The present invention is directed to an image processing method, comprising: deriving a pixel statistical value of pixels and edge information for each of regions in a plurality of layers, the regions including attention pixels and having ranges that are successively narrower; correcting differential information between a pixel statistical value for a region in an attention layer and a pixel statistical value for a region in a layer wider than the region in the attention layer by using the edge information; correcting the pixel statistical value for the region in the attention layer by using the corrected differential information and the pixel statistical value for the region wider than the region in the attention layer; re-correcting the corrected pixel statistical value for the region in the attention layer by using a pixel statistical value for a region equal to or wider than a region in each of the layers and differential information between the uncorrected pixel statistical value for the region in the attention layer and the corrected pixel statistical value for the region in the attention layer; and correcting the attention pixel by repeating the correcting and the re-correcting the pixel statistical value for the region in the attention layer sequentially in the respective layers until the region is reduced from a maximum range to a minimum range.

Among image processing technologies, a technology of reducing random noise contained in an image is indispensable for reproducing the captured image more clearly. One technology of reducing such random noise is disclosed in, for example, PTL 1.
The technology described in PTL 1 is configured by using: a plurality of arithmetic circuits calculating the number of pixels 'n' for moving average based on a preset mathematical equation with respect to an arbitrary attention pixel 'i' in a main scanning direction in a color digital signal outputted from an input image processing circuit; a plurality of bit selection circuits selectively outputting the attention pixel 'i' and 'n' reference pixels 'j' preceding and following the attention pixel 'i'; a plurality of differential circuits calculating absolute values of differences between an output level of the attention pixel 'i' and respective output levels of the reference pixels 'j'; a plurality of judgment circuits outputting the attention pixel 'i' as well as comparing values outputted from the plurality of differential circuits with a preset threshold value stored in a threshold storage memory to output reference pixels 'j' based on the comparison result; and a plurality of arithmetic circuits performing moving average processing on output signals outputted from the plurality of judgment circuits.
In other words, with a configuration to add a reference pixel 'j' to the moving average processing only when the absolute value of a difference between output levels of the attention pixel 'i' and a reference pixel 'j' is equal to or less than the threshold value, any portion where the absolute value of the difference exceeds the threshold value representing an abrupt change is excluded from the moving average processing, and thus a noise component can be removed effectively.

Image processing device and image processing method for correcting a pixel using a corrected pixel statistical value


Provided are a system and method of transmitting an Aggregated Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (A-MPDU) in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system. A MAC layer divides service data transferred from an upper layer into a plurality of MPDUs, forms a single transmission frame including the sequentially arranged MPDUs, delimiter information for distinguishing each of the MPDUs, and ACK request information for requesting for a reception result of the MPDUs, and transmits the formed transmission frame to a recipient. Accordingly, service coverage is extended, and a transmission delay is minimized, resulting in improved service efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a wireless communication system, and in particular, to a method of more efficiently transmitting service data in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system and a system therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, accompanying the development of wireless communication technology and the spread of wireless devices, there have been significant increases in the demands for high speed, reliable data transmission through a wireless link. A WLAN developed in response to the demands generally includes Stations (STAs), which are portable data communication devices, and Access Points (APs) for exchanging data with the STAs. An AP and STAs locating in the same wireless service coverage are called a Base Service Set (BSS).
Each of STAs locating in a single wireless service coverage area transmits or receives data using a wireless resource assigned by an AP. The AP assigns the wireless resource as a type of phase resource indicating a period of time for which an STA or the AP can transmit data.
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a WLAN system to which the present invention is applied.
Referring to FIG. 1, APs 20 and 21 are connected to a wired network 10, and each of a plurality of STAs 32, 34, 36, 42 and 44 transmits or receives data via each of a plurality of wireless channels by being connected to the AP 20 or 21 via a wireless link according to an IEEE 802.11 series Physical (PHY) layer and a Media Access Control (MAC) protocol. The STAs 32, 34 and 36 located in a wireless service coverage 30 and the AP 20 form a single BSS, and the STAs 42 and 44 located in a wireless service coverage 40 and the AP 21 form another single BSS. STAs located in the same wireless service coverage can exchange data via an AP in the same BSS. Major functions of the APs 20 and 21 are transport of data traffic, access to another network (e.g., the wired network 10), support of roaming, synchronization in the same BSS, support of power management and MAC for supporting a time-bound service in the same BSS.
In particular, a MAC layer of each of the APs 20 and 21 or each of the plurality of STAs 32, 34, 36, 42, and 44 controls data transmission and acts as a core element in the WLAN system. The MAC layer defines a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF), which controls every STA requiring a wireless media access in an asynchronous transmission method to have a single First-Input First-Output (FIFO) transmission queue.
Thus, in a DCF mode, the MAC layer examines whether a wireless medium is busy and considers a certain back-off time at an end time of each frame after a certain STA uses a channel, in order to prevent collision of the wireless medium. The MAC layer also determines, using a positive acknowledgement responding to a frame transmitted through the wireless medium, whether a re-transmission request of the transmitted frame is input from a recipient.
The MAC layer uses an Inter-Frame Space (IFS) to define the least amount of time for waiting until a next operation after sensing that the wireless medium is in an idle state. Various types of priorities are provided using the IFS, wherein a smaller IFS value causes a higher priority.
A Distributed IFS (DIFS) indicates a time interval used to transmit user data or a management frame of an STA operating in the DCF mode. A Shorter IFS (SIFS) indicates a highest priority time interval from when a single frame is transmitted to when an Acknowledgement (ACK) frame responding to the frame is transmitted. The SIFS has a fixed value according to a PHY layer considering the time taken until an STA can receive another frame after transmitting a frame.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a fragmentation method in which a MAC layer transmits data in a WLAN system.
A MAC layer, which has received data from an upper layer, e.g., a Logical Link Control (LLC) layer, divides a MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) into smaller frame fragments than an original frame and transmits the divided frame fragments. That is, since a long frame has limited reception reliability according to a channel state, transmission reliability of the long frame can be secured by dividing the long frame into small frame fragments using the fragmentation method.
Referring to FIG. 2, the MAC layer compares a received MSDU 100 to a fragmentation threshold, which is a parameter used in the MAC layer, and if the size of the MSDU 100 is greater than the fragmentation threshold, the MAC layer divides the MSDU 100 into small MAC fragments. Herein, the size of the minimum MAC fragment can be set to 256 bytes. Each of the MAC fragments includes a MAC frame (MPDU: MAC Packet Data Unit) 110, 120 or 130 having a MAC header. The MPDUs 110, 120 and 130 are transferred to a PHY layer, and a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) header and a preamble are added to each of the MPDUs 110, 120 and 130 in the PHY layer. A PHY header 140, i.e., the PLCP header and the preamble, and each of the MPDUs 110, 120 and 130 are called a PLCP Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) and are transmitted to a recipient via a wireless channel.
Thus, the MSDU 100 transmitted by the MAC layer in a time axis can be described as follows.
The MAC layer, which has sensed that a wireless medium is in the idle state, transmits a first MPDU 110 including the PHY header 140, i.e., a first PPDU, after considering a back-off time 20 next to a DIFS 50. After waiting for an SIFS 55, the MAC layer receives an ACK 160 from the recipient in response to the first MPDU 110 including the PHY header 140. After waiting for another SIFS 55, the MAC layer transmits a second MPDU 120 including the PHY header 140. After waiting for another SIFS 55, the MAC layer receives an ACK 170 from the recipient in response to the second MPDU 120. After waiting for another SIFS 55, the MAC layer transmits a third MPDU 130 including the PHY header 140. After waiting for another SIFS 55, the MAC layer receives an ACK 180 from the recipient in response to the third MPDU 130.
The MAC layer, which has completely transmitted the MSDU 100, transmits a subsequent MSDU through the above-described transmission procedures after considering another DIFS 50.
As described above, the fragmentation method guarantees the transmission reliability of each of the MPDUs 110, 120, and 130 by dividing the single MSDU 100 into a plurality of small MPDUs 110, 120 and 130, sequentially transmitting the MPDUs 110, 120 and 130, and receiving each of the ACKs 160, 170 and 180 responding to each of the MPDUs 110, 120 and 130 after waiting for the SIFS 55. On the contrary, the fragmentation method delays data transmission due to a time delay corresponding to the length of the SIFS 55 in each of the ACKs 160, 170 and 180 responding to each of the MPDUs 110, 120, and 130, resulting in a decrease of a system performance.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a Block Acknowledgement (BA) method in which a MAC layer transmits data in a WLAN system. The BA method is a method of transmitting a frame including a plurality of divided small MAC frames and transmitting a subsequent frame without receiving ACKs responding to the MAC frames. Herein, an STA receives a bitmap type BA indicating whether the MAC frames were successfully transmitted.
Referring to FIG. 3, the MAC layer, which has sensed that a wireless medium is in the idle state, sequentially transmits a first MPDU 200 including a PHY header 240, a second MPDU 210 including the PHY header 240, a third MPDU 220 including the PHY header 240 and a fourth MPDU 230 including the PHY header 240 after considering a back-off time 20 next to a DIFS 50. Thereafter, the MAC layer requests a recipient for an ACK signal responding to the transmitted first to fourth MPDUs 200 to 230 in order to confirm whether the recipient has normally received the transmitted first to fourth MPDUs 200 to 230. Herein, the ACK signal responding to the transmitted first to fourth MPDUs 200 to 230 is requested using a single Block ACK Request (BAR) 250. The BAR 250 can include identification information for identifying the first MPDU 200 to the last MPDU 230.
After a time period elapses, the MAC layer receives a BA 260 corresponding to the BAR 250 from the recipient. The BA 260 expresses using a single bitmap, such as '1011', whether the transmitted first to fourth MPDUs 200 to 230 have been successfully received, by assigning a single bit to each of the transmitted first to fourth MPDUs 200 to 230.
The MAC layer confirms using the BA 260 that the second MPDU 210 has not been successfully transmitted and re-transmits the second MPDU 210 including the PHY header 240. Thereafter, the MAC layer requests the recipient for another BAR 250 responding to the second MPDU 210, receives another BA 260 from the recipient, and confirms that the second MPDU 210 has been successfully transmitted.
As described above, a plurality of MPDUs are completely transmitted without receiving an ACK responding to each of the plurality of MPDUs, and a single BA is received in response to the plurality of MPDUs, and thus, a waste of channels required to transmit ACKs can be prevented, thereby increasing transmission efficiency. However, if the BA received from a recipient is delayed, subsequent MPDUs cannot be transmitted for the delay time, also resulting in a transmission delay.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an aggregation method in which a MAC layer transmits data in a WLAN system. The aggregation method is a method of transmitting a single Physical Service Data Unit (PSDU) by joining a plurality of (e.g., at least 10) MPDUs.
Referring to FIG. 4, the MAC layer transmits a single PSDU obtained by joining at least 10 MPDUs into a single transmission frame to a recipient. Herein, each of the MPDUs joined to form the single transmission frame includes an MPDU delimiter field 300 for distinguishing it from other MPDUs, an MPDU field 310 and a padding field 320.
The MPDU delimiter field 300 disposed in a fore-end of each of the MPDUs has a 4-byte length, and the padding field 320 has a 4-byte length except the last MPDU, i.e., the tenth MPDU. The MPDU delimiter field 300 includes a 4-bit reserved field 302, a 12-bit MPDU length field 304, an 8-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field 306 for checking a transmission error of the MPDU field 310, which may be generated in a transmission process, and an 8-bit unique pattern field 308.
As described above, the aggregation method of the MAC layer is a method of transmitting a single PSDU by joining and sequentially arranging a plurality of MPDUs, thereby saving resources assigned to a PLCP header and a preamble in transmission of every MPDU. In addition, a time interval, i.e., SIFS, can be saved by sequentially transmitting the plurality of MPDUs. Moreover, even if an error is generated in a certain MPDU during a transmission process, the other MPDUs can be successfully transmitted using the MPDU delimiter field 300.
However, when the number of MPDUs joined into a single PSDU increases, the number of the 4-byte MPDU delimiter fields 300 defined corresponding to the MPDUs also increases. Also, an at least 4 to 7-byte overhead including the padding field 320 corresponding to each of the MPDUs increases according to the number of MPDUs.
The aggregation method has a further problem in that re-transmission for an MPDU in which an error is generated during a transmission process is not performed. Hence, the conventional aggregation method needs improvement as to efficiency.
Thus, a technique for efficiently transmitting a plurality of MPDUs, which minimizes a waste of assigned wireless media and minimizes a transmission delay, is required for a WLAN system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of transmitting aggregated MAC MPDUs in WLAN system and system therefor

Seoul National University Industry Foundation


An information processing system includes circuitry that inputs an image, and determines whether the image deviates from at least one desired image capture condition. The circuitry identifies a deviation amount of the image relative to the at least one desired image capture condition, and generates a deformed image in which a deviation from the at least one desired image capture condition is increased by a predetermined amount over the deviation amount identified.

Recently, for example, various apparatuses such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, and a PC (Personal Computer) each having a photography function of photographing an image have become more and more popular. In accordance therewith, photography of an image has been frequently performed not only by digital cameras as apparatuses dedicated for photography of an image but also by apparatuses, which have the photography function, other than cameras.
Further, as the various apparatuses have a photography function, various applications using an image, which is photographed by the photography function, have been developed.
As the image-related application which is an application using the image photographed through the photography function, for example, there is an iris authentication device that photographs an image of a user's eye and identifies whether a user is a predetermined user by using the image of the eye (for example, refer to PTL 1).

Image processing apparatus and image processing method


A backup and restore coordinator configured to receive a plurality of backup and restore requests from at least two uncoordinated backup functionalities implemented in a virtual environment, the virtual environment including a hypervisor hosting a plurality of virtual machines and a backup server. The backup and restore coordinator configured to extract respective information from the plurality of backup and restore requests including target data, backup resource information, and a type of request. The backup and restore coordinator configured to order the plurality of backup and restore requests in a prioritized queue based on the information extracted from the plurality of backup and restore requests.

The present disclosure relates to virtual machines, and, more specifically, to data backups and/or restores in virtual environments.
Virtualization collects a shared pool of distributed resources and dynamically supplies portions of the shared pool of distributed resources to multiple clients on an as-needed basis. Historically, computational inefficiencies occur when a single entity acquires physical computational resources necessary to meet its maximum computational load. Since most entities have cyclical computing needs (e.g., predictable fluctuations throughout the day, month, quarter, year, etc.) that also change over time (e.g., an increasing percentage of business processes are being digitized over time), procuring physical computational resources necessary to meet the entity's maximum computational requirements causes inefficiencies during the off-cycle (e.g., excess capacity when less than the maximum computational load is required), and the physical computational resources become outdated relatively quickly. In light of this challenge, virtualization provides efficiency gains by supplying virtualized resources to entities on an as-needed basis.
With the increasing amount of virtualized computing, there is also an increasing need to backup and/or restore virtual machines (VMs) on a regular, intermittent, or as-needed basis in order to provide redundancy in the event of service interruptions, power outages, hardware malfunctions, inadvertent deletions, and so on. Several backup techniques for VMs are currently in existence.
A first backup technique is initiated by a backup server. A backup server scheduler incorporated into the backup server collects statistical information about the server environment and triggers a VM to initiate a backup when the backup server is below a predefined level of utilization. Disadvantageously, this first technique schedules backups exclusively based on the resource utilization of the backup server and disregards the resource utilization of the various VMs.
A second backup technique is initiated by an in-guest backup client associated with a virtual machine. According to the second technique, the in-guest backup client initiates backups according to a manual schedule. Disadvantageously, this second technique is unaware of resource utilization at the backup server and is also unaware of backup processes being executed by other VMs in the virtual environment. Both of these factors contribute to a high likelihood of conflicts when multiple VMs attempt to perform backup operations at the same time and overload the backup server.
A third technique is initiated by a proxy backup client that interfaces directly with the hypervisor and triggers backup operations of the virtualized environment according to a manually developed schedule. Disadvantageously, this third technique performs inflexible backup operations according to a manual schedule.
Thus, two technical challenges associated with performing backups in virtual environments are: 1) configuring backups at times beneficial to (or at least not detrimental to) both the VM and the backup server, and 2) reducing conflicts, collisions, and duplications realized when multiple types of backup solutions are implemented in the same virtual environment.

Virtual machine backup and restore coordinator


Interaction between programming languages includes receiving a command from a user, where the command is written in a first programming language. The first programming language is converted to an intermediate language. Translations are performed between the intermediate language and a second programming language to provide interaction between the first and second programming languages.

Legacy telephony applications have been based upon a structured language, such as C. The legacy telephony applications have existed within an entire system, such as a traditional circuit based Public Branch Exchange. However, recent developments in both software and hardware have lead to the development of telephony solutions that comprise a number of different language applications, which are not compatible with the legacy telephony applications. These applications may be based on a number of different languages, such as C, Java, or C++.

System and method providing for interaction between programming languages


An isolated flyback converter for an LED driver may include: (1) A snubber circuit configured to be connected to the primary side of a transformer. (2) A switching unit configured to have a source terminal and a drain terminal and configured to be turned on or off. (3) A control unit configured to detect a first input signal proportional to a fluctuation in the power supply voltage, detect a second input signal when the switching unit is turned off, generate a signal inversely proportional to the maximum value of the first input signal and multiply the generated signal to the second input signal, and control a peak current of the switching unit to be proportional to the multiplication result of the signal inversely proportional to the maximum value of the first input signal and the second input signal such that a secondary-side current of the transformer is maintained constant.

LED lamps have advantages of relatively low power consumption and a relatively long lifetime compared to fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, three-wave fluorescent lamps, and similar light illumination devices. Many LED illumination devices are Direct Current (DC) devices. Since power supplied to consumers is normally Alternating Current (AC), to drive LED illumination devices, a converter may be necessary to convert AC into DC.
When LEDs are driven with alternating-current (AC) power (converted to DC), the LEDs may be classified as an isolation type or as a non-isolation type. For an isolation type LED device, there may be nominal risk of an electric shock because an LED load ground and an AC power supply ground are separated from each other. However, the manufacturing costs for an insulation type LED device may be relatively high.
FIG. 1 illustrates an isolation-type LED lamp driver circuit based on a flyback converter, in accordance with the related art. A flyback converter may be used because it requires only one high-voltage switching element and therefore the flyback converter has a simple structure that may be implemented at a relatively low cost.
AC power is full-wave rectified through a rectifier. A full-wave rectified signal may be converted to DC through a filter and then used. In some instances (as shown), a separated circuit may be needed to improve a power factor.
A flyback converter structure is used to transmit energy to the LED load insulated from the rectified power. In the flyback converter structure, energy is stored in a magnetizing inductance on the primary side of a transformer while a switch is turned on, and energy in the magnetizing inductance is transmitted to an LED load on the secondary side of the transformer when the switch is turned off.
A controller serves to control the on/off operation of the switch such that the secondary-side LED current has a desired value. In general, in order to control the secondary-side current, it is necessary to detect the secondary-side current and to feed back the detected secondary-side current to the controller. Since the primary side and the secondary side should be insulated from each other, it may be necessary to use an element (e.g. an opto-coupler), which transmits a signal through light that is used to give feedback to drive the current. In FIG. 1, a snubber serves to suppress high-voltage spark due to resonance caused by parasitic inductance when the switch is turned off. With this structure illustrated in FIG. 1, it is possible to control the LED current constant regardless of a fluctuation in the LED load, a fluctuation in the power supply voltage, or the like.
In some configurations, a flyback converter may have dimmer control leakage pull down using the flyback converter's main power device. The flyback converter's main power device may have a configuration in which a secondary-side current is predicted from a switching duty signal and a peak current transmitted from the primary side to the secondary side, and the peak of the secondary-side current is compared with a power supply voltage to be supplied, thereby controlling an LED current regardless of a fluctuation in an LED load or a fluctuation in power.
However, in an isolation-type LED lamp driver circuit using a flyback converter of the related art, it is necessary to provide an additional secondary-side current sensor circuit and an insulation element (e.g. an opto-coupler). Accordingly, isolation-type LED devices may have a relatively large system volume and/or relatively high manufacturing costs. From the viewpoint of cost reduction, it may be desirable to control the secondary-side current with no additional circuit in the isolated flyback converter. According, there may be a demand for a technique for controlling a current with no secondary-side additional circuit and with the function of shaping the secondary-side current in tune with an input voltage to minimize a phase difference and to improve a power factor. There may also be a demand for stably controlling a secondary-side current through only primary-side control, regardless of a fluctuation in the secondary-side load.

Isolated flyback converter for light emitting diode driver


Transmit power adaptation for DS/CDMA systems is disclosed for a CDMA system that utilizes a successive interference cancellation receiver on fading channels. The transmission power is adapted in response to channel variations to achieve an arbitrary power profile for received signal powers at the system base station. That is, the received signal powers are distributed with some factor xi's given as:SRi=SR(1)xi, (i=2, 3, . . . , K and x1=1)where K is the number of users and SR(i) is the received signal power of the user having the ith strength, and wherein user strengths are ranked in the order of estimated channel gains. The factor xi gives a measure of the disparity between the received power levels. The channel is estimated at both the transmitter and receiver. In one embodiment, the factors, xi, for distributing the signal powers are selected such that the average BER for each user is minimized. In another embodiment, the factors, xi, for distributing the signal powers are selected such that, after successive interference cancellation, an instantaneous BER for all users is equal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for wireless communications and, more particularly, to adaptive power control for CDMA communication systems using successive interference cancellation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio links for either a portable or vehicular unit can be characterized by time-varying multipath fading, which causes the link quality to vary with time. When the transmitter and receiver are provided with channel state information (CSI), transmission schemes can be adapted to this information, enabling more efficient use of the channel. For example, in current code-division multiple-access (CDMA) cellular systems (IS-95), transmission power is adapted to maintain received power from all mobiles at the same desired level. This conventional technique of controlling the signal strength at the base station (base station) is well known to be optimal for the matched filter receiver.
In recent years, there has been much interest in improving the capacity of direct-sequence CDMA (DS/CDMA) systems through the use of multi-user detectors. Successive interference cancellation (successive interference cancellation) is a form of multi-user detection in which the strongest signal is the first detected and cancelled, while the weakest is the last detected. Although the matched-filter receiver attains its best performance under equal received power from all users, the successive interference cancellation receiver favors unequal received signal powers. Studies have been conducted for finding the received signal strengths that give, after successive cancellation, equal bit-error rate (BER) performance for all users. See, for example, R.M. Buehrer, "Equal BER performance in linear successive interference cancellation for CDMA systems, " IEEE Trans. On Communications, Vol. 49, pp. 1250-1258 (July 2001) and G. Mazzini, "Equal BER with successive interference cancellation DS-CDMA systems on AWGN and Rician channels, " Proc. IEEE PIMRC, pp. 727-731 (September 1995). It has been shown that, by ignoring error propagation, a geometric distribution of received powers will provide an equal BER performance for all users. See, for example, A.J. Viterbi, "Very low rate convolutional codes for maximum theoretical performance of spread-spectrum multiple access channels, " IEEE J. on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 8, pp. 641-649 (May 1990). A geometric distribution of received powers that minimizes the average BER, averaged over all active users, has also been considered. See, for example, J. H. Kim et al., "Combined power control and successive interference cancellation in DS/CDMA communications, " Proc. IEEE PIMRC, pp. 931-935 (October 2002).
In spite of the years of research in the area, power adaptation techniques in CDMA systems using successive interference cancellation have predominantly been limited in their approaches to using geometric distributions of received powers to achieve a desired BER performance result.

Transmit power adaptation for CDMA communication systems using successive interference cancellation


A NOR flash memory device comprises a memory cell array, a row selection circuit adapted to drive wordlines in the memory cell array with a wordline voltage during an erase operation, and an erase voltage generating circuit adapted to generate an erase voltage as the wordline voltage during the erase operation. The erase voltage generating circuit includes a discharging circuit receiving a high voltage that is regularly maintained irrespective of variations in a power voltage, and discharging the erase voltage supplied from the wordline during an erasing recovery period of the erase operation.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention are related to semiconductor memory devices. In particular, embodiments of the invention are related to flash memory devices.
This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 2005-80164, filed Aug. 30, 2005, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of Related Art
Flash memory is one type of non-volatile memory. It is commonly used as a replacement for conventional electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) which is generally formed by plural memory sectors, each being erasable and/or programmable using a single programming operation. Thus, while conventional EEPROM devices are well adapted to slow speed applications which do not suffer from the fact that erase and programming operations must be carried on a memory block by memory block basis, flash memory devices are efficiently adapted to higher speed applications (e.g., applications running at higher clock frequencies), since a system employing flash memory may read and write data to separate memory blocks at the same time.
However, both flash memory devices and EPROM devices have a limited lifetime due to the presences of certain insulation films that break down with use over time. These insulation films are generally associated with storage elements and are gradually destroyed by the hundreds and thousands of erase and programming operations performed on the respective memory devices.
Like all non-volatile memory devices, flash memory devices store information even when power is not applied to the device. Thus, information stored in the device is retained during power interruptions. Flash memory devices are also very resistant to physical shocks and provide a fast access time during read operations. Owing to such merits, flash memory devices are commonly employed within the memory system of host devices powered by a battery.
Flash memory devices may be classified into NOR and NAND type devices, in accordance with the primary type of logic gate used in their architecture. The memory cells of a flash memory device are formed in an array, and each cell in the array is typically adapted to store a single bit of information. However, multi-level cells are designed to store more than one bit of information by varying the amount of electrical charge accumulated on a constituent floating gate.
In a NOR flash memory device, each memory cell is very similar in structure to that of a typical MOSFET transistor, except that it has two gates. One gate is called the control gate (CG) and it generally operates like the gate of an MOS transistor. The other gate is called a floating gate (FG) and is electrically isolated by a surrounding insulation film. The floating gate is interposed between the control gate and the substrate (or a bulk material).
Since the floating gate is electrically isolated by the insulation film, electrons near the floating gate tend to accumulate on the floating gate and may be variously used to store information. Electrons accumulating on the floating gate influence an electric field associated with the control gate (e.g., partially offsetting the electric field) and thereby change the threshold voltage of the memory cell. Thus, in response to a specific voltage applied to the control gate during a read operation, current may or may not flow through the memory cell in accordance with its threshold voltage. Such current flow is regulated by the amount of charge accumulated on the floating gate. A data value of "1" or "0" is detected in accordance with whether or not current flows, where the current flow corresponds to data stored in the memory cell. However, in the multi-level cell storing more than one bit per cell, an accumulation of electrons on a floating gate may be detected in accordance with a corresponding amount of current flowing through the memory cell, rather than the mere presence or absence of current.
A NOR flash memory cell is typically programmed (i.e., a data value is stored) by applying a program voltage to the control gate, applying a high voltage (e.g., about 5 to 6V) to the drain. Under this bias condition, a relatively large current flows from drain to source. This type of programming scheme is referred to as "hot electron injection." During an erase operation for the NOR flash memory cell, a high voltage gap is established between the control gate and substrate (or bulk material), which induces a so-called Fowler-Nordheim tunneling effect to release the electrons accumulated on the floating gate.
A cell array of NOR flash memory devices is usually divided into blocks or sectors that are erased as a unit. Memory cells belonging to a particular block are erased at the same time during a single erase operation. Otherwise, a programming operation for the NOR flash memory device may be carried out on a byte or word basis.
Erase operations for a NOR flash memory device may include a pre-program operation, a main erase operation, and a post-program operation. The pre-program operation is performed using bias conditions similar to those of the programming operation. These conditions prevent memory cells from being over-erased into depletion during a subsequent main erase operation. All memory cells in a sector to be erased may be pre-programmed. Next, a main erase operation may be performed such that all memory cells in the sector are placed in an "ON" state. Finally, a post-program operation may be performed to correct any over-erased memory cells. Except for its particular bias conditions, a post-program operation may be performed in a manner similar to that of a pre-program operation.
As noted above, since the erase operations applied to a NOR flash memory device generally include several different operations, the speed of the erase operation is slower than a read operation. This reality is further complicated by the fact that as the operational voltage of the memory device is reduced, the gate voltage for the MOS transistor is also reduced, and the current capacity of the MOS transistor drops. As current capacity drops, it takes longer and longer to charge and discharge the various voltages used during an erase operation. This means that the speed of the erase operation for a NOR flash memory device is effectively decreased as its operating voltage is decreased.

Flash memory device with reduced erase time


There is provided an optical semiconductor device, including a first semiconductor layer, a first insulating layer formed on the first semiconductor layer, the first insulating layer having a different index of refraction from that of the first semiconductor layer, a highly doped, second semiconductor layer formed on the first insulating layer, a third semiconductor layer formed on the second semiconductor layer, a device isolation region having a depth starting at an upper surface of the third semiconductor layer and terminating at an upper surface of the first insulating layer, the device isolation region defining a device formation region therein, the device formation region being formed with a recess starting at an upper surface of the third semiconductor layer and terminating at an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer, a second insulating layer covering an inner sidewall of the recess therewith, a multi-layered structure formed within the recess, the multi-layered structure having at least a quantum well layer and a contact layer, a connection region having a depth starting at an upper surface of the third semiconductor layer and terminating at an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer, a first electrode formed on the connection region, a second electrode formed on the contact layer, and a light-impermeable region having a depth starting at an upper surface of the third semiconductor layer and terminating at an upper surface of the first insulating layer, the light-impermeable region being formed outside the recess. The optical semiconductor device can be fabricated in a planar structure, and has an improved photoelectric transfer efficiency. The optical semiconductor device makes it possible to integrate a light-emitting device and a light-receiving device on a common chip with the devices being optically insulated from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical semiconductor device to be fabricated employing an SOI substrate, and more particularly to a plane-type optical semiconductor device such as a plane-type light-emitting device and a plane-type light-receiving device which is capable of emitting or receiving a light perpendicularly to a plane of an SOI substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an integrated circuit to be used for optical communication, there has been used optical transmission and reception modules employing III-V compounds and an transceiver for optical communication. For instance, there has been used an optical communication module having a silicon IC mounted therein which includes an InGaAsP/InP laser diode (LD) chip and a circuit for driving the chip, and an optical communication module having a silicon IC mounted thereon which includes an InGaAs/InP Pin photo diode (PD) chip and a signal amplifier. There has been also used a transceiver for optical communication having a silicon IC mounted therein which includes a LD chip, a PD chip, a driver circuit for optical transmission, and a amplifying circuit for optical reception.
In order to reduce fabrication costs, it is desired to be able to apply silicon process to the above mentioned devices. Thus, optical devices employing SiGe has been researched and studied in order to accomplish Si-OEIC having LD, PD and IC all of which are integrally formed in a single device.
For instance, there has been reported electricity-light transfer at room temperature (RT) in a mesa-type diode having a Si/SiGe super lattice layer formed on a silicon substrate in "Room-temperature 1.3 .mu.m electroluminescence from strained Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x /Si quantum wells", Q. Mi et al., Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 60, No. 25, June 1992, pp. 3177-3179.
For another instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-66668 has suggested Si-OEIC wherein an integrated circuit and a laser diode, a photo diode or a photo transistor having a Si/SiGe super lattice layer are formed on a common substrate.
Those suggested devices are fabricated by forming a super lattice structure having alternately deposited Si and SiGe layers by growth as a light transmission section or a light reception section, forming a highly doped layer by growth which will make an electrode, and etching in a mesa-configuration. By employing a super lattice structure, it is possible to increase a total thickness of light absorption layers made of SiGe with the result of improvement in electricity-light transfer efficiency.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device used by Q. Mi et al. for measurement of electricity-light transfer in a light emitting device. The illustrated device is fabricated by the steps of forming an N+ type epitaxial layer 103 by growth on an N type silicon substrate 101, forming a non-doped silicon epitaxial layer 107, a Si/SiO.sub.0.65 Ge.sub.0.35 super lattice layer 108, a non-doped silicon buffer layer 109 and a P+ type contact layer 110 on the N+ type epitaxial layer 103 on this order, etching a resultant in mesa-configuration so that the N+ type epitaxial layer 103 is partially etched in thickness-wise direction thereof, covering a resultant with a silicon dioxide film 112, forming holes at P and N regions with the silicon dioxide film 112, and forming electrodes 113-1 and 113-2 on the P and N regions, respectively. Thus, there is completed a diode. The illustrated device or diode would perform electricity-light transfer to thereby emit light having a wavelength of 1.3 .mu.m when a pn junction thereof is forward-biased.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a light emission section and a light receiving section in Si-OEIC suggested in the above mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-66668. The illustrated device is fabricated by the steps of forming an N type silicon layer 222, an Si/SiGe super lattice layer 208 and a ptype silicon layer 223 by successive growth on a silicon substrate 201, etching the layers 223, 208, 222 in mesa-configuration, further etching the silicon substrate 201 for separating the light emission section and the light reception section from each other, filling holes, which were formed by etching, with silicon dioxide to thereby form device isolation regions 221 in the silicon substrate 201, covering a resultant with a silicon nitride film 224, forming lower electrodes 213-1a and 213-1b on and in electrical connection with the N type silicon Layers 222, and forming upper electrodes 213-2a and 213-2b on and in electrical connection with the p-type silicon layer 223.
The conventional devices illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 have problems as follows. The light emitting device suggested by Q. Mi et al. (FIG. 1) has a problem that it cannot provide a light emission efficiency expected to have in general plane-type light emitting devices. The reason is that there is only provided the N+ type silicon layer 103 below the Si/Si.sub.0.65 Ge.sub.0.35 super lattice layer 108, and hence the N+ type silicon layer 103 cannot sufficiently act as a reflection layer.
In addition, since the above mentioned light emitting and receiving devices as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 are configured in mesa-type, it is unavoidable that there are formed large steps on a silicon substrate. Such large steps make it difficult to form internal circuits together with the light emitting and receiving devices on a common chip. The reason is as follows. It is preferable for transistors used for internal circuits to have a planar structure, because integration would be accomplished relatively readily. However, if transistors are to be fabricated to have a planar structure, it would be quite difficult to form the planar type transistors and the mesa type light emitting and receiving devices by the same fabrication process.


An image detection system (10) uses an optical configuration for both image forming and calibration phases of operation. A field lens (20) has an inner portion (36) of a conventional prescription to allow for collection of scene based energy for an opto-electronic approximation of the infrared detail within the afocal field of view by a focal plane array (32). The field lens (20) also has an outer portion (38) that collects far field energy from a scene area (A.sub.I) through a converging point (P.sub.I). The energy collected from the scene area (A.sub.I) is indicative of the average energy level within the scene. The electrical equivalent values of all energy received from the unique area (A.sub.I) is stored in a multidimensional range used for subsequent gain and offset calibration coefficient calculations.

Image detecting systems typically scan scene based images onto a focal plane array made up of individual detector elements. Each detector element within the focal plane array has a unique output voltage offset and gain reported upon detection of an image. The unique output voltage offsets and gains of the individual detector elements are a result of an inherent inability to produce identical detector elements during the manufacturing process. The inability to produce identical detector elements requires that an imaging system perform calibration on the focal plane array to compensate for the varying output voltage offsets and gains from one of the individual detector elements to another despite detecting identical portions of an image.
Calibration of imaging systems typically requires that calibration reference levels be viewed by the focal plane array during system operation. The calibration time can take time away from viewing the actual scene images. The calibration references of typical scan systems are produced by thermo-electrical devices that are optically viewed during the calibration period. Replacing the thermo-electrical devices with modified optical elements already in the system is desirable to reduce system complexity. Viewing these modified optical elements during normal scan return times also simplifies system operation.
Therefore, it is desirable to perform calibration with modified scene elements inherent within a typical scan system.
From the foregoing, it may be appreciated that a need has arisen for scene based calibration of an image detecting system. In accordance with the present invention, a passive scene based calibration system is provided that substantially eliminates or reduces disadvantages and problems associated with conventional image detecting system calibration techniques.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a passive scene based calibration system that includes an optical environmental interface for receiving image energy from a scene. The image energy from the scene passes through the optical environmental interface to an afocal lens assembly that performs an image forming function and a calibration function in response to the image energy. A scanning mirror scans the image energy across a focal plane array. The focal plane array forms an opto-electronic approximation of the infrared detail of the image energy. A converging optics assembly inverts the image energy prior to reaching the focal plane array.
The present invention provides various technical advantages over conventional image detecting system calibration techniques. For example, one technical advantage is to perform scene based calibration. Another technical advantage is to perform calibration using the same lens configuration as used in image detecting. Yet another technical advantage is using a field lens that has an inner portion for image detection and an outer portion for calibration. Other technical advantages are readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, description, and claims.


Systems and techniques are disclosed relating to communications. The systems and techniques involve the synchronizing to a signal having a plurality of bits by computing energy for a plurality of different phase offset signal portions, generating a ratio from the signal portion with the highest computed energy and the signal portion with the second highest computed energy, and comparing the ratio to a threshold to determine whether the signal portion with the highest computed energy can be used to determine bit timing.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to communications, and more specifically, to various systems and techniques to synchronize a receiver to a data bit stream carried in a signal transmission.
2. Background
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is part of a satellite based navigation system developed by the United States Department of Defense. It provides global coverage with precision navigation under various environmental conditions. In a fully operational GPS, the entire surface of the earth is covered by 24 satellites which orbit the earth in 12 hours. These satellites are arranged in six orbital planes each containing four satellites. The orbital planes are spaced 60° apart from each other and are inclined approximately 55° with respect to the equatorial plane.
Each GPS satellite transmits two spread-spectrum L-band carriers. The first L-band carrier (L1) is modulated by two pseudo-random-noise (PN) codes, a coarse acquisition code (C/A-code) and a precision code (P-code). The second L-band carrier (L2) is modulated only by the P-code. Civilian navigation receivers use only the C/A code on the L1 carrier. The C/A code belongs to a family known as Gold codes.
Gold codes are relatively short codes with a chip rate of 1.023 MHz and a length of 1023 chips, and thus repeat every one millisecond. One cycle of 1023 chips is called a "PN frame." Each GPS satellite transmits a signal with a unique Gold code. Superimposed on the Gold code, at 50 bits per second, is a binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) signal with bit boundaries aligned with the beginning of a PN frame. The 50 Hz signal contains the satellite ephemeris, the almanac for all other satellites, clock error parameters, and satellite status.
The GPS receiver has a clock that is synchronized to the satellite clocks. Each satellite clock is used to initiate a transmission of a GPS signal spread by the appropriate Gold code. At the same time, the GPS receiver clock begins generating the same Gold codes. When the GPS signal from any given satellite arrives at the GPS receiver, the Gold code used to spread the GPS signal will lag behind the locally generated Gold code. The GPS receiver determines this lag through an acquisition process by shifting in time the locally generated Gold code until it is aligned with the GPS signal. The time adjustment necessary to bring the two into alignment represents the pseudo-range of the satellite. The term pseudo-range is used because it contains an offset corresponding to the error in the GPS receiver's clock. After obtaining four or more pseudo-ranges from four or more satellites, the GPS receiver, with the knowledge of the satellite data, can obtain a navigational solution to pinpoint its exact location on earth.
The satellite data may be recovered from the GPS signal through a correlation process. The correlation process entails multiplying successive one millisecond portions of the GPS signal with the locally generated Gold code and integrating the product. The correlation results may be accumulated over a 20 millisecond bit period and phase detected to determine each bit value. Normally, the GPS receiver has no prior knowledge of the bit timing, and therefore, an ambiguity exists as to which 20 correlation results should be accumulated. If the correlation results are accumulated over a bit boundary with a bit transition, the ability of the GPS receiver to detect the bit value may be significantly degraded. Accordingly, there is a need for a robust process for resolving bit timing in a reliable fashion. The method should be adaptive to changing environmental conditions and applicable to various technologies.

Bit synchronization in a communications device


A plug-and-socket connector with a base strip for a printed circuit board connection and with a male connector having a socket housing projecting on its insertion side having a right-angle cross-sectional base form and opposite longitudinal sides corresponding to this base form and a front side between them. Insertion openings of plug receivers for contact elements are arranged in series in the longitudinal direction of the front side. The plug receivers are parallel extend to the front side and are permanently arranged on the base strip in an alignment corresponding to the insertion openings. A guide element for connecting the base strip to the male connector is provided in a mounted state of the male connector on the base strip between two insertion openings of the male connector and two plug receivers of the base strip corresponding to the two insertion openings.

Such plug-and-socket connectors are known in numerous designs and frequently comprise a base strip provided on the one hand for being mechanically fastened on a printed circuit board and on the other hand for establishing the electrical contacting to the printed circuit board. A male connector of the plug-and-socket connector has the problem of electrically connecting incoming and/or outgoing electrical conductors to the base strip and therewith to the structural parts on the printed circuit board. Terminals on or fitting in the male connector are provided for the connection of these conductors.
Furthermore, connecting the male connector to the base strip in such a manner that it is safe against vibrations is known. For this, e.g., a screw coupling is provided and the male connector is correspondingly constructed as a screw plug and the base strip is provided with threaded flanges. The screw connection takes place at the ends of the male connector and of the base strip. In such designs of the plug-and-socket connector the male connector and the base strip can always only be joined together in a single plugging direction. In addition, the screw connection requires a relatively long assembly time. Furthermore, it is difficult, in particular given a great number of plug-in sockets and the contact elements corresponding to them that have to be inserted into the insertion sockets for mounting the base strip on the male connector to center them in such a manner relative to each other that they fit into each other without problems during the assembly.
The invention has the basic problem of making a plug-and-socket connector available in which the mounting of the base strip to the male connector can be simplified.


An apparatus configured to measure at least one physical characteristic of an threaded surface (e.g., an internally threaded surface) of an object is provided. The apparatus uses optical triangulation to perform non-contact characterization of the threaded surface. The apparatus can be used to characterize various aspects of the threaded surface, including generating the measurements required to produce a longitudinal cross-sectional profile of the threaded surface.

Current technologies for measuring at least one physical characteristic of an internally threaded surface, such as the shape of a thread form, include the casting or rubber replicating process, such as by Reporubber®, as illustrated in FIG. 14. The Reporubber® material is applied over several threads, allowed to cure, and is then removed. The material maintains its shape when removed. The resulting thread mold is sliced on-axis and placed on an optical comparator, where it is magnified. An overlay of the theoretical shape may be used to detect problem areas. This is a time consuming process and relies on the operator to perform the comparison, which can be subjective and requires a "trained eye."
Another current approach is to use a mechanical stylus to trace the thread form, such as with the use of a contour measuring system, as illustrated in FIG. 15. This method is time-consuming to setup and collect data. It is also fragile.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved internal thread measurement systems.


A cryoablation system for performing endometrial ablation comprising an elongated tubular cannula having a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis, an expandable balloon extending from the distal end of the cannula and fluidly connected to a source of heat transfer fluid by at least one fluid path, a pump for circulating the heat transfer fluid into and out of the balloon, a probe handle coupled to the proximal end of the cannula and in fluidic communication with the balloon through the cannula, and a heat exchanger for varying the temperature of the heat transfer fluid, wherein the heat exchanger is fluidly connected to a secondary refrigerant source, and wherein the heat exchanger comprises an outer tubular wall and a plurality of fins extending from the tubular wall toward the interior portion of the heat exchanger.

Endometrial ablation is a common surgical procedure that is used to treat menorrhagia in women, which is typically accomplished through the application of either sufficiently hot or sufficiently cold temperatures to destroy the lining of the uterus. One type of procedure used for endometrial ablation involves the use of a device that rolls over the surface of the uterine wall while applying enough heat to destroy the endometrial tissue. While this type of procedure can be effective, it requires a significant amount of time and skill in anipulating the rolling device to ensure that the entire endometrium is destroyed.
Another type of procedure used for endometrial ablation also uses heat, but instead involves balloons or similar distensible bladders. These balloons are inserted into the uterus and inflated with a fluid until the balloon contacts the affected surfaces of the uterus. Fluid is then heated to an appropriate temperature to ablate or destroy the endometrium. Good surface contact is important to get complete coverage of the uterine lining. However, such coverage can be difficult due to temperature fluctuations and gradients along the surface of the balloon that can be caused by any factors, such as convective currents of the fluid within the balloon. To improve control of the fluid temperature within the balloon, various mechanical devices and systems have been used for circulating or agitating the heated fluid, such as through multiple fluid passageways, propellers within a lumen contained within the balloon, vibrating members, and electrical impulses. These mechanical devices or systems provide varying degrees of effectiveness, depending on the administrator of the procedure and the device itself. In addition, the movement of hot fluid into the balloon can sometimes cause discomfort or possible tissue damage to the vagina and opening of the cervix as heat is conducted through the walls of the catheter to which the balloon is attached.
Another group of procedures used for endometrial ablation involves the application of extremely low temperatures and is commonly referred to as cryosurgery. In the performance of cryosurgery, it is typical to use a cryosurgical application system designed to suitably freeze the target tissue. The abnormal or target cells to be destroyed are often surrounded by healthy tissue that should be left uninjured. Many of these systems use a probe with a particular shape and size that is therefore designed to contact a selected portion of the tissue that is to be treated without undesirably affecting any adjacent tissue or organs. In one particular application used to treat conditions of abnormal uterine bleeding, cryoablation instruments and techniques are used to freeze endometrial tissue, thereby destroying at least a portion of the endometrium or lining of the uterus, while leaving the remainder of the uterus undamaged. An example of a device that can be used for this type of cryoablation is the Her Option Cryoablation System, commercially available from American Medical Systems of Minnetonka, Minn. In this type of system, a rigid probe is provided with a very cold tip that freezes the endometrial tissue with which it comes in contact. Where such a probe is used, the remainder of the refrigeration system must be designed to provide adequate cooling, which involves lowering the operative portion of the probe to a desired temperature and having sufficient power or capacity to maintain the desired temperature for a given heat load. The entire system must be designed so that the operative portion of the probe can be placed at the location of the tissue to be frozen without having any undesirable effect on other organs or systems. For this reason, probes in these types of systems are often in the shape of an elongated tube with a rounded tip area at one end that can be positioned within the uterus for the cryoablation procedures. Other cryocooling surgical devices, components thereof, and surgical methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,275,595; 5,758,505; 5,787,715; 5,901,783; 5,910,104; 5,956,958; 6,035,657; 6,074,572; 6,151,901; 6,182,666; 6,237,355; 6,241,722; 6,270,494; 6,451,012; 6,471,217; 6,471,694; 6,475,212; 6,530,234; and 6,537,271, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In many cases, the cold portion of an instrument or device is provided through the use of a Joule-Thompson refrigeration system. These refrigeration systems generally operate through the expansion of a high-pressure gas through an expansion element that includes some sort of a flow restrictor. The restriction of flow ay be accomplished through the use of a small orifice, a narrow capillary tube, or some other sort of passage that is smaller than the supply source through which the high-pressure gas must move. Typically, the refrigeration system includes a source of high-pressure gas, a heat exchanger, an expansion element, a heat transfer element, and various tubes or conduits that allow movement of the gas from one component to another. The high-pressure gas passes through the heat exchanger to lower the gas temperature at least slightly, then the gas temperature is further lowered through the isenthalpic expansion of the gas as it passes through the expansion element. This expanded and cooled gas is exposed to the heat transfer element, where the gas can then absorb the heat that has been transferred from the environment.
In most systems, the cooling tip is designed or chosen to be small enough to easily be accurately positioned at the treatment area, which generally limits the technique to applying the cooling to a relatively small area with each placement of the probe. The entire process thus typically requires that the probe be positioned at least two or three times to ablate the entire target area, such as an entire uterine cavity. Each relocation of the probe requires repetition of the same cooling steps, which can be time consuming and requires multiple precise placements of the probe to guarantee that the entire area is adequately ablated.
With these cryosurgical techniques, it is typically desirable to insulate the shaft of a cryosurgical probe to prevent the unintentional freezing of tissue at locations along the length of the probe that may inadvertently or unavoidably come in contact with the probe shaft. One way these shafts are often insulated is to provide a vacuum space along the probe shaft. This method is sometimes ineffective because the level of the vacuum maintained in such a space can degrade over time due to the outgassing of etals, plastics, and braze joints. This outgassing can increase during sterilization procedures in which heat is applied to the probe. Thus, it is known to incorporate the insulation into a disposable sheath that can be disposed over a probe, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,666 (Dobak III), for example, so that the disposable element is not subjected to repeated sterilization, but instead can be discarded without significant degradation of the insulation. This disposable sheath can be constructed of a thermally resistive material, such as a plastic, to inhibit heat transfer between the surrounding tissues and the probe that it covers.
There is, however, a need to provide a system and device for endometrial ablation using cryosurgical methods that improve the overall coverage of the endometrial surface for a range of uterine sizes and shapes while maintaining an appropriate depth of ablation. There is further a need for these systems and devices to be easily manipulated to the affected areas, while having the ability to quickly generate an appropriately sized cold area or ice ball within the uterus for ablation. In addition, these systems will desirably include an efficient heat exchanger that provides improved cooling power with a given amount of input energy.

Cryosurgical devices for endometrial ablation


A device for photometric measurement of several samples (12) that are exposed to radiation from a light source (14) associated therewith. The light modified by the samples (12) is intercepted by an optical device (19) and is guided as a sum of all the light radiated from all samples (12) to at least one sensor (27) for measuring the intensity and evaluation thereof in an evaluation device (32) arranged downstream. The light sources (14) are controlled individually by a control device (31) and the evaluation device (32) and the control device (31) are controlled such that the evaluation device (32) separates the light from each sample (12) from the light of the other samples. The control device (31) modulates the light source (14) with various signals, which are pre-assigned to the evaluation device (32) and used to determine the light signals of the individual samples (12) from the sum signal received by the sensor (27).

The present invention relates to an apparatus for photometrically testing several specimens (12) that are each irradiated by an associated light source. An apparatus of this type is used to photometrically test several specimens, for instance on-line on a thermocycler, in order to monitor the progress of PCR procedures. However, such an apparatus is also used to test a plurality of microarray spots on glass slides, or as well wherever a plurality of specimens must be tested photometrically by means of fluorescence, absorption, scattering phenomena, and the like. When testing fluorescence specimens, an appropriate fluorescence indicator is added as a rule.
Such an apparatus, however, incurs the drawback of entailing a plurality of light paths, which, in turn, require a complex design. When only one light path is used between a light source and a light sensor, then the specimens must be moved sequentially into the light path and substantial mechanisms are entailed. It is furthermore known to move the light, such as a reflected light, over stationary specimens. Unfortunately, this design incurs the same drawbacks as above.
On the other hand, to simultaneously irradiate all specimens simultaneously by the same light source and to view them individually using several sensors would be exceedingly costly. This is due, in part, to the fact that the sensors are much more expensive than light sources.
Accordingly, the patent documents EP 0902271 A2 and WO 01/35079 A1 propose individually irradiating the specimens using associated light sources and to use only one light sensor to determine and analyze the light from all specimens, namely the summed signal.
This solution, however, raises the problem of identifying the light intensities of the particular specimens from the summed signal picked up by the sensor. The state of the art disclosed by both of the above patent documents solves this problem in that the different light sources are operative only individually, so that only the light from a given specimens will fall on the sensor which only receives a single specimen's light that, provided there be appropriate synchronization, can be allocated to the particular specimen.
However such apparatus suffers from drawbacks because, assuming there are n specimens, each specimen may be illuminated at most only 1/n of the available measuring time. The values related to the particular specimens are available only within short time intervals. Moreover, the measured signal cannot be integrated over a substantial length of time, illustratively when the signal is weak, to still attain in this manner a good signal to noise ratio. If the signal fluctuates, or when ascertaining the progress of a reaction in the specimens, it will be impossible to monitor the signal as a function of time.

Device for photometric measurement of several samples


A protective cover for an object being transported in an airstream comprises a flexible cover member adapted to cover the object. The cover has front and rear ends, a top, two sides, and a bottom providing an opening to fit over the object. The cover member also has at least one exhaust aperture intermediate its ends with a venting member disposed over it. The bottom of the cover member is seated around the periphery of the object to reduce the airflow thereinto. The venting member has a base portion secured to the cover member about the aperture, and a body portion extending outwardly therefrom. The body portion has a closed end oriented towards the front end of the cover member and an open end disposed toward the rear end of the cover member. The body portion also provides a passage from the aperture to the open end, whereby negative air pressure is created at the open end by the flow of the airstream over the venting member and air is exhausted from the interior of the cover to cause the cover to seat snugly about the surface of the object about which it is fitted.

The present invention relates to covers for protecting cargo being transported by motor vehicles.
Covers are widely employed to protect valuable cargo such as boats and other personal watercraft, snowmobiles and bicycles from the elements of weather and from wind blown debris. At highway speeds, the air flow has a tendency to blow the cover off the cargo. As a result, tie down devices such as straps and buckles have been employed to secure the cover over the cargo. Moreover, the cover has a tendency to whip and buffet as a result of the air flow about the cover particularly when a high speed air stream flows under the cover. This whipping and buffeting can cause the cover to tear and even damage the cargo underneath it. Moreover, the whipping and buffeting of the cover generates considerable noise.
More recently, McLellan U. S. Pat. No. 4,976,389 proposed a cover to protect a bicycle from exposure to environmental conditions during transport, and it employs a single aperture at its rear end to create a suction effect on air under the cover to inhibit undesired buffeting of the cover. This suction effect is created by a pressure drop occurring at the aperture which is the result of difference in air pressure between the interior and the exterior of the cover.
Although the McLellan cover may reduce the buffeting associated with conventional bike covers which fit closely about the bicycle, the type of structure has limited applicability to devices other than bicycles which have relatively narrow profiles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel cover for articles being transported which is effective to cause the cover to fit relatively closely about the article at transport speeds.
It is also an object to provide such a cover which is relatively free from whipping and buffeting at transport speeds.
Still another object is to provide such a cover which may be readily and economically fabricated for a large variety of cargoes such as personal watercraft, snowmobiles and boats.
A further object is to provide a novel method for covering objects being transported in an air stream.

Protective cover secured by differential pressure


A computing section controls a hot swap circuit, and DC/DC converters based on binary data from an ADC and an interrupt signal from respective comparing sections of a voltage detecting circuit. If the interrupt signal is input from any one of the respective comparing sections, the reading of binary data corresponding to the interrupt signal is halted. The binary data relating to the voltage detecting section corresponding to the interrupt signal, which is held in the SRAM at that time, is transferred to a non-volatile memory, where it is stored. When driving of the system has been halted, binary data is read out from the non-volatile memory, in order to analyze the cause of the error in a DC/DC converter which indicates an error output voltage from one of power supply circuits for supplying externally a plurality of different drive voltages to loads in a disk array unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply control system comprising a plurality of power supply circuits which supply powers to loads driven at a plurality of voltages, at voltages corresponding respectively to the plurality of voltages, and to a storage device comprising a disk drive unit for storing input data, and a cache memory which temporarily keeps the data stored in the disk drive unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, a power sequence detecting unit has been proposed with the aim of shortening the time required until the cause of an operational fault can be identified, in cases where an operational fault occurs in the power supply section, due to an error in the power supply sequence that cannot be fully detected. In such as device, the power supply control section controls the start-up of the power supply output of three power supply units, for example, and at the start-up timing, the output power voltages of the respectively power supply units are compared with a previously determined prescribed value, and logic signals based on these comparisons are output by respective comparators and the NOR circuit. In accordance with the output of these logic signals, a distinction can be made between a normal and error state of the power output of the three power supply units. Therefore, if there is an error in the power supply sequence, the suspect power supply unit can be identified, and the source of an operational fault caused by an error in the power supply sequence can be detected at an early stage (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-188829).
Conventionally, almost all LSIs (large-scale integrated circuits) used in electronic devices have required a 5V DC (direct current), but in recent years, with miniauthorization of the manufacturing process for LSIs, there have appeared LSIs requiring voltages of 3.3V DC, 2.5V DC, 1.8V DC, 1.5V DC, or the like, for example, other than 5V DC. Furthermore, with miniauthorization in the manufacturing process for LSIs, in many LSIs, the DC voltage applied to each chip inside the LSI and the DC voltage applied to the I/O (input/output) section of the LSI are different, and in an increasing number of LSIs, the power input sequence to each LSI is specified, in order to prevent breakdown of the element. In view of this technological background, power supply sequence circuits which are conventionally constituted by discrete components are becoming increasingly complex in structure, in order to respond to the various demands brought by miniaturization of the LSI manufacturing process as described above.
However, the aforementioned power supply control LSI is only provided with a function for performing simple sequence control, and although no problem will arise when the power supply circuit section subject to control is operating in a normal state, if the power supply circuit section declines into an error state, for some reason or other, then the voltage value immediately prior to entering this error state is unknown, and therefore, it is difficult to carry out fault analysis of the power supply circuit section by means of the power supply control LSI described above.
Furthermore, in a storage system comprising a disk array unit constituted by a plurality of storage devices arranged in an array configuration, such as a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Inexpensive Disks), for example, the process for halting the drive power is complex and varied depending on the type of incident occurring in the system, and hence more detailed control is required and a power supply control LSI such as that described above is not capable of providing a suitable response.

Power supply control system and storage device for holding data just prior to the occurence of an error


A lyrics analyzer generates tags and explicitness indicators for a set of tracks. These tags may indicate the genre, mood, occasion, or other features of each track. The lyrics analyzer does so by generating an n-dimensional vector relating to a set of topics extracted from the lyrics and then using those vectors to train a classifier to determine whether each tag applies to each track. The lyrics analyzer may also generate playlists for a user based on a single seed song by comparing the lyrics vector or the lyrics and acoustics vectors of the seed song to other songs to select songs that closely match the seed song. Such a playlist generator may also take into account the tags generated for each track.

Musical tracks (or songs) are typically labelled by listeners in a variety of ways, including genre (pop, rock, rap, country, heavy metal, hip-hop, grunge, etc.) occasion (Christmas, Halloween, wedding, driving, etc.) mood (romantic, depressed, etc.) and others. Tracks stored in computerized play systems are frequently stored with one or more such labels or tags associated with them. Each track may have numerous tags associated with it. For example, a single song may be tagged as "pop," "Christmas," and "romantic." Such tags, however, are generally added manually and are frequently inconsistent between songs, as tags may rely on the music producers to supply tags. Each producer may have inconsistent views on what constitutes a given tag or even over-tag songs in an effort to encourage more play.
A variety of methods have been used to systematically tag tracks in a consistent way. While advancements have been made in such automated tagging, technical challenges still remain. Previous efforts have required significant human intervention and tuning to, for example, label a set of tracks with a single genre, each.
Listeners also frequently seek to create playlists of music with similar songs. Typical methods for playlist creation frequently relate to using pre-generated song tags to choose songs with similar sets of tags. One technical problem with creating playlists of music with similar songs involves generating playlists based on a seed song where the members of the playlist are lyrically similar or a combination of acoustically and lyrically similar to the seed song.
A common problem for music is to determine whether a song should be considered explicit or not. Some parents may not wish younger listeners to hear music with certain words or ideas contained within. One challenge for determining whether a given song is explicit is that some may consider a song explicit even if no individual word would be considered explicit. For example, concepts or sex or violence may be expressed more clearly than some parents wish without any individually objectionable words. Currently, music providers rely on the determination of the music producers to label certain tracks as explicit. There exists a need for a flexible, automatic method for training a system to classify music as explicit or not, based on a sample set.
US 2008/0147215 describes generating music recommendations based on input of theme, mood, and selected features. The input is compared to a library of pre-tagged and processed musical tracks to determine similar songs for recommendation.
US 2014/0214848 describes a system for generating a playlist based upon the mood of the user. The system determines the mood of the user and searches a library of music for comparable tracks by comparing the mood to pre-generated emotion tags associated with the music.
Dawen Liang, Haijie Gu, and Brendan O'Connor, Music Classification with the Million Song Dataset 15-826 Final Report, Carnegie Mellon University (Dec. 3, 2011) describes a method for predicting a single genre for a set of songs by training a classifier with acoustical and lyrical information based, in part, on human-constructed emotional valence features for lyrics. The system compared the acoustics and lyrics of songs to determine to which genre a given song most closely matched.
Ruth Dhanaraj and Beth Logan, Automatic Prediction of Hit Songs, HP Laboratories Cambridge (Aug. 17, 2005) describes generating classifiers using lyrics and acoustic-based vectors to determine which songs were more likely to become hits.


Monitoring of high-lift systems for aircraft. In one configuration, a method for monitoring a high-lift system includes monitoring a first current draw of a first drive station of the high-lift system, and monitoring a second current draw of a second drive station of the high-lift system. The method further includes comparing the first current draw and the second current draw to determine if a differential between the first current draw and the second current draw exceeds a threshold, and generating a failure signal if the differential between the first current draw and the second current draw exceeds the threshold.

High-lift systems are utilized on the wings of aircraft to increase lift or drag during take-offs and landings. One type of high-lift system uses flaps on the trailing edge of the wings. The flaps are moveable surfaces that may be extended during take-offs and landings, and retracted at cruising speeds.
There are a variety of actuation systems used to extend and retract trailing-edge flaps on a wing. One particular type of actuation system uses a drive station on each side of the flap. When a drive station is installed on either side of a flap with no mechanical interaction between the drive stations, this type of actuation system is referred to as a "distributed" actuation system. A drive station includes a motor, a gear train, and a drive screw that connects to the flap through an actuator arm. The motor (e.g., an electric motor) in a drive station turns the drive screw in a forward or reverse direction through the gear train. The drive screw converts the rotation motion of the motor and gear train into a linear motion to impart movement on the actuator arm. As the actuator arm is pushed or pulled by the drive screw, the flap connected to the actuator arm is extended or retracted. It is also possible to have an actuator arrangement in a rotary configuration with a rotary output rather than a linear output.
A mechanical malfunction may occur when the drive station on one side of the flap becomes disconnected and is no longer able to impart movement on the flap. After this failure occurs, the drive station on one side of the flap would bear the full load of holding the flap in the selected position. For example, when the aircraft is taking off or landing, the flaps are held at selected positions (e.g., fully extended or partially extended) to increase drag or lift. When the flap is being held in position by one side, the flap can actually twist when under sufficient airloads. This condition is referred to as a "freewheeling skew" failure.
If the flap is actively being extended or retracted when the malfunction occurs (e.g. a jam or a disconnect within the drive station), then the flap will be driven from only one side which can cause the flap to twist. This condition is referred to as a "powered skew" failure. Both of these failure conditions can damage the high-lift system of the aircraft.


An enclosure with integral snap-acting mounting feet for mounting a unit, such as a sensor, to a DIN rail. The unit includes a component portion and a mounting portion. The component portion is the sensor or other apparatus. The mounting portion is integrally formed to the component portion through a flexible hinge portion. The mounting portion includes a tab formed on either side of the mounting portion, and a mounting foot integrally formed to each tab. The flexible hinge portion allows the operator to easily snap the unit onto a DIN rail. The unit is then removed from the DIN rail by pulling on either of the tabs, which causes the hinge portion to flex and allows the mounting foot to be disengaged from the DIN rail.

The present invention relates generally to the field of securest structures for securing components to a standard support rail.
Conduit and rail structures are frequently used to mount electrical components in enclosures. One popular system of this type uses a standard set of flanged rails that can be cut to a desired length and attached to the interior of an enclosure. These rails are commonly referred to as DIN rails. DIN rails have either inwardly or outwardly projecting raised flanges along their length for receiving components. The components may include a wide array of modular elements such as terminal blocks, input/output modules, dip switched, small motor drives, contactors, circuit breakers, current sensors, overload relays, communication/control modules, and so on. Each of the components features structures designed to interface with the DIN rail flanges to hold the components securely in place.
Previous components have required a mounting foot or mounting clips to be attached to the component prior to attaching the component to the DIN rail. There is extra cost involved in manufacturing these extra parts, and in the time required to assemble these parts. Further, there is more room for error and failure when manufacturing extra parts.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved arrangement for mounting components along DIN rails wherein the component and the connection portion are integrally formed, thereby decreasing the number of parts and the time required to install the component. It is further desired to design a component which can be easily installed and removed from a DIN rail.

Enclosure with integral snap acting mounting feet