurations of hardware and software; however, the design space of results, such as solutions, is surprisingly large, and there are a myriad of configuration choices. In addition, the various alternative design choices interact in complicated ways. Thus, results, such as solutions, are often over-engineered or under-engineered, and administrators may not understand the degree of dependability they provide.
It is difficult to combine and configure the building blocks for data protection to create well-engineered data dependability results, such as solutions. Over-engineered results, such as solutions, may incur excessive costs to defend against negligible risks. Under-engineered results, such as solutions, have their own costs in a disaster: crippling outages, loss of critical data, or unacceptably degraded service. Faced with these choices, designers often resort to ad hoc approaches to strike the right balance, guided by rules of thumb and their own limited or even irrelevant experience. When a designer resorts to an ad hoc approach, many potential results may not be considered. Therefore, the selected result may not be as appropriate, well-matched, and/or optimal as when more results are considered.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A communication system (100) employs a method and apparatus for providing communication service to communication units (207-213) located within a common carrier transportation device (115). A stationary system controller (101) allocates a first set of communication resources (e.g., 140-149) to a mobile system controller (200) located at the common carrier transportation device (115). The first set of communication resources (140-149) are a subset of the communication resources assigned to a first stationary base site (109) of multiple stationary base sites (102-112) controlled by the stationary controller (101). The mobile controller (200) maps the first set (140-149) to a second set of communication resources (220-229) for use within the common carrier transportation device (115). The second set (220-229) is distinct from the first set (140-149) and is preferably selected to not interfere substantially with communication resources assigned to the stationary base sites (102-112). The mobile controller (200) then allocates communication resources (e.g., 220-226) from the second set to support communications involving the communication units (207-213) located within the common carrier transportation device (115).

Trunked communication systems, such as cellular communication systems, are well known to include a fixed system controller, a plurality of fixed base sites, and a plurality of mobile subscriber units, such as radios, radiotelephones, or portable wireless data terminals. Each fixed base site is coupled to the fixed system controller through a wireline or microwave link and provides communication service to a respective service coverage area. The fixed system controller assigns a predetermined number of communication channels, or resources, to each fixed base site. When a mobile subscriber unit desires to communicate, the subscriber unit transmits a channel request via a control channel to the fixed base site serving the coverage area containing the subscriber unit. The base site forwards the request to the system controller and the system controller grants the channel request if at least one of the channels assigned to the base site is available. Upon granting, or allocation, of the channel, the system controller informs the subscriber unit of the allocation via the base site and establishes any necessary switching connections to connect the base site to another base site or a switching center that is coupled to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Upon receiving the channel allocation, the subscriber unit begins transmitting and receiving its communication via the allocated channel.
If, during the communication, the subscriber unit travels, or is about to travel, into another service coverage area, the system controller detects this condition in accordance with known techniques and initiates a procedure to transfer, or handoff, the communication from the current channel to a new channel assigned to the base site (target base site) serving the coverage area that the subscriber unit has ventured, or is about to venture, into. The system controller selects the new channel and informs the subscriber unit of the new channel allocation via a transmission over the control channels of the original and target base sites.
In many metropolitan areas, common carrier transportation devices, such as trains, buses, and cars, are used to provide mass transportation to the populations of these areas. In such devices, many commuters may be using their mobile subscriber units simultaneously to participate in communications. Thus, when the common carrier device moves from one service coverage area to another in the cellular system, many handoffs must occur, in effect, simultaneously in order to allow the ongoing communications to continue. As noted above, each new channel allocation associated with a handoff is conveyed individually to each subscriber unit. Accordingly, in the mass commuter handoff situation, many control channels are needed simultaneously to perform the required number of handoffs. However, each fixed base site is assigned a fixed number of control channels and, at the time of mass handoff, may have less than the fixed number of control channels available for use by the mobile subscriber units. Therefore, when the number of subscriber units to be handed off exceeds the number of available control channels, the fixed system controller drops, or disconnects, the communications of the excess subscriber units. Consequently, as described, mass handoff in existing cellular systems is a low reliability operation.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for providing communication service to communication units located in a common carrier transportation device that provides highly reliable communication service to a large number of mobile subscriber units that are simultaneously communicating while traveling in the common carrier transportation device. Further, such a method and apparatus that substantially reduces control channel activity during a mass handoff would be an improvement over the prior art.

Method for providing communication service to communication units located within a common carrier transportation device


A feed unit includes: a power transmission section configured to perform power transmission with use of a magnetic field or an electronic field; a power limiting section provided on a power supply line from an external power source to the power transmission section; and an operation stop section configured to forcibly stop the power transmission. The operation stop section forcibly stops the power transmission when a voltage between an input and an output of the power limiting section exceeds a first threshold. The power limiting section forcibly interrupts power supply to the power transmission section when the voltage between the input and the output exceeds a second threshold that is larger than the first threshold.

In recent years, a feed system (a non-contact feed system, or a wireless charging system) performing non-contact power supply (power transmission) on consumer electronics devices (CE devices) such as mobile phones and portable music players has attracted attention. Accordingly, charging is allowed to be started by not inserting (connecting) a connector of a power supply such as an AC adapter into a unit but placing an electronic apparatus (a secondary-side unit) on a charging tray (a primary-side unit). In other words, terminal connection between the electronic apparatus and the charging tray is unnecessary.
As a method of performing non-contact power supply in such a way, an electromagnetic induction method is well known. In addition, a non-contact feed system using a method called magnetic resonance method that uses electromagnetic resonance phenomenon has attracted attention. Such a non-contact feed system has been disclosed in, for example, PTLs 1 to 6.


A method of printing comprises executing an output settings calibration procedure, the procedure comprising: depositing, by one or more printing elements, ink onto a first substrate according to respective output settings. The procedure further comprises measuring, by a sensor, an actual color value of the ink deposited onto the first substrate at each of a plurality of locations. The procedure further comprises determining a difference between the actual color value and a target color value for each of the plurality of locations and determining adjusted respective output settings for each of the plurality of locations based on the determined difference. The method further comprises depositing, by the one or more printing elements, ink onto a second substrate according to the adjusted respective output settings.

Printer systems are arranged to print printing fluid, such as ink, on to substrates to form images. An example printer system may print images using a combination of colored inks. When printing an image, the printer system may be controlled to print different colors using particular combinations of the colored inks so as to represent the color in the image when printed on the substrate. For example, a printer system may print a color image using a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.

Method and printer system for determining adjusted output settings


A system, method, and computer program product are provided for automatically creating and submitting defect information associated with defects identified during a software development lifecycle to a defect tracking system. In use, creation of a defect ticket is initiated for an identified defect for submission to a defect tracking system, the identified defect being identified during a software development life cycle. Additionally, a list of potential originating teams from which the identified defect was potentially identified is presented, the list of potential originating teams being presented in a user selectable format. Further, a list of teams in which to assign the identified defect is presented, the list of teams in which to assign the identified defect being presented in a user selectable format. Furthermore, a user selected originating team and a user selected team in which to assign the identified defect is identified. Additionally, details associated with the identified defect are collected from one or more data sources. Further, a description associated with the identified defect is generated utilizing the details associated with the identified defect. Moreover, the defect ticket is generated for the identified defect utilizing the identified user selected originating team, the identified user selected team in which to assign the identified defect, and the generated description associated with the identified defect.

Tracking defects discovered during a software development life cycle in a tracking system is a common practice for any company involved in development or utilization of software products. Each tracking system contains multiple fields that have to be populated when logging a defect.
In complex large-scale software projects, one defect tracking system can be used by hundreds of various teams for hundreds of different software projects and applications. Such a tracking system can have a large amount of fields with long lists of valid values a user has to populate to log a defect.
Currently, users manually log defects into tracking systems. This allows for the potential misses of important technical information, such as data from applications' databases, and potential human errors, such as missing values for important fields that are not setup as mandatory in the tracking system, thus leading to cases where opened defects do not have the necessary details required to perform an analysis.
There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

System, method, and computer program for automatically creating and submitting defect information associated with defects identified during a software development lifecycle to a defect tracking system


An exhaust pipe is connected to an engine with a muffler attached to an exhaust pipe. An exhaust valve is provided for controlling the flow rate of an exhaust gas on the side of the exhaust pipe. A recessed portion is directed toward the center of the vehicle body and is formed on the side of the swing arm with the exhaust valve being disposed in front in the vicinity of the recessed portion. Operating wires are laid along an air cleaner case so as to open and close the exhaust valve. A servo motor is disposed at such a position that it can be covered with the seat cowl so as to drive the operating wires. The muffler is provided with a muffler protector and a cover portion that integral extends from the muffler protector with the exhaust valve being covered with the cover portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust control system for a motorcycle which is capable of controlling the flow rate of an exhaust gas.
2. Description of Background Art
An exhaust control system for a motorcycle in which a valve is provided in an exhaust passage in an engine exhaust system and the flow rate of an exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust passage is controlled by the valve has been put to practical use.
In the exhaust control system for a motorcycle in practical use, it has sufficient that the valve is provided in an exhaust pipe provided as the exhaust passage and the valve is opened and closed.
Such an exhaust control system for a motorcycle, wherein a connection pipe for connecting a muffler to an exhaust pipe is provided therein with an exhaust valve has been known. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828.
FIG. 19 of the present drawings is a copy of FIG. 4 of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828. In FIG. 19, the same symbols as in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828 are used.
The exhaust control system for a motorcycle in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828 has a structure in which a multi-cylinder engine 16 is mounted on a vehicle body frame 2 with exhaust pipes 20 . . . (" . . . " means a plurality here and hereinafter) extending from individual cylinders of the engine 16. Some exhaust pipes 20, 20 are collected to a first collecting pipe (not shown) with a right coupling pipe 31 extending from the first collecting pipe. Other exhaust pipes 20, 20 are collected to a second collecting pipe 30 with a left coupling pipe 32 extending from the second collecting pipe 30. The left and right coupling pipe 32, 31 are collected to a third collecting pipe 33 with a connection pipe 22 being connected to the third coupling pipe 33. A muffler 21 is connected to the connection pipe 22 and the connection pipe 22 is provided therein with a vale mechanism 39 for controlling the flow rate of an exhaust gas.
A drive cable 40 extends from the valve mechanism 39. The drive cable 40 extends through the surrounding of a pivot shaft 13 of a swing arm 14 and a drive motor 41 is provided at the tip end of the drive cable 40. A CPU (central processor unit) 42 is provided for controlling the drive motor 41.
However, the exhaust control system for a motorcycle described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828 has a problem in view of the fact that the drive cable 40 extends from the valve mechanism 39 and extends through the surrounding of the pivot shaft 13 of the swing arm 14. The drive cable 40 (hereinafter referred to as "the operating cable") may possibly interfere with movable portions such as the swing arm 14.
In addition, in the exhaust control system for a motorcycle according to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828, the drive motor 41 (hereinafter referred to as "the servo motor") is disposed on the rear side of the engine 16. Therefore, there is a demerit in that thermal influences of the engine 16 are exerted on the drive motor 41 and the CPU (central processor unit) 42 (hereinafter referred to as "the control unit"). Further, it may be desired to take into account the effective utilization of free spaces.
Further, in the exhaust control system for a motorcycle described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828, a portion of the valve mechanism 39 projects toward the center of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is necessary to obviate the interference of the valve mechanism 39 with the vehicle body or component parts mounted on the vehicle. For example, there has been a problem wherein the connection pipe 22 has been moved outwardly in the vehicle width direction for obviating an interference with the valve mechanism 39 (hereinafter referred to as "the exhaust valve") with the vehicle body side. As a result, the vehicle width is enlarged.
Still further, an exhaust control system for motorcycle wherein a valve mechanism is covered with a cover or cowling 23 is known. The valve mechanism is covered with a cowling 23. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828.
The exhaust control system for a motorcycle described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-138828, has a problem wherein the valve mechanism 39 is covered with the cowling 23 and the valve mechanism 39 (hereinafter referred to as "the exhaust valve") is disposed at a position too far to cover with the cowling 23. Thus, it is necessary to use a new component part or parts, which increases the number of component parts.
In the case of covering the exhaust valve with a cover or the like, it is desired to cover the exhaust valve without increasing the number of component parts, by diverting the existing component parts as much as possible.


The invention provides human electron transport proteins (NHETP) and polynucleotides which identify and encode NHETP. The invention also provides expression vectors, host cells, agonists, antibodies and antagonists. The invention also provides methods for treating or preventing disorders associated with expression of NHETP.

Electron transport is the general process in cells by which electrons generated from the oxidation of molecules such as NADH and FADH2 are transferred, through the action of various enzymes, to a series of electron carriers. These electron carriers may act as electron donors themselves for various reductive reactions in the cell or may transport their electrons to other electron carriers along an electron transport chain. The change in oxidation potential as electrons are passed along such a chain generates energy which may be used by the cell.
The mitochondrial electron transport (or respiratory) chain is a series of enzyme complexes in the mitochondrial membrane responsible for the transport of electrons from NADH through a series of redox centers (electron carriers) within these complexes to oxygen and for the coupling of this oxidation to the synthesis of ATP (oxidative phosphorylation). ATP provides the primary source of energy for driving a cell's many energy-requiring reactions.
Most electron carriers are prosthetic groups, such as flavins, heme, iron-sulfur clusters and copper, bound to protein particles. Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q) is the only electron carrier that is not protein bound. The cytochromes (Cyts) are one type of electron carrier protein; cytochromes are related to one another by the presence of a bound heme group consisting of a porphyrin ring containing a tightly bound iron atom. The iron atom serves as the actual electron carrier by changing from the ferric to the ferrous state when accepting an electron. Iron-sulfur proteins are a second major family of electron carriers in which either two or four iron atoms are bound to sulfur atoms and to cysteine side chains forming an iron-sulfur center. Ubiquinone, the simplest of electron carriers, includes a quinone ring attached to a hydrophobic tail which anchors it to the mitochondrial membrane. In addition to six different heme-linked cytochromes, more than six iron-sulfur centers, and ubiquinone, there are also two copper atoms and a flavin (FMN) serving as electron carriers in the pathway from NADH to oxygen.
The key enzyme complexes in the respiratory chain are NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (NADH-D), succinate:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, cytochrome c1-b oxidoreductase, cytochrome c oxidase (COX), and ATP synthase. All of these complexes are located on the inner matrix side of the mitochondrial membrane except succinate:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, which is located on the cytosolic side. NADH-D accomplishes the first step in the respiratory chain by accepting electrons from NADH and passing them through a flavin molecule and several iron-sulfur centers to ubiquinone. Succinate:ubiquinone oxidoreductase also transports electrons generated by oxidation of succinate to fumarate in the citric acid cycle through electron carriers (FAD and iron-sulfur centers) to the membrane bound ubiquinone. Cytochrome c1-b oxidoreductase accepts electrons from ubiquinone and passes them on to cytochrome c. COX accepts electrons from cytochrome c and catalyzes the last, and most important, transfer of electrons to oxygen. Energy released in the course of each of these electron transfers is harnessed by ATP synthase to form ATP (oxidative, phosphorylation).
NADH-D, the largest of these complexes with an estimated mass of 800 kDa, contains some 40 polypeptide subunits of widely varying size and composition. The polypeptide composition of NADH-D is similar in a variety of mammalian species including rat, rabbit, cow, and human (Cleeter, M. W. J. and Ragan, C. I. (1985) Biochem. J. 230: 739-46). The best characterized NADH-D is from bovine heart mitochondria and is composed of 41 polypeptides (Walker, J. E. et al. (1992) J. Mol. Biol. 226: 1051-72). Seven of these polypeptides are encoded by mitochondrial DNA, while the remaining 34 are nuclear gene products that are imported into the mitochondria. Six of these imported polypeptides are characterized by N-terminal signal peptide sequences which target these polypeptides to the mitochondria and are then cleaved from the mature proteins. A second group of polypeptides lack N-terminal targeting sequences and appear to contain import signals which lie within the mature protein (Walker et al., supra). The measured molecular masses of several of the smaller polypeptides, B8, B13, B14, B15, and B22, are consistent with post-translational removal of the terminal methionine residue and N-acetylation of the adjacent amino acid.
The functions of many of the individual subunits in NADH-D are largely unknown. The 24-, 51-, and 75-kDa subunits have been identified as being catalytically important in electron transport, with the 51-kDa subunit forming part of the NADH binding site and containing the flavin moiety that is the initial electron acceptor (Ali, S. T. et al. (1993) Genomics 18:435-39). The location of other functionally important groups, such as the electron-carrying iron-sulfate centers, remains to be determined. Many of the smaller subunits (<30 kDa) contain hydrophobic sequences that may be folded into membrane spanning α-helices. These subunits presumably are anchored into the inner membrane of the mitochondria and interact via more hydrophilic parts of their sequence with globular proteins in the large extrinsic domain of NADH-D.
COX is composed of thirteen polypeptide subunits, three of which are mitochondrial gene products, and the ten remaining subunits of which are nuclear gene products (Lomax, M. I. et al. (1990) Gene 86: 209-16). The catalytic and protein-transducing functions and the site of interaction with cytochrome c are all associated with the mitochondrial, gene products, subunits 1 through 3. The exact functions of the ten smaller, nuclear-encoded subunits, 4 through 13, are unknown, but it has been suggested that they regulate oxidative energy output (Lomax et al., supra).
NADH cytochrome b5 reductase is an enzyme that specifically serves to oxidize the electron carrier cytochrome b5 which, in turn, becomes a central electron donor for various reductive reactions occurring on the cytoplasmic surface of liver endoplasmic reticulum (Strittmatter, P. et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267: 2519-23). Both cytochrome b5 reductase, and cytochrome b5 are amphipathic molecules composed of globular hydrophilic catalytic domains linked through short flexible sequences to membrane-anchoring hydrophobic domains that serve to orient the catalytic sites at the membrane-aqueous interface and permit rapid electron transfer. Three lysine residues in cytochrome b5 reductase, K41, K125, and K163, are implicated in the formation of charged ion pairs with carboxyl groups on cytochrome b5 during interactions between the active sites of the two proteins (Strittmatter, P. et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265: 21709-13). Site-directed mutagenesis studies demonstrate marked decreases in catalytic efficiency when any of these three lysine residues are replaced by negatively charged amino acids (Strittmatter et al. (1992), supra).
Defects and altered expression of NADH-D are associated with a variety of human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, myopathies, and cancer (Singer, T. P. et al. (1995) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1271:211-19; Selvanayagam, P. and Rajaraman, S. (1996) Lab. Invest. 74:592-99). In addition, NADH-D reduction of the quinone moiety in chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin is believed to contribute to the antitumor activity and/or mutagenicity of these drugs (Akman, S. A. et al. (1992) Biochemistry 31:3500-6).
The discovery of new electron transport proteins and the polynucleotides encoding them satisfies a need in the art by providing new compositions which are useful in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, immune disorders, and reproductive disorders.


A method for ascertaining valve timing for gas exchange valves of an internal combustion engine in which a combustion chamber pressure characteristic is determined, a state function being calculated from the combustion chamber pressure characteristic and a combustion chamber volume characteristic, and the timing of the gas exchange valves is determined by analyzing the state function.

Precise monitoring and control of the valves is necessary to allow an optimal engine operation. Specifically, this requires precise knowledge of the timing of the gas-exchange valves, i.e., the opening and closing instants of the intake or exhaust valves, with respect to the crankshaft position. There is increasing use of systems that allow a variation of the opening times with respect to the crank angle or, additionally, a variation of the opening cross section with respect to the crank angle. In the process, the direct mechanical coupling from cam to valves is lost, and different types of actuators decouple the camshaft from the valve motion in order to achieve the mentioned variation. Typical examples in this context are the variable camshaft adjustment or the fully variable valve adjustment.
Because the movement of the gas exchange valves is decoupled from the crankshaft angle, methods are required that allow monitoring of the valve timing as a minimum. Methods are known from the related art which determine the path or angle of the gas-exchange valves via direct transducers. Other methods are based on determining the valve opening by analyzing air quantity and rotational speed or the pressure in the combustion chamber.
The direct transducers are expensive and prone to malfunction due to their thermal and mechanical loading. Methods that require additional variables must be carefully adapted to each operating point of the internal combustion engine so as to avoid faulty diagnoses. In particular the indirect character of the method requires careful interpretation of the measured values.
German Patent Application No. DE 197 41 820 describes a method in which a pressure characteristic in the combustion chamber is analyzed. Using a gradient method, characteristic curve points that point to specific valve positions are determined. An opening or closing of a gas exchange valve manifests itself in a rapid change of the pressure gradient and is detected by a change in the operational sign of the second derivative of the pressure according to the volume.
German Patent Application No. DE 103 06 903 describes a method in which a theoretically calculated pressure characteristic in the combustion chamber is compared to an actually measured pressure characteristic. The opening time of the exhaust valve is inferred from the deviations of the two pressure characteristics. The theoretical curve is calculated assuming a polytropic expansion, by determining the polytropic exponent on the basis of two support points of the real measuring curve and the known combustion chamber geometry.
The methods that use the cylinder pressure are characterized by their direct evaluation of the combustion in the cylinder. However, the unavoidable signal noise is increased by the formation of the gradient and the higher derivative and thereby makes it more difficult to determine threshold values. On the whole, these are only small changes in the signal pattern, entailing all the problems of the numerical analysis. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that once again a careful adaptation to all operating points of the engine is required.

Method and device for ascertaining valve timing for gas-exchange valves of an internal combustion engine


A parking control system for an autonomous vehicle is provided. The parking control system includes a parking control device configured to monitor a location and movement of an autonomous vehicle which enters a parking lot, based on a 3D electronic map, calculate a driving trajectory to a parking space selected by a driver of the autonomous vehicle based on sensor data collected from various sensor in the parking lot and vehicle information received from the autonomous vehicle, and provide information about the calculated driving trajectory to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle travels to the parking space based on the driving trajectory received from the parking control device and parks in the parking space.

An autonomous parking system which has been recently developed finds a parking space in a parking lot by itself in the state where a driver does not ride in a vehicle and performs autonomous parking in the parking space. When the parking is completed, the autonomous parking system may perform a function of automatically turning off the vehicle.
The autonomous parking system starts the vehicle depending on a request from the driver and performs autonomous driving to get out of the parking lot and travel to a place where the driver alights from the vehicle.
For example, when the driver alights at the entrance to the parking lot and requests to park using his or her smartphone, the autonomous parking system enters the parking lot through autonomous driving and finds a parking space by itself to park in the parking space. Thereafter, when the driver requests to take the vehicle out using the smartphone at the entrance to the parking lot, the autonomous parking system may perform autonomous driving from the parking location in the parking lot to the entrance to the parking lot.
Thus, the driver may take less time to find a parking space for the vehicle and perform parking without the necessity of entering the parking lot, as the parking can be performed by the autonomous parking system.
When an autonomous vehicle enters a parking lot, because a conventional parking control system provides only a guiding route from a current location to an empty parking space, the autonomous vehicle should perform a complex computation process based on data obtained by means of various sensors to move to the empty parking space in the parking lot and may fail to move quickly and safely.
Furthermore, when the autonomous vehicle enters the parking lot, because the conventional parking control system assigns any empty parking space in which the intention of a driver is reflected, when another autonomous vehicle parks in an empty parking space assigned to one autonomous vehicle, the one autonomous vehicle fails in parking.
Furthermore, because the conventional parking control system does not monitor a location of each autonomous vehicle which enters the parking lot and an assigned parking space in real time, when the autonomous vehicle departs from a route to the assigned empty parking space due to direct driving of the driver or when there is an unexpected obstruction, it causes congestion in the parking lot and a time taken to park is increased due to the congestion.

Parking control system for autonomous vehicle


A seismic data collection unit having multiple separate geophones/geophone packages positioned in a housing wherein the geophones are offset from a vertical axis so that summing of the geophones' respective outputs minimizes certain noise in the unit's output. Specifically, the offset geophones are physically positioned or mathematically configured so as to be symmetrical about a selected vertical axis in order to cancel out certain noise in a seismic signal. The particular placement of the geophones within the housing is preferably selected so that the vertical axis around which the geophones are positioned passes through the center of gravity of the unit.

The present invention relates to the field of seismic exploration. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for seismic exploration, and most particularly to marine seismic exploration utilizing ocean bottom seismometer systems.
Seismic exploration systems placed on the ocean bottom floor have been in use for many years. These devices are typically referred to as "OBC" (Ocean Bottom Cabling) or "OBS" (Ocean Bottom Seismometer) systems. The prior art has centered on three main groups of ocean bottom apparatus to measure seismic signals at the seafloor. The first type of apparatus is an OBC system, similar to the towed streamer, which consists of a wire cable that contains geophones and/or hydrophones and which is laid on the ocean floor, where the detector units are interconnected with cable telemetry.
A second type of recording system is comprised of OBS units, each of which has a seismic sensor and electronics package that are anchored to the sea floor. The unit digitizes the seismic signals and typically transmits the seismic data via cable telemetry up to a radio unit floating on the water surface. The floating transmitter unit then transmits the data to a surface vessel where the seismic data are recorded. Multiple OBS units of this type are typically deployed in a seismic survey.
A third type of ocean bottom seismic recording system is comprised of OBS units known as Seafloor Seismic Recorders (SSR's). Each SSR unit is similar to the OBS units described in the preceding paragraph, but also houses onboard recording devices and records seismic data onboard the unit while it is deployed on the seafloor. Data are retrieved by retrieving the units from the seafloor. Such units are typically reusable. The focus of the present invention is on SSR type of OBS units.
More specifically, SSR type OBS units generally include one or more geophone and/or hydrophone sensors, a power source, a seismic data recorder, a crystal oscillator clock, a control circuit, and, in instances when gimbaled geophones are used and shear data are recorded, a compass or gimbal. Except to the extent power is provided from an outside source via an umbilical cord or cable, the power source is generally a battery package. In most cases, these various components are distributed between distinct and separate packages that comprise the SSR unit, namely a sensor package and a control package, both of which are mounted on some type of frame or skid. Typically, the control package houses a power source, recording device and control electronics for the SSR unit while the sensor package houses a single or three component geophone centrally secured within the housing. The sensor package is hard wired to the control package in order to transmit seismic data detected by the sensor package to the control package for recording. In some cases, an SSR unit may have multiple separate geophone packages, each cabled to a control package so as to form a geophone array. In all cases, however, each geophone, whether single component or multicomponent, is centrally secured within a high pressure resistant housing.
It is well known in the art that multiple factors associated with OBS package and its coupling characteristics can distort, add noise or otherwise degrade sensing the true acoustic responses of the earth. These factors may include 1) near surface waves which may cause a "rocking" motion of the unit thereby producing undesirable energy, 2) shear wave energy which may cause a "rocking" motion of the unit related to the package height and the shear force acting on the base of the unit against the resistance of the water, all of which combine to produce undesirable cross coupling shear energy (it appears that softer sediments tend to accentuate this type of distortion), 3) ocean currents which can produce extraneous energy and noises, and 4) various random noises such as sea creature noises, natural noises or "manmade" noises, all of which can contaminate the desired true responses. For these reasons, it is common to separate an OBS unit's control package from the unit's sensor package.
More specifically, the SSR units of the prior art, and in particular, the housings containing the power, control and recording components of a unit, are characterized by relatively large profiles. This is principally true because OBS units must employ larger spherical or cylindrical shaped housings having large cross-sections to counter the high pressure environments in which the OBS units are deployed. Thus, to avoid noise associated with these housings, and their coupling to the earth, it has been desirable in prior art OBS units to separate the geophones from any large profile housing containing other components of the unit. In this regard, the geophones are typically housed in small packages containing primarily only the geophones. The profile of these geophone packages is very small in comparison to the larger control housing.
It is also common practice in the art to minimize cross coupling problems by rigidly fixing an OBS unit's geophone—whether single or multi component—at the vertical axis of symmetry of the unit package, between the center of buoyancy and the center of mass of the unit. By securing a unit's geophone at the center of gravity of the unit, noise and other unwanted effects of rocking or similar motion, which are most pronounced at the periphery of the unit, are minimized.
Of course, because of the practice of positioning a geophone at the center of gravity of a housing, the sensor housing for a prior art OBS unit only contains one geophone/geophone set, whether it is a single component geophone that measures signals in only one dimension or a three component geophone that measures signals in three dimensions. This also has the result of limiting the position of other components around the geophones. Specifically, the available space between the centrally positioned geophone and the casing walls dictates the physical size of the components that can be incorporated in a unit. In this same vein, any components that are incorporated within a package must be positioned so that the overall package exhibits an acceptable center of gravity.
Various attempts have been made to address some of the above-mentioned drawbacks. For example, a seafloor seismic recorder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,642. This patent discloses an elongated, upright chassis formed of spaced apart, horizontal ring plates connected by vertical leg members. Each leg member is formed of nested tubes that can slide relative to one another and that are secured to one another by a clamp mechanism. Releasably attached to the lower plate is a ballast ring. Also attached to the lower plate is the geophone package consisting of a three component geophone. Attached to the upper plate is a foam buoy. A control package extends down from the upper plate. The control package houses a power source, a seismic data recorder, a compass and a control circuit. An external hard wire electrically connects the control package with the geophone package. The geophone is centrally secured within the geophone package housing along the unit's vertical axis of symmetry. The system does not utilize any hard-wired communications link to the surface monitoring station but utilizes acoustical or preprogrammed means for controlling the unit. When released into the water, the ballast ring is suppose to provide sufficient mass to maintain the system upright and couple the geophones to the ocean floor upon settling. To minimize the likelihood of geophone noise produced by wave or water current motion acting against the buoy and control package, once the system is coupled to the ocean bottom, the clamp mechanism on each leg is released, allowing the control package and buoy to slide upward on the nested legs, isolating the geophones from the other parts of the system.
GeoPro offers a self-contained, i.e., cable-less, OBS system comprised of a 430 mm diameter glass sphere in which is enclosed various components for the system, including batteries, a radio beacon, a seismic data recording unit, an acoustic release system, a deep sea hydrophone and a three component geophone package. The sphere is mounted on a weighted skid that counteracts the buoyancy of the sphere and anchors the OBS system to the sea bed. To minimize noise, the geophone package is centrally positioned at the bottom of the sphere adjacent the skid along the sphere's vertical axis. One drawback to this particular design is that the geophone package is not coupled directly to the ocean floor. Rather, any seismic signal recorded by the geophone must pass through the skid and the bottom of the sphere, and in so doing, are subject to noise and other distortions described above. It should be noted that this unit design is representative of many of the cylinder and sphere shapes utilized in the prior art since it is well known that such shapes are more effective in withstanding the high pressures likely to be found in ocean environments. However, the larger profile of the sphere renders the system highly subject to noise causing ocean currents and similar external forces.
K.U.M. and SEND offer a cable-less OBS system comprising a frame having a rod at the top and forming a tripod at the bottom. A foam flotation device is attached to the rod. An anchor is fixed to the lower portion of the tripod and secures the frame to the sea floor. Pressure cylinders mounted on the tripod portion of the frame contain seismic recorders, batteries and a release system. Also attached to the frame is a pivotally mounted crane arm to which is releasably attached a geophone unit. During deployment, the crane arm is initially maintained in a vertical position with the geophone unit attached to the free end of the arm. When the frame contacts the sea floor, the crane arm pivots out from the frame and releases the geophone unit onto the sea floor approximately 1 meter from the frame system. A hard wire permits electrical communication between the geophone unit and the recorders. The geophone unit itself is an approximately 250 mm diameter, non-symmetrical disk which is flat on one side and domed on the opposite side. The flat side of the geophone unit is grooved and contacts the sea floor when released by the crane arm.
SeaBed Geophysical markets a cable-less OBS system under the name CASE. This system is comprised of a control unit, i.e., electronics package, and a node unit or geophone package interconnected by an external cable. Both the control unit and the node unit are carried on an elongated frame. The control unit is comprised of a tubular body which contains batteries, a clock, a recording unit and a transponder/modem for hydro-acoustic communication with the surface. The node unit is comprised of a three component geophone, a hydrophone, a tilt meter and a replaceable skirt, wherein the skirt forms a downwardly open cylinder under the geophone unit. The three component geophone is centrally fixed in a housing along the housing's vertical axis of symmetry. The node unit is detachable from the elongated frame and control unit, but remains in communication with the control unit via external cabling. The use of a tubular body such as this is very representative of prior art designs because the system packaging must be designed to withstand the high pressures to which the device is exposed. During deployment, the entire unit is dropped to the sea floor, where a remotely operated vehicle (separate from the OBS system) is used to detach the node unit from the frame and plant the node unit into the seafloor, pushing the open-ended skirt into the seafloor sediment.
Each of the referenced prior art devices embodies one or more of the drawbacks of the prior art. For example, the GeoPro is an upright system that has a relatively tall, vertical profile. As such, seismic data collected by this system is subject to noise arising from water movement acting against the devices. In addition, it has been observed that shear motion caused by movement of the ocean floor under such a tall profile OBS system can cause rocking motion of the OBS system, particularly as the motion translates from the bottom to the top of the unit, further deteriorating fidelity of the recorded data. While the OBS system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,642, as well as the devices of KUM/SEND and CASE have sensor packages with a lower profile, they only have one geophone in the sensor package and are still subject to some of the afore-mentioned noises.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a seismic data collection unit that minimizes signal noise arising from rocking motion placed on the unit by water currents and the like. In this same vein, the unit should minimize random noise from external sources and cross-coupling shear energy. Preferably, such a unit will also minimize the impact on signal distortion arising from the physical dimensions of the casing in which the geophones are housed. Similarly, the design options for the unit should be maximized to permit more flexibility in positioning particular components within a casing. Finally, such a unit should minimize the effects of a geophone's harmonic distortion on the detected seismic signal.

Ocean bottom seismometer package with distributed geophones


An apparatus for pasteurizing an ice cream composition comprises a receptacle for receiving the ice cream composition, a steam generator, and a steam line. The steam generator is designed to generate water vapor, the steam line is designed to conduct the generated water vapor into the receptacle. The steam line has a heatable heating section designed to increase the temperature of the steam. The heating section is arranged outside the steam generator.

Apparatuses for pasteurizing an ice cream composition with water vapor are known from the prior art. German Patent No. DE 697 27 428 T2, for example, discloses such an apparatus. In addition, an apparatus for pasteurizing food is also known from the German Patent No. DE 10 2010 003 563 A1, where the water vapor that is used is reheated in order to reduce the moisture that is introduced into the food with the water vapor.
In contrast to the aforesaid, an object of the disclosed apparatus is to heat the water vapor in a better way.

Apparatus for pasteurizing an amount of ice cream


A method for recovering a network key of an access point to a network, implemented by a terminal. The network key allows the terminal to be associated with the access point upon a first connection of the terminal to the access point. The network key recovery method includes: receiving, by the terminal, a network key provided by the access point on a server following a request, by the terminal to the server, for the network key of the access point, the request including an identifier of the access point and having been relayed by the server to the access point associated with the identifier of the access point in the request. Thus, as the access point does not transmit the network key directly to the terminal, but to a server on which the terminal will recover it, this limits intrusions into the network linked to the vulnerability of the Wi-Fi network.

To connect a terminal (computer, smartphone, printer, camera, etc.) through a wireless network (in particular Wi-Fi) to an access point device to a communication network (in particular an Internet router or a gateway between a private network and a public network, such as the Internet), access points are provided with a network key, also called WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy, that is to say securing of wireless access), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or WPA2 key (registered trademarks) depending on the standard that is used.
The network key may simply be written on the access point device, also colloquially called access point (for example on a label affixed directly to the access point and/or a label affixed to the packaging of the access point). The user wishing to connect a tablet to this access point via the Wi-Fi network will input the Wi-Fi key read from the access point on his tablet upon a request to connect to this access point. This first connection is therefore cumbersome because the network keys are often lengthy in order to avoid risks of intrusion into the private network. Furthermore, the security of the network depends on the location at which the access point is placed, because if it is accessible to a large number of people, said security will thereby be reduced since the network key is easily able to be read.
This network key may be modified by the users by way of an interface of the access point accessible via the Internet (either directly on an Internet page or via an application dedicated to the access point, such as the Ma Livebox application—registered trademark). The risk is then that of the user forgetting the modified network key, preventing any new association of a terminal with the access point, that is to say the addition of a terminal to the private network managed by the access point.
To facilitate this first connection for a large number of users, the network key affixed to the access point may be either replaced or combined with a barcode or a QR code containing the network key. However, the security of the private network in this case again depends on the location of the access point and its physical accessibility to third parties.
The WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) standard itself also proposes to facilitate this first connection by proposing to generate a random network key stronger than the network key provided by the manufacturer of the access point. In order for this random network key to be known to the two equipments to be associated: the access point and the terminal (tablet, printer, smartphone, etc.), the WPS protocol includes a series of message exchanges between the access point and the terminal following an action by the user of the terminal which, when the series of exchanges is performed successfully, finishes by indicating that the protocol is complete, allowing the random network key to be transmitted and the first connection of the terminal to the access point.
The WPS standard provides several modes of operation:                two "out-of-band" modes, that is to say not using the Wi-Fi network for the series of exchanges of the WPS protocol:                    the USB mode, in which the user connects the terminal to the access point using a USB port via which the series of exchanges of the WPS protocol is transmitted, and            the NFC mode, in which the user brings the terminal close to the access point in order to allow NFC (near field communication) communication.
The drawback of these two modes of implementation of the WPS is that it requires the terminal to be close to the access point with which the user wishes to associate it, which is not always possible: computer, television, printer, etc.                the PIN mode, in which the user enters an identification number of the access point (number read from the access point, in particular from a label glued to the access point or directly etched or printed thereon, or on a screen of the access point) on his terminal upon the first request to connect the terminal to the access point. The drawback of this method is that it is vulnerable to mass attacks.        the "pushbutton" mode, in which the user pushes a virtual or physical button on each of the two equipments to be associated: the terminal and the access point.
In these two last modes, the WPS exchanges are performed between the terminal and the access point via the Wi-Fi network following the action by the user (sending the PIN code to the access point and/or pressing the pushbuttons).
However, regardless of the technique used nowadays for the first connection of a terminal to an access point, this remains sensitive to third-party attacks and to the risks of intrusion by third parties into a private network via the access point.

Network key recovery, network key recovery management, network key provision, terminal, server and access point implementing same


A process in which a base metal film is formed on the surface of a plastic film using a dry plating process, and a liquid containing an organic monomer is then brought in contact with the base metal film, thereby selectively forming a conductive organic polymer coating within any pinhole defects, and effectively filling the defects. A metal film is then formed on top of the base metal film using an electroplating process, thus forming a metal wet plating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal layer formation process, for forming a metal layer with minimal defects on the surface of an insulator.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-173705, filed Jun. 18, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, circuit boards that use TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) or FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) have been identified as ideal for achieving further miniaturization and weight reductions of electronic equipment, and consequently, demand for these circuit boards continues to rise. Conventionally, these types of circuit boards have used a flexible plastic substrate, with a layer of copper foil bonded to this substrate with an adhesive such as an epoxy based adhesive. However, in order to achieve higher density packaging within electronic equipment, further reductions in the thickness of these circuit boards is now required, and the above construction, comprising a bonded layer of copper foil, is unable to adequately satisfy this requirement for further thickness reductions.
Accordingly, techniques are being investigated for forming metallized films without the use of an adhesive. For example, in one known method, a thin film formation process such as vacuum deposition, sputtering or ion plating is used to form a base metal film directly onto a plastic substrate, and a plating process or the like is then used to deposit a metal plating layer on top of the base metal film.
However, in the production method described above, the generation of a plurality of pinhole defects, with sizes ranging from several μm to several hundred μm, within the base metal film formed by the dry plating is unavoidable. If a metal plating layer is then formed on top of this type of base metal film containing pinhole defects, then even if the metal plating layer is able to seal these pinholes defects, problems can still arise, including the possibility of plating solution remaining within the pinhole defects and causing peeling of the metal film, and the chance that if a fine wiring pattern is formed on top of a pinhole defect, the wiring pattern may break.
Accordingly, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-256700 proposes a method in which a base metal layer is formed on an insulator film using a dry plating process, a primary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the base metal layer, the structure is then treated in an alkali solution, an electroless copper plating layer is subsequently formed on top of the primary electroplated copper layer as an intermediate layer, and finally, a secondary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the intermediate layer.
However in this method, the base metal layer, the primary electroplated copper layer, the intermediate layer, and the secondary electroplated copper layer must be formed in sequence on the surface of the insulator film, and consequently the method is complex and the associated costs are high.
Furthermore, when forming an electroless plating layer, catalytic nuclei must be first adhered to the plating surface, and because these catalytic nuclei tend to adhere preferentially to the metal rather than the exposed insulator surface, the thickness of the electroless plating layer tends to be thinner within the pinhole defects than on the metal surface, meaning the pinhole defects cannot be completely filled. Accordingly, the occurrence of indentations in the metal layer surface at positions corresponding with the pinhole defects is unavoidable, making it difficult to form a metal layer of uniform thickness.
In addition, electroless plating processes are unable to form films as dense as those produced by electroplating processes. As a result, the surface of the electroless plating layer tends to be a rough structure with a multitude of surface irregularities, and consequently the secondary electroplated copper layer formed on top of this electroless plating layer, which reflects the surface state of the underlying electroless plating layer, is also rough, meaning the surface of the final metal layer is neither smooth nor dense.
The present invention takes the above circumstances into consideration, with an object of providing a process in which only the pinhole defects within a base metal film formed using a dry plating process can be coated selectively with a semiconductor, enabling the formation of a metal layer with excellent surface properties.


An analog switch used in a switched capacitor filter has N-channel and P-channel MOS FETs connected in parallel between input and output switch terminals, with capacitor charge currents being periodically produced from the output terminal. The filter derives an output signal with respect to a reference voltage and maintains the switch input and output terminal at the reference voltage, while respective substrate potentials of the N-channel and P-channel MOS FETs are fixed at the reference voltage, so that the analog switch does not produce an external flow of leakage current that can affect the output signal of the filter during each interval when the switch is open.

1. Field of Application
The present invention relates to an analog switch and to a switched-capacitor filter which incorporates the analog switch.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the characteristic response time of a semiconductor pressure sensor is several milliseconds, such a sensor also detects noise, i.e., high-frequency ripple components. Detection of these high-frequency components will result in a lowering of the detection resolution of the sensor, rendering it unsuitable for applications in which high accuracy is necessary. For that reason, there is a requirement for a circuit which will enable high accuracy to be maintained for such a sensor, even when high-frequency ripple components are detected.
One method of removing of high-frequency components from the output of a semiconductor pressure sensor (referred to in the following simply as a pressure sensor) is to transfer the output signal from the sensor through a low-pass filter circuit having a suitably low cut-off frequency. A specific example is shown in FIG. 8, in which a switched-capacitor filter circuit 200 functions as a low-pass filter that operates on the output detection signal from a pressure sensor, supplied via a differential amplifier 100. This enables the detection frequency range of the pressure sensor to be set appropriately, by selecting a suitably low cut-off frequency for the switched-capacitor filter.
In FIG. 8, the pressure sensor is formed of a set of four piezo-resistive elements R1, R2, R3, R4, each being a semiconductor device with a diffused-impurity layer structure, which are formed on a diaphragm. The piezo-resistive elements R1 to R4 are connected in a bridge circuit as shown, with a current from a current source being passed through two opposing terminals of the bridge circuit and with a voltage which appears between the remaining pair of opposing terminals of the bridge circuit being inputted to the differential amplifier 100. The differential amplifier 100 thereby outputs a pressure detection signal that is inputted to the switched-capacitor filter circuit 200. The switched-capacitor filter circuit 200 is formed of a switched-capacitor filter 103, a frequency-divider circuit 104 and an oscillator circuit 105. The oscillator circuit 105 generates a reference clock signal (shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 10) that is supplied to the frequency-divider circuit 104, which thereby generates a synchronized pair of clock signals respectively designated as the first-phase clock pulse signal φ1 and the second-phase clock pulse signal φ2, as well as their respective inverse signals φ1 bar and φ2 bar. The relationship between the first-phase clock pulse signal φ1 and second-phase clock pulse signal φ2 and the reference clock signal are shown in FIG. 10.
FIG. 9 shows an example of the circuit of a prior art switched-capacitor filter 103, which incorporates analog switches whose operation timings are controlled by the first-phase clock pulse signal φ1 and second-phase clock pulse signal φ2 of FIG. 10. As shown, the switched-capacitor filter 103 is formed of an operational amplifier OP1, first, second and third capacitors C1, C2, C3, and first to sixth analog switchcs SW1 to SW6, with the capacitor C3 being connected between the output terminal and inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier OP1, and with the non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier OP1 receiving a reference voltage Vref. Hence, the operational amplifier OP1 and capacitor C3 are connected as an inverting integrator circuit, with Vref being the common reference level of the input and output signals Vi, Vo of the filter.
Each of the analog switches SW1 to SW6 is made up of an N-channel MOS FET (metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) and a P-channel MOS FET which are connected in parallel. Each of the first to third analog switches SW1 to SW3 is set in the on (i.e., conducting) state only during each interval in which the first-phase clock pulse signal φ1 is at the H level (i.e., high logic level potential) while each of the fourth to sixth analog switches SW4 to SW6 is set in the on state only during each interval in which the second-phase clock pulse signal φ2 is at the H level.
Referring to FIG. 10, four different conditions of the switched capacitor filter circuit 103 of FIG. 9 can be defined as follows:
(a) the condition during each interval in which the clock pulse signal φ1 is at the H level and the clock pulse signal φ2 is at the L level, designated as the first condition S1;
(b) the condition during each interval which immediately follows a first condition S1 interval and in which both of the clock pulse signals φ1, φ2 are at the L level, designated as the second condition S2;
(c) the condition during each interval in which the clock pulse signal φ1 is at the L level and the clock pulse signal φ2 is at the H level, designated as the third condition S3; and
(d) the condition during each interval which immediately follows a third condition S3 interval and in which both of the clock pulse signals φ1, φ2 are at the L level, designated as the fourth condition S4.
These conditions will be described with respect to the analog switches SW1 to SW6 of the switched-capacitor filter, referring to the circuit operating diagrams of FIG. 11. As shown, in the first condition S1 each of the analog switches SW1, SW2, SW3 is in the on state, while each of the analog switches SW4, SW5, SW6 is in the off state. In the second condition S2, each of the analog switches SW1 to SW6 is in the off state. In the third condition S3, each of the analog switches SW4, SW5, SW6 is in the on state, while each of the analog switches SW1, SW2, SW3 is in the off state. In the fourth condition S4, each of the analog switches SW1 to SW6 is in the off state.
The cut-off frequency fc of such a filter is proportional to the frequency fs of the clock pulse signals φ1, φ2 multiplied by the ratio of values of the capacitors C2, C3. With a usual type of pressure sensor apparatus, it is necessary to use a cut-off frequency in the range of approximately 100 Hz to 400 Hz. If for example a cut-off frequency of 100 Hz is to be used, this can be achieved by setting the values of 0.25 pf for C2, 60 pf for C3, and 150 kHz for the clock pulse frequency fs. It is readily practicable to implement a circuit having such component values as an integrated circuit. However if the cut-off frequency fc is to be made as low as approximately 1 Hz, then assuming that the same values as above are used for fs and for C2, the value of the capacitor C3 would require to be 6000 pf. It is not practicable to form a capacitor having such a large value within an integrated circuit. Hence, if the cut-off frequency fc is to be made as low as 1 Hz, with all elements of the filter being formed within an integrated circuit, it is necessary to lower the clock pulse frequency fs by a factor of 100:1, to approximately 1.5 kHz.
In FIG. 10, the relationship between the first-phase clock pulse signal φ1 and the second-phase clock pulse signal φ2 is such that the interval τ (the duration of the second condition S2) is made extremely short, being approximately 1 μs. This is achieved by using a non-overlap circuit (not shown in the drawings) which operates on the clock pulse signals φ1 and φ2 to provide a delay of approximately 1 μs between each falling edge of the clock pulse signal φ1 and a subsequent rising edge of the clock pulse signal φ2. As a result, the transition from the first condition S1 to the third condition S3 is made as short as possible, so that each sampling charge (on the capacitor C1) is rapidly transferred to the capacitor C3. In that way, the operation during the transition from the second condition S2 to the third condition S3 will be substantially unaffected by a flow of leakage current that may occur in the analog switches during high-temperature operation, even if the sampling frequency (i.e., clock pulse frequency) fs is low.
However with such clock timing, the duration of each interval of the fourth condition S4 will be long, so that as can be understood from FIG. 11, problems arise due to leakage currents that flow in the transistors of the analog switch SW5. That is to say, in general during the fourth condition S4, some leakage current (indicated as IL for condition S4 in FIG. 11) will flow out of or into the analog switch S5, as a charging current or discharge current of the capacitor C3, resulting in a corresponding change in the level of output signal Vo of the filter. This may have a significant effect, when the external flow of leakage current from switch SW5 results from high-temperature leakage currents that flow in the transistors of that switch. The effect increases as the amplitude of variation of the input signal Vi of the filter is reduced. As a result, when there is a high level of external leakage current from the output terminal of switch SW5 (the switch terminal that is connected to the capacitor C3) during each interval of the fourth condition S4, accurate operation cannot be achieved for low values of input signal to the filter, in particular during high-temperature operation of the filter.
FIG. 13 conceptually illustrates leakage current flow paths in the analog switch SW5 of the prior art circuit of FIG. 9 during the fourth condition S4.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a configuration for the analog switch SW5 that is typical of the prior art. In that example, the P-channel MOS FET 50 of the switch is formed within an N-well that is formed in an N-type silicon substrate, while the N-channel MOS FET 51 is within a P-well that is formed in the N-type silicon substrate, with a PN junction being formed between the P-well and the N-type substrate. A fixed reverse bias voltage equal to the supply voltage Vcc is applied across this PN junction, so that respective leakage current flow through the source and drain regions, via this PN junction.
Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, in the case of the N-channel MOS FET 51, leakage currents I50 and I51 flow from the source and drain electrodes through the P-well to the substrate potential-setting terminal 81, which is fixed at ground potential. In the case of the P-channel MOS FET 50, leakage currents I60 and I61 flow from a potential-setting terminal 80, which is fixed at Vcc, through the N-well to the source and drain electrodes.
In general, the magnitude of the leakage current I51 will not be equal to that of the current I61, so that the difference (I51−I61), or the difference (I61−I51) between these, will appear as an external flow of leakage current, i.e., the leakage current IL shown in FIG. 11 which flows into or out of the capacitor C3 of the inverting integrator circuit during the fourth condition S4.
Hence in the prior art it has been difficult to utilize such a switched-capacitor filter, having a sufficiently low value of cut-off frequency for effectively operating on the output signal from a semiconductor pressure sensor to achieve accurate pressure sensing over a wide range of pressure values, with that difficult resulting from a high-temperature leakage current that flows to or from an analog switch of the filter during each interval of operation in the fourth condition S4 described above, with that leakage current flowing as a charging or discharge current of an integrator capacitor (C3) of the filter, during each of the long-duration intervals of condition S4.

Analog switch having a minimized external flow of leakage current and switched capacitor filter incorporating the analog switch


A bi-level aluminum vehicle carrier railcar (10) includes an integrated aluminum roofing structure (30), aluminum side panels (18, 20), and aluminum decking structure (36, 50) attached to a steel underframe. The decking structure (36, 50) is supported on side stakes (18) of the side panels (18, 20) with the decking structure (36, 50) including overlapping extruded aluminum decking plates with (38, 52) anti-skid features. The anti-skid features include a media blasted finish to a portion of the surface of the decking and extruded ribs (64) in a portion of the decking. The roofing structure (30) includes overlapping, arched corrugated aluminum panels (30), wherein the roof panels (30) remain uncoated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to railcars for transporting vehicles, typically also called vehicle carriers, and more particularly, directed toward aluminum vehicle carrier railcars.
2. Background Information
Railcars have long been used for transporting vehicles, in particular automobiles and light trucks, long distances generally from the point of manufacture or import location to dealerships or locations where the automobiles or trucks can be subsequently transported by truck. As with other freight, a vehicle carrying railcar is designed to carry a maximum number of motor vehicles in each railcar. This has lead to the development of a bi-level or tri-level vehicle carrier railcar. In addition to the desire to carry a maximum number of vehicles on each vehicle carrier railcar, the existing railcars have been designed to minimize damage or vandalism of the vehicles such that many vehicle carrying railcars are designed as an enclosed structure.
Conventionally, the existing vehicle carrier railcars are formed of steel. The steel enclosure found in conventional vehicle carrier railcars presents other problems for the railcar. Steel is susceptible to oxidation, i.e., rust or corrosion, which can be particularly damaging to the top coat and finish coat of new automobiles or trucks contained within the interior of the railcar. To avoid this problem, conventional steel vehicle carrier railcars are painted to provide a protected area between the steel and the automobiles carried in the railcar interior. The painting of the interior of the vehicle carrier railcar requires a certain amount of material and labor at manufacturing. More significantly, the painted surfaces introduce significant maintenance requirements for the vehicle carrier railcars. The vehicle carrier railcars must be periodically repainted to maintain the appropriate protection or barrier layer between the steel car and the carried vehicles. This repainting is labor-intensive, time consuming and holds the associated railcar out of service during the maintenance procedure. Some attempts have been made to address this solution such as a fiberglass panel articulated railcar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,491 assigned to Trinity.
In addition to painting of the interior surface to provide a barrier layer between the steel vehicle carrier railcars and the automobiles carried in the interior, the prior art railcars often utilize an anti-skid paint on the decking surfaces to accommodate pedestrian traffic. This specialized paint further increases the cost of the prior art railcars. The non-skid paint is provided since the decking, at least selected portions of the decking, is utilized as a walkway for workers loading and unloading vehicles onto the vehicle carrier.
The object of the present invention is to address the problems of the above-cited prior art. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight vehicle carrier railcar constructed from non-corroding materials adjacent to the load carrying interior. A further object of the present invention is to provide an efficient, cost-effective, non-slip area for workers loading and unloading vehicles from the vehicle carrier. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight uni-body vehicle carrier railcar.


The invention provides a liquid crystal display device in which generation of display defects, such as afterimages or spot-shaped stains, can be reduced or suppressed, and in addition a bright display having a wide viewing angle can be obtained, in a transflective liquid crystal display device. A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal layer interposed between a pair of substrates, and a transmissive display area and a reflective display area provided in one dot area. The liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal having a negative dielectric anisotropy representing that an initial alignment state is a vertical alignment, and pixel electrodes to drive the liquid crystal and a common electrode are formed in the liquid crystal layer sides of the pair of substrates, respectively. In the pixel electrodes, as an alignment regulating device to regulate alignment of the liquid crystal, slits formed by opening some parts of the electrodes are formed in the transmissive display areas, and the slits are arranged to two-dimensionally overlap with a reflective film.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and an electronic apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to obtaining a display having a high contrast and a wide viewing angle in a transflective liquid crystal display device in which display is performed in both a reflection mode and a transmission mode.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art liquid crystal display device includes a transflective liquid crystal display device providing display that is visible using external light, similarly to the reflective liquid crystal display device, in a bright place. The transflective liquid crystal display provides display uses a backlight, similarly to the transmissive liquid crystal display device, in a dark place. Such a related art transflective liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display device in which a liquid crystal layer is interposed between an upper substrate and a lower substrate, a reflective film obtained by forming window portions to transmit light in a metal film made of aluminum, etc., is provided on the inner surface of a lower substrate, and the reflective film is then allowed to serve as a transflective plate. In this case, in the reflection mode, the external light incident from the upper substrate side passes through the liquid crystal layer, is reflected from the reflective film at the inner surface of the lower substrate, passes through the liquid crystal layer again, and is emitted from the upper substrate side, thereby contributing to the display. On the other hand, in the transmission mode, light from a backlight incident from the lower substrate side passes through the liquid crystal layer from the window portions of the reflective film and is externally emitted from the upper substrate side, thereby contributing to the display. Therefore, in an area in which the reflective film is formed, the areas in which the window portions are formed become the transmissive display areas, and the areas other than transmissive display areas become the reflective display areas.
However, the related art transflective liquid crystal display device is subject to a problem in that the viewing angle in the transmissive display is narrow. This is because a transflective plate is provided at an inner surface of a liquid crystal cell so as not to generate parallax, and thus there is a restriction in that the reflective display is performed using only one polarizer provided in an observer side. Therefore, the degree of freedom in the optical design is small. Therefore, in order to address or solve the above, a related art liquid crystal display device uses a vertically aligned liquid crystal, which is disclosed in "Development of transflective LCD for high contrast and wide viewing angle by using homeotropic alignment", M. Jisaki et al., Asia Display/IDW'01, pp. 133–136 (2001), (hereinafter "Jisaki et al."). Three features thereof are as follows:
(1) A "VA (Vertical Alignment) mode" is employed, in which a liquid crystal having a negative dielectric anisotropy is aligned vertically at the substrate and then it is slanted by applying a voltage.
(2) A "multi gap structure" is employed, in which the thickness of the liquid crystal layer in the transmissive display areas and the reflective display areas are different each other (for this feature, see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-242226).
(3) The transmissive display areas are formed as regular octagons, and projections are provided at the centers of the transmissive display areas on the counter substrate such that the liquid crystal molecules are slanted in eight directions in those areas. That is, a so-called "alignment division structure" is employed.

Transflective LCD having a reflective film overlapping the transmissive area and alignment regulators in plan view


The disclosure relates to a radar arrangement for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one radar sensor with at least one antenna arrangement, wherein at least two antenna arrangements are arranged at a distance defined in an arrangement direction on a carrier component, which is permeable in particular to radar radiation, of the motor vehicle, and wherein the radar arrangement has a control device for common transmission and reception operation of the at least two antenna arrangements, such that these have the effect of a single virtual antenna arrangement with increased antenna extension in the arrangement direction.

The use of radar sensors in motor vehicles is already widely known in the prior art. Radar sensors are nowadays usually used as environmental sensors for a medium and larger distance range in order to be able to determine the distance, angle and relative speed of other road users or larger objects. Such radar data can be used by environmental models or also be made directly available to vehicle systems. In the known state of the art, it is, for example, longitudinal guidance systems, such as ACC, or also security systems that make use of radar data. The use of radar sensors in the interior of the motor vehicle has also previously been proposed.
Radar sensors of conventional design usually have larger dimensions and are rather bulky after the antennas and the electronic components needed directly on the antenna, i.e. the radar front end, are integrated in a housing. The electronic components mainly constitute the radar transceiver, which contains a frequency control (usually comprising a phase-locked loop-PLL), mixing devices, a low noise amplifier (LNA) and the like, but control modules and digital signal processing components are often also implemented close to the antenna, for example in order to be able to supply already processed sensor data, such as object lists, on a connected bus, such as a CAN bus.
The implementation of semiconductor-based radar components has long proved difficult, as expensive specialty semiconductors, particularly GaAs, have been required. Smaller radar sensors have been proposed, of which the entire radar front end was implemented on a single chip using SiGe technology before solutions using CMOS technology also became known. Such solutions are the result of extending CMOS technology to high frequency applications, often referred to as RF CMOS. Such a CMOS radar chip is designed to be extremely compact and does not use expensive special semiconductors and above all offers significant advantages over other semiconductor technologies, especially in production. An exemplary implementation of a 77 GHz radar transceiver as a CMOS chip is described in the article by Jri Lee et al., "A Fully Integrated 77 GHz FMCW Radar Transceiver in 65 nm CMOS Technology", IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits 45 (2010), pp. 2746-2755.
Following the additional proposal to implement the chip and the antenna in a shared package, a very low-cost small radar sensor is obtainable, which can meet the space requirements significantly better and also has a very low signal-to-noise ratio because of the short signal paths and is suitable for high frequencies and greater, variable frequency bandwidths. Such small-sized radar sensors can therefore also be used for short-range applications, for example in the range of 30 cm to 10 m.
It has also been proposed to provide such a CMOS transceiver chip and/or a package having a CMOS transceiver chip and an antenna with a digital signal processing processor (DSP processor) on a joint printed circuit board, or to also integrate the functions of the signal processor in the CMOS transceiver chip. A similar integration is possible for control functions.
Nowadays, many radar sensors of a motor vehicle, such as radar sensors for an ACC system, are still visibly installed on the motor vehicle. Ways are being sought, for design reasons, to also install radar sensors so they are concealed. DE 10 2013 223 783 A1 states regarding this that it is known to use a plate or flat bowl on which an emblem or a logo is integrated as a radome. The radome is to be cleaned by using ultrasound. The advantage of placing a radar sensor behind a logo or emblem is that these are usually disposed in the center of the front or rear region of the motor vehicle. Such center positions are particularly suitable locations for the radar sensor because of the symmetry.
The angular resolution of radar sensors plays an important role in the ability to distinguish between different objects in a traffic situation. The angular resolution of a radar sensor depends substantially on the size of the antenna arrangement. The greater the effective length of the antenna arrangement, which is also referred to as the aperture, the higher is the angular resolution in this direction. Since radar sensors are limited in size, the size of the antenna arrangement can only be increased up to a certain surface area, for example 10 cm×10 cm. This size limitation also leads to a size limitation in the achievable angular resolution.

Radar arrangement for a motor vehicle, and motor vehicle


A structure and method of forming a capacitor is described. In one embodiment, the capacitor includes a cylindrical first electrode having an inner portion bounded by a bottom surface and an inner sidewall surface, the first electrode further having an outer sidewall, the first electrode being formed from a conductive material. An insulating fill material is disposed within the inner portion of the first electrode. A capacitor dielectric is disposed adjacent at least a portion of the outer sidewall of the first electrode. A second electrode is disposed adjacent the outer sidewall of the first electrode and separated therefrom by the capacitor dielectric. The second electrode is not formed within the inner portion of the first electrode.

Semiconductor devices are used in many electronic and other applications. Semiconductor devices comprise integrated circuits that are formed on semiconductor wafers by depositing many types of thin films of material over the semiconductor wafers, and patterning the thin films of material to form the integrated circuits.
There is a trend in the semiconductor industry towards reducing the size of features, e.g., the circuits, and the devices in order to increase density of the semiconductor devices. Hence, the minimum feature size of semiconductor devices has steadily decreased over time. However, as features of semiconductor devices become smaller, it becomes difficult to form small features at required performance. One such challenge involves the fabrication of capacitors used in various applications. For example, the footprint of capacitors should be reduced without degrading the capacitance. This drives a need for new materials as well high aspect ratio features, all the while, without significantly increasing the cost of the device.
Hence, what are needed in the art are improved structures and methods for producing capacitors amenable to sustain scaling of the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductor component with MIM capacitor


A seal for the frame of an aperture of the body of an automobile, wherein the seal includes a reinforced grip-forming channel section of a U-shaped cross-section in a thermoplastic material, and a tubular sealing element in a resiliently deformable material, which adheres laterally to the outer surface of the channel section of the U-shaped cross-section. Along at least part of the length of the seal corresponding to the location of corners in the aperture frame to be equipped, the tubular element has a length greater than that of the corresponding part of the channel section. The portion of the tubular element of length greater than that of the corresponding part of the channel section being offset laterally with respect to the latter.

The present invention relates to a seal for the frame of an aperture of the body of an automobile or similar. A process for production of this seal is also a subject of the invention.
It is known that such seals for automobile door or trunk frames generally comprise a grip-forming channel section of U-shaped cross-section, in a thermoplastic material provided with a metal reinforcement, this channel section being intended to cap a projecting part of the frame so as to secure the seal to it, and a resiliently deformable tubular element, generally in a cellular material, which is contiguous to the grip-forming channel section and which is intended to be compressed between the frame and the corresponding movable element of the automobile so as to ensure tightness.
The grip-forming channel section and the tubular element may be coextruded from the same extrusion head. They may also be produced separately and be secured to one another afterwards by bonding.
It is to the latter production process that the present invention relates and it aims to remedy the disadvantages encountered when fitting these seals onto body opening frames which have very sharp curves in some corners.
In fact, in such locations, the tubular element, which is of a relatively large volume and whereof the cross-section generally has a complex profile, tends, on the one hand, to form wrinkles all the more pronounced as the curvature of the frame becomes sharper, on the other hand, to become offset with respect to the grip-forming channel section and to become deformed.
This disadvantage is well-known in the Art (see the Applicant's French patents and patent applications No 2,247,341, 2,133,107, 2,469,321 and 2,624,191) and various solutions to this problem have been proposed, but they are all relatively complicated and costly, because in most instances they involve adding a local excess of material onto the part of the seal located in the corner of the frame.

Process for production of a seal for the frame of an aperture of the body of an automobile


An avalanche photodiode detector is provided. The avalanche photodiode detector comprises an absorber region having an absorption layer for receiving incident photons and generating charged carriers; and a multiplier region having a multiplication layer; wherein the multiplier region is on a mesa structure separate from the absorber region and is coupled to the absorber region by a bridge for transferring charged carriers between the absorber region and multiplier region.

Avalanche photodiode detectors (APDs) are photosensitive devices that detect optical power by converting an input signal (photons) to an electrical signal. The input signal is amplified by an "avalanche effect" when carriers are injected in an area with high electrical field. This occurs because multiple electron-hole pairs are created for each absorbed photon.
An APD typically comprises of a plurality of stacked layers including a multiplication layer and an absorption layer on a semiconductor substrate. The absorption layer absorbs incident photons to create electron/holes that are transferred to the multiplication layer. The multiplication layer multiplies the electrons/holes. This occurs when electron/holes have sufficient energy to create a new electron and hole. Initial carriers and newly created carriers may create additional electrons and holes (hence the name "avalanche") by repeating the multiplication process.
In a conventional APD, all layers are grown in one epitaxial growth. This may lead to some interface defects. Due to interface defects there may be some carrier traps and recombination centers, which reduce overall quantum efficiency and after pulsing performance of an APD.
Furthermore, simultaneous growth absorption and multiplication layers does not provide flexibility in selecting different materials for these layers.
Therefore there is a need for an avalanche photodiode that overcomes the foregoing problems in conventional APDs.