The present invention provides compositions and methods for the transdermal administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a synthetic 19-nor-progesterone (ST-1435) and an estrogen, in combination, together with, optionally, a suitable permeation enhancer.

The transdermal route of parenteral delivery of drugs provides many advantages, and transdermal systems for delivering a wide variety of drugs or other beneficial agents are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,122, 3,598,123, 4,379,454, 4,286,592, 4,314,557 and 4,568,343, for example, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
ST-1435 (16-methylene-17-.alpha.-acetoxy-19-nor-4-pregnene-3,20-dione) is a known synthetic 19-nor-progesterone. Both in animals and in humans, ST-1435 is very potent when given parenterally, whereas it is practically inactive when given orally. Because of this, ST-1435 has been used as a subcutaneous implant only.
Oral combination pills, implants and intrauterine devices for purposes of contraception and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been well documented for their problems such as inconvenience and side effects. Transdermal delivery of estrogens and progestins as disclosed herein is an attempt to eliminate or reduce those problems.
However, there are many factors which affect the suitability of an active agent for transdermal administration. These are discussed at length in Knepp et al., "Transdermal Drug Delivery: Problems and Possibilities," CRC Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, Vol. 4, Issue 1 (1987). When it is desired to deliver more than one active agent from a single transdermal delivery device, the problems associated with achieving a workable multi-drug transdermal device with any specific combination of drugs are even more complex and difficult and can often prove to be insurmountable.
Conventional dosage forms such as tablets or injections can administer a combination of two or more active agents, each at their appropriate dose, merely by appropriate selection of the amount of each agent included in the dosage form. In transdermal delivery devices, however, the total dosage of each agent is not established by the amounts of each agent that are in the device. Instead, the total dosage of each agent is the product of its average transdermal administration rate (.mu.g/hr) and the time over which the device is applied, and the average administration rate of an agent from a transdermal delivery device is determined primarily by a combination of factors other than the amount of the agent present in the device.
In order for a transdermal delivery device to be able to administer two or more agents from a common reservoir over the same period of time, the relative permeabilities of each of the agents through the skin and the components of the device must bear the same relationship as their relative dosage or administration rate. Thus, for example, if the dosage of each agent were the same, for example 15 .mu.g/day, each agent would have to have the-same overall permeability. If, however, one agent were to be delivered at a dosage of 20 /.mu.g/day and the other at 1 .mu.g/day, the overall permeability of one would have to be 20 times greater than that of the other.
The situation becomes even more complicated if permeation enhancers are required to increase the inherent permeability of the skin to one or more of the agents being delivered. Identifying a permeation enhancer which has the ability to selectively increase the permeation of the skin to only one agent or to relatively increase the permeability of the skin to two or more agents in the required relationship could often provide an insurmountable obstacle for any specific combination of agents.
If the problems associated with obtaining the desired relative administration rates of the individual agents to the skin can be solved, other factors remain to be dealt with. The agents individually, in combination with each other, or in combination with a permeation enhancer must not cause undue irritation or sensitization when applied topically under occlusion. Materials which individually are not irritating or sensitizing may become so when presented to the skin in combination with each other.
Further, the skin has been recognized as the largest metabolizing organ of the body, larger even than the liver. See, A. Pannatier, et al, "The Skin as a Drug Metabolizing Organ," Drug Metabolism Reviews, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp 319-343 (1978). Skin can metabolize agents administered transdermally into inactive or potentially harmful metabolites. Thus, it is necessary that the rate at which each agent is metabolized by the skin and the metabolites produced do not prevent the safe and therapeutically effective transdermal administration of each agent into the bloodstream at the desired administration rate.
Assuming these obstacles can be overcome, it is also important that the agent binding capacity of the skin for each of the agents have the proper relationship. Before transdermal administration of an agent into the bloodstream can commence at a steady state rate, the capacity of the skin below the device to bind the agent must be saturated. The time required to achieve this steady state rate is known as the "lag time" and is a function of the rate at which the agent permeates into the skin and the binding capacity of the skin for that agent. In order for the lag time for both agents to be the same, there must be an inverse relationship between each agent's administration rate and the binding capacity of the skin for each agent.
Thus, while there are numerous combinations of beneficial agents which have been found useful for administration orally or by injection, for example, it is by no means obvious that a particular combination of such agents or other agents could also be safely and effectively administered transdermally.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,258 discloses a transdermal delivery system for administering ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel, together with a permeation enhancer, as a contraceptive. Levonorgestrel is known to be readily active when taken orally.
However, it has now been found by the present inventors that levonorgestrel, even in the presence of a permeation enhancer such as glycerol monooleate, does not transport across human epidermis in vivo sufficiently to achieve contraceptively effective levels of the drug in the blood from transdermal systems of reasonable or acceptable size.
It has now been seen that ST-1435 acts very differently from levonorgestrel when applied transdermally. ST-1435, which is inactive orally, unpredictably has a greatly increased flux across epidermis in comparison to levonorgestrel, the flux of ST-1435 being sufficient when applied transdermally to provide blood drug levels from reasonably sized systems in amounts that produce effective contraception, in marked contrast to levonorgestrel.
Additionally, it has been found that, when applied transdermally, ST-1435 does not adversely affect the serum lipid concentrations in the body. This is particularly important in hormone replacement therapy for treatment of estrogen deficiency.
Australian patent AU-A-15323/88 discloses a transdermal delivery system for the delivery of estrogens and synthetic gestogens for the treatment of climacteric syndrome (the withdrawal symptoms associated with menopause and caused by estrogen deficiency). The patent makes a general statement that natural gestogens, such as progesterone, do not pass through the skin in amounts sufficient to achieve adequate therapeutic effect using transdermal systems of conventional size, but that synthetic gestogens do have sufficient flux. Levonorgestrel (or d-norgestrel) is named in the patent as a synthetic gestogen which can be used in the transdermal system, and norgestrel and norethisterone-17-acetate are named as preferred synthetic gestogens for use in the system. ST-1435 is not mentioned as a candidate gestogen. It is to be noted here that a markedly greater amount of a gestogen and, consequently, a greater transdermal flux of the drug, is required for effective contraception than is required for treatment of climacteric syndrome. As discussed previously herein, it has been shown that levonorgestrel, the active enantiomer of the preferred gestogen norgestrel, does not, in fact, have a sufficient flux to provide a contraceptively effective plasma level of drug when applied transdermally from a reasonably sized system. Additionally, norethisterone-17-acetate (also known as norethindrone-17-acetate and the only drug for which actual data is presented in the Australian patent) has also been found to have an insufficient transdermal flux from a reasonably sized system to provide effective contraception. These facts show that the broad statement in the Australian patent is not in fact generally true and that sufficient flux of synthetic gestogens, particularly with respect to providing a contraceptive effect, is a continuing problem and cannot be predicted.
Thus, it is by no means obvious that a particular synthetic gestogen could be effectively administered transdermally, with or without a permeation enhancer, and particularly in an amount sufficient to provide a therapeutic and especially a contraceptive effect. That the gestogen could be delivered in a therapeutically, including a contraceptively, effective amount from a reasonably sized system is especially desired and even less predictable or obvious.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,738 discloses glycerol monooleate as a suitable skin permeation enhancer for steroids.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,515 discloses glycerol monolaurate as a suitable skin permeation enhancer for steroids.

Transdermal formulations, methods and devices


An oil pump for an engine having a first cam shaft and a second cam shaft. The oil pump includes a housing and a first pump assembly at least partially disposed within the housing. The first pump assembly includes a rotating element that is adapted to be directly driven by the first cam shaft. A second pump assembly is at least partially disposed within the housing. The second pump assembly includes a rotating element that is adapted to be directly driven by the second cam shaft.

The present invention relates to an oil pump assembly for a motorcycle. More particularly, the invention relates to an oil pump assembly that includes two pumping units that are each directly driven by a cam shaft.
Motorcycles generally include a front wheel and a rear wheel that rotate about separate axles as the motorcycle moves. An engine combusts a fuel-air mixture to produce shaft power that is directed to the rear wheel to propel the motorcycle. Many of the moving parts of the engine require a lubricant, such as oil, that both lubricates the moving parts and provides some cooling for the parts. To provide the necessary oil, the motorcycle includes an oil pump that is driven by the engine. In most constructions, a gear, belt or chain interconnects the pumping element or elements and a cam shaft or a crankshaft to provide power to the pump.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, Inc.


An amplification system and method is provided that employs a digital cross-cancellation technique which provides a separate digital signal to be input to a separate DAC to generate a cancellation signal. The cancellation signal is added to the output of the amplifier to produce a final signal with substantially reduced distortion and/or out-of-band emissions. The cancellation signal can be pre-computed or derived by generating an inverted version of the wanted signal, and combining it with a portion of the output signal to determine the error or unwanted portion of the output signal. This error signal is then combined with a delayed version of the output signal.

RF power amplifiers used for wireless communication transmitters, with spectrally efficient modulation formats, require high linearity to preserve modulation accuracy and to limit spectral regrowth. Typically, a linear amplifier, Class-A type, Class-AB type or Class-B is employed to faithfully reproduce inputs signals and to limit the amplifier output within a strict emissions mask. Linear amplifiers are capable of electrical (DC power in to RF power out or DC-RF) efficiencies of 50% or more when operated at saturation. However, they are generally not operated at high efficiency due to the need to provide high linearity. For constant envelope waveforms, linear amplifiers are often operated below saturation to provide for operation in their linear regime. Time varying envelopes present an additional challenge. The general solution is to amplify the peaks of the waveform near saturation, resulting in the average power of the waveform being amplified at a level well backed-off from saturation. The back-off level, also referred to as output power back-off (OPBO), determines the electrical efficiency of a linear amplifier.
For example, the efficiency of a Class-A type amplifier decreases with output power relative to its peak value (EFF=POUT/PPEAK). The efficiency of Class-B type amplifiers also decreases with output power relative to its peak value (EFF=(POUT/PPEAK)1/2). Class-AB type amplifiers have output power variations intermediate between these values. Thus, there is customarily an inherent tradeoff between linearity and efficiency in amplifier designs.
Modern transmitters for applications such as cellular, personal, and satellite communications employ digital modulation techniques such as quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) in combination with code division multiple access (CDMA) communication. Shaping of the data pulses mitigates out-of-band (OOB) emissions from occurring into adjacent channels but produces time-varying envelopes. In addition to amplifying individual waveforms with time varying envelopes, many transmitters (especially in base stations) are being configured to amplify multiple carriers. Multi-carrier signals have a wide distribution of power levels resulting in a large peak-to-average ratio (PAR). Therefore, the operation of the linear amplifiers in these types of signals is very inefficient, since the amplifiers must have their supply voltage sized to handle the large peak voltages even though the signals are much smaller a substantial portion of the time. Additionally, the size and cost of the power amplifier is generally proportional to the required peak output power of the amplifier.
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and multi-carrier versions of Global Standard for Mobile Communication (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA 2000) are wireless standards and applications growing in use. Each requires amplification of a waveform with high PAR levels, above 10 dB in some cases. The sparse amount of spectrum allocated to terrestrial wireless communication requires that transmissions minimize OOB emissions to minimize the interference environment. A linear amplifier used to amplify a waveform with a PAR of 10 dB or more provides only 5–10% DC-RF efficiency. The peak output power for the amplifier is sized by the peak waveform. The cost of the amplifier scales with its—peak power. Several other circuit costs including heat sinks and DC-DC power supplies scale inversely to peak power and dissipated heat (which results from the electrical inefficiency). Related base station costs of AC-DC power supplies, back-up batteries, cooling, and circuit breakers also scale inversely with efficiency as does the electrical operating costs. Clearly, improving DC-RF efficiency is a major cost saver both for manufacture and operation.
One of the techniques used in the design of highly linear amplifiers is known as the feedforward (FF) technique. FF amplifier systems are based on a two-loop analog system design. Typically, the first loop splits off a sample of the analog amplifier input as a reference and compares it to a sample of the amplifier output to produce an error signal. The error primarily consists of the signal produced by non-linear amplification in the power amplifier. The second loop subtracts the error signal from a delayed version of the power amplifier output. FF is effective in reducing OOB emissions and to some repairing errors to the wanted signal. The technique requires careful control of the amplitude and phase of each signal, which impacts the maximum bandwidth over which a level of correction can be applied. A range of techniques exists to control amplitude and phase over temperature variations. If there is any corruption of the reference then the performance of the FF system degrades. Ideally, the FF technique reduces the amplifier distortion level to that of the input. The amplifier input is generally already distorted somewhat from non-linearities or clipping effects earlier in the amplifier signal chain (e.g., DAC, mixers, and/or driver amplifiers.)
Feed forward techniques have several limitations. They cannot be employed in amplification systems that decompose an input signal into multiple components (e.g., polar amplifier, LINC amplifier), since a single input signal is not available as a reference. If the input signal the amplifier is highly distorted, for example due to an element that clips the peak of the signal, then FF will not significantly reduce overall distortion. It is not possible to combine digital pre-distortion with feedforward as the reference signal will contain the amplitude and phase changes as a result of the pre-distortion, and these changes will be contained in the error signal and re-introduced to the signal at the amplifier output.


A simple chemotaxis apparatus and method wherein surface tension, capillary action, and hydrophobic forces are used to hold cell suspensions, chemotactic factors, and control fluids in place on both membrane filters and chemotaxis plates. In one embodiment, chemotactic factors and controls are placed at preselected areas on the top surface of a bottom plate, while a membrane filter topped with cell suspensions is placed above the bottom plate so that the drops of chemotactic factors and controls contact the filter membrane directly below the locations of the cell suspensions. In another embodiment, the preselected locations on the bottom plate are rimmed wells that are filled with chemotactic factors and controls. Hydrophobic coating is used to limit fluid movement on the filter membrane and on the bottom plate. Occluding materials or monolayers of cells are used to further limit the gravitational fluid flow in the preferred embodiments.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chemotaxis chambers, i.e., to chambers for measuring the effect of concentration gradients of mobile chemicals upon the directional response of biological cells. More specifically, the present invention relates to chemotaxis test sites comprising top and bottom regions separated by one or more membrane filters.

Multiple-site chemotactic test apparatus and method


A scroll structure of a centrifugal compressor 1 having a spirally formed scroll passage 13. The scroll passage 13 includes: a flat connecting portion A at a flow passage joint 23 where a scroll start and a scroll end of the scroll passage 13 meet, this flat connecting portion having a flat cross-sectional shape with a same height as that of an outlet passage of a diffuser; and a transition part 21 where the flat cross-sectional shape of the flat connecting portion A gradually changes back to a circular cross-sectional shape along a circumferential direction.

Centrifugal compressors used in a compressor part or the like of turbochargers in vehicles or ships give a kinetic energy to a fluid through rotation of a vaned wheel and discharge the fluid radially outward to raise the fluid pressure by the centrifugal force.
Various improvements have been made to the scroll structure of the centrifugal compressor in response to the demands for a high pressure ratio and high efficiency in a wide operation range.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4492045), for example, shows one example of conventional techniques, represented by a centrifugal compressor having a casing with a spirally formed scroll passage. The width in the axial direction of the scroll passage is gradually increased radially from inside to outside, the width being maximum on the radially outer side than the radial midpoint of the passage width.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Translation of PCT Application No. 2010-529358) relates to a centrifugal compressor for a turbocharger, the compressor having a spiral housing and a diffuser. Patent Document 2 shows that the diffuser is increased in its diameter so as to reduce the low-pressure region in a transition area of the spiral housing (scroll) or an area where the tongue exists.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 4492045
Patent Document 2: Japanese Translation of PCT Application No. 2010-529358
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the scroll 13 generally has a circular cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 12, and the scroll start and the scroll end of the scroll 13 are connected to form a flow passage joint 04 in a tongue portion 05 shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 11 shows a front view of a scroll compressor. FIG. 12 shows cross-sectional shapes of the scroll at angles θ1, θ2, . . . advanced by a predetermined amount Δθ clockwise from the tongue portion 05 in an overlaid representation.
In the tongue portion 05, the flow passage joint 04 has a cross-sectional shape with a circular part 09 and a diffuser part 011 contacting this circular part 09, as indicated by the hatches in FIG. 12.
Referring to FIG. 13 which shows the circumferential static pressure inside the scroll, at a high flow-rate operating point, the fluid velocity increases from the scroll start to the scroll end, and the pressure at the scroll start is higher than that of the scroll end, so that there is practically no flow recirculation from the scroll end into the scroll start in the tongue portion 05 (joint between the scroll passage and the outlet passage).
On the other hand, at a low flow-rate operating point, the fluid velocity decreases from the scroll start to the scroll end, and the pressure at the scroll start is lower than that of the scroll end, so that there occurs flow recirculation from the scroll end into the scroll start in the tongue portion. This phenomenon causes the following pressure losses inside the scroll.
(1) First is a pressure loss caused by flow separation. The fluid flows toward the discharge port of the scroll spirally along the outer circumference of the inner wall of the scroll. The flow in the boundary layer near the wall surface is sucked into the scroll start by a pressure gradient at the flow passage joint in the tongue portion, whereby flow recirculation occurs. Flow separation occurs at this time at the flow passage joint in the tongue portion, which forms a high pressure loss region.
(2) Second is a pressure loss caused by friction. The recirculating flow that has lost energy by the separation accumulates in the center of the cross section of the scroll passage. Since such flow has low pressure, it causes to increase the pressure gradient towards the center of the scroll cross section, as a result of which the velocity of the fluid flowing spirally inside the scroll passage is increased. This increases the pressure loss by friction inside the scroll passage.
It then follows that flow recirculation that occurs in the tongue portion is the major cause of pressure loss inside the scroll at a low flow-rate operating point.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for improving the characteristics of the spiral flow inside the scroll passage, wherein the scroll passage is formed to have a peculiar non-circular cross-sectional shape. However, it does not disclose how to minimize the amount of recirculation near the tongue portion for better machine performance. Patent Document 2 shows reducing the negative pressure region near the tongue portion, but it relates to improvement by means of a diffuser and does not disclose improvement of the scroll cross-sectional shape for better machine performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scroll structure of centrifugal compressor


A system and method for de-interleaving data in a wireless receiver, wherein a single memory buffer is coupled to a read/write unit that performs both first and second de-interleaving operations. According to a first aspect of the present invention, the read/write unit performs the second de-interleaving operation as data is written to the memory buffer, and performs the first de-interleaving operation as data is read from the memory buffer. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the read/write unit performs the first and second de-interleaving operations as data is read from the memory buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly to a system and method for de-interleaving data in a wireless receiver.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) represents the joint effort of various standards setting bodies to produce globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The UMTS is based on evolved Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) core networks and the radio access technologies that they support (i.e., Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) including both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes).
The 3GPP UTRAN FDD transmitter chain includes two interleavers. The first interleaves data to be transmitted into different radio frames, and the second interleaves the data inside each radio frame. The transmitted radio frames must then be de-interleaved at the receiver. Conventional receiver designs include two de-interleavers that mirror the operations of the two interleavers in the transmitter. Each de-interleaver according to conventional designs has an associated memory buffer. The memory buffer associated with the second de-interleaver is double buffered so that the data received from the air in the current radio frame can be written into memory (a first buffer) while the rest of the receiver chain processes data from the previous radio frame (a second buffer). The memory buffer associated with the first de-interleaver does not have to be double buffered because the data can be processed asynchronously (as long as the data is processed in one radio frame).
A read/write unit is used to read from and write to the memory buffers. The read/write unit includes, for example, programmable logic for generating memory buffer addresses. According to conventional designs, a separate read/write unit is associated with each memory buffer. These read/write units require an amount of chip real estate and power that can be significant in terms of the receiver design. This is particularly true where chip real estate and power usage are at a premium, such as in the design of wireless handsets. Furthermore, moving the receiver data between the two de-interleaver memory buffers requires two write operations and two read operations for every bit of received data. Performing each of these operations requires power, which again can be particularly significant where conserving power usage is important.
What is needed is an improved system and method for de-interleaving data in a wireless receiver, where chip real estate and power usage are reduced.

System and method for de-interleaving data in a wireless receiver


In a high frequency radiation cable, with groups of openings arranged periodically in the outside conductor of a coaxial cable, the number of openings per periodic length increases in sections along the cable, where the sections are whole number multiples of the periodic length.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a high frequency radiation cable, and more particularly, a high frequency radiation cable with groups of periodically arranged openings in the outside of the conductor cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A radiation cable or a leakage cable is a waveguide made from a coaxial cable, which has openings in periodic sequence on the outside conductor. Electromagnetic fields pass through these openings into the outer cable space. The output to be radiated is supplied at one end of the cable. Because of natural cable attenuation, the intensity of the radiated output decreases along the length of the cable. In practice, this means that the sum of line and coupling attenuation between a vehicle and the radiating wave guide increases with the distance of the vehicle from the high frequency supply point. It would therefore be desirable to vary the energy coupling along the wave guide or the cable, so that the received field strength is kept constant in the mobile component.
A leakage cable is known from European patent application EP 188 347, wherein the outside conductor of the coaxial cable consists of bands surrounding the central conductor in a helix, and which overlap so as to form diamond-shaped gaps. These gaps get larger at the end of the cable, i.e. with increasing distance from the supply point, so that more energy can be radiated.
The disadvantage of this process, in addition to the high cost, is that enlarging the openings or holes only produces a relatively small increase in radiation.

High frequency radiation cable including successive sections having increasing number of openings


The present invention relates to a copper-molybdenum composite material having utility in electrical applica- tions and the process for forming the composite material. The composite material is characterized by a continuous copper matrix having a plurality of discrete molybdenum particles embedded therein. The molybdenum particles have an aspect ratio in the range of from about 1:1 to about 4:1 so as to create a thermal path through the matrix from a first side of the composite material to a second side of the composite material. The resulting composite material exhibits improved through-thickness thermal conductivity as a result of the molybdenum particles being within the aforementioned range. The process for forming the composite material includes the steps of blending the molybdenum in powder form with powdered cuprous oxide, heating the blended powdered material to form copper-coated molybdenum particles, blending the copper-coated molybdenum particles with powdered copper and then roll compacting the blended materials to form the composite material. For certain compositions, i.e., those where the molybdenum content is greater than 80 wt. %, the second blending step may be omitted.

The present invention relates to a composite material having utility in electrical and electronic applications and to a process of forming said composite material.
Electronic packaging demands heat dissipating materials that can provide both good thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion. A low thermal expansion, matching that of semi-conductor and ceramic elements, is needed to avoid harmful stresses during thermal cycling of the electronic package.
Heat dissipating elements are frequently fabricated from strip material because of the required geometry of the element. A flat wafer, shallow tub, or lead frame geometry are common examples. It is important in many of these applications that the through-thickness thermal conductivity be maximized, while the in-plane thermal conductivity is of less significance.
Through-thickness conductivity is a function of the morphology of the low thermal conductivity phase of the composite. In particular, the aspect ratio of the low conductivity phase determines the thermal path length through the high conductivity matrix component from one side of the strip material to the other. As used herein, the term "aspect ratio" means the ratio of the mean in-plane dimension to the through-thickness dimension. It is thus desirable for the low conductivity phase material to have a low aspect ratio.
The processing of the composite strip is significant from the standpoint of maintaining a low conductivity phase with a low aspect ratio in the composite material. Most strip materials are rolled to a desired final thickness. In the case of materials having a deformable low conductivity phase material, rolling will increase the aspect ratio of this phase material. It is therefore desirable that the composite strip material be fabricated with the least amount of rolling.
Roll compaction processes are quite attractive in that they allow near net shape strip fabrication. The initial green strip thickness may be selected so that processing to full density also produces the required finished thickness, preferably without any additional rolling. The roll compaction process is particularly advantageous in forming composite strip where through-thickness thermal conductivity is to be optimized by providing a microstructure in which adjacent low thermal conductivity particles are not in contact.
Another problem which must be dealt with during processing is the closeness of the low conductivity phase particles. Close particles lead to high thermal resistance regions and may result in poor mechanical bonding to the matrix which has a deleterious effect on thermal expansion. To avoid these problems, individual low conductivity particles have been coated with the matrix material prior to the blending portion of the roll compaction process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,293 to Breit et al. illustrates a process for forming a composite material in which the low expansion phase material is coated with the matrix material. In this process, discrete particles of a ferrous alloy are coated with a copper material. Coating of the ferrous alloy particles is effected by electroplating, electroless copper plating or cutting short lengths of a copper-clad fine wire of the ferrous alloy material. The coated particles are then pressed together and heated to diffusion bond the copper coatings. In this process, the heating step must be strictly regulated with respect to temperature and duration so that the copper coatings are diffusion bonded to each other while diffusion of the ferrous components into the copper material is avoided.
The prior art methods for forming a coating on the low thermal conductivity materials suffer from disadvantages such as: (1) difficulty in obtaining a uniform coating; (2) entrapment of impurities; (3) formation of particle agglomerates; and (4) disposal of waste chemicals.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved composite material for use in electrical and electronic applications.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a composite material as above having improved thermal conductivity properties.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novel process for forming the composite material of the present invention.
These and other objects and advantages will be described in the following description.

Ametek, Specialty Metal Products Division


A die-stacked memory device implements an integrated coherency manager to offload cache coherency protocol operations for the devices of a processing system. The die-stacked memory device includes a set of one or more stacked memory dies and a set of one or more logic dies. The one or more logic dies implement hardware logic providing a memory interface and the coherency manager. The memory interface operates to perform memory accesses in response to memory access requests from the coherency manager and the one or more external devices. The coherency manager comprises logic to perform coherency operations for shared data stored at the stacked memory dies. Due to the integration of the logic dies and the memory dies, the coherency manager can access shared data stored in the memory dies and perform related coherency operations with higher bandwidth and lower latency and power consumption compared to the external devices.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to processing systems and, more particularly, to cache coherency in processing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Processing systems generally implement system memory as a device separate from the devices implementing processors, input/output (I/O) components, and other components. Such systems therefore are often bandwidth-limited due to the volume of traffic on the interconnect connecting the system memory to the other components and latency-limited due to the propagation delay of the signaling traversing the relatively-long interconnect and the handshaking process needed to conduct such signaling. The inter-device bandwidth and inter-device latency have a particular impact on processing efficiency and power consumption of the system when a performed task requires multiple accesses to system memory, as each access requires a back-and-forth communication between the system memory and the requesting device and thus the inter-device bandwidth and latency penalties are incurred twice for each access. This problem is exacerbated in processing systems implementing cache coherency protocols for shared memory, as the processor-initiated coherency operations implemented in conventional cache coherency protocols typically make relatively heavy use of the memory interconnect and thus are significant sources of decreased memory interconnect bandwidth and increased memory interconnect latency.

Cache coherency using die-stacked memory device with logic die


A scanning apparatus for scanning a video recording for objectionable content is disclosed that includes an audio processor for analyzing the recording and recognizing the objectionable audio, and audio control gate for manipulating the objectionable audio. The scanning apparatus also includes an amplifier that amplifies the signal and converters to convert the signal from analog to digital format prior to analysis and digital to analog format after analysis. The method of scanning the video recording for objectionable content includes the steps of analyzing the recording and manipulating the recording. The method first includes the steps of amplifying the recording signal, separating the audio portion of the recording from the composite recording, digitizing the portions of the recording, and storing the composite portion of the recording in a loop while analysis is performed on the audio portion of the recording.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses for scanning video cassettes for objectionable material, and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for recognizing and removing objectionable speech from a video cassette during operation of a video cassette player.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, video cassette players have simply played backed movies and other videos in the manner in which they were recorded. Many videos feature language that parents may feel is not acceptable for children. Until now, there has been no method of screening these videos for objectionable language.
Applicant has recognized the need for an apparatus that screens objectionable language from videos that can be installed in a video cassette player.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved scanning method and apparatus which is simple in design, effective in use, and overcomes the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.

Method of and apparatus for scanning for and replacing words on video cassettes


A surface component film (2) is etched using a resist (3) as a mask, and the surface component film (2) is patterned according to the shape of an aperture (3a). This results in a step portion (4) having the same shape as the aperture (3a), with the sidewall (4a) of the step portion (4) exposed through the aperture (3a). The aperture (3a) is spin-coated with a shrink agent, reacted at a first temperature, and developed to shrink the aperture (3a). To control the shrinkage with high accuracy, in the first round of reaction, the aperture is shrunk by, for example, about half of the desired shrinkage. The aperture (3a) is further spin-coated with a shrink agent, reacted at a second temperature, and developed to shrink the aperture (3a). In this embodiment, the second-round shrink process will result in the desired aperture length. The second temperature is adjusted based on the shrinkage in the first round. With respect to a resist using short-wavelength light (short-wavelength resist) or a resist using electron beam (electron beam resist), a minute aperture can be obtained with stable shrink effect and accurate control of the length thereof.

In recent years, minimization technology has been used extensively for wiring and so forth to meet the need for reduction in the circuit area and increase in the performance of semiconductor memories and system LSI devices, and latest lithographic techniques will be presently used, in particular, for the microfabrication of contact holes connecting wiring layers. On the other hand, transistors with superior high-frequency characteristics require minute gate electrodes, and transistors having minute gate electrodes, and especially compound semiconductors, are useful for signal processing (optical communication) as well as for the transmission and reception of submillimeter and millimeter waves. For devices requiring superior high-frequency characteristics, in particular, the gate length has been decreased intensively by electron beam lithography.
Minute apertures have been formed conventionally by decreasing the wavelength of exposure light source or reducing the size of electron beams. Alternatively, the aperture length has been decreased by heat-treating a resist or different types of resists have been mixed.
However, decreasing the wavelength of the light source to form minute resist apertures is costly, because the equipment and masks are expensive.
For the use of the electron beam exposure technology to form minute apertures, apertures with an aperture length of 0.05 μm or less have been obtained by improving the accuracy of beam forming, though throughput and stability problems remain. Therefore there is a need for a technique to form a minute aperture by electron beam lithography equipment using an inexpensive light source or having a stable technical level, but the amount of reduction in the aperture length has been limited to 0.05 μm with conventional resist deformation (heat treatment, mixing) technology.
It is an object of the present invention to provide, with respect to a resist using short-wavelength light (short-wavelength resist) or a resist using electron beam (electron beam resist), a method of forming a resist allowing for stable shrink effect, the manufacture of a minute aperture and the accurate control of the length thereof, and to provide a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same by applying the above forming method. Concretely, the short wavelength resist is aimed at an accurate aperture reduction of more than 0.1 μm, and the electron beam resist is aimed at an aperture length of 0.05 μm or less.

Method of processing resist, semiconductor device, and method of producing the same


The present invention related to the preparation of substantially pure diastereoisomers of derivatives of tetrahydrofolate and the use of such diastereoisomers. More particularly the present invention provides a process for the preparation of a desired substantially pure (6R or 6S) diastereoisomer of a derivative of tetrahydrofolic acid or salt or ester. The process comprises the steps of: attaching a chiral auxiliary group at either N-5 or N-10 of a mixture of 6R and 6S diastereoisomers of tetrahydrofolic acid, separating the new diastereoisomers, recovering the desired new diastereoisomer (6R or 6S) corresponding to the desired (6R or 6S) diastereoisomer, and converting the substantially pure new diastereoisomer recovered into the corresponding diastereoisomer.

The present invention relates to the preparation of substantially pure diastereoisomers of derivatives of tetrahydrofolate and the use of such diastereoisomers.
Methotrexate (N-(4-((2,4-diamino-6-pteridinyl)methyl)methylamino)benzoyl)-L-glutamic acid) is an inhibitor of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) which prevents the conversion of deoxyuridylate into thymidylate. It thus prevents the biosynthesis of DNA and is commonly used in cancer chemotherapy. However, in common with most anticancer agents, it is toxic to normal cells as well as cancerous cells and hence a xe2x80x9crescue agentxe2x80x9d is often administered some 12 to 24 hours after treatment with a high dose of methotrexate. Leucovorin (5-formyltetrahydrofolic acid) is the commonly used rescue agent for methotrexate.
Leucovorin has two chiral centres and the product commercially available (Wellcovorin (RTM) of the Wellcome Foundation Ltd) is composed of equal amounts of the compounds of formulae (Ia) and Ib) (in the form of their calcium salts) which compounds have the (R) and (S) stereochemistry respectively at C-6.
It has been reported (Montgomery et al, Cancer Treatment Reports, 1981, 65, 1117-1119) that only the (6S) diastereoisomer (Ib), which is the natural diastereoisomer, is effective in restoring one-carbon metabolism and thus of use in methotrexate rescue.
Indeed there are reports (Leary et al, Biochem, Biophys. Res. Commun., 1973, 56, 484) that thymidylate synthase from L. casei is inhibited by the non-natural dia stereoisomer of 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate and that 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase from E. coli is also inhibited by the same diastereoisomer (Scott and Donaldson, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 1964, 14, 523). Moreover, the non-natural diastereoisomer of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate is a potent competitive inhibitor of glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR) formyl-transferase from chicken liver (Smith, Benkovic and Benkovic, Biochemistry, 1981, 20, 4034).
These results imply inhibition of both pyrimidine and purine biosynthesis, and thus of DNA biosynthesis also, by the non-natural diastereoisomers of one-carbon derivatives of tetrahydrofolate. If this inhibition is also present in mammalian systems there is a potential clinical requirement for the natural (6S) diastereoisomer of leucovorin.
Separation of the two diastereoisomers of leucovorin has been carried out by fractional crystallisation (Cosulich et al, J Amer.Chem.Soc, 1952, 74,4215) and by chromatography (Feeney et al., Biochemistry, 1981, 20, 1837) and the (6S) diastereoisomer has been obtained by the enzyme catalysed reduction of dihydrofolate followed-by formylation (Rees, Valente, Suckling and Wood, Tetrahedron, 1986, 42, 117) but the yields are low in the latter and the isomers difficult to obtain in reasonable purity in the former. It is an object of the present invention to avoid or minimize one or more of the above disadvantages.
It has now been found that the introduction of a chiral auxiliary group into tetrahydrofolate or a tetrahydrofolate derivative close to the epimeric centre at C-6 enables ready separation of the new pair of diastereoisomers and the conversion of the separated diastereoisomers into pure (Ia) and (Ib) in good yield.

Substantially pure diastereoisomers of tetrahydrofolate derivatives


An airline operations system, controller and method reschedules flights affected by a disruption that precludes a planned schedule for the flights. The method includes obtaining data related to a scheduled origination and a scheduled destination for each of a set of passengers scheduled on the flights, generating a passenger connection network of connections between the scheduled origination and the scheduled destination for a subset of the set of passengers, applying at least one criterion to the passenger connection network and rescheduling at least one connecting flight based on the criteria. The system and controller solves a network flow problem to reschedule a subset of connecting flights to have a delayed projected departure time. Resulting output can include the set of delayed flights along with modified projected departure times, a set of flight cancellations and a set of passengers with missed connections.

Common sources of disruption to airline schedules include crew absences, mechanical failure, inclement weather, etc. Disruption events can occur without any notification and with immediate effect such as when an airport closes due to a radar failure. Other disruption events, such as might occur because of deteriorating weather conditions, can have a more gradual effect on airline schedules. Planned airport or airspace closures cause disruption events with a defined time period where the defined time period can be static or can dynamically change during the disruption event.
In response to a disruption event, airlines reschedule their operations by implementing recovery plans for schedule, aircraft, crews and passengers that can include delaying or canceling flights, normally via an airlines operations control center (AOCC). Operators in an AOCC of a major airline manage the execution of hundreds or thousands of flights a day and adjust in real time the movements of the aircraft and crewmembers of the airline to minimize costly delays and cancellations, while complying with complex maintenance and routing constraints. These operators are responsible for preparing flight plans, adjusting the airline schedule including flight schedule, departure slot assignments, aircraft assignments and crew assignments in response to various disruption events. A challenge for major airlines is to limit inefficiency in the airline and manage information efficiently to alleviate the impact of unforeseen schedule disruptions.

Method for rescheduling flights affected by a disruption and an airline operations control system and controller


A fluid friction clutch for a motor vehicle fan comprises at least one rotatably mounted shaft, a drive element firmly mounted on the shaft so as to rotate with it and a driven element rotatably mounted about the axis of the shaft. The drive element and driven element form a coupling region, which accommodates a viscous fluid. A fan member is connected to the outer region of the driven element by means of at least one partially plastic or plastic-encapsulated fixing ring arranged concentrically with respect to the axis of rotation.

The present invention relates to a fluid friction clutch or drive that is especially suitable for driving a motor vehicle fan.
Such fluid friction clutches are known in the prior art and are used for radiator fans or as drives per se, in order to permit sufficient dissipation of heat from the thermal energy generated by an internal combustion engine, for example. Such fan clutches are used in particular for vehicles in the medium power range, such as transporters, off-road vehicles, lightweight goods vehicles and agrarian applications.
In addition to electrically actuated fan clutches, use is also made of thermally actuated fluid friction clutches which have a bimetallic valve and which have storage chambers or reservoirs only on the secondary side. However, this design has control problems at low rotational speed and in the case of rapid engagement of the clutch and/or its starting characteristics. In particular, this is disadvantageous in the case of vehicles with gasoline engines in which the ratio between nominal rotational speed and idling speed of the motor assumes relatively high values.
Furthermore, so-called "fan boom" or "morning sickness" problems are known. These are caused in particular by the fact that the transmission region of the clutch is relatively highly filled with oil when the engine is idling (fan boom) or when the engine is cold started (morning sickness) and, as a result of relatively high engine rotational speeds and the associated fan clutch engagement, the fan causes unnecessary and/or unpleasant fan noise.

Fluid friction clutch for a motor vehicle fan


The transmission has a plurality of members that can be utilized in powertrains to provide eight forward speed ratios and one reverse speed ratio. The transmission includes three planetary gear sets having six torque-transmitting devices, a fixed interconnection and a grounded member. The powertrain includes an engine and torque converter that is selectively connected to at least one of the planetary gear members and an output member that is continuously connected with another one of the planetary gear members. The six torque-transmitting devices provide interconnections between various gear members, the transmission housing and with the input member, and are operated in combinations of three to establish at least eight forward speed ratios and at least one reverse speed ratio.

Passenger vehicles include a powertrain that is comprised of an engine, multi-speed transmission, and a differential or final drive. The multi-speed transmission increases the overall operating range of the vehicle by permitting the engine to operate through its torque range a number of times. The number of forward speed ratios that are available in the transmission determines the number of times the engine torque range is repeated. Early automatic transmissions had two speed ranges. This severely limited the overall speed range of the vehicle and therefore required a relatively large engine that could produce a wide speed and torque range. This resulted in the engine operating at a specific fuel consumption point during cruising, other than the most efficient point. Therefore, manually-shifted (countershaft transmissions) were the most popular.
With the advent of three- and four-speed automatic transmissions, the automatic shifting (planetary gear) transmission increased in popularity with the motoring public. These transmissions improved the operating performance and fuel economy of the vehicle. The increased number of speed ratios reduces the step size between ratios and therefore improves the shift quality of the transmission by making the ratio interchanges substantially imperceptible to the operator under normal vehicle acceleration.
Six-speed transmissions offer several advantages over four- and five-speed transmissions, including improved vehicle acceleration and improved fuel economy. While many trucks employ power transmissions having six or more forward speed ratios, passenger cars are still manufactured with three- and four-speed automatic transmissions and relatively few five- or six-speed devices due to the size and complexity of these transmissions.
Seven-, eight- and nine-speed transmissions provide further improvements in acceleration and fuel economy over six-speed transmissions. However, like the six-speed transmissions discussed above, the development of seven-, eight- and nine-speed transmissions has been precluded because of complexity, size and cost.


A new structure (FIG. 11) for a thick-film thermal printhead and a variety of implementation approaches for controlling such a printhead. In the structure of the invention, the conductive lead at each end of the heater element is switched to either the power supply (Vhd) or ground, depending on the corresponding nib data bit. The improvement over a traditional center-tap structure (FIG. 1) is the reduction of density of conductive leads to achieve the resolution of printed dots. Compared to the printhead structure of alternated conductive system, either with diodes (FIG. 2) or without diodes (FIG. 4), which both suffer from the introduction of undesirable leaking currents, the printhead structure of the invention provides the advantage of eliminating leakage current completely. Control of the thermal printhead according to the invention is based on the sequential exclusive-OR (XOR) logic operation applied to the shifted-in nib data bit stream. The XOR functionality may be incorporated in the driver IC, embedded in the raster data processing FPGA (Field Programming Gate Array), or implemented in the form of a lookup table in the memory block of a main processor system. All prior art advanced controls based on a multi-pulse strategy can be applied directly from those used in prior art printhead structures to the controls for the thermal printhead for this invention without modification. A new driver IC (FIG. 26) is also disclosed according to the invention in which the outputs are SPDT (Single-Pole-Double-Throw) switches and the built-in XOR gates can be configured to act in the pass-through mode, if required, so that the new driver IC may be used as a traditional driver IC.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns thick film print head apparatus and electronic control therefor and in particular to improvements for thermal recording on thick film. Still more particularly, the invention concerns a novel printhead structure and novel driver ICs (Integrated Circuit) with incorporation of a variety of control methods for recording and energy control.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior Printhead Structures
On a thermal printhead the heater nib line is made of an array of heater elements, on which Joule's heat is generated by applying a voltage across and flowing the current through the heater element. The traditional structure (Durbeck et al., "Output Hardcopy Devices," Academic Press, 1988) is shown in FIG. 1 where conductive paths are connected to both ends of each heater element, 0101a, . . . , 0101e, also denoted as resistive elements R1, . . . , R5, with the supply power supply Vhd 0103. The resistive elements are called "nibs". A third conductive path is connected from the center of each heater element to a switch, 0102a, . . . , 0102e, usually embedded in a driver IC (Integrated Circuit) which is connected to ground.
The switch is turned on (0102b, 0102e) or off (0102a, 0102c, 0102d), depending on the corresponding nib's data bit being 1 or 0. The operation is quite straightforward—when the switch is on, electrical currents are flowing from both ends of a heater element towards the center of the heater element, and thereby Joule's heat is generated on the heated nibs 0101b, 0101e. Hence this structure is referred to as a "center-tap" arrangement. There are two drawbacks to this arrangement, however. First, the density of the conductive pattern is twice the resolution of the printed dots. Second, each printed dot may be of an undesirable butterfly-like shape. This is because usually high electrically conductive material such as gold is used as the electrodes on a thick film thermal head and, due to high thermal conductivity of gold, heat escapes from the conductive pattern in the center portion toward the electrodes, resulting in lower temperature than other parts of the heater element.
One way to reduce the density of the conductive pattern and also to eliminate the undesirable butterfly-like dot shape is to provide an alternated conductive lead system. A simplified circuit diagram of such a system (Tanno et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,844, 10/1976; Mizuguchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,018, 2/1979) is shown in FIG. 2 where the nominal resistance of each heater element (i.e., nib) is denoted as R. The addition of diodes 0204 in the upstream conductive path 0203 prevents the leakage current from reverse-flowing. Each nib of the heater nib line 0205 is turned on or off, by a switching circuit 0206 embedded in a driver IC, depending on the raster data bit being 1 or 0 associated with a specific nib. The downstream switches 0206 and the upstream conductive circuits 0203 are shared by pairs of neighboring nibs. When the external controller sends raster data to the register in the driver IC, the power supply 0207 is connected to the conductive path A 0201, termed "A-phase," or path B 0202, termed "B-phase," alternatively. In this kind of configuration the density of conductive pattern is the same as the resolution of printed dots. However, there exists undesirable leakage current. For example, while the current flowing through the supposedly energized nib 0208 is V/R as designed, the leakage current flowing through the three neighboring nibs 0209, 0210, 0211 on the left side is V/(3R), thereby generating 1/9 of Joule's heat as of that on the energized nib 0208.
For high-resolution thermal heads, the space allowed for mounting diode arrays becomes constrained. Consequently, a deep diffusion zone is required during the semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, adding diode arrays as in FIG. 2 presents problems in technical implementation as well as an increase in manufacturing cost. Another thermal printhead development has focused on removing the diodes and adding a secondary power supply (Kos, U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,925, 6/1977; Yeung, U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,425, 7/1992; Watanabe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,188, 12/1997; Smither et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,195, 9/1998). FIG. 3 shows such an arrangement for a diode-less alternated conductive lead system, where VP is the voltage from a primary power supply and VS (<VP) is applied from a secondary power supply. In the example, a single switch 0303 is turned on for heating nib R8, and switches 0301 and 0302 are turned on for heating nibs R3 and R4.
If all the nibs are of the same resistance value (nominal R), IE=VP/R is the current designed to flow through each nib to be heated (R3, R4 and R8), IN=VS/R is the current through the neighbor nibs (R2, R5 and R9), and IO=(VP−VS)/(2R) is the current through all the other nibs (R1, R6, R7, R10, R11, R12, . . . ), as described in a published paper (Toyosawa et al., "Development of dual-line wide-format 1200-dpi thermal printhead," Journal of Imaging Science and Technology (JIST), vol. 53, no. 9, September/October 2009). If VS is selected to be of ⅓ of VP, as shown in FIG. 4, all the nibs which are not to be energized intentionally would have the same parasitic current as ⅓ of the full current and an undesirable Joule's heat of 1/9 of the full-power on the energized nibs (R3, R4 and R8), no matter what data pattern is applied on the driver ICs.
In most thermal printing applications, on paper or film, 1/9 of full power is below the threshold of the energy curve for activating a heater element (nib) to mark a visible dot on the media, thus no spurious printing would result. However, the undesirable residual heat of 1/9 full power may pose a problem for certain applications. For example, in DTS (Direct-To-Screen) thermal systems, images are to be printed on a screen by transferring heat from the thermal head to a ribbon and then to the top emulsion of the screen. A successful complete DTS job requires a clean and sharp peel-off of the unheated ribbon from the screen, but the residual heat generated by 1/9 of full power may raise the temperature in the unprinted ribbon area, resulting in a sticky image edge and an unclean peel-off.
The issue of the undesirable residual heat generated by the leakage current can be examined by looking at the voltage difference across a single nib heater element 0501, as shown in FIG. 5 where the upstream conductive lead 0502 is usually connected to a power supply (i.e., VU=Vhd) and the downstream conductive lead 0503 to a driver IC. In the desirable condition, when the data bit corresponding to the nib is 1, the switch on the driver IC is enabled and the downstream lead is connected to ground so that VD=0.
However, when the data bit is 0, the switch on the driver IC is disabled (i.e., open) and the downstream lead "floats". The values of VU and VD vary, depending on the printhead circuitry structure and the location of the supposedly unheated nib. For example, in alternated conductive lead system with diodes, as shown in FIG. 2, when the switch for a downstream lead is open, there are three possible cases: a) VU=VD=V, b) VU=V, VD=⅔V, or c) VU=⅓V, VD=⅔V. In the two latter cases a leakage current and undesirable heat are generated. Similarly, in a diode-less alternated conductive lead system (FIG. 3) assuming VS=VP/3, when the switch for a downstream lead is open, it could be a) VU=VP, VD=(VP−VS)/2=VP/3, or b) VU=VS, VD=(VP−VS)/2=VP/3. In both cases a leakage current and undesirable heat are generated.
Prior Driver ICs
The prior art block diagram of FIG. 6 is for a typical off-the-shelf 64-bit driver IC 0601 comprising a shift register 0602, latches 0603 and gated switches 0604. IC 0601 reads the raster data into the SerialIn port, shifts the data bit by bit, and after all the data bits have been shifted in, enables the latch and strobe signals so that all the output switches 0604 are turned on or off according to the raster data pattern. The output ports DO1 . . . DO64 are connected to the downstream conductive lead 0503 (see FIG. 5) of each nib on the heater nib line. Therefore for the nib bit designated as 1, the gated switches of FIGS. 2 and 4 are on, the downstream conductive lead is connected to ground, the current flows through the corresponding nib and Joule's heat is generated. The timing diagram of control and data signals for the diode-less alternated conductive lead system is shown in FIG. 7 along with the switching timing of the power supplies VP and VS (=VP/3) for A-phase and B-phase.
For real system implementation, a driver IC can accommodate only a limited number of parallel outputs and switches. Hence multiple driver ICs are used. Usually a full scanline of raster data are fed into a raster data processing FPGA (Field Programming Gate Array) which splits a full scanline into multiple bit streams of short length equal to the data width of the driver IC. The FPGA then sends these in-parallel bit streams simultaneously along with a set of control signals (Clock, Latch, Strobe, etc.) to the driver ICs. FIG. 8 is a block diagram 0801 for such a prior art arrangement utilizing multiple 256-bit driver ICs 0804a, 0804b of which the structure is similar to the 64-bit driver IC 0601 of FIG. 6. One advantage of the structure (FIG. 8) of multiple in-parallel bit streams is the increase of printing speed, because the processing time is only limited by the data width of driver ICs. For example, when 256-bit driver ICs are used, it takes only 256 clocks to shift a full scanline of raster data and load into the heater nib line 0802. During the time period of data shifting and loading, the raster data processing FPGA 0803 may also simultaneously accomplish tasks of data sorting and bit stream splitting for the next scanline.
In the alternated conductive system, either with diodes (FIG. 2) or without diodes (FIG. 4), conductive leads to the power supply are usually connected to the opposite side to those connected to the driver ICs. This symmetric structure of conductive leads is more suitable for flat-type printheads, but may make manufacturing of edge or near-edge type thermal heads more inconvenient.
Prior Printhead Energy Control Methods
An imperative requirement for thermal printing is to have a consistent and uniform dot shape across the whole printed image. One affecting factor is the temperature of the printhead because the thermal head gets warmed up and the dot size grows bigger as the printing continues, due to the nature of heat dissipation and accumulation on the nib line. To ensure that the heated nibs have the same dot size during the cold-start period (i.e., beginning of printing) as in the steady-state period (i.e., after getting warmed up and the thermal head stays at a constant temperature), two approaches of energy adjustment based on thermistor readings have been used. One method is to adjust the voltage level of the power supply which provides the current for heating the nibs. Usually it is done by the main processor which adjusts the power supply through remote control signals. This is shown in FIG. 9 which is a block diagram of a printer system utilizing a thermal head, with the motion mechanism and corresponding motion controller omitted for clarity of illustration. The other approach is to apply additional small pulses to the nibs, thus generating more heat, during the cold-start period.
The most important factors affecting the consistence and uniformity of dot shape are the residual heat of the nib due to heating in the previous data line as well as the heat transfer from the neighbor nibs due to leakage current. To compensate for such effects (which are the characteristics of the thermal head), a multi-pulse control strategy, commonly known as history control or hysteresis control, is usually adopted. It appends a number of small pulses, following the main pulse (corresponding to nib data's being 1), to the driver IC so that additional current is applied to the nib. The control pattern, i.e., the number of those small pulses and the pulse width, depends on the historical data (i.e., nib data of previous lines) as well as the data pattern of neighbor nibs.
FIG. 10A is an example timing diagram illustrating that each nib receives one main voltage pulse 1001 corresponding to the raster data bit being 1 or 0, three small pulses 1002, 1003, 1004 for hysteresis control and two small pulses 1005, 1006 for temperature compensation. The implementation of multi-pulse control usually resides in the raster data processing FPGA which sends the data bit streams of a full scanline one by one for the pulse train. FIG. 10B illustrates that the sequence of sending the bit streams 1012, . . . , 1016 for pulses used in hysteresis control and temperature compensation are essentially the same as the bit stream 1011 for the main pulses.
3. Identification of Objects of the Invention
A primary object of the invention is to provide a new structure for a thick film printhead.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new driver IC as well as a variety of control methods for the new thick-film printhead identified above
Another object is to provide an assembly wiring structure so that all conductive leads are on the same side of the nib line in the new printhead identified above.

Thick film print head structure and control circuit


A system and method for incentivizing users to alter virtual item balances in an online game are disclosed. The incentives may include rewards for users to reach balance goals. The balance goals may specify target balances of virtual items to be reached in user inventories, and a time by which such target balances must be reached in order for the users to receive a reward. Such target balance may include minimum or maximum balances levels, a range of absolute balance levels, a change in the current balance levels of virtual items in the user inventories and/or any other target balances. Determinations whether a given user has reached such target balance in accordance with a balance goal may be made at or before the time specified in the balance goal.

Game systems that provide incentives to encourage user progression in games hosted by those systems are known. Typically, the provider of those systems may set up in-game goals to facilitate user progression by incentivizing the users to achieve the in-game goals. For example, a typical in-game goal in the games hosted by those systems is for the users to kill a number of monsters. To incentivize the users to achieve such an in-game goal, the provider typically distributes a reward (e.g., a rare virtual item) to a given user upon the given user achieving the in-game goal.

Incentivizing users to alter virtual item balances in an online game


A fluid controller (15) of the type having a primary, spool valve (43) and a followup, sleeve valve (45) which define a relative neutral position (FIG. 1) and first and second maximum, opposite operating positions (L and R). The controller includes a fluid meter (29) having a member (51) which orbits and rotates. To impart the rotational movement of the member (51) to the follow-up valve (45), the present invention provides a shaft member (53) having a forward end (57) defining a diametral bore (67) with a pin member (69) in close fit relationship in the bore (67) and having ends (71) extending radially into axially elongated slots (75) defined by the sleeve valve (45). The axial length of the slots (75) is sufficient to permit the ends (71) of the pin member (69) to move to and fro as the metering member (51) orbits and rotates. The improved follow-up arrangement of the invention permits the spool and sleeve valves to be radially thicker, or to have smaller diameters, either of which will result in improved performance at less manufacturing cost.

The present invention relates to hydrostatic power steering systems, and more particularly, to fluid controllers for use therein.
A typical fluid controller for use in a power steering system includes a housing which defines various fluid ports, and further includes a fluid meter and valving, operable in response to an input, such as the rotation of a vehicle steering wheel. The typical fluid controller also includes an arrangement for imparting follow-up movement to the valving in response to the flow of fluid through the valving and the fluid meter, during a normal steering operation. The flow of fluid through the controller valving is generally proportional to the rate at which the steering wheel is rotated.
A typical fluid controller of the type to which the present invention relates is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,804,016; 5,042,250; and 5,620,026, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated herein by reference. In the conventional fluid controller shown in the above-cited patents, and sold commercially by the assignee of the present invention, the arrangement for imparting follow-up movement to the valving has included a drive shaft having a rearward end in splined engagement with the orbital and rotatable star of the fluid meter. The drive shaft has also included a forward end which is bifurcated, i.e., it defines an open, generally U-shaped portion disposed about a diametrally oriented pin member. The pin member passes through circumferentially elongated openings in the inner valve member (spool valve), and is received in a close fit relationship within holes defined by the outer valve member (sleeve valve). Therefore, in the conventional arrangement for imparting follow-up movement, the pin remains fixed relative to a diameter through the sleeve valve, while the surrounding, bifurcated forward end moves ("wobbles") relative to the pin as the rearward end of the drive shaft orbits and rotates.
The follow-up arrangement described above has been in use commercially for many years, and has been generally satisfactory, especially as long as the fluid pressures being controlled are relatively low, e.g., in the range of 1000 psi to 2000 psi. However, one disadvantage of the prior art follow-up arrangement relates to the bifurcated end of the drive shaft. As is understood by those skilled in the art, because there is relatively little area of engagement between the bifurcated end of the drive shaft and the diametral pin, that portion of the drive shaft has had to be made larger in the diametral direction, in order to provide reasonably satisfactory area of engagement of the drive shaft and the pin.
Unfortunately, even though the drive shaft has typically been relatively compact (i.e., having a small diameter) over most of its axial length, the requirement for the enlarged diametral dimension adjacent the pin has required that the inside diameter of the spool valve be larger than is really desirable, simply to accommodate the forward end of the drive shaft.
With the minimum inside diameter of the spool valve being thus determined, the designer of the fluid controller has, prior to the present invention, had two options. Either the radial thickness of the spool valve can be decreased, in which case the spool valve is more likely to be deflected inward by relatively higher fluid pressures, or the outside diameter of the spool valve can be made larger. In the latter case, the diameter of the sleeve valve will also have to be made larger, and as is well known to those skilled in the art, sealing of cylindrical clearances becomes more difficult and expensive as the diameter of the cylindrical clearance increases.
Another disadvantage of the prior art follow-up arrangement is the manufacturing cost of providing both the bifurcated forward end and a set of straight, internal splines within the central opening of the star, and a set of crowned, external splines about the rearward end of the drive shaft. Such splines typically require a relatively more sophisticated manufacturing operation, such as hobbing.

Fluid controller with improved follow-up


A new and distinct variety of peach tree, Prunus persica, cv. ‘Supechtwentyfive’ is characterized by very early ripening, large-size fruit, with medium brix, melting flesh, strong adherence of the stone to the flesh, and a large percentage of over-color.

This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new and distinct variety of peach, Prunus persica cv. 'Supechtwentyfive'. The variety 'Supechtwentyfive' was originated by hybridization and was first selected in May 2016 by Terry A. Bacon and Terrence J. Frett as breeder number: 'PE1813'. The new variety was first evaluated by Terry A. Bacon and Terrence J. Frett near Wasco, Calif. in Kern County.
The new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' is characterized by having very early ripening, large-size fruit, with medium brix, melting flesh, strong adherence of the stone to the flesh, and a large percentage of over-color.
The seed parent is 'Supechseventeen' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,588), and the pollen parent is 'PeachLate12' (bulk pollen of unpatented breeding selections PE1363, PE1390, PE1391W, PE1404, and PE1405W). The parent varieties were first crossed in February 2012, with the date of sowing being February 2013, and the date of first flowering being February 2016. The new peach variety 'Supechtwentyfive' was first asexually propagated by Terry A. Bacon and Terrence J. Frett near Wasco, Kern County, Calif. in February 2017 by dormant grafting.
The new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' is distinguished from its seed parent, 'Supechseventeen', in that harvest of the fruit of the new variety starts about 5 days later than for 'Supechseventeen' and the percentage over-color of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' is higher at 100% compared to 85%+ for 'Supechseventeen'.
The fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has the same yellow flesh with some red color as 'Supechtwentyone' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26,773). However, the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' ripens about 14 days earlier than 'Supechtwentyone'. Additionally, fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has a smaller fruit weight at 170 g compared to 200 g for the fruit of 'Supechtwentyone'.
The fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' ripens about 6 days earlier than 'Supechtwentytwo' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 30,979). Additionally, fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has a smaller fruit weight at 170 g compared to 180 g for the fruit of 'Supechtwentytwo'.
The fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' ripens about 34 days earlier than 'Brittney Lane' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,286). Additionally, the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has a smaller fruit weight at 170 g compared to 230 g for the fruit of 'Brittney Lane'.
The new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has similar fruit size as 'Supechfifteen' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,177). However, the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' ripens about 7 days earlier than 'Supechfifteen' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,177). Additionally, the fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has higher degree of overcolor at 100% compared to 80%+ for 'Supechfifteen'. The fruit of the new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has a higher brix at 13% compared to 11% for 'Supechfifteen'
The new variety 'Supechtwentyfive' has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations by, for example, cuttings and grafting.


An apparatus, system, and method for displaying and transmitting information in which a rotatable member has a display end upon which a plurality of light emitting devices (LEDs) are disposed in a linear manner normal to a plane of rotation. The invention also includes an infrared transmitter (IRT), for communicating energize instructions conforming to a message to be presented; and an infrared receiver (IRR), for receiving the energize instructions and responsively energizing specific light emitting devices such that the message is presented by the rotating light emitting devices.

A telecommunications service referred to as caller identification (CID) permits a called party to receive information that identifies a calling party without need for answering the call. CID information is typically displayed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) mounted to a handset, base station, or separate device. LCDs are typically planar and allow viewer perception from a substantially normal vantage point. However, the distance between the LCD and the viewer must be relatively short.

Rotating LED display device receiving data via infrared transmission


A reinforcement for a dental restoration substructure is provided. The reinforcement is a generally annular structure that protrudes from the body of the substructure generally near an occlusal portion of the restoration. The annular structure provides a support for veneering porcelain at the location of the greatest thickness of the porcelain and at the location where occlusal stress is applied, and fractures of veneering porcelain are commonly experienced.

For some time, dental prostheses were produced from porcelain veneering material bonded onto a metal framework (substructure, or core). This porcelain-fused-to-metal ("ceramo metal") construction required a fairly bulbous metal core, with a fairly uniform porcelain thickness to avoid de-lamination under sheer conditions. More recently, dentists have been offered high strength ceramic materials as substitutes for the conventionally metal substructures in ceramo-metal crowns and/or bridges. These porcelain veneer fused to non-metal core crowns/bridges offer reduced labor costs, equivalent or superior precision to ceramo-metal alternatives, improved aesthetics, excellent bonds to the underlying high-strength ceramic sub-structure, reduction in thermal stresses, and reduced thermal conductivity.
Particular emphasis is placed on recent improvements in strength of the various new non-metal substructure materials. Traditional ceramic cores have compressive strengths in the region of 150-200 MPa. Alumina based cores claim strengths in the region of 400-600 MPa, and Zirconia cores have strengths ranging from 900-1200 MPa. Notwithstanding the impressive strengths of these substructure materials, these figures are deceptive due to the more limited strength of the veneering materials used for the crowns and/or bridges. Furthermore, the more aesthetic and much weaker veneering materials are not adequately supported by the higher strength ceramic core, often resulting in fracturing of the veneering porcelain while the ceramic core remains intact.
In restorations supported by implants instead of teeth, the fracture potential may be increased even more. This increased fracture potential is caused in part by an increase in the bulks of veneering porcelain. First, implants tend to be placed more lingually than the teeth they are replacing, which often results in more unsupported buccal porcelain. Second, the diameter of an implant platform is often smaller than the tooth it is replacing, giving rise to still bigger bulks of unsupported porcelain. The situation is further complicated by implants being more rigid than teeth, while at the same time resulting in reduced proprioceptive capabilities. All these factors tend to concentrate and accentuate the forces placed on the veneering porcelain.
Fracture of veneers is not a new problem. Traditionally, in ceramo-metal technology, the weakness of the veneering ceramic material has been compensated for by bulking up and designing the substructure in certain quite well defined ways. Nevertheless, bulking up the substructure often results in a less desirable aesthetic appearance, as the substructure becomes more visible through the veneer. One example of an attempt to provide a concealed support includes constructing a metal collar at the base of the substructure with a shoulder brought part way up the lingual surface of the substructure. Also, in the approximal regions the substructure frame is frequently built out under the contact points with the veneer. The concept behind these design elements is to reduce the bulk of the veneering porcelain and to convert the loading stresses on the veneer ceramic from being in shear to being under compression.
Many operators are applying the same concepts traditionally used for ceramo-metal technology to the design of high strength ceramic substructures. Notwithstanding, these design elements are not much help in strengthening the most visible portions of the teeth, the buccal surfaces. This can be a particular problem in the mandible because in a normally related occlusion, the buccal cusps of the mandibular teeth serve as occlusal supports. Using a high strength ceramic substructure, which tends to be opaque and of high luminosity, half way up the buccal surface to reinforce the veneer porcelain of the cusp is just as unacceptable as using a metal frame in the same manner. Furthermore, a marginal collar at the approximal regions of the substructure provides little or no reinforcement because it is so far away from the region where the stress is being applied (i.e. the tip of the buccal cusps).
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a strengthening mechanism for a crown and/or bridge close to the region where the stress is being applied to the veneer that does not compromise aesthetics and which is relatively simple to design and construct.

High strength substructure reinforcement for crowns and bridges


A method for redundant frame coding by an electronic device is described. The method includes determining an adaptive codebook energy and a fixed codebook energy based on a frame. The method also includes coding a redundant version of the frame based on the adaptive codebook energy and the fixed codebook energy. The method further includes sending a subsequent frame.

In the last several decades, the use of electronic devices has become common. In particular, advances in electronic technology have reduced the cost of increasingly complex and useful electronic devices. Cost reduction and consumer demand have proliferated the use of electronic devices such that they are practically ubiquitous in modern society. As the use of electronic devices has expanded, so has the demand for new and improved features of electronic devices. More specifically, electronic devices that perform functions faster, more efficiently or with higher quality are often sought after.
Some electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, smart phones, computers, etc.) use audio or speech signals. These electronic devices may code speech signals for storage or transmission. For example, a cellular phone captures a user's voice or speech using a microphone. The microphone converts an acoustic signal into an electronic signal. This electronic signal may then be formatted (e.g., coded) for transmission to another device (e.g., cellular phone, smart phone, computer, etc.), for playback or for storage.
Improved reliability and quality in a signal is often sought for. For example, cellular phone users may desire greater reliability and quality in a communicated speech signal. However, reliability and quality may be difficult to improve with limited resources. As can be observed from this discussion, systems and methods that may help to improve reliability and/or quality in a signal may be beneficial.

Devices for redundant frame coding and decoding


A system for interrupt handling in Java is provided that includes an execution flow class, an execution flow scheduler, a Java virtual machine (JVM), and an interrupt handler class that extends the execution flow class. The execution flow class defines an execution flow execution method and a constructor that creates an execution flow context. The interrupt handler class defines a handler method for an interrupt and an execution flow execution method that overrides the execution flow execution method of the execution flow class. An interrupt handler object is instantiated using the interrupt handler class, the constructor creates an execution flow context for the handler method, and when the interrupt is signaled, the JVM invokes a native execution flow activation method in the execution flow scheduler to switch to the handler execution flow context and the execution flow execution method to initiate execution of the handler method.

Mobile electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital cellular telephones are increasingly including applications written in the Java™ programming language. Many of these mobile devices include operating systems written in programming languages other than Java. To increase system stability, it would be desirable to implement all or part of the operating system, such as a high-level thread scheduler or interrupt handlers, using the Java programming language.
A thread may be generically defined as an independent flow of control or stream of execution within an executing application. A thread may include a context (e.g., a program counter and a register set) and an instruction sequence that can be executed independently of other instruction sequences. The Java programming language specification provides a thread API, java.lang.Thread, that may be used to implement multiple threads of execution within a Java program, and imposes a minimum priority-based thread scheduling policy on implementations of the Java Virtual Machine ("JVM"). In many JVM implementations, Java threads are implemented on the native threading model of a non-Java operating system and the scheduler of the operating system controls the scheduling of the Java threads.
In addition, the concept of an interrupt is not supported the Java programming language and standard JVM implementations. Some implementations provide non-standard native application program interfaces ("APIs") to the interrupt handling capabilities of an underlying non-Java operating system. Enhancements to permit thread schedulers and interrupt handling to be implemented in the Java programming language are desirable.

Method and system for implementing an interrupt handler


A light-emitting device in which electrical characteristics of a transistor in a pixel can be monitored without degrading display quality is provided. The light-emitting device includes a plurality of pixels each comprising a pixel circuit. A pixel circuit included in a first pixel is electrically connected to a light-emitting element included in a second pixel through a first switch. A pixel circuit included in the second pixel is electrically connected to the light-emitting element included in the second pixel through a second switch and to a light-emitting element included in a third pixel through a third switch. The pixel circuits are connected to a correction circuit through switches.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, self-luminous display devices, light-emitting devices, and the like including light-emitting elements that utilize electroluminescence (EL) have attracted attention. As examples of such light-emitting elements used in such self-luminous display devices, an organic EL element and an inorganic EL element are known. These light-emitting elements emit light by themselves; thus the visibility of an image on a display device including the organic EL element or the inorganic EL element is higher than that of an image on a display device including a liquid crystal element. Further, the organic EL element and the inorganic EL element have advantages such as high response speed and unnecessity of a backlight.
An organic EL element has a structure in which a layer containing a light-emitting organic compound (also referred to as an EL layer) is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. On application of a voltage to the pair of electrodes, light is emitted from the EL layer. A display device using such an organic EL element is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.


A light emitting device is provided. The light emitting device comprises a conductive substrate, a reflection layer, a support layer, an ohmic contact layer, and a light emitting semiconductor layer. The reflection layer is disposed on the conductive substrate. The support layer is disposed partially on the reflection layer. The ohmic contact layer is disposed at the side of the support layer. The light emitting semiconductor layer is disposed on the ohmic contact layer and the support layer.

The present disclosure relates to a light emitting device, a fabrication method thereof, and a light emitting apparatus.
A light emitting diode (LED) is a typical example of a light emitting device.
An LED has a light emitting semiconductor layer including a first conductivity type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity type semiconductor layer, and emits light from the light emitting semiconductor layer according to power applied thereto.
For fabrication of an LED, a light emitting semiconductor layer is formed as an epitaxial layer on a growth substrate such as sapphire, and an ohmic contact layer and a reflection layer are formed on the light emitting semiconductor layer. A conductive substrate is formed on the reflection layer and then the growth substrate is removed to fabricate a vertical type LED.
Meanwhile, a breakage or lift-off phenomenon may occur during the fabrication process of the LED because the LED has a poor adhesion force between the light emitting semiconductor layer and the ohmic contact layer or between the ohmic contact layer and the reflection layer.

Light emitting device fabrication method thereof, and light emitting apparatus


A display device includes a display unit which displays an image, memories which store information regarding control of the display unit, an operation circuit unit which controls the display unit to display the image based on the information stored in the memories, a data bus which connects the memories to an exterior of the display device, and supplies the information to the memories from the exterior of the display device, and an address bus which connects the memories to the exterior of the display device, and supplies address signals for selecting one of the memories.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to display devices, and particularly relates to a display device which allows complex image information such as letters and pictures to be displayed and input via a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, development of information technology has created a demand for a small-size display device which allows complex information to be displayed and input via screen.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter referred to as an LCD device) as an example of a related-art display device.
In FIG. 1, an LCD 200 includes operation circuits CIR1 through CIR2m, the total number of which is 2m. Each of the operation circuits CIR1 through CIR2m includes a driver, a check circuit, a tablet detection circuit, etc. The LCD 200 further includes a display unit 2 which displays information on an LCD screen.
The LCD 200 is connected to a control device 150, which controls operations of the LCD 200. A plurality of signal lines connect between the control device 150 and the LCD 200 to exchange information therebetween. When a display operation is to be performed, drivers of the operation circuits operate based on information supplied from the control device 150 so as to activate a liquid crystal element corresponding to the supplied information. When input is entered via a pen touch on the display unit 2, information corresponding to a position of the pen touch is forwarded from coordinate-detection circuits of the operation circuit to the control device 150.
The number of signal lines connecting between the control device 150 and the LCD 200 needs to be the total number of bits of all the operation circuits. When each of the 2m operation circuits CIR1 through CIR2m has a n-bit configuration, for example, the number L0 of the signal lines between the control device 150 and the LCD 200 needs to be 2m×n.
Since the signal lines between the control device 150 and the LCD 200 are as many as the total number of bits of the operation circuits, the following problem is encountered in such a configuration. That is, when the LCD 200 is designed for displaying and inputting of complex information, the number of the operation circuits and the number of bits of each operation circuit are increased. In such a case, the number of signal lines and the number of connection terminals become larger, resulting in a cost increase regarding signal-line connections. Further, an increase in the number of terminals leads to the number of components for the LCD 200 and the control device 150 being increased. This means a rise in manufacturing costs of the LCD 200 and the control device 150, and, also, results in the LCD 200 and the control device 150 having larger sizes.
In consideration of this, the operation circuits of the related-art LCD 200 tend to employ a simple structure, giving priority to miniaturization of the LCD 200 over enhanced functions of displaying and inputting of sophisticated information.
Accordingly, there is a need for a display device which allows complex information to be displayed and input via a screen thereof without increasing the number of signal lines between the display device and a control circuit as well as the number of circuit components of the display device and the control circuit.

Display device having reduced number of signal lines