A method of identifying a living being includes using a time-of-flight sensor to determine a location of a face of the living being. An image of an iris of the living being is produced dependent upon the location of the face as determined by the time-of-flight sensor. The produced image is processed to determine an identity of the living being.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for identifying personnel and, more particularly, to apparatuses and methods for identifying personnel based on visual characteristics of the irises of their eyes.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Iris recognition, or "iris capture" is a method of biometric personal identification that uses pattern recognition algorithms based on images of at least one of the irises of an individual's eyes. Iris recognition uses camera technology to produce images of the details of the iris. These images are converted into digital templates and provide mathematical representations of the iris that are used to identify individuals.
Many iris capture systems with low levels of intrusiveness have been proposed to extend the operational range for iris capture in recent years. For example, a system has been proposed that consists of multiple synchronized high-speed, high-resolution, and narrow-field-of-view (NFOV) video cameras, in which system focus is fixed at a portal about three meters away from the camera. This is the first system that could be used in practice for iris capture over long distances with a high throughput (e.g., twenty persons per minute). However, the depth of field (DOF) for each user is limited (e.g., five to twelve centimeters). With the limited DOF, it is possible that a same user would need to pass the portal multiple times before a clear iris image is captured.
Other types of systems employ one high resolution camera with either an autofocus or a fixed focus lens for the capture. The depth information of the subject is usually needed in these systems, which can be estimated implicitly based on the scale or the size of the captured two-dimensional face, or can be computed based on a pair of high speed video cameras using stereo vision. Because the acquired depth information based on these methods is not very accurate, these systems are not robust enough for practical use. For example, the feature matching in the stereo cameras is not always accurate under different lighting conditions. As a result, the robust sub-pixel matching is not easy to achieve in practice. Furthermore, the accuracy of a stereo vision system also depends on the length of the baseline. High accuracy would require a longer baseline, which make it impossible to build a compact iris capture system for many security applications.
Even though cameras with high shutter speed are often used in these systems, users still need to remain still for several seconds so that the high quality iris image can be captured. This is because defocus blur can easily happen when a moving subject is captured with a significant amount of system delay because of the slow movements of the pan-tilt unit or because of a long autofocus time. The accurate depth information (i.e., distance from the user to the camera) provided by these systems could be used for iris deblurring and therefore to enhance the performance of the whole system.
What is neither disclosed nor suggested in the art is an iris capture system with an extended operational range, and that does not rely on the person remaining motionless for a period of a few seconds or more.

Time-of-flight sensor-assisted iris capture system and method


A method for assessing the quality of a transmitted video signal sequence at a receiver side includes: capturing the input video bit stream; extracting at least one feature or a set of features; determining the continuous probability of visibility for each packet loss event which occurred within a specific time interval; and employing the continuous probability of packet loss visibility as a weighting factor of the at least one feature or set of features extracted from the video bit stream to calculate an estimate of the overall quality, Q, of the transmitted video sequence.

The proliferation of video content delivery during recent years has necessitated the development of objective video quality assessment methods. It has become evident that network parameters which define the Quality of Service (QoS) are not sufficient to estimate the service quality perceived by the user, typically referred to as Quality of Experience (QoE).
Quality estimation methods commonly support a distinguished estimation of the quality related to the coding (compression, Qcod) of the video signal and the quality due to packet loss during transmission (Qtrans). It is an inherent property of IP-networks that (mostly due to temporal overload at some point in the network) IP packets may be lost. Some of these losses may be almost invisible to the customer while others may cause severe degradation of the video quality. Even if countermeasures against these losses are part of an IPTV distribution system, these countermeasures can never guarantee an absolute remedy. For instance, a retransmission request may take too long, or the retransmitted packet itself might get lost. Therefore there is always a nonzero probability, that fragmentary bit streams are transmitted to the end user device. These in turn can cause visible or audible degradations in the reconstructed video. Measurement categories may therefore also include values to express the probability for losses. Such values may include the expression of a "packet loss rate" and the "burstiness of loss events".
For this purpose, parametric video quality models for IPTV applications have been developed which account for the distortion both due to compression and erroneous transmission (see, e.g., K. Yamagishi and T. Hayashi, "Parametric Packet-Layer Model for Monitoring Video Quality of IPTV Services," in Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Communications, 2008 [1], or M. N. Garcia and A. Raake, "Parametric packet-layer video quality model for IPTV," Int. Conf. on Information Science, Signal Processing and their Applications (ISSPA), Kuala-Lumpur, May 2010 [2]).
However, purely header-based models cannot precisely cover the impact of network impairments on visual quality in terms of the spatio-temporal characteristics of the video sequence and the statistical properties of the packet losses. Thus, objective video quality assessment models should analyze the relationship between packet losses and visual degradation and factor in the fact that packet losses do not produce an equal amount of perceived degradation.
The problem of predicting packet loss visibility has been addressed in the literature only in terms of classification of packet losses in a binary manner: visible or invisible. In S. Kanumuri, P. C. Cosman, A. R. Reibman, V. A. Vaishampayan, "Modeling packet-loss visibility in MPEG-2 video," IEEE Trans. On Multimedia, vol. 8, no. 2, April 2004, pp. 341-355, a set of features was extracted from the MPEG-2 bitstream and two modeling approaches, a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used to estimate the relative number of viewers who detected an error, and a tree classifier to determine whether a packet loss results in a visible degradation. The former classification was extended for H.264/AVC video in S. Kanumuri, S. B. Subramanian, P. C. Cosman, A. R. Reibman, "Predicting H.264 packet loss visibility using a generalized linear model," in Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Image Processing (ICIP), Atlanta, Ga., October 2006, in which the effect of dual packet losses was examined, and in T. L. Lin, S. Kanumuri, Y. Zhi, D. Poole, P. C. Cosman, and A. R Reibman, "A versatile model for packet loss visibility and its application to packet prioritization," IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 722-735, March 2010, where the proposed framework was used for packet prioritization at the intermediate routers of a network.
Additionally, a no-reference bit stream-based decision tree classifier for CIF sequences was developed by N. Staelens et al., "Viqid: A no-reference bit stream-based visual quality impairment detector," in IEEE Workshop on Quality of Multimedia Experience, Trondheim, Norway, June 2010. Here, the effect of the packet loss pattern and length on the subjective quality still remains an open question. In Y. J. Liang, J. G. Apostolopoulos, and B. Girod, "Analysis of packet loss for compressed video: effect of burst losses and correlation between error frames," IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 861-874, July 2008, the effect of burst losses on the reconstructed video quality was analyzed and it was shown that a specific loss pattern produces a larger degradation than an equal number of isolated losses. Also, the correlation between error frames was considered in the modeling of the induced distortion. However, the algorithm was only tested on QCIF sequences and, thus, with a packetization scheme in which an individual frame is contained in one packet. Moreover, the impact on the subjective ratings was not tested.

Method and apparatus for objective video quality assessment based on continuous estimates of packet loss visibility


Disclosed herein is an inertial sensor, including: a membrane; a mass body disposed under the membrane; a sensing unit formed on the membrane and including a piezoelectric body; and a spring constant control unit formed to be spaced apart from the sensing unit and including a piezoelectric body. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the DC acceleration (in particular, gravity acceleration) can be measured by using the change in the spring constant without changing the structure of the inertial sensor including the piezoelectric material of the prior art.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an inertial sensor and a method for measuring acceleration using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an inertial sensor has been used as various applications, for example, military such as an artificial satellite, a missile, an unmanned aircraft, or the like, vehicles such as an air bag, electronic stability control (ESC), a black box for a vehicle, or the like, hand shaking prevention of a camcorder, motion sensing of a mobile phone or a game machine, navigation, or the like.
The inertial sensor generally adopts a configuration in which a mass body is adhered to an elastic substrate such as a membrane, or the like, in order to measure acceleration and angular velocity. Through the configuration, the inertial sensor may calculate the acceleration by measuring inertial force applied to the mass body and may calculate the angular velocity by measuring Coriolis force applied to the mass body.
In detail, a scheme of measuring the acceleration and the angular velocity using the inertial sensor is as follows. First, the acceleration may be calculated by Newton's law of motion "F=ma", where "F" represents inertial force applied to the mass body, "m" represents a mass of the mass body, and "a" is acceleration to be measured. Among others, the acceleration a may be obtained by sensing the inertial force F applied to the mass body and dividing the sensed inertial force F by the mass m of the mass body that is a predetermined value. Further, the angular velocity may be calculated by Coriolis force "F=2 mΩ×v", where "F" represents the Coriolis force applied to the mass body, "m" represents the mass of the mass body, "Ω" represents the angular velocity to be measured, and "v" represents the motion velocity of the mass body. Among others, since the motion velocity V of the mass body and the mass m of the mass body are values known in advance, the angular velocity Ω may be calculated by detecting the Coriolis force F applied to the mass body.
Meanwhile, the inertial sensor according to the prior art includes a piezoelectric body that is formed on a membrane so as to drive a mass body or sense a displacement of the mass body, as disclosed in Korean Laid-Open Patent No. 10-2011-0072229. However, when measuring acceleration by sensing the displacement of the mass body using the piezoelectric body as in the prior art, it is difficult to measure static DC acceleration (in particular, gravity acceleration) due to the dissipation of generated charges or characteristics of the piezoelectric body sensitive to temperature.

Inertial sensor and method for measuring acceleration using the same


A method for fabricating a semiconductor-based device includes providing a substrate including a semiconductor layer, forming a gate dielectric layer on the semiconductor layer, forming a plasma including deuterium, plasma implanting deuterium from the plasma into the substrate, and annealing the substrate to promote passivation of the interface between the dielectric layer and the semiconductor layer.

Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) based integrated circuits have a reliability that is depends in part on the interface between a semiconductor substrate, usually silicon, and a gate dielectric layer. Electrical defects associated with this interface can arise from the presence of unpaired silicon bonds at the interface. Interfacial trap states associated with these defects can be reduced by annealing the circuit, during fabrication, in a forming gas (10% H2) to permit hydrogen atoms to diffuse to, and passivate, the silicon dangling bonds at the interface.
Hot carriers, however, can degrade the interface by displacing the hydrogen atoms at the interface. This loss of hydrogen can lead to threshold-voltage instability, transconductance degradation, and/or an increase in the subthreshold slope.
Deuterium passivation can be used as a more stable substitute for hydrogen passivation. The heavier deuterium isotope can reduce desorption of the passivating species arising from hot-carrier impact. Deuterium can be introduced by heating the circuit during fabrication in a gas containing deuterium to permit the deuterium to diffuse into the circuit.

Plasma implantation of deuterium for passivation of semiconductor-device interfaces

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


Methods and kits for treament of glaucoma are disclosed. In general, the methods of the invention include administering a therapeutically effective amount of a deprenyl compound to a subject such that the subject is treated for glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a disease of the eye characterized by elevated intraocular pressure. The elevated intraocular pressure leads to hardening of the eyeball, narrowing of the field of vision and a decrease in a subject's visual acuity. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve and the elevated eye pressures are related to damage of this nerve. The optic nerve carries images from the retina to the brain. Glaucoma damages optical nerve cells causing blindspots to occur within a subject's vision. These blind spots typically are not noticed by the subject until considerable damage to the optic nerve has already occurred. The terminal stage of glaucoma is total blindness of the subject.
Approaches to treating glaucoma include the topical application of cholinergic agents, e.g., pilocarpine, alpha- or beta-adrenergic agonists or antagonists, e.g., clonidine, timolol or epinephrine. An alternative approach for treating glaucoma is the systemic administration of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. In some cases laser or operative surgery is used to treat glaucoma.
Problems exist with the aforementioned approaches to treating glaucoma in that the treatments can be accompanied by side-effects. For example the instillation of a cholinergic agent, such as pilocarpine, into the eye of a subject can cause nausea diarrhea, muscular spasms, sweating, lacrimation, salivation, etc. Contraction of the pupil (myosis) and of the ciliary muscle of the eye, as well as dilation of the blood vessels of the iris and conjunctiva also can be observed. Visual complications, e.g., spasm of accommodation, myopia or a decrease in visual acuity, also can occur.
The treatment with a sympathomimetic agent such as dipivalylepinephrine is known frequently to produce sensations of burning or irritation in a subject. Another side-effect of these agents is the appearance of cardiac disturbances, e.g., palpitations, tachycardia, arrythmia, etc.
Clonidine, which is known as an alpha-2-adrenergic receptor agonist, can bring about mydriasis, as well as an initial phase of ocular hypertension (biphasic effect). Furthermore, in spite of the topical application of the product to the eye, important systemic effects, such as bradycardia and hypotension, have been observed.
The use of beta-blocking medicaments also can cause important systemic effects after topical administration to the eye, due to the absence of a "first pass effect". Timolol, for example, causes bradycardia or hypotension. These systemic secondary reactions to beta-blocking medicaments can reach such a severe level that the treatment has to be discontinued. Cases of suicidal depression, hallucinations, nightmares or psychoses requiring hospitalization have been reported in connection with these medicaments. Furthermore, these compounds have to be administered with extreme precautions to patients subject to cardiac or pulmonary functional disorders. In such patients, amongst others, cases of arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, asthma, dyspnea and bronchospasms have been reported.
The treatment with a sympatholytic agent, such as guanethidine, causes hyperemia of the conjunctiva and some irritation, not to mention the fact that these agents only have a low tendency to reduce intraocular pressure.
Finally, in the treatment of glaucoma with carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, such as acetazolamide or methazolamide, serious systemic side-effects, such as depression of the central nervous system, weight loss and, mainly, bone marrow hypofunction, have been reported.
The use of conventional hypotensive agents for the treatment of glaucoma is accompanied by considerable risks. Known medications are not particularly well suited for topical treatment and the systemic side-effects of these medicaments make them delicate to use because these effects are far from being negligible and because they can have, in some cases, severe consequences.

Deprenyl compounds for treatment of glaucoma

The University of Toronto Innovations Foundation


A suspended microstructure fabrication process. Photoresist pedestals are inserted in a sacrificial layer between the suspended microstructure and the substrate and photoresist spacers are inserted in the microstructure layer between non contacting portions of the suspended microstructure so that the photoresist pedestals and spacers support the microstructure bridge during the wet etching and drying process used to remove the sacrificial layer.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/569,080 filed on Aug. 17, 1990, abandoned, and entitled Monolithic Accelerometer discloses an integrated circuit comprising a suspended microstructure acceleration sensor and conditioning and resolving circuitry on the same chip. The device disclosed therein can be fabricated by the process generally outlined therein but is more preferably fabricated using the improved process disclosed herein. The disclosure of that application is incorporated herein by reference. The sensor portion of the accelerometer disclosed in that application comprises a polysilicon bridge suspended above a substrate by a series of posts. The polysilicon bridge comprises a suspended longitudinal beam having a plurality of fingers extending transversely therefrom. For each finger extending from the beam, there is a corresponding stationary finger positioned parallel and close thereto. The bridge is electrically conductive and is charged to a different voltage than the stationary fingers. The polysilicon bridge is resilient such that, under accelerative force, the bridge, including the fingers, will move relative to the corresponding stationary fingers. The capacitance between the movable fingers and the stationary fingers is observed and resolved to determine the magnitude of the accelerative force to which the sensor is subjected.
Other suspended microstructures for sensing acceleration and other phenomena are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,711,128; 5,025,346 and 5,054,320.
The fabrication of wafers embodying suspended microstructures is difficult and usually produces a relatively low yield of acceptable chips. A particularly troublesome problem during fabrication is contact and sticking of the microstructure to the substrate. Also, surfaces of the suspended microstructure frequently stick to other surfaces of the suspended microstructure or to other surfaces on the chip during processing. It is extremely difficult to separate the polysilicon microstructure from the substrate, another polysilicon microstructure, or other components of the chip once it has come in contact therewith.
Liquid surface tension effects are among the most significant causes of the microstructure coming in contact with other objects, such as the substrate or other portions of the microstructure. Liquid surface tension effects occur, for instance, during drying after a wet etching step.
In fabricating suspended microstructures, a layer of material (from which the microstructure is to be constructed) is typically deposited over a previously deposited sacrificial layer and then etched into the desired form. The sacrificial layer is then removed by a wet etching process in which the wafer is exposed to a chemical etching solution which dissolves the sacrificial layer but does not affect the material from which the microstructure is formed, e.g., polysilicon. The wafer is then washed in a rinse fluid. As the rinse fluid is removed, the surface tension of the liquid exerts forces on the delicately suspended microstructure, tending to pull the microstructure into contact with the substrate or with other portions of the microstructure or other components of the circuit. A combination of various forces, including adhesive forces and electrostatic forces, makes it extremely difficult to separate the contacting portions. Electrostatic forces may also contribute to the initial attraction of the microstructure to the other surfaces, leading to contact. Accordingly, when undesirable contact occurs, typically the chip is irreparable and must be discarded.
The sacrificial layer must be able to withstand high temperatures on the order of 1000.degree. C. and higher) in order to withstand the temperatures involved in the deposition of the structural layer and subsequent integrated circuit processing steps in conventional fabrication techniques. Accordingly, the sacrificial layer typically must be composed of a material, such as a low temperature, chemical vapor deposited oxide, which can only be practically removed by a wet etching processing. A sacrificial layer of photoresist material, for instance, could not withstand the temperatures involved in polysilicon deposition, i.e., about 600.degree. C. Further, dry etching to remove the sacrificial layer would eliminate the surface tension problem but is typically not possible because a dry etch process would likely damage the suspended microstructure material, e.g., polysilicon, due to the low selectivity of such etching techniques.
Several researchers have reported on this problem and proposed methods to eliminate the effects of liquid surface tension. For instance, H. Guckel, J. J. Sniegowski, T. R. Christenson and F. Raissi, "The Application of Fine Grained, Tensile Polysilicon to Mechanically Resonant Transducers", Sensors and Actuators, A21, 1990, pp. 346-351, suggest a method in which the wet etchant final rinse fluid is frozen and sublimated to avoid the deleterious effects of liquid surface tension on microstructures. The disclosed method requires the transfer of wet wafers into a refrigeration unit to freeze the fluid (a water/methanol mixture). The wafer is then placed in a vacuum system to sublimate the frozen fluid. The technique requires special chemicals and the direct transfer of wet wafers into refrigeration and vacuum system. Further, sublimation of the frozen fluid requires very long times, on the order of hours. The proposed system is not practical for manufacturing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a high yield method of fabricating integrated circuits comprising suspended microstructures.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method for fabricating suspended microstructures on integrated circuit wafers.


A power supply circuit is disclosed herein comprising a load current path for connecting a load which has a switching element. The power supply circuit also includes a current sensor for providing a current measurement signal dependent on a current through the load current path. A drive circuit is also included which provides a clocked drive signal with a number of drive cycles, in each case having an on period and an off period, for the switching element. A temperature sensor arrangement with a temperature sensor is provided for determining an environmental temperature in the area of the temperature sensor, which provides a temperature measurement signal dependent on the environmental temperature. The clocked drive signal is dependent on the current measurement signal and the temperature measurement signal.

Power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are increasingly used as replacement for conventional incandescent lamps, for example in motor vehicles. Compared with conventional light-emitting diodes, power light-emitting diodes have a higher power consumption and thus also a higher light yield and are subject to greater heating. Light-emitting diodes are usually mounted on printed circuit boards (PCBs) which can be damaged or destroyed when temperatures are too high. If there is no adequate cooling, a light-emitting diode mounted on a printed circuit board can therefore damage the printed circuit board. The smaller the printed circuit board and thus the lower its capability of removing dissipated power converted into heat, the greater this problem is.

Power supply circuit with temperature-dependent drive signal


An apparatus and method for performing emergency cricothyrotomy on a patient. The apparatus includes a pair of handles with an arcuate tip connected to the distal end of each handle with both sets of handles/tips attached together by a detachable pivot mechanism. The handles are angled away opposite in direction to the arcuate tips. The arcuate tips can grip a surgical scalpel which has at least one hub protruding from the side of the scalpel thereby limiting the incision depth to which the scalpel can cut. The arcuate tips are held apart by a spring mechanism but can be locked together. When used during a cricothyrotomy procedure, the apparatus engages a scalpel which is conjunctively used to make an incision into the patient's the skin and cricothyroid membrane. Once entry into the patient's airway is accomplished, the scalpel is removed. The arcuate tips are rotated and spread apart, thus allowing a tracheal tube to be inserted into the airway between the arcuate tips. The arcuate tips are then removed from the airway by angling the handles downward.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to instruments and techniques for establishing surgical airways, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for emergency surgical cricothyrotomy.
2. Description of the Background Art
During medical emergencies, there is an important need to access and control the patient's airway. A lack of oxygen to the patient, even for a brief period of time, may prove fatal. Patients who are inflicted with upper airway obstructions generally receive a surgical airway when non-invasive techniques fail to clear their upper airway. There are generally three common approaches to creating a surgical airway: needle tracheotomy, standard tracheotomy, and cricothyroidotomy (also known as cricothyrotomy).
Needle tracheotomy involves insertion of a large-bore needle into the patient's trachea to allow the patient to breathe. This procedure is, for the most part, unrealistic because the largest commonly available needle in the hospital setting is approximately fourteen gauge. This small size generally fails to provide adequate airflow capacity to a patient suffering from trauma.
Standard tracheotomy involves making two incisions, one immediately following the other, which must penetrate into the trachea. This often results in excessive bleeding and thus is a disfavored approach.
Cricothyrotomy has replaced the foregoing crude procedures to create an airway in the patient's trachea. Cricothyrotomy became established as the preferred method of surgical emergency management during the 1970s and early 1980s. It is easier to learn, quicker to perform, and is overall a safer procedure for the emergency medical physician who performs surgical airways very infrequently. Cricothyrotomy is performed by creating an opening in the cricothyroid membrane. The airway lies anterior to the esophagus and the cervical spine and is usually located in the midline of the neck. The surface anatomy of the neck is easily recognizable; in the anterior part of the neck, the anatomic landmarks include the hyoid bone, the thyroid cartilage, the cricoid cartilage, and the tracheal rings.
The general procedure for surgical cricothyrotomy is as follows: (1) locate the cricothyroid membrane; (2) make a vertical skin incision over the cricothyroid membrane; (3) stabilize the larynx with a tracheal hook while an incision is made in the cricothyroid membrane; (4) enlarge the incision in the cricothyroid membrane using hemostats or the blunt end of a scalpel; and (5) insert a tracheotomy tube between the curved hemostats. This surgical procedure requires, at minimum, the following tools: (1) a scalpel for making the incision; (2) a tracheal hook to stabilize the larynx; (3) a hemostat or second scalpel to enlarge or dilate the incision in the cricothyroid membrane; and (4) a tracheotomy tube to allow passage of air into the airway.
Because a surgical cricothyrotomy is done during an emergency where there is little or no preparation time available, there exists a need to minimize the number of instruments required by the emergency room physician and simplify the procedures involved, thus increasing the probability of saving the patient's life. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies inherent in coventional techniques and instruments.

Method and apparatus for establishing a surgical airway


A multi-band antenna includes conductive tubular section that provides the major physical support for the antenna and functions as the major element of the antenna on the long wavelength band and a half wavelength center feed dipole with a choke located at the end of the tubular section that serves and the short wavelength antenna. The half wavelength dipole includes a coaxial cable disposed within the tubular section extending a quarter wavelength of the short wavelength band beyond the tubular section. A solid conductor of a quarter wavelength forms an extension of the central conductor of the coaxial cable. A rigid dielectric cylinder accommodates the extension of the coaxial cable and the solid conductor providing physical support and rigidity. A choke includes a short between the outer conductive shield of the coaxial cable and the tubular section is located one quarter wavelength from the remote end of the tubular section. In addition, the length of the insertion section of the dielectric cylinder into the tubular section provides tuning. The outside diameters of the tubular section and the dielectric cylinder are the same allowing permits a conformal coating to cover the tubular section and the dielectric cylinder. This conformal coating provides environmental protection and makes the antenna visually similar to the prior art whip antenna.

This invention is in the field of antennas, particularly vehicle antennas having multi-band capability. Motor vehicles have for many years been equipped with radio receivers for entertainment and information. The typical passenger automobile is equipped with a combined AM/FM radio for this purpose. These radios typically use a single whip antenna for receiving radio signals.
More recently there is much interest in high frequency mobile radio communication systems in motor vehicles. This interest particularly relates to mobile cellular telephones. Cellular telephone systems operate at much higher frequencies than the AM or even the FM broadcast bands. The AM broadcast band is roughly centered around 1 MHz and the FM broadcast band is roughly centered around 100 MHz. The cellular telephone system employs one band for transmission and a second nearby band for reception. These two bands are in the range between 800 and 900 MHz. Because of the difference in frequency between the cellular telephone band and the AM and FM bands, it is typical in the prior art to use a separate antenna for the mobile communications system.
There are problems with the use of a separate antenna. Modification of the vehicle is often required to accommodate the separate antenna. This often involves drilling holes for mounting the antenna and the like. The introduction of cellular telephone systems with separate antennas precipitated numerous instances of theft or vandalism of the mobile communications equipment. The separate antenna used by the mobile communications equipment system serves to alert potential thieves and vandals of the presence of the mobile communications equipment.
There have been attempts in the prior art to produce a single antenna which is capable of operating on the AM/FM bands and the higher frequency mobile communication bands without success. There is therefore a need in art for a single antenna which can operate on these bands and which is visually indistinguishable from the prior art AM/FM whip antenna.


The present invention aims to provide a method for detecting a certain species of genus Pectinatus which is a beer-spoilage bacteria. An oligonucleotide characterized in that the oligonucleotide targets a nucleotide sequence coding a 16S ribosomal RNA gene of the genus Pectinatus to selectively detect a bacteria in a test sample, the oligonucleotide is complementary to the nucleotide sequence, and the oligonucleotide has a certain sequence groups, or at least one of the corresponding complementary sequence. A method for detecting the bacteria by using the oligonucleotide is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the detection of the genus Pectinatus which is known as beer spoilage bacteria. More particularly, the present invention relates to a gene sequence for detecting Pectinatus cerevisiiphilus, Pectinatus frisingensis and Pectinatus sp. DSM20764, respectively, and to a method for detecting the bacteria by using the sequence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, in a method for testing micro-organisms in the field of beer production and, for identifying the species, the bacteria must be separated via growth cultivation and segregation cultivation, which takes at least seven days. Then the, separated bacteria is propagated, and the identification is conducted by many tests such as observation of the form and Gram stain properties, a catalase test, and presence of sugar consumption. These troublesome tests require many hours and the tests are expensive. In addition to these conventional identification methods, there is a method for identifying species by a hybridization test, in which DNA is extracted from an isolated bacteria and the DNA is fixed on a membrane or other substrate, and detected with the DNA of a standard bacteria as a probe. However, this method takes several days, and it is difficult to obtain the necessary detection sensitivity.
Recently, for detecting a bacteria quickly, there is a method for detecting a living bacteria by an ATP luminescence method using reported in J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem.: 52(1) 19-23, 1994. But this method is unable to identify the species. Further, for a part of lactic acid bacteria, for example, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus coryniformis, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 6-46811(1994) and 6-311894(1994), it is possible to identify the species at a relatively early stage by using antibodies specific for each species. However, to apply the method, operation for isolating the bacteria is still required. Accordingly, it takes more several days, and it is difficult to obtain sufficient detection sensitivity and selectivity.
More quick detection methods have been studied, lately, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 5-15400(1993) and 6-141899(1994), and as reported in J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem.: 52(3) 95-99, 1994, there is a method for detecting the lactic acid bacteria, wherein the DNA of lactic acid bacteria is extracted to serve as a sample and an oligonucleotide complementary for the DNA is functionally used as a primer.
On the other hand, lately, it is confirmed that the genus Pectinatus of an obligately anaerobic bacterium exerts a bad influence on the product beer. To detect the genus, a selective separation medium was examined (J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem.: 52(3) 115-119, 1994), a group for determining the main antigen was identified by using an immunoblotting technique (FEMS. MICROBIOL. LETT.: 67(3) 307-311, 1990), and a method using a fluoroimmunoassay method was disclosed (J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem.: 51(4) 158-163, 1993). However, satisfactory methods are not established in aspects of the detectable sensitivity, detection times and the like.
The present invention aims to develop a method wherein the genus Pectinatus is more quickly and sensitively detected and identified at the same time.


Disclosed is a transmitting and receiving method for reducing a time-varying channel distortion in an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) system. In the present invention, the transmitter defines M sub-channels in one data group, mathematically analyzes a change of channel for each path causing a time-varying channel distortion in a high-speed mobile environment by approximation, calculates a weight value based on the mathematical analysis and assigns the calculated weight value to transmit data of each sub-channel. Subsequently, the receiver combines the signals of these M sub-channels and demodulates the combined signals. Accordingly, the present invention greatly reduces a distortion caused by the time-varying channel to improve a bit error rate and a channel estimation performance.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (hereinafter, referred to as "OFDM") system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a transmitting and receiving method for reducing a distortion caused by a time-varying channel in a high-speed mobile environment.
(b) Description of the Related Art
The OFDM system involves insertion of a cyclic prefix (CP) longer than the impulse response of a channel in a guard interval between adjacent OFDM symbols to eliminate the interference between the symbols, and thereby allows compensation of a fading channel distortion simply by using a single tap equalizer at the receiver. The OFDM system also allows rapid realization of a modulation/demodulation process at the transceiver by using an inverse fast Fourier transformer (IFFT) and a fast Fourier transformer (FFT).
These advantages of the OFDM system enable development of high-speed data transmission systems, for example, OFDM wireless communication systems including digital audio broadcasting (DAB), digital video broadcasting (DVB), digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB), wireless local area network (LAN), wireless asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or the like. Recently, these OFDM wireless communication systems have been actively studied as a core technology of the fourth generation mobile communication.
To improve the link budget of wireless channels, various multi-antenna OFDM technologies such as SFBC(Space-Frequency Block Coded)-OFDM, SFTC(Space-Frequency Trellis Coded)-OFDM, MRRC(Maximal Ratio Receiver Combining)-OFDM and so forth have been studied. But the OFDM systems with multiple antennas have a distortion caused by a time-varying channel as the OFDM systems with a single antenna, and hardly guarantee a high diversity gain at high speed mobile environment with multiple antennas, thereby deteriorating the performance.
A conventional method for solving the problem involves transmission of pilot symbols to estimate a time-varying channel distortion and compensation of the estimated distortion. In this method, however, the pilot symbols have to be transmitted prior to data symbols, causing a high overhead and a deterioration of performance due to the use of an estimated channel before one symbol.

Transmitting and receiving method for reducing distortion caused by a time-varying channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiplex system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A high voltage start circuit includes a high voltage start module and high voltage pulse generator apparatus. The high voltage pulse generator amplifies a five volt pulse at 60 KHz duty cycle to an output of 280 volts pulses at approximately 50% duty cycle. A PN junction high voltage diode with a high forward voltage drop and a resistor divider drives and holds a first transistor out of saturation. A low voltage diode creates a dead band such that two high voltage start module transistors are never on at the same time. The high voltage module contains two high voltage blocking diodes which protect the laser gyro active current control circuitry during start up. Two small ballast resistors and a parallel 10 times voltage multiplier generate at least a 2500 VDC output. The high voltage start circuit is contained within a laser gyro housing and is configured to have a volume less than the volume of the ring laser gyro block.

Ring laser angular rate sensors, often referred to as ring laser gyros, are well known. One example of a ring laser angular rate sensor is U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,718 issued to Hanse, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Present day ring laser angular rate sensors include a thermally and mechanically stable laser block having a plurality of interconnected formed cavities. Mirrors are placed at the extremities of the cavities for reflecting laser beams and providing an optical closed-looped path.
Prior art high voltage power supplies for laser gyros used a 2,500 VDC large external power supply placed outside of the laser gyro housing. The external supply required high voltage feed-throughs into the laser gyro housing through a high voltage feed-through connector. Such high voltage feed-throughs are expensive. Such high voltage feed-through connectors are also difficult to construct while still maintaining a hermetic seal for the laser gyro housing. Existing high voltage plastic seals can only maintain a vacuum to 10.sup.-6 Torr. In contrast, relatively inexpensive low voltage connector seals can handle a 10.sup.-9 Torr hermetic seal.
It is, therefore, one motive of the invention to provide a laser gyro incorporating voltage supply lines that can utilize an inexpensive, hermetic connector.

Laser gyro high voltage start module and high voltage pulse generator


A power conversion circuit includes: a MOSFET having a super junction structure; an inductive load; and a freewheel diode. A switching frequency of the MOSFET is 10 kHz or more. When the MOSFET is turned off, a first period during which a drain current decreases, a second period during which the drain current increases, and a third period during which the drain current decreases again appear in this order. The freewheel diode is an Si-FRD or an SiC-SBD, and current density obtained by dividing a current value of the forward current by an area of an active region of the freewheel diode falls within a range of 200 A/cm2 to 400 A/cm2 when the freewheel diode is the Si-FRD, and the current density falls within a range of 400 A/cm2 to 1500 A/cm2 when the freewheel diode is the SiC-SBD.

Conventionally, there has been known a power conversion circuit which includes a MOSFET having a superjunction structure (see patent document 1, for example).
A conventional power conversion circuit 900 is a step-up chopper circuit which includes a MOSFET 910 having a super junction structure; a reverse current prevention diode 920; and an inductive load (reactor) 930 (see FIG. 14).
The conventional power conversion circuit 900 includes the MOSFET 910 having the super junction structure. Accordingly, in the conventional power conversion circuit 900, the MOSFET 910 can have a high withstand voltage. Further, because of a low ON resistance of the MOSFET, it is possible to suppress the increase of a conduction loss even when a switching frequency is increased.

SHINDENGEN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


The invention relates to a linear motor structure for a sliding door, comprising a rotor assembly, wherein the rotor assembly includes a fixed part and a movable part, the fixed part is provided with a permanent magnet, a slot hole is formed in a bottom part of the permanent magnet, the movable part is provided with a telescopic rod that is slidably inserted into the slot hole from one end of the slot hole, and a motion transmission part capable of transmitting a motion of the rotor assembly, and the movable part and the fixed part are fixed by a fastener. The linear motor structure is novel in design, reasonable in structure and favorable in adaptability due to the capability of flexibly adjustment of the rotor assembly according to a width of a door frame.

A linear motor generally comprises a stator assembly and a rotor assembly, the stator assembly is mounted and fixed above a track, and the rotor assembly is provided with a permanent magnet, is mounted in parallel below the stator assembly and is spaced from the stator assembly for a certain gap. During work, a current in the stator assembly is changed by a controller, the rotor assembly provided with the permanent magnet is driven to slide left and right in the track due to an electromagnetic induction principle, then, the rotor assembly is connected with a door body to transfer a motion itself to the door body, and thus, the door body is opened or closed. In the prior art, the rotor assembly is generally not adjustable, the prepared rotor assembly may be only applied to a door frame with a specific width, but for other door frames with different widths, rotor assemblies corresponding to the door frames with different widths need to be reproduced. In other words, the rotor assembly in the prior art is only applied to an unchanged occasion and incapable of adapting to door frames with various widths. In this way, a manufacturer has to design a specific rotor assembly for each door frame width, and thus, defects such as wide varieties and relatively high cost are caused.

Telescopic linear motor structure for sliding door

ZHONGSHAN OPIKE HARDWARE PRODUCTS CO., LTD


A toilet water-line filter (10) that is designed to protect a toilet""s fill valve (62) from the intrusion of potentially damaging debris such as rocks, vegetation, etc. The filter (10) is comprised of a housing (12) and an internal filter (34) which consists of a mesh staining element (36). The filter (10) is attached between the toilet""s fill valve (62) and a typical, flexible, water line (66). Debris that would normally pass into the fill valve (62) becomes trapped in the mesh staining element (36), from where the debris is easily removed.

The invention generally pertains to water filters and, more particularly, to a filter for a toilet fill valve.
Previously, as people became aware to what extent typical urban tap water was polluted, there arose the desire and/or need to provide a solution to the problems causes by the polluted water.
The most obvious concern was that many individuals or families who could not afford to buy, or simply did not want to buy xe2x80x9cbottled waterxe2x80x9d, such as Sparklettes or Arrowhead, were having to use the polluted water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Once the public concern had reached a significant level, many critics decided to study what pollutants were present in the water, and what effects resulted from the pollutants. In the water processing industry it was common knowledge that chemicals, such as chlorine, were added to the water in order to purify and cleanse the water of other potentially dangerous chemicals. The water was also filtered to remove particles that could, after time, clog the system. A balance was reached as to what chemicals were necessary to keep the water suitable for flowing, and to provide for health consumption and use by people.
Although this balance attempted to provide a realistic solution to both problems, many cities continued to receive complaints about the water. In order to remedy the complaints, the cities opted to provide better xe2x80x9ctastingxe2x80x9d water by adding more chemicals.
The result is, as many people have discovered, that water is able to clog through various places which it flow. The most typical places for clogs is where water is constantly used and replaced, such as sinks, bathtubs/showers and toilets. For most sinks and many bathtubs/showers there are filtering devices available that provide additional filtration and removal of many chemicals and particles, such as small rocks.
Unfortunately, there is no filtration device available for a toilet. Most modern toilets utilize a system of pipes and floats to remove used water and re-fill the toilet. As a result of non-filtered water entering the fill valve, a toilet can clog and subsequently overflow or stop working. Obviously, if there were some way to filter the water that enters a toilet, it would save people significant amounts of money in repairs/replacements and help stop overflows, which are not only messy but can be dangerous to people""s health.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention however, the following U.S. patents were considered related:
The Wilson patent discloses a diaphragm type of flush valve for use with toilet devices such as urinals and water closets. The invention includes a body with an inlet and an outlet with a valve set therebetween and a valve member movable to a closing position on the valve seat. The vale member includes a diaphragm which is peripherally attached to the body. A pressure chamber above the diaphragm holds the valve member on its valve seat and there is a filter and a bypass orifice connecting the inlet, and the pressure chamber. The filter includes a filter ring positioned beneath the diaphragm and adjacent the outer periphery thereof. A peripheral chamber is bounded by a seal ring, the filter ring and the body, with water reaching the peripheral chamber by passing through filter ring grooves.
The Whiteside patent discloses a diaphragm-type of flush valve for use with toilet devices such as urinals and water closets. The invention has a body with an inlet and an outlet and a valve seat therebetween. There is a valve member movable to a closing position on the valve seat to stop flow between the inlet and the outlet. The valve member includes a diaphragm peripherally attached to the body. A filter and bypass orifice connect the inlet and pressure chamber, with a bypass orifice being formed in a retaining disc and the filter being formed in part by a portion of the diaphragm.
In its most basic design, the toilet water line filter operates in combination with a toilet fill valve, which includes a threaded inlet that protrudes through a bore on the base of a toilet tank, and a flexible water line having an inlet connected to a water source and a threaded outlet.
The water-line filter is comprised of a housing having an inlet, an outlet and a bore therethrough, which is comprised of two diameters. The first diameter extends from the edge of the inlet to an outward-projecting ledge, from where the second diameter commences. The second diameter then extends to the edge of the outlet. In order to facilitate attachment, the inlet is externally threaded and the outlet is internally threaded.
A filter is comprised of a mesh straining element having an edge that is attached to a resilient washer. The filter is dimensioned to have the washer seat against the ledge. In order to attached the water-line filter to the toilet fill valve, the outlet of the housing is threaded into the threaded inlet of the toilet fill valve, and the threaded outlet of the flexible water line is threaded into the threaded inlet of the housing.
In view of the above disclosure, the primary object of the invention is to provide a toilet water-line filter that will limit the flow of debris into a toilet fill valve, thus protecting the fill valve from clogging and extend the duration of the fill valve""s use.
Additionally, the toilet water-line filter can:
1) be manufactured from a variety of materials, such as metal or plastic,
2) protect other elements of a toilet that can be affected by un-filtered water,
3) be manufactured as an integral part of the flexible water line that is used with a toilet,
4) be discarded after an elapsed time, or can be re-used with a new filtering element and,
5) be cost effective from both a consumer""s and manufacturer""s point of view.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A rubber part having a metal fitting in which the metal fitting and the rubber part are integrated through an anti-corrosion chemical film formed on a surface of the metal fitting. The anti-corrosion chemical film is a zirconium-based chemical film that is harmless to human body and environment, and is transformable following the squeeze of the metal fitting. The rubber part having a metal fitting is produced by the steps of: degreasing an outer peripheral surface of the metal fitting, subjecting the surface to shot blasting treatment, degreasing the treated surface, and water washing the treated surface; forming a zirconium-based chemical film on the treated surface; water washing and drying an outer peripheral surface of the zirconium-based chemical film; forming an adhesive layer on the outer peripheral surface of the zirconium-based chemical film; and integrating the rubber part on the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber part having a metal fitting such as a bushing and an engine mount for automobiles, and a vibration damping member for industrial machineries, and a method of producing the same.
2. Description of the Art
Generally, bushings and engine mounts for automobiles, and vibration damping members for industrial machineries consist of a rubber part having a metal fitting, which is formed by integrating the metal fitting and the rubber part and is used as a connecting member between various components of a frame or an engine.
The rubber part having a metal fitting has a problem that corrosion on a surface of the metal fitting on an interface between the rubber part and the metal fitting causes separation therebetween, leading to a deterioration of the function of the rubber part having a metal fitting. For preventing the corrosion, the surface of the metal fitting is generally subjected to chromate treatment to form a chromate-based chemical film on the surface as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-179978.
However, the chromate treatment has a problem that chemical conversion treatment liquids used for the treatment include hexavalent chromium which causes damage on human bodies and environments.
Further, since crystallization water contained within the film structure of the chromate-based chemical film is easily dehydrated by heat generated during vulcanization of rubber, the film is vulnerable to cracks because of contraction of film and to deterioration of adhesiveness. If a metal fitting under this condition is processed for diameter reduction or the like, the film may be unable to transform following the squeeze of the metal fitting, and cracks may be formed in the film, which leads to insufficient protection against corrosion.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rubber part having a metal fitting provided with an anti-corrosion chemical film formed on the surface of the metal fitting, which is harmless to human bodies and environments and is capable of transforming following the squeeze of the metal fitting.

Rubber part having a metal fitting and method of producing the same


A battery charger for charging a secondary battery using a power supply circuit, includes a discrimination circuit to discriminate a constant-current charging mode and a constant-voltage charging mode, and a controller to which a discrimination signal is supplied. When judged as being the constant-current charging mode, the controller sets the current in the constant-current charging mode by using the control signal. When judged as being the constant-voltage charging mode in accordance with the discrimination signal, the controller sets intermittently the end of charging detection current, and sets an end of charging detection period for judging the constant-current charging mode and the constant-voltage charging mode. When the discrimination signal indicates the constant-voltage charging mode in the end of charging detection period, the controller controls to shift to the end of charging detection mode.

The present application relates to a battery charger for a charging battery pack of secondary batteries.
Battery chargers for charging secondary batteries using commercial power sources have been known. The present inventors have already proposed a battery charger described in Japanese Patent No. 3430264 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. H6-14473: Patent Document 1).
FIG. 1 shows a configuration similar to that shown in the above Patent Document 1. Commercial alternating current (referred to as "AC" for convenience' sake, hereinafter) power source is converted into a DC power source by an input filter 1 and a rectifier circuit 2. A switching power source includes a pulse width modulation control circuit 3, a transistor Q1, and a transformer T1. The transistor Q1 as a switching element performs switching operation, for example, at 100 kHz, by output pulses from the pulse width modulation control circuit 3. Rectified output of a diode D1 and a capacitor C1, connected to a tertiary winding N3 of the transformer T1, is supplied as a power source of the pulse width modulation control circuit 3.
The transistor Q1 regulates current flowing through a primary winding N1, and correspondent electric power is induced on a secondary winding N2 and the tertiary winding N3. A voltage induced on the secondary winding N2 is rectified by a diode D2 and a capacitor C2 to obtain a rectified output Vo. The rectified output Vo is extracted through a switching unit 4 composed of an FET F1, an FET F2, and a transistor Tr1 and the like, between output terminals 5a [positive(+)side] and 5b [negative(−)side].
A secondary battery BAT such as a lithium ion secondary battery, is connected between the output terminals 5a and 5b. The secondary battery BAT is connected in attachable/detachable manner to/from the battery charger. The battery charger includes a switch SW for detecting attachment/detachment of the secondary battery BAT. Upon attachment of the secondary battery BAT, the switch SW turns on, and a detection signal Batt at L (which means LOW level, the same applies hereinafter), indicating that the secondary battery BAT is attached, is supplied to a controller 11 composed of a microcomputer.
The rectified output Vo is divided by a resistor R7 and a resistor R8 to input to the negative(−)terminal of an operation amplifier AMP1. On the other hand, the positive(+)terminal of the operation amplifier AMP1 is supplied with a reference voltage REF1. The output voltage Vo is compared with the reference voltage REF1, and an error signal indicating difference from the reference voltage is supplied to a photocoupler PH1 through a diode D3.
The error signal transmitted from the secondary side to the primary side of the photocoupler PH1 is supplied to the pulse width modulation control circuit 3. The pulse width modulation control circuit 3 controls an ON period of output pulses from the transistor Q1, so as to control electric power to be supplied to the secondary side, whereby an output voltage set by the reference voltage on the secondary side is extracted.
An output (charge) current Io is detected by a resistor R2. The load-side (output-side) terminal of the resistor R2 is connected to the negative terminal of an operation amplifier AMP2 via a resistor R5. A voltage divided from the reference voltage REF1 by resistors R4 and R6 is supplied to the positive terminal of the operation amplifier AMP2, to thereby raise voltage level at the positive(+)terminal of the operation amplifier AMP2.
Flow of output current Io induces voltage drop over the resistor R2 ascribable to the output current Io. As a consequence, a voltage divided by the resistors R4 and R6 decreases. Increase in the output current Io causes further voltage drop at the positive terminal of the operation amplifier AMP2. When the potential at the positive(+)terminal of the operation amplifier AMP2 falls down to the potential at the negative terminal or therebelow, the output signal from the operation amplifier AMP2 shifts from H (which means HIGH level, the same applies hereinafter) to L.
The output signal from the operation amplifier AMP2 is supplied to the pulse width modulation control circuit 3 through a diode D4 and a photocoupler PH1, so that the power control is performed similarly to voltage control. More specifically, voltage drop occurs at the positive terminal of the operation amplifier AMP2 depending on the amount of current flowing through the resistor R2, the potential of the positive terminal is compared with that of the negative terminal, and the amount of output current is controlled to keep voltage generated at the resistor R2 constant. The output current is regulated at a constant level in this way.
A predetermined voltage stabilized from an output voltage V0 by the regulator 12 is supplied to the controller 11 as a source voltage. An LED (light emitting diode) 13 as a display element, indicating the state of charging operation, is connected to the controller 11.
The switching unit 4 is operated by drive pulse signals DR1, DR2, and DR3 outputted from the controller 11. When the controller 11 detects the attachment of the secondary battery BAT by receiving the detection signal Batt, charging operation starts and a predetermined charging operation proceeds under monitoring of battery voltage Vbatt.
The above-described battery charger charges the secondary battery BAT based on a CC/CV (constant current-constant voltage) charging system, which is a combined system of constant-current charging and constant-voltage charging. FIG. 2 shows output characteristics of the above-described battery charger. The abscissa represents charging current, and the ordinate represents charging voltage. The battery charger first operates in the constant-current control mode, for example, at 1.0 A, and then operates in the constant-voltage control mode, for example, at 4.2 V. In the initial charging mode in the early stage of charging, the charging at initial charging current If is proceeded. When the voltage reaches a rapid switching voltage, for example, at 2.7 V, the charging mode switches to a rapid charging mode.
FIG. 3 shows time-dependent changes(charging curve) in the charging voltage and charging current during charging. For example, the constant-current control proceeds in a region where the battery voltage is as high as the constant-voltage control voltage (4.2 V, for example) or below, whereby the constant-current charging proceeds under a constant current (1.0 A, for example). When the battery voltage (internal electromotive force) elevates to reach 4.2 V as a result of charging, the battery charger switches the operation into those under the constant-voltage control, whereby the charging current gradually decreases. When the charging current is detected to reach the end of charging detection value Is, the end of charging is detected. From this point in time, a float timer activates, and the battery is charged until the timeout to terminate the charging of the battery. The charging adopts the floating timer, because the capacity may slightly be increased even after the point in time when the end of charging is detected.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, during the constant-current charging, the output of the operation amplifier AMP2 is supplied to the photocoupler PH1 through the diode D4, and the power source is regulated to give constant output current. In the constant-current charging, the output of the operation amplifier AMP2 is lower than that of the operation amplifier AMP1, and the power source is regulated by the output of the operation amplifier AMP2. During the constant-voltage charging, the output of the operation amplifier AMP1 is supplied to the photocoupler PH1 through the diode D3, and the power source is regulated by the output of the operation amplifier 1 so that the output voltage Vo can be brought to a predetermined voltage. In the constant-voltage charging, the output of the operation amplifier AMP1 is lower than that of the operation amplifier AMP2, and the power source is regulated by the output of the operation amplifier AMP1.
One end of the load side of the current detecting resistor R2 in the configuration of FIG. 1 is connected to the negative terminal of a comparator 6, and the other end thereof is connected to the negative side of a reference voltage REF2, and the positive side of the reference voltage REF2 is connected to the positive terminal of the comparator 6. The charging current is converted to a voltage by the resistor R2, and the voltage is compared with the reference voltage REF2. When the charging current is decreased, the reference voltage of the positive terminal of the comparator 6 is greater than the detecting voltage of the negative terminal thereof, and an output Cs of the comparator 6 is reversed. The output Cs of the comparator 6 is then supplied to the controller 11, and the controller 11 detects the end of charging.


A peripheral module capable of interaction with a host system comprises a digital signal processor (DSP), a cache controller, and minimal or no resident memory for initial storage of instructions and data. The peripheral module utilizes the memory resources (e.g., ROM and RAM) of a host system. The cache controller interfaces to the DSP and provides an instruction and data stream, upon request, from a resident cache. A bus interface unit arbitrates access to the host system via a host bus for access to host system resources by the cache controller for extracting DSP information (e.g., instructions and data) from the host system for utilization by the DSP within the peripheral module. The cache controller and cache thereby provide the instruction and data stream as required by the DSP for digital signal processing applications and relieve the need for resident storage within the peripheral module.

1. The Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to computer and communication systems having a host system interfacing with support or peripheral modules for performing digital signal processing functions. More specifically, the present invention relates to the minimization of hardware components in computer architectures within peripheral modules. More particularly, the invention relates to independent caching of instructions and/or data from a shared host memory.
2. Present State of the Art
Computer systems originally were self-reliant in performing both computational and peripheral functions. Computer systems processed data as well as generated control signals and performed calculations for causing peripheral modules to react as directed. As peripheral functions, such as digital signal processing, increased in complexity, computer systems became largely distracted from their own computational role by the required burden of providing computational support and control functions to peripheral modules. To combat this problem, peripheral modules were designed with additional sophistication.
Modern peripheral modules such as digital signal processing modules and other devices incorporate many of the attributes of computer systems themselves. For example, peripheral modules incorporate digital signal processors and on-board memory devices such as ROMs and RAMs. Such configured peripheral modules became autonomous yet focused in carrying out a specific objective such as filtering and conditioning signals, generating waveforms, and other functions.
Although these modem systems perform focused, independent, digital signal processing functions, such peripheral modules still rely on a computer system or a host system to provide control, data, or information for processing. For example, peripheral modules having a digital signal processor may rely upon a host computer to generate control signals or deliver data for encoding or modulating.
To facilitate the transfer of data between a host system and a peripheral system, interface standards have been established. Both a host system and a peripheral module incorporate these standards into their interfaces for compliant interaction therebetween. Such peripheral modules electrically connect to the host system according to a defined interface. Such interfaces include parallel and serial interfaces and take specific forms such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), PCMCIA, as well as other interface standards.
Peripheral modules taking the form of extended processing systems such as modems, traditionally operate as dedicated systems having resident processing and memory resources. Additionally, peripheral modules may couple to a host system bus through a bus interface unit that provides a compatible loading and electrical interface with the host bus. Traditional host bus configurations subordinate peripheral modules to host processor control (ie., the host processor operates as the host bus master while interfacing with peripheral modules). Peripheral modules requesting access to the host bus must initially assert this request in a form such as a direct memory access (DMA) request.
Traditionally, such a master/slave interface between a peripheral module and host bus have been impractical for continuous and substantial transfer of information due to bus architectures and disparate performance of digital signal processor and host system resources. For example, a peripheral module having a digital signal processor may be operating on 10 nanosecond clock rates while host system resources such as memory may only be capable of functioning at access rates on the order of 100 nanoseconds. Because of such a throughput disparity, peripheral modules were required to incorporate their own support resources such as memory devices onto a bus local to the peripheral module. Such a peripheral-resident bus incorporated data and program storage for use by the peripheral module. Incorporation of additional program and data storage (e.g., ROM and RAM) onto a peripheral module significantly increases the cost of the peripheral module.
In addition to the increased cost of a peripheral module, replication of existing types of resources (e.g., ROM and RAM) on the peripheral module increases the overall "footprint" (i.e., the necessary area for routing and placement of components) of the peripheral module. FIG. 1 represents a prior art configuration of a host system 100 comprising a host processor 102 operably coupled to a ROM 106 and RAM 108. ROM 106 provides program instructions and data to host processor 102 via host bus 104. RAM 108 also provides instructions and data to host processor 102 via host bus 104.
Optional configurations of host processor system 100 also comprise a caching configuration for improved efficiency of host processor 102 through pre-fetching instructions and data. Such configurations employ a cache controller 110 operably coupled to host bus 104 for pre-fetching instructions and data for storage in a high speed memory device such as a cache 112. Cache 112 operably couples to host processor 102 through cache controller 110 and a host cache bus 114.
Still referring to FIG. 1, prior art configurations of host systems 100 optionally comprise a bus interface unit (BIU) 116 operably coupled to host bus 104. BIU 116 provides operable coupling of a peripheral module 118 to interface with host system 100. Alternative prior art embodiments have physically placed BIU 116 within peripheral module 118 or required a mating bus interface module on both the host side of the interface and the peripheral side of the interface. Regardless of the actual location of BIU 116, both configurations perform similarly by accommodating interaction between master-configured host system 100 and slave-configured peripheral module 118.
By way of example, peripheral module 118 comprises a digital signal processor 120 operably coupled to a dedicated peripheral ROM 122 and peripheral RAM 124 through an independent peripheral bus 126. Peripheral ROM 122 and peripheral RAM 124 have comprised program instructions and data specific to the operation of digital signal processor 120. Because of the inherent computation-intensive and/or continuous processing of digital signal processor 120, accessible and available storage for digital signal processor 120 is desirable. Slave-configured peripheral module 118, in prior art configurations, is unable to maintain sufficient information exchange rates with host system 100 for providing instructions and data due to bus architectures and disparate performance of digital signal processor and host system resources. Thus, prior art configurations have required dedicated resident storage devices sufficiently sized for autonomous program and data storage and retrieval to be collocated with digital signal processor 120.
In conclusion, there exists a need for an apparatus and a method of providing instructions and/or data to a digital signal processor in a peripheral module without requiring substantial resident dedicated storage in the peripheral module.

Apparatus and method for operably connecting a processor cache and a cache controller to a digital signal processor


A control device for a door closer is arranged to control flow of pressure medium within a body part of the door closer and comprises an adjustment member supported by threads on the body part of the door closer, and in cooperation therewith, a separate substantially hollow control member, which is arranged to restrict the flow of the pressure medium when necessary. Turning of the adjustment member with respect to the body part of the door closer brings about movement of the control member in the axial direction of the control device for providing the desired control. The control member is arranged to be attached to the adjustment member in the radial direction so that movement of the control member with respect to the adjustment member in the axial direction is prevented.

This invention relates to a control device for a door closer which is provided with a body part and the operation thereof being controlled by a pressure medium.
In a known type of door closer utilizing a pressure medium, a piston means displaces the pressure medium from one chamber to another through different flow channels according to the movement of the door or other wing member. By restricting and, when necessary, by controlling the flows through the flow channels, the opening speed and the closing speed of the door may be influenced during the different stages of the opening and closing movements. Besides speaking of controlling e.g. the starting speed and end speed of the normal closing movement, the terms opening brake, by which the door is prevented from being grabbed by the wind during the opening movement, particularly when the door is open for instance more than 60.degree., and closing retarder, by which correspondingly the closing of the door can be slowed down at the beginning stage of the closing movement to facilitate passing through, are used. Potentially, a door closer may include a separate control device for each flow channel.
In order to control the flow rate of the pressure medium a control device is conventionally used, wherein a control member is attached to a screw or the like for mounting the device in the door closer and for providing control. The control member is formed according to the respective need for control of the flow, placement (the particular flow channel to be controlled) and corresponding criteria. Traditionally the control device is made in one part, whereby for each purpose and placement a separate control device is provided, by which control can with advantage be accomplished. A problem with this solution is the requirement of high accuracy in manufacture, because even a slight axial eccentricity of the control member and the screw member may result in the control surface of the control member being damaged as the control device is turned. Furthermore, even a small change in the structure of the door closer may require redesigning of the control member of the control device and, thus, replacement of the whole control device with a new one.
Also known are control device solutions which are based on a screw member, which is turnable from outside of the door closer with a tool, and on a separate control member influencing the flow of pressure medium. A solution of this kind is disclosed in patent publication AT 219450, according to which a separate control member is pressed against a screw member by means of a spring. Thus, in this case the control device comprises two separate parts, which are not attached to each other as one unit before mounting into the door closer, but they are only pressed against each other by the spring when the control device is mounted ready for use in the door closer. The solution is complicated and functionally uncertain and the mounting and handling thereof are quite difficult.


Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a system an method for detecting impairments in a network. The network may be a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network. The system may include a node evaluation unit for evaluating the operation of one or more nodes in the network to determine whether the nodes are operating as desired, or whether service is required.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to detecting impairments in a network.
2. Background Art
A conventional network includes nodes that route some form of data between a service provider and customers that subscribe to the service. Often, a network includes many nodes—sometimes hundreds or thousands. In turn, each node in a conventional network may serve hundreds or thousands of customers. Thus, a single malfunctioning node can negatively affect a large number of customers, decreasing customer satisfaction with the service and the service provider.
Service providers often take a reactive approach to detecting impairments in the networks that they maintain and operate. This may be because the service providers do not have the ability to monitor the network equipment—such as nodes—in real-time, and therefore are unaware when equipment in the network begins to malfunction. Consequently, customers themselves must notify the service provider of interruption in their service before the service provider dispatches a technician to troubleshoot the network. This reactive approach can lead to long service outages, again decreasing customer satisfaction.
Thus, a proactive approach to detecting impairments in a network is needed in order to minimize or eliminate service outages caused by malfunctioning network equipment and to increase customer satisfaction.

Detection of impairments in a network system


A composition and method for forming investment casting shells includes using colloidal silica, zircon flour, and fused silica in a slurry which is applied to a pattern. After the slurry is applied to the pattern, it is allowed to partially or completely solidify. After the shell has solidified, the pattern may be melted or otherwise removed. A molten material is introduced into the shell and allowed to cool to form an article. Finally, the shell is broken away or otherwise removed from the article. The improved shell slurry composition and corresponding method minimizes pattern-to-pour cycle times and is environmentally friendly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to investment casting, and more particularly, to a composition for an investment casting shell and a corresponding method that minimizes "pattern-to-pour" cycle times at a significant cost savings.
2. Description of Related Art
Investment casting is commonly used to produce high quality metal products with relatively close dimensional tolerances. The investment casting process is well known and commonly practiced. Generally, an investment casting of a part is made by creating a thin-walled ceramic mold over a previously formed pattern of the part. After the mold or shell has hardened, the pattern is melted or otherwise removed from it. The ceramic shell is then filled with a molten metal and allowed to solidify. The shell is then removed to reveal the desired part. Typically, some post-process conditioning is required to finish the part. Notably, the process may also be referred to herein with one or more of the following terms including lost wax, lost pattern, ceramic shell, or precision casting.
More particularly, as noted, investment casting methods initially include constructing a pattern of the original object to be replicated. Because this pattern will later be burned or, melted out of the shell, it must be either a low melting point substrate or a combustible substrate. Such substrates may include, for example, wax, polystyrene, plastic, or synthetic rubber.
Next, a ceramic shell is formed around the pattern. This can be accomplished by a two-step process including dipping the pattern into a slurry consisting of a mixture of liquid refractory binders, then disposing a refractory powder thereon. In particular, while the pattern is still wet, dry refractory grains are sieved onto the pattern. Such refractory materials are required to ensure that the integrity of the shell remains intact once the pattern is removed under elevated temperatures. Notably, one significant drawback of conventional investment casting is that during this stage, refractory grains, such as silica, become airborne and create a respiratory hazard to the user. As such, great care must be taken in the handling and application of refractory grains. Ventilation systems and respirators are commonly used to combat the associated dangers of airborne silica. However, such capital equipment is extremely expensive and often serves as a barrier to users who otherwise would find investment casting to be a preferred method of producing their desired part, for example, artists that want to produce a single cast of a work.
It is also notable that traditional investment casting slurries must be continuously blunged to remain viable for use as a shell material. Otherwise, the slurry "settles out" and hardens, thus becoming useless. This is a further drawback in terms of in convenience and cost (blunging machinery, labor, short shelf-life, etc.), and thus an alternate slurry composition that does not require blunging would be ideal.
An additional drawback to traditional methods is that they require the pattern to be dipped into a refractory slurry then coated with dry refractory grains, over and over, until the desired shell thickness is obtained. Typically, shells are gradually built up to a thickness of approximately ⅛ inch or more to attempt to prevent defects from appearing in the final part. Such defects typically result from the shell shrinking, sagging or cracking. It is not uncommon in industry to use seven or more layers per shell. For some applications, the coats are applied with conventional manual dipping, but for many applications, including larger volume industrial applications, such manual dipping is prohibitively impractical. As a result, costly robotic manipulators may be required for dipping, thus serving as another barrier to those users who could otherwise effectively employ investment casting methods.
Overall, the process of shell building is time consuming because each coat of slurry (each with a corresponding coat of refractory grains) must be air-dried prior to the application of subsequent coats. Notably, in this regard, known shells cannot be baked at elevated temperatures for extended periods of time without compromising the integrity of the cured shell. In the end, the process of dipping, air drying, and redipping requires twenty-four to forty-eight hours or more to complete.
After drying, the shell is heated to at least the melting or burning point of the substrate (i.e., pattern). During this step, the substrate is melted or burned away leaving only the shell and any residual substrate. The shell is then heated to a temperature high enough to flash off the residual substrate which remains in the shell.
Before the shell has cooled significantly, the molten metal will be poured into it. Various methods are used to introduce molten metal into shells including gravity, vacuum pressure, and centrifugal methods. Notably, a shell material that has a low thermal conductivity will require a lower temperature of molten metal than one that does not have a low thermal conductivity. As understood in the art, pouring molten metal at a lower than typical temperature facilitates producing parts with more detail, and yields less oxidation. Therefore, a shell material that retains more heat is typically preferred.
Upon cooling and solidification of the molten metal, the casting shell may then be removed from the casting in conventional fashion such as by hammering or sand blasting. After the shell is removed from the casting, the casting may require a cleaning or finishing step.
More specifically, in addition to physical dimensional defects, if chemicals within a shell react with the molten metal, oxides or scaling typically will be formed and must be removed. In conventional investment casting, bead blasting or other methods of abrasion are often used to remove any oxidation, flashing and/or residual shell material from the part.
Due to economic pressures, an investment casting method that is quicker than known methods, yet accurate, was desired. To decrease the cost of producing investment cast parts, the time between creating the shell and the time that the molten metal is poured into the shell, or the "pattern-to-pour" cycle time, should be minimized. Additionally, the part as cast must be free from defects in order to minimize the need for costly post-casting machining and cleanup. Furthermore, to open the technique up for use by parties with limited budgets, the need for expensive capital equipment associated with current investment casting materials and techniques should preferably be reduced or eliminated.
In addition, a shell material that does not crack or distort was desired to reduce clean-up and post-casting machining. Any such material and/or method would preferably minimize the amount of equipment needed to produce the investment cast parts in high and low volume applications, and provide a safe working environment. And, health risks should be minimized by providing a material and method that does not require the application of dry refractory grains, thus essentially eliminating airborne refractory material.

Investment casting slurry composition and method of use


A signal processor generates basis functions and identifies at least one basis function component of a sensor signal in order to calculate a physiological measurement. The signal processor is advantageously applied to pulse oximetry so as to directly calculate oxygen saturation and so as to calculate a robust oxygen saturation measurement. In particular, a signal component transform may be calculated within a window around a derived pulse rate estimate. A signal component transform may also utilize sinusoidal basis functions, and an optimization of a signal component transform may occur at a particular frequency or a set of frequencies. A sinusoidal waveform or waveforms at that frequency or set of frequencies is generated to select associated red and infrared components of the sensor signal, and an oxygen saturation is calculated from a magnitude ratio of these components.

Early detection of low blood oxygen is critical in the medical field, for example in critical care and surgical applications, because an insufficient supply of oxygen can result in brain damage and death in a matter of minutes. Pulse oximetry is a widely accepted noninvasive procedure for measuring the oxygen saturation level of arterial blood, an indicator of oxygen supply. A pulse oximeter typically provides a numerical readout of the patient's oxygen saturation and pulse rate. A pulse oximetry system consists of a sensor attached to a patient, a monitor, and a cable connecting the sensor and monitor. Conventionally, a pulse oximetry sensor has both red (RD) and infrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED) emitters and a photodiode detector. The pulse oximeter measurements are based upon the absorption by arterial blood of the two wavelengths emitted by the sensor. The pulse oximeter alternately activates the RD and IR sensor emitters and reads the resulting RD and IR sensor signals, i.e. the current generated by the photodiode in proportion to the detected RD and IR light intensity, in order to derive an arterial oxygen saturation value, as is well-known in the art. A pulse oximeter contains circuitry for controlling the sensor, processing the sensor signals and displaying the patient's oxygen saturation and pulse rate.


A pivoting structure for joining and supporting two co-planar surfaces (52) that pivot independently around a fixed point between the tables at one end on a pivot assembly (35). The co-planar surfaces are supported at the opposite end by a support leg (54) that provides rotation quickly and easily by one person by means of a pivoting wheel (62). An array of positions can be fixed by means of a wheel brake lever (60). The pivot assembly is supported with a pivot support (28) and a base (22). The pivoting structure""s geometry is such that multiple similar structures can be configured modularly to provide an even greater variety of practical positions.

Not applicable.
This invention relates to furnishings in particular a pivoting structure for joining and articulating two co-planar surfaces of adjacent tables that can be arranged in any array of positions and modular configurations.
Offices, educational facilities, and homes regularly furnish their spaces with tables. These work surfaces are often arranged in different configurations to complement different functions.
Arrangement of alternate configurations is time consuming, awkward and often mandates the involvement of two or more people. Replicating various positions is difficult without positioning marks or measuring. In addition, long rectilinear conference tables loose some functionality when presentations are made due to the linear arrangement of the audience to the presenter or other communication media.
Furthermore, when furnishings become dated and tables are replaced, it is often necessary to replace the entire table structure rather than just the work surface.
Modular table systems are generally well known in the art and typically comprise multiple duplicate or similar tables, which can be arranged and locked into different configurations. To a lesser extent articulating tables have been introduced in an attempt to solve some of the above mentioned problems. In today"" business and teaching climate the popularity of collaborative problem solving creates the need for work surfaces that are flexible and can be rearranged very quickly. Prior art modular systems have tended to be difficult to reconfigure and often involve lifting, pulling, unlatching, banging and reinserting major components.
Prior art articulating systems have similar drawbacks and due to their curvilinear and unusual shapes are limited in configuration by the rectilinear rooms that they most often occupy.
It is known, for example, from the prior art referred to as the xe2x80x9cscissors tablexe2x80x9d, designed by J. Wade Beam (July 2000 issue of Contract, inside back cover), that it would take a conference room that was twice as wide as the length of the table to position the table parallel to a presentation at either end of the table. In addition the large drum of the pivoting mechanism and shape of the table makes it unsuitable for modular and rectangular configurations. Its pivoting mechanism serves only as a guide necessitating plurality of table legs for support and stability, which encumbers seating from both sides of each table surface.
This invention comprises a fixed articulating support for joining two co-planar surfaces of adjacent tables that can be arranged in an array of positions by means of two additional wheeled supports and can be configured with replicas of itself modularly.
Several objects and advantages are:
(a) to provide an articulating arrangement of two coplanar work surfaces of adjacent tables that can be moved into multiple positions;
(b) to provide movement into multiple positions easily by one person without lifting, pulling, banging, unlatching or reinserting major components;
(c) to provide a geometric arrangement that maximizes the use of space within a rectilinear room;
(d) to provide exact positioning each time the invention is reconfigured;
(e) to provide movement of each table surface independent of the other;
(f) to provide a multitude of alternate configurations through the modular addition of replicated units;
(g) to provide a support structure that allows a variety of table surfaces to be interchanged;
(h) to provide a wiring raceway through the pivot support for data, phone, or electrical devices.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.


In a method of filtering data, including the steps of processing (7) data (O) to obtain reduced data, delaying (9) the reduced data to obtain delayed data, interpolating (11, 13) the delayed data to obtain interpolated data (R), and combining (1-5) the interpolated data (R) and input data (I) to obtain filtered data (O), the interpolating step (11, 13) includes the step (13) of providing one delayed data element out of several delayed data elements in dependence upon an input data element (p).

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for filtering data. Preferably, the invention is used in an image data noise filter. The invention also relates to a television receiver comprising such a noise filter.
EP-A-0,581,059 discloses a method of filtering noise in television or video signals by means of a noise reduction circuit having a first input which receives the input signal, and a second input which receives a low-frequency part of a field delayed output signal of the noise reduction circuit. A decimation filter is present between an output of the noise reduction circuit and the field delay to reduce the data rate of the output signal of the noise reduction circuit. More specifically, the bandwidth is reduced by a factor 2, the data rate is reduced by the same factor, and the bit resolution is reduced from 8 bits to 7 bits. An interpolation filter is present between the field delay and the second input of the noise reduction circuit. The presence of the decimation filter and the interpolation filter allows the use of a field delay with a reduced storage capacity. When it is attempted to obtain a further reduction of the required storage capacity, disturbing artifacts occur when the prior art techniques are used.

Method and apparatus for filtering data in which the required storage capacity is reduced