A process has been developed to reduce or relieve prostatic obstruction. The steps involved in the TUVOR Process include: 1. Transurethral Incision; 2. De-bulking and Intra-Prostatic Volume Reduction; 3. Intra-prostatic void exclusion and space filling with adhesive and/or therapeutic polymeric materials, alone or in combination with bioactive agents and/or mechanical means for closure; 4. Endourethral compression and prostatic mass remolding; 5. Endourethral Polymer Liner Layer. This liner formed from structurally supportive, yet eventually biodegradable, polymers further bolsters and supports the urethra and peri-urethral tissue during healing, eliminating the need for post-procedure catheter drainage. This step may be optional in specific clinical circumstances. The process is designed to allow outpatient treatment under local anesthesia for BPH.

This invention relates to apparatus and a method for the removal and treatment of prostate tissue to treat conditions associated with diseases or disorders resulting in obstruction of the uro-genital systems.
As men age, their prostate glands typically enlarge due to growth of intraprostatic paraurethral glands tissue (prostate adenoma) obstructing the flow of urine through the urethra. This condition is known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (xe2x80x9cBPHxe2x80x9d), and results in a partial or total inability to urinate. The incidence of symptomatic BPH for men in their fifties is approximately 50%, rising to 90% by age 85. About 25% of men in the United States will be treated for BPH by age 80.
Traditional surgical therapy for BPH has involved open enucleation or transurethral resection of the prostate. Surgical treatment of BPH is generally reserved for patients with severe symptoms or for those who have developed urinary retention, renal damage caused by BPH, or those with significant potential complications if treatment were withheld. These painful procedures usually result in long-term recovery although the patient may be subjected to traumatic side-effects.
The most common surgical procedure, Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (xe2x80x9cTURPxe2x80x9d), involves the removal of the prostate""s innermost core in order to enlarge the caliber of the prostatic urethra. The average TURP procedure costs approximately $12,000 and requires a hospital stay of approximately 3 to 4 days. During this period the patient is burdened with a Foley drainage catheter and bag. TURP side-effects include impotence (up to 30%), retrograde ejaculation, and short-term or permanent incontinence.
Suprapubic or Retropubic (Open) Prostatectomy (SPP/RPP) involves surgical removal of the enlarged prostate via an incision in the lower abdomen, usually requiring a 5 to 7 day hospital stay. Patients are allowed to return to work 2 to 3 weeks after the surgery. Open prostatectomy may result in impotence (up to 30% of cases), retrograde ejaculation and incontinence.
Transurethral Incision of the Prostate (TUIP) is an endoscopic surgical procedure in which one to three cuts is made in the prostate to relax the constriction on the prostatic urethra. TUIP is limited to prostates below 30 grams in size and requires 2 days of hospitalization. TUIP patients may experience short-term incontinence, and on rare occasions, retrograde ejaculation.
Transurethral Vaporization of the Prostate (TUVP) is a procedure for ablating the prostatic tissues by vaporization using an electrosurgical roller. The cost and the hospital stay for this procedure is similar to that of the TURP. Although TUVP causes less bleeding than TURP, the impotence rates are not dissimilar.
In balloon dilatation, a catheter with a high-pressure balloon at the end is inserted through the urethra and into the prostatic urethra. The balloon is then inflated to stretch and tear the prostatic urethra and to enlarge its caliber. Clinical studies have demonstrated a high rate of obstructive recurrence. This therapy has largely been abandoned.
Laser assisted Prostatectomy includes two similar procedures, Visual Laser Ablation of the Prostate (V-LAP) and Contact Laser Ablation of the Prostate (C-LAP). Typically, the procedure is performed in the hospital under either general or spinal anesthesia, and at least an overnight hospital stay is required. In V-LAP, the burnt prostatic tissue then necroses, or dies, and over four to twelve weeks is sloughed off during urination. In C-LAP, the prostatic and urethral tissue is burned on contact and vaporized. The major drawbacks to these procedures include their high cost equipment and high re-treatment rates.
TransUrethral Microwave Therapy (TUMT) is based on a catheter inserted into the urethra, on which a microwave antenna is situated at the level of the prostate. The urethra can be spared by cooling, but will otherwise be destroyed. Scarring of the prostatic tissue enlarges the urethral lumen. The drawback of this treatment is long catherization time (1-6 weeks) and high-re-treatment rates.
TransUrethral Needle Ablation (TUNA) is performed by transurethrally inserting two radio-frequency antennas into the prostatic tissue for heat damage creation. The drawbacks involved are a long catheterization period (up to 6 weeks) and very high re-treatment rates. Interstitial Laser Coagulation (ILC) is very similar to TUNA but the heat source is a laser.
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) brings a beam of ultrasound into a tight focus at a selected depth within the prostate, generating temperatures of 80-100xc2x0 C. and causing coagulation necrosis. The energy is delivered transrectally, and a catheter is inserted into the urethra for enhancing the treatment. The drawbacks of this treatment is the major cost of the equipment and long catheterization periods.
Water Induced Thermotherapy (WIT) is similar to non-urethra sparing microwave treatments. The heat damage is created by heating a balloon at the prostatic urethra and by heating the prostatic tissue. It has the same drawbacks as microwave treatments.
Holmium Laser Prostatectomy is comparable to open prostatectomy. During this treatment, as in open surgery, the entire hypertrophied gland is enucleated (but endoscopically) and dropped into the bladder. This gland should be morselated for removal. The drawbacks of this treatment are the cost of the equipment and the long learning curve.
In addition to the above, a few general limitations emerge regarding alternative therapies. By targeting tissue killing to regions surrounding the urethra, some relief of compressive urethral obstruction is achieved. However, with the exception of Holmium Laser Prostatectomy, none of these procedures directly removes material. All of these techniques rely on the body""s response to injury and inflammation (the reticuloendothelial system (RES)) to slowly remove necrotic cells and xe2x80x9cclean-upxe2x80x9d the area. As such, all of these techniques take several months to ultimately lead to a maximal effect, which is also limited. In many of these techniques no actual net tissue removal or reduction occurs. Rather, the injury may lead to localized scarring and fibrosis which may ultimately lead to obstruction recurrence. The response to injury is individually variable and lesser degrees of relief are often achieved. Patients who are treated by thermotherapy typically recover quickly, but need to be catheterized for at least one week post-treatment to maintain urine flow. Even after catheter removal, irritating urinary symptoms frequently persist during the period of tissue sloughing and healing.
Drug therapy is sometimes an option. Some drugs are designed to shrink the prostate by inhibiting or slowing the growth of prostate cells. Other drugs are designed to relax the muscular tissue in the prostate capsule and bladder neck to relieve urethral obstruction. Current drug therapy (including Finasteride Therapy, Alpha Blocker Therapy and Phytotherapy) generally requires daily administration for the duration of the patient""s life, and are known to cause dizziness and fainting, decreases in blood-pressure, impotence, retrograde ejaculation or a reduction in the volume of ejaculated sperm. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these drug therapies in long-term treatment of BPH has not been proven scientifically.
To date, the most effective surgical intervention for BPH, is TURP. This procedure is invasive, requiring regional or general anesthesia, several days of hospitalization and post-treatment placement of a drainage catheter. TURP frequently presents a high operative cost and risk for many patients. The potential disadvantages and limitations of TURP include bleeding, urinary tract infections, urethral irritation, discomfort, occasional urinary incontinence, sexual dysfinction. Despite these limitations, TURP is currently the gold standard of therapy for BPH.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and materials for treatment of BPH.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide polymeric materials, drugs and biologically active compositions which can be delivered or released within or adjacent to prostatic or urethral tissue to aid in healing. It is another object of the present invention to provide an effective, low cost outpatient BPH treatment with enhanced efficacy, reduced length of hospital stay, reduced patient discomfort, and lower recurrence rate.
Trans Urethral Volume Reduction of the prostate (TUVOR) has been designed with distinct tissue and function sparing objectives that are unavailable in any current therapy. This process allows for significant volume reduction of the prostate as an out-patient therapy, not requiring several days in the hospital with a catheter. There are several key concepts that enable minimal trauma, outpatient therapy for even severely enlarged prostates.
The first concept upon which TUVOR is based is acute tissue removal with reduced tissue trauma. The approach is to achieve clean surgical excision of BPH tissue (adenoma) with reduced urethral and sphincteric injury. This tissue sparing translates into reduced post-procedure obstruction and more rapid healing. The bladder neck is also preserved in this procedure, thereby minimizing the potential for incontinence and retrograde ejaculation; side effects associated with existing solutions. Using the TUVOR method, BPH tissue is removed by piercing the urethra with a mechanical debulking device. This device is then used to excise, morsellate and liquefy the prostate adenoma. Irrigating fluid flow into and out of the void created in the adenoma can be used to remove tissue.
Unnecessary trauma, injury and side effects such as impotence are avoided by avoiding exposing surrounding normal tissue structures to unnecessary heat, acoustic shock wave or other energy (as occurs with laser, radio frequency, or ultrasound methods). Furthermore, this mechanical removal of bulk does not rely on the body""s innate ability to remove and remodel diseased or necrotic tissue (i.e., RES, the reticuloendothelial system ) to achieve volume reduction. RES clean up does not lead to actual bulk tissue removal or significant prostate volume reduction, but rather to localized scarring. Another feature of the TUVOR process is the use of biocompatible biodegradable polymers as an adhesive that are inserted into the void created in the adenoma. A balloon inflated in the urethra can be used to compress this void while the polymers bond the surfaces. Alternatively or in addition, the surfaces may be secured using more conventional means such as staples or sutures. The balloon expansion also serves several additional purposes. It helps expel any remaining morsellated tissue from the void. It can help stop any residual bleeding in the void. The balloon also enlarges and reshapes the intra-urethral space, thereby eliminating any obstruction. The bonding polymers may be selected to have additional properties such as the ability to facilitate healing, minimize inflammation, decrease fibrotic response, inhibit adenoma regrowth or other therapeutic benefits.
An important feature of the TUVOR process is the ability to combine a transurethral incision with the intra-prostatic bulk removal. This incision relieves some of the pressure on the adenoma. Combined with bulk removal, the intra-urethral volume can subsequently be maximized.
Outpatient performance of TUVOR without catheterization is made possible by the application of a biodegradable polymer in situ casting to the prostatic urethra. This liner further supports and protects the urethra and peri-urethral tissue during healing. This polymer may also be designed to incorporate additional drug or gene therapies.
Outpatient performance of TUVOR is farther enabled by designing the TUVOR device to be of small circumference to perform the procedure under local anesthesia. The TUVOR device can incorporate the ability to administer local anesthesia or the local anesthesia can be administered prior to use of the device.
The steps involved in the TUVOR Process are summarized as follows:
1. Local anesthesia. A tubular sheath with endoscopic vision capabilities is guided to the prostatic urethra and local anesthesia is injected as needed.
2. Transurethral Incision. One or more longitudinal transurethral incisions are made to enter the main body of the prostate, leaving the urethra largely intact. Incisions are continued down to the capsule of the adenoma for immediate relief of the obstruction.
3. De-bulking and Intra-Prostatic Volume Reduction. Volume reduction is achieved via rapid controlled mechanical tissue excision, morsellation and liquefaction of the obstructive adenoma within the middle and lateral aspects of the prostate, leaving the tissue and much of the vascularity of the urethra and peri-urethral region (normal tissue) intact. This mid and lateral debulking preserves the urethra, further reducing the propensity for post-procedure outflow obstruction, pain and further speeds healing.
4. Intra-prostatic void exclusion and space filling with adhesive and/or therapeutic polymers. Voids created as a result of intra-gland xe2x80x9cshelling outxe2x80x9d are filled with adhesive polymers that facilitate intraprostatic void cavity wall bonding and healing. Polymers are specifically selected to minimize inflammation, secondary bleeding and late fibrotic scarring.
5. Endourethral compression and prostatic mass reshaping. The prostatic urethra is further remolded and re-shaped via endourethral balloon inflation, compacting the residual prostatic xe2x80x9cshellxe2x80x9d of tissue and further facilitating bonding and adhesion of intra-gland residual surfaces. The net result is a smaller prostate volume with a larger endourethral lumen and cross-sectional area facilitating urine flow and preserving the urethral lining.
6. Endourethral Polymer Liner Layer. As a final step, a biodegradable polymer liner layer can be applied to the prostatic urethra by in situ casting. This liner is formed from structurally supportive, yet eventually biodegradable polymers. This liner further bolsters and supports the urethra and peri-urethral tissue during healing, eliminating the need for post-procedure catheter drainage. This step may be optional in specific clinical circumstances. It may also be replaced by use of commonly used urethral stents or catheters in specific circumstances.
Depending on the type and severity of the BPH, the steps in the above process may be ordered differently and even selectively performed. This process provides a more biocompatible, less traumatic means of reducing BPH obstruction that is more sparing of normal urethral tissue and physiologic function. Further, TUVOR provides a simple, and effective outpatient procedure for the long-term treatment of BPH.

Transurethral volume reduction of the prostate (TUVOR)


The present disclosure relates to an apparatus comprising at least two operational amplifiers, a first and a second current input, at least one voltage output, and at least two resistors, wherein a first current source is connectable to the first current input, and a test current source is connectable to the second current input, and wherein the first current input is connected to an inverting input of the first operational amplifier and the second current input is connected to an inverting input of the second operational amplifier, and a first feedback resistor is connected between the output and the inverting input of the first operational amplifier and a second feedback resistor is connected between the output and the inverting input of the second operational amplifier, and wherein the voltage output is connected to the outputs of the first and the second operational amplifier.

A transimpedance amplifier is an amplifier that converts current to voltage. Its input ideally has zero impedance, and the input signal is a current. Its output may have low impedance. The output signal is measured as a voltage. As the output is a voltage and the input is a current, the gain, or ratio of output to input, is expressed in units of ohms.
Transimpedance amplifiers are commonly used in receivers for optical communications. The photodetector that generates the transimpedance amplifier's input current owns a capacitance. This capacitance in conjunction with the transimpedance amplifier's input impedance poses as a low pass filter, which limits the bandwidth of the signal chain. Therefore the transimpedance amplifiers input impedance should be as low as possible.
Transimpedance amplifiers are tested during production to guarantee their successful operation. According to one example known in the state of the art, a transimpedance amplifier comprises a first current input for the current of a photodiode and a second input for a test current. Both inputs may be connected in parallel with each other and to the inverting input of an operational amplifier. For testing the successful operation, a test current is applied to the test current input, in particular in form of a transient test current.
One disadvantage of the testing of operation of transimpedance amplifiers having a high gain ratio is that applying the test current can result in an undesired oscillation of the amplifier.
To be able to apply a test current to a transimpedance amplifier, a test current source is needed. The test current source itself has an inductance that can interact with the transimpedance amplifier and therefore causes the undesired oscillations. To damp these oscillations, it is known in the state of the art to provide a connection in series of the test current source and a resistor. The test input connected in parallel with the first input adds capacitance to the signal chain wherein said capacitance can degrade the performance of the transimpedance amplifier.
It is therefore one objective of the present disclosure to overcome the problems of oscillations of transimpedance amplifiers during testing and of a reduction of their performance during normal operation. Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and a method for improving the testing of transimpedance amplifiers.

Apparatus and method for testing of successful operation of transimpedance amplifiers


A frame in an uncompressed digital video signal is selected for encoding as a high-fidelity still image. The digital video signal is MPEG encoded to produce an MPEG encoded bitstream and additional bits are employed to encode the selected frame, to produce the MPEG encoded bitstream. The additional bits are determined by fixing the values of MQUANT and "intra DC mult" for all macroblocks in the selected frame. In an alternative method, the extra bits are determined by repeating the selected frame a plurality of times in the digital video signal prior to encoding the selected frame.

Still image electronic digital cameras that also record snippets of video have recently been introduced to the market. Digital video cameras capable of recording still images have also recently been introduced to the market. These cameras store the image data using only intraframe compression. Some cameras achieve a higher compression ratio for video images by using MPEG encoding (e.g. the Hitachi MP-EG1A camera). However, any still images compressed with MPEG will suffer in quality for the reasons described below. As a result, the still images in cameras, such as the Hitachi camera, are encoded in a separate bit stream using for example JPEG encoding.
Suzuki et. al. have patented a use for encoding still images in an MPEG bitstream (U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,675). They wish to encode a hierarchical menu system as a series of still images in an MPEG bitstream. This alleviates the need for a separate graphical processing unit. The still images that are encoded however, are rather low resolution images (menus) that are intended for display on a television, and therefore do not tax the limits of MPEG encoding.
MPEG1 and MPEG2 are lossy compression techniques for reducing the number of bits needed to represent digital video. The following discussion applies to the MPEG family of video compression standards. For simplicity, they will be collectively referred to as MPEG unless specifically stated. In MPEG, the video is broken up into sequences of pictures called Groups of Pictures (GOP). Each GOP contains up to three different types of pictures. The first type is referred to as an I picture because it is intra-coded. This means that this type of picture uses only spatial compression techniques, such as DCT based compression, and does not rely on any temporal information. The second type of picture is called a P picture because it is predicted from the most recent picture that was either an I picture or a P picture. The third type of picture is a B picture which is bidirectionally predicted from the closest I or P pictures. The I and the P pictures are also referred to as reference pictures because they can be referenced by other P or B frames for the purpose of motion compensation.
The pictures are further broken up into macroblocks of 16.times.16 pels (picture elements). There are several different types of macroblocks. Intra-coded macro blocks are encoded spatially. Forward predicted macroblocks contain a motion vector pointing to where this macroblock appeared in the previous reference picture. Backward predicted macroblocks contain a motion vector to where this block will appear in the next reference picture. Bidirectionally predicted macroblocks contain two motion vectors, one pointing to where this macroblock appeared in the previous reference picture, and one pointing to where this macroblock will appear in the next reference picture. The predicted macroblocks may contain not only a motion vector, but also some residual information. This information is a spatially compressed difference between the actual block of pixels in the image and the predicted block of pixels. A skipped macroblock contains no information and is essentially the same as a forward predicted macroblock with zero motion vectors and no residual information.
The I pictures can only contain intra-coded macroblocks. The P pictures may contain intra-coded macroblocks, forward predicted macro blocks, and skipped macroblocks. The B pictures may contain all types of macroblocks. Since there is a lot of temporal redundancy in video, the number of bits required to encode a P picture or a B picture is substantially less than the number of bits required to encode an I picture at the same image quality level. For example, in the TM5 encoder which is an informative part of the MPEG 2 standard document (ISO/IEC 13818-2), as a rule of thumb, the I pictures usually have a filesize that is three times the P pictures and six times the B pictures. In MPEG, the image quality is allowed to vary from one picture to another and it can also vary spatially within the picture. The image quality is heavily dependent upon the encoder implementation which has not been standardized. Different MPEG encoders may make different decisions about how to code a particular macroblock, or what is the best motion vector to describe the motion of that macroblock. As a result, different MPEG encoders will produce different quality images while using the same number of bits. Generally, for a given encoder, as the number of bits spent per second (referred to as the bit rate) decreases, the number of artifacts within each picture will increase. Similarly, as the bit rate increases, the artifacts within each picture will decrease.
In the MPEG standard, the final image quality is determined by the elements of a 2-dimensional 8.times.8 matrix referred to as the quantization matrix. Each element of this matrix determines the step size of the quantizer used to quantize the DCT coefficient located at the corresponding location in the 8.times.8 DCT matrix. For intra-coded blocks, the DC coefficients of the DCT are quantized separately using a parameter called "intra DC mult". The encoder has the choice of either using a default quantization matrix or downloading a custom matrix. For the default matrix, the values of the elements depend on the macroblock type. For example, for nonintra macroblocks, where the DCT is usually performed on motion-compensated difference blocks, all the quantization matrix elements have the same value. On the other hand, for intra macroblocks, the values of the matrix elements are based on the properties of the human visual system such as the contrast sensitivity function (CSF). In general, the quantizer matrix elements are larger for the higher spatial frequencies, corresponding to coarser quantization of such spatial frequencies. These default quantization matrices can be found in the MPEG standard documents. To achieve the various levels of image quality desired by a given application, the elements of the quantization matrix need to be modified. In MPEG, either a default quantization matrix can be used for each picture, or a new set of intra and nonintra quantization matrices can be downloaded at the beginning of each picture. However, the elements of the quantization matrix can also be changed from one macroblock to another within the same picture. In order to minimize the number of overhead bits required to signal this change, only a scaling of the original (default or downloaded) matrix elements are permitted. This scaling is performed with a 5-bit parameter referred to as "quantiser.sub.-- scale.sub.-- code" or MQUANT. The MQUANT parameter is used to provide rate-distortion control. The DC coefficients of the DCT for Intra coded blocks are quantized using a quantization parameter called "intra DC mult".
Since in the MPEG standard, the P or the B frames are encoded with reference to other frames, the picture quality of a given reference frame can potentially affect the picture quality of other frames. For example, if an I picture is encoded with poor image quality, the following P picture that is predicted from this I picture will also suffer from poor image quality unless more bits are spent to encode that P picture. Similarly, if the I and the P pictures are encoded with poor image quality, the B pictures will be encoded with poor image quality as they are predicted from the I and the P pictures. Conversely, if the image quality of the I picture is increased, the image quality of the subsequent P pictures will usually increase without an increase in the number of bits used to encode them. Since the I and the P pictures have higher quality, then the B pictures will also have higher image quality without increasing the number of bits spent on them. It should be noted that the allocation of more bits to a B picture will only improve the image quality of that B picture, as no other pictures are predicted from the B pictures.
MPEG encoders exist in several different levels of flexibility. One level of flexibility is the variability of the bit rate. A variable bit rate encoder allows the number of bits spent on a given picture to be rather arbitrary. For example, on a digital video disk (DVD), the video is encoded using MPEG2. The burst rate for reading from a DVD is around 11 Mb/s (megabits per second). Although a typical bit rate for DVD video is approximately 3.5 Mb/s, a particularly detailed portion of the video can be encoded with significantly more bits. However, even at the maximum bit rate, the number of available bits may not be sufficient to encode a still image in the MPEG bitstream that will have the desired level of quality.
In contrast to variable bit rate encoders, a fixed bit rate encoder only allows for constant bit rates. Generally, this means that the number of bits spent per second is fixed. In practice, this reduces to keeping the number of bits spent per group of pictures (GOP) a constant. It may be impossible to encode a high-fidelity image with an MPEG encoder that is constrained to a constant bit rate because the encoder will not be able to increase the number of bits for a given frame to the level necessary to achieve the desired image quality.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved MPEG compressed video bitstream from which high-fidelity still images can be produced.

Method and apparatus for encoding high-fidelity still images in MPEG bitstreams


A sheet feeding apparatus for separating stacked sheets one by one and feeding the sheets includes a rotative feeder rotating in a feeding direction for feeding the sheets; a retard roller disposed so as to be capable of contacting the rotative feeder rotating in reverse direction for separating the sheets one by one; a driver for driving the rotative feeder and the retard roller; a clutch for transmitting drive power from the driver to the rotative feeder when in a powered-on state, and for rendering the rotative feeder in a rotation free state without transmitting the drive power of the driver to the rotative feeder when in a powered-off state. The apparatus further includes a controller for, before the start of feeding of the sheets, rendering the rotative feeder in the rotation free state while the controller renders the clutch in the powered-off state and controlling the driver to rotate the retard roller in the reverse direction to the feeding direction of the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets such as original documents and to a sheet feeding method.
2. Description of Related Art
In printers, photocopiers, and facsimile machines, sheet feeding apparatuses are widely used these days to feed, sheet by sheet, original documents or recording sheets set as multiple sheets. In such a sheet feeding apparatus, a pickup roller feeds sheets set on a feeding tray; the sheets are separately fed one by one in rotating a feed roller while a separating member pushes the sheets to the feed roller; the sheet is fed by another feed roller disposed on a downstream side of the feed roller in a sheet feeding direction.
Such a sheet feeding apparatus may use a retard separation method in which sheets are separated and fed by the feed roller and a retard roller pushing the sheets toward the feed roller and rotating in the reverse direction to the sheet feeding direction. With such a retard separation method, however, if a user pushes sheets 600 too much when the sheets are set on a feeding tray, and as shown in FIG. 49, if the sheets are too much pushed into a separating nip of the feed roller 601 and the retard roller 602, the sheets cannot be separated well and may be fed doubly.

Sheet feeding apparatus and sheet feeding method


A programmable controller governs the operation of a piece of equipment by executing machine language instructions compiled from a ladder diagram type control program. The control program as stored in the controller includes not only compiled machine language instructions, but also a tokenized version of the source code from which certain machine language instructions were compiled. The source code is provided only for those portions of the machine language program which cannot be easily decompiled to produce the corresponding source code. This program storage facilitates subsequent editing of the stored program via a terminal connected to the programmable controller. During the editing process, the original ladder diagram can be reconstructed from a combination of the machine language instructions and the tokenized version of the source code. In doing so, the machine language instructions, which have a one-to-one correspondence with the source code instructions, are decompiled using conventional techniques. However, the tokenized version of the source code is used to recreate the portions of the ladder diagram for which each machine language instruction does not have a unique one-to-one correspondence with a source code instruction. This program storage technique enables the control program to be easily edited using the version stored in the programmable controller without requiring access to the original source code from which the program was compiled.

Programmable controllers are typically connected to industrial equipment, such as assembly lines and machine tools, to sequentially operate the equipment in accordance with a stored program. In programmable controllers such as those disclosed in the above cited patents, for example, the control program is stored in a memory and includes instructions which are read out in rapid sequence and interpreted to examine the condition of selected sensing devices on the controlled equipment, or to energize or deenergize selected operating devices on the controlled equipment contingent upon the status of one or more of the examined sensing devices.
The program execution processor for these controllers is designed to rapidly interpret programmable controller type instructions which in medium to large sized controllers include not only instructions that manipulated single-bit input and output data, but also arithmetic instructions, file handling instructions, timers and counters, sequencers and other, more complex instructions. Such instructions have become quite standardized in the industry and they may be directly associated with elements of a ladder diagram which is easily understood by control engineers. Program panels such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,798,612 and 3,813,649 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,702 have been developed to assist the user in developing and editing ladder diagram type control programs comprised of such programmable controller instructions.
While ladder diagram control programs are particularly easy to create and edit for relatively small to medium scale control tasks, they become cumbersome and inefficient to use in large control tasks. Large ladder diagram control programs are difficult to understand, difficult to troubleshoot, and require a long time to execute.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,443 addresses this problem. The controller described therein includes a program execution processor which stores a plurality of separate ladder control programs that are logically related to each other by a stored structure chart program, and the processor is operable to interpret the stored structure chart program which directs which ones of the stored ladder programs are to be repeatedly interpreted by the processor at any point in time. It has been discovered that large control tasks can usually be broken down into separate control steps which are executed in a sequential order as the controlled machine or process advances through its states. Each control step is defined by a separately interpretable ladder program which is easy to understand and which may be executed at a very high scan rate. The sequence in which the separate control steps are interpreted is defined by the structure chart program which is a general expression of how the controlled machine or process is to operate. The user may thus define the general manner in which the machine or process is to operate using structure chart constructs, and then define the detailed operation of the machine or process in separate, easily managed ladder programs.
Heretofore the ladder diagrams were written in a relatively high level language for processing by an interpreter in the controller. The interpreter program in the program execution processor analyzed each ladder rung or a subpart of a rung and executed a machine language routine corresponding to the function defined by that part of the ladder. Because the ladder program was stored as a high level language, it could easily be recalled for editing on a terminal connected to the programmable controller. However, interpreters are relatively slow. As programmable controllers became more complex handling many more tasks and operating larger pieces of equipment, the ability of such interpreters to control the equipment and process the tasks in a timely fashion became a matter of concern.
One well known way of speeding up program execution is to compile the higher level language program into machine language instructions which can be executed directly by the processor. Compilers could be written to take the ladder diagram source code and generate a machine language object code version of the control program for the processor in the programmable controller to execute. A drawback to compiled programs is that the object code is not easily edited when changes are to be made to the controlled process. This drawback is even more significant in respect of programmable controllers as the equipment operator is not a skilled computer programmer. It is therefore advantageous to edit a source code version of the ladder control program. However, maintaining a copy of the source code in the programmable controller requires significant additional memory. Although the source code may be archived on a floppy disk or magnetic tape, such media are not always practical for storage and use in an manufacturing environment where dirt and magnetic fields may damage them.
An alternative approach is to decompile the stored object code to produce a version of the control program in a higher level language. Although some rungs of the ladder control program may be decompiled, not every compiled step may be reverse processed to produce the original rung of the ladder diagram. A complex section of a rung, such as an arithmetic computation, compiles into a number of machine language instructions. It is often very difficult, if not impossible, to examine a series of machine language instructions and resurrect the original section of the rung.
Even if the object code could be decompiled properly, editing previously had to be carried out when the particular program was not being executed by the programmable controller. With previous editing techniques, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,649, the editing had to be performed either when the equipment being operated by the programmable controller was shut down or when another one of the ladder control programs was being interpreted. This not only placed severe restrictions on when the program could be edited, but also had adverse affects on the equipment operation.

Programmable controller having a stored program with both machine language instructions and source code data


A write circuit for a non-volatile memory device includes a plurality of cell transistors and a bit line select transistor, provided with respect to each bit line, for supplying a source current thereof to one of the cell transistors as a drain current of the cell transistor via a corresponding one of the bit lines. The write circuit includes a dummy cell transistor for detecting a breakdown voltage of the cell transistor in a write mode, and a circuit for varying a gate voltage of the bit line select transistor as a function of the breakdown voltage detected by the dummy cell transistor, thereby to make the gate-source voltage of the bit line select transistor approximately constant and to maintain the drain current of the cell transistor during the write mode approximately constant.

The present invention generally relates to write circuits, and more particularly to a write circuit for a non-volatile memory device which writes information by causing an avalanche breakdown of a cell transistor.
In a non-volatile memory device such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), data is written by applying a high voltage to the control gate and the drain of a transistor which forms a memory cell. The write efficiency of such a write operation is dependent on the drain voltage, and it is necessary to maintain the drain voltage at an appropriate value.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional write circuit together with related parts of the EPROM. In FIG. 1 and figures which follow, a depletion type MOS transistor is indicated with a dot beside its drain.
In FIG. 1, depletion type MOS transistors Q1 and Q2 are used for supplying a power source voltage to a column decoder, transistors Q3 and Q4 form an inverter within the column decoder, a transistor Q5 is used for supplying a power source voltage for programming (writing), a transistor Q6 is used for bit line selection, and a transistor Q7 forms a EPROM cell.
When programming the EPROM, an output signal of a NAND circuit 10 has a low level in response to a column address, and a high voltage Vpp of 12.5 V is applied to the gate of the cell transistor Q7, that is, through a word line WL. In addition, a program signal PGM has a high level and an inverted program signal PGM has a low level, and the voltage Vpp is supplied to the column decoder as the power source voltage. Accordingly, the voltage Vpp is supplied to both the gate and the drain of the cell transistor Q7, and a write operation is carried out.
A characteristic I indicated by a solid line I in FIG. 2 shows a breakdown characteristic of the cell transistor Q7 described by a drain current I.sub.D and a drain voltage V.sub.D. On the other hand, a characteristic II indicated by a solid line shows a drain current I.sub.D versus drain voltage VD characteristic (that is, a load curve) of the select transistor Q6. The write operation is carried out with respect to the cell transistor Q7 at an intersection point A between the two characteristics I and II.
However, if the gate length of the cell transistor Q7 is shorter than a designed value, due to inconsistencies introduced from inevitable production error, the breakdown characteristic of the cell transistor Q7 changes as indicated by a dotted line III in FIG. 2, and in this case, the write operation with respect to the cell transistor Q7 is carried out at an intersection point B between the characteristics II and III. In this case, the breakdown of the cell transistor Q7 occurs in a tunnel region and not in an avalanche region. Because the electron energy is small in the tunnel region, the electrons do not penetrate the oxide layer barrier thereby to accumulate a charge in the floating gate of the cell transistor Q7, and thus, there is a problem in that the write efficiency becomes poor. In addition, when the drain current I.sub.D becomes large, there is a problem in that the transistors Q6 and Q7 may break down.

Write circuit for non-volatile memory device


In one or more implementations, content generated using a client application may be associated with a classification. The content may be accessed based on one or more classifications associated with the content. Content may be generated by a client application executed by a client device of a content creator and sent to a server system that may distribute the content to one or more additional client devices of recipients of the content. The server system may also aggregate content having a same classification.

Applications executed on client devices may be used to generate content. For example, client applications may be used to generate messaging content, image content, video content, audio content, media overlays, documents, creative artwork, combinations thereof, and the like. In various situations, this content may be exchanged between client devices via a computational system that enables the communication of content between client devices.

Client application content classification and discovery


A wireless telephone unit may be provided with an extension which pivots out from behind the unit or opens and closes over the face of the unit. The extension is used as a place to provide a variety of peripheral devices to supplement or enhance the functionality of the wireless telephone unit. By providing the peripheral device(s) on the extension, the compactness and portability of the wireless telephone unit is not sacrificed.

Since their introduction, wireless communication systems including pagers, cellular telephones and low-tier radio telephones, have become increasingly popular. Such devices provide an extremely convenient means of communication.
Wireless communication systems, particularly cellular telephones and low-tier radio telephones, are convenient because they allow their users to communicate from almost any location in a service area. Wireless phones also save time. For example, the user of a wireless telephone unit need not waste time looking for an available telephone in order to place a call.
A wireless telephone unit also allows its user to take advantage of time spent traveling. For example, with a wireless telephone, the user can be transacting business or making appointments while driving, riding or walking.
In order to fully utilize these advantages of wireless telephones, it should be convenient for the user to have the wireless telephone unit readily available at all times. In recognition of this fact, modern wireless telephones have become increasingly smaller and lighter to facilitate being carried by the user.
Unfortunately, the goal of a compact wireless telephone unit is at odds with the trend to add functions and peripherals to the wireless telephone unit. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a means and method of providing additional functions and peripherals on a wireless telephone unit without decreasing the compactness and portability of the unit.

Wireless telephone with extension having peripheral devices provided thereon


A social networking game system that includes at least one processor, and computer executable instructions readable by the at least one processor and operative to display at least one game on a display device, wherein the game includes displaying a plurality of pictures of online social networking contacts and non-contacts, requiring that a user identify which pictures belong to contacts or non-contacts, and allowing the user to move onto a next level if the user correctly identifies which pictures belong to contacts or non-contacts.

Social networking websites, such as JUSTSYNC.com, allow users to connect with their contacts, which includes friends, family, and co-workers using technology. Users can keep up with each other's lives, send each other messages, post on each other's profiles, and play games with each other. There is an ever-increasing need for websites to make social networking more entertaining, as users grow tired of traditional social networking activities. Consequently, social networking games, such as FARMVILLE, MAFIA WARS, and the like have come about, adding an extra dimension to the social networking experience, however the demand for new and entertaining games is growing strongly.
A common issue with social networking websites is that many people have so many contacts, that they forget who their contacts are and sometimes they accept contact requests for people they do not know. A game has attempted to capitalize on this phenomenon for entertainment purposes, namely "How Many Friends Do You Know", which can be found at: http://howmanyfriendsdoyouknow.appspot.com/. This game consists of showing users a single picture of a friend at a time, and requiring that the user identify the friend by typing in the friend's exact name within a certain period of time.
This game is flawed, however, because rarely do users know both first and last names of their friends', let alone the exact spelling of both names. Furthermore, having to type in friends' names is cumbersome, and does not lend itself well to a dynamic fun online game.

Social networking game system and method


Provided is a unit for protecting data with respect to data transfer between memories of a disk controller. The disk controller for controlling data transfer between a host computer and a disk drive includes: a channel unit having a channel memory; a cache unit having a cache memory, and a control unit for controlling the data transfer. The data transferred to/from the host computer is transferred in a packet between the channel memory and the cache memory, and The control unit for verifying consistency of information included in a header of the packet to be transferred to decide whether transfer can be permitted when the packet is transferred.

This invention relates to a disk controller for controlling data transfer between a host computer and a disk drive.
In recent years, a large-scale storage such as a TCO reduction by storage consolidation and strategic data utilization is gaining higher importance. As the consolidation progresses, higher scalability such as an increase in the number of ports and capacity, and improvement in performance or function in a storage device is required.
Meanwhile, there is a very high demand for a reduction in storage hardware price on the market. A storage capacity unit price has been reduced by 20% each year. To follow this trend, costs required for an entire system including an architecture of the storage device must be reduced.
As a solution for realization of both the high-scalability and low costs of the storage device, a cluster-type disk controller which cluster-connects a plurality of disk controllers has been proposed. According to the cluster-type disk controller, scalability can be greatly enhanced by interconnecting the plurality of disk controllers. By preparing the disk controllers in a number that meets user's needs, unnecessary hardware resources can be eliminated to reduce the costs. Thus, it is possible to realize both the high scalability and low costs by using the cluster-type disk controller.
For example, the background art (cluster-type disk controller) described above is disclosed in JP 2005-228245 A.
In a large-scale system such as the cluster-type disk controller, many jobs requested from a plurality of users are simultaneously executed. These jobs perform necessary processing by partially sharing or exclusively using the hardware resources in the system. In particular, a memory that is a typical hardware resource is divided spatially/temporally to be managed, and divided areas are allocated to the necessary processing. Accordingly, management of memory resources so as not to interfere with other jobs, in other words, protection of memory areas, is important.
A page table virtual storage method has been widely employed to protect data stored in the memory. According to the page table virtual storage method, a physical memory address space and access attributes (access permission, read permission, write permission, or the like) are defined for each logical memory address space, and overlapping of physical hardware resources is prevented even when a plurality of jobs share the same logical address space. Moreover, improper access is eliminated by setting an access limit for each address space.
According to a page table system, a page table is provided for each processor (job) to convert an address. Normally, a cache unit (e.g., TLB) is often provided to convert an address at a high speed. An example of memory protection by the page table system is described in JP 2003-242030 A.


A solar collector converts solar radiation to heat energy over a specified surface area and collects the heat energy by trickle feeding a heat transfer fluid over a trickle feed absorber surface having improved absorber surface area to volume ratio. The elements of the solar collector include a glazing first layer for receiving and passing incident solar radiation over the specified surface area and an impervious backing layer spaced from the glazing first layer. The absorber layer is sandwiched between the glazing first layer and backing layer with the glazing first layer and backing layer contacting the absorber layer on opposite sides. The absorber layer is a layer of fiber material defining capillary channels and spaces in the absorber layer between the glazing first layer and backing layer. The fiber material absorber layer such as a dark synthetic felt layer is formed with a radiation absorbing color and defines a relatively high surface area to volume ratio trickle feed absorber surface through the absorber layer. A heat transfer fluid inlet channel is coupled to an open top end communicating with the absorber layer for trickle feeding heat transfer fluid by gravity through the capillary channels and spaces of the absorber layer. A heat transfer fluid outlet channel is coupled to an open bottom end communicating with the absorber layer for delivering heated fluid. The solar collector may be formed in a rigid plate configuration or in a flexible sheet configuration so that the solar collector can be rolled up for storage.

An example of a classical trickle feed solar collector is the Thomason solar collector in which a corrugated galvanized roofing absorber is mounted between an upper glazing layer and a backing layer of insulating material. The galvanized roofing corrugated absorber is covered with an appropriate absorbing color such as black, and the corrugations are oriented down hill for trickle feeding the heat transfer fluid. The heat transfer fluid is dispensed along the top of the collector by a heat transfer fluid inlet manifold. Heated fluid is delivered at the base of the solar collector by a heat transfer fluid outlet manifold such as a gutter. Such conventional trickle feed solar collectors are constructed in a variety of configurations and combinations from a variety of materials.
A disadvantage of the conventional trickle feed solar collector configuration is that the relatively low absorber surface area to absorber volume ratio for the galvanized roofing corrugated absorber layer can result in relatively inefficient heat transfer to the heat transfer fluid. A greater shortcoming of the conventional trickle feed solar collector is that condensation and fog from the rivulets of water or other heat transfer fluid passing down the corrugation valleys forms on the inside surface of the upper glazing layer, dispersing sunlight and interfering in the solar collection and absorption by the surfaces of the absorber.
Another disadvantage of the traditional trickle feed solar collector structures is that they are generally constructed and available only in standard sizes and can be constructed in custom sizes only at substantial additional expense.

Solar collector with fiber material absorber layer


A multi-cycle refastenable contact responsive non-tacky fastener system and method of use with a field of a contact responsive fastening layer having essentially no surface tack. The fastening layer is multiply releasable and refastenable against a non-tacky target surface, and has substantially constant 90.degree. peel strength of less than about 5 kN/m when in contact with the target surface. A mounting layer comprises a field of a pressure sensitive adhesive onto which the field of the contact responsive layer is directly attached.

Quick close/quick release mechanical fasteners are known. They may be repeatedly closed and opened and are frequently referred to as being reclosable. One such fastener, known as a hook and loop fastener, is available from Velcro U.S.A., Inc., Manchester, N.H. Another such fastener, known as a mushroom-shaped fastener, is sold as the Dual Lock.RTM. Reclosable Fastener by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn. Although both of these fasteners are widely used and have been shown to be extremely useful, they have certain undesirable characteristics. For example, the hook or mushroom portions of the fasteners tend to snag fabric. Moreover, both the hook and loop portions of the fasteners tend to collect lint and dust. Also, these types of fasteners do not exhibit a thin profile, which may detract from an aesthetic appearance. Another feature of the hook and loop fastener is that it makes noise when it is opened. This makes it undesirable in any application where noise is a concern, such as for military use.
Other known fastening systems, such as double sided tape also have various limitations. These limitations include non-recyclability, inability to obtain perfect alignment of opposing fastening components, extensive process steps required to manufacture compositions comprising the fasteners, difficulty of attaching or mounting the fasteners to certain substrates, incompatibility with high speed application equipment, undesired transfer of the adhesive to a contact surface, and incompatibility with manual attachment of the adhesive product to an article.

Multiple releasable contact responsive fastener


A moisture exchanger (10) for transferring moisture between two gases, including a plurality of hollow fiber membranes (12). The moisture exchanger (10) includes at least one partition (34) between the hollow fiber membranes (12) and in that the plurality of hollow fiber membranes (12) is subdivided, at least in a section (36) of the length thereof, into zones (38) that are connected in parallel.

Fuel cells utilize the chemical reaction of a fuel with oxygen yielding water to generate electrical energy. For this purpose, fuel cells include the so-called membrane electrode assembly (MEA) as a core component, which is a combination of a proton-conducting membrane and a respective electrode situated on either side of the membrane (anode and cathode). In addition, gas diffusion layers (GDL) may be situated on either side of the membrane electrode assembly on the sides of the electrodes facing away from the membrane. In general, the fuel cell is formed by a plurality of MEAs arranged in a stack, whose electric power outputs are added up. During operation of the fuel cell, the fuel, in particular hydrogen (H2), or a hydrogen-containing gas mixture, is supplied to the anode, where an electrochemical oxidation from H2 to H+ takes place, giving off electrons. A (waterbound or anhydrous) transport of the protons H+ from the anode area to the cathode area takes place via the electrolyte or the membrane which separates the reaction chambers from each other in a gas-tight manner and electrically insulates them. The electrons provided at the anode are fed to the cathode via an electrical line. The cathode is supplied with oxygen, or an oxygen-containing gas mixture, so that a reduction from O2 to O2− takes place, taking up the electrons. At the same time, these oxygen anions react in the cathode area with the protons transported via the membrane, forming water. Due to the direct conversion of chemical into electrical energy, fuel cells achieve a higher efficiency at low process temperatures compared to other energy converters by circumventing the Carnot factor.
The most advanced fuel cell technology at present is based on polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM), in which the membrane itself is made up of a polymer electrolyte. Acid-modified polymers, in particular perfluorinated polymers, are frequently used for this purpose. The most widely common representative of this class of polymer electrolytes is a membrane made of a sulfonated polytetrafluoroethylene copolymer (trade name: Nafion; copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and a sulfonyl acid fluoride derivative of a perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether). The electrolytic conduction takes place via hydrated protons, which is why the presence of water is a requirement for the proton conductivity, and it is necessary to moisten the operating gases during operation of the PEM fuel cell. Due to the need for water, the maximum operating temperature of these fuel cells is limited to below 100° C. at normal pressure. Distinguishing it from high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT PEM fuel cells), whose electrolyte conductivity is based on an electrolyte bound to a polymer backbone of the polymer electrolyte membrane with the aid of an electrostatic coordinative bond (for example, phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane) and which are operated at temperatures of 160° C., this fuel cell type is also referred to as a low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (LT PEM fuel cell).
DE 10 2004 022 310 B4 describes a moisture exchanger module including hollow fiber membranes situated in a bundle. At the center of the bundle, a perforated tube extends through the bundle in the axial direction, which is closed in the center of its axial expansion by a blocking element. The cavities of the bundle provided between the hollow fiber membranes are also closed by a blocking element in the center of the axial expansion of the bundle. During operation, the moist exhaust gas of the fuel cell flows through the individual hollow fiber membranes. The air to be moistened supplied to the fuel cell flows into the tube via one of its ends, leaves the tube upstream from the blocking element via the perforation, and flows through the cavities of the bundle to the outside, in part radially and in part axially. The air to be moistened thereafter flows around the blocking element in the bundle, and again flows in part radially, in part axially through the cavities on the other side of the blocking element to the perforation of the tube. In this way, a mixture of a cross-flow and a counter-flow moisture exchanger is implemented.
DE 10 2008 028 832 A1 describes a humidifier including hollow fibers, which are situated in layers and fixed by a connecting means, which is situated in multiple tracks on the layers. These tracks are oriented transversely to the hollow fibers. As a result of the tracks, a maze-like flow guidance is achieved.
According to FIG. 1, furthermore a moisture exchanger 10 having a plurality of hollow fibers 12 is known, which is designed according to a cross-flow principle. During operation of moisture exchanger 10, a gas 14 to be dehumidified flows into open ends 13 of hollow fibers 12 and flows through hollow fibers 12. From opposing open ends 13 of the same hollow fibers 12, dehumidified gas 16 flows out of hollow fibers 12. A gas 18 to be humidified flows into an inlet manifold 20 and is distributed in inlet manifold 20 across the length and width of hollow fibers 12, from where gas 18 to be humidified flows around the outer surfaces of hollow fibers 12 up to an outlet manifold 22. Humidified gas 24 thereafter leaves moisture exchanger 10 via outlet manifold 22.

Moisture exchanger and fuel cell arrangement comprising same


A BPSK phase detection unit assumes that an input signal is a BPSK modulated signal in detecting a phase error of a recovered carrier and an 8PSK phase detection unit assumes that the input signal is an 8PSK modulated signal in detecting the phase error of the recovered carrier. An 8PSK frequency detection unit assumes that the input signal is an 8PSK modulated signal in detecting a frequency error of the recovered carrier. A selector selects the phase error detected by the BPSK phase detection unit or the phase error detected by the 8PSK phase detection unit. A carrier recovery unit recovers a carrier by adjusting a phase of the input signal, based on the selected phase error and the frequency error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a carrier recovery circuit and a lock detection circuit and, more particularly, to a carrier recovery circuit provided in a phase shift keying (PSK) demodulating circuit for recovering a carrier from an input signal in which a plurality of PSK modulated signals using different M-ary encoding techniques are mixed, and to a lock detection circuit for detecting a locked state of a negative feedback loop of the carrier recovery circuit, based on the input signal. In this specification, M of the M-ary encoding will be referred to as an M value.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a construction of a carrier recovery circuit according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 10, the carrier recovery circuit comprises a multiplier 101 for recovering a carrier by multiplying a complex signal (I, Q), produced by subjecting a PSK modulated signal to quadrature demultiplexing, by a signal from a numerically-controlled oscillator (NCO) 111. Numeral 102 indicates a phase detection unit for detecting a phase error of the recovered carrier. Numeral 104 indicates a frequency detection unit for detecting a frequency error of the recovered carrier. Numeral 106 indicates a multiplier for multiplying the phase error by a predetermined pgain. Numeral 107 indicates a multiplier for multiplying the frequency error by a predetermined fgain. Numeral 108 indicates an adder for adding a result of computation submitted by the multiplier 106 and a result of computation submitted by the multiplier 107. Numeral 109 indicates a loop filter coupled to an output of the adder 108. Numeral 110 indicates an accumulator for accumulating outputs from the loop filter 109. Numeral 111 indicates a numerically-controlled oscillator for generating a signal at a frequency commensurate with an output of the accumulator 110.
A description will now be given of the operation of the carrier recovering circuit according to the related art.
The carrier recovering circuit according to the related art includes a negative feedback loop. When an input signal is a PSK modulated signal having a single M value, the carrier is continuously recovered in a locked state.
The multiplier 101 multiplies the complex signals (I, Q) by the signal from the numerically-controlled oscillator 111. The signal produced as a result of multiplication is output as the recovered carrier. The recovered carrier is then subject to phase error detection by the phase detection unit 102. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the characteristics of the phase detection unit 102 exhibited when detecting a phase error from a BPSK modulated signal. The frequency detection unit 104 detects the frequency error. The multiplier 106 multiplies the phase error by the predetermined pgain. The multiplier 107 multiplies the frequency error by-the predetermined fgain. The adder 108 adds the result of computation submitted by the multiplier 106 and the result of computation submitted by the multiplier 107.
The loop filter 109, with predetermined filtering characteristics, subjects the output of the adder 108 to low-pass filtering. The accumulator 110 accumulates the outputs of the loop filter 109. The NCO 111 generates a signal having a frequency commensurate with the output of the accumulator 110 so as to output the generated signal to the multiplier 101.
With this construction, negative feedback is imposed so that the phase error and the frequency error are reduced. Once the locked state is achieved, the carrier is recovered in a stable manner.
Accordingly, the related-art recovery circuit is capable of properly recovering the carrier provided that the M value of the modulated PSK signal is constant.
However, the related-art recovery faces difficulties when the input signal contains a mixture of PSK modulated signals having different M values. For example, when the PSK modulated signals including the BPSK modulated signal, the QPSK modulated signal and the 8PSK modulated signal, which are used in the broadcast system (BS) in Japan, are mixed, convergence to a locked state and stable recovery of the carrier are difficult to achieve.
Once approach to remedy this drawback is to construct the carrier recovery circuit of FIG. 10 to adapt to a PSK modulated signal with a predetermined single M value (for example, a BPSK modulated signal). Associated with this, the input PSK modulated signal is monitored to determine whether the circuit is adapted for the M value of the input PSK modulated signal. As shown in FIG. 12, only when the M value of the input signal is the prescribed M value, pgain and fgain are set to predetermined non-zero values. Only the complex signal for the PSK modulated signal having the prescribed M value is selected so that the carrier is recovered. FIG. 12 illustrates how pgain and fgain are set to values corresponding to the M value of the input signal.
An example where M=2, 4, 8, that is, where the BPSK modulated signal, the QPSK modulated signal and the 8PSK modulated signal are involved, will now be discussed. FIG. 13A is a constellation diagram of the BPSK modulated signal in an I-Q plane; FIG. 13B is a constellation diagram of the QPSK modulated signal in an I-Q plane; and FIG. 13C is a constellation diagram of the 8PSK modulated signal in an I-Q plane. Each of the circles in FIGS. 13A–13C indicates a signal point of the respective modulated signal. Given that the power of phase error of the BPSK modulated signal, QPSK modulated signal and 8PSK modulated signal is indicated by EB, EQ and E8, respectively and the phase error that produces the minimum power is indicated by θeq, B, θeq, Q and θeq, 8, respectively, the phase errors θeq, B, θeq, Q and θeq, 8 are given by respective ones of the following equations.
                                          E            B                    =                                                                      1                  2                                                                  θ                  2                                            +                                                1                  2                                                                  θ                  2                                                      =                          θ              2                                                                                ⅆ                                  E                  8                                                            ⅆ                θ                                      |            θ                    =                                    θ                              eq                ,                B                                      =                                          0                ⇒                                  θ                                      eq                    ,                    B                                                              =              0                                                          (        1        )                                                      E            Q                    =                                                                      1                  2                                                                                (                                          Δ                      -                      θ                                        )                                    2                                            +                                                1                  2                                                                                (                                          Δ                      +                      θ                                        )                                    2                                                      =                                          Δ                2                            +                              θ                2                                                                                ⅆ                                  E                  Q                                                            ⅆ                θ                                      |            θ                    =                                    θ                              eq                ,                Q                                      =                                          0                ⇒                                  θ                                      eq                    ,                    Q                                                              =              0                                                          (        2        )                                                      E            8                    =                                                                      1                  4                                                                                (                                                                  Δ                        ′                                            +                      θ                                        )                                    2                                            +                                                1                  4                                                                                (                                                                  3                                                                          Δ                          ′                                                                    +                      θ                                        )                                    2                                            +                                                1                  4                                                                                (                                                                  3                                                                          Δ                          ′                                                                    -                      θ                                        )                                    2                                            +                                                1                  4                                                                                (                                                                  Δ                        ′                                            +                      θ                                        )                                    2                                                      =                                          5                                                  Δ                  2                                            +                              θ                2                                                                                ⅆ                                  E                  8                                                            ⅆ                θ                                      |            θ                    =                                    θ                              eq                ,                8                                      =                                          0                ⇒                                  θ                                      eq                    ,                    8                                                              =              0                                                          (        3        )            where Δ=π/4 and Δ7=π/8.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a lock detection circuit according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 14, the lock detection circuit comprises a BPSK area detection unit 141 for detecting whether the position, in the I-Q plane, of the complex signal (I, Q) subject to quadrature demultiplexing is found in a reference range described later. The lock detection also comprises an adder 142, a delay circuit 143 and a comparator 144.
A description will now be given of the operation according to the related art. FIG. 15 shows reference areas for the BPSK modulated signal in the I-Q plane.
The BPSK area detection unit 141 segments the I-Q plane into four angular sectors, so that an area between −π/4 and +π/4 and an area between 3π/4 and 5π/4 being used as reference areas. That is, angular sectors between (4i−1)π/(2M) and (4i+1)π/(2M), where i is a positive number between 0 and M-1, are used as reference areas. In the case of BPSK modulated signal, M=2 so that the angular sector (i=0) between −π/4 and +π/4and the angular sector (i=1) between 3π/4 and 5π/4 being are used as reference areas.
The BPSK area detection unit 141 determines by computation the position of input complex signal in the I-Q plane so as to determine whether the position is found in the reference area. If the position is found in the reference area, the BPSK area detection unit 141 outputs +1. Otherwise, it outputs −1.
The adder 142 and the delay circuit 143 accumulates the values provided by the BPSK area detection unit 141 so as to provide the accumulated value to the comparator 144. The comparator 144 determines whether the accumulated value reaches a predetermined threshold value. If it is determined that the accumulated value reaches the predetermined threshold value, the comparator 144 outputs a signal indicating that a locked state has set in.
More specifically, when demodulated signals located within the reference area (signals with a relatively higher probability of being a BPSK modulated signal) occur more frequently than the other demodulated signals, it is determined in the carrier recovery circuit adapted for the BPSK modulated signal according to the related art that the locked state has set in.
For example, given that the position of the complex signal subject to multiplication by the multiplier 101 in the carrier recovery circuit is rotated in a counterclockwise direction in the I-Q plane, the position moves away from a closest signal point (phase=0) while the position is 0−π/2 phase shifted with respect to the signal point. Therefore, the phase error has a negative value and decreases in this range. The frequency error has a negative value. When the position of the complex signal is π/2−π phase shifted with respect to the signal point, the position moves closer to the signal position (phase=π). The phase error has a positive value and decreases. The frequency error has a negative value.
When the negative feedback loop in the carrier recovery circuit is in a pull-in state, the position of the complex signal subject to multiplication by the multiplier 101 may be found in an area outside the reference area (non-reference area). When the negative feedback loop in the carrier recovery circuit is in a locked state, the position of the complex signal subject to multiplication by the multiplier 101 is more likely found in the reference area. FIG. 16 shows an example of how the output value of the delay circuit 143 in the lock detection circuit according to the related art varies. As shown in FIG. 16, in a pull-in state, the output value of the delay circuit 143 (that is, the accumulated value produced by the outputs of the BPSK area detection unit 141) decreases with oscillation. When the locked state sets in, the output value of the delay circuit 143 increases.
With the above-described construction of the carrier recovery circuit according to the related art, a carrier recovery from a PSK modulated signal having a predetermined M value is possible. However, no measures are provided to recover a carrier for a mixture of a plurality of PSK modulated signals having different M values, using a simple circuit configuration.
One approach would be to embed data indicating the M value in a modulated signal so that the M value is known when demodulating the signal based on the data so that the carrier recovery circuit adapted for the M value is used to recover a carrier. This requires provisions for processes and circuits for embedding the data in a modulating stage, and provisions for processes and circuits for detecting the data and switching between carrier recovery circuits in a demodulating stage. Therefore, difficulties with reduction in circuit scale and processing time remain.

Carrier recovery circuit and lock detection circuit for mixed PSK signals


The present invention is a method and system that enables reference processes that have access to a long running object to maintain the current access to this object while this object performs a re-initialization operation in order to refresh data contained in the object. The system of the invention comprises a long running object manager that controls the re-initialization process of an object registered with the object manager. In operation, a reference program establishes a connection to the long running for purposes of accessing information in the object. This connection to the object is noted in the object manager. At this point, during the connection of the reference to the long running object, there is an event to trigger a re-initialization of the long running object. The object manager notifies the object of the trigger and holds the references that are connected to this object. The object receives the re-initialization signal, performs the re-initialization and sends a reply to the object manager. At this point, the object manager allows the references for the long running object to continue access to the long running object.

The development of the computer era began in the 1940's. Since that time, computers and computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices, and computer systems that can be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware, such as semiconductors and circuit boards, and software, also known as computer programs. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer hardware higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Computer systems typically include operating system software that controls the basic function of the computer, and one or more software application programs that run under the control of the operating system to perform desired tasks. For example, a typical IBM Personal Computer may run the OS/2 operating system, and under the control of the OS/2 operating system, a user may execute an application program, such as a word processor. As the capabilities of computer systems have increased, the application software programs designed for high performance computer systems have become extremely powerful. Additionally, software development costs have continued to rise because more powerful and complex programs take more time, and hence more money, to produce.
One way in which the performance of application software programs has been improved while the associated development costs have been reduced is by using object oriented programming concepts. The goal of using object oriented programming is to create small, reusable sections of program code known as "objects" that can be quickly and easily combined and re-used to create new programs. This concept is similar to the idea of using the same set of building blocks again and again to create many different structures. The modular and re-usable aspects of objects will typically speed development of new programs, thereby reducing the costs associated with the development cycle. In addition, by creating and re-using a comprehensive set of well-tested objects, one can achieve a more stable, uniform, and consistent approach to developing new computer programs.
A central concept in object-oriented programming is the "class." A class is a template that defines a type of object. A class outlines or describes the characteristics or makeup of objects that belong to that class. By defining a class, objects can be created that belong to the class without having to rewrite the entire definition for each new object. This feature of object-oriented programming promotes the reusability of existing object definitions and promotes more efficient use of program code.
Modern object oriented programming languages have features that improve the convenience of programming in those languages. For example, the Java programming language developed by Sun Microsystems has a garbage collection feature that automatically disposes of objects that are no longer used. This automatic garbage collection takes away from the programmer the burden of tracking which objects are used and which are not, and disposing of objects that are no longer used.
Object oriented programming is a method of program implementation in which programs are organized as cooperative collections of objects, each of which represents an instance of some class, and whose classes are all members of a hierarchy of classes united via inheritance relationships. Object oriented programming differs from standard procedural programming in that it uses objects, not algorithms, as the fundamental building blocks for creating computer programs. This difference stems from the fact that the design focus of object oriented programming technology is wholly different than that of procedural programming technology.
The focus of procedural-based design is on the overall process used to solve the problem; whereas the focus of object oriented design is on casting the problem as a set of autonomous entities that can work together to provide a solution. The autonomous entities of object-oriented technology are, of course, objects. Object oriented technology is significantly different from procedural technology because problems are broken down into sets of cooperating objects instead of into hierarchies of nested computer programs or procedures.
Thus, a pure object oriented program is made up of code entities called objects. Each object is an identifiable, encapsulated piece of code and data that provides one or more services when requested by a client. Conceptually, an object has two parts, an external object interface and internal object implementation. In particular, all object implementation functions are encapsulated by the object interface such that other objects must communicate with that object through its object interface. The only way to retrieve, process or otherwise operate on the object is through the methods defined on the object. This protects the internal data portion of the object from outside tampering. Additionally, because outside objects have no access to the internal implementation, that internal implementation can change without affecting other aspects of the program.
In this way, the object system isolates the requestor of services (client objects) from the providers of services (server objects) by a well-defined encapsulating interface. In the classic object model, a client object sends request messages to server objects to perform any necessary or desired function. The message identifies a specific method to be performed by the server object, and also supplies any required parameters. The server object receives and interprets the message, and can then decide what operations to perform.
Many of these objects are implemented in programs that are long running processes such as web processes or business transaction processes. These programs exist in environments where many people will access these programs. In these applications programs, the objects can contain information for these long running processes. At some point, the information will become stale and there will be a need to refresh/update the information. However, at the point when it is necessary to refresh this information, it is not known what other processes are using/referencing this information. Presently, if the object began to refresh the information, any processes referencing the object program would lose the connection to the object program. The loss of the connection would result in a processing failure for the referencing program. In addition, the user would then need to repeat the process that they originally followed to find the object and information. To prevent this situation, a system programmer has to put special instructions in place in the program. The insertion of special instructions is a difficult and problematic process. However, without these special instructions the user gets errors in the information.
Therefore, there remains a need for a method that can preserve the reference connections to these objects in long running processes when it is necessary to refresh information contained in these objects. This method would provide accuracy of information in these objects and would address the current problems associated with loss connections resulting from object re-initialization.

Method and system to reinitialize objects without losing a reference connection

International Business Machines Corporation


In a plasma cleaning device for a substrate, a vacuum chamber is arranged on a base board and made up of a lid which is opened and closed when necessary, and an electrode to which a high frequency power supply applies high frequency voltage includes an upper electrode, a middle electrode, and a lower electrode. The upper electrode is inside the vacuum chamber, and serves as a means for laying a substrate to be plasma-cleaned. The upper electrode has protrusions for guiding a substrate which is conveyed. In the device, the substrate which has been plasma is slid on the upper electrode while being guided by the protrusions, thus being conveyed to a wire bonding unit. When a kind of substrate is changed to another one, only the upper electrode is replaced with another one which corresponds in size to the new substrate.

This invention relates a plasma cleaning device for a substrate board which cleans the surface of a base board with plasma.
A plasma cleaning method is known as a method of cleaning the surface of a substrate (disclosed for instance by the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 6-21032). In the method, the surface treatment of a substrate is performed as follows: A plasma is produced in a pressured reduced atmosphere, and the plasma thus produced is applied to the surface of a substrate to clean it. In the method, it is necessary to provide a vacuum chamber for a pressure-reduced atmosphere, and an electrode to which high frequency voltage is applied to produce a plasma. Hence, it is necessary to open and close the vacuum chamber for every cleaning operation.
In general, downstream of the plasma cleaning device, units such as a wiring bonding unit are provided. In order to improve the production efficiency, it is preferable that the plasma cleaning device is smoothly connected to the units such as a wiring bonding unit which are provided downstream of the plasma cleaning device to arrange the device in line with the units thereby to smoothly convey a substrate to the units downstream of the device. However, with the plasma cleaning device, it is necessary to open and close the vacuum chamber for every cleaning work. On the other hand, different substrates have different widths (being different in size) - if a kind of substrate to be plasma-cleaned is changed with another kind of substrate, then the latter is different in size (width) from the former. Hence, it is rather difficult to arrange the plasma cleaning device in line with the units such as a wiring bonding unit which are arranged downstream of the plasma cleaning device. That is, the process efficiency is low.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A process is disclosed for controlling the switching-off process of the branches of a reluctance engine whose stator is provided with windings to which are transmitted current pulses calculated as a function of angular position and speed of rotation of the rotor according to a predetermined algorithm. The excited branch is switched off when a switching-off angle is reached after a zero crossing reference angle. Two ranges of operation called "chop" range and blocked voltage range must be differentiated. The switching-off angle for both ranges of operation of the reluctance engine is calculated according to the same algorithm and is set by a regulator. In the lower speed of rotation range, the "chop" range, a pulse width modulated voltage is applied to the conductive branch, and in the upper range, the blocked voltage range, a constant voltage is applied. In both ranges, the switching-off angle is calculated from engine parameters and actual operation values to maximize torque yield and to trigger the switching-off process by converting said values into a switching-off pulse that switches off the conductive branch.

In the special embodiment with six stator teeth and four rotor teeth, the switched reluctance motor represents the most economical option for implementing a brushless drive. It was possible to reduce the drawback, which the motor had up until now, namely a high reactive power pulsation, to a small measure through special designs of the magnetic circuits of this motor. Novel circuit topologies became possible in the actuation electronics of this motor through the use of power circuit breakers.
These reasons and its extraordinary robustness predestine this drive principle for use in mass-manufactured products, in particular, in motor vehicles.
The physical principle of torque extraction of this motor type is based on the desire of a magnetic circuit permeated by a magnetic flux to minimize the magnetic resistance (or: reluctance) which is active in the circuit. If a rotor with a rotational angle-dependent magnetic resistance is disposed in a magnetic circuit, a rotational force is exerted upon the rotor if its rotation results in a reduction of the magnetic resistance.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary course of the phase winding inductances of a three-phase reluctance motor having three phase windings, which motor has four rotor teeth and six stator teeth according to FIG. 2.
From IEE PROC., vo. 127B, no. 4, July, 1980, p. 25253-265: P. J. LAWRENSON ET AL. "Variable-speed switched reluctance motors", a calculation method for the behavior of a reluctance motor at a variable speed is known. Characteristic curves for the magnetic flux densities, currents and torques as a function of the rotational angle and of the angular velocity are indicated. A realization for circuit engineering is not indicated.
A microcomputer is used to retrieve the data regarding the switch-on course of the stator phases, which data are stored in a memory, and to therefrom match the switch-on angle and the pulse width of the current pulses switched in phases to the operating behaviors of the motor within certain limits. This matching of the pulse position and of the pulse duration makes it possible to obtain a large torque and speed range. At higher speeds, however, optimum matching can no longer take place in this simple manner. Therefore, towards higher speeds, the torque is reduced very quickly and the motor losses increase.
It is the object of the invention to set the switch-off angle for all operating states of the motor for a reluctance motor of the type described at the outset in such a way that a maximum output or torque yield is accomplished at a high efficiency and torque waviness as well as noise development are reduced.
This object is accomplished by a method for controlling a reluctance motor whose stator is provided with windings upon which, as a function of the angular position and the speed of rotation of the rotor, current pulses calculated according to a predetermined algorithm are impressed. Each winding phase excited according to a predetermined switch-on angle is switched off according to a switch-off angle (.gamma..sub.p) whose angular count starts with the inductance rise of the excited phase winding. Two operating ranges must be differentiated, which are identified as a "chop" range and a block voltage range.
For the method, the switch-off angle (.gamma..sub.p) for all operating ranges of the reluctance motor is calculated, from the actual value of the speed of rotation (n.sub.ist), the actual value of the supply voltage (u.sub.k), the minimum and maximum inductances (L.sub.min, L.sub.max) of a motor phase winding, and the value of the stator pole angle (.beta..sub.s). The minimum and maximum inductances (L.sub.min, L.sub.max) of a motor phase winding and the value of the stator pole angle (.beta..sub.s) are stored in a memory. The limit current (i.sub.G) is first determined from the product of the actual value of the supply voltage (u.sub.k) and the value of the stator pole angle (.beta..sub.s) divided by the product executed in a multiplier of the actual value of the speed of rotation (n.sub.ist) and the difference between the maximum and minimum (L.sub.maz, L.sub.min) inductances of a motor phase winding.
Further, for the invention, the limit current is then supplied to a divider (B5), which determines a normalized current (I.sub.o) from the desired value of the current (i.sub.soll) and the limit current (i.sub.G). The normalized current (I.sub.o) is supplied to a nonlinear functional network (B7), which determines the switching-off time (t.sub.off) with the fixedly deposited values for the stator pole angle (.beta..sub.s), the values for the relative pole overlap of stator teeth and rotor teeth (.alpha..sub.c), the rotor angle (.beta..sub.R), and the minimum and maximum inductances (L.sub.min, L.sub.max). The switching-off time (t.sub.off) is evaluated in a subsequent functional network (B8) with the speed of rotation information (R/L). The output of the subsequent functional network (B8) is supplied to a nonlinear time element (B9) and is used for the triggering of the switching-off process at the stator windings.
With the method of the invention, the angular position of the rotor relative to the stator is measured by means of an angle sensor and therewith an initialization pulse is triggered and supplied to a controller which, by means of an arithmetical unit, first determines the switch-off angle (.alpha..sub.p) at which the switching-off process begins from the angular position of the stator, represented by the stator pole angle .beta..sub.s, and then the angle (.alpha..sub.g) at which the switching-off process must be completed, i. e., which determines the moment for the switching-off process of the current-conducting phase winding.
Additionally, for the method, the speed of rotation is controlled via the current intensity in the stator windings.
Moreover, the switching-off process is triggered when approximately 2/3 of the total time has passed after the symmetrical overlap of stator teeth and rotor teeth.
Further, with the invention, after the measurement of the actual speed of rotation (n.sub.ist), the determination of the desired value of the current (i.sub.soll) is determined and subsequently the speed of rotation (n) is controlled to the desired value by means of the phase winding current (i.sub.s) calculated from the desired value of the current (i.sub.soll).
Details of the invention are explained below in greater detail with reference to the drawing.

Method for controlling the switching-off process in the phase windings of a reluctance motor