A method of using DOCSIS 1.1 features to allow the addition of ISPs and QOS levels to a single cable modem without having to modify the CMTS is described in the various figures. Instead of using the SID of a data packet to determine the VPN tag of a data packet (DOCSIS 1.0), a service flow is used to identify the appropriate tag. This is done using the DOCSIS 1.1 configuration file. By doing so, the need for creating additional sub-interfaces in the cable modem interface does not arise. Instead, the configuration is modified at the provisioning server, i.e., the DHCP/TFTP server.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cable modem networks and provisioning cable modems. More specifically, it relates to enabling a cable modem to have multiple qualities of service or ISPs without altering any configuration data at the cable modem network headend.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As cable modems proliferate, situations will arise in which a single cable modem must accommodate various ISPs or various levels of quality of service (QOS) from a single ISP. A household may have one cable modem connected to one or more PCs or other IP-addressable devices. Members in the household will have various needs in terms of QOS, speed and other factors. For example, one member of the house may need a high QOS because he is telecommuting and his employer is paying for the comparatively high-priced service. A child in the house may not need fast or the highest-QOS Internet access but rather only modest Internet access. Yet other members of the household can get along with mid-tier QOS Internet access (but will eventually want to upgrade to a better service). The telecommuter may be required to use ISP "A" because his employer requires it if they are going to pay for it and the other members of the household may use ISP "B" which is the commonly used ISP in their geographic area. Alternatively, all members of the household can use one ISP (such as ISP "A") and have different QOSs or the household can have three different ISPs. In any case, a single cable modem has to enable multiple QOSs and ISPs if necessary. It can be noted that the cable modem network is deemed an open resource and thus has an open access requirement. This allows competition among the ISPs which want to provide Internet access service for cable modem users.
Presently, in order for a cable modem to handle the above scenario, changes must be made to the cable modem network operator's provisioning system, i.e., the DHCP/TFTP server, and to the cable modem network headend, also referred to as the CMTS. The CMTS must be modified such that for each new QOS or ISP associated with a cable modem, a new virtual cable interface is created. That is, a new sub-interface under a primary cable interface needs to be created wherein, a primary cable interface is implemented with one line card in the CMTS. For example, cable modems A1 through A5 using ISP "A" which services a certain range or group of IP addresses gets its own virtual or sub cable interface. Creating and managing all of the sub-interfaces, which are likely grow, at the CMTS require more work by the network operator and are error-prone operations potentially disrupting service for many customers.
Associated with each data packet coming upstream from the cable modem to the CMTS is an MPLS (multiprotocol label switch) label or tag. As is known in the field of cable modem networks, the MPLS tag is used as an MPLS-VPN (virtual private network) tag as is common when a shared link is used to send traffic. Presently, with the DOCSIS 1.0 design, the SID of the data packet is used to determine which MPLS/VPN tag is given to the data packet. Data traffic is labeled with an MPLS/VPN tag based on external criteria or policies. The traffic is then treated differently based on the MPLS/VPN tags. For example, in the cable modem network scenario, a data packet is sent upstream to the CMTS and then typically forwarded to another network, such as the Internet, via an edge router, for example. In the example above, each ISP can be assigned a unique MPLS-VPN tag that identifies traffic belong to that ISP. The MPLS-VPN tag can then be used as a basis to apply security/QoS or any other defined policies on the traffic.
Therefore, it would be desirable to enable a cable modem network to accommodate the addition of ISPs or QOS levels to a single cable modem by only having to update the provisioning system and without having to modify the CMTS. It would also be desirable to have a more efficient way to map a data packet to a MPLS/VPN tag in the CMTS. In the process, IP address management would be simplified by not having to create multiple sub-interfaces in the CMTS.

Method and apparatus for mapping an MPLS tag to a data packet in a headend


An opto-electronic packaged platform (300) includes a high resistivity substrate (10) having an optical waveguide mounting portion (301), an optical device mounting portion (302), and an electrical waveguide portion (303) having a conductor pattern (312) and an underlying capacitance (330,230, and/or 30) forming a transmission line (340) for propagating high frequency signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to silicon (Si) optical benches, and particularly to high frequency operational silicon optical benches for packaging optical communication or photonic devices.
2. Technical Background
Silicon optical benches (SiOB) are known and have been widely used to package photonic devices such as optical receiver modules and optical transmitter modules which combine and interconnect optical and electronic components (opto-electronic). In general, a silicon optical bench is a micro-optical system that includes one or more optical components that are fabricated on a silicon wafer by micro-mechanical technology. The optical components include optical mirrors, optical lenses, optical switches, and optical waveguides.
The increasing demand for bandwidth and data throughput of such opto-electronic modules leads to continuously increasing the desired operational frequency and speed of such modules, such as the high speed of 10 Gbits/s (or Gb/s) for OC192 modules and 40 Gbits/s for OC768 modules, as industry standards. Hence, there is a need for the development of higher speed components which can propagate the high speed signals without excessive transmission loss, such as a 40 Gbit/s optical module fabricated on a SiOB that can be easily and cost-effectively fabricated.
One aspect of the present invention is an opto-electronic packaged platform that includes a high resistivity substrate having an optical waveguide mounting portion, an optical device mounting portion, and an electrical waveguide portion having a conductor pattern and an underlying capacitance for forming a high frequency propagating transmission line.
In another aspect, the present invention includes removing the dielectric coated on top of the high resistivity substrate between the gap spacing of the coplanar waveguide conductors grown on top of the coated substrate.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention.

Electrical transmission frequency of SiOB


Embodiments of the present invention help to reduce the occurrence of read hard errors in a hard disk drive (HDD). According to one embodiment, a HDD rewrites data on all data tracks of a block M when the number of write operations to the block consisting of continuous plural data tracks. The HDD further rewrites data on continuous plural data tracks and adjacent to the block. Since the number of write operations is counted every block, a memory area to register the number of write operations can be reduced.

Disk drive devices using various kinds of disks, such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a flexible magnetic disk, have been known in the art. In particular, a hard disk drive (HDD) has been widely used as a storage device of a computer and has been one of indispensable disk drive devices for current computer systems. Moreover, the HDD has found widespread application such as a removable memory used in a moving image recording/reproducing apparatus, a car navigation system, a cellular phone, or a digital camera, as well as the computer, due to its outstanding characteristics.
A magnetic disk used in the HDD has a plurality of data tracks formed concentrically. Each data track has a plurality of data sectors recorded thereon. Further, a plurality of servo data are recorded discretely in a circumferential direction on the magnetic disk. A head element portion supported by a swinging actuator accesses a desired data sector in accordance with address information of servo data, which allows data write to and data retrieval from a data sector.
The HDD repeats data write and data retrieval operations on a recording surface of the magnetic disk. In writing data to a selected track, leakage fields from a head affect the magnetic data on tracks adjacent to the selected track. Repetitive changes in magnetization on the data track affect magnetization of adjacent tracks. Therefore, if writing data on a certain data track is repeated, interference to the adjacent tracks due to the leakage fields from the head and the changes in magnetization on the data track is repeated so that the user data on the adjacent data tracks may change to cause a read hard error.
In order to prevent such a read hard error, a technique has been proposed that counts the number of write operations to each data track and rewrites data of adjacent data tracks if the number of write operations exceeds a threshold (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-216476 "Patent Document 1"). Specifically, the HDD disclosed in Patent Document 1 counts the number of write operations to the adjacent data tracks with respect to each data track. If the number of writing to the adjacent data track exceeds the threshold, the HDD retrieves the data on the particular data track and rewrites the retrieved data onto the same data track.
The above-described conventional technique effectively prevents occurrence of a read hard error due to repetitive data write onto a certain data track. However, as the number of the data tracks of the magnetic disk increases, the memory area required for recording the number of write operations increases. Although the storage capacity of the HDD notably increases, it is required to decrease the memory area for recording the number of write operations. Besides, it is supposed that the influence of data write expands to a wider area than the adjacent data tracks with decrease in track pitch.

Disk drive device and data rewrite method thereof

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.


A hand-manipulated dirt tool, either a spade, shovel, post hole digger or the like, is driven and guided by the hands and feet of the human user, which tool has at least three, operative, outwardly-directed, side edges, preferably continuous, namely, a penetrating chamfer, a slicing edge and a chopping chamfer, preferably at at least two different angles and three sizes, either on one side or on both sides. Thus, at least two, outwardly-directed, side edges are chamfer, which can be parallel, with relatively small, entry surface in beginning edge of the tool and, if spade or a shovel, etc., a foot engaged, top portion is provided. Ideally the three side surfaces, as one progresses up the tool, can make forty-five, seventy-five and forty-five degrees to the rear and ideal “vertical” distances of one, nine and one inches, respectively, and exemplary degree, distance ranges and cross-sectional dimensions are also provided.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dirt tool (a spade or a shovel or a post hole digger which classically has two extended handles, and like dirt tools, etc.), each dirt tool manipulated by the human user by hand, for digging in dirt by hand with the tool, and more particularly to one in which there are at least three (3), different, side edges outwardly-directed, either on both sides as described and illustrated or only on one side, and all of those dirt tools are within the inventive concept herein disclosed. Thus, at least the three (3), operative, outwardly-directed, side edges, preferably continual or continuous, namely, a penetrating chamfer, a slicing edge and a chopping chamfer, preferably at at least two different angles and sizes, preferably three (3) different sizes, either on one side or on both sides as illustrated. Thus, at least two, outwardly-directed, side edges are chamfer, and between them ideally there is a slicing edge, with, for example, a relatively small, entry surface in the beginning.
All, or mostly all, is disclosed at different importance levels in the present invention, along with the three side angles and the exemplary sizes of the three operative sides, and the exemplary size of the entry bottom, etc., among other innovative structural features found in the present invention.
Thus the phrase "dirt tool" as used herein also includes a spade, a shovel, a post hole digger, and like dirt tool, etc., working in dirt and held by hand, through which dirt one must dig to do useful work.
2. Prior Art
As shown by the patentability search conducted herein, a spade or shovel working in and through dirt by hand, broadly speaking, is well known. But none noted have at least the three (3), operative, outwardly-directed, side edges, preferably continual or continuous, namely, a penetrating chamfer, a slicing edge and a chopping chamfer, preferably at at least two different angles and sizes, either on one side or on both sides. Thus, at least two, outwardly-directed, side edges are chamfer, and between them ideally there is a slicing edge, with, for example, a downwardly-directed, relatively small, entry surface in the beginning.
All, or mostly all, is disclosed at different importance levels in the present invention, along with the three side angles and the sizes of the three operative sides, and the size of the entry bottom, etc., among other innovative, structural features found in the present invention.

Hand-manipulated, dirt tool with at least three, working, outwardly-directed, side edges


An improved air bag module having a manifold designed with integral keys configured to lock the manifold, retainer, air bag and soft cover to the housing. The manifold is elastically deformable and the keys are configured to be inserted into slots in the retainer and housing while the manifold is elastically compressed. Upon releasing the compression force the manifold expands and the keys are locked into the retainer and housing slots locking the individual sub-module pieces together. The air bag and soft cover are trapped between the manifold and the retainer during assembly. The soft cover and module housing are configured to open upon air bag deployment, allowing the air bag to inflate outside of the air bag module.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to supplemental motor vehicle occupant restraint systems, and more particularly, to an air bag module design having an improved manifold design for ease of assembly of the module and for protection of the air bag.
2. Background Information
A significant number of people are injured every year by automobile collisions. In order to enhance protection of the automobile occupants, automakers have used air bags as supplemental restraints for use in conjunction with belt restraint systems. Currently, air bags can be found protecting the driver and front seat passenger in frontal impacts. Furthermore, air bags have been designed to protect occupants in side impact collisions as well.
A typical air bag module consists of the following components: a housing structure, an air bag, an inflator, a manifold, a retainer, a triggering mechanism and fasteners. The housing provides a structure for mounting the components and attaching the module to the vehicle. The inflator is usually either a stored gas or solid propellant type which provides the fluid for the rapid filling of the air bag. Hybrid inflators have also been developed and are currently in use. Because the gas is rapidly exiting the inflator, it must be controlled and directed into the air bag. Generally, the manifold does this job. Finally, in order to ensure that the air bag is deployed at the appropriate time, a sensing mechanism is needed to trigger the inflation of the air bag.
One concern of the air bag module manufacturer is the manufacturability of the product and its cost. As millions of air bag modules are placed into automobiles every year, the significance of a few grams savings in weight or a few less parts can have a significant cost impact.


Vanishing point extraction includes obtaining a straight line including a vanishing point of a first image; obtaining a plurality of sample points in the first image based on processing the first image according to an object included in the first image and the straight line including the vanishing point of a first image, such that the plurality of sample points are determined as pixels in the first image having coordinates that overlap with coordinates of pixels of both the straight line and the object included in the first image; obtaining at least one matching point, in a second image, that corresponds to at least one sample point of the plurality of sample points in the first image the second image generated subsequently to the first image being generated; and obtaining a vanishing point of the second image based on the at least one matching point of the second image.

The present disclosure relates to vanishing point extraction devices and vanishing point extraction methods, and more particularly, to vanishing point extraction devices and vanishing point extraction methods for extracting a vanishing point of a current image based on information on a vanishing point of a previous image and an object included in the previous image.
An image capturing device using an image sensor may be included in various types of electronic devices such as smart phones, PCs, surveillance cameras, and automobiles, or may be used as a single independent electronic device.
In the case of an autonomous vehicle, safe driving may be performed by obtaining an image of the surroundings of the autonomous vehicle through an image sensor, determining a surrounding situation using the obtained image, and controlling the autonomous vehicle according to a determination result. For example, an autonomous vehicle may extract a vanishing point from an image through a vanishing point extraction device, estimate a distance between vehicles using the extracted vanishing point, or detect the shaking of the vehicle.
In the case of a vanishing point extraction device according to a conventional method, lanes in an image are detected, and the detected lanes are extended in a straight line to check intersections that cross each other as vanishing points.

Vanishing point extraction devices and methods of extracting vanishing point


In an image recording apparatus, a toner supply roll electrostatically charges toner particles and supplies the charged toner particles to a brush roll. The toner particles supplied to the brush roll are introduced into a portion adjacent to apertures of a particle controller. The particle controller controls the toner particles to pass through the apertures in accordance with image signals applied to the particle controller so as to form a corresponding visible image on an image receiving medium. At least the toner supply roll, the brush roll and the particle controller are formed into a single unit. The single unit is detachably mounted in a housing of the image recording apparatus to be easily replaced with a new one.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,935 discloses an image recording apparatus of a type provided with a toner supply portion, a back electrode and control electrodes with apertures. The toner supply portion supplies or carries charged toner particles to the control electrodes. The control electrodes are supplied with image signals to generate electric fields, degree of inclination of which is determined by the image signals. Therefore, amounts of the toner particles which are able to pass through the apertures of the control electrodes are changed according to the image signals. The back electrode also generates an electric field for further attracting toward the image receiving medium the charged toner particles which have passed the apertures of the control electrodes. Thus, amounts of the toner particles which have passed the control electrodes to reach the image receiving medium are changed according to the image signals applied to the control electrodes. Since densities of the toner particles attached on the image receiving medium correspond to the image signals, visible toner images corresponding to the image signals are formed on the image receiving medium.
In the image recording apparatus constructed as above, however, the toner particle supply portion, the control electrodes and the back electrode are fixedly mounted in the image recording apparatus at their respective portions. Therefore, in the case where either one or move of the elements get out of order, it is impossible for an operator to repair the elements or replace them with new ones. In addition, even if it is possible to replace the elements with the new ones, it takes a lot of time to arrange the elements and to regulate conditions thereof.

Image recording apparatus having detachable cartridge


An improved horn for a compression driver which has an interior foam plug for reducing the amplitude of unwanted non-fundamental wave propagation and better control over the sound radiation pattern of the device.

In the area of audio loudspeakers it is common to use compression drivers for mid to upper frequencies. There are two main reasons for this. First, the compression driver, when coupled to a waveguide (in this application the terms waveguide and horn are synonymous), provides for much higher electro-acoustical efficiency than a direct radiating loudspeaker can achieve. Second, the waveguide provides for better control over the directional characteristics of the sound radiation than can be achieved with a direct radiator loudspeaker. In order to effectively control the sound radiation, the waveguide must be capable of manipulating the sound wavefronts.
The traditional way of manipulating the wavefront is with diffraction. A small gap is placed within the horn which diffracts the wavefront into a very wide angular coverage spherical wave. This wave is then controlled to a specific angle with by the walls of an additional horn section extending out from the diffraction point.
The traditional approach has two major disadvantages. The first is that the diffraction slot causes a large amount of the wavefront to be reflected back down the horn creating a standing wave and an acoustic resonance, which is highly audible as sound coloration. The second disadvantage is that the new diverging wavefront is not composed of a single wave propagation mode, but contains many propagation modes which are created by the diffraction slot.
These "Higher Order Modes" or HOM are highly undesirable because they cause a loss of coherent wavefront propagation resulting in poor sound quality-mostly in terms of the so-called imaging of the sound system. The HOM propagate by reflecting off of the horn walls as they propagate down the device. This is in contrast with the coherent wavefront propagation which does not reflect off of any internal surfaces as it propagates down the device. It is possible for the coherent wavefront energy to be converted into HOM as the wave front propagates. HOM are also created at any slope or area discontinuities within the waveguide.
Not until Geddes showed the presence of the HOM through his work on waveguides (see Chapter 6 of Audio Transducers, GedLee Publishing, 2002 ISBN 0-9722085-0-X) was the importance of the HOM within the waveguide recognized. Geddes showed that HOM exist in all waveguides and that they play a significant role in wave propagation in a waveguide at the higher frequencies. In order to control the high frequency polar response one has to control the excitation and propagation of the higher order modes. Clearly the wavefront at the exit aperture of the phase plug, which becomes the horns throat input wavefront should be free from the presence of HOM and this has been addressed by Geddes in his recent patent application Ser. No. 10/919,145. This significant point is missing from the entire body of prior art designs for phase plugs.
Other inventors, most notably Tamura and Sato in U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,695 have recognized the importance of a smooth reflection free transmission characteristic from a waveguide. In their patent the inventors disclose the use of an absorbing member as defining "the acoustic path". Their invention utilizes absorbing material as the actual boundary of the waveguide thereby creating an absorption of the energy bouncing off of the walls. This method does work, but has the disadvantage of requiring a much larger device to accommodate the absorbing boundary. In order to work effectively, the absorbing member must be fairly thick, which causes a large increase in the volume required for the waveguide device.
It is the purpose of this invention to disclose a device which is placed within the boundaries of a waveguide to absorb the HOM as well as any standing waves which may exist within the device that result from reflections from the mouth, etc. The net effect of the use of this device is a substantially improved sound quality for the resulting system.
It has been seen in the marketplace that foam is often placed down the throat of a horn during shipping, presumably to prevent foreign material from entering the device. There is no evidence that this material serves any intended acoustical function and is normally removed prior to usage of the device. There are no teachings that such usage of foam in the throat has any beneficial acoustic effect.


The present invention is directed to an improved electrodeposition and an electrochromic display. The display cells formed from microcups are filled with an electrolyte fluid and are individually sealed with a polymeric sealing layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrochromic display (ECD) and an electrodeposition display (EDD), each comprising a plurality of isolated cells filled with an electrolytic fluid disposed between two electrodes.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrochemical displays, including electrochromic displays and electrodeposition displays, have been known for years and are attractive for portable display applications such as PDAs and e-books because they are reflective and may be driven at very low voltages. Electrochromic displays are non-light emission type display devices, the operation of which is based on reflection light or transmission light as a light control device through an electrochemical reaction and they broadly fall into three types: solution-based, intercalation (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,172,794 and 6,245,262) and nanostructure. In the solution based electrochromic device, an organic electrochromic compound, such as one of viologens, is dissolved in an electrolyte solution and the solution is filled into an electrochemical cell comprising at least one transparent electrode. The electrochromic compound reversibly changes between the color and colorless states at the electrodes based on an electron transfer (reduction or oxidation) mechanism. Some of the drawbacks of this type of device are slow response rate due to the slow diffusion of redox active species towards the electrodes and low resolution and unacceptable stability of the electrochromic species for long-term operation. The second category of electrochromic devices is based on color change upon intercalation of small ions into a thin metal oxide film coated on conducting glass substrates. The performance of this type of device depends on the rate of ion transport into and out of the metal oxide film, which causes the switching time to be in the order of tens of seconds even for relatively small areas. Other disadvantages of this type of electrochromic devices include fading of color due to a certain degree of irreversibility of the diffused ion species to the metal oxide layer. The third category of the electrochromic displays uses nanostructure-film electrodes modified with electrochromophores. This type of electrochromic display represents an improvement over the other two types in terms of contrast ratio, switching rate and bi-stability (as reported in Fitzmaurice et. al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,038; Cummings et.al., in J. Phys. Chem. B, 104, 11449 (2000); and U. Bach et. al. in Adv. Mater., 14, 845 (2002)). However, all three types of electrochromic devices can only be manufactured by a batch-wise process and moreover their resolution and color addressability remain unsatisfactory for many applications.
Electrodeposition displays (EDD) based on deposition/dissolution of metal salts particularly silver salts have been disclosed in SID 02 Digest, pp. 39-41 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,764,401, 5,864,420, 5,880,872 and 6,336,753, all issued to Sony Corporation. A typical EDD comprises two electrodes and a gel electrolyte consisting of a polymer matrix, a silver salt and a plasticizer or solvent. A reflective material such as TiO2 dispersion is typically used in the display cell to achieve high reflectance. By applying an appropriate voltage, the metal particles are deposited from the gel electrolyte onto a transparent electrode to show a colored state. Although the EDD described above addresses some of the drawbacks of the ECDs, such as the response time and contrast ratio, their usage is still limited due to certain problems. For example, no barrier or partition between pixels is present to confine the silver deposition within the addressed pixel. In addition, the silver metal tends to deposit all over the electrode which results in a poor image resolution. Although the image resolution may be improved by reducing the cell gap and optimizing the writing pulse width, color addressability of EDDs remains to be a major issue.
In view of the problems mentioned, improved ECDs and EDDs based on the microcup technology have been developed. Similar to the microcup based electrophoretic displays, the microcup based ECDs or EDDs of the present invention comprise a plurality of isolated cells (or microcups) filled with an electrolytic fluid disposed between two electrodes. The filled microcups may be sealed continuously with a sealing material by a one-pass or a two-pass process to achieve high resolution and color addressability. Other advantages of the microcup based ECDs and EDDs include superior physicomechanical properties such as impact and flexure resistance, compatibility with roll-to-roll manufacturing processes, format flexibility and low cost.
The microcup technology and related inventions are disclosed in co-pending applications, among them, Ser. No. 09/518,488, filed Mar. 3, 2000 (corresponding to WO01/67170), Ser. No. 10/087,527, filed Feb. 28, 2002, corresponding to US Publication No. 2002-0131152, Ser. No. 09/942,532, filed Aug. 29, 2001, corresponding to US Publication no. 2002-75556 (corresponding to WO 03/019280), Ser. No. 10/092,936, filed Mar. 6, 2002, corresponding to US Publication No. 2003-0053190, Ser. No. 10/179,997, filed Jun. 24, 2002, corresponding to US Publication No. 2003-0007238, Ser. No. 09/784,972, filed Feb. 15, 2001, corresponding to US Publication No. 2002-0182544 (corresponding to WO02/65215), Ser. No. 09/606,654, filed Jun. 28, 2000 (corresponding to WO02/01281), Ser. No. 09/874,391, filed Jun. 4, 2001, corresponding to US Publication No. 2002-0188053 (corresponding to WO 02/098977), Ser. No. 09/840,756, filed Apr. 23, 2001, corresponding to US Publication No. 2002-0176963 (corresponding to WO 02/086613), Ser. No. 10/229,530, filed Aug. 27, 2002, corresponding to US Publication No. 2003-0043450 (corresponding to WO 03/021346), Ser. No. 10/422,608, filed Apr. 23, 2003, Ser. No. 10/618,257, filed Jul. 10, 2003 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,797 the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Electrochromic or electrodeposition display and novel process for their manufacture


The focal length of an objective lens system is substantially equal at two wavelengths: one within the visible spectrum and one within an eyesafe IR spectrum centered about 1.54 .mu.m; the lens is essentially achromatic throughout the entire visible spectrum (0.45 .mu.m -0.70 .mu.m) and is well-corrected for other monochromatic aberrations (spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, field curvature, and distortion). By having an objective lens that is common to both optical paths (visual and laser) and has the property of having essentially the same focal length and essentially the same angular deviation for the two optical paths upon lens decentration, then a practical mechanism can be included in the opto-mechanical design of a laser rangefinder to adjust the x and y decentration of the objective lens to accomplish a corresponding x and y adjustment of the system boresight. One specific embodiment is a cemented triplet in which the front lens element is bi-convex and is formed of a crown glass having a relatively high index of refraction (n) and a moderately high inverse relative dispersion (V); the rear element is substantially plano convex and is formed of a crown glass having a relatively low index of refraction and a relatively high inverse relative dispersion; and the middle lens element is bi-concave and is formed of an anomalous dispersion flint glass having an index of refraction intermediate that of the front and rear elements and an inverse relative dispersion that is substantially below that of those other two elements, with partial relative dispersion being displaced from the "normal" line by at least twice and preferably at least six times the distance associated with the normal glasses forming the two convergent elements.

In a simple refractive lens, the focal length f is determined by the curvatures and thickness of the lens and by the refractive index n of the optical material from which the lens is formed. However, the refractive index of all known optical materials is not a constant, but varies with wavelength, with shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies) resulting in a higher effective refractive index. This phenomenon is known as "dispersion" of refractive index, and is typically specified in terms of Abbe's V-number (otherwise known as "inverse relative dispersion"). An exemplary definition of V-number for optical glasses used in the visible spectrum is: EQU V.sub.d =(n.sub.d -1)/(n.sub.F -n.sub.C)
where n.sub.d is the index of refraction at a predetermined intermediate (yellow-green) visible wavelength "d" (587.56 nm), n.sub.F is the index of refraction at a predetermined short (blue) visible wavelength "F" (486.13 nm), and n.sub.C is the index of refraction at a predetermined long (red) visible wavelength "C" (656.27 nm). By analogy, the V-number can also be defined for other spectra and other wavelengths.
As a result of refractive index dispersion, a simple lens will be in focus at only one wavelength, and will experience chromatic aberration at all other wavelengths. It is known that a lens can be made from more than one element, with each element being made of a different material having different refractive properties. By appropriate selection of the material of each element, the radius of curvature of each surface, and of the spacing between adjacent surfaces, it is possible to manipulate various optical properties such as field curvature, distortion, and chromatic aberration. Since different optical materials have not only different refractive indices but also different relative dispersion characteristics, the dispersion effects (first order chromatic aberration) of the combined elements can effectively cancel each other over a range of wavelengths. Known lens designs thus include "achromatic lenses" which have the same design focal length at both ends of the visible spectrum (for example, F and C) and only slight (second order) deviations from the design focal length throughout the entire visible spectrum.
Another measure of the refractive index dispersion characteristics of an optical material is "partial relative dispersion" (the P-number), which measures the linearity of the dispersion relative to the wavelength: EQU P.sub.C,s =(n.sub.C -n.sub.s)/(n.sub.F -n.sub.C)
where "C" and "F" are as defined above and "s" refers to Fraunhofer's "s" line (852.11 nm), although the P-number can also be defined for other spectra and other wavelengths. For the majority of optical materials usable in the visible waveband, the relationship between the V number and the P-number can be approximated by a same linear relationship (the "normal line"), so that the V-number of a given material may be readily approximated from its P-number and vice versa. Schott crown glass type K5 and flint glass type F2 may be used as the two points defining that normal line. Optical materials for which the normal linear relationship is not valid are said to have "anomalous dispersion". Glass type FK is an example of an anomalous glass lying above that normal line, while glass type KzF is an anomalous glass lying below that line.
By forming a refractive lens from at least three different materials, including at least one having "anomalous dispersion" characteristics, it is possible to independently manipulate the focus position at an intermediate point in the spectrum of interest, making possible a so-called apochromatic or "process" lens whose optical performance is optimized at three wavelengths (for example, F, d, and C) and which minimizes second order chromatic aberrations. Refractive apochromatic lens systems utilizing at least one element formed from a glass having anomalous dispersion characteristics are also known for use in the 8-12 .mu.m infra-red range (Carl Zeiss) and for simultaneously focusing infra-red radiation throughout the 3 to 13 .mu.m on a common focal plane (Texas Instruments).
Since many glasses are available for use in the visible spectrum with normal dispersion characteristics, software is commercially available which treats n and V as independent variables which may be continuously manipulated until an optimal design is achieved, using the known fixed linear relationship between V and P to compute n for each wavelength of interest, so that selection of a particular glass (or other optical material) can be deferred until the optimal values for n and V have been computed. However, in other wavebands the available choices are much more limited (for example, at 10 .mu.m, only about 6 practical materials exist), and such a design approach is not feasible. Moreover, even in the visible waveband, there are only a relatively few available choices having anomalous dispersion characteristics. As a result, it is not practical to treat refractive index and dispersion as continuous variables, and if anomalous dispersion is used to minimize second order chromatic aberration, the particular dispersion characteristic (or the particular glass type) must be specified by the lens designer before the optimization program is able to compute the effective index for other wavelengths.
In a typical laser range finder, the line of sight ("LOS") of a high quality visual optics path used for locating and identifying the target is aligned with the line of sight of a second optical path associated with an eyesafe frequency laser used for determining the distance to the target. In use, each of the two LOS paths must be steered from its respective nominal position so that they may both be optically aligned with an externally defined system boresight, for example the barrel of a weapon or the origin of a two dimensional display. Since only the visual optics path is used for verifying the system boresight, the two LOS are manipulated in unison in a manner which ensures that both LOS paths have the same deviation from their nominal value. In a known opto-mechanical system for providing equal LOS deviation for both the visual optics path and the laser optics path, a pair of rotatable thin achromatic prisms (wedges) steered the LOS equally for the visual and laser paths. Achromatic two component (crown-flint) wedges were required since simple wedges caused the visual and laser optical paths to lose common boresight as the wedges were manipulated. Moreover, rotation of one wedge relative to the other affected both the magnitude and the direction of the boresight and was confusing to the user accustomed to independent manipulation of the Cartesian (x-y) coordinates of the boresight.


A data signal to be transmitted is supplied to a modulator of a transmitter, and the modulator modulates the output of a blue light-excited white LED and outputs blue LED light and phosphor light. The modulated blue light enters to a photo-electric converter through an LED light transmission color filter. The modulated phosphor light on the other hand enters to another photo-electric converter through a phosphor light transmission color filter. The photo-electric converters convert incident light to electric signals. The converted signals are amplified by amplifiers. Then, equalizers emphasize the harmonic component therein according to the response characteristic of the blue light and the response characteristic of the phosphor light for reduction of the dullness of waveforms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission system that transmits signals by using visible light and, in particular, to an optical receiver and a visible light communication device suitable for communication using a white light emitting diode (which will be called white LED, hereinafter) including light emission by a phosphor.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In recent years, white LEDs have been developed increasingly as diverse as illuminations, lamps for cars and liquid crystal backlights. A white LED is characterized in that the speed of ON/OFF switching response is significantly higher than that of white light sources such as a fluorescent lamp. Accordingly, a visible light communication system has been proposed that provides a data transmission function to illumination light by a white LED by using white light by an LED as a data transmission medium (refer to Japanese Patent No. 3465017). In other words, the strength of emitted light by a white LED is modulated according to the transmit data, and the receiver side converts the strength of the light to an electric signal by using a photo-electric converter such as a photodiode (which will be called PD, hereinafter) to implement the data transmission.
White LEDs can be roughly categorized into three types based on the emission types as in "Shiroiro LED Shomei Shisutemu Gijutsu no Ouyou to Shorai tenbou (Applications and Future Prospects of White LED Illumination System Technology), CMC Publishing.
[1] Blue light-excited white LED: A combination of a blue LED and a phosphor that mainly emits yellow light. A YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) based phosphor is typically placed around a blue LED in one package. In this type, the surrounding phosphor is excited by blue light output from the blue LED placed at the center, and the phosphor outputs light in a color (mainly yellow ray) in complementary color relation with blue. Mixing the yellow fluorescence by the phosphor and blue light by the blue LED provides pseudo white light.
The advantages of the blue light excited white LED may include (1) higher efficiency of energy use and higher illumination compared with the other type and (2) the inexpensive manufacturing since the construction is simple. The disadvantages, on the other hand, may include a low color rendering property. The term, "color rendering property" refers to a property how the color of an object appears under an illumination, and it is said that the closer color an object appears to the color under natural light the better the color rendering property is.
FIG. 6A shows an example of the blue light-excited white LED. As shown in FIG. 6A, a blue LED 900 is provided on the main surface of a resin case 902. A driving voltage receiving terminal (not shown) of the blue LED 900 connects to extractor electrodes 904 and 906. When driving voltage is applied to the extractor electrodes 904 and 906, blue light is output from the blue LED 900 and is partially input to a phosphor 908. Thus, the phosphor 908 is excited, and fluorescence is output. Among blue LEDs having emission characteristics with various wavelengths, one with the peak wavelength within a range of 440 to 470 nm is used here. The phosphor 908 to be used is one that emits light with a longer wavelength than the peak wavelength of the blue LED. Then, in order not to block the light emitted by the blue LED, phosphor particles 908 are placed in a radiant and thick translucent resin. FIG. 6B shows a spectrum characteristic of a blue light-excited white LED. The part surrounded by a broken line SA is a blue light part, and the part surrounded by the broken line SB is an emitted light part by a phosphor. Such light emission by a phosphor may exist on the longer wavelength side than the peak wavelength of the emitted light by a blue LED.
[2] An ultraviolet light-excited white LED is a combination of an ultraviolet LED and phosphors that emit rays in three primary colors of R, G and B (red, green and blue). The phosphors that emit rays in three primary colors of R, G and B are placed around the ultraviolet LED in one package. In this type, the surrounding phosphors are excited by ultraviolet light output from the ultraviolet LED at the center, and the rays in three primary colors of R, G and B are output from the phosphors. White light is obtained by mixing the R, C and B rays.
Among ultraviolet LEDs having emission characteristics with various wavelengths, the one with the peak wavelength in a range of about 380 to 410 nm is used here. The phosphors to be used are ones that emit light with longer wavelengths than the peak wavelength of the ultraviolet LED. Then, in order to sufficiently absorb the light emitted by the ultraviolet LED for excitation, many phosphor particles, which emit three primary color rays, are placed within a radiant and thick translucent resin.
The advantage of the ultraviolet light-excited white LED may be a good color rendering property as described above. The disadvantages on the other hand may be that (1) it is difficult to obtain a high illumination since the efficiency of energy use is lower than that of the blue light-excited white LED and (2) the driving voltage for the LED is high due to the ultraviolet light emission.
[3] A tri-color white LED is a combination of R, G and B LEDs. The structure has three types of LED of a red LED, a green LED and a blue LED in one package. In this type, white light is obtained by causing the simultaneous emission by the three primary color LEDs.
The advantage of the tri-color white LED may be a good color rendering property like the ultraviolet light-excited white LED. The disadvantage on the other hand may be that it is more expensive than other types since three types of LED are implemented in one package.
Next, characteristics of a case where the white LEDs in those types are used for data transmission are as follows:
[1] In a case where the blue light-excited white LED is used, a transmission rate of about several Mbps can be only obtained since the speed of response of light output from the phosphor is low (refer to "Kashikou Tsushin Yo LED Doraiba No Shisaku To Kashikou LED No Outou Seinou No Hyouka (Prototyping LED Driver for Visible Light Communication and Evaluating Response Performance of Visible Light LED)", IEICE Technocal Report ICD 2005-44, Vol. 105, No. 184). FIG. 7A shows a configuration of the transceiver in the type. In FIG. 7A, the data to be transmitted is input to and undergoes predetermined modulation in a modulator 922 of a transmitter 920, and the modulation signal is supplied to a blue light-excited white LED 924. Thus, the output light of the blue light-excited white LED 924 is modulated by a modulation method such as OOK (On-Off Keying) and blinks. The blinking light after the modulation is input to and converted to an electric signal in a photo-electric converter 932 in a receiver 930, is amplified in an amplifier 934 and then is input to a demodulator 936 where the data demodulation is performed. Here, when the on/off switching of light emission is performed rapidly on the transmitter side, dull waveforms occur due to the low speed of response of light emitted from the phosphor 908, which may cause an intercode interference. In other words, as shown in FIG. 7B, the output signal SQ of the photo-electric converter 932 is dulled against the modulation signal SP by the modulator 922. This may inhibit the implementation of high speed transmission by using a blue light-excited white LED.
In order to solve the problem, a method for increasing the speed has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Patent No. 3465017 below) in which an optical component with a lower speed of response, which is output from a phosphor, is rejected by an LED light transmission color filter that transmits blue only, which is provided before the photo-electric converter. FIG. 7C shows the transceiver configuration in this case in which an LED light transmission color filter 952 is placed on the light incident side of the photo-electric converter 932 of the receiver 950. The LED light transmission color filter 952 rejects the light emitted from the phosphor with a lower speed of response in an optical signal. Thus, light by the blue LED 900 is the only input to the photo-electric converter 932, and faster data transmission than that of the configuration above can be performed as a result. However, a transmission rate of about several tens Mbps can only be obtained even by using this method. In addition, as disclosed in "Shiroiro LED No Kido Rekka No Kousatsu (Review on Brightness Deterioration of White LED)", 2006, The Institute of Electronics, Information, Communication Engineers (IEICE), Engineering Sciences Society Conference, it has been pointed out that the data transmission quality may not be maintained due to the dispersion and secular deterioration of the emission characteristic and the uneven spatial distribution of color temperatures of the white LED.
[2] In a case where the ultraviolet light-excited white LED is used, the transmission rate may be about several Mbps for the same reason in the case using the blue light-excited white LED. In addition, it is difficult to configure a driver since the driving voltage for the LED is high.
In a case where the tri-color white LED is used, data transmission is allowed by wavelength multiplexing in which the LEDs transfer different signals, which increases the speed, with a less optical component emitted by the phosphor than that of the method above (refer to JP-A-2002-290335). However, the use of multiple LEDs may increase the costs.
Next, the quantity of light received by a PD is inversely proportional to the square of the distance if free space optical transmission is performed by a combination of a diffused light source such as an LED and a photo-electric converter such as a PD (refer to "Kukan Densou Kougaku (Spatial Transmission Optics)" Suiyosha, Chapter 6 or "An Optical Analysis of Reception Characteristic for Parallel Optical Wireless Communication System", 2005, The Institute of Electronics, Information, Communication Engineers (IEICE), Communications Society Conference). For that reason, a larger dynamic range is required on the receiver side in order to obtain a range of length for allowing the transmission of information to some extent. For example, in IrDA (Infra-red Data Association), which is the standard for infrared communication, a dynamic range of 100 dB or larger is required on the receiver side for a range of transmission length of 1 cm to 100 cm (refer to JP-A-10-51387 or "Sekigaisen Tsushin Gijutsu (Infrared Communication Technology)", TRICEPS, Chapter 2).
The turbulence light such as sunlight and light from a fluorescent lamp is significantly dominant in a case where free space optical transmission is performed by using light in a wavelength range of visible light as a data transmission medium. It is also difficult to optically reject the turbulence light through an optical filter to reject visible light, unlike infrared communication. For that reason, severer requirements are imposed on the receiver side. Generally, in order to obtain a larger dynamic range on the receiver side, an AGC (Automatic Cain Control) circuit may be used for the amplifier ("Sekigaisen Tsushin Gijutsu (Infrared Communication Technology)", TRICEPS, Chapter 7) or multiple amplifiers for different gains may be provided, and the gain switching for amplifiers may be performed according to the input signal level, for example.
As described above, it is difficult to say that the type using a tri-color white LED is suitable from the viewpoints of costs and general versatility since the LED itself is expensive though the use of the tri-color white LED can increase the transmission rate.
On the other hand, in a case where a blue light-excited white LED is used, high speed data transmission can be performed by using the LED light transmission color filter 952 that blocks the light emitted from the phosphor 908 with a low speed of response as described above, without the problem of costs. However, the cutoff frequency of a general blue LED is only about several tens MHz (refer to "Kashikou Tsushin Yo LED Doraiba No Shisaku To Kashikou LED No Outou Seinou No Hyouka (Prototyping LED Driver for Visible Light Communication and Evaluating Response Performance of Visible Light LED)", IEICE Technocal Report ICD 2005-44, Vol. 105, No. 184), and OOK modulation at a transmission rate over the frequency may also dull the output optical signal as shown in FIG. 7B, which may cause an intercede interference. Therefore, the upper limit of the data transmission rate is limited, and a transmission rate of about several tens Mbps can be only obtained. The data transmission quality also deteriorates.
Furthermore, like the case using the blue light-excited white LED, the problem of the transmission rate decreased by a low speed of response of light emitted by the phosphor may not be avoided in the data transmission using an ultraviolet light-excited white LED, and the driving voltage for the ultraviolet LED disadvantageously increases.
In addition, though the speed of response of light output from a phosphor may be increased by improving a phosphor material, there may be problems that a desired illumination cannot be obtained and/or that the cost of the phosphor material itself may increase. For those reasons, it is more advantageous to perform high speed data transmission by using a generic and inexpensive blue light-excited white LED.
On the other hand, there is no denying that the circuit structure is complicated in the method by which a larger dynamic range is obtained by using an AGC circuit or switching the gains of amplifiers according to the input signal level. In a case where the quantity of light entering to a PD is large since the distance between a transmitter and a receiver is short, the Space Charge Effect (refer to "Hikari Tsushin Soshi Kogaku (Optical Communication Device Engineering)", Kougaku Tosho) causes a wave tail at the trailing edge of a signal waveform, which may cause an intercode interference. As a result, good transmission quality may not be obtained.

Optical receiver and visible light communication system


A magnet assembly for nuclear magnetic well logging apparatus includes two diametrically opposed magnets which produce a static and substantially homogeneous magnetic field. Each magnet has a magnet axis and is partitioned into a first and a second magnet segment by a plane substantially parallel to the magnet axis.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus and techniques for logging wells. More specifically, the invention relates to a magnet assembly for NMR well logging apparatus.
2. Background Art
NMR is the selective absorption of radio waves by certain atomic nuclei that are immersed in a static magnetic field. The principles of NMR have been used to study the molecular structure of rock formations in oil and gas exploration in a process called well logging. U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,788 issued to Kleinberg et al. discloses an NMR well logging apparatus which includes a magnet array disposed in a tool body and an RF antenna mounted in a recess external to the tool body. The magnet array includes three permanent bar magnets mounted in parallel to each other within the tool body. The magnet array produces a static magnetic field in all regions surrounding the tool, and the antenna produces an oscillating magnetic field which is superposed on the static magnetic field. The volume of investigation, or resonant volume, is an elongated region directly in front of the RF antenna in which the static magnetic field produced by the magnetic array has a saddle point, that is, the region in which the static magnetic field is substantially homogenous and the spatial gradient of the static magnetic field is approximately zero. The tool makes measurements by magnetically tipping the nuclear spins of particles in the formation with a pulse of the oscillating magnetic field, and then detecting the precession of the tipped particles in the static, homogeneous field within the volume of investigation. It should be noted that the depth of investigation is related to the position of the saddle point of the static magnetic field. The further away the saddle point is from the tool face, the greater the depth of investigation, but this is usually at the cost of signal-to-noise ratio.
One aspect of the invention is a magnet assembly for nuclear magnetic well logging apparatus which comprises two diametrically opposed magnets which produce a static and substantially homogeneous magnetic field. Each magnet has a magnet axis and is partitioned into a first and a second magnet segment by a plane substantially parallel to the magnet axis.

Magnet assembly for nuclear magnetic resonance well logging tools


A catalytic converter having a first highly loaded palladium or trimetal catalytic element containing palladium of relatively large particle size closely coupled to the engine exhaust manifold, followed by one or more second catalytic elements having high oxygen storage capacity to provide protection against warmed-up engine emissions break through, is efficient in reducing cold-start emissions through early catalyst light-off. The catalytic converter is advantageously used in conjunction with an engine strategy employing oscillative spark retard during warm up to further reduce catalyst light-off and transient spark advance dampening to eliminate spiking of HC and CO during engine transients. When employed in conjunction with secondary air injection, the engine EEC is programmed to delay air injection for a period following cold-start sufficient to assure that catalyst light-off is rapidly attained.

Since the advent of emissions standards for internal combustion engines for cars, trucks, and other vehicles, emissions of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NO.sub.x) have markedly declined. This decline has been brought about through the use of a variety of techniques including electronic fuel injection (EFI), electronic (computerized) engine control (EEC), and the use of a variety of catalytic converters to oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, and to reduce NO.sub.x to nitrogen. However, increasingly more stringent emissions standards, particularly those promulgated by the California Air Control Board, require still further emissions reductions over extended periods of engine operation.
For example, California's ULEV emissions levels of 0.04 g/mile HC, 1.7 g/mile CO, and 0.2 g/mile NO.sub.x ; or the European Stage III requirements of 0.1 g/Km HC, 1.5 g/Km CO, and 0.1 g/Km NO.sub.x are difficult to meet with current equipment, and yet more difficult to sustain over 50,000 mile and 100,000 mile use periods. During emissions testing, a considerable amount of total emissions occur during engine warm-up after a room temperature soak. During this time period, the emissions-reducing catalysts located in the catalytic converter(s) are largely ineffectual due to the fact that they have not reached a temperature at which significant catalytic activity can be maintained (light-off). Thus, particular attempts have been made to decrease emissions during engine warm-up.
Among the devices used to decrease cold-start emissions are electrically heated catalysts to ensure rapid light-off; exhaust system burners, either EGI or fuel burners; close-coupled catalysts, and cold start spark retard and enleanment (CSSRE) or hydrocarbon traps. The first four of these are means of more rapidly heating the exhaust catalyst, thus reducing the light-off time and resultant cold-start emissions. The last are means of collecting hydrocarbons prior to exiting the system, and reusing them as fuel. In general, the above devices require additional hardware, packaging space, and cost.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,816 discloses an internal combustion engine having a closely coupled catalyst to reduce HC and further downstream catalysts for reducing NO.sub.x. The first catalyst is active during warm-up, following which a flapper valve bypasses the first catalyst, directing the exhaust exclusively to the downstream catalysts. The use of the electronically controlled flapper valve adds to component cost as well as introducing additional components capable of failure into the vehicle. The closely coupled catalyst is used during cold-start only, representing a non-economical application of expensive catalyst components.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,554, a two-stage catalytic converter is disclosed, the first converter containing an unspecified pretreatment catalyst, the second converter having multiple monolithic catalyst elements, a first element having deposited on its upstream end a multi-layer platinum/palladium catalyst containing 0.35 g/l to 1.0 g/l (9.9 g/ft.sup.3 to 28.3 g/ft.sup.3) of palladium. Located further downstream is a further oxidizing catalyst. The necessity for a pretreatment catalyst increases the cost and complexity of the system. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,554 system is not believed capable of meeting upcoming, more stringent emissions standards.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,059 are disclosed catalysts having improved light-off behavior prepared by impregnating active aluminum oxide, containing customary promoters, with platinum, palladium, and rhodium, followed by associating the precious metal catalysts with up to five times their mass of base metal. Amounts of palladium of c.a. 6.5 g/ft.sup.3 are disclosed.
It has also been proposed to further lower hydrocarbon emissions by injection of air into the exhaust stream by engine-driven or electrically driven air pump. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,872 discloses supplying air to maintain a stoichiometric increase in oxygen in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 volume percent excess oxygen. However, addition of air during cold-start conditions has the effect of reducing the temperature of the exhaust gases, thus increasing the time for catalyst light-off.
It would be desirable to provide a catalyst system which is capable of meeting ultra-low emissions levels by lowering cold-start emissions without the use of active components such as electrical heaters, fuel burners, flapper valves, and the like. It would be desirable, also, to minimize the light-off of such catalyst systems by employing a cold-start, light-off-assisting engine strategy. It would be further desirable to lower emissions through the optional use of air injection without significantly delaying catalyst light-off. It would be yet further desirable to maintain lowered emissions during warmed-up engine operation by eliminating spikes and break-through of CO and HC during this phase of engine operation.

Closely coupled exhaust catalyst system and engine strategy associated therewith


Sample fine particles attached to an inspection object are identified simply and with high accuracy, and an increase in operation rate and a decrease in device size are achieved. The inspection object is transported into a sampling chamber defined by a pair of side walls and an upper wall enclosing a part of a transport route of a transport unit. The inspection object is sprayed with compressed gas from an air nozzle, the peeled sample fine particles are aspirated into a collector, and the sample fine particles are separated from the aspirated gas for analysis. The air nozzle is disposed on one of the side walls defining the sampling chamber. The collector is disposed under the other side wall as a container independent from the sampling chamber.

Patent Literatures 1 to 3 disclose technologies for inspecting the presence or absence of attached matter, such as an explosive or narcotic drug, on an inspection object at the boarding gate of an airport or seaport and the like. Patent Literature 4 discloses a technology for preventing the attachment of dust to an object.
In Patent Literatures 1 to 3, it is described that compressed gas is sprayed onto the surface of the inspection object at a wind speed of 20 m/s or more using at least one nozzle, and that the nozzle is moved based on the outer shape of the inspection object by moving joints. It is also described that, using the at least one nozzle for spraying the surface of the inspection object with compressed gas at the wind speed 20 m/s, the compressed gas is also ejected onto an inner wall of a collection unit and/or an arm supporting the nozzle.
The technology proposed by Patent Literature 4 includes a means for ejecting a curtain of air over and along an upper surface a substrate from outside thereof, as the substrate is being transported on a transport belt, and an air suctioning means disposed on the other side, for preventing the attachment of dust and the like onto the substrate using an air flow formed like a curtain over the substrate.


An implantable plate for providing support to a bone of a subject when affixed thereto includes a polymeric body of a biocompatible polymer having a desired amount of polymer molecule orientation in a first direction so that the plate can be bent to conform with a contour of the bone of the subject. The polymeric body includes a top surface, a bottom surface, and at least one fastener portion. The fastener portion includes a recess and a fastener hold that is configured for receiving a fastener when affixed to the bone of the subject. A method of manufacturing the implantable plate includes: (1) injection molding a biocompatible polymeric composition into a polymeric body within an injection mold; (2) removing the polymeric body from the injection mold; and (3) forming at least one fastener hole within polymeric body.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to implantable plates for use bone repair. More particularly, the present invention relates to polymeric plates having polymer molecule orientation for providing strength and non-thermal bendability, and processes and systems for preparing such polymeric plates.
2. The Related Technology
Bones are a vital skeletal feature and provide the frame and structural support for holding associated muscles and other tissue. Additionally, bones, such as the skull bones and ribs, are responsible for protecting vital organs such as the brain, heart lungs, and the like. While bones are structurally strong, they tend to break for various reasons when subjected to excessive forces. Usually, the healing process includes a medical professional aligning the bones on each side of the break so that the regenerated bone material provides a structurally sound mended bone.
In addition to aligning the bone, various stabilizing techniques have been used to retain the broken bone in proper alignment during the healing process. Traditionally, casts have been used to stabilize minor breaks that do not need structural reinforcement at the bone. On the other hand, some complicated fractures or breaks can be susceptible to falling out of alignment during the healing process. As such, plates, pins, bone nails, wires, fasteners, and the like can be used to stabilize the broken bones or fix bone structures. Use of these kinds of structural reinforcement systems during healing have been known to provide bone regeneration and mending.
Due to excellent strength and stability profiles, metallic fasteners and plates have dominated the market for reinforcing breaks or fractures during healing. The most accepted metallic fasteners and plates are biocompatible titanium and/or titanium alloys; however, other types of metallic materials have also been used. Nevertheless, metallic fasteners and plates can be problematic and have some disadvantages.
One disadvantage of implanted metallic fasteners and plates arises from being treated as a foreign body, which sometimes requires the fasteners and plates to be removed. This can occur even if the metallic fastener and plate system is initially well tolerated. As such, the subsequent surgery to remove the metallic fastener and plate system can cause additional trauma to the patient, and adds additional costs to the health care system; especially when the patient has to be hospitalized after the procedure. Additionally, if the metallic fastener and plate system includes an iron component, the irons released from the metallic implant may be found in other organs, which can cause long-term problems.
Another major disadvantage of metallic fastener and plate systems arises from being much stronger than the bone being supported. As such, a broken bone that is fixed with a metallic fastener and plate system may not experience proper loading during the healing process. This is because the metallic repair system can carry a large portion of the load that is normally carried by the bone. As a result, the bone can become weaker over time when the metallic repair system is left in place. Accordingly, after removal of the metallic repair system, the repaired bone may be susceptible to fracturing around the region that was previously supported. Even though the metallic repair system provides structural reinforcement to the healing bone, the bone may develop decreased stability.
To overcome problems with metallic fasteners, fastener and plate repair systems have been fabricated out of various polymeric materials that can be configured into stiff and strong plates. In part, the vast array of different types of polymers have allowed for configuring the plate to be biocompatible. However, a major disadvantage of known polymeric repair systems arises during the implantation process. In contrast to metallic plates, polymeric plates typically cannot be plastically deformed in order to conform to the bone being repaired. In order to achieve adequate bending, heat is often required to soften the polymeric structure and adapt the plate to precisely fit with the geometry of the bone. Numerous processes for heating the plates to allow for such bending have been developed, which include hot air pistols, water baths, heat evolving pillows, laser energy, as well as many forms of heated tips or biopsy instruments. While it is possible to heat and bend a polymeric plate, a significant disadvantage arises due to the additional time and instruments required to implement the surgical procedure. Furthermore, systems such as water baths might face sterility problems.
Additionally, the processes typically used to form fastener holes in polymeric plates have caused anomalous features to develop, which are often sites for potential catastrophic failure. This is because during the injection molding processes pins extend through the mold cavity of the mold to form the fastener holes. As such, the polymeric melt being injected into the mold cavity has to flow around the pins, which have significant diameters in order to accommodate various fasteners. This can result in the melt separating into two melt flows that go around each pin, and each resulting flow has a cooled front portion. When the melt flows that have separated around the pins come into contact again, the significantly cooled front portions of each flow merely weld together instead of providing a homogenous union. The lines that form where the different flows or cooled front portions contact each other again are called joint lines or dwelt lines. Joint lines are a place of potential catastrophic failure, especially when bending the plate.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a polymeric plate that is bendable or deformable without heat in order to be contoured to the bone being repaired. Also, it would be beneficial to have a polymeric plate that is configured to provide good initial strength and stability, but also loses some mechanical strength over time so that the bone can self-repair to obtain proper strength and stability characteristics.

Polymeric plate bendable without thermal energy and methods of manufacture


Aspects of the invention may relate to an apparatus, system, and method for the management of network devices utilizing an authorization token. In one embodiment, an authorization token received from a service provider may be verified using an authorization credential to determine if the service provider is authorized to perform requested operations with the network device. Further, operation privileges may be enforced that are contained in the authorization token.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to the management of network devices utilizing an authorization token.
2. Relevant Background
Currently, universal integrated circuit cards (UICCs) are owned, managed, and distributed by a particular mobile network operator (MNO) and are removable from the network device (e.g., a cell phone). For example, if a network device owner wants to change a subscription service to a different MNO, the network device owner needs to remove the UICC and put in a new UICC from the new service provider (e.g., another MNO). This is a costly and time consuming process. Further, in many machine-to-machine (M2M) use cases, such as, smart meters or wireless modems in a car, changing the UICC likewise requires a great deal of work and is very costly.
Embedded universal integrated circuit cards (eUICCs) are currently being considered for use in network devices (e.g., cell phones, tablets, M2M devices, etc.) which may reduce costs and eliminates the need to remove and replace UICCs from network devices. However, embedded UICCs (eUICCs) for use in network devices present many challenges related to ownership management, subscription management, as well as, security issues. As a particular example, techniques to prevent unauthorized entities from loading, enabling, disabling, and/or deleting services and profiles need to be addressed as well as techniques to allow authorized entities to enable services and manage profiles. This is pertinent both for user-controlled network devices (e.g., cell phones) as well as M2M devices that a user typically does not physically interact with.

Management of network devices utilizing an authorization token


Technologies are provided for correlating alert messages using correlation domains. Alert messages can be received that are related to computer network components. The alert messages can be partitioned using separate correlation domains and analyzed by separate alert processors. When an alert message is received, it can be analyzed to determine a correlation domain with which the alert message is associated. The alert message can then be correlated with other alert messages associated with the correlation domain, and alert messages that are not associated with the correlation domain can be ignored. Groups of alert messages associated with different correlation domains can be correlated independently by different alert processors. Events generated by an alert processor can include correlation domain information. Events associated with different correlation domains can be handled differently.

At least some network devices (such as switches and routers) are designed to generate alerts when certain events occur (such as communication failures). Some monitor programs exist that can detect such alerts and generate notifications, informing engineering and/or administrative staff of the events. In at least some cases, several alerts may share a same root cause. In such cases, a monitor program may generate multiple notifications for a single network event.


An electrophoretic medium comprises a liquid and at least one particle disposed within the liquid and capable of moving therethrough on application of an electric field to the medium. The medium further comprises a free radical scavenger selected from the group consisting of (a) stable free radicals; and (b) polymeric free radical scavengers comprising a plurality of free radical scavenging groups attached to a polymeric chain. The medium is desirably encapsulated.

This invention relates to an electrophoretic medium with improved stability. More specifically, it relates to an electrophoretic medium which contains a stable free radical or polymeric radical scavenger to improve the stability of the medium. The electrophoretic medium also desirably contains an ultra-violet absorber and/or quencher.
Electrophoretic displays have been the subject of intense research and development for a number of years. Such displays can have attributes of good brightness and contrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low power consumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. (The terms "bistable" and "bistability" are used herein in their conventional meaning in the art to refer to displays comprising display elements having first and second display states differing in at least one optical property, and such that after any given element has been driven, by means of an addressing pulse of finite duration, to assume either its first or second display state, after the addressing pulse has terminated, that state will persist for at least several times, for example at least four times, the minimum duration of the addressing pulse required to change the state of the display element.) Nevertheless, problems with the long-term image quality of these displays have prevented their widespread usage. For example, particles that make up electrophoretic displays tend to cluster and settle, resulting in inadequate service-life for these displays.
An encapsulated, electrophoretic display typically does not suffer to the same degree from the clustering and settling failure mode of traditional electrophoretic devices and provides further advantages, such as the ability to print or coat the display on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates. (Use of the word "printing" is intended to include all forms of printing and coating, including, but without limitation: pre-metered coatings such as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascade coating, curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating, forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spray coating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knife coating; silk screen printing processes; electrostatic printing processes; thermal printing processes; ink jet printing processes; and other similar techniques.) Thus, the resulting display can be flexible. Further, because the display medium can be printed (using a variety of methods), the display itself can be made inexpensively.
However, even encapsulated prior art electrophoretic displays have working lifetimes less than is entirely desirable for commercial purposes. Depending upon operational parameters, such as the voltage applied to the electrophoretic medium and the frequency at which any given pixel of the display is switched, and environmental parameters, such as the temperature, humidity and light intensity under which the electrophoretic display is operated, various components of the electrophoretic medium may be subject to electrochemical and/or photochemical reactions, which may cause problems such as aggregation of the electrophoretic particles or discoloration of a dye present in the liquid suspension medium.
Previous attempts have been made to solve these problems in unencapsulated displays. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,916 (Zwemer et al.) notes that "there have been problems in realizing commercially successful display devices based upon electrophoretic principles. Among the problems have been the difficulty of achieving sufficient stability in the electrophoretic cell so as to sustain an acceptable number of switching operations. Chemical reactions in the suspension of the cell adversely affect operating lifetime and the known electrophoretic display devices have generally had a limited useful life." In an attempt to solve such problems Zwemer teaches that there should be added to the working liquid of the electrophoretic display a "degradation retardant [which] consists essentially of a redox agent, a redox agent precursor, an inhibitor agent or mixtures thereof. The redox agent is capable of being reversibly oxidized and reduced during operation of the electrophoretic display device. The redox agent precursor is capable of reacting with free radical species of the working liquid to form the redox agent as a reaction product. The inhibitor agent is capable of reacting with free radical species to terminate chemical chain reactions during operation of the electrophoretic display device."
Although the degradation retardants disclosed in Zwemer do relieve some of the problems discussed above, these retardants are not entirely satisfactory. In particular, the specific degradation retardants disclosed in Zwemer do not absorb ultra-violet light and are not effective in preventing light-induced degradation of an electrophoretic medium. Also, the Zwemer retardants cause problems in encapsulated electrophoretic media since under high humidity conditions they may diffuse through the capsule wall into the binder which is normally used in an encapsulated electrophoretic medium to bind the capsules to one another and cause degradation (browning) of this binder or discoloration of the electrodes of the electrophoretic display.
It has now been found that the problems discussed above can be reduced, and the working lifetime of electrophoretic media and of displays incorporating such media increased, by adding to the electrophoretic medium either a stable free radical or a polymeric free radical scavenger.

Electrophoretic medium with improved stability


A vehicle wheel hub bearing unit comprises:. a stationary, radially outer race having a portion projecting radially outwardly;. a rotatable, radially inner race; PA1 an encoder fixed for rotation with the rotatable radially inner race in close proximity to the inboard side of a flange fast for rotation with the hub and projecting radially outwardly therefrom; PA1 a sensor mount element fixed to the radially outwardly projecting portion; PA1 a sensor body mounted in removable manner to the mount element and incorporating a sensor element facing in operation the encoder.

At present there are known bearings of the above mentioned kind, in particular tapered roller bearing units, provided with a sensor screwed in a threaded radial bore formed in the radially outer, stationary race of the bearing. The sensor is located facing an encoder wheel which is fast for rotation with the radially inner, rotating race of the bearing and axially interposed between two sets of tapered roller elements, as shown in the axial cross sectional view of FIG. 1. Referring to this drawing, a wheel hub bearing unit comprises a hub 10 forming a radially outwardly projecting flange 11 provided with axially oriented bores 12 for fitting fastening members 13 for connecting to the wheel of the vehicle (not shown). The hub is fitted with a rolling contact bearing comprised of a radially outer stationary race 14, a pair of radially inner, axially flanked rotating half-races 15a, 15b, and two sets of tapered rollers 16a, 16b, radially interposed between the outer race 14 and the two inner half-races 15a, l5b, respectively. An encoder wheel 17 is fixed for rotation between the inner half-races 15a and 15b. Facing the encoder wheel 17 is a sensor 18 screwed in a bore 19 formed in the stationary, outer race 14 and oriented substantially radially.
This known solution, that on one side is advantageous in that the sensor is interchangable, has nevertheless some drawbacks.
Firstly, a problem arises in having to perform a substantially radial bore in the outer race of the bearing, as this kind of operation requires special drilling machinery that is not installed in present bearing processing lines. Further, the execution of the bore is complicated in that this operation also affects the hardened zones of the races. Also, the bore for accommodating the sensor must be performed and located precisely to prevent the sensor from contacting the encoder wheel that it is facing, but still the sensor has to be near enough to the encoder so as to be able to detect the magnetic pulses or magnetic field variations generated by the rotation of the encoder. Another inconvenience related to said prior art arrangements is that, in order to accommodate the encoder wheel between the two sets of tapered rollers, the relevant races have to be suitably spaced apart, whereby the bearing is considerably bulky in the axial dimension.

Vehicle wheel hub bearing unit with a removable sensor


A system and method for providing a service in a communication system are provided, in which upon receipt of a request for provisioning of the service with a requested QoS class from an MS, a service server transmits a QoS information request message to an interface server and, upon receipt of a QoS information response message for the QoS information request message from the interface server, the service server provides the service with the requested QoS class to the MS.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing a service in a communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the development trend of communication systems is to provide a wireless packet data service beyond the traditional voice service. Thus, the communication systems provide services with a variety of Quality of Service (QoS) classes.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a typical communication system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system includes an Internet service/content server 110, an Internet 120, a communication network 130, and a receiver 140 for receiving services from the Internet service/content server 110 and the communication network 130.
The Internet service/content server 110 is an application server for providing various Internet services/content. The Internet service/content server 110 includes an Internet Protocol TeleVision (IPTV) server 101 for providing an IPTV service, a music/video streaming server 102 for providing a music/video streaming service, a search server 103 for providing a search service, an advertising server 104 for providing an advertisement service, and an other-service server 105.
The communication network 130 has a Radio Access Station (RAS) (or Base Station (BS)) 111, an Access Service Network GateWay (ASN-GW) 112 for handling Medium Access Control (MAC) functions, a Core Service Network (CSN) 113 for handling connectivity to a network layer, a billing server 114, a QoS server 115, a user profile server 116, a device capability server 117, and a location information server 118.
The receiver 140 can be a Mobile Station (MS), a Personal Computer (PC), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), or a camera. For a more clear understanding, the following description is made in the context of the receiver 140 being an MS.
The Internet service/content server 110 is connected to the Internet 120 and provides a variety of content services to the MS 140 over the Internet 120, inclusive of the IPTV service, the music/video streaming service, the search service, the advertisement, and other services. That is, the Internet service/content server 110 is connected to the MS 140 at an IP address provided by the CSN 113 of the communication network 130 and provides content services to the MS 140 through the Internet 120.
FIG. 2 illustrates an operation for providing a service to an MS in an Internet service/content server in a communication system.
Referring to FIG. 2, it is assumed that the MS 140 receives an IPTV service from the Internet service/content server 110, for example, the IPTV server 101. Even though the MS 140 wants to receive an IPTV service with a desired QoS class, the IPTV server 101 provides the MS 140 with only a service with a QoS class supported by the communication network 130. In other words, an IPTV service is provided to the MS 140 not with the desired QoS class but with a QoS service class preset in the communication network 130. For example, the IPTV service takes the form of a best effort service.
As described above, when the MS is to receive a content service, for example, an IPTV service in the communication system, it cannot receive the content service with a desired QoS class.

System and method for providing service in a communication system


A system comprising a processing circuitry configured to: obtain a first ordered sequence of symbols associated with a corresponding second ordered sequence of transmitted symbols and including one or more errors, the errors being discrepancies between given symbols of the first ordered sequence and corresponding symbols of the second ordered sequence; determine, for each symbol of the first ordered sequence of symbols, an estimated transmitted symbol, utilizing a Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE); and determine if the estimated transmitted symbol of a given symbol of the first ordered sequence of symbols, satisfies a saturation threshold condition; and determine an error hypothesis identifying one or more of the errors by comparing the estimated transmitted symbol of at least one symbol of the first ordered sequence of symbols with one or more pairs of thresholds.

Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE) receiver can be implemented using the Viterbi algorithm. However, in high-speed communications, where the data rate can be on the order of tens of Giga Bits Per Second (Gbps), the implementation of such a receiver is very challenging and can be costly both in terms of size and power consumption.
For high-speed communications, the Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) plays a critical role in providing excellent performance with relatively low computational and hardware (HW) design complexity, as opposed to the MLSE receiver implemented using the Viterbi algorithm. However, with the introduction of new communication standards which are using much higher signal bandwidths (BW) combined with new channel model definitions having an increased amount of Insertion Loss (IL), a more sophisticated receiver design is required in order to meet increasing performance targets.
There is thus a need in the art for a new sequence estimation system and method.


A method and system for controlling a fuel cell vehicle are provided in which a bidirectional converter monitors a state of a fuel cell vehicle in real time to improve control responsiveness in a transient state of the fuel cell vehicle. The method includes receiving, by a bidirectional converter, a command for a current limiting value in the high voltage battery from the fuel cell controller while the fuel cell vehicle is driven. In addition, the bidirectional converter is configured to determine whether the fuel cell vehicle is switched to a predetermined mode and change the current limiting value of the high voltage battery. A predetermined control is performed by the bidirectional converter based on the changed current limiting value when the fuel cell vehicle is switched to the predetermined mode.

In general, a fuel cell system that is mounted in a fuel cell vehicle is configured to supply hydrogen, which is used as fuel, and air to a fuel cell stack, and electricity is produced by an electrochemical reaction of the hydrogen and the oxygen within the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell vehicle is driven by operating an electric motor with electricity produced by the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell vehicle further includes a high voltage battery to use energy of the fuel cell system and energy of the high voltage battery.
As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell vehicle including the fuel cell system and the high voltage battery typically includes a bidirectional converter 20 that effectively controls energy flow from both the fuel cell system and the high voltage battery. The bidirectional converter may be a bidirectional direct current-direct current (DC/DC) converter or a large-capacity bidirectional DC/DC converter. In addition, the fuel cell vehicle includes a fuel cell controller 10 configured to operate the fuel cell vehicle, as shown in FIG. 1. The fuel cell controller may be referred to as a fuel-cell control unit (FCU). In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 indicates a fuel cell system, 40 indicates an inverter, 50 indicates a high voltage battery, 60 indicates a motor, 70 indicates a low voltage DC/DC converter, and 80 indicates an auxiliary battery. The indicated elements are well-known to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.
Referring to FIG. 1, an energy flow, an energy amount, and a mode switch associated with charging and discharging of the high voltage battery 50 may be determined based on commands from the fuel cell controller 10. A discharging energy supplied from the high voltage battery 50 is supplied to electrical loads of a fuel cell vehicle via the bidirectional converter 20 in which power conversion is performed. When a state of charge (SOC) of the high voltage battery 50 decreases while the fuel cell vehicle is being driven, the bidirectional converter 20 supplies energy from the fuel cell stack to the high voltage battery 50. When a braking signal in the fuel cell vehicle occurs, the bidirectional converter 20 supplies regenerative braking energy produced by regenerative braking based on a command of the fuel cell controller 10 to the high voltage battery 50 to charge the high voltage battery 50.
The above-described energy flow may be processed within several hundred milliseconds to several seconds while the fuel cell vehicle is driving. However, since the bidirectional converter performs a predetermined control based on commands from the fuel cell controller that is a superordinate controller over the bidirectional converter even in a transient state in which a rapid energy conversion is required in the fuel cell vehicle, an overshoot/undershoot voltage may abruptly occur. The overshoot/undershoot voltage influences an output voltage of the high voltage battery, causing abrupt shaking, breakdown by overvoltage, and durability reduction of components while the fuel cell vehicle is being driven.
The above information disclosed in this section is merely for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method and system for controlling a fuel cell vehicle