In a communication network comprising a plurality of devices operatively connected to a communication network, a data manager operatively connected to the communication network receives information about a user from a first device, which information comprises user profile data including both personally identifiable information (PII) data and non-personally identifiable information (NPII) data, and user action data regarding actions the user has taken. Additionally, a private key is received from the first device. The user profile data is stored in a user profile data store, whereas user action data and NPII user profile data is stored in a user action data store based on the private key such that it is not linked to an identity of the user or any data in the user data profile store. In an embodiment, storage of the data in the user action data store is based on a one-way transformation of the private key.

The proliferation of the Internet and World Wide Web has ushered in an unprecedented level of communication between entities (i.e., people, businesses, organizations, etc.) as well as the unprecedented ability to collect data about such entities, knowingly and unknowingly. For example, the routine digital collection of personal data has grown exponentially in the past decade, arguably destroying any semblance of privacy. Every user action (click, comment, search, post, tweet, location, like, photo view, listen, etc.) is meticulously tracked, often without user awareness or control. More recently, an increase in public awareness about the level of data collection and the amount that such data is shared with others has raised persistent and troubling concerns about individual privacy.
Nevertheless, individuals are willing to provide personally identifiable information for legitimate purposes facilitated by Internet and World Wide Web technologies. For example, e-commerce companies need to verify user billing and shipping address to reduce fraud, and need verified email addresses to send receipts and shipping notices. As another example, responsible elected officials want to understand public opinion from those they particularly represent, and the relevant constituents within their jurisdictions are often willing to provide email addresses for this purpose.
Simultaneously, Internet and World Wide Web technologies may also provide the opportunity for anonymous communications, thereby maintaining privacy to a greater degree. In short, in the domain of Internet- or World Wide Web-based, electronically-implemented data collection, tensions exist between the respective benefits of known identities and anonymity.
When their identity is known, individuals are less likely to exhibit bad behaviors such as fraud, harassment and abuse. However, this may come at a cost as known users often engage in a form of self-censorship whereby they present a sanitized and flattering view of themselves, including providing socially desirable (and often inaccurate) commentary or responses to surveys. Further, a known identity allows institutions to relentlessly track users online and offline as noted above, and inhibits individual rights including the right to privacy and the right to free speech. Many people—often including public figures, women and minorities—refrain from expressing their opinions online (including not responding to polls) to avoid harassment, confrontation, embarrassment or alienating others. Asking respondents to provide personally identifiable information decreases already-low response rates, just as verifying user identity lowers the response rate to online petitions.
On the other hand, anonymity allows people to freely exercise their right to free speech without repercussion, but also allows anonymous trolls to harass and abuse others, producing an uncivil tone of griping, distrust, and disgust. As a result, many online publishers including Reuters, National Public Radio, The Chicago Sun Times and Popular Science no longer allow readers to comment on articles, which suppresses free speech and the open expression of ideas that is critical to democracy. Anonymity also makes it extremely difficult to accurately measure or understand public opinion, since anyone can respond multiple times using fake user profiles. Even when respondents are asked to provide personally identifiable information (PII), they can often remain anonymous by using fake names (pseudonyms). For example, online petitions by the White House, Change.org, Moveon.org and other organizations are essentially worthless because anyone can respond (multiple times) with any fake name, address etc. they choose.
Thus, it would be advantageous to accurately record and tally the online and offline behavior, beliefs, knowledge and other actions and attributes of a population of known and potentially verified users, thereby utilizing the efficiencies and scope of Internet- or World Wide Web-based technologies, while simultaneously maintaining privacy.

Method and apparatus for disconnection of user actions and user identity


The present invention discloses a system and method for controlling the dispensing of a fine liquid for coating or other applications, by detecting the volume of liquid dispensed when coating a single workpiece and sending a signal to a controller to disable the dispensing when an insufficient volume of liquid is being dispensed. In a preferred embodiment, the fine liquid is spin-on-glass (SOG) used in semiconductor processing machinery during wafer fabrication and the the SOG volume dispensed when coating a semiconductor wafer is measured using a weight measurement instrument, e.g., an electronic scale capable of 0.1 gm. accuracy, which outputs a weight signal that is input, along with a dispenser condition signal from the SOG dispensing machine, to a programmable logic controller (PLC). A set point is selected to produce a desired weight of dispensed liquid, e.g., 1.7 gms. when 2 ccs. are desired, and is programmed into the PLC. The PLC detects and controls the dispenser and counts the weight reduction recorded by the scale from the beginning of dispensing until reaching the set point. The weight difference is directly related to the volume of SOG dispensed. The scale is reset to 0 after each dispensing period so that the reading is positive. When the set point is reached, the PLC stops counting and the weight difference is checked. If the weight is insufficient, a signal is sent to cause an alarm and interlock to prevent further machine operation until restarted by an operator.

In processing machinery there are many functions involving the fine dispensing of liquids, such as onto workpieces, where the volume being dispensed must be carefully controlled. However, in many of these applications the apparatus for detecting the volume of liquid being dispensed is inaccurate and inefficient in controlling the correction of the process when the dispensed volume is not a preselected or target volume. This can lead to costly product waste and machine down time. For example, in the fabrication of semiconductor wafers, the wafer surfaces are coated with a glass that is dropped from a dispenser onto the wafer surface at its center while the wafer is being spun so that the glass is spread by centrifugal force evenly across the surface. As the SOG coating (dripping) amount is small, about 2 cc., and its density is about 0.86 gm/cc., its weight is only about 1.6-1.7 gms. This 2 cc. amount can be transported from a bottle or other reservoir and dispensed from a very small Teflon tubing, so that it is very difficult to effectively determine how much liquid has been dispensed and whether there is enough SOG dispensed onto the wafer. Presently, such processing machines use a level sensor, already in the machine as purchased, which senses the capacitance of the dielectric material (i.e., SOG). But, this sensor can only detect the SOG level, and essentially tells whether the SOG is all consumed. It can not be used to detect the volume of each dispensing of SOG, i.e., whether it was 2 cc. or not. Consequently, the machine may be dispensing an insufficient amount of liquid for proper coating over a considerable period resulting in the loss of an inordinate amount of product; or conversely, if the sensor indicates incorrect dispensing when the amount is acceptable, constant unnecessary machine stoppage can be costly.
There is clearly a need in the fine liquid dispensing art of a method and means for more accurately determining the amount of liquid being dispensed during a single application to a surface or workpiece.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for closely monitoring the amount of fine liquid being dispensed during a coating or similar process.
It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for accurately determining the volume of fine liquid being dispensed during each application in a process.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for accurately measuring the volume of fine liquid being dispensed during each application in a process and producing an alarm and machine interlock when the volume becomes insufficient.

Method and apparatus for dispensing a liquid

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


An apparatus is provided which prevents the removal of a companion fitting when the valve is open. Thus, for example there is disclosed a load line apparatus comprising a housing, a valve, a cam lever, or more likely a pair of cam levers, and a locking device. The housing has an interior bore, the interior bore defining a flow-through passage. The valve has a surface shaped to close the flow-through passage when the valve is closed. The cam lever is pivotally attached to the housing, and the locking device is movable by the cam lever. The cam lever is operable between a locked position and an unlocked position. In the locked position, the locking device forms a stop to prevent the valve being opened. In the unlocked position, the locking device is retracted from the locked position. The cam lever is operable from the unlocked position into the locked position only when the valve is closed. The load line apparatus disclosed prevents the valve from being opened unless the cam lever is the unlocked position. The load line valve may also prevent a pipe fitting from being uncoupled with a coupling end of the pipe when the valve is opened.

Load line valves may be used by truckers to transfer fluid between containers. A companion fitting is attached to the valve, the valve is opened and fluid transfer of product is facilitated from one container to the next by means of a pump. A difficulty can arise when a user removes the companion fitting while the valve is still open, thus causing a fluid spill. Fluid spills may have detrimental effects to the environment, and should be prevented. In addition, it may be difficult to stem the fluid flow once it has started, as the fluid flow may make attempts to close the valve or reattach the companion fitting swiftly to the valve difficult.


Alkaline-earth metal- and copper- and optionally titanium-based silicates in the form of agglomerates consisting either of monocrystalline grains or of aggregates themselves consisting of monocrystalline particles.. These silicates are prepared by a process including the following stages: a silica sol or a silicate and optionally a titanium sol is mixed with salts of the other constituent elements of the silicate with the exception of oxygen; the mixture thus obtained is dried, preferably by spraying, and the product obtained is calcined. The silicates may be employed as colored pigments in plastics, paints, varnishes, rubbers, ceramics, glazes, papers, inks, cosmetic products, dyes and laminated coatings.

Inorganic coloring pigments are already widely employed in many industries, especially in those of paints, plastics and ceramics. In such applications, the properties consisting, inter alia, of thermal and/or chemical stability, dispersibility (ability of the product to disperse correctly in a given medium), intrinsic color, coloring power and hiding power constitute some particularly important criteria to be taken into consideration in the choice of a suitable pigment.
Unfortunately the problem is that most of the inorganic pigments which are suitable for applications such as the above and which are actually employed nowadays on an industrial scale generally rely on metals (especially cadmium, lead, chromium and cobalt) the use of which is becoming increasingly strictly regulated, or even prohibited, by the legislations of many countries, bearing in mind, in fact, their toxicity, which is reputed to be very high. It is thus possible to mention more particularly, by way of nonlimiting examples, the case of red pigments based on cadmium selenide and/or cadmium sulphoselenide and for which substitutes based on rare-earth sulphides are now already proposed, and that of green pigments which, for their part, exhibit the disadvantage of containing, in most cases, chromium especially in the form of cobalt chromite, of Victoria Green (chromium-based garnets) or of chromium(III) oxide. The case of cobalt-based blue pigments may also be mentioned.
It can be seen, therefore, that the search for, the development and finally the provision of new substitute inorganic pigments nowadays constitute one of the most important economic and industrial objectives.
Barium and copper silicates, especially of blue or violet color, are furthermore known, but the preparation of these products presents difficulties. In fact, these silicates are generally obtained by grog firing. In this case, because of the high temperatures required by this type of process, melt phases are necessarily involved as intermediates and, as a result, products are obtained essentially in the form of glasses. These glasses exhibit a very dark violet color and their use as colorants is very limited. At the most, in fact, they can be employed for coloring ceramics or fruits because it is difficult to grind them to a particle size of less than about ten microns, a particle size which is necessary for coloring other materials, because such grinding generally entails an excessive change in color, which makes them unusable.
There is therefore an undoubted need for colored pigments based on alkaline-earth metal and copper silicates, of fine particle size, permitting the coloring of a wide range of materials and also exhibiting a wide range of colors, especially in the blue and the violet.

Alkaline-earth metal-, copper- and optionally titanium-based silicates, blue or violet pigments based on these silicates, process for their preparation and their use


A large industrial ceiling fan includes exceptionally long fan blades with blade tips that can be tilted upward to more broadly distribute the air. Such broad distribution might be particularly beneficial in cases where the fan is installed relatively low to avoid obstacles such as hanging lights, sprinkler heads and rafters. A low mounting position is possible, because the fan is suspended from a hanger of adjustable length. The fan includes several joints that are redundantly bolted and welded for safety. A continuous retaining ring provides additional safety. A resilient bushing enhances the flexibility of the fan blades and reduces strain where the fan blades connect to a central mounting hub. To more broadly distribute the airflow underneath the fan, each fan blade has a twisted geometry to provide an angle of attack that decreases from the root to the tip of the blade.

It can be difficult to effectively ventilate large, wide-open areas of a building such as those areas typically found in warehouses and factories. Ductwork can be expensive and impractical in some applications, so as a low-cost alternative, a number of ceiling fans might be installed simply to keep the indoor air circulating.
An area can be ventilated by a large number of small fans or a fewer number of large fans. Either option has its advantages and disadvantages. Smaller fans can be easier to install between rafters, sprinkler heads, hanging lights and other obstacles found in some buildings. Small fans might also be strategically located to focus the ventilation where it is most needed. In buildings with high ceilings, however, small fans might not have the capacity to discharge air at a volume that can effectively reach the area near the floor where the occupants could appreciate the airflow, thus small fans might be almost worthless in some cases.
Larger fans might be able to discharge air at a volume and velocity that can reach the floor, however, large fans require more radial clearance, thus they can be more difficult to install between obstacles. If a large fan is lowered so that the fan blades rotate underneath the obstacles, the fan might be so low that it creates a focused draft directly below the fan rather than broadly distributing the air. Increasing the speed of the fan can worsen the focused draft problem. Decreasing the fan speed can eliminate the draft, but operating below the fan's rated speed can be an inefficient use of the fan. In addition, large fans are inherently heavier and may require creative means for ensuring that the fan and its various parts remain intact.
Consequently, a need exists for an industrial ceiling fan that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of both small and large fans.


A method of forming a thin film transistor comprising a deposition procedure of a microcrystal material layer and performing a plasma treatment procedure. The deposition procedure and the plasma treatment procedure are repeated. A buffer layer is thus formed on the gate electrode.

The present invention relates in general to a method of forming a thin film transistor (TFT). In particular, the present invention relates to a method of forming a thin film transistor with a structure protecting gate electrode.
Thin film transistors are active elements used in active matrix type plate panel display and are usually used to drive active matrix type liquid crystal displays, active matrix type organic light-emitting displays, and image sensors.
In a liquid crystal display (LCD), a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between two transparent glass substrates, and the thin film transistors are disposed on one of the transparent glass substrates. In the display region of the LCD, an array of pixel areas is defined by horizontally extended gate lines and vertically extended data lines. Each pixel area has a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode.
FIG. 1 is a cross section of a conventional thin film transistor, bottom gate type thin film transistor formed by back channel etching (BCE). The gate electrode 103 is deposited on the insulating substrate 102 using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process and patterned by photolithography and etching. The gate insulating layer 104, the active channel layer 105, n+ type semiconductor layer 106, and a metal layer 107 are sequentially deposited in a chamber using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process followed by photolithography and etching to define an active channel region. A passivation layer (not shown) is deposited by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process to cover the active channel region. A transparent electrode is deposited by physical vapor deposition to serve as the pixel electrode (not shown) and the thin film transistor and its circuits are thus formed.
As liquid crystal displays increase in size, gate lines become longer, inducing signal delay and pulse distortion issues due to the high resistance of the gate lines. Thus, low resistance material is required for manufacture of the gate lines. Copper, a suitable low resistance material, is however reactive and difficult to use. For example, if copper is used as the gate electrode of the thin film transistor, when the copper gate electrode is exposed in an atmosphere of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition while the gate insulating layer is formed, the copper gate electrode easily reacts with free radicals from the atmosphere. If silicon oxide (SiOx) is used as the gate insulating layer, the silicon oxide film may detach. If silicon nitride (SiNx) is used as the gate insulating layer, bubbling may occur. Therefore, a buffer layer covering the copper electrode is needed before deposition of the silicon oxide or silicon nitride gate insulating layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,917 issued to Batey et al., teaches a method of protecting copper, aluminum or other metal gate electrode. After forming the gate electrode, an ammonia-free silicon nitride layer is deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition to protect the gate electrode. The processing gas comprises silane/nitrogen/helium/hydrogen of 1:135:100:100.
US early publication No. 2002/0042167 to Chae et al., teaches covering a metal oxide layer on the surface of the gate line and the gate electrode using a thermal treatment to protect the gate line and the gate electrode.

Method of forming a thin film transistor


Included are systems and methods for providing access of test points. An embodiment of a system includes an electrical module including at least one electrical circuit configured to communicate at least one electrical signal, the electrical module further including at least one multiple access test point configured to provide access for measurements of the electrical circuit. Some embodiments include an environmental housing that includes at least one access port, the environmental housing configured to receive the electrical module such that at least one access port provides access to at least one multiple access test point.

Test points, including broadband test points, are provided in electrical circuits for use in setting up and troubleshooting cable distribution plants. These electrical circuits (including, but not limited to, radio frequency (RF) amplifiers and optical nodes) may be disposed in an environmental housing. The test points may be accessible from the top of the electrical circuit when the environmental housing is open. However, it may be desirable to access a test point without opening the equipment environmental housing.
In some environmental housings, accessibility to the test points may be provided through one or more apertures in the lid of the housing. The apertures (which may be referred to as test point access ports) may be located proximate to the positions of the test points of the electrical circuit. The access ports may be closed (e.g. with a plug, stopper, etc.) when not in use. During testing, the access port may be opened and a probe may be used to access the test point. However, in many circuits, power supplies and other modules that reside inside the environmental housing lid between the test point and access port may obstruct access to the test points.
One current solution can utilize flexible cable assemblies designed to provide probe access by coupling the flexible cable assembly with the test points and bypassing the obstructions by routing signals from the electrical circuit to access ports located on the sides of the environmental housing lid. While such a solution may provide unobstructed access to a test point, positioning these cable assemblies over the electrical circuits can produce grounding, isolation, and test point response problems during use. In addition, use of these cable assemblies may complicate the installation of the electrical circuits, thus increasing the expense to manufacture and install the units.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies, among others.


A seal has a non-woven fabric folded along lines transverse to the opposite side of the seal and secured by adhesive to fabric strips. The non-woven fabric forms elongated cells with a plurality of the cells receiving inserts to increase seal stiffness. By securing one of these strips to a stationary component of the sealing surfaces, the opposite strip may expand or collapse relative to a movable sealing surface to accommodate excursions of that surface. Multiple layers of cells may be provided in the seals. The inserts may have various cross-sectional configurations including circular, triangular or rhombic and formed of tubes, solid rods or coiled springs.

The present invention relates generally to seals and particularly to fabric seals for usage in low leakage static or dynamic sealing applications.
The increased worldwide demand for electricity leads to the necessity of designing large-scale, high-powered, high-efficiency, and low cost power generation turbomachines with high standards for reliability and performance. One of the primary concerns in a turbomachine design is its sealing performance because it has direct impact on machine operating reliability and efficiency. A number of seals are used in turbomachines such as gas/steam turbines, compressors, and generators for minimizing leakage flows. According to the movement of a seal relative to its sealing surface, seals can be classified as stationary seals affording leakage barriers around and between stationary components or rotating seals affording leakage barriers between stationary and rotating components. Over the years, various techniques have been developed to improve both stationary and rotating seals. Much of this development has occurred in the turbine industry where parasitic flow control is critical.
As a circumferential contacting seal, brush seals have been widely used in turbomachines due to their distinguishing characteristics, i.e., lower leakage flow rate compared with labyrinth seals and seal flexibility for accommodating excursions at the interface without excessive wear and loss of sealing capability. However, brush seals formed of brush bristles are usually expensive and have exhibited hysterisis and were difficult to manufacture. The crucial seal parameters such as cant angle and bristle height depend on the process capability or manufacturing technique and are very difficult to control. A conventional brush seal is made by either folding bristles over a metal plate or sandwiching bristles between a pair of ring-shaped metal support plates and welding ends of the bristles and plates to one another adjacent common edges thereof. Since the metal bristle holder is usually machined with a tight tolerance, a brush seal can fit only a specific sealing dimension. This can result in very high costs for brush seals in tooling, manufacturing, and installation and leads to a long cycle time in brush seal fabrication.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flexible non-metallic seals made of non-woven fabric with inserts


A vibration reducing device that reduces the vibration of a control object includes a digital controller. A vibration state detection device detects the vibration of the control object and generates an analog signal of the vibration of the control object. An input-side bandpass filter has a passband that is narrower than a frequency range from a Nyquist frequency to a sampling frequency of the digital controller, and that contains no frequencies that are an integer multiple of the Nyquist frequency of the digital controller. The input-side bandpass filter allows a part of the analog signal that falls within the passband from the analog signal generated by the vibration state detection device to pass. An A/D conversion device converts the analog signal that has passed through the input-side bandpass filter into a digital signal. A D/A conversion device converts a digital feedback control signal, determined by the digital controller on the basis of the digital signal converted by the A/D conversion device, into an analog feedback control signal. An actuator applies vibration to the control object on the basis of the analog feedback control signal converted by the D/A conversion device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for reducing the vibration of a control object, which can be applied to reduce the high-frequency vibration of the control object. A fuel injector of an internal combustion engine is one such control object that has a high-frequency vibration to be reduced.
2. Description of Related Art
In a direct-injection diesel engine, fuel that has been compressed to a high pressure is directly sprayed into the cylinders by fuel injectors. The fuel injectors may be supported, for example, by known structures. That is, the fuel injector may be installed in a fuel injector mounting hole formed in the cylinder head, and pressed and fixed in the cylinder head by a nozzle support. The nozzle support includes a forked part that terminates in two prongs, is placed over the fuel injector, is supported on the head main body at a supporting point on the opposite end, and is fastened with a bolt on the cylinder head. The axial force of the bolt is transferred to the forked part of the nozzle support, and the fuel injector is pressed and fixed on the cylinder.
The fuel injector includes a needle valve and other moving elements. The lifting/retraction of the needle valve against the seat, controls the injection of fuel. The opening and closing of the needle valve in the fuel injector generates an impact force due to collision. Specifically, in a common rail type diesel engine, as the internal elements of the fuel injector are driven by the high-pressure fuel, the impact force generated in the fuel injector is high. As the fuel injector vibrates due to the impact force, the vibration is transmitted via the nozzle support and cylinder head connected to the fuel injector, to other parts of the engine, which are main factors contributing to engine noise.


The invention relates to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system with PN-sequence. In the synchronization of the invention, both timing offset and frequency offset are estimated and compensated by utilizing a time and frequency synchronization device. In addition, the PN-sequence with the cyclic prefix is added to the OFDM symbol before transmitting. The time and frequency synchronization device of the invention comprises two synchronization circuits from the cyclic prefix and PN-sequence when calculating the timing offset and frequency offset of receiving signal. As a result, the OFDM system of the invention not only has better performance in fading channel, but also has the better bandwidth utilization without extra bandwidth for transmitting the PN-sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system, and particularly, to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system with PN-sequence.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large number of references related to the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) synchronization algorithm exist, and can be divided into the time domain and the frequency domain according to the types of solution, i.e. before and after the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), or into the Non-Data-Aided (also known as blind estimation) and Data-Aided according to data mode, both of which usually use training symbols or cyclic prefixes, pilot symbols and so on.
The concept of using the cyclic prefix is mainly that every OFDM symbol has periodicity after being added with a cyclic prefix, so we only need to use a correlator to estimate the correlation of the cyclic prefixes in the OFDM symbols, and through the Maximum Likelihood Estimation Algorithm, easily calculate the starting point of each OFDM symbol and the offset of carrier frequency as described in the prior related art reference (1) J. J. van de Beek, M. Sandel, and P. O. Borjesson, "ML estimation of timing and frequency offset in OFDM systems," IEEE Trans. Signal Processings, vol. 45, pp. 1800-1805, July 1997 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,759.
The concept of using the training symbol to perform synchronization is that the two PN-sequences in the frequency domain may become periodic time domain signals after passing the IFFT at a transmitting terminal, and the synchronization of timing offset can be accomplished by acquiring the timing metric for estimating time through the operation of the correlation and calculating the maximum of the timing metric though the Maximum Likelihood Estimation Algorithm. In addition, the concept of using the timing metric to estimate the frequency offset is mainly that the first training symbol is the equal data of N/2 length in the timing domain, and thus the frequency offset can make the two equal data have a phase shift expressed by φ=π{circumflex over (ε)}, in which {circumflex over (ε)} is the frequency offset to be estimated. Therefore, the estimation of frequency offset can be accomplished by just calculating the angle of timing metric and dividing the angle by π as described in the prior related art references (2) Schmidl, T. M. and Cox, D. C., "Robust frequency and timing synchronization for OFDM", IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 45, pp. 1613-1621, December 1977.; (3) P. H. Moose, "A technique for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing frequency offset correction," IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 42, pp. 2908-2914, October 1994 and Republic of China Patent Nos. 567689 and No. 560148.
In addition, in the prior related art reference (4) Landstrom, D., Wilson, S. K., van de Beek, J.-J., Odling, P., Borjesson, P. O., "Symbol time offset estimation in coherent OFDM systems," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 50, pp. 545-549, April 2002, the methods of the pilot symbol and the cyclic prefix are combined. Though the synchronization method just based on the cyclic prefix can be improved, the position of the pilot symbol must be arranged properly, thereby achieving a better performance.
The methods mentioned above are all data-aided methods. Though the method is of less complexity, due to the addition of extra data, the bandwidth utilization is lowered consequently, which is the biggest disadvantage of using the conventional data-aided method.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system to solve the above problems.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with PN-sequence

Industrial Technology Research Institute


This invention relates to apparatus and compositions for administering antigens and immunostimulatory peptides to a mammalian host by the introduction of one or more naked polynucleotides to operatively encode for the antigens and immunostimulatory peptides, preferably by non-invasive means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for administering biologically active peptides to a mammalian host by the introduction thereto of one or more polynucleotides to operatively encode for the peptides, preferably by non-invasive means. It also relates to the administration of said polynucleotides to prevent and treat illnesses and loss of immune function associated with aging in mammals.
2. Description of Related Art
The direct introduction of a biologically active peptide or protein into the cells of a patient can have significant therapeutic value. However, this approach also has several drawbacks. Of primary concern is the risk of potential toxicities, particularly at dosages sufficient to produce a biological response to the peptide. From a practical perspective, there is also the problem of the cost associated with isolating and purifying or synthesizing the peptides. Moreover, the clinical impact of the peptides is also limited by their relatively short half-life in vivo which usually results from their degradation by any proteases present in the target tissue.
For these reasons, introduction of a protein into a patient by delivery of a gene which will express the protein in the patient/host is an intriguing alternative to administering the protein. However, to date the principal means for introduction of foreign genetic material into a host has involved the integration of the gene into the host genome by, for example, transforming the host's cells with a viral vector. Direct in vivo gene transfer into postnatal animals has also been reported using DNA encapsulated in liposomes including DNA entrapped in proteoliposomes containing viral envelope receptor proteins.
In 1984, work at the NIH was reported which showed that intrahepatic injection of naked, cloned plasmid DNA for squirrel hepatitis into squirrels produced both viral infection and the formation of antiviral antibodies in the squirrels (Seeger, et al., Proc.Nat'l.Acad.Sci USA, 81:5849-5852, 1984). Several years later, Feigner, et al., reported that they obtained expression of protein from "naked" polynucleotides (i.e., DNA or RNA not associated with liposomes or a viral expression vector) injected into skeletal muscle tissue (Felgner, et al., Science, 247:1465, 1990; see also, PCT application WO 90/11092). Felgner, et al. surmised that muscle cells efficiently take up and express polynucleotides because of the unique structure of muscle tissue, which is comprised of multinucleated cells, sarcoplasmic reticulum and a transverse tubular system which extends deep into the muscle cell.
Although it has been supposed that cells of other tissues may also be able to take up naked polynucleotides, expression in other tissues has only been identified to date when delivery of the expressed gene was via a delivery system, e.g., liposomal transformation of the cells. Indeed, other researchers have suggested that uptake and expression of naked polynucleotides in tissues other than skeletal musde does not occur at detectable or biologically active levels (see, e.g., Stribling, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:11277-11281, 1992 [expression following aerosol delivery of a gene occurred with use of a liposomal delivery system but not with introduction of DNA alone]; and, Tang, et al., Nature, 356:152-154, 1992 [injection with a vaccine "gun" of an hGH plasmid coupled to colloidal gold beads into the skin of mice did not elicit an immune response]).
Although generally effective for gene expression within muscle cells, injection of DNA or RNA into muscle tissue for long-term therapy requires use of repeated injections to offset loss of expression from gene degradation. This approach may not only be time-consuming and expensive, but may also be impractical due to inflammation caused at and near the site of injection. Such inflammation can cause muscle or other somatic cells into which nucleotides are introduced to be themselves targeted by an immune response (see, e.g., Example I) and can lead to severe myonecrosis. Further, intramuscular injection of DNA not only risks injury to muscle tissue, but that injury apparently also compromises the efficacy of the therapy. For example, researchers working with the University of Ottawa recently observed that "[s]triated muscle is the only tissue found to be capable of taking up and expressing reporter genes that are transferred in the form of plasmid DNA . . . but our findings indicate that fibers damaged by the injection procedure do not take up and express plasmid DNA." (Davis, et al., Human Gene Therapy, 4:151-159, 1993).
Further, while use of intramuscular injections may be effective on at least a short term basis in therapies directed to disease in the muscle tissue itself, it is likely to be less effective in stimulating a tissue specific immune or other biological response to the expressed peptide elsewhere in the patient's body.
As a result, intramuscular injection is not a particularly viable route for achieving expression of peptides at the primary entry points for many infections; i.e., skin and mucosa.
Further, it appears that intramuscular injections of polynucleotides will lead to the formation of both antibodies and cytotoxic T cells in the tissue, due to release of any encoded protein by targeted muscle cells. In contrast, injection of protein (e.g., in a vaccination scheme) does not usually induce cytotoxic T cell formation because exogenous proteins do not efficiently enter the class I processing pathway.
In PCT application WO 90/11092 (discussed supra), the inventors propose tbat the injection of naked DNA into skeletal muscle or other somatic issues will lead to direct gene expression in the cytoplasm of the injected cells. The inventors further suppose that the encoded protien will then enter the class I processing pathway to induce cytotoxic T cell formation (which are necessary for the control of established viral infections and cancers). However, as discussed above, it appears that instead any somatic cell that expresses antigen must first release the antigen into the extracellular space for uptake by antigen presenting cells before a class I restricted cytotoxic T cell response can to the antigen can be induced. This conclusion is supported by recent research regarding antigen presentation where the observation was made that "the priming of an immune response against . . . class I restricted antigen that is expressed exclusively in non-hematopoietic cells invovlves the transfer of that antigen to a host bone marrow derived cell before its presentation." (Huang, et al., Science, 264:961-965, 1994). Thus, at least one premise on which the method for introduction of genetic material into muscle cells for protein expression of PCT application WO 90/11092 was based may not be accurate.
Use of intramuscular injections can, however, produce relatively high levels of protein expression systemically prior to degradation of the injected gene. While this response is desirable in therapies where protein replacement is the goal, it can lead to unintended toxicities in immunization protocols where relatively rapid clearance or lower levels of expression are optimal. As a result, introduction of the gene into tissues which regularly shed or regenerate (such as skin) and/or into cells with a relatively high attrition rate in vivo (such as antigen presenting cells) would be more useful routes for gene immunization.
With respect to delivery systems for genes, means such as viral vectors which introduce the gene into the host's genome present potential health risks association with damage to the genetic material in the host cell. Use of cationic liposomes or a biolistic device (i.e., a vaccine "gun" which "shoots" polynucleotides coupled to beads into tissue) to deliver genes in vivo is preparation intensive and requires some experimentation to select proper particle sizes for transmission into target cells. Further, any invasive means of introducing nucleotides (e.g., injection) poses problems of tissue trauma (particularly in long-term therapies) and presents limited access to certain target tissues, such as organs.
Means for non-invasive delivery of pharmaceutical preparations of peptides, such as iontophoresis and other means for transdermal transmission, have at least the advantage of minimizing tissue trauma. However, it is believed that the bioavailability of peptides following transdermal or mucosal transmission is limited by the relatively high concentration of proteases in these tissues. Yet unfortunately, reliable means of delivering peptides by transdermal or mucosal transmission of genes encoding for them has been unavailable.
The potential benefits of successful administration of peptides via in vivo expression of naked genes can be illustrated by comparison to the present state of immunotherapy wherein cytokine proteins (such as interleukin-2, hereafter "IL-2") are administered to a patient to treat or prevent diseases associated with aging.
Certain diseases occur as part of the aging process in virtually all mammalian species, despite differing life styles and life spans among those species. These diseases include cancer, hypertension, vascular diseases and insulin resistance that can result in diabetes. Because the timing of the onset of these diseases cannot be solely attributed to environmental factors, it has been assumed that their onset is genetically programmed. However, the processes which actually control the aging process and the incidence of age-associated illnesses are not known.
In general, aging is associated with a reduced ability to mount an immune response to exogenous antigens, a decreased functional reserve and response to stress, as well as an increased tendency toward fibrosis. All of these states are contributed to or controlled in part in vivo by circulating cytokines.
For example, interleukin-1 (IL-1) proteins affect glucose homeostasis and can act as a hypoglycemic agent in insulin resistant C57BL/Ks db mice and C57BL/6G ob/ob mice (Del Rey, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 86:5943, 1989). In these animal models of adult onset diabetes, a single injection of human recombinant IL-1 normalized glucose blood levels for several hours. IL-1 is also known to exert effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis that influences appetite, and the response to stress. Thus, abnormalities in IL-1 production or responsiveness could underlie both non-insulin dependent diabetes and obesity in aging. IL-1 gene therapy (administered exactly as described for IL-2) may, therefore, prevent the onset of diabetes in mice and humans.
High blood pressure is another concomitant of aging that is frequently associated with diabetes. Recent experiments have shown that a major regulator of blood pressure is the endothelium-derived relaxing factor, nitric oxide. The production of nitric oxide is regulated by IL-1. Hence, the increase in blood pressure that occurs with aging may also be prevented by IL-1 gene therapy. IL-1 protein induces fever and even shock when administered acutely to animals. However, the continuous production of low levels of IL-1 following somatic gene therapy will avoid these side effects.
The biological effects of administering pharmaceutical doses of cytokine proteins have been explored recently by researchers seeking to stimulate the immune system to augment its response to certain pathogens and to maintain immune function in immunodeficient patients, such as those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Specifically, efforts to administer IL-2 as a therapeutic in immune system diseases have been recently reported by Teppler, et al., J. Exp. Med., 177:483-492, 1993, (administration of recombinant IL-2 protein conjugates of polyethylene glycol to HIV infected patients); Caligiuri, et al., J. Clin. Invest., 91:123-132, 1993, (prolonged infusions of recombinant IL-2 protein to patients with advanced cancers), and Kaplan, et al., i Bio/Technology 10:157-162, 1992, (administration of IL-2 to patients infected with M. leprae or HIV). The focus of these studies has been to develop means of administering the IL-2 protein in a way which will minimize its toxicity.
Toxicity of the IL-2 protein has been a major impediment to its use as an effective therapeutic. To be effective, IL-2 therapy generally requires that the administered protein be present in serum in sufficient quantity to saturate high affinity IL-2 receptors and induce marked expansion of circulating natural killer (NK) cells. With high doses of IL-2, however, come life-threatening toxicities such as severe hypotension, pulmonary edema, renal failure, cardiac arrhythmias and neurologic disfunction.
The approach taken by the above-referenced researchers to overcome this problem has been to experiment with prolonged administration of IL-2 protein at relatively low doses after the onset of infection and/or disease. This approach, however, has yet to define effective parameters for consistent, predictable IL-2 therapy. In particular, the levels of circulating protein resulting from introduction of cytokines vary substantially over time, in part due to protease degradation. Repeated injections are, therefore, required with resulting "hills and valleys" in the quantity of protein available to the patient. Moreover, the work with IL-2 does not indicate whether a similar approach would, even after substantial clinical experimentation, prove effective for use with other cytokines which play roles in various disease states, including age-associated illnesses.
A need, therefore, exists for an efficient means of introducing a protein (including but not limited to cytokines and antigens) into a host in a manner which will minimize the toxicity of the protein. More specifically, a need also exists for a means for introducing a protein into a host in a manner which will produce a consistent but subtherapeutic level of protein expression over a long period of time. In the latter respect, a need particularly exists for a means of administering cytokines to prevent as well as treat age-associated illnesses.
More generally, the above discussion also illustrates the need for an effective means of introducing naked nucleotides which will express in vivo a peptide which can induce local immunity in skin and mucosa to vaccinate a host against, for example, sexually transmitted diseases and respiratory illnesses.
It also suggests a need for a means of introducing a gene encoding for a biologically active peptide to a host in a tissue-specific manner without significant tissue trauma.
The present invention addresses all of these needs.

Devices for administration of naked polynucleotides which encode biologically active peptides

The Regents of the University of California


A method for forming a layout pattern includes the following processes. First, a first layout pattern consisting of mandrel patterns and dummy mandrel patterns, a second layout pattern consisting of geometric patterns, and a third layout pattern consisting of pad patterns and dummy pad patterns, are respectively defined on a first mask, a second mask, and a third mask. Then, the first layout pattern is transferred to form a first patterned layer. Afterwards, spacers having a first critical dimension are formed on the sidewalls of the first patterned layer so as to constitute loop-shaped patterns. Then, the third layout pattern is transferred to form a second patterned layer having a second critical dimension, wherein the second critical dimension is greater than the first critical dimension. Finally, the loop-shaped patterns, the pad patterns, and the dummy pad patterns are transferred into a target layer on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of layout patterns in semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a method for forming a layout pattern in non-planar semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Integrated circuits (IC) are made of devices and interconnections, which are formed through patterned features in different layers. During the fabrication process of ICs, the photolithography is an essential technique. The photolithography is used to form designed patterns, such as implantation patterns or layout patterns, on at least a photomask, and then to precisely transfer such patterns to a photoresist layer through exposure and development steps. Finally, by performing several semiconductor processes such as etching processes, ion implantations, depositions and so forth, complicated and sophisticated IC structures can be obtained.
With the continuous miniaturization of semiconductor devices and the remarkable advance in fabrication techniques of semiconductor devices, the conventional lithography process meets its limitation due to printability and manufacturability problems. To meet the requirements of device design rules which continue to push the resolution limits of existing processes and tooling, a double patterning technique (DPT) has been developed and taken as one of the most promising lithography technologies for 32 nanometer (nm) node and 22 nm node patterning, since it can increase the half-pitch resolution up to twice higher by using current infrastructures. Besides, three-dimensional or non-planar transistor technology, such as the fin field effect transistor (FinFET) technology, has also been developed to replace planar MOS transistors. Generally, patterned structures in a FinFET, such as fin structures, can be obtained by sidewall image transfer (SIT).
Although the above-mentioned technologies, i.e. DPT and 3-D transistor technology, have been widely adopted by semiconductor manufacturers and successively overcome major drawbacks in the fabricating process, there are still some problems needed to be solved. For example, in order to prevent or overcome optical problems, such as optical proximity effect, in photolithography processes and polishing problems, such as dishing phenomenon, in planarization processes, dummy patterns are often added to layout patterns of semiconductor devices through proper computer simulation at the beginning of the fabrication process. However, how to effectively distribute different dummy patterns over individual photomasks is still a major topic for study in the semiconductor field.


A tool device for machining workpieces has a machining tool and at least one sensor oriented toward a machining area of a workpiece to be machined by the machining tool. The at least one sensor senses at least a portion of the machining area and produces sensing signals. At least one processing unit for receiving and processing the sensing signals of the at least one sensor is provided so that an on-line control of the machining process is possible.

The present invention relates to a tool device for machining workpieces comprising a machining tool with a machining portion and a clamping shaft which is received in a tool receiving unit.
When machining workpieces, it is in general required that the machining precision corresponds to certain specifications. For example, a bore must have a circular cross-section and may not have any non-circular portions. In order to monitor the machining quality, the workpieces, after machining, are either manually tested or tested on testing stations with regard to the required machining quality. When a machining error is found, the workpiece must either be remachined or is rejected. A remachining process for the workpiece requires additional machining time.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tool device of the aforementioned kind such that the required machining quality can be complied with in a simple and reliable manner.


A setting tool comprised of a housing (1), a handle (2), an axially displaceable firing device (10), an axially displaceable piston guide (11) with a cartridge chamber (13) and a guide channel for receiving and guiding a strip-shaped cartridge magazine (15) that opens into a discharge opening (4) in the housing (1). A length (L) extends between a setting-side inside wall of the discharge opening (4) and a setting-side front face (18) of the firing device (10) in the starting position so that a used cartridge magazine (15) can assume an inclined position relative to the longitudinal axis of the guide channel, after the last cartridge is fired. The length (L) is initially between 15 mm to 20 mm and then a length that corresponds to the greatest path by which the firing device (10) can be displaced.

The invention relates to a setting tool comprising a housing, a handle projecting laterally from the housing, an actuator switch, a firing device, a piston guide with a cartridge chamber and a guide channel for feeding and guiding a strip-shaped cartridge magazine to the cartridge chamber. The guide channel opens into a discharge opening in the housing. The firing device and the piston guide are displaceable against the force of at least one spring in a direction opposite a setting direction. A length (L) extends between a setting-side inside wall of the discharge opening and a setting-side front face of the firing device in the starting position. Because of the particular design of the discharge opening the used cartridge magazine can bend towards the housing in an end zone of the setting tool facing away from the setting direction. The inclined position indicates to the user that the user must insert a new cartridge magazine through the handle into the housing of the setting tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,239,267 discloses a prior art setting device comprised of a housing and a handle projecting laterally from the housing. An axially displaceable piston guide with a cartridge holder is arranged in the housing of the setting device. Also arranged inside the housing is a trigger device displaceable opposite to the setting direction and against the force of a spring. A guide channel for receiving and guiding a belt-shaped cartridge magazine extends through the handle and through the housing, between the piston guide and the ignition unit. A discharge opening, into which the guide channel opens and through which the spent cartridge magazine can exit the housing, is disposed on a side of the housing situated opposite the handle.
This known setting tool has the disadvantage, however, that the user cannot quickly identify whether all cartridges of the cartridge magazine have already been used. The user can only determine whether all the cartridges have been used by counting all of the used cartridges and comparing the number so determined with the number of cartridges still on the cartridge magazine. In practice, the user will usually realize the depletion of the cartridge magazine only after firing the last cartridge. Specifically, upon pressing the setting tool onto a surface and actuating the actuator switch, the user will find that there are no more cartridges in the magazine. Particularly, in setting tools that are equipped with a magazine holder for strip-type nail magazines having a transport assembly, the conveyor assembly cooperating with the nail magazine must be disengaged on subsequent application and a new cartridge magazine must be used.
The object of the present invention is to provide a setting tool, in which the strip-shaped cartridge magazine, after the last cartridge is fired, can assume an inclined position relative to the longitudinal axis of the guide channel, that indicates securely and easily, on the display, that a new cartridge magazine must be installed in the setting tool.
This object is achieved by the setting tool of the present invention. The setting tool comprises a housing, a handle projecting laterally from the housing, an actuator switch, a firing device, a piston guide with a cartridge chamber and a guide channel. The guide channel extends perpendicularly to a setting direction through the handle and through the housing, between the firing device and the cartridge magazine. The guide channel feeds and guides a strip-shaped cartridge magazine to the cartridge chamber and opens into a discharge opening in the housing, wherein the discharge opening is arranged on the side of the housing opposite the handle. The firing device and the piston guide are displaceable against the force of at least one spring in a direction opposite the setting direction. A length (L) extends between a setting-side inside wall of the discharge opening and a setting-side front face of the firing device in the starting position. The length (L) is initially between 15 mm to 20 mm and then corresponds to the greatest path by which the firing device (10) can be displaced.
Because of the particular design of the discharge opening the used cartridge magazine can bend towards the housing in an end zone of the setting tool facing away from the setting direction. The inclined position indicates to the user that the user must insert a new cartridge magazine through the handle into the housing of the setting tool.
The used cartridge magazine can lean towards the housing even in the setting end zone of the setting tool. Specifically, the distance between an inside wall of the discharge opening facing away from the setting direction and the front end facing the setting direction of the firing device in the starting position corresponds to least 0.4 times the length between the inside wall of the discharge opening facing, in the setting direction, and the front end of the firing device, on the setting direction side.
The guide channel opening into the discharge opening has a feed zone extending up to the cartridge magazine. A discharge zone is disposed on the feed side. The discharge zone, for example, has a larger cross-section than the feed zone. As a result, the cartridge magazine can assume an inclined position immediately after firing the last cartridge and after removing the setting tool from a surface.
It is beneficial to the user if the cartridge magazine can incline not only laterally on a plane extending parallel to the setting direction but also on a plane extending perpendicular to the setting direction. To make this arrangement possible, the width of the discharge opening extending perpendicular to the setting direction corresponds to 0.6 to 1.2 times the length between the inside wall, of the discharge opening facing in the setting direction, and the front end of the firing device, on the setting side.
The inclined cartridge magazine lies flat in the peripheral zone of the discharge opening. Preferably, the discharge opening widens towards the outer contour of the housing. Such a widening discharge opening can be disposed, advantageously, at the end zones that define the extension of the discharge opening, in at least one of a direction running parallel to the setting direction and at the lateral zones defining the greatest width of the discharge opening. The widening zones are designed as surfaces, at an incline to the longitudinal axis of the guide channel, on which the cartridge magazine can rest.
There will be sufficient inclination of the cartridge magazine if the discharge opening preferably widens at less that a total angle of 30xc2x0 to 100xc2x0.
The discharge opening can be closed at least partly with a cover that forms a chippings shield and can securely retain the used and inclined disposed cartridge magazine, on a ceiling, so that it does not fall onto the user. If the cover, for example, covers the entire discharge opening, then the cover has at least one passage for the cartridge magazine. The cover is at least partially constructed of an elastic or resilient material, such as rubber. It is also possible to provide the peripheral zone of the passage with soft bristles that can be in lateral contact with the cartridge magazine.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.


Method of selecting and stopping a vehicle using vehicle-to-vehicle communication includes selecting and suppressing a local vehicle including vehicle-to-vehicle communication comprising transmitting a vehicle-to-vehicle locating signal from a host vehicle to local vehicles to obtain a location and a direction of movement for local vehicles within a local area, selecting a local vehicle as a selected vehicle to be suppressed, and suppressing the selected vehicle using vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the host vehicle to the selected vehicle. The suppressing of the selected vehicle by the host vehicle includes providing a warning to the operator of the selected vehicle, limiting speed, along with decelerating and halting of the selected vehicle.

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems of selecting and halting a vehicle using vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
Police car chases in response to crime have a history of resulting in vehicle accidents, such that some municipalities have decided to not pursue vehicles, except in limited circumstances. In order to avoid police car chases, arrangements to enable remote controlled disabling of vehicles have been contemplated. One object of the invention is to provide a way for ensuring accuracy in the selection and control of a local vehicle.


Embodiments of the present invention disclose is a direct mode operation communication method and terminal which are used for flexibly switching to a suitable DMO mode according to different communication environments, reasonably using spectrum resources, and extending multimedia services. The method in the embodiments of the present invention comprises: establishing, by a first terminal, a connection with a second terminal via a first DMO mode, the first DMO mode being a narrowband DMO mode, a wideband DMO mode, or a wideband-narrowband fused DMO dual-mode; receiving, by the first terminal, a wideband DMO signal sent by the second terminal; determining, by the first terminal, whether the quality of the wideband DMO signal satisfies a preset switching condition; and if the quality of the wideband DMO signal satisfies the preset switching condition, switching, by the first terminal, the first DMO mode to a second DMO mode to communicate with the second terminal. The embodiments of the present invention also provide a terminal, which is used for flexibly switching to a suitable DMO mode according to different communication environments, reasonably using spectrum resources, and extending multimedia services.

Wireless trunking communication systems are widely used to fields including scheduling generation, commanding and controlling, and the like. At present, wireless technology is developing towards greater channel capacity, higher spectrum utilization, and greater transmission bandwidth.
In trunking services, a direct mode operation (Direct Mode Operation, DMO) technology refers to a technology in which direct communication between terminals is performed without the coverage of a non-cellular network. The communication method does not require the support of a base station and can directly communicate between trunking terminals. It is mainly used in rural environments without network coverage and in urban environments with poor network coverage. It can be used as secondary coverage or backup coverage under incidents such as covert communications, network congestion, and overloads at parking lots, indoor areas, and underground sites.
Currently, DMO technology in narrowband trunking has been used commercially. The existing DMO technologies are almost all based on the narrowband. Because of the technical characteristics and high-frequency spectrum constraints of DMOs in wideband trunking, coverage distances are limited compared to the narrowband trunking technologies. DMO standards in wideband trunking are still under development.

Direct mode operation communication method and terminal


An image sensing apparatus performs focus control based upon image data of a region corresponding to a focus control region, the image data being a part of one screen of image data. The apparatus includes a camera-shake detector for detecting camera shake, and a focus detection zone designating unit for changing the focus control region with respect to the screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensing apparatus and method of controlling this apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an image sensing apparatus having an autofocus function and a method of controlling this apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to capture an image with optimum focus in an image sensing apparatus such as a digital camera or digital video camera, an autofocus scheme widely employed in the prior art involves using the central portion of a screen as a focus detection zone and focusing on a subject that is within this zone. A well-known method of performing such focusing involves detecting the in-focus state utilizing the nature that high-frequency components, which are contained in the image sensor output that corresponds to the focus detection zone, become largest at the in-focus position (e.g., see the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-1668).
Further, the following method has been disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-152065 in order to perform rapid focusing in a case where the above-mentioned method is applied to a still camera: First, an image is sensed at prescribed intervals while a focusing lens is moved from a position (referred to below as an "infinite-limit position"), at which infinite distance is brought into focus, to a position (referred to as a "nearest-limit position" below), at which point-blank distance is brought into focus. An evaluation value for determining focus is found based upon a plurality of images thus obtained by image sensing and information relating to these images, the focusing lens is moved to a position at which the evaluation value is maximized, and shooting and recording are performed.
However, a certain problem arises in the above-described autofocus method. Specifically, if the subject within the focus detection zone of one screen is displaced from the focus detection zone by camera shake while the plurality of images are being captured in order to obtain the evaluation value for autofocus, a correct evaluation value cannot be obtained and the subject will be out of focus.
This problem will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.
FIG. 5A illustrates the positional relationship between a subject and background in the absence of camera shake. In the example depicted in FIG. 5A, the focus detection zone resides within a building surrounding a person. By contrast, in FIG. 5B, the focus detection zone has been shifted to the right relative to the subject by camera shake and the focus detection zone has emerged from within the building and now includes the outside wall on the right side.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are graphs illustrating the relationship between focusing-lens position and evaluation value when evaluation values are acquired regarding the subject shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, respectively. FIG. 6A is a graph obtained in the absence of camera shake. In this case, the evaluation values peak when the subject is in focus. On the other hand, FIG. 6B is a graph in a case where camera shake has occurred at a focusing-lens position where the building in the background is brought into focus and the focus detection zone has shifted in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5B. In this case, the shifted focus detection zone includes the high-contrast outside wall portion of the building. As a consequence, the evaluation value peaks when the building has been brought into focus and the in-focus position is detected erroneously.
A conceivable method of solving this problem is to deal with camera shake by shifting the screen using a camera-shake correction function. However, the camera shake correction is processing whereby shaking of displayed video is corrected in such a manner that the image will not look strange as seen from the photographer or observer. Further, it is a technique that eliminates shaking of video in the entirety of the screen. Since this is not a technique that eliminates the shaking of the subject in the focus detection zone at the time of focusing, it leaves the above-described problem unsolved.

Image sensing apparatus having autofocus function, and method of controlling same


The invention relates to a half-bridge power converter controller that employs current mode control. The power converter controller includes pulse modulation circuitry, error circuitry, and stabilization circuitry. The stabilization circuitry stabilizes the voltage at the mid-point of a half-bridge power converter input capacitor circuit. The input capacitor circuit mid-point voltage is stabilized by selectively adjusting the on-times of the high-side switch and low-side switch of a half-bridge power converter. This adjustment tailors the current that is provided to the input capacitor circuit and thus maintains the mid-point voltage near a desired value.

Power converters and power converter controllers may employ either voltage mode control or current mode control. Voltage mode control can be implemented through simple circuit topologies and provides good noise immunity. Voltage mode control generally entails a second order system. Current mode control generally entails more complex circuit topology. However, current mode control typically directly senses the current through an output inductor. Thus, current mode control can provide faster response to changes in output current.
Half-bridge power converters may be employed to provide efficient power conversion. In particular, half-bridge power converters are suited for efficiently powering loads which require substantial current. However, input capacitor stabilization considerations complicate the implementation of current mode half-bridge power converters.

Current mode half-bridge power converter


Audio menuing for the visually impaired, closed captioning for the hearing impaired and graphical tab control user interface for an interactive flight entertainment system (IFES). With the preferred embodiment, passenger control handset (PCH) in Braille is utilized. Given inputs from the passenger through use of the PCH, the keystrokes are transmitted to a seat electronics unit (SEU) as keystroke signals and processed by a device driver. The device driver transmits the keystroke signals to the pre-existing user interface and to the present invention's audio menu module. For the audio menu module, the menu resource database makes available a file of various audio information corresponding to various passenger keystroke inputs. Once the appropriate passenger output information is retrieved from the menu resource database, the information is output to the passenger via a display device and a headset coupled to the SEU. A closed captioning capability is enabled when a passenger selects a closed captioning option icon on the screen of the display device. Once such selection is made, audio information is printed and displayed to the passenger on the screen of the display device. A touch screen user interface having graphical tab controls for paging is also provided.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of interactive flight entertainment systems, more specifically, the method and apparatus of the present invention is related to providing audio menuing for the visually impaired passengers, closed captioning for the hearing impaired passengers and a user friendly passenger interface for an interactive flight entertainment system.
(2) Related Art
In the past few years, there have been an increase in the number of commercial aircrafts providing in-flight entertainment for its passengers. A typical in-flight entertainment system provides some type of a passenger input device accepting inputs from a passenger and some type of a passenger output device such as a display device and a headset for outputting information to a passenger. The display device may output visual information including some type of a graphically displayed menu allowing a passenger to select from a number of options including movies, music and in-flight shopping options. Providing passengers with a user friendly user interface is one aspect of providing a good in-flight entertainment system.
Presently, video on demand in-flight entertainment systems are being developed by various companies.
One such in-flight entertainment has been developed by Interactive Flight Technologies, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nev. This system is advertised to allow a passenger to choose from among thirty feature films, gambling, on board shopping, video games and a graphical depiction of the route of the current flight and the airplane's current position along that route. A 9.5 inch video touch screen is provided as a user interface for each passenger unit.
Another in-flight entertainment system has been developed by B/E Aerospace, Inc. of Irvine, Calif. This system is advertised to provide a passenger with over five hundred channels for regular video programming including movies as well as live broadcast television and a variety of interactive features including video games. A user interface provided for this system is a traditional hand held unit providing various input buttons.
The existing in-flight entertainment systems ignore passengers with special needs. Currently, individuals who are visually impaired are unable to initiate and use an in-flight entertainment system without the help of a flight attendant or a fellow passenger. Further, although a hearing impaired passenger may initiate activities on an in-flight entertainment system using the visual cues displayed on a display device of the system, the hearing impaired passenger is not able to understand the audio information from the system.
It is therefore desirable to provide a user friendly passenger interface, more specifically, it is desirable to provide a method and an apparatus for audio menuing capabilities for the visually impaired and closed captioning capabilities for the hearing impaired passengers using an in-flight entertainment system. Additionally, the menu selection is currently typically made by a passenger through some type of a hand-held input device. An alternative method of input which is more efficient and user friendly, especially for the visually impaired and the hearing impaired passengers, is also desirable.

User friendly passenger interface including audio menuing for the visually impaired and closed captioning for the hearing impaired for an interactive flight entertainment system


Valid implementations of functions with programmable logic blocks are efficiently determined by creating an approximation of a hardware configuration of programmable logic blocks to quickly screen out configurations unlikely to provide a valid results. If a configuration passes this first phase, the approximation is refined to search for valid function implementations with the hardware configuration. The approximation and refinement may use a partitioning of function input variables to logic blocks to reduce the search space. Additional conflict clauses may be used to further reduce the search space. Implementations of sample functions or other previously considered functions may be analyzed to identify conflict clauses that are reusable for analyzing other functions. A representation of potential implementations of a function can be subdivided into subsets and analyzed separately. The intersection of the solutions from each subset are valid implementations of the function.

The present invention relates to the field of programmable devices, and the systems and methods for programming the same. Programmable devices, such as FPGAs, typically include thousands of programmable logic cells or blocks (PLBs) that use combinations of logic gates and/or look-up tables to perform a logic operation. Programmable devices also include a number of functional blocks having specialized logic devices adapted to specific logic operations, such as adders, multiply and accumulate circuits, phase-locked loops, and memory. The logic blocks and functional blocks are interconnected with a configurable switching circuit. The configurable switching circuit selectively routes connections between the logic blocks and functional blocks. By configuring the combination of logic blocks, functional blocks, and the switching circuit, a programmable device can be adapted to perform virtually any type of information processing function.
A typical compilation process for determining the configuration of a programmable device, referred to compilation, starts with an extraction phase, followed by a logic synthesis phase, a fitting phase, and an assembly phase. The extraction phase takes a user design, typically expressed as a netlist in a hardware description language such as Verilog or VHDL, and produces a set of logic gates implementing the user design. In the logic synthesis phase, the set of logic gates is permuted over the hardware architecture of the programmable device in order to match elements of the user design with corresponding portions of the programmable device. The fitting phase assigns the various portions of the user design to specific logic blocks and functional blocks (sometimes referred to as placement) and determines the configuration of the configurable switching circuit used to route signals between these logic blocks and functional blocks (sometimes referred to as routing), taking care to satisfy the user timing constraints as much as possible. In the assembly phase, a configuration file defining the programmable device configuration implementing the user design is created. The programmable device configuration can then be loaded into a programmable device to implement the user design. Programmable devices can be configured with the configuration during or after manufacturing.
One of the substantial challenges of the logic synthesis phase is efficiently implementing portions of the user design with programmable device resources. Often, the logic synthesis phase strives to implement portions of the user with as few logic blocks as possible. The hardware description of user designs often includes a number of registers or flip-flops connected by numerous logic gates. Functional logic synthesis techniques evaluate the logic gates specified by the user design and determine corresponding abstract Boolean functions. These Boolean functions can then be mathematically manipulated into forms suitable for efficient implementation by the logic blocks of the programmable device.
Boolean functions can be classified as completely specified or incompletely specified. A completely specified function is fully defined for all input values. A completely specified function with N inputs typically requires of look-up table (LUT) of 2N bits to implement. An incompletely specified function is undefined for some input values. The input values corresponding with undefined function values are referred to as don't-care inputs. It is often possible to implement incompletely specified functions with N inputs with a LUT having less than 2N bits. A LUT or PLB having N inputs but less than 2N bits is referred to as an incomplete LUT or PLB. A function that can be implemented using an incomplete LUT is referred to as an incomplete function.
Many user designs include incomplete functions. For relatively simple functions, these incomplete functions can often be implemented in a single logic block. For a function having a large number of inputs, it is often necessary to implement the function using a two or more logic blocks. To implement functions using multiple logic blocks, it is necessary to determine a partitioning of function input variables among the logic block; for each logic block, an assignment of function input variables and other logic block outputs to specific logic block input ports; and to determine the data values to be stored in the one or more LUTs in each logic block.
There are several prior functional logic synthesis techniques adapted to implement incomplete functions using a minimal amount of programmable device resources. However, these prior techniques perform poorly with incomplete functions having a large number of inputs or being implemented by two or more logic blocks. For example, binary decision diagrams (BDD) solver builds a decision tree data structure that enumerate the function outputs for all combinations of input values for different potential sets of logic block input port assignments. The BDD solver then extracts patterns from this decision tree data structure to determine if a given set of potential logic block input port assignments can implement the function correctly. Typically, the BDD solver must evaluate decision tree structures for a large number of different potential logic block input port assignments before finding an acceptable logic block input port assignment. Additionally, the size of each decision tree structure increases exponentially with the number of inputs. As a result, the memory requirements for a BDD solver are too large for use with functions with a large number of inputs, such as eight or more inputs.
Another prior functional logic synthesis technique formulates the implementation of functions in one or more logic blocks as a Boolean satisfiability (SAT) problem. With this approach, Boolean satisfiability solvers, or SAT solvers, can be used to determine valid implementations of incomplete functions with one or more logic blocks. Example SAT solver algorithms are described in "FPGA technology mapping: a study of optimality," A. Ling, D. Singh, and S. Brown, DAC, 2005, pp. 427-432, which is incorporated by reference herein. The memory requirements of SAT solvers are not as prohibitively large as those for BDD solvers. However, SAT solvers typically require long execution times to find solutions. Additionally, for very large functions, such those with ten or more input variables, the memory requirements for SAT solvers may be prohibitive.
It is therefore desirable to have a fast and efficient system and method to determine an implementation of complete or incomplete functions using single or multiple logic blocks. It is further desirable to reduce the execution time and memory requirements of SAT solvers to find valid implementations of functions. It is also desirable for the system and method to quickly screen out potential function implementations or logic block configurations that are not likely to provide acceptable results.


A device for accurately and flexibly delivering item-specific information from a voice server to a user and the method of using same is disclosed. The user scans a unique identification code associated with an item using a scanner on the device. The device then connects to the voice server. The voice server searches for information related to the item and converts the information for the item into audible information for delivery to the user. The audible information is audibly played to the user by the device.

Voice servers, voice gateways and interactive voice response (IVR) have existed for many years. In recent years, the establishment of voice extensible markup language (VoiceXML) and speech application language tags (SALT) allow for web-based applications and information to be distributed via voice to landline telephones, cellular telephones or to other devices. This has allowed the availability of web-centric information by landline telephones, cellular telephones phones, PDA's and personal computers.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging of goods is well-known. The Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) proposed by EPC Global is the next generation of product identification. The EPC is a simple, compact "license plate" that uniquely identifies objects (items, cases, pallets, locations, etc.) in the supply chain. Essentially, the EPC is a number designed to uniquely identify a specific item in the supply chain. The EPC number sits on a tag comprised of a silicon chip and an antenna, which is attached to an item. Using RFID, a tag "communicates" its number to a reader. The reader then passes the number to a computer or local application system, known as the Object Name Service (ONS). ONS tells the computer systems where to locate information on the internet about the object carrying an EPC, such as when the item was produced. EPC's vision is sometimes referred to as the "Internet of Things". EPC leverages the benefits of RFID's non-line-of-sight reading, large data capacity and anti-theft/anti-counterfeiting features. The EPC is the only information stored on the RFID tag's microchip. This keeps the cost of the tag down and provides flexibility, since an infinite amount of dynamic data can be associated with the serial number in the database.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,658, entitled Apparatus and Method for Information Challenged Persons to Determine Information Regarding Pharmaceutical Container Labels, provides a system in which combines a tag and a device with text information stored on the tag. This type of system relates to on-board, text-to-speech generation only rather than speech generated by a remote server.
Other patents of interest are U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,174 entitled Device for Assisting the Visually Impaired in Product Recognition and Related Methods; U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,927 entitled Method and Apparatus for Accessing and Interacting an Internet Web Page Using a Telecommunications Device; U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,132 entitled Voice Interface for Electronic Documents; U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,822 entitled Web-Based Voice Response (IVR); U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,374 entitled System and Method for Recording and Playing Audio Descriptions; U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,611 entitled System and Method for Audio-only Internet Browsing Using a Standard Telephone; U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,123 entitled Method and System for Performing Speech Recognition for an Internet Appliance Using a Remotely Located Speech Recognition Application; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,084 entitled System and Method for Generating Voice Pages with Included Audio Files for Use in a Voice Page Delivery System.

Delivery of item specific audible information via voice server