A color cathode ray tube includes a panel portion with its inner surface coated with a phosphor film; and an in-line type electron gun having a cathode, a control electrode, an accelerating electrode, a focus electrode, and an anode for projecting three electron beams toward the phosphor film. The in-line type electron gun projects the three electron beams substantially in parallel to each other in a plane perpendicular to the major axis of the screen.

The present invention relates to a color cathode ray tube having a three beam in-line type electron gun.
In general, a color cathode ray tube employs an electron gun configured to emit three in-line electron beams in a horizontal plane parallel to the major axis of a phosphor screen, and accommodated in a neck portion.
FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a configuration example of a prior art color cathode ray tube. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 30 indicates a panel portion; 31 is a neck portion; 32 is a funnel portion; 33 is a phosphor film; 34 is a shadow mask; 35 is a mask frame; 36 is a magnetic shield; 37 is a mask suspension mechanism; 38 is an electron gun; 39 is a deflection yoke; and 40 is a magnetic correction device. Also, reference character Bc indicates a center beam, and Bs is a side beam.
In the color cathode ray tube of this type, the panel portion 30 carrying a screen is connected to the neck portion 31 by means of the funnel portion 32, to form an evacuated envelope. The inner surface of the panel portion 30 is coated with the phosphor film 33, and the shadow mask 34 is suspended closely spaced from the phosphor film 33. The neck portion 31 accommodates the electron gun 38 for emitting three electron beams in a horizontal plane. The electron beams thus emitted from the electron gun 38 are deflected in the horizontal and vertical directions through deflection magnetic fields produced by the deflection yoke 39 disposed around the funnel portion 32, to scan the phosphor film 33, thus forming a desired image.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are views illustrating a configuration example of the electron gun accommodated in the neck portion of the color cathode ray tube shown in FIG. 7, wherein FIG. 8A is a horizontal sectional view of the electron gun, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIIB--VIIIB of FIG. 8A.
In FIG. 8A, reference numeral 11 indicates a heater; 12 is a cathode; 13 is a control electrode; 14 is an accelerating electrode; 15 is a focus electrode; 16 is an anode; 17 is a shield cup; 18 is an inner conductive coating coated on the inner wall of the neck portion 31; and 19 is a contact spring with one end thereof fixed on the shield cup 17 and the other end thereof pressed on the inner conductive film 18.
The operation of the color cathode ray tube accommodating the electron gun, shown in FIG. 7, will be described below.
Thermoelectrons emitted from the cathodes 12 heated by the heaters 11 are accelerated toward the control electrode 13 by the accelerating electrode 14, to form three electron beams Bc, Bs, and Bs.
These three electron beams each pass through apertures (beam-passing apertures) in the control electrode 13 and through beam-passing apertures in the accelerating electrode 14. The three electron beams are also subjected to a slight focusing action by a pre-focus lens formed between the accelerating electrode 14 and the focus electrode 15, and are accelerated by a voltage applied to the focus electrode 15 to enter a main lens formed between the focus electrode 15 and the anode 16.
The three electron beams are focused on the phosphor film 33 by the main lens, to form beam spots.
The main lens through which the side beams Bs pass is non-axially-symmetric, and it deflects the side beams Bs toward the tube axis such that the side beams Bs and the center beam Bc converge on the phosphor film 33. However, three electron beams do not converge at the center of the phosphor screen only by the structure of the electron gun because of tolerances in the manufacture of components, and accordingly they need to be converged at the center of the phosphor film 33 by adjustment of static convergence adjustment magnets for side beams and static convergence magnets for a center beam, which constitute the magnetic correction device 40.
A color image can be displayed by correctly superposing three color images of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) formed by means of three electron beams. Three electron beams are scanned over the phosphor screen through magnetic fields generated by the deflection yoke 39, to form an image.
In general, a self-converging deflection yoke is used as the deflection yoke 39.
In the case where the magnetic field of the deflection yoke is homogeneous, since the shape of the panel portion 30 carrying the screen of the cathode ray tube is not spherical with respect to the deflection center, three electron beams converged at the screen center do not stay converged when deflected.
To cope with such an inconvenience, the self-converging deflection yoke is so configured as to produce a magnetic field having an inhomogeneous distribution composed of a pin cushion-like horizontal magnetic deflection field distribution and a barrel-like vertical magnetic deflection field distribution, to obtain a self-convergence effect, thereby causing three electron beams to converge over the entire screen area.
The above-described color cathode ray tube has a disadvantage that since the magnetic field distribution of the self-convergent deflection yoke is inhomogeneous, focus characteristics deteriorate with an increasing deflection angle of electron beams and thereby resolution at the periphery of a screen is degraded as compared with that at the center of the screen.
To solve the above disadvantage, there have been known a method of applying a dynamic voltage varying with an increasing deflection angle of electron beams to a focus electrode, and a method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 61-250933, in which a focus electrode is composed of at least a first focus sub-electrode and a second focus sub-electrode, an electrostatic quardrupole lens is formed between facing ends of both the two focus sub-electrodes, and a dynamic voltage varying with an increasing deflection angle of electron beams is applied to the second focus sub-electrode.
The above-described methods are effective for eliminating an increase in beam spot diameter, but they distort beam spot shapes. One of causes of distortion of the beam spot shape is the shape of a panel portion being not spherical with respect to the deflection center and making the faceplate of the panel portion not perpendicular to the travelling direction of deflected electron beams.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are views illustrating the distortion of a beam spot shape associated with the shape of a panel portion of a cathode ray tube.
As shown in FIG. 9A, a spot of the electron beam on a phosphor film (or screen) forms a round shape when the electron beam is undeflected, but it forms an oval shape having the major axis along the deflection direction when the electron beam is deflected.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9B, the beam spot shape on the screen is vertically elongated for vertically deflected beams, and is horizontally elongated for horizontally deflected beams.
Another cause of distortion of the beam spot shape is the inhomogeneous magnetic field distribution of the deflection yoke. The self-converging deflection yoke provides a pin cushion-like horizontal deflection magnetic field distribution shown in FIG. 10A and a barrel-like vertical deflection magnetic field distribution shown in FIG. 10B. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B both the deflection magnetic field distributions exert a horizontally elongating force on the deflected electron beams and thereby the beam spot shape on the screen is horizontally elongated as shown in FIG. 10C.
FIGS. 10A and 10B are views illustrating the distortion of a beam spot shape caused by a deflection yoke. FIG. 10A shows the influence of a horizontal deflection magnetic field, and FIG. 10B shows the influence of a vertical deflection magnetic field. Character X indicates the horizontal direction; Y is the vertical direction; B (vector) is a horizontal or vertical deflection magnetic field; I (vector) is the travelling direction of electron beams; and F (vector) is a force exerted on electron beams.
The actual beam spot shape on the screen is formed by a combination of the effects shown in FIGS. 9B and 10C, so that in the case of the vertically deflected beams, these effects cancel out each other to form a relatively round beam spot shape; while in the case of the horizontally deflected beams, these effects reinforce each other to form an extremely horizontally elongated spot shape.
As a result, there arises a problem that the vertical diameter of each of the beam spots at the right and left edges on the screen (phosphor film) becomes very small, thereby causing raster moire.
Moire is a phenomenon that a stripe pattern occurs on the screen due to interference between horizontal scanning lines and a periodic structure of three color phosphor dots forming the screen, to thereby degrade resolution. When the beam spot diameter becomes smaller than a value determined by the periodic structure of the phosphor dots, moire is caused.

Color cathode ray tube with reduced moire


An oil filtering and storage apparatus comprising housing containing a cooking oil storage receptacle therein with a hingedly attached door providing access to said storage receptacle with the receptacle serving as containment of oil that has been filtered for reuse or unfiltered for disposal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to receptacles and, more specifically, to an oil filtering and storage apparatus comprising housing containing a cooking oil storage receptacle therein with a hingedly attached door providing access to said storage receptacle with the receptacle serving as containment of oil that has been filtered for reuse or unfiltered for disposal.
Located within the top surface of the housing is an aperture providing access to the cooking oil storage receptacle. Removably positioned within the aperture is a conically shaped funnel having a flange for supporting the funnel within the aperture and extending to a funnel egress aperture that substantially engages the opening of the oil storage receptacle providing means for the storage of unfiltered oil.
Selectively positioned within the funnel is a removable filtering member comprising a wire frame for supporting a paper filter or other appropriate filter medium within the wire frame, which is inserted into and supported by the funnel when it is desired to filter the oil prior to storage.
The housing also has a plurality of support members depending from the exterior base serving as vibration mounts and a lid on the top side covering the funnel giving the apparatus a clean appearance, which can include indicia, graphics or other decorative appliques on the exterior surface as functional or decorative elements.
Additionally, while one oil storage container is depicted, the incorporation of several storage containers is considered for filtered and unfiltered oils as needed.
In the typical disposal operation, the cap is removed from the oil receptacle and positioned within the housing compartment in alignment with the housing funnel egress aperture whereupon the oil is poured into the funnel and collected within the oil receptacle for disposal.
Alternately, for filtered oil the cap is removed from the oil storage receptacle and positioned within the housing compartment in alignment with the funnel. Filter paper or other appropriate filter medium is positioned within the wire frame and placed within the funnel upon supports, oil is poured into the filter paper and again channeled into the oil storage receptacle. Once completed, the cap is threadedly attached to the oil storage receptacle providing a spill proof container of disposable or reusable cooking oil. At the user's discretion the funnel and/or filter medium wire frame support are easily removed for cleaning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other storage device designed for filtering liquids. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,641,051 issued to Rheney on Aug. 30, 1927.
Another patent was issued to Whitsett on Jun. 24, 1941 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,247,040. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,312 was issued to Wecker, Sr. on Nov. 19, 1974 and still yet another was issued on Aug. 23, 1977 to Wecker, Sr. as U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,916.
Another patent was issued to Whaley et al. on May 4, 1982 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,097. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,203 was issued to Kyle on Aug. 5, 1986. Another was issued to McFarland on Nov. 3, 1992 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,444 and still yet another was issued on U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,168 to White as U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,168.
Another patent was issued to Masatoshi on Oct. 17, 1995 as Japanese Patent No. JP265610. Yet another Japanese Patent No. JP8187191 was issued to Naoto on Jul. 23, 1996. Another was issued to Akiyoshi on Aug. 4, 1998 as Japanese Patent No. JP 10202022. Yet another was issued to Masahiro on Nov. 10, 1998 as Japanese Patent No. JP10295565 and still yet another was issued on Feb. 9, 1999 to Shinichi as Japanese Patent No. JP11035970.


A process for treating so-called wet refuse of urban origin, especially food waste from canteens, communities and other similar catering establishments, and originating from the food industry and the agrifoods industry, including the phases of subjecting a continuous stream of said wet refuse, previously ground, to heating to a pasteurization/sterilization temperature for the time needed for complete cooking, to give a continuous pasty and wet stream of cooked and sanitized refuse and subjecting the said continuous stream to drying, to give a product having a moisture content of not more than 15%.

The most widely used refuse disposal methods comprise those which have the object of transforming the refuse into fertilizer and are essentially based on so-called composting or refuse compost, a kind of anaerobic fermentation.
Such composting can be effected in a "natural" or industrial manner. The first case involves storage of the discharged refuse with the formation of solid heaps which are covered with mould and in which, after a certain fermentation time, the organic parts are transformed into humus containing quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which, although they are very low, allow this to be used as organic fertilizer.
The sites destined for the discharges are always large, must be appropriately equipped and prearranged for preventing, for example, pollution of subterranean water tables, require the employment of personnel and means of non-negligible importance and also always involve air pollution problems.
Moreover, completion of the anaerobic fermentation phase always requires not less than 5-6 months.
In the second case, the industrial method involves subjecting the refuse to a preliminary sifting to remove metal parts and to separate out paper, rags, plastics, glass and the like. The remainder is, after appropriate crushing, caused to ferment as in the case of natural fermentation with the respective disadvantages, or the fermentation is primed with suitable cultures in fermentation cells, rotary drums and the like. The time taken for completion of the fermentation is in this case never less than 15-20 days.
Other refuse disposal techniques involve their combustion and are notoriously uneconomical to carry out, and require complicated plant and equipment, which are expensive both in terms of operation and in terms of control; or they involve destruction by chemical attack, which has not met with any success in practice because of the high costs and the recognized technical disadvantages.
Dry distillation to produce coal gas, tar and coke has also been attempted. This technique was promptly abandoned, because it is entirely uneconomical and highly polluting.


An air valve manifold (20) to be used with a glass making machine includes a base (24) and a valve (22) including a valve body attached to the base (24). The valve body includes a first projection (42) on a front of the valve body and an opposing second projection (44) on an opposing rear of the valve body. A first attachment feature (50) is secured to the front of the base to retain at least a portion of the first projection (42) of the valve body. A second attachment feature (52) is secured to the base to retain at least a portion of the opposing second projection (44) of the valve body.

The present invention relates generally to a single touch interchangeable valve used in a valve block used with a glass making machine.
In prior systems, a top group of valves are located on a top surface of a valve block base, and a bottom group of valves are located on a bottom surface of the valve block base. Each of the top valves are attached to the valve block base by mounting screws that are inserted in a vertical direction from the top, and each of the bottom valves are attached to the valve block base by mounting screws that are inserted in a vertical direction from the bottom. In one prior system, four mounting screws are employed to secure each valve to the valve block base. It is difficult to access the mounting screws of the bottom valves when the bottom valves need to be changed, repaired or for maintenance due to the location of the mounting screws.

Interchangeable valve for a valve block used with a glass machine


A method of performing quantization in an audio encoder includes determining a number of bits available in a frame of encoded audio data. Determinations are also made for the maximum transform coefficient value and a distribution of transform coefficient values across the transform coefficient spectrum being encoded. A an estimate for an initial quantization step value is determined from the number of available bits in the frame, the maximum transform coefficient value, and the distribution of coefficient values across the coefficient spectrum.

The popularity of small portable audio appliances and the ability to exchange audio information across the Internet have driven recent efforts to develop compression standards for storing, transferring, and playing back high fidelity audio information. Two of the more advanced of these audio compression standards are the Moving Pictures Expert Group Layer 3 (MP3) and the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standards.
Generally, the MP3 and AAC standards define audio decoding techniques that reduce the sampling rate and sample resolution of a stream of digitized audio data for storage and transmission. While these standards define a number of stream parameters, such as the input sampling rates and stream format, they otherwise allow significant flexibility in the implementation of the actual encoders and decoders.
In designing MP3 and AAC audio encoders and decoders, efficient encoding and decoding techniques are required for compressing high-fidelity audio into the smallest possible compressed digital files and subsequently reconstructing that high-fidelity audio from the compressed digital files without significant noise and distortion. Further, these audio techniques should minimize the overall complexity of the hardware and software designs, while at the same time being sufficiently flexible for utilization in a range of possible applications.

Methods for selecting an initial quantization step size in audio encoders and systems using the same


An automatic pattern recognition method has a short processing time, can be applied to nonlinear separation problems, and can perform similarity calculations. The method: Divides a plurality of sample data of known categories into a plurality of classes; When the sample data in a divided class is not all in the same category, repeats dividing the sample data into subclasses until sample data in a subclass has only one category; Expresses the relationship between classes and subclasses in a tree-structure representation and determines the standard pattern for each class and subclass from the sample data contained there; and Checks which of the tree-structured classes input data of unknown category is nearest, by calculating the distance to the standard pattern of each class, and then, when the class has subclasses, performs a similar check until the lowest-level subclass is reached to determine the subclass the input data is closest to. The category of the lowest-level subclass is taken as the category of the input data.

The present invention relates to automatic data clustering, which is particularly useful in pattern recognition, for example in speech pattern recognition or image pattern recognition or text/character pattern recognition.
Pattern recognition, and particularly data clustering involves a large volume of sample data for learning and a determination of a category of input data for pattern recognition, and more particularly the identifying and classifying of data representing a speech pattern or an image pattern, for example.
In pattern recognition, there are generally two representative methods that employ learning with high volumes of known sample data having plural categories for determining a region that each known category occupies in a pattern space and then determining the category of unknown data according to the region of the unknown data. The two methods may be represented by the Artificial Intelligence Handbook, published by Ohm, "Pattern Matching", page 324, compiled by the Artificial Intelligence Association; and Chapter 8 of Parallel Distributed Processing, entitled "Learning Internal Representations by Error Propagation", by D. E. Rumelhart and others, compiled by the Institute for Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego. Specifically, the two methods that employ the above are:
(1) Pattern matching by preparing the standard pattern for each category and taking as the category for unknown input data a category whose standard pattern is nearest to the input data. There are some pattern matching methods that do not prepare standard patterns, but instead they use sample data of known categories and then take the category of the sample data which are closest to the input data to be the category of the unknown input data, which is known as the nearest neighbor method.
(2) A layer-type neural network arranges non-linear units called neurons in layers and learns transformation rules between sample data and the categories as weights between neurons. A commonly used learning method is back propagation based upon the steepest descent method. Output data produced when unknown input data are given to the neural network are taken as the category of the unknown input data.


A rotatable roll brush that despite combing tangled hair, the hair does not get removed due to the rotation of the brush body part, and when a combing action is required without the rotation of the body part, the brush can be converted and used as a regular brush.

1. Technical field
The present invention is in regards to a rotatable roll brush and, more specifically, to a rotatable roll brush that, despite combing tangled hair, the hair does not get removed due to the rotation of the brush, and further that the brush can be converted to use as a regular brush such that a combing action may be performed without rotation of the brush.
2. Background Technology of the Invention
Generally, hairbrushes are used to comb or roll hair when styling the hair. A regular hairbrush, as shown in FIG. 7, has a handle part (4), which is extended for easy combing. Formed on the handle part (4) is a bristle body part (6). In addition, formed on the bristle body part (6), is a brush hair part (8), which is made up of bristles for combing hair. A hairbrush can comb hair or allow easy rolling of hair when drying or straight perming hair with a drier or a hair perm machine. However, conventional hairbrushes, which have the handle part (4) and bristle body part (6) integrated in a single body, are inconvenient in that when rolled hair is to be unrolled, the handle part (4) of the hair brush must be rotated manually in order to unroll.
In order to overcome these deficiencies, hair driers with a built-in drive system for rotating a hair brush have been developed. However, these not only have high production costs due to being automatically rotated by a driving system but also have problems in that they stop operating when hair is caught.


The present disclosure relates to fluoride ion batteries and structures of metal based electrode materials for various fluoride ion batteries. The structures of the metal based electrode materials comprise one or more shells or interfaces, enabling the electrodes to operate at room temperature with a liquid electrolyte.

Fluoride ion batteries are a novel and underexplored alternative next generation energy storage technology. The energy densities of fluoride ion batteries can be much higher than lithium ion batteries. Much of the research being conducted is focused on all-solid-state fluoride ion batteries, which may be rechargeable at elevated temperatures to some extent. However, slow reaction kinetics impose significant challenges to all-solid-state fluoride ion batteries. Reaction kinetics are better in liquid type fluoride ion batteries. However, this type of fluoride ion battery still faces many challenges, such as the lack of efficient, rechargeable electrolytes and reversible cathode and anode materials at room temperature. Metal nanoparticles are highly desirable for use in a number of applications including as catalysts and as electrode materials for batteries. However, the use of metal nanoparticles may be limited in fluoride ion batteries due to dissolution of the metal in the liquid electrolyte. Prevention of dissolution may lead to stable, higher energy densities. As energy demands are increasing for electric vehicles, portable electronic devices, and portable energy storage, there is an increasing need for advanced fluoride ion batteries with higher energy densities.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Liquid-type room-temperature fluoride ion batteries


An electronic device which includes a feedthrough capacitor mounted on a front surface of a substrate. A feedthrough electrode penetrates a laminate (body of the capacitor). External electrodes are electrically connected to opposite ends of the feedthrough electrode. A capacitor electrode is disposed to form capacity in cooperation with the feedthrough electrode. A wiring conductor is formed on a rear surface of the substrate or inside the substrate, and via-hole conductors are connected to the wiring conductor. The feedthrough electrode and the external electrodes constitute a first current path. The wiring conductor and the via-hole conductors constitute a second current path electrically connected in parallel to the first current path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate and an electronic device using the substrate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a substrate on which a capacitor is to be mounted and to an electronic device using the substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
An MPU (Micro Processing Unit) is incorporated in electronic equipment such as a personal computer and a home game machine. A decoupling capacitor is disposed around the MPU. A main role of the decoupling capacitor is to remove noise that is parasitic on a power supply line extending from a power supply to the MPU, and to supply charges to the MPU when a supply voltage is varied.
Recently, with the use of a higher clock frequency in the MPU, the power supply line has become more apt to generate high-frequency noise. For that reason, a low ESL-type multilayer ceramic capacitor that is superior in impedance-frequency characteristic is used as the decoupling capacitor in many cases. Such a low ESL-type multilayer ceramic capacitor is described below with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate one example of low ESL-type feedthrough capacitor. Specifically, FIG. 5A is an external perspective view of a feedthrough capacitor 100, and FIG. 5B is an exploded perspective view of a laminate 102 of the feedthrough capacitor 100.
The feedthrough capacitor 100 is also called a 3-terminal capacitor, and it includes the laminate 102 and external electrodes 104a, 104b, 106a and 106b as shown in FIG. 5A. The laminate 102 is in the shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and is made of stacked ceramic layers. The external electrodes 104a and 104b are formed on mutually opposite side surfaces of the laminate 102. Also, the external electrodes 106a and 106b are formed on the other mutually opposite side surfaces of the laminate 102, which differ from the side surfaces where the external electrodes 104a and 104b are formed.
As shown in FIG. 5B, the laminate 102 includes ceramic layers 108, 110, 112 and 114, capacitor electrodes 116 and 122, and a feedthrough (penetrating) electrode 120. The ceramic layers 108, 110, 112 and 114 are each an insulator layer that is substantially rectangular. The capacitor electrodes 116 and 122 are formed on the ceramic layers 110 and 114, respectively, and have lead electrodes 118a, 118b, 124a and 124b. The lead electrodes 118a and 124a serve to electrically connect the capacitor electrodes 116 and 122 to the external electrode 106a. The lead electrodes 118b and 124b serve to electrically connect the capacitor electrodes 116 and 122 to the external electrode 106b. Further, the feedthrough electrode 120 is formed so as to penetrate the laminate 102. Opposite ends of the feedthrough electrode 120 are electrically connected to the external electrodes 104a and 104b, respectively. The laminate 102 is constructed by stacking the above-described ceramic layers 108, 110, 112 and 114 in this order from the top.
In the above-described feedthrough capacitor 100, the capacitor electrodes 116 and 122 are opposed to the feedthrough electrode 120 with the ceramic layers 110 and 112 interposed respectively therebetween. Therefore, capacity is formed between the capacitor electrode 116 and the feedthrough electrode 120 and between the capacitor electrode 122 and the feedthrough electrode 120. In the above-described feedthrough capacitor 100, since the feedthrough electrode 120 serves also as a power plane, there is essentially no distance from the power plane to a capacity region. As a result, inductance of the feedthrough capacitor 100 is smaller than that of, e.g., a capacitor including a lead line between a power plane and a capacity region.
Hitherto, it has been usual that the feedthrough capacitor 100 is mounted on a substrate shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a known substrate 200 on which the feedthrough capacitor 100 is to be mounted. FIG. 6A is a top plan view of the substrate 200, and FIG. 6B is a sectional structural view of the substrate 200 and the feedthrough capacitor 100. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, the feedthrough capacitor 100 is indicated by dotted lines.
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the substrate 200 includes a substrate body 202, power planes 204a and 204b, lands 206a and 206b, via-hole conductors 208a and 208b, and a ground plane 210. When the feedthrough capacitor 100 is mounted on the substrate 200, the external electrodes 104a and 104b are electrically connected to the power planes 204a and 204b, respectively. Also, the external electrodes 106a and 106b are electrically connected to the lands 206a and 206b, respectively. The lands 206a and 206b are electrically connected to the ground plane 210, which is embedded in the substrate body 202, through the via-hole conductors 208a and 208b, respectively. The ground plane 210 is grounded.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, there is known a substrate 300 in which the power planes 204a and 204b are embedded in the substrate body 202. When the feedthrough capacitor 100 is mounted on the substrate 300, the external electrodes 104a and 104b are electrically connected to lands 205a and 205b, respectively. Further, the lands 205a and 205b are electrically connected to the power planes 204a and 204b through via-hole conductors 209-1a, 209-2a and 209-3a and through via-hole conductors 209-1b, 209-2b and 209-3b, respectively.
In either case in which the feedthrough capacitor 100 is mounted on the substrate 200 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B or on the substrate 300 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a DC current including high-frequency noise is inputted to the external electrode 104a from the power plane 204a. Then, as indicated by solid-line arrows in FIGS. 6B and 7B, the DC current flows through the feedthrough electrode 120 and is outputted to the power plane 204b through the external electrode 104b. On the other hand, as indicated by dotted-line arrows in FIGS. 6B and 7B, the high-frequency noise is outputted to the ground plane 210 through the external electrodes 106a and 106b due to the presence of the capacity formed between the feedthrough electrode 120 and each of the capacitor electrodes 116 and 122. As a result, the high-frequency noise is removed from the DC current.
Lately, miniaturization of semiconductor structures has been progressed in order to employ a higher clock frequency in the MPU and to reduce the size of the MPU. With further miniaturization of semiconductor structures, a threshold voltage is reduced, and an operating voltage of the MPU is reduced correspondingly. On the other hand, the design rule of 90 nm or less tends to increase a leakage current generated inside a semiconductor and to increase power consumption of the MPU. Accordingly, a larger current has to be supplied from a power supply to an MPU using highly miniaturized semiconductors. This results in a larger current flow in the feedthrough electrode 120 of the feedthrough capacitor 100 which is disposed around the MPU.
However, when a larger current flows in the feedthrough electrode 120, the feedthrough capacitor 100 generates heat due to a residual resistance (i.e., an equivalent series resistance (ESR)) of the feedthrough electrode 120. In order to suppress the generation of heat, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-349678 proposes an electronic device, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-282347 proposes a capacitor mounting structure. The proposed electronic device and capacitor mounting structure will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 8 and 9 are plan views each showing an electronic device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-349678. FIG. 10 is a sectional structural view of an electronic device in which the capacitor mounting structure according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-282347 is employed.
In the electronic devices shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, a large current is prevented from flowing in the feedthrough electrode 120 by forming an additional current path in parallel to a current path formed by the feedthrough electrode 120. More specifically, in the electronic devices shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the lands 205a and 205b, which are electrically connected to the power planes 204a and 204b (not shown in FIGS. 8 and 9), respectively, are electrically connected to each other through a wiring conductor (short-circuit electrode) 207. Also, in the electronic device shown in FIG. 10, the external electrodes 104a and 104b are electrically connected to the lands 205a and 205b, respectively, which are formed on the substrate body 202. The lands 205a and 205b are electrically connected to the power planes 204a and 204b, which are formed inside the substrate body 202, through the via-hole conductors 209-1a, 209-2a and 209-3a and the via-hole conductors 209-1b, 209-2b and 209-3b (only the via-hole conductors 209-1a and 209-1b being shown in FIG. 10), respectively. The power plane 204a and the power plane 204b are electrically connected to each other also through a wiring conductor (short-circuit electrode) 207. According to each of the electronic devices constructed as described above, a current inputted from the power plane 204a is divided and flows along the current path formed by the feedthrough electrode 120 and the additional current path formed by the wiring conductor 207 (see, e.g., arrows in FIG. 10). As a result, a large current is prevented from flowing in the feedthrough electrode 120.
However, the known electronic devices have the following problems. In the electronic device shown in FIG. 8, the wiring conductor 207 is formed in a linear shape. Inductance of the wiring conductor 207 in the linear form is relatively small. Therefore, impedance of the current path formed by the linear wiring conductor 207 is also relatively small. Hence, a part of the high-frequency noise is inputted to the current path formed by the wiring conductor 207. Consequently, the electronic device shown in FIG. 8 has the problem that the high-frequency noise cannot be sufficiently removed from the DC current.
In the electronic device shown in FIG. 9, the wiring conductor 207 is bent so as to bypass the feedthrough capacitor 100. The bent wiring conductor 207 has larger impedance than the linear wiring conductor 207 shown in FIG. 8. Accordingly, the electronic device shown in FIG. 9 can remove the high-frequency noise from the DC current to a larger extent than the electronic device shown in FIG. 8. However, the electronic device shown in FIG. 9 needs to have a space for the bent wiring conductor 207, whereby the size of the electronic device is increased.
In the electronic device shown in FIG. 10, the current path formed by the feedthrough electrode 120 includes the via-hole conductors 209-1a, 209-2a, 209-3a, 209-1b, 209-2b and 209-3b. Each of the via-hole conductors 209-1a, 209-2a, 209-3a, 209-1b, 209-2b and 209-3b has relatively large inductance. Accordingly, impedance of the current path formed by the feedthrough electrode 120 is also relatively large. Hence, a part of the high-frequency noise inputted from the power plane 204a is inputted to the current path formed by the wiring conductor 207. Consequently, the electronic device shown in FIG. 10 has the problem that the high-frequency noise cannot be sufficiently removed from the DC current.

Substrate and electronic device using the same


Methods and arrangements for managing variable-priority flows in a network. Requests for transmission of digital content are received from client devices, each request being associated with a priority, the requests including at least one lower-priority delayable request and at least one higher-priority request. A usable bandwidth for delivery of the requested digital content through the network is estimated and, within the estimated usable bandwidth, there is controlled at least one flow associated with the at least one lower-priority request in the presence of at least one flow for the at least one higher-priority request. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.

The proliferation of smart mobile devices is leading to an unprecedented increase in mobile data traffic, but the distribution of traffic is not uniform over time. Networks often observe significant variation in utilization levels, mainly triggered by diurnal patterns of human activity; e.g., networks see more utilization during days than nights, cellular base-stations are more loaded during mornings and late evenings in residential areas, whereas base-stations near commercial areas are busy during office hours, etc. In fact, there is high variation in the throughput that a given traffic flow achieves even at short time scales of a few seconds.
Such variation in traffic causes traffic congestion (due to overload) at certain times of day and under-utilization at certain others. Overloaded conditions can adversely impact the quality-of-experience (QoE) of users, especially when streaming videos, and lower the effective yield of network resources. One way of alleviating the traffic congestion is to deliver traffic that users are not actively waiting for (that is, delay-tolerant traffic) during periods of lighter use. Doing so in an effective manner is not straightforward since load at a cellular base station fluctuates even at short time scales.
As such, delivery of digital content to mobile devices over a spectrum (such as 3G spectrum) carries costs for mobile network operators, over-the-top-providers, and end users. Mobile network operators provide bandwidth for delivery of data services. Cellular networks incur significant capital and operational costs, which are increasing significantly due to the rapidly growing demand. Also, cellular wireless spectrum is a scarce and increasingly expensive resource. Consequently, it is important for the operators to extract the maximum yield out of the spectrum owned. The yield of a network deployment is a function of the number of "useful" bytes delivered in time without deteriorating the QoE to users. One way of maximizing yield is to deliver delay-tolerant traffic (or flows) during times when the network has spare capacity. Such delivery will help improve QoE for real-time flows due to lower interference from competing flows. At the same time, spectrum that would otherwise remain unutilized can effectively be put to use.

Executing variable-priority jobs using multiple statistical thresholds in cellular networks


An electric drive axle, which is located between and powers the left and right drive wheels of an automotive vehicle, includes an electric motor and left and right torque couplings. Torque developed by the motor transfers through the torque couplings to axle shafts which are connected to the drive wheels. Each torque coupling includes a magnetic particle clutch and a planetary set organized such that the current flowing through the electromagnet of the clutch controls the torque delivered through the coupler. The magnetic particle clutches also accommodate slippage so that the drive wheels may rotate at different angular velocities.

This invention relates in general to automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to an electrically-powered drive axle for an automotive vehicle.
The typical automobile derives all the power required to propel it from an internal combustion engine which is coupled to left and right drive wheels through a transmission and differential. Indeed, the differential divides the torque produced by the engine evenly between the drive wheels to which it is coupled. Recently several automotive manufacturers have demonstrated an interest in automobiles that in one way or another utilize electric motors to propel the vehicles. But these vehicles still rely on differentials of conventional construction to divide torque between the left and right drive wheels and to accommodate variations in speed between the drive wheels, such as when the vehicle negotiates a turn.
However, an equal division of torque between the drive wheels on each side of a differential is not always desirable. For example, if the traction available to one of the drive wheels is diminished, most of the torque should flow to the other drive wheel. Also in turns, handling improves if most of the torque flows to the drive wheel on the outside of the turn.


Embodiments disclosed aggregate a plurality of crowdsourced measurement sets for antennas received from a plurality of Mobile Stations (MS) with a Base Station Almanac (BSA), based on a measurement location estimate and a measurement location uncertainty estimate associated with each measurement set. A map comprising a plurality of map layers may be obtained, where each map layer associates locations in the BSA with spatially variable Forward Link Calibration (FLC) values for the antenna derived from the updated BSA data, wherein each spatially variable FLC value is associated with a corresponding location in the updated BSA data. Map layers, which may also include multipath map and/or received signal strength layers, may be provided to MS′ as location assistance data.

It is often desirable to know the location of a terminal such as a cellular phone. For example, a location services (LCS) client may desire to know the location of a terminal in the case of an emergency services call or to provide some service to the user of the terminal such as navigation assistance or direction finding. The terms "location" and "position" are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein.
One method of determining the location of Mobile Stations (MS′) is based on measurements of the times of signal arrival from multiple antennas. For example, an MS may measure time differences in received signals from a plurality of base station antennas. Because positions of the base station antennas are known, the observed time differences may be used to calculate the location of the terminal.
An MS may make use of a Base Station Almanac (BSA) to perform measurement calculations and/or may send the measurements to a location server for position calculation. The term Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) is used to describe terrestrial positioning in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, while the term Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) is used in the context of Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems.
Typically, accuracy in terrestrial positioning is dependent on synchronization of base station clocks and signal transmissions. However, variations in hardware and installation procedures may cause variations in inter-cell synchronization on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds. Even a 100 nanosecond synchronization variation between cells translates into 30 meters of ranging error. Therefore, for optimal performance, terrestrial positioning systems require calibration.
However, current calibration procedures are cumbersome and resource intensive, and often involve significant field data collection in the vicinity of every cell transmitter in a network. Additionally, calibrations change with time due to network maintenance and/or reconfiguration. Thus, in existing systems, resource intensive calibration work is repeatedly performed for optimum positioning performance. Consequently, deployment interest in terrestrial positioning systems has waned because of resource intensive nature of terrestrial positioning system calibration.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods to facilitate terrestrial positioning system calibration, thereby improving terrestrial positioning system deployment and utilization.

Terrestrial positioning system calibration


This disclosure features methods and compositions for treating diseases of the gastrointestinal tract with an IL-12/IL-23 inhibitor.

Interleukin-23 (IL-23) is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of an IL-12p40 subunit (that is shared with IL-12) and the IL-23p19 subunit. IL-23 is primarily produced by professional antigen-presenting cells (e.g. dendritic cells and macrophages) and monocytes in response to an infection with variety of bacterial and fungal pathogens. IL-23R is expressed on various adaptive and innate immune cells including Th17 cells, γδ T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, and innate lymphoid cells, which are found abundantly in the intestine. IL-23R and downstream effector cytokines have a primary role in disease pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in acute and chronic mouse models. In patients with IBD, gene expression and protein levels of IL-23R are elevated at the intestine mucosal surface. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that IL-23 mediates its pathogenic effects by promoting the development of a pathogenic CD4+ T cell population that produces IL-6, IL-17, and tumor necrosis factor (e.g., TNF-alpha).
Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is an interleukin that is naturally produced by a variety of cell types including macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, and human B-lymphoblastoid cells (NC-37). It is a heterodimeric cytokine comprising four alpha helices that are encoded by two separate genes: IL-12A (p35) and IL-12B (p40). IL-12 plays a role in balancing T cell-mediated pro- and anti-inflammatory immune responses, and are thought to have a role in the regulation of intestinal homeostasis, and ultimately, the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disorders.
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract generally provides a therapeutic medium for an individual's body. At times, therapeutic drugs may need to be dispensed to specified locations within the small intestine or large intestine, which is more effective than oral administration of the therapeutic drugs to cure or alleviate the symptoms of some medical conditions. For example, therapeutic drugs dispensed directly within the small intestine would not be contaminated, digested or otherwise compromised in the stomach, and thus allow a higher dose to be delivered at a specific location within the small intestine. However, dispensing therapeutic drugs directly within the small intestine inside a human body (e.g., the cecum, the ascending colon) can be difficult, because a device or mechanism (e.g., special formulation) would be needed to transport a therapeutically effective dose of drug to a desired location within the small intestine and then automatically deliver the therapeutic drug at the desired location. Dispensing therapeutic drugs directly within other locations in the GI tract of the human body can be similarly difficult. Such a device or mechanism also would also need to be operated in a safe manner in that the device or mechanism needs to physically enter the human body.
In sum, there remains a significant unmet medical need for improved treatment regimens for gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including a need for regimens which can dispense therapeutics to specific locations within the GI tract, thereby reducing or avoiding the drawbacks of oral or other forms of systemic administration.

Treatment of a disease of the gastrointestinal tract with an IL-12/IL-23 inhibitor released using an ingestible device


The disposable diaper according to the present invention includes a base sheet (12) made of nonwoven fabric and a hook sheet (110) provided with a plurality of engagement hooks. A KES bending stiffness value in a fastening tape existent region (SHS) is equal to or less than 1.64 gf·cm2/cm, the height of the engagement hook is between 60 and 200 μm; and the color difference (ΔE) between the hook sheet existent region (SHS) on the inner side of a fastening tape (100) and side flaps (50) adjacent to the fastening tape (100) is 6.5 or more, when the color difference of L* is ΔL*, the color difference of a* is Δa*, and the color difference of b* is Δb* according to the L*a*b* color coordinate system.

In the conventional art, as a disposable diaper mainly used in an infant and toddler and the like, there is widely provided so called an open-type disposable diaper provided with a fastening tape for fixing at side flaps of a back waistline portion (or a front waistline portion) thereof. The open-type disposable diaper provided with the above-described fastening tape has been widely used, in particular, in a new-born baby and an infant and toddler because it is easily attachable and detachable.
In the above open-type disposable diaper, there has been known a structure in which a proximal end of a skin contact surface side of the fastening tape is covered by side flaps (nonwoven fabric) more flexible than the fastening tape (for example, Patent Literature 1). According to the above disposable diaper, since the fastening tape prevents the skin of an infant and toddler and the like from being stimulated, it is difficult for the infant and toddler to feel discomfort or pain.


An internal combustion engine is described having a valve mechanism which comprises a gas exchange poppet valve, a camshaft rotatable in synchronism with the engine crankshaft and having a cam for operating the valve, a valve actuator acting on the popper valve to open and close the valve, and an intermediate rocker having a follower acted upon by the cam and a contoured surface that acts on the valve actuator to open and close the valve in synchronism with the rotation of the cam, the intermediate rocker having a pivot axis that is movable in order to vary the valve lift. In the invention, the intermediate rocker is mounted about a pivot shaft that is moved to vary the valve lift in response to rotation of the pivot shaft about its own axis, and the pivot shaft is constrained to move along a path which is such that, while the cam follower is on the base circle of the cam, the valve actuator remains stationary and a substantially constant clearance is maintained between the contoured surface of the intermediate rocker and the valve actuator during displacement of the pivot shaft along the path.

The known BMW Valvetronic valve mechanism, as described for example in EP 1039103, operates in the manner described above and is believed to constitute the closest published prior art to the present invention. In the known mechanism, the intermediate rocker pivots about a point at its upper end which can be moved from side to side by means of a cam. At a point between its two ends, the intermediate rocker carries the cam follower, its lower end being contoured and in contact with the valve actuating rocker.
The valve mechanism described in EP 1039103 suffers from several disadvantages. First, the mechanism requires a special cylinder head that increases the overall height of the engine and can cause packaging problems. Second, the intermediate member is not positively retained in the cylinder head and is merely allowed to free float, being urged against its various contact points (at the cam and at its pivot) by means of a spring. Third, a complex control mechanism is required to enable the valve events of several valves to be controlled at the same time.

Engine with variable lift valve mechanism


A medical electronic apparatus includes: a casing including a lid portion provided with: a first inlet duct; a second inlet duct; and an outlet duct, the lid portion being configured to open the second inlet duct when the first inlet duct is blocked; a detection unit configured to detect an open/close state of the lid portion; and an output unit configured to output information regarding blockage of the first inlet duct based on a detection result of the detection unit.

The present disclosure relates to a medical electronic apparatus.
An electronic apparatus provided with electronic parts typically has a mechanism for suctioning and discharging external air in order to cool the electronic parts from which heat is generated during operation. For example, JP 2003-8272 A discusses an electronic apparatus provided with a cooling fan, a dustproof filter provided in an inlet duct, an emergency preliminary filter, and a partitioning board pressed by a spring to an inner surface of the preliminary filter. In this technique, when clogging of the filter is progressed, and a pressure loss is generated over a critical range, the partition board moves inward of the apparatus to allow the air to flow to the inside through the preliminary filter to maintain cooling of the electronic parts. In this technique, movement of the partitioning board inward of the apparatus is detected, and a warning is output.
A surface of the medical electronic apparatus may be covered by a cover such as a cover cloth or drape in order to prevent contamination caused by intrusion of drugs or liquid into the inside of the apparatus in some cases. When the cover blocks the inlet duct, cooling of the electronic parts using the air is hindered, and a temperature of the inside of the apparatus increases, so that a trouble may occur. In order to address such a problem, it is conceived that control may be performed such that heat radiation efficiency is improved by increasing the rotation number of the cooling fan when an increase of the internal temperature of the apparatus is detected.


An apparatus and method for controlling a wind turbine having a plurality of blades such that the blade angle of each blade is continuously adjusted during loss of grid power relative to a wind direction relative to an orientation of the nacelle (i.e., yaw offset) and a rotor azimuth while keeping the orientation of the nacelle of the wind turbine substantially constant. The wind turbine is capable of pitching the blades a full 360 degrees and generating power from the rotation of the rotor shaft during loss of grid power.

This invention relates generally to wind turbines, and more particularly to a system and method for efficiently controlling wind turbines during grid loss and a change in wind conditions, especially under storm winds, to maintain the rotor speed at a substantially constant value to keep the uninterruptable power supply (UPS) active.
Recently, wind turbines have received increased attention as an environmentally safe and relatively inexpensive alternative energy source. With this growing interest, considerable efforts have been made to develop wind turbines that are reliable and efficient.
Generally, a wind turbine includes a rotor having multiple blades. The rotor is mounted within a housing or nacelle, which is positioned on top of a truss or tubular tower. Utility grade wind turbines (i.e., wind turbines designed to provide electrical power to a utility grid) can have large rotors (e.g., 80 or more meters in diameter). Blades on these rotors transform wind energy into a rotational torque or force that drives one or more generators, rotationally coupled to the rotor through a gearbox. The gearbox may be used to step up the inherently low rotational speed of the turbine rotor for the generator to efficiently convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, which is fed into a utility grid. Some turbines utilize generators that are directly coupled to the rotor without using a gearbox.
The design of the blades and the tower of a wind turbine are often dimensioned by the extreme loads that occur during storm winds combined with grid loss. Even though the turbine blades are fixed at an angle close to ninety (90) degrees, they are not really in a feathered position because the lack of grid power prevents the wind turbine from yawing towards the wind direction. Extreme loads in the blades and tower are produced by the force of strong storm winds that hit a large surface area of the blade (lateral yaw direction). The storm loads may be alleviated by providing a source of secondary power, such as a diesel generator, in order to yaw the turbine towards the incoming wind. For example, one such method keeps the plane of rotation of the rotor substantially perpendicular to the direction of wind. The blade angle of the rotor blades are adjusted to a minimum operating angle close to ninety (90) degrees for spinning the rotor and the generator to produce the necessary power to turn the rotor and to keep the rotor toward the incoming wind during storm loads. However, it is desirable to alleviate the need for a separate backup generator because of the extra cost and complexity associate therewith.
In addition, the yawing of the wind turbine to keep the rotor perpendicular to the wind direction may cause undesirable cable twisting as the wind direction changes. Therefore, there is a limit on how much the wind turbine can yaw, which is usually at most about three full rotations in either direction. In addition, the yawing the turbine can only be done very slowly (about 0.5 degrees/s) due to load constraints on the turbine structure. Hence, if the wind direction changes rapidly, one will not be able to keep the rotor perpendicular to the wind direction and the strategy used in conventional wind turbines will not have the desired outcome. Therefore, it is desirable to alleviate the storm loads without the need to yaw the turbine towards the incoming wind.

System and method for controlling a wind turbine during loss of grid power and changing wind conditions


The invention relates to a device for calculating FSM bits by means of which the signals sent from two antennas of a base station are influenced with reference to their phase difference and/or their amplitudes. The FSM bits are calculated with the aid of two estimated channel impulse responses. The device is present in hard-wired form.

In the case of a mobile radio system that comprises a base station with two antennas and a mobile radio subscriber, a fixed phase relationship is set up between the two transmission channels, which are to be assigned in each case to one of the antennas of the base station. In the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) standard, a so-called CLTD (Closed Loop Mode Transmit Diversity) function can be used to influence the relationship of the signals emitted by two antennas in order thereby to achieve constructive interference of the two transmission channels. The CLTD function can be operated in a mode 1 and a mode 2. The phase of one of the two antennas can be varied in mode 1. The phase of the other antenna remains fixed. The overall result is to vary the phase relationship between the two antennas. In addition to the variation, known from mode 1, in the phase relationship, mode 2 provides a variation in the amplitudes of the signals emitted from the antennas. The amplitudes of both antennas can be varied in mode 2.
The CLTD function is described in the 3GPP TS 25.214 UMTS specification. This specification is referenced repeatedly below. All data refer in this case to the V4.2.0 (2001-09) version.
FSM (Feedback Signalling Message) data words that are transmitted to the base station are formed in the mobile radio terminal from estimated channel impulse responses by means of the CLTD function. The channel impulse responses of both channels are always used in this case for an FSM data word. The FSM data words include information specific to the base station and relating to the optimum phase relationship and, if appropriate, relating to the optimum amplitudes of the signals to be emitted from the two antennas.
Two antenna weightings w1 and w2 that are applied to the signals which are to be emitted from the two antennas are formed in the base station from an FSM data word. The antenna weightings w1 and w2 are complex and have the following form:w1=α1+jβ1  (1)w2=α2+jβ2  (2)
Two diversity components are evaluated by multiplying the signals to be emitted by the antenna weightings w1 and w2. In this case, the antenna weightings w1 and w2 are selected with the aim of maximizing per slot the energy received by the mobile radio terminal while taking account of the weight quantization prescribed in the UMTS standard. This is equivalent to maximizing a proportionality factor P that is given by the following equation:
                    P        =                                                                              w                  →                                H                                                          [                                                                                H                        11                                                                                H                        12                                                                                H                        21                                                                                H                        22                                                                                ]                                                                w              →                                =                                                                      w                  →                                H                                                          (                                                      ∑                                          m                      =                      1                                        M                                                                                H                      m                      H                                                                                H                      m                                                                      )                                                                w              →                                                          (        3        )
Here, the index m denotes the respective base station m (m=1, . . . , M). Furthermore, it holds for the matrix Hm and the vector w that:Hm=[{right arrow over (h)}m,1,{right arrow over (h)}m,2]  (4){right arrow over (w)}=[w1,w2]T  (5)
The indices 1 and 2 relate to two antennas i of a base station m. {right arrow over (h)}m,i are complex (Nm×1) vectors that stand for the channel impulse responses estimated by the channel estimator with a channel depth Nm. Each vector {right arrow over (h)}m,i is to be associated with one of the antennas i of the base station m. It is to be assumed without loss of generality for the following considerations that only one base station m is sending (M=1). The index m is therefore omitted below, thus simplifying equation (4):H=[{right arrow over (h)}1,{right arrow over (h)}2]  (6)With i, j=1, 2, it holds for the elements Hij of the matrix from equation (3) that:
                                          H                          i                                                                                j                                =                                                                      h                  →                                i                H                                                                            h                  →                                j                                      =                                                                            H                                      i                                                                                j                                                                                                            ⅇ                                  jφ                                      H                                          i                                                                                j                                                                                ,                            (        7        )
|Hij| specifying a modulus and φHij phase angle.
Consequently, the technical problem to be solved includes a determination of the antenna weightings w1 and w2 per slot in such a way that the proportionality factor P is maximized for given estimated channel impulse responses {right arrow over (h)}i=[hi,1, . . . , hi,n, . . . , hi,N]T. The boundary conditions for the value ranges of the antenna weightings w1 and w2 are to be observed in this process.
The following boundary conditions hold for the antenna weightings w1 and w2 in mode 1 of the CLTD function:
                              w          1                =                  1                      2                                              (        8        )                                          w          2                =                              1                          2                                                      ⅇ                          j                                                                                φ                2                                                                        (        9        )                                          φ          2                ∈                  {                      0            ,                          π              2                        ,            π            ,                          -                              π                2                                              }                                    (        10        )
In this case, the phase angle φ2(s) is a function of the slot index s (s=1, 2, . . . , S). More detailed explanations of this are to be found in section 7.2 of the 3GPP TS 25.214 V4.2.0 UMTS specification.
The following boundary conditions hold for the antenna weightings w1 and w2 in mode 2 of the CLTD function:
                              w          1                =                              E            1                                              (        11        )                                          w          2                =                                            E              2                                                      ⅇ                          j                                                                                φ                2                                                                        (        12        )                                          E          1                ,                              E            2                    ∈                      {                          0.2              ,              0.8                        }                                              (        13        )                                                      E            1                    +                      E            2                          =        1                            (        14        )                                          φ          2                ∈                  {                      0            ,                          π              4                        ,                          π              2                        ,                                          3                                π                            4                        ,            π            ,                          -                              π                4                                      ,                          -                              π                2                                      ,                          -                                                3                                    π                                4                                              }                                    (        15        )
Here, the amplitudes E1(s) and E2(s) as well as the phase angle φ2(s) are functions of the slot index s (s=1, 2, . . . , S). Mode 2 is described in more detail in section 7.3 of the 3GPP TS 25.214 V4.2.0 UMTS specification.
To date, the optimum values for the phase angle φ2(s) and, if appropriate, for the amplitudes E1(s) and E2(s) have been determined as a function of the mode and slot index s by parameterizing equation (3) or by substituting the values in question. In this process, it is necessary in mode 1 to make a selection from only two phase angle values per slot. By contrast, it is necessary in mode 2 to evaluate 16 combinations of amplitude and phase angle. This problem has been solved to date by means of a digital signal processor because of the structure of the calculating algorithm. In this process, the digital signal processor generates on the output side an FSM data word which consists of FSM bits and includes information relating to the optimum values for the phase angle φ2(s) and, if appropriate, for the amplitudes E1(s) and E2(s).

Device for calculating FSM bits in the UMTS standard


A system for cold gas dynamic spraying of particulate material has a de Laval nozzle and two or more radial particle inlets located between the throat and the outlet of the nozzle, the two or more particle inlets arranged symmetrically around a linear flow path of the nozzle. Blocking of the inlets is reduced by controlling pressure of particle carrier gas to provide a stable particulate material injection pressure before and during introduction of working gas into the nozzle, and/or by clearing the particle inlets of residual particles after a spraying process. Such a system and associated method combines benefits of both downstream and upstream cold gas spray systems. Further, a nozzle for spraying particulate material having a cross-sectional shape that is narrower in a middle section compared to edge sections provides coatings with superior cross-sectional profiles.

Cold spray is a relatively new technology that has many advantages over conventional thermal spray processes. It is a solid-state coating and material deposition process in which small solid particles are accelerated to high velocities (e.g. 300 to 1200 m/s) by a supersonic or sub-supersonic jet flow through a de Laval nozzle and are subsequently deposited onto the substrate through an impact process to form a coating or deposition. When the high velocity particles impact on a substrate, severe plastic deformation occurs in the particles as well as in the substrate and a deposit is formed. Helium, argon, air, nitrogen, steam, hydrogen or their mixtures are usually used as the processing gas.
There exists a particle critical impact velocity (a threshold) for successful deposition of a given coating and substrate material combination. Only above this critical velocity, the particles can be successfully deposited to form a coating. This critical velocity depends on the properties of the substrate material and its surface conditions, the properties of the coating material, the powder quality, the particle size and the particle impact temperature. High inlet gas pressure and high inlet gas temperature can increase the gas jet velocity and therefore particle velocity. In addition, helium may be used to increase the gas and particle velocity.
As compared to the conventional thermal spray techniques, one of the most important features of the cold spray process is that the temperature of the sprayed particles is always below their melting points and all of the particles are substantially in the solid-state throughout the spray process. This solid-state processing brings several unique advantages, such as avoiding the undesirable chemical change (such as oxidation) and microstructural change (such as grain growth) during the deposition process and producing minimal or even compressive residual stresses. Therefore, cold spray is ideally suitable for depositing oxygen-sensitive materials (e.g. Al, Mg, Ti, Cu, etc.), temperature-sensitive materials (e.g. nano-structured and amorphous materials) and phase-sensitive material (e.g. carbide composites).
Cold spray has the potential to deposit coatings and/or to build three dimensional structures with high deposition rate, very high purity, high density and many other unique properties. This technology has received more and more interests worldwide from both academia and industry.
Currently, based on how powder is introduced into the jet flow, there are two types of cold spray techniques: upstream powder feeding technique and downstream powder feeding technique. The upstream powder feeding technique uses high pressure gases and has high deposition efficiencies but is very expensive from the point of view of equipment and operational cost. On the other hand, the downstream powder feeding technique uses low pressure gas supplies and is portable and much less expensive. However, due to the low particle velocities that can be reached, the downstream powder feeding technique can only deposit limited number of materials and the deposition efficiencies are much lower.
Upstream Powder Feeding Technique:
In the upstream powder feeding system, powder is introduced into the gas flow at the converging section of the nozzle co-axially along with the nozzle central line. The basic structure of an upstream powder feeding cold spray system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,414 [1].
One of the common problems encountered in the operation of the upstream powder feeding systems is clogging of the nozzle, especially at the nozzle throat between the converging and diverging sections. Steenkiste et al. [4] disclosed a method to mitigate the problem of nozzle clogging during kinetic spray. It was suggested that a second particle population with either a larger average particle diameter or higher yield strength (hardness/elastic modulus) be mixed with the (first) particle population that is to be deposited. The mixture of the particles is accelerated such that the first particle population reaches a velocity that exceeds its critical velocity and is deposited on the substrate to form the desired coating, while the velocity of the second particle population is insufficient to cause its adherence on the substrate and/or the inside of the nozzle, thus avoiding nozzle clogging. In European Patent Publication 1630253, Zhao et al. [5] also suggested to incorporate an additional hard component into the spraying powder in order to prevent nozzle clogging.
In US Patent Publication No. US2005/0214474 [6], Han et al. disclose a nozzle design method for kinetic spray where a gas/powder conditioning chamber is inserted between the prior art powder/gas mixing chamber and the de Laval nozzle. This design was claimed to considerably increase the residence time of particles in the hot main stream gas, increasing the particle temperature and hence the deposition efficiency. Three (upstream) powder injection methods were suggested: (a) co-axial (in-line) with the axis of the conditioning chamber (the conventional method); (b) vertical (oblique) to the axis of the conditioning chamber; and (c) tangential (swirl) to the circumference of the cross-section of the conditioning chamber. Nevertheless, although methods (b) and (c) potentially increase particle temperatures, particle velocity at nozzle exit is lower than in the case of the (conventional) axial injection (method (a)).
US Patent Publication No. 2006/0201418 by Ko et al. [7] teaches the design of nozzle cross-section profiles (along the gas flow direction) and powder injection configurations to reduce/eliminate choking of nozzle throat. According to this disclosure, powder injection tube end is located coaxially in the throat region or in the outlet region beyond the throat area (the conventional diverging section). The proposed nozzle profiles along its axial cross-section do not have the conventional de Laval nozzle shapes.
Downstream Powder Feeding Technique:
In the downstream powder feeding system, the spray powder particles are introduced to the gas flow at a location down the stream after the throat of the nozzle (diverging portion). This configuration eliminates the need for an expensive high-pressure powder feeder. It also avoids the severe wear of the nozzle throat as occurs in the upstream feeding system, thus significantly simplifying the structure of the equipment. Because the spray powder particles are fed through the side of the nozzle in the diverging section where the gas temperature drops dramatically due to the volume expansion, inlet gas temperatures higher than the upstream powder feeding may be permitted to pre-heat the main working gas for increasing gas and particle velocities.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,050 [8], Kashirin et al. discloses an apparatus for cold spray in which the outlet of a low-pressure powder feeder is connected to the diverging section of the nozzle through a conduit. Powder particles are injected radially into the gas stream in the nozzle by atmospheric air flow. In order to effectively transport the powder to the supersonic gas stream, the location for introducing the powder to the nozzle must be determined such that the cross-sectional areas of the supersonic nozzle at the juncture of the nozzle and the powder-feeder conduit is related to the throat area and the gas pressure at the nozzle inlet by a particular relationship.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,967 [9], Heinrich et al. teaches a method for the introduction of spray powder particles co-axially and centrally within the de Laval nozzle not before the convergent section of the nozzle. In this configuration, the tube/nozzle carrying the powder particles passes through the pre-mixing and mixing chambers and the converging regions of the nozzle. US Patent Publication No. 2005/0040260 [10] by Zhao et al. also suggests the use of a coaxial powder injector tube passing through the throat into the diverging section of the nozzle. In this case, the injector tube passes through the centre hole of a gas collimator with surrounding holes. A low pressure powder feeder can be used for these powder feeding configurations.
US Patent Publication No. 2004/0058064 [11] and U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,893 [12], U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,812 [13] and U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,427 [14] disclose and apply a nozzle design method for kinetic spray and spray powder particles are introduced through one or more of a plurality of powder injection inlets located along the diverging section of the nozzle. The use of multiple powder injection points provides a means for more versatile adjusting and control of the spray process and coating quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,085 awarded to Muehlberger [15] describes a cold spray system that encloses the exit of the accelerated gas and particles from the spray nozzle inside a chamber where the pressure is controlled to much less than atmospheric pressure. This reduced ambient pressure results in substantially higher acceleration of gas and particles under similar static input gas pressures as compared with spraying in normal atmospheric pressures. In addition, an arrangement of valves and powder injection points is provided at various locations along the heating coil and within the spray nozzle to enable powder to be introduced at different selected locations. In this manner, heating of the powder and of the gas can be varied relative to each other to achieve various results.
The Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-095886 [16] discloses a cold spray nozzle design methodology where the nozzle comprises a short divergent cone portion and a parallel wall extension portion. Powder with or without pre-heating is injected in the parallel extension tube portion at either single or plural locations/points. A low pressure powder feeder can be used.
In US Patent Publication No. 2007/0160769 [17], Maev et al. provide a cold spray gun that continuously measures the powder flow rate using a sensor and, based on this feed back information, either or both of the conveyance gas flow rate and the powder feed rate is/are adjusted so that a stable operation conditions are maintained. The application also suggests the use of axially-spaced multi-injection points for powder feeding downstream the gas flow for the convenience of changing feeding conditions.
In order to prevent adhesion/deposition of particles on nozzle walls, Shkodkin [18] proposed to apply cooling at the diverging portion of the nozzle for downstream powder feeding system. Haynes and Sanders [19] provided a method for preventing nozzle clogging in US Patent Publication No. US2004/0191449 by using polybenzimidazole (PBI) to fabricate at least the diverging portion of the nozzle. This material was found to have good properties of anti-adhesion by spray metal powders.
Polovtsev [31] and Kashirin et al. [32] disclose cold spray devices having two powder injectors where the powder feed injectors are disposed in the downstream portion of the nozzle opposite each other in the same cross section of the nozzle. The injectors are at an angle of 30° to 90° (31] or at angle of 90° [32] to the nozzle axis and the direction of flow. Such a paired powder injection arrangement helps the powder flow substantially along the nozzle centerline and hence reduces the probability of particle deposition/adhesion on the nozzle wall, thereby reducing nozzle clogging.
Comparison to Thermal Spray
In terms of gas and particle acceleration, there are certain similarities in apparatus configurations between the cold spray process and high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray process. In modern HVOF systems (e.g. Thorpe et al. [22]), a combustion process generates high temperature and high pressure gas flow in a combustion chamber which exits through a nozzle/barrel that may have a de Laval type of shape including a converging and a diverging section. Powder materials are introduced to the hot gas flow in two major configurations: (a) axial powder injection and (b) radial powder injection. The powder is heated to either above or below its melting temperature. The radial powder injection configuration is mainly used in the high-pressure, kerosene-fueled systems. Multiple powder injectors are usually used in this configuration distributed around the circumference of the nozzle downstream of the combustor exit.
Limitations of Existing Technology
In cold spray, the supersonic jet flow is generated through a de Laval type nozzle. For upstream powder feeding cold spray systems, particles are injected axially into the flow at the inlet of the nozzle (upstream of the nozzle throat). Therefore, one of the drawbacks of this type of systems is that a high-pressure powder feeder has to be used running at a gas pressure higher than that in the main gas stream in order to avoid powder back flow. The high-pressure powder feeders are usually very bulky and are much more expensive (over ten times) than the currently commercially available low pressure powder feeders. Another major difficulty associated with these prior art upstream systems is that the de Laval nozzle always has very narrow throat that is prone to clog easily. Clogging becomes much more severe as the particle velocity and temperature are increased. Each combination of particle and nozzle material has a threshold critical velocity and temperature above which the particles will start to block the nozzle. For example, the critical temperature for spraying aluminum using a steel nozzle is approximately 290° C. and is approximately 200° C. for spraying tin using a steel nozzle. Therefore, the inlet gas temperature in the upstream system has to be restricted to certain level to avoid the overheating of powders, the clogging of the powder injector, and the clogging of the nozzle throat. Another drawback associated with the upstream system is the severe wear of nozzle throat due to particle erosion, which affects/modifies the nozzle operation conditions and leads to large variations in operating conditions and deposit quality. This is increasingly problematic when hard particles are being sprayed.
The methods proposed by Steenkiste et al. [4] and Zhao et al. [5] to incorporate a second population of either different material or different particle size into the spray powder mixture to prevent nozzle clogging are practically not feasible. First of all, while the introduction of hard particles may prevent nozzle clogging, it significantly accelerates the nozzle wear. On the other hand, although the second population particles may not reach their critical conditions for forming deposit themselves, i.e., the very hard particles will not deform plastically while large particles (either soft or hard) will not reach their critical plastic deformation velocity required to form deposit on the substrate by themselves, these second population particles will get trapped and enclosed in the deposit/coating by the surrounding first population particles. As a result, a composite coating rather than a coating containing the only intended material of the first population particle will be obtained. This has been shown by the many published results, e.g. in [20], where metal matrix composite coatings are formed by spraying mixtures of metal and hard ceramic particles, although the hard ceramic particles can not deform and form deposit themselves.
The downstream powder feeding cold spray systems introduce the particles into the diverging portion of the nozzle (downstream of the nozzle throat) radially, which eliminates the need for complicated high-pressure powder feeders and thus significantly simplify the equipment. However, there are several shortcomings associated with the current designs of downstream systems. For example, current commercial downstream powder feeding cold spray systems are based on the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,050 [8], where powder feeding relies on atmospheric pressure and the siphon effect of the main gas flow in the nozzle. To get adequate powder feeding, the location of powder injection on the nozzle must be coordinated with the inlet gas pressure and the nozzle design is restricted to relatively low exit Mach number (usually <3). Variations on the operating parameters are thus limited once the nozzle design is determined. In addition, there is a maximum inlet gas pressure (normally <1 MPa) that such systems can use, over which the atmospheric pressure will no longer be able to supply powders into the nozzle. As a result, only relatively low particle velocities can be reached through the downstream powder feeding technique.
In US Patent Publication No. 2004/0058064 [11] and U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,893 [12], U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,812 [13], U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,085 [15], and U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,427 [14], use of commercially available powder feeders has been suggested. Proper design, downstream powder feeding systems with pressurized powder feeders potentially allows the use of increased main gas pressures and temperatures and leads to significantly improved particle velocities while still maintaining the advantages of low cost and portability. However, no relationships have so far been defined in the prior art in coordinating pressurized powder feeding with the other operation parameters such as inlet gas pressure and the configurations of the nozzle. Without clear understanding of relationships among all the operating parameters, a stable cold spray process cannot be created. The concept of using multiple powder injection points along the nozzle length provided in the US Patent Publications No. 2004/0058064 [11] and No. 2007/0160769 [17] and U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,893 [12], U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,812 [13], U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,085 [15], and U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,427 [14] does offer increased flexibility over conventional designs.
However, all the methods for the use of a powder feeder to introduce powder particles radially also cause sidewall erosion of the nozzle opposite the point of powder introduction, especially when hard materials are sprayed [10]. In some cases, the edges of the spray path produced by this method are saw-toothed. When relatively soft materials are sprayed or when inadequate processing parameters such as too high processing temperatures and/or pressures are used, adhesion/deposition of the spray materials on sidewalls of the nozzle occurs.
In the powder feeding configurations proposed by Heinrich et al. [9] and Zhao et al. [10], particles are co-axially injected to the downstream gas flow with an injector tube passing through the nozzle throat. At the end of the powder injector tube, there is a sudden change in effective main gas flow cross-section area, i.e., a sudden change in the Mach number. This can lead to considerable gas flow disturbance. Meanwhile, the gap becomes very narrow at the throat, especially for relatively small throat areas and not small enough injector tubes. For example, to obtain a throat cross-section area equivalent to a throat diameter of 2 mm in the conventional nozzle configurations with an injector tube outer diameter of 2 mm, the gap between the injector tube and the nozzle throat is only 0.4 mm. Considerable gas flow friction will occur through such narrow gaps. In addition, any slight misalignment will result in huge imbalance/disturbance in the downstream gas flow. It may even become impossible to maintain stable supersonic flow. US Patent Publication No. 2006/0201418 by Ko et al. [7] has the similar shortcomings and limitations.
Using PBI to fabricate nozzle as proposed in US Patent Publication No. US2004/0191449 [19] may alleviate the nozzle clogging problem; however, the upper working temperature of the material is only 240-400° C. and its wear resistance is not good enough for stable practical applications.
While the apparatuses of Polovtsev [31] and Kashirin et al. [32] address the nozzle clogging problem, another problem arises. In experiments conducted by the present Applicants, it has been found that the cross-sectional area (related to inner diameter) of each powder injector at the junction with the nozzle inner wall must be small enough so that substantial turbulent flow or even shock waves in the main gas flow are prevented. Otherwise, significant reduction of particle velocity and deposition efficiency may occur. However, powder injectors with such small cross-sectional areas are found to be very prone to blocking/jamming by powders, especially at startup and shutdown of the spray operation. The problem becomes more severe at increased working gas pressures. Jamming occurred at every system startup and shutting down.
With regard to HVOF there are significant differences between downstream cold spray processes and HVOF. In the HVOF process, solid particles are heated to considerably higher temperatures (molten or partly molten state) than in the cold spray process. Particle heating is a much more important consideration in HVOF than in the cold spray process, although heating of particles can also be beneficial in cold spray. In cold spray, the major purpose of heating the gas is to increase gas and particle velocities rather than to melt or partially melt the particles as in HVOF. The nozzle diameters in HVOF systems are generally much larger (about 8 mm, for example) [23] than those used in the cold spray process which are generally in the order of 2-4 mm. Thus, clogging and nozzle erosion is generally not a major issue in the HVOF process. The major consideration for using multi-port powder injection in the radial injection HVOF system is to achieve more uniform powder loading in the exit hot gas stream, more efficient use of the available heat and hence substantially higher spray rates than the axial powder injection version of HVOF. There is no teaching in the prior art of HVOF regarding the elimination of nozzle clogging and erosion or the promotion of better gas flow patterns within the nozzle by using such radial powder injection configurations. Further, since HVOF is based on the combustion of an oxy fuel to provide pressurized gas, relationships between the pressure of the gas and the injection pressure of the powder are not the same. Thus, it would not be apparent that configurations successfully used in HVOF systems would be applicable to downstream cold spray systems.
It is thus apparent that the prior art downstream powder feeding cold spray systems are not satisfactory in achieving high particle velocities to produce reliable and consistent deposition with high quality. Further improvement is necessary. It is thus highly desirable to develop an improved cold spray technology that incorporates the advantages of both existing techniques but avoids their disadvantages. There is a need for cold spray technology having deposition capabilities similar to high pressure upstream techniques while being portable, less expensive and easy to maintain and operate.

Cold gas dynamic spray apparatus, system and method


Optical transceiver modules with multiple channel connection with connectors on a motherboard of a line card for network devices, such as a switch, router, crossconnect and the like, are presented. The modules have staggered electronic boards which can engage the connectors which are laterally displaced on the motherboard. The connectors are also arranged so that one of them can engage an optical transceiver module in an SFP connection so that the motherboard connectors are compatible with multiple channel and single channel (SFP) connections.

The present invention is related to optical transceiver modules and their connections. More specifically, the invention is related to optical transceiver modules with multiple channels including a dual row pattern of optical emitters/detectors and separate transmit and detect electronics and connections which are adapted to such multiple channel, optical transceiver modules, as well as currently single channel, optical transceiver modules.
As fiber optics developed, many new technologies emerged to enhance their use. For example, fairly recently, a specification for a new generation of optical modular transceivers was developed named "small form-factor pluggable" (SFP). SFP transceivers are designed to be high bandwidth, small physical size and easily changeable (including being hot-swappable) on the line card of a network device.
Unfortunately, integrated circuit (e.g., application specific integrated circuit or ASIC) densities have increased to the point that line cards are now optical port density limited, rather than switch or processor limited. Thus, the electronics on the motherboards of the line card have the capacity to process more optical information than is currently being transmitted and received from the optical ports of the line card. This extra capacity is potential bandwidth that is not being realized. As a result, many line cards that use conventional SFP optics have unused bandwidth.
There have been many attempts to achieve higher optical port densities. For example, parallel ferrule connectors have been utilized to solve the problem of optical port density on the line card faceplate. However, this typically requires fanout cables that are bulky, expensive and may be unreliable.
Single-mode parallel solutions are available, but they have typically been very large, expensive and difficult to manufacture. Additionally, they may require permanently attached fiber pigtails due to alignment requirements.
As a solution to solve the high cost of these early parallel offerings, the parallel vertical cavity self emitting laser (VCSEL) technology was developed. However, VCSEL technology blossomed at shorter wavelengths (e.g., 850 nm) and enabled only very short multi-mode applications. Also, the majority of VCSEL based parallel optics are designed for parallel data transfer, where all channels of data are synchronous or plesiochronous. These products, therefore, typically do not allow multiple channels that are totally independent (e.g., four independent, serial data channels). Lastly, the reliability of this solution is still questionable.
It would be beneficial to have innovative techniques for providing optical transceiver modules that provides multiple channel optics without the disadvantages normally associated with this capability. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the optical and electrical crosstalk is reduced or eliminated.

Multiple channel optical transceiver modules with compatibility features