An apparatus, system, and method for affordably distributing cable communication signals at greatly reduced power consumption levels with high signal quality with an active tap having gain stage characterized by low power (less than 1 Watt), low noise figure (less than 3 dB), high bandwidth (typically DC-2 GHz), and high gain (at least 15 dBmV).

1. Field of Invention
A low-cost active tap for use in cable communication distribution systems and characterized by low power consumption, low signal distortion, and increased reliability.
2. Summary of the Background
In conventional coaxial communication distribution systems, signals are distributed along cable lines. Consumers located along the length of the cable run are supplied with signals via passive taps. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional four-port 24 dB passive tap device. The input signal flows in parallel to a power-passing choke PPC1 and to a series circuit comprising a first capacitor C1, a directional coupler DC, and a second capacitor C2. The directional coupler DC also outputs signals to a first splitter S1. This first splitter S1 feeds the signal then to a pair of second splitters S2A and S2B. The output of the second splitters S2A and S2B then flows to output ports O1, O2, O3, and O4. Signals may also flow upstream from output ports O1, O2, O3, and O4, through splitters S2A, S2B and S1 and directional coupler DC to a node upstream from the tap.
Because the components of the conventional tap are passive, the conventional tap attenuates the signal between its through-leg input and output as well as between its input and output to the subscribers. Thus, signal strength at the output of the device (e.g., 40.5 dBmV) is lower than at the input (e.g., 42.5 dBmV). The signal level at the output terminal of the directional coupler DC feeding S1 is predetermined by the design of the directional coupler. That is, a conventional DC16-type directional coupler provides a signal approximately 16 dB lower than the input signal level (i.e., 26 dBmV).
In order to maintain consumer cable TV and other communication signal quality, components of the conventional passive tap device are typically selected depending on the tap input signal level so that the signal level at each of output ports O1, O2, O3, and O4 is a minimum of 18 dBmV at the uppermost frequency. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, if the conventional passive tap device has an input of 42 dBmV, the directional coupler (DC-16) is selected to provide 26 dBmV at the input to splitter S1. This supplies 22 dBmV to S2A and S2B, which in turn supplies 18 dBmV to O1, O2, O3 and O4. This configuration also results in an output of the conventional tap device of 40.5 dBmV. As the signal level into the device decreases, the value of the DC also decreases and the through loss of the device increases.
FIG. 2 shows an idealized model of a conventional system for distributing signal from a source I1 to a number of consumers. Components of the conventional system include a source I1 in series with conventional passive taps P1-P18 and active line extenders LE1, LE2, and LE3. The passive taps P1-P18 each correspond to the device of FIG. 1, with the exception that the proper DC was selected to provide a minimum subscriber output of +18 dBmV. With this configuration, 18 passive taps with 4 output ports allow for 72 consumers to be supplied by source I1.
In FIG. 2 the figures of merit are composite triple beat (CTB); composite second order beat (CSO); and carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR). In FIG. 2, source I1 outputs a signal according the following profile: 54 dBmV at 862 MHz, 48 dBmV at 550 MHz, and 39 dBmV at 55 MHz. In addition, the signal output from source I1 has a CTB of −64.0 dB; a CSO of −60.0 dB; and a CNR of 51.0 dB. The signal propagates through the first five passive taps P1-P5 and coax during which the signals are attenuated to a level where no more subscribers can be supplied with +18 dBmV. So the signals must be amplified. The signals from the output of P5 are presented at the input to extender LE1. Line extender LE1 is configured to boost the signal to 49.5 dBmV at 862 MHz, 44 dBmV at 550 MHz, and 35 dBmV at 55 MHz. The signal passes through the next four passive taps to line extender LE2. Line extender LE2 is also configured to boost an input signal to 49.5 dBmV at 862 MHz, 44 dBmV at 550 MHz, and 35 dBmV at 55 MHz. The signal passes through the next four passive taps to line extender LE3. Line extender LE3 is also configured to boost an input signal to 49.5 dBmV at 862 MHz, 44 dBmV at 550 MHz, and 35 dBmV at 55 MHz. The signal then passes through the final five passive taps. For the reasons noted relative to FIG. 1, the system is designed so that the signal level at output ports O1, O2, O3, and O4 of each passive tap is on the order of 18 dBmV.
Throughout the propagation of the signal through the system, signal loss is introduced by the cable and passive taps. Line extenders are used to overcome the system losses but cause distortion to be added to the signals. Thus, at the output of line extender LE1, CTB equals −60.5 dB; CSO equals −59.0 dB; and CNR equals 50.4 dB. At the output of line extender LE2, CTB equals −58.0 dB; CSO equals −58.2 dB; and CNR equals 49.8 dB. At line extender LE3, CTB equals −56.0 dB; CSO equals 57.5 dB; and CNR equals 49.3 dB. Since all the devices after each LE are passive, the distortion numbers are the same for all taps after each LE, until the next LE. For example, the last 5 taps all have a CTB of −56.0 dB. The previous 4 taps have a CTB of −58.0 dB. CTB adds on a 20 log basis with the sum of the distortion of the source output plus the distortion generated by each LE. CSO and CNR add on a 10 log basis.
FIG. 3 illustrates signal characteristics for a more realistic cable television signal distribution system developed with conventional system modeling software. In FIG. 3, source N1 outputs a signal onto a first cable C1 of length 271 feet. The signal drops in strength due to line losses and is split by splitter S1 onto cables C2, C3, and C6. Cable C2 ends after 59 feet at a DC10 passive tap P1. Cable C3 extends 84 feet to a DC12 passive tap P2 which is connected to DC12 passive tap P3 via 230 feet of cable C42. Passive tap P3 is connected to a terminating passive tap P4. Cable C6 extends 538 feet to line extender LE1 which connects to a DC16 passive tap P5 via an additional 268 feet of cable C7 (the total length of cables C6 and C7 is 806 feet). Passive tap P5 connects to a DC8 directional coupler DC1 which is connected to a DC14 passive tap P6 (on the down-leg) and to cable C8, which extends 259 feet to a DC12 passive tap P7. Passive tap P7 connects to cable C9 which extends 277 feet to in-line equalizer EQ1, which is connected to a DC4 passive tap P8.
Input and output signal levels (in terms of dBmV) at 862 MHz/750 MHz/55 MHz, respectively, are shown in Table T1
TABLE T1DeviceInput Signal LevelOutput Signal LevelN1—/—/—  50/48/36.5C1  50/48/36.546.5/44.7/35.6S146.5/44.7/35.641.8/40.2/32.138.1/36.7/28.6C238.1/36.7/28.637.3/35.6/28.4P137.3/35.6/28.4  20/19/11C341.8/40.2/32.140.7/39/31.8P240.7/39/31.8  20/18/11C4238.9/37.2/31.135.9/34.9/30.3P335.9/34.9/30.3  20/18/14C5234.1/32.8/29.725.5/24.8/27.5EQ225.5/24.8/27.525.1/23.9/17.5P425.1/23.9/17.5  17/15/12C638.1/36.7/28.628.6/27.8/26.4LE128.6/27.8/26.4  50/48/36.5C7  50/48/36.546.5/44.7/35.6P546.5/44.7/35.6  23/21/12DC145.4/43.7/35.3Through: 43.6/42.1/34.6Down-Leg: 37.4/35.7/27.3P637.4/35.7/27.3  20/19/12C843.6/42.1/34.640.3/39.2/33.7P740.3/39.2/33.7  20/19/14C938.5/37.1/33.134.9/34.4/32EQ134.9/34.4/3234.5/33.0/22.4P834.5/33.0/22.4  17/16/11
FIG. 4 illustrates the power consumption of the idealized system of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, power consumption of active line extenders LE1, LE2 and LE3 is 28.5 watts each, resulting in a total power consumption of 85.5 watts. Based on a power supply located at the Source I1, and a 0.500″ PIII DC loop resistance of 1.2 Ohms/1000 ft, the power dissipated by the cable is 1.95 Watts. Power consumption of the conventional taps is minimal because the only component that would dissipate any power in the tap is the RF Choke (PPC1 in FIG. 1). The resistance of the RF Choke, which allows the power to pass through the tap, is typically less than 0.01 Ohms. Thus total power consumed in the idealized conventional system shown in FIG. 4A is 87.15 watts (85.5+1.95 watts). Cable TV (CATV) operators are extremely interested in reducing power consumption in their distribution systems. Even a savings of 3 watts, which can save $15 in power costs over 5 years, is considered very favorably.
In 1991, Chiddix and Vaughn proposed a concept of an active tap. This proposal was motivated by the difficulties at the time of increasing cable services by just increasing the bandwidth of the distribution plant. The intent of the paper was to encourage manufacturers to help solve these problems by building an active tap that would extend services to a larger number of customers without undue signal distortion. (In 1991, no CATV distribution equipment was being built with GaAs active devices or bipolar transistors with an fT of 6 GHz. Gain stages at the time that were rated above 550 MHz provided additional bandwidth, but had poor distortion performance.) A small segment of a cable system owned by Chiddix's employer was built with a bandwidth of 1 GHz to test pay-per-view markets. The system was built in the traditional way (amplifiers and passive taps). The experiment was a marketing success, but the amplifier distortion performance was insufficient, thus making the system impractical.
For many reasons, the active tap proposed by Chiddix and Vaughn were not reduced to practice. First, to achieve suitable performance the equipment power requirements would have increased and the power passing circuitry did not exist. At the time, it was not possible to make power-passing circuitry capable of passing in excess of 15 amps without saturating the ferrite coil form, causing modulation of the RF signals. Second, the power consumption of the active tap concept of Chiddix and Vaughn, if ever reduced to practice, would have resulted in a system that was not cost-effective to operate. For example, if, as described, a gain stage were used at each subscriber port, a 4-port tap would consume in excess of 32 watts (whereas the device disclosed in the following detailed description will provide the same functionality while requiring only 0.5 watts, providing a $150 savings in powering over five years for every active tap).
Third, system managers are graded on subscriber minute outages. A 1991 cable system could have 100,000 or more subscribers. The signals for these subscribers would all originate from the head-end and begin by flowing through a single amp. If that amp fails, the network suffers 100,000 subscriber minute outages for every minute the system is down. The Chiddix-Vaughn proposal did not reduce the problems associated with amplifier cascades, but added to the system downtime probability by increasing the number of system power supplies required. Power outages at supply locations are a major source of system outages.
Fourth, no cable systems have ever been built with 550 MHz, or 1 GHz bandwidth, as suggested by Chiddix and Vaughn. No device was available then or is available even today, that could operate at 55 dBmV output with 151 analog channels. Furthermore, Chiddix and Vaughn's proposal to power the active tap from one of possible four subscriber's houses adds cost, complexity and unreliability to the system. Also, if the subscriber providing power disconnects, a major reconfiguration of the system will be needed.
Fifth, a concern of an active or passive tap system is reverse signal levels. Devices installed in houses have a maximum output of +55 dBmV. The described reverse injection of 30 to 40 dB in the system of Chiddix and Vaughn would not provide enough signal to drive the reverse laser circuitry at the fiber node. In real applications the directional coupler is selected to satisfy the reverse signal requirements.
Sixth, the system of Chiddix and Vaughn is lacks control of signal level change due to system ambient temperature changes. The lack of amplitude control and cable versus frequency equalization cause the reach of the system to be reduced and could cause unacceptable signal to distortion levels at the subscriber ports.
Finally, to be cost-effective the system proposed by Chiddix and Vaughn required the unit to have a selling price of $100. The cost to build the unit was estimated to be in excess of $120. Manufacturing cost of an off-premise converter which contained some of the components required, such as microprocessors, hybrids, PIN diode switches, DC power supply, was $235 per subscriber. Because manufacturing costs were estimated to be more than double what was required to be cost-effective, no devices were ever built.
Because the technology of the day did exist to build the device suggested by Chiddix and Vaughn, because the overall system was economically and operationally inoperative, and because since 1991 the utilization of fiber optics has increased and digital compression of TV channels have provided a great deal of additional service capacity to the systems, and improvement in traditional gain stages, including GaAs active devices has provided a means of building systems with a bandwidth of 870 MHz, the proposal of Chiddix and Vaughn was not reduced to practice.
Thus, what is desired, as discovered by the present inventors, is a capability for distributing coaxial communication signals at greatly reduced power consumption, and system reliability, where signal levels and quality are equal to or better than is possible with conventional amplifier and passive tap systems and where the amplification is provided at the tap and characterized by low power (less than 1 Watt), low noise figure (less than 3 dB), high bandwidth (typically 20-1.5 GHz), and high gain (e.g., input to subscriber output port gain of as much as 22 dB).

Coaxial communication active tap device and distribution system


The present invention is directed to perform fine low-voltage control without largely increasing the circuit layout area in a low-power consumption structure. In the case of shifting a region to a low-speed mode, a system controller outputs a request signal and an enable signal to a power switch controller and a low-power drive circuit, respectively, to turn off a power switch and to perform a control so that the voltage level of a virtual reference potential becomes about 0.2 V to about 0.3V. The region operates on voltages between a power supply voltage and a virtual reference potential, so that it is controlled in the low-speed mode.

The present invention relates to a technique for lowering power consumption of a semiconductor integrated circuit device and, more particularly, to a technique effective to high-precision reduction of power consumption in a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a plurality of power supply regions in which low-power-consumption control is performed.
In recent years, a demand for lower power consumption is increasing. As a technique for reducing power consumption, for example, there is known a technique of dividing a core power region (for example, by logic blocks), controlling the on/off state of a power supply by the divided regions and, in the case of a low-speed operation or the like, controlling a power supply voltage VDD to reduce power consumption.
In the consumption power reducing technique, for example, an operating state of a semiconductor integrated circuit device is determined by a control of software, and on/off control on the core power region is controlled by a system controller or the like which controls the semiconductor integrated circuit device. The power supply voltage to be controlled is supplied from the outside of a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
In a technique of reducing power consumption in a semiconductor integrated circuit device of this kind, for example, a basic cell is used in which two low-threshold p-channel MOS transistors provided in the lateral direction and two low-threshold n-channel MOS transistors provided in the lateral direction are disposed in the vertical direction, a high-threshold p-channel MOS transistor is disposed on the upper side adjacent to the p-channel MOS transistors and a high-threshold n-channel MOS transistor is disposed on the lower side adjacent to the low-threshold n-channel MOS transistors (refer to, for example, patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10(1998)-125878).


A method of deploying an application is provided. The method includes publishing a first code package to a package registry and publishing one or more further code packages to the package registry. The first code package can include code specifying a first definition of a class and at least one of the one or more further code packages comprises code specifying a further definition of the class. The further definition of the class comprises prototype merging so that on compilation the first definition of the class and the extended definition of the class are loaded as a single class, and module augmentation so that the first and extended definitions of the class are treated as a single merged class by development tools.

The present application relates to systems and method for deploying applications. In particular, but not exclusively, embodiments of the present application relate to techniques for deploying extensible applications developed by multiple independent developers.
Increasingly, it is desirable to develop modern enterprise class software applications so that they are "extensible". This means that they are created in such a way that they can be modified/extended to meet the particular needs of different end users. This modification is usually achieved by incorporating into the "base code" of the application (the software defining the core functionality of the application) "add-on" code which modifies or extends the core functionality of the application. Extensible development means that different instances of the application can be readily customised and deployed for different users.
Commonly, for large and complex applications, multiple sections of add-on code may be used. Typically, different sections of add-on code are developed by different third-party developers.
Accordingly, when developing and deploying such applications, "decoupled" development techniques are typically employed whereby different sections of add-on code are developed separately from the base code and different applications, comprising different selections of add-on code, are assembled and deployed independently from each other.
Modern software development techniques, such as "just-in-time" compiling, whereby the code is loaded and compiled during deployment enable decoupled development to be readily and conveniently undertaken.
When developing large and complex applications, particularly applications that comprise code developed by a number of different parties can consider the risk of conflicts arising between the base code and subsequently developed code (e.g., add-on code). This risk is generally greater, the more sections of add-on code that are used in a deployed application and the more frequently the sections of add-on code and the base code are updated.
To improve productivity, facilitate self-documentation, to enhance productivity and to reduce the chance of conflicts arising, base code and add-on code can be written using a statically typed language such as C#. Static typing, whereby variable typing is checked as part of the compilation process, reduces the chance of type errors in the application code causing run-time errors when the application is deployed.
However, using a statically typed language imposes restrictions on the way in which code is developed. For example, it is often useful for functionality specified in a class in the base code to be extended in add-on code.
Software coding features, such as "partial classes," are available in languages such as C# allowing classes defined in one section of code to be extended in another section of code.
However, in languages such as C#, all the code that contributes to a given class must be compiled and linked together into a single assembly. This restriction makes code development in a decoupled development environment, where the base code and add-on code are ideally developed independently of each other, more difficult.
It would be desirable to providing techniques that take advantage of the benefits of static typing whilst reducing the restrictions that static typing normally imposes on decoupled software development.


An insulation kit for use with a water heater is provided. The kit includes an insulating cover configured to be wrapped about an exterior surface of the water heater. The insulating cover includes a substantially rectangular body with opposed edges configured to overlap or abut one another when the insulating cover is wrapped about the exterior surface of the water heater and at least one downwardly facing flap configured to provide selective access to the water heater. The kit further includes a fastener packaged with the insulating cover and configured for fixing the opposed edges together, thereby securing the insulating cover adjacent the exterior surface of the water heater.

A water heater typically includes at least one control panel, at least one serviceable component, and safety information and product ratings on its exterior surface. In some circumstances, such a control panel, serviceable component, and/or safety information and product ratings may be covered by surrounding insulation. To gain access to these features, therefore, the user may need to remove the insulation cover. Alternatively, a user may cut holes in an insulation cover in an attempt to gain access to these features. Such practices are time-consuming, imprecise, and may impair the appearance of the product.
Further complicating the difficult access issue is the fact that water heater assemblies are often installed in cramped locations with very little clearance space. It may be difficult, if not impossible, for a user to manipulate a conventional insulation cover to gain access to water heater features.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an insulation cover that is configured to provide insulation yet reduce the inconvenience associated with access to control panels, serviceable components, and/or safety information and product ratings on the exterior surface of a water heater.

Insulation kit for use with a water heater


A developing apparatus having a rotatable developing sleeve having an elastic layer on the surface thereof for carrying a mono-component magnetic developer and urged against a photosensitive drum to develop an electrostatic image formed on the drum with the developer, a non-rotary magnet provided inside the sleeve for magnetically attracting the developer to the sleeve, and a blade having an abutting portion abutting against the sleeve in a counter direction for regulating the amount of the developer on the sleeve, a step portion spaced apart from the abutting portion, and a separating portion provided upstream of the step portion in the rotation direction of the sleeve, wherein the surface of the sleeve to which the separating portion is opposed includes a position satisfying |Br|/|B|≧0.5, where B(G): the magnitude of magnetic flux density formed on the surface of the sleeve, and Br(G): a component of the magnetic flux density in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the sleeve.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a developing apparatus for developing an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member with a developer, and more particularly to a developing apparatus of a mono-component developing type having a developer carrying member urged against an image bearing member.
Also, as the image bearing member, use can be made, for example, of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, an electrostatic recording dielectric member or the like, and the developing apparatus can be provided in a cartridge detachably mountable on an image recording apparatus (image forming apparatus) such as a copying machine or a printer, or an image forming apparatus main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, (1) a nonmagnetic contact developing type and (2) a magnetic non-contact developing type are widely used as conventional mono-component developing types for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member as a member to be developed (image bearing member) with a mono-component developer.
(1) Nonmagnetic Contact Developing Type
There has been proposed a type in which a nonmagnetic developer is carried on a developing roller (developer carrying member) having a dielectric material layer and is brought into contact with the surface of a photosensitive member to thereby effect development (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-92201). The developer in a developing apparatus is supplied to the vicinity of the developing roller by a mechanical agitating mechanism or gravity. An elastic roller for contacting with the developing roller is provided and effects the conveyance and supply of the developer. This elastic roller also has the function of once removing any developer not shifted to the photosensitive member, but remaining on the developing roller, for the purpose of uniformizing the developer on the developing roller. A DC bias is applied to between the base material of the photosensitive member and the developing roller.
(2) Magnetic Non-Contact Developing Type
This type (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. S54-43027 and Japanese Patent Application S55-18656) uses a magnetic mono-component developer, and carries the developer on a developing sleeve (developer carrying member) containing a magnet therein, and opposes the developing sleeve to a photosensitive member with a predetermined minute gap kept from the surface of the developing sleeve, and effects development by the developer flying in this gap. The developer in a developing apparatus is conveyed to the developing sleeve by a mechanical agitating mechanism or gravity and also, the developer receives a constant magnetic force by the magnet and is supplied to the developing sleeve. Then, a predetermined developer layer is formed on the developing sleeve by regulating means, and is used for development. The force acting on the developer by the magnet is positively used not only for the conveyance of the developer, but also in a developing portion. In the developing portion, the developer is prevented from shifting to a non-image portion to thereby cause a faulty image such as fog. This is because during development, the developer travels toward the magnet contained in the developing sleeve and receives the magnetic force. For the flight of the developer, use is made of a bias comprising an AC bias superimposed on a DC bias. The DC bias voltage is adjusted to a value between the image portion potential and non-image portion potential of the photosensitive member. Further, an AC voltage is superimposed, and the developer is reciprocally moved to the image portion and the non-image portion, whereby the image portion is developed with the developer.
(3) Cleaner-Less (Toner Recycle) System
From the viewpoints of the simplification of an apparatus construction and the elimination of waste, in an image forming apparatus of a transfer type, there has been proposed an electrophotographic process which disuses an exclusive drum cleaner which is surface cleaning means for a photosensitive member after the transferring step, and recycles a toner in the apparatus. For example, there has been proposed an image forming apparatus which uses the aforedescribed nonmagnetic contact developing type to collect any developer untransferred and residual simultaneously with the time of development (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H03-4276).
There has also been proposed an image forming apparatus which uses the aforedescribed magnetic non-contact developing type to collect any developer untransferred and residual simultaneously with the time of development (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-307455).
In the conventional nonmagnetic contact developing type mentioned under item (1) above, a reduction in the fog performance during endurance has been a problem. The characteristic of the toner is lowered while the mechanical stripping-off by the elastic roller is repeated, and the fog is sometimes aggravated by the lowering of the frictional charging characteristic or the like of the toner. The fog refers to the image fault that the toner is slightly developed in a blank portion (unexposed portion) which is originally not printed and appears like a ground stain. For the prevention of the lowering of the toner characteristic, it is also possible to weaken the frictionally contacting force of the elastic roller, but the compatibility with a ghost image fault is difficult. Here, the ghost image is the phenomenon that in a halftone image wherein the hysteresis of a toner amount developed in the previous rotation of the developing roller is uniform in the next and subsequent rotations, uneven image density appears with the phase difference of the outer periphery of the developing roller. Also, the presence of the ghost means that there is some toner which is not stripped off but is residual on the developing roller.
That is, the toner continuously receives the frictional contact by the elastic roller and this is not preferable also from the viewpoint of the lowering of the characteristic of the toner. The adjustment of the frictionally contacting force has the problem of not only being contrary from the viewpoints of fog and ghost, but also being contrary in the problem of fog singly.
Also, when the toner characteristic becomes lowered, there has also arisen the problem that the toner is liable to be affected by the circulation thereof in a developing device. Specifically, in mechanical circulation or circulation using gravity, there is formed an area in which the agent (the developer or the toner) hardly changes places and does not circulate particularly around the developing roller. On the other hand, the predetermined lowering of the characteristic occurs to the circulating agent. Thus, when the toner in a container has been decreased, the two kinds of agents are mixed together to thereby cause condensation or the like, and has given rise to the problem of fog or the like. Further, there is an image fault attributable to the elastic roller itself.
On the other hand, in the magnetic non-contact developing type under item (2) above, there is an image fault due to a magnetic ear. There is the problem that the uniformity of a hair line differs lengthwise and breadthwise. When the magnetic ear develops while moving in parallelism to the movement direction of a photosensitive member (photosensitive drum), the uniformity of the hair line is good and is liable to break off in a direction orthogonal thereto. Also, an image edge fault is caused. The edge of a high image density portion, particularly the downstream side of the process is developed darkly, and the edge of a halftone portion adjacent to the high image density portion is developed lightly. The factor is expected to reside in developing in non-contact while reciprocally moving the developer by an AC electric field (FIGS. 9A and 9B of the accompanying drawings). In the developing portion, the toner is moved toward a surface and particularly, the toner stagnates downstream of the edge portion and conversely, the toner is drawn near from the outside of the edge to thereby cause the image fault as described above. Further, in the image forming apparatus of the cleaner-less system, because of non-contact, the capability of collecting the toner on the photosensitive drum is low, and this leads to the problem that the untransferred residual toner becomes a ghost and appears in solid white or a halftone. Also, a white spot occurs in solid black. This white spot is liable to occur when paper dust gets mixed between the developing roller and the photosensitive drum under a high temperature and high humidity. This is expected to be because bias leak has occurred between the developing roller and the photosensitive drum with a result that the potential of the latent image on the photosensitive drum has risen (to the negative).


A method and structure that supports the formation of co-linear device pairs and mitigation of undesired interference in a digital multi-media communication environment. Compass orientation information of co-located devices within range of one another in a wireless communication environment is used to determine whether sufficiently co-linear device pairing opportunities exist and may also be used to identify and/or mitigate undesired interference conditions. Various remedial actions may be performed to enhance co-linear device pairing and mitigation action may be taken to mitigation interference between substantially co-linear and co-located devices in the environment.

It is recognized that in order to save table space and to increase people's mobility and viewing lines in the room, environment, or other space, such as a theater room, it may be desirable to view or otherwise enjoy multimedia on a display using a minimum of wiring. For instance, it may be desirable to mount a projector on the ceiling or to mount a plasma display or liquid crystal high definition (HD) television display on a wall, out of the way and capable of receiving multimedia data for display without the need for wires, since as understood herein among other things data transmission lines often do not exist in ceilings or walls.
Digital multimedia communications encompass the transmission of digital audio/video information from a digital data source, such as a DVD player, video receiver, ATSC tuner, or other computer, to a receiver, such as a flat panel video monitor, television (TV), a digital television (DTV), or other compatible display device, for the purpose of multimedia entertainment, including playing digital movies, games, listening to music, etc. A protocol known as High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) has been developed to support audio/video multimedia communications. HDMI is a digital audio/visual connector interface capable of transmitting uncompressed and compressed streams, and supports the use of audio as well as video data and television-related resolutions.
A wireless link in support of such digital multimedia communications must have a bandwidth that is insufficient to carry either compressed or uncompressed multimedia such as uncompressed high definition (HD) video and compressed multimedia standard definition (SD) video. Moreover the wireless communications preferably has a shorter link that will not extend beyond the immediate location of interest, thus protecting copyright and other intellectual property. There is therefore the need for a very short range, preferably directional, high bandwidth wireless link that is particularly suited for the short range wireless communication of uncompressed multimedia, particularly the rather voluminous genre of multimedia known as HD video.
The present assignee has provided a wireless system that functions in the spectrum between 57 GHz and 64 GHz (hereinafter referenced as the "60 GHz band" or Milli-Meter Wave Communication (MMWC) technology). Characteristics of the 60 GHz radio frequency (RF) spectrum include short range, high directivity (and, hence, inherent security), being highly linear in operation, and large data bandwidth, and MMWC technology may be used to transmit high definition (HD) video in High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) format from a source in a space to a receiver in the space, using a high bandwidth 60 GHz link. As used herein, sources and receivers in a MMWC communication environment or space may also be referred to as "devices." At this frequency the signal has very short range and can be directional such that the video may be transmitted in an uncompressed form such that so much data is transmitted each second that bootlegging the content is essentially untenable.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Method and structure in support of the formation of substantially co-linear wireless device pairings and mitigation of interference effects in a digital multi-media communication environment


A computer-implemented method includes receiving an input query including a comparative question referencing a plurality of entities. The comparative question includes a comparative term regarding a metric associated with the plurality of entities. The computer-implemented method includes generating a plurality of polar questions. Each of the plurality of polar questions seeks a polar answer to a comparison, along the metric and according to the comparative term, between a target entity of the plurality of entities and at least one second entity of the plurality of entities. The computer-implemented method includes determining confidence scores for the plurality of polar questions. The computer-implemented method includes identifying a particular polar question of the plurality of polar questions based on the confidence scores. The computer-implemented method includes outputting a response to the input query that identifies the target entity of the particular polar question as an answer to the input query.

Question/Answering (Q/A) systems automatically answer questions posed in a natural language. Q/A systems may have difficulty answering comparative statements or questions because an explicit comparison between entities referenced in the comparative statement or question is not mentioned in a corpus, the answer is not likely in any list of the top N answers for that category, or the comparative statement or question does not fit the expected factoid question structure of candidate answers replacing the focus word in the comparative statement or question.

Determining answers to comparative questions

International Business Machines Corporation


An automatic rotary transfer apparatus and method for conveying a plurality of lightweight articles, such as empty bottles, at a high speed and, optionally, providing at least one additional function, such as de-flashing, trimming, or inspecting, in a single rotation of the rotary transfer apparatus. The apparatus includes a carriage ring having an outer perimeter defining a plurality of cavities spaced along the outer perimeter. Each cavity is adapted to receive a single article. A drive assembly indexes and rotates the carriage ring about a central axis of rotation and is synchronized to a continuous stream of the plurality of articles from an upstream operation, such as blow molding. The apparatus may further include a modification device, such as a de-flasher or trimmer, and an inspection station with a sensor for discharging damaged or imperfect articles, which performs the functions in a single rotation of the carriage ring.

When articles, such as bottles, are manufactured, the articles may need to undergo a number or series of process steps, such as molding, trimming, finishing, packaging, and the like. Thus, the articles may need to be transported between operations, for example, using a conveyor. Such conveyance apparatus and systems may take up a large amount of floor space or footprint and may not be able to convey the articles in the desired direction or orientation.
In particular, problems arise when the articles need to change from one direction of travel or orientation to another. In typical bottle conveyance systems, a conveyor running in one direction drops the bottles (e.g., through a drop box) onto a bucket conveyor running in a different direction. There is a high rate of error, however, in such a transition. Among other errors, bottles may not drop into the desired location and may not align in a precise manner.
For conveyance systems using a wheel-like system, there have been problems with handling and positioning of the bottles, especially for lightweight (e.g., unfilled) bottles of about 12-35 grams and higher moving at high speeds. For example, lightweight bottles can "jump" or move erratically from the conveyance system, jam the equipment, and cause stoppages at high speeds. Thus, typical conveyance systems may only be able to handle heavier articles, such as filled bottles, or must operate at slower speeds. Some conveyance systems also have chambers that fill with articles by accident. In other words, the chambers on the conveyance systems are not filled in a controlled and reliable manner. In addition, if newly foamed bottles are in direct contact with one another or other surfaces, the bottles can become damaged or stick to one another during transport and handling.
There remains a need, therefore, for a high-efficiency machine suitable for areas with space limitations, which is able to perform a number of different functions including changing the traveling direction of the bottles in a precise and consistent manner.

Automatic rotary transfer apparatus and method


Electronic controls for compression release engine retarders of internal combustion engines which provide electronic signals to control hydraulic valves assembled in the hydraulic actuators of the retarders, to open engine exhaust valves to provide compression release events. The electronic controls may produce signals for both opening and/or closing the controlled valves. The electronic controls may monitor various engine operating conditions and/or parameters with one or more sensors distributed in the engine and vehicle in which the engine is installed. The timing of valve actuation, particularly that for compression release events, can be automatically modified responsive to the level of engine operating conditions and parameters. Various operating routines for the electronic controls are also disclosed.

This invention relates to compression release engine brakes, and more particularly to electronic controls for such engine brakes.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, compression release engine brakes operate to temporarily convert an associated internal combustion engine from a power source to a power-absorbing gas compressor when the engine brake is turned on and the fuel supply to the engine is cut off. In general, such engine brakes operate in this way by opening the exhaust valve in the engine cylinders when the engine cylinders contain air they have compressed. For example, the engine brake may open an exhaust valve in the engine near top dead center of each compression stroke of the engine cylinder served by that exhaust valve. This allows compressed air to escape from the engine, thereby preventing the engine from recovering the work of compressing that air. (As an alternative to using a conventional exhaust valve for this purpose, the same result may be achieved by having the engine brake open a special-purpose valve that has been added to each engine cylinder. (See, for example, Gobert et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,890.) Because such special-purpose valves are so much like conventional exhaust valves in this connection, it will be understood that, as used herein, terms like "exhaust valves" include both conventional exhaust valves and special-purpose valves added for use in producing compression release events. By preventing the engine from recovering the work of compressing air the engine has compressed, the engine brake enables the engine to absorb much more kinetic energy from the vehicle powered by the engine. The engine therefore becomes much more effective in slowing down or holding back the vehicle, thereby prolonging the life of the vehicle's wheel brakes and increasing vehicle safety.
Most known compression release engine brakes produce the above-described exhaust valve openings by hydraulically transferring an appropriately timed motion from another part of the engine to the exhaust valve to be opened to produce a compression release event. For example, a master piston in a hydraulic circuit in the engine brakes may be operated by an intake or exhaust valve opening mechanism of another engine cylinder or by the fuel injector mechanisms of the same engine cylinder in which the compression release event is to be produced. A slave piston in that hydraulic circuit responds to operation of the master piston by opening an associated exhaust valve to produce the compression release event.
It can be difficult or even impossible to produce optimally timed exhaust valve openings at all operating speeds, using the conventional approach described above. Many complex mechanical, hydraulic, etc., refinements have been devised to improve the compression release event timing options available to the engine brake designer. Some of these refinements work extremely well, but they have a tendency to increase the cost of the engine brake.
Recently, engine brakes have been developed which use electronically controlled valves to apply high pressure hydraulic fluid to hydraulic actuators which open associated engine exhaust valves to produce compression release events. Examples of such engine brakes are shown in Pitzi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,778 (Jul. 7, 1991) and Hu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,890 (Jan. 2, 1996) for Externally Driven Compression Release Retarders. More sophisticated electronic controls are needed for such brakes.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide improved electronic controls for compression release engine brakes.
It is another object of this invention to provide improved electronic controls for compression release engine brakes of the type which employ electronically controlled valves for applying high pressure hydraulic fluid to hydraulic actuators when compression release events are desired.
It is a further object of the invention to provide methods of controlling electronically controlled hydraulic actuators.

Electronic controls for compression release engine brakes


A method and apparatus for forming an electrically and/or thermally conducting interconnection is disclosed wherein a first surface and a second surface are contacted with each other via a plurality of nanostructures disposed on at least one of the surfaces. In one embodiment, a first plurality of areas of nanostructures is disposed on a component in an electronics package such as, illustratively, a microprocessor. The first plurality of areas is then brought into contact with a corresponding second plurality of areas of nanostructures on a substrate, thus creating a strong friction bond. In another illustrative embodiment, a plurality of nanostructures is disposed on a component, such as a microprocessor, which is then brought into contact with a substrate. Intermolecular forces result in an attraction between the molecules of the nanostructures and the molecules of the substrate, thus creating a bond between the nanostructures and the substrate.

Methods for electrically or thermally connecting electronics components onto, for example, a conductor or semiconductor substrate are well known in the art. For example, both thermo-compression and solder bump bonding methods have been used to create connections between, illustratively, components in optoelectronic devices and/or microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices. FIG. 1 shows one illustrative method of forming a thermo-compression bond for use as a thermal or electrical interconnection. Specifically, in that figure, component 101 has a layer of a material 102, typically gold, which is suitable for compression bonding. In order to bond component 101 with illustrative substrate 105, layer 102 on component 101 is, for example, lowered in direction 104 in a way such that it is brought into contact with a layer 103 of material, once again illustratively gold, on substrate 105. A sufficient temperature (e.g., 300 degrees Celsius) and pressure (e.g., 10 kgf/mm2 of gold area) are applied such that the gold layers deform and bond together. However, while such gold-gold thermo-compression bonding is useful in many regards, the temperatures and pressures required to create such a bond may damage sensitive electronic elements, such as transistors. As components become smaller and smaller, e.g., in MEMS devices, relatively high temperatures and pressures become more likely to cause damage to the increasingly fragile components.
FIG. 2 shows another illustrative prior method of thermally or electrically connecting two electronic components. Specifically, in that figure, substrate 200 is, for example, a surface of an electronics chip such as a microprocessor in a MEMS package. Solder bumps 201 are created on the chip using well-known methods. In order to create an electrical or thermal connection between the chip and a substrate, such as a printed wire board, the solder bumps are brought into contact with connection points and are then heated until they reflow. The bumps are then brought into contact with connection points on the exemplary printed wire board. Such solder bump methods are well-known as being very advantageous in forming electrical and thermal connections. However, once again, the temperature necessary to reflow the solder may damage MEMS components in the MEMS package. Additionally, solder bumps have been limited by certain design considerations. Specifically, such bumps must be above a certain size, typically larger than 20-25 microns in diameter, in order to achieve the desired bump height. Additionally, since it is undesirable to have solder bumps come into contact with one another when the solder is reflowed, solder bumps must typically be separated by a minimum distance, for example, 50 microns from the center of one bump to the center of an adjacent bump.
Finally, one other prior method for bonding two components together is to use a thermally and/or electrically conducting adhesive. However, such adhesives are typically subject to out-gassing as they cure which may introduce damaging organic material on critical electronics components that could interfere with proper performance of small components.

High density nanostructured interconnection


An exercise machine handle system which provides a unique handle and rotatable handle hub configuration to aid in performing a variety of exercises. The exercise machine handle system generally includes one or more handle assemblies each having a mounting bracket adapted to be removably secured to an exercise machine and including an upwardly-extending mounting hub shaft. A handle hub having a pair of curved handles extending in opposite directions therefrom is rotatably securable around an upper end of the handle hub shaft into a variety of locked positions. A third curved handle extends from an upper end of the handle hub in a similarly rotatably securable position. By removably securing one or more handle assemblies to an exercise machine, a user can benefit from a wide range of exercises supported by the adjustable handle assemblies.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an exercise machine and more specifically it relates to an exercise machine handle system which provides a unique handle configuration to aid in performing a variety of exercises.
Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
In 1912 England, Joseph Pilates worked as a self-defense instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard. At the outbreak of World War I, Pilates was interned in a detention camp as an "alien enemy". While interned, Pilates refined his ideas and trained other internees in his system of exercise. He rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against spring resistance, an innovation that led to his ultimate development of what is known today as a Pilates apparatus.
In 1926, Pilates immigrated to the United States and opened the first "Pilates" fitness studio. Professional dancers were the first to embrace Pilates' workouts in earnest. Of the many Pilates students who became teachers in their own Pilates studios, Ron Fletcher opened a Pilates' studio in Beverly Hills, Calif. Hollywood celebrities discovered Pilates via Fletcher's studio. The public follows the stars, and in the late 1990s, the media started profiling Hollywood stars who used Pilates apparatuses, and the market for Pilates studios across the United States expanded explosively. Today, over 10 million Americans practice Pilates, and the numbers continue to grow.
The physiological benefits to persons using Pilates apparatuses for exercise are two-fold, combining flexibility and strength training: (a) use of the apparatus increases users' flexibility and range of motion by allowing the user positioned on a sliding carriage to move towards or away from one end of the apparatus on a rolling carriage biasly connected to one of the ends of the apparatus by one or more springs, and (b) use of the apparatus increases lean muscle tissue development by working muscles against variable spring tension as a reasonable substitute for lifting dumbbells or other heavy weights.
With various features installed on the apparatus, namely handles, pulleys, ropes and bars, users can variably use pushing or pulling motions against the spring tension in order to exercise different muscles or muscle groups.
Since the 1990s, Pilates apparatuses have become a standard pieces of equipment in fitness studios and health clubs, and are used for physical therapy and rehabilitation, dance medicine and sports medicine, athletic training and conditioning, and general fitness for specialized audiences—for example, the out-of-shape, over 50 year old population, or fitness programs for pregnant, soon-to-be mothers.
Despite the nearly 100 year-long history of Pilates, the core design of the Pilates apparatus has remained substantially unchanged, although additional accessories using the spring tension have been devised, cosmetic and material changes have allowed production of apparatuses that are lower cost to produce, or more pleasing to the eye.
This status quo acceptance of antiquated Pilates apparatus design has failed to incorporate substantial improvements to mechanisms and user operation, resulting in what the medical community know recognizes as potentially dangerous and often injury-causing deficiencies.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved exercise machine handle system which provides a unique handle configuration to aid in performing a variety of exercises.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A power receiving device including: a power receiving coil configured to receive power when a power feeding device supplies the power via a magnetic field; an alternating-current power supply configured to apply an alternating voltage to the power receiving coil; and a foreign matter detecting section configured to generate an amount of change in impedance of the power receiving coil from a current induced in the power receiving coil to which the alternating voltage is applied and the alternating voltage, and detect foreign matter between the power receiving coil and the power feeding device on a basis of the amount of change.

The present technology relates to a power receiving device, a control method of the power receiving device, and a power feeding system, and particularly to a power receiving device in a noncontact power feeding system for feeding power in an electrically noncontact manner, a control method of the power receiving device, and the power feeding system.
In related art, a noncontact power feeding system for feeding power in an electrically noncontact manner may include a circuit for detecting, as foreign matter, an object mixed in a magnetic field between a power feeding device and a power receiving device. This is because when foreign matter as a conductor is mixed in the magnetic field, an eddy current occurs within the foreign matter, and the foreign matter may generate heat due to an effect of a Joule heat caused by the eddy current. A large amount of heat generated by the foreign matter may cause damage to a device or a casing in the noncontact power feeding system. In quick charging, in particular, the intensity of a magnetic field output by the power feeding device is increased, so that the amount of heat generated by the foreign matter is also increased. Thus, the presence of the foreign matter often becomes a problem.
A circuit that determines whether foreign matter is present or not on the basis of whether or not the amplitude of a voltage induced on a power receiving side is less than a reference value, for example, has been proposed as a circuit for detecting foreign matter (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-16125, for example). When foreign matter is present, the eddy current of the foreign matter causes a power loss, and decreases power transmission efficiency. It is thus determined that foreign matter is present when the amplitude of the voltage on the power receiving side is decreased to less than the reference value.

Power receiving device, control method of power receiving device, and power feeding system


A display apparatus includes a display panel including a plurality of pixels to display an image, a polarizing plate disposed on the display panel, and a retarder disposed opposite to the display panel, where the polarizing plate is interposed between the retarder and the display panel, the retarder includes first areas and second areas alternately arranged therein, and a direction of a slow axis of the retarder in the first areas is different from a direction of a slow axis of the retarder in the second areas.

1. Field of disclosure
The invention relates to a display apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display apparatus capable of improving display characteristics of a three-dimensional ("3D") image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A 3D image display apparatus generally provides a left-eye image and a right-eye image to a left eye and a right eye of an observer, which have a binocular disparity. The observer watches the left and right images provided from the 3D image display apparatus through the two eyes thereof, thereby perceiving a 3D image. In general, the 3D image display apparatus is classified into a glass type 3D image display apparatus and a non-glass type 3D image display apparatus. A glass type 3D image display apparatus employing a patterned retarder to display the 3D image recently has been developed.
However, a cross-talk phenomenon may occur in the 3D image display apparatus employing the patterned retarder. As a result, a portion of the left-eye image for the left eye may be provided to the right eye or a portion of the right-eye image for the right eye is provided to the left eye.


A method as well as a device for assembling a transmission chain made up of sets of two elongated elements which lie with their long sides against each other and are coupled in pairs to each other by link plates with openings of which chain one supports the sets in accommodating holes formed in a support, whereafter two adjacent sets of elements are coupled together by placing a link plate on them. The device has a supporting assembling body with holes for two adjacent longitudinal elements, each hole having a depth less than the element's length.

The invention relates to a method for assembling an endless chain, in particular a transmission chain, built up of individual sets, each of two elongated elements with their long sides lying against each other. The sets are coupled to each other in pairs by link plates provided with openings corresponding to those sets.
Producing chains of this kind in the customary way is done using large lengths from which a piece having a length corresponding to the circumference of the desired length to be made is detached from the remaining length. The devices, necessary for making a chain this way, are complicated and expensive.

Method and device for assembling an endless chain, in particular a transmission chain


A method, device, and computer program product for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communications is disclosed. The method, device, and computer program product allow a SIP user agent of a SIP-enabled device to register with a plurality of SIP registrars. The plurality of SIP registration may occur simultaneously or sequentially, based on preference information for the SIP registrars.

In conventional circuit-switched telephony networks, such as the Public Switched Telephony System ("PSTN"), each user endpoint is connected to at most one intelligent switching point. For example, in a typical business enterprise, a business telephone is connected to exactly one Private Branch Exchange ("PBX"). A PBX is an intelligent switching point within a circuit-switched network that is responsible for routing calls to and from user endpoints or telephones that are physically connected by copper wires to the PBX. As a practical matter, since a physical connection is required between a user endpoint and an intelligent switching point, the user endpoint is only connected to at most one intelligent switching point. This requirement is a limitation of circuit-switching technology.
Newer telephony networks that employ packet-switching technologies are growing in popularity. In particular, packet-switched telephony networks that use the Internet Protocol ("IP") as a network protocol are becoming prevalent. These so-called Internet telephony networks have a potential to offer new features and services that are currently unavailable to users of circuit-switched telephony networks. Networks that employ both conventional telephony and Internet telephony are said to be converged networks.
The Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP") is one of several protocols that may be used in conjunction with the Internet Protocol to support Internet Telephony applications. The SIP specification is defined in the Internet Engineering Task Force ("IETF") Request for Comments ("RFC") 3261, dated June 2002; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. SIP is an application-layer control protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions between SIP endpoints, which are referred to as SIP user agents. A user of a SIP-enabled device can maintain a single externally visible logical identifier that is referred to as a SIP address-of-record, which allows the user to be contacted regardless of her physical network location. SIP enables a user agent to discover one or more network locations or user agents that are associated with a particular address-of-record. SIP also allows user agents to negotiate parameters that are associated with media sessions.
Typically, each SIP application user in a SIP-based network is assigned a SIP address-of-record. A SIP address-of-record is specified using a SIP Universal Resource Identifier ("URI"). The format of a SIP URI is similar to that of an email address, which typically includes a user name "at" a network domain name, for example "sip:email@example.com." The SIP specification also defines a SIPS URI, for example "sips:email@example.com." When a SIPS URI is used, a SIP user agent that is associated with the SIPS URI should be contacted securely, for example using the Transport Layer Security ("TLS") protocol.
The SIP specification defines several types of communication resources, which include SIP Registrars, SIP Redirect Servers, and SIP Proxy Servers. These SIP communication resources are responsible for sending, receiving, routing, and relaying SIP messages among SIP user agents, so that SIP-based sessions may be established, modified, and terminated.
SIP Proxy Servers perform a variety of functions in SIP-based networks, such as helping to route a SIP-based session invitation message to a particular SIP network user's current network location(s), authenticating and authorizing SIP user agents for particular services, implementing message-routing policies, and providing features to SIP network users.
SIP registration is a mechanism that creates a SIP address binding in a Location Service for a particular network domain. A SIP address binding associates a SIP address-of-record with one or more contact addresses. A SIP user agent can register a SIP address-of-record with a SIP Registrar to associate the SIP address-of-record with the SIP user agent's network address. SIP Registrars process SIP REGISTER request messages that are received from SIP user agents to add, remove, and query address bindings.
For example, a SIP address-of-record of "sips:email@example.com" may be bound to a contact address of "sips:email@example.com." A SIP address binding maps an incoming SIP address-of-record to one or more contact addresses. When a valid SIP REGISTER request message, which adds a SIP address binding, is received by a SIP Registrar, the SIP Registrar instructs a Location Service for a network domain to store the address binding. The Location Service allows other SIP user agents in the network domain to discover the contact address associated with the SIP address-of-record. In this regard, a SIP Registrar acts as an intelligent switching point within a packet-switched network that is responsible for routing media sessions among SIP user agents.
Prior art SIP-enabled devices have not had an ability to register with more than one SIP Registrar. As is the case with conventional telephones in a circuit-switched network, prior art SIP-enabled devices are only associated with a single intelligent switching point. In this regard, prior art SIP-enabled devices suffer from many of the same limitations of conventional telephones in circuit-switched networks.

SIP user agent with simultaneous multiple registrations


A remote-control switch in which finger dirt can be infallibly prevented from adhering to a display unit. A remote touch pad 4 capable of performing selection operation is provided separately from a navigation body 2 and the navigation body 2 can be remote-controlled by practicing a touch input through an input panel 11. Hence, the same operating feeling as if touching a touch panel 5 can be given a user via the input panel 11, thus allowing the finger dirt to be infallibly prevented from adhering to a monitor 6 and further enabling operation excellent in usability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote-control switch, which is suitable for use in a navigation system mounted inside a vehicle, for example.
2. Related Prior Art
In a conventional navigation system, a touch-sensitive panel (simply called "touch panel" hereinafter) is provided in a LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor. A plurality of setting switches, which are displayed as images on the monitor, are arranged on the monitor, corresponding to various functions. Thus, when a user's finger presses a desired setting switch on the touch panel, a process corresponding to the setting switch is practiced to display on the monitor a prescribed processing result such as the zooming of the display of map images, as disclosed in e.g., Japanese un-examined patent publication No. 9-33275.
With respect to a navigation system employing the touch panel thus configured, however, there has been a problem that every time a setting switch is selected and a function thus selected is realized, a finger must touch the monitor. Hence, dirt such as a fingerprint or the like adheres to a surface of the monitor, so that the monitor is not seen clearly, leading to unavailability due to the adherent dirt or the like.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote-control switch which enables a display unit thereof to be reliably prevented from being stained with the dirt on a finger. It is another object of the invention to provide a remote-control switch which is easy to operate.


The present invention is an ergonomic mascara shield specifically designed to provide a barrier or protective shield over the upper and lower eyelid areas of a user's face to prevent smearing during the application of mascara. The device is comprised of an ergonomically designed eye portion being both angled and concave relative to an ergonomic handle portion integrally attached to the eye portion. The eye portion is adapted to fit even the deepest set eyes through its curvature and relative angle to the handle. The handle is designed to curve around the cheekbone and brow ridge thereby allowing the eye portion to rest comfortably and perfectly where desired in the eye socket. The handle likewise provides a contoured surface area to facilitate griping and positioning of the mascara shield in a preferred position against the lower or upper eyelids.

Mascara is typically applied to eyelashes last, after eye shadow and liner, by the wearer or a beauty assistant. A steady hand is required during its application so as not to smudge or smear previously applied cosmetics. The person using the mascara brush must exert sufficient pressure to apply the mascara to the lashes but not so much as to press the lashes against the skin where smudging will occur. However, this is a common problem for many people due to such factors as inexperience, shakiness of hands (commonly brought on by old age or disability) and/or pronounced facial features that make application difficult--such as deep set eyes.


A tracking system, comprising: multiple beacons, each associated with a different cyclic equivalence class of code-word length n, and each configured to broadcast a bit-stream comprising a repeating code-word, where the code-word belongs to the associated cyclic equivalence class; and a mobile tracking unit, comprising: a sensor, and a processor, wherein the sensor is configured to simultaneously detects at least some of the bit streams, and provide each sensed bit stream in real-time to the processor, wherein for each bit-stream received by the processor from the sensor, the processor is configured to identify the beacon that broadcasted the bit-stream using the first n received bits.

Real-time, multi-dimensional spatial and/or orientation tracking with centimeter or millimeter-level accuracy, is useful for many types of applications, including but not limited to Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality applications, robotic navigation, and autonomous vehicle navigation.
Typical tracking solutions include using position sensors, such as GPS (Global Positioning System), time of flight/arrival radio positioning, magnetic field sensing, optical tracking systems and camera localization systems involving marker tracking and SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping). Each of these has their advantages and disadvantages for different use case scenarios, which are briefly discussed, as follows:
GPS is generally only accurate to a few meters and is typically not effective indoors.
Magnetic field sensing, although quite accurate, may be susceptible to interference, has a practical range of only a few meters, and typically requires strong magnetic fields which are not always suitable.
External optical tracking systems require tethering multiple synchronized cameras to a host computer, collating all the computation onto a single computing station, and defining the number of tracked objects in advance. Furthermore, increasing coverage requires adding more cameras, which may add significantly to the overall cost. Since even small deviations in the orientation of the tracking cameras, such as may be caused by temperature variations, vibrations, or accidental bumps can cause significant errors in localization, system calibration for optical tracking systems typically needs to be performed before almost every use.
Time of flight (TOF), Time of arrival (TOA) radio systems use Ultra-Wide Bandwidth transmissions at low power to obtain a typical 10 centimeters (cm) positional accuracy at 500-900 MHz. However, improving the tracking to centimeter-level accuracy requires an order of magnitude increase in operational frequency with highly specialized hardware and radio spectrum licensing.
SLAM systems use commodity visible/near visible digital sensors coupled with processing units that detect, recognize and track image points in the camera stream from the point of view of the moving object to extract position and orientation information while mapping out the scanning environment. Although these systems are cheap, fast and make use of readily available camera technologies, SLAM systems suffer from issues of drift as well as sensitivity to lighting variation, such as shadows and changing brightness, irrespective of improvements to on-board camera resolution, speed, and inertial sensor precision.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures.

TECHNION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION LIMITED


Metallurgical assemblies and systems according to the present technology may include a refractory vessel including sides and a base. The base may define a plurality of apertures centrally located within the base. The sides and the base may at least partially define an interior volume of the refractory vessel. The assemblies may include a lid removably coupled with the refractory vessel and configured to form a seal with the refractory vessel. The lid may define a plurality of apertures through the lid. The assemblies may also include a current collector proximate the base of the refractory vessel. The current collector may include conductive extensions positioned within the plurality of apertures centrally located within the base.

Metallurgical vessels and systems are used for a variety of processes including metal smelting and refining operations that may include smelting and molten oxide electrolysis, for example. The vessels and systems to conduct such processes are often designed around a particular process principle, metal product, and metal feedstock, and may not be used for multiple metals or processing operations. Additionally, operation of the systems may be limited based on the materials used and on the fixed dimensions and operational characteristics of the system. Many metallurgical operations are limited to particular temperature or energy sources, and thus may be unsuitable for processing or refinement of many different useful metals and materials. Finally operation of these systems may be inefficient due to constant operational stoppages to perform tapping or feed the raw materials, electrode replacement operations, or fluctuating temperature and or productivity
Thus, there is a need for improved vessels and systems that may be used to process a range of metals and materials in an efficient manner. These and other needs are addressed by the present technology.

Systems and methods for molten oxide electrolysis


The present invention relates to a commercializable cell and to a gene reporter assay method and a kit which use this cell to determine the presence and/or the level of a molecule that activates signal transduction activity of a cell surface protein. This cell is treated in such a manner that it will have a sufficiently long shelf life for its intended purpose, whereupon at the end of its useful shelf life or at the end of its use, i.e., in an assay, the cell undergoes cellular death.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gene reporter assay and a kit for determining the presence and/or the level in a sample of a molecule that activates the signal transduction activity of a cell surface protein. The present invention further relates to a cell which can be used in such an assay and to a method for preparing such a cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cell surface proteins permit intracellular transduction of extracellular signals. Cell surface proteins provide eukaryotic, as well as prokaryotic, cells a means to detect extracellular signals and transduce such signals intracellularly in a manner that ultimately results in a cellular response or a concerted tissue or organ response. Cell surface proteins, by intracellularly transmitting information regarding the extracellular environment via specific intracellular pathways induce an appropriate response to a particular stimulus. The response may be immediate and transient, slow and sustained, or some mixture thereof. By virtue of an array of varied membrane surface proteins, eukaryotic cells are exquisitely sensitive to their environment.
Extracellular signal molecules, such as cytokines, growth factors, hormones, vasodilators and neurotransmitters, exert their effects, at least in part, via interaction with cell surface proteins. For example, some extracellular signal molecules cause changes in transcription of target gene via changes in the levels of secondary messengers, such as cAMP. Other signals, indirectly alter gene expression by activating the expression of genes, such as immediate-early genes that encode regulatory proteins, which in turn activate expression of other genes that encode transcriptional regulatory proteins. Other extracellular signal molecules cause activation of latent cytoplasmic signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) protein that enhance the transcription of specific sets of genes.
Cell surface receptors and ion channels are among the cell surface proteins that respond to extracellular signals and initiate the events that lead to this varied gene expression and response. Ion channels and cell surface-localized receptors are ubiquitous and physiologically important cell surface membrane proteins. They play a central role in regulating intracellular levels of various ions and chemicals, many of which are important for cell viability and function.
Cell Surface Receptors
Cell surface-localized receptors are membrane spanning proteins that bind extracellular signalling molecules or changes in the extracellular environment and transmit the signal via signal transduction pathways to effect a cellular response. Cell surface receptors bind circulating signal molecules, such as cytokines, growth factors and hormones, etc., as the initiating step in the induction of numerous intracellular pathways. Receptors are classified on a structural basis or on the basis of the particular type of pathway that is induced. Among these classes of receptors are classes of cytokine receptors which include those that bind growth factors and have intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity, such as the heparin binding growth factor (HBGF) receptors, the immunoglobulin receptor superfamily, the hematopoietin/cytokine receptor superfamily, the nerve-growth factor receptor superfamily, other receptor tyrosine or serine kinases, and those that couple to effector proteins through guanine nucleotide binding regulatory proteins, which are referred to as G protein coupled receptors and G proteins, respectively.
Cytokines are intercellular messengers which coordinate communication between cells within a particular tissue, for example, antibody and T cell immune system interactions, and serve to modulate or modify the biological response. They are pleiotropic and have a broad spectrum of biological effects on more than one type of cell or tissue. The receptors for cytokines are broadly grouped into two classes, where the Class I cytokine receptors include receptors that bind various interleukins (IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-9, IL-11, IL-12, IL-15), erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormone (GH), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), and the Class II cytokine receptors include receptors that bind interferon (IFN) α/β, IFNγ, and IL-10.
Interferon Receptors
Human interferons (IFNs) are a family of homologous helical cytokines composed of four distinct species: α, β, γ and ω based on nucleotide and amino acid sequence homology. The Type I IFNs, α, β, and ω, are encoded by at least 12 functional IFNα genes, an IFNω gene, and a more distantly related IFNβ gene. Type II IFN, or IFNγ, is encoded by an unrelated gene and binds to a distinct cell surface receptor (De Maeyer et al., 1988; Pestka et al., 1987 and Diaz et al., 1993).
Type I IFNs bind to a common receptor, as shown by their ability to cross-compete for receptor binding (Pestka et al., 1987; Branca et al., 1981; and Merlin et al., 1985). The Type 1 interferon receptor has the largest number of natural ligands, some 14 in all, of all known cytokine receptors. Binding of interferons to their cell surface receptor represents the initial and probably most specific step in the IFN signaling pathway.
The Type I IFN receptor is composed of two transmembrane glycoproteins, IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 (Uze et al., 1990; Novick et al., 1994; Lutfalla et al., 1995; Domanski et al., 1995), which are rapidly tyrosine-phosphorylated following IFN binding (Platanias et al., 1994; Constantinescu et al., 1994; and Abramovich et al., 1994). Both subunits belong to the class II cytokine receptor superfamily (Bazan et al., 1990 and Thoreau et al., 1990) and are required for high affinity ligand binding and the establishment of biological activity (Langer et al., 1996 and Domanski et al., 1996). Class II cytokine receptors are distinguished from Class I receptors on the basis of the pattern of the conserved pairs of cysteine residues that are thought to form disulfide bonds.
In contrast to other cytokine receptors, particularly the IFN-γ receptor, neither IFNAR1 nor IFNAR2 alone bind to IFNα or IFNβ with an affinity comparable to the heterodimer. Despite the fact that IFNAR2 plays a prominent role in ligand binding, IFNAR1 contributes to IFN binding by increasing the affinity of the receptor complex (4-10 fold) relative to that of IFNAR2 alone. IFNAR1 also modulates the specificity of ligand binding relative to that observed with IFNAR2 alone (Cohen et al., 1995; Russell-Harde et al., 1995; Cutrone et al., 1997; and Cook et al., 1996). IFNAR1 has a larger extracellular domain than most other class II cytokine receptors, composed of 4 immunoglobulin-like subdomains separated by di- or tri-proline motifs which can be divided into two tandem repeats (Novick et al., 1994; Lutfalla et al., 1992; and Uzé et al., 1995).
Human, murine and bovine IFNAR1 have been cloned and expressed in human and murine cells. Studies performed with transfected cells show that IFNAR1 plays a central role in ligand binding, cellular responses to IFNs and in the induction of the biological activities of the Type I interferons (Novick et al., 1994; Abramovich et al., 1994; Uzé et al., 1992; Mouchel-Vielh et al., 1992; Lim et al., 1993; Cleary et al., 1994; Constantinescu et al., 1995; Hwang et al., 1995; Vandenbroek et al., 1995; and Colamonici et al., 1994). Furthermore, the intracellular domain of IFNAR1 has been shown to play a key role in the transduction of the signal initiated at the cell surface by binding of Type I interferons to the nucleus (Basu et al., 1998). Targeted disruption of the IFNAR1 gene results in the loss of the antiviral response to Type I IFNs demonstrating that this receptor polypeptide is an essential component of the receptor complex and that both IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 subunits are required for IFNα and IFNβ signaling (Vandenbroek et al., 1995; Muller et al., 1994; Fiette et al., 1995; Steinhoff et al., 1995; and van den Broek et al., 1995).
Binding of type I interferon to the receptor complex activates two Janus kinases, Tyk2 and JAK1, which mediate the tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of two latent cytoplasmic transcription factors STAT1 and STAT2 which form a complex with a p48 DNA binding protein, interferon responsive protein 9 (IRF 9), which is translocated to the nucleus to promote specific gene transcription (Fu et al., 1992; Schindler et al., 1992; Darnell et al., 1994; Ihle et al, 1995; and Taniguchi, 1995). Both Tyk2 and STAT2 are constitutively associated with the membrane proximal region of the IFNAR1 chain, while JAK1 and STAT1 are physically associated with IFNAR2 and all four factors are rapidly activated during IFNα stimulation (Lutfalla et al., 1995; Bazan, 1990; Basu et al., 1998; Barbieri et al., 1994; Velazquez et al., 1995; Uddin et al., 1995; Yan et al., 1996(a) and 1996(b).
G-Coupled Receptors
The G protein transmembrane signaling pathways consist of three proteins: receptors, G proteins and effectors. G proteins, which are the intermediaries in transmembrane signaling pathways, are heterodimers and consist of α, β and γ subunits. Among the members of a family of G proteins the α subunits differ. Functions of G proteins are regulated by the cyclic association of GTP with the α subunit followed by hydrolysis of GTP to GDP and dissociation of GDP.
G protein coupled receptors are a diverse class of receptors that mediate signal transduction by binding to G proteins. Signal transduction is initiated via ligand binding to the cell membrane receptor, which stimulates binding of the receptor to the G protein. The receptor G protein interaction releases GDP, which is specifically bound to the G protein, and permits the binding of GTP, which activates the G protein. Activated G protein dissociates from the receptor and activates the effector protein, which regulates the intracellular levels of specific second messengers. Examples of such effector proteins include adenyl cyclase, guanyl cyclase, phospholipase C, and others.
Growth Factors and Growth Factor Receptors
Polypeptide growth factors are modulators of cell proliferation and differentiation whose biological functions are mediated by the interaction of the growth factor with cell surface receptors and subsequent alterations in gene expression. Growth factors bind to specific receptors and appear to induce tyrosine phosphorylation and c-fos mRNA synthesis. In addition, at least some growth factors, such as platelet-derived growth factor (Yeh et al., 1987) and heparin-binding growth factor-2 or basic fibroblast growth factor (Bouche et al., 1987), are translocated to the nucleus.
Activation of growth factor receptors by interaction with specific growth factors or with agents such as phorbol mistric acetate (PMA) activates protein kinase C, which is a family of phospholipid- and calcium-activated protein kinases. This activation results in the transcription of an array of proto-oncogene transcription factor encoding genes, including c-fos, c-myc and c-jun, proteases, protease inhibitors, including collagenase type I and plasminogen activator inhibitor, and adhesion molecules, including intercellular adhesion molecule I. Protein kinase C activation antagonizes growth factor activity by the rapid phosphorylation of growth factor receptors, which thereby decreases tyrosine kinase activity. Growth factors and other mitogens that induce cell proliferation and cell growth are believed to play a role in tumor growth, which often carry identifiable cell surface receptors specific for growth factors and other extracellular signals.
The interaction of nerve growth factor (NGF) with its receptor is typical of the array of responses such an extracellular signal induces. NGF is a polypeptide growth hormone that is necessary for differentiation and growth of the neural crest-derived sensory neuron. NGF binds to its specific cell surface receptor and is retrogradely transported to the cell body (Changelian et al., 1989). This initiates a cascade of intracellular events, culminating in a differentiated phenotype. PC12 cells, which are a rat pheochromocytoma cell line, are used as a model for the study of NGF-mediated differentiation. When treated with NGF, PC12 cells change from replicating adrenal-chromaffin-like cells to nonreplicating, electrically excitable sympathetic-neuron-like cells.
Concomitant with the phenotypic changes, there is induction and expression of specific genes. Binding of NGF to PC12 cells induces the immediate and rapid expression of certain genes, including the c-fos, NGF1-A and NGF1-B genes, which are referred to as early genes. Such early genes are believed to encode transcriptional regulators. The NGF-1A gene product contains tandemly repeated "zinc finger" domains that are characteristic of DNA-binding proteins, and the NGF1-B protein is homologous to members of the glucocorticoid receptor family and, thus, may function as a ligand-dependent modulator of transcription. The c-fos gene product, FOS appears to function as a transcriptional regulatory molecule.
The C-Fos Gene and Related Genes
As discussed above, induction of expression of the c-fos gene is an event that is common to a number of response pathways that are initiated by the activity of a variety of cell surface proteins.
The c-fos gene product, FOS, associates with the transcription activator JUN, which is the product of the c-jun gene, to form a complex that forms a transcription activation complex, AP-1. Transcription of both c-fos and c-jun is induced rapidly and transiently following stimulation. The induced mRNAs accumulate for 1-2 hours in the cytoplasm where the FOS and JUN proteins, which are short-lived, are translated and then translocated to the nucleus to form a heterodimeric protein complex that binds to the DNA regulatory element, AP-1 binding site.
The c-fos and c-jun genes are members of gene families that encode proteins that participate in the formation of heterodimeric complexes that interact with AP-1 binding sites. Transcription factor AP-1 is composed of several protein complexes whose concentrations change upon cell stimulation. These complexes specifically interact with a seven-base core nucleotide sequence motif, that is known to be a relatively common constituent of both positive and negative transcriptional regulatory elements and that is required for both basal and induced levels of gene expression.
The gene products, FOS and JUN cooperate in the regulation of target genes that underlie many cellular and adaptive responses to the environment. They are involved in a number of neurophysiological processes.
Thus, c-fos induction involves distinct second messenger pathways that act via separate regulatory elements and that differentially modify, the resulting gene product, FOS, which in turn interacts in different ways with differentially modified JUN protein. Therefore, a multitude of extracellular events induce expression of a small number of inducible proteins that form an array of protein complexes that can differentially bind to DNA regulatory elements that contain AP-1 binding sites. Therefore, numerous cell surface proteins can act via overlapping transduction pathways and transduce extracellular signals that ultimately induce a variety of responses.
There are many assays that may rely on in vivo activity in a living cell line. One example is a cell line having an Interferon Stimulatory Response Element (ISRE) connected to a luciferase gene, or another reporter gene, so that when the cell line is subjected to the presence of interferon as an extracellular signal, the signal transduction activity of endogenous interferon cell surface receptors produces a signal that activates the ISRE, which then causes transcription of the luciferase gene. Thus, the activity of luciferase in creating light can be measured and is related to the amount of interferon which is present in the sample, and which is proportional to the amount of interferon over a particular range (Lallemand et al., 1996).
Lleonart et al. (1990) described a reporter gene assay for Type I interferon based on monkey Vero cells transfected with Type I interferon inducible mouse Mx promoter linked to the human growth hormone (hGH) gene as the reporter gene. This Type I interferon assay was developed further by transfecting monkey Vero cells with a plasmid carrying the luciferase reporter gene under the control of the Type I interferon inducible mouse Mxl promoter (Canosi et al., 1996).
A further type of interferon reporter gene assay was developed by Hammerling et al. (1998) who used a human glioblastoma cell line transfected with a reporter gene construct of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter and an E. coli β-galactosidase (lacZ) reporter gene. In this particular assay, it is the reduction/inhibition of β-galactosidase expression by either human Type I or Type II interferon in a selective and dose dependent manner that is measured.
With the types of cell lines which can be used in such assays, there is a problem in commercializing them in that once the cell line is shipped for use in a single assay, the end user can grow the cells and then use their own stock of such cells for future assays without the need to order more cells from the supplier.
Citation of any document herein is not intended as an admission that such document is pertinent prior art, or considered material to the patentability of any claim of the present application. Any statement as to content or a date of any document is based on the information available to applicant at the time of filing and does not constitute an admission as to the correctness of such a statement.

Gene reporter assay, kit, and cells for determining the presence and/or the level of a molecule that activates signal transduction activity of a cell surface protein

LE CENTRE NATIONALE DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE


Provided is a semiconductor device wherein chip size is reduced, while potential on the dummy word lines is fixed. The semiconductor device is provided with: a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, a plurality of word lines for controlling memory operations of the plurality of memory cells, and a plurality of dummy word lines that do not participate in memory operations of the plurality of memory cells; and a guard ring surrounding the memory cell array. The plurality of dummy word lines are electrically fixed to the guard ring.

There are constant demands for reductions in the chip size of semiconductor devices, a typical example being DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). In order to reduce the chip size, embedded gate type transistors in which the gate electrodes are embedded in the surface layer of a semiconductor substrate are sometimes used as selection transistors constituting a memory cell. The gate electrode of such an embedded gate type transistor is disposed as a word line used to select a memory cell.
Further, in order to maintain the process conditions within a memory cell array, dummy word lines are sometimes provided in addition to the word lines actually used to control the memory cells. Providing dummy word lines at fixed intervals makes the density of word lines constant.
In addition, a guard ring for protecting the memory cell array from external noise is sometimes provided at the periphery of the memory cell array.
Here, patent literature article 1 discloses a technique whereby a guard ring is provided three-dimensionally in order to block noise that propagates to circuits on the semiconductor substrate. Also, patent literature article 2 discloses a power MOSFET in which the breakdown voltage is increased by providing a plurality of guard ring regions. Further, patent literature article 3 discloses a fuse device provided with a guard ring.


A memory array includes a plurality of twin cells, each of the twin cells composed of a first storage element and a second storage element configured to hold binary data according to a difference in threshold voltage between them, the first storage element and the second storage element each being electrically rewritable. Upon receiving a request to read the twin cell, when the threshold voltage of the first storage element forming the twin cell is lower than an erasure determination level and the threshold voltage of the second storage element forming the twin cell is lower than the erasure determination level, an output circuit masks the data stored in the twin cell and outputs the masked data.

Conventionally, there has been known a semiconductor nonvolatile memory in which complementary data are written to two memory cells, which has a blank check function.
For example, a semiconductor integrated circuit described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-272028 (PTD 1) is provided with a nonvolatile memory (DFL; 21) including a plurality of twin cells, a selector (SEL_BC), and a sense circuit (BC_SA). Complementary data are written to two nonvolatile memory cells (MC1, MC2) of each twin cell, to set the memory cells in a written state where one of the cells is set to low threshold voltage and the other cell is set to high threshold voltage. Non-complementary data are written (which is referred to as erasure) to the two nonvolatile memories (MC1, MC2), to set the memories in a blank state where both memories are set to low threshold voltage. The selector (SEL_BC) includes a plurality of switching elements. During a blank check operation, switching elements of the selector (SEL_BC) are controlled to be in an ON state, and a first total current of the twin cells commonly flowing to a first input terminal of the sense circuit is compared with a reference signal of a second input terminal, thereby detecting at high speed whether the plurality of twin cells are in the written state or in the blank state.

Semiconductor device for masking data stored in twin cell and outputting masked data