A method of bending a tube arrangement including an inner tube disposed within an outer tube is performed using a bending die having a concave groove including a curved portion extending around a peripheral surface of the bending die, the curved portion of the concave groove having at least one ridge projecting therefrom. The tube arrangement is located within the concave groove and a force is applied to the tube arrangement in a direction toward the curved portion of the bending die to cause the tube arrangement to conform to the shape of the concave groove. The at least one ridge projecting from the concave groove causes the outer tube to deform such that an interior surface of the outer tube contacts an exterior surface of the inner tube, securing a position of the inner tube within the outer tube.

The Internal Heat Exchanger (IHX) has become an increasingly common component of motor vehicle air conditioning systems. The IHX is used to increase an operating efficiency of a standard refrigeration cycle for use in an air conditioning system. A standard refrigeration cycle includes a compressor, a condenser, a thermal expansion device, and an evaporator. The IHX is a liquid-to-vapor heat exchanger having an inner channel disposed within an outer channel. A refrigerant used in the refrigeration cycle exits the condenser as a hot liquid and flows through one of the channels as the same refrigerant exits the evaporator as a cool vapor refrigerant that flows through the other channel. The IHX transfers additional heat from the hot liquid refrigerant to the cool vapor refrigerant, cooling the liquid refrigerant below its condensation temperature, also referred to as "sub-cooling." This cooling of the liquid refrigerant before it reaches the thermal expansion device causes the IHX to utilize cooling capacity that would otherwise be wasted.
One form of the IHX is a tube-in-tube heat exchanger. The tube-in-tube heat exchanger utilizes a tube arrangement having an inner tube disposed co-axially within an outer tube, the interior surface of the inner tube defining a first flow channel while an exterior surface of the inner tube cooperates with an interior surface of the outer tube to form a second flow channel. The cool vapor refrigerant flows through the first flow channel while the hot liquid refrigerant flows through the second channel. Heat is exchanged between the first flow channel and the second flow channel via the wall of the inner tube, which is heat conductive. The tube-in-tube heat exchanger is advantageous because it requires no moving parts, causing the tube-in-tube heat exchanger to rarely require repair or replacement.
Because the tube-in-tube heat exchanger includes a co-axial tube-in-tube configuration, the capacity of the tube-in-tube heat exchanger to exchange heat between the hot liquid refrigerant and the cool vapor refrigerant is directly affected by a length of the co-axial tubes forming the tube-in-tube heat exchanger. Co-axial tubes having a greater length aid the efficiency and cooling capacity of the IHX because the greater length exposes a greater surface area available for heat exchange between the two flow channels formed by the inner tube and the outer tube. However, space constraints present in a vehicle body housing the tube-in-tube heat exchanger often prevents the tube-in-tube heat exchanger from being formed as a single linear leg of tubing. Instead, it has been found that introducing several bends to the tube-in-tube heat exchanger may aid in resolving size constraints, allowing a shape of the tube-in-tube heat exchanger to be adapted to various configurations of adjacent components present within the vehicle.
When forming a bend in a portion of a tube-in-tube heat exchanger, it is preferable to maintain a relatively constant cross-sectional profile of the inner tube relative to the outer tube. However, the process of bending the tube arrangement often results in a warping of the tubes. Specifically, when bent, such tubes tend to take on an oval shape, with a cross-section of the tubes becoming elongated in a direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the tube arrangement as it is bent. In some cases, the warping of the tubes may lead to a collapse of one of the tubes forming the tube-in-tube heat exchanger. The collapse results in a cross-section of the tube taking on a D-shape, with the flattened portion of the D-shape being formed on an inner surface of the bend formed in the tube arrangement.
The presence of a D-shaped collapse in one or both of the tubes forming the tube-in-tube heat exchanger is problematic for several reasons. First, a collapse of both the inner tube and the outer tube results in both tubes having the generally D-shaped cross-section. The generally flat portions of the D-shaped cross-sections tend to contact each other or be in close proximity due to the deformation of both tubes. Vibrations caused by operation of the motor vehicle may cause these flat portions to rattle against each other, causing undesirable noise to be generated within the tube-in-tube heat exchanger. Second, the undesirable deformation of the inner and outer tubes may cause the first and second flow channels to become obstructed, narrowed, or widened undesirably in certain regions, potentially leading to flow restrictions, pressures losses, or regions of inefficient heat transfer.
One method of avoiding the collapse of the tube arrangement has been to preform the tubes forming the tube arrangement to already have the bends present therein rather than applying a force to bend an already assembled tube arrangement. However, such preforming methods often add excessive cost and complexity to the manufacturing process.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a method of bending a tube arrangement having an inner tube disposed within an outer tube that prevents collapse of the tubes forming the tube arrangement while also minimizing a restriction of the flow channels formed by the inner tube and the outer tube.

Manufacturing process for tube-in-tube internal heat exchanger


A badge included a badge plate and multiple and interchangeable means of fastening the badge to clothing or other items that are releasably attached, allowing the means of fastening to be interchanged. The means of fastening the badge includes a clip, a pair of military style pins, an alligator clip, a horizontal pin or a magnet.

An identification badge that is fastened to clothing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,321. The backup plate of the disclosed badge has a horizontal and a vertical slot, allowing the mounting of a horizontal pin, or, alternatively, a vertical alligator clip. The backup plate of this invention is permanently secured to the badge with cement. This invention allows the type of badge fastener to be varied while minimizing the stocking of parts. U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,321 fails to disclose the present invention allowing the interchangeability of fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,201 discloses an identification badge with a detachable clip. This allows the wearer to remove the clip and store the badge in his wallet until needed again. U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,201 fails to disclose the multiple, interchangeable fasteners of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,0908,014 discloses an identification badge with multiple and interchangeable cards held in place by a transparent folder with clips. Different fastening means, such as a pin, alligator clip and clip, are disclosed which are each permanently mounted on the back of the badge. No interchangeable fastening means are disclosed.
None of the above references disclose the present badge device with multiple and interchangeable fastening means.

Badge containing interchangeable fasteners


Methods for forming a device are presented. A substrate having top and bottom pad stacks is provided. Each pad stack includes at least first and second pad layers. The second pad layers of the top and bottom pad stacks include an initial thickness TT1 and TB1 respectively. Trench isolation regions are formed in the substrate. The second pad layer of the top and bottom pad stacks are removed after forming the trench isolation regions by a batch wet etch process.

Wafer warpage is a common problem in wafer processing. The non-balance between the stress level of the frontside and backside of the wafer during mechanical processing of the wafer surface and thermal processes used in wafer processing often lead to wafer warpage. Warped wafers can cause reliability issues and therefore affecting the device performance.
Hence, it is desirable to provide efficient and simplified methods for wafer processing which minimizes or prevents wafer warpage.


Erasure encoded fragments are originally generated by applying an erasure encoding scheme to a data file. An erasure encoded fragment is subsequently generated directly from previously generated erasure encoded fragments or by reconstructing the original data file and then erasure encoding the reconstructed data file. The integrity or fidelity of such a subsequently generated erasure encoded fragment is verified by newly generating an error detection code, such as but not limited to a checksum, for the subsequently generated erasure encoded fragment, and comparing that subsequently error detection code against an error detection code previously generated for a previous or original version of the erasure encoded fragment. Each error detection code is preferably stored in association with its corresponding erasure encoded fragment and with one or more other erasure encoded fragments. Thus, each error detection code is saved in at least two locations.

In a data storage system using erasure encoding, an erasure encoding scheme is applied to an original data file to generate a plurality of erasure encoded fragments. The original data file may then be discarded. Subsequently, it may be desirable or necessary to again generate erasure encoded fragments, such as to replace lost or damaged erasure encoded fragments or to add erasure encoded fragments to, for example, increase the likelihood of having sufficient erasure encoded fragments available to permit reconstruction of the original data file.
To subsequently generate erasure encoded fragments if the original data file is no longer available, some of the valid, available, previously-generated erasure encoded fragments are used to rebuild or reconstruct the data file. This reconstructed data file can then be used to generate new erasure encoded fragments. Also, as disclosed below, erasure encoded fragments can be subsequently generated directly from some of the original or previously-generated valid and available erasure encoded fragments, rather than being generated from a data file. Verification of the fidelity of such subsequently generated erasure encoded fragments may, however, be difficult.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure presented herein has been made.

Verification of erasure encoded fragments


A surgical sterilization method utilizes an elongate operating instrument assembly having a distal end portion which is inserted into a patient's Fallopian tube. The instrument assembly is operated to destroy cells along an inner surface of the Fallopian tube essentially throughout a segment thereof, while maintaining an outer surface of the Fallopian tube intact. Upon operation of the instrument assembly to destroy cells along the inner surface of the Fallopian tube segment, the tube is collapsed along the treated segment, thereby adhering the inner surface of the Fallopian tube to itself to seal the tube.

This invention relates to a method for sterilizing a woman. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for closing or sealing a Fallopian tube. This invention also relates to an associated device for use in the method.
A common method for female sterilization is a tubal ligation. Conventionally, this operation was performed in the operating room, as open surgery. Lately, it has become possible to tie or clip a Fallopian tube in a laparoscopic surgical procedure. Laparoscopy involves the piercing of the abdominal wall with a trocar and the insertion of a tubular port member called a "trocar sleeve" or "laparoscopic cannula" through the perforation. A laparoscopic instrument for applying a surgical clip to the Fallopian tube is inserted through the trocar sleeve.
Generally, upon the disposition of the first trocar sleeve so that it traverses the abdominal wall, the abdominal cavity is pressurized to distend the abdominal wall and provide a safety region between the wall and the body organs inside the cavity. Moreover, several perforations are made. One perforation receives a laparoscope which enables visual monitoring of organs and surgical activities inside the abdominal cavity. Other perforations serve for the insertion of different surgical instruments.
Laparoscopic surgery provides several advantages over conventional incision-based surgery. The laparoscopic perforations, in being substantially smaller than the incisions made during conventional operations, are less traumatic to the patient and provide for an accelerated recovery and convalescence. Hospital stays are minimized. Concomitantly, laparoscopic surgery is less time consuming and less expensive than conventional surgery for correcting the same problems.
The problem with laparoscopic surgery is that it must still be performed in the hospital. It cannot be performed in doctors' offices as flexible endoscopic procedures. Moreover, in comparison, for example, with gastrointestinal endoscopy, the patient still experiences substantial trauma, and the convalescence and hospitalization costs can be great.

Surgical method and associated instrument assembly


The invention relates to a marine pipeline installation tensioner (1) for use on a pipeline installation vessel. A tensioner according to the invention comprises a lower track unit (2), an upper track unit (3) and a tensioner frame (4). The tensioner frame comprises multiple tensioner frame supports (7), a lower support frame (5) supporting the lower track unit, an upper support frame (6) supporting the upper track unit, a set of lower support frame actuators (9) provided between the tensioner frame supports and the lower support frame, and a set of upper support frame actuators (10) provided between the lower support frame and the upper support frame and adapted to move the upper support frame relative to the lower support frame. According to the invention, the track units are positioned by positioning the tensioner frame sections (5, 6) of the tensioner frame, and not by positioning the track units (2, 3) relative to the tensioner frame. This allows for a more compact tensioner design.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a marine pipeline installation tensioner, primarily for use in marine pipeline installation wherein a pipeline for transportation of hydrocarbons (oil, gas, etc) is laid on the seabed. The invention furthermore relates to a track unit for use in a marine pipeline installation tensioner
2. Description of Related Art
Tensioners are well known in the field of marine pipelaying, often having the task of supporting the weight of the launched pipeline. Tensioners are used for many pipelaying techniques, such as S-lay, Reel lay and J-lay. Tensioners have a large "load holding capacity" and in the field capacities of tens of tonnes, or even well over 100 tonnes, for a tensioner are not uncommon.
For example, the S-lay installation method relates to fabricating and paying out of a pipeline by repeated addition of new pipeline sections to the end of the pipeline being laid, the end of said pipeline being held aligned with a fabrication axis closer to horizontal than vertical.
One or more joining stations are positioned along a fabrication axis for joining new sections of pipe to the end of the pipeline. The pipeline is fed into one or more tensioners, the tensioners each defining a central pipeline transport axis aligned with the fabrication axis. The tensioners grip and guide the pipeline in a pipeline direction to the "stinger". A "stinger" is a structure on the back of the vessel that supports the seagoing pipeline to control its bend radius. The stinger supports the pipeline in an arcuate path between the fabrication axis and a departure axis which may be substantially vertical.
To control movement of the pipeline, the tensioners exert a clamping pressure upon the pipeline. The tensioners thus hold the pipeline while laying it from the vessel to the seafloor.
In a known embodiment a marine pipeline installation tensioner comprises an upper and a lower track unit for gripping and guiding a pipeline. The track units are mounted in the tensioner frame such that the track units extend parallel to each other and define a central pipeline transport axis between them. The upper track unit and the lower track unit are positioned such that they define a "gap" between them, for receiving a pipeline. The track units are moveably mounted in the frame such that they can clamp a pipeline between them.
Typically, hydraulic cylinders are provided between the tensioner frame and each track units to moveably support the track units in the tensioner frame. The cylinders provide the "squeeze pressure" between the track units and the pipeline exterior needed to hold the pipeline on the basis of friction. The tensioner frame encloses the central pipeline transport axis and thus provides a closed frame in which the track units are supported. The closed frame supports the radially directed clamping forces generated by the tracks when gripping a pipeline, and thus enables the track units to exert a clamping pressure on the pipeline between them.
The cylinders furthermore allow for displacement of the track unit towards and away from each other to adjust the size of the gap between them. The gap can thus be adapted to different pipeline diameters, and to allow for a "widely opened" position of the track units wherein a large item (e.g. an accessory fitted in or on the pipeline, such as a pipeline connector) can pass through the tensioner.
Known marine pipeline installation tensioners are voluminous constructions. This is disadvantageous since the available deck space on vessels is limited, and is even more disadvantageous when the marine pipeline installation tensioner is to be installed below deck.


A traveling assistance method detects another vehicle and objects around a host vehicle, sets a blind spot area from the other vehicle, specifies an object present in the blind spot area among the detected objects, and predicts an action that the other vehicle takes in accordance with the specified object.

A vehicle control device is known that controls a vehicle depending on the corresponding conditions when the vehicle is traveling under the presence of a blind spot (WO 2016/104198). The vehicle control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 determines the relative priority between a route that the host vehicle is following and a route that another vehicle is following, so as to predict the action of the other vehicle in accordance with the determined priority.

Traveling assistance method and traveling assistance device


A process for preparing a toner for electrostatic image development, the process comprising the steps of:

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a toner for electrostatic image development to be used for an electrophotographic image formation apparatus and a process for preparing the same Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electrostatic image developer, an image formation method using the developer, and a formed image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the remarkable advancement of recent OA appliances, copying machines, printers, and facsimile apparatuses for carrying out printing by utilizing an electrophotographic method have become popular. An electrophotographic image formation apparatus generally carries out image formation by charging, exposing, developing, transferring, cleaning, and fixing steps.
In the charging step, a surface of a photoconductor is evenly charged in a dark place. In the exposing step, an original image is projected to the charged photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor by removing the electric charge in the portion where light is radiated. In the developing step, a toner image (a visible image) is formed by binding a toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor. In the transferring step, the toner image formed in the surface of the photoconductor is transferred to a recording medium such as paper and a sheet by bringing the toner image formed in the surface of the photoconductor and the recording medium into contact with each other, causing corona electric discharge from the opposed side to the face of the recording medium contacting the toner image, and applying the electric charge with the opposed polarity to that of the toner to the recording medium. In the fixing step, the toner image is fixed to the recording medium by heating or pressurizing means. In the cleaning step, the toner not transferred to the recording medium and remaining on the surface of the photoconductor is recovered. An electrophotographic image formation apparatus forms a desired image on a recording medium through the above-mentioned steps.
A process for preparing of the toner for electrostatic image development to be used an electrophotographic image formation apparatus may include a dry method and a wet method. A pulverization method can be exemplified as the dry method. The pulverization method is a method of obtaining a toner by melting and kneading a resin, a pigment (a coloring agent) and a wax, and pulverizing and classifying the obtained kneaded product by a pulverizer and has been employed widely in an industrial field. A toner is desired to have a small particle diameter so as to form high quality images, however the pulverization method takes increased quantities of energy and time for pulverization and the process becomes complicated and lowers the yield and thus there has been a problem that the product cost considerably soars.
A suspension polymerization method and an emulsion polymerization method can be exemplified as the wet method. The suspension polymerization method is a method of obtaining a toner by suspension-polymerizing synthetic resin monomers such as vinyl monomers in an aqueous solvent containing a pigment.
On the other hand, the emulsion polymerization method is a method of obtaining a toner by mixing an aqueous dispersion of synthetic resin particles and a dispersion of a pigment dispersed in an organic solvent for forming agglomerated particles of the synthetic resin particles and the pigment and heating and melting the agglomerated particles. As it is described in later, this method uses a surfactant in a resin particle dispersion of starting substance for toner preparation and therefore a surfactant remains in the toner to be produced.
There is a method using phase inversion emulsification as another wet method. The phase transfer emulsification method is a method of obtaining toner particles by dissolving or dispersing self-water dispersible resin and pigment in an organic solvent and adding water while adding and stirring a neutralization agent for neutralizing a dissociation group of the resin and thereby carrying out phase transfer emulsification of the resin solution droplets enclosing the pigment. Also, there is another wet method of obtaining toner particles by dissolving or dispersing a resin in a solvent in which the resin is soluble, granulating the obtained solution or dispersion in a water medium containing an inorganic dispersant, removing the solvent, and drying the formed particles. This process of a toner for electrostatic image development is for producing a toner by dissolving or dispersing materials including a polyester resin and a pigment in a solvent in which the polyester resin is soluble, granulating the obtained solution in an aqueous medium containing an inorganic dispersant, and then removing the solvent.
The above-mentioned preparation of the toner by the wet method leaves the organic solvent, monomers of the resin, and a surfactant in the toner to be obtained. Such components bleed out of the toner at the time of practical used of the toner for development of an electrostatic latent image and cause damages of parts such as a development roller. Further, the chargeability of the toner becomes uneven. Accordingly, a step of removing the organic solvent, the monomers, and the surfactant from the toner is required after the toner is produced. However, the shape and the chargeability of the toner to be obtained tend to become uneven in accordance with slight fluctuation of operation conditions relevant to the pressure, temperature, and time in such a removal step. Therefore, to obtain a toner with a uniform shape, it is required to adjust the operation conditions to be optimum and it is very difficult to accomplish the adjustment. Further, since the organic solvent, the monomers, and the surfactant, which are heavy loads on ambient environments, are used in large quantities, the facilities to treat them are required to lead to the cost up of toner preparation. Further, in form of the toner, monomers remain in this emulsion polymerization method. Therefore, there occurs a new problem that remaining monomers are evaporated and emit malodor when heat and pressure are applied to the toner for fixation or the like.
Further, the toner to be obtained by the above-mentioned conventional wet method is not necessarily excellent all in the toner properties such as the image density and the image quality such as fogging, of the image to be formed on a recording medium by using it as well as the dispersibility of the pigment on the recording medium and the transfer ratio of the toner to the recording medium.
For that, as another conventional wet method, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 10-39545 (Document No. 1) discloses a toner process neither using any organic solvent nor involving any polymerization reaction at the time of forming toner particles. In the process of a toner composition of the Document No. 1, adding an aqueous pigment dispersion obtained by dispersing a pigment in water by using a sodium sulfonated polyester to an emulsion obtained by dispersing the sodium sulfonated polyester in water, further adding an alkali halide solution, and thereby forming agglomerates.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2002-131977 (Document No. 2) discloses a toner process similarly using a self-dispersible resin containing a hydrophilic ethylenic unsaturated monomer. In the Document No. 2, sodium sulfonate or potassium sulfonate of a styrene derivative is used as the hydrophilic ethylenic unsaturated monomer. The method of the Document No. 2 is a method of producing a toner using the self-dispersible resin containing a hydrophilic group of a sulfonic acid metal salt, which is a polyvalent metal salt, as a flocculant.
Also, as a patent using a self-dispersible polyester is exemplified Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2004-354411 (Document No. 3) and No. 2005-140855 (Document No. 4). They disclose a process of a toner using a mixture of a vinyl type resin dispersion and a self-dispersible polyester. In those documents, it is disclosed that the self-dispersible polyester is preferably polyester resins containing no trivalent monomer. Also, it is disclosed that an ionic surfactant is used as a flocculant for causing soft flocculation.
A toner for electrostatic image development is desirable to contain no unnecessary components such as an organic solvent or monomers, to be produced easily, and to have excellent toner properties.
With respect to the toner process of the Document No. 1, a toner composition is produced by flocculating a pigment dispersed in water by using a sodium sulfonated polyester and a sodium sulfonated polyester dispersed in water and thus the toner composition process capable of producing a toner composition free from unnecessary components such as an organic solvent and monomers. However, since the dispersibility of the pigment is insufficient if the pigment is dispersed by using only the sodium sulfonate polyester, aggregates of solely the pigment are formed the toner property such as a color reproducibility cannot be satisfied and thus the process is unsuitable for producing a toner composition having excellent toner properties. Further, the toner composition produced by the method becomes unstable in the chargeability depending on the ambient environmental conditions and it has a problem that its use is limited in accordance with the environmental conditions and it is supposed that the problem is attributed to the sulfonic acid group, a hydrophilic group.
Similarly, also in the toner process disclosed in the Document No. 2, although the pigment dispersibility is maintained, the properties of a toner to be produced in relation to the ambient environmental conditions have similar problems because of the above-mentioned same reason since the hydrophilic group is a sulfone metal salt.
Further, with respect to toners respectively disclosed in the Document No. 3 and No. 4, they are produced using the mixture of the self-dispersible polyester and the vinyl type resin dispersion. Though the vinyl type resin dispersion is used as mentioned above, the toners contain a monomer. Also, since soft flocculation is caused by using a surfactant, it is very difficult to control the particle diameter.

Toner for electrostatic image development and process for preparing the same

Abstract: (S1) mixing an aqueous pigment dispersion and an aqueous resin particle dispersion containing self-dispersible polyester resin particles as a binder resin to prepare a mixture; and

Abstract: (S2) adding a polyvalent metal salt as a flocculant to the mixture while stirring to form aggregates of the pigment bonded to the resin particles,

Abstract: wherein the self-dispersible polyester resin is prepared by reacting a carboxylic acid compound with an alcohol compound inclusive of a polyhydric alcohol, the carboxylic acid compound being one or more of a polycarboxylic acid having three or more carboxyl groups and its anhydride.


The present invention provides a docking station, a docking station system, and a method of coupling a personal computer, typically a palm top, notepad, or ideally a notebook computer, with such a computer docking station. The computer is typically manually positioned and securely held in place within a computer receptacle of the docking station. Generally, the computer will include an LED (or other signal generator) which indicates the operating mode of the computer, typically indicating at least one of off, on, or suspense mode. The docking station thereby senses whether it is appropriate to engage a docking station connector to a computer connector based on the computer operating mode. Typically, the connection will be made if the computer is either off or in the suspense mode. When connection is appropriate, the docking station connector is automatically translated to engage the computer connector of the fixed notebook computer.

The use of docking stations for increasing the capabilities of notebook computers is known. Docking stations increase notebook computer functionality by providing additional expansion boards, slots, and bays, and by accepting additional input/output connectors for related peripheral equipment wherever the notebook is to be used in a fixed office environment. The docking station provides these increased capabilities only in the office, and thus avoids increasing the size or weight of the undocked notebook computer. Docking stations thereby promote the use of a single processor for both fixed and mobile operation.
Unfortunately, docking stations now available often require that the notebook computer be completely shut-down prior to "docking" (expansion of the computers capabilities by interconnection with the docking station). Additionally, existing docking stations often do not have "plug-and-play" capabilities, instead requiring re-booting (and possibly even reconfiguration) of the notebook computer software to enable the computer to recognize and utilize the expansion equipment. Such complete shut-down and re-booting of the notebook interrupts any computing work in progress, compromising the convenience and expanded functionality of the docking station/notebook computer system.
Expansion of computer functionality does not always require complete shut-down and re-booting. For example, plug-and-play is common for connection of peripherals with today's mainframe computer systems. In fact, certain notebook computer docking station systems are available with limited plug-and-play capabilities, such as Apple's Duo Docking Station.TM., and Compaq's Smart Station.TM.. While these known docking station systems do overcome some of the limitations described above, they suffer from another related problem: they rely on complex, expensive, and difficult to maintain notebook computer loading systems.
Existing computer docking systems which allow docking of the notebook computer without a full shut-down of the computer rely on a "VCR-like" loading system. Specifically, the computers are loaded into the docking stations using electromechanical manipulation of the entire notebook computer to bring the connectors of the notebook into engagement with the connectors of the docking station. Although analogous systems have proven effective for loading VCR tapes into VCR's, such an approach has serious drawbacks when adapted for use in notebook computer docking station systems.
Notebook computers are generally both heavier and more delicate than VCR tapes, requiring a powerful, complex, and expensive loader mechanism to accurately and safely load the computer. This loader will require a considerable power supply, compounding these costs for both users and manufacturers. In addition, due to their complexity, such loaders tend to break down, are difficult and expensive to repair, and result in significant reliability and maintenance problems for docking system users.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide improved computer docking stations and methods which do not require complete shut-down and/or re-booting of a notebook computer during docking. It would be especially advantageous if such devices and methods provided the safety and convenience of a VCR-type power loader, but without resorting to the complex and costly machinery used to load notebook computers into known plug-and-play docking stations.

Method and device for expanding computer function


Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can obtain a first batch of content items to be clustered. A set of clusters can be generated by clustering respective binary hash codes for each content item in the first batch, wherein content items included in a cluster are visually similar to one another. A next batch of content items to be clustered can be obtained. One or more respective binary hash codes for the content items in the next batch can be assigned to a cluster in the set of clusters.

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a wide variety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example, interact with one another, create content, share information, and access information. In some instances, computing devices can be used to cluster content items, such as digital photographs or videos, using various clustering algorithms.
Under conventional approaches, various techniques to clustering can be applied to collections of content items (e.g., images) in an effort to organize such content items, for example, based on their similarity to one another. For example, k-means clustering can be applied to content items to partition the content items into k clusters in which each content item is assigned to a cluster with the nearest mean. Such existing approaches to clustering, however, may suffer from performance and/or accuracy issues when the number of content items being clustered is large. Given the popularity of content sharing on various websites and platforms, there exists a need for methods that are able to cluster a large amount of content items both quickly and efficiently.

Systems and methods for online clustering of content items


A printed circuit board (PCB) module may include a PCB with at least one internal PCB element and at least one external PCB element, a shielding layer fabricated from a tunable metamaterial absorber, and a structure housing the PCB. The at least one internal PCB element may be embedded between adjacent layers of the PCB. The at least one external PCB element may be coupled to an exterior surface of the PCB. The shielding layer may be tuned in response to the at least one measurement of the EMI emission and a determination of a frequency of the EMI emission from the at least one measurement. The tuning of the shielding layer may include adjusting a plurality of fins within a plurality of elements of the metamaterial absorber to absorb at least a portion of the EMI emission.

Select avionics equipment may be designed for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) to reduce Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Testing for EMI may be costly to both a program requiring the select avionics equipment and to a company designing, manufacturing, and/or using the select avionics equipment. Designing for EMC may require costly calculations. Repurposing components with pre-designed EMC characteristics may require significant redesign and costs.

System and method for shielding attenuation of electromagnetic interference emissions


A novel method of determining the probability that a planned drilling path will collide with an existing wellbore is disclosed. The method utilizes available uncertainty information to determine a probability for each of a plurality of segments of the planned drilling path that a projection of the segment onto a plane will intersect a projection of a corresponding segment of the existing wellbore onto the plane. The method of this invention then determines the net probability for each segment of the planned drilling path that the segment will intersect the corresponding segment of the existing wellbore by taking into account the effect of constraints imposed on each segment, by adjacent segments. The probability that the planned drilling path will intersect the existing wellbore is determined by adding together all of the net probabilities.

When preparing to drill a new well, the surveyed locations of any nearby wells are considered. As with most measurements, the survey measurements involve inaccuracies (survey uncertainty). While the new well is being drilled, the drill bit may not follow the planned path (drilling uncertainty). The potential for well collisions to occur is affected by survey uncertainty, the distance or interval between surveys (survey interval), drilling uncertainty, distance and intersection angle between the wells, and well diameter.
In view of survey uncertainty and drilling uncertainty, industry practice has been to design the path of a new well to be kept apart from any existing well at greater than a specified minimum distance in order to avoid well collisions. If, for economic or other reasons, the new well must be drilled closer to an existing well than this minimum distance, preventive actions, e.g., plugging the existing well, are taken to reduce the consequences of potential problems caused by well collision. Traditionally, this minimum distance is derived from experience and intuition, as a function of depth. While the traditional approach can be used to avoid well collisions, the approach does not always include rigorous risk assessments. This can lead to overly risky, and potentially dangerous, or overly conservative, and costly, drilling.
A better approach to avoid well collision problems is to mathematically assess the risk of well collision and the likelihood that a collision will result in a problem, and to develop appropriate action plans according to the assessed risk. For a problem to result from a well collision, wells have first to collide ("well collision probability") and then the collision has to lead to that problem ("event chain probability"). The probability for a well-collision related problem to occur is the product of the well collision probability and the event chain probability. The event chain probability depends on local conditions and may be determined by using conventional probability analysis techniques, such as event tree analysis, which are well known to those familiar with quantitative risk assessment (QRA). QRA is the development of a quantitative estimate of risk based on engineering evaluation and mathematical techniques. A primary challenge in developing QRA for well collision is to know how to estimate collision probability.
The need for a reliable method to estimate well collision probability has received attention from the upstream petroleum industry in recent years. In two papers published in 1990 and 1991, equations were proposed for straight holes (or portions of wells), and separate models for parallel and non-parallel holes were provided. (Thorogood, J. L., et. al: "Quantitative Risk Assessment of Subsurface Well Collisions," SPE Paper 20908, 1990; and Thorogood, J. L., Hogg, T. W. and Williamson, H. S. "Application of Risk Analysis Methods to Subsurface Well Collision," SPE Drilling Engineering, December 1991.) The model proposed in the papers for parallel wells is a two-dimensional (2-D) solution. While the papers indicate recognition of the need for a three-dimensional (3-D) solution for non-parallel wells and consider the effect of intersection angle between two wells, the papers do not propose a 3-D solution. The equations in the published papers appear to have the following shortcomings: (i) the calculated probability based on the equations can be much larger than 1.0 or 100%; (ii) the collision probability for non-parallel wells does not approach parallel wells when intersection angle approaches zero; and (iii) probability always decreases with increasing intersection angle, even for a short well segment.
Related U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,957,172 and 5,103,920 describe a system and method for drilling a second wellbore along a planned path with respect to a first wellbore. The patents are directed toward a method of drilling a relief well to intersect a blowout well at a target location in the blowout well for the purpose of relieving fluid pressure in the blowout well. The bases of the patents are maintaining high probabilities of find and of intercept, i.e., high probabilities that the blowout well can be located using a search tool in the borehole of the relief well and that the borehole of the relief well will intercept the blowout well at the target location, while maintaining a low probability of collision, i.e., a low probability that the borehole of the relief well will collide with the blowout well before the target location or that the borehole of the relief well will collide with another nearby well. The patents discuss use of a probable location distribution (PLD) and a relative probable location distribution (RPLD) for describing the locations of the borehole and the blowout well. The PLD is a quantitative description of where the well is located in statistical terms. The RPLD is a tri-axial location error distribution which includes the surface site errors and the systematic and random errors due to directional surveys of both the blowout and relief wells. The method of these patents uses probability equations based on errors in surveying but does not take into consideration other useful factors such as distance and intersection angle between the wells and well diameter.
Other work in this area has only marginally succeeded in developing a solution, albeit a 2-D solution, for calculating collision probability of two straight and parallel wells, a rare and unrealistic case. A common method to expand a 2-D solution for a 3-D problem is to sum or integrate the 2-D solution of many thin parallel slices of the 3-D space. This method has worked successfully in solving many engineering problems, e.g., stress analysis; but it is difficult to apply this thin-slice method directly for the well collision problem. The two small segments (thin slices) of the two near-by wells are constrained by their adjacent well segments. It is difficult to properly assign appropriate boundary conditions so that these two thin-slices may be considered as "free-body" for independent analysis. Consequently, calculating the collision probability of two wells by simply solving the 2-D problem of the thin slice and then summing them together generally will not provide usable results. The foregoing is true even for the case of two straight but non-parallel wells. The more likely case, where two wells are neither straight nor parallel, presents ever greater mathematical challenges. A truly 3-D solution is needed.


A resist pattern on a substrate is formed using an imageable resist layer on the surface of a substrate. The imageable resist layer comprises a silicon-incorporated polystyrene-diene block copolymer having a silicon weight percent of at least about 5 percent. The imageable layer is prepared by reacting a polystyrene-diene block copolymer with a silicon-containing compound in the presence of a platinum catalyst. In a preferred embodiment, the poly(styrene)-diene block copolymers are hydrosilylated by hydrosiloxanes using a platinum-divinyl tetramethyl disiloxane catalyst.

Lithographic techniques are widely practiced in the manufacture of microelectronic devices. These techniques include the use of a "resist" or a layer of a material which is deposited on a substrate, delineated into a specific pattern, and used as a mask for etching. As microelectronic devices become increasingly three-dimensional due to miniaturization, single level resists with an imageable layer are no longer sufficient for lithography because of step coverage and resolution problems. In an attempt to solve these problems, trilayer resists have been used, and are especially suitable for the lithographic definition of small features, i.e., features smaller than about 2 .mu.m.
Typically, trilayer resists include an underlying layer deposited directly on the substrate to be processed. Because the substrate typically does not have a planar surface, this layer is deposited with a thickness sufficient to present an essentially planar surface, and accordingly is referred to as a "planarizing" layer. An intermediate protective layer, such as a silicon oxide layer, typically is then formed on the planarizing layer. This intermediate layer acts to protect a subsequently formed pattern from degradation during processing. Lastly, a third imageable layer is formed on the intermediate layer. The imageable layer is typically a photosensitive material that is delineable by exposure to radiation to create a pattern, for example by using a mask. The imageable layer is subsequently developed so that the mask pattern is transferred to the imageable layer.
Although trilayer resists provide a technique for producing fine features during semiconductor fabrication, the use of trilayer resists requires several discrete processing steps, can be cumbersome and require large capital investments. Accordingly, bilayer resists, which eliminate one layer, for example by incorporating the protective intermediate layer with the imaging layer, have been heavily investigated by researchers.
Bilayer resists are less cumbersome than trilayer resists for imaging sub-micron features on semiconductor devices which have surface topography requiring a planarizing layer. Typically bilayer resists comprise (1) a lower level that contacts the surface of the substrate and (2) an upper layer overlying the lower layer that is patterned, i.e., lithographically defined. To be effective, advantageously the lower layer is susceptible to removal by contact with oxygen reactive ion etching ("RIE") and the upper layer is essentially unaffected by RIE relative to the underlying level. Despite the enormous amount of research conducted in this area, however, very few bilayer resists have been developed that offer both desirable resolution (i.e., better than about 0.2 .mu.m) and a suitable resistance to plasma etching (for example, a resistance to oxygen RIE of greater than 20 times greater than that of the planarizing layer, a ratio desirable for pattern reproducibility).
In bilayer resists, silicon can be incorporated into the resist polymer to provide oxygen RIE resistance. The etch rate of the polymer decreases as the weight percent of silicon increases. Incorporating silicon into polymers, however, also generally decreases the temperature at which sub-micron features are dimensionally stable, measured, for example, by the decrease in glass transition temperature ("T.sub.g ") of the polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,799 to Brewer discloses the use of poly(styrene)-poly(butadiene) block copolymers as negative tone electron beam resists, i.e. a resist that cross links upon irradiation and thus becoming insoluble in many developers. The resist, however, offers insufficient oxygen RIE resistance and insufficient resolution for use in bilayer resist schemes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,617 to Bates et. al. discloses the use of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(chlorinatedmethylstyrene) block copolymers as negative tone electron beam resists. These resists, however, offer insufficient contrast and polymerization techniques used can result in undesirable side reactions.
M. Jurek and E. Reichmanis, Polymers in Microlithography, pp. 158-174 (1989) report the use of phenolic resin-dimethyl siloxane block copolymers. These copolymers, however, provide limited resolution and RIE protection.
M. Bowden et. al., Makromol. Chem., Macromol. Symp. 53, 125-137 (1992) disclose the use of poly(1-butene sulfone-graft poly(dimethylsiloxane) copolymers as positive tone electron beam resists. The resists, however, can suffer poor shelf life inherent in poly(1-butene sulfone) resists.
Although these processes can be used to produce resists that have good resolution, the processes can generate undesirable side reactions and/or lack sufficient protection against etching. Accordingly, there exists a need for a bilayer resist which provides desirable resolution, sufficient etching protection yet also exhibits dimensional stability.

Bilayer resist and process for preparing same


A plasma display device including a plasma display panel (PDP) having electrodes between two substrates, a chassis base attached to and configured to support the PDP, printed circuit boards (PCBs) configured to drive the electrodes, and a plurality of flexible printed circuits (FPCs) connected to the plurality of PCBs and the electrodes, wherein at least one PCB configured to drive the electrodes is attached to the PDP.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments relate to a plasma display device and, more particularly, to a plasma display device having a reduced length flexible printed circuit (FPC).
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display device may include a plasma display panel (PDP) for displaying images, a chassis base for supporting the PDP, and printed circuit boards (PCBs) mounted on the chassis base. The PCBs may be electrically connected to the PDP via a FPC. The PDP may further include two glass substrates forming a discharge space therebetween.
One end of the FPC may be connected to a PCB, and the other end may be connected to the PDP to provide an electrical connection thereto. The plasma display device, however, may have the PDP, the chassis base, and the PCB sequentially arranged in a front to rear manner, with the FPC connecting the PDP to the PCB mounted on the chassis base. Thus, the chassis base is between the PDP and the PCB, causing the length of the FPC to be increased.


A micromachined vertical actuator utilizing a levitational force, such as in electrostatic comb drives, provides vertical actuation that is relatively linear in actuation for control, and can be readily combined with parallel plate capacitive position sensing for position control. The micromachined electrostatic vertical actuator provides accurate movement in the sub-micron to micron ranges which is desirable in the phase modulation instrument, such as optical phase shifting. For example, compact, inexpensive, and position controllable micromirrors utilizing an electrostatic vertical actuator can replace the large, expensive, and difficult-to-maintain piezoelectric actuators. A thirty pound piezoelectric actuator with corner cube reflectors, as utilized in a phase shifting diffraction interferometer can be replaced with a micromirror and a lens. For any very precise and small amplitudes of motion` micromachined electrostatic actuation may be used because it is the most compact in size, with low power consumption and has more straightforward sensing and control options.

The present invention relates to actuators, particularly to micromachined actuators, and more particular to micromachined electrostatic vertical actuators, for applications such as optical phase shifting.
In recent years numerous micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices have been developed. The laterally driven electrostatic comb resonant structure has become an integrated component in many of these MEMS devices. This same device generates levitation force on the suspended structure due to the asymmetric distribution of electrical fields as a bias voltage is applied. This levitation force is often the source of unwanted out-of-plane motion causing tilting to many laterally-driven sensors and actuators. Instead of suppressing the vertical motion it would be desirable to use this levitation force for controllable small vertical motions (<1.5 .mu.m). Other electrostatic vertical motion sensors and actuators typically utilize the parallel plate capacitor effect which is much more nonlinear in nature and has an unstable region of operation, complicating the fabrication and control of the devices. Mechanical stoppers as well as more complicated electrode configurations are often necessary to fabricate parallel plate vertical actuators.
The present invention utilizes the levitation force for providing controllable small vertical motions (<1.5 .mu.m), and involves a micromachined electrostatic vertical actuator. The present invention can be utilized in various applications involving optical phase shifting, such as Fabry-Perot interferometry or phase shifting-based interferometry. The present invention utilizes a levitation force, such as in electrostatic comb drives, to provide vertical actuation that is relatively linear in actuation for control, and can be readily combined with parallel plate capacitive position sensing for position control, for accurate movement in the submicron to micron ranges, which is desirable in phase modulation instruments.

Micromachined electrostatic vertical actuator

The Regents of the University of California


An electronic circuit for ion sensor with the body effect reduction includes a bridge-type floating source circuit provided with an input terminal, an output terminal reflecting the change in the potential dependent on ion concentration, and an ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) wherein one terminal of the ISFET is coupled with the output terminal; a current mirror for providing a current to the bridge-type circuit; a third transistor for receiving the operating current provided by the current mirror, identical to the current provided to the ISFET; a differential amplifying circuit, wherein one input terminal of the amplifying circuit is input with a reference voltage, and the other input terminal is coupled with the output of the bridge-type readout circuit; and a third amplifier to generate a differential output voltage compensated for the body effect, temperature and time drift effects.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit for an ion sensor, and more particularly to an electronic circuit for hydrogen ion sensitive transistors, configured as a bridge-type floating source with body effect reduction.
2. Related Art
The development of micro-electronic technology has enabled a very small semiconductor to respond to chemical concentrations. Ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET), a kind of micro-sensing device invented by Bergveld in 1970 and developed quickly thereafter, is a solid state element consisting of a chemical sensing film and a field effect transistor. The ISFET, capable of selective measurements of concentration (activity) of certain ions in the electrolyte, is an impedance converting element, which combines the characteristics of the low output impedance of the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and the operation principle of the ion selective electrode (ISE). The ISFET has the advantages of short response time, batch processing ability, small sample volume, potential of single chip circuit integration, and compatibility to CMOS technology. Therefore, it is the best choice for the chemical sensor array in a large scale integrated circuit.
Comparing with the MOSFET element, in the ISFET structure, the metal or the poly silicon gate is replaced by an electrolyte and a reference electrode. Variations in the concentration of certain ions in the electrolyte result in the changes of the threshold voltage (dVTH*) of the ISFET. The changes reflecting the ion concentration in the electrolyte are recorded by a suitable electronic read-out circuit.
The manufacturing method, analysis of characteristics, and measurements of the ISFET have been widely discussed and studied. The research shows that the ISFET has some undesirable characteristics, including temperature dependence, time drift, and hysteresis, which limit the precision of measurements carried out by means of ISFETs. Furthermore, the slope of the characteristic (sensitivity) is also an important parameter describing the performance of ISFET.
The threshold voltage of ISFET will change due to the change in concentration of hydrogen ions (expressed by the pH change of the electrolyte), so that the voltage response is often used as an output signal of the ISFET. To capture the electrical signal generated by a sensor, the sensor (ISFET) must be accompanied with an analog read-out interface. The most precise measuring method by means of ISFETs is obtained under constant voltage/constant current conditions. Recently, along with the development of semiconductor technology, integration of an ISFET and a read-out interface into a chip has become an important research subject. Due to low migration and high carrier mobility, the N-channel ISFET is more often used than the P-channel ISFET. At present, in the CMOS technology, an NMOS is usually manufactured in the p-type body, and in order to make the circuit operate in a normal mode, the p-type body should usually be connected to the most negative voltage of the system. Therefore, if the ISFET and the read-out interface are integrated into the same chip, the above-mentioned read-out circuit will face the problem that the substrate potential seriously influences the real characteristics of the elements. Morgenshtein et al. proposed a new technology in 2004, which eliminates the body effect of ISFET in the read-out circuit of the integrated micro-system; however, some part of the circuit has not yet been applied to the constant voltage and constant current configuration.
Furthermore, many articles regarding compensating circuits have been published with respect to the ISFET temperature effect and time drift. Wang et al. proposed the method of zero temperature coefficient regulation and temperature coefficient compensation for reducing the temperature coefficient of the pH-ISFET. However, zero temperature coefficient regulation is more suitable for the time-controlled measurements for solutions of a specified pH range. For different ISFETs, the drain current uninfluenced by the temperature should first be determined. To compensate for the temperature and time drifts, Palan et al. applied the difference of sensitivity of ISFETs with two different sensing films (Si3N4 and Al2O3). The ISFETs were operated in a differential mode. However, there was not enough data to prove the compensating effect for this approach. Casans et al. proposed the regulating and compensating circuit controlled by voltage to eliminate the effects of time and temperature drifts. However, in this case many additional bias voltages must be provided, which increase the complexity of the system.
Some American patents have proposed methods for time and temperature drift compensation, but all those methods required additional circuits and redundant data calculation. Considering U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,249, the temperature drift compensation method required extra temperature sensors, and signal processing circuits, which adopted zero temperature regulation to calculate temperature compensation parameters. These resulted in large hardware circuits including processors, analog digital converters, digital-analog converters, random access memories, as well as read only memories, and complex calculations to be done on a computer. The time drift compensation method disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,253, includes ISFETs, amplifiers, and control compensating circuits, which adopts the index equation ΔVp=A ln(t/t0+1) to correct the time drift. Likewise, the circuit disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,253 also requires redundant calculation and data storage.
The issued methods use the constant voltage/constant current and the readout circuit configuration with floating reference electrodes to measure the ion concentration of a solution. As an example, let us consider the readout circuit configuration with grounded reference electrode and bridge-type floating source in FIG. 1. This circuit includes a bridge-type configuration consisting a current source Iref, a constant voltage source (where voltage is adjusted by a potentiometer Rv), and an operational amplifier OP, wherein the zener diode ZN provides a reference voltage of a specific voltage value, while the amplifier OP, resistors Ra, Rb, and Rc and the ISFET form a bridge network. Because of the balance of the bridge-type architecture and the virtual short circuit of the input terminals of the operational amplifier, the constant voltage VDS of the ISFET will be generated; then the constant current IDS passing through the ISFET will be determined by the resistor Rb. The advantage of this architecture is that the reference electrode is grounded so that only one common reference electrode is required to perform the multiple and simultaneous detection of ions by means of ISFETs. Since the Zener diode ZN with floating potentials at both terminals is fabricated in a special technological process, processing of this circuit is not compatible with a standard CMOS technology.

Electronic circuit for ion sensor with body effect reduction


An apparatus and system provide an optimizing content processing throughput for systems on chips (“SoCs”). A Packet Processing Memory Controller Cache (“PPMCC”) on an SoC according to an embodiment of the present invention may enable the SoC to store content packets within the SoC, thus eliminating the need to write to and read from external memory. Additionally, by utilizing Quality of Service (“QoS”) tags for the content packets received by the SoC, PPMCC may enforce a unique caching policy which optimizing content processing. Finally, an Address Translation Lookup Table (“ATLT”) on the SoC enables packet processing controllers on the SoC to route packets directly amongst themselves by identifying the source and destination of each content packet.

In existing content processing System on Chip ("SoC") designs, the incoming content packets are typically directly redirected to external memory storage prior to being processed. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an existing content processing SoC ("SoC 100") may include two Packet Processing Controllers ("PPC 105" and "PPC 110"), a security accelerator ("SHA 115"), a central processing unit ("CPU 120") and a memory control unit ("MCU 125"), all coupled via a Central Communications Bus 150 to external memory ("External Memory 130). Examples of PPCs include Gigabit Ethernet controllers, PCI Express graphics adapters and USB controllers.
In a typical content processing scheme today, encrypted packets may be received by PPC 105, stored in External Memory 130, read and processed from External Memory 130 by CPU 120, stored back in External Memory 130, then read and retransmitted by PPC 110. If the incoming packet includes encryption, PPC 105 may again store the packets in External Memory 130, SHA 115 may read and decrypt the packets then store them back in External Memory 130 prior to CPU 120 reading and processing the packets. Again, CPU 120 may store the processed packets back in External Memory 130 and the packets may then be read and retransmitted by PPC 110.
Transferring packets this way imposes significant performance bottlenecks on SoC 100. Each data store and fetch to External Memory 130 has a fixed latency that is typically governed by industry standards and cannot easily be changed. External Memory 130 may, for example, be double data rate ("DDR") memory, governed by well-known DDR standards. As the number of PPCs in the system increases, the performance bottleneck becomes more pronounced.

Method, apparatus and system for optimizing packet throughput for content processing systems on chips


An ADSL transceiver chip is provided that includes an analog front-end and a digital signal processor (DSP) integrated on the same substrate. A line driver for the ADSL transceiver can be located on a separate substrate. In embodiments of the invention, the transceiver chip is implemented in a CMOS process. For example, the process could be a low voltage CMOS process. It is highly advantageous to build the analog front-end and the DSP on a single integrated IC because it allows for reduced manufacturing part count, reduced assembly time and cost. Furthermore, the line driver substrate can require a high voltage semiconductor process (e.g. 18 volts peak-to-peak) in some applications, because of the need for adequate voltage to drive the ADSL line. Whereas, the analog front-end and the DSP do not need the such a high-voltage process as required for the by the line driver 102. For example, the analog front-end and DSP can operate with 3.3 v or 5.0 v peak-to-peak. Therefore, the economies can be achieved by integrating the analog front-end and the DSP on the same substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to communications, and more specifically to a highly integrated asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) circuit chip for communications.
2. Background Art
An ADSL is used for data communications between a central office and customer processing equipment (CPE). At the CPE, an ADSL transceiver transmits and receives ADSL data to and from the central office. Conventional ADSL transceivers are configured on at least two separate semiconductor integrated circuits (IC). More specifically, one IC is usually dedicated to analog processing and the other IC is usually dedicated to digital processing. It would be preferable to combine these two chips into one chip to reduce part count, reduce cost, and improve electrical performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Highly integrated asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) circuit


In a digital network that includes a plurality of devices, which include multiple devices that transmit transport streams, a system and method are provided for discovering and mapping the transport streams and the plurality of devices included in the digital network. One such method sends a transport stream map request to a plurality of network devices. The network devices include a plurality of network transport stream sources and a plurality of network transport stream handlers. The method receives a plurality of replies to the transport stream map request. Each reply includes information associated with the respective network device. The method generates a transport stream map based on the received replies. The transport stream map represents a flow of transport streams among the plurality of network devices.

Frequently, broadband systems transmit television signals to subscribers of a conditional access system. Broadband systems, such as cable and satellite television systems, typically include a headend for receiving programming and/or data from various sources and redistributing the programming and other data through a distribution system to subscribers. The headend receives programming signals from a variety of sources, combines the programming signals from the various sources, and transmits the combined signals through the distribution system to subscriber equipment. The distribution system can include a variety of media, such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, and satellite links, as well as a network of distributed nodes that then transmit the programming to subscriber locations, or to a network of distributed hubs, which transmit the signals to subscriber equipment, or any combination thereof. In a cable television system, the subscriber equipment can include a cable-ready television, a cable-ready video cassette recorder (VCR), or a digital home communications terminal (DHCT) that is connected to a television, computer, or other display device.
Increasingly, the headend is receiving and transmitting programming in a digital format, for example, Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) format, instead of an analog format. Transmitting programs in MPEG format is advantageous because multiple digitized programs can be combined and transmitted in, for example, 6 MHz of bandwidth, which is the same amount of bandwidth required to transmit a single analog channel or program.
MPEG transport streams include overhead information such as MPEG tables that indicate the types and location of the programming within the transport stream. In a local television system, the MPEG tables include information that is specific to that local distribution system and its particular channel line-up. MPEG as referenced in this application is described in the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards. The MPEG-1 standards (ISO/IEC 11172) and the MPEG-2 standards (ISO/IEC 13818) are described in detail in the International Organization for Standardization document ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11N (June 1996 for MPEG-1 and July 1996 for MPEG-2), which is hereby incorporated by reference. Therefore, the headend system, and the modulators in particular, must add the required MPEG table data to the outgoing bit stream.
MPEG transport streams are made up of standardized packets, each of which are 188 bytes in size. Each of the packets includes a header and a payload. Generally, the header is 4 bytes in size and the payload is 184 bytes in size, but the header can be expanded, in which case the payload is contracted by a corresponding amount. The header includes a packet identifier (PID), which is a 13-bit field that is used to identify the packet. Thus, 8,192 possible PID values can be assigned to packets in a transport stream. Certain PID values are reserved, such as PID=0 and PID=8,191, which are used to identify Program Association Tables (PAT) and stuffing packets, respectively, and will be described in greater detail hereinbelow.
Generally, a transport stream includes a plurality of elementary streams, and each elementary stream is made up of packets that have a common PID value. Within a transport stream, each elementary stream is associated a PID value, such that no two elementary streams are associated with the same PID value.
An MPEG program is made up of a plurality of elementary streams. Generally, an MPEG program includes a video elementary stream, which is made up of packets having digitized video information included therein, and at least one audio elementary stream.
Generally, a transport stream includes a plurality of programs, each of which are uniquely identified by a program number. The transport stream includes a program association table (PAT) packet, which has the PID value of 0. The PAT of a transport stream maps program identities to their program number. A program corresponds to what has traditionally been called a television channel, e.g., PBS, ESPN, etc. The PAT identifies the PID value of the elementary stream for the program map table (PMT) of a program included in the transport stream. A PMT for a program lists all of the PID values of the elementary streams of the program. Thus, the process of identifying a program and its contents takes place in two stages: first one uses the PAT in the PID=0 elementary stream to identify the PID of the elementary stream carrying the PMT for the program, and then in the next stage one obtains the PIDs of the elementary bit streams that make up the program from the appropriate PMT. A demultiplexer or decoder can be set to receive the identified packets that correspond to the program of interest. For proper viewing, the elementary streams must be synchronized so that the audio and video signals of the program correspond to each other.
A subscriber of a digital network will generally receive multiple transport streams, each of which are identified by a transport stream identifier (TSID). Generally, a subscriber selects a particular program and the subscriber's decoder consults tables such as, for example, an electronic program guide to determine the TSID for the program stream having the selected program. For such a system to work, each transport stream received at the subscriber's decoder must be uniquely identified, i.e., each transport stream received by a subscriber's decoder needs a unique TSID. A difficulty found in prior systems is that the operator of a digital subscriber network frequently receives content such as transport streams from multiple content providers, and frequently, the operator of the digital subscriber network has to remap TSIDs so that the transport streams from different content providers are unique within the digital subscriber network. In prior networks, the operator of the network would manually assign TSIDs to the transport streams of the network. However, manual TSID assignment is an inefficient utilization of the operator's time, and thus, there exists a need for a means to automatically assign TSIDs.
In addition, in prior digital subscriber networks, the operator of the network does not have dynamic network information provided to him. The operator has no means for determining the current bandwidth that is available in any communication link carrying a transport stream. Thus, the operator can only guess at the current available bandwidth for a transport stream when trying to decide whether to add another program to the transport stream. If the operator overestimates the available bandwidth, then the new program may cause the bandwidth of the transport stream to exceed the bandwidth of the communication link, and consequently, a phenomena known as "macro blocking" occurs. When macro blocking occurs packets are dropped from the transport stream, which results in the degradation of the quality of programs in the transport stream, which in turn causes many subscribers to complain. On the other hand, if the operator underestimates the available bandwidth, so as to ensure against macro blocking, the network is not operating at its full efficiency, and the operator is wasting bandwidth. Bandwidth in the digital subscriber network is a very valuable commodity, and thus, digital subscriber networks need dynamic network information that allows the operator to intelligently allocate network resources.
In prior systems, a system controller handles many administrative functions of the digital subscriber network. For example, the subscriber may request a service such as a personal session in the network. The system controller, among other things, establishes the session for the subscriber, determines how to deliver the content for the session to the subscriber and bills the subscriber for the session. Thus, there exists a need for a rededuction in the processing burden placed upon the system controller.


An implementation cost of a line-scan optical coherence tomography (OCT) apparatus is reduced by miniaturizing a scanning mirror and using a light source with relaxed requirement in intensity uniformity. The mirror reflects a probe light beam to different parts of a sample for line-scanning the sample. A line-compressing lens compresses the probe light beam's cross-sectional length before the beam reaches the mirror, allowing the mirror to be miniaturized to reflect only the compressed beam. In generating a linear light beam that gives the probe light beam, a cascade of collimating lens, Powell lens and focusing lens generates the linear light beam from a raw light beam of a point source. A slit further filters the linear light beam to remove a peripheral portion thereof such that the linear light beam is substantially uniform in intensity even if an asymmetrical divergent light source is used.

OCT is an optical technique for cross-sectionally imaging a sample with a micrometer-scale axial resolution. This technique has found applications in non-invasive medical imaging, and in particular, in retinal imaging. In scanning a sample by OCT, both raster scanning (point-by-point scanning) and line scanning may be used. The line-scanning technique is of greater interest due to its higher speed in scanning the sample over the raster-scanning technique, although an OCT device using line scanning (hereinafter referred to as a line-scan OCT device) is more complex to implement and is hence more costly. It is desirable to reduce an implementation cost of the line-scan OCT device.
One factor leading to a high implementation cost is that a large scanning galvanometer mirror is usually used in the line-scan OCT device for directing a linear light beam to illuminate different parts of the sample, e.g., in OCT devices disclosed in US 2020/0201058, in N. YOSHIFUMI et al., "High-speed three-dimensional human retinal imaging by line-field spectral domain optical coherence tomography," Optics Express, vol. 15, no. 12, pp. 7103-7116, June 2007, and in Z. AL-QAZWINI et al., "Ultrahigh-speed line-scan SD-OCT for four-dimensional in vivo imaging of small animal models," Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1216-1227, March 2018. Electronic control of steering a large mirror is very complex and expensive, no matter the used principle. It is desirable if the size of scanning galvanometer (or any other type) mirror can be reduced for reducing the implementation cost.
Another factor is that a light source having a high uniformity in power intensity is desirable in realizing the line-scan OCT device in order to ensure high-quality accurate measurement of the sample. Such light source is expensive. To reduce the implementation cost, it is desirable if a relaxed requirement in intensity uniformity can be applied to the light source while achieving a high uniformity in power intensity of a linear light beam for probing the sample is realizable from the light source by using an optical technique.
There is a need in the art for a cost-effective line-scan OCT device that achieves reducing a size of scanning galvanometer (or any other) mirror and/or using a light source with a relaxed requirement in intensity uniformity.

Cost-effective line-scan optical coherence tomography apparatus

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited


A tape cassette (1) comprises a case body consisting of an upper half case (2) and a lower half case (3), a pair of spools (7,8) for winding a tape, supported for rotation within the case body and provided respectively with circumferentially arranged toothed portions (7a.sub.1,8a.sub.1), a locking member (11) placed for sliding within the case body and provided with locking fingers (11a.sub.1,11a.sub.2) to be brought into engagement with the front portions of the toothed portions (7a.sub.1,8a.sub.1) of the spools (7,8), and a cam portion (11d) to be brought into engagement with the positioning pin (99) of a recording/reproducing apparatus in loading the tape cassette on the recording/reproducing apparatus, and a locking spring (11c) fastened to the locking member (11) to bias the locking member (11) toward the back side of the case body. The positioning pin (99) engages the cam portion (11d) of the locking member (11 ) to shift the locking member toward the front side of the case body so that the locking fingers (11a.sub.1,11a.sub.2) are disengaged from the toothed portions (7a.sub.1,8a.sub.1) in loading the tape cassette on the recording/reproducing apparatus. The locking spring (11c) biases the locking member (11) toward the back side of the case body so that the locking fingers (11a.sub.1,11a.sub.2) engage the toothed portions (7a.sub.1,8a.sub.1) of the spool (7,8) in removing the tape cassette (1) from the recording/reproducing apparatus. The locking member (11) locks the spools (7,8) firmly so that the spools are not caused to rotate even if an impact is applied to the back side of the case body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette provided with spools and a locking member for locking the spools to restrain the spools from unnecessary rotation while the tape cassette is not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been various tape cassettes applied to practical uses for the high-density recording of video signals or PCM signals, such as 1/2 in. video tape cassettes and 8 mm video tape cassettes, provided with a locking mechanism for locking the spools to lock the same to prevent the magnetic tape from unwinding while the tape cassettes are not in use.
The locking mechanism locks the spools by pressing a locking member against the spools by the resilience of a spring while the tape cassette is not in use, and unlocks the spools by separating the locking member from the spools with an unlocking pin inserted from outside the case body.
A conventional spool locking mechanism will be described by way of example with reference to FIGS. 18, 19 and 20. Shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 are the case body of a tape cassette 81 consisting of an upper half case 82 and a lower half case 83, holes 84 formed in the upper half case 82 and the lower half case 83, a locking member 91 placed in the lower half case 83, and an unlocking pin 99 that engages the locking member 91 when inserted through the hole 84 in the case body of the tape cassette 81 to shift the locking member 91.
In the following description, a side of the case body of the tape cassette 81 to be placed nearer to a recording/reproducing head will be referred to as "the front side", and a side of the same to be placed farther from the recording/reproducing head will be referred to as "the back side". As best illustrated in FIG. 18 and 19, a substantially rectangular recess 90 is formed in the bottom wall of the lower half case 83 of the case body of the tape cassette 81 in the central portion of the bottom wall and near the back side of the case body of the tape cassette 81, and the locking member 91 is placed in the recess 90 so as to move toward and away from the front side, namely, toward and away from spools 87 and 88.
The locking member 91 has a flat body 91a seated on the bottom surface of the recess 90, and a vertical projection 91b standing upright from the back portion of the flat body 91a. The flat body 91a is provided with a pair of fingers 91a.sub.1 and 91a.sub.2 projected from the opposite ends of the front portion thereof so as to correspond to the spools 87 and 88, respectively.
The spool 87 (88) has an inner spool 87a (88a) which receives a spool driving shaft therethrough, and an outer spool 87b (88b) put on the inner spool 87a (88a) for axial movement relative to the inner spool 87a (88a) and restrained from rotating relative to the inner spool 87a (88a). The fingers 91a.sub.1 and 91a.sub.2 of the locking member 91 can be pressed against portions of the circumferences of the inner spools 87a and 88a projecting from the radial surfaces of the outer spools 87b and 88b, respectively.
A pair of guide slots 92a and 92b are formed in the front portion of the middle portion of the flat body 91a, and guide pins 93a and 93b project from the bottom surface of the recess 90 at positions respectively corresponding to the guide slots 92a and 92b. The guide pins 93a and 93b are received respectively in the guide slots 92a and 92b to guide the locking member 91 for movement in limited directions.
A flat spring 94 for biasing the locking member 91 is disposed behind the locking member 91. The flat spring 94 has a main body 94a, and an arm 94b formed by raising a central portion of the main body 94a. The main body 94a is fitted in a spring pocket 95 formed on the inner surface of the back wall of the lower half case 83, and the extremity of the arm 94b is received in a recess 96 formed in the back surface of the vertical projection 91b to bias the locking member 91 continuously toward the front side of the tape cassette, namely, in a direction to press the fingers 91a.sub.1 and 91a.sub.2 against the circumferences of the inner spools 87a and 88a.
The locking member 91 is provided in the central portion of the front surface of its vertical projection 91b with a triangular protrusion 97 to disengage the locking member 91 from the inner spools 87a and 88a. The triangular protrusion 97 has inclined surfaces 97a and 97b symmetrically descending in opposite directions, respectively, from the apex thereof. An unlocking pin 99 received through the hole 84 of either the upper half case 82 or the lower half case 83 into the case body engages the inclined surface 97a or 97b of the triangular protrusion 97 to unlock the spools 87 and 88 by shifting the locking member 91 toward the back side of the tape cassette.
While the tape cassette 81 is not loaded on a recording/reproducing apparatus, the fingers 91a.sub.1 and 91a.sub.2 are pressed against the circumferences of the inner spools 87a and 88a by the resilience of the flat spring 94 as shown in FIG. 20(a) and as indicated by alternate long and short dash lines in FIG. 19 to lock the spools 87 and 88, so that the spools 87 and 88 are unable to turn even if some shocks act on the tape cassette 81. When the tape cassette 81 is loaded on the recording/reproducing apparatus, the unlocking pin 99 of the recording/reproducing apparatus enters the tape cassette 81 through the hole 84 as shown in FIG. 20(b) and shifts the locking member 91 toward the back side of the tape cassette 81 to a position indicated by continuous lines in FIG. 19 to unlock the spools 87 and 88 by separating the fingers 91a.sub.1 and 91a.sub.2 from the inner spools 87a and 88a.
This conventional locking mechanism has the following problems, which will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 21 to 26.
(1) Since the locking member 91 must be shifted a distance toward the back side of the tape cassette 81 with the unlocking pin 99 received into the tape cassette 81 through the hole 84 of either the upper half case 82 or the lower half case 83 and engaging the triangular protrusion 97 of the locking member 91 to unlock the spools 87 and 88, the holes 84 must be formed outside an area of a width W (FIG. 21) corresponding to the distance by which the locking member 91 must be shifted. Consequently, an area on the surface of the tape cassette available for applying a label 89 is reduced and, if the tape cassette is a very small one, it is impossible to form the label 89 in a size sufficient to indicate all the necessary matters.
(2) The apex of the triangular protrusion 97, i.e., the junction of the inclined surfaces 97a and 97b, in contact with the unlocking pin 99 and expected to move along a course indicated by an alternate long and short dash line is pushed backward away from the course, by the unlocking pin 99, in a region indicated P in FIG. 22, when the back side of the tape cassette 81 is lifted up by the cassette holding mechanism of the recording/reproducing apparatus, in ejecting the tape cassette 81, as shown in FIG. 22, to enable the unlocking pin 99 to escape from the tape cassette 81 through the hole 84 set opposite to the recording/reproducing head of a recording/reproducing apparatus and, consequently, the locking member 91 is moved toward the back side of the tape cassette 81 beyond its normal unlocking position, which produces resistance against the movement of the tape cassette 81 in lifting up the back side of the case body to enable the locking pin 99 to escape from the tape cassette 81, thereby obstructing smooth tape cassette ejection.
(3) The locking member 91 is liable to be tilted by the frictional engagement of the unlocking pin 99 and the triangular protrusion 97 as shown in FIGS. 23(b) or 23(c), increasing the friction between the locking member 91 and the lower half case 83, because it is difficult to form the locking member 91 so that the width L.sub.1 of the flat body 91a is sufficiently large as compared with the height H.sub.1 of the vertical projection 91b, which obstructs smooth spool unlocking operation.
(4) The spools 87 and 88 are biased slightly toward the front side of the tape cassette 81 (in the direction of arrows D.sub.1) by the pressure applied thereto by the locking member 91 in locking the spools 87 and 88 by pressing the locking member 91 against the spools 87 and 88 by the resilience of the flat spring 94 after the unlocking pin 99 has escaped from the tape cassette 81. Consequently, the tape T extending between the spools 87 and 88 is allowed to slacken, nullifying the essential spool locking action of the locking member 91.
(5) It is possible that the spools 87 and 88 are unlocked when the tape cassette 81 is rattled. For example, if external vibrations causing the spools 87 and 88 to turn in the direction of an arrow R.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 25, the spool 87 pushes the locking member 91 in the direction of an arrow D.sub.2 and the spool 88 pushes the locking member 91 in the direction of an arrow D.sub.3, and thereby the spools 87 and 88 are unlocked. Since the spool 88 is urged in the direction of the arrow R.sub.1, the tape T is unwound from the spool 88 and slackens.
The slackening of the tape T due to the rattling of the tape cassette 81 may be obviated by guiding the locking member 91 so that the locking member 91 is translated perfectly. However, when the spools 87 and 88 differ in weight from each other due to the difference between the amount of the tape T wound on the spool 87 and that of the same wound on the spool 88, the lighter one of the spools 87 and 88 is unlocked when the tape cassette 81 is rattled.
(6) The spools 87 and 88 move instantaneously toward the back side, i.e., in the direction of an arrow D.sub.4, as shown in FIG. 26(a) if an impact G is applied to the back side of the tape cassette 81 and, consequently, the spools 87 and 88 are pulled by the tape T and are caused to turn respectively in the directions of arrows R.sub.2 and R.sub.3, and the tape T is unwound from the spools 87 and 88. Accordingly, the tape T slackens by a length pulled out from the spools 87 and 88 when the spools 87 and 88 are moved in the direction of an arrow D.sub.5 to their original positions as shown in FIG. 26(b) by the locking member 91 after the impact G has been removed.
(7) The employment of the flat spring 94 in a locking member biasing means as described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19 requires the locking member biasing means to be formed in a relatively large construction, which is disadvantageous in application of the locking member biasing means to a very small tape cassette.
Since the arm 94b of the flat spring 94 tending to spring toward the front side of the tape cassette 81 must be strained by the locking member 91 in a direction, namely, toward the back side of the tape cassette 81, opposite the direction in which the arm 94b tends to spring when installing the flat spring 94 in the lower half case 83 or when unlocking the spools 87 and 88, the stress induced in the flat spring 94 increases to cause the flat spring 94 to spring up or to tilt, thereby making the normal spool locking action of the locking member 91 impossible.

Tape cassette including a spool locking member


The interior of a subject to be examined is scanned with an ultrasonic wave through an ultrasonic probe. Original image data is created based on a signal obtained. The original image data is image-processed. The image-processed image data is displayed. In the image processing, the original image data is compared at each pixel with a predetermined threshold value. If being higher than a threshold value, the original data is selected at each pixel. If, on the other hand, the original image data is lower than the threshold value, image data image-processed previous to one frame or a few frames is selected at each pixel. The image data selected for each pixel is displayed as newly image-processed image data. If the original image data is thus lower than the threshold value, the image data image-processed previous to one frame or a few frames is selected and, when an object is in given motion, a residual image is displayed on a motion locus.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a subject to be examined, receiving an echo from the subject and creating an ultrasonic image on the basis of that echo signal.
In recent years, a B mode for representing a tissue structure in a subject's cross-section and a mode different from a color Dopper mode for representing, in color, a blood stream state in the subject cross-section have been developed in the field of the ultrasonic diagnosis. A tissue Dopper imaging mode allows the extraction of only a lower Dopper frequency and the imaging of a slow motion alone of the cardiac muscle for instance. And the color kinesis mode provides an easy-to-acquire tissue motion by extracting an endocardial boundary and overlaying those boundaries at different o'clock time phases in different colors.
The 3-dimensional mode image enables a 3-D image to be constructed from a plurality of images obtained from the multi-slices of the subject.
Of these, the 3D mode is of high clinical significance and has recently received attention. The 3D mode involves a vast amount of data and presents the problems with an increase in circuit size, a rise in cost and a slight loss in real time.
Some recent ultrasonic diagnostics apparatus achieve a frame rate (high time resolution) of as high as 50 frames/second. On the other hand, the dynamic capability of the human eyes is restricted to 10 to 15 frames per second. For this reason, the observer simply acquires a portion of rich information the above-mentioned high time resolution provides.