There is provided a display control device according to which video data for a plurality of windows to be displayed on a display screen is prestored in a video memory regardless of a display position of the video data in each of the windows and an effective zone of each of the windows in a display screen and a priority order of the respective windows are also prestored. With respect to each scanning position in the display screen, one of the windows which is of the highest priority order is selected from among the windows which are being scanned in accordance with an effective display zone and a priority order of each of the windows, and video data of the selected window is read from the video memory on the basis of relation between the display position and the storage position of the video data.

This invention relates to a display control device and a display control method for displaying a plurality of pictures with one picture being superposed on another on a display screen and, more particularly, to a device and a method of this type suitable for displaying a number of pictures without increasing an amount of transfer of data to be displayed.
In consumer type display control devices such as one for a game machine, a picture to be displayed is divided into parts and these parts are allocated to different display positions on a display screen and depth of the picture to be displayed is expressed by controlling the amount of scroll for each part and a priority order of superposed parts. For example, parts such as "clouds in the sky", "a mountain in the distance", "a road extending laterally in the picture and buildings along the road" and "an automobile running on the road" are allocated to different display positions. A part existing in the distance is given a lower priority order and a smaller amount of scroll than a part existing in a near position whereby depth in the whole picture can be expressed.
In this type of display control device, it is desirable to set a very fine priority order for respective parts each having a very narrow display zone allocated in the display screen. For this purpose, a prior art display control device adopts a system in which video data for all parts of a picture is transferred from a video memory and the picture to be displayed is reconstructed in accordance with a priority number attached to the respective video data. This system has the advantage that, since a preferential processing is performed after video data has been transferred from a frame buffer, the priority order can be controlled dot by dot by setting, for example, a color code of transparent display (i.e., displaying video data of a part having a lower priority order).
On the other hand, a video accelerator adapted for WINDOWS (trademark of Microsoft Inc.) which is used as a current main personal computer operating system adopts a system in which, in a case where display zones of windows set for respective applications overlap each other, video data of the overlapping display zones is rewritten to shift a lower window to the highest priority and superposition of windows can thereby be realized with only a single video data stored in the video memory. In this system, however, the video memory must be rewritten each time shifting of a window takes place so that there arises the problem that a smooth shifting of a window in real time cannot be made. In this system, therefore, a window frame only is written during shifting of a window for reducing the amount of data to be written and video data in the window is written after the location of the shifted window has been established.
In the former prior art display control device, video data of all parts of a picture must be transferred and, for achieving this, data bus of a broad width must be employed or a high speed memory must be used for increasing the amount of data to be transferred. The increase in the data bus necessitates parallel connection of plural frame buffers resulting in increase in the number of pins provided in an interface with the display control device which increases the manufacturing cost of the device. In the latter prior art display control device, there frequently occurs a case where writing of video data cannot catch up with shifting of a window of a large display zone or quick shifting of a window.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a display control device which enables display of plural pictures on a display screen and a smooth shifting of windows without increasing the amount of transferred data.

Display control device and a method for controlling display


Special articles are fashioned as undergarments of a very brief nature. Brevity, with regard to undergarments, has advantages including: comfort and ease of use, improved cooperation with outerwear and protection against soiling. Thin sheets are prepared and arranged to be applied to the crotch area of the interior surface of pants or other similar garments via an adhesive bonding agent. So applied, the article provides underwear function and is intended to be an underwear substitute without bunching, chafing, or forming visible panty lines. The underwear substitute provides comfort to the user without forming visible panty lines while protecting the outer garment against soiling. These underwear substitutes may be formed of materials suitable for disposal after single use and they may be arranged as a kit suitable for retail sale.

1. Field
The following invention disclosure is generally concerned with articles of clothing and articles used in conjunction with clothing and specifically concerned with liner articles which may be used instead of underwear.
2. Prior Art
It is essential for good hygiene that one wear underwear beneath one's outer clothing. Not only does underwear protect outer clothing from being soiled from the inside, it also protects a wearer from chaffing from the outer clothing. However, underwear is sometimes an inconvenience. It tends to annoy wearers as it is restrictive, tends to bunch and bind, may cause one to become hot, and is accompanied by other adverse side effects. Ladies clothing which is sometimes form fitting particularly presents issues with underwear use. More specifically, underwear may cause panty lines which become visible through outer clothing. Recently, 'thong' type underwear has become quite popular as it reduces panty lines and allows a more perfect and pleasing fit. However, thong type underwear may be uncomfortable to wear.
Wearing no underwear at all is undesirable for the reason that it leaves outer garments exposed to undesirable soiling and further leaves sensitive flesh exposed to the discomfort of contact with rough materials from which outer garments may be made.
The art is replete with panty liners and devices arranged to couple with and protect panties during menstruation. These arrangements invariably include devices operable for absorbing and containing appreciable amounts of fluid and associated matter. As such, they are generally thick and bulky and therefore not suitably worn in conjunction with certain outer garments such as tight fitting pants.
Similarly, products are now offered to persons afflicted with bladder control difficulties, for example, DEPENDS. These devices also are arranged as highly absorbent protective articles. Consequently, they are quite thick and bulky and they consume a significant volume which cannot be hidden in tight fitting clothes, i.e., they must be worn with loose fitting outer garments.
As for lining fashioned to cooperate with the outer garment, one will recall that a bathing suit typically has a sewn-in liner. This liner is well suited to protect the bathing suit from soiling while also providing comfort to the wearer. However, these liners are permanently affixed to the suit and they are not disposable. They typically have reinforced peripheries which tend to be bulky and cause creases and visible lines.
Other pant liner systems include those which are used in conjunction with a fireman's outerwear. U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,549 is representative. An outerwear pant requires a liner for the comfort and cleanliness of the wearer. The liner is disposed next to the interior surface of the pants and affixed thereto. As such, it shares important concepts presented here following and is considered prior art.
In addition, liners to be worn inside of other clothing include special abbreviated panty liner taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,835 by inventor Williams. This panty liner is specially designed for coupling with so-called 'thong' type underwear.
Another important liner to be worn in conjunction with outer garments includes the devices and articles taught by Lampman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,323. These devices serve the need for cleanliness while trying on clothing in consideration of purchase. Use of these devices permits one to fit new clothing without exposing the clothing to undesirable contact.
A comfortable pair of underwear is presented as the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,184. These articles are simple liners to be used in conjunction with outer garments such as pants. They may be fashioned as disposable and therefore might be considered relevant to principle concepts of the present disclosure.
Finally, a disposable pant liner is presented and taught by Johnson of Burbank, Calif. in recent U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,462. These devices may be single use systems to protect one's outer garment.
Notwithstanding, articles have been discovered and invented to provide very novel pant liners, particularly liners to provide underwear functionality without being accompanied by the disadvantages found in use of common underwear.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mounting device, for mounting a plurality of buttons on a product, includes a supporting member, a punching member, and a driving member The supporting member includes a supporting panel, a plurality of holding portions fixed on the supporting panel for supporting the product, a molding board having a plurality of molding holes a platform, and a base fixed on the platform for supporting the molding board. The punching member includes a retaining member positioned above the supporting member, and a plurality of cutters fixed to the retaining member The cutters cut the buttons off a button assembly, and couple to a vacuum generator for creating suction to hold the buttons. The driving member drives the punching member to mount the buttons on the product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a mounting device, and particularly to a mounting device used for buttons.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical products usually comprise a plurality of buttons on a shell thereof. And usually, the buttons are mounted one by one on the product manually. However, when a product having a large number of buttons is assembled, efficiency of manual assembly is too low.
Therefore, a need exists in the industry to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Mounting device for efficiently mounting buttons

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


Embodiments implement non-intrusive load monitoring using machine learning. A trained convolutional neural network (CNN) can be stored, where the CNN includes a plurality of layers, and the CNN is trained to predict disaggregated target device energy usage data from within source location energy usage data based on training data including labeled energy usage data from a plurality of source locations. Input data can be received including energy usage data at a source location over a period of time. Disaggregated target device energy usage can be predicted, using the trained CNN, based on the input data.

Non-intrusive load monitoring ("NILM") and disaggregation of various energy usage devices at a given source location has proven challenging. For example, given a household, disaggregating device and/or electric vehicle energy usage from within the household's general monitored energy usage has been difficult to achieve, in part due to the large variety of household devices and/or electric vehicles (e.g., make, model, year, etc.). Advancements in metering devices have provided some opportunities, yet successful disaggregation has still been elusive. The limited availability of labeled data sets, or source location energy usage values with labeled device energy usage values (e.g., energy usage values for a household labeled with energy usage values for appliance 1, electric vehicle 1, appliance 2, and the like), has further impeded progress. NILM and disaggregation techniques that can learn from these limited data sets to successfully predict energy usage of a target device from the general energy usage at a source location would therefore greatly improve the technological field and benefit users that implement these techniques.

Non-intrusive load monitoring using machine learning


Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds of the formula (I): ##STR1## wherein Y is N or CH; R.sup.1, which may be optionally bound through a hetero atom, is a hydrocarbon residue which may be substituted; R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 which may be same or different, are each independently hydrogen, cyano, nitro, optionally substituted lower alkyl, or --COD wherein D is alkoxy, hydroxy, halogen, or optionally substituted amino: or R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are taken together to form a benzene ring which may be substituted; the dotted line is a chemical bond; Z is bound to a hetero nitrogen atom and is a group having the formula: ##STR2## wherein R.sup.4 is hydrogen, halogen or nitro, and R.sup.5 is a residue capable of forming an anion or a residue convertible into an anion; A is a direct bond or a spacer having atomic length of two or less between the phenylene group and the phenyl group; and n is an integer of 1 or 2; and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, have potent angiotensin II antagonist activity and antihypertensive activity, thus being useful as therapeutic agents for treating circulatory system diseases such as hypertensive diseases, heart diseases, strokes, etc.

The renin-angiotensin system is involved in the homeostatic function to control systemic blood pressure, the volume of body fluid, balance among the electrolytes, etc., associated with the aldosterone system. Development of angiotensin II converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitor) (this converting enzyme produces angiotensin II which possesses strong vasoconstrictive activity) has clarified the relation between the renin-angiotensin system and hypertension. Since angiotensin II elevates blood pressure via the angiotensin II receptors on cell membranes, angiotensin II antagonists as well as the ACE inhibitor would be useful in treating hypertension.
It has been reported that various angiotensin II analogues such as saralasin, [Sar.sup.1,Ile.sup.8 ]A II, and the like, possess potent angiotensin II antagonist activity.
It has, however, been reported that, when peptide antagonists are administered parenterally, their actions are not prolonged and, when administered orally, they are ineffective (M. A. Ondetti and D. W. Cushman, Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, 13, 82-91 (1978)).
Non-peptide angiotensin II antagonists are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 71073/1981; No. 71074/1981; No. 92270/1982; No. 157768/1983; No. 240683/1987; No. 23868/1988; and No. 117876/1989, and European Patent Laid Open No. 0323841, etc.
Imidazole derivatives having angiotensin II antagonist activity are disclosed in A. T. Chiu et al., Eur. J. Pharm., 157, 13 (1981), P. C. Wong et al., J. Pharmcol. Exp. Ther., 247, 1 (1988), P. C. Wong et al., Hypertension, 13, 489 (1989), etc.
Allen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,897, discloses pyrimidinones stated to be angiotensin II antagonists.

Nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds, their production and use


Glazing Panels suitable for vehicle windscreens comprise a solid coloured obscuration band (24) around the perimeter, a fade out band (26) extending inwardly therefrom and a multilayer transparent infra-red reflective and/or absorbing coating (28) have the outer edge of the coating positioned so as to lie within the fade out band (26). The panel reduces reflection caused by the transition between coated and uncoated areas of the glass. The panels may be laminates or bilayers.

This invention relates to novel glazing panels.
Glazing panels, particularly vehicle glazings and particularly windshields, are commonly secured in position using adhesive. These panels may be flat or curved. The panels may be provided with an opaque band extending around their entire periphery, the purpose of which is to improve the appearance of the windshield by masking the interface between the panel and the vehicle and to shield the adhesive from ultra-violet radiation which might damage its integrity over time. This opaque band, which is termed an obscuration band, generally comprises a solid coloured band extending around the periphery of the panel. Commonly the panels further comprise a fade out band extending inwardly from the inner edge of the obscuration band in which the obscuration is applied in a decorative pattern with anything from 1 to 99% of the surface area of the glass being obscured. The fade out band improves the visual appearance of the panel by avoiding a sharp transition between the solid obscuration band and the clear glass.
Another common feature of the modern vehicle glazing panel is the provision of a multilayer transparent infra-red reflective and/or absorbing coating on the glass in which one or more layers reflect IR and/or solar radiation and thereby reduce the heat energy transmitted through the glazing. These coatings do not normally extend to the outer edge of the panel since they have a tendency to corrode if they do so. U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,750 describes a method of applying such a coating to the surface of a glass which uses a mask to prevent deposition of the coating around the periphery of the glass. The thickness of the mask is such that it leaves a ghosting effect at the peripheral edge of the coating which is stated to be undesirable because it highlights the edge of the coating. Where the extremity of the coating does not overlap the obscuration band the changes in reflectance and transmittance between the coated and the uncoated area of glass is noticeable and can distract the driver""s attention. Attempts to remove this distraction by ensuring overlap between the solid portion of the obscuration band and the edge of the coating have been discovered to be less than satisfactory particularly because when viewed from a position where the coating is in the foreground and the obscuration band is in the background the transition between the coated and non-coated areas of the glass is very noticeable, and aesthetically displeasing. This is particularly true when a ghosting effect is present at the peripheral edge of the coating. EPA 0702 423 A1 discloses coated windscreens having a small area of uncoated glass which transmits infra-red radiation. It is suggested that this uncoated area be covered with a layer for absorbing light in order to give a more homogeneous appearance to the windshield.
We have now discovered that the appearance and the optical properties of a glazing panel may be improved by providing that the edge of the coating overlaps the fade out band but does not overlap with the solid portion of the obscuration band.
Thus from one aspect this invention provides a glazing panel having an obscuration band applied to at least one surface thereof any extending around the periphery of the panel, a fade out band extending inwardly therefrom and at least one coating applied to at least one surface thereof wherein the outer extremity of the coating lies within the fade out band. Preferably the entire length of the edge of the coating will lie within the fade out band. However this may not always be possible for example due to the presence of rain sensors which are masked by a solid printed area. In such instances we prefer to position as much of the edge of the coating as is possible within the fade out band and generally to ensure that at least 90% of the edge of the coating lies within the fade out band.
The glazing panel may be a laminated panel or a bilayer panel. Laminated panels comprise two or more sheets of glass bonded together with a suitable resin which is typically polyvinylbutyral (PVB). Bilayer panels comprise a single sheet of glass having a layer of transparent resin bonded to the interior surface. The invention finds particular application where the coating film is in the foreground (viewed from the interior of the vehicle) and the obscuration band is in the background although it is useful where the relative positioning of these two layers is reversed. In a laminated panel the obscuration band will not normally be on the outer surface of the glass and is most commonly applied to the innermost glass surface. The coating is most commonly applied to the underside of the outermost panel of the laminate (often termed surface 2 by application of the convention whereby the outermost surface is termed surface 1 and the subsequent surfaces numbered consecutively thereafter). In a bilayer panel the obscuration band and the coating are normally applied to either the interior surface of the glass panel or the interior face of the resin. The coating, the obscuration band and the fade out band may be applied to a flat glazing panel, to a curved glazing panel or to a flat glazing panel which is then curved.
In both laminates and bilayer panels the coating may be positioned in the resin layer i.e. surrounded by resin and not being in contact with the glass. These panels may be constructed by utilising a resin in which the coating is already positioned either to bond two glass sheets together or to bond to the underside of a single glass sheet. When the coating is surrounded by the resin layer the coating may be deposited onto a transparent polymeric material (e.g. PET ) prior to their incorporation in the laminate or bilayer. In this embodiment the polymeric material incorporating the coating is preferably cut to the shape and size so that its extremities lie within the fade out band. In a laminated panel the fade out band will normally be applied to a surface other than surface 1 of the laminate in this embodiment of the invention.
The total width of the solid coloured section of the obscuration band and the fade out band may vary through a wide range say from 5 mm to 300 mm but is typically in the range 10 to 150 mm. The width of the solid obscuration band will be that which is sufficient to provide the desired appearance The fade out band may be designed so as to have a decorative effect and the width and the shape of the band may be varied to provide a particular appearance. The density of the shading within the fade out band may vary within wide limits with anything from 1 to 99% of the surface area of the glass being covered with a solid cover. The density of the colouration within the fade out band may vary across the width of the band e.g. by having a high percentage of the surface coloured in the area adjacent to the solid coloured section of the obscuration band and a decreasing percentage of the surface coloured across the width of the fade out band or the density may remain constant across the fade out band.
The colouration in the fade out band may conveniently take the form of a multiplicity of dots of colour spread across the band. These dots may be of varying sizes (say from 0.001 to 10.00 mm) and varying shapes (for example circular, rectangular, polygonal). The fade out band can also take the form of patterns other than dots for example lines of colour of varying widths running parallel to the obscuration band.
The outer edge of the coating typically a multilayer transparent infra-red reflective coating will preferably overlap the edge of the fade out band by at least 0.1 mm and preferably at least 0.5 mm. The edge will normally stop at least 0.1 mm and preferably at least 0.5 mm short of the inner edge of the solid coloured obscuration band. The coating will preferably overlap the band along the entire periphery of that band.
A wide variety of reflective and/or absorbing coatings are used or have been proposed for use in the art. Any of these may be utilised in the panels of this invention. These coatings may be of complex construction. One typical coating comprises a multilayer stack formed from successive layers of metal oxide, silver, metal, metal oxide, silver, metal, metal oxide, metal oxide wherein the metal oxide is typically zinc oxide and the metal is typically zinc.
The coatings may be applied to the glass using any of the known techniques e.g magnetron sputtering, e-beam evaporation, thermal evaporation, chemical vapour deposition and the like. Typically the area on which the coating is deposited is controlled by masking the substrate or by deleting the coating from selected areas after it has been applied. As a result of some of the methods used the transition from the coated to the uncoated area of the glass may not be sharp. There may be a transition zone at the edge of the coating area which may typically be from 0.001 mm to 2.0 mm wide, depending upon the method used. Where the edge of the coating is defined by a mask this ghosting may be reduced or avoided by using a thinner mask, say one having a thickness less than 200 microns and preferably less than 130 microns. From a second embodiment the invention provides a method of forming a glazing panel having a reflective coating on at least one surface thereof, an obscuration band comprising a solid coloured section at the periphery of the panel and a fade out band extending inwardly therefrom on a surface thereof which comprises applying the coating in a manner such that the outer extremity thereof lies within the fade out band.


The present invention relates to a once daily pharmaceutical composition comprising doxycycline and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, wherein the pharmaceutical composition exhibits a reduced food effect. The invention further provides a method of treatment of rosacea by administering to a person in need thereof the doxycycline pharmaceutical composition with or without food. A process of preparing such pharmaceutical composition is also provided.

Food effect refers to food-drug interactions which lead to either a decrease or an increase of the extent of drug absorption. The commercially available capsules of doxycycline (Oracea® 40 mg capsules) for the treatment of inflammatory lesions (papules and pustules) of rosacea is a combination of immediate-release (30 mg) and delayed-release (10 mg) components. As per the prescribing information, Oracea has significant food effect and thus is recommended to be taken on an empty stomach, preferably at least one hour prior to or two hours after meals. Its Cmax and AUC0-t decrease by 45% and 22%, respectively, when taken along with food.
Therefore, there exists a need for a pharmaceutical composition of doxycycline which is capable of reducing the food effect of doxycycline. The present inventors have developed a pharmaceutical composition of doxycycline with reduced food effect which would enable the patient to take the drug without regard to meals, thereby improving patient convenience and compliance.

Pharmaceutical composition of doxycycline with reduced food effect


This power conversion device comprises: a power converter including a switching element; and a control unit which controls the power converter. The control unit calculates a torque electric current detection value and an excitation electric current detection value from an electric current flowing to an external device, and when an absolute value of the torque electric current detection value is greater than or equal to the excitation electric current detection value, performs control such that the excitation electric current detection value follows the torque electric current detection value.

Examples of a highly efficient control method of an induction motor include Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, it is described that in a hydraulic unit, an excitation electric current according to vector control is forcibly changed in accordance with a discharge pressure of a hydraulic pump or torque of an induction motor, and an electric current of supply power with respect to the discharge pressure or the torque is minimized.
Then, it is described that a vector control unit determines a minimum value of a supply electric current of the induction motor that satisfies required torque corresponding to a torque instruction value and sets an excitation electric current instruction value such that the supply electric current with respect to the induction motor is minimized by providing a table relevant to a pressure and an electric current.

Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd.


The present invention discloses methods for conveniently providing a complete medication profile of a patient. A medication profile report may be obtained on-line by the patient or a registered provider. In addition to information regarding the expiration of prescriptions, the patient's compliance with the prescriber's directions for usage, and the names of medications being used by a patient, the medication profile report also provides the therapeutic classes of each medication, possible drug-drug interactions, and possible side effects. Convenient access to such complete medication information is highly desirable to the patient and his or her provider.

The present invention relates generally to a method for promptly providing complete and detailed medication information of a patient to the patient, the patient's loved ones, and/or or the patient's health care provider.
More particularly, this invention pertains to the generation of a medication profile report. The medication profile report provides detailed information regarding the characteristics of each drug used by the patient. The report also provides additional information regarding possible drug-drug interactions, possible duplicate drug therapies, possible side effects and information related to the overall medication therapy of the patient.
Currently, a health care provider relies upon the patient to provide complete and detailed information regarding the medications the patient is using. The medical condition of a patient may be compromised when inaccurate or incomplete medication information is provided. A health care provider must be made fully aware of all of the drugs a patient is using as well as of all of the possible problems associated with the interaction between the combination of all of these drugs in order to avoid harmful drug-drug interactions, duplicative medication therapy, or advise the patient of any detrimental effects of the medications currently being used.
Currently, a patient must independently identify a complete listing of the medication he or she is using. Generally, upon a visit to a health care provider, a patient must recite his or her medication history in a matter of minutes. Often, the patient may totally forget one, or several, of the medications he or she is taking. Further, for individuals with complex medication regimens, obtaining a complete and accurate list of medications from the patient may be impossible. While an individual professional will most likely have records of what he or she has prescribed for the patient, the professional, in almost all cases, will not have a complete profile on the patient unless they are confident that the patient provides them with a one hundred percent accurate review of all of the medications they are taking, including those prescribed by other professionals. Additionally, the professional has to rely upon the patient to tell them whether or not the patient is taking these drugs as they have been prescribed.
What is needed, then, is a medication profile report that is conveniently obtained by a patient or his or her provider. Such a medication profile report must be obtainable 24 hours a day and must reflect the current medication usage of the patient. This report, additionally, needs to include not only what the patient has told the health care provider that they are taking but it needs to include actual dispensing information so that the provider can have a reasonably high degree of confidence that the information contained in the medication profile is complete and up to date including information regarding dispensing and compliance data.

Method of generating and maintaining a patient medication profile


An optical disk recording apparatus, an optical disk recording method, an optical disk playback apparatus, and an optical disk playback method are provided. For example, the present invention is applied to a high-sound-quality optical disk which can be played back by a conventional compact disk player, and aims at supplying still higher-quality contents which can be played back even by a conventional optical disk apparatus. Second information is recorded by partial changes of optical characteristics, such changes being of such a degree which does not affect detection results of first and second areas which are detected by the irradiation of a laser beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk, an optical disk recording apparatus, an optical disk recording method, an optical disk playback apparatus, and an optical disk playback method and, for example, can be applied to a high-sound-quality optical disk which can be played back by a conventional compact disk player and to an apparatus associated with this optical disk. The present invention aims at supplying contents which can be played back by a conventional optical disk apparatus and which plays back at still higher quality by recording second information by partial changes of the optical characteristics of such a degree which does not affect the detection result of first and second areas detected by the irradiation of a laser beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in compact disks, an audio data stream is EFM-modulated (Eight-to-Fourteen Modulated), forming pits and space in sequence according to a length corresponding to a period 3T to 11T with respect to a predetermined reference period T, thereby allowing audio data, etc., to be recorded.
More specifically, in a compact disk, by subjecting an audio signal to an analog-to-digital conversion process, audio data is created, and an error correcting code (ECC), etc., is added to this audio data. In the compact disk, an 8-bit data stream created in this manner is interleaved and is further EFM-modulated. In the compact disk, each data of 8 bits is converted into data of 14 bits by this EFM-modulation, and further, each data of 14 bits is connected by 3 bits of coupling data in order to be converted into serial data.
In the compact disk, by performing on-off control of a laser beam in accordance with this serial data, pits and lands are formed in sequence, so that, by using the period T of a channel clock of this serial data as a reference period, pits and space are repeated according to the length corresponding to a period which is an integral multiple of this reference period T, thereby allowing audio data to be recorded.
With respect to this, in the compact disk player, returning light obtained by irradiating a laser beam onto a compact disk is received and the light-received result is processed, thereby generating a playback signal whose signal level varies according to the pit and spaces. Furthermore, this playback signal is identified by binary values in order to demodulate the serial data created during recording, and this serial data is processed in accordance with the process during recording, thereby playing back the audio data.
As an optical disk on which both video data and audio data are recorded instead of audio data, there is a DVD (Digital Video Disk). Also in a DVD, similarly to the compact disk, pits and spaces are repeated according to a length of an integral multiple of a length corresponding to a reference period T, thereby allowing video data and audio data to be recorded.
For optical disks for compact disk players, etc., which have already been distributed on the market, if various content can be provided at even higher quality, advantages can be expected, such as the application range of this type of optical disk being expanded.
In this case, it is desired that this type of content can also be played back by a conventional compact disk player.
The present invention has been achieved by considering the above points. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disk which can supply contents of higher quality while being able to be played back even by a conventional optical disk apparatus, and an optical disk recording apparatus, an optical disk recording method, an optical disk playback apparatus, and an optical disk playback method which are applied to this optical disk.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk, wherein second information is recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of first and second areas, such changes being of such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas detected by the irradiation of a laser beam, and the second information is information capable of improving the quality of contents represented by first information.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk recording apparatus, wherein the signal superimposition means superimposes second information onto a modulation signal in such a manner as to provide partial changes of the optical characteristics to first and second areas to such a degree as not to affect detection results of the first and second areas which are detected by the irradiation of a playback laser beam.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk recording method comprising a step of: superimposing second information onto a modulation signal so that partial changes of the optical characteristics to first and second areas are provided to the first and second areas to such a degree as not to affect detection results of the first and second areas which are detected by the irradiation of a playback laser beam.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk playback apparatus comprising: first information playback means for playing back first information recorded by a repetition of a first area and a second area exhibiting the different optical characteristics by identifying by binary values the playback signal by using a clock as a reference; binarization means for binarizing the playback signal in order to generate a binary signal; second information playback means for detecting second information recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of at least one of the first and second areas by determining the signal level of the playback signal at a predetermined timing on the basis of the binary signal; and combining means for combining the first and second information.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk playback method comprising the steps of: playing back first information recorded by a repetition of a first area and a second area exhibiting different optical characteristics with respect to the irradiation of a laser beam according to a length of substantially an integral multiple of a predetermined reference length; playing back second information recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of one of the first and second areas, such changes being of such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas detected by the irradiation of the laser beam; and combining the first and second information and outputting it.
According to the optical disk in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, second information is recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of at least one of a first area and a second areas, such changes being of such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas detected by the irradiation of a laser beam, thereby allowing the second information to be recorded without obstructing the playback of first information. As a result, by making this second information to represent information capable of improving the quality of contents represented by the first information, it is possible to supply still higher quality contents which can be played back even by a conventional optical disk apparatus.
Also, according to the optical disk recording apparatus in accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, the signal superimposition means superimposes second information onto a modulation signal so that partial changes of optical characteristics are provided to at least one of the first and second areas to such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas which are detected by the irradiation of a playback laser beam. Thus, it is possible to record the second information without obstructing the playback of first information and possible to supply still higher quality contents which can be played back even by a conventional optical disk apparatus.
Also, according to the optical disk recording method in accordance with the third aspect of the present invention, second information is superimposed onto a modulation signal so that partial changes of optical characteristics are provided to at least one of the first and second areas to such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas which are detected by the irradiation of a playback laser beam. Thus, it is possible to record the second information without obstructing the playback of first information and possible to supply still higher quality contents which can be played back even by a conventional optical disk apparatus.
Also, according to the optical disk playback apparatus in accordance with the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first information playback means plays back first information recorded by a repetition of a first area and a second area exhibiting different optical characteristics by identifying by binary values a playback signal by using a clock as a reference. The binarization means binarizes the playback signal in order to generate a binary signal. The second information playback means detects second information recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of at least one of the first and second areas by determining the signal level of the playback signal at a predetermined timing on the basis of the binary signal. The combining means combines the first and second information. Thus, for example, it is possible to play back high-quality contents by playing back first information recorded by pits and spaces and second information recorded by partial changes, etc., of the width of the pit.
According to the optical disk playback method in accordance with the fifth aspect of the present invention, first information recorded by a repetition of a first area and a second area exhibiting different optical characteristics with respect to the irradiation of a laser beam is played back according to a length of substantially an integral multiple of a predetermined reference length. Second information recorded by partial changes of the optical characteristics of at least one of the first and second areas, such changes being of such a degree which does not affect detection results of the first and second areas detected by the irradiation of the laser beam is played back, and the first and second information are combined. Thus, it is possible to supply high-quality contents by playing back first information recorded by, for example, pits and spaces and second information recorded by partial changes, etc., of the width of the pit.
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Optical disk, optical disk recording apparatus and method, and optical disk playback apparatus and method


A supply voltage distribution system for distributing a supply voltage through a semiconductor device, the supply voltage distribution system comprising: a first supply voltage distribution line arrangement and a second supply voltage distribution line arrangement, said first supply voltage distribution line arrangement and said second supply voltage distribution line arrangement being adapted to receive from outside the semiconductor device a semiconductor device supply voltage and to distribute a supply voltage to respective first and second portions of the semiconductor device; a voltage-to-voltage conversion circuit connected to the first supply voltage distribution line arrangement, wherein the voltage-to-voltage conversion circuit is adapted to either transfer onto the first supply voltage distribution line arrangement the semiconductor device supply voltage received from outside the semiconductor device, or to put on the first supply voltage distribution line a converted supply voltage having a value different from the semiconductor device supply voltage, wherein the voltage-to-voltage conversion circuit further comprises means selectively activatable for causing the first supply voltage distribution line arrangement to be electrically coupled to said second supply voltage distribution line arrangement.

Semiconductor devices, such as semiconductor memory devices, can be designed so as to be capable of supporting different supply voltages, depending on the intended application. For example, dual-power-supply semiconductor devices (such as, for example, flash memory ICs) can operate with either a first, higher supply voltage (e.g., 3V) or a second, lower supply voltage (e.g., 1.8V).
Operation at a lower supply voltage is for example typical of battery-powered systems, and allows reducing the power consumption.
In both cases, the (lower or higher) supply voltage is fed to the internal circuitry of the semiconductor device, through supply-voltage distribution lines, which are adapted to distribute the supply voltage through the device.
In particular, a known design rule provides for having supply-voltage distribution lines for distributing the supply voltage to the device's core circuitry, comprising key circuital structures adapted for performing the desired tasks (like, in the case of memory devices, memory cells row and column selectors, sense amplifiers, control logic controlling the memory device operation), which are distinct from supply-voltage distribution lines for distributing the supply voltage to input/output circuits, like input/output buffers. By this measure, it is possible to reduce the risk that the operation of the core circuitry is affected by noise on the supply voltage produced by the switching of the input/output circuits. In other words, dedicated supply-voltage distribution lines are used for the core circuitry and the input/output circuits, for decoupling the disturbs occurring during the input/output buffers operation from the remaining circuitry of the semiconductor device.
In order to reduce power consumption, the internal circuitry, particularly the core circuitry of dual-power-supply devices is typically designed to operate with a supply voltage that is lower than the first, higher supply voltage (for example, the internal circuitry of the semiconductor device voltage may be designed to operate with an internal supply voltage of 2.3V, which is intermediate between the first, higher supply voltage and the second, lower supply voltage). For down-converting the external, higher supply voltage into the (lower) internal voltage, a Voltage Down-Converter "VDC" is provided for, which is able to lower the voltage (e.g., starting from the external voltage of 3V, the VDC generates the internal voltage of 2.3V). The VDC has also the function of stabilizing the internal supply voltage of the semiconductor device.
On the other hand, those parts of the circuitry of the semiconductor device that, like input/output buffers, are used for interfacing the semiconductor device with the external environment (typically a system bus), need to be supplied at either the first, higher supply voltage, or to the second, lower supply voltage, depending on the environment in which the semiconductor device is inserted. Voltage-level adapters (shifters) are provided for interfacing the core circuitry with the input/output circuits.
When the semiconductor device is employed in low-supply voltage applications, the internal circuitry of the semiconductor device should be supplied by a supply voltage equal to the external supply voltage. A voltage switch is provided for the electrical connection between the supply-voltage distribution line that receives (from the semiconductor device terminals) the externally supplied supply voltage and the supply-voltage distribution line that distributes the supply voltage to the core circuitry; the VDC is in this case kept off, and bypassed by the voltage switch.
The dual-power-supply semiconductor device is typically configured for either a lower-voltage application or a higher-voltage application during the testing, for example by burning a fuse in a control structure that controls the activation of the VDC or, in alternative, of the voltage switch.
Typically, the voltage switch is implemented by a MOS transistor, particularly of p-type conductivity (i.e., a PMOS), which is connected between the semiconductor device terminals that, in operation, are connected to the supply-voltage distribution line that receives the externally supplied supply voltage and the supply-voltage distribution line distributing the supply voltage to the core circuitry, and has a control (i.e. a gate) terminal receiving the control signal. When, as a consequence of the semiconductor device configuration during the testing, the PMOS transistor is turned on, the low supply voltage received from the supply-voltage distribution line is fed to the core circuitry.
The voltage switch has a resistance (the PMOS transistor on resistance) that inevitably causes a voltage drop across it. Thus, the actual internal supply voltage, which is fed to the core circuitry, is often lower than the external low supply voltage.

Supply voltage distribution system with reduced resistance for semiconductor devices


A tactile sensor includes, under a control key accessible to the user, at least one piezo-electric member which is responsive through the control key to any depression of the latter. For connecting it to an electrical circuit of any kind, the piezo-electric member is sandwiched between a top or forward metal electrode to which it is attached and a bottom or rearward metal electrode which is attached to a support of any kind. For holding the piezo-electric member in place relative to the support of the bottom electrode, the top electrode is fixed to the support by at least one fixing point. Applications include controlling various devices such as on/off switches, changeover switches, dimmers or keypads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally concerned with tactile sensors of the kind including at least one piezo-electric member under a control key accessible to the user and responsive to any depression of the control key by the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For example, tactile sensors of this kind constitute the control device or input device of certain devices, in particular certain electrical devices, such as on/off switches, changeover switches and dimmers.
They are also used in other devices, for example keypads.
The piezo-electric member is usually disposed between two metal electrodes which connect it to the electrical control circuit that it controls or, more generally, to an electrical circuit of any kind.
One of the problems encountered in the production of tactile sensors using a piezo-electric member of this kind is to hold it in position whilst leaving it sufficient freedom of movement to function.
In some implementations the piezo-electric member is mechanically located between its two electrodes, for example by placing it in a cavity in which it is duly peripherally confined.
However, implementations of this type usually involve the use of a non-negligible number of intermediate parts, to the detriment of efficiency and therefore of sensitivity.
In other implementations the electrodes are parts of conductive films between which the piezo-electric member must be inserted.
In practise, however, these implementations are subject to production engineering problems which usually lead to large overall size and/or high cost.
The present invention is more particularly directed to the situation in which the piezo-electric member is attached, for example glued, to one of the electrodes, referred to hereinafter for convenience only as the top electrode or forward electrode, while the other electrode, referred to hereinafter for convenience only as the bottom electrode, or rearward electrode, is attached to a support of any kind, for example the substrate of a printed circuit of any kind.
A general aim of the present invention is to provide an arrangement which, in this case, provides a simple and effective means of holding the piezo-electric member in place without compromising its effectiveness, and which also procures other advantages.

Tactile sensor, in particular for electrical equipment


A measurement apparatus includes: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: acquire, for each of two samples which are objects made of a same material, have different sizes, and have similar shapes, magnetization curve data measured for the sample and a shape parameter including a dimension of the sample; calculate magnetization of an inner part of each of the samples based on the acquired magnetization curve data and shape parameter of the sample by using a model representing magnetization of the object by separating the magnetization of the object into a magnetization component of a surface part and a magnetization component of an inner part of the object in accordance with a volume ratio between the surface part and the inner part of the object; and output the calculated result.

In the related art, permanent magnets have been used in various industrial products such as motors, wind turbines, and devices. The permanent magnet has a physical quantity called magnetization, and the magnetization changes when an external magnetic field is applied. It is also known that magnetic characteristics of a surface of the permanent magnet change (surface deterioration) during machining.
International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2012/157637 is disclosed as related art. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 50-75465 is disclosed as related art.

Measurement apparatus, measurement method, and computer-readable recording medium storing measurement program


Process and apparatus for methanol reforming in producing hydrogen gas for electric vehicle fuel cells in which the gas mixture to be reformed is passed through a catalyst-containing reaction compartment. The active length and/or the active inlet cross-section of an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature-controlled for high methanol conversion can be set as a function of the throughput of gas mixture to be reformed. Thereby, an essentially constant residence period of the gas mixture to be reformed results in the reaction compartment section which is temperature-controlled for high methanol conversion. The methanol reforming may thus be carried out even in the case of markedly fluctuating throughputs of gas mixture to be reformed with a constant level of methanol conversion rate and constantly low formation of undesirable carbon monoxide.

The present invention relates to a process for methanol reforming, in which the gas mixture to be reformed is passed through a catalyst-containing reaction compartment, and to an apparatus suitable for carrying out this process.
A known reforming process is used, in particular, for producing hydrogen gas. The methanol, for example together with water, is reacted in a hot-steam reformer to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide, together with the hydrogen, in turn being in a reaction equilibrium with water and carbon monoxide (CO). Methanol conversion rate and carbon monoxide production are therefore factors which are connected to one. another via, among other things, the temperature-dependent reaction equilibria. That is, depending on the methanol conversion rate set by the process technology, a certain amount of carbon monoxide results when the currently known catalyst materials are used.
In many instances, the carbon monoxide is an undesirable by-product because of its toxicity for the environment and the catalyst materials used, and must frequently be removed in a complex manner. Whereas for an industrial large-scale process, under steady-state conditions, an optimum operating point can still be maintained comparatively simply, under non-steady-state conditions, particularly, which means, principally, throughputs varying with time of the gas mixture to be reformed and associated changes in the catalyst space velocity in the reformer, operating phases may occur in which a relatively large amount of carbon monoxide is formed. Non-steady-state conditions of this type exist, for example, in non-steady-state applications of hydrogen as an energy source, such as for peak current generation and in motor vehicle drive units, in which it is desired to have recourse to methanol as a liquid source of hydrogen in order not to require direct storage of hydrogen gas.
Because the methanol decomposition reaction proceeds more vigorously endothermically and the carbon monoxide formation from carbon dioxide proceeds more feebly endothermically, to minimize the CO formation, it has already been repeatedly proposed to establish a temperature gradient along the reaction path of the gas mixture in the reaction compartment. The temperature decreases from the inlet side to the outlet side of the reaction compartment.
Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,624, a process and an apparatus for methanol reforming are described in which, by suitable heating circuits, an inlet-side half of a catalyst-containing reaction compartment through which the gas mixture to be reformed can flow is kept at a higher temperature in a co-current flow process, and a subsequent outlet-side half is kept at a lower temperature in a counter-current flow process. This is said to promote the methanol conversion in the intake stage and the conversion of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide in the exit stage.
In a similar manner, DE 41 93 026 T1 describes the establishment of three temperature zones, situated one after the other, of approximately 300.degree. C., approximately 275.degree. C. and approximately 225.degree. C. along the reaction path in a methanol reformer. In JP 63-50302(A), a stepwise temperature decrease in the reaction compartment of a methanol reformer along the gas mixture flow path to decrease CO formation is likewise specified. In all of these conventional processes, the parameters of the reforming reaction are preset independently of the respective instantaneous throughput of gas mixture to be reformed.
An object of the present invention is to provide a process and an apparatus suitable for carrying out that process, by way of which methanol, even in the case of varying throughputs of gas mixture to be reformed (e.g., as a result of fluctuating hydrogen gas requirement) can be reformed so that the reformate leaving the reaction compartment contains relatively little carbon monoxide.
This problem has been solved by a process in which passing the gas mixture to be reformed through a catalyst-containing reaction compartment, and setting at least one of active length and active inlet cross-section of an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate as a function of the respective throughput of gas mixture to be reformed. As a result, a residence period of the gas mixture remains essentially constant in the intake-side reaction compartment section.
An apparatus which utilizes the process of the present invention has a device for variable setting of the heating fluid volumetric flow rate in the heating fluid circuit, and is configured so as to actuatable as a function of throughput of gas mixture to be reformed. Thereby, at least one of active length and active inlet cross-section of an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate as a function of the respective throughput of gas mixture to be reformed. As a result, a residence period of the gas mixture remains essentially constant in the intake-side reaction compartment section or a heating space which is in operative thermal contact with an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature-controlled for high methanol conversion.
The heating space in the present invention is delimited by a wall which can be slid in parallel to a direction of flow of the gas mixture to be reformed such that at least one of active length and active inlet cross-section of an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate as a function of the respective throughput of gas mixture to be reformed. Consequently, a residence period of the gas mixture remains essentially constant in the intake-side reaction compartment section. Alternatively, a device optionally intake-side opens or blocks a variable number of the reactor tubes so that at least one of active length and active inlet cross-section of an intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature controlled achieves a high methanol conversion rate as a function of the respective throughput of gas mixture to be reformed and a residence period of the gas mixture remains essentially constant in the intake-side reaction compartment section.
With regard to the process, the active length of the intake-side reaction compartment section, which is temperature-controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate, and/or its active cross-section is variable as a function of the particular throughput of gas mixture to be reformed such that the residence period of the gas mixture to be reformed remains essentially constant in the reaction compartment section temperature-controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate. Thereby, even under non-steady-state operating conditions, an optimum operating state with respect to minimum CO formation can be set in the methanol reformer.
Underlying the process of the present invention is the experimentally confirmed discovery that the methanol decomposition reaction, on one hand, and the CO formation reaction, on the other hand, proceed. at different speeds at different values of parameters such as reaction compartment temperature and residence period in the reaction compartment of the gas mixture to be reformed. Thus, for each combination of reaction compartment temperature and residence period, an operating state optimum exists having high methanol conversion and low CO formation.
The process of the present invention always keeps the operating point of the methanol reformation at this optimum operating state, as a function of the possibly fluctuating gas mixture throughput. Experimentally confirmed considerations of the reaction procedure indicate that, in the methanol reformation, the methanol is first reacted and carbon monoxide is only formed to an increasing extent in an exit-side part of the reactor path length no longer utilized for methanol conversion at low throughputs.
By matching the active length of the intake-side reaction compartment section, which is temperature-controlled to achieve a high methanol conversion rate, to the respective instantaneous gas mixture throughput, it is therefore always possible by the process of the present invention to avoid such a downstream reaction compartment section which is heated to a higher temperature and to which virtually no methanol passes any more and which causes Co formation to an increased extent. Additionally, or alternatively, to this length matching, the residence period of the gas mixture to be reformed can be kept essentially constant, independently of the respective gas mixture throughput, in the intake-side reaction compartment section which is temperature-controlled. A high methanol conversion rate is thereby achieved by the fact that the active intake-side reaction compartment cross-section is changed as a function of the respective gas mixture throughput.
According to another feature of the process according to the present invention, the length of the intake-side reaction compartment section active for the methanol conversion is matched by the fact that the volumetric flow rate of the heating fluid used for the temperature control of the reaction compartment is set appropriately, and the associated heating fluid circuit is operated in co-current flow. That is, the heating fluid flows in the area of thermal contact with the reaction compartment in parallel to the gas mixture to be converted. The temperature gradient along the reaction compartment can thus be adjusted, and the length of the reaction compartment section which is temperature-controlled can be adjusted to achieve a high methanol conversion rate.
In another embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the length of the intake-side reaction compartment section is matched by the length of the part of the heating fluid circuit in thermal contact with the reaction compartment being varied suitably.
According to another aspect of the process of the present invention, the intake-side reaction compartment active cross-section for high methanol conversion is changed by optionally individually releasing or blocking reaction part-compartments which are separate from each other and arranged in parallel.
With the apparatus according to the present invention, the volumetric flow rate of the heating fluid serving for the temperature control of the reforming reaction compartment can be advantageously altered in the associated heating fluid circuit via the device provided for this purpose, which enables the above-described process to be carried out.
The apparatus according to the present invention can have the heating fluid circuit for the temperature control of the reaction compartment which contains a temperature-control compartment in thermal contact with the reaction compartment. The temperature-control compartment is delimited by a wall which can be displaced in parallel to the direction of flow of the gas mixture to be reformed. By displacing the wall, the length of the thermal contact between temperature-control compartment and reaction compartment can therefore be set. Thus, for example, the process of the present invention can be carried out insofar as matching the length of the intake-side reaction compartment section by suitably varying the length of the part of the heating circuit in thermal contact with the reaction compartment.
The apparatus can also be configured with a tube-bundle reformer, in which a desired number of reactor tubes can be released or blocked to carry out, e.g., the process of changing the intake-side reactive compartment cross-section.


A method and system for providing page visibility information are provided herein. Aspects of this disclosure provide an interface by which a browser may make the visibility state of a particular page available to the page itself. The browser may track the visibility state of the page as it changes and store the state in a variable associated with the page. Code executing within the page may query this variable to determine the visibility state and take appropriate action. The browser may provide an application programming interface (API) to allow the page to request the visibility state.

As more and more users have access to high-speed Internet, website developers have been free to add increased interactivity to their works. Today, it is common for web pages to have a variety of elements that enhance the browsing experience, including complex interface controls, multimedia elements, website analytic capturing tools, and more. Advances in browser technology have also resulted in the ability to render multiple web pages using a single application. For example, a user may have multiple browser tabs to allow for simultaneous browsing.
In the current environment, interactive page elements may execute as soon as the page is rendered, even if the page is not visible to the user. Sites that feature embedded audio or video may begin to play as soon as the page is loaded. Pages that host games that include timers may continue to run these timers even when the user is unable to interact with the host page. Web sites that use polling to fetch dynamic content continue to poll whether or not the user is viewing the page.

Method and system for providing page visibility information


A system and method for determining a root cause of error activity in a network is described herein. Root cause analysis includes the correlation between reported error activity for path, line and section entities along a provisioned channel in the network. Root causes can also be identified based upon the correlation of simultaneous error activity on various signal transport levels. Finally, root cause analysis can correlate error activity along various path entities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to network management systems, and more specifically is directed toward the determination of a root cause of error activity at one or more signal transport levels.
2. Related Art
Telecommunication service providers (e.g., MCI Telecommunications Corporation) provide a wide range of services to their customers. These services range from the transport of a standard 64 kbit/s voice channel (i.e., DS0channel) to the transport of higher rate digital data services (e.g., video). Both voice channels and digital data services are transported over the network via a hierarchy of digital signal transport levels. For example, in a conventional digital signal hierarchy 24 DS0 channels are mapped into a DS1 channel. In turn, 28 DS1 channels are mapped into a DS3 channel.
Routing of these DS1 and DS3 channels within a node of the network is performed by digital cross-connect systems. Digital cross-connect systems typically switch the channels at the DS1 and DS3 signal levels. Transmission of channels between nodes is typically provided via fiber-optic transmission systems. Fiber-optic transmission systems can multiplex a plurality of DS3 channels into a higher rate transmission over a single pair of fibers. In one example, signal formats for the fiber-optic transmission systems are defined by the manufacturer. These proprietary systems are referred to as asynchronous transmission systems.
Alternatively, a fiber-optic transmission system can implement the synchronous optical network (SONET) standard. The SONET standard defines a synchronous transport signal (STS) frame structure that includes overhead bytes and a synchronous payload envelope (SPE). One or more channels (e.g., DS1 and DS3 channels) can be mapped into a SPE. For example, a single DS3 channel can be mapped into a STS-1 frame. Alternatively, 28 DS1 channels can be mapped into virtual tributaries (VTs) within the STS-1 frame.
Various STS-1 frames can be concatenated to produce higher rate SONET signals. For example, a STS-12 signal includes 12 STS-1 frames, while a STS-48 signal includes 48 STS-1 frames. Finally, after an STS signal is converted from electrical to optical, it is known as an optical carrier (OC) signal (e.g., OC-12 and OC-48).
An end-to-end path of a provisioned channel within a network typically traverses a plurality of nodes. This provisioned channel is carried over transmission facilities that operate at various rates in the digital signal hierarchy. For example, a provisioned DS1 channel may exist as part of a DS3, VT1.5, STS-1, STS-12, OC-12, and OC-48 signal along parts of the end-to-end path. This results due to the multiplexing and demultiplexing functions at each of the nodes.
One of the goals of a network management system is to monitor the performance of the provisioned channel. Performance of the provisioned channel can include various measures. One measure is the unavailability of the provisioned channel. Unavailability is generally defined as the amount (or fraction) of time that a channel is not operational. Various causes such as cable cuts can lead to channel downtime. Network responses to channel downtime can include automatic protection switching or various restoration procedures (e.g., digital cross-connect distributed restoration).
Although unavailability is a major performance measure from a customer's standpoint, other performance measures can also be critical. For example, if a customer desires a digital data service for the transmission of financial data, the number of errored seconds or severely errored seconds may be a concern.
In conventional network management systems, performance monitoring is accomplished in piecewise fashion. For example, consider a provisioned channel that traverses an end-to-end path comprising asynchronous transmission systems and SONET transmission systems. Performance monitoring information for these two types of transmission systems is typically maintained in separate databases. Moreover, the various types of transmission systems may be provided by multiple vendors. Each of these vendors may define their own separate performance monitoring process. For example, the vendor-controlled process may define the types of data that are retrieved from or reported by the individual network elements.
In this environment, comprehensive performance monitoring analysis is difficult to accomplish. What is needed is a network management system that can monitor provisioned channels at various points of the end-to-end path and identify the root cause of problems that lead to observable error activity. This capability allows a service provider to efficiently resolve problems that lead to degradation of network performance.

System and method for reported root cause analysis


A test apparatus for testing digitized test responses has a generator and a signal extractor. The generator uses direct digital synthesis to generate a set of n digital reference signals which are orthogonal to one another. In this case, n is a natural number greater than 1. The signal extractor contains a test input and reference inputs. The test input receives a digitized test response and the reference inputs are connected to the reference signals which are generated by the generator. The signal extractor generates scalar products from a respective reference signal and the test response and uses the products to calculate whether a combination of reference signals is contained in the test response.

Semiconductor devices which output digitized signals are, for example, analog/digital converters (AD converters). A digitized signal is understood as meaning a signal which was generated by digitizing analog signals and which is a digital signal having multiple values.
A Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) is often used when testing AD converters, as described in IEEE Std 1241-2000. The FFT is also used when testing semiconductor devices which output analog signals as a test response. In this case, the analog test response is digitized before evaluation by means of an FFT.
In an FFT, all spectral components of a signal are calculated at the same time. In a normal FFT with 4096 points, 4096 spectral components are calculated even if, for example, only 10 spectral components from a fundamental tone and nine harmonics are requested. This signifies unnecessary computation complexity which increases the test costs. The spectral components are determined from the FFT during isolated subsequent processing and not while the test response is being received.
One difficulty when starting production of a semiconductor device which outputs analog or digitized test responses is that the test response comprises a large volume of data. During the production test, the test responses are assessed only to determine whether or not the semiconductor device satisfies the test requirements. When production of a semiconductor device is started for the first time, it is not yet known which errors will cause failures. If a semiconductor device fails, test passes will thus be carried out once again in an analysis laboratory in order to find the cause of the error and thus to diagnose the semiconductor device. The data which are obtained during this first test, the production test, cannot be used for the diagnosis since the volume of data is too large to store.

Test apparatus for digitized test responses, method for testing semiconductor devices and diagnosis method for a semiconductor device


An electron emission material includes an electron emission material main body, a base metal layer disposed on the electron emission material main body, and a thermal electron emission layer disposed on the base metal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron emission material and an electron emission panel having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electron emission material that can be used both as a cold cathode and a thermionic cathode, and an electron emission panel having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, electron emission devices use a thermionic cathode or a cold cathode as an electron emission source. The Edison effect is a term used to describe the emission of electrons from electron emission devices using the thermionic cathode. The Edison effect describes a phenomenon whereby electrons are emitted from the surface of a metal or a semiconductor heated to a high temperature. That is, electrons are emitted from the surface of a solid when the electrons acquire sufficient energy to be emitted from an atom. The Edison effect is also called the Richardson effect or thermal electron emission phenomenon, and has been applied to a vacuum tube or a discharge tube, also generally known as a thermionic tube, as applied to vacuum tubes for various communication systems, Coolidge tubes (an X-ray tube), etc.
Electrons emitted from the surface of a metal or semiconductor through the Edison effect may be referred to as thermal electrons and a material that emits the electrons may be referred to as a thermionic cathode. A current generated by the migration of the thermal electrons from a thermionic cathode toward an anode, which may be disposed to face the thermionic cathode and may have a high positive (+) voltage, may be referred to as a thermal electron current or an electron emission current.
Generally, the electron emission current from a thermionic cathode increases as the temperature increases. However, the electron emission current may vary according to the kind of thermionic cathode or the surface of the thermionic cathode. For example, alkali earth metal oxides may emit electrons at a lower temperature than pure metals. The cathode of a small vacuum tube, which may be used at a relatively low voltage, may be formed of, e.g., tungsten or tungsten mixed with thorium, and there are many examples that use a metal oxide of these metals. Also, the Edison effect depends on the work function of a material, which describes the energy required to free an electron from a material. Tungsten emits electrons at a temperature of approximately 2427° C. (a work function of approximately 4.5 eV), and thorium-tungsten emits electrons at a temperature of approximately 1627° C. (a work function of approximately 2.6 eV).
Electron emission devices that use a cold cathode include Field Emission Device (FED) type devices, Surface Conduction Emitter (SCE) type devices, Metal Insulator Metal (MIM) type devices, Metal Insulator Semiconductor (MIS) type devices, Ballistic electron Surface Emitting (BSE) type devices, etc.
FEDs use the principle that, when a material having a low work function or a high β function is used as an electron emission material, the material readily emits electrons in a vacuum due to an electric field formed between two or more electrodes. FEDs have been developed that employ a tapered tip structure formed of, e.g., Mo, Si, etc. as a main component, a carbon group material such as graphite, diamond like carbon (DLC), etc., or a nano structure such as nanotubes, nanowires, etc.
However, FEDs that use carbon nanotubes may be unsatisfactory for some applications, in that the lifetime of the electron emission material may be short and the electron emission may be small. Commercialization of FEDs has been hampered because they tend to exhibit low current densities. When a display device is manufactured from an electron emission device that emits few electrons, brightness and light emission efficiency of the display device may be low. Therefore, there is a need to develop an electron emission material having good electron emission efficiency, and an electron emission panel having the same.

Electron emission material and electron emission panel having the same


A method for assembling and integrating microstructures (pills) onto a substrate. A plurality of patterned recesses are formed on the substrates, the recesses having transverse cross-sections and openings of specific shapes. A hard magnetic layer is deposited at the bottom of each said recess. A guide is positioned over the substrate, the guide having patterned hole shapes matching the shapes of the openings to the patterned recesses with which the holes mate. A collection of the pills is placed atop the guide. The said collection includes members with cross-sections matching the shapes of the openings to the recesses, and each pill is coated at one end with a soft magnetic layer. A moving magnetic field is applied to the collection of pills to agitate the pills, and effect a magnetic attraction between the layers at the ends of the pills and the soft magnetic layer at the bottom of the recesses. The pills fall through the similarly shaped guide holes and into the recesses and are firmly attracted to the bottoms of the recesses by the magnetic attractive forces.

Heterogeneous integration of high performance electrical, micro-electro-mechanical, and optoelectronic devices together onto the same substrate is very important for the development of low-cost and/or high-performance/density Microsystems.
Integrating different materials and different device functions is widely recognized because of its wide applications in the market. But there are inherent problems in combining different materials. Amongst those problems, are differences in thermal expansion coefficient between different materials. For example, the thermal expansion mismatch is very large between silicon, the primary material of interest for large-scale high-density integrated circuits, and III–V compounds, the materials of interest for optoelectronic and microwave devices and circuits.
The current microengineering tool kit is capable of producing a great range of sensor and actuator devices. This set of fabrication method consists mainly of bulk and surface silicon micromachining, laser micro-machining, and LIGA (German acronym for Lithographic Galvanoformung Abformung). In the next generation of MEMS, micromechanical sensors and actuators will be integrated with electronic and optical components to give powerful and complex Microsystems. The integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and actuators with other classes of microcomponents-electronic, optical and electromechanical devices onto a single substrate has the potential to create powerful and complex Microsystems.
As the market for low cost and high performance electronic, optoelectronic, and electromechanical integrated circuits increases, many new assembly and integration techniques must be developed. It has become increasingly important to integrate high performance low cost electronic, optoelectronic and/or radio frequency components onto dissimilar substrates. To improve system performance and reduce assembly cost, often compound semiconductor devices must be integrated monolithically to active circuitry contained in the substrate. Primary interest among these is integrating these types of devices with silicon CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology, in order to increase the number of on-wafer functions available, and ultimately reduce the cost, size, and weight of micro-device based systems.
Current integration strategies often rely on "pick and place" serial assembly techniques, which encounter speed and cost constraints in applications that require the assembly of large numbers of microscale components with high positioning precision. In addition, surface forces must be carefully controlled to prevent unwanted adhesion of microscopic parts to each other or tool surfaces. Because of these disadvantages new low-cost parallel assembly techniques are being investigated and commercialized.
As the dimensions of micro-electronic, micro-optoelectronic and micro-electromechanical devices and systems decrease, and as their complexity increases, there is a need to use self assembly and integration techniques to simplify the processing of these devices.
Several approaches have been proposed for fabricating and assembling of different micro-devices (or generally microstructures) onto a substrate. Such proposed approaches include, selective area growth, flip-chip bonding, epitaxial lift-off (ELO), electrostatic alignment, and fluidic self-assembly. However, each of these approaches has drawbacks and technological issues, and the serious limitation of these approaches limit their utility in actual applications.
A selective area growth approach was investigated early as a potential method of heterogeneous integration. In this approach one grows GaAs or InP devices directly onto a silicon substrate. This approach becomes limiting due to lattice mismatch and thermal property mismatch between Si and GaAs. The devices grown on silicon are not as good devices as those grown on a lattice-matched substrate. In addition, growing GaAs onto silicon is inherently difficult and therefore very costly. Accordingly, InP or GaAs cannot efficiently be grown on a silicon substrate.
Another approach is the optical solder bump method for heterogeneous integration. The approach of the optical solder bump method is to put compound semiconductor heterostructures in recesses formed in the surface of integrated circuit wafers and then fabricate those heterostructures into devices monolithically integrated with the pre-existing VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) electronic circuitry. The fully processed active devices are individually placed onto bonding sites with a mechanical pick-and-place tool. The devices are held into place by solder bonding, and then the substrate is removed by using etching, if desired. This approach also has serious limitations. Because this process involves serial manipulation and alignment of individual device, it is expensive and time consuming.
For the most part heterogeneous integration is currently achieved by using some variation of the solder bump process to attach modest size arrays of devices—e.g. in attaching vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) on individual integrated circuit chips. However, this approach also has major drawbacks. The bonding temperature is very important for the size of the device arrays that can be bonded, and is typically limited to a centimeter on a side. Device array substrates must be thinned and totally removed to separate the device in the array from one another. This involves additional processing. The current industry standard for silicon integrated circuit wafers is 200 mm in diameter, and for GaAs wafers it is 150 mm, because of difference in diameter bonding full wafers is impractical. To overcome this problem, one is forced to bond pieces of wafers and to use a tiling process to cover a full wafer.
Other approaches for heterogeneous integration include epitaxial transfer procedures such as appliqué and ELO. For both processes, an epitaxial layer is generally released from its growth substrate, either by etching the substrate down to an etch-stop layer in appliqué technique or by etching a sacrificial layer in ELO technique. The layer, which is typically supported by a polymer membrane or wax, is then bonded to host substrate through van der Waals bonding or with a metal bond. The devices can be processed either before or after the transfer of the epitaxial layer to the host substrate depending upon the process requirements. However, both appliqué and ELO techniques have disadvantages. Such disadvantages include that handling extremely thin epitaxial layers is difficult and tedious, and any pre-processed devices need to be aligned to existing circuitry on the host substrate, which is time consuming and difficult when compounded with the thinness of the epitaxial film.
Another approach proposed, wafer bonding, is used to transfer an entire epitaxial layer. In this method, an epitaxial structure is grown upside down on a growth wafer. The host wafer and the growth wafer are bonded together, and the growth wafer is removed to expose the epitaxial layers. The epitaxial layer is then processed to create devices. This method also has major drawbacks, Due to thermal expansion mismatch of the wafers, and due to different thermal budgets for the two different materials, bonded wafers suffer from thermal limitations.
A yet further approach is to begin with individual devices and attach each in its proper position on the integrated circuit surface. At first such an approach sounds impractical, but upon much thought one realizes that it offers significant advantages once the assembly process is perfected. It circumvents the problem of smaller compound semiconductor wafer sizes, it can be used to assemble several different types of devices on a single substrate, and it can be used with any material with minimal concern with thermal expansion coefficient.
For successful, efficient heterogeneous integration, a method that will align separate discrete die without individual manipulation of the devices is required. There have been some approaches that meet these requirements. These approaches include vector potential parts manipulation, DNA and electrophoresis-assisted assembly, and fluidic self-assembly techniques. These techniques each involve the assembling and integration of many individual units on processed integrated circuits (or other electronic substrates). The individual units (or microstructures) may be a single devices, small assemblies of devices, or full integrated circuits.
The vector potential parts manipulation process allows for the alignment of separate device in an assembly. This process most often uses electrostatics, to direct and place units. Units are placed on a vibrating stage and are attracted to potential wells on the substrate. As the vibration is reduced, the units position into place. At present, this method has been used to manipulate relatively large parts using high voltages in a specially prepared alignment fixture.
In the DNA and electrophoresis-assisted assembly technique, a DNA-like polymer film is formed on the individual parts and a complementary film is patterned on the wafer or on the circuit surface where the parts are to be placed. The attraction force between the two complementary DNA films then locates and holds the parts in position. An electrophoresis approach is also used to attract and place device parts on a surface electrode pattern.
In the fluidic self-assembly approach, carefully etched devices are placed in a substrate with etched recesses of matching dimensions. It is one process that will align and place separate devices without individual manipulation. The host substrate is patterned with deep recesses that match the shape of the device. The specially shaped devices are separated from the growth substrate, suspended in a fluid, and flowed over the surface of the host substrate, and gravity is relied upon to get the devices into the recesses and to hold them there. However, fluidic self-assembly requires that the devices are trapezoidally shaped, to match the recesses in the substrate. This shape requirement is difficult to achieve and adds several processing steps, such as ion-milling.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a new technique of assembling and integration of microstructures onto a silicon wafers or on the separate substrate, which is of low cost, very compact, efficient, reliable, and requires minimum maintenance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a technique of assembling and integration of microstructures onto a substrate that can be carried out in such a manner to avoid damaging the preexisting electronics on the substrate.
It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a new technique of assembling and integration of microstructures onto a substrate that takes full advantages of the very large diameter silicon wafers.

Method of magnetic field assisted self-assembly


A coated sand composition for light-alloy casting includes refractory particles blended with phenol resin, bromide and adsorbent which adsorbs decomposition product gas from the bromide.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coated sand composition for light alloy casting.
2. Description of the Related Art
When casting a complicated structure such as an engine cylinder head in light alloy such as aluminum alloy, cores and the like are shaped from coated sand, that is, casting sand coated with resin binder, and the cores are used in combination with metal molds. The mold using coated sand must have a strength to withstand casting pressure and at the same time must be well disintegrated after casting. However though being apt to disintegrate in the case of casting in cast iron in which the casting temperature is high and resin burns out during casting, such a mold is not satisfactorily disintegrated in the case of casting in light alloy where the casting temperature is low, which makes troublesome sand removal, especially core removal after casting.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2(1990)-175044 discloses a coated sand composition containing therein bromide of wood material such as lignin bromide as disintegrator. The publication says that the bromide promotes disintegration of the sand mold at low temperature and does not give rise to a problem of metal molds. Further it has been well known to use inorganic bromide as disintegrator as disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60(1985)-15417.
However, though the wood bromide may promote disintegration, such a special compound must be synthesized, which is disadvantageous in reduction of cost. Further whether the bromide is organic or inorganic, the bromide cannot avoid being decomposed by heat during casting and generating bromine gas. The bromine gas causes corrosion of the metal molds. The corroded metal mold requires repeated polishing and padding.

Coated sand composition for light-alloy casting