The present invention relates to a radio base station (RBS) (1). The RBS comprises a first radio unit (RU) (2) and a second RU (3). The RBS is configured such that said first and second RUs will use the same scrambling or cell identity code for communication with a wireless communication terminal (9) such that the wireless communication terminal will regard the first and second RUs as relating to the same cell of the RBS. The invention also relates to a communication system (13) comprising the RBS, as well as to a use of the RBS for performing an internal handover, after UL measurements, of the communication terminal from the first RU to the second RU, and a method of arranging the RBS.

In cellular radio systems a User Equipment (UE) can move over a geographical area covered by the system. The overall geographical area is covered by many small areas typically denoted sectors. A sector implies the geographical area covered by a radio unit and is typically also the geographical area of a cell. When the user equipment moves from one cell to another the connection between the system and the user equipment must be handed over from the cell where the user equipment is currently camping to the new cell. This is often referred to as a handover.
In existing cellular radio systems such as a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) radio system a User Equipment (UE) receives a downlink (DL) signal from a first (remote) radio unit ((R)RU) and can perform a so called softer handover to another second Radio unit by simultaneously being connected to both the first and second radio units. All cells are connected to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) via an RBS. The RNC controls all handovers. An exemplary setup illustrating such a scenario is depicted in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 depicts a radio network controller (RNC) connected to a radio base station (RBS). The radio base station comprises a main unit and a number of radio units (RRU A, RRU B and RRU C) connected to the main unit. The different radio units are related to different cells (Cell A, Cell B and Cell C). In this example the radio units are remote radio units deployed at a distance from the main unit at different transmission sites. One or many of the radio units can of course also be co-located with the main unit. The radio units are connected to the RNC via the main unit by cables such as optical cables.
The difference between the distances to the UE from different antennas for the different cells must be less than the narrow search window if the softer handover shall work.
In the set-up being depicted in FIG. 1, every sector is regarded as one cell and every (R)RU has its own scrambling code.
A problem with existing systems is that an increased number of radio units which the RNC need to control may strain the limited resources of the RNC. Also, in areas with many (R)RUs, there is a problem with interference between neighbouring RUs.


A device includes a first end portion, a second end portion, an intermediate portion between the first end portion and the second end portion, and a graft material coupled to at least the intermediate portion. The first end portion has a first end diameter. The second end portion has a second end diameter larger than the first end diameter. The intermediate portion tapers between the first end portion and the second end portion. A method of diverting fluid flow from a first passage to a second passage comprising deploying the device in a third passage between the first passage and the second passage, expanding the first end portion against sidewalls of the first passage, and expanding the second end portion against sidewalls of the second passage.

The present application relates to devices and methods and for use in percutaneous interventional surgery. In particular, the present application relates to devices and methods for providing or maintaining fluid flow through passages such as heart cavities and blood vessels.
Minimally invasive percutaneous surgery, commonly known as "key-hole" surgery, is a well-known surgical technique wherein surgical devices are inserted into a patient's body through a small aperture cut. For example, it is often preferable to use key-hole surgery in cardiovascular procedures, so as to avoid the substantial discomfort, need for general anesthesia, trauma, high risk of infection, and long recovery time typically associated with conventional surgery.
Key-hole surgery is often used in the treatment of coronary heart disease, in which a coronary artery is partially occluded by a blockage such as an atheroma. For example, in balloon angioplasty, a balloon catheter including a flexible, hollow tube is inserted into an artery, usually near the patient's groin, and is guided through the body to the patient's heart. The heart and the cardiac arteries may be visualised using X-ray fluoroscopy, and the tip of the catheter may be fluorescent so that its position can be determined. The catheter carries an inflatable balloon near its distal tip. The balloon is positioned in or near to the blockage, and then the balloon is inflated so as to widen or dilate the occluded blood vessel to restore blood flow through the coronary artery to the cardiac tissue.
A tubular supporting device (e.g., stent) may be deployed at the site of the blockage to prevent future occlusion (restenosis) or collapse of the blood vessel. The stent may, for example, be an expandable metal mesh tube which is carried on the balloon of the balloon catheter. While on the catheter, the tube has a relatively small diameter in comparison to the diameter of the blood vessel. The stent expands when the balloon is inflated, so that the stent pushes against the wall of the blood vessel. The stent is arranged to retain its expanded shape when it reaches its expanded position, for example by plastic deformation or by means of a mechanical locking mechanism, so as to form a resilient scaffold or support in the blood vessel. The support structure (e.g., stent) supports and dilates the wall of the blood vessel to maintain a pathway for blood to flow through the vessel. Self-expanding stents are also available, which are held in a collapsed state by a suitably adapted catheter for transport through the artery and which adopt an expanded state when deployed at the site of the blockage. The catheter may, for example, include a retaining sleeve which retains the stent in a compressed or unexpanded state. Upon removal or withdrawal of the sleeve from the stent, the stent expands to support and dilate the wall of the blood vessel.
In acute cases of coronary heart disease, where a coronary artery is severely or completely occluded, angioplasty may not be suitable. Instead, coronary bypass surgery may be required. Bypass surgery is an open-chest or open-heart procedure, and typically involves grafting a piece of healthy blood vessel onto the coronary artery so as to bypass the blockage and restore blood flow to the coronary tissue. The healthy blood vessel is usually a vein harvested from the patient's leg or arm during the course of the bypass operation. To perform the procedure, the patient's heart must be exposed by opening the chest, separating the breastbone, and cutting the pericardium surrounding the heart, resulting in significant surgical trauma.
Certain patients are unsuitable as candidates for conventional coronary bypass surgery, due low expectation of recovery or high risk from the significant trauma due to surgery, high risk of infection, absence of healthy vessels to use as bypass grafts, significant co-morbidities, and expected long and complicated recovery time associated with open-chest surgery. For example, factors such as diabetes, age, obesity, and smoking may exclude patients who are in need of treatment.

Devices for fluid flow through body passages


The present invention is based, at least in part, on the discovery of compositions and methods for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases or disorders, e.g., HIV infection, AIDS, and AIDS-related diseases. In particular, the present invention pertains to methods of modulating cellular gene expression or protein activity, e.g., CCR5, gene expression or protein activity and/or gene expression or protein activity of a gene or sequence of an infectious agent, in order to treat or prevent infectious diseases or disorders, HIV infection, AIDS, or an AIDS-related disease or disorder. In one embodiment the combination of an RNA interfering agent targeting a cellular gene in combination with an RNA interfering agent targeting a gene or sequence of an infectious agent results in prolonged prevention of infection by an infectious agent. The present invention is based on the identification of novel RNA interference agents, e.g., siRNA molecules, which target cellular genes, e.g., chemokine receptors, e.g., the CCR5 gene, and result in inhibition of target gene expression on target gene expressing cells, thereby inhibiting entry of infectious agents, e,g., HIV infection into target cells, prevention infection, and/or suppressing replication in established infection.

The human retrovirus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), an incurable disease in which the body's immune system breaks down leaving the victim vulnerable to opportunistic infections, e.g., pneumonia, and certain cancers, e.g., Kaposi's Sarcoma. AIDS is a major global health problem. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that there are now over 34 million people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide, some 28.1 million of those infected individuals reside in impoverished sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States, approximately one out of every 500 people are infected with HIV or have AIDS. Since the beginning of the epidemic, AIDS has killed nearly 19 million people worldwide, including some 425,000 Americans. AIDS has replaced malaria and tuberculosis as the world's deadliest infectious disease among adults and is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide.
The molecular mechanism of HIV entry into cells involves specific interactions between the viral envelope glycoproteins (env) and two target cell proteins, CD4 and the chemokine receptors. HIV cell tropism is determined by the specificity of the env for a particular chemokine receptor, a 7 transmembrane-spanning, G protein-coupled receptor (Steinberger et al., (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97: 805-10). The two major families of chemokine receptors are the CXC chemokine receptors and the CC chemokine receptors (CCR) so named for their binding of CXC and CC chemokines, respectively. While CXC chemokine receptors traditionally have been associated with acute inflammatory responses, the CCRs are mostly expressed on cell types found in connection with chronic inflammation and T-cell-mediated inflammatory reactions: eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, and T cells (Nansen, et al. 2002, Blood 99:4). It has been shown that CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) represents the major co-receptor for primary Macrophage-cell-line-tropic (M-tropic) HIV strains (Deng et al. (1996) Nature 381:661). M-tropic strains predominate during the asymptotic phase of the disease in infected individuals (Samson, et al. (1996) Nature 382:722). Eventually, however, HIV can become dual-tropic. Such strains are capable of recognizing the CXCR4 protein on CD4-bearing T-cells. During this phase HIV-1 may infect both macrophages and T-cells. Still later, the bulk of the viral population may switch it's preference to the CXCR4 receptor and become T-cell-line-tropic (T-tropic). T-tropic viruses readily destroy infected T-cells, contributing to the collapse of the immune system and the onset of AIDS which leads to opportunistic infections, neurological disease, neoplastic growth and eventual death.

Inhibition of gene expression using RNA interfering agents


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising: supplying a gas from an upstream side of a reaction chamber; heating the gas by using heat treatment means located on the upstream of the reaction chamber, and making the gas flow downstream; and heating a substrate to be processed arranged on a downstream side of the reaction chamber while circulating the gas from the downstream side of the reaction chamber to the upstream side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat treatment method and to a heat treatment apparatus applying the heat treatment method. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of heat treatment, and a heat treatment apparatus, in which a gas is heated by thermal radiation from a heat generator such as a lamp, and then a substrate to be processed, or formations on the substrate to be processed, are then heated by using the heated gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat treatment processes for objectives such as oxidation, diffusion, gettering, and crystallization after ion injection with respect to semiconductors and semiconductor substrates are incorporated into methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices. Horizontal and vertical hot wall type annealing furnaces are typical examples of apparatuses for performing such heat treatment.
Horizontal and vertical annealing furnaces are batch type devices for processing a plurality of substrates at a time. For example, substrates are loaded horizontally and in parallel into a susceptor made from quartz with vertical annealing furnaces, and the substrates are taken into, and removed from a reaction chamber by using a vertical motion elevator. Heaters are disposed in the periphery of a bell jar type reaction chamber, and the substrates are heated by using the heaters. The amount of time necessary for heat up until achieving a predetermined heat treatment temperature, and the amount of time necessary for cooling to a temperature at which it is possible to remove the substrates, are relatively long.
However, extremely precise process accuracy are required for devices such as MOS transistors used in integrated circuits due to their miniaturization. In particular, it is necessary to keep the diffusion of impurities to the minimum possible when forming shallow junctions. It is difficult to form shallow junctions with furnace annealing processes that require a lot of time for heat up and cool down.
Rapid thermal annealing (hereafter referred to as RTA) has been developed as a heat treatment technique for performing rapid heating and rapid cooling. With RTA, substrates or formations on the substrates are heated quickly using means such as an infrared lamp, making it possible to perform heat treatment in a short amount of time.
On the other hand, the use of thin film transistors (hereafter referred to as TFTs) has been gathering attention as a technique in which it is possible to form integrated circuits directly on a glass substrate. Development of applications of this technique to new electronic devices such as liquid crystal display devices has been advancing. In particular, heat treatment for activation and in order to relieve distortions is necessary for TFTs in which impurity regions such as source and drain regions are formed in a polycrystalline semiconductor film formed over a glass substrate. However, the distortion point of glass substrates is at best from 600 to 700° C., they have poor heat resistance, and easily break due to thermal shocks, which is a disadvantage.
With a conventional vertical or horizontal annealing furnace, it becomes difficult to ensure a uniform heat treatment temperature, if the substrate size is made large size, whether the substrates for forming integrated circuits are semiconductors or materials like glass or ceramics. In order to ensure a uniform temperature within the substrates, and between the substrates, it is necessary to consider the fluid characteristics of a gas flowing in the reaction chamber and to widen the gap (pitch) between the substrates to be processed, which are arranged horizontally and in parallel. For example, if one side of a substrate exceeds 500 mm in length, it then becomes necessary to open a substrate gap equal to or greater than 30 mm.
The apparatus size therefore necessarily becomes very large if the substrates to be processed are made large size. Further, a large amount of substrates are processed in one batch, thus the weight increases, and it is necessary to use a strengthened susceptor in order to hold the substrates to be processed. The weight thus further increases, and mechanical operation for conveying the substrates to be processed into and out of the apparatus becomes slower. Also, not only does the floor surface area of the heat treatment apparatus increase, it also even influences architectural costs for a building in order to ensure that its floor can withstand the load. The increased apparatus size thus starts a vicious cycle.
On the other hand, there is a prerequisite for sheet processing with the RTA method, and there is no extreme increase in the weight of the apparatus. However, differences in the absorption of lamp light, used as a heat treatment means, develop due to the characteristics of the substrates to be processed, and the formations on the substrates. For example, for a case in which a metallic wiring pattern is formed on a glass substrate, a phenomenon arises in which the metallic wirings are heated preferentially, localized distortions develop, and the glass substrates break. It is therefore necessary to have complex control in the heat treatment process, such as with the regulation of the speed of temperature increase.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A container, movable between collapsed and expanded conditions, has a plurality of walls connected between bottom and top structures. A first wall of the plurality of walls includes first and second sections that connect together at a fold line about which the sections are rotatable between first wall collapsed and expanded conditions. The first section is connected to the bottom structure and the second section is connected to the top structure. The first wall is expandable by rotation of the first section relative to the second section in a first direction of rotation about the fold line from the first wall collapsed condition and into engagement with an abutment at the first wall expanded condition which arrests further rotation of the first section relative to the second section. The first wall is maintained in the first wall expanded condition by a load applied to the first wall.

The discussion of the background to the invention that follows is intended to facilitate an understanding of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any aspect of the discussion was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.
Take away food restaurants utilise a variety of different containers and container trays to securely support take away food items that consumers purchase. The container trays assist consumers to carry multiple food items, or difficult to carry food items, away from a serving counter and either to seating within the restaurant or to locations away from the restaurant. The container trays can include recesses that accommodate particular food items such as drink or dessert containers or cups, and these recesses can be shaped to engage or grip the food item or items so that they are held securely and stably within the tray against dropping or tipping. Container trays can for example include circular recesses for accommodating the lower ends of drinking cups and the edge of the recesses can be arranged to engage against the sides of the drinking cups to securely locate the drinking cups upright on or within the tray. Container trays can also be configured for accommodating food items such as pizza, hot chips, hot dogs, burgers and a range of other food items as required.
Container trays can be configured for accommodating multiple different food items. Thus, for example, container trays can include recesses for accommodating a drinking cup, and/or a hot chip bag and/or a burger. This recognises that consumers will often purchase a range of different food items from take away food restaurants when dining.
Take away food restaurants use high volumes of container trays. The trays tend to be single use only and for environmental reasons, the trays are preferably recyclable and are preferably made from recycled material. The trays are therefore often made from cardboard and often partially or fully from recycled cardboard.
High use or high volume container trays are generally supplied in bulk in in bundles, in a flat, collapsed condition in order to reduce the space taken up by the trays during transport and storage at a restaurant. When required, restaurant staff remove a container tray from the bundle and assemble the tray from the flat condition by expanding it, before placing the purchased food items into the tray. This assembly therefore takes place at or adjacent the serving counter by serving personnel and is part of the serving process for each customer. The serving personnel can assemble many containers each shift and so any difficulty in assembly decreases efficiency at the counter. Many containers that are currently in use require the serving personnel to fold panels of the container to upright positions and to insert locking tabs into slots so that the panels lock into the expanded position. This requires some precision and care to ensure the container tray is properly expanded.
Many take away food restaurants overcome the decreased serving efficiency caused by serving personnel being required to assemble trays during the serving process, by pre-assembling trays and stacking them in bulk in a position that is convenient to the serving personnel. While this increases the serving efficiency, it nevertheless requires dedicated allocation of personnel resources to assemble the bulk load of trays, and the assembled trays take up greater space in the serving area than collapsed trays. The stacked body of assembled trays can also be less aesthetically pleasing than a stack of collapsed trays.
In addition, because many current container trays are made from cardboard, the edges of the panels that the serving personnel are required to manipulate can be sharp and can cause skin cuts to those personnel. This is undesirable from a staff wellbeing perspective as well as from a hygiene perspective.
The applicant has recognised that an improved or different container tray that provides advantages over prior art containers would be desirable.


A method for modeling business transformation includes steps of: constructing a first analysis model based on at least one legacy-business-process-model; and analyzing the first analysis model in conjunction with at least one business-process-reference-model. The method further includes deriving a second analysis model in response to analyzing the first analysis model in conjunction with the at least one business-process-reference-model and refining the second analysis model to obtain a design model.

Business transformation deals with the strategic alignment of business and IT to deliver enduring on-demand value of continual business innovation and improvement. The latest industry trends suggest that business transformations can be best achieved by adopting a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). A SOA is a set of business-aligned IT services that support an organization's business goals and objectives by using interface-based service descriptions that decouple the provider and consumer of the service through open standards and protocols.
Adopting a SOA is a non-trivial task that includes many challenges. Some of the challenges are analyzing and modeling of business strategy and operations to drive business transformation, efficient generation of an IT solution from a business model using techniques from Model-Driven Development (MDD) of software systems, and monitoring and dynamic management of business performance for continual improvement.
Service-Oriented Analysis and Design (SOAD) is characterized as a holistic modeling and implementation discipline, which comprises an entire spectrum of modeling tasks that aim at systematically constructing SOA implementations. Some of the main requirements that characterize SOAD are that SOAD must facilitate end-to-end modeling, SOAD must be process-driven, for example it is centered around business process modeling with the goal to identify generic business services that are closely mapped to the business process model and SOAD must provide well-defined quality factors and best practices. Some elements of SOAD have already been developed, for example Business Process Modeling methodologies (BPM).
BPM approaches provide a business-oriented view on functional units of work, but they typically do not reach into the architecture and implementation domain. Modeling and development initiatives are separated from each other in BPM approaches. BPM can be considered as an emerging, but fragmented discipline with many different styles, notations and assets. BPM focuses mainly on creating AS-IS and TO-BE business process models from scratch without reusing existing model-based assets, such as existing or legacy business models and reference models. An AS-IS business model is a model that portrays how a business process is currently structured. In process improvement efforts, it is used to establish a baseline for measuring subsequent business improvement actions and progress. Whereas, a TO-BE business model is a process model that results from a business process redesign or reengineering action. The TO-BE business model shows how the business process will function after the improvement action is implemented.
Elements of a business-driven modeling process and an IT-driven design and implementation process exist today. Some elements of a top-down approach exist in BPM, but it stops when the TO-BE business process model has been derived. In particular, no use of business process reference models for the derivation of the TO-BE business process model has been established. The IT-driven design and implementation process also has top-down elements, but it does not link to the BPM space. Bottom-up elements, which ensure that existing legacy software is reflected correctly in a SOA project, are almost completely missing. The result of these gaps is a disconnection of business goals from the implementation.
Thus, there is a need for designing a process for SOAD, whereby the existing model-based assets are preserved, the business processes are improved and aligned with industry best practice process models and a top-down process is organized when reference models are to be applied in order to improve existing business processes.

Method for modeling business transformation

International Business Machines Corporation


A releasably mounted antenna assembly is provided including a first member and a second member movably coupled to the first member. A spring is situated between the first member and the second member for urging the same together for coupling to an exterior of a vehicle. An antenna is mounted to one of the members and extends upwardly therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to antenna mounting devices and more particularly pertains to a new spring loaded CB antenna mount for conveniently mounting a citizen band radio antenna to a vehicle without inflicting damage thereon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of antenna mounting devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, antenna mounting devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art antenna mounting devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,839; U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,845; U.S. Pat. Des. 343, 840; U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,770; U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,481; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,589.
In these respects, the spring loaded CB antenna mount according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of conveniently mounting a citizen band radio antenna to a vehicle without inflicting damage thereon.


The thickness of bones of the skull is determined in vivo employing ultrasonic waves which are transmitted into the bone; reflected echoes of the transmitted waves are converted into electrical signals and the signals are windowed to identify a zone embracing the bone thickness; a power spectrum is developed of each electrical signal of the windowed zone; the power spectrum is differentiated to provide a plot of frequency and amplitude and the distance between adjacent peaks of the wave plot is measured from which the bone thickness can be computed.

i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the thickness of bones of the skull in vivo.
ii) Description of Prior Art
Cranial bone grafts have become the substrate of choice in rehabilitation and reconstruction of the craniomaxillofacial skeleton; and the calvarium is generally accepted as the best donor site. Advantages of the calvarium as a donor site for bone reconstructive surgery include accessibility, the inherent contour and abundance of harvestable bone, improved graft volume survival and the inconspicuousness of the donor site.
Knowledge of calvarial thickness at the donor site would be of significant assistance to surgeons harvesting calvarial grafts.
Computerized tomography provides a reasonable estimate of cranial thickness, however, this imaging modality lacks precision when extrapolating for in situ assessment.
It has been demonstrated that calvarial bone thickness is subject to regional variation and thus far accurate methods for the in situ or in vivo measurement of skull thickness are not available.
Previously it has been suggested that 6 mm of parietal bone thickness is the threshold for safe in situ calvarial harvesting, while others have suggested that a 2 mm thickness margin of the diploic space should be the limiting factor in obtaining a safe separation plane in split cranial harvests.
Despite the limited number and nature of predictive studies on the assessment of skull thickness, the importance of recognizing the variation between minimum and maximum skull thickness at a particular site is established. This variation can approach 8 mm. The variations and lack of predictability of bone thickness based on tables and charts of average data places predictability well beyond the margin of safety required in the context of consistently harvesting cranial bone without compromising the patient.
Knowledge of the thickness of the maxilla in preparation for cranial facial surgery or dental surgery would also be of value, so as to avoid penetration through the maxilla and potential damage or infection of underlying organs.
Ultrasound has been used in other environments in evaluating thickness or changes in thickness of an industrial article such as result from disintegration or flaking or separation of parts of the article. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,544 describes a measuring apparatus which employs high frequency ultrasound to determine the thickness and/or flaking state of a specimen along its depth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,929 describes an ultrasonic device for measuring thickness of a bottom plate of an oil storage tank. U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,022 describes a technique for ultrasonic measurement of a work piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,103 describes an ultrasonic thickness measuring method and apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,563 describes a method for determining the thickness of a specimen such as an optical lens without mechanical contact.
All of these prior methods employing ultrasound are directed to evaluating articles of manufacture where the opposed surfaces of the article are accessible or can be located. None of these prior Patents is concerned with measurement or evaluation of bone or the like, in vivo.
The bones of the skull include the cranium bones and the facial bones, for example, the calvarial and the maxilla.

Method and apparatus for determining the thickness of bone in vivo


A rotating mechanical apparatus, such as would be used in a reel mower assembly, comprises a drive member rotatably mounted in a frame about a shaft axis. The drive member has a drive face oriented perpendicular to the shaft axis. A driven member has a driven shaft rotatably supported in the frame about the shaft axis, and a driven face oriented parallel to and bearing against the drive face. A bulb extends outward from one of the drive face and the driven face and into a corresponding recess in the other. Magnets force the drive face to bear against the driven face such that the driven shaft rotates with the drive member. One of the drive face and the driven face are movable along the shaft axis to disengage the bulb from the recess. A height adjustment mechanism moves ground rollers closer together or farther apart to vary cutting height.

Reel mowers use a scissoring action to shear grass and like foliage, rather than tearing the leaves as with a conventional rotary mower. Because the shearing action leaves a neatly cut top end to the grass, compared to the torn end common with rotary cutters, the grass has an improved appearance. Such reel mowers are more expensive and require more maintenance than rotary mowers, however they are preferred by golf courses and the like where appearance and healthy grass are important. Individual reel mower assemblies are quite narrow, and consequently reel mower units commonly comprise a plurality of side-by-side reel mower assemblies.
Examples of such mowers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,291,724, 5,477,666 and 6,318,059 to Cotton. In a typical reel mower assembly, the mower frame comprises fixed side plates and an attachment member, commonly called a bed bar, fixed to the frame and extending from one side of the frame to the other. A replaceable bed knife is attached to the bed bar, and a reel head with helical knives mounted thereon is rotatably mounted in each side plate of the frame and extends across the mower assembly above the bed knife. The reel head and bed knife are oriented such that the bed knife is parallel to the reel axis and in close proximity to the reel knives as the reel head rotates so that a shearing action is achieved between the reel knives and the bed knife. Typically an adjustment mechanism is provided to allow movement of the bed bar relative to the reel head so that the bed knife can be moved into proper relationship with the rotating reel knives.
Height of cut control is also provided to maintain the bed knife at a constant vertical position with respect to the grass so that the cut grass is substantially all the same height. Typically front and rear ground rollers are rotatably mounted in each side plate of the frame and extend across the assembly, one forward of the bed knife and one rearward. The ground rollers are lower than the bed knife and support the assembly as it rolls across the ground. The ground rollers can be moved up and down to adjust the vertical position of the bed knife with respect to the ground and thus the cutting height.
Conventionally the reel head comprises a shaft extending through bearings in each side plate of the frame. A drive sprocket, pulley, or the like is attached to one end of the shaft outside the side plate, and a chain, belt, or like drive mechanism is connected to rotate the reel. Removing the reel head for replacement or repair thus requires considerable disassembly, such as removal of bearings, pulleys, and the like from the shaft to allow removal of the reel.
The reel head is also susceptible to damage when a rock or like object becomes jammed between the bed knife and one of the reel knives, since conventionally the reel head and bed knife are fixed to the frame, and so neither can move in response to the force of a jammed object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,491 to the present inventor Buchko discloses a magnetic bed knife attachment to facilitate removal and replacement of the bed knife. Instead of a plurality screws, the bed knife is attached to the bed bar with magnets such that same can be readily removed for sharpening, repair, replacement, and like maintenance. Also, where the force exerted by a jammed rock or like obstruction is sufficient, the bed knife of Buchko will be forced away from the bed bar, thus avoiding or at least reduce damage to the bed knife and the reel knives. Damage to the reel head can still occur however if, for example, the object jams between the bed bar, which is still rigidly attached to the frame, and the reel knives.

Magnetic connection of driving and driven connection for a reel mower


A base composition is provided. The base composition includes a binder, a reactive monomer, and an anti-haze additive. The binder may include an optically transmissive polymer. The reactive monomer may be both curable and volatile. The binder and the reactive monomer have differing refractive indices relative to each other. A cured layer formed from the base composition may be formed into an article have particular properties. A method of making the layer is provided.

The invention may include embodiments that relate to a composition for making an optical device structure, and to the article formed thereby. The invention may include embodiments that relate to a method of forming and/or using the optical device structure.
Modern high-speed communications systems may use polymer optical fibers for transmitting and receiving high-bandwidth data. The properties of polymer optical fibers with respect to flexibility, ease of handling and installation may drive their implementation in high bandwidth, short-haul data transmission applications such as fiber to the home, local area networks, and automotive information, diagnostic, and entertainment systems.
In some types of optical communication systems, there may be the need for interconnecting different discrete components. These components may include such polymer-based devices as lasers, detectors, fibers modulators, and switches. Polymer-based devices, such as waveguides, offer a viable way of interconnecting these components, and offer a potentially inexpensive interconnection scheme. Such polymer-based devices should be able to couple light vertically into or out of the waveguide with good efficiency and low propagation losses, which in turn may be determined primarily by the quality of both the polymer and the device boundary.
Opto-electronic multi-chip modules may be provided with an optical interconnect between the electronic circuitry and the "optical bench" portion of the package. One method to do this may have a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser ("VCSEL") integrated with, and controlled by, the electronic portion of the module. The VCSEL may direct its laser light vertically into the base of the optical portion of the module. An approximate 45-degree angle "mirror" may be used to change the direction of the laser light from a vertical to a horizontal direction, thus directing it into the optical bench. This mirror may be difficult to fabricate with conventional methods for one or more reasons. The mirror should have a surface inclined by about 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal surface of the VCSEL. Furthermore, the mirror surface should be smooth to limit losses in light transmission, and it must be precisely aligned to the underlying VCSEL.
Previously, 45-degree angle mirrors have been defined either by laser ablation of the core polymer material at an appropriate angle, reactive ion etching using a gray scale mask, or embossing the required structure onto the polymer surface. Waveguide structures may be formed by several techniques including coating a lower cladding layer on a suitable substrate and forming a trench in the clad layer by embossing, etching or development, and filling the trench with a core material, and over-coating with a top clad layer. Ridge waveguides may be formed by coating a lower clad and core layer onto a substrate, patterning the core by etching or development to form a ridge, and over-coating with an upper clad layer. Planar waveguides may be formed by coating a lower clad and core material over a substrate, defining the waveguide by UV exposure and depositing an upper clad layer over it. Reactant diffusion may occur between the unexposed core and surrounding clad layers into the exposed core area to form a refractive index (RI) differential in the waveguide.
Polymer/epoxy blends with low epoxy content have been used to make low loss waveguides. Low epoxy content is less than 25 weight percent epoxy. A polymer/epoxy blend with a relatively higher index contrast between core and side-cladding layers may be required to couple light between two different (vertical) layers of waveguide structures while minimizing lateral light loss. This higher contrast may be accomplished with higher epoxy content. However, increasing the epoxy content increases scattering loss in the waveguide structures.
There continues to be a need for low loss radiation curable materials that may be used to make optical devices with control of at least one of topography, refractive index, or composition by a more direct process having fewer manufacturing steps. Furthermore, it may be desirable to develop a process that will enable the formation of optical device structures, such as waveguide structures, having a smooth, tapered edge to allow vertical interconnection with other optical devices or laser devices. Desired optical device structures may have optical properties such as low haze and a relatively high contrast in refractive index.

Composition, optical device article, and associated method


A liquid crystal display panel includes a color filter, a thin film transistor substrate in opposition to the color filter, a liquid crystal layer provided between the color filter and the thin film transistor substrate and a sealant provided corresponding to the mark regions and surrounding the liquid crystal layer. The mark regions are provided on periphery of the thin film transistor substrate and each includes a plurality of alignment marks as references for applying the frame sealant and therefore controlling the applying amount and rate of the frame sealant so that the applied frame sealant has line width of desired specification and that the distance between the substrates is desirably determined. A related method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel is also provided.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) panel is the primary component in a LCD device. A typical process for manufacturing an LCD panel basically includes providing two glass substrates, applying sealant to the glass substrates, and injecting liquid crystal molecules into a space between the glass substrates. The manufacturing process also includes forming an array of pixel electrodes on one of the glass substrates. The pixel electrodes are for controlling rotation of the liquid crystal molecules in operation of the LCD panel. The manufacturing process further includes forming color filter films on the other glass substrate. The color filter films enable the LCD panel to display colorful images in operation.
Referring to FIG. 8, a typical LCD panel 1 includes a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate 11, a color filter (CF) substrate 13, a liquid crystal (LC) layer 15, and a frame sealant 17. The TFT substrate 11 and the CF substrate 13 are spaced apart from each other a certain distance. The LC layer 15 is filled in the space between the TFT substrate 11 and the CF substrate 13, and is surrounded and encapsulated by the frame sealant 17 between the TFT substrate 11 and the CF substrate 13.
Referring to FIG. 9, the TFT substrate 11 is formed with a plurality of first patterned conductive layers 111 and a plurality of mark regions 113. The first patterned conductive layer 111 includes a plurality of conductive wires, and faces the LC layer 15. The mark regions 113 include block-shaped conductive layers, and are located at periphery portions of the TFT substrate 11.
The LCD panel 1 is manufactured by the so-called one drop fill (ODF) method, which is implemented according to the following steps. Firstly, the frame sealant 17 is applied to a periphery of the TFT substrate 11 so as to create a semi-closed space surrounded by the frame sealant 17. Secondly, drops of liquid crystal molecules are dripped into the semi-closed space to form the LC layer 15. Thirdly, the CF substrate 13 is attached to the TFT substrate 11. The frame sealant 17 is cured in a vacuum environment so that the TFT substrate 11 and the CF substrate 13 are firmly bonded together.
Since the attachment of the CF substrate 13 to the TFT substrate 11 is achieved using the frame sealant 17, the correct distance between the CF substrate 13 and the TFT substrate 11 depends at least in part on the precision with which the frame sealant 17 is applied to the TFT substrate 11. In other words, the frame sealant 17 needs to be applied on the TFT substrate 11 with a precise line width. Thereby, a uniform distance between the CF substrate 13 and the TFT substrate 11 can be obtained. As a result, the LCD panel 1 can provide good display performance.
As detailed above, control of the line width of the frame sealant 17 in the process of assembling the LCD panel 1 is critical to the final product quality. If the line width is too thin, liquid crystal molecules are liable to leak out from the LC layer 15. This in turn is liable to cause non-uniformity of the distance between the two substrates 11, 13 of the LCD panel 1. On the other hand, if the line width is too thick, line width would bring difficulties in the afterward cutting process and therefore affect the quality of product or would cause the LC layer 15 to be polluted by the frame sealant 17 due to the position of the frame sealant 17 being too close to the display area.
In the above-described conventional technique, the frame sealant 17 is applied directly onto the mark regions 113 formed on the TFT substrate 11. The exactness of the line width of the frame sealant 17 is basically determined by the precision of the equipment used to apply the frame sealant 17. Thus, it is common for precision deviation and unevenness of line width to occur.

Liquid crystal display panel and method for manufacturing the same


In an image display having a image generator for forming and displaying an optical image in accordance with inputted image signal and a controller for controlling the image generator, a controller (5) has a display-condition switching controller (510, 511) for switching a display-condition of the optical image formed by the image generator, an operation signal receiver (506) for receiving an operation signal for switching the display-condition of the optical image, and a display switching determining portion (509) for monitoring the received operation signal to determine the display-condition to be switched, the display-condition switching controller (510, 511) conducting switching operation based on a judgment of the display switching determining portion (509).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display having an image generator for generating and displaying an optical image in accordance with an inputted image signal and a controller for controlling the image generator.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a plurality of input terminals corresponding to various signal format in accordance with the variety of image signal formats have come to be provided on an image display such as a projector, a computer display and a TV receiver for displaying various images by the image display.
Such image display capable of displaying various images has, for instance, an RGB signal input system, a composite signal input system and a component signal input system.
The RGB signal input system is for displaying a computer image. A signal including the image information is inputted to the RGB signal input system to display the computer image on, for instance, a projection surface of a projector, thereby conducting multi-presentation using the computer.
The composite signal input system is for a conventional signal such as television and video signal. A signal including the image information is inputted to the composite signal input system to display the image of a television and video on the image display, so that a large-screen projector can be used for home theater purpose.
The component signal input system is a high-quality signal input system to which the high-definition television signal or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) signal is inputted, which is used for home theater purpose as in the composite signal input system.
Since the plurality of signal input systems are provided on an image display, the image display can be used for various purposes.
Incidentally, in order to switch the signal input systems of such an image display provided with a plurality of signal input systems, a changeover switch provided on an operating portion of a body or a remote controller is operated for a plurality of times to sequentially switch the signal input systems in an order of RGB signal, composite signal and component signal.
Since the image quality of the image display differs in accordance with the image signal inputted for the respective signal input systems, different color-mode can be set in accordance with the respective signal input systems and usage thereof The color-mode can be set, for instance, for normal purpose, meeting purpose, presentation purpose, and theater purpose, which is sequentially switched by pressing the changeover switch a plurality of times as in switching the signal input systems.
However, in such conventional image display, when one switching operation is executed, the input systems or the color-modes is switched in the image display and the next switching operation is not received before the input systems or the color-modes is actually switched. Accordingly, no changeover switch signal is received during the switching operation, thus taking long time for the switching operation.
Specifically, in switching the signal input systems, when the RGB signal input system is to be switched to the component signal input system, the controller of the image display controls a selector to switch from the RGB signal input system to the composite signal input system after operating the changeover switch once to display the composite signal image on a screen. It is only after the image is displayed that the controller receives the signal of the changeover switch, so that the second operation of the changeover switch can be conducted only after displaying the composite signal image, thus taking long time.
In the same manner, in switching the color-mode setting, since the controller of the image display receives the next switching operation only after switching lookup tables corresponding to the respective color-modes, the switching operation takes long time.
As described above, when the display condition of the image display is to be switched, the controller receives no switching operation by an operator while the image display executes actual switching operation of the display condition, so that the switching operation takes long time.
Further, since the display condition to be switched is not displayed on a screen during the switching operation, the operator cannot recognize the current switching condition, thus making switching operation difficult for the operator.

Image display with display-switching function


A swing guide exerciser for training a golfer which comprises:    a panel, substantially rectangular, an elongated bar, a coupler secured to the surface of the panel, adjacent a corner, for mounting an end of the bar on the surface wherein the bar forms an acute angle with the short dimension and is perpendicular to said long dimension. Various exercises performed include an exercise to increase back extension and develop increased velocity of the club head.

Driving a golf ball with power and accuracy has been the subject of intense study for more than a century. The objective is simple to define—drive the ball a great distance at a distant target: the green. The coordinated interaction of the legs, trunk and arms to maximize this objective is very complicated.
Devices and training methods have been disclosed that are directed toward this objective. For example a breakaway golf club is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,745, U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,035, U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,396, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,568. A common feature of these patents is that, when the golfer swings the club incorrectly, the lower section of the golf shaft swings out of alignment with the upper section. However training with these devices does not teach the golfer the specific mistakes in his swing that are limiting his performance.
To understand the principles of body mechanics involved in maximizing the delivery of power and accuracy to a golf swing, it is useful to consider the mechanics of snapping a bull whip. The bull whip resembles an elongated array of levers (i.e., segments of the whip) beginning with a first lever being the wrist holding the handle of the whip. When the wrist is rotated initially to generate momentum in each whip segment, the segment closest to the wrist is the first to rotate to a horizontal orientation followed by the second segment and remaining segments rotating to the horizontal orientation in order. Each segment transfers its momentum as angular momentum to the next segment with the result that the last segment rotates so fast that it generates a vacuum in the air. The collapsing vacuum is the loud "crack" that is heard when the user "cracks" the whip.
Like any physical activity involving throwing, batting or stroking, the golfer's body performs like a system of connected levers—hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists connected to the end lever—the golf club.
There can be a number of reasons why the golfer does not "swing properly" thereby limiting his driving power and accuracy. These reasons include:
restricting the extent of the back swing;
meeting the ball at a point in the swing where the head of the club has not reached or has surpassed full angular momentum;
shifting one or both legs so as to reduce power of the swing.
In view of the complexity of the problem, it is useful to introduce into the training regimen, exercises to guide the athlete to move all parts of his body in the most efficient manner. This object includes a signal of the exact mistake made in executing the swing.


Provided is a QR decomposition apparatus and method that can reduce the number of computers by sharing hardware in an MIMO system employing OFDM technology to simplify a structure of hardware. The QR decomposition apparatus includes a norm multiplier for calculating a norm; a Q column multiplier for calculating a column value of a unitary Q matrix to thereby produce a Q matrix vector; a first storage for storing the Q matrix vector calculated in the Q column multiplier; an R row multiplier for calculating a value of an upper triangular R matrix by multiplying the Q matrix vector by a reception signal vector; and a Q update multiplier for receiving the reception signal vector and an output of the R row multiplier, calculating an Q update value through an accumulation operation, and providing the Q update value to the Q column multiplier to calculate a next Q matrix vector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a QR decomposition apparatus and method in a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system; and, more particularly, to a QR decomposition apparatus and method that can reduce the number of computers by sharing hardware in an MIMO system employing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology to thereby simplify a structure of hardware.
This work was partly supported by the IT R & D program of MIC/IITA [2006-S-002-02, "IMT-Advanced Radio Transmission Technology with Low Mobility"].
2. Description of Related Art
At present, there are increasing demands for wireless communication system capable of transmitting high-quality and large-volume multimedia data by using limited frequency resources. Among the methods for transmitting large-volume data by using limited frequency resources is a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system. An MIMO system forms a plurality of independent fading channels by using multiple antennas at transmitting and receiving ends and transmits different signals for each transmission antenna to thereby improve a data transmission rate remarkably. Thus, the MIMO system can transmit a great deal of data without broadening frequency.
However, MIMO systems are weak to inter-symbol interference and frequency selective fading that are caused during high-speed data transmission. To overcome the shortcoming, the MIMO systems employ Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology. OFDM is a modulation scheme most appropriate for high-speed data transmission at present. According to OFDM, one data sequence is transmitted over subcarrier which is transmitted at a lower data transmission rate than that of the data sequence.
Typically, a channel environment for wireless communication has multiple paths, which is called multipath, due to obstacles such as buildings. Delay spread occurs in wireless channel having multipath due to the multipath. When delay spread time is longer than symbol transmission interval, inter-symbol interference (ISI) occurs. In this case, frequency selective fading occurs in a frequency domain. When a single carrier is used, an equalizer is used to remove the inter-symbol interference components. However, as data rate increases, the equalizer becomes more complicated.
When an MIMO system is combined with an OFDM system, the advantages of the MIMO system can be taken while the disadvantage of the MIMO system is offset by the OFDM system. Typically, an MIMO system has N transmission antennas and M reception antennas. A structure combining the MIMO system with the OFDM technology is referred to as a MIMO-OFDM system.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are block views showing structures of an MIMO-OFDM system. FIG. 1A is a block view illustrating a transmitting end of the MIMO-OFDM system, and FIG. 1B is a block view illustrating a receiving end of the MIMO-OFDM system.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a serial-to-parallel (S/P) converter 101 divides transmission data into a plurality of parallel data sequences. A plurality of encoders 102 encode a parallel data sequence, respectively. Each encoded data sequence is modulated in a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) mapper 103 based on a modulation scheme, such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16QAM, and 64QAM, respectively, to thereby produce modulated symbols. The modulated symbols are converted into signals of a time axis in an Inverse Fast Fourier Transformer (IFFT) 104. A cyclic prefix (CP) inserter 105 inserts a cyclic prefix code for guard interval to the time-axis symbols. Subsequently, a digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) and radio frequency (RF) unit 106 converts the digital signals with the CP code inserted thereto into analog signals, converts the analog signals into RF signals, and sends out the RF signals through an antenna.
Referring to FIG. 1B, a digital-to-analog conversion (ADC) and RF unit 107 converts the RF signals into analog signals and converts the analog signals into digital signals. A CP remover 108 removes the CP code inserted for guard interval and transmits signals without a CP code to a Fast Fourier Transformer (FFT) 109. The FFT 109 executes high-speed Fourier conversion onto the inputted parallel signals to thereby generate transmission data symbols. An MIMO receiver 110 estimates the generated transmission data symbols and calculates a log likelihood ratio (LLR) of the estimated symbols. Decoders decode the data sequences transmitted from the MIMO receiver 110, respectively, and estimates transmission data. A parallel-to-serial (P/S) converter 112 converts the decoded parallel data outputted from the decoders 111.
Examples of the MIMO receiver 110 include a Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE), a zero forcing (ZF) device, a Minimum Mean Square Error Estimator (MMSE), and a Bell Labs Layered Space-Time (BLAST) device. As the MIMO receiver includes more transmission and reception antennas, the complexity of the MIMO receiver becomes high and, particularly, the complexity of QR decomposition increases greatly.
When it is assumed that there are M antennas and the number of reception antennas is N, a reception vector z of arbitrary subcarrier after FFT can be expressed as the following Equation 1.
                                                                            z            =                                                  Hs              +              n                                                                                where                                                                                z              =                              [                                                                                z                        1                                                                                z                        2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                z                        N                                                                                ]                                      ;                                                                                channel                                                                                (              H              )                                                                                is                                                                                H              =                              [                                                                                h                                                  1                          ,                          1                                                                                h                                                  1                          ,                          2                                                                                …                                                                                h                                                  1                          ,                          M                                                                                h                                                  2                          ,                          1                                                                                h                                                  2                          ,                          2                                                                                …                                                                                h                                                  2                          ,                          M                                                                                ⋮                                                              ⋮                                                              ⋱                                                              ⋮                                                                                h                                                  N                          ,                          1                                                                                h                                                  N                          ,                          2                                                                                …                                                                                h                                                  N                          ,                          M                                                                                ]                                      ;                                                                                and                                                                          a                                                                          transmission                                                                          symbol                                                                                (              s              )                                                                                is                                                                                s            =                                          [                                                                                s                        1                                                                                s                        2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                s                        M                                                                                ]                            .                                                          Eq        .                                          1
The channel (H) may be expressed as H=QR after QR decomposition. Generally, the number N of reception antennas is equal to or greater than the number M of transmission antennas in an MIMO system, an upper triangular R matrix is expressed as Equation 2.
                              R          =                                                    Q                H                                          H                        =                          [                                                                                r                                              1                        ,                        1                                                                                r                                              1                        ,                        2                                                                                …                                                                              r                                              1                        ,                        M                                                                                0                                                                              r                                              2                        ,                        2                                                                                …                                                                              r                                              2                        ,                        M                                                                                ⋮                                                        ⋮                                                        ⋱                                                        ⋮                                                                                0                                                        0                                                        …                                                                              r                                              M                        ,                        M                                                                                0                                                        0                                                        …                                                        0                                                                                ⋮                                                        ⋮                                                        ⋱                                                        ⋮                                                                                0                                                        0                                                        …                                                                              0                                              N                        ,                        M                                                                                ]                                                                                where                                                              Q                                                              denotes                                                              a                                                              unitary                                                              matrix                                                                          (                                                            Q                  H                                                Q                            =              I                        )                                              Eq        .                                          2
The channel matrix (H) is N×M; Q=N×N; and the upper triangular R matrix is N×M. Herein, the Q can be expressed as:
  Q  =            [                                                  q                              1                ,                1                                                                        q                              1                ,                2                                                                        q                              1                ,                3                                                                        q                              1                ,                4                                                          …                                              q                              1                ,                N                                                                                q                              2                ,                1                                                                        q                              2                ,                2                                                                        q                              2                ,                3                                                                        q                              2                ,                4                                                          …                                              q                              2                ,                N                                                                                q                              3                ,                1                                                                        q                              3                ,                2                                                                        q                              3                ,                3                                                                        q                              3                ,                4                                                          …                                              q                              3                ,                N                                                                                q                              4                ,                1                                                                        q                              4                ,                2                                                                        q                              4                ,                3                                                                        q                              4                ,                4                                                          …                                              q                              4                ,                N                                                                          ⋮                                ⋮                                ⋮                                ⋮                                ⋱                                ⋮                                                              q                              N                ,                1                                                                        q                              N                ,                2                                                                        q                              N                ,                3                                                                        q                              N                ,                4                                                          ⋯                                              q                              N                ,                N                                                        ]        .
Accordingly, the modified reception vector y is expressed as the following Equation 3.
                                                        y              =                                                                            [                                                                                y                          1                                                                                y                          2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                y                          N                                                                                ]                                =                                                                            Q                      H                                                            z                                    =                                      Rs                    +                                          n                      ′                                                                                =                                                                                [                                                                                r                                                          1                              ,                              1                                                                                r                                                          1                              ,                              2                                                                                …                                                                                r                                                          1                              ,                              M                                                                                0                                                                                r                            22                                                                                …                                                                                r                                                          2                              ,                              M                                                                                0                                                                          ⋮                                                                          ⋱                                                                          ⋮                                                                                0                                                                          …                                                                          0                                                                                r                                                          N                              ,                              M                                                                                ]                                                                          [                                                                                s                            1                                                                                s                            2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                s                            M                                                                                ]                                                  +                                                      [                                                                                n                            1                            ′                                                                                n                            2                            ′                                                                                ⋮                                                                                n                            N                            ′                                                                                ]                                    .                                                                                Eq        .                                          3
The Equation 3 can be simply expressed as follows.
                    y        =                                              [                                                                                y                    1                                                                                y                    2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                y                    M                                                                        ]                    =                                                    Q                H                                          z                        =                          Rs              +                              n                ′                                                                            =                                                            [                                                                                r                                              1                        ,                        1                                                                                r                                              1                        ,                        2                                                                                …                                                                              r                                              1                        ,                        M                                                                                0                                                                              r                      22                                                                            …                                                                              r                                              2                        ,                        M                                                                                0                                                        ⋮                                                        ⋱                                                        ⋮                                                                                0                                                        …                                                        0                                                                              r                                              M                        ,                        M                                                                                ]                                                  [                                                                                s                      1                                                                                s                      2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                s                      M                                                                                ]                                +                                    [                                                                                n                      1                      ′                                                                                n                      2                      ′                                                                                ⋮                                                                                n                      M                      ′                                                                                ]                        .
Gram-Schmidt method is known as a simple method among other methods for QR decomposition. The following Equation 4 describes a typical QR decomposition method. Referring to the Equation 4, a norm, which is a vector size, is calculated first (norm1=∥qi∥2), and a Q column value for a reception vector is calculated (qi:=qi/ri,j) by obtaining ri,j for √{square root over (normi)}. Subsequently, an R column value is calculated based on the obtained Q column value and the reception vector, and a Q update value and a norm update value are calculated. This process is repeated until nT is decided by the transmission and reception antennas.
R = 0,Q = Hfor i = 1,...,nT normi =|| qi ||2endfor i = 1,...,nT ri,i = {square root over (normi)} qi := qi / ri,i for k = i + 1,...,nT  ri,k = qiH ·qk  qk := qk −ri,k ·qi  normk := normk −ri,k2 endendEq. 4
To take an example where nT=8 in the Equation 4, more than 2000 multipliers and 8 dividers are required. Also, it takes 256 multipliers for QHz real part computation. In total, the number of entire multipliers comes to more than 2200, which are too many to be realized as hardware.

QR decomposition apparatus and method for MIMO system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Digital data are recovered from a clocked serial input signal. The input signal is sampled with a sampling clock signal supplied by a first phase interpolator to obtain a sampled digital signal. The first phase interpolator is controlled with a voting circuit to adjust the phase of the sampling clock relative to the eye in the eye-diagram of the input signal. The first phase interpolator has signal inputs connected to signal outputs of a voltage controlled oscillator in a phase-locked loop circuit that has a reference signal input to which the reference clock signal is applied. The sampled digital signal is written to a single-bit FIFO buffer with a write clock signal that has the same timing as the sampling clock. A filtered output signal is read from the FIFO buffer with a read clock signal supplied by a second phase interpolator that has signal inputs connected to the signal outputs of the voltage controlled oscillator in the phase-locked loop. The second phase interpolator is controlled with a pointer monitor that monitors the write and read select pointers in the FIFO buffer to adjust the timing of the read clock signal relative to the write clock signal. With this method, the hunting jitter is filtered out while a frequency offset is still allowed between the reference clock and the data signal.

In a digital system with serial transmission of data, a received signal may be related to a system clock of a transmitter (a "clocked signal"). The frequency of the received signal is the same as the clock frequency. In a real environment, however, the timing relation between the received signal and the system clock will vary slightly. Deviations in frequency of several hundreds of ppm will normally be observed. On the side of the receiver, these deviations, referred to as "jitter", must be detected and compensated by sampling the received data with a clock that is adjusted in phase in an attempt to center the sampling point with respect to the eye in the eye-diagram of the input signal. The required phase adjustments to center the sampling point within the eye occur stepwise as a result of conditions determined by a voting unit. Due to the jitter in the received signal, however, the voting process may be misled, and phase adjustments occur that are later recognized as inadequate. In such cases, corrective phase adjustments are made to move the sampling phase back to an earlier condition. As a result, the sampling phase is moved back and forth, and the recovered signal also has jitter on it. This kind of jitter is called "hunting jitter".

Method of recovering digital data from a clocked serial input signal and clocked data recovery circuit


To provide a display device having a small circuit area and low power consumption. The display device includes a semiconductor device and a D/A converter circuit, and the semiconductor device includes first to third transistors and first and second capacitors. A first terminal of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first terminal of the first capacitor. A first terminal of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, a second terminal of the first capacitor, and a first terminal of the second capacitor. A first terminal of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second terminal of the second capacitor. An output terminal of the D/A converter circuit is electrically connected to a second terminal of the first transistor and a second terminal of the second transistor. Supply of a potential to the first terminal of the first capacitor changes (finely adjusts) the potential of the gate of the third transistor to be more precise than a potential that can be output from the D/A converter circuit.

Display devices included in mobile phones such as smartphones, tablet information terminals, notebook personal computers (PC), portable game consoles, and the like have undergone various improvements in recent years. For example, there have been developed display devices with features such as higher resolution, higher color reproducibility, a smaller driver circuit, and lower power consumption. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the invention of a source driver IC of a display device that includes a liquid crystal element and uses a multi-tone linear D/A converter circuit to display a multi-tone image.
Another example is a technique of using a transistor including an oxide semiconductor in a semiconductor thin film, as a switching element included in a pixel circuit of a display device.
As semiconductor thin films that can be used for transistors, silicon-based semiconductor materials are widely used, but oxide semiconductors have been attracting attention as alternative materials. Examples of oxide semiconductors include not only single-component metal oxides, such as indium oxide and zinc oxide, but also multi-component metal oxides. Among the multi-component metal oxides, in particular, an In—Ga—Zn oxide (hereinafter also referred to as IGZO) has been actively studied.
From the studies on IGZO, in an oxide semiconductor, a c-axis aligned crystalline (CAAC) structure and a nanocrystalline (nc) structure, which are not single crystal nor amorphous, have been found (see Non-Patent Documents 1 to 3). In Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, a technique for forming a transistor using an oxide semiconductor having a CAAC structure is disclosed. Moreover, Non-Patent Documents 4 and 5 disclose that a fine crystal is included even in an oxide semiconductor that has lower crystallinity than the CAAC structure and the nc structure.
In addition, a transistor that includes IGZO as an active layer has an extremely low off-state current (see Non-Patent Document 6), and an LSI and a display device that utilize the characteristics have been reported (see Non-Patent Documents 7 and 8). Patent Document 2 discloses the invention in which a transistor including IGZO in an active layer is used in a pixel circuit of a display device.

Semiconductor device, display device, and electronic device


Delivery apparatus include an electrical circuit configured to heat a linear conduit and an elbow conduit. A first electrode can be mounted to an upstream portion of the linear conduit, a second electrode can be mounted downstream of the upstream portion, and a third electrode can be mounted to a curved segment of the elbow conduit within a footprint extension of a first passage of the linear conduit. In further examples, a delivery apparatus includes an electrical circuit with a first electrode mounted to an upstream portion of a linear conduit, a second electrode mounted to a downstream portion of the linear conduit, and a third electrode mounted to an elbow conduit. In still further examples, methods of heating molten glass include application of an electrical current such that neither a current flux through a linear conduit nor a current flux through an elbow conduit exceeds 8 amps/mm2.

It is known to apply heat to glass that is moving through a metal delivery tube by applying a current to the metal delivery tube. During this process, the current density at a certain part of the delivery tube may become disproportionately high and, consequently, the quality of glass may be non-homogeneous or the longevity of the delivery tube may suffer. Thus, there is a need for methods and apparatus for accomplishing a distribution of current density that is more even throughout the delivery tube.

Delivery apparatus for a glass manufacturing apparatus and methods


A heat dissipation system and method are embodied in an optical subassembly (OSA) that mechanically couples with an electrical subassembly (ESA) of an optical communications module. When the OSA is coupled with the ESA, a heat dissipation block that is embedded in the OSA is spaced apart from components of the ESA by a small air gap. At least a portion of the heat that is generated by one or more of these components passes into the heat dissipation block, which extends through top and bottom surfaces of the OSA. Because the heat dissipation block never makes physical contact with the ESA or with components of the ESA, there is no risk of the block damaging the ESA or detrimentally affecting the electrical performance of the module.

A variety of parallel optical communications modules exist for simultaneously transmitting and/or receiving multiple optical data signals over multiple respective optical data channels. Parallel optical transmitters have multiple optical transmit channels for transmitting multiple respective optical data signals simultaneously over multiple respective optical waveguides (e.g., optical fibers). Parallel optical receivers have multiple optical receive channels for receiving multiple respective optical data signals simultaneously over multiple respective optical waveguides. Parallel optical transceivers have multiple optical transmit and receive channels for transmitting and receiving multiple respective optical transmit and receive data signals simultaneously over multiple respective transmit and receive optical waveguides.
For each of these different types of parallel optical communications modules, a variety of designs and configurations exist. A typical layout for a parallel optical communications module includes an electrical subassembly (ESA) comprising a circuit board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) with a ball grid array (BGA), and various electrical and optoelectronic components mounted on the upper surface of the circuit board, and an optical subassembly (OSA) comprising optical elements (e.g., refractive, reflective or diffractive lenses) mechanically coupled to the ESA. In the case of a parallel optical transmitter, laser diodes and one or more laser diode driver integrated circuits (ICs) are mounted on the circuit board. The circuit board has electrical conductors running through it (i.e., electrical traces and vias) and electrical contact pads on it. The electrical contact pads of the laser diode driver IC(s) are electrically connected to the electrical conductors of the circuit board. One or more other electrical components, such as a controller IC, for example, are typically also mounted on and electrically connected to the circuit board.
Similar configurations are used for parallel optical receivers, except that the circuit board of the parallel optical receiver has a plurality of photodiodes instead of laser diodes mounted on it and a receiver IC instead of a laser diode driver IC mounted on it. Parallel optical transceivers typically have laser diodes, photodiodes, one or more laser diode driver ICs, and a receiver IC mounted on it, although one or more of these devices may be integrated into the same IC to reduce part count and to provide other benefits.
The circuit board typically has one or more heat sink devices mounted on the upper surface thereof. The heat sink devices can have various shapes. The electrical and optoelectronic components are typically attached by a thermally conductive material to these heat sink devices to enable heat generated by them to pass down into the heat sink devices where the heat is dissipated or removed by some other means through the bottom of the circuit board. Heat sink devices all have the same general purpose of receiving heat generated by the respective components and absorbing and/or spreading out the heat to move it away from the components. Heat generated by the components can detrimentally affect the performance and life span of the parallel optical communications module.
In some designs, it is impossible or impractical to remove heat through the bottom of the circuit board. For example, with BGAs, the array of electrically-conductive balls on the bottom of the BGA are in contact with an array of electrical contacts of an external device, such as a mother circuit board. Because of these electrical connections, there may not be room for a heat dissipation path down through the bottom of the BGA. In such cases, it is known to remove heat through the top of the module by attaching an external heat dissipation device to the top of the module. In some cases, heat is dissipated through both the bottom of the circuit board and through the top of the module.
In some parallel optical communications modules, the upper surface of the circuit board is mechanically very fragile and electrically sensitive. In such cases, placing an external heat dissipation device in contact with the upper surface of the circuit board may damage the circuit board and/or detrimentally affect the electrical performance of the module. For example, the mechanical force exerted by the heat dissipation device may crack or warp the circuit board and/or damage the electrical traces of the circuit board, whereas the contact between the heat dissipation device and the circuit board may change the capacitance of the electrical traces leading to electrical performance problems.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods and systems that provide improvements in heat dissipation and that allow heat to be dissipated through the top of a parallel optical communications module without potentially damaging the circuit board or detrimentally affecting the performance of the module.

Heat dissipation device and method for use in an optical communications module

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


The object of the invention is to provide a bonding method for brazing an amorphous carbon (AC) material to a metal material or a ceramic material, and to provide an electron tube device having an input/output window made of the amorphous carbon material. The surface of the amorphous carbon (AC) material is roughened to form an irregularity. A brazing material is sandwiched between the amorphous carbon material and a metal material or ceramic material. The resultant structure is heated to braze the amorphous carbon material to the metal material or ceramic material. The electron tube device includes a sealed vessel having an opening portion, a peripheral portion of which is made of a metal material or a ceramic material. The electron tube device further includes a window, made of an amorphous carbon material and bonded to the peripheral portion of the opening portion with a brazing material, and having irregularity on a surface around the opening portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of bonding amorphous carbon material with metal material or ceramic material, and further relates to X ray electron tube devices having an window of amorphous carbon film.
2. Related Background Art
As a window material for an X-ray electron tube device, glass, aluminum, titanium, beryllium, and the like have been conventionally used. In particular, as an input/output window material for an X-ray electron tube that uses soft X-rays having a low energy, beryllium has been used mainly from the viewpoint of X-ray permeability.
Carbon is also known as a material having a very soft X-ray permeability next to that of beryllium. Also, recently, a carbon material called amorphous carbon (AC) which has a very dense structure and physical characteristics, e.g., a bending strength and a bulk density that sufficiently endure to maintain a high vacuum, so that it can be used as the input/output window material of an electron tube device when formed as a thin film, has become commercially available.

Method of bonding amorphous carbon material with metal material or ceramic material and electron tube device