The present invention relates to a more palatable pharmaceutical composition comprising carprofen and at least one flavoring agent, and more particularly pertains to a more palatable and more voluntarily consumed pharmaceutically active dosage of carprofen, made available in the form of an orally administered tablet that is easy to swallow, with the same dissolution profile and bioequivalence of less palatable carprofen compositions, such as those compositions without a flavoring agent, and used for the indication of relieving clinical symptoms of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis and postoperative surgery in mammals, by reduced prostaglandin production via inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2. Also included are analytical methods for in vitro dissolution testing of this unique composition to demonstrate bioequivalence to less palatable non-flavored and chewable compositions.

Inflammation is a complex biomolecular cascade of events stimulated by cellular damage, whether the damage is caused by physical trauma, toxins, pathogens, or burns. Inflammation is the body's protective response to removing or blocking off such injurious stimuli, and beginning the process of wound healing and tissue repair. However, inflammation is often accompanied by painful soreness, swelling, heat and redness, which may also lead to loss of function.
In many cases, prolonged inflammation, called chronic inflammation, causes ongoing tissue destruction and healing at sites of inflammation. This is true of the debilitating autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, in which synovial joints become stiff and painful as joint surfaces slowly erode, which may decrease range of movement and lead to loss of function.
But inflammation can also occur around joints in patients suffering from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a painful degenerative disease associated with age and decreased proteoglycan content around joints, thereby, making joints less resilient and more susceptible to degradation. Furthermore, painful bone spurs may also form along these damaged, swollen joints. Although osteoarthritis is not an autoimmune disease, it can also be caused by inflammatory diseases.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to reduce inflammation, along with their non-drowsy analgesic (pain relieving) and antipyretic (fever reducing) properties. Most NSAIDs serve as nonselective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX), an enzyme that produces prostaglandins from arachidonic acid derived from the phospholipid bilayer of cellular membrane. Prostaglandins are the major signaling molecules involved in inflammation. Examples of NSAIDs include: acetaminophen, aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and carprofen.
Carprofen is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor that has been used in veterinarian medicine for decades to relieve postoperative pain, and to relieve chronic joint pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, in dogs. Carprofen has the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) name of 6-Chloro-α-methyl-9H-carbazole-2-acetic acid and is a member of the carbazole family. Carbazoles have been synthesized as early as 1947, and their medicinal properties began to be studied shortly thereafter. Carprofen was first prepared in 1972 by Berger and Corraz of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., as a useful anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent. Ulcer formation is a common side effect of many NSAIDs, especially if used often or in large dosages. Carprofen was believed to be advantageous over other NSAIDs because ulcer formation was rare. Hoffman La Roche began marketing carprofen as Imadyl in the early 1980s and this product was eventually sold to Pfizer for use in veterinary medicine as a chewable form, called Rimadyl, for dogs in the mid-1990s. However, non-chewable tablets of carprofen have been sold as a generic drug for many years.
The success of Pfizer's Rimadyl chewable tablet is likely attributed to better dog owner and dog compliance because of greater palatability over generic brands. Palatability is especially important for good dosing compliance in veterinary medicine with regards to owner administered oral tablets. Likewise, brands with reduced palatability can lead to poor owner and patient compliance, which often leads to missed doses or increased lag time between doses. Without good palatability, owners may try placing or crushing an oral tablet in food. Even so, the challenges faced by owners administering a non-palatable tablet to a reluctant animal can be frustrating when long-term dosing is required, such as for chronic illnesses, and can lead to noncompliance and poor clinical outcomes. So although different brands of a drug product, such as carprofen, are shown clinically to have equivalent safety and efficacy, i.e. bioequivalence, differences in palatability and compliance often remain.
The ideal oral tablet for veterinary medicine should be palatable and consumed voluntarily with an at least 90% voluntary acceptance rate. Palatability may be achieved by masking the foul taste of active pharmaceutical ingredients and/or by adding food based products or other flavors. Factors affecting palatability include taste, odor, appearance, and texture. However, the addition of flavoring agents generally change the dissolution profile of the drug and its bioequivalence. Yet, there remains a need to produce a more palatable and more voluntarily consumed orally administered tablet composition of carprofen that is easy to swallow, and has the same dissolution profile and bioequivalence of less palatable carprofen compositions, so that it can also be manufactured with greater ease and less cost than the available "chewable" tablet of carprofen (e.g., Rimadyl). As such, the preferred composition described herein is manufactured using the process of dry blending and tablet compression, and avoids the use of coatings; which require solvents, polymers and/or plasticizers, along with detackifiers, defoamers, surfactants; that can add much time and cost to the manufacturing process and can lead to problems of uniformity among tablets.

More palatable, bioequivalent pharmaceutical composition of carprofen


A cymbal assembly having a pair of cymbals which are slidingly positionable relative to each other is described. The cymbals are typically maintained in contact with each other during play, and are actuatable by a foot pedal or other member. Additional versions of the cymbal assembly are described including the use of multiple cymbal pairs and adjustable tensioners between cymbals.

Cymbals are used in a wide variety of ensembles and musical styles. Drum kits often include at least one cymbal or a pair of cymbals. Cymbals can be played using a single cymbal or in pairs. When played in pairs, cymbals are typically oriented horizontally toward each other and in a parallel, facing relationship. Such cymbal pairs are typically referred to in the art as a "high hat" (or "hi-hat") cymbal assembly. Although satisfactory in many respects, a need exists for another approach in playing cymbals which enables production of new and different sounds.


A camera is provided which enables the selection of a plurality of specifications in a simple structure and by a simple method. A first contact pattern, a second contact pattern, and a third contact pattern are provided at different positions, respectively. The mode of the camera can be optionally selected out of a derivative mode switch having a first mode setting button which enables conduction of the first contact pattern and the second contact pattern, and a derivative mode switch having a first mode setting button which enables conduction of the first contact pattern and the third contact pattern.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 11-310147, filed Oct. 29, 1999, No. 11-310148, filed Oct. 29, 1999; and No. 11-310149, filed Oct. 29, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a camera having a plurality of kinds of photography modes, and more particularly to a camera enabling a change in the product specifications by replacing a part thereof.
Electronic cameras in recent years enable the selection of each mode at the time of photography. Then, in cameras which enable the selection of modes, camera products are prevalent which enable photography suitable to scenes to be photographed by the selection of each kind of mode in accordance with the scene to be photographed.
If the number of modes is increased in order to provide more special photographic effects to a plurality of scenes, however, the camera will have more and more functions. Some of the functions may be unnecessary to most users. And if there are too many functions, it may be difficult for most users to operate the camera.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 55-84930 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-150330 propose a technology which enables the selection of whether a data recording function is to be added by users by means of a data recording device detachable from the cameras. However, with a device described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 55-84930 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-150330, the specification selectable by users is only the data recording function. Besides, the operation thereof is very troublesome for users, and is, therefore, not preferable.
Besides, on the other hand, the desire of users is diversified, so that it is difficult to answer to the desire of users with only one product. Thus it has been desired that a product is provided which has a plurality of specifications.
However, the change of the specification of normal products requires the change of parts in the products and a control program. Besides, along with this, it becomes necessary to reconsider the process of manufacturing the products. Therefore, this leads to an increase in the cost thereof, and it has been difficult to instantly answer to the desire of users.
Furthermore, with such cameras, a selected mode can be visually recognized by a liquid crystal display panel or the like so that users can identify which mode is selected in accordance with the state of the selection of the modes in normal cameras. However, when an attempt is made to provide a display corresponding to a plurality of specifications, a large number of display items must be prepared inside of the liquid crystal display panel, which leads to an increase-in the size of the liquid crystal display.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera in which a plurality of specifications can be selected through a simple structure and a simple operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a camera which enables an easy display to users without increasing the size of a display element for displaying the state of the camera at the time of enabling the selection of a plurality of specifications and without increasing the cost thereof.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a camera in which the change in the product specification can be will understood by users without increasing the size of a display element for displaying the state of the camera at the time of enabling the selection of the specifications.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a control circuit which corresponds to a first specification having a predetermined mode, and a second specification having a predetermined mode which is different at least in part from the mode in the first specification;
first switch patterns for changing the mode on the basis of the first specification;
second switch patterns for changing the mode on the basis of the second specification;
an operation member corresponding to either of the first switch patterns and the second switch patterns; and
a holding member on which the operation members are attached;
wherein the specification of the camera is changed by alternatively selecting and attaching the operation members.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a first electric contact;
a second electric contact provided at a position different from the position of the first electric contact;
a third electric contact provided at a position different from the positions of the first electric contact and the second electric contact;
a control circuit for selecting a mode of the camera in accordance with the conduction state between the first electric contact and the second electric contact, or the conduction state between the second electric contact and the third electric contact; and
an attachment for holding either a first operation member which allows the first electric contact and the second electric contact to be electrically connectable, or a second operation member which allows the second electric contact and the third electric contact to be electrically connectable,
wherein the first and second operation members change the specification of the camera when held by the attachment.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a first switch constituted of a pair of electric contacts for selecting a mode of the camera;
a second switch provided at a position different from the position of the first switch and constituted of a pair of electric contacts for selecting the mode of the camera; and
an attachment portion on which either a first holding member corresponding to the first operation member is attached which enables to operate the first switch or a second holding member corresponding to the second operation member is attached which enables to operate the second switch;
wherein the specification of the camera is changed by selecting and attaching the first holding member and the second holding member.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a first switch corresponding to a first operation member for selecting a mode of the camera;
a second switch arranged at a position different from the position of the first switch and corresponding to a second operation member for selecting the mode of the camera;
wherein the specification of the camera is changed by optionally selecting and attaching the first operation member and the second operation member.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a control circuit which corresponds to a first specification having a predetermined mode, and a second specification having a predetermined mode which is different at least in part from the mode in the first specification;
a first switch corresponding to the first specification;
a second switch corresponding to the second specification;
an attachment portion on which a first operation member is arranged to operate the first switch when the first specification is selected, or a second operation member is arranged to operate the second switch when the second specification is selected;
wherein the control circuit changes over a mode of the camera on the basis of the first specification in accordance with an input of the first switch and changes over the mode on the basis of the second specification in accordance with an input of the second switch.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera comprising:
a control circuit which corresponds to the first specification having a predetermined mode of the camera, and to the second specification having a predetermined mode a part of which is different from the first specification;
an attachment portion on which either the first operation member attached on the camera is attached when the first specification is selected, or a second operation member attached on the camera is attached when the second specification is selected;
a first switch corresponding to the first specification; and
a second switch corresponding to the second specification;
wherein the first specification and the second specification are selected by selecting the first operation member and the second operation member, and the control circuit changes over the mode of the camera on the basis of the first specification in accordance with the input of the first switch and changes over the mode of the camera on the basis of the second specification in accordance with the input of the second switch.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a camera comprising the steps of:
manufacturing an assemblage of parts which corresponds to the camera of the first specification and the camera of the second specification, the assemblage corresponding to the camera of the first and the camera of the second specification and including:
a first switch for selecting a mode on the basis of the first specification in the camera of the first specification,
a second switch for selecting a mode on the basis of the second specification in the camera of the second specification, and
a control circuit for selecting the mode in accordance with the output of the a first switch and the second switch; and
selecting one of the camera of the first specification and the camera of the second specification;
wherein the method for manufacturing the camera of the first specification comprises the step of attaching an operation member for operating the first switch, and the method for manufacturing the camera of the second specification comprises the step of attaching an operation member for operating the second switch.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a camera comprising the steps of:
manufacturing a first specification camera, which includes the step of attaching an operation member for operating the first switch which selects the first mode on the basis of the first specification; and
manufacturing a second specification camera, which includes the steps of:
attaching an operation member for operating operate the second switch to select the second mode on the basis of the camera of the second specification; and
assembling parts for the camera of the specification selected.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

Camera enabling the change in the product specifications, and a method of manufacturing


Techniques are provided for utilizing selected inter-frame spacing, such as reduced inter-frame spacing (RIFS) or short inter-frame spacing (SIFS) to avoid failed data transmissions in a Wi-Fi network or the like. For example, there is provided a method, operable by a transmitter node or entity, such as, for example, an access point (AP), that may involve sending a data transmission in a data aggregation mode, the data transmission comprising aggregated MAC protocol data units (A-MPDUs). The method may involve monitoring for and detecting potential short interference bursts in the network. The method may involve re-sending the data transmission in a data bursting mode, the data transmission comprising back-to-back data packet bursts separated by a selected inter-frame spacing.

Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more specifically to mitigating the impact of short interference bursts.
Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA).
A wireless communication network may include a number of access point that can support communication for a number of mobile devices, such as, for example, mobile stations (STA), laptops, cell phones, PDAs, tablets, etc. A STA may communicate with an access point via the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL). The DL (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the access point to the STA, and the UL (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the STA to the access point. With the increasing popularity of mobile devices, there is a desire to optimize bandwidth and resource selection.
With increased consumer demand for mobile broadband and Internet access, wireless networks, including Wi-Fi networks, often perform aggregation of component carriers to increase the available bandwidth. However, Wi-Fi networks, as well as similar wireless local area networks (WLANs), may be subject to short interference bursts. In this context, there remains a need to mitigate the effect of such interference.

Method and apparatus for mitigating the impact of short interference bursts


The use of BODIPY.RTM. fluorophores for detecting a target nucleic acid is described. The parent heterocyclic molecule of the BODIPY.RTM. fluorophores is a dipyrrometheneboron difluoride compound which is modified to create a broad class of spectrally-discriminating fluorophores. The present invention provides oligonucleotides labelled with substituted 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3A,4A-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY.RTM. fluorophore) compounds for performing the Taqman assay.

The present invention provides oligonucleotides labelled with substituted 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3A,4A-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY.RTM. fluorophore) compounds for performing the Taqman assay. The ability to detect DNA and specific sequences of DNA is critical for understanding the function and control of genes and for diagnosis of genetically-inherited diseases. Native DNA consists of two linear polymers or strands of nucleotides. Each strand of DNA is a chain of nucleotides linked by phosphodiester bonds. The two strands are held together in an antiparallel orientation by hydrogen bonds between complementary bases of the nucleotides of the two strands: deoxyadenosine (A) pairs with thymidine (T) and deoxyguanosine (G) pairs with deoxycytidine (C).
A significant advance in DNA manipulation was the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195; 4,683,195; and 4,800,159. The term "polymerase chain reaction" or "PCR" refers generally to the procedure involving: (1) treating extracted DNA to form single-stranded complementary strands; (2) adding a pair of oligonucleotide primers, wherein one primer of the pair is substantially complementary to part of the sequence in the sense strand and the other primer of each pair is substantially complementary to a different part of the same sequence in the complementary antisense strand; (3) annealing the paired primers to the complementary sequence; (4) simultaneously extending the annealed primers from a 3' terminus of each primer to synthesize an extension product complementary to the strands annealed to each primer wherein said extension products after separation from the complement serve as templates for the synthesis of an extension product for the other primer of each pair; (5) separating said extension products from said templates to produce single-stranded molecules; and (6) amplifying said single-stranded molecules by repeating at least once said annealing, extending and separating steps.
Detection methods generally employed in standard PCR techniques use a labeled probe with the amplified DNA in a hybridization assay. Other assays include the use of fragment length polymorphism (PCR FLP), hybridization to allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes (Saiki et al., Nature 324:163 (1986)), or direct sequencing via the dideoxy method (using amplified DNA rather than cloned DNA). The standard PCR technique operates by replicating a DNA sequence positioned between two primers, providing as the major product of the reaction a DNA sequence of discrete length terminating with the primer at the 5' end of each strand. Thus, insertions and deletions between the primers result in product sequence of different lengths, which can be detected by sizing the product in PCR-FLP. In an example of ASO hybridization, the amplified DNA is fixed to a nylon filter (by, for example UV irradiation) in a series of "dot blots", then allowed to hybridize with an oligonucleotide probe labeled with HRP under stringent conditions. After washing, tetrametholbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide are added: HRP oxidizes the hydrogen peroxide, which in turn oxidizes the TMB to a blue precipitate, indicating hybridized probe.
While the PCR technique as presently practiced is an extremely powerful method for amplifying nucleic acid sequences, the detection of the amplified material requires additional manipulation and subsequent handling of the PCR products to determine whether the target DNA is present. It is desirable to decrease the number of subsequent handling steps required currently for the detection of amplified material.
Holland, et al., PNAS 88:7276-7280 (1991) describe an assay known as a Taqman assay. The 5'.fwdarw.3' exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase is employed in a polymerase chain reaction product detection system to generate a specific detectable signal concomitantly with amplification. An oligonucleotide probe, nonextendable at the 3' end, labeled at the 5' end, and designed to hybridize within the target sequence, is introduced into the polymerase chain reaction assay. Annealing of the probe to one of the polymerase chain reaction product strands during the course of amplification generates a substrate suitable for exonuclease activity. During amplification, the 5'.fwdarw.3' exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase degrades the probe into smaller fragments that can be differentiated from undegraded probe. The assay is sensitive and specific and is a significant improvement over more cumbersome detection methods. A version of this assay is also described in Gelfand et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015. U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015 to Gelfand, et al., and Holland, et al., PNAS 88:7276-7280 (1991) are hereby incorporated by reference.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,063 to Fisher, et al., provides a Taqman-type assay. The method of Fisher et al. provides a reaction that results in the cleavage of single-stranded oligonucleotide probes labeled with a light-emitting label wherein the reaction is carried out in the presence of a DNA binding compound that interacts with the label to modify the light emission of the label. The method utilizes the change in light emission of the labeled probe that results from degradation of the probe. The methods are applicable in general to assays that utilize a reaction that results in cleavage of oligonucleotide probes, and in particular, to homogeneous amplification/detection assays where hybridized probe is cleaved concomitant with primer extension. A homogeneous amplification/detection assay is provided which allows the simultaneous detection of the accumulation of amplified target and the sequence-specific detection of the target sequence. U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,063 to Fisher, et al. is hereby incorporated by reference.
Lee, et al., NAR 21:3761-3766 (1993) describe nick translation PCR using fluorogenic probes. In this assay, two probes were used to detect mutant and wildtype cystic fibrosis alleles. Lee, et al., NAR 21:3761-3766 (1993) is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention is drawn to provides oligonucleotides labelled with substituted 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3A,4A-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY.RTM. fluorophore) compounds for performing the Taqman assay.

Substituted 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3A,4A-diaza-s-indacene compounds for homogenous amplification/detection assays


An audio signal reproduction device generates, from an obtained audio signal, first reproduction signals for the first speaker group, sounds from which are localized at first virtual sound positions, and second reproduction signals for the second speaker group, sounds from which are localized at second virtual sound positions substantially the same as the first virtual sound positions. The audio signal reproduction device generates the first reproduction signals and the second reproduction signals so that at least phases or sound pressure values of a first sound and a second sound are different at a listening position, the first sound being indicated by the first reproduction signals, and localized at a first position among the first virtual sound positions, the second sound being indicated by the second reproduction signals, localized at a substantially same position as the first position, and substantially the same as the first sound.

An example of virtual sound localization technology is a method of achieving localization of virtual sounds in front of and behind a listener using an HRTF. With this method, virtual sounds are generated as follows.
First, a measurement speaker is placed at a desired position at which a virtual sound (hereinafter, also referred to as a virtual sound source) is localized, and an HRTF is measured from this measurement speaker to the entrance of the external ear canal of the listener. This measured HRTF is used as a target characteristic.
Next, an HRTF from a reproduction speaker used for virtual sound localization to a listening position is measured by reproducing a reproduction sound source. The HRTF measured in this way is used as a reproduction characteristic.
Here, the measurement speaker placed at a position where a virtual sound is to be localized is used only for measuring a target characteristic. Therefore, the measurement speaker is not used afterward when the listener reproduces a reproduction sound source. Only the reproduction speaker is used for localization of a virtual sound source by reproducing a reproduction sound source.
Then, an HRTF for virtual sound localization is calculated using the target characteristic and the reproduction characteristic. The calculated HRTF is used as a filter characteristic. The filter characteristic is convoluted into the reproduction sound source, thereby generating a reproduction sound source which the listener hears as if a sound were output from a virtual speaker.
When a virtual sound is generated in the above manner, as reproduction speakers used to reproduce reproduction sound sources, (1) front speakers placed in front of the listener are used as typified by a front virtual surround system, (2) near-ear speakers placed near the ears of the listener are used as typified by a headphone virtual surround system, and (3) front speakers placed in front of the listener and near-ear speakers placed near the ears of the listener are combined, and both types of the speakers are used.
Patent Literatures (PTLs) 1 and 2, for instance, disclose a system in which both a front speaker and a near-ear speaker are used.
For example, PTL 1 discloses a game machine body which has an expanded capability terminal. This expansion terminal has a sound output function. Further, the game machine body is connected to a television receiver which includes a speaker. This game machine body causes sound to be output from the television receiver, and also sound to be output from headphones connected to the expanded capability terminal.
Further, this game machine body has a function of giving, to a headphone reproduction signal, a time delay from when a sound is reproduced by a speaker to when the sound wave thereof reaches a listener. Specifically, the game machine body makes adjustment so that the listener hears the sound from the speaker and headphone reproduction signals from the headphones, simultaneously.
The above configuration allows a user to simultaneously listen to sound from the television receiver and sound from the headphones, thus achieving reproduction and creation of more realistic sound than before. Furthermore, a time delay is given to a headphone reproduction signal, thereby bringing a sound localization position close to or away from the listener.
Further, PTL 2 discloses a technique of improving the localization precision of an audio channel localized at a rear position in particular, by using both types of speaker, namely, front speakers and near-ear speakers.

Audio signal reproduction device and audio signal reproduction method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


In a preferred embodiment, an apparatus for extending the receiving range of an RF receiver mounted in a non-metallic housing, including: at least one metallic strip attached to an element of the non-metallic housing; and the metallic strip being disposed so as to receive an RF signal transmitted to the RF receiver and air couple the RF signal into the RF receiver.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to RF receivers generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to novel means for extending the range of RF receivers.
2. Background Art.
While the present invention is described as applied to remote keyless entry RF receivers for vehicles, it will be understood that it is applicable, as well, to extending the receiving range of any RF receiver.
RF control devices used to lock/unlock vehicle doors and other similar types of RF control devices are beginning to be used extensively on vehicles. A problem being experienced with such devices is poor range, due to the power restrictions established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on these low-range RF control devices. This restriction greatly limits the range to approximately 10 meters from the vehicle. Since the power is so low, the devices are constantly operating in the fringe area of their operating range. Therefore, any technique that can be used to extend the range of these devices without increasing the transmitted radiated signal would be desirable.
To increase the range of RF control devices, one could increase the transmitted radiated signal from the transmitter. This, as noted above, is limited by the FCC and most units are already designed to transmit the maximum allowable signal. Likewise, an improvement in receiver sensitivity may improve range, but such improvement may be very costly. In addition, receiver designs using today's technology are already designed to be close to the theoretical maximum sensitivity level. Another technique is to improve the receiving antenna design in some way to capture more of the available signal. However, using an external antenna on the receiver to pick up more of the transmitted signal may not be practical in some cases because of cost, space, or mechanical limitations.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an RF receiver range extender that avoids the use of an external antenna.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such range extender that does not require modification to the RF receiver.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such range extender that is simple and economical.
It is another object of the invention to provide such range extender that can be retrofitted to existing RF receiver installations.
A further object of the invention is to provide such range extender that does not require FCC approval.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.


A direct memory access (DMA) controller, includes circuitry configured to load a DMA transfer descriptor configured to define which memory elements within a contiguous block of n memory elements are to be included in a given DMA transfer. The circuitry is further configured to, based on the DMA transfer descriptor, determine whether each memory element within the contiguous block of n memory elements is to be included in the given DMA transfer, including a determination that two or more non-contiguous sub-blocks of memory elements within the contiguous block of n memory elements are to be transferred. The circuitry is further configured to, based on the determination of whether each memory element within the contiguous block of n memory elements is to be included in the given DMA transfer, perform the DMA transfer of memory elements determined to be included within the given DMA transfer.

DMA is a feature of computing systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory (random-access memory) in a manner independent of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is being utilized to receive and write data, or read and output data, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer by offloading the transfer to a DMA controller (DMAC), then the CPU performs other operations while the transfer is in progress, and the CPU finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in multi-core processors. Computers that have DMA channels can transfer data to and from devices with much less CPU overhead than computers without DMA channels. Similarly, a processing element inside a multi-core processor can transfer data to and from its local memory without occupying its processor time, allowing computation and data transfer to proceed in parallel.
DMA can also be used for "memory to memory" copying or moving of data within memory. DMA can offload expensive memory operations, such as large copies or scatter-gather operations, from the CPU to a dedicated DMA engine. An implementation example is the I/O Acceleration Technology available from Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. DMA is additionally of interest in network-on-chip and in-memory computing architectures.
DMA was developed to transfer contiguous blocks of memory at a time. When DMA is to be used to transfer only portions of a large block of memory, the DMA transfer may be broken down into individual DMA transfers to be performed sequentially. Inventors of embodiments of the present disclosure have discovered that this may require a significant quantity of descriptions for each different portion of the large block of memory to be transferred. Moreover, the descriptions themselves may be significantly large. The descriptions may be stored in system memory such as static random-access memory (SRAM) or dynamic access memory (DRAM). These descriptions may include, among other elements, a target address and a transfer count of continuous memory that is to be transferred. Thus, for each different contiguous block of memory to be read in the transfer, a description including all of these fields may be required. Accessing such descriptions in system memory for each contiguous block may be inefficient, and may be more inefficient the higher the number of individual contiguous blocks that are to be read for the complete transfer. Each descriptor must be accessed in system memory and multiple such descriptors might be read for a transfer of a relatively small amount of memory. Accesses to system memory may cause latency before a second transfer starts, decreasing the maximum amount of data that can be transferred within a given amount of time. Furthermore, each description may include multiple data structures, and each data structure that is read from system memory may further cause latency.
For example, in a memory bank of 32 registers, a DMA transfer might be configured to read the content of registers 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, and 31. This might require eleven different descriptors, one each for registers {0, 1}, {3}, {5, 6, 7}, {10}, {12, 13}, {15, 16, 17, 18, 19}, {21}, {23}, {25}, {27}, and {31}. This results in eleven accesses of descriptors and, assuming four data structures per descriptor describing various aspects of the transfer, forty-four total accesses of system memory to read each descriptor to perform a DMA transfer on a memory bank of 32 registers. Inventors of embodiments of the present disclosure have discovered apparatuses, systems, and methods for DMA configuration that may address one or more of these issues.

DMA-scatter and gather operations for non-contiguous memory


A drive strength tunable FinFET, a method of drive strength tuning a FinFET, a drive strength ratio tuned FinFET circuit and a method of drive strength tuning a FinFET, wherein the FinFET has either at least one perpendicular and at least one angled fin or has at least one double-gated fin and one split-gated fin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of FinFET (fin field effect transistors); more specifically, it relates to FinFETs with tuned drive strength, methods tuning the drive strength of FinFETs and circuits utilizing FinFETs with tuned drive strengths.
2. Background of the Invention
Integrated circuit technology and complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) technology is ever pushed in the direction of higher performance and hence smaller transistor dimensions. Below about 65 nm FinFET technology is emerging as the technology to carry forward the pursuit of high performance circuits. At the high performance levels utilizing sub-65 nm dimensions, very fine tuning the drive strengths of transistors in integrated circuits becomes critical, however, no method presently exists for doing this for circuits made up of FinFETs because of the quantized nature of their structures. Thus, there is a need for fine tunable drive strength FinFETs and methods of fine-tuning the drive strength of FinFETs.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention discloses a selenium-doped MXene material and a preparation method thereof, comprising the following steps: (1) adding MXene and an organic selenium source into a dispersant, and stirring to prepare a dispersion with a concentration of 10 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml, wherein a mass ratio of MXene and an organic selenium source is 0.1 to 1:1; (2) transferring the dispersion into a reaction kettle, heating to 110° C. to 230° C., reacting for 10 h to 30 h, and then naturally cooling to a room temperature; and (3) washing the product obtained in the step (2) with a cleaning agent, centrifuging to collect a precipitate, and drying the precipitate under vacuum to obtain the selenium-doped MXene material. The composite material prepared by the present invention has high specific surface area, good electrical conductivity, cycle stability performance, rate performance and high theoretical specific capacity.

With the increasing demand for energy in modern society, fossil energy is continuously consumed and exhausted, and an ecological environment problem is becoming increasingly serious. Therefore, the development of new green energy has become a research focus.
At present, a lithium ion battery has been widely used in people's daily life, and the large consumption of metal lithium has also been concerned by people. Therefore, to seek a substitute for the lithium ion battery has become a current research focus.
Potassium resources are abundant on the earth, accounting for 2.09% of the earth's crust, and are more than 1,000 times as much as lithium resources (0.0017%), and the price of the potassium resources is relatively low. Due to the advantages of low cost, long cycle life, high energy density and good rate performance, the potassium ion battery can meet the requirements of the energy storage field, and is a potential secondary battery. Based on the advantages above, the potassium ion secondary battery technology is deemed as a promising large-scale electrochemical energy storage technology in the future. Therefore, the development of the potassium ion battery with low price and good cycle performance has great commercial value.
Since a radius of a potassium ion is larger than that of a lithium ion, a graphite carbon cathode material reaching commercial application in the lithium ion battery cannot meet the rapid deintercalation of the potassium ion due to a small layer spacing (0.335 nm), so that seeking a negative electrode material of the potassium ion battery with high capacity and excellent cycle performance is a research focus in this field.
However, in the current battery industry, there are many methods or process steps for preparing potassium batteries, which is easy to increase the cost; if some process steps are simply omitted, the performance of potassium batteries will be reduced. In addition, H2S is used as a sulfur source in a widely used sulfur-doped MXene technology, which has high toxicity and high pollution, and is difficult to process subsequently. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to prepare the selenium-doped MXene material and the potassium ion battery with low cost, safety and environmental protection through a simple method.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Selenium-doped MXene material, and preparation method and use thereof


An article for receiving an image by thermal transfer printing includes an image-receiving surface of plastics material coated with a layer of dye-receptive material capable of accepting an image by means of a dye thermal transfer process, wherein the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the dye receptive material is at least 50° C. lower than the softening point of the plastics material of the image-receiving surface. By having a difference between the softening point of the plastics material article surface and the Tg of the material coated thereon of at least 50° C. it is possible to achieve printing in a single step transfer process of high density images without distortion of the plastics material. The invention can be used with three-dimensional articles possibly having compound curves, including casings for mobile telephones made of polymers such as polycarbonate.

Thermal transfer printing, in the context of the present specification, is used to mean a process in which an image on a carrier sheet is printed onto an image-receiving surface of an article by placing the image in contact with said surface of the article, and heating the image to transfer the image onto the article surface. Usually force is applied to exert pressure on the sheet and maintain the sheet in contact with the surface during printing.
The image is typically formed on the carrier sheet by a first printing step. In this case, the overall two stage process can be considered as a retransfer printing process. Retransfer printing techniques are commonly used for printing on articles other than flexible sheet material.
One example of a retransfer printing process is dye diffusion thermal retransfer printing. In a first stage, an image is formed by dye diffusion thermal transfer printing on a retransfer intermediate carrier sheet. Dye diffusion thermal transfer printing is a process in which one or more thermally transferable dyes are caused to transfer from selected areas of a dye-donor sheet to a receiver by thermal stimuli, thereby to form an image. This is generally carried out in a printer having a thermal head or laser energy source, depending on the kind of dye-donor sheet used. Using a dye-donor sheet comprising a thin substrate supporting a dyecoat containing one or more uniformly spread dyes, printing is effected by heating selected discrete areas of the dye-donor sheet while the dyecoat is pressed against a dye-receptive surface of a receiver sheet, thereby causing dye to transfer to corresponding areas of the receiver. The shape of the image transferred is determined by the number and locations of the discrete areas which are subjected to heating. Full colour images can be produced by printing with different coloured dyecoats sequentially in like manner, and the different coloured dyecoats are usually provided as discrete uniform panels arranged in a repeated sequence along a ribbon-shaped dye-donor sheet or ink ribbon. In retransfer printing, the receiver sheet is in the form of a retransfer intermediate sheet which comprises a supporting substrate having a dye-receptive imageable layer on one side, usually with a backcoat on the other side to promote good transport through the initial printer. Suitable retransfer intermediate sheets are disclosed, e.g, in WO 98/02315 (EP 912349). The image-carrying intermediate sheet formed in the first stage of the process is separated from the dye-donor sheet, and in the second stage of the process, is pressed against the article, with its image-containing layer contacting a dye-receptive surface of the article. Heat is then applied to effect transfer of the image, usually over the whole area of the image simultaneously. This is commonly carried out in a press shaped to accommodate the article. See, for example, the mug press disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,387.
Thermal retransfer techniques are of particular applicability to the customisation of three dimensional articles such as mugs and tiles made of materials of high thermal stability that can withstand the temperatures involved without distortion. The carrier sheet can be printed by a desktop printer, and the press can retransfer the image in less than 5 minutes. Thus the method has advantages over direct printing by silk-screen, offset or gravure processes because it can add personalisation at point-of-sale.
In general, prior art thermal retransfer techniques can only be used with articles made of materials able to withstand the elevated temperatures (and possibly also elevated pressures) involved without distorting or breaking, typically being restricted to articles of metal or refractory materials such as ceramics. This applies, e.g., to the mug press disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,387, which employs high pressures to ensure compliance of the press with the surface of the mug to be printed, restricting the approach to refractory objects of certain forms (having only simple curves, in only one plane) which do not distort or break at the temperatures and pressures involved.
The specification of British Patent Application No 0100330.0 filed 6th Jan. 2001 (pursued as PCT/GB02/00037) discloses apparatus for printing an image onto an image-receiving surface of an article by a thermal transfer printing process, the apparatus comprising a heat-conductive member comprising foamed polymeric elastomer material and having a surface shaped to be substantially complementary to the image-receiving surface of the article; and means for heating the member.
In use, a carrier sheet of material bearing an image to be printed is held in contact with the image-receiving surface of the article by the member, via the complementary surface of the member. Typically, a sheet is located on the article in an appropriate position and the member is brought into contact with the exposed face of the sheet and force applied to exert pressure on the sheet sufficient to promote wetting contact between the sheet and the member. The member is heated by the heating means, possibly being pre-heated to a desired temperature prior to contact with the sheet and/or prior to contact of the sheet with the article. The sheet is held in contact with the article for a suitable time with the member at a suitable temperature to print the image on the surface of the article. Suitable printing conditions can be readily determined by experiment. The member is removed and the article allowed or caused to cool to ambient temperature. The sheet is usually removed from the article surface.
Because heat is applied via the member, rather than being applied via the article, the article is exposed to less heat. The apparatus therefore enables printing to be performed on articles of a wider range of materials than had been possible hitherto. In particular, it is possible to print on articles of thermoplastic materials such as many widely used polymers such as acetal resin, acrylic resins, polycarbonates etc, provided the article is suitably supported when heated so the shape of the article is retained.
The apparatus accordingly desirably includes a support for the article, shaped to support or receive the article while leaving exposed the image-receiving surface thereof. In embodiments intended for use in printing articles of thermoplastic material, the support should be shaped to be complementary to a part of the article so as fully to support the article with a snug fit. The support will be discussed further below.
During printing, the sheet should be held firmly in contact with the article to produce a print of good quality. The apparatus therefore preferably includes suitable urging means, eg for applying force between the member and support, e.g. in the form of a spring loading arrangement or a hydraulic system.
The member comprises foamed material, ie. material including a plurality of small openings, pockets or voids within the body of the material. The voids are typically filled with gas, commonly air. The voids should be small (preferably having a maximum dimension less than 1 mm) and are ideally substantially uniform in size and are preferably reasonably uniformly dispersed through the material, for uniformity of properties, such that any variation in conductivity is not such as to produce prints with a variation in optical density. The presence of the voids, coupled with the elastomeric nature of the member material, mean that the member is relatively soft and has a degree of elasticity and so can, if necessary, deform to an extent (at least when heated) to enable the surface thereof to conform to the image-receiving surface of an article, thus providing uniform contact between the member and article. Provided the member is sufficiently compliant to allow good wetting contact with the sheet and article under compression, variation between the shape of the member and article surfaces is tolerable. Thus, while said surface of the member should be shaped to be substantially complementary to the image-receiving surface of the article, exact complementarity is not required as a degree of variation can be accommodated by the deformability of the member. The degree of variation tolerable will depend on factors including the degree of deformability of the member, the pressure applied in use and the complexity of shape of the image-receiving surface of the article. References to "substantially complementary" in this context should be construed accordingly.
The void volume of the material should be selected to give desired properties, and should be sufficiently high to provide the necessary elasticity without being so high as to adversely affect thermal conductivity. Generally, the void volume is in the range of 5 to 35% by volume, typically being about 10% by volume.
Suitable foamed polymeric elastomer materials are well known to those skilled in the art, and are commercially available or can be produced by known techniques. A foamed material can be created with a controlled void level by several means, including but not limited to mechanical entrainment of gas, adding volatile liquids, dissolving gases in one or more components, using a chemical reaction which evolves gas, adding a material which decomposes to evolve a gas during curing. For example, air-filled voids can be created by vigorously mixing material with air to generate an aerated paste which sets, eg on addition of a curing agent, to produce a solid foamed material.
The foamed polymeric elastomer material preferably comprises a foamed silicone resin, but other foamed polymers that exhibit sufficient flexibility under printing conditions may alternatively be employed. Suitable materials are commercially available.
The member comprising foamed polymeric elastomer material is heat conductive so that in use heat can be conducted through the member to an image-bearing sheet in contact with the article. It is desirable for the member to have relatively high thermal conductivity properties so that in use the sheet reaches the transfer temperature rapidly, thus avoiding the need for prolonged exposure of the article to elevated temperatures and so reducing the likelihood of thermal degradation of the article. The member preferably has a thermal conductivity of at least 0.2 W/m/K, and in general desirably has as high a thermal conductivity as possible provided other properties are not compromised.
The presence of voids in the polymeric elastomer material reduces the thermal conductivity of the material. In order to raise the thermal conductivity, preferably to a value greater than that of the polymeric elastomer material in unvoided, unfoamed condition (eg unfoamed silicone resin), it is convenient to include in the material particles of high thermal conductivity material, having a thermal conductivity greater than that of the polymeric elastomer material and typically having a thermal conductivity of at least 1 W/m/K. Suitable high thermal conductivity materials include metals and metal oxides. The particles should be reasonably uniformly dispersed through the material, for uniformity of properties. The particles are preferably spherical or near spherical in form and relatively uniform in size in order not to affect adversely the flexibility and deformability of the member. For the same reason, the particles are preferably relatively small, eg having a maximum particle size in the range 3 to 30 microns. The particles also desirably have a maximum dimension less than 0.2 mm to avoid the risk of surface roughness of the member that might deform and emboss the article in use. The particles are desirably present in sufficient quantity to ensure that the image reaches and stays at the transfer temperature for printing for the required period of time, without being present at such high levels that flexibility of the material is compromised. Suitable particle loadings can be readily determined by experiment. The particles are preferably present at a level of at least about 10% of the volume, more preferably at least about 15% or more of the volume of the material.
The member is preferably made of material that is substantially isotropic, having voids, and particles if present, reasonably uniformly distributed therethrough.
The means for heating the member conveniently comprises a heatable plate or jacket in contact with the member other than said shaped surface thereof. The plate or jacket may be heatable in known manner, eg incorporating or being linked to electrically operated heating elements.
Alternatively or additionally, the member be rendered electrically conductive by the incorporation in the foamed material of particles of electrically conductive material, preferably carbon, so that the member may be heated by the passage of an electrical current therethrough.
The apparatus preferably includes a support, as noted above.
The support preferably has a lower thermal conductivity than that of the member, eg being of the same base material as the member but not in foamed condition and without added particles of high thermal conductivity material. For instance, the support conveniently comprises unfoamed silicone resin. This is because, in use, heat flow through an article tends towards a steady-state value during printing. Unless the thermal conductivity of the support is less than that of the foam, the support will suck heat away from the article, making it harder for the article to attain a suitable temperature for printing and necessitating the use of higher printing temperatures, which is generally undesirable. It is nevertheless possible to produce satisfactory prints using apparatus in which the support has higher thermal conductivity than that of the member. At least in embodiments intended for use in printing on articles of thermoplastic materials, the support should be comparatively hard, rigid and non-deformable.
The voids in the foamed material serve to make the material more compliant and deformable. Hence the voids are used in the heat-conductive member on the printing side in order to allow good conformation between the member and the combination of carrier sheet and article to be printed. The voids have the undesirable side effect of reducing the thermal conductivity of the material. This effect is more than compensated by adding thermally conductive filler material to the composition. In the case of the support, the material should not be too soft and deformable, or it will not be capable of providing the desired mechanical support. For this reason, it is preferred that there should be no voids present. It is also desired that the thermal conductivity should be lower than that of the other member. The absence of voids is a disadvantage from this point of view. However, the desired result can be achieved by not incorporating the thermally conductive filler in the support.
The support is preferably not heated during printing, to reduce exposure of the article to heat, and also for more rapid cooling of the article after printing.
The apparatus may include cooling means for cooling the article after printing and after removal of the member. For instance, means such as a fan may be provided for directing a flow of cold air over the printed surface of the article. Additionally or alternatively, the support may have an associated coolable member.
The support is typically vertically below the member in use of the apparatus, but this is not essential.
The apparatus is typically designed for use with a particular article, with the member, and support if present, being tailored to the exact shape of that particular article.
The specification of International Patent Application No. PCT/GB02/00037 also discloses a method of printing an image on an image-receiving surface of an article, comprising holding a carrier sheet bearing an image to be printed in contact with said image-receiving surface of the article by means of a heat-conductive member comprising foamed polymeric elastomer material and having a surface shaped to be substantially complementary to said image-receiving surface of the article; and heating the member to print the image on said surface.
The image on the carrier sheet may be produced by a variety of different printing techniques, including dye diffusion thermal transfer printing, using appropriate carrier sheet material.
For example, a dye diffusion thermal retransfer printing process using a retransfer intermediate sheet as discussed above may be adopted. A retransfer intermediate sheet typically comprises a supporting substrate having a dye-receptive coating, or receiver layer, on one surface thereof, e.g. as described in EP 409514, with the other surface optionally carrying a coating to improve the friction, release or static properties of the sheet during printing and preferably also carrying the heat-resistant backcoat, as described in EP 912349 (WO98/02315). The substrate may comprise paper, possibly polyolefin-coated paper, with the preferred substrate comprising a laminated material prepared by laminating an opaque, voided polypropylene film to at least one side of a cellulose paper base material, e.g. as disclosed in JP 06-84119-B. The voids in the polypropylene film layer improve the compliance of the sheet.
The substrate is preferably not too stiff or inelastic, at least at printing temperatures and preferably also at ambient temperature, at least for use in printing on a compound curved surface (concave or convex) of an article, such as a part spherical surface having curvature in two planes, to enable the sheet to conform to the surface without creasing. It may be desirable to pre-heat the sheet prior to holding the sheet in contact with the article so that the sheet is in softened condition and more readily able to conform to the shape of the surface. Such pre-heating can be achieved by radiant heat from the member in heated condition, being held in close proximity to the sheet located on the image-receiving surface of the article (but not held in contact therewith), prior to contact of the sheet by the member and application of force to press the sheet into engagement with the article.
The image-receiving surface of the article may optionally be coated with suitable material to enhance susceptibility of the surface to printing, in known manner. Examples of suitable coating materials are given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,387 at column 2 lines 23 to 52. U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,684 and EP 721848 also disclose coating materials suitable for use on ceramic articles.
The method and apparatus disclosed in PCT/GB02/00037 are thus applicable to printing on articles of a wide range of materials, including thermoplastic materials as well as metals and ceramic materials, and in a wide range of shapes, including printing on flat surfaces as well as on more complex, curved shapes (concave or convex) including compound curves. This approach can thus be used for printing on articles such as casings of mobile telephones made of polymers such as polycarbonate that soften and would otherwise distort under printing conditions of temperature and pressure. With such articles even slight distortion is unacceptable because the article must meet tight tolerances to fit correctly with other components.
Thermal transfer printing of an image onto an article of plastics material, as compared with an article of a high thermal stability material such as ceramic or metal, is a much more difficult, sensitive process, requiring better temperature control in the article to avoid unwanted distortions resulting from flow of the plastic. Conversely, it is necessary to use relatively high transfer temperatures in order to produce good quality high density colour images. It is known to use a two stage process for thermal transfer of an image onto an article of plastics material, with the first stage involving dye transfer by sublimation and the second stage involving dye fixation by use of rapid infra-red heating: see FR 2728505.
JP 3132862 discloses a mass retransfer system in which an image on a carrier sheet is mass transferred to an article of plastics material. The article bears an image-receiving layer of lower softening point than that of the plastics material. The image-receiving layer is designed to provide high adhesion with the material to be printed, and so is unsuitable for receiving an image by a dye thermal transfer process where efficient release of the carrier and image-receiving layer is required.


A method of safeguarding program parts which are critical to safety against inadvertent execution is described. In this method, at least one program part is executed in a predetermined chronological sequence. At a certain time in the execution, a pattern is generated. At least at one later time, a check is then performed to determine whether the pattern is present. If the pattern is not present, the execution of the respective program part is terminated. A memory device for executing such a method is also described.

The software used in controllers and motor vehicles, for example, is becoming increasingly more complex because of constantly rising demands made on such software. This and the increasingly differentiated boundary conditions have led to a characterization of a wide variety of operating states of the software system.
It is problematic that some of these operating states are highly incompatible with one another. If program parts which are assigned to different operating states are stored at the same memory locations, inadvertent execution of a program part in the wrong operating state may lead to a condition that is critical to safety.
One example of this is the existence of an endless loop, which may be appropriate in anticipation of an external shutdown but should never be executed in the normal program sequence. During execution of such program parts, basic monitoring mechanisms such as a hardware or software watchdog are shut down or at least rendered ineffective.
It is no longer possible today to guarantee complete avoidance of the existence of such program structures. Therefore, these program parts must be protected virtually 100% against inadvertent execution.
Methods of preventing inadvertent alteration of memory contents, in particular the contents of flash EEPROM memories are widespread.
German Published Patent Application No. 196 16 053 describes a method of operating a controller having a programmable memory device. The memory device is programmed by successive execution of a plurality of memory programming control operations.
This should largely prevent in a simple manner interference-triggered, interference-influenced deletion and/or overwriting of data stored in the programmable memory device.
This is achieved by providing a check step which determines whether all the selected individual or several memory programming control operations to be carried out by then have been executed, and by a decision step in which a decision is made, taking account the result of the check, as to whether the programming operation is to be continued as intended with the execution of additional memory programming control operations.
It is, thus, possible to ascertain at any desired time whether the control operations to be carried out by then have in fact been carried out.
European Published Patent Application No. 923 081 describes methods of writing to and erasing a flash EEPROM.
In this method, a programming voltage or deletion voltage 35 corresponds to a read voltage. To differentiate the programming or erase voltage from the read voltage, the programming or deletion algorithms are to be processed in a specific sequence using specific addresses and specific data. The programming and deletion algorithms are shifted to a volatile memory allocated logically to the flash EEPROM.
This achieves an increased security of the memory information stored in this flash EEPROM with respect to accidental overwriting or deletion.
This prevents inadvertent overwriting or deletion of stored content caused by accidental exposure of the flash EEPROM to an electromagnetic discharge, programming errors, hardware defects and/or voltage pulses.
In addition, an embodiment is also described in which the address information and data information needed for processing the programming and deletion algorithms is made available only by an external programming device.
There are no known comparable methods of protecting any desired safety-critical program parts, however.

Method for protecting software programs from inadvertent execution


A vending machine door monitoring system for an audit system is provided. This door monitoring system may utilize the same door switch utilized by the vending machine controller (VMC) in order to detect the state of an access door for the vending machine. This door monitoring system may have a separate power supply for applying a back-up voltage to a door circuit in the event that the VMC fails to supply the voltage. The door monitoring system may be further configured to detect a state of the door circuit regardless of the order in which the terminals from the door switch are coupled to the audit system.

Vending machines have long been used for selling products to consumers. In the past, vending machine managers needed to send human operators to personally visit each vending machine in order to check on the status of the vending machine, to retrieve the collected cash, and to restock the vending machine with new products to replace the products that had been sold. These vending machines may be provided with a door switch, which would indicate to the vending machine controller whether the access door is open or closed. Many vending machines are configured such that when the vending machine controller detects that the door is open, the vending machine enters into "service mode."
A problem arises when there is a failure with the door switch such that the vending machine controller believes that the door is open when, in fact, the door is closed. When the vending machine is in service mode, customers are typically unable to purchase products from the vending machine. Thus, a malfunction of the door switch can prevent any sales from occurring, even when the vending machine is otherwise functioning properly. Even worse, when some vending machines are in service mode, a user may be able to reset the pricing of the products in the vending machine or cause the vending machine to vend product for free.
Recently, vending machines have been equipped with monitoring systems for monitoring the status of the vending machine and for keeping track of product sales and restocking. Even more recently, vending machines have been provided with monitoring systems capable of transmitting information regarding the status of the vending machine to a central server. In many cases, existing vending machines are retrofitted with these types of monitoring systems. These monitoring systems may enable the vending machine to report to a central host when a "door open" state is detected. This can help operators to identify machines with malfunctioning door switches. However, due to the wide variety of vending machine designs, the retrofitting process can be difficult and time-consuming, and require skilled service personnel for the installation.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a vending machine monitoring system that can be easily installed at low cost.


A method and apparatus for transmitting channel information used by a station form among TV white space channels, and a method and apparatus for performing channel switching are disclosed. A method for transmitting information of a channel used by a station from among TV white space channels includes determining one or more channels used by the station from among channels contained in a plurality of OFDM blocks, wherein each OFDM block includes one or more contiguous channels from among the TV white space channels, generating a message including first information indicating the lowest channel number from among channels contained in a first OFDM block from among the plurality of OFDM blocks, second information indicating the lowest channel number from among channels contained in a second OFDM block, third information indicating the one or more channels used by the station as bitmap information, and fourth information indicating a total amount of bandwidth used by the station, and transmitting the generated message.

Radio resources are national restricted intangible assets. As the number of users who use wireless devices rapidly increases, the value of radio resources is rapidly increasing. Specifically, the number of radio frequency (RF) services, for example, mobile communication, WLAN, digital broadcasting, satellite communication, radio frequency identification/ubiquitous sensor network (RFID/USN), Ultra Wide Band (UWB) communication, wireless broadband (WiBro), etc. is rapidly increasing, the demand for restricted radio resources is also rapidly increasing.
Cognitive Radio (CR) technology has been proposed by Joseph Mitola. The CR technology searches for and uses a frequency band that is allocated to a specific communication/broadcast service (or an enterpriser) and is not used in a specific region at a specific time, so as to increase frequency use efficiency.
TV broadcast band has been mostly focused as an operation band of a network based on CR technology (hereinafter referred to as a CR network). In recent times, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been announced the regulation of using the CR network for the TV broadcast band. Standardization of the CR network using the TV broadcast band is being intensively conducted by the international standardization organization such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11. Specifically, standardization of an IEEE 802.11-based CR network (hereinafter referred to as IEEE 802.11 TVWS network) is being intensively conducted by the IEEE 802.11af task group.

Method and apparatus for transmitting channel information in cognitive radio network and method and apparatus for performing channel switching


A customer queuing system receives telephone calls on one port of a switching system for handling by servers attached to output ports of the switching system. The queuing system estimates the waiting time which may be expected by each customer arriving at an input port and utilizes a voice announcement system to inform callers during the queue of the estimated waiting period prior to connection to one of the servers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a customer queuing arrangement, and more particularly to such an arrangement for use in providing telecommunications services.
2. Related Art
Many organizations such as mail order companies, banks, repair companies, information providers and emergency service providers have many more telephone access lines than they have operators available to handle calls. This is a more efficient way of handling telephone access requirements since operators are not idle while awaiting the next incoming call as would be the case if the number of operators and number of lines were equal. Further, at peak times, customers calling the service do not have to re-dial when lines are particularly busy.
It has become customary for an automated answering system to pick up calls after a short period of ringing in order to re-assure the customer that they are connected to an appropriate service center. Usually a message is transmitted such as "Please hold the line. You are held in a queue. One of our operators will answer your call as soon as possible." Music or other entertainment may be provided subsequent to the message or ring tone re-instated. After a period, often around one minute, the message is repeated or another message is transmitted.
Some companies, notably in the United States of America, have introduced a "telephone radio show" in which customers joining a tele-sales queue are entertained by a disc jockey or comedian who periodically advises on the length of the queue and indicates the overall waiting time based on the duration of the wait experienced by the most recently answered caller.
Such systems are helpful in avoiding lost calls to the destination but can lead to customer frustration if the wait is lengthy and the same message is repeated. This may result in lost business if the customer hangs up before being passed to an operator and subsequently calls again thus rejoining the queue.

British Telecommunications public limited company


A method and apparatus for blocking a bar code in a package includes a carrier with a plurality of apertures. The carrier is formed with a plastic material containing an absorbing dye and a fluorescing dye so that a bar code on each container is not readable by a bar code scanner.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a package of containers that facilitates proper bar code scanning.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventional container carriers are often used to unitize a plurality of similarly sized containers, such as cans, bottles, jars and boxes and/or similar containers. Flexible plastic ring carriers are one such conventional container carrier.
Such flexible plastic ring carriers for cans and bottles may or may not have labels printed on the carrier. Often it is desirable to add a Universal Product Code (UPC) or "bar code" (the terms "UPC" and "bar code" are used interchangeably herein) to the container to identify individual containers and the carrier to identify the multi-container package, or multi-package. Containers within the multi-package that are individually coded with the bar code enable a bar code scanner or reader (also used interchangeably herein) to read product information, such as price.
Flexible plastic ring carriers may be used to unitize groups of four, six, eight, twelve or other suitable groups of containers into a convenient multi-package. In such cases, it is preferable to block any bar code on the individual container. This will prevent the bar code for individual containers from being read in place of or in addition to the bar code for the multi-pack. When such containers are placed within a multi-package such as a "six pack," difficulties may arise when container bar codes with individual container information are scanned instead of package bar codes with the information relevant to the multi-package or six pack.
Traditional multi-packages, such as six-packs, include containers that are positioned in random rotational orientations within the carrier. Each container generally includes an individual bar code which includes information, such as price, regarding the individual container. However, when the bar code for the individual container is scanned as the multi-package price, problems may arise for the vendor. Such problems primarily include a single container price being charged for a multi-container package and the inventory control problems that may result.
As such, it is desirable to ensure that the correct bar code is scanned for the correct container and/or multi-package. More specifically, it may be desirable to block the bar codes of individual containers within a multi-package from the scanning process.


An image capture apparatus has an image capture unit to capture an object image, an acquisition unit to acquire a developing parameter for image data captured by the image capture unit, an analysis unit to analyze RAW image data generated by the image capture unit, an image composition unit to compose a plurality of RAW image data generated by the image capture unit and generate composite RAW image data, a composition ratio determination unit to determine a composition ratio for a plurality of developing parameters respectively for development of the plurality of RAW image data acquired by the acquisition unit, a parameter composition unit to compose the plurality of developing parameters and generate one composite developing parameter, and a development unit to develop the composite RAW image data using the composite developing parameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus capable of multiple-exposure image capture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as an image processing apparatus to produce one composite image from plural captured images upon multiple-exposure image capture, an apparatus to record information to restore captured images before composition in tag information of a composite image is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-300372).
Further, an apparatus to convert captured images before composition using plural image capturing information upon image capture of plural images and perform composition is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-271427).
However, in these conventional techniques, the image capturing information stored in a header of a composite image is only image capturing information of the first image among the plural captured images.
When only the image capturing information upon image capture for the first image is recorded as the image capturing information stored in the header information of the composite image, it is impossible to find objects in the image capture for the second and the subsequent images and as a result it is impossible to determine a developing parameter appropriate for developing the composite image.


A lighting device 1 includes a planar light-emitting panel 4 and a translucent material 5 disposed on a light-emitting surface side of the planar light-emitting panel 4. The planar light-emitting panel 4 has a light-emitting region 4A and a non-light-emitting region 4B. The translucent material 5 has a reflection part 51 in a region facing the non-light-emitting region 4B. Light emitted from the planar light-emitting panel 4 and guided into the translucent material 5 is reflected by the reflection part 51 and emitted to the front side of the non-light-emitting region 4B. Accordingly, the front side of the non-light-emitting region 4B does not become a dark section, so that it is capable of increasing the light irradiation region and giving the light irradiation surface having uniform illuminance even if the plural lighting devices 1 are arranged in a matrix form.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device which has an organic EL (electroluminescence) element as a light source.
Description of the Related Art
The organic EL element is capable of emitting light of high luminance at a low voltage, and various colors of the emitted light are obtained therefrom depending on types of organic compounds included in the organic EL element, and moreover, it is easy to manufacture the organic EL element as a planar light-emitting panel. As shown in FIG. 12, such a planar light-emitting panel 10 includes, for example, a base material 20, an organic EL element 30 provided in a center of the base material 20 and plural electrode pads 40 provided on the base material 20 so as to surround the organic EL element 30 (refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-182129, for example). Each of the electrode pads 40 is electrically connected to an anode layer or a cathode layer (neither of them is shown) of the organic EL element 30 and mediates a power feeding from an external power source to the anode layer or the cathode layer. In the planar light-emitting panel 10, a region corresponding to the organic EL element 30 is a light-emitting region 10A from which light is emitted and a region corresponding to the electrode pads 40 (shown by dots) surrounding the organic EL element 30 is a non-light-emitting region 10B from which the light is not emitted.
As shown in FIG. 13, the above planar light-emitting panel 10 can be utilized as a light source of a lighting device 50 which includes a housing 60 storing the planar light-emitting panel 10 and a translucent material 70 disposed on a light-emitting side of the planar light-emitting panel 10 (refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-108568, for example). The translucent material 70 and the base material 20 of the planar light-emitting panel 10 are adhered to each other with a translucent resin 80. Light emitted from the planar light-emitting panel 10 passes through the translucent resin 80 and the translucent material 70 and is emitted outside.
However, in the above lighting device 50, the front side of the light-emitting region 10A becomes a bright section emitting light of high luminance and the front side of the non-light-emitting region 10B becomes a dark section emitting light of low luminance, so that light irradiation region is small. Moreover, when the plural lighting devices 50 are arranged in a matrix form, the light irradiation surface does not become uniform where the bright section and the dark section are mixed, making the appearance of the lighting devices 50 awkward.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A gas detector and method of operating the gas detector that includes a carbon monoxide sensor and a processor. The carbon monoxide sensor senses an environmental concentration of carbon monoxide and provides the sensed value to the processor. Upon receiving the value of the carbon monoxide level (COppm), the processor determines an alarm threshold level based upon the COppm level. Once the alarm threshold level is determined, the processor calculates the COHb percentage for the current COppm reading based upon a derived, fixed point equation. The processor activates an audible/visual indicator when the sensed COHb percentage exceeds the alarm threshold.

The present invention relates to the operation of a carbon monoxide detector. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of operating a processor within a carbon monoxide sensor to reduce the calculation complexity required for estimating the COHb percentage.
Currently, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gases are used widely as fuel for domestic, commercial and industrial heating and cooking applications. The wide use of these gases for heating and cooking purposes creates a danger of leakage, which will contaminate the surrounding environment, creating dangerous conditions. In many applications, carbon monoxide is created as a byproduct of the combustion process. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas, thus rendering contaminating levels difficult to detect by an individual. Carbon monoxide is absorbed into an individual's lungs and reacts with the hemoglobin in the blood to form carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), which reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Thus, the presence of carbon monoxide in an environment above certain levels is extremely dangerous and can easily poison individuals unaware of its presence.
The uptake of carbon monoxide by a human is a function of both the time of exposure to the carbon monoxide as well as the concentration of the carbon monoxide within the atmosphere. The equation for determining the percentage of COHb in a person's blood can be represented by the Coburn, Forster & Kane Equation, which is set forth below.% COHBt=% COHo(e−(t/2398B))+218(1−e−(t/2398B))(0.0003+COppm /1316)  (1)
In the above equation, the variable B is set 0.0404 for representing an individual in a heavy work environment, in which the individual is consuming a relatively large volume of oxygen, while the variable t represents the time in minutes.
A person is in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning when the percentage of COHb in the blood increases due to the continued exposure to carbon monoxide, such as the 10% level set by the Underwriter's Laboratory UL 2034 Carbon Monoxide Exposure Specification. According to the UL 2034 specification, at concentration levels of 70 ppm, a carbon monoxide detector must respond with an alarm within 60-240 minutes. At elevated concentration levels of 400 ppm, the detector must respond with an alarm within an interval of 4-15 minutes.
Although the Coburn, Forster & Kane Equation set forth above is accurate for determining the percent of COHb in a person's blood, the calculation required is very complex and requires a sophisticated and powerful processor for carrying out the complex math operations required to find the solution for the equation. Such complicated math would require extensive math libraries, thus drastically increasing the code size required within the processor operating the carbon monoxide detector. Since many carbon monoxide detectors are battery powered, the increases processor capabilities and additional program memory required to carry out the COHb calculation will result in both higher cost for the product and decreased battery life.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of operating a carbon monoxide detector that reduces the complexity of the COHb calculation while still operating to generate an alarm in accordance with UL standards.

Method of COHb calculation in a carbon monoxide detector


A fabrication method of a semiconductor device is disclosed. A T-shaped gate used for decreasing the gate resistance is adopted in fabricating an ultrahigh frequency and low-noise device. According to the present invention, a gate pattern is formed by a dual exposure technique, a thin metal film is formed, a pattern for plating is formed, and a gate is formed by electroplating, whereby decreasing a gate length and gate resistance. Therefore, the cost of production is decreased, the yield is improved, and the noise figure is minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabrication method of semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a fabrication method of a gate electrode of a low-noise compound semiconductor device which is operated at the microwave or millimeter wave.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
Low-noise devices are used in low-noise amplifier for amplifying weak signals in the high-frequency radio communication. The noise properties can be quantificated into the noise figure (NF). Generally, the minimum noise figure NF.sub.min is expressed by the following formula: ##EQU1## It can be seen from the above formula that significant improvements in low-noise device performance can be made by reducing the gate length to 0.5 .mu.m or less in order to reduce C.sub.gs and increasing the transconductance g.sub.m0. But, it was difficult to reduce the noise figure when the gate length is reduced, because the gate resistance R.sub.g is increased according to the reduction of the gate length. And, it was difficult to form a gate having the gate length of 0.5 .mu.m or less by using conventional photolithography technique.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problem, it was known that a T-shaped gate having a T-shaped cross section is formed by using an electron beam lithography or dielectric materials.
The problems of the prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of T-shaped gate formed by a conventional E-beam lithography technique. First of all, a first photoresist film 104 is formed and a second photoresist film 106 having a degree of sensitivity to E-beam exposure corresponding to ten times or more of that of the first photoresist film 104 is deposited on the first photoresist film 104. Then, a third photoresist thin film 108, which is composed of the same material as the first photoresist film 104, is formed. When the resultant structure is exposed to E-beam and developed, a relatively wide opening is formed in the second photoresist film 106, and a relatively small opening is formed in the first photoresist film 104 corresponding to the size of the exposed region to E-beam, thereby resulting an opening shaped like a wine goblet. As a result of the development as above, The third photoresist thin film 108 has an opening having an opening size larger than that of the opening in the first photoresist film 104 and smaller than that of the opening in the second photoresist film 106, since the third photoresist thin film 108 suffers a loss at the edge portion during the development. Therefore, it is possible to perform lift-off process for removing unwanted metals but leaving a gate 107. After the patterning step as above, a metal film is formed and lift-off of the remaining metal is performed, thereby forming a T-shaped gate 107.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of T-shaped gate formed by a conventional photolithography technique using dielectric materials. In this case, instead of the triple photoresist film used in the electron beam lithography technique as described above, a dielectric film 209 is used for defining a gate length. After defining the gate length, a pattern for lift-off having a width greater than the gate length is formed. A T-shaped gate 207 is formed by depositing a gate metal on the resultant structure and performing the lift-off process.
The conventional electron beam lithography technique described above has an advantage of obtaining a gate length of 0.5 .mu.m or less. But, the T-shaped gate according to the conventional technique has a thickness not more than the thickness of the second photoresist film. Further, an expensive equipment is required in the conventional E-beam method while a low productivity is resulted from the conventional E-beam method. Thus, the conventional E-beam method has the problem of a high cost of the production.
The conventional technique using the dielectric materials has an advantage of forming the T-shaped gate by a simple process at a low cost. But, according to the conventional technique using the dielectric materials, the gate length is determined by the etched amount out of the dielectric film. And, a gate length of 0.5 .mu.m or less can not be obtained by a usual photolithography. Further, the thickness of a metal film should be smaller than that of the photoresist film. Thus, the conventional technique using the dielectric materials is limited in decreasing the gate resistance.

Fabrication method of gate electrode in semiconductor device

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention provides a for producing 1,2-cis-2-fluorocyclopropane-1-carboxylic ester.

Among the new quinolone synthetic antibacterial agents, those having a 1,2-cis-2-fluorocyclopropyl group as a 1-position substituent exhibit strong antibacterial activity and high safety, and therefore are expected to serve as excellent synthetic antibacterial agents. A raw material necessary to obtain a 1,2-cis-2-fluorocyclopropyl group is prepared by use of 1,2-cis-2-fluorocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid. This compound is synthesized by dechlorination of 1-chloro-2-fluorocyclopropane-1-carboxylic ester in dimethyl sulfoxide in the presence of sodium borohydride (see Patent Document 1).
However, such dechlorination turned out to be so problematic that when a reaction is conducted under stirring by a stirring blade under the industrial-scale, the viscosity of a reaction mixture sharply increases as the reaction proceeds and thereby weakens the stirring efficiency, and the reaction rate slows down as a result, so that a long period of time (several days) is required until the completion of said reaction. Furthermore, such dechlorination turned out to cause another problem in that when conducted by use of dimethyl sulfoxide serving as a solvent, the reaction produces dimethyl sulfide as a by-product having offensive odor and thus ends up with the worsening of working environment.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-1994-157418

Process for producing 1,2-cis-2-fluorocyclopropane-1-carboxylic ester compound