Pharmaceutical compositions containing a cocktail of inhibitors of central stress nuclei are provided. The pharmaceutical compositions are useful for the prevention and treatment of a variety of conditions in mammals including humans, including anxiety and mood disorders such as depression.

Major depressive illness represents one of the leading causes of disability with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 16.2% and an eventual suicide rate of from 6-15% (Blair-West, et al., Acta Psychiatr.Scand. (1997) 95:259-263; Inskip, et al., Br. J. Psychiatry (1998) 172:35-37) While numerous antidepressant drugs are currently available and are partially effective, most fail to produce remission in a significant fraction of patients. This lack of adequately efficacious antidepressants may be due to our present inadequate understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology of major depression.
A number of new candidate drugs and procedures have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties. These include ketamine (Zarate, et al., Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006; 63: 856-864), 51-1T4 receptor agonists (Lucas, et al., Neuron, 2007; 55: 712-725), deep brain stimulation (Mayberg, et al., Neuron 2005; 45: 651-660, 2005), agomelatin (Kasper, et al., World J Biol Psychiatry 2009; 10: 117-126), and antagonists of CRF (Zoumakis, et al., Ann N Y Acad Sci 2006; 1083: 239-251), NK1 (Ebner, et al., Curr Pharm Des 2009; 15: 1647-1674), kappa opioid (Carr, et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 2010; 35: 752-763), and cholecystokinin (Smadja, et al., Psychopharmacology 1997; 132: 227-236) receptors. While some of these agents appear to have an increased speed of action and reduced side effect profile, they may not possess greater efficacy than existing drugs and may have further limitations themselves in terms of degree of invasiveness, losses of efficacy with chronic administration, and dissociative side effects. Moreover, while some of the newer agents can rapidly reverse the motoric (i.e., immobility) aspects of depression, most continue to have delayed actions on depressive anhedonia, one of the core symptoms of the illness (Friedman, et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 2009; 34: 1057-1066, Machado-Vieira, et al., Pharmacol Ther 2009; 123: 143-150).
Recently, however, the picture has begun to improve with significant advances in the elucidation of the basic neural circuitry of this disorder. In global terms, it now appears that depression arises from a shift of neural activity away from brain regions involved in motivation and behavioral performance towards regions involved in stress responses. (Mayberg, Biological Psychiatry 2007, 61: 729-730; Steciuk et al., Brain Research, 1999; 822: 256-259; Price et al., Neuropsychopharmacology, 2010, 35; 192-216 and Drevets, European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2009; 12:527-544; Stone et al., Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2008; 32:508-524). Thus, in both depressed patients and animal models of the disorder, brain structures controlling executive functions and behavioral performance such as the dorsolateral prefrontal motor and piriform cortex, lateral septal nucleus and nucleus accumbens tend to be deactivated or unresponsive to stimulation whereas areas controlling emotional and autonomic responses to stress including ventral limbic forebrain structures, amygdala, insula, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and locus coeruleus tend to be overly activated or hyperresponsive.
The shift of activity between the motivational and stress regions has suggested that the heightened activity of the stress areas is the cause of the inhibition of the motivational regions.
Depression has a lifetime prevalence of approximately 17% with an economic burden of about $80 billion per year in our country. Currently available antidepressants are inadequate to meet this need because most have an unsatisfactory efficacy in a sizable fraction of patients and/or require several weeks to act, which can be especially deleterious for agitated, suicidal patients. It may, however, be possible to overcome these problems with the use of agents that immediately and selectively inhibit the brain's stress circuit via sensitive autoreceptors.
Various clinical neuroimaging and animal depression studies have shown that a key etiological factor in depression is the excessive activity of the central stress circuit, (Stone et al., 2008a) a group of brain nuclei that are highly sensitive to stress and that mediate the various autonomic, neuroendocrine, behavioral and aversive emotional responses to stressful stimuli. These findings therefore have suggested that it may be possible to initially treat depression rapidly and effectively by selectively targeting the central stress nuclei for acute inhibition, and that this method might help bridge the gap between the acute and chronic treatments of the illness.
Such a strategy was first employed by Weiss and colleagues (Simson et al., Neuropharmacology (1986) 25:385-389) and was directed at the locus coeruleus (LC), the main noradrenergic stress nucleus of the brain, which had been implicated in human depression (Bissette et al., Neuropsychopharmacology (2003) 28:1328-1335; Ordway et al., Biol. Psychiatry (2003) 53:315-323). Simson et al. studied rats who showed increased depressive-like immobility in a forced swim test as a result of previous exposure to traumatic electric shock stress. They found that infusion of the α2-adrenergic agonist, clonidine, in the LC to inhibit the latter's electrical activity, produced an immediate reduction of the depressive behavior consistent with the hypothesized role of the nucleus. Subsequently Stone et al provided further confirmatory evidence on the basis of experiments with another α-agonist, 6-fluoronorepinephrine, (6FNE), which produces an even more profound inhibition of the LC activity than clonidine as a result of the combined stimulation of inhibitory α1- and α2-receptors (Stone, et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology In press (2009); Stone, et al., Brain Res. (2009) 1291:21-31). This compound produced a more marked and rapid antidepressant response than clonidine when infused in the LC prior to several different behavioral tests. These findings have recently been confirmed by Stone et al in studies with dipivalyl-6-fluoronorepinephrine (dp6FNE), a catecholamine pro-drug that stimulates the 2 chief α-adrenergic inhibitory autoreceptors of the LC (Stone et al, Current Protocols in Neuroscience (2010) In press) This drug, at or below 1 mg/kg, i.p., h has been found to have immediate anti-immobility effects without motor stimulation or sedation in a model of chronic depression in mice (repeated forced swim) that is resistant to acute treatment with all other currently available antidepressants so far tested, including ketamine (FIG. 1) (Stone et al., Current Protocols in Neuroscience (2010) In press).
The mechanism by which excessive LC activity might lead to depression may involve the release of the inhibitory peptide galanin from noradrenergic fibers in the ventral tegmental area (Weiss, et al., Neuropeptides (2005) 39:281-287), thus inhibiting a key dopaminergic motivational behavioral system. Alternatively, it may involve excessive activation of postsynaptic α1-adrenoceptors by NE itself in certain forebrain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex, causing the neural activity in the latter structure to be markedly inhibited (Arnsten, et al., Biol. Psychiatry (2005) 57:1377-1384).
Central α1-adrenoceptors have long been known to play an essential role in behavioral activation under a variety of experimental conditions. Blockade of these receptors in a number of brain regions produces immobility in novel surroundings whereas stimulation may lead to behavioral activation in familiar environments (Stone et al., Neuroscience 1999; 94:1245-1252; Stone et al., Neuropharmacology 2001: 401: 354-261; Stone et al., Behav. Brain Res. 2004; 152:167-175). The LC appears to be a key region in this system in that it contains a dense concentration of al-receptor binding sites (Jones et al., J. Comp. Neurol., 1985; 231:190-208; Stone et al., Synapse, 2004, 54; 164-172) having the above behavioral properties (Stone et al., Behav. Brain Res. 2004; 152:167-175; Stone et al., Synapse, 2004; 54:164-172; Lin et al., Neuropsychopharmacology, 2007; 32:835-841). Moreover this nucleus is a site of convergence for systems regulating arousal (Cedarbaum, et al., J. Comp. Neurol. 1978; 178:1-16; Berridge et al., Psychol. Med. 1993; 23:557-564), motivated behavior (Aston-Jones; et al., Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 2005; 28:403-450; Bouret, et al., Trends Neurosci. 2005; 28:574-582), stress (Valentino, et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2008; 583:194-203; Ma et al., Neuroscience 2008; 154:1639-1647; Korf et al., Neuropharmacology 1973, 12:933-938) and pain (Pertovaara, Prog. Neurobiol. 2006; 80:53-83) and can affect a wide range of behavioral and physiological functions.
While α1-adrenoceptors have traditionally been thought to mediate postsynaptic excitation (Hermann et al., J. Physiol. 2005; 562:553-568), several recent studies have shown that they can also depress excitatory synaptic or increase GABAergic neurotransmission in a number brain regions (McElligott, et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 2008; 33:2313-2323; Lei et al., J. Neurophysiol. 2007; 98:2868-2877). A reduced functional activity of the LC is known to lead to the activation of task-specific behaviors (Aston-Jones, et al., Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 2005; 28:403-450; Weiss et al., Neuropharmacology 1986; 25:367-384; Grant, et al., Biol. Psychiatry 2001; 49:117-129), while excessive LC activity has been shown to cause aversion and abandonment of rewarding behaviors (Smith et al., Brain Struct. Funct 2008, 213; 43-61; Taylor et al., Psychopharmacology 1988, 96; 121-134), and possibly depression (Grant et al., Biol. Psychiatry 2001, 49; 117-129; Simson et al., Neuropharmacology 1986; 25:385-389; Stone, Behavior and Brain Sciences 1982; 5:122). Determining how the functional activity of this nucleus is affected by α1-adrenergic stimulation that produces behavioral activation previously utilized local infusion of the selective α1-agonist, phenylephrine (PE), which produces a weak stimulation of exploratory behavior in rats (Stone et al., Synapse, 2004; 54:164-172). PE, however, is known to be only a partial agonist at brain α1-adrenoceptors (Johnson, et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 1986; 129:293-305; Law-Tho et al., Eur. J. Neurosci 1993; 5:1494-1500). In contrast, 6-fluoronorepinephrine (6FNE), which is the only known selective full agonist at all central α-adrenoceptors (Johnson et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 1986; 129; Brasili et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 1987; 144:141-146), produces extreme hyperactivity in the home cage when infused in the mouse LC.
Stimulation of α1-receptors of the locus coeruleus with the full agonist, 6FNE, produced a virtually complete cessation of the neural activity of this nucleus whereas blockade of these receptors with the α1-antagonist, terazosin, produced an excitation of virtually every neuron of the nucleus, as measured from the expression of c-Fos its cells (Stone, et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology In press (2009)). The activity of the LC was therefore shown to be reciprocally or inversely related to the level of ongoing motivated behavioral activity. Since depression is accompanied by an inhibition of many of these motivated behaviors and by a hyperactivity of the LC, it was reasoned that inhibition of the nucleus by the full agonist, 6FNE, would produce a potent antidepressant action. This was confirmed by tests of the effects of local infusion of 6FNE near the LC on 4 different tests of antidepressant activity: the acute forced swim, acute tail suspension, chronic open space forced swim and lipopolysaccharide induced anhedonia (Stone, et al., Brain Res. (2009) 1291: 21-31). From tests of anxiety in the open field and of the activity of stress-related brain regions after local infusion of 6FNE, these experiments also revealed that stimulation of these α-adrenergic receptors of the LC may act by inhibition of the organism's state of stress.
One of the drawbacks of current antidepressant agents is their slowness of action. Most presently available drugs require several weeks administration before they produce clinically significant antidepressant effects ((Sartorius et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology (2007) 10 Suppl 1: S1-207). This can be especially deleterious for agitated or suicidal patients who require immediate relief of symptoms and who may be resistant to psychotherapeutic or cognitive/behavioral-based interventions. It would be especially beneficial to address this problem with the use of drugs that selectively and rapidly inhibit central stress-sensitive brain areas known to be active during depression.

Methods, compounds and pharmaceutical compositions for treating anxiety and mood disorders


A pneumatic radial tire comprises a tread provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves extending in a circumferential direction of the tire, and plural rows of land portions defined between axially adjacent circumferential grooves and between each of edges of the tread and the adjacent main circumferential groove. That groove wall of at least the circumferential groove located nearest to at least one of the tread edges on a treading surface of the tread which is positioned on a side of the one of the tread edges is inclined to gradually increase a width of the groove toward the surface of the tread from a location spaced by 10-70% of a depth of the circumferential groove radially outwardly from a bottom thereof. The width of an opening of the circumferential groove to the surface of the tread is in a range of 3-18 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high performance pneumatic radial tires, particularly to high performance pneumatic radial tires having uneven wear resistance greatly improved in use under the application of a large lateral acceleration without lowering drainage performance on wet roads.
2. Related Art Statement
As shown in a cross sectional view of FIG. 8, in a conventional pneumatic radial tire provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves extending zigzag or straight in the circumferential direction of the tire, it is a common practice that opposed groove walls 34 of each of the circumferential grooves 33 are spaced from each other toward the surface 31 of a tread such that angles .alpha. defined between normals 32 erected perpendicularly to the tread surface 31 and extensions of the opposed groove walls 34 may be equal to each other. Also, the groove walls 34 are connected together with a bottom wall 35 constituted by a curved surface 35 having a specific radius of curvature R.
However, in the conventional tire with the circumferential grooves having the above shape during, when a large lateral acceleration is applied to the circumferential groove during high speed running on a circuit or the like, the outer portion of the tire particularly positioned on the outer side of turning is deformed as shown in a sectional view of FIG. 9 owing to a collapse of the circumferential groove 33. Thus, that portion of the tread which comes to particularly firmly contact the ground owing to this deformation. That is, a shoulder portion A adjoining the treading surface of the tread and a land edge portion B adjoining the inside of the outermost circumferential groove 33 in the width direction of the tire bear great reaction forces from the road surface. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, there is a problem in that both the portions A and B are abnormally worn at a relatively early state.
Under the circumferences, in order to solve the above problem, a trial has been made to improve a wearing profile by narrowing the width of the circumferential grooves to such a degree that the opposite groove walls may contact each other and consequently the deformation of the tire may be restrained in the state that the opposed groove walls contact each other. However, according to this technique, since the volume of the grooves of the tire becomes smaller, the drainage performance on the wet road inevitably deteriorates.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid open No. 60-193,704 describes, a pneumatic tire having improved drainage performance, cornering stability and gripping property during turning improved. The tire has a cross angle of that entire groove wall relative to a normal line to the surface of a tread which is located outside in the axial direction of the tire between the opposed groove walls of each of circumferential grooves which is made greater than that of the other located inside in the tire axial direction. The cross angle between each of the axially outer groove walls and the normal is set in a range of 10.degree.-30.degree.. In this tire, since rigidity of the land portions defined by the outer groove walls increases, the above-mentioned uneven wear can be suppressed to some degree. However, since the outer wall of the circumferential groove is merely inclined from the bottom of the groove toward the surface of the tread to gradually increase the width of the groove, the circumferential groove is deformed in substantially the same manner as shown in FIG. 9 when a particularly large lateral acceleration is applied to the tire. Consequently, occurrence of abnormal wearing as shown in FIG. 10 cannot be prevented to a satisfactory degree.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-128,905 describes a tire in which walls of wavy or zigzag circumferential grooves are positioned on a side from which the tire is extracted from a mold are provided with groove-enlarging, inclined surface adjoining the treating surface, so that releasing of the tire from the mold may be facilitated in a full mold production process. According to this tire, the uneven worn state is even slightly improved. However, in this tire, since the circumferential groove positioned near the edge of the tread has a stepped portion on the groove wall having the above-mentioned groove-enlarging, inclined surface at a radially inner location, the groove wall of the circumferential groove is bent around the axially outer edge of the stepped portion when the tire receives great reaction forces from the road surface under application of a great lateral acceleration. As a result, the tire contacts the ground in a similar state shown in FIG. 9, and finally the tire is worn in the substantially same state shown in FIG. 10.
Further, Japanese Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. 63-72,024 describes a tire in which a chamfer continuing in the circumferential direction of the tire is provided in a contact between one of groove walls of a circumferentially annular groove and the surface of a tread. The inner edge of the chamfer as viewed in the radial direction of the tire is inwardly located in a range of 3-15% of the annular groove from the surface of the tread so that the tire may easily be released from a mold. However, although the worn state can only slightly be improved in this tire, the deformation as shown in FIG. 9 and the uneven wear as shown in FIG. 10 cannot effectively be prevented because the width of the cut is too small.


Provided is a light emitting diode (LED) driver. The LED driver includes a microcontroller for setting a level of an output current of the driver. The driver is configured to receive a prefix as an input, the prefix instructing the microcontroller to enter a programming mode. The microcontroller is responsive to a level signal representative of the level of the output current during the programming mode.

LEDs are widely used in general lighting applications. As their use expands, LED designs become more flexible to accommodate their evolving lighting system applications. A fundamental component of an LED lighting system is an LED driver.
By way of background, LED drivers regulate the amount of electrical power applied to individual LEDs, or an LED array. LED drivers differ from traditional power supplies in that LED drivers vary the amount of power applied to the LED based upon the LEDs fluctuating needs.
For example, many LED lighting systems include dimming capabilities. Other LED lighting systems may have electrical and structural similarities, but may have completely different illumination intensity requirements. One way to provide a dimming capability and/or control the illumination intensity of the LED lighting system is to vary the output current of the LED driver.
To increase the flexibility of LED drivers, many drivers include programmable settings. These programmable LED driver settings enable a single LED driver design to support the requirements of different LED lighting systems or luminaires. In most LED driver circuits, programmability is provided through use of a microcontroller.
In conventional LED drivers, a popular programming technique is to transmit digital messages, via a programming interface, to the microcontroller. These digital messages include instructions to the microcontroller related to the output current level. That is, the microcontroller reads these digital messages and adjusts the driver's output current level accordingly.
The problem with these conventional approaches is that most LED driver circuits include mainly analog circuit components. As a result, the speed and accuracy of these digital messages can be distorted and/or diminished as the messages are transmitted between the programming interface, through the analog circuitry, and to the microcontroller.

Programmable light emitting diode (LED) driver technique based upon a prefix signal


A detachable air compressor system includes a detachable air compressor unit and a second storage tank. The detachable air compressor unit is portable and includes an air pump powered by a motor and connected to a first storage tank, where the pump, motor, and first storage tank are all connected to a first base. The first storage tank is also attached to a regulator in order to release the compressed air stored inside and to a first coupler to permit the transport of compressed air between the first storage tank and the second storage tank. The detachable air compressor unit can be attached to a second storage tank of a larger size than the first storage tank. The second storage tank includes a second coupler adapted for receiving the first coupler from the first base as well as a second base adapted for coupling with the first base to removably secure the detachable air compressor unit to the second storage tank.

This invention relates to detachable air compressor units and detachable air compressor systems.
Air compressor units are well known and have a wide variety of uses. For example, air compressors can be used to power air tools, inflate tires, blow leaves, etc.
Currently, air compressor units comprise an air pump connected to a storage tank. Air is drawn by the air pump into a chamber where it is compressed and then transferred into the storage tank where it remains until it is needed.
Existing air compressor units only have one storage tank, and thus, the portability of the air compressor often depends on the size of the storage tank. In other words, if the storage tank is a large one, then the air compressor unit would not be very portable since it would be cumbersome to move the air compressor unit from location to location due to the weight and size of the storage tank. Thus, air compressor units with large storage tanks are not useful when the unit needs to be moved frequently among various locations.
On the other hand, if the storage tank is a small one, then the air compressor unit would be portable and the user can carry the unit anywhere since the weight of the storage tank would not be too heavy. However, the amount of compressed air stored for use is dependent on the size of the storage tank. Thus, air compressor units with small storage tanks also have limited use since they cannot hold enough compressed air to, for example, power an air tool for an extended period of time.
In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention allows a user to enjoy both the portability benefits of small storage tanks and the duration benefits of large storage tanks by providing for a detachable air compressor unit and system. In the detachable air compressor system of the present invention, there is provided a detachable air compressor unit which is removably attached to a second storage tank.
In the detachable air compressor unit of the present invention, there is provided an air pump powered by a motor and connected to a first storage tank, where the pump, motor, and first storage tank are all connected to a first base. The first storage tank is also attached to a regulator in order to release the compressed air stored inside and to a first coupler to permit the transport of compressed air between the first storage tank and the second storage tank.
In an exemplary embodiment, a second storage tank of the detachable air compressor system is of a larger size than the first storage tank of the detachable air compressor unit. The second storage tank includes a second coupler and second base respectively adapted for receiving the first coupler and first base from the detachable air compressor unit.

Detachable air compressor unit and system


A ringing signal generation circuit contains a direct current power source, a transformer, a control transistor, a rectifying and smoothing circuit, an invertor circuit, and an invertor controlling circuit. The direct current power source generates a direct current voltage. The transformer contains a primary winding and a base-driving winding in a primary side, and a secondary winding in a secondary side. The control transistor is connected in series to the primary winding and the direct current power source, and controls a current flowing in the primary winding. The rectifying and smoothing circuit rectifies and smooths a current generated in the secondary winding. The invertor circuit for converting a direct current output of the rectifying and smoothing circuit into an alternating current. The invertor controlling circuit controls the invertor circuit. Further, an overvoltage detecting circuit is provided for detecting an overvoltage in the secondary winding; and a current supply stopping circuit is provided for stopping a supply of the current to the primary winding.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ringing signal generation circuit having a function to protect against an overvoltage in the generated ringing signal.
In telephone exchange systems, ringing signal number circuits are provided for generating a ringing signal to inform a called party that a call is incoming, by a ringing tone. The ringing signal is sent to a telephone set at the called party through a subscriber circuit and a telephone line.
Usually, the ringing signal generation circuit is constructed using a DC-DC converter such as a ringing choke converter, and an invertor to generate a high voltage alternating signal from a low voltage direct current voltage source.
(2) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional construction of a ringing signal generation circuit. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42, and 44 each denote a resistor, 2 denotes a primary winding, 3 denotes a direct current (DC) voltage source, 4 denotes a switching transistor, 6 denotes a base-current control transistor, 5, 9, 17, 20, 24, 25, and 38 each denote a diode, 13, 18, 21, 23, 27, and 43 each denote a capacitor, 14 denotes a base-driving winding, 15 denotes a transformer, 16 and 26 each denote an additional winding, 19 and 22 each denote a secondary winding, 28 and 34 each denote an output control transistor, 29 and 33 each denote a phototransistor, 40 and 46 each denote a transistor, 47 denotes a relay, 48 denotes an oscillator, 49 and 50 each denote a photodiode, 60 denotes a power source of a control circuit, and 70 denotes a relay switch.
The primary winding 2, the direct current (DC) voltage source 3, the resistors 1, 7, 8, 11, and 12, the switching transistor 4, the base-current control transistor 6, the diodes 5 and 9, the Zener diode 10, the capacitor 13, and the base-driving winding 14, constitute a primary side of a ringing choke converter.
In the secondary side of the transformer 15, two secondary windings 19 and 22 and two additional windings 6 and 26 are provided. To each of the windings 16, 19, 22, and 26 in the secondary side, a rectifying and smoothing circuit comprised of a diode (17, 20, 24, or 25) and a capacitor (18, 21, 23, or 27) is connected.
In the secondary side, the secondary winding 19 and the rectifying and smoothing circuit (20, 21) which is connected to the secondary winding 19, are provided to supply the output therefrom for generating a positive-voltage component of the ringing signal, and the secondary winding 22 and the rectifying and smoothing circuit (23, 24) which is connected to the secondary winding 22, are provided to supply the output therefrom for generating a negative voltage component of the ringing signal. To generate the AC ringing signal, an invertor circuit is provided in the output side of the rectifying and smoothing circuits (20, 21) and (24, 23). The invertor circuit is comprised of the output control transistors 28 and 32. The output control transistors 28 and 32 are respectively controlled by the phototransistors 29 and 33, and the phototransistors 29 and 33 respectively receive a power supply from the additional windings 16 and 26 through the rectifying and smoothing circuits (17, 18) and (25, 24).
The phototransistors 29 and 33 are respectively driven by light emitted from the photodiodes 50 and 49 in a control circuit, and the phototransistors 50 and 49 alternatively emits light responding to positive and negative voltage components of an analog AC output current having a frequency of 20 Hz from the oscillator 48.
The ringing choke converter is known as a self-oscillating DC-DC converter which can be constructed by a small number of circuit components and at a low cost. However, the operation of the ringing choke converter depends much on the characteristics of the circuit components such as the switching transistor, the Zener diode, the capacitor and the like.
For example, the output voltage of the ringing signal generation circuit may exceed much over a tolerable range of the ringing signal (overvoltage) due to a deterioration caused by aging of one or more circuit components. The overvoltage in the ringing signal may cause a burning of a circuit component in the path of the ringing signal in the subscriber circuit.
The construction comprised of the resistors 39, 37, 41, 42, and 44, the capacitor 43, the Zener diode 45, the transistors 40 and 46, the relay circuit, and the relay switch 70, is provided for generating an alarm signal when an overvoltage is detected in the output of the ringing signal. The above-mentioned high-voltage-side output terminal of the rectifying and smoothing circuit (20, 21) is also connected to an end of a series connection of the resistor 39, the three diodes 38, and the resistor 37 (an end of the resistor 39) to monitor an overvoltage in the output of the rectifying and smoothing circuit (20, 21). The connecting point between the diodes 38 and the resistor 37 is connected to the base terminal of the transistor 40. The collector of the transistor 40 is connected to an end of the resistor 41, the other end of the resistor 41 is connected to an end of the capacitor 43, and the other end of the capacitor 43 is connected to the emitter of the transistor 40. The high-voltage-side terminal of the capacitor 43 is connected to the base terminal of the transistor 46 through the Zener diode 45. The transistor 46 is connected in series in a circuit for applying power to the relay circuit 47 which is provided for controlling an overvoltage alarm. When the voltage of the high-voltage-side output terminal of the rectifying and smoothing circuit (20, 21) is normal, the voltage of the connecting point between the diodes 38 and the resistor 37, i.e., the voltage of the base of the transistor 40 is low. Therefore, the transistor 40 is OFF, the voltage of the high-voltage-side terminal of the capacitor 43 is high, and the current flows through the Zener diode 45 to the base of the transistor 46. Receiving the current to the base, the transistor 46 is normally ON, a current from the voltage source 60 flows in the relay circuit 47, and correspondingly the relay switch 70 is normally OFF. When the voltage of the high-voltage-side output terminal of the rectifying and smoothing circuit (20, 21) exceeds a predetermined voltage level, e.g., 170 V, the voltage of the connecting point between the diodes 38 and the resistor 37, i.e., the voltage of the base of the transistor 40 becomes high. Therefore, the transistor 40 becomes ON, the voltage of the high-voltage-side terminal of the capacitor 43 becomes low, and the current does not flow through the Zener diode 45 to the base of the transistor 46. Therefore, the transistor 46 becomes OFF, the current does not flows in the relay circuit 47, and correspondingly the relay switch 70 becomes ON, i.e., an alarm signal is output.
However, in the above construction, an overvoltage is detected and is informed to the operator as an alarm signal, but the overvoltage itself is not controlled, and therefore, there remains a risk that the circuit component in the path of the ringing signal in the subscriber circuit, is damaged.

Ringing signal generation circuit with protection against overvoltage


A bridging fault detection system allows for a high amount of test coverage using a low number of test configurations. The bridging fault detection system automatically creates optimal test configurations and test vectors without the need for precise layout information, and is adaptable to complex programmable device architectures. Testers can specify a precise level of testing coverage to optimize the testing processing. A programmable device with interconnect bias circuitry decreases the number of test configurations and thus the time needed to test for bridging faults. The interconnect bias circuit provides explicit test control over the unused lines in a configuration, driving them both high and low for complete test coverage between each line and all of its possible neighbors. The bridging fault detection system balances the available number of control test points against the number of interconnect segments stitched together by programmable connection to maximize the lines under test per configuration.

Programmable devices, such as SRAM-based FPGAs, can be rapidly reconfigured to perform many different functions. Typically, programmable devices include a number of different functional units connected by programmable interconnections. The functions of programmable device are determined by configuration data, which defines the configuration of the functional units and the programmable interconnections between them. This, in turn, defines the overall functions of the programmable device.
One common type of defect in all semiconductor devices is a bridging fault. A programmable device typically implements programmable interconnections as one or more layers of a large number of closely-spaced conductive lines, typically made of metal or other electrically conductive materials. Due to variability in the manufacturing process, adjacent conductive lines can be unintentionally short-circuited together. This type of defect is referred to as a bridging fault. Bridging faults can arise from numerous sources, such as an excess of conductive material remaining between the conductive lines, or defects in the multiplexers or other control circuitry used to selectively connect the conductive lines to functional units, power supplies, and inputs and outputs of the programmable device.
Detecting bridging faults requires driving adjacent conductive lines to opposite electrical states, for example ground and Vcc, and observing the outputs of the conductive lines. If a pair of adjacent conductive lines can be driven to opposite states, there are no bridging faults between the pair of adjacent conductive lines. Because of their large number of programmable interconnects, typical programmable devices can have tens of thousands of conductive lines or more. In contrast to the large number of programmable interconnects, programmable devices typically have a relatively limited number of inputs and outputs. As testing each pair of adjacent conductive lines requires a minimum connection with two unique control points, which drive each line to opposite states, and one observation point, testing an entire programmable device requires reconfiguration with thousands of different sets of test configuration data to connect all of the conductive lines. This increases the time, and consequently the cost, of testing for programmable devices.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate prior systems that improve the performance of testing for bridging faults. FIG. 1A illustrate programmable device 100 having an implicit control system and including adjacent conductive lines 105 and 110. Due to a manufacturing defect, a bridging fault 115 exists between lines 105 and 110. To detect bridging fault 115, line 105 is connected to control input 125, which is used to drive line 105, and output 130, which is used to observe the state of line 105. Line 110 is not connected to any control input. Instead, programmable device 100 includes a half latch that automatically drives all unconnected lines, such as line 110, to a default electrical state, for example Vcc. As unconnected lines can be implicitly driven to a default electrical state without a control input, there are more control inputs available for testing, decreasing the number of test configurations needed.
However, full bridging fault test coverage cannot be achieved with the implicit control method. If the half latch driving unconnected lines high is stronger than the control input driving an adjacent line low, the output of the adjacent line will be high and the bridging fault will be observed. Conversely, if the half latch driving unconnected lines high is weaker than the control input driving an adjacent line low, the output of the adjacent line will be low, as expected, and the bridging fault will be undetected. Thus, in an implicit control system, even if every line is explicitly controlled and observed once, only 50% of the possible faults can be covered.
One prior alternate way to make bridging fault test generation more tractable is to narrow down the breadth of the test by explicitly driving each conductive line coming into a multiplexer via other resources. FIG. 1B illustrates a programmable device 150 in which testing is narrowed to a set of multiplexer inputs. Adjacent conductive lines 155 and 160 are connected to a multiplexer 170 and have a bridging fault 165. To detect bridging fault 165, lines 155 and 160 are driven to opposite electrical states and the output of the multiplexer is observed as it is selectively connected to each of its inputs.
The difficulty with this type of bridging fault test arises in attempting to identify and track adjacent conductive lines. Precise layout information is huge and is hard for the software to manage it efficiently. Additionally, some defects in multiplexers manifest as bridging faults between lines that may or may not be physical neighbors. This means that every line must be treated as if it had the possibility to be bridged to any other line, thereby requiring a large number of tests.
The difficulties of detecting bridging faults are further exacerbated by the increased flexibility of more advanced programmable devices. Programmable devices typically had indivisible conductive lines that ran the entire width of the device. However, more recent programmable devices allow conductive lines to be divided into segments less than the width of the device, and selectively connected to neighboring conductive lines. This increases the flexibility and routing capability of the programmable device, which improves the utilization of programmable device resources, but increases the potential for bridging faults.
It is therefore desirable for a bridging fault detection system to allow for a high amount of test coverage using a low number of test configurations. It is further desirable that the bridging fault detection system automatically create optimal test configurations and test vectors without the need for precise layout information, and be readily adaptable to complex programmable device architectures. It is still further desirable that the bridging fault detection system allow testers to specify a precise level of testing coverage.

Method and apparatus for testing interconnect bridging faults in an FPGA


A generator includes a case for accommodating a stator, a rotor and a fan. The case includes two end walls in an axial direction and a peripheral side wall. The case has plural axial opening portions which are provided in at least one of the two end walls and open approximately in the axial direction, and plural radial opening portions provided in the peripheral side wall. The fan is disposed at least at one axial end of the rotor to draw outside air through the axial opening portions and to discharge the drawn outside air through the radial opening portions. A cover member of the generator covers the axial opening portions from an outside of the case with clearances between the axial opening portions and the case. Accordingly, noise generated inside the case can be reflected by the cover member, and it can effectively reduce noise transmitted to an outside.

A generator (e.g., an alternator) is generally mounted on a vehicle to supply electrical power to electrical equipment of the vehicle. Components for constructing the alternator, such as an armature coil, a field coil, a commutator and a regulator, generate heat when electrical power is supplied thereto. Accordingly, outside air is forcibly circulated by a fan to an interior of the alternator to cool heat-generating members of the alternator. However, when the outside air is forcibly circulated to the interior of the alternator, noise due to air flow is generated. If the circulation amount of the outside air in the generator increases in accordance with an increase of electrical power consumed in the electrical components of the generator, the noise due to air flow increases and may be transmitted to (i.e., audible in) a vehicle passenger compartment. In this case, unpleasant feeling due to the noise may be given to a passenger in the passenger compartment.
In order to reduce the noise, in an alternator described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,098 (corresponding to JP-A-2002-186215), cooling water is circulated to a case that accommodates heat generating members or a fan. However, in this case, an additional cooling structure using the cooling water is required, and structure of the alternator becomes complicated.
Alternatively, in an alternator described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,687 (corresponding to JP-A-2001-298921), an interior structure for accommodating fans and armature coils is changed so as to reduce the noise due to air flow. However, it is generally difficult to change the interior structure of the alternator in order to only reduce the noise due to air flow.


An AC adapter includes a conversion part, an output terminal, and a voltage adjusting circuit. The conversion part converts alternating current input to an input terminal into a direct current. The output terminal supplies the direct current to an electronic apparatus outside. The voltage adjusting circuit lowers a voltage of the output terminal by a predetermined voltage from a regular supply voltage in a term after the AC adapter is connected to the electronic apparatus until a predetermined time lapses.

Conventionally, an alternator such as a commercial power or the like supplied through a household outlet has been widely used. On the other hand, an electronic apparatus such as a computer or the like generally operates with the direct current. Accordingly, an AC adapter is used to convert an alternating current into a direct current and supply the direct current to an electronic apparatus (hereinafter, called "main device").
The AC adapter has a different rated current, a different type, and the like depending on its size or the like. By these different features, power to be supplied becomes different. However, since it is not possible to determine the rated current, the different type, and the like of the AC adapter at a side of the main device, a relationship between the main device and the AC adapter has been fixed. Accordingly, there is no compatibility between models, or manufacturers, and the AC adapter has not been standardized between different models, or manufacturers.
Also, in a state of supplying power from the AC adapter to the main device, in an order of a state of a smaller power consumption, the state of the power supply may be one of the following states: (1) a state of conducting power supply only to charge an internal battery of the main device, (2) a state of conducting power supply only for an actual operation of the main device. Moreover, as a state in which the power consumption is great, the power supply may be in (3) a state of conducting power supplies for a charge of the internal battery and for an actual operation of the main device. However, there is no guarantee that the AC adapter supports all states by its possible power to supply.
Technologies related to the above described problems have been known as follows.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2004-341592 discloses a system including the main device capable of detecting power supply capacity information of an external power source device. In this system, a terminal other than a regular terminal for supplying power is provided. By detecting, in the main device, a range in which a voltage supplied from a side of the main device is dropped due to a resistor provided at a side of an external power source, a power supply ability of the external device is detected.
Also, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H07-143749 discloses an AC adapter which includes an oscillation part for generating a signal voltage of an oscillation frequency corresponding to a current value possible to supply, and the signal voltage is superimposed with an original DC voltage. In the main device disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H07-143749, an operation state of the main device is changed by separating the signal voltage from the original voltage and measuring the signal voltage.
Moreover, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H05-184065 discloses that connections of various types of power sources such as an AC adapter, an external battery, and the like are assumed, and the main device determines which type of the power source is connected based on the power voltage. In the main device, based on the determined type of the power source, the power consumption is adjusted in one of the above states (1) to (3).
Furthermore, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2000-134816 discloses a system in which when the AC adapter is connected, an impedance on a power source output line is changed in a certain time, and a power source input specification of the main device itself is informed to the AC adapter. The AC adapter, which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2000-134816, generates the power source for an operation based on the informed power source input specification.
However, in a system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2004-341592, since the number of output terminals of the AC adapter is increased, there is a problem in which the expense and the size of the AC adapter are increased.
Also, in the AC adapter disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H07-143749, since the oscillation part for generating the signal voltage is additionally included, there is a problem in which the expense and the size of the AC adapter are increased.
Moreover, in the AC adapter disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H05-184065, it is difficult to determine the same power source as an output voltage. Accordingly, there is a problem in which a different type of the AC adapter may not be determined.
Furthermore, in the system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2000-134816, since the AC adapter generates the power source for the operation of the AC adapter based on the specification of the main device, as a result, the AC adapter depends on the specification of the main device. Accordingly, it is not possible for the AC adapter including the above described mechanism to connect to the main device, and the main device does not allow AC adapters which are based on various specifications.

AC adapter and electronic apparatus unit


An improved timing skew measurement system includes a selector receiving a plurality of input signals whose relative skew is to be measured, a selection controller connected to the select inputs of the selector for selecting one of the input signals and a sequential logic element having a first input connected to the output of the selector. The system further includes a controllable clock generator capable of providing an adjustable clock edge position connected to a second input of the sequential logic element, the first and second inputs being associated by at least one defined timing relationship for correct operation of the sequential logic element, and an output analyzer having one input connected to the output of the sequential logic element, a first output connected to the input of the selection controller and a second output connected to the control input of the controllable clock generator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved timing skew measurement system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The testing of digital or mixed signal integrated circuits, requires the testing of internal node timings. Such measurements are typically performed by placing a sequential element such as latch or flip-flop at the node of interest, with the node connected to the data input of the sequential element. The output of the sequential element is typically brought out to an I/O pin. Measurements are then made by varying the operating frequency until the sequential element fails to latch the correct node value.
Such testing is particularly important on devices that require an on chip clock generator for internal clock de-skew and frequency synthesis while supporting advanced features of clock advance or phase shifts to address specific performance requirements. In such devices it is necessary to accurately measure the skew or phase difference, which may be a design parameter or operation parameter to ensure performance benchmarking of the device or product feature. Accurate measurement of clock skew is necessary for fault diagnosis, design improvement and semiconductor process improvement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,483 describes a method that requires introducing on chip programmable delay in one of the internal clock signals until failure is detected while reading the flip-flop output. It requires therefore one of the internal clocks to be either controlled directly for delay or introduction of delay element circuits which can be programmed for variable delay. The circuit is developed in accordance with the flow diagram shown in FIG. 1.
This prior art allows direct control of clock frequency of sequential element through IO pins connected to an IC tester. The limitation of this method is observed in the inability of a regular medium to high cost tester to operate at high frequencies beyond 500-700 Mhz while on chip clock generator output clocks may ramp beyond tester frequency limitation. Advanced clock generators provide output clocks that are synchronized to the input clock of the IC and at the same time perform advanced clock synthesis, controlled/programmable phase shifts and duty cycle manipulations. Another limitation of conventional skew measurement methods is in the dependence of measurement accuracy on test data placement and output edge placement accuracy of the tester, which may cumulate to more than 10−10 seconds. The phase measurements require time resolutions to the multiple of 10 ps, which are not measurable by an off-chip tester. Changing the external frequency of clock as described in the prior art will not control flip-flop output as all phase shifted signals will track the input clock frequency without controlling skew.


A process and device is provided to handle the yarn after piecing or bobbin replacement where conical bobbins are used. According to the process and with the apparatus, the yarn is transferred to the yarn guide in such a manner that the yarn is first guided in direction of the smaller diameter of the bobbin or former before the winding of the yarn over the entire bobbin width of the bobbin takes place.

The instant invention relates to a process and device to spool a yarn on a conical bobbin or former subsequent to bobbin replacement or yarn breakage in an open-end spinning machine. DE OS 28 50 729 and DE 28 50 729 C2 disclose a method by which a yarn storage is incorporated into the course of the yarn by which the yarn reserve between the piecing device and the conical bobbin take-up is kept at least partially filled before the clamping roller is pressed against the draw-off roller, i.e. before the yarn is drawn off by the machine's pair of draw-off rollers during piecing in an open-end spinning device and subsequent winding of the spun yarn on a conical bobbin and to empty the yarn storage before yarn transfer to the spooling frame of the spinning machine. It is the purpose of DE 28 50 729 C2 to avoid thick spots and weak spots in the yarn during piecing as well as errors after the winding process with the utilization of conical bobbins.
DE OS 17 85 153 discloses a device used to spool conical cross-wound bobbins in which a yarn storage is provided to compensate for the irregularities in the course of the yarn which are caused by the utilization of conical bobbins. DE OS 25 41 589 discloses a device for automatic piecing in an open-end spinning machine.
In all known processes according to the present state of the art the yarn supplied by the spinning device is first handled by a service unit, whereby the yarn is withdrawn from the spinning device by a draw-off device of the service unit and is conveyed to the bobbin of the spinning machine by various levers and graspers of the bobbin. The bobbin can also be driven by a drive of the service unit. While the yarn is handled by the service unit, and also at the moment when the yarn is already being conveyed from the spinning device to the bobbin, no back-and-forth winding of the yarn on the bobbin takes place. Only when the yarn has been securely applied to the cross-would bobbin is it transferred to the yarn guide of the spooling station for cross-wound spooling on the bobbin of the service unit, making it possible for the normal spooling of a cross-wound bobbin to begin or to be continued. At the yarn is transferred from the service unit to the cross-winding device, a transfer to the draw-off device of the spinning machine is generally carried out at the same time. The process for piecing and subsequent transfer of the yarn to the spooling station of the spinning machine are well known according to the present state of the art.
In addition to cylindrical bobbins, an ever increasing number of cross-wound bobbins is being spooled by the spooling devices of open-end spinning machines. The transfer of the yarn by the service unit to the spooling device, by hand when manual piecing is carried out, produces brief tension peaks in the yarn at the moment when the cross-winding device grasps the yarn. This is especially troublesome when conical bobbins are spooled. Excessive yarn tension then occurs and risks causing yarn breakage. If the yarn is conveyed in the direction of the larger diameter of the conical bobbin when it has been grasped by the yarn guide, the effects of different circumferential speeds in conical cross-wound bobbins is added to the stress on the yarn produced as it is being grasped by the yarn guide. If the yarn is immediately conveyed in the direction of the larger diameter of the former or bobbin when it has been grasped by yarn guide, yarn breakage occurs more frequently.

Process and device to spool a yarn on a spinning machine/spooling device


A heat exchanger for exchanging heat between a first fluid and a second fluid comprises a moving partition member for heat transmission between the first fluid and the second fluid, a housing partitioned by the moving partition member into a first chamber for passing the first fluid and a second chamber for passing the second fluid, and a power source for rotating the moving partition member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heat exchanger able to exchange heat between two fluids with extremely high efficiency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In homes, offices, factories and the like, it is frequently found necessary to exchange heat between two fluids. For example, heat exchange is required between indoor and outdoor air during ventilation of air-conditioned rooms, between the intake and exhaust air of hot air driers, between supply water and waste water at factories and in many other situations.
The methods conventionally used for such heat exchange between two fluids, specifically between two gases, between two liquids or between a gas and a liquid, include the so-called radiator method in which a liquid is pumped through a long, winding pipe provided with many fins and a gas is blown onto it with a fan, the method in which two fluids are passed through alternate passages of a honeycomb structure made of thin sheet metal, and the method in which heat exchange is achieved through the medium of a rotating heat-absorbing body which is alternately inserted into two flow paths.
Each method has its disadvantages. The first requires a complex and expensive heat exchanger, the second achieves low heat exchange for its size owing to the use of immovable fins, and the third leads to some degree of mixing of the two fluids between which heat exchange is conducted. While in all three methods the temperature difference between the two fluids is smaller after heat exchange than before, in none of them does the high-low temperature relationship between the two fluids reverse. Defining the heat exchange efficiency in the case where the temperatures of two heat-exchanged fluids reverse as 100 (%), heat exchange efficiency by the conventional methods never exceeds 50 (%).

Kokusai Gijutsu Kaihatsu Kabushiki Kaisha


A system, for concurrent calculation of resource qualifications (e.g., skills, educational degree, etc) and availability (e.g., availability to work on a project) using text search. The method commences by initiating a flow for requesting resources, the resource request comprising a qualification requirement indication and a time period requirement indication. The method further comprises retrieving candidate resource documents in a manner so as to calculate an overall match score that is based not only on qualifications, but also on availability. The scoring uses a recoded candidate resource document that comprises qualification attributes as well as time period availability to form an overall match score. The recoding can be performed in an administrative flow (e.g., a batch process, and/or a periodically executed update process), and the administrative flow creates recoded candidate resource document that are suited for use with a text search engine capable of processing an extensible markup language document.

A resource management software system is a tool used by resource managers and staffing managers in professional service industries to (a) match resource supply to resource demand, (b) assign the right resources to the right tasks or projects, and (c) do so at the right time. For example, if a skilled Java programmer (a resource) were needed for an eight week programming project in the June and July timeframe, and there was no single Java programmer available for that stretch of time, then a resource management software system might try to source (for example) two Java programmers who can be scheduled sequentially, say a first programmer for four weeks in the June timeframe and a second programmer for four weeks in the July timeframe.
During the staffing process, and to accomplish sourcing based on a given particular skill or level of skill, many resource management software system implementations employ a match engine to locate and score resources based on the given search criteria (e.g., a particular skill and/or a particular level of a skill). The resource demand criteria often is given in a resource request, and a match engine can be configured to calculate a match score over a database of possible resources (e.g., programmers) to help the resource managers find a "best fit" from among known resources.
In some implementations of a legacy resource management software system, a match score is calculated based on two main factors: (1) a qualification match score, for example a ratio or percentage reflecting how much the resource's skills fit into the resource request, and (2) an availability match score, for example a calculated percentage of time a resource is available to work on a particular project within a particular required timeframe.
One approach often taken in legacy systems is to use a search engine to search for resources possessing the requested skills and then to calculate a qualification match score. Then, for any one or more of the resources returned by the search engine, to calculate an availability match score. In legacy systems, the scoring is performed outside the search engine and after the search engine has returned results.
One problem with such an approach that occurs frequently, especially in the case of a large volume of resources, is that candidate resources that might have a skill level (a qualification parameter) close to the requested level are never reported by the search engine. Especially under conditions of tight resources, the resource managers might like to know the availability of such resources, since (for example) a Java programmer of "skill level 2" can accomplish the same programming tasks as a Java programmer of "skill level 3", given more time to complete the programming tasks. Thus, scoring techniques that simultaneously account for resource qualifications together with resource availability are needed.
Moreover, in order to have a quick response time, resource managers will limit the number of resources in the text search result to some relatively small number (such as 50) before performing the match score calculations. This legacy technique suffers from at least two deficiencies: First, when the number of resources in the search results is limited as heretofore described, it is possible that the resource scheduling tasks complete, but using non-optimal resources (since not all possible resources were returned in the limited search results). Second, it is possible that resources with only slightly lower qualifications (e.g., a slightly lower qualification match score) but highly available (e.g., a high availability match score) are not considered. Of course the aforementioned two deficiencies can occur whenever the qualification match score and the availability match score are calculated in two separate steps as just described.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved approach to address the above and other deficiencies of legacy systems for simultaneously scoring resource qualification and availability.

Concurrent calculation of resource qualification and availability using text search


The present invention describes systems and methods to provide defect-tolerant logic devices. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a defect-tolerant logic device including a plurality of CMOS gates and at least one defective CMOS gate included within the plurality of CMOS gates. Additionally, the at least one defective CMOS gate is enabled to be reconfigured into a pseudo-NMOS transistor if a P-network of the at least one defective CMOS gate is diagnosed as defective. Furthermore, the at least one defective CMOS gate is enabled to be reconfigured into a pseudo-PMOS transistor if the N-network of the at least one defective CMOS gate is diagnosed as defective.

Moore's Law posits that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit increases exponentially over time, doubling approximately every two years. Moore's Law was based upon an observation made by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore in a 1965 publication. This theory has held true for almost half a century of transistor technology development. State of the art semiconductor designers and manufacturers, however, are encountering more and more obstacles, as the device dimensions get smaller. As designers attempt to insert greater capacity into tiny structures, many issues arise with respect to timing, power, signal integrity, leakage current, thermal gradients and reliability problems (like electromigration).
Designers have attempted to combat the issues resulting from increasing densities by relying upon design-for-manufacturing (DFM) techniques and restricted design rules (RDRs). DFM and RDR techniques can help to obtain adequate yields for some nanometer scale implementations. As the scale of the transistor decreases, however, DFM and RDR techniques become relatively ineffective. More particularly, DRM and RDR techniques are not capable, in smaller nanometer scale logic implementations, of addressing problems relating to electromigration, hot carrier degradation, thin and vulnerable gate oxides, unpredicted process variations, and undetected manufacturing defects.
Conventional development cycles for logic devices, such as next generation processors, typically require multiple iterations of design, layout, fabrication, and post-processing design to achieve an acceptable yield for a given logic device. Typically, the initial fabrication runs for a new logic device design, especially when designing at a smaller geometry, will yield around 5% to 10% of functioning devices. Significant work must then be done to alter the design, layout, and manufacture of the logic device to remove defects from the design and the fabrication process and increase the yield percentage. Often times, the iterative redesign process is lengthy and expensive, sometimes lasting longer and consuming more resources than the initial design cycle. If the yield percentage for a particular new logic device design cannot be improved to approximately 60% to 80% of functioning product, then the design will have to abandoned.
At the current scale of the transistor, it has been possible to rely on iterative post-processing design to improve the yield for logic device fabrication to an acceptable level. Furthermore, as the scale of the transistor decreases, the iterative process of improving yield through redesign and fabrication modifications will no longer be a viable solution. Therefore, the success of nano-scale and smaller logic devices will depend upon their ability to provide some level of defect-tolerance. Conventionally, defect-tolerant logic architectures have been restricted to very high-end implementations. For example, some prior art systems have relied on triple modular redundancy ("TMR") to provide defect-tolerance. TMR is a defect-tolerant form of N-modular redundancy in which three systems perform a process and the results are processed by a voting system to produce a single output. If any one of the three systems fails, the other two systems can correct and mask the defect. If the voter system fails then the complete system will fail. Therefore, most TMR systems must ensure that the voter system is much more reliable than the other TMR components. While TMR can provide defect-tolerance in some applications, it is a very expensive technology because it requires a 200% or more increase in overhead for a logic device design. Additionally, TMR does not provide a viable means by which to overcome defects during manufacture.
Other prior art systems have proposed the use of a combination of system-level checking, component-level defect diagnosis, and spare-part reconfiguration. In these conventional defect-tolerant systems, the logic device relies upon buffer checker units to detect errors in functional incorrectness and then reconfigures the circuits of the logic device to rely upon spare parts included in the device to replace the function of defective components. These conventional defect-tolerant systems are largely inefficient and ineffective because of the significant amount of overhead required to support the system-level checking functions and the overhead required to include a sufficient set of spare parts for reconfiguration. In many logic device implementations, each circuit is unique; thus, such conventional defect-tolerant systems would need to have a spare part for every part in the device. For the majority of implementations, this level of overhead is simply not feasible.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently and effectively providing defect-tolerant logic devices.
Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus and method to provide a defect-tolerant logic device with a low overhead.
Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide an improved system and method for correcting a defective transistor.

Systems and methods for providing defect-tolerant logic devices


A display device includes a control circuit and a driving circuit driving a display panel to display an image. In response to determining that the driving circuit is to be switched from a running state to a standby state, the control circuit stops supplying power to the driving circuit. In response to determining that the driving circuit is to be switched from the standby state to the running state, the control circuit resumes the power supply to the driving circuit, and transmits a target reset signal to the driving circuit. The target reset signal is the same as a reset signal sent by a host computer to the driving circuit in response to a coupling being established between the driving circuit and the host computer.

An augmented reality (AR) display device is a device that can superimpose a real environment and a virtual object in one picture to be displayed to a user, and content displayed by the AR display device usually comes from a host computer such as a mobile phone or a computer.
In the related art, the AR display device usually includes a driving circuit and a display panel coupled to each other. The AR display device may be coupled to the host computer by the driving circuit. When the image data is delivered by the host computer, the driving circuit can drive, based on the image data, the display panel to display an image.

Display device, driving method thereof, and display system

Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., LTD.


A delay-locked loop includes a phase detector, a shift register, a digital low pass filter, a digital to analog converter, a bias circuit, and a delay circuit. The phase detector generates a lagging signal and a leading signal corresponding to a phase difference between an input clock signal and a feedback clock signal. The shift register outputs a digital data according to the lagging signal and the leading signal. The digital low pass filter generates a selecting signal according to the digital data. The bias circuit generates a first control voltage and a second control voltage in response to the bias voltage converted from the selecting signal. The delay circuit generates the feedback clock signal corresponding to the first control voltage and the second control voltage.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a phase detector. More particularly, the present invention relates to a delay-locked loop circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, with the outstanding improvement of the semiconductor process, the operating frequency of the VLSI circuits has increased a lot. The high-speed systems, such as wireless phones, optical fiber links, microcomputers, and high-end system-on-a-chip (SOCs), reach the GHZ level. Therefore, the electronic devices need to upgrade their operating frequency in order to keep up with the improved semiconductor process. Furthermore, since a lot of circuits are integrated on a chip, the clock signal is entirely distributed on the chip, and the clock skew problem arises as a result.
For example, when an input clock drives a chip, an uncertain delay appears between the input clock and the internal clock, which makes the chip work incorrectly. In order to synchronize the system clock and suppress the clock skew of the chip, the phase-locked loop (PLLs) and delay-locked loop (DLLs) have been applied in many high-speed circuits and systems.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the conventional DLL. The DLL includes a voltage-controlled delay line 107 (VCDL), a phase detector 101 (PD), a loop filter 105 (LF), and a charge pump 103 (CP). The PD 101 detects the phase difference between the internal clock and the input clock. The LF 105 is usually implemented with a single capacitor, which is charged/discharged by the CP 103, to reduce the high-frequency noises and provide a constant dc level to the VCDL 107.
The output signals of PD 101 (UP and DN) are integrated to the CP 103 and LF 105 to generate a control voltage (VCTL) for the delay line 107. When the circuit is locked, VCTL is a constant and the VCDL 107 finds the optimum path so that the input clock and the internal clock can be synchronized.
However, in this conventional DLL, the control voltage VCTL cannot keep up with the UP/DN signal when the UP/DN signal changes rapidly, which makes the DLL unstable. As a result, the entire circuit on the chip is unstable as well.
Therefore, there is a need for a new delay-locked loop and a stabilization method thereof which can be stable under the high speed operation condition.

Delay-locked loop and a stabilizing method thereof


A method of activating an illumination assembly within a symbology reader is provided, the illumination assembly having a first illumination source and a second illumination source, the symbology reader having an imaging sensor configured to operate at a predetermined framerate where each frame includes an exposure period over which the imaging sensor is active to capture image data and a non-exposure period over which the imaging sensor is not active to capture image data, the method comprising: during a first frame, activating the first illumination source during at least a portion of the respective exposure period and activating the second illumination source over at least a portion of the respective non-exposure period; and during a second frame, activating the second illumination source during at least a portion of the respective exposure period and activating the first illumination source over at least a portion of the respective non-exposure period.

In some scenarios, it may be useful for a symbology reader (e.g., a barcode reader) to switch between multiple illumination sources (e.g., illumination sources positioned in different locations, illumination sources providing different types of illumination, etc.) when capturing an image of a symbology to be decoded.
For example, switching between left-side and right-side illumination may mitigate the effects of specular reflection on the decoding of a symbology (e.g., a barcode), i.e., by shifting any specular hot spot that is captured in an image of a symbology from frame to frame. For instance, when a left-side illumination source is turned off but a right-side illumination source remains turned on, specular reflections from the right-side illumination source may appear on the right side of a captured image of the symbology. However, the left side of the captured image of the symbology may still be readable. In contrast, when a right-side illumination source is turned off but a left-side illumination source remains turned on, specular reflections from the left-side illumination source may appear on the left side of a captured image of the symbology, while the right side of the captured image of the symbology remains readable. Consequently, it is possible to use readable portions of images of the target symbology that are captured with various combinations of the illumination sources turned on and off to reconstruct a full readable image of the target symbology. The reconstructed, readable full image of the target symbology can then be easily decoded.
As another example, switching between direct and diffuse illumination may more evenly illuminate a symbology (e.g., a barcode) printed on a curved or uneven surfaces, which may be useful for direct part marking (DPM) barcode readers configured to read barcodes that are etched or imprinted directly into the surface of materials such as plastic and metal.
However, a significant barrier to implementation for these illumination source switching techniques is the flicker fusion threshold of the human eye, which is based on the photoreceptor cells' response to light. Most humans cannot detect lights flickering at a frequency of ˜50 Hz or more. However, typical symbology reader cameras capture images at 60 frames per second or slower. Consequently, when switching illumination sources for each frame, each illumination source illuminates at a frequency of 30 Hz, which falls below the flicker fusion threshold, causing a blinking effect that is detectable to the human eye.
For example, FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating illumination periods for different illumination sources of a symbology reader compared to exposure periods for an imager of the symbology reader for a symbology reader implementing an illumination source switching technique. As shown in FIG. 1, an imager of the symbology reader has exposure periods at a fixed interval, once per frame, and each of the illumination sources ("LED 1" and "LED 2") illuminate during alternating exposure periods, i.e., with one illumination source illuminating per frame. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, for an imager operating with a frequency of ˜60 Hz (i.e., with exposure periods beginning every 16 ms), and the two illumination sources illuminating during alternating exposure periods, each illumination source will illuminate every 32 ms (i.e., with a frequency of ˜30 Hz). Consequently, because the human eye can detect blinking at a frequency slower than ˜50 Hz, human operators of symbology readers implementing this illumination source switching technique may notice the blinking of the two illumination sources.
This noticeable blinking effect can be bothersome and distracting for users of a symbology reader that implements an illumination source switching technique. Accordingly, there exists a need for a symbology reader that implements an illumination source switching technique without annoying or distracting a human operator of the symbology reader with a blinking effect.

Flicker mitigation for multiple interspersed illumination systems


A heat exchanger including a suction line for gaseous or two phase refrigerant output from an evaporator and a capillary tube carrying cooled refrigerant to the evaporator. The suction line includes first and second substantially parallel straight cylindrical portions connected in series, with first and second portions of the capillary tube in series and helically wound around the suction line second and first portions, respectively. A valve for bypassing the capillary tube is responsive to a selected pressure differential between the capillary tube inlet and outlet. A U-shaped portion or accumulator connect the suction line first and second portions. An accumulator alternately is between the evaporator and the suction line portion wound by the capillary tube, with a phase separation chamber connected to an accumulator by a vertical pipe. The accumulator includes a discharge opening to return the oil to the system.

Transcritical cooling systems are known in the art. Such systems typically cyclically compress, cool and evaporate a refrigerant, flowing through a first side of an evaporator, where heat is absorbed during evaporation from a second side of the evaporator to cool fluid on the second side. Such systems may be used, for example, for automotive air conditioning.
In an exemplary system, there is a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator, with a counterflow heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the fluid passing from the condenser to the evaporator and the fluid passing from the evaporator to the compressor. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,836, an integrated storage segment (liquid separator/receiver) is required in the closed fluid circuit between the evaporator and the compressor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,467,078, 2,530,648 and 2,990,698 illustrate combinations of heat exchanger, accumulator and metering device which may be used with such cooling systems.
The present invention is directed toward improving such transcritical cooling systems.


The invention relates to a data carrier having a security element that is at lest visually testable and has an embossing in at least a partial area, the embossing being a halftone blind embossing executed by inkless line intaglio printing, and to a method for producing the data carrier and a printing plate for blind-embossing a security element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data carrier having a security element blind-embossed by intaglio printing and to a method for producing the data carrier and a printing plate for blind-embossing a security element.
2. Related Art
Data carriers according to the invention are security documents or documents of value, such as bank notes, ID cards, passports, check forms, shares, certificates, postage stamps, plane tickets and the like, as well as labels, seals, packages or other elements for product protection. The simplifying designation "data carrier" and "security document or document of value" hereinafter will therefore always include documents of the stated type.
Such papers, whose market or utility value far exceeds the material value, must be made recognizable as authentic and distinguishable from imitations and forgeries by suitable measures. They are therefore provided with special security elements that are ideally not imitable or only with great effort and not falsifiable.
In the past, particularly those security elements have proved useful that can be identified and recognized as authentic by the viewer without aids but can simultaneously only be produced with extremely great effort. These are e.g. watermarks, which can be incorporated into the data carrier only during papermaking, or motifs produced by intaglio printing, which are characterized by their characteristic tactility that cannot be imitated by copying machines.
It is distinctive for gravure printing that the printing, i.e. ink-transferring, areas of the printing plate are present as depressions in the plate surface. These depressions are produced by a suitable engraving tool or by etching. Before the actual printing operation, ink is applied to the engraved plate and surplus ink removed from the surface of the plate by means of a stripping doctor blade or wiping cylinder so that ink is left behind only in the depressions. Then a substrate, normally paper, is pressed against the plate and removed, whereby ink adheres to the substrate surface and forms a printed image there. If transparent inks are used, the thickness of the inking determines the color tone.
Among gravure printing techniques a distinction is made between rotogravure and intaglio. In rotogravure the printing plates are produced for example by means of electron beam, laser beam or graver. It is distinctive for rotogravure that different gray or color values of the printed image are produced by cells of different density, size and/or depth disposed regularly in the printing plate.
In contrast, in intaglio linear depressions are formed in the printing plates to produce a printed image. In the mechanically fabricated printing plate for intaglio printing, a wider line is produced with increasing engraving depth due to the usually tapered engraving tools. Furthermore, the ink receptivity of the engraved line and thus the opacity of the printed line increases with increasing engraving depth. In the etching of intaglio printing plates, the nonprinting areas of the plate are covered with a chemically inert lacquer. Subsequent etching produces the depressions provided for receiving ink in the exposed plate surface, the depth of these lines depending in particular on the etching time and line width.
The high bearing pressure in intaglio printing causes the substrate material to additionally undergo an embossing that also stands out on the back of the substrate. If the intaglio printing plate is used without inking, the substrate used is subjected to so-called blind embossing, which gives the data carrier a typical surface relief.
Intaglio printing, in particular steel intaglio printing, thus provides a characteristic printed or embossed image that is easily recognizable to laymen and cannot be imitated with other common printing processes. If the engravings in the printing plate are deep enough, a data carrier printed by intaglio acquires through embossing and inking a printed image that forms a relief perceptible by the sense of touch. Steel intaglio printing is therefore preferably used for printing data carriers, in particular security documents and documents of value, for example bank notes, shares, bonds, certificates, vouchers and the like, which must meet high standards with respect to forgery-proofness.
WO 97/48555 discloses a method for producing intaglio printing plates reproducibly by machine. The lines of an original intaglio are detected and the surface of each line precisely determined. Using an engraving tool, for example a rotating graver or laser beam, the outside contour of this surface is first engraved to cleanly border the surface. Then the bordered area of the surface is cleared by the same or another engraving tool so that the total surface of the line is precisely engraved in accordance with the line original. Depending on the form and guidance of the engraving tool, a basic roughness pattern serving as an ink trap for the ink arises at the base of the cleared surface.
It has likewise been proposed to use intaglio printing plates for producing blind embossings. Blind embossings in a metal layer are also known from the prior art. However, known blind embossings are very simple embodiments having only one predetermined embossing height or depth. That is, embossing is effected with a printing plate having only a one-step engraving with a certain constant depth. Embossed areas with different engraving depths, such as lines of different depth, are always spaced apart by unengraved areas. Such embossings are visually recognizable only at certain oblique viewing angles so that this security feature is frequently not perceived by the viewer and attempts at forgery are thus more easily missed. Such embossings are also normally rather unimpressive for the viewer.

Data carrier, method for the production thereof and gravure printing plate


A sensor interface filter having adjustable gain and Q is provided. The sensor interface includes a first operational amplifier coupled to gain circuitry, a gain stage, and a resistor. The gain circuitry and gain stage are electrically coupled to each other. The gain stage includes a gain stage switch, and is coupled to control circuitry. The control circuitry controls the state of the gain stage switch to vary the number of feedback current paths providing feedback to the inverting input of the first operational amplifier, altering the gain provided by the first operational amplifier. The sensor interface further includes a second operational amplifier coupled to filter circuitry and feedback switches. The feedback switches are coupled to the control circuitry, which controls the state of the feedback switches to vary the gain provided by the second operational amplifier and the filter Q of the sensor interface. A method is also provided.

Engine knock, which can create uncontrolled combustion in vehicle internal combustion engines, is a condition that typically occurs when ignition timing of the vehicle engine is advanced improperly. To avoid engine knock, which can lead to engine damage, engine knock sensors are often used. Engine knock sensors are typically configured to detect which cylinder or cylinders of an internal combustion engine are experiencing a knock condition. When engine knock sensors are coupled to vehicle engine control modules that control the operation of the engine, the vehicle engine control module can monitor the engine knock sensors, and modify the ignition timing of the engine until the knock condition is no longer detected by the engine knock sensors. Engine knock sensors can also be employed to help vehicle engine control modules to determine how to adjust the timing of the engine to provide improved fuel economy and torque.
To detect engine knock conditions, engine knock sensors typically require the use of appropriate sensor interface circuitry and adequate filtering in order for a system employing an engine knock sensor to correctly detect knock signals issued by the engine knock sensors. Typical engine knock sensor interfaces sense the knock signals provided by engine knock sensors differentially, and then use a first or second order low-pass filter to filter the knock signal. The filtered signal is then typically provided to an analog-to-digital converter for conversion into digital form, so that the digitized knock signal can be analyzed by digital processing circuitry to determine if an engine knock condition is occurring. The nature of the filter required to optimally filter the knock signal typically depends, in part, on the speed of the analog-to-digital converter to which the filtered signal is provided. Higher order filters having higher filter Q factors are typically desired for systems employing slower analog-to-digital converters. However, filters having a higher order and a higher filter Q factor are typically not necessary for systems employing fast analog-to-digital converters. Some interface integrated circuit manufacturers integrate a second order filter structure on the interface integrated circuit, so that the interface integrated circuit can be more easily used with slower analog-to-digital converters. While this may prove beneficial for systems employing a slow analog-to-digital converter, additional die area is typically required for the second order filter structure, and additional cost in terms of system architecture may also be required to support the second order filter structure. These added costs can make the use of an integrated circuit having integrated second order filter structure less than optimal for systems employing a fast analog-to-digital converter, and therefore, not typically requiring a second order filter structure. In addition, by providing an integrated second order filter having a higher Q, the gain of the output signal is increased above the level it would have if a first order filter with a lower Q were employed. This additional gain in the output signal typically leads to loss of signal dynamic range.
What is needed is interface circuitry having gain and Q characteristics that can be easily modified through the use of components external to an interface integrated circuit, and through electronic signals provided to the interface integrated circuit, such that a single integrated circuit can be reconfigured to be used to support multiple platforms having analog-to-digital converters of various speeds.

Sensor interface circuitry having adjustable gain and Q, and method for adjusting sensor interface circuitry gain and Q


A docking station is disclosed. The docking station has an adjustable opening that accommodates portable electronic devices with differing sizes and shapes. The opening is capable of expanding to accommodate larger devices and retracting to accommodate smaller devices while still supporting the portable electronic device in its proper position within the docking station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to docking stations for hand held electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a docking station with an opening that accommodates hand held electronic devices with different sizes and shapes.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exist today many styles of handheld electronic devices as for example cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), media players (e.g., music player or video player), cameras, game player and the like. As is generally well known, these devices come in various shapes and sizes (e.g., thickness, width and height). The size and shape is typically dependent on various form factors including but not limited to ease of use, ergonomics, aesthetics, and the size of the components inside or outside the device. While it is likely that different manufacturers may produce the same type of hand held electronic device with differing shapes and sizes, it is also likely that one particular manufacturer may produce different models of the same type of hand held electronic device with different shapes and sizes.
By way of example, the iPod product line, which is manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif. comes in various sizes and shapes. Particularly, the iPod Mini has a pill shaped cross section and dimensions of 2.0×3.6×0.5 inches for 4 GB versions, while the standard iPod has a substantially rectangular cross and dimensions of 2.4×4.1×0.57 inches for a 20 GB version and 2.4×4.1×0.69 inches for a 40 GB version. Furthermore, the iPhoto model of the iPod has a substantially rectangular cross section similar to the standard version, but with dimensions of 2.4×4.1×0.75 for both 40 GB and 60 GB versions.
Many hand held electronic devices include a docking station for providing a convenient interface for transferring data between the device and computing devices such as a personal computers or peripheral devices such as speakers, monitors and printers without having to reconnect and disconnect cables. The docking station may also include an interface for connecting to a power source so that the hand held electronic device can be powered or charged (e.g., battery). In most cases, the docking stations include a slot within which the hand electronic device is received. The slot is configured to have a size and shape that coincides with the size and shape of the hand held device so that the hand held device rests snuggly within the slot. Furthermore, the slot typically includes a connector therein for operatively engaging a port of the hand held electronic device when the hand held electronic device is positioned within the slot. The connector is typically coupled to the external systems (e.g., computer, power source) through a cable so that communications between the hand held electronic device and the external systems can take place.
Because the slot has a size and shape that coincides with the size and shape of a particular hand held device, the docking station is typically dedicated to the particular handheld device. Other devices typically cannot be used with the docking station. The slots themselves are simply incapable of supporting more than one device. As a result, users with an arsenal of devices have to wield a variety of docking stations, one for each device in their arsenal. This produces clutter and can be confusing to the user. This also presents problems to the manufacturer of multiple devices in that they need to produce a variety of docking stations (one for each unique device), which adds costs and complexity in the design, manufacture, assembly, and packaging of the devices. This is especially true with devices in the same product line as for example the iPod described above.
Some docking stations come packaged with removable spacers that can change the size and shape of the slot thereby accommodating more than one device.
Furthermore, in recent years, skins have been created in order to produce more attractive and personalized hand held electronic devices. The skins, which include patterns and various colors, are placed over and in some cases adhered to the outside surfaces of the hand held electronic device. While skins do enhance the look of the hand held devices, they also tend to increase the size of the handheld electronic (and in some cases the shape), and as a result the hand held electronic device no longer fits into the slot of the docking station even when removable spacers are used.
Even if the skin is very thin, the hand held electronic device may have to be forced into and out of the slot due to tolerances between the hand held electronic device and the slot. Again, the slot of the docking station is typically designed for one particular shape and size. If the skin is permanently attached, the docking station can no longer be used. If the skin is removable, then the user must remove the skin in order to use the docking station. Both of these situations typically leave a negative impression on the user. The same problem arises when using protective covers and cases.
An improved docking station that can overcome the above stated problems is therefore desired. In particular, a docking station that can universally accept and support multiple handheld device of various shapes and sizes.

Universal docking station for hand held electronic devices