A method for testing a digital circuit as a Device under Test—DUT, including determining a Bit Error Rate—BER—value for each one of a determined number of sample points, the BER value representing the ratio of erroneous digital signals to the total number of regarded digital signals, executing a test for each one of the number of sample points by determining whether the determined BER value exceeds a threshold BER value for that sample point, and analyzing the results of executing the test for each one of the number of sample points for providing a statement about the condition of the DUT.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the characterization of transient behavior of digital circuits.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Characterizing the transient behavior of digital circuits, i.e. the transition from a logical zero to a logical one and vice versa, has become increasing important for designing as well as manufacturing such digital circuits.
A standard process is to visualize the digital transient behavior by means of oscilloscopes. Actual transient signals are sampled and displayed. FIG. 1 shows a typical example of a visualization provided by an oscilloscope, wherein a plurality of individual transitions 10A and 10B between a logical 'LOW' and a logical 'HIGH' and a plurality of individual transitions 20A and 20B between 'HIGH' and 'LOW' are superimposed and thus displayed simultaneously. The representation of FIG. 1 is also called 'eye diagram' and is generated by triggering the oscilloscope every period of the data pattern. So all transitions in the pattern are shown simultaneously on the screen.
A further characterization of digital circuits requires determining the so-called Bit Error Rate (BER), i.e. the ratio of erroneous digital signals (Bits) to the total number of regarded digital signals. Typical Bit Error Rates that should not be exceeded are in the range of 10−9 to 10−12, or in other words, one error in 109 to 1012 transmitted bits can be accepted depending on application. That, on the other hand, means that at least three times (109 to 1012) Bits have to be tested error free in order to receive meaningful test results (e.g. >95% confidence level). This, however, leads to long measuring times, so that the characterization of BER generally is a very time-consuming task.
FIG. 2 shows the so-called BER eye diagram as received for the same test as in FIG. 1 but provided by an Agilent® 81200 Data Generator/Analyzer Platform with and Agilent® E4874A Characterization Software Components, both by the applicant Agilent Technologies. The BER eye diagram as a two-dimensional graphical representation is generated using a sweep over delay and threshold of an analyzer. The BER information is displayed by a color coding at each sampled point. The BER can only be small within a portion of the period (because the eye opening is smaller than 100%) and within the right thresholds. The result is an eye pattern with a BER dependent of the sampling point. The result value of BER is determined for each sampling point.
While the eye diagram of FIG. 1 (by the oscilloscope) gives additional information about the pulse form (overshoot etc.), the BER eye diagram of Fig. (by the Agilent 81200) gives an information which bit error rate can be expected depending on the position of the sampling point within the eye.
The actual transient behavior of digital circuits becomes increasingly worse with increasing data transmission rates. Circuits showing sharp (HIGH-to-LOW or LOW-to-HIGH) transitions at low frequencies exhibit 'long slopes' for higher frequencies, whereby the actual course of the slope is also subject to jitter or other influences. It goes without saying that with such 'long and fuzzy slopes' also the likelihood of (bit) errors increases.
In particular for testing applications in manufacturing environments, it has been shown that the oscilloscope approach (of FIG. 1) is only applicable in so far highly trained personnel is available that can 'interpret' such graphic eye diagrams or specific mask matching algorithms are used. BER measurements as shown in FIG. 2, on the other hand, are generally very time-consuming. On the other hand, BER measurements generally consider every data bit, while oscilloscope measurements can only detect a small portion of the data information due to limited sampling rates.


A first peak hold circuit holds a peak potential of a positive phase voltage signal output from a differential output amplifier, and a second peak hold circuit holds a peak potential of a negative phase voltage signal output from the differential output amplifier. An adding circuit adds an output signal of the first peak hold circuit and an output signal of the second peak hold circuit. A differential input amplifier amplifies and outputs a voltage difference between a reference voltage and an addition result voltage signal of the adding circuit. A current output circuit outputs a DC current based on an output voltage of the differential input amplifier. A current switch circuit converts a DC current to a pulse current so as to supply the pulse current to a laser diode.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving apparatus of a light-emitting device.
2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, an optical signal is used for signal transmission via a communication line and network, because the optical signal offers advantages such as enlarging the capacity of information carried and accelerating the information transmission speed. An electrical signal output from various information equipment such as a computer and a telephone is converted to the optical signal in an optical communication apparatus and supplied to an optical communication line and network. A laser diode (LD), which has extremely high frequency response and is easily miniaturized, is widely used for a photoelectric conversion device included in the optical communication apparatus.
In order to carry out a stabile optical communication, it is necessary to constantly monitor an optical output from the laser diode and to control an operation of the laser diode. In general, the laser diode for the optical communication is accompanied by an optical feedback circuit so as to automatically adjust a driving current. The optical feedback circuit includes components such as a photodiode for monitoring backward light (optical output) of the laser diode, a current-to-voltage conversion circuit for converting an output current from the photodiode to a voltage, an operational amplifier section, and a reference voltage circuit section. The aforementioned circuit is referred to as an APC (Automatic Power Control) circuit, since the circuit automatically stabilizes the optical output from the laser diode.
The optical communication apparatuses including the APC circuits are disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 6-232917, Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2000-174827 and Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2001-36470.
When an offset voltage of the operational amplifier included in a driving control circuit for the laser diode increases, the control of the driving current flowing through the laser diode becomes unstable, because an optical amplitude value or an optical peak value can not be accurately detected. The offset voltage is caused by, for example, piece-to-piece variation of the operational amplifiers or a fluctuation of an ambient temperature around the optical communication apparatus. When a driving bias current far exceeds a light-emitting threshold value, a light-emitting state remains during an off period of the light output from the laser diode, and thus an optical noise increases during the off period. Accordingly, an on/off ratio (extinction ratio) is deteriorated. On the other hand, when the driving bias current decreases, a transient response time from an optical turning off to an optical turning on is delayed, thereby causing a delay in the light output from the laser diode.
In this connection, when a capacitor is connected in series to an output terminal of the operational amplifier included in the APC circuit, a DC (direct current) component is cut off from a current output from the operational amplifier, thereby extracting only an amplitude component. Consequently, the offset voltage of the operational amplifier does not affect the control of the driving current for the laser diode.
However, in a conventional APC circuit with the series-connected capacitor, when a probability of appearances of "1" and "0" in each transmitted frame data signal significantly fluctuates, a DC potential after the series-connected capacitor varies, and thus the control of the driving current flowing through the laser diode becomes unstable. Therefore, the laser diode including the aforementioned APC circuit can not be used for the transmissions other than the transmission of a balanced-sign, in which the probability of appearances of "1" and "0" in each transmitted frame data signal is constant. Accordingly, the laser diode including the aforementioned APC circuit is not suitable for a stable output of a signal having a changing probability of appearances of "1" and "0" such as a burst signal.

Driving apparatus of a light-emitting device


A plow attachment for an excavator, including a distal portion having elongated curved front and rear walls, and an elongated top wall, a pair of oppositely disposed elongated hook-shaped side walls connected to the top, front and rear walls and defining an elongated trough, a soil-deflecting wedge portion extending from between the sidewall portions and positioned opposite the top wall member. The plow attachment includes a proximal portion connected to the distal portion and having a flat skid plate member, a structural member connected to the flat plate member, and a hoe connecting member connected to the structural member.

The backhoe is one of the most versatile digging tools available. Backhoes can be maneuvered into position in places to dig where other excavation machines cannot go. The digging apparatus of the backhoe includes a hinged and hydraulically driven armature to which a generally semicircular bucket is hingedly connected. Backhoe buckets tend to be about 2 feet wide and connect to the manipulating armature at a like-sized connection plate. This means that ditches and trenches dug with a backhoe have a minimum width of about 2 feet, and the soil is removed one bucketload at a time.
There are many situations calling for the deposition of cable or flexible pipe in narrow trenches that a backhoe equipped with a conventional bucket or even a modified bucket just can't address. These trenches must be dug by other means. There are specialized excavation machines designed for laying pipe or cable in narrow trenches. While these tools accomplish the task of digging narrow trenches for the deposition of cable thereinto, they are expensive, prone to frequent breakdown, and their use necessitates the purchase or rental of specialized equipment by the contractor, often for one relatively short dig.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus that would take advantage of the versatility of a backhoe system for digging narrow furrows for the deposition of pipe or cable. The present novel technology addresses this need.

Cable-laying plow attachment for a backhoe and method for using the same


A hollow profile (1) formed of a flat material (31) having a width (d) has at least one groove (6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2) provided on an outer side of at least one of the plurality of walls (2.1, 2.2, 5.1, 5.2) of the profile (1) and having a bottom (8.1, 8.2, 9.1, 9.2) spaced form the outer side by depth (t) and two opposite, substantially flat side walls (13.1, 13.2, 40.1, 40.2) extending substantially perpendicular to the bottom (8.1, 8.2, 9.1, 9.2), with the groove depth (t) of the at least one groove (6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 32) amounting to from 0.5 to 2 times of the material thickness (d) of the flat material (31).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hollow profile formed of a flat material and having a plurality of side walls and at least one groove provided on an outer side of at least one of the plurality of side walls and having a bottom spaced form the outer side by a predetermined depth and two opposite side walls.
The present invention also relates to a method of forming the hollow profile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a hollow profile, which is formed of a flat material, is characterized by a small weight while having good static characteristics. For positioning and guiding of connection, parts, e.g., add-on parts, a hollow profile of an assembly system is provided with grooves in which the connection parts are guided. With add-on components being mounted on a hollow profile, often, torsional loads act on the hollow profile. Therefore, from a static point of view, a circumferentially closed hollow profile is preferred. However, the greater is the depth of the groove the smaller is the torsional load a hollow profile can withstand. Therefore, it is desirable to have the groove depth as small as possible.
As a rule, the size of the inner bending radius of a sheet, which is bent to 90°, corresponds to the thickness of the sheet. The drawback of this general rule consists in that with a small groove depths, which are accompanied by small bending radii, it is impossible to obtain side walls of a groove which would extend perpendicular to the groove bottom or to the outer side of a profile. The use of a narrow bending radius corresponding to the thickness of a flat material is accompanied by upsetting of the flat material on the inner side of a bent and by stretching of the flat material on the outer side of the bent. This leads to formation of fissures and/or reduction of the material strength.
It is known to form notches before bending at the position of the inner radius of a material. The formation of notches permits to use radii as small as the thickness of the flat material. However, this results in reduction of the cross-section of the material and, consequently, in reduction of the material strength.
Up to the present, with grooves having a small radius, this problem was bypassed by forming a groove with side walls extending to the groove bottom at angle different from 90°, e.g., at an angle of 45°. If a connection part with rectangular bearing surfaces is loaded sidewise, with such a groove, its guidance in the longitudinal direction of a profile and the prevention of the part from rotation is not insured. When the bearing surface of a connection part is complementary to the shape of a groove, with a side load acting on the connection part, a force component would be produced that would extend at an angle to the direction of force acting on the connection part and that could lift the connection part out of the groove.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hollow profile from a flat material with a groove having a small depth and which would insure an adequate longitudinal and lateral guidance for a connection part, whereby the absorption of the torsional stresses would be insured.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hollow profile that can be produced simply and economically.


Isolated polypeptides related to endogenous anti-viral polypeptides; and compositions, including immunogenic compositions, comprising a subject isolated polypeptide are disclosed herein. A subject isolated polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having substantial amino acid sequence identity to a contiguous stretch of amino acids of one or more endogenous anti-viral polypeptides, wherein the endogenous anti-viral polypeptides are polypeptides subject to proteolytic degradation as a result of the activity of one or more viral proteins. Also provided are diagnostic and treatment methods using the subject isolated polypeptides and compositions.

A number of host cell proteins have evolved that inhibit retroviral infection, retroelement mobilization, and/or replication. Examples of such proteins include apoliprotein BmRNA-editing catalytic (APOBEC) polypeptides, tetherin polypeptides and tripartite motif-containing 5 (TRIM5) polypeptides. Certain retroviruses, e.g., HIV, have evolved proteins which antagonize the anti-viral effects of one or more of these proteins. For example, HIV Vpu has been shown to antagonize the anti-viral activity of the tetherin polypeptide, CD317, and HIV Vif has been shown to antagonize the antiviral activity of APOBEC 3G and 3F polypeptides. It has been shown that Vif triggers proteosomal degradation of APOBEC via a physical interaction with APOBEC 3G.
Despite recent advances in HIV research, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that currently between 30 and 36 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS and that approximately 2.7 million people were newly infected in the last year (UNAIDS 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic). There is a need in the art for methods useful in the treatment and/or prophylaxis of HIV infection.

Method of inducing a T lymphocyte response using T-cell immunogens derived from anti-viral proteins

The Regents of the University of California


Methods of making Si-containing films that contain relatively high levels of Group III or Group V dopants involve chemical vapor deposition using trisilane and a dopant precursor. Extremely high levels of substitutional incorporation may be obtained, including crystalline silicon films that contain at least about 3×1020 atoms cm−3 of an electrically active dopant. Substitutionally doped Si-containing films may be selectively deposited onto the crystalline surfaces of mixed substrates by introducing an etchant gas during deposition.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to the deposition of silicon-containing materials in semiconductor processing. More particularly, this application relates to the deposition of doped crystalline silicon-containing films using trisilane and incorporating electrically active dopants.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrical properties of crystalline semiconductors such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge) and alloys thereof (SiGe) are influenced by the degree to which the materials are doped with Group III and Group V dopants such as boron (B), indium (In), phosphorous (P), arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb). In general, higher levels of doping are generally correlated with lower resistivity. However, in practice doping is complicated by the tendency for the dopant to incorporate non-substitutionally, e.g., interstitially in domains or clusters within the silicon, rather than by substituting for silicon atoms in the lattice structure. Group III and Group V dopants are generally electrically active when incorporated substitutionally, but electrically inactive when incorporated non-substitutionally. Accordingly, doping typically entails extensive activation anneals that cause diffusion and move junctions in a manner that is difficult to control, consuming valuable thermal budget.
Doping of semiconductors with electrically active dopants is of considerable commercial importance in a variety of industrial applications, such as in semiconductor manufacturing, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device fabrication, and in flat panel displays. Thus, there is a need for improved methods to incorporate electrically active dopants into semiconductors.

Methods of depositing electrically active doped crystalline Si-containing films


A pulse width modulated half bridge dimming controller for dimming a lighting ballast is described. The top half of the bridge is comprised of two switches, the top switch set, and the bottom half of the bridge is comprised of two switches, the bottom switch set. Each switch also has a diode in parallel with it. The drivers for the switches are configured so that each of the switches can be turned on and off independently of all of all the other switches. Preferably, the controller is capable of operating in all four quadrants. In one preferred embodiment the switches are IGBTs. The switches are controlled in a manner so that when one of the switch sets changes states, the second switch set has one switch on and one switch off, so that one of the diodes in the second switch set is disposed to block shoot through and provide a path to allow current to continue flowing in the inductive load.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps are widely used in airports, parking garages and on public streets to provide wide-area ambient lighting. Although recent electronic ballast designs can deliver better efficiency, improved power factor and longer bulb life than the standard magnetic ballast, most of the HID lamps currently in use employ magnetic ballasts, owing to their low cost, familiar characteristics and their decades-old domination of the HID and fluorescent lighting markets.
Given the ever increasing demands to improve energy efficiency of existing buildings and public structures, there is a strong financial incentive to retrofit existing HID lighting installations with modern, dimmable lighting systems. However, in many installations it is not economical to change out the existing light fixtures and ballasts, creating the need for a lighting controller that can reliably and accurately dim entire banks of existing magnetically ballasted HID lamps at the contactor control point.
Given that standard HID lamps and magnetic ballasts were not originally designed to be dimmable, this effort represents a complex engineering task. Several commercial examples have been developed to date, with varying degrees of success. Common problems with HID dimmers include flicker, line harmonics, poor power factor, reliability, and arc extinction during the dimming process.
A number of approaches have been taken to control the light intensity of a fluorescent lamp or a HID lamp. Some use pulse width modulation of an inverter drive, or change the supply voltage to the rectifying circuit for the inverter DC link voltage.
One approach uses a phase controlled dimmable ballast for a fluorescent lamp. A small portion of the phase of the input supply voltage is removed, and the amount of phase removed is used to generate a switching signal that controls the frequency of the electronic ballast and thus the light output.
In another version of an automatic light dimmer for gas discharge lamps, the apparatus applies full power to the primaries when the lights are first turned on for a pre-selected time period, thus ensuring all the lamps in the system are lit. After the pre-selected time period has passed, the apparatus automatically dims the lamps and maintains them in the dimmed state.
There are electronic ballasts with illumination control, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,466 B1, known as phase-control dimmable ballast, which suppresses a portion of the supply voltage in each half cycle. This circuit interpolates the selected illumination level, adjusting conduction times in the solid-state switch element. This process affects the power factor of the ballast and contributes a degree of harmonic distortion to the power line. This system, which interacts with internal elements of the electronic ballast, cannot be built as an element that is external to the ballast because it requires structural changes in the system of common electronic ballasts.
Also well-known are the electronic ballasts that have a certain number of operating taps offered at their power terminals to set the lighting intensity. With this system, the different lighting taps can be wired to a multiple switch. The disadvantage is that the lighting changes suddenly and power cables must be added to the lighting circuit. The change in the illumination level is based on a circuit that, like the previous technique described, affects the conduction times in a solid-state switching system.
Even with these ballasts, patents and the patents cited in them there still remains a need for a simple and reliable means for providing dimming control for electronic and magnetic ballasts for fluorescent or HID lamps and which overcomes or at least minimizes many of the previously mentioned problems.

Sine wave lamp controller with active switch commutation and anti-flicker correction


A folding rule includes a plurality of segments having length indicating indicia thereon, including a plurality of intermediate segments having a length to thickness ratio in the range of 40:1 to 60:1; the segments pivotally connected together and pivotally moveable between a collapsed configuration wherein the segments are stacked and an extended configuration wherein the segments are linearly aligned along a measurement axis, wherein at least one intermediate segment rotates by approximately 180° with respect to an adjacent intermediate segment to move between the collapsed configuration and the extended configuration; the segments formed of a generally homogenous electrically non-conductive mixture of wood and plastic. The intermediate segments may be substantially identical except for the length indicating indicia thereon, and at least the intermediate segments may be hydrophobic and be formed of a generally homogenous mixture of wood and ABS plastic. A method of forming such folding rules is also disclosed.

The present invention is directed generally to folding rules for measuring linear distances.
Folding rules, sometimes referred to as "carpenter's rules" or "wooden rules," have been known for some time. Such rules have an advantage over conventional retractable tape measures in that the folding rules are generally much more rigid than the tape blades of the tape measures. This rigidity allows for the folding rules to be used more easily for many tasks, particularly for carpenters that work with cabinetry and brick masons.
Typically, folding rules are made with a plurality of segments that are joined together by pivot joints to form a collapsible chain. The segments are typically formed of wood, and joints are typically metallic. However, conventional wooden rules are sometimes viewed as being less than ideal for environments with electrical hazards, such as in the electrical utility industry, due to the potential of the wood to absorb water and become electrically conductive. Separately, synthetic folding rules have recently been introduced, such those made from fiberglass and the like, that allow for manufacturing cost reductions due to the "molding-in" of various joint elements. While such synthetic folding rules have some advantages, they are disfavored by many consumers for various reasons.
Thus, while a number of folding rule designs exist, none have proven entirely satisfactory. As such, there remains a need for alternative folding rule designs.


A power electronics power module is provided. The power electronics power module includes an electrically conductive substrate, a electronic die having first and second opposing surfaces and at least one transistor formed thereon, the electronic die being mounted to the electrically conductive substrate and the at least one transistor being configured such that when the at least one transistor is activated, current flows from the first surface of the electronic die into the electrically conductive substrate, and a control member at least partially imbedded in the electrically conductive substrate, the control member having a control conductor formed thereon and electrically connected to the at least one transistor such that when a control signal is provided to the control conductor, the at least one transistor is activated.

In recent years, advances in technology, as well as ever-evolving tastes in style, have led to substantial changes in the design of automobiles. One of the changes involves the complexity of the electrical systems within automobiles, particularly alternative fuel (or propulsion) vehicles that utilize voltage supplies, such as hybrid and battery electric vehicles. Such alternative fuel vehicles typically use one or more electric motors, often powered by batteries, perhaps in combination with another actuator, to drive the wheels.
Such vehicles often use two separate voltage sources, such as a battery and a fuel cell, to power the electric motors that drive the wheels. Power electronics (or power electronics systems), such as direct current-to-direct current (DC/DC) converters, are typically used to manage and transfer the power from the two voltage sources. Also, due to the fact that alternative fuel automobiles typically include only direct current (DC) power supplies, direct current-to-alternating current (DC/AC) inverters (or power inverters) are also provided to convert the DC power to alternating current (AC) power, which is generally required by the motors.
Modern power converters typical utilize power modules that include electronic components, such as switches and diodes formed on semiconductor substrates. The electrical connections used to control the switches and diodes are often made using wire bonds of discrete wires. Such electrical connections often provide undesirable signal quality, are relatively fragile, and increase manufacturing time and costs.
Additionally, as the power demands on the electrical systems in alternative fuel vehicles continue to increase, there is an ever increasing need to maximize the electrical efficiency of such systems. There is also a constant desire to reduce the size of the components within the electrical systems in order to minimize the overall cost and weight of the vehicles.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a power electronics power module with improved electrical connections for the electronic components. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Power electronics power module with imbedded gate circuitry


A variable covering device for electrical wiring conduit includes two semi-rigid material portions attached to each other by an arrangement forming a hinge, wherein at least one variable aperture notch is formed between those portions near the hinge and the notch is filled or covered by an attached closure member adapted to enable angular adjustment of the two portions relative to each other by the hinge.

1. Field of the invention
The invention concerns a variable covering device for electrical wiring conduit, in particular of the "variable angle" type for covering two adjoining ends of portions of trunking to assure the continuity of the wiring conduit at locations where it changes direction. A variable angle covering device of the invention can in particular constitute an accessory known as an "inside corner" or "outside corner" when the change of direction of the conduit occurs in different planes or as a "flat corner" when the change of direction occurs in the same plane, on the surface of a wall.
2. Description of the prior art
In electrical installations using wiring conduit employing plastics material sections, fixing a U-shape first trunking section to the wall and covering this section with another section forming a cover that clips onto the U-shape section is known in itself. Accessories must be provided to cover the end parts of successive portions. It must be possible to adapt the accessories to suit various configurations, in particular changing from one wall to another or bypassing an obstacle, or a change of direction on a wall. Two trunking portions to be joined together are generally not strictly aligned with each other or perpendicular to each other. This is why it is desirable for the covering device that caps the ends of the trunking portions to be deformable without excessive stress so that it can be fitted over the adjoining ends of the trunking portions and cover them in a relatively sealed manner.
A prior art accessory for this purpose has two portions of semi-rigid material joined together by hinge means and having respective cylindrical surfaces with a variable overlap. The two cylindrical surfaces have the hinge axis as their rotation axis, enabling angular adjustment of the two sections relative to each other. This system is costly and the overlapping surfaces must in some cases be cut away on the inside so that they do not obstruct the wiring passage.
Another prior art system also includes a hinge linking the two portions and the dimensions of their cross-sections are different so that one of the portions can partially engage inside the other one by rotation about said hinge.
Apart from their high cost, these devices are somewhat unattractive. The invention solves these problems.

Variable covering device for electrical wiring conduit


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, and non-transitory computer storage media for identifying malicious enterprise behaviors within a large enterprise. At a high level, embodiments of the present disclosure identify sub-graphs of behaviors within an enterprise based on probabilistic and deterministic methods. For example, starting with the node or edge having the highest risk score, embodiments of the present disclosure iteratively crawl a list of neighbors associated with the nodes or edges to identify subsets of behaviors within an enterprise that indicate potentially malicious activity based on the risk scores of each connected node and edge. In another example, embodiments select a target node and traverse the connected nodes via edges until a root-cause condition is met. Based on the traversal, a sub-graph is identified indicating a malicious execution path of traversed nodes with associated insights indicating the meaning or activity of the node.

Generally, companies conduct continuous analysis on behaviors within an enterprise to ensure all operations run properly and thwart potentially malicious tasks. Typically, enterprise and information security teams monitor enterprise behavior signals available from the enterprise using third-parties and/or various tools to monitor enterprise and endpoint behavior to identify malicious behavior. This manual monitoring often requires years of training and experience to recognize and discern actual threats from false-positives. Due to detection deficiencies of these tools, lack of resources, and human error, suspicious behaviors within an enterprise often go undetected. Additionally, because attacker enterprise behavior against an enterprise may be intermittent or mirror normal user activity, signals related to the attack are often analyzed separately, resulting in degraded detection performance versus including them together. As such, conventional approaches for identifying potentially harmful behavior within an enterprise remain deficient, despite requiring intelligent users employing resource intensive tools.

Malicious enterprise behavior detection tool


Methods, systems, and computer readable media can be operable to facilitate the configuration of a device with service set information based upon an identified association between the device and a private service set. An access device may retrieve and store identifiers of private client devices associated with the access device and identifiers of private client devices associated with neighboring access devices. The access device may retrieve the private client device identifiers from neighboring access devices or from an upstream network element or server. When a client device attempts to associate with a service set offered by the access device, the access device may preclude the client device from associating with a public service set if an identifier of the client device matches a private client device identifier stored at the access device.

One or more access points may be installed at a subscriber premise to provide a subscriber with a local network such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) for accessing multiple services that are delivered to the subscriber premise. An access point may provide a plurality of service sets wherein each service set is designated for use to provide certain services. For example, service sets may be designated for delivery of encrypted communications over a password-protected, private network, communications associated with a specific service (e.g., video, data, voice, security, etc.), or communications associated with a public network (e.g., unencrypted or encrypted hotspot network).
Generally, the delivery of communications over a private service set of an access device is prioritized over the delivery of communications over a public service set of the access device. When a client device attempts to associate with an access device, the client device may join a public service set offered by the access device rather than a private service set offered by the access device. Thus, a user may not receive the full benefits of an access device when a client device is associated with the public service set of the access device.
Further, where subscriber premises are densely populated (e.g., in a multiple dwelling unit (MDU), urban area, etc.), a client device may be within the wireless range of one or more access devices located in neighboring premises. These access devices within the neighboring premises may offer public service sets with which a client device may associate. Therefore, a client device may join a public service set of a neighboring access device rather than a private service set offered by an access device that is located in the same premise as the client device, thus causing a user to receive a lower service quality than would be received if the client device was associated with a private service set.
Therefore, it is desirable to improve upon methods and systems for configuring a client device to associate with an access device on a desired service set.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Service set steering based upon device identifier


The invention concerns a powder metallurgical composition comprising a major amount of an iron-based metal powder and a minor amount of carbon black. The amount of carbon black is between 0.001 and 0.2% by weight, preferably between 0.01 to 0.1% by weight.

Powder metallurgical compositions are well known for the production of powder metallurgical parts. Production of powder metallurgical parts involves filling of the powder in a compaction tool, compaction of the powder and subsequent sintering of the compacted body. A prerequisite for filling of the powder is that the powder is free-flowing and has a sufficient flow. A high flow rate of the powder is essential to obtain a high production rate giving lower production costs and a better economy for each part produced.
Another factor which is essential for the production efficiency and economy is the apparent density. Apparent density is essential for the tool design. Powder with low apparent density needs higher filling height which results in unnecessarily high pressing tools, and this in turn will result in longer compaction strokes and lower pressing performances.
Agents which improve the flow properties are previously known. Thus the U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,818 discloses that silicic acid may be used to this end. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,954 discloses that metal, metal oxides or silicon oxide can be used as flow agents.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a powder metallurgical composition with improved powder properties such as flowability and apparent density.


A photo diode is connected to an input terminal of an amplifier to which a feedback resistor is connected. An output current of this photo diode flows from the output terminal side of the amplifier through the feedback resistor. The output of the photo diode converted into a voltage is given to the output terminal side of the amplifier. The feedback resistor is formed by a P-type resistor region provided in an N-type resistor land of a semiconductor substrate. In order to apply an inverse bias to the PN junction between the resistor land and resistor region, the resistor land is connected to the output terminal of the amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric converting device for converting an output current of a photoelectric converter such as photo diode into a voltage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A photoelectric converting device is used, for example, in a photo detector of an optical pickup apparatus installed in a compact disk player. In the photoelectric converting device, a photo diode is connected to an input terminal of an amplifier to which a feedback resistor is connected, and the output current of this photo diode is converted into a voltage, and the converted voltage is obtained from the outside of the amplifier. When composing such photoelectric converting device by an integrated circuit, the feedback resistor is provided in the semiconductor integrated circuit device. When a resistor is formed in a region for a resistor formation use (hereinafter referred as to "resistor land") in the semiconductor substrate, an inverse bias is applied to the PN junction which is formed between the resistor region and the resistor land so that the PN junction may not conduct. Conventionally, to realize this inverse bias, the resistor land was connected to the power source line, that is, the power source line of the amplifier.
By applying an inverse bias to the PN junction between the resistor region and resistor land, a stray capacitor occurs in the PN junction portion. Therefore, when a power source voltage is applied to the resistor land, ripple caused by fluctuation of the power source voltage due to operating condition of other circuits or the like connected to the power source line may mix into the output of the photoelectric converting device through the stray capacitor.

Photoelectric converting device which prevents power source ripple from mixing into an output signal


High-speed flipflop circuits are disclosed. The flipflop circuit may latch a data input signal or a scan input signal using a first signal, a second signal, a third signal, and a fourth signal generated inside the flipflop circuit, and may output an output signal and an inverted output signal. The flipflop circuit includes a first signal generation circuit configured to generate the first signal; a second signal generation circuit configured to generate the second signal; a third signal generation circuit configured to receive the second signal and generate the third signal; and an output circuit configured to receive the clock signal and the second signal, and output an output signal and an inverted output signal.

The inventive concept is applied to a flipflop circuit, and more particularly, to a high-speed flipflop circuit of a new structure to be used in a semiconductor integrated circuit.
As a semiconductor integrated circuit becomes high-performance and highly integrated, it takes a lot of time and resources to test the semiconductor integrated circuit. In order to improve test efficiency while maintaining the quality of the semiconductor integrated circuit, design for testability (DFT) technology is used. The DFT technology uses a scan cell method in which a flipflop is constructed inside the semiconductor integrated circuit as a series of shift registers for test purposes. In the scan cell method, data are sequentially transferred through a data path during a normal operation, and test data (or scan data) are applied through a scan path during a test operation to observe an output value of the flipflop. The flipflop having a scan input to be used in the scan cell method tests a logic circuit part in the semiconductor integrated circuit by receiving a scan input signal for testing, and the flipflop is designed considering the test from the beginning of the design to facilitate the test. In addition, the operation of a flipflop transferring data according to a clock signal is directly related to the performance of the semiconductor integrated circuit.
Accordingly, there is a need for a high-performance and high-integration semiconductor integrated circuit and a high-speed flipflop with a new structure suitable for DFT.


In an image processing method for carrying out a plurality of types of halftoning processing expressing in combination amplitude modulation having the number of tone levels smaller than that of an input image and area coverage modulation, selectively or in parallel, the plurality of types of halftoning processing comprises processing providing output image color and tone substantially identical mutually.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an image processing method, a program and an image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier or a multifunction peripheral having the respective functions thereof in a common housing, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus is known in which a liquid drop jetting head is used as a recording head. In the ink jet recording apparatus, ink as recording liquid is jetted to a paper sheet from the ink recording head so as to carry out image forming. It is noted that the above-mentioned paper sheet on which image forming is thus carried out is not actually limited to paper, but generally means one on which liquid or such may adhere to such as an OHP, or such, which may be referred to as a to-be-recorded medium, a recording medium, recording paper, or such. As to the above-mentioned image forming, a term such as recording or printing may be used as having the same meaning.
In such an image forming apparatus, as a size of the recording liquid drop, merely on the order four sizes (i.e., corresponding to four tones), i.e., no dot, a small dot, medium dot and a large dot, for example, are available. Accordingly, it is not possible to carry out halftoning only by means of the dot size of the recording liquid drop. Therefore, in general, a dither method or an error diffusion method is known as a method for halftoning with a combination of an amplitude modulation halftoning with the use of the number of levels smaller than the original, and an area coverage modulation halftoning.
The dither method (binary dither method) is a method for binarizing by determining 1 (printing or light emitting) or 0 (not printing or not light emitting) from a comparison of a pixel tone of a corresponding coordinate point with a threshold which corresponds to each value of a dither matrix. In this method, binarized data can be obtained only from the comparison of image data to the thresholds, and thus, high speed processing is achieved.
According to the error diffusion method, an error obtained when tone image data is converted into data having the number of tone levels smaller than the original (for example, binary data) is diffused to neighboring pixels, and thus, halftoning error is reduced, together with the peripheral neighboring pixels.
Each of these dither method and error diffusion method has a way in which the number of levels is more than two. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2004-112089 discloses multi-level error diffusion method.

Image processing method, program and apparatus having plural halftoning methods including error diffusion using a larger number of bits


A method and apparatus for performing multiple descriptive source coding in which a plurality of homogeneous encoders are advantageously employed in combination with a corresponding plurality of advantageously substantially identical decoders. In particular, diversity is provided to the multiple encoders by modifying the quantization process in at least one of the encoders such that the modified quantization process is based at least on a quantization error resulting from the quantization process of another one of the encoders. In this manner, diversity among the multiple bit streams is obtained, and in particular, the quality of a reconstructed signal based on a combination of multiple decoded bit streams at the receiver is advantageously superior to that based on any one of the decoded bit streams. In accordance with a first illustrative embodiment of the present invention, two Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) coders are employed. In accordance with a second illustrative embodiment of the present invention, two Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) coders are employed. And in accordance with a third illustrative embodiment of the present invention, two Low-Delay Code Excited Linear Prediction (LD-CELP) coders are employed. In each case, diversity is ensured by an appropriate modification to the quantization process of at least one of the encoders, and the total error may be advantageously reduced when decoded bit streams from both coders are combined at the receiver.

Providing high-quality telephony services over packet networks has introduced many new technical challenges. One such challenge is to conceal channel erasures, which may occur due to packet loss. Normally, packet loss which is due to the late arrival of a given packet can be alleviated by using buffering techniques at the receiving terminal, at the expense of an increased end-to-end delay. Packet loss due to other causes can be mitigated by replacing missing segments with waveform segments based on correctly received packets. A number of such waveform substitution techniques (i.e., concealment techniques) have been proposed and will be familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. Most of these techniques appear to be effective for short channel erasures (e.g., those less than about 20 milliseconds), but their performance drops quickly as the rate of channel erasure increases.
To improve a system's resilience to channel erasures, one well known approach is to employ multiple "uncorrelated" channels to deliver the same bit stream. Effectively, then, the channel is "erased" only when all channels fail on the same packet of information. Since all of these multiple channels are uncorrelated, the rate of channel erasure can be greatly reduced. This will in turn help to sustain the performance level of the aforementioned concealment techniques.
Such an improved communication system exploits the diversity from multiple uncorrelated channels to reduce the rate of channel erasure. However, there is no diversity in the encoded bit streams—the information received from more than one working channel will have no added value. A more advantageous result is achieved by sending different information over each channel in such a way that if the corresponding information from multiple channels are successfully transmitted, the information from each channel can be used to augment the information from other channels to thereby improve the overall fidelity of the reconstructed signal. On the other hand, if less than all of the channels are successfully transmitted, the information received will still be sufficient to achieve a reduced, but at least minimally acceptable fidelity. This approach, familiar to those skilled in the art, is known as multiple description (or multi-descriptive) source coding.
Recently, there have been extensive efforts dedicated to the design of efficient multiple descriptive coding systems. In particular, such systems typically allocate a separate codec (coder/decoder pair) for each channel, wherein each codec comprises a different encoder and a corresponding decoder. On the transmission side of the channels, the multiple encoders advantageously produce diversified information. At the receiving end, should one channel fail, the associated decoder temporarily stops its operation, and if necessary, may use conventional concealment mode techniques, fully familiar to those skilled in the art, to maintain any necessary internal memory states. Otherwise, each decoder operates normally. Output signals from all operating decoders are then mixed to produce the final decoded signal. (In the case where all channels have failed, a conventional concealment mode technique may be used to synthesize the output signal.)
Although the above-described scheme works well, the encoders and (more importantly) the decoders which are used must necessarily have been specifically designed for the given multiple description coding technique. Thus, existing network environments which employ encoders and decoders which have not been designed with multiple description coding applications in mind cannot take advantage of the benefits of such a technique. It would be extremely advantageous if the benefits of multiple description coding techniques could be realized in existing network environments, particularly without the need to modify the existing decoders, and preferably, with only slight modifications being required in the existing encoders.

Method and apparatus for diversity control in multiple description voice communication


An apparatus for adjusting a first signal with respect to a second signal includes: (a) A first converter receiving the first signal and employing n first converting elements for digitally converting the first signal to at least one first signal element. (b) A second converter coupled with an output, receiving the second signal and employing n second converting elements for digitally converting the second signal to a second representative signal presented at the output. (c) An adjusting element coupled with each of selected of the first converting elements. Each adjusting element is coupled with the output and cooperates with the connected selected element to present a corrected signal element to the output. The output presents an aggregate output signal including contributions from the second representative signal and each corrected signal element. Adjusting is effected by altering at least one corrected first signal element presented to the output.

To reduce temperature drift in an analog circuit, a temperature dependent bias current I(T) may be used. The bias current I(T) may be generated from a PTAT or Proportional To Absolute Temperature current digital-to-analog converter or DAC coupled to a CTAT or Complementary To Absolute Temperature current DAC. The CTAT current is subtracted from the PTAT current, or vice versa, to generate the desired bias current I(T). The resulting I(T) is injected into a sensitive node of the circuit to be compensated.
Accurate control of absolute value of bias current I(T) at 0 is desirable because it defines the accuracy of the voltage in the sensitive node of the circuit into which the correcting current is injected. This absolute value of bias current I(T) is limited by the matching and resolution of the network of trimmable current sources providing bias current I(T). Providing such a network of trimmable current sources generally require high chip areas and significant power consumption.

Circuit for generating a temperature dependent current with high accuracy


A strap mount for holding a bundle of wires against a hole in a structure such as a wall or ceiling. The strap mount includes a thin, closed loop mount member having a pair of substantially parallel extended end sections and a central loop section including a passageway. The shape of the mount allows for it, and an engaged strap, to pass completely through a hole in a structure and then be oriented so that the strap mount will be prevented from returning through the hole. When the strap mount is held up against the structure, the bundle can then be secured by tightening the cable strap around it.

In the electrical industry it is often necessary to mount a bundle of wires against a variety of structures such as walls or ceilings. When the structure is vertical or the bundle is to be mounted below a horizontal surface of the structure, such as on a ceiling, it can be very difficult to properly secure the bundle. In addition, it is often necessary to have access to both sides of the wall in order to secure the strap containing the bundle in situations as described above. However, having access to both sides of a structure is frequently difficult to obtain and therefore, it is difficult to properly secure the bundle to the structure.


The present invention provides a process for preparing a bicyclic amine derivative of the formula (Ia) or (Ib),

The present invention relates to a process for preparing bicyclic amine derivatives such 2-aminotetralines, 2-aminoindanes, 3-aminochromanes, 3-aminothiochromanes or 3-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines by asymmetric hydrogenation of the corresponding enamines. The invention also relates to intermediates of said process.
Certain 1-substituted 2-aminotetraline and 2-aminoindanes and 4-substituted 3-aminochromane, 3-aminothiochromane and 3-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives are of great interest as pharmaceutical agents or their synthetical precursors. Such derivatives have been described in WO 00/20376, for instance, as ligands for the neuropeptide Y receptor of subtype Y5, and in WO 2010/092180 and WO 2012/020131 as inhibitors of glycine transporter 1. However, for preparing these compounds in high chiral purity the aforementioned documents only disclose multi-step processes that require chiral separation of enantiomeric mixtures.
While the catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation of enamines is a known process, there are only few pior art reports on the asymmetric hydrogenation of cyclic enamines that have a tetrasubstituted double bound and an exocyclic amino group.
Ma et al., Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 506-511, describe rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenations of 1-acetylamino-2-cyano-cyclopentene and -cyclohexene using bisphosphine ligands. The resulting cis-1-acetylamino-2-cyano-cyclopentane and -cyclohexane were obtained in high yields but only poor to moderate enantioselectivities.
Similarly, Lucarini et al., Chem. Asian J., 2010, 5, 550-554, report on diastereoselective syntheses of cis-4-phenyl-2-propionamido-tetraline via hydrogenation of racemic N-(4-phenyl-3,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)propionamide which was catalyzed by rhodiumcomplexes including chiral phosphine ligands. However, only poor enantioselectivities could be achieved.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process that is suitable for the enantioselective preparation of 1-substituted 2-aminotetraline and aminoindane derivatives as well as of 4-substituted 3-aminochromane, 3-aminothiochromane or 3-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives. This process should be simple to carry out, based on selective reactions and suitable for the production on an industrial scale.
The object is achieved by the process described in detail below.

Process for preparing bicyclic amine derivatives

Abstract: comprising the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of an enamine of the formula (II),

Abstract: in the presence of a chiral ligand, wherein the chiral ligand is a chiral phosphine ligand.


A system and method for adaptive estimation and compensation of clock drift in echo cancellers is provided. The invention includes an acoustic echo cancellation system with a built in adaptive clock drift compensation system. The acoustic echo cancellation system has an AEC component that performs acoustic echo cancellation on data from a capture buffer, by also using information derived from a render buffer. The clock drift compensation system has access to this capture buffer and render buffer. The clock drift compensation system includes a clock drift compensator that calculates, based on the current location of the capture data being processed by the AEC component as well as additional information, the ideal location in the render buffer from which the AEC component should process data. The clock drift compensator further adjusts the current location in the render buffer from which the AEC component processes data based, at least in part, upon this ideal location. The clock drift compensator can further detect and correct for glitches in the hardware positions received from the render and capture devices.

Acoustic echo is a common problem with full duplex audio systems, for example, audio conferencing systems and/or speech recognition systems. Acoustic echo originates in a local audio loop back that occurs when an input transducer, such as a microphone, picks up audio signals from an audio output transducer, for example, a speaker, and sends it back to an originating participant. The originating participant will then hear the echo of the participant's own voice as the participant speaks. Depending on the delay, the echo may continue to be heard for some time after the originating participant has stopped speaking.
Consider the scenario where a first participant at a first physical location with a microphone and speaker and a second participant at a second physical location with a microphone and speaker are taking part in a call or conference. When the first participant speaks into the microphone at the first physical location, the second participant hears the first participant's voice played on speaker(s) at the second physical location. However, the microphone at the second physical location then picks up and transmits the first participant's voice back to the first participant's speakers. The first participant will then hear an echo of the first participant's own voice with a delay due to the round-trip transmission time. The delay before the first participant starts hearing the echo of the first participant's own voice, as well as how long the first participant continues to hear the first participant's own echo after the first participant has finished speaking depends on the time it takes to transmit the first participant's voice to the second participant, how much reverberation occurs in the second participant's room, and how long it takes to send the first participant's voice back to the first participant's speakers. This delay may be several seconds when the Internet is used for international voice conferencing.
Acoustic echo can be caused or exacerbated when sensitive microphone(s) are used, as well as when the microphone and/or speaker gain (volume) is turned up to a high level, and also when the microphone and speaker(s) are positioned so that the microphone is close to one or more of the speakers. In addition to being annoying, acoustic echo can prevent normal conversation among participants in a conference. In full duplex systems without acoustic echo cancellation, it is possible for the system to get into a feedback loop which makes so much noise the system is unusable.
Conventionally, acoustic echo is reduced using audio headset(s) that prevent an audio input transducer (e.g., microphone) from picking up the audio output signal. Additionally, special microphones with echo suppression features can be utilized. However, these microphones are typically expensive as they may contain digital signal processing electronics that scan the incoming audio signal and detect and cancel acoustic echo. Some microphones are designed to be very directional, which can also help reduce acoustic echo.
Acoustic echo can also be reduced through the use of a digital acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) component. This AEC component can remove the echo from a signal while minimizing audible distortion of that signal. This AEC component must have access to digital samples of the audio input and output signals. These components process the input and output samples in the digital domain in such a way as to reduce the echo in the input or capture samples to a level that is normally inaudible.
An analog waveform is converted to digital samples through a process known as analog to digital (A/D) conversion. Devices that perform this conversion are known as analog to digital converters, or A/D converters. Digital samples are converted to an analog waveform through a process known as digital to analog (D/A) conversion. Devices that perform this conversion are known as digital to analog converters, or D/A converters. Most A/D and D/A conversions are performed at a constant sampling rate. Inexpensive silicon chips that do both A/D and D/A conversion on the same chip are widely available. Usually these chips are designed to be connected to a crystal which is used to generate a stable and fixed frequency clock signal. This clock signal is used to drive the A/D and/or D/A conversion process. Normally this clock is running at a very high frequency, and is divided down to a much lower rate which is the sampling rate driving the conversion process. The rate at which digital samples are produced by an A/D converter is determined by the frequency of the clock which is driving the A/D converter as well as the divider used to reduce that frequency to the desired sampling rate. The rate at which digital samples are consumed by a D/A converter is also determined by the frequency of the clock which is driving the D/A converter and the divider used to reduce that frequency to the desired sampling rate. As long as the A/D and D/A converters are driven by single clock and they are divided down by the same divider, they will sample at the same frequency and the relationship between the input and output samples will not change over time. In any period of time, the A/D will produce exactly the same number of samples as are consumed by the D/A.
Crystals have varying levels of performance. Some of the parameters that can be specified for a crystal are frequency, stability, accuracy (in parts per million, or ppm), as well as limits on the variation in the above parameters due to temperature changes. In general, no two crystals are exactly the same. They will oscillate at slightly different frequencies, and their other characteristics will differ as well. This means that if the A/D and D/A converters are driven by clock signals derived from different crystals, there will be a slight difference in the rate at which those converters will run, even when the crystals run at the same nominal frequency, and the dividers for the A/D and D/A match. In this case, the number of samples produced over time by the A/D will not match the number of samples consumed in the same period of time by the D/A. The longer this period of time during which the number of samples generated by the A/D is compared to the number of samples consumed by the D/A, the greater the difference in the number of samples processed by the A/D and D/A.
This clock drift can also occur when the A/D and D/A are driven by the same clock, but are running at different sample rates. If those differing rates are generated by dividers that approximate the sample rate, but are not exact, and then those rates that are slightly off, are converted from their nominal but not exact rate to the same rate by sample rate converters that are part of an AEC system, then there will be a drift between the capture and render sample rates even though the A/D and D/A are driven by the same clock. For example, many modern inexpensive codecs used on computer sound cards, are driven by a clock signal of 14.318184 MHz. This is a clock frequency that has been supported in personal computers for over 20 years. Crystals for this frequency are therefore very inexpensive. However, standard sampling rates of 44100 Hz and 48000 Hz do not evenly divide into 14.318184 MHz. This means that this type of codec will not be able to sample at the above frequencies with very high accuracy of the sample rate. An example calculation of the actual rates produced by such codecs follows below. Unfortunately the rates are much less accurate than the ppm accuracy of most crystals—which are normally accurate to within 100 ppm.
Acoustic echo cancellation components work by subtracting a filtered version of the audio samples sent to the output device from the audio samples received from the input device. This processing assumes that the output and input sampling rates are exactly the same. Because there are a wide variety of input and output devices available for PC devices, it is important that AEC work even when the input and output devices are not the same. Additionally, many USB cameras have a built in microphone that can be used for capturing audio. It is important that AEC be able to utilize this capture signal while the playback device be one that was shipped with the computer and is generally not a USB device. Unless the AEC component can function properly in these types of scenarios, effective acoustic echo cancellation will be difficult or impossible and that will result in a frustrating experience for end user(s).
A full duplex audio system has a render device and a capture device. The render device has a digital to analog converter (D/A) that converts digital samples to an analog voltage level at a rate set by a render clock. The capture device has an analog to digital converter (A/D) that converts an analog voltage level to digital samples at a rate set by a capture clock.
When the D/A and the A/D are driven by the same clock signal, and are sampling at the same sample rate, there is no need to compensate for differences in the sample rates, because they are exactly identical. However, when the D/A is driven by a first clock signal and the A/D is driven by a second clock signal, the first clock signal and the second clock signal will not be running at exactly the same rates. The rates may differ by only 1 part per million (1 ppm) or even by only 1 part per billion (1 ppb), but over time this means that the number of samples consumed by the D/A will differ from the number of samples produced by the A/D. Most AEC algorithms are not designed to properly operate for long periods of time when the D/A and A/D sample rates are not exactly the same. In addition, most clock signals derived from separate crystals differ by much more than 1 ppm. This means that it takes only a few minutes before the number of samples consumed by the D/A differs significantly from the number of samples produced by the A/D. For example, assume that an A/D and D/A are both running at a nominal sample rate of 16 kHz, but that their clocks differ by 80 ppm. This means that every 1600000 samples produced by the A/D, the D/A consumes 1600128 samples if it is running faster than the A/D. So every 100 seconds, the difference in the number of samples increases by another 128. In another example, assume the A/D and D/A are driven by the same clock, but are running at different sample rates, and that the clock signal is not exactly divisible by the sample rates. If the common crystal frequency of 14.318184 MHz and common sample rates of 44100 Hz, and 48000 Hz are chosen, then the dividers with the least amount of error for those 2 rates are 325 and 298. This means actual sample rates of about 44055.95 Hz, and about 48047.60 Hz are obtained. If these rates are both converted to a nominal 16000 Hz rate assuming that they really were 44100 Hz and 48000 Hz, rates of about 15984.02 Hz and 16015.87 Hz are obtained. These sample rates differ by about 1992 ppm! The difference between these rates is 3 1.85 samples every second.
In both of the above cases, if the sample rate differences are not properly compensated for, the AEC algorithm will be unable to properly cancel the echo over extended periods of time. The larger the difference between the actual sample rates of the A/D and D/A the quicker the AEC algorithm will fail to cancel the echo. With a good clock drift compensation algorithm, the AEC algorithm can properly cancel the echo indefinitely.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adaptive estimation and compensation of clock drift in acoustic echo cancellers


An optical device which allows size and cost reductions and enables simultaneous capture of images taken by a first optical system and images taken by a composite optical system composed of the first optical system and a second optical system. A first optical system is adapted to form a first image. A second optical system is disposed on a subject side of the first optical system, and is adapted to form a second image within the first image formed by the first optical system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical device, an imaging device, a control method for the optical device, and a program applied to realize an imaging optical system suitable for an apparatus such as a monitoring-use digital camera or video camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, to find the subject (imaging target) and obtain a detailed image, it is normal to use a method in which a very wide-angle lens or fish-eye lens is used to image a wide field of view and the detailed image is obtained after distinguishing the target subject in the field of view.
The following is an example of the type of method used to acquire an image of such a subject.    (1) Method to obtain enlarged image of target subject using an electronic zoom.    (2) Method to obtain image of target subject by constructing an optical system as a zoom lens and changing the magnification of the optical system (zoom lens) at the telephoto end.    (3) Method in which a plurality of imaging systems are used, one being a wide angle imaging system and the other being a zoom imaging system, and the acquired image of the target subject is switched between the systems.
In another proposed method, the subject light directed to the imaging element is switched by driving a reflective member provided in the optical system (see, for instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H9-297350, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-9104, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-81089).
In a further proposed method, a reflected image in a peripheral part of a convex reflective member is used to observe the entire surroundings of the subject, and with the central part of the reflective member having a transparent construction, another image is observed using a separate optical system (see, for instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-139234).
However, the above-described conventional image acquiring methods have the following problems.
In the method of (1), to obtain the enlarged image of the target subject by extracting a part of the image, it is necessary to use an imaging element having a high number of pixels to obtain a highly detailed image, and the performance requirements for the imaging optical system are more stringent. This causes costs to increase.
In the method of (2), when the target subject is a moving body and the photographer sees the subject during zooming, it is necessary zoom out to a wide-angle image in order to follow the subject. It is not therefore possible to speedily observe of the subject. Moreover, it is difficult to realize an optical system which includes both wide-angle and telephoto functions.
In the method of (3), since a plurality of optical system are used, a plurality of camera units must be used. Hence, the size and cost of the imaging device increase.
In the method of (3) described above, in order to obtain characteristics resembling the characteristics seen when a plurality of imaging optical systems are used by switching a part of an imaging optical system using a single imaging element, a mechanism is typically required to insert/withdraw the part of the imaging optical system within the system. Conventionally, mechanisms for switching a part of an imaging optical system have been widely used in dual-focus type silver halide compact cameras. However, there is a problem in that inclusion of the mechanism to switch the part of the optical system complicates the construction.
In a further method, light is directed onto the imaging medium by combining a plurality of subject images using a half-transmitting reflective member capable of both transmitting and reflecting light. However, with this method there is a problem in that images darken due to the reduction in transmissivity, and in that the image is built up from a plurality of subject images, making it difficult to observe the target image separately.
Further, the technologies disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H9-297350, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-9104, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-81089 have a construction which makes it difficult to implement large changes in imaging angle. Further, large changes in the direction of the target subject that is being imaged tend to occur. As a result, it is difficult to detect the target subject and acquire detailed information in a short time period.
Moreover, the technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-139234 has the problem that it is difficult and costly to manufacture a large reflective member with a favorable profile irregularity. Moreover, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-139234, since the data values for implementing the optical construction is not disclosed, it is unclear if the device can be realized.

Optical device, imaging device, control method for optical device, and program


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming an impurity diffusion layer in a surface of a semiconductor substrate, wherein the forming the impurity diffusion layer comprises irradiating material including M1x M2y (y/x≦1.2, where x is a ratio of M1, y is a ratio of M2, M1 is material which serves as acceptor or donor in the semiconductor device, M2 is material which does not serve as neither donor nor acceptor in the semiconductor device (except semiconductor of the semiconductor substrate)) onto the semiconductor substrate, and heating the semiconductor substrate by light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including forming an impurity diffusion layer in a surface of a semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As transistors have been patterned finer in order to improve the performance of LSIs, the gate length has been decreased. To cope with a decrease in gate length, it is necessary to reduce a junction depth (diffusion depth) of a source/drain region. In the case of fine-patterned transistor having a gate length of 30 nm or less, its minimum junction depth is 15 nm or less, so that very shallow source/drain region is required.
According to the reported conventional ion implantation methods, an acceleration energy of 200 to 500 eV/B+ ion has been used to implant B+ or BF2+ or an acceleration energy of 1 keV or less has been used to implant As+. By these ion implantation methods, the distribution of dopant such as B or As implanted into a silicon substrate will spread. Accordingly, it is difficult to obtain the source/drain regions having a high concentration dopant distribution in which the depth is 15 nm or less and the lateral diffusion of the dopant from a mask edge to a region directly under the mask is 10 nm or less.
Moreover, point defect such as atomic vacancy or interstitial atom formed in the silicon substrate owing to the ion implantation will accelerate the diffusion of the dopant. Therefore, the source/drain region will spread more due to annealing carried out after the ion implantation for the purpose of activation of the dopant and recovery of crystal defect (damage).
To solve this problem, a method that instantaneously supplies energy necessary for the annealing has been examined. Specifically, an annealing method using a flash lamp filled with rare gas such as xenon, an annealing method using light such as infrared light or visible light, or an annealing method using laser of ultraviolet has been examined.
A flash lamp is capable of emitting light having a pulse width of sub-millimeters at the minimum. Therefore, according to the flash lamp annealing method, it is possible to activate the dopant implanted into the surface of the silicon substrate with almost no change of the dopant distribution (see T. Ito et al., Paper No. S4-3, Ext. Abs. the 5th international Workshop on Junction Technology 2005).
However, the conventional flash lamp annealing method has the following problems.
To sufficiently recover crystal defect (damage) caused by the ion implantation, a large irradiation energy of at least 30 J/cm2 is required. Such a large irradiation energy increases heat stress in the silicon substrate, thus the crystal damage such as slip or dislocation in the silicon substrate is brought about. As a result, a production yield will be lowered.
Here, in order to reduce the irradiation energy, a method is proposed, which includes ion implantation using an element in the IV group element such as Ge for pre-amorphizing the surface of the silicon substrate wherein light absorption factor of the surface of the silicon substrate is increased by the ion implantation.
However, the conventional pre-amorphization method has the following problem.
Due to the annealing performed after the pre-amorphization, crystal defect (damage) caused by the ion implantation using the element in the IV group element such as Ge is tend to remain. Such crystal defect will be a factor of increasing pn junction leakage current or off current of transistor.
On the other hand, in the case of the flash lamp method or the laser annealing method is used, if the crystal defect (damage) caused by the ion implantation is sufficiently recovered, a Si surface layer of a part of device pattern melts, thus the fine pattern of Si and SiO2 is deformed.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device


A system, method and computer program product are provided for modeling a force structure. The method of one embodiment generally includes defining a plurality of units of action. The method also includes determining, for each unit of action, a plurality of measures of utility, such as for lethality, knowledgeability, mobility, survivability, deployability, supportability and/or affordability. In this regard, at least one measure of utility has a maximization objective and at least one measure of utility has a minimization objective. After determining the measures of utility, the units of action can be compared based upon the objectives of the plurality of measures of utility of each unit of action. Then, based upon the comparison, at least one optimal unit of action can be identified to thereby model the force structure.

Just as in designing commercial organizations, such as business structure and makeup, it is often desirable to design non-commercial and military organizations. In this regard, the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is an integral component, with other key complementary U.S. Government and commercial programs, in the U.S. Army's goal to be "fully transformed" and attain "objective force" by the end of this decade. More particularly, it is the goal of the FCS program to design a force structure comprising a networked "system of systems"—one large system made up of eighteen individual systems, plus the network, plus the soldier. It utilizes advanced communications and technologies to link soldiers with both manned and unmanned ground and air platforms and sensors. The FCS force structure is agile—allowing forces to move quickly—and versatile—which allows troops to conduct a variety of missions.
During conceptual design of a force structure, such as in accordance with the FCS program, characteristics of each weapon system (e.g., missile system, radio system, sensor system, armored vehicle system, etc.) that comprises a force may be undefined or are free to vary through continuous and/or discrete space. Further, the quantities of the individual weapon, sensor or support systems, or their ratios and proportions in the context of the entire force structure, are free to move through nominal space. It is obvious that the available trade space for this type of problem is quite large. And in the context of the FCS program, the difficulty in evaluating the trade space is compounded by the USA/DARPA requirement to assess each alternative with respect to seven distinct objective functions (mobility, lethality, knowledgeability, survivability, sustainability, deployability and affordability).
Traditional defense acquisitions and the associated analysis (within the USA and industry) have evolved to replace or introduce unitary systems (e.g., single missile system, radio system, armored vehicle system, etc.) into an existing and fixed force structure. The trade space, therefore, has traditionally been relatively modest and the models/tools, consequently, have very limited abilities to explore trade space. In the context of the seven objective functions, existing processes parcel-out the analysis to stove-piped organizations. For example, a logistics organization may apply its methods to a proposed set of configurations, while a finance organization evaluates the costs of the proposed set of configurations, and an operations analysis organization evaluates force or operational effectiveness. These analysis issues severely limit the ability to explore design space and generally take an inordinate amount of time.

System, method and computer program product for modeling a force structure


The present invention provides a joining structure with a joining strength higher than that of a conventional rubber core cord joining structure of a rubber ring. The invention also provides a solidifying agent for joining a rubber core cord that provides such a joining structure. A joining structure 2 of a rubber core cord 11 according to the present invention is a rubber core cord joining structure of which opposite end portions of the rubber core cord 11 or end portions of two rubber core cords are joined to each other with an adhesive. A solidified portion 23 formed by a solidifying agent 25 that has solidified is formed at each of the opposite end portions of the rubber core cord 11 or each of the end portions of the two rubber core cords, and the solidified portion 23 contains porous particles. The solidifying agent 25 according to the present invention is a solidifying agent that is applied to the rubber core cord 11, and contains a solvent containing a solidification component and porous particles contained in the solvent.

An annular rubber ring formed by joining opposite end portions of a rubber core cord (also referred to as a rubber core braid) to each other is used as a hair band or an accessory. The rubber core cord includes one or more rubber cores and a stretchable cover that covers the rubber cores, and the stretchable cover is formed by braiding fiber yarns.
To produce a rubber ring as described above, a solidifying agent (also referred to as a "hardener") is applied to opposite end portions of a rubber core cord for forming the rubber ring so as to solidify the opposite end portions, or a solidifying agent is locally applied to a long rubber core cord so as to form solidified portions, and then the long rubber core cord is cut at the solidified portions, thus obtaining a rubber core cord for forming the rubber ring (Patent Documents 1 and 2). As a result of the opposite end portions of the rubber core cord for forming the rubber ring being solidified by the solidifying agent, at the end portions, a situation in which the fiber yarns at the end portions of the stretchable cover are napped, or in which the end faces of the rubber core recede from the end portions of the stretchable cover is prevented or suppressed. Furthermore, as a result of the opposite end portions of the rubber core cord being solidified by the solidifying agent as described above, the opposite end portions can be easily joined to each other using an adhesive, and the joining strength of the opposite end portions is improved.

Rubber core cord joining structure, and solidifying agent for joining rubber core cord


Apparatus, systems, and methods using multi-shelled nanostructures can be used in a variety of applications. In various embodiments, a multi-shelled nanostructure can include one or more light-absorbing and light-emitting cores enclosed by a number of nanoshells. For a multi-shelled nanostructure having multiple conductive nanoshells, the nanoshells are separated from each other by a dielectric. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

High-efficiency light absorbing and emitting nanostructures are critically needed for a large range of opto-electronic devices and systems applications, ranging from solar cells and simple detectors to advanced light emitter-based applications, including those based on multiphoton light absorption. As a case in point, two-photon absorption-induced fluorescence (TPAF) has been demonstrated as a powerful nonlinear optical phenomenon for several bio-imaging applications, particularly for deep-tissue imaging and for photodynamic therapy. In photodynamic therapy, the photon generated by two-photon upconversion is used to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer tissue. Focusing intense near-infrared radiation (NIR) in cancer tissue that is relatively transparent to the NIR, whose wavelength is in the tissue optical transparency window of 600-1300 nm, can result in deep tissue penetration followed by selective destruction of malignant cells via efficient TPAF-induced ROS generation. Additional targeting of specific tissue can also be achieved by functionalizing the TPAF nanoparticles with biomolecules to cause increased accumulation in the target tissue, both for photodynamic therapy and for imaging applications.
Modeling of nanostructures can include analysis using the permittivities of materials assumed to be part of the nanostructures being modeled. In such modeling, the bulk dielectric constants of the materials may be typically used. However, there are some recent experimental efforts at measuring the permittivity of ultra thin layers of noble metals. In two articles, the measured permittivity for gold films from 2-10 nm thick on a silica substrate was reported. In an article, the use of picometrology was reported with measurements at 532 nm and 488 nm wavelengths, which are not useful for TPAF in most tissues. The use of ellipsometry to determine the complex relative dielectric constant for wavelengths from 280 nm to 1.7 μm has been reported. For 800 nm, the results of measurements of the real relative dielectric constant in the range (−20, 17) and imaginary relative dielectric constant in the range (2, 30) for gold thicknesses from 3-10 nm have been reported. See, for example, M. Hovel, B. Gompf, and M. Dressel, "Dielectric properties of ultrathin metal films around the percolation threshold," Phys. Rev. B 81, 035402 (2010), and X. Wang, K. Chen, M. Zhao, and D. D. Nolte, "Refractive index and dielectric constant transition of ultra-thin gold from cluster to film," Opt. Express 18, 2485924867 (2010).
There has been a long-standing need for high-brightness, nonphotobleaching, and nontoxic TPAF fluorophores for numerous medical research and clinical applications. During the last decade, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have attracted significant attention as TPAF nanoparticle labels due to their significant advantages over other fluorophores, which include: (a) broad absorption spectra and readily tunable emission options (b) high quantum yields, (c) relatively high photochemical stability, and (d) relatively large two-photon absorption cross sections. Unfortunately, QDs frequently contain toxic elements (such as cadmium), which limits their use for in vivo clinical applications.
Studies of related subject matter have been reported in a number of articles. These articles include:
1. D. R. Larson, W. R. Zipfel, R. M. Williams, S. W. Clark, M. P. Bruchez, F. W. Wise, and W. W. Webb, "Water- Soluble quantum dots for multiphoton fluorescence imaging in vivo," Science 300, 1434-1436 (2003).
2. E. Yaghini, A. M. Seifalian, and A. J. MacRobert, "Quantum dots and their potential biomedical applications in photosensitization for photodynamic therapy," Nanomedicine 4, 353-363 (2009).
3. L. Wang, D. Ankuciwiez, J. Chen, and R. K. Jain, "Enhancement of Two-Photon Absorption-Induced florescence in semiconductor quantum dots by gold nanoparticles," in "Nonlinear Optics: Materials, Fundamentals and Applications," (Optical Society of America, 2009), p. NME4.
4. R. K. Jain, "Advanced plasmonic devices for optoelectronic and integrated plasmon-optic circuit applications," proposal submitted to AFOSR, University of New Mexico reference number UNM 235/1099 (2009).
5. L. Wang, "Nonlinear optics in quantum-confined and surface-plasmon structures," Dissertation, May 2010, Univ. of New Mexico, https://repository.umn.edu/handle/1928/10916 (2010). Electrical and Computer Engineering.
6. M. Kerker and C. G. Blatchford, "Elastic scattering, absorption, and surface-enhanced raman scattering by concentric spheres comprised of a metallic and a dielectric region," Physical Review B 26, 4052 (1982).
7. R. D. Averitt, D. Sarkar, and N. J. Halas, "Plasmon resonance shifts of Au-Coated Au 2S nanoshells: Insight into multicomponent nanoparticle growth," Physical Review Letters 78, 4217 (1997).
8. S. J. Oldenburg, S. L. Westcott, R. D. Averitt, and N. J. Halas, "Surface enhanced raman scattering in the near infrared using metal nanoshell substrates," The Journal of Chemical Physics 111, 4729 (1999).
9. J. Enderlein, "Spectral properties of a fluorescing molecule within a spherical metallic nanocavity," Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 4, no. 12 (5): 2780-2786 (2002).
10. D. O'Neal, L. R. Hirsch, N. J. Halas, J. Payne, and J. L. West, "Photo-thermal tumor ablation in mice using near infrared-absorbing nanoparticles," Cancer Letters 209, 171-176 (2004).
11. J. B. Jackson, S. L. Westcott, L. R. Hirsch, J. L. West, and N. J. Halas, "Controlling the surface enhanced raman effect via the nanoshell geometry," Applied Physics Letters 82, 257 (2003).
12. E. Prodan, C. Radloff, N. J. Halas, and P. Nordlander, "A hybridization model for the plasmon response of complex nanostructures," Science 302, 419-422 (2003).
13. H. Xu, "Multilayered metal core-shell nanostructures for inducing a large and tunable local optical field," Physical Review B 72, 073405 (2005).
14. X. Xia, Y. Liu, V. Backman, and G. A. Ameer, "Engineering sub -100 nm multi-layer nanoshells," Nanotechnology 17, 5435-5440 (2006).
15. A. K, Kodali, X. Llora, and R. Bhargava, "Optimally designed nanolayered metal-dielectric particles as probes for massively multiplexed and ultrasensitive molecular assays," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2010).
16. M. R. Rasch, K. V. Sokolov, and B. A. Korgel, "Limitations on the optical tunability of small diameter gold nanoshells," Langmuir 25, 11777-11785 (2009).
17. Y. Jin and X. Gao, "Plasmonic fluorescent quantum dots," Nat Nano 4, 571-576 (2009).
18. X. Miao, I. Brener, and T. S. Luk, "Nanocomposite plasmonic fluorescence emitters with core/shell configurations," Journal of the Optical Society of America B Optical Physics 27, 1561-1570 (2010).
19. J. Liaw and C. Liu, "Plasmonic effect of nanoshelled nanocavity on encapsulated emitter's spontaneous emission," Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 112, 2480-2485 (2011),
20. S. J. Norton and T. Vo-Dinh, "Plasmonics quenching and enhancement of a fluorescing molecule outside and inside a silver metallic nanoshell," IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology (2011).
21. E. L. Ru and P. Etchegoin, Principles of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: and related plasmonic effects (Elsevier Science, 2008), 1st ed.
22. M. Hovel, B. Gompf, and M. Dressel, "Dielectric properties of ultrathin metal films around the percolation threshold," Phys. Rev. B 81, 035402 (2010).
23. X. Wang, K. Chen, M. Zhao, and D. D. Nolte, "Refractive index and dielectric constant transition of ultra-thin gold from cluster to film," Opt. Express 18, 2485924867 (2010).
24. A. E. Neeves and M. H. Birnboim, "Composite structures for the enhancement of nonlinear-optical susceptibility," Journal of the Optical Society of America B 6, 787-796 (1989).
25. R. Koole, M. M. van Schooneveld, J. Hilhorst, C. de Mello Doneg, D. C. 't Hart, A. van Blaaderen, D. Vanmaekelbergh, and A. Meijerink, "On the incorporation mechanism of hydrophobic quantum dots in silica spheres by a reverse microemulsion method," Chemistry of Materials 20, 2503-2512 (2008).
26. J. Kim, W. W. Bryan, and T. R. Lee, "Preparation, characterization, and optical properties of gold, silver, and Gold-Silver alloy nanoshells having silica cores," Langmuir 24, 11147-11152 (2008).
27. A. Moroz, "Electron mean free path in a spherical shell geometry," The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 112, 10641-10652 (2008).
28. G. Raschke, S. Brogl, A. S. Susha, A. L. Rogach, T. A. Klar, J. Feldmann, B. Fieres, N. Petkov, T. Bein, A. Nichtl, and K. Krzinger, "Gold nanoshells improve single nanoparticle molecular sensors," Nano Letters 4, 1853-1857 (2004).
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30. Zu-De Qi, et al "Biocompatible CdSe quantum dot-based photosensitizer under two-photon excitation for photodynamic therapy, "J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2455-2458
All of the references listed above are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

High efficiency light absorbing and light emitting nanostructures