A fluid flow control system using flow rate changes to extract additional information from an in-line flow sensor. The system provides the ability to determine a position of a movable flow sensor element of a flow sensor by illuminating a photosensitive pixel array with a light source to create a first set of pixel intensity values introducing an abrupt change to the fluid driving pressure, illuminating the photosensitive pixel array with a light source to create a second set of pixel intensity values, and calculating the difference between the first and second sets of pixel intensity values as a function of pixel position.

The present disclosure relates to fluid flow control systems, such as intravenous infusion pumps, and more particularly to feedback control infusion pumps with flow sensing, volume sensing, variable pressure control, and variable flow resistance. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for extracting enhanced information from an in-line fluid flow sensor by imposing an abrupt flow rate change.
A conventional large volume infusion pump is typically equipped with a motor that, in connection with a mechanical assembly and through the interface of a fluid barrier, pushes a small amount of fluid per motor "step." The mechanism might be a cam, a leadscrew, or other such assembly. The fluid barrier might be a syringe, an extruded tube, a molded cassette, or other such device that separates the pumping mechanism from the fluid in question. In each case, the fluid movement is determined by a certain number of motor steps over time.
At slow flow rates, the motor steps are relatively infrequent with long dwell periods. At high flow rates, the motor and mechanism are run at their maximal capacity until one element has reached its engineering limit. The flow rate is inherently pulsatile, yet this pulsatile nature is less significant at higher flow rates where the natural compliance of the outlet of the pumps serves to dampen the pulses into more or less a continuous stream of fluid.
The motors used conventionally are inherently powerful enough to overcome significant forces and resistances, so they are capable of generating significant pumping forces. This forceful pumping is an artifact and has no desirable clinical effect. The sensing mechanisms commonly used are pressure based and are made with indirect contact with the fluid to be pumped. In most cases, the fluid barrier, such as an extruded tube, exerts far more force than the internal fluid pressures. The result is a lack of sensitivity to pressure changes and a lack of feedback as to the actual conditions of fluid flow. It is common for conventional pumps to operate indefinitely without recognizing that the actual fluid flow rate is far below the targeted level.
Conventional motor driven pumps are notoriously inefficient with respect to external power consumption. For devices that have a high requirement for portability, this power inefficiency translates into unreliable operation.
Prior to the use of pumps, most infusions were done by the adjustment of a gravity-based pressure (e.g., by adjusting the height of a liquid container) and the adjustment of inline resistance (e.g., by moving the position of a roller clamp), both in response to an inline flow sensing method (e.g., performed by a user counting drops into an air chamber). Although this prior art method was labor intensive and had a limited rate range, it offered some significant advantages over the subsequent "advances" in technology. First, the use of gravity head heights for a delivery pressure was energy efficient. No external power supply was required. Second, the pressure was low, so the dangers of high-pressure infusions were avoided. Third, the gravity infusions could be augmented with a low cost and readily available pressure cuff, supplementing the fluid flow to rates well above those possible by an instrumented "pump" line. Forth, a gravity administration was not capable of infusing large amounts of air into the output line, because the hydrostatic pressure goes to zero as the fluid source empties.
An ideal infusion system will combine the meritorious aspects of a conventional "gravity" infusion with the benefits of a controlled intravenous infusion pump. In each aspect, this disclosure takes the desired principles of a gravity infusion and reduces the dependence upon skilled labor and extends the range and precision of fluid flow control and provides advanced information management capabilities.
An ideal embodiment of an infusion device would be one with continuous flow, wide flow rate range, high energy efficiency, accuracy of volume delivered over time, minimal operating pressures, maximum sensitivity to external conditions, freedom from false alarms for air-in-line, simplicity, low cost, intuitive operation, automated information exchange, safety, and reliability.
Certain infusions have historically been managed by air pressure delivery systems, most commonly found in the operating room and in emergency situations. Prior art attempts have been made to determine the flow rate via pressure monitoring and control. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,645 to Ross et al. discloses pressurizing an IV bag and monitoring pressure to infer flow rates. However, the prior art systems lack independent flow sensing, and, therefore, do not offer enough information to provide accurate and safe infusions.
Under the best of circumstances, there is not enough information in the pressure signal alone to provide the accuracy needed for intravenous infusion therapy. Furthermore, there are a number of likely failure modes that would go undetected using the pressure signal alone. An infusion pump must be able to respond to events in a relevant time frame. International standards suggest that a maximum period of 20 seconds can lapse before fluid delivery is considered "non-continuous." As an example, for an infusion of 10 ml/h, the system would want to resolve 20 seconds of flow, which corresponds to 0.056 mL. This volume represents one part in 18,000 of air volume of a 1,000 mL bladder. Temperature induced change in pressure brought about by a normal air conditioning cycle is far greater than this signal. The measurement of pressure alone is not adequate for an intravenous infusion device. No general purpose, full range, infusion devices using pressure-controlled delivery are known to be on the market.
An entire class of "passive" infusion pumps exists whereby a constant pressure is created on a fluid filled container by way of a spring, elastomeric structure, gas producing chemical equilibrium, or other means. This constant pressure fluid is fed into a high resistance output line, providing relatively stable fluid flow.
In typical pressure based flow control products, a relatively high pressure pushes fluid into a known, high, and fixed resistance, providing a constant flow rate with good immunity from changes in external conditions. It is a purpose of our prior commonly owned provisional application Ser. No. 60/777,193, filed on Feb. 27, 2006, and PCT Publication Nos. WO2007/098287, WO2007/098265, and WO2007/106232 to provide a highly flexible flow control system with a very broad flow rate range, operating under minimal pressures, with a relatively low and variable resistance. The entire contents of the aforementioned provisional and PCT applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments of such devices control fluid flow based on a responsive fluid flow sensing means that forms a closed loop control by changing both the fluid driving pressure and the inline resistance. In contrast to the conventional approach to flow control wherein a user observes fluid flowing as it formed drops in an air chamber, then adjusts pressure by varying the head height of the fluid source, and then adjusts the inline resistance via a manual valve, our above-mentioned disclosures employ a flow sensing apparatus and method that automatically and accurately measures fluid flow rate, precisely adjusts the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid source, and precisely adjusts inline fluid flow resistance to achieve or maintain a target flow rate.

Impulse analysis for flow sensor-based fluid control system


A PCB supporting electronics is potted in a resilient sheet of material having an adhesive back face glued to a urinal below the flush water outlet. The front face is a target for a urine stream; it supports a urine sensor, say a temperature sensor. Added sensors measure urine characteristics as it flows over the face. Residue is flushed away. The PCB supports a data processing circuit. The output is sent to a remote indicator.

This disclosure is directed toward apparatus and methods for performing analytical test on samples of urine. More particularly, the invention is directed toward performing the tests using apparatus which is mounted within a urinal to receive urine samples, which makes measurements on the received samples, and which transmits results to a remote location for recording and further study.
Modern diagnostic medicine uses as a foundation in vivo testing and in analytical testing of material secreted by the body. Examples of in vivo testing include x-ray, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and injected radioactive scans such as coronary imaging using radioactive thallium injected into the blood stream. Examples of secreted material testing include the analysis of blood samples drawn from the patient, the analysis of urine samples given by the patient, and the like. With the possible exception of ultrasonic imaging, most in vivo tests are typically analyzed and interpreted subsequent to testing. The time lapse between testing typically ranges from a few hours to a few weeks. The time interval between the collection and the analysis and the interpretation of analytical results of secreted samples typically ranges from a few days to a few weeks.
Attention is now directed toward the analysis of urine, which is commonly referred to as "urinalysis". The analysis of a patient's urine samples provides a physician with a wealth of information concerning the health of a patient. The detection of abnormal levels of sugar and ketones can indicate a diabetic condition. The detection of blood in the urine can indicate urinary tract problems. A measure of conductivity can be used to indicate the level of the patient's electrolytes. Total dissolved solid (TDS) content can indicate certain kidney and bladder problems. There are numerous additional urinalysis tests which are well known in the art, and the interpretation of these tests are well known in the medical art.
In addition to diagnostic medical tests, urine is often analyzed to determine if the patient is taking either legal or illegal drugs. Urine tests which indicate the subject's use of marijuana is well known in the art. There are other urinalysis tests for the use of cocaine use and other illegal drugs.
As mentioned previously, the time lapse between the collection of a urine sample and the "off-site" analysis of the urine sample can be quite long. Additional time is typically required for a technician or physician to interpret the analytical results. This time delay can delay treatment of a patient in the event that the urinalysis indicates an abnormal condition or conditions. If the urinalysis is being used as an illegal drug screen, the delay in analysis and further delay in interpretation can be quite detrimental. If an illegal drug screen is performed by a company as a precursor to hiring, the employment process can be delayed for days or weeks by waiting for urinalysis results. If employees are routinely screened for illegal drugs, delay in urinalyses results could result in a drug abusing employee performing a critical job tests for weeks before drug screen results are obtained by the employer.
It is very desirable to perform diagnostic medical urinalysis on a routine basis. Such routine analyses can be used as periodic "scans" for symptoms of diabetes, kidney, bladder and other types of disease. This would provide an early warning of the onset of the disease thereby allowing diagnosis and treatment to be initiated as early as possible. Real time interpretation of such scans would also accelerate the diagnosis process thereby allowing the earliest possible treatment of a detected condition.
Urinalysis for illegal drugs on a routine basis is also highly desirable in that it would serve as a deterrent for illegal drug use. Furthermore, the interpretation of urinalysis results in real time would further serve as a deterrent, and rapidly identify "users" so that they can be removed as employees, receive treatment for the condition, or be dismissed from employment.
In view of the preceding background discussion, and object of the present invention is to provide apparatus and methods for routinely performing urinalysis by sampling urine at one or more urinals.
An additional object of the invention is to provide apparatus which can be attached to existing urinals to collect and analyze urine samples.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can be used to sample and analyzes urine from a plurality of users of the urinal.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a real time urinalysis system which is automatically activated by the use of the urinal and automatically purged for the next user and deactivated when the urinal is "flushed", enabling resetting.
Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for automatically telemetering a plurality of urinalysis results from a plurality of equipped urinals to a central, remote location for recording and further analysis and reporting.
There are other objects of the invention which will become apparent in the following disclosure.

Method and apparatus for performing urinalysis in real time


An installation for the bending of glazings (6) includes a continuous furnace (1), a station for bending by pressing (10) with a lower shape (11) and a suction shape (15), a plate-suction device (50) that can be displaced longitudinally to transport the glazings (6) from the roller conveyor (7) to the station for bending by pressing (10), and an annular frame (35) that can be displaced horizontally to transport the bent glazings (61) to the cooling station (4). Lower shape (11) is mounted stationary lengthwise and a transfer station (30) is provided between the station for bending by pressing (10) and the cooling station (4). The upper shape can be displaced between the station for bending by pressing (10) and the transfer station (30), in synchronism with the plate-suction device (50).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an installation for the bending of glazings, comprising a continuous furnace intended to heat the glazings to the bending temperature, a station for bending by pressing with a lower shape and an upper suction shape, a plate suction means that can be displaced longitudinally to transport the glazings from the conveyor of the continuous furnace to the station for bending by pressing, and an annular support frame that can be displaced horizontally to transport the bent glazings from the station for bending by pressing to a cooling station.
2. Description of the Related Art
Installations with such a structure are, for example, described in EP-0 229 337 B1 and US-PS-4 741 751. In these known installations, during the introduction of the glazing into the bending press, the plate-suction means is displaced to a position between the pressing shapes of the stationary-mounted bending press. A relatively long production cycle results because the following glazing can be introduced into the bending station only when the support frame carrying the already bent glazing has left the bending station.
Installations of the above type and exhibiting a shortened production cycle are known from EP-0 183 418 and US-PS-5 004 491. In these known installations, the lower bending form of the press is able to move and, between the station for bending by pressing and the roller conveyor, an additional transfer station is provided in which the glazing to be bent is transferred from the plate suction means to the lower bending shape. While this transport is being performed, the preceding glazing, already bent, is simultaneously deposited on a frame from the stationary upper suction shape. When the annular frame for transport is displaced to the cooling station, the lower bending shape on which the following glazing is laid is displaced simultaneously to the station for bending by pressing.
In the case of the installation known from EP-0 183 418, the lower shape is designed as a concave bending mold, whereas, in the case of US-PS-5 004 491, it is designed as a convex bending mold. In both cases, the glazing is deposited flat by the plate-suction means onto the lower shape, which it touches necessarily only at the highest points of the molding surface. Because of this relatively unstable position before the bending operation, no significant braking or accelerating force can be exerted on the bending mold during the transport of the glazing to the bending station using the lower shape, so that this transport operation can be performed only at a low speed. For this reason, the gain in production cycle time is relatively slight in relation to the known installations cited above.


Bromomethyl derivatives of polyaryl ether ketones are obtained by brominating methyl derivatives of the ketones preferably with elemental bromine, optionally under UV light. The bromomethyl derivatives are useful as intermediates for further functionalization of the aromatic polyether ketones. The functionalized derivatives, depending on the substituent, exhibit different properties than the basic polymer, for example increased hydrophilicity and solubility.

Aromatic polyetherketones, for example poly(aryl ether ether ketone) (PEEK) or poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone) (PEEKK) are generally crystalline high-performance engineering thermoplastics exhibiting relatively high chemical and thermal stability. Among these, PEEK is the most widely used material. Its applications include polymeric supports, insulations, membranes, structural articles and matrix materials for thermoplastic composites.
PEEK type polymers are hydrophobic in nature which limits their membrane application e.g. in separation of aqueous solutions. Also, the poor solubility of PEEK type polymers in conventional ordinary solvents makes the manufacture of membranes difficult.
There is a need to modify these polymers to obtain their substituted derivatives having different properties and structure than the basic polymers.
Generally, there are two ways to functionalize polymers. One is the use of a functionalized comonomer during polymerization, such as the addition of chloromethylated styrene in the polymerization of polystyrene. Commercially and in most laboratories, PEEK is prepared by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of hydroquinone with difluorobenzophenone. Thus, functional groups which can undergo a nucleophilic reaction cannot be introduced into the monomer before the polymerization. This severely limits the scope of the functionalized monomer approach.
The second route involves a modification reaction on the preformed polymer. In the second approach, one of the known methods of polymer modification is bulk sulfonation in sulfuric acid, described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,486 to Rose. However, due to the poor solubility of PEEK (and other polyaryl ether ketones) in normal organic solvents, other types of functionalization are difficult to perform.
While the sulfonated PEEK derivatives have better hydrophilicity and solubility than the basic PEEK, it is difficult in bulk sulfonation to control the degree of substitution (DS) and the uniformity of substitution. Bulk-sulfonated PEEK becomes too hydrophilic when the degree of substitution is over 80%, resulting in severe swelling or dissolution.
To our knowledge, no method of bulk functionalization of PEEK other than sulfonation and chlorosulfonation is known to date. Some surface functionalization reactions have been described in the scientific literature; for example, N. L. Franchina and T. J. McCarthy, Macromolecules 1991, 24, 3045, reported surface modification of PEEK wherein a series of carbonyl selective reactions were carried out on the surface of a PEEK film. These substitutions lead to polymers which no longer contain the ether-ketone sequences.
An alternative to the above classic modification routes is to introduce an inert pendent group into the monomer and to modify this group after its incorporation in the polymer. PEEK polymers with methyl, phenyl and t-butyl substituents have been prepared, as reported by Kricheldorf et al, New Polymeric Mater. 1988, 1,127; Mohanty et al., J. E. SAMPE Symp. 1986, 31, 945; Risse et al. Macromolecules 1990, 23, 4029; and Bennett et al., polymer 1991, 32, 1633. Low molecular weight amine-terminated methyl and t-butyl substituted PEEK's were prepared and used in epoxy/amine resins. These polymers have not been used as the basis for further modification or the preparation of functionalized polyaryl ether ketones.
Methyl derivatives of polyaryletherketones are described in German OS No. DE 3838644 A1 filed Nov. 15, 1988 and in Japanese patent application (kokai) No. 90-188552 filed Jul. 24 1990.


A multiplying digital to analog converter (MDAC) includes a first resistor configured to be selectively connected to a current output node based on a first bit of a first portion of an input digital code and a second resistor configured to be selectively connected to the current output node based on a second bit of the first portion of the input digital code. A resistance of the second resistor is a resistance of the first resistor scaled by a factor. The MDAC further includes a first capacitor configured to be selectively connected to the current output node based on the first bit of the first portion and a second capacitor configured to be selectively connected to the current output node based on the second bit of the first portion. A capacitance of the second capacitor is a capacitance of the first capacitor scaled by an inverse of the factor.

Digital to analog converters (DACs) are common components of many electronic devices. A DAC receives an input digital code and outputs an analog signal based on the code. One type of DAC in use today is a multiplying DAC (MDAC). An MDAC uses a resistor ladder to weight a contribution of each bit of the input code to an output current based on an order of the bit. Due to the resistor ladder, higher order bits of the code affect the output current more than lower order bits. Such MDACs often include or are connected to an operational amplifier to convert the output current into an output voltage. A relationship between the output voltage (VOUT) and input code (code) in an N-bit DAC may be expressed as
            V      OUT        =                  V        REF            *              code                  2          N                      ,where VREF corresponds to a reference voltage received by the DAC.
A common application of MDAC is as a variable attenuator where the input signal is connected to the reference input of the DAC and the DAC code is used to set the attenuation factor. In such applications, multiplying bandwidth is defined as the frequency at which the DAC gain from reference input to OPAMP output reduces to −3 dB below the DAC gain at DC. Multiplying bandwidth is a function of the OPAMP bandwidth and the parasitic capacitance generated by the resistor ladder. In particular, switches included in such resistor ladders generate high parasitic capacitance. In addition, there is further parasitic capacitance due to board trace and amplifier input capacitance. This parasitic capacitance degrades the stability of the OPAMP and may introduce a peak into a pass band response of a DAC and therefore limit a multiplying bandwidth of the DAC.

Multiplying digital to analog converter with increased multiplying bandwidth


A twirling toy includes an elongate shaft having a first end spaced from a second end in a longitudinally aligned relationship. The second end includes a bifurcated leg structure having a flexible cord directed through the leg structure and extending through a handle shaft bore orthogonally oriented relative to leg bores of each of the legs. Spheres are mounted at free ends of the cord, with the spheres arranged for rotation upon manipulation of the handle shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to twirling toy apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved twirling toy wherein the same is arranged to permit the contrarotation of respective spheres mounted to the toy structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Twirling toys of various types are utilized in the prior art for the entertainment and amusement of children and the like. Further, manual dexterity is further enhanced by manipulation of the toy structure. While prior art twirling toy structures addressed in the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,112,611; 4,437,261; 4,291,874; and 3,895,457, the prior art has heretofore not presented the unique inter-relationship of spheres mounted to a flexible cord to permit their contrarotation relative to a central shaft and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need in the entertainment and amusement of individuals.


Systems and methods relate to frequency of advertisement viewing on the Internet, and more specifically to controlling advertisement viewings by a person during an advertising cycle. A probability of return for a customer is evaluated and an advertisement is shown to the customer based on a function of at least the probability of return and a value for the return. Once the customer has seen the advertisement a target number of times, the customer is no longer shown the advertisement.

The number of users on the Internet continues to grow at an astounding rate while businesses continue to rapidly commercialize its use. As users surf through websites, they generate a high volume of traffic over the Internet. Increasingly, businesses take advantage of this traffic by advertising their products or services on the Internet. These advertisements may appear in the form of leased advertising space, often called "banners," on websites, which are similar to rented billboard space in highways and cities or commercials broadcasted during television/radio programs.
Optimal advertisement placement has become a critical competitive advantage for the Internet advertising business. Users are spending an ever-increasing amount of time online viewing web pages that can be customized to fit a user profile.
One method for valuing exposure of advertisements posted on a website may be based on frequency of exposure. This method allows one to control the frequency of exposure of an advertisement by, among other things, predicting the exposure (i.e., number of impressions, viewers, actions, website hits, mouse clicks, etc.) on a given website or group of websites during an advertising campaign. Advertisers favor specific frequencies and do not want a user to become too inundated in advertisement viewing. At the same time advertisers also do not want a user to be under-exposed and thus an uninterested or inattentive customer.
Arrangements with advertisers tend to be composed of campaigns, each lasting from days to weeks. The advertisers may have a target frequency for each viewer, i.e., show the advertisement a specified number of times to each customer, such as 5 times, possibly at intervals of once every 7 days. Once a customer views the campaign the 5th time, the advertisement can stop being shown to the customer. This process is referred to as a frequency cap.
FIG. 1 illustrates, using a histogram, the frequency of views by the number of people viewing an advertisement under a traditional method of frequency capping. As shown, during a campaign, a high number of people will see the advertisement the preferred number of viewing times (i.e., 5 views). Unfortunately, a large number of people who have seen the advertisement less than the preferred number of viewing times are left (i.e., 1, 2, 3, or 4 views).
Thus, there is a need for a method of increasing the number of people who see an advertisement the preferred number of viewings and decreasing the number of people who see an advertisement less then the preferred number of viewings. Furthermore, there is a need for a method to control the frequency of viewing the advertisement.

Systems and methods for providing a reverse frequency cap in advertisement viewing


A method and apparatus for producing a series of amplified optical pulses from a series of input optical pulses including creating a set of local optical pulses from a series of input optical pulses, the set of local optical pulses having different amplitudes arranged in a graded order. The set of local optical pulses are amplified by an optical amplifier to form a significantly amplified first local optical pulse that is removed from the set of local optical pulses and output. The method successively removes the significantly amplified first local optical pulse, re-creates the set of local optical pulses by adding a new optical pulse to the end of the set of local optical pulses; and routes the recreated set of local optical pulses back to the input of the optical amplifier to continue producing the series of amplified optical pulses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to processing and amplification of optical signals, and particularly, to a novel pulse amplification apparatus and method of operation that provides enhanced optical signal gain at reduced cost and complexity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical pulses have found wide applications in, for example, telecommunication, medical equipments/devices, testing and measurement equipments, food/agricultural industries, and even military/weaponry applications. Among key properties of a series of optical pulses are the duration of the pulses, peak intensity, and repetition rate. Other properties may include rise/fall time of the pulse shape and wavelength of the light. Normally, a series of optical pulses generated by a laser diode (LD), or a light-emitting diode (LED), may not have the intensity sufficient for most of the applications such as, for example, medical devices. Therefore, the intensity of optical pulses may need to be boosted, or amplified, to reach a certain required peak power level. For example, FIG. 1 depicts a prior art optical pulse amplifier apparatus 10 that includes amplifier device 15 for amplifying laser diode generated optical pulses 12, labeled P1, . . . , P4, with fixed pulse width at predetermined time interval t-1, . . . , t4, respectively. In this example, the amplifier device may be characterized by a gain (G) of, e.g., about 10 dB to 15 dB. With an input pulse of peak power about −10 dBm to −15 dBm, by applying this prior art apparatus 10, an output pulse may be obtained having a peak power ranging from about −5 dBm to about +5 dBm. It is apparent that, for some applications, this apparatus 10 may not provide optical pulses with sufficient peak power.
In a further prior art apparatus 20, depicted in FIG. 2A, a series of optical signal amplifiers 15a, 15b, 15c, for example, are cascaded to provide larger amplification/gain to the optical pulses 12, labeled P1, . . . , P4, as in FIG. 1. In this example, the output pulse peak power, which may be estimated as P′n=G3*Pn, may achieve an output pulse peak power level higher than that by using prior art apparatus 10. In the above equation, Pn denotes peak power of input pulse n, P′n denotes peak power of amplified output, and G denotes gain of each optical signal amplifier 15a, 15b, and 15c (assuming all three amplifiers have the same gain). However, such an apparatus 20 has drawbacks which may include, for example, the high cost associated with using multiple amplifiers and an early point of saturation, e.g., at +11 dBm output, such as shown in FIG. 2B, although some un-proportionally expensive amplifiers may provide a higher saturated output power.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a novel optical pulse amplification apparatus that enhances amplification of a series of optical pulse signals so as to achieve certain required peak power levels.

Optical pulse amplication apparatus and method

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems and methods of a Web service for remote terminal service application discovery are described. In one aspect, a Web service in an Intranet is provided. The Web service is coupled to a public network. The Web service facilitates remote client computer discovery over the public network of information corresponding to application(s) deployed on the Intranet. The remote client computer is external to the Intranet. The application(s) are configured for terminal server based access for a user of the remote client computer.

Traditionally, application publishing involves installing and running a published application on a local machine. This may be performed by an administrator publishing packages that are subsequently downloaded and installed on administrator specified client machines. Depending on the application software, the hardware requirements for such a machine (the client) may be high. In addition, the installation itself may take significant amount of time, resources, and may even conflict with existing application installations.
In view of such conventional application publishing limitations, terminal services may be used in distributed computing environments to provide a thin client computing model to resources installed and executed in a corporate intranet. Using terminal services (TSs) allows a remote computing device (i.e., a client device that is outside of the intranet) to access an application installed on a corporate server, execute the application on the corporate server, and display the applications' user interface (UI) on the remote client. Since the application is executed on the corporate server, TSs allow the remote client to take advantage of corporate infrastructure resources independent of whether the remote client has appropriate hardware and software to execute the resources locally on the client device.
An administrative entity, to configure a corporate intranet for specific user, groups of users, and/or client device access to an application, typically must install the application and specify explicit application access policies and default/customized application behaviors. Since these corporate-end preparations are performed in advance of end-user access to the resources, these preparations generally do not negatively affect the final application use experience of the remote client user. Yet, even in view of such corporate-end preparations, the remote client user must still undertake substantially labor intensive and time consuming procedures to determine what applications have been authorized for user access, remotely access, and then execute the application(s) installed in a corporate intranet via TSs.
For instance, today a user must set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to the corporate network, start a remote client, enter the name of the remote computer and the user's credentials, then use TSs to connect to a desktop, and start applications from that desktop. To make matters worse, these end-user activities must be performed by the consumer each and every time that the user desires to remotely access the applications via TS services.
In view of these substantially labor intensive and time consuming procedures that the remote client user typically needs to undertake to identify available applications on a private network for subsequent remote TS execution, the remote client user cannot seamlessly identify available corporate resources for TS access.

Web service for remote application discovery


An N-bit analog to digital converter (ADC) generates an output code having J most significant bits (MSBs) and K least significant bits (LSBs). First and second folder circuits map an analog input voltage into first and second folder output voltages, each folder circuit having at least 2.sup.k +1 folding points. The folding points of the first folder circuit are located at 2.sup.k LSB+i.times.4.times.2.sup.k LSB for i=0 to 2.sup.k, while the folding points of the second folder circuit are located at 3.times.2.sup.k LSB+i.times.4.times.2.sup.k LSB for i=0 to 2.sup.k. Each folder circuit produces a folder output voltage as well as 2.sup.k +1 differential output voltages. An MSB decoder includes a comparator that compares the first and second folder output voltages to generate a second lowest MSB. The MSB decoder also includes a multiplexer that selects, based on the second lowest MSB, the differential output voltages from one of the two folders, and a J-2 bit decoder for decoding the selected set of differential output voltages to generate the J-2 highest MSBs. The MSB decoder also generates the lowest MSB by comparing neighboring ones of the differential output voltages from a first one of the two folder circuits using K comparator circuits. Each of the K comparator circuits is enabled by a corresponding one of the differential output voltages from the other folder circuit, and thus only one of the K comparator circuits is enabled during the conversion of each input signal. The enabled comparator's output determines the value of the lowest MSB.

The increased usage of analog to digital converters (ADC's) within a variety of applications has provided an impetus for the development of inexpensive ADC's capable of relatively high-performance. Conventional "single conversion cycle flash" ADC's (also called "full-flash" ADC's) have generally been found to offer insufficient performance, and are often too costly for use in inexpensive consumer products. In particular, conventional flash converters include an array of 2.sup.N -1 comparators for comparing an analog input signal to a number of threshold reference voltages, where N is the number of output bits in the digital value generated by the ADC. The comparators are assumed to provide a logical ONE when the output of a comparator exceeds its threshold, and a logical ZERO otherwise. An array of latches determines the logical state of the comparators during each clock cycle and holds this information until sampling during the succeeding cycle. The outputs of each latch are then encoded into an output code. Among the disadvantages of the full-flash implementation are high power consumption, large chip area, as well as the requirements for numerous components and interconnection lines.
Two-conversion cycle flash ADCs and multiple-conversion cycle flash ADCs reduce the number of comparators needed by generating a subset of the output bits during each conversion cycle, but sacrifice speed. Such devices, with a typical conversion rate of one input sample per microsecond, are much too slow for medical imaging systems and other applications that require data conversion rates of 10 Megahertz or faster.
One method of decreasing the number of components required within an ADC, without requiring multiple conversion cycles, is effected through a technique commonly known as "folding". This technique reduces the size of the flash array necessary to implement a converter of a given precision by using the flash array (i.e., comparison circuits) in a more efficient manner. Specifically, in ADC's based on a folding architecture an analog processing circuit, a first flash array and decoder generate the most significant bits (MSBs) of the output value, while a "folder circuit" precedes a second flash array. The folder circuit effectively "subtracts" from the input signal the amount of voltage represented by the MSBs, leaving a remainder voltage that precisely corresponds to the least significant bits (LSBs) of the output value.
1 LSB is defined as the voltage step associated with the least significant bit of the ADC conversion value. In a 10-bit ADC, having an input voltage range of 2 volts, 1 LSB is 1.953125 millivolts.
Referring to FIG. 1A, there is shown a block diagram of a conventional 10-Bit folding analog to digital converter 100 incorporating a 5-Bit folder circuit 102. During each sampling period an analog input signal is sampled by an input sample and hold circuit 105 and applied to the 5-bit folder circuit 102 and to a conventional 5-bit MSB flash array 106.
FIG. 1B shows the ideal transfer function of the 5-bit folder circuit 102. The magnitude of the analog output of the folder circuit 102 is indicative of the value of the five least significant bits of the sampled analog input. That is, the folder circuit output corresponds to a residual portion of the sampled analog input in excess of the voltage magnitude equivalent to the first five MSB's of the sampled analog input.
A digital code corresponding to the five MSB's of the analog input is produced by the 5-bit MSB flash array 106 in conjunction with an MSB decoder 108 that generates the actual five MSB's. The MSB flash array 106 compares the sampled input voltage with a first set of thirty-one reference voltages (which are spaced at 32 LSB intervals) from a voltage reference ladder 104, producing a 32-level "thermometer" code. The MSB decoder 108 converts that 32-level "thermometer" code into a 5-bit value.
Similarly, a second 32-level "thermometer" code is generated by a 5-bit LSB flash circuit 110, by comparing the output of the folder circuit 102 with a second set of thirty-one reference voltages (which are spaced at 1 LSB intervals) from a voltage reference ladder 104. The second thermometer code is transformed into a binary code by an LSB decoder 112 to yield the five LSBs of the analog input.
It should be noted that the reference voltages used in typical MSB and LSB flash arrays are offset by -0.5 LSB from their nominal values. The reason for the half LSB offset is that the standard specification for ADC circuits is that the digital output value should shift from one value to the next when the input voltage passes the halfway point between the two. For instance, the digital output value of the ADC switches from 0 to 1 when the input voltage Vin rises above 0.5 LSB.
As can be seen from the voltage transfer function shown in FIG. 1B, when the output voltage of the folder circuit 102 is on a positively sloped portion of its transfer function, the LSB decoder must generate a digital value that increases as the folder circuit output voltage increases. However, when the output voltage of the folder circuit is on a negatively sloped portion of its transfer function, the LSB decoder must generate a digital value that increases as the folder circuit output voltage decreases. Thus, the five LSBs to be generated by the ADC may be uniquely determined by the LSB decoder 112 only after it is known whether the output of the folder circuit 102 was based upon one of the positively-sloped or upon one of the negatively-sloped portions of the folder transfer characteristic. This information is inherent within the value of the lowest MSB, and is provided to the LSB decoder 112 by the MSB decoder 108. The requirement that the LSB decoder 112 be provided with information from the MSB decoder 108 tends to reduce the efficiency of the ADC 100, since the LSB decoder 112 is idle pending completion of the MSB flash operation.
It is noted that in MOS implementations of sample and hold circuits the analog input is applied to the source terminal of an input sampling transistor, and is allowed to pass therethrough during each clock cycle. The magnitude of the sampled analog signal is stored by a capacitor connected to the output (drain) terminal of the sampling transistor. This type of sample and hold circuit may be modeled as an RC circuit, where R is primarily determined by the channel resistance of the input transistor and where C corresponds to the capacitance value of the "holding" capacitor. Since the bias applied to the gate of the sampling transistor is a constant and the value of R depends on the gate to source voltage of the sampling transistor, the value of R varies as a function of the magnitude of the input voltage. Hence, harmonic distortion is introduced into the sampled input signal as a consequence of variation in the RC time constant of the sample and hold circuit.
The performance of the analog to digital converter 100 depends largely upon:
(1) the degree to which the folding function depicted in FIG. 1B may be accurately implemented by the folder circuit 102, PA1 (2) accurate or consistent sampling of the input signal, PA1 (3) the precision of the reference voltages provided by the reference ladder 104, and PA1 (4) the speed of the folder circuit 102.
Each of these factors, other than the consistent sampling factor which was discussed above, are discussed next with reference to the diagram of a conventional folding circuit 102 shown in FIG. 2. Note that it is assumed in this circuit that the analog input voltage range is -2 volts to 0 volts.
Conventional folding circuits have been shown to introduce distortion into the ideal transfer characteristic of FIG. 1B. Referring to FIG. 2, the accuracy of the gain of the folder circuit 102 is dependent upon the ratio of the pull-up resistors R1, R2 and R3 (which ideally should all be precisely equal) to the current drawn by current sources I. However, the gain may be affected by contributions from the base currents of transistors T1-T4. Thus, non-uniformities in the current sources and pull-up resistors and base currents in the folder circuit's transistors all contribute to deviation in the gain of the folder circuit 102 from a specified ideal absolute value.
As is indicated by FIG. 1B, the folding circuit 102 is characterized by a piece-wise linear transfer characteristic. Such linearity has proven difficult to achieve in practice, however, due to the hyperbolic tangent transfer characteristic of the differential transistor pairs T1-T2, T3-T4, only two of which are shown in FIG. 2. Efforts directed to improving the linearity of these differential pairs have involved connecting resistors to the emitter of the transistors within each differential pair. While this has led to improved linearity, it has also tended to reduce circuit gain and requires the matching of an additional pair of resistors.
Referring to FIG. 1B and to FIG. 2, when the sampled analog input is near the m.sup.th multiple of the reference voltage V.sub.R the current from current source I1 is split primarily between transistors TRm and TR(m+1). This results in a reduction of the base-emitter voltage drop through these transistors relative to the case in which current flow is predominantly through only one of the transistors TR. It follows that the actual output voltage of the folder circuit 102 tends to be higher than desired in response to analog inputs which are proximate multiples of the reference voltage V.sub.R. The non-linearity introduced into the transfer characteristic of the folder 102 as a consequence of this effect is depicted in FIG. 3, in which the folder output voltage at room temperature is shown to be offset by approximately 18 mV from the desired output voltage for analog inputs near multiples of the reference voltage V.sub.R.
As may also be appreciated with reference to FIG. 3, the voltage at node N2 of the folder circuit 102 (FIG. 2) varies between VN2, max and VN2, min as a function of the sampled analog input. Referring to FIG. 2, the peak output voltage of the folder circuit 102 is one base-emitter threshold (VBE) below the maximum voltages impressed upon the nodes N1, N2, . . . Nn. The maximum voltage at the nodes N1, N2, . . . , Nn occurs for analog inputs having magnitudes midway between adjacent reference voltages and cannot exceed-Vupper, where Vupper is the voltage drop across resistors R1, R2, . . . Rn, when the current drawn through each such resistor is at its minimum level.
With reference to FIG. 2, the speed of the conventional folder 102 can be degraded by saturation effects precipitated by relatively large analog input voltages. In particular, when the analog signal applied to the input transistor of a differential pair becomes large compared with the associated reference voltage the input transistor tends to be driven into saturation, i.e., the collector voltage exceeds the saturation threshold. Saturation of the input transistors within a differential pair reduces the rate at which the associated folder stage is capable of responding to changes in the sampled analog input.
Efforts have also been made to enhance the precision of the reference voltages supplied to the flash arrays and folder circuits included within high-speed ADC's. For example, ADC's designed to be incorporated within high-speed video processing systems often include low-impedance voltage reference ladders for providing a set of reference voltages. Referring to the conventional reference ladder shown in FIG. 4, a resistive diffusion or metallic interconnection line R.sub.D is operatively connected to positive (+V1) and negative (-V2) force voltages supplied by a force and sense circuit. The force and sense circuit is employed to set the voltage at sense terminals S1 and S2 at either end of the resistive line R.sub.D to the reference potentials MinV.sub.R and MaxV.sub.R. Specifically, the force and sense circuit includes a feedback network which adjusts the magnitude of +V1 and -V2 so that MinV.sub.R and MaxV.sub.R are applied to the resistive line R.sub.D despite the presence of parasitic interconnection resistance Rp. In this way the magnitude of the reference potentials are made to be relatively independent of the magnitude of Rp. Since the resistive line RD is assumed to be of uniform width, the tap points corresponding to each reference potential may be determined through linear interpolation.
In many analog to digital converters the reference potentials MinV.sub.R and MaxV.sub.R correspond to the zero and full-scale values used during the conversion process. Nonetheless, certain high-speed ADC's include folding circuits which require internal voltage references which are several LSBs beyond these zero and full-scale values. Simply increasing the dynamic range between the zero and full-scale values to include these additional reference voltages has been considered, but would lead to unusual values for the zero and full-scale references. This would, in turn, complicate the interpolation process used to select the tap points corresponding to the remaining reference values.
Referring to FIG. 5, the actual relationship between the locations of tap points along the resistive line RD and the corresponding reference voltages (solid line) is seen to be nonlinear when current is drawn from the tap points, such as to provide the base current of NPNs in the ADC's folder circuits and in the ADC's flash arrays. The resulting error between the ideal linear interpolation characteristic (dashed line) and that actually obtained can lead to significant error in the reference voltages derived from tap points proximate the center of the resistive line RD.
Because operation of the folder circuit 102 is predicated upon the absolute gain and linearity of its constituent circuit elements, its output is relatively sensitive to variation in temperature. Accordingly, it has generally been necessary to develop performance specifications based on limited temperature ranges.

Analog to digital converter that decodes MSBS from internal voltages of two folder circuits


A miniaturized high-frequency module includes an integrated circuit and chip capacitors electrically connected therewith within a recess in a substrate and to make a crystal oscillator and the substrate virtually equal in size. Thereby, a miniaturized high-frequency module can be obtained.

This Application is a U.S. National Phase Application of PCT International Application PCT/JP99/00990.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-frequency module for use in a mobile telephone and the like and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Background Art
A conventional high-frequency module will be described below. A typical conventional high-frequency module, as shown in FIG. 10, has substrate 1 made of an insulator of ceramic material or the like with electronic components mounted thereon and metallic shield case 2 is placed over them. On substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 11, there is a temperature-compensated oscillator, having a stable characteristic regardless of ambient temperature changes (used here as an example of the high-frequency module), constructed of integrated circuit 4 bonded by wires 3 and chip capacitor 5 and crystal oscillator (used here as an example of the filter) 6 connected by reflow soldering.
To miniaturize the temperature-compensated oscillator, recess 10 is formed in substrate 7, as shown in FIG. 12, and while integrated circuit 4 is wirebonded to the bottom surface of recess 10 , crystal oscillator 6 placed on the recess 10 so as to cover recess 10. And chip capacitor 5, of a size of 1.0 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, is placed on top surface 12 on the same side and they are reflow-soldered with solder cream 11. By placing crystal oscillator 6 over integrated circuit 4 in the described manner, miniaturization of the high-frequency module has been attained.
The method of fabrication of the prior art high-frequency module, as shown in FIG. 13, comprises:
first step 13 of wire-bonding integrated circuit 4 to the bottom surface of recess 10 of a substrate with a recess therein;
second step 14, following first step 13, of sealing integrated circuit 4 with an bonding material;
third step 15, following second step 14, of curing the bonding material;
fourth step 16, following third step 15, of applying solder cream to the top surface 12 near the recess 10 by printing;
fifth step 17, following fourth step 16, of mounting chip capacitor 5 and crystal oscillator 6 on solder cream 11 applied as above; and
sixth step 18, following fifth step 17, of bonding chip capacitor 5 and crystal oscillator 6 to the side of top surface 12 of substrate 7 by the application of heat.
By mounting crystal oscillator 6 over the integrated circuit 4, more and more miniaturization of high-frequency modules has been attained.
However, while there are demands for still more miniaturized high-frequency modules, the conventional arrangement is unable to meet such demands because of the limit in obtaining a smaller size than sum of the sizes of crystal oscillator 6 and chip capacitor 5.
On the other hand, by virtue of recent progress in semiconductor technology, integrated circuits have become increasingly smaller in size and, at the same time, the flip-chip-mounting technology making use of bump contacts has been developed. Accordingly, mounting of an integrated circuit in a very small space has become possible. Also, such a chip capacitor as small as 0.6 mm long and 0.3 mm wide has become available. Consequently, the area of an integrated circuit or that of a chip capacitor has become smaller than that of a crystal oscillator. Thus, a proposal for a structure meeting above described demand has come to be earnestly desired.
The present invention was made to address the above-mentioned problem, and it is an object of the invention to provide a miniaturized high-frequency module.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention relates to an integrated circuit and chip capacitors, electrically connected with the integrated circuit, within a recess of a substrate, and, also, to make a filter and the substrate approximately equal in size. Thereby, a miniaturized high-frequency module can be obtained.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a high-frequency module is characterized in that the chip capacitors are bonded to the filter with solder cream. Since the chip capacitors can be bonded to the filter by printed solder cream thereto, the need for applying solder cream within the recess can be eliminated and, hence, productivity is improved.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a high-frequency module is characterized in that it constitutes a temperature-compensated oscillator by using a crystal oscillator as a filter and an integrated circuit comprising;
an oscillation circuit,
an output terminal connected to the oscillation circuit,
a temperature compensating circuit,
a frequency control circuit, and
a stabilized power supply circuit connected with a chip capacitor disposed outside the integrated circuit.
Accordingly, a miniaturized high-frequency module as a temperature-compensated oscillator can be obtained.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a high-frequency module is, characterized in that it constitutes a receiver comprising;
a first input terminal to which a high-frequency signal is input;
an amplifier receiving the signal input to the first input terminal through a first chip capacitor;
a SAW filter receiving an output of the amplifier;
a mixer receiving an output of the SAW filter at one input thereof;
an output terminal to which an output of the mixer is delivered through a second chip capacitor; and
a second input terminal to which a local oscillation frequency to be input to the other terminal of the mixer through a third chip capacitor is applied.
By inputting a high-frequency signal to the first input terminal and a local oscillation frequency to the second input terminal, a miniaturized receiver can be obtained.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a high-frequency module is, characterized in that it constitutes a transmitter comprising;
an input terminal to which a high-frequency signal is input;
a SAW filter receiving the input signal input to the input terminal through a first chip capacitor;
an amplifier receiving an output of the SAW filter; and
an output terminal to which an output of the amplifier is delivered through a second chip capacitor.
By inputting a modulated signal to the input terminal and connecting a signal delivered from the output terminal to the antenna, a miniaturized transmitter can be obtained.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a high-frequency module comprises;
a substrate made of an insulator,
a recess formed in the substrate,
a PLL integrated circuit flip-chip-mounted to the bottom surface of the recess,
a voltage-controlled oscillator electrically connected with the PLL integrated circuit and disposed on the top surface of the substrate so as to cover the recess, and
a low-pass filter made up of chip components electrically connected with the PLL integrated circuit, the low-pass filter contained within the recess,
wherein the voltage-controlled oscillator and the substrate are made virtually equal in size.
By containing the flip-chip-mounted PLL integrated circuit and the low-pass filter made up of chip components within the recess, the substrate and the voltage-controlled oscillator can be made virtually equal in size and, hence, a miniaturized high-frequency module can be embodied
The invention set forth in claim 7 is a method of manufacturing a high-frequency module comprising the steps of;
first step of flip-chip-mounting an integrated circuit on a bottom surface of a recess of a substrate with the recess therein;
second step, following first step, of sealing the integrated circuit with bonding material;
third step, following second step, of curing the bonding material;
fourth step, following third step, of applying solder cream to the bottom surface of the recess;
fifth step, following fourth step, of mounting chip capacitors on the applied solder cream;
sixth step, following fifth step, of bonding the chip capacitors by application of heat;
seventh step, following sixth step, of applying solder cream to a top surface of the substrate by printing;
eighth step, following seventh step, of mounting a filter;
and ninth step, following eighth step, of bonding the filter to the top surface by application of heat.
Since solder cream is applied to the bottom surface of the recess at third step, the chip capacitors are mounted within the recess at fourth step, and the chip capacitors are bonded at fifth step, a miniaturized high-frequency module can be obtained.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention a method of manufacturing a high-frequency module is characterized by including a process for preparing a first component comprising the steps of;
first step, of flip-chip-mounting an integrated circuit on a bottom surface of a recess of a substrate with the recess therein;
second step, following first step, of sealing the integrated circuit with an bonding material;
third step, following second step, of curing the bonding material; and
fourth step, following third step, of applying solder cream to the top surface of the substrate on the side of the recess by printing; and
a process for preparing a second component separate from the process for preparing the first component comprising;
first step of applying solder cream to a filter by printing;
second step, following first step, of mounting chip capacitors on the solder cream applied by printing; and
third step, following second step, of bonding the chip capacitors by the application of heat;
and steps of mounting the second component on the top surface of the substrate of the first component and bonding, thereafter, the components with each other by the application of heat.
Since the chip capacitors are mounted on the filter in the process for preparing the second component, solder cream can be applied by printing and, hence, productivity is improved.
The invention set forth in claim 9 is a method of manufacturing a high-frequency module characterized by including a process for preparing a first component comprising;
first step of flip-chip-mounting an integrated circuit on a bottom surface of a recess of a substrate with the recess therein;
second step, following first step, of sealing the integrated circuit with an bonding material; and
third step, following second step, of curing the bonding material;
and, applying solder cream to a filter by printing which is separate process from the processes for preparing the first component;
fourth step of mounting the first component and chip capacitors on the solder cream applied on the filter by printing; and
fifth step, following fourth step, of simultaneously bonding the chip capacitors and the first component by the application of heat.
Since the chip capacitors and the first component can be simultaneously bonded at fifth step, productivity is improved further.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

High-frequency module and method of manufacturing the same


An interrupting circuit is configured to monitor for and detect a fault in a device for generating a field of electromagnetic radiation (e-field) from a radio frequency (RF) generator configured to convert low voltage direct current (DC) into the e-field for application to an article in the e-field. If a fault is detected, the interrupting circuit interrupts low voltage DC between an energy reserve and the RF generator within a predetermined time less than the time to dissipate energy stored in the energy reserve.

A radio frequency (RF) amplifier, or RF generator, is capable of generating a field of electromagnetic radiation (e-field) in the radio frequency spectrum from a power source. An energized RF generator may be configured to generate an e-field that may interact with external objects in a desirable or predictable manner. Typically, an RF generator is further coupled with an RF antenna or applicator in order to apply or direct the e-field as needed to interact with the external objects. For example, a microwave oven typically utilizes an AC power input provided to an RF generator to generate an e-field to heat or cook food items.

Interrupting circuit for a radio frequency generator


The disclosure relates to uses of a purified or isolated lectin to kill bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to method of treating or preventing an infection comprising administering a purified or isolated galectin to a subject in need thereof. In certain embodiments, the subject is at risk of, exhibiting symptoms of, or diagnosed with a pathogenic infection.

Blood type is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the exterior surface of red blood cells. The A and B antigens have trisaccharide structures [A, GalNAcα1-3(Fucα1-2)Galβ1; and B, Galα1-3(Fucα1-2)Galβ1] attached to a variety of glycolipids and glycoproteins on the erythrocyte (red blood cell) surface. Group O individuals lack the terminal glycosyltransferases necessary to produce the A or B antigens and carry the disaccharide H antigen (Fucα1-2Galβ1).
Recent studies suggest that blood group antigen diversity may provide a mechanism of pathogen evasion whereby distinct ABO(H) antigen structures may reduce pathogen attachment and therefore infectivity. Because ABO(H) antigens are composed of carbohydrate structures that only differ by distinct monosaccharides on the terminal structures of glycans, factors that might be responsible for providing innate immunity toward pathogens expressing blood group antigens should recognize carbohydrates.
Bacteria generate a wide variety of glycan-based antigenic structures, many of which can possess blood group antigen activity. For example, E. coli O86 cross-reacts with antibodies specific for human blood group B and induces high titers of blood group B-specific antibodies in previously unexposed individuals. Notably, whereas individuals of blood group A or O produce antibodies that kill E. coli O86, individuals with blood group B do not generate antibodies capable of altering E. coli O86 viability, providing a specific example of the immunological limitation in adaptive immunity toward a blood group antigen-bearing pathogen. Springer & Horton, J. Clin. Invest. 48, 1280-1291 (1969) and see also Vasta, Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 7, 424-438 (2009) entitled "Roles of galectins in infection."


A takeup magazine is provided for automatically loading a strip of material such as photographic film onto a removable core. A housing contains a rotatable platter. A friction ring is mounted coaxially above the platter for rotation therewith. A removable core having a diameter smaller than that of the friction ring is mounted coaxially above the platter for rotation with the platter and the friction ring. An opening in the housing receives an end of a strip of material to be wound onto the core. The end of the material is guided to engage the core and the friction ring when the strip is pushed into the opening. The guiding of the strip can be accomplished using a first pivoting arm for guiding the end in the direction of the core and at least one second arm for urging the strip against the core.

The present invention relates to the handling of strip material, such as photographic film, and more particularly to an automatic rethread mechanism for loading film into a takeup magazine for use in a film recorder or the like.
Various mechanisms utilize strip material that is unwound from a first core, processed, and rewound onto a second core. For example, conventional photographic cameras unwind film from a film cassette onto a spool in a camera. After the film is exposed, it is rewound into the film cassette, which is light tight so that the film can be removed from the camera for processing. Reel-to-reel recorders for film and magnetic tape are also well known.
Various autothread mechanisms are known for use in film cameras. Examples of such mechanisms can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,463,071; 4,572,635; 4,641,936; 4,752,797; 4,841,319; and 4,956,658. Automatic film threading systems for use with film processing equipment are also well known. Examples of such systems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,178,124; 4,248,516; 4,641,939; 4,798,375; 4,831,401; and 4,949,114.
A disadvantage of the automatic film threading arrangements known in the prior art is that a special sprocket wheel or film core is necessary in order to automatically receive and wind the film. Thus, it is necessary to unwind the film off of the special core or sprocket wheel before the apparatus using the film can be reloaded. This operation is inconvenient and time consuming, particularly when the apparatus is used in a commercial environment.
One type of apparatus that uses photographic film and would benefit from an improved automatic film rethread mechanism is known as a film recorder. In a conventional film recorder, a light beam from a cathode ray tube ("CRT") or the like is controlled by a deflection system to scan across a stationary frame of photographic film to expose the film with an image. Typically, the images are generated by a computer for the production of slides, transparencies, photographs, or the like. Alternatively, the images can comprise natural images acquired by a scanner or television camera for subsequent processing by a computer.
Known film recorders, such as those sold under the trademark "Solitaire" by Management Graphics, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., typically include a light source such as a CRT for producing a beam, a deflection system for scanning the beam across the face of the CRT, a system control and central processor unit ("CPU") for controlling the deflection system, and a camera (i.e., "film transport"). The latter component may include a film transport body, lens, lens mounting assembly, aperture plate, film plate, and film transport mechanism. On a Solitaire film recorder, an image to be recorded is first written on the phosphor of the CRT by deflecting an electron beam in a raster pattern and modulating the intensity of the beam. This process is analogous to the creation of a television picture. Alternatively, the image can be written on the CRT using well known time modulation techniques, wherein the beam intensity is constant but the time the beam is kept at each point is varied depending on the exposure required.
The resulting pattern (the "object image") on the CRT is optically imaged onto photographic film by the film transport, which contains the required optics and mechanism to advance the film to successive frames. Other types of light sources can be substituted for the CRT in a film recorder. Examples include fiber optic sources, lasers, and focused light impinging a rotating drum wherein one or more rotations are completed for each scan line.
Once each frame of film is exposed, it is wound around a film core for storage until a sequence of frames is ready to be photographically processed. A takeup magazine is generally provided for holding the exposed film in a light tight manner, thereby preventing inadvertent reexposure thereof to light, which would ruin the photographic images contained on the film. In the past, the threading of film onto the film core has been a somewhat cumbersome manual process, wherein the free end of a strip of film from a film supply is inserted into a slot or grip on the film core, and wound around the film core to a point at which rotation of the film core will wind the film around the core without slipping. The manual loading of film in this manner is inconvenient and can reduce productivity.
It would be advantageous to provide an automatic mechanism for threading strip material, such as photographic film, around a takeup spool and/or into a takeup magazine. It would be further advantageous for such apparatus to use a standard film core, without modification and which can be easily removed and replaced with an empty core for use with a subsequent strip of material. Such apparatus should be simple to manufacture and use, and provide highly reliable operation.
The present invention provides a takeup magazine and apparatus for automatically loading strip material around a takeup spool and/or into a magazine having the aforementioned advantages.


A semiconductor device, that has a transistor region and a surge-protector region, includes: a substrate; a first semiconductor layer formed on the substrate; a second semiconductor layer formed on the first semiconductor layer; a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode formed on the second semiconductor layer in the transistor region; and a surge-protector first electrode, a surge-protector second electrode, and a surge-protector third electrode formed on the second semiconductor layer in the surge-protector region, wherein the source electrode and the surge-protector second electrode are connected to each other, wherein the drain electrode and the surge-protector third electrode are connected to each other, wherein the surge-protector first electrode is formed between the surge-protector second electrode and the surge-protector third electrode, and wherein a distance between the surge-protector first electrode and the surge-protector third electrode is smaller than a distance between the gate electrode and the drain electrode.

Gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum nitride (AlN), and indium nitride (InN), which are nitride semiconductors, or a material, which is mixed crystal thereof, have a wide band gap, and are used for a high-power electronic device, a shortwave light-emitting device, etc. For example, GaN, which is a nitride semiconductor, has a band gap of 3.4 eV that is larger than a band gap of 1.1 eV of silicon (Si) and a band gap of 1.4 eV of gallium arsenide (GaAs).
The high-power electronic device may be a field effect transistor (FET), or more particularly, a high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT). The HEMT using the nitride semiconductor is used for a high-power high-efficiency amplifier, a high-power switching device, etc. More specifically, in an HEMT, in which aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) is used for an electron supply layer and GaN is used for a transit layer, a difference in lattice constant between AlGaN and GaN causes a distortion, resulting in that piezoelectric polarization and spontaneous polarization occur in AlGaN, and high-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is generated. Hence, an operation with a high voltage is available. The HEMT may be used for a high-efficiency switching element, and a high breakdown voltage power device for an electric vehicle etc.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-359256 and No. 2011-030396 are examples of related art.
A field effect transistor using silicon as a semiconductor material spontaneously contains a body diode. The body diode is connected to the transistor by anti-parallel connection. Hence, even if a high surge voltage is generated, an avalanche decay occurs. Thus a sufficient surge resistance is provided. However, a GaN-base HEMT does not spontaneously contain the body diode. If a high surge voltage is generated, the HEMT may be broken and a failure or the like may occur. Hence, a surge protector, such as a varistor or a resistance-capacitance (RC) surge absorption circuit, has to be additionally provided.
The surge protector typically has a large parasitic capacity. When the HEMT etc. is operated, heat is generated, and the temperature is increased. The increase in temperature decreases the operation efficiency and operation speed. Owing to this, a switching loss is generated when the surge protector is used for the switching element. Also, even when the HEMT is normally operated, flow-through current likely flows in the surge protector, and power consumption tends to be increased. Further, the operation speed of the HEMT is higher than the operation speed of the surge protector.
Even when the surge protector is provided, current flows in the HEMT before current flows in the surge protector. The HEMT may be broken.

Semiconductor device, PFC circuit, power supply device, and amplifier


A gear portion is provided on the inner peripheral surface of a dial, and a large diameter portion of a main driving gear is mated with the gear portion. A driven gear is mated with a small diameter portion of the main driving gear, and the state of an air conditioner is switched based on the moving operation of a cable through the gear portion, the main driving gear and the driven gear in the rotating operation of the dial. With this structure, it is not necessary to provide a rotary shaft as a member for transmitting an operating force to the central part or the dial. Consequently, it is possible to maintain a space in the central part of the dial. Thus, restrictions can be decreased in the case in which a knob is to be arranged.

The present invention relates to an operating device for operating a vehicle air conditioner in a vehicle.
Some operating devices have such a structure that an operating member is directly coupled to the rotary shaft of a dial and is directly operated based on the rotating operation of the dial. The operating member is mechanically coupled to an air conditioner, and the state of the air conditioner is changed based on the operation of the operating member by the operating force of the dial.
With this structure, a rotary shaft is present as a member for transmitting an operating force in the central part of the dial. For this reason, it is hard to maintain a space in the central part of the dial and there are many restrictions on the arrangement of separate components on the dial.

Operating device of air conditioner for vehicle

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


Embodiments of the present invention provide a touch display and an electronic apparatus. The touch display comprises a display device; a touch device, positioned on a display surface side of the display device, and the touch device comprising a touch-sensitive layer; a shielding circuit layer, disposed between the touch-sensitive layer and the display device; and a transparent insulating layer, disposed between the touch-sensitive layer and the shielding circuit layer, wherein the shielding circuit layer and the touch-sensitive layer are equipotential. The electronic apparatus comprises the touch display.

Touch screens can be divided into various types, such as resistive type, capacitive type, surface infrared type, acoustic wave type and the like. A touch display may be formed by attaching one layer of special metallic conductive material (touch-sensitive layer) on a surface of a glass. When a finger touches on the metallic layer, a capacity on the touching point changes, which makes a frequency of an oscillator connected to the metallic layer change. Information on the touch position may be obtained by measuring change of the frequency. In a capacitive touch screen of on cell type which is produced on the basis of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a grounded shielding circuit layer of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) will be disposed between a touch-sensitive layer and a display device. When an electrical signal is introduced to the touch-sensitive layer (TP sensor) part, the touch-sensitive layer will form a coupled capacity with the ITO shielding circuit layer and produce a phenomenon of charge-discharge, so that a capacity of the touch-sensitive layer is influenced and an abnormal operation is caused.


Touch panels comprising a bias line biased at a bias voltage, a select line, a readout line, a photo cell and a readout circuit. The photo cell comprises a first photo switch, a second photo switch and a storage capacitor. The first photo switch and the storage capacitor is coupled in series between the readout line and the bias line, and the first photo switch is further controlled by the select line. The second photo switch is connected between the readout line and the bias line. The readout circuit and the select line are managed by a reset mode, an exposure mode and a readout mode. The voltage variation of output terminal of the readout circuit is used in obtaining the state of the photo cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to touch panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of types of touch panel technologies, which include resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels. However, resistive and capacitive touch panels are made by covering a sensor film on the display panel, and therefore the process is complicated and the costs are expensive. In addition, multi-touch sensing is not easily accomplished by the conventional resistive or capacitive touch panels. Thus, to decrease costs and provide multi-touch sensing, novel touch panel technologies are called for.


A method of spectrally broadening light pulses includes the steps of providing the light pulses with a laser source, said light pulses having a pulse duration below 1 ps, in-coupling the light pulses into a hollow optical waveguide device, and spectrally broadening the light pulses propagating along the pulse guiding medium by subjecting them to a Raman nonlinearity via excitation of a Raman polarization having a first Raman period, wherein the optical waveguide device subjects the light pulses to anomalous group velocity dispersion which combines with the spectral broadening of the light pulses to result in a Raman-enhanced self-compression of the light pulses, and the light pulses further propagate along the optical waveguide device such that the Raman-enhanced self compression results in a further excitation of a Raman polarization having a second Raman period which is faster than the first Raman period.

In the present specification, reference is made to the following publications cited for illustrating prior art techniques, in particular conventional non-linear optics and techniques of spectrally broadening of laser light pulses.    [1] J. M. Dudley et al., "Ten years of nonlinear optics in photonic crystal fibre", Nature Photonics 3, 85-90 (2009);    [2] N. Savage, "Supercontinuum sources", Nature Photonics 3, 114-115 (2009);    [3] H. Imam, "Metrology: Broad as a lamp, bright as a laser", Nature Photonics 2, 26-28 (2008);    [4] F. Reiter et al. "Generation of sub-3 fs pulses in the deep ultraviolet", Opt. Lett. 35, 2248 (2010);    [5] F. Reiter et al. "Route to Attosecond Nonlinear Spectroscopy", PRL 105, 243902 (2010);    [6] S. P. Stark et al. "Extreme supercontinuum generation to the deep UV", Opt. Lett. 37, 770-772 (2012);    [7] M. Nisoli et al. "Generation of high energy 10 fs pulses by a new pulse compression technique", Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 2793 (1996);    [8] K. F. Mak et al. "Two techniques for temporal pulse compression in gas-filled hollow-core kagomé photonic crystal fiber", Opt. Lett. 38, 3592-3595 (2013);    [9] K. F. Mak et al. "Tunable vacuum-UV to visible ultrafast pulse source based on gas-filled Kagome-PCF", Opt. Express 21, 10942-10953 (2013);    [10] P. Hölzer et al. "Femtosecond Nonlinear Fiber Optics in the Ionization Regime", Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 203901 (2011);    [11] European application No. 13002465.6, not published on the priority date of the present specification;    [12] J. C. Travers et al. "Ultrafast nonlinear optics in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers", JOSA B 28, A11-A26 (2011);    [13] A. Nazarkin et al. "Generation of multiple phase-locked Stokes and anti-Stokes components in an impulsively excited Raman medium", Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2560-2563 (1999);    [14] A. Abdolvand et al. "Generation of a phase-locked Raman frequency comb in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber", Opt. Lett. 37, 4362 (2012);    [15] A. Chugreev et al. "Manipulation of coherent Stokes light by transient stimulated Raman scattering in gas filled hollow-core PCF", Opt. Express 17, 8822 (2009);    [16] A. Nazarkin et al. "All linear control of attosecond pulse generation", Opt. Comm. 203, 403 (2002);    [17] C. Conti et al. "Highly noninstantaneous solitons in liquid-core photonic crystal fibers", Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 263902 (2011);    [18] S. Baker et al. "Femtosecond to attosecond light pulses from a molecular modulator", Nat. Photonics 5, 664-671 (2011);    [19] R. A. Bartels et al. "Impulsive stimulated Raman scattering of molecular vibrations using nonlinear pulse shaping", Chem. Phys. Lett. 374, 326-333 (2003);    [20] Mamyshev et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 73 (1993);    [21] F. Couny et al. Science 318, 118 (2007);    [22] S. Zaitsu et al. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 22, 2642-2650 (2005);    [23] J. Ringling et al. "Tunable femtosecond pulses in the near vacuum ultraviolet generated by frequency conversion of amplified Ti:sapphire laser pulses", Opt. Lett. 18, 2035-2037 (1993); and    [24] V. Petrov et al. "Frequency conversion of Ti:sapphire-based femtosecond laser systems to the 200-nm spectral region using nonlinear optical crystals", Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. IEEE J. Of 5, 1532-1542 (1999).
The development of bright supercontinuum (SC) sources based on solid-core photonic crystal fibers has already revolutionized fields as diverse as frequency metrology, optical coherence tomography [12] and confocal microscopy [3], and is finding ever-increasing applications in biotechnology and the life sciences. A challenge to the further development of these sources is the extension of the short-wavelength edge into difficult-to-access spectral regions such as the deep UV (DUV) and vacuum UV (VUV), where material damage essentially rules out the use of solid-state materials. Currently a tunable broadband source in the UV/VUV spectral region does not exist. Broadband coherent sources in this spectral region could also be used for synthesizing single-cycle pulses in UV/DUV, thus extending sub-femtosecond science to a new spectral region.
Conventional techniques for generating radiation in the above short-wavelength range comprise e.g. high harmonic generation (HHG) or third harmonic generation (THG). HHG has disadvantages as it cannot produce a continuum covering the UV-VUV spectral region. Furthermore, one of its greatest drawbacks is its low conversion efficiency (10−6 at best). THG allows the generation of pulses with a broad spectrum in UV spectral region, which, however, have a limited bandwidth only, like e.g. 60 nm centred at 266 nm [4]. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal transformation of a single-cycle near-IR pulse in a pressurized quasi-static gas cell has been suggested for generating a UV-DUV supercontinuum in the energy range of 4 to 8 eV, i.e., 138 to 310 nm [5]. However, this techniques using the nonlinear pulse propagation in filaments has disadvantages in terms of an extreme sensitivity of the process to pump pulse parameters, resulting in a limited use with high energy (mJ) single cycle pump pulses in near-IR (about 4 fs). Another conventional approach is based on pulse broadening in tapered silica photonic crystal fibres allowing a frequency conversion down to 280 nm [6]. This technique has a restricted practical application as the lifetime of the system is rather short owing to cumulative colour centre damage to the glass when exposed to UV light over long periods of time. In the deep and vacuum UV, material loss and severe damage problems rule out the use of silica.
A further commonly employed technique for generating visible to IR supercontinua is nonlinear spectral broadening in α-pillary fibres filled with noble gases [7]. An ultrashort pump pulse, launched into the capillary, experiences self-phase modulation and strong spectral broadening. Large core (about 200 μm) capillaries must however be used to limit the propagation loss, which means that the waveguide dispersion of the empty capillary is only very weakly anomalous. When filled with gas (noble or Raman-active) at any reasonable pressure, the dispersion becomes strongly normal in the UV to near-IR spectral region. The result is a rapid broadening of the spectrum without any pulse self-compression. The absence of very short intense spectral features means that impulsive driving of the molecular motion in a Raman-active gas cannot occur, which in turn means that spectral super-broadening cannot be observed. Broadband-guiding hollow-core photonic crystal fibres, showing much stronger anomalous dispersion over a wide spectral window, provide a perfect solution to this problem.
The use of a noble gas in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has enabled the generation of self-compressed pulses [8], emission of tunable deep-UV light [9], and plasma-driven frequency conversion [10, 11]. Hollow-core PCF is a unique host for gas-based nonlinear optical experiments as it offers low-loss single-mode guidance in a micron-sized hollow core along with pressure-tunable dispersion and nonlinearity. In previous work, noble gases have been used as Raman-free nonlinear media, permitting efficient soliton-based pulse compression where the interplay between Kerr nonlinearity and anomalous dispersion results in dramatic self-compression of an ultrashort pulse. Novel phenomena such as UV wavelength conversion and even plasma generation from 50 fs laser pulses of 1 μJ energy have been reported [12]. In a different context, HC-PCF filled with molecular gases offers excellent performance as an ultra-low threshold modulator and frequency shifter for nano- and picosecond laser pulses [14, 21].
Despite the success of solid-core PCFs in generating supercontinuum spectra from the mid infrared (IR) to the near ultraviolet (UV), the short wavelength edge of such SC sources is limited to about 280 nm [6] by material absorption and the properties of the silica glass used. Furthermore, even at deep blue wavelengths the glass suffers cumulative optical damage, resulting in deterioration of the supercontinuum. Currently a spectral gap in broadband SC sources exists between the near-UV and the vacuum-UV (VUV). Although soliton self-compression in kagomé-style hollow-core PCF filled with noble gases has been used to demonstrate the emission of dispersive waves at wavelengths from the visible to the VUV (at 176 nm), the generated light has bandwidths of order about 10 nm or less [9].
Mamyshev et al. have described another scheme that combines both frequency conversion and pulse compression [20]. The pulse perceives decreasing dispersion in a single-mode silica fiber due to the Raman-induced soliton self-frequency downshift, which results in an adiabatic soliton compression. However, this technique is restricted to a frequency down-conversion, and it does not allow a frequency up-conversion. As a further limitation, a very small compression factor was observed only (96 fs to 55 fs) due to a small Raman-induced frequency shift (1.57 μm to 1.62 μm) and a decreasing effective nonlinearity resulting from the frequency downshift.
Further previous works have excited Raman states in a gas filled fibre, in the anomalous dispersion regime, but with long pulses (usually ˜1 ns) ([21], [14]), which do not allow a supercontinuum generation. Ultrashort pulses have been used in [19] and [22] without being capable of obtaining supercontinuum spectra.

Method and device for creating supercontinuum light pulses

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.


A call waiting deluxe method where a switching system forwards calls to a service node that provides specialized call processing, e.g., processing requiring text-to-speech, to a number of switching systems without requiring modification of the hardware design of those systems. Only calls to busy called stations are forwarded to the service node using a call forwarding-busy line feature to avoid unnecessary delays and excessive service node traffic for normal calls. The service node uses the same directory number that was initially dialed for the call, in invoking a call waiting-originating feature which takes precedence over the call forwarding-busy line feature and results in the transmission of a call waiting signal to the called station. The service node obtains the calling party name from a database and responds to a flash signal from the called station by speaking the calling party name to the called party. The service node also transmits an announcement to the called station including a number of call handling options, and responds to a signal from the called station defining one of the options by controlling handling of the incoming call in accordance with the defined option.

As stored program-controlled switching systems have evolved, a wide variety of useful features have been developed to extend the communication capabilities such systems provide. Incoming calling line identification, a feature that displays the caller's number for incoming calls to a called customer station, allows selective acceptance of certain calls based on the calling number while other calls are either not answered or are routed to a message center. The feature is implemented by transmitting the calling line identification to the called customer station in a data message--for example, to an analog station during a silent interval between ringing or to an integrated services digital network (ISDN) station in the out-of-band D-channel used for call control signaling. Since customers typically remember only a few, frequently called telephone numbers, a related feature that provides a display of the caller name is substantially more useful to customers in deciding whether to accept a call. With a known call waiting feature where a caller-identifying data message is transmitted out-of-band, as for an ISDN station, a customer already engaged in an ongoing telephone conversation is informed of the caller identity for a second call that is coming in. Although such features provide customers with much greater control over their telephone communications, conventional analog stations, which represent a large majority of the customer stations in use today, are not equipped to either process or display data messages. In addition, modification of the normal human response of answering a ringing telephone, such that a customer glances at a display to determine caller identity before answering, is difficult particularly for customers that use the features only infrequently.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,076 issued to J. R. Blakley on Apr. 9, 1991, discloses an enhanced call waiting feature implementation for use with conventional analog station sets. When a called station is busy, a call waiting signal is transmitted to the called station. If the called station flashes, a communication path between the previous caller and the called station is disconnected and the calling party name is spoken to the called station using text-to-speech. If the called party chooses to take the new call after learning the calling party name, the called station transmits a DTMF digit or allows the expiration of a predetermined time period without signaling. In response a communication path is completed between the second caller and the called station. A problem with the disclosed Blakley implementation relates to the cost and difficulty in integrating text-to-speech technology into existing switching system designs as well as providing such technology in each switching system which serves customers desiring the enhanced call waiting feature. Solution
This problem is solved and a technical advance is achieved in accordance with the principles of the invention in an exemplary call waiting deluxe method where a switching system forwards calls to a service node that provides specialized call processing, e.g., processing requiring text-to-speech, to a number of switching systems without requiring modification of the hardware design of those systems. Advantageously, only calls to busy called stations are forwarded to the service node using a call forwarding-busy line feature to avoid unnecessary delays and excessive service node traffic for normal calls. The service node uses the same directory number that was initially dialed for the call, in invoking a call waiting-originating feature which, importantly, takes precedence over the call forwarding-busy line feature and results in the transmissions of a call waiting signal to the called station. The service node obtains the calling party name from a database and responds to a flash signal from the called station by speaking the calling party name to the called party. The service node also transmits an announcement to the called station including a number of call handling options, and responds to a signal from the called station defining one of the options by controlling handling of the incoming call in accordance with the defined option. The options include transferring the incoming call to a voice message system, placing the incoming call on hold, transmitting a busy message, having the switching system continue to transmit an audible alerting signal, and accepting the incoming call.
A method in accordance with the invention is used in an arrangement comprising a switching system and a service node for specialized call processing. In response to an incoming call from a calling communication station to said switching system for a called communication station, it is determined whether the called station is busy on another call. Upon determining that the called station is busy on another call, the incoming call is forwarded to the service node. In response, the service node effects a search for information associated with the calling station. The service node causes a call waiting signal to be transmitted to the called station. Thereafter, the switching system responds to receipt of a predefined signal from the called station by disconnecting a communication path between a calling communication station for the other call and the called station. After the path is disconnected, the service node transmits speech signals, generated from the information obtained during the search, to the called station.
Illustratively, after the speech signals are transmitted and in response to receipt of a prespecified signal, e.g., a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) digit or expiration of a specified time period without receiving signaling, the service node transfers the incoming call to the called station. The called station has a call forwarding-busy line feature assigned to it by the switching system and does not have a call waiting feature assigned to it by the switching system. The called station has a call waiting deluxe feature assigned to it by the service node. The call forwarding-busy line feature may be canceled on a per call basis. The service node invokes a call waiting-originating feature of the switching system, e.g., dial call waiting, and dials a directory number of the called station--the same directory number that was initially dialed for the incoming call. The call waiting-originating feature takes precedence over the call forwarding-busy line feature. At most two calls to the called station can be forwarded to the service node at the same time. The dial call waiting feature of the switching system may be invoked for only one call to the called station at a time. During the various specialized processing steps, an audible alerting signal is transmitted to the caller.