A hinge assembly includes a door hinge housing configured to be mounted to a door, a body hinge housing configured to be mounted to a stationary object, and a check assembly including a spring. The body hinge housing is pivotally secured to the door hinge housing. The check assembly is covered by at least one of the door hinge housing and the body hinge housing.

Conventional door hinge systems, particularly automobile door hinges, include spring check mechanisms that assist in moving the door away from an open position to a fully closed position. Examples of such systems are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,624, entitled "Hinge With Elastomerically Supported Check Spring," and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,201, entitled "Door Hinge System."
Typically, the spring check mechanisms are exposed within the door hinge systems. During painting and e-coat processes, the spring check mechanisms typically are not installed within the hinge systems, because such processes may damage the spring mechanisms. For example, wet or drying paint may alter the force constant of a particular spring and/or otherwise damage the spring. Thus, the spring check mechanisms are typically installed into the hinge systems after such processes, thereby adding another step in the total manufacturing process.
Additionally, typical hinge assemblies may present difficulties when one wants to open a door to put a large object or package in a vehicle. For example, if a car door only opens at a 45° angle, a person may find it difficult to move a large package, such as a purchased television set, into the vehicle for shipment home.
Thus, a need exists for a hinge assembly that includes a shielded spring check mechanism. Additionally, a need exists for a hinge assembly that may move through a wider range of motion than typical hinge assemblies.


A system for providing lifeline telecommunication service includes a telecommunication interface, a data packet service module, an analog signal service module, a power generator, and a switch. The telecommunication interface receives telecommunication information from a telecommunication switch. The data packet service module receives the telecommunication information from the telecommunication interface and generates data packets for communicating the telecommunication information over a local loop circuit in a first mode of operation. The analog signal service module receives the telecommunication information from the telecommunication interface and generates an analog signal for communicating the telecommunication information over the local loop circuit in a second mode of operation. The power generator generates a first voltage. The switch selects the first voltage for communication to the local loop circuit in the first mode of operation and selects the analog signal for communication to the local loop circuit in the second mode of operation.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) technology was initially deployed to provide data-only service as a replacement for slower-speed, dial-up modems. Incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), and other telecommunication providers have begun to explore offering voice over DSL (VoDSL) service to deliver integrated voice and data services.
Unfortunately, existing VoDSL networks may not provide the degree of reliability necessary to enable true integration of telephony and data services. A typical VoDSL network requires two basic components: (1) a gateway that links the traditional telecommunications network to the DSL network and (2) an integrated access device (IAD), residing at a customer premises, that multiplexes and processes voice and data traffic between the gateway and multiple subscriber lines. If the IAD loses power or if the gateway, IAD, or other network equipment fails, the VoDSL service is terminated. Because of these architectural limitations, existing VoDSL networks do not provide the reliability of traditional telephone systems, and as a result, telecommunication providers remain wary of adopting VoDSL service.

System and method for providing lifeline telecommunication service to line-powered customer premises equipment


A method for controlling a manipulator includes determining by a control device one or more contact force values between the manipulator and a first workpiece. Each of the contact force values is based on an actual driving force of the manipulator and a drive force according to a dynamic model of the manipulator. The method also includes at least one of a) measuring in multiple stages an orientation and location of the first workpiece based on at least one of the one or more determined contact force values or b) joining a second workpiece and the first workpiece under a compliant regulation, where a joining state of the first and second workpieces is monitored based on at least one of an end pose of the manipulator obtained under the compliant regulation, a speed of a temporal change of the manipulator, or at least one of the one or more determined contact force values.

Industrial robots are to be used for, among other things, the joining of components. For this, position tolerances, in particular, of workpieces that have been supplied, which are to be joined to the workpieces that are held by the robot, complicate the automation.
Aside from structural compliances, such as a flexible robot, or a flexible end effector connection, for example by means of a so-called "remote center of compliance" ("RCC"), diverse theoretic solution approaches for such so-called "pin/hole" problems have been proposed, e.g. the detection of contact forces by means of additional contact sensors, and the determination of the correct joining trajectory based on said contact forces. These approaches, however, have rarely been put into practice due to a variety of problems.
The objective of the present invention is to improve the control of a manipulator.

Method and device for controlling a manipulator


An apparatus, method, and computer program product for information filtering in a computer system receiving a data stream from a computer network, the data stream having raw informons embedded therein, at least one of the raw informons being of interest to a user, the user being a member client of a community. The method includes the steps of providing a dynamic informon characterization having profiles encoded therein, including an adaptive content profile and an adaptive collaboration profile; adaptively filtering the raw informons responsive to the dynamic informon characterization, and producing a proposed informon; presenting the proposed informon to the user; receiving a feedback profile from the user, responsive to the proposed informon; adapting the adaptive content profile, the adaptive collaboration profile, or both responsive to the feedback profile; and updating the dynamic informon characterization responsive to the previous adapting step. The apparatus includes a plurality of processors for providing interactive, distributed filtering of information, extracted from a computer network data stream in response to multiple attribute profiles.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus, method, and computer program product for information filtering, in a computer system receiving a data stream from a computer network.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Recent developments in computer networking, particularly with regard to global computer internetworking, offer vast amounts of stored and dynamic information to interested users. Indeed, some estimate that hundreds of thousands of news articles stream through the global internetwork each day, and that the total number of files transferred through the global internetwork (hereinafter "network") is in the millions. As computer technology evolves, and as more users participate in this form of communication, the amount of information available on the network will be staggering.
Although databases are relatively static and can be searched using conventional network search engines, current information filtering schemes are ill-suited to thoroughly search the massive, dynamic stream of new information passing through the network each day.
Presently, the information is organized, if at all, to the extent that only skilled, persistent, and lucky, researchers can ferret out meaningful information. Nevertheless, significant amounts of information may go unnoticed. For example, because most existing information filtering schemes focus on locating textual articles, information in other forms--visual, audio, multimedia, and patterned data--may be overlooked completely. From the perspective of some users, a few items of meaningful "information" can be obscured by the volume of irrelevant data streaming through the network. Often, the information obtained is inconsistent over a community of like-minded researchers because of the nearly-infinite individual differences in conceptualization and vocabulary within the community. These inconsistencies exist with both the content of the information and the manner in which a search for the content is performed. Furthermore, the credibility of the author, the accuracy, and quality of a given article's content, and thus the article's "usefulness," often are questionable.
The problem of information overload can be more acute for persons involved in multidisciplinary endeavors, e.g., medicine, law, and marketing, who are charged with monitoring developments in diverse professional domains. There are many reasons why users want to communicate with each other about specific things as they find networked resources. However, drawing attention to articles of common interest to a community of researchers, or workgroup, often requires a separate intervention, such as a telephone call, electronic mail, and the like.
Often, membership in a workgroup or community is sharply defined, and workers in one physical community may be unaware of interesting developments in other workgroups or communities, whether or not the communities are similar. This isolation may be at the expense of serendipitous discoveries that can arise from parallel developments in unrelated or marginally-related fields.
Adding to the complexity of the information filtering problem is that an individual user's interests may shift over time, as may those of a community, and many existing information filtering schemes are unable to accept shifts in the individual's interest, the community's interest, or both. Furthermore, information flow usually is unidirectional to the user, and little characterization of secondary user, or group, interests, e.g., the consumer preferences of users primarily interested in molecular biology or oenology, is derived and used to provide targeted marketing to those users/consumers, and to follow changing demographic trends.
Typically, identifying new information is effected by monitoring all articles in a data stream, selecting those articles having a specific topic, and searching through all of the selected articles, perhaps thousands, each day. One example is where users interact with a web browser to retrieve documents from various document servers on the network. Given the increasing impracticality of this brute-force approach, the heterogenous nature of "information" on the global internetwork, and the growing complexity of social interactions that are evolving concurrently with networking technology, there have been several attempts to address some of the foregoing problems by using adaptive information filtering systems.
In one approach, the information filtering is geared toward content-based filtering. Here, the information filtering system examines the user's patterns of keywords, and semantic and contextual information, to map information to a user's interests. This approach does not provide a mechanism for collaborative activities within a group.
Another approach uses intelligent software agents to learn a user's behavior, i.e., "watching over the shoulder," regarding certain types of textual information, for example, electronic mail messages. In this scheme, the agents offer to take action, e.g., delete the message, forward it, etc., on the basis of the user's prior responses to the content of that certain information. Also, this scheme provides a minor degree of inter-agent collaboration by allowing one agent to draw upon the experience of other agents, typically for the purpose of initialization. However, each agent is constrained to develop its expertise in a particular domain within the limited range of the type of information. Also, the passive feedback nature of the "over-the-shoulder" approach can place an unacceptable burden on the system's learner, reducing information throughput and decreasing the efficiency and usefulness of the overall system. Also, systematic errors can be introduced into the passive feedback error, and the actual response of the user may be misinterpreted.
Another approach uses content-based filtering to select documents for a user to read, and supports inter-user collaboration by permitting the users in a defined group to annotate the selected documents. Annotations tend to take as many forms as there are users, placing the emphasis on characterizing, maintaining, and manipulating a group of diverse annotations, or "meta-documents," from different users in conjunction with the original document. Collaboration is achieved by enabling the filters of other users to access the annotations. While this approach is useful to the extent that other users can receive a deeper understanding of the comments and criticism provided by a particular user, the costs include the additional computer effort required to implement such collaboration over large, diverse groups and, more importantly, the extra time required for each user to review the comments and criticism of the annotations of the others. Also, annotation sharing and filtering are hampered by the variety in vocabulary and conceptualization among users.
Yet another approach employs collaborative filters to help users make choices based on the opinions of other users. The method employs rating servers to gather and disseminate ratings. A rating server predicts a score, or rating, based on the heuristic that people who agreed in the past will probably agree again. This system is typically limited to the homogenous stream of text-based news articles, does little content-filtering, and can not accommodate heterogenous information.
Other projects have explored individual features such as market-trading optimization techniques for prioritizing incoming messages; rule-based agents for recognizing user's usage patterns and suggesting new filtering patterns to the user; and personal-adaptive recommendation systems using exit-questions for rating documents and creating shared recommendations; and the like. In each case, the collaborative and content-based aspects of information filtering are not integrated, and the filters are not equipped to deal with heterogenous data streams.
Many information filtering systems use a weighted average technique for user information feedback that, for example, extracts all of the ratings for an article and takes a simple weighted average over all of the ratings to predict whether an article is relevant to a particular user. Simple weighted averaging, however, tends to destroy the information content contained in the ratings, unless a relatively sophisticated approach is used for the functions generating the simple weighted averages. Little impact is given to factors such as credibility, personal preferences, and the like, which factors tend to be irreversibly blurred during the averaging process. Simple weighted averages, then, can be lacking when one desires to develop information filters that are well-fitted to a particular community and the specific interests of a user unless innovative methods are employed to preserve at least some of the relevant information.
What is needed then is an apparatus and method for information filtering in a computer system receiving a data stream from a computer network in which entities of information relevant to the user, or "informons," are extracted from the data stream using content-based and collaborative filtering. Such a system would employ an adaptive content filter and an adaptive collaborative filter which are integrated to the extent that an individual user can be a unique member client of multiple communities with each community including multiple member clients sharing similar interests.
The system also would implement adaptive credibility filtering, providing member clients with a measure of informon credibility, as judged by other member clients in the community. The system also may implement recommendation filtering and consultation filtering. Furthermore, the system would be preferred to be self-optimizing in that the adaptive filters used in the system would seek optimal values for the function intended by the filter, e.g., collaboration, content analysis, credibility, etc.
3. Citation of Relevant Publications
In the context of the foregoing description of the relevant art, and of the description of the present invention which follows, the following publications can be considered to be relevant:
Susan Dumais, et al. Using Latent Semantic Analysis to Improve Access to Textual Information. In Proceedings of CHI-88 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (1988, New York: ACM)
David Evans et al. A Summary of the CLARIT Project. Technical Report, Laboratory for Computational Linguistics, Carnegie-Mellon University, September 1991.
G. Fischer and C. Stevens. Information Access in Complex, Poorly Structured Information Spaces. In Proceedings of CHI-91 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (1991: ACM)
D. Goldberg, et al. Using Collaborative Filtering to Weave an Information Tapestry. Communications of the ACM, 35, 12 (1992), pp. 61-70.
Simon Haykin. Adaptive Filter Theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. (1986), pp. 100-380.
Simon Haykin. Neural Networks: A Comprehensive Foundation. Macmillan College Publishing Co., New York (1994), pp. 18-589.
Yezdi Lashkari, et al. Collaborative Interface Agents. In Conference of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. Seattle, Wash., August 1994.
Paul Resnick, et al. GroupLens: An Open Architecture for Collaborative Filtering of Netnews. In Proceeding of ACM 1994 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. (1994: ACM), pp. 175-186.
Anil Rewari, et al. AI Research and Applications In Digital's Service Organization. AI Magazine: 68-69 (1992).
J. Rissanen. Modelling by Shortest Data Description, Automatica, 14:465-471 (1978).
Gerard Salton. Developments in Automatic Text Retrieval. Science, 253:974-980, August 1991.
C. E. Shannon. A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Bell Sys. Tech. Journal, 27:379-423 (1948).
Beerud Sheth. A Learning Approach to Personalized Information Filtering, Master's Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, February, 1994.
F. Mosteller, et al. Applied Bayesian and Classical Inference: The Case of the Federalist Papers. Springer-Verlag, New York (1984), pp. 65-66.
T. W. Yan et al. Index Structures for Selective Dissemination of Information. Technical Report STAN-CS-92-1454, Stanford University (1992).
Yiming Yang. An Example-Based Mapping Method for Text Categorization and Retrieval. ACM Transactions on Information Systems. Vol. 12, No. 3, July 1994, pp. 252-277.

Information system and method for filtering a massive flow of information entities to meet user information classification needs


An antenna assembly includes a dipole antenna (D1, D2) and a monopole antenna (C1) having substantially perpendicular polarization directions. The dipole antenna (D1, D2) is provided with a balun (E1, E2) a portion (E1) of which serves as a backplane for a microstrip transmission line (G0, G1, G2) which transmits RF signals. The microstrip transmission line includes a first portion (G0) connected to a coaxial feed cable (F), a second portion (G1) having its ends respectively connected by a first switch (A) to the monopole antenna (C1) and a second switch (B) to the balun portion (E1) and a third portion (G2). When the switches (A, B) are closed to render the monopole antenna (C1) operative, the third portion (G2) serves to detune the dipole antenna (D1, D2). The assembly may be formed as a two-sided printed circuit board.

This invention relates to antenna assemblies for use in radio communication systems.
It is known in radio communication systems to provide an antenna diversity capability, whereby two antennas are available. The quality, for example, of the received signal strength of the signals received by the two antennas may be compared, and the antenna having the better received signal strength selected for use. Such an arrangement is disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0 318 665.
It has recently been proposed to utilize radio waves for communication in a wireless local area network (LAN). A suitable frequency band for a radio LAN lies in the 902 to 928 MHz range. However, due to multipath fading and interference, it is found that the probability of data errors is unacceptable if only one antenna is used for the network station. Thus, it is desirable to utilize two alternatively selectable antennas.


Devices and techniques are disclosed herein to address high latency associated with large-scale un-map or trim commands associated with flash memory. In an example, a method can include receiving a trim command for a partition of a storage system, identifying a record of a partition table of the storage system corresponding to the partition, updating a partition count of the record with a count value of a partition counter of the storage system, and incrementing the partition counter.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain data and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, read only memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and resistance variable memory such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistive random-access memory (RRAM), and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), 3D XPoint™ memory, among others.
Memory cells are typically arranged in a matrix or an array. Multiple matrices or arrays can be combined into a memory device, and multiple devices can be combined to form a storage volume of a storage system, such as a solid-state drive (SSD), a Universal Flash Storage (UFS™) device, a MultiMediaCard (MMC) solid-state storage device, an embedded MMC device (eMMC™), etc.
A storage system can include one or more processors or other memory controllers performing logic functions to operate the memory devices or interface with external systems. The memory matrices or arrays can include a number of blocks of memory cells organized into a number of physical pages. The storage system can receive commands from a host in association with memory operations, such as read or write operations to transfer data (e.g., user data and associated integrity data, such as error data and address data, etc.) between the memory devices and the host, erase operations to erase data from the memory devices, or perform one or more other memory operations.
Memory is utilized as volatile and non-volatile data storage for a wide range of electronic applications, including, for example, personal computers, portable memory sticks, digital cameras, cellular telephones, portable music players such as MP3 players, movie players, and other electronic devices. Memory cells can be arranged into arrays, with the arrays being used in memory devices.
Many electronic devices include several main components: a host processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or other main processor); main memory (e.g., one or more volatile or non-volatile memory device, such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), mobile or low-power double-data-rate synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM), etc.); and a storage device (e.g., non-volatile memory (NVM) device, such as flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), an SSD, an MIVIC, or other memory card structure or assembly, or combination of volatile and non-volatile memory, etc.). In certain examples, electronic devices can include a user interface (e.g., a display, touch-screen, keyboard, one or more buttons, etc.), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a power management circuit, a baseband processor or one or more transceiver circuits, etc.
Flash memory-based storage devices such as NAND memory can use a Flash Translation Layer (FTL) to translate logical addresses of I/O requests, often referred to as logical block addresses (LBAs), to corresponding flash memory addresses which are stored in one or more FTL mapping tables. LBAs can be the logical addresses used by a host for managing data. Mobile storage devices typically have a cache with constrained size, and thus often lack memory to store an entire mapping table. Therefore, portions of the mapping table(s) can be retrieved from the flash memory on demand, which can cause random read performance degradation.
Storage devices can track and mange host data via the host logical block address (LBA) and storage device physical block address (PBA). FTL tables are sometimes referred to a logical-to-physical (L2P) tables that can be maintained and map Host LBAs to a storage device PBA so that the controller of the storage device is able to locate each LBA within the memory storage media. Particularly in mobile or IOT applications, the L2P table can be too large to store in controller memory and so it is stored in the physical media array.
An un-map, trim, or erase command can be used by a host to signal that a range of memory can be deleted and reclaimed. For devices that have a cache of limited size, implementation of an un-map, trim or erase command can require potentially large portions of L2P table to be modified. Such modification processes can include repeated loads of portions of each L2P table into the cache from non-volatile memory, updates of the relevant LBA's as unmapped in the cache, and transfers of the cache back to non-volatile memory. For deletions of an entire region of a storage device, such as an entire partition, an entire logical unit (LU), or some other sized space of the storage device, or all the logical address space of the storage device, execution of such a command can take tens of seconds or longer to fully execute. A conventional implementation simply blocks all other host commands from executing during execution of an un-map command, but results in very poor user experience as the device is non-responsive during the processing.


In an embodiment, an image sensor includes a semiconductor region, a first doped region disposed over the semiconductor region, a ring shaped well disposed over the first doped region and surrounding parts of the first doped region, a second doped region formed within the ring shaped well and disposed over the first doped region, and a third doped region disposed over the second doped region. The ring shaped well is defined by a conductor surrounded by an insulator. The conductor is connected to a voltage terminal. The third doped region is more heavily doped than the second doped region, which is more heavily doped than the first region, and are all of the same doping type. The first doped region and the second doped region within the ring shaped well, form a potential barrier for controlling transfer of charge carriers from the first doped region to the third doped region.

An image sensor, such as those found in digital devices (i.e., digital cameras, tablets, cell phones, etc.) typically use an array of photodetectors to capture and convert light into electrical signals. In a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) type of image sensor, the electrical signal from each individual photodetector is amplified and transmitted to an integrated circuit for processing at the same time. Subsequently, the photodetectors are cleared for capturing the next exposure.
In an image sensor that uses backside illumination (BSI), light is exposed on a backside surface of the image sensor. The sensor circuitry that converts the light to a digital signal is arranged on the front side of the image sensor. An image sensor may use a photoelectric effect to absorb and convert light to an electron-hole pair at each of the photodetectors. In an image sensor, that uses photodiodes or photogates, charge carriers (i.e., holes or electrons) are generated and stored in the depletion region of the photodiode or photogates during an integration period in the read cycle of the photodetector. During a charge transfer period in the read cycle of the photodetector, charge carriers around the depletion region are transferred to a connection node and a corresponding digital representation of the level of light exposed at the photodetector is generated.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,513,761 ('761 patent) discloses a backside illumination semiconductor image sensor. FIGS. 1A-1C correspond to FIGS. 1, 4, and 5 of the '761 patent. The '761 patent is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1A schematically illustrates the circuit of a photosensitive cell of an array of photosensitive cells of an image sensor. A charge transfer transistor TR, a precharge device, and a read device are associated with each photosensitive cell of the array. The precharge device is formed of an N-channel MOS transistor RST, interposed between a supply rail Vdd and a read node S. The read device is formed of the series connection of first and second N-channel MOS transistors SF and RD. The drain of transistor SF is connected to supply rail Vdd. The source of transistor RD is connected to an input terminal P of a processing circuit (not shown). The gate of read transistor SF, assembled as a source follower, is connected to read node S.
The photosensitive cell comprises a photodiode D having its anode connected to reference supply rail GND and its cathode connected to node S via charge transfer transistor TR. Generally, the gate control signals of transistors RD, RST, and TR are provided by control circuits, not shown in FIG. 1A, and may be provided to all the photosensitive cells of a same row of the cell array. It should be noted that a photodiode is always associated with a transfer transistor TR, but that there may exist a single precharge device and a single read device for a group of photodiodes, the drains of the transfer transistors of these photodiodes being then interconnected to a same node S.
FIG. 1B is a cross-section view of an embodiment of a cell of an image sensor. This cell is manufactured from a portion of a lightly doped N-type silicon layer or body 11. It is a backside illumination device, that is, layer 11 will initially have formed the upper surface of a thick silicon substrate, possibly the upper silicon layer of a structure of silicon on insulator type (SOI). A heavily doped P-type wall 12 surrounds the cell and separates it from the neighboring cells. A ring-shaped well 13 is formed on the front surface side of the cell and defines a substantially central N-type portion surrounded with an insulated trench (insulator 15) filled with a conductive material 16 connected to a terminal TG. The central portion comprises a lower lightly doped N-type portion 17 and an upper heavily doped N-type portion 18.
Various transistors are formed in well 13, for example, transistors RST and SF of FIG. 1A (transistor RD is not shown). The precharge and read transistors may be common to several neighboring cells, presently to a group of four cells. Various metallization levels are formed on the upper surface, to ensure the connections to the drains, sources, and gates of the various transistors. In particular, an interconnect corresponding to read node S of FIG. 1C is provided between N+ region 18, the drain of precharge transistor RST, and the gate of the follower transistor. Conventionally, once these various layers and connections have been formed, a silicon wafer forming a handle is glued on the upper surface of the metallization stack and the device is thinned down on the rear surface side to have the shown structure.
After this, a thin layer 19 of the second conductivity type is formed over the entire rear surface (this layer may be formed at another manufacturing stage, for example, initially in the case of an SOI substrate). Layer 19 has a function of inversion of the type of majority carriers contained in body 11. This inversion of the concentration of the type of carriers might also be performed by a MOS capacitance at the rear surface provided with an electrode (metallic, semiconductor, or dielectric), transparent in the useful sensor sensitivity spectrum, which creates a free carrier inversion channel (MOS effect).
Finally, the lower surface of each cell is covered with a filter 20 having the desired color for the considered cell, for example, red, green, or blue. Although this is optional in this type of structure, a lens 21 may cover filter 20. As indicated previously, the semiconductor structure may have a thickness about from 3 to 10 micrometers. Further, the lateral extension of each cell may be smaller than one micrometer.
During operation, a phase of photo conversion or integration during which the rear surfaces are illuminated and electrons are stored in body 11 is distinguished from a transfer phase during which the electrons are transferred from body 11 to layer 18 and to read node S.
During the integration phase, the conduction between semiconductor body 11 and heavily doped N-type region 18 is interrupted by an action on control terminal TG coupled to insulated conductive region 16. Indeed, if electrode TG is set to a negative voltage, for example, −1 volt, region 17 is fully depleted from electrons and the passing of the charge carriers is inhibited by the potential barrier thus created between region 17 and body area 11. Thus, region 17 plays the role as the channel region of transistor TR of FIG. 1A and region 18 corresponds to the drain region of this transistor connected to read node S.
FIG. 1C shows another embodiment image sensor cell taught in the '761 patent. In FIG. 1C the same elements are designated with the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1B. The main difference between the cells of FIGS. 1C and 1B is that the insulating wall surrounding the cell is formed of a trench filled with a conductor 24 surrounded with an insulator 23 instead of being a P-type region. Conductor 24 is connected to a terminal Vwall.

Vertical transfer gate with charge transfer and charge storage capabilities


Disclosed is a layer transfer device which transfers a layer of a multilayer film onto a surface of a sheet. The layer transfer device includes a heating member including a first portion and a second portion, a first heater, a second heater, and a controller. The controller is configured to control the first heater with an input power set at a predetermined input power, control the second heater with an input power set at a first input power if both of the multilayer film and the sheet pass over a surface of the second portion, and control the second heater with an input power set at a second input power that is smaller than the first input power if at least one of the multilayer film and the sheet does not pass over the surface of the second portion.

A thermal fixing device with a heating member for fixing an image on a sheet is conventionally known in the art. The thermal fixing device includes a heater with a plurality of heating elements aligned in a width direction of the heater. The thermal fixing device is capable of individually switching the heating elements ON and OFF. When a width of a sheet conveyed through the thermal fixing device is narrow, the heating elements close to ends of the heater are switched OFF.


A coding apparatus that codes video data using an arithmetic coding scheme such as the AVC standard includes an orthogonal transformation unit, a quantizer, an arithmetic coder, and a controller. The arithmetic coder includes a binarization unit, a binary arithmetic coder, and a code length predictor. The code length predictor outputs a predicted number of bits by evaluating a predictive function using, as the argument of the function, the bin size of the binary symbols generated from input data during coding. The controller controls the coding bit rate by changing the quantization scale of the quantizer on the basis of the predicted number of bits. The predictive function is defined such that the predicted number of bits increases as the bin size increases, and furthermore such that the polynomial degree of the function changes when the bin size exceeds a predefined threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coding apparatus, a coding method, a program for executing the method, and a recording medium storing the program, the above being applicable for use in the coding of video data by means of the H.264 ISO/IEC 14496-10 AVC coding method (hereinafter referred to as AVC). More particularly, the present invention relates to configurations for arithmetic coding processing wherein the bit rate is controlled by predicting the number of generated bits from the bin size, such prediction being conducted with the use of a predictive function whose polynomial degree changes once the bin size exceeds a threshold value. The configurations of the present invention are simpler than those of the related art, and thus the scale of the circuitry involved therein and the energy-consumed thereby is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various video equipment of the related art codes video data using coding methods such as Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2 (MPEG-2), MPEG-4, and AVC. Among such coding methods, the AVC coding method is more computationally intensive for coding and decoding than the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 coding methods. At the same time, however, with AVC it is possible to obtain higher compression ratios compared to those of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
AVC includes two high-efficiency coding schemes: context-adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC) and context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC). Syntax elements are entropy coded using one of the above two schemes. Regardless of which scheme is used, AVC is able to adaptively assign symbols according to conditions in surrounding blocks, and thus higher compression ratios can be obtained compared to those of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Additionally, since CABAC is an arithmetic coding process, CABAC can assign symbols more efficiently than CAVLC. Consequently, the coding efficiency (i.e., the compression ratio) can be improved by using CABAC rather than CAVLC.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an AVC coding apparatus of the related art. The coding apparatus 1 implements CABAC. In the coding apparatus 1, a predictive coder 2 codes input picture data D1 with the use of prediction values. Subsequently, an arithmetic coder 3 codes each syntax element using CABAC.
The input picture data D1 received as input by the predictive coder 2 has been sorted by frame according to the GOP structure, the sorting conducted by means of a sort circuit not shown in the drawings. In the predictive coder 2, a subtractor 5 first subtracts prediction values D2 from the input picture data D1, and then outputs the resulting prediction error. An orthogonal transformation unit 6 is made up of a discrete cosine transform circuit or similar circuit that applies an orthogonal transformation to the prediction error and then outputs the resulting coefficient data. The quantization scale in a quantizer 7 is switched as a result of control by a rate controller 8A provided in a controller 8. The quantizer 7 quantizes the coefficient data output from the orthogonal transformation unit 6, outputting the results as quantized data D3.
A dequantizer 9 dequantizes the data D3 output from the quantizer 7, thereby restoring the data that was input into the quantizer 7. An inverse orthogonal transformation unit 10 then applies an inverse orthogonal transformation to the data output from the dequantizer 9, thereby restoring the data that was input into the orthogonal transformation unit 6. An adder 11 adds the prediction values D2 to the data output from the inverse orthogonal transformation unit 10, thereby restoring the input picture data D1. Frame memory 12 then stores the decoded input picture data D1 as reference picture data. The predictive coder 2 subsequently performs inter-prediction, wherein motion in the reference picture data stored in the frame memory is compensated for using a motion compensator 13, thereby generating prediction values D2. The predictive coder 2 also performs intra-prediction, wherein prediction values D2 are generated using an intra-prediction unit not shown in the drawings. The predictive coder 2 then inputs the output data from the quantizer 7 into the arithmetic coder 3 along with motion vectors, prediction mode data, or other information.
In the arithmetic coder 3, a binarization unit 15 converts the many-valued syntax elements from the output data of the quantizer 7, the motion vectors, and the prediction mode data into binary values, the binarization being conducted according to rules that depend on the type of the respective syntax elements. The binarization unit 15 then outputs the resulting series of variable-length binary symbols.
A context calculation unit 16 then conducts context calculation on each bit of the binary symbols to be output from the arithmetic coder 3. The context calculation is conducted on the basis of information about surrounding data to be coded and the values of already-coded binary symbols, and solves for a probability state variable indicating the probable value of each bit in the binary symbol being processed. The context calculation unit 16 stores the probability state variables in a probability table format, for example, and probability state variables that have been solved for are issued to a binary arithmetic coder 17 by means of the probability table. In addition, upon solving for the probability state variable of a single binary symbol, the context calculation unit 16 updates the corresponding probability state variable recorded in the probability table.
Using the probability table issued from the context calculation unit 16, the binary arithmetic coder 17 codes and outputs the current binary symbols being processed. A buffer 18 stores the output data from the binary arithmetic coder 17 along with header information or similar data, and then outputs the resulting coded data D4 as part of a bitstream.
The controller 8 controls the operation of the coding apparatus 1, selecting the optimal prediction mode by which to process the input picture data D1, and issuing commands to the motion compensator 13 and intra-prediction unit for generating prediction values D2 according to the optimal prediction mode. Additionally, the controller 8 executes rate control processing by using the rate controller 8A to switch the quantization scale of the quantizer 7.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the coding apparatus 1 with regard to the processing of the rate controller 8A provided in the controller 8. In FIG. 10, ME is a motion vector detection (i.e., motion estimation) circuit. During the bit allocation processing in step SP1, the controller 8 distributes allocatable bits to each picture and calculates a target number of bits for the picture currently being coded. The controller 8 also calculates the target number of bits per rate control unit from the picture currently being coded. The rate control unit herein is the coding unit of the coding apparatus 1 (i.e., a macroblock).
More specifically, the controller 8 divides the target bit rate of the coded data D4 to be output from the coding apparatus 1 by the number of GOPs per unit time, thus yielding the target number of bits allocatable to a single GOP. The controller 8 may also distribute the target number of bits for a single GOP thus calculated to each picture according to a ratio defined by picture type, thereby calculating the target number of bits for the picture currently being coded. The controller 8 may also divide the target number of bits for the picture currently being coded by the number of macroblocks constituting a single picture, and thereby calculate the target number of bits for a single macroblock. The controller 8 then issues the calculated target number of bits for a single macroblock to the rate controller 8A.
When calculating the target number of bits for a coding unit-block, the controller 8 may also monitor the number of bits in the coded data D4 generated as a result of the coding processing by monitoring the amount of free space in the buffer 18. Every time the coding for a single picture is completed, the controller 8 re-calculates, from the coded data D4 of the single picture, the target number of bits allocatable to the remaining pictures that constitute the current GOP. The re-calculated target number of bits may also be distributed to each picture according to picture type, thereby calculating the target number of bits for the next picture to be coded. The controller 8 may also re-calculate the target number of bits for a single macroblock from the target number of bits of the next picture to be coded, and then issue the re-calculated target number of bits to the rate controller 8A.
During the processing by the rate controller 8A as indicated by step SP2, the controller 8 may control the quantization scale of the controller 8 using a feedback control of the rate controller 8A, such that the number of bits in the coded data D4 becomes the target number of bits calculated in step SP1. More specifically, the controller 8 outputs quantization scale data DQ that determines the quantization scale of the quantizer 7 according to the target number of bits that was issued as a result of the bit allocation processing in step SP1. In this case, the controller 8 corrects and outputs the quantization scale data DQ according to the number of bits in the coded data D4 for the preceding macroblock. More specifically, when the number of bits in the coded data D4 is large with respect to the target number of bits, the quantization scale data DQ is corrected such that the quantization step size is increased and the number of generated bits is decreased. In contrast, when the number of bits in the coded data D4 is small with respect to the target number of bits, the quantization scale data DQ is corrected such that the quantization step size is decreased and the number of generated bits is increased. In this case, the quantization scale data DQ may be corrected using the actual number of bits in the coded data D4 as detected by the binary arithmetic coder 17, rather than the number of bits in the coded data D4 found by monitoring the buffer 18.
Using an activity detector not shown in the drawings, the coding apparatus 1 analyzes the input picture data D1 and detects per-macroblock activity that indicates coding difficulty. The activity herein may be calculated as the sum of squares or the sum of the absolute values of the high-activity area in the input picture data D1, or alternatively, the sum of squares of the sum of the absolute values of the prediction error output from the subtractor 5.
During the correction processing in step SP3, the controller 8 corrects the quantization scale data DQ calculated by the rate controller 8A according to the level of activity, and then outputs the corrected quantization scale to the quantizer 7. More specifically, for the portions having high activity wherein a degraded picture would be noticeably apparent, the quantization scale data DQ is corrected such that the quantization step size is decreased. In contrast, for the portions having low activity wherein a degraded picture would not be noticeably apparent, the quantization scale data DQ is corrected such that the quantization step size is increased.
Methods have been proposed regarding AVC coding for easily detecting the number of generated code bits, this number serving as a basis for the selection of the optimal prediction mode (cf. JP-A-2005-318296 and Toshiba Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (2005), 17-20). The technique disclosed in JP-A-2005-318296 involves detecting the number of generated code bits by summing the bin sizes of the binary symbols output from the arithmetic coder 3. The proposal disclosed in Toshiba Review involves detecting the number of generated coded bits by calculating a linear approximation using cumulative values of the bin sizes of the binary symbols. The bin size herein refers to the number of bits in a binary symbol.
The rate controller previously described with reference to FIG. 10 uses a feedback control based on the number of bits generated in the arithmetic coding processing. Consequently, real-time coding of the input picture data D1 by the coding apparatus 1 requires that the arithmetic coder 3 process binary symbols at high speeds. However, the processing conducted by the arithmetic coder 3 is very computationally intensive. Consequently, there is a problem in that if a coding apparatus 1 in accordance with the related art is to code the input picture data D1 in real-time, then the scale of circuitry involved is increased due to the increased complexity in the configuration of the arithmetic coder 3, and furthermore energy consumption is also increased.

Coding apparatus, coding method, program for executing the method, and recording medium storing the program


In a multi-tier patient monitoring data analysis system, an algorithm server is positioned as a middle tier between an acquisition device, such as a cardiograph or patient monitor that can be seen as a lower tier, and a storage device for a database, such as that of a central computer for a hospital or clinic that can be seen as an upper tier. The algorithm server gathers current data from the real time acquisition device and obtains previously stored ECG signal data from the database. The algorithm server contains ECG analysis algorithm(s) and runs one or more algorithms using the current and previously acquired ECG signal data. Analysis algorithms may also be run on the acquisition device. The system provides the rapid, extensive, and thorough ECG analysis that is critical to patient welfare.

Electrocardiography employs the electrical phenomena accompanying the physiological functioning of the heart for diagnostic and other purposes. Electrodes are applied to the chest and extremities of a patient to collect electrocardiographic (ECG) signal data and provide same to an acquisition unit, typically an electrocardiograph or patient monitor. The signals in the electrodes are amplified in a pre-amplifier and are typically displayed on a screen and/or moving paper strip for review and analysis by an attending cardiologist or other clinician. The ECG signal data is also digitized for storage in a memory and for use with computer ECG analysis algorithms.
However, only a limited amount of ECG signal data is often available for use with such acquisition apparatus, such as the data obtained during a single session with the patient. Acquisition apparatus such as a patient monitor, may carry out other tasks or functions besides ECG monitoring. This may limit the computing power available for ECG analysis, necessitating a reduction in a sophistication of an analysis algorithm in the monitor or slowing the analysis process. This limits the type of analysis that can be performed and the thoroughness with which it can be carried out. For example, if real time shape analysis of the heart beat waveforms found in the ECG signal data is desired, this may require transfer of the signal data from the acquisition unit to separate analysis apparatus containing a more sophisticated algorithm. Given the often critical nature of electrocardiological conditions, the limitations and delays attendant the foregoing give rise to the potential for adverse consequences to the patient.
In another example, in a chest pain clinic, a convenient, rapid serial comparison of currently obtained ECG signal data with previously acquired ECG signal data is essential to determine if there has been a change in the cardiac condition of the patient. However, in most cases, the previously acquired ECG signal data is stored in a remote database, such as the central computer for the clinic or hospital. Currently, it is thus often necessary to load the ECG signal data from the cardiograph or patient monitor into different apparatus, such as central clinic or hospital computer, having the database in which the previously acquired ECG signal data is stored. Thereafter, the serial comparison may be run. It will be appreciated that this can be an inconvenient and/or time consuming process, to the detriment to the patient.
To avoid or limit such consequences, rapid, extensive, and thorough ECG analysis is critical to patient welfare. Inconveniences associated with such analyses should be minimized to encourage the use of pertinent algorithms and/or to avoid affecting the accuracy of the ECG data analysis and interpretation, also to prevent detriment to the patient.

Multi-tier system for cardiology and patient monitoring data analysis


An antifuse structure is formed between two metal contacts in which a thin oxide layer is formed on the first or bottom metal, a shallow via is provided oxide layer and a layer of amorphous silicon is deposited over the thin oxide and into the shallow via without leaving the usual furrows in the amorphous silicon and thereby eliminating the step coverage problems of cusps forming in the subsequently applied second or top metal.

Programmable integrated circuits include many individual devices, such as memory cells, on a single circuit chip. The selection of the individual cells for connection to external circuits determines the programming of the integrated circuit. In order to place a particular cell in or out of the overall circuit, a line or link is created between a first or bottom metal layer and a second or top metal layer. The two metal layers can be connected to a source of electrical power for programming purposes. The link acts somewhat on the order of a switch which is either normally open or normally closed. In some pFSB's, these switches can be changed from their normal to their switched position only once and these comprise the write once pFSB's and the like. In addition there are erasable pFSB's such as erasable programmable read only memories (EPROM's) in which the switch may be opened and closed more than once.
When the switchable link is in the form of a normally closed switch, it is known as a "fuse" and, in its original state, the individual memory cell or other device is connected to the outer circuit through the fuse. The fuses are usually made of metal such as an alloy of titanium and tungsten and are relatively easy to fabricate with precision. In programming such a circuit, individual fuses are subjected to a sufficiently high current to destroy or blow the fuse thereby changing the switch from closed to open.
When the switchable link is in the form of a normally open switch, it is known as an "antifuse". The antifuse is formed as a filament of high resistance material which can be converted to a low resistance material. Amorphous silicon is typically used as the antifuse material because it has a high initial resistance but can be converted into a low resistance material merely by the application of a particular voltage. The application of the programming voltage causes the amorphous silicon to melt and crystallize thereby becoming a conductor. In the use of antifuses, there are strict voltage requirements for programming the device and these requirements result in the need for precise thickness of the amorphous silicon used in the antifuse itself. If too low a programming voltage is applied, because the amorphous silicon is too thick, the amorphous silicon is not crystallized. If too high a voltage is applied, it may exceed the maximum tolerated by the related circuitry transistors.
Because reliable fuses are more easily fabricated they are, of course, less expensive. However, fuses are much larger than antifuses and, consequently, antifuses have become more in demand when there is a need for high packing density on a chip.
The amorphous silicon comprising the antifuse is usually located within a via between two levels of the integrated circuit. One of the levels includes a comb like array of conductors in one direction and the other level includes a similar comb like array perpendicular to the first. In the past, these vias have had a diameter of about one micrometer, but design features and compacting of cells on the integrated circuit require smaller and smaller vias.
In early approaches to fabricating the antifuse structure, the antifuse was fabricated on top of an interlevel metal oxide (IMO). The first metal layer was applied on the IMO and acted as its bottom electrode. Amorphous silicon was deposited on the bottom electrode and additional IMO was extended above the amorphous silicon. A via was etched in the silicon dioxide down to the amorphous silicon and the second metal electrode was deposited in the via and in contact with the amorphous silicon. Although it is desirable to fabricate the antifuse consistently with standard ASIC processing, this process was incompatible with the ASIC process since it required the additional metal layer on top of the IMO silicon dioxide and actually required three additional masking steps. Moreover, the etching of the via usually causes some slight change of the amorphous silicon. The via etch should stop at the interface with the amorphous silicon, but usually a few hundred angstroms of amorphous silicon are removed during the etch. Such removal, of course, alters the amorphous silicon's thickness and, as a consequence, the necessary voltage requirements for programming. The variations in the thickness of the amorphous silicon introduce unprogrammed states in the complete device and therefore lead to mortality failures. In order to overcome that problem, an etch stop layer has been deposited on top of the amorphous silicon. The etch stop layer was made thick enough that the via etch did not reach the amorphous silicon lying beneath it, and consequently the programming voltage depended upon the deposition of the amorphous silicon rather than the variability of the etch process. The etch stop could take the form of a conductive layer such as titanium-tungsten (TiW) or it could even be a dielectric such as silicon nitride (SiN).
In one proposed method of fabricating antifuses, amorphous silicon is deposited directly over unetched metal--a sandwich of aluminum-copper between two layers of titanium-tungsten alloy. In the etching of the amorphous silicon layer to define the antifuse structures, there is considerable danger that the etch will be active not only on the amorphous silicon, but also on the underlying metal. There is, therefore, a high risk of etching through the titaniun-tungsten alloy and corroding the underlying aluminum-copper layer. The corrosion may cut completely through the metal layer to make an open circuit. Even if the metal is not sufficiently corroded to create an open circuit, the corrosion is a reliability risk due to electromigration at the corrosion site.
In another recently developed method, a relatively thick layer of silicon dioxide is deposited over the titanium-tungsten strip, and a via is etched through the oxide. The oxide is approximately 300 nm thick and the amorphous silicon is deposited over the planar surface of the oxide and on the oxide walls of the via. However, the amorphous silicon in the via does not deposit in a uniform manner. Rather, furrows are formed in those portions of the amorphous silicon at the base of the vias adjacent the walls thereby creating lines of diminished amorphous silicon thickness. Since the programming voltage is dependent upon the minimum thickness of the amorphous silicon, the furrows create an unacceptable variable. To counter the effect of the furrows, an insulating layer of silicon dioxide is then deposited over the amorphous silicon and the bulk of the oxide is subsequently etched away so as to leave insulating silicon dioxide spacers in the furrows. The spacers effectively prevent the reduced thickness amorphous silicon from being subjected to the programming voltage.

Method of fabricating a programmable function system block using two masks and a sacrificial oxide layer between the bottom metal and an amorphous silicon antifuse structure


A headlamp (1) that utilizes a laser beam includes a scattered-light emitting unit (21) that emits scattered light upon receipt of a laser beam deviated from a predetermined path through which the laser beam is to pass or a predetermined irradiation region that is to be irradiated by the laser beam.

To date, illuminating devices formed by combining a fluorescent member and a semiconductor light-emitting element, such as a light-emitting diode element or a semiconductor laser device, that emits light used as an excitation light have been known. Light-emitting diode elements or semiconductor laser devices used as excitation light sources often include a nitride semiconductor that emits light in a spectrum ranging from ultraviolet to blue. Thus, a material that can convert light in the corresponding wave range to green to red light is selected as a fluorescent member. Consequently, an illuminating device that emits light of a desired color can be formed. Such an illuminating device is disclosed in, for example, PTL 1.
Here, when the intensity of light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting elements reaches or exceeds a specific intensity, such light becomes hazardous to the human body. Particularly, since laser beams emitted from semiconductor laser devices are coherent light, when directly impinging on the human eye, laser beams have an extremely high power density and thus are highly likely to damage eyes.
On the other hand, even if the above-described illuminating devices include semiconductor laser devices as light sources, laser beams can be safely directed at the human eye as long as they are emitted to fluorescent members because laser beams scattered by the fluorescent members are no longer coherent light. Thus, some have proposed using semiconductor laser devices as light sources (excitation light sources) instead of existing light sources such as incandescent light bulbs.
For example, PTL 2 describes an electronic endoscope device including a semiconductor laser as a light source of illumination light that illuminates an object in a lumen. This electronic endoscope device includes an endoscope insertable portion and a device body connected to the endoscope insertable portion. On the device body, a semiconductor laser device (laser chip) is mounted as a light source. Laser beams oscillated by the semiconductor laser device are transmitted through a communication fiber installed in the endoscope insertable portion and emitted to a fluorescent filter (fluorescent member) disposed at the tip of the endoscope insertable portion. The fluorescent filter emits white light when irradiated with laser beams, whereby the object is illuminated. In addition, an imaging unit including an image sensor is disposed at the tip of the endoscope insertable portion. This imaging unit is driven by a signal processor installed in the device body and imaging signals from the imaging unit are signal-processed so that an endoscopic image is displayed on a monitor.
When such an electronic endoscope device has received damage, such as breakage of the communication fiber, laser beams may leak out of the endoscope insertable portion. In view of this, PTL 2 discloses an illumination system in which laser beams do not leak out of an endoscope insertable portion even in the case of occurrence of damage. Specifically, the system electrically senses breakage or a short circuit of a cable that connects a signal processor and an imaging unit. When the system detects breakage or a short circuit of the cable, the system controls laser beam output such that laser beams do not leak out of the endoscope insertable portion.
In addition, PTL 3 discloses an illuminating device that includes a reflected-light detecting unit that detects a specific wavelength of light reflected off a fluorescent member for improvement of eye safety.

Laser-beam utilization device and vehicle headlight


A class of nanophotonic integrated circuit (nPIC) has been disclosed that is a platform technology for fiberoptic communication and computing, that is fabricated from waveguides that are based on natural index contrast (NIC) principle. A multifunctional nPIC and its fabrication details have been described. The nPIC is also known as an “optical processor”. A novel nanomaterial “dendrimer” is highlighted as the key ingredient that enables the fabrication of the nPICs and its multifunctionality from the same basic process. Other nanomaterials such as spin-on glass, nano-silica sol, and a combination of any of these materials can also be used via the natural index contrast method. Several preferred embodiments of the nPIC are described.

An integrated circuit (IC) is a microelectronic device that houses multiple electronic circuits on a chip. ICs are built by lithographic fabrication of numerous transistors on a silicon chip. Similarly a photonic IC (PIC) is a device that houses integrated photonic functions on a chip. A PIC fabricated from nanomaterials and/or via a nanolithography process is called a nanophotonic integrated circuit. Although the physics of photons (neutral particles) and electrons or holes (charge carrying particles) are different from each other, the evolution of the electronic IC provides an analogy to PICs. The development of PICs promises to increase functionality, density, and significantly reduced cost when compared to optical components that are assembled from discrete photonic elements. While there are several existing methods for designing and building fiberoptic networks and systems, the fundamental breakthrough required to meet dramatically reduced cost points is the introduction of viable PIC technology that must meet a few important criteria such as:
(i) PIC technology must be capable of creating a broad range of optical functions out of a single fabrication process.
(ii) The means must exist for PICs to be readily manufactured at low cost in high volume.
(iii) The capability must be developed to aggregate individual optical functions into more complex arrangements within the PIC technology and with other optical technologies.
While classical electronic computing has made significant advances to the modern generation of fast computers and the Internet, there are currently applications needs that require even faster speed, higher bandwidth, more robust deployment capability and cheaper methods of fabrication. In the field of photonics, efforts to achieve a true integrated platform for fiberoptic communication and computing that can parallel the electronic counterpart have been unsuccessful. Many of the optical components available today, whether passive, active, or hybrid combinations of the both, are analogous to the vacuum tubes that predate the modern transistors and ICs. This is primarily because silicon, as an optical material, poses several challenges that make it almost impossible to produce a true PIC that can replicate the IC revolution. These issues are fundamental limitations that arise from material properties, and result in difficulty of externally controlling.
Silicon structures are difficult to control externally for optical switching. Poor light emission from silicon devices is attributed to silicon's indirect band gap. It is difficult to obtain optical amplification with silicon because of difficulty in doping silicon with amplifying ions. It is also difficult to fabricate modulators because of silicon's low electro-optic coefficient. Therefore, there is an expressed need to develop novel devices that can overcome the limitations of silicon-based photonics. Novel materials and novel methods are necessary for enhancing the interaction of light with matter. Devices with novel functionalities for guiding light, switching, amplifying, and modulating need to be developed. In addition, a long awaited need is the ability to combine electronics with photonics by fabricating PICs on a silicon wafer. Such devices will form the basis for an ultimate photonic integrated circuit. If a smart nanomaterial is used to build such a PIC, it is termed as an nPIC. In the field of photonics, a smart material is defined as a material that can provide multiple functionalities such as waveguiding, amplifying, and modulating of photonic signals
For a truly integrated photonic technology, a smart material system is necessary that functions in a similar fashion for photonics, as silicon does for electronic IC. At the fundamental level, electronic IC requires only a periodic arrangement of numerous "transistors" (or p-n junctions) in a smaller dimension. Because IC functionality depends primarily on the movement of charge carriers, the features necessary to carry out these functionalities can be as small as lithographically possible, the latest being a 90 nm line width.
Contrasting this with photonics, features suitable for photon guiding and coupling must first be able to accommodate the photons. As a result the waveguides must at least be of the order of the wavelength of the photon. This requirement is, in some aspects, an advantage for photonics because lithographic processes are readily available. On the other hand there exists a new set of challenges to overcome because of the difficulties with silicon material properties explained above, and because of the fact that silicon cannot do everything necessary for photon manipulations. Hence, the need for a new material-based technology.
From a fundamental point of view the basic functionalities necessary to build a chip that can ultimately be termed as an "optical processor" include the following: light guiding, light amplifying, light modulating, signal processing, attenuating, sensing, on-chip light source and detector, on-chip interconnect, and inputting and outputting of the signal. Being able to build all of these functionalities on a single chip that would represent a true PIC is an ambitious goal. Nevertheless, this is what one must achieve to make a breakthrough, not only from a scientific and technology point of view, but also to be able to solve the problems that currently exist.
The term "photonic integrated circuit" has been assigned to several different kinds of chip-based devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,809 (Jan. 26, 1999) titled "Manufacture Of Planar Photonic Integrated Circuits," describes integration of a laser (active) waveguide with a passive waveguide in a coplanar configuration. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,974 (Dec. 30, 1997) titled "Semiconductor Photonic Integrated Circuit And Fabrication Process Therefor," describes InP based photonic integrated circuit wherein an active region and a passive region are coupled. Other examples of using the term photonic integrated circuit in one form or other can be found in US Pat. App. No. 2004/0067006 A1 (Apr. 08, 2004) titled "Transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TXPIC) chips," in US Pat. App. No. 2003/0099425 A1 (May 29, 2003) titled "Optical Communication Module With One or More Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) Chips and an External Booster Optical Amplifier for Photonic Integrated Circuits," in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,667 (May 01, 2001) titled "Method for Fabricating Semiconductor Light Integrated Circuit," and in US Pat. App. No. 2004/0105476 A1 (Jun. 03, 2004) titled "Planar Waveguide Surface Emitting Laser and Photonic Integrated Circuit."
In general, the term PIC has been used for any photonic device that accommodated optical functionality on a chip. It is apparent that, while the term PIC has been used for a number of years, devices based on those PICs are not in wide use in practical network equipment. The primary reason is the typical unfavorable cost and performance issues of the available PIC devices that need to be improved. Also the above referenced PICs lack features to be able to term them as a complete PIC or an optical processor.

Nanophotonic integrated circuit and fabrication thereof


A resin composition having laser marking properties with the CO.sub.2 laser with radiation at 10600 nm comprises a polyester thermoplastic resin, a sufficient amount of dark pigment for forming a dark background coloration, a mica material for absorbing said laser radiation, and an effective amount of a hydrated metal phosphate containing water of crystallization wherein said metal phosphate decomposes in laser struck areas to release said hydrated water whereby light colored markings in laser struck areas are obtained on said dark background coloration.

The laser beam provides a means of writing, bar coding and decorative marking of plastics. This technique is advantageous over current printing technologies because of the ease at which the layout can be adjusted using graphic computer programs and also integrated into the production line. Laser marking enables a contract-free procedure even on soft, irregular surfaces that are not readily accessible. In addition it is ink-free which makes it long-lasting and solvent-free and, thus, more friendly to the environment. Speeds up to 10,000 mm/sec are possible with a CO.sub.2 laser while Nd-YAG laser allows up to 2000 mm/sec. Two-color injection molding offers marking results with the best contrast but the method is not flexible to change of layout. Thus, laser marking offers a versatile solution to most printing needs.
There are several laser types available for marking plastic surfaces. The Excimer laser with the frequency in the range of 196-351 nm leads to the marking of plastic surfaces by photochemical ablation or reaction. Using Nd-YAG laser at lower power levels at 532 nm provides laser marking by leaching or selective bleaching of dyes and pigments while the YAG laser at 1064 nm leads to laser marking by sublimation, discoloration, foaming and engraving. The CO.sub.2 laser at 10600 nm enables laser marking by thermochemical reaction, melting, vaporizing and engraving.
In laser marking carbon black has been used to get a light contrast. Carbon black decomposes into volatile components after absorbing the laser light. These volatile components foam the surface leading to scattering of light and thus a light impression. EP 0 675 001 to Kato describes the use of zinc borate as a contrast enhancing additive. Zinc borate releases its water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,647 to Spanjer describes a laser markable material useful for encapsulation of electronic devices is obtained by adding TiO.sub.2 or TiO.sub.2 +CrO.sub.3 to common plastic encapsulants formed from a mixture of a resin+filler+carbon black+mold release agent. When irradiated by a CO.sub.2 laser, the originally grey material turns bright gold, providing a high contrast durable mark. Desirable concentrations are described, in weight percent of the compound, as 1-5% TiO.sub.2 and 0-3% CrO.sub.3, with 1-3% TiO.sub.2 and 0.5-2% CrO.sub.3 being preferred. Carbon black is optional but a concentration in the range 0.1-3% by weight is desirable with 0.5-1% preferred.
GB 2,107,322 describes the marking of polymers which have low absorption in the infra-red range of wavelengths using a CO2 laser beam. A silicate additive is described which has a high absorption at the wavelength 10.6.mu.. The additives are described as calcium silicate, which in the form of wollastonite has an absorption of 96% at a wavelength of 10.6.mu.. Other silicates described include aluminum silicates, e.g. in the form of China clay. The resin material described refer to polyolefins, polystyrene, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene type materials.
Other references to silicates are found in EP 0 669 365 which describes the addition of silicates to polyolefins to yield a dark brown or black marking in the laser struck areas. Similarly, EP 0 111 357 uses metal silicates to obtain black markings on articles having a polyolefin surface. T. Kilp, "Laser marking of Plastics", Annu. Tech. Conf. Soc. Plast. Eng, (1991), 49.sup.th, 1901-1903, describes the effects of different silicates on the laser marking of polyolefins. Kaolin gave white marks on colored substrates while black marks were obtained when mica or titanium dioxide were incorporated into the substrate.
It is desirable to make further improvements in laser marking materials of the polyester type. In particular, a desired color combination is a dark background color and a light contrast color in the laser treated areas. It is desired to achieve this improvement with CO.sub.2 laser at 10600 nm.


According to embodiments of the present invention, a probe storage medium includes a conductive layer as an electrode and a metal, metalloid, and/or non-metal doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer disposed on the conductive layer. A probe array may be positioned close proximity with the layer of doped DLC. An individual probe in the probe array may have an atomic force microscope tip. The probe storage medium may be written to by applying a current, voltage, and/or power to the tip between a thresholds current, voltage, and/or power value and a limiting current, voltage, and/or power value. The current, voltage, and/or power cause the layer of DLC to change conductance. The probe storage medium may be read by applying a current, voltage, and/or power to the tip below a threshold current, voltage, and/or power value and sensing the conductance.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to data storage media and, in particular, to probe storage media.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, conventional memory devices perform well to store data. However, they suffer from some limitations. Manufacturers are thus continually looking for alternatives to conventional memory devices. Probe storage media is one such alternative.

Probe storage with doped diamond-like carbon medium and current limiter


An absolute optical linear or rotary encoder which encodes the motion of an object (3) with increased resolution and encoding range and decreased sensitivity to damage to the scale includes a scale (5), which moves with the object and is illuminated by a light source (11). The scale carries a pattern (9) which is imaged by a microscope optical system (13) on a CCD array (17) in a camera head (15). The pattern includes both fiducial markings (31) which are identical for each period of the pattern and code areas (33) which include binary codings of numbers identifying the individual periods of the pattern. The image of the pattern formed on the CCD array is analyzed by an image processor (23) to locate the fiducial marking, decode the information encoded in the code area, and thereby determine the position of the object.

An optical encoder measures a position of an object, either angular or linear, by optically detecting marks on a scale attached to the object to move with the object. In the simplest form, the encoder simply measures translation by counting the number of marks that move past the encoder's optical detector.
In a common form of such an encoder, a fixed scale and a moving scale, which have identical transparent markings on opaque backgrounds, are interposed between a light source and the detector. The relative locations of the transparent markings determine the amount of light which is allowed to be transmitted through each marking, e.g., full transmission, 1/2 or 1/4 transmission, or none at all. Of course, such an encoder can measure only relative displacement with respect to a reference position--not absolute position.
In a conventional absolute encoder, each position is given not simply by just one mark, but by a unique code pattern of marks which identifies the absolute position. A change in position is sensed by detecting a change in the code bits which make up the code pattern. Some absolute encoders can derive position information at rates higher than 100 kHz.
In an absolute encoder such as the one just described, sensitivity is limited to the size of the smallest code bit which can be recorded, which is in turn limited by physical optics to about the wavelength of the light used to record and detect the code patterns. Thus, the best sensitivity available from such an absolute encoder is somewhat less than 1 .mu.m of translation. Also, such an encoder is limited in the amount of travel that it can accommodate. For instance, such an encoder which uses 12-bit code patterns can encode up to 2.sup.12 =4,096 positions. With a sensitivity of just under 1 .mu.m, the maximum travel which can be detected is around 4,000 .mu.m, or four millimeters. Moreover, because the code bits themselves are detected, damage to the scale can result in dead spots in which derived position information is anomalous.

Method and apparatus for ultra-high-sensitivity, incremental and absolute optical encoding

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A wire harness includes an electric wire, a braided shield covering the electric wire, an annular electromagnetic wave absorption component that includes a through-hole for inserting electric wire and absorbs electromagnetic wave emitted from the electric wire, and a movement-restricting member for restricting the electromagnetic wave absorption component from moving in a direction of inserting the electric wire in the through-hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wire harness and, in particular, to a wire harness provided with a magnetic core for reducing an electromagnetic noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire harness is known that is used for e.g. a vehicle having an electric motor as a drive source so as to connect the electric motor with an inverter. The wire harness is provided with a braided shield so as to reduce the electromagnetic noise emitted from electric wires of the wire harness (See e.g. JP-A-2011-254613).
A wire harness disclosed in JP-A-2011-254613 is provided with three electric wires and a braided shield covering the three electric wires. A shield shell is provided at both ends of the three electric wires and the outer surface of the shield shell is partially covered with the expanded end portions of the braided shield.


Footwear including an insole formed for relieving pressure on a common digital nerve of a foot. The insole has heel, mid and forefoot sections. The forefoot section of the insole is formed with a pad having a neuroma pad section which underlies the third and fourth metatarsal heads of the foot, so that when a bottom of the foot is placed on the insole, the neuroma pad section applies an upward force to the bottom of the foot sufficient to spread the third and fourth metatarsal heads away from one another and thereby relieve pressure on the third common digital nerve to reduce the risk of neuroma. In other embodiments, the pad is formed as a separate pad for placement in footwear. An insole designed for use with thonged footwear is also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to footwear and, more particularly, to an insole having features for improving the comfort of the foot. This invention is in the same field as applicant's prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,272,899 and 5,787,610, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
This invention is especially directed to reducing and/or preventing foot pain resulting from various afflictions, including neuritis or a neuroma. A neuroma is caused when two metatarsal bones of the foot repeatedly rub closer together, resulting in an inflammation and swelling of a common digital nerve located between the bones. A number of factors may precipitate a neuroma, including bio-mechanical abnormalities which can cause irritation during walking, running and other athletic maneuvers. Certain types of footwear which restrict natural foot movement also place a person at higher risk of developing a neuroma. Such footwear includes high heels and flat shoes such as mules, boots, flats and sandals. A foot neuroma can be very painful, and there is a need for footwear which is designed to avoid this condition or, if already existing, to remedy the problem.
Conventional footwear of the type described above can also result in incidents of stress fracture and metatarsalgia (inflammation of the ball of the foot) and/or the formation of hammertoes and/or incidents of heel pain caused by bursitis.


The lighting system having a plurality of winker lamps disposed on front and rear portions of a vehicle body, a winker switch, and a lighting control circuit which performs changeover function allowing the winker lamps at a front portion of the vehicle body to lit as position lamps. The lighting control circuit is connected to a battery through an ignition switch. The lighting system further includes a power supply circuit which supplies, in an ignition off state, power to the lighting control circuit in response to an output signal from an antitheft apparatus to cause the winker lamps to light up or flicker. The output terminal of the antitheft device is connected to an electrical connection formed between the winker switch and the left and right rear lamps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting system for a vehicle, such as a motorcycle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle lighting system having reduced number of parts and simplified structure including application of a single filament bulb as a winker lamp and a position lamp.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are known lighting systems for vehicles, such as motorcycles, in which a single filament bulb is sometimes used as both of a winker lamp and a position lamp. In these systems, when the single filament bulb is operated as a winker lamp, current is supplied at a duty ratio of 100% to the single filament bulb, but when the single filament bulb is operated as a position lamp, current is supplied at another duty ratio of 25% to the single filament bulb thereby making it possible to achieve two functions using a single lamp. The lighting changeover between a winker lamp and a position lamp is performed by operation of a relay.
An example of such a known lighting system, having a single filament bulb used as both of a winker lamp and a position lamp, is disclosed in the Japanese Patent No. 2706605.
As shown in FIG. 5 of this application, a lighting system 100 of the Japanese Patent No. 2706605 includes a left front lamp FL, a left rear lamp RL, a right front lamp FR, a right rear lamp RR, a left indicator lamp INDL and a right indicator lamp INDR, a position winker relay (a relay unit) 110, a winker hazard holding relay 120, a winker switch 130, and a hazard switch 140. The left front lamp FL and the right front lamp FR are used as winker lamps as well as position lamps.
In the system of the Patent Document No. 2706605, on an electrical connection line which interconnects the hazard switch 140 and the left rear lamp RL, right rear lamp RR left front lamp FL, and right front lamp FR, four diodes D1, D2, D3 and D4 are respectively provided. For example, a diode D1 is operatively disposed on an electrical connection between the hazard switch 140 and the left rear lamp RL. Further, the position winker relay 110 includes an Integrated Circuit (IC) 111 for exclusive use as a lighting control section, a left front driver 112, a right front driver 113 and a rear driver 114.
When an ignition switch is on, current is selectively supplied from a vehicle-carried battery (not shown) to the left front lamp FL, left rear lamp RL, right front lamp FR and right rear lamp RR in response to changeover of the winker switch 130 or the hazard switch 140.
The left front lamp FL, left rear lamp RL, right front lamp FR and right rear lamp RR are in the form of a single filament bulb. In the lighting system of the Japanese Patent No. 2706605, lighting for a position lamp is performed when no input is provided to the left and right rear lamps RL, RR, but flickering for a winker lamp is performed when an input is provided to one of the left and right rear lamps RL, RR. In this instance, if an intermittent input is provided to both of the left and right rear lamps RL, RR for hazard indication, then flickering for a winker lamp and lighting for a position lamp are performed simultaneously, and lighting in a glimmering state is provided.
Thus, in order to make it possible to definitely distinguish flickering or lighting of winker lamps and position lamps and indication of hazard lamps, the position winker relay 110 and the winker hazard holding relay 120 are used for single filament bulb lighting so that lighting for hazard lamps can be performed.
In the lighting system as shown in FIG. 5, since two different relays (having different specifications from each other), that is, the position winker relay 110 and the winker hazard holding relay 120 are used, the management of the lighting system becomes complicated as the increased number of parts are required for such systems. Particularly, the IC 111 for exclusive use included in the position winker relay 110 makes an obstacle to standardization of parts. Further, it is necessary to used four large capacity diodes D1, D2, D3 and D4, through which current from the battery flows, and such large capacity diodes may be expensive and may impose assembling problems.
Therefore, there is a need for a lighting system for a vehicle which does not require a winker hazard holding relay or a diode of a large current capacity to improve the layout performance and which allows further standardization of components. Accordingly, in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the known lighting systems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simplified vehicle lighting system requiring reduced number of components.

Lighting system for vehicle and vehicle incorporating same


An apparatus and method for controlling air conditioning of a vehicle are provided. The apparatus includes a sensing device that measures a pollutant concentration and a carbon dioxide concentration in the vehicle using at least one sensor. A controller determines an in-vehicle air condition based on the pollutant concentration and the carbon dioxide concentration, and automatically switches an in-vehicle air circulation mode based on a determination result.

In-vehicle air circulation may be divided into an outside air circulation scheme and an inside air circulation scheme. The outside air circulation scheme refers to a method of injecting air outside the vehicle to discharge muddy air to an outside. The inside air circulation scheme refers to a method of circulating air inside the vehicle.
In recent years, since it is more difficult to introduce and circulate air outside the vehicle due to pollutants, air is circulated in the vehicle in an inside air circulation scheme, which increases the concentration of carbon dioxide in the vehicle, which may cause the driver to fall asleep while driving. Therefore, there is a need to develop a technology capable of minimizing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the vehicle while minimizing the inflow of pollutants into the vehicle.

Apparatus and method for controlling air conditioning of vehicle


An antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver is disclosed as including a printed circuit antenna mounted on the transceiver and coupled to be driven by circuitry of the transceiver. An extendable monopole antenna is also mounted on the transceiver and is adapted to be electrically coupled to the printed circuit antenna when in an extended position and to be electrically decoupled from the printed circuit antenna when in a retracted position. A connector is fixedly attached to the printed circuit antenna at a first end and maintains contact with the monopole antenna at a second end as the monopole antenna slides between the extended and retracted positions. The monopole antenna includes a conductive portion which is in contact with the connector in the extended position and a non-conductive portion which is in contact with the connector in the retracted position. A separate circuit may be provided for sensing the position of the monopole antenna, where the circuit permits the transceiver to transmit at full power when the monopole antenna is in the extended position and permits the transceiver to transmit at reduced power when the monopole antenna is in the retracted position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver and, more particularly, to a printed circuit antenna which is electrically coupled to or decoupled from a monopole antenna depending upon whether the monopole antenna is in an extended or retracted position.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the portable transceiver art for a second smaller antenna to be utilized in conjunction with an extendable whip antenna. Because a whip antenna can be cumbersome when extended, it is normally preferred that it be retracted except when the transceiver is actively being utilized. The second antenna may be positioned internal of the transceiver housing (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,382 to Imanishi and U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,329 to Saarnimo et al.) or as a separate antenna element located around or adjacent the whip antenna (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,218 to Irwin et al.).
The internal antennas utilized in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,958,382 and 5,138,329 are adequate for their intended purpose, but do not work in conjunction with their respective extendable antennas. This not only reduces the effectiveness of these antenna systems, but also may cause a time period where neither antenna is able to radiate.
The helical antenna in U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,218 is disclosed as being positioned around or adjacent to the whip antenna. While the helical antenna is relatively small in size (since it has an electrical length greater than its physical length), it is desired that an even smaller antenna be utilized which has an electrical length at least as great. Further, the distance of separation between the helical antenna and the whip antenna has a direct relationship on the capacitive coupling between them. This distance of separation also is a factor with regard to the impedance matching between the antennas, which may create the need for a compromise as to an optimum separation. Moreover, as noted in a patent application entitled "Printed Sleeve Monopole Antenna" having Ser. No. 08/459,237, which is owned by the assignee of the present invention, one disadvantage of a helical antenna is a reduction in its operating radiation bandwidth due to changes in the input impedance over frequency. In particular, this reduction in bandwidth results from the combination of lower radiation resistance due to smaller antenna size and a larger amount of stored energy causing a high Q.
It has also been found that physically small antennas (relative to the wavelength in free space) have higher energy storage in the reactive near field than electrically equivalent but physically longer antennas. Energy storage in the reactive near field is a mechanism by which energy is coupled to lossy media (e.g., human tissue) located in the reactive near field. Thus, for a given transmitted output power level, physically small antennas increase the energy coupling to the user of a portable transceiver device and emit non-ionizing, electromagnetic RF energy.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver which permits radiation by a monopole antenna in an extended position and permits radiation by a printed circuit antenna when the monopole antenna is in a retracted position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver in which the size of the printed circuit antenna is minimized.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver where the antennas are matched for optimal transfer of power between them.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver where the level of power transmitted is dependent upon which antenna is used.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a dual antenna arrangement for a portable transceiver having a direct electrical connection between the two antennas.
These objects and other features of the present invention will become more readily apparent upon reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the following drawing.

Dual antenna arrangement for portable transceiver