Biodegradable polymeric therapeutic implant materials incorporating bioactive ceramics such as Bioglass.RTM. ceramic are provided. These implants provide increased mechanical properties and pH control, enabling the use of these materials to design porous and nonporous therapeutic implants used as cell scaffolds for healing of tissue defects or fixation devices, having desired degradation times, mechanical properties, elasticity and biocompatibility.

Bioactive ceramic materials are known to the art, and typically contain less than 60 mole percent SiO.sub.2, high sodium and CaO content (20-25% each), and a high molar ratio of calcium to phosphorus (ranging around five). Such materials are called "bioactive" because interfacial bonds form between the material and surrounding tissues. When such glasses are exposed to water or body fluids, several key reactions occur. The first is cation exchange wherein interstitial sodium and calcium ions from the glass are replaced by protons from solution, forming surface silanol groups and nonstoichiometric hydrogen-bonded complexes: ##STR1## This cation exchange also increases the hydroxyl concentration of the solution, leading to attack of the fully dense silica glass network to produce additional silanol groups and controlled interfacial dissolution: EQU Si--O--Si+H.sup.+ OH.sup.- .fwdarw.Si--OH+HO--Si
As the interfacial pH becomes more alkaline and the concentration of hydrolyzed surface silanol groups increases, the conformational dynamics attending high numbers of proximal silanol groups, combined with the absence of interstitial ions, cause these groups to repolymerize into a silica-rich surface layer: EQU Si--OH+HO--Si.fwdarw.Si--O--Si+H.sub.2 O
Another consequence of alkaline pH at the glass-solution interface is crystallization into a mixed hydroxyapatite phase of the CaO and P.sub.2 O.sub.5 that were released into solution during the network dissolution. This takes place on the SiO.sub.2 surface. This phase contains apatite crystallites which nucleate and interact with interfacial components such as glycosaminoglycans, collagen and glycoproteins. It is thought that incorporation of organic biological constituents within the growing hydroxyapatite- and SiO.sub.2 -rich layers triggers close interactions with living tissues characteristic of bioactivity. See Greenspan et al. (1994), Bioceramics 7:55-60.
Use of bioactive ceramics in implant prosthetic devices and coatings for prosthetic devices has been described, e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,646 to Hench et al. issued Oct. 4, 1988 for "Fluoride-Containing Bioglass.RTM. Compositions" which teaches a glass formulation containing 46.1 mole percent SiO.sub.2, 2.6 mole percent P.sub.2 O.sub.5, 26.9 mole percent CaO and 24.4 mole percent Na.sub.2 O, or 52.1 mole percent SiO.sub.2, 2.6 mole percent P.sub.2 O.sub.5, 23.8 mole percent CaO and 21.5 mole percent Na.sub.2 O, and compositions in which 40 to 60 mole percent of the CaO is substituted with CaF.sub.2. The patent states that implants made of this material are useful where optimization of durable chemical bonding with living tissue is desirable.
Alkali-free bioactive glass compositions based on SiO.sub.2, CaO and P.sub.2 O.sub.5 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,916 to Hench et al. issued Dec. 24, 1991 for "Alkali-Free Bioactive Sol-Gel Compositions."
Bioglass.RTM. is a registered trademark of the University of Florida licensed to USBiomaterials Corporation. Other issued patents related to this material include U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,598 issued Jan. 23, 1996 to West, et al. for "Silica Mediated Synthesis of Peptides," U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,046 issued Jul. 25, 1989 to Low et al. for "Periodontal Osseous Defect Repair," U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,796 issued Jun. 30, 1987 to Merwin et al. for "Middle Ear Prosthesis," U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,904 issued Oct. 23, 1984 to Ducheyne et al. for "Metal Fiber Reinforced Bioglass.RTM. Compositions," U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,972 issued Nov. 25, 1980 to Hench et al. for "Bioglass.RTM.-Coated Metal Substrate," and U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,002 issued Jul. 25, 1978 to Hench et al. for "Bioglass.RTM. Coated A1203 Ceramics." Pending applications include Patent Cooperation Treaty Publication WO 9117777 published Nov. 28, 1991, Walker, et al., inventors, for "Injectable Bioactive Glass Compositions and Methods for Tissue Reconstruction," claiming a priority date of May 22, 1990 based on a U.S. application.
PerioGlas.RTM. is a registered trademark of USBiomaterials Corporation licensed to Block Drug Corporation. It refers to a synthetic bone graft particulate material containing Bioglass.RTM. ceramic. Product literature describes this material as bonding to both bone and soft tissue, and indicates it is packed directly into a bone defect. Hench, L. L. (1995) "Bioactive Implants," Chemistry and Industry (July 17, n. 14, pp.547-550), reports that collagen fibrils in the surrounding tissue interact directly with the surface layer which forms on bioactive glass.
PCT Publication WO 96/00536, published Jan. 11, 1996, Ducheyne et al. inventors, discloses a method of forming osseous tissue comprising filling an osseous defect with a bioceramic material.
Composite materials comprising particulate bone replacement material have been described, e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,021 issued Mar. 11, 1980 to Deibig et al. for "Bone Replacement or Prosthesis Anchoring Material." This patent teaches bone replacement prosthesis anchoring materials which are mixtures of sintered calcium phosphates and biodegradable organic materials at a ratio of calcium phosphate to organic materials between 10:1 and 1:1.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,627, issued May 21, 1991, to Bonfield et al. for "Composite Material for Use in Orthopaedics" discloses an apparently non-biodegradable polyolefin material containing particulate inorganic solid particles for bone replacement materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,454 issued Sep. 3, 1996 to Kretschmann et al. for "New Materials for Bone Replacement and for Joining Bones or Prostheses" discloses compositions comprising biodegradable waxes or polymeric resins (molecular weight 200 to 10,000) and a body-compatible ceramic material, wherein the polymer is substantially free from free carboxyl groups.
Other bioactive ceramics are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,325 issued Feb. 19, 1980 to Barrett et al. for "Glass-Ceramic Dental Restorations," and U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,544 issued Oct. 23, 1979 to Hench et al. for "Bonding of Bone to Materials Presenting a High Specific Area, Porous, Silica-Rich Surface."
PCT Publication WO 96/19248 published Jun. 27, 1996 for "Method of Controlling pH in the Vicinity of Biodegradable Implants and Method of Increasing Surface Porosity," discloses the use of bioactive ceramics as pH-controlling agents in biodegradable polymeric implants.
Composite materials for bone and tissue-healing use made with biodegradable polymers having molecular weights above about 10,000 do not appear to have been disclosed in the literature, nor have the advantageous properties of these materials been reported.
All publications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Biodegradable implant material comprising bioactive ceramic


An optical pickup apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information for an optical information recording medium, comprising a light converging optical system including a coupling lens and an objective lens, wherein a first diffraction structure is installed on the objective lens, and a second diffraction structure is arranged on the coupling lens, whereby the spherical aberration and chromatic aberration caused by the difference in the thickness of the protective layer are corrected in the light converging optical system as a whole.

In recent years, there has been a rapid progress in the research and development of a high-density optical disk system capable of recording and/or reproduction (hereinafter referred to as "recording/reproduction) of information, using a blue-violet semiconductor laser having a wavelength of about 405 nm. For example, an optical disk for conducting information recording/reproduction based on NA of 0.85 and light source wavelength of 405 nm—a so-called Blu-ray Disc (hereinafter referred to as "BD")—is capable of recording 23 through 27 GB information per layer, as compared to the optical disk having a diameter of 12 cm, the same diameter as that of the DVD (NA: 0.6; light source wavelength: 650 nm, memory size: 4.7 GB). Further, an optical disk to conduct information recording/reproduction based on NA of 0.65 and light source wavelength of 405 nm—so-called HD DVD (hereinafter referred to as "HD")—is capable of recording 15 through 20 GB information per layer as compared to the optical disk having a diameter of 12 cm. When the BD is used, there is an increase in the coma aberration caused by the skew of the optical disk. In the present Specification, such an optical disk will be referred to as a "high-density optical disk".
The value of the optical disk player/recorder as a commercial product such as optical disk player or recorder (hereinafter referred to as "optical disk player/recorder) cannot be said to be sufficient in some cases if information recording/reproduction can be conducted only when a high-density optical disk is used. At present, since the DVD and CD (compact disks) for recording a great variety of information are put on the market, the commercial value of the optical disk player/recorder for high density optical disk is enhanced if adequate information recording/reproduction capacity is ensured for the DVD and CD owned by the user, for example. Thus, the optical pickup apparatus mounted on the optical disk player/recorder for high-density optical disk is desired to ensure adequate information recording/reproduction for any of the high-density optical disk, DVD and CD.
A method has been proposed to permit adequate information recording and/or reproduction while maintaining compatibility with any of the high-density optical disk, DVD and CD. According to this method, selective switching is carried out between the optical system for high-density optical disk and the optical system for DVD and CD in response to the recording density of the optical disk for information recording and/or reproduction. However, this method requires a plurality of optical systems, and is disadvantageous from the viewpoint of downsizing and cost cutting.
To simplify the structure of the optical pickup apparatus and to reduce the cost, it is preferred in the optical pickup apparatus characterized by compatibility that standardization should be achieved between the optical system for high-density optical disk and the optical system for the DVD and CD wherever possible, thereby minimizing the number of the optical parts constituting the optical pickup apparatus. Further, standardization of the objective optical system laid opposite to the optical disk is the shortest way to simplify the structure of the optical pickup apparatus and to reduce the cost.
The Patent Document 1 discloses an optical pickup apparatus wherein a diffraction structure is employed to maintain compatibility between a DVD and CD in information recording and/or reproduction.
[Patent Document 1] Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-141800
However, the optical pickup apparatus of the Patent Document 1 fails to provide adequate compatibility between the high-density optical disk and DVD in information recording and/or reproduction. The thicknesses of protective layer and the wavelength in the optical disks intended for compatible use are different between the high-density optical disk and DVD, and between the DVD and CD. This makes it difficult to ensure compatibility in use and correction of chromatic aberration cannot be ensured.
The following specifically describes the compatibility in use: The objective lens and collimator in the Patent Document 1 is provided with a diffraction structure for emitting the diffracted light highly efficient for the light of the DVD and CD waveforms. When the light of a high-density optical disk has entered, highly efficient diffracted light is emitted. However, since the diffracted light enters the objective lens at the angle of divergence almost the same as that of the CD wavelength light, the objective lens excessively corrects the spherical aberration generated by the thickness of the protective layer of the high-density optical disk. This arrangement fails to achieve the compatibility in use. Further, the following problem is found in the correction of chromatic aberration. In the refractive objective lens, the light of the high-density optical disk wavelength has a chromatic aberration 2.5 through 3.5 times greater than that of the CD wavelength. Thus, in the optical system optimized to the light of CD wavelength, chromatic aberration remains uncorrected.


An NTSC interference canceler for eliminating NTSC signal interference from a HDTV signal uses recursive notch filters with adjustable center frequencies to isolate an NTSC signal's major components, i.e. the picture carrier signal, the chrominance subcarrier signal and the audio carrier signal. A single filter is used to isolate each NTSC interference signal component, with each particular filter's center frequency being adjusted to match the frequency of the particular NTSC interference signal component to be isolated by the filter. Each filter's gain may be either fixed or dynamically adjusted to match the amplitude of the NTSC interference signal component. Once isolated, these interference signal components are subtracted from the received television signal which includes both the NTSC interference signal and the HDTV signal. In this manner, the NTSC interference is removed from the HDTV signal.

Modern HDTV broadcasts will be required to co-exist with the broadcast of NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) television broadcast signals presently in use. Since simulcasting will be used to accommodate HDTV broadcasts, an HDTV receiver will receive both an intended HDTV broadcast along with an unwanted NTSC broadcast. A problem of interference results from the presence of the NTSC broadcast being received, along with the HDTV broadcast signal.
NTSC interference caused by neighboring NTSC transmitters will be most severe at the fringe coverage area of the HDTV transmission region. At the fringe coverage area, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the HDTV broadcast will be at its lowest, with respect to the HDTV coverage area. Such a low SNR of the HDTV broadcast results in this fringe area since this is the broadcast region that is the greatest distance from the HDTV transmitter and, thus, it is an area which receives a relatively weak HDTV signal. Also, in the fringe coverage area the interfering NTSC signal will be at its largest, with respect to the coverage area of HDTV, since the distance to the NTSC transmitter increases and NTSC signal strength decreases, the further the NTSC broadcast signal travels away from the fringe area into the HDTV coverage area.
Thus, it is particularly in this fringe coverage area where NTSC broadcasts from neighboring broadcast regions will cause the most significant interference with an HDTV transmission.
Approaches to solve the problem of NTSC signal interference should effectively eliminate the NTSC interference without severely attenuating what may be an already weak HDTV signal.
One known approach to solving the NTSC signal interference problem is the use of a comb filter which has notches spaced apart by a fixed amount each notch having a fixed depth and width to eliminate NTSC interference. In accordance with this approach, the received signal is first demodulated down to the baseband signal and then filtered. Such an approach has several disadvantages. For instance, the use of a comb filter degrades the noise performance of the system by 3 decibels (dB). This loss in detection probability is due to the very wide notches that are placed at the location of the NTSC interference carrier and is also due, in part, to the fact that the comb filter also contains additional notches where no interference is located.
These additional notches cause the unnecessary attenuation of the HDTV signal in those areas where the additional notches are located, resulting in a reduced probability of signal detection.
Another known approach to resolving the problem of NTSC signal interference is to use an adaptive equalizer which forms notches which are then used to eliminate NTSC interference from the HDTV signal.
Such an approach has the disadvantage of being dependent on first demodulating the HDTV signal. In the fringe coverage area where NTSC interference is most severe, it may not be possible to demodulate the HDTV signal, making this filtering approach unavailable when NTSC signal attenuation is needed most.
Another known approach to the problem of NTSC signal interference uses spectral shaping of the HDTV signal to avoid all but the interference caused by the NTSC chrominance subcarrier. This approach fails to remove all of the NTSC signal interference from the HDTV signal and permits some of the chrominance subcarrier signal to remain causing interference with the HDTV signal. A further disadvantage of this approach is that it fails to make the most efficient usage of the available broadcast spectrum space.
In addition to the above approaches, forward error correction (FEC) encoding has also been used to combat NTSC signal interference. This approach, which attempts to correct errors resulting from NTSC signal interference, rather than to remove such interference from the received signal, has the drawback that it may not be possible to correct all the errors caused by the interference. Furthermore, the use of large amounts of FEC encoding fails, as with the case of spectral shaping to avoid NTSC signal interference, to make the most effective use of the available broadcast spectrum space.
All of the above known approaches have the drawback of failing to remove the NTSC signal interference prior to signal demodulation. These approaches have the disadvantage of first requiring the HDTV signal to be demodulated, something that may not be possible, before interference cancellation or error correction can occur.

Apparatus for NTSC signal interference cancellation through the use of digital recursive notch filters


Electrical connection between the backplane and the front electrode of an electro-optic display is provided by forming a front plane laminate (100) comprising, in order, a light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer (104), a layer of electro-optic material (106), and a layer of lamination adhesive (108); forming an aperture (114) through all three layers of the front plane laminate (100); and introducing a flowable, electrically-conductive material (118) into the aperture (114), the flowable, electrically-conductive material being in electrical contact with the light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer (104) and extending through the adhesive layer (108).

This invention relates to processes for the production of electro-optic displays. This invention is particularly, but not exclusively, intended for use with displays comprising encapsulated electrophoretic media. However, the invention can also make use of various other types of electro-optic media which can be incorporated into a mechanically coherent multi-layer film, such as encapsulated liquid crystal displays and other types of electro-optic displays discussed below.
The term "electro-optic", as applied to a material or a display, is used herein in its conventional meaning in the imaging art to refer to a material having first and second display states differing in at least one optical property, the material being changed from its first to its second display state by application of an electric field to the material. Although the optical property is typically color perceptible to the human eye, it may be another optical property, such as optical transmission, reflectance, luminescence or, in the case of displays intended for machine reading, pseudo-color in the sense of a change in reflectance of electromagnetic wavelengths outside the visible range.
The terms "bistable" and "bistability" are used herein in their conventional meaning in the art to refer to displays comprising display elements having first and second display states differing in at least one optical property, and such that after any given element has been driven, by means of an addressing pulse of finite duration, to assume either its first or second display state, after the addressing pulse has terminated, that state will persist for at least several times, for example at least four times, the minimum duration of the addressing pulse required to change the state of the display element. It is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,670 that some particle-based electrophoretic displays capable of gray scale are stable not only in their extreme black and white states but also in their intermediate gray states, and the same is true of some other types of electro-optic displays. This type of display is properly called "multi-stable" rather than bistable, although for convenience the term "bistable" may be used herein to cover both bistable and multi-stable displays.
Several types of electro-optic displays are known. One type of electro-optic display is a rotating bichromal member type as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,808,783; 5,777,782; 5,760,761; 6,054,071 6,055,091; 6,097,531; 6,128,124; 6,137,467; and 6,147,791 (although this type of display is often referred to as a "rotating bichromal ball" display, the term "rotating bichromal member" is preferred as more accurate since in some of the patents mentioned above the rotating members are not spherical). Such a display uses a large number of small bodies (typically spherical or cylindrical) which have two or more sections with differing optical characteristics, and an internal dipole. These bodies are suspended within liquid-filled vacuoles within a matrix, the vacuoles being filled with liquid so that the bodies are free to rotate. The appearance of the display is changed by applying an electric field thereto, thus rotating the bodies to various positions and varying which of the sections of the bodies is seen through a viewing surface. This type of electro-optic medium is typically bistable.
Another type of electro-optic display uses an electrochromic medium, for example an electrochromic medium in the form of a nanochromic film comprising an electrode formed at least in part from a semi-conducting metal oxide and a plurality of dye molecules capable of reversible color change attached to the electrode; see, for example O'Regan, B., et al., Nature 1991, 353, 737; and Wood, D., Information Display, 18(3), 24 (March 2002). See also Bach, U., et al., Adv. Mater., 2002, 14(11), 845. Nanochromic films of this type are also described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,301,038; 6,870,657; and 6,950,220. This type of medium is also typically bistable.
Another type of electro-optic display is an electro-wetting display developed by Philips and described in Hayes, R. A., et al., "Video-Speed Electronic Paper Based on Electrowetting", Nature, 425, 383-385 (2003). It is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,549 that such electro-wetting displays can be made bistable.
One type of electro-optic display, which has been the subject of intense research and development for a number of years, is the particle-based electrophoretic display, in which a plurality of charged particles move through a fluid under the influence of an electric field. Electrophoretic displays can have attributes of good brightness and contrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low power consumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. Nevertheless, problems with the long-term image quality of these displays have prevented their widespread usage. For example, particles that make up electrophoretic displays tend to settle, resulting in inadequate service-life for these displays.
As noted above, electrophoretic media require the presence of a fluid. In most prior art electrophoretic media, this fluid is a liquid, but electrophoretic media can be produced using gaseous fluids; see, for example, Kitamura, T., et al., "Electrical toner movement for electronic paper-like display", IDW Japan, 2001, Paper HCS1-1, and Yamaguchi, Y., et al., "Toner display using insulative particles charged triboelectrically", IDW Japan, 2001, Paper AMD4-4). See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,321,459 and 7,236,291. Such gas-based electrophoretic media appear to be susceptible to the same types of problems due to particle settling as liquid-based electrophoretic media, when the media are used in an orientation which permits such settling, for example in a sign where the medium is disposed in a vertical plane. Indeed, particle settling appears to be a more serious problem in gas-based electrophoretic media than in liquid-based ones, since the lower viscosity of gaseous suspending fluids as compared with liquid ones allows more rapid settling of the electrophoretic particles.
Numerous patents and applications assigned to or in the names of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and E Ink Corporation describe various technologies used in encapsulated electrophoretic and other electro-optic media. Such encapsulated media comprise numerous small capsules, each of which itself comprises an internal phase containing electrophoretically-mobile particles in a fluid medium, and a capsule wall surrounding the internal phase. Typically, the capsules are themselves held within a polymeric binder to form a coherent layer positioned between two electrodes. The technologies described in the these patents and applications include:                (a) Electrophoretic particles, fluids and fluid additives; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,002,728 and 7,679,814;        (b) Capsules, binders and encapsulation processes; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,922,276; and 7,411,719;        (c) Films and sub-assemblies containing electro-optic materials; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,825,829; 6,982,178; 7,236,292; 7,443,571; 7,513,813; 7,561,324; 7,636,191; 7,649,666; 7,728,811; 7,729,039; 7,791,782; 7,839,564; 7,843,621; 7,843,624; 8,034,209; 8,068,272; 8,077,381; and 8,177,942; and U.S. Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2008/0309350; 2009/0034057; 2009/0109519; 2009/0168067; 2011/0032595; 2011/0032396; 2011/0075248; 2011/0164301; and 2012/0176664;        (d) Backplanes, adhesive layers and other auxiliary layers and methods used in displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,116,318; and 7,535,624;        (e) Color formation and color adjustment; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,075,502; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0109219;        (f) Methods for driving displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,600; and 7,453,445;        (g) Applications of displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,312,784; and 8,009,348; and        (h) Non-electrophoretic displays, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,241,921; 6,950,220; 7,420,549 and 8,319,759; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0293858.
Many of the aforementioned patents and applications recognize that the walls surrounding the discrete microcapsules in an encapsulated electrophoretic medium could be replaced by a continuous phase, thus producing a so-called polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display, in which the electrophoretic medium comprises a plurality of discrete droplets of an electrophoretic fluid and a continuous phase of a polymeric material, and that the discrete droplets of electrophoretic fluid within such a polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display may be regarded as capsules or microcapsules even though no discrete capsule membrane is associated with each individual droplet; see for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,760. Accordingly, for purposes of the present application, such polymer-dispersed electrophoretic media are regarded as sub-species of encapsulated electrophoretic media.
A related type of electrophoretic display is a so-called "microcell electrophoretic display". In a microcell electrophoretic display, the charged particles and the fluid are not encapsulated within microcapsules but instead are retained within a plurality of cavities formed within a carrier medium, typically a polymeric film. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,672,921 and 6,788,449, both assigned to Sipix Imaging, Inc.
Although electrophoretic media are often opaque (since, for example, in many electrophoretic media, the particles substantially block transmission of visible light through the display) and operate in a reflective mode, many electrophoretic displays can be made to operate in a so-called "shutter mode" in which one display state is substantially opaque and one is light-transmissive. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,872,552; 6,130,774; 6,144,361; 6,172,798; 6,271,823; 6,225,971; and 6,184,856. Dielectrophoretic displays, which are similar to electrophoretic displays but rely upon variations in electric field strength, can operate in a similar mode; see U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,346. Other types of electro-optic displays may also be capable of operating in shutter mode. Electro-optic media operating in shutter mode may be useful in multi-layer structures for full color displays; in such structures, at least one layer adjacent the viewing surface of the display operates in shutter mode to expose or conceal a second layer more distant from the viewing surface.
An encapsulated electrophoretic display typically does not suffer from the clustering and settling failure mode of traditional electrophoretic devices and provides further advantages, such as the ability to print or coat the display on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates. (Use of the word "printing" is intended to include all forms of printing and coating, including, but without limitation: pre-metered coatings such as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascade coating, curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating, forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spray coating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knife coating; silk screen printing processes; electrostatic printing processes; thermal printing processes; ink jet printing processes; electrophoretic deposition (See U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,715); and other similar techniques.) Thus, the resulting display can be flexible. Further, because the display medium can be printed (using a variety of methods), the display itself can be made inexpensively.
Other types of electro-optic materials may also be used in the present invention.
An electrophoretic display normally comprises a layer of electrophoretic material and at least two other layers disposed on opposed sides of the electrophoretic material, one of these two layers being an electrode layer. In most such displays both the layers are electrode layers, and one or both of the electrode layers are patterned to define the pixels of the display. For example, one electrode layer may be patterned into elongate row electrodes and the other into elongate column electrodes running at right angles to the row electrodes, the pixels being defined by the intersections of the row and column electrodes. Alternatively, and more commonly, one electrode layer has the form of a single continuous electrode and the other electrode layer is patterned into a matrix of pixel electrodes, each of which defines one pixel of the display. In another type of electrophoretic display, which is intended for use with a stylus, print head or similar movable electrode separate from the display, only one of the layers adjacent the electrophoretic layer comprises an electrode, the layer on the opposed side of the electrophoretic layer typically being a protective layer intended to prevent the movable electrode damaging the electrophoretic layer.
The manufacture of a three-layer electrophoretic display normally involves at least one lamination operation. For example, in several of the aforementioned MIT and E Ink patents and applications, there is described a process for manufacturing an encapsulated electrophoretic display in which an encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprising capsules in a binder is coated on to a flexible substrate comprising indium-tin-oxide (ITO) or a similar conductive coating (which acts as one electrode of the final display) on a plastic film, the capsules/binder coating being dried to form a coherent layer of the electrophoretic medium firmly adhered to the substrate. Separately, a backplane, containing an array of pixel electrodes and an appropriate arrangement of conductors to connect the pixel electrodes to drive circuitry, is prepared. To form the final display, the substrate having the capsule/binder layer thereon is laminated to the backplane using a lamination adhesive. (A very similar process can be used to prepare an electrophoretic display usable with a stylus or similar movable electrode by replacing the backplane with a simple protective layer, such as a plastic film, over which the stylus or other movable electrode can slide.) In one preferred form of such a process, the backplane is itself flexible and is prepared by printing the pixel electrodes and conductors on a plastic film or other flexible substrate. The obvious lamination technique for mass production of displays by this process is roll lamination using a lamination adhesive.
As discussed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178, many of the components used in solid electro-optic displays, and the methods used to manufacture such displays, are derived from technology used in liquid crystal displays (LCD's), which are of course also electro-optic displays, though using a liquid rather than a solid medium. For example, solid electro-optic displays may make use of an active matrix backplane comprising an array of transistors or diodes and a corresponding array of pixel electrodes, and a "continuous" front electrode (in the sense of an electrode which extends over multiple pixels and typically the whole display) on a transparent substrate, these components being essentially the same as in LCD's. However, the methods used for assembling LCD's cannot be used with solid electro-optic displays. LCD's are normally assembled by forming the backplane and front electrode on separate glass substrates, then adhesively securing these components together leaving a small aperture between them, placing the resultant assembly under vacuum, and immersing the assembly in a bath of the liquid crystal, so that the liquid crystal flows through the aperture between the backplane and the front electrode. Finally, with the liquid crystal in place, the aperture is sealed to provide the final display.
This LCD assembly process cannot readily be transferred to solid electro-optic displays. Because the electro-optic material is solid, it must be present between the backplane and the front electrode before these two integers are secured to each other. Furthermore, in contrast to a liquid crystal material, which is simply placed between the front electrode and the backplane without being attached to either, a solid electro-optic medium normally needs to be secured to both; in most cases the solid electro-optic medium is formed on the front electrode, since this is generally easier than forming the medium on the circuitry-containing backplane, and the front electrode/electro-optic medium combination is then laminated to the backplane, typically by covering the entire surface of the electro-optic medium with an adhesive and laminating under heat, pressure and possibly vacuum.
Electro-optic displays are often costly; for example, the cost of the color LCD found in a portable computer is typically a substantial fraction of the entire cost of the computer. As the use of electro-optic displays spreads to devices, such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDA's), much less costly than portable computers, there is great pressure to reduce the costs of such displays. The ability to form layers of some solid electro-optic media by printing techniques on flexible substrates, as discussed above, opens up the possibility of reducing the cost of electro-optic components of displays by using mass production techniques such as roll-to-roll coating using commercial equipment used for the production of coated papers, polymeric films and similar media. However, such equipment is costly and the areas of electro-optic media presently sold may be insufficient to justify dedicated equipment, so that it may typically be necessary to transport the coated medium from a commercial coating plant to the plant used for final assembly of electro-optic displays without damage to the relatively fragile layer of electro-optic medium.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178 describes a method of assembling a solid electro-optic display (including a particle-based electrophoretic display) which is well adapted for mass production. Essentially, this patent describes a so-called "front plane laminate" ("FPL") which comprises, in order, a light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer; a layer of a solid electro-optic medium in electrical contact with the electrically-conductive layer; an adhesive layer; and a release sheet. Typically, the light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer will be carried on a light-transmissive substrate, which is preferably flexible, in the sense that the substrate can be manually wrapped around a drum (say) 10 inches (254 mm) in diameter without permanent deformation. The term "light-transmissive" is used in this patent and herein to mean that the layer thus designated transmits sufficient light to enable an observer, looking through that layer, to observe the change in display states of the electro-optic medium, which will be normally be viewed through the electrically-conductive layer and adjacent substrate (if present). The substrate will be typically be a polymeric film, and will normally have a thickness in the range of about 1 to about 25 mil (25 to 634 μm), preferably about 2 to about 10 mil (51 to 254 μm). The electrically-conductive layer is conveniently a thin metal layer of, for example, aluminum or ITO, or may be a conductive polymer. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films coated with aluminum or ITO are available commercially, for example as "aluminized Mylar" ("Mylar" is a Registered Trade Mark) from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington Del., and such commercial materials may be used with good results in the front plane laminate.
Assembly of an electro-optic display using such a front plane laminate may be effected by removing the release sheet from the front plane laminate and contacting the adhesive layer with the backplane under conditions effective to cause the adhesive layer to adhere to the backplane, thereby securing the adhesive layer, layer of electro-optic medium and electrically-conductive layer to the backplane. This process is well-adapted to mass production since the front plane laminate may be mass produced, typically using roll-to-roll coating techniques, and then cut into pieces of any size needed for use with specific backplanes.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178 also describes a method for testing the electro-optic medium in a front plane laminate prior to incorporation of the front plane laminate into a display. In this testing method, the release sheet is provided with an electrically conductive layer, and a voltage sufficient to change the optical state of the electro-optic medium is applied between this electrically conductive layer and the electrically conductive layer on the opposed side of the electro-optic medium. Observation of the electro-optic medium will then reveal any faults in the medium, thus avoiding laminating faulty electro-optic medium into a display, with the resultant cost of scrapping the entire display, not merely the faulty front plane laminate.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178 also describes a second method for testing the electro-optic medium in a front plane laminate by placing an electrostatic charge on the release sheet, thus forming an image on the electro-optic medium. This image is then observed in the same way as before to detect any faults in the electro-optic medium.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,561,324 describes a so-called "double release film" which is essentially a simplified version of the front plane laminate of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178. One form of the double release sheet comprises a layer of a solid electro-optic medium sandwiched between two adhesive layers, one or both of the adhesive layers being covered by a release sheet. Another form of the double release sheet comprises a layer of a solid electro-optic medium sandwiched between two release sheets. Both forms of the double release film are intended for use in a process generally similar to the process for assembling an electro-optic display from a front plane laminate already described, but involving two separate laminations; typically, in a first lamination the double release sheet is laminated to a front electrode to form a front sub-assembly, and then in a second lamination the front sub-assembly is laminated to a backplane to form the final display, although the order of these two laminations could be reversed if desired.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,839,564 describes a so-called "inverted front plane laminate", which is a variant of the front plane laminate described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178. This inverted front plane laminate comprises, in order, at least one of a light-transmissive protective layer and a light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer; an adhesive layer; a layer of a solid electro-optic medium; and a release sheet. This inverted front plane laminate is used to form an electro-optic display having a layer of lamination adhesive between the electro-optic layer and the front electrode or front substrate; a second, typically thin layer of adhesive may or may not be present between the electro-optic layer and a backplane. Such electro-optic displays can combine good resolution with good low temperature performance.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,839,564 also describes various methods designed for high volume manufacture of electro-optic displays using inverted front plane laminates; preferred forms of these methods are "multi-up" methods designed to allow lamination of components for a plurality of electro-optic displays at one time.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178 also describes methods for forming an electrical connection between a backplane to which the front plane laminate is laminated and the light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer within the front plane laminate. As illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22 of this patent, the formation of the layer of electro-optic medium within the front plane laminate may be controlled so as to leave uncoated areas ("gutters") where no electro-optic medium is present, and portions of these uncoated areas can later serve to form the necessary electrical connections. However, this method of forming connections tends to be undesirable from a manufacturing point of view, since the placement of the connections is of course a function of the backplane design, so that FPL coated with a specific arrangement of gutters can only be used with one, or a limited range of backplanes, whereas for economic reasons it is desirable to produce only one form of FPL which can be used with any backplane.
Accordingly, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178 also describes methods for forming the necessary electrical connections by coating electro-optic medium over the whole area of the FPL and then removing the electro-optic medium where it is desired to form electrical connections. However, such removal of electro-optic medium poses its own problems. Typically, the electro-optic medium must be removed by the use of solvents or mechanical cleaning, either of which may result in damage to, or removal of, the electrically-conductive layer of the FPL (this electrically-conductive layer usually being a layer of a metal oxide, for example indium tin oxide, less than 1 μm thick), causing a failed electrical connection. In extreme cases, damage may also be caused to the front substrate (typically a polymeric film) which is used to support and mechanically protect the conductive layer. In some cases, the materials from which the electro-optic medium is formed may not be easily solvated, and it may not be possible to remove them without the use of aggressive solvents and/or high mechanical pressures, either of which will exacerbate the aforementioned problems.
Similar methods using selective coating of electro-optic medium and/or selective removal of electro-optic medium may also be applied to the double release films and inverted front plane laminates discussed above.
It is common practice to use laser cutting to separate from a continuous web of FPL pieces of appropriate sizes for lamination to individual backplanes. Such laser cutting can also be used to prepare areas for electrical connections to the backplane by "kiss cutting" the FPL with the laser from the lamination adhesive side so that the lamination adhesive and electro-optic medium are removed from the connection areas, but the electrically-conductive layer is not removed. Such kiss cutting requires accurate control of both laser power and cutting speed if the thin and relatively fragile electrically-conductive layer is not to be removed or damaged. Furthermore, following the kiss cutting it is normally necessary to mechanically or chemically remove ("clean") the residue of the electro-optic and/or adhesive layers from the electrically-conductive layer in order to enable good electrical contact to be made with this layer. Also, depending upon the location of the connection, bending of the electrically-conductive layer and the associated front substrate may crack the conductive layer, resulting in failure to make a proper connection between the backplane and the conductive layer, and hence display failure. In practice, it is necessary to inspect each FPL piece after the cleaning step is completed and before the FPL piece is laminated to a backplane. Just prior to the FPL/backplane lamination, a small quantity of a conductive adhesive or ink is placed on the backplane at the points where the front electrode connections will be made. Following the lamination, the conductive adhesive or ink electrically connects the front electrode to the backplane. Typically, a protective sheet is them laminated over the viewing surface of the display, followed by an edge sealing operation to produce the final display module. This process poses scalability, yield and cost concerns when used for mass production of displays.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,733,554 describes two processes for providing electrical connections between a front electrode and a backplane without kiss cutting. In the first, so-called "pre-formed connection aperture" or "PFCA" process, a sub-assembly is first formed comprising a layer of lamination adhesive and a layer of electro-optic medium, An aperture is cut through this sub-assembly, and then there is secured to the exposed surface of the layer of lamination adhesive a light-transmissive electrode layer, the electrode layer extending across the aperture. The second, so-called "extended tab" process, starts with formation of the same sub-assembly comprising a layer of lamination adhesive and a layer of electro-optic medium. However, in the extended tab process, no aperture is formed through the sub-assembly; instead, a light-transmissive electrode layer is secured to the exposed surface of the lamination adhesive layer of the sub-assembly, the electrode layer having a tab portion which extends beyond the periphery of the layers of lamination adhesive and electro-optic medium. Although these two processes do avoid the need for kiss cutting a front plane laminate, they suffer from other practical disadvantages when used on a production scale. Both processes require that the location of the front electrode connections (via the apertures or the tabs) be known before the front electrode is secured to the electro-optic layer; neither process permits large scale manufacture (typically by a roll-to-roll process) of a front plane laminate in a manner which permits to front laminate to be modified to produce a variety of displays of different sizes, and thus requiring different front plane connections.
Accordingly, there is thus a need for improved methods of forming electrical connections to the conductive layers of front plane laminates, and the present invention seeks to provide such improved methods.

Processes for the production of electro-optic displays


A hand-held graphical calculator having a display and an input area is described. The input area includes a maximum of 30 keys and an input device. A hand-held graphical calculator package includes a hand-held graphical calculator for graphically displaying a user-entered expression and a user manual is described. The user manual is a single sheet of instructions describing operation of the graphical calculator.

A hand-held calculator is an important and useful device. Similar to a computer, the hand-held calculator has a processor, a memory, a display, and an input device; however, there are important distinguishing differences between the hand-held calculator and the computer.
The hand-held calculator is a specialized device and not a general purpose device, as is true of a computer. Because of this specialization, typically the hand-held calculator costs less, has a longer useful lifespan, and is more reliable and more portable than the computer.
Whereas a general purpose computer is capable of executing many different programs, a hand-held calculator typically executes a single program and less frequently supports execution of user-created programs. Normally, a hand-held calculator supports addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of numbers, either integer-based or decimal-based, entered by a user and displays the results on a built-in display.
A graphical calculator is a further specialized version of a hand-held calculator having a display which is typically larger than a regular hand-held calculator display in order to enable graph output. In many instances, graphical calculator displays are liquid crystal displays for more accurate representation and enhanced readability of a graph output.
A graphical calculator is able to display a graph of a specific expression, e.g. a sine wave representing a sinusoidal function, entered by a user. Disadvantageously, graphical capabilities on hand-held calculators are only available as part of expensive and complex, "high end" scientific calculators. These graphical calculators are more expensive than other calculators, typically costing hundreds of dollars. These graphical calculators are more complicated to operate than other calculators because of the large amount of functionality incorporated therein.
The increased functionality has required a corresponding increase in the number of keys required for manipulating and using the calculator. For example, currently available graphical calculators have approximately fifty (50) keys including two (2) shift or modifier keys for a user to manipulate, e.g. a Texas Instruments (TI) 83 plus calculator has 51 keys and 2 shift keys that can be used concurrently, allowing up to 4 functions per key and a Hewlett-Packard (HP) 48G+/GX calculator has 49 keys and 3 shift keys allowing up to 6 functions per key.
Additionally, and in conjunction with the larger number of keys present, a user must contend with different modes of operation of the current graphical calculator. Different modes of operation, accessible via specific keys and/or key sequences, must be utilized in order to access specific calculator functionality, e.g. a graphical calculator may include a decimal mode, a binary mode, a hexadecimal mode, a finance mode, a statistics mode, and a graph mode.
Further, expression input requires increasingly complicated key manipulations and combinations. For example, in order to graph an expression, there are typically three combinations to be entered: a mode specifying combination, an expression entry combination, and a completion combination. The mode specifying combination may include manipulation of a graph key to instruct the calculator to graph the following expression entry. The expression entry combination may include manipulation of multiple keys to input the expression to be graphed and the completion combination includes manipulation of a key, e.g. an enter key, to instruct the calculator to perform the preceding operations, i.e. graph the entered expression.
Requiring a user to manipulate multiple keys increases the need for learning, the possibility of error and may lead to frustration on the part of the user. Also, requiring additional key presses by a user requires more time and slows the entry and use of the calculator by the user. The addition of multiple modes, complicated expression input combinations, and ever-increasing numbers of keys results in a very complicated device.
As further evidence of increasing complexity, the user manual for a currently available hand-held graphical calculator has dramatically increased in size in order to fully explain the use of the calculator. For example, the above-cited TI-83 plus calculator manual includes 269 pages and the HP 48G+/GX calculator manual includes 506 pages. These are very long documents which are typically not read by users. Further, users are likely to be deterred from reading the manual because of the imposing size of the manual.
Graphical calculators are very popular and effective educational aides. School students using graphical calculators can easily visualize complex functions; however, the complexity and cost of currently available graphical calculators deters many students and schools from making a purchase. Purchasers are dissuaded by the size of the manual, multiple modes of operation, and the number of keys and key combinations required for inputting expressions.
There is a need in the art for an improved graphical calculator and graphical calculator package.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An agent employment system comprising at least one data terminal and at least one server computer. The data terminal is connected to a communications network and having a display device. The sever computer is connected to the data terminal by the communications network and having a community (67) for storing an agent (63). The server computer has agent-transmitting means for transmitting the agent (63) to the data terminal at a first timing. The data terminal has agent-receiving means for receiving the agent (63) transmitted from the server computer and second agent-transmitting means for transmitting the agent 63 back to the server computer at a second timing. Thus, the invention can provide a novel information management system, agent employment system, information management method, agent employment method, data-providing apparatus and data-recording medium, in which a user can easily obtain an electronic pet that acts as an agent satisfying desired conditions.

1.Technical
The present invention relates to an information management system, an agent employment system, an information management method, an agent employment method, a data-providing apparatus and a data-recording medium. In particular, the invention relates to an information management system, an agent employment system, an information management method, an agent employment method, a data-providing apparatus and a data-recording medium, in which agents enable the user to achieve information management by intuition.
2. Background Art
A so-called "agent system" is generally known, in which an agent program, i.e., a computer program, is executed to simulate human relations by performing work for human workers in an on-line scheme.
In the agent system, the agent program remains installed in a computer and functions as an agent of the user. When an event takes places, the agent program is activated to act as is desired in a network. The agent program is an autonomous program that may "talk" with character data displayed on the display screen of the computer or may "acts" as the agent of the user on the network. The agent program work by itself, without any human assistance.
When given a command of "search for this product," for example, the agent automatically causes the computer to have access to the data-providing server of the company that supplies that product. If no data about the product is found in the data-providing server, the agent makes the computer to a server that provides a virtual mall or the like. Thus, the agent moves, as it were, along the communications lines to search for the desired data. A so-called "mobile agent (mobile script writer) is known, too. The mobile agent works while moving along the communications lines.
Another type of an agent system is known in which an agent program is sent to a server computer. In the server computer, the agent program is executed to perform works such as retrieval of information. In this system, any client computer can control the execution of program carried out in the server computer and can receive the results of the execution of program.
The client computer may acquire various application programs from the server computer and may then use the application programs. In this regard, the technique of charging an amount of money for the time the client computer has used the application programs is known.
In the conventional agent system, the user of an agent needs to give any instructions to the agent every time he or she wants the agent to do something. Agents exist in data terminals in the conventional agent system. The user may have a plurality of data terminals (for example, a mobile telephone, a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistance (PDA) terminal, a game device, and the like). In such a case, the agent system needs to store the data representing which agent has acquired what information. If the information the agent processes is an E-mail or schedule management data, the data terminals must be directly connected to one another in order to synchronize the information among them. The more terminal apparatuses are provided, the more cumbersome it would be to connect them. In addition it is necessary to use a server that has management tools in order to synchronize the information among the terminal apparatuses. To control the management tools in the same manner, however, so-called "exclusive control" must be effected not to update the same information in a plurality of apparatuses, or the information updated in each data terminal must be fed back to the control tools. These operations are hard for the elderly people and children who are unfamiliar to data apparatuses such as computers and mobile telephones. Even young people who are accustomed to the use of computers and mobile telephones cannot instantly understand how to achieve these operations, in the age of "ubiquitous", when every electric apparatuses may be connected to the Internet.
In the age of "ubiquitous", when everybody has a device storing the network addresses of many people, any person cannot quickly understand to which address the information should be transmitted so that the receiver may quickly grasp the contents of the information. Mr. A who wishes to send to Mr. B the pictures he takes on a trip in real time cannot transmit the pictures unless Mr. A does not know which one of the apparatuses the Mr. B is using. To display an agent on the display of any electric apparatus, it should be considered that the data terminals differ in terms of ability (the ability of the CPU used, the capacity of the memory used, and the like).
An agent program may be sent to the server computer and executed in the server computer to retrieve information or to achieve a similar operation. In this case, the user must acquire an agent with a prescribed ability. However, the user can hardly know where such agents are available.
The user does not always need agents having the same ability. At some time, the user may want an agent that has much financial information. At another time, he or she may wish to have an agent that knows much about political situation. At still another time, he or she may need an agent that can give detailed information about plays and games. In short, the user wants agents of various abilities at different times, depending on the nature of his or her work on hand or the type of his or her hobby. However, it is not easy for the user to obtain a desirable agent.

Information management system using agents


A guide detection type rotary encoder has first through fourth transmission windings, first through fourth reception windings, and first through fourth flux coupling bodies. The first and second transmission windings, the first and second reception windings, and first and second flux coupling bodies each form first and second angle detection tracks which generate an N1 time and N2 time cyclic change at one rotation of the first rotor. The third and fourth transmission windings, the third and fourth reception windings, and third and fourth flux coupling bodies each form third and fourth angle detection tracks which generate an N3 time and N4 time cyclic change at one rotation of the second rotor. N1 and N2 are different, and N3 time and N4 are different.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a rotary encoder which detects a change of a physical quantity involved in a rotation of a rotor with respect to a stator and measures a rotation angle of an object based on the change.
2. Description of Related Art
A guide detection type rotary encoder has a stator installing a transmission winding and a reception winding, and a rotor installing a flux coupling winding magnetically combined with the stator with the windings (for example, Related Art 1). For a rotary encoder, it is required to further miniaturize a pitch of a reception winding due to a demand for a miniaturization and high precision of a micrometer, etc. mounting the rotary encoder.
The rotary encoder containing two tracks also has the following problems. In other words, in order to improve an accuracy of the rotary encoder, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the two tracks at the same time. Also, the allowance for an absolute position measurement over the whole length area is small. Furthermore, when the allowance is increased, the accuracy of the rotary encoder deteriorates.                [Related Art] Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication H10-213407

Rotary encoder to detect a change of quantity and measure rotation angle


Biofouling of underwater surfaces by marine organisms is prevented by irradiating the surfaces or the adjacent water with ultraviolet light and adjusting the intensity of the ultraviolet light so as to kill or temporarily stun marine organisms to prevent their attachment to the underwater surface.

Marine biofouling is present in all oceans and at all depths. Its character and magnitude are a function of physical and biological factors. Basically, marine growth varies as a function of temperature, food and light intensity. The mechanisms of marine biofouling are known and can be divided into the following five phases: (1) adsorption of organic molecules by the fouling surface (2) attachment of bacteria to the fouling surface, partially facilitated by the absorbed organic molecules (3) growth of bacteria and colony formation (4) accumulation of additional organic material and film formation (microfouling) and finally, (5.) the attachment and growth of larger organisms (macrofouling), by organisms such as barnacles, mussels, etc.
The detrimental effects of marine biofouling are well known and wide ranging. Biofouling affects the performance and efficiency of ships, commercial boating and marine installations, and is a major problem for the marine industry today. The same is also true of commercial coastal facilities, such as water treatment plants, power generation plants, oil platforms, etc.
Therefore, many attempts have been made to control biofouling. Periodic cleaning was probably the first method of control attempted. Copper cladding had been used on earlier wooden ships.
More recently, new techniques such as the use of new toxic paints, and toxic plastic materials have been devised. In addition, toxic chemicals made from seawater, by electrolysis or by introduction into the water, to kill the organisms are also currently in use. However, none of these methods have been entirely effective for controlling biofouling problems.
Tri-butyl tin oxide (TBTO) and copper-base paint systems have been traditionally used on Navy ships as a marine anti-foulant. TBTO is an environmental and health hazard and its use has been restricted. The copper-base paint type systems presently in use still present somewhat of a health hazard. Both the TBTO and the copper-base paint type systems are only effective under limited conditions.
Chlorinator systems are presently in use in Navy ships, commercial ships and marine facilities. However, chlorinator systems are also toxic. These systems are effective for the problem of marine biofouling in intakes and heat exchangers. Nevertheless, fouling of intakes, sea chests, tanks, on optical windows and hydrophones has continued. New methods and systems are needed to reduce the marine fouling in Navy and commercial ships and in commercial facilities, especially for pipes and intakes, cooling towers, transducer surfaces, optical windows and external mechanisms.
Further, most of the prevention systems in use today are toxic to the environment. New programs established by the U.S. government and commercial industries aimed at "zero emissions" into the environment of toxic waste, are being implemented. Eventually a major portion of the currently used biofouling techniques will have to be eliminated to preserve the nation's water resources, especially in the Great Lakes. It has been found that what was originally thought to be safe toxic levels for marine life are in fact not. For example, findings show that the tolerance to organochlorines is much lower in fish than in mice. Preliminary research indicates that fish may be 1000 times more susceptible to organochlorine poisoning than mice. With such recent environmental concerns, greater and greater limitations will be placed on the present biofouling prevention techniques.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a solution to biofouling which is non-polluting to both the outlying and local environments, and is simplistic and reliable in application to the biofouling problem. It is therefore proposed, in accordance with the present invention, to apply the use of ultraviolet light for the prevention of marine biofouling. The ultraviolet power needed to prevent the biofouling from starting even at phase 2, is minimal, and recent experimental work clearly shows that UV prevention methods work effectively. A method is described herein in which ultraviolet light can be used to control biofouling by preventing attachment of marine organisms, stunning the organisms and also by exterminating the organisms.

Ultraviolet marine anti-biofouling systems


Real power delivered to a load in an RF transmit path is measured. Measuring the real power includes supplying a first voltage from a first side of a passive network disposed between the power amplifier and the load, supplying a second voltage from a second side of the passive network; and using the first and second voltages and a phase delayed voltage to determine the real power delivered to the load. A voltage difference between the first and second voltages is determined and multiplied by the phase shifted voltage. A low pass filter is then applied to the output of the multiplier to provide an indication of the real power consumed by the load. The indication of real power consumed may then be used to control the power amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
This following invention relates to power detectors such as those used for wireless applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) are commonly used within the transmit path for wireless applications to boost the transmitted power provided to the antenna. They are typically designed to provide power into a fixed impedance load, such as 50 ohms, and are designed to operate from a fixed supply voltage, such as 3.5V. At its output, the power amplifier (PA) has an output network that is formed from passive components, such as inductors, capacitors, and transformers that are arranged in a tuned configuration. The networks formed from these passive elements are resonant at frequencies near that of the desired radio frequency (RF) carrier. Within this narrow frequency range, the circuit provides impedance transformation. Without impedance transformation, the maximum power that could be delivered by the power amplifier to a fixed load would be limited by the amplifier's supply voltage. With impedance transformation, the power amplifier can provide an output power that is higher than this limit.
FIG. 1 shows an example of an RF power amplifier and associated output network that are well known in the field. The amplifier's final stage is formed from transistor 102 and inductor 103. Capacitor 109 acts as a DC blocking element and elements 105, 106, and 107 perform impedance transformation, transforming the load impedance 111 from its actual value, RL, to new impedance, ZT, seen by the final PA stage. The ratio RL/ZT is referred to as the transformation ratio. The load impedance RL is usually purely real. Components in the amplifier's output network are usually chosen so that ZT is strictly real as well.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a common transmit chain for wireless transmitters. The PA's amplification stages, 202, are followed by an output network, 204, which is followed by an isolator, 206, and then a directional coupler, 208. An isolator is a passive device that provides the PA with a more controlled load impedance despite large variations in antenna impedance. The directional coupler 208 generates an output signal, 210, that represents the level of power being transmitted to the antenna. This measure is fed back to the amplifier stages where it is used to control power levels being generated. In some cases, the purpose of this loop is to reduce variations in transmitted power from device to device and over conditions such as temperature. In other cases, this loop is used to assure that the maximum power provided to the antenna remains below a maximum limit as set by safety considerations.
RF systems have in the past measured forward power of an amplifier. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the directional coupler 208 may be placed between the power amplifier and the load and the forward power supplied by the power amplifier is measured and used to control a gain of the power amplifier. However, the forward power value does not equate to the real power consumed by the load.
Thus, the power at the load can be an important criterion in controlling amplifier output.


A system and methodology for asynchronous code refactoring with symbol injection is described. In one embodiment, for example, a method is described for refactoring a plurality of interdependent software modules that reside in separate projects, the method comprises steps of: in response to a change that affects a particular symbol of a software module that resides in a first project, refactoring the software module of the first project to propagate the change to all instances of the particular symbol in the software module; during the refactoring of the software module of the first project, recording meta data about the refactoring that is required to effect the change; and automatically propagating the change to a dependent software module residing in a second project, by refactoring the dependent software module based on the recorded meta data about the refactoring that occurred to the software module of the first project.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system providing methods for facilitating development and maintenance of software applications or systems, with particular emphasis on a system and methodology for asynchronous code refactoring.
2. Description of the Background Art
Before a digital computer may accomplish a desired task, it must receive an appropriate set of instructions. Executed by the computer's microprocessor, these instructions, collectively referred to as a "computer program," direct the operation of the computer. Expectedly, the computer must understand the instructions which it receives before it may undertake the specified activity.
Owing to their digital nature, computers essentially only understand "machine code," i.e., the low-level, minute instructions for performing specific tasks—the sequence of ones and zeros that are interpreted as specific instructions by the computer's microprocessor. Since machine language or machine code is the only language computers actually understand, all other programming languages represent ways of structuring human language so that humans can get computers to perform specific tasks. While it is possible for humans to compose meaningful programs in machine code, practically all software development today employs one or more of the available programming languages. The most widely used programming languages are the "high-level" languages, such C++, Pascal, or more recently Java® and C#. These languages allow data structures and algorithms to be expressed in a style of writing that is easily read and understood by fellow programmers.
A program called a "compiler" translates these instructions into the requisite machine language. In the context of this translation, the program written in the high-level language is called the "source code" or source program.
The ultimate output of the compiler is a compiled module such as a compiled C++"object module," which includes instructions for execution ultimately by a target processor, or a compiled Java® class, which includes bytecodes for execution ultimately by a Java® virtual machine. A Java® compiler generates platform-neutral "bytecodes"—an architecturally neutral, intermediate format designed for deploying application code efficiently to multiple platforms.
Integrated development environments, such as Borland's JBuilder®, Delphi (trademark) and C# Builder (trademark), are the preferred application development environments for quickly creating production applications. Such environments are characterized by an integrated development environment (IDE) providing a form painter, a property getter/setter manager ("inspector"), a project manager, a tool palette (with objects which the user can drag and drop on forms), an editor, a debugger, and a compiler. In general operation, the user "paints" objects on one or more forms, using the form painter. Attributes and properties of the objects on the forms can be modified using the property manager or inspector. In conjunction with this operation, the user attaches or associates program code with particular objects on the screen (e.g., button object). Typically, code is generated by the IDE in response to user actions in the form painter and the user then manipulates the generated code using the editor. Changes made by the user to code in the editor are reflected in the form painter, and vice versa. After the program code has been developed, the compiler is used to generate binary code (e.g., Java® bytecode) for execution on a machine (e.g., a Java® virtual machine).
Although integrated development environments facilitate the development of applications, issues remain in the development and use of such applications. One problem is that when a large software program or application evolves over time it is common that the initial design gets lost as features that were not in the original specification are added to the application. One way of dealing with this problem of making changes is to design everything with the maximum amount of flexibility. However, this will often lead to unnecessary complexity in the software application, as it is unknown beforehand which parts of the application will require this additional flexibility. Irrespective of how well a system is initially designed or developed, the system is typically modified from time to time during its useful life to improve performance, to accommodate changing needs, to make the system easier to maintain, or for various other reasons.
"Refactoring" is a practice of making structured changes to software applications or systems which add the desired flexibility, but keep the functionality of the system the same. Refactoring involves taking small individual steps that are well defined and that can be applied in succession to yield more significant changes. For example, a developer may wish to perform a "rename refactoring" to change the name of a particular module (e.g., a class name in a Java® program). In order to make this change, the user must locate the definition of this class (i.e., the source code for the class) as well as all uses of the class in other portions of the system. In the case of a class name in a Java® program, the class name is typically used not only for defining a variable, but also for constructing instances (or objects) of that class and accessing static members of the class (i.e., class variables). Another example of refactoring may involve moving a specified class to a new package (referred to as "move refactoring").
Refactoring of a system may be small or extensive, but even small changes can introduce errors or "defects" into the system. Accordingly, refactoring must be done correctly and completely in order to be effective. Good refactoring requires a mechanism for quickly and accurately identifying definitions and usage of a given symbol in a plurality of source files. The "symbols" that may be involved in refactoring include, for example, package names, class names, interfaces, methods, fields, variables, and properties. Identification of definitions and usage of a given symbol enables refactoring to be performed responsibly and durably so that no defects are introduced and no behavior is changed beyond the desired improvements in features, performance, and/or maintainability.
A particular problem in refactoring a complex application or system is that the application or system may be made up of a number of different modules that are separately developed. Conventionally, creation of a software application or system includes creation of individual source code modules. This approach simplifies program development by dividing functionality available in the program into separate source modules. It should be noted that for purposes of the following discussion the terms "source code" or "source" will refer to source code or any kind of intermediate language representation (IR) of a program. When multiple source modules are employed for creating a program, interdependencies between the individual modules often exist. Program logic in a first module can, for instance, reference variables, methods, objects, and symbols imported from a second module. By the very same token, the first module can also export its own methods, objects, and symbols, making them available for use by other modules. Because of interdependencies between modules, when a particular source module is refactored (e.g., by a developer), the developer must ensure that the modifications made during the refactoring are compatible with the other modules of the program. A particular concern is, therefore, that the changes made during the refactoring might "break" the system, because the change is incompatible with other, dependent modules of the system.
A common problem in the lifecycle of a software system is the ability to change application programming interfaces (APIs) in libraries. Any change of the API in a library which may result from changing source(s) of the library may result in errors in the parsing/attribution of the clients of this library (hereinafter "dependents"). This may limit or prevent the execution of traditional refactorings for the library. For example, a system may include both a library and a separate application module that uses (i.e., is dependent upon) the library. In this case the refactoring of the library may affect the application that is dependent upon the library. Generally, in this environment if refactoring occurs in one module (e.g., the library), then it must also be applied to the other module(s) that are dependent on it (e.g., the application module in this example).
Consider the same example of a library that has one or more applications dependent upon it. The library may, for example, be written and supplied by one company or organization and used by one or more other organizations in various applications. These applications that are written using the library are dependent upon the library. Accordingly, if the library is refactored, the dependent applications will be out of sync with the library and compilation errors may occur when they attempt to use the library. Unless the refactoring relates only to internal aspects of the library that are not used by any dependent applications, when the library is refactored, corresponding changes also need to be made to dependent applications.
The following discussion will use an example of one or more applications that are dependent upon a library. However, it should be noted this is only one example of items of software that are dependent upon one another. Other examples include, but are not limited to: a client portion of an application and a server portion of the application as well as a user interface (UI) portion of a system and a non-UI portion of the system. Various different source components of a software system (e.g., application) may be developed by different developers that may be geographically distributed in different parts of the world. When these components are integrated into a system they need to work with each other and changes made to one component may impact other components of the system.
This problem is typically addressed in one of the following ways in current systems. One approach is to manually refactor the source dependent module(s) to implement the same changes made to the refactored dependee module. For instance, in the case of a refactoring of a library on which an application is dependent, this would generally involve building the application against the refactored library to find compiler errors and then manually identifying and fixing all of these errors. Disadvantages of this approach include that this manual refactoring solution is both tedious and error prone. A developer has to find all the errors (e.g., by building the application against the library and finding compiler errors) and then manually fix them. He or she might miss some of the errors or may otherwise introduce incorrect behavior. In some cases the application may compile, even though underlying errors remain that were not addressed. Another problem is the possibility that new errors may be introduced during the manual fix-up process.
Another possible approach is to modify the library (dependee module) in such a way that the old behavior is maintained. For example, it may possible to do so by providing for duplication in the refactored library. This may involve retaining the existing functionality (before the refactoring) in the library so as to continue to provide support to any dependent modules (e.g., the application in this example). The new or additional functionality provided by the refactoring would then also be provided—for example with different names and with somewhat different behavior.
Another similar alternative is to provide an abstract layer between the application and the (newly refactored) library. The abstract layer can serve to forward the calls to the appropriate routines of the refactored library. However, this approach also adds considerable complexity to the library and may serve to make the refactoring impractical in many cases. Disadvantages of these approaches of supporting multiple interfaces or to retrofitting support for old versions into the newly refactored library include that they will cause the library to become more complex and, therefore, may also make it more fragile and susceptible to error. Use of either of these approaches also makes the library more difficult to design and implement and may take away many of the advantages of refactoring the library in the first place.
This is, in fact, another common alternative. In order to avoid these type of compatibility problems, users often simply elect not to perform any refactoring of the library (or other dependee module) in the first place. This avoids the above-described compatibility problems, but has the disadvantage of limiting the ability to implement needed changes.
What is needed is a solution that facilitates refactoring of a plurality of interdependent modules. The solution should enable refactorings of these modules to be performed even though the modules may be included in separate projects. The solution should also automate the refactoring process so as to improve productivity and reduce the possibility of error. Ideally, the solution should enable a first program or module to be refactored at one time and at a later date facilitate the application of the appropriate changes to a second module that is dependent upon the first one. The present invention provides a solution for these and other needs.

System and methodology for asynchronous code refactoring with symbol injection


A method of characterizing an LED, as well as an integrated circuit using this method, based on a so-called characteristic resistance, in which the LED is operated at a first, relatively low, operating current and then at a second, relatively high, operating current. From the ratio between the difference between the forward voltages at these two operating currents, and the difference between the operating current, the characteristic resistance is determined. The characteristic resistance is measured at two or more moments during the operational lifetime of the device, and a prediction or estimate is made in relation to the total operational lifetime of the devices, from the evolution or change of the characteristic resistance.

Due to their known advantages, such as high efficiency in terms of lumens per watt, small form factor and durability, LEDs are used as light sources in high performance lighting fixtures. LEDs are increasing preferred light sources in difficult-to-replace lighting fixtures, such as street lights, traffic signal lights and in fixture that require high reliability, such as automotive lights, for instance for safety reasons.
Similar to many other light sources, the light output from an LED decays over time, ultimately leading to LED failure. In order to avoid complete failure, LEDs are typically replaced according to a fixed schedule. However, since the replacement schedules generally try to completely avoid pre-replacement failure, and there is a significant spread in the time at which an LED may be expected to fail, many LEDs are replaced considerable before a likely failure, which is clearly wasteful; alternatively, if the replacement schedule is extended in order to reduce such waste, some LEDs are likely to fail before being replaced, which is generally inconvenient and could be dangerous.
In order to predict, and thereby where appropriate prevent, the failure of LEDs, it is known to monitor or measure the light output by means of external optical sensors such as photodiodes. Whilst this method is generally robust, it requires additional components, circuitry and wiring, and is thus undesirable. Further, in non-ideal lighting environments, such as where there may be interference from other LEDs or extraneous light sources, the method may be inaccurate.
There is thus an ongoing requirement to provide other methods of predicting the failure of LEDs, and characterising their performance in general.


A method of monitoring network traffic in a fabric and a Fibre Channel network are provided. The method includes: transmitting a monitoring configuration message to a plurality of fabric elements in a Fibre Channel network, said monitoring configuration message including classification criteria identifying packets to be monitored; receiving copies of identified packets from the plurality of fabric elements; and analyzing the copies of identified packets to determine data transmission status in the Fibre Channel network. The Fibre Channel network includes: a plurality of fabric elements; a management system configured to transmit a monitoring configuration message to the plurality of fabric elements, said monitoring configuration message including classification criteria identifying packets to be monitored; and an analyzer configured to: receive copies of identified packets from the plurality of fabric elements; and analyze the copies of identified packets to determine data transmission status in the Fibre Channel network.

A storage area network (SAN) is a network designed to attach computer storage devices such as disk array controllers and tape libraries to servers. One common SAN design utilizes a plurality of fibre channel (FC) switches which are operatively coupled using inter-switch links (ISL) to form a fabric, such as in an FC-SW topology. The fabric elements (e.g., the fibre channel switches) provide connections between nodes. The nodes are the end devices (e.g., servers or data storage devices) connected to the fabric.
In order to manage the operation of a SAN, it is important that the network administrator be able to monitor data traffic through the fabric. For example, an error in the fabric may cause a loss of communication between two nodes. The network administrator must then identify the source of the problem in order to correct this problem. Various tools have been developed to assist the network administrator in doing so.
For example, a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) function has been developed which enables non-disruptive monitoring of network traffic through one or more ports of an FC network device. The SPAN function enables traffic through any FC interface of the FC network device to be replicated and delivered to a port on that FC device. A similar feature, Remote Switched Port Analyzer (RSPAN), enables the replicated traffic to be delivered to a port on a remote network device. Both the SPAN and RSPAN functions are useful for network administration, intrusion detection, and network analysis. However, the configuration of the SPAN and RSPAN functions must be performed on each individual switch. Thus, if the location of an error within a fabric is unknown, it can be time-consuming to monitor each individual switch in order to discover the source of the error. In addition, the path followed by a frame transmitted between two nodes may change dynamically due to changes in the Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) configuration.
Another function used for troubleshooting FC fabrics is the FCTrace function. FCTrace is used to determine characteristics associated with routes in a fibre channel network by sending special frames between a source and a destination. Timestamp information is inserted into these special frames at each FC switch through which the frames travel. Once the frames reach the edge of the fabric (the F port or FL port coupled to the destination end node), the frames are routed back to the source node. The timestamp information can enable an administrator to determine characteristics, such as round trip times, inter-switch latency, and connectivity to a destination node for specific routes. Unfortunately, in many cases, the connectivity between two nodes may be broken, but the FCTrace results indicate that the fabric connectivity is operating correctly. This situation may result because FCTrace uses special frames which may undergo different forwarding, network address translation (NAT), and access control decisions compared to actual data frames.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide network administrators the ability to easily and accurately monitor network traffic.


A source terminal measures characteristics of the path at the source terminal itself, produces a characteristics-measurement packet, and transmits the produced characteristics-measurement packet to a relay terminal. Upon receiving the characteristics-measurement packet, the relay terminal measures characteristics of the path at the relay terminal itself, renews the characteristics of the path included in the characteristics-measurement packet using the measured characteristics of the path, and transmits the characteristics of the wireless communication path to the destination terminal. The source terminal produces an admission-request packet and transmits the packet to the destination terminal. Upon receiving the admission-request packet, the destination terminal allows or rejects the traffic quality maintenance request according to the characteristics of the wireless communication path. The allowance or rejection of the quality maintenance request is transmitted to the source terminal with the admission-reply packet by the destination terminal.

Multimedia traffic including voice or video requires high quality for factors such as delay, jitter of delay or packet delivery ratio. Therefore, in order to relay such traffic in priority to other traffic (for example, text or image-downloading), techniques such as admission control (dynamic reservation of resources), classifier (classification of traffic), shaping and policing (keeping the burst to a defined level), and packet scheduling (transmitting the packet that corresponds to each group) are required.
The IEEE 802.11e protocol targeting single-cell wireless LANs (Local Area Networks) is being developed in order to control QoS (Quality of Service) of multimedia traffic.
The IEEE 802.11e provides functions of admission control, classifier, and packet scheduling for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks operating in infrastructure mode.
An infrastructure mode network includes an Access Point (AP) and a wireless LAN terminal (STA: Station). The wireless LAN terminal is provided within a communicable range from the Access Point AP.
The IEEE 802.11e protocol classifies traffic according to required levels of QoS (into four Access Categories of traffic provided in the IEEE 802.11e: AC1 (an AC for voice traffic), AC2 (an AC for video traffic), AC3 (an AC for best-effort traffic), and AC4 (an AC for background traffic)). Then, the IEEE 802.11e protocol gives priority channel access to traffic of an Access Category with higher priority according to the EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access).
In controlling the admission, transmission of voice traffic or video traffic requiring high QoS is allowed to the loads that the network is able to support in order to guarantee the quality of allowed multimedia communications. In other words, in order to guarantee the quality of allowed traffic, voice traffic and video traffic requiring transmission through the Access Categories AC1 and AC2 are allowed to the loads that the network capacity allows. More specifically, in a network that operates in admission control mode, a STA requesting transmission of voice traffic and video traffic transmits its admission request to an AP. In response to the admission request, the AP grants the admission if it determines that the network's capacity is able to meet the traffic's QoS request, and if not, the AP rejects the admission. Voice traffic (or video traffic) whose admission has been granted is transmitted through the Access Category AC1 (or AC2).
On the other hand, transmission of voice traffic (or video traffic) whose admission has been rejected is either cancelled or transmitted through the Access Category AC3 of best-effort traffic with lower priority. As described above, the IEEE 802.11e protocol provides techniques for controlling QoS over wireless communications.    Non-patent Document 1: IEEE P802.11e/D13.0, January 2005, (Draft Amendment to ANSI/IEEE Std 802.11, 1999 Edition (Reaff 2003)), Medium Access Control (MAC) Quality of Service (QoS) Enhancements.

Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology