In an advertisement information providing system, a destination is set based on the identification number assigned for each store 10, published by an advertisement provider 20. When the user arrives at the setup destination and visits the corresponding store 10 or purchases a commodity in the store 10, the store 10 pays cooperation money to the advertisement provider 20.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an advertisement information providing system including a store, an advertisement provider, and an information terminal owned by the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
To attract customers, a general store, a commercial installation, a tourist installation, etc. pay a predetermined advertisement charge to a publisher publishing a map information magazine, etc., so as to advertise the store, etc., in the map information magazine, etc. Recently, a vehicle-installed or portable navigation system in which position information of a store, etc., is registered and can be referenced by the user to determine the destination or the route has become widespread.
However, although a store or a tourist installation pays a comparatively high advertisement charge for publishing an advertisement, whether or not the user sees the advertisement and visits the stores or the tourist installation cannot be known and therefore means for knowing the advertisement effect of attracting customers responsive to the advertisement is not available. In the navigation system, it is also considered that advertisement information together with the position information of a store, etc., is displayed for producing the effect of attracting customers. In such a system, however, hitherto an appropriate advertisement information providing system has not been available. That is, thioester, etc., cannot easily check or keep track of the advertisement effect of attracting customers responsive to the advertisement; this is a problem.
The user uses the navigation system to set the destination; with almost all types of current navigation systems, the user points to the destination directly on a map appearing on a display screen or enters the address or the telephone number of the destination, and the input operation is burdensome. Further, the publisher or advertisement agency wants to set a high advertisement charge to obtain a profit, but the price of the information magazine itself needs to be lowered to enhance the purchasing power of the user.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an information terminal and an advertisement information providing system for making it possible for the advertisement client of a store, etc., to easily know the advertisement effect of attracting customers to the advertisement object.
It is another object of the invention to provide an information terminal and an advertisement information providing system for making it possible to bill and pay the expense responsive to the advertisement effect and to carry an advertisement with excellent cost effectiveness.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided an advertisement information providing system comprising an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, with an identification number assigned for each of the stores, and a navigation terminal for guiding a mobile unit, characterized in that the advertisement providing apparatus comprises providing means for providing the advertisement information for the user and reception means for receiving a signal sent from the navigation terminal, and that the navigation terminal comprises an input section for inputting the advertisement information, a guide section for guiding a mobile unit to the corresponding store based on the advertisement information, and a transmitter for sending an arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus when the mobile unit arrives at a point in a predetermined area containing the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the identification number in the advertisement information contains geometrical position information of the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the navigation terminal further comprises an extraction section for extracting the geometrical position information from the advertisement information, and the guide section guides the mobile unit based on the geometrical position information extracted by the extraction section.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the identification number in the advertisement information contains a code number assigned uniquely to the advertisement providing apparatus.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the navigation terminal further comprises an extraction section for extracting the code number from the advertisement information, and the transmitter sends the arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus corresponding to the extracted code number based on the code number.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the providing means contained in the advertisement providing apparatus is a paper medium.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the providing means contained in the advertisement providing apparatus is an advertisement information terminal storing the advertisement information.
The invention is characterized by the fact that the advertisement information providing system further comprises a portable information terminal through which the advertisement information can be input, the portable information terminal comprising an acquisition section for acquiring the advertisement information from the advertisement information terminal and transmission means for transmitting the advertisement information to the navigation terminal.
The invention is characterized by the fact that the advertisement information providing system further comprises store equipment managed by each of the stores, wherein the store equipment comprises electronic payment means and transmission means, wherein the portable information terminal comprises electronic payment means, and wherein when the electronic payment means contained in the store equipment and the electronic payment means contained in the portable information terminal communicate with each other for conducting electronic payment, the transmission means of the store equipment or that of the portable information terminal sends a purchase notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus.
The invention is characterized by the fact that the advertisement information providing system further comprises store equipment managed by each of the stores, wherein the advertisement providing apparatus comprises cooperation money billing means, wherein the store equipment comprises charge processing means, wherein when receiving the arrival notification signal, the advertisement providing apparatus bills cooperation money for the store, and wherein the store equipment performs charge processing as the cooperation money is billed.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided a navigation terminal for guiding a mobile unit based on advertisement information published by an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing the advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, with an identification number assigned for each of the stores, the navigation terminal comprising an input section for inputting the advertisement information, a guide section for guiding a mobile unit to the corresponding store based on the advertisement information, and a transmitter for sending an arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus when the mobile unit arrives at a point in a predetermined area containing the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the navigation terminal, only the identification number assigned in the advertisement information can be input through the input section.
The invention is characterized by the fact that the navigation terminal further comprises an extraction section for extracting the geometrical position information from the identification number, wherein the guide section guides the mobile unit based on the geometrical position information in the identification number.
The invention is characterized by the fact that the navigation terminal further comprises an extraction section for extracting the geometrical position information from the advertisement information, wherein the guide section guides the mobile unit based on the geometrical position information in the identification number.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided an advertisement information terminal contained in an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, the advertisement information terminal comprising database storage means for adding an identification number assigned for each of the stores and containing geometrical position information of the store to the advertisement information for storage, selection means for selecting the advertisement information, and transmission means for transmitting the selected advertisement information.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information terminal, the identification number is a number that can be recognized as destination information in a navigation terminal.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided a record medium storing a program for causing a navigation terminal to execute a guiding step of guiding a mobile unit to a store based on identification information in advertisement information published by an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing the advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, with an identification number assigned for each of the stores, and a sending step of sending an arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus when the mobile unit arrives at a point in a predetermined area containing the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the record medium, the program causes the navigation terminal to execute the additional step of terminating the program when the arrival notification signal is sent in the sending step.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided an advertisement information providing system comprising an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, with an identification number assigned for each of the stores, communication common carrier equipment with base stations placed for each predetermined area, and a portable information terminal making a predetermined contract with the communication common carrier managing the communication common carrier equipment, characterized in that the advertisement providing apparatus comprises providing means for providing the advertisement information for the user and reception means for receiving a signal sent from the communication common carrier equipment, that the communication common carrier equipment comprises monitor means for monitoring the current position of the portable information terminal, reception means for receiving a signal from the portable information terminal, and a transmitter for sending an arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus when the portable information terminal arrives at a point in a predetermined area containing the store, and that the portable information terminal comprises an input section for inputting the advertisement information and transmission means for transmitting the advertisement information to the communication common carrier equipment.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the identification number in the advertisement information contains geometrical position information of the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, the identification number in the advertisement information contains a code number assigned for each advertisement provider.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, when the advertisement information is input through the input section of the portable information terminal, the portable information terminal sends at least the identification number in the advertisement information to the communication common carrier by the transmission means.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in advertisement information providing system, the communication common carrier equipment further comprises an extraction section for extracting geometrical position information from the advertisement information transmitted from the portable information terminal, and comparison means for comparing the geometrical position information extracted by the extraction section with geometrical position information of the portable information terminal monitored by the monitor means, and the transmitter sends the arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus when the comparison means detects the portable information terminal arriving at a point in a predetermined area containing the store.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, when receiving the identification number from the portable information terminal, the communication common carrier equipment starts the comparison means.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the advertisement information providing system, when the arrival notification signal is transmitted by the transmission means, the communication common carrier equipment terminates the monitoring of the monitor means.
To solve the problems described above, according to the invention, there is provided a communication common carrier server being connected in a communication-possible manner to an advertisement providing apparatus for collectively managing advertisement information requested by stores to be carried, with an identification number assigned for each of the stores, the communication common carrier server comprising monitor means for monitoring the current position of a portable information terminal, reception means for receiving a signal from the portable information terminal, determination means for determining whether or not the portable information terminal arrives at a point in a predetermined area containing the store, and a transmitter for sending an arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the communication common carrier server, when the reception means receives an identification number from the portable information terminal the monitor means starts monitoring.
The invention is characterized by the fact that in the communication common carrier server, when the determination means determines that the portable information terminal arrives at a point in the predetermined area containing the store, the transmitter sends the arrival notification signal to the advertisement providing apparatus.
To accomplish the objects, according to the invention, there is provided an information terminal used with an advertisement information providing system, the information terminal comprising a guide section for guiding a mobile into an advertisement object point based on provided advertisement information, and visit data transmission means, if the mobile arrives at a point in a predetermined range containing the advertisement object point as guided by the guide section, for transmitting visit data issued by the advertisement object to an advertisement providing apparatus distributing the advertisement information.
The information terminal further comprises advertisement showing means for displaying the provided advertisement information on a screen or guiding in a voice, and the visit data transmission means transmits advertisement providing data indicating that the corresponding advertisement information has been provided by the advertisement showing means to the advertisement providing apparatus together with the visit data.
The guide section sets a route based on the advertisement information and guides the mobile into the advertisement object point.
The visit data transmission means transmits position data when the mobile arrives at a point in the predetermined range containing the advertisement object point to the advertisement providing apparatus together with the visit data.
A portable memory card that can be attached to and detached from the information terminal for recording the visit data is used and when the memory card on which the visit data is recorded is attached to the information terminal, the visit data transmission means transmits the visit data to the advertisement providing apparatus.
The information terminal further comprises a data input section for entering an advertisement object code issued by the advertisement object as the visit data. When the advertisement object code is entered, the visit data transmission means transmits position data to the advertisement providing apparatus together with the advertisement object code.
To accomplish the objects, according to the invention, there is provided an advertisement information providing system comprising an advertisement providing apparatus for providing advertisement information and an information terminal for guiding a mobile into an advertisement object based on the provided advertisement information, characterized in that the advertisement providing apparatus comprises advertisement distribution means for distributing advertisement information and reception means for receiving a signal transmitted from the information terminal, and that the information terminal comprises a guide section for guiding the mobile into an advertisement object point based on the distributed advertisement information and visit data transmission means, if the mobile arrives at a point in a predetermined range containing the advertisement object point as guided by the guide section, for transmitting visit data issued by the advertisement object to the advertisement providing apparatus distributing the advertisement information.
The advertisement providing apparatus further comprises billing means for requesting an advertisement client of the advertisement object to pay an introduction fee if the advertisement providing apparatus receives the visit data from the information terminal.
The advertisement providing apparatus further comprises bonus giving means, if the advertisement providing apparatus receives the visit data from the information terminal, forgiving a bonus to the user of the information terminal as the user provides the visit data.
The advertisement information providing system further comprises advertisement client equipment managed by the advertisement client of the advertisement object, wherein the advertisement client equipment comprises visit data transmitter for sending the visit data to a portable memory card that can be attached to and detached from the information terminal for recording the visit data, and wherein when the memory card on which the visit data is recorded is attached to the information terminal, the visit data transmission means of the information terminal transmits the visit data to the advertisement providing apparatus.
The advertisement information providing system further comprises advertisement client equipment managed by the advertisement client of the advertisement object, wherein the advertisement client equipment comprises visit data issuing means for issuing an advertisement object code containing information concerning at least either of the advertisement object and the advertisement itself as the visit data, and wherein the information terminal further comprises a data input section for entering the issued advertisement object code.
To accomplish the objects, according to the invention, there is provided an advertisement information distribution apparatus of an advertisement providing apparatus used with an advertisement information providing system, the advertisement information distribution apparatus comprising advertisement distribution means for distributing advertisement information, reception means for receiving a signal transmitted from an information terminal for guiding a mobile into an advertisement object point based on the advertisement information, and bonus giving means, if visit data issued by the advertisement object is received from the information terminal, for giving a bonus to the user of the information terminal as the user provides the visit data.
The advertisement information distribution apparatus further comprises billing means for requesting the advertisement client of the advertisement object to pay an introduction fee if the visit data is received from the information terminal.
According to the invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to be executed as means of an information terminal, an advertisement information providing system, or an advertisement information distribution apparatus as claimed in any of claims.
According to the configuration, the actual number of the persons visiting the advertisement object in response to the advertisement information can be known based on the visit data issued by the advertisement object indicating that each person sees the advertisement and visits the advertisement object, so that it is made possible for the advertisement client of a store, etc., to easily know the advertisement effect of attracting customers to the advertisement object. The advertisement providing data, the position data, and the like together with the visit data are transmitted, whereby it proves that reliably the user has seen the advertisement information and visited the advertisement object corresponding thereto, so that the reliability of the visit data can be enhanced.
As the visit data is transmitted and received, the advertisement provider requests the advertisement client to pay an introduction fee, whereby the expense responsive to the advertisement effect can be billed and paid and it is made possible to carry an advertisement with excellent cost effectiveness. Further, a bonus is given to the user of the information terminal as the user provides the visit data, whereby user's willingness to provide the visit data can be enhanced, so that the information of the advertisement effect in more conformity with the real state can be collected.

Advertisement information providing system


The present disclosure relates to the field of display technologies, and provides a gamma circuit. The gamma circuit includes: a plurality of positive gamma voltage output terminals, a plurality of negative gamma voltage output terminals in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of positive gamma voltage output terminals, and a plurality of voltage conversion circuits. Each of the voltage conversion circuits is configured to output a negative gamma reference voltage to the negative gamma voltage output terminal based on a positive gamma reference voltage output by the positive gamma voltage output terminal corresponding to the negative gamma voltage output terminal.

In a liquid crystal display panel, a gamma circuit generally includes a voltage dividing circuit through which the gamma circuit can output a plurality of different gamma reference voltages. For example, the gamma reference voltages corresponding to positive and negative driving can be output.
It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background of the Description is only for enhancing the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus it may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to those skilled in the art.

Liquid crystal display gamma circuit outputting positive and negative gamma reference voltage occupying smaller layout space

Beijing BOE Technology Development Co., Ltd.


A Finite State Machine (FSM) for a Bearer Channel Connection (BCC) between a V5.2 interface and an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) interface is disclosed, including a V5.2 Interface Control Process FSM (TAM) that connects and releases a V5.2 bearer channel by controlling the V5.2 interface between a Local Exchange (LE) and a gateway; and an ATM Interface Control Process FSM (RAM) that connects and releases an ATM bearer channel by controlling the ATM interface between the gateway and an access gateway.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an Finite State Machine (FSM) for a Bearer Channel Connection (BCC) between a V5.2 interface and an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) interface and, more particularly, to establishing a bearer channel between a gateway inter-operating with a Local Exchange (LE), through the V5.2 interface, and another gateway inter-operating with an ATM network.
2. Background of the Related Art
A local loop in a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) ordinarily means a subscriber circuit, which is a line connecting a telephone subscriber's terminal equipment and an exchange. Recently, local loop technology has diversified to applications using coaxial cable and optical cable networks, which are primarily used for cable television. As wireless connection technology develops, so too does the wireless technology of the local loop.
Thus, an Access Network (AN) supporting both wireless network services and the wire exchange network has been developed. As a result, the AN may provide wireless network services in addition to the conventional services of the wire exchange network, such as voice, facsimile, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), circuit data, etc.
FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a system of the related art providing both wire network services and wireless network services. As shown in FIG. 1, the system comprises a PSTN (11), multiple LEs (12-1, 12-2), an AN (13), and multiple base stations (14-1˜14-n). Here, each LE (12-1, 12-2) provides wire network services through the PSTN (11). AN (13) provides the wireless network services through the relevant base stations (14-1˜14-n). LE (12-2) and AN (13) inter-operate with each other by a V5.2 interface.
The V5.2 interface provides various services (i.e., the wire network services and the wireless network services) between LE (12-2) and AN (13). It provides bearer channels, ISDN D-channel information, PSTN signaling information, control information, link control information, protection information, BCC, and timing, etc.
The bearer channel is a user information channel established for bi-directional transmission of B-channel information, at the ISDN user port, and A-law Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) coded 64 Kbit/s channel information at the PSTN user port. The ISDN D-channel information is D-channel information (Ds-, p-, f-type data) of the ISDN user port and is data link layer signal information that is transmitted bi-directionally. The PSTN signaling information is signaling information of the PSTN user port that is transmitted bi-directionally. Control information is user port control information concerning the user port's state or control, which is transmitted bi-directionally, and general function control information supporting the synchronized application of provisioning data or the restart function. Link control information is the link control protocol providing the 2,048 Kbit/s link control that processes the frame allocation, multi-frame allocation, warning display, and Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) information, as well as manages the function of 2,048 Kbit/s links at the V5.2 interface. The protection information provides the logical C-channel's switching between physical C-channels. The BCC provides the bearer channel allocation and line concentration functions under the control of LE (12-2). The timing is used to provide the timing information for bit transmission, octet recognition, and frame synchronization and to synchronize LE (12-2) and AN (13).
So as to establish the bearer channel between LE (12-2) and AN (13), which inter-operate through the V5.2 interface, FSMs have been implemented by applying recommendations such as ETS 300 324-1.
Current ATM networks may efficiently transmit all types of data, such as voice, image, file, etc. The ATM network provides simple data transmission and various functions relating to the network operation or Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM). Moreover, the ATM network has other advantages. It supports wide bandwidth, short transmission delay, and may support the requisite Quality of Service (QOS). Therefore, the ATM network is spreading rapidly. Most networks adopt the ATM as their transmission method.
Accordingly, it became necessary for the V5.2 interface, which had been established as a general standard, to inter-operate with the ATM network, so as to connect the LE and the AN.
In other words, due to the rapidly spreading use of the ATM network these days, an FSM for establishing the BCC through the signaling between the V5.2 interface and the ATM interface is required. Such FSM should be able to prevent the inconsistency among the LE's bearer resources, resources managed at the V5.2 interface, and resources managed within the ATM area. Furthermore, the FSM must be able to optimize the inter-operability of the ATM network and the V5.2 interface by standardizing the methods to process problems that occur during its operation.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

FSM for a BCC between a V5.2 interface and an ATM interface and the operating method thereof


A system and method for method for assessing configurations includes steps or acts of: receiving configuration data related to configuration items and problem data related to problem tickets; classifying the configuration data into configuration classes; computing a class probability of the configuration classes; associating each configuration class with the problem tickets related to said configuration class; computing a ticket probability distribution of the problem tickets based on number of incidents; evaluating problem ticket characteristics per configuration class to determine a coefficient of trouble value for each configuration class; ranking the configuration classes according to their coefficient of trouble; wherein a highest ranking has the least coefficient of trouble; determining potentially optimal configurations based on the rankings; and providing to a user migration paths corresponding to the potentially optimal configurations.

Systems that facilitate remote technical assistance are an integral part of the overall IT (information technology) products' sales, deployment, and maintenance life cycle. They are used by technical employees, business partners, and vendors to help solve hardware and software problems encountered by customers.
Typically, the technical helpdesk personnel receive an email or a call from the customer, describing the issue that needs to be fixed. They record the initial and subsequent email exchanges on that issue, as well as any other information that they consider relevant for describing or solving the problem by using specific problem management tools. This is known by various names: "problem ticket," "trouble ticket," and "bug report."
Another source of problem tickets relates to tickets automatically generated by IT problem management tools when specific rules or conditions hold true in the managed IT environment. All of these tools help keep track of individual tickets by assigning each problem a specific identification code, as well as details such as the customer identification and IT system configuration context. Some configurations are inherently malfunctioning and hence generate more problem tickets than others. Although the problem ticket collection is rich in technical information reflecting the health history of a customer's environment, it is of little relevance with respect to configuration compliance when it comes to migrating IT systems and applications on those systems to new releases.
Therefore, there is a need for a system to overcome the above-stated shortcomings of the known art.

Method for predicting problematic configurations and recommending safe configurations

International Business Machines Corporation


A junction box is provided to make any desired part mountable on a part mount portion of the junction box without specializing it for a particular part. There are provided parts, such as an integrated fuse 10, having tabs projecting at equal intervals from a casing 11, a wire connecting connector 30, a diode, and a short-circuiting pin assembly 40. A common mount portion for the part is provided on a casing of an electrical connection box and is formed with tab insertion openings at the same intervals as the tabs of the part. The part is selectively mounted on the common mount portion to connect the tabs inserted through the tab insertion openings with internal circuits of the electrical connection box.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connection box comprised of a junction box used for an automotive wiring harness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional junction box used for an automotive wiring harness, as shown in FIG. 29, connector receptacles 2, relay receptacles 3, fuse receptacles 4, etc. project from the upper surface of an upper casing 1. These receptacles 2, 3, 4 are specially used for connectors, relays and fuses, respectively. Identified by 5 in FIG. 29 is a lower casing. Between the lower casing 5 and the upper casing 1 are accommodated insulating plates 6, busbars 7 and the like.
Accordingly, only connectors can be fitted into the connector receptacles 2, only relays can be fitted into the relay receptacles 3 and only fuses can be fitted into the fuse receptacles 4. Thus, in the case of changing circuits so as to conform to the type and grade of a vehicle, even if more connectors than the connector receptacles 2 are desired to be connected and less fuses than the fuse receptacles 4 are needed, connector(s) cannot be fitted into the unused fuse receptacle(s) 4. In such a case, the connector(s) need(s) to be connected with the wiring harness outside the junction box, whereas some fuse receptacle(s) 4 and internal circuits provided in correspondence therewith are left unused in the junction box.
Since the receptacles provided in the junction box for parts are specialized, such receptacles cannot respond to a circuit change. Accordingly, the junction box cannot be used efficiently. There is also a problem of an increase of the number of the connectors which need to be used outside the junction box.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an improved electrical connection box, in particular allowing for an efficient use of the junction box.


A CMP head includes a membrane support and a membrane. The membrane support is disk-shaped, having an origin and a radius R. The membrane support has at least a ventilator disposed in a central region within the range between origin and (⅔) R, and at least a diversion opening disposed in a peripheral region within the range between (⅔) R and R. The membrane includes a disk-shaped part disposed on the first surface of the membrane support, and an annular part surrounding the annular sidewall of the membrane support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a CMP head and method of making the same, and more particularly, to a CMP head having diversion openings in the peripheral region and method of making the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a planarization technique used to planarize the surface of integrated circuits formed on a semiconductor wafer so that high-density multi-layered interconnections can be formed on the planarized surface. Normally, CMP has been applied in the fabrication of inter-layer dielectric (ILD), plug, shallow trench isolation (STI), damascene structure, etc.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional CMP apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the CMP apparatus includes a rotatable platen 10, a polish pad 12 bonded to the platen 20 and able to rotate with the platen 10, a slurry supply 14 for supplying slurry 16 to the polish pad 12, and a CMP head 20 used to fix a wafer 18.
During a CMP process, the wafer 18 is placed in between the CMP head 20 and the polish pad 12. The CMP head 20 brings pressure upon the wafer 18 and drives the wafer 18 to rotate so that mechanical polishing effect can be generated between the wafer 18 and the polish pad 12. Meanwhile, the material layer to be planarized of the wafer 18 reacts with the slurry 16, thereby generating chemical polishing effect.
Please refer to FIG. 2 as well as FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional CMP head. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional CMP head 20 includes a membrane 22 disposed on a wafer 18, a membrane support 24, a support pad 26 disposed between the membrane 22 and the membrane support 24, and a retaining ring 28 surrounding the membrane 22, the support pad 26, and the membrane support 24. The membrane support 24 includes ventilators 30 and the support pad 26 has corresponding holes 32 so that gas can pass there through.
Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates the conventional CMP head 20 during a CMP process. As shown in FIG. 3, gas is implanted into the CMP head 20 through the ventilator 30 of the membrane support 24 and the holes 32 of the support pad 26 during the CMP process. The flexible membrane 22 is pushed by the implanted gas and extends outwardly, thereby bringing pressure upon the wafer 18.
The goal of CMP is to planarize the material layer, but the uniformity of the material layer is critical to the yield of successive processes and the reliability of the devices to be formed. In a CMP process, the pressure that the CMP head 20 exerts upon the wafer 18 is crucial to the uniformity of the material layer.
In conventional CMP design, the ventilators 30 are formed in the central region of the membrane support 24, and the peripheral region does not have any openings. As a result, the collision frequency of gas is higher in certain areas in the peripheral region of the membrane 22, producing higher pressure (as region A shown in FIG. 3). As long as the pressure is unequal, the polishing rate is not equally distributed, and this leads to poor uniformity.
Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates a thickness distribution diagram of a material layer after CMP by using a conventional CMP head. In this experiment, the material layer is an oxide layer of 11,000 angstroms disposed on an 8-inch wafer, undergoing 60 seconds of CMP. As shown in FIG. 4, the thickness of the oxide layer in the central region is reduced from 11,000 to 7,300 angstroms, which shows a good uniformity in the central region. However, the thickness of the oxide layer in the peripheral region is evidently thinner (approximately ranging from 70 and 95 mm). This shows the polishing rate is higher in this region, and this over-polishing phenomenon (referred to as fast band effect) occurs to CMP processes frequently.
The fast band effect causes an unfavorable uniformity in the peripheral region, and affects the yield and reliability of the devices to be formed. Therefore, it is an important issue to prevent the occurrence of fast band effect in CMP.


A self-propelled wheel for wheeled vehicles includes an axle, a stator drum ixed to the axle, and a wheel hub and rim rotatably mounted on the axle. Permanent magnets are fixed on the wheel and oppose an outer lateral face of the stator drum and an outer peripheral edge of the stator drum. Excitation of the stator drum causes the permanent magnets, and thereby the wheel, to rotate on the axle.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrically powered vehicles and is directed more particularly to a self-propelled electrically driven wheel for such vehicles.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In response to environmental and geopolitical problems, it has become of some urgency to make available a vehicle consuming relatively less fossil fuel than current fossil-fuel vehicles. While the ultimate target remains "zero-emissions" vehicles which utilize virtually no fossil fuel, realization of that goal appears far removed because of lack of progress in development of batteries capable of propelling a vehicle for times and distances, and at speeds, the driving public has come to expect.
It is now believed that in the interim hybrid vehicles utilizing a combination of a fossil-fueled engine and electric drive means may well be the answer, falling short of "zero-emissions", but nevertheless greatly increasing the distance one can travel on a gallon of fossil fuel. One such concept includes providing an electric motor for each wheel, the motors being driven by a generator which, in turn, is driven by a fossil-fuel engine. In such instance, the engine can be run solely for benefit of the generator and therefore can be small and run at a constant most efficient speed, greatly reducing fossil fuel requirements. To reduce the fossil fuel requirements further, it is necessary that the wheel motors be as efficient as possible.
Two types of rotary electrical motors have been considered, the axial permanent magnet motor and the radial permanent magnet motor. While there are numerous embodiments of both types, in general the axial permanent magnet motors feature a stator disk, or drum, with a central opening and electrical conductor windings wound through the central opening and across the outer peripheral edge of the stator disk. The stator disk typically is fixed in place. A rotor usually is mounted on a shaft and is proximate to the stator disk. The rotor is provided with permanent magnets extending radially from the center of the rotor. In operation, a polyphase alternating electrical current passed through the windings of the stator disk creates a magnetic flux, to which the permanent magnets of the rotor respond, to cause turning of the rotor and the shaft to which the rotor is fixed. The portion of the windings overlying the outer peripheral edge of the stator disk do not accomplish useful work. The magnetic field generated by the windings on the outer peripheral edge of the stator is not coupled with any of the permanent magnets in the rotor and is therefore wasted.
In general, in radial permanent magnet motors, the stator is annularly-shaped and is concentrically disposed around a generally cylindrically-shaped rotor. The stator is provided with electrically conductive windings wound about and in between teeth which extend radially inwardly from the stator toward the rotor. Portions of the windings ("end-turn wire") extend around the outer periphery of the stator. The rotor is provided with permanent magnets of alternating polarity disposed around the periphery of the rotor. The permanent magnets of the rotor react to a magnetic field created by current through the stator windings, to cause the rotor to turn. The rotor generally is connected to a shaft which turns with the rotor and accomplishes work. In the radial motor, the end-turn wires of the stator are not useful in creating the magnetic field which couples with the rotor permanent magnets.
Thus, there is a need for an efficient motor-wheel for vehicles at least in part electrically powered, and there is a need for more efficient motor components for use in such a vehicle wheel.

Self-propelled wheel for wheeled vehicles

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Multiple low bandgap Ga.sub.1-x In.sub.x Sb photovoltaic cell strings are mounted around the perimeter of a cylinder parallel to a central cylindrical emitter, or radiator. These cell strings face radially inward to receive infrared (IR) radiation from the emitter, and efficiently convert this radiation into DC electric power. Reflecting surfaces are positioned on either side of each cell string to concentrate most of the IR radiation on the photovoltaic cells and return much of the balance to the emitter. The inside of the emitter is heated by flames from small gas jets from a central burner tube with a jet pattern somewhat similar to that of a gas kitchen stove. A uniform temperature along the length of the emitter is maintained by employing a gas jet hole pattern that produces a staged addition of fuel in a special burner design. Regenerative air heating is employed to increase the flame temperature and avoid large energy losses in the stack gas. Both measures increase the efficiency and reduce the size and cost of the system. The resultant unit is a compact, quiet, light weight, DC electric power source.

The present invention relates to thermophotovoltaics and more particularly to the use of new low bandgap Ga.sub.1-x In.sub.x Sb photovoltaic cells sensitive to IR radiation down to 2.0 .mu.m. These new cells allow the use of lower temperature emitters. (FIG. 7 from Ref. 1 shows the effects of emitter temperature on the wave length of the emitted radiation.) Previous silicon cells required the operation of IR emitters at much higher temperatures where materials problems have severely limited the emitter lifetime. Further, to obtain emitter temperatures in the 1300 to 1800 K range requires even higher flame temperatures, and flame temperatures above about 1300 K are extremely difficult to achieve without the use of oxygen (which is unacceptably expensive) or preheating of the combustion air, usually by regeneration. (See Ref. 2, Chapters 5 and 16.) Thus to obtain a significant fraction of the combustion energy in usable IR radiation, the unit must make use of regenerative heating of the combustion air together with low bandgap cells. These new low bandgap cells may be wired in series strings and combined with a novel burner/emitter designed to give a nearly uniform temperature along its length in order to maximize cell string current and power output. The cell strings and burner/emitter are integrated with IR reflectors to form a compact, quiet, light-weight DC electric power supply which can be used for off-grid electric power for recreational vehicles, mountain cabins, or third world village homes. In colder climates, the unit can be used for heating as well as electric power.
One version of the unit is cylindrical in shape with a diameter of 5 to 10 in. and a height of 18 to 36 in. See FIGS. 2 to 6. Depending on the number of cell strings provided with this unit, it is designed to generate from 300 W to 1 kW.
Various attempts to fabricate practical and economically interesting thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generators have been reported over the years. In 1986, D. G. Pelka, A. Santos, and W. W. Yuen described both earlier efforts and their attempt to design and fabricate a natural-gas-fired thermophotovoltaic system (Ref. 3). Their desk-top-sized unit used a rotating drum with a porous particle bed serving as the high temperature emitter operating at >2000 K. Silicon TPV cells were mounted inside the rotating drum. They noted that for silicon cells and an emitter temperature <2600 K, over 76% of the black body radiation is in unusably long wavelengths ( >1.1 .mu.m) energy. Their design was complicated by their attempt to design a very high temperature emitter as required by the silicon TPV cells. Without very high temperature emitters, TPV systems based on silicon cells are both inefficient and operate at low power densities. Selective emitters based on rare earth oxides have been described (U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,606 Ref. 4) which improve efficiencies but still suffer from low power densities at practical emitter temperatures.
In 1989, L. M. Fraas et. al. described a new GaSb photovoltaic cell sensitive in the IR out to 1.8 .mu.m. This cell was designed to be used with concentrated sunlight as an infrared booster cell in tandem with GaAs solar cells (U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,505, Ref. 5). In 1989, M. D. Morgan, W. E. Horne, and A. C. Day (NASA SPRAT conference, Ref. 6) proposed using GaSb cells in combination with a radioisotope thermal generator for space electric power, and in 1991 O. L. Doellner proposed using GaSb cells looking at jet engine plumes to replace alternators on jet aircraft (Ref. 7). As of this writing, neither Morgan nor Doellner has built a TPV generator using GaSb cells.
It now seems timely to take a fresh approach to the design of a compact gas-fired TPV generator. It is clear that the longer wavelength response of the GaSb cell will allow the use of lower temperature emitters. However, several problems must still be solved. First, when photovoltaic cells are wired together in series in order to generate a required voltage, e.g. 12 V, it is important that they each receive the same amount of IR radiation. Otherwise, the cell string current is limited by the cell with the lowest IR generated current. This translates to a requirement to tailor the temperature profile over the length of the emitter. A uniform temperature would give a first approximation, but end effects will probably require special handling of both the shape of the end reflectors and the burner jet pattern to obtain the desired uniform radiation energy input along the length of each cell string. Second, the energy conversion efficiency is not only controlled by the TPV cell bandgap and response to the IR; exhaust gas heat losses up the stack will be very large without provision for regenerative heating of the combustion supply air by the exhaust gas. This will also increase the flame temperature and permit higher emitter temperatures, which will in turn increase the cell output per unit of cell area, and thus reduce the size, weight, and cost. Third, the low bandgap TPV cell temperature must be maintained near room temperature in order to preserve high cell conversion efficiency. Fourth, the IR energy from the emitter has to be efficiently coupled to the TPV cell strings. Fifth, it may be desirable to tune the low bandgap response even somewhat further into the infrared.

Compact DC electric power generator using low bandgap thermophotovoltaic cell strings with a hydrocarbon gas burner fitted with a regenerator


Described herein are proteins having lyase activity and nucleic acid sequences which code therefor; along with methods of expressing, isolating, purifying, and using same.

Polysaccharide lyases degrade anionic polysaccharides that are important in bacterial biofilm formation and host-pathogen interactions.
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous, gram-negative bacteria that has become an increasingly important nocosomial pathogen in immunocompromised patients. Approximately 1% of all nosocomal bacteraemias are due to S. maltophilia infection, with the attributed mortality rate at nearly 28%, which places it among the highest attributed mortality rates observed for nosocomal bacteraemias. A major reason for the high mortality associated with S. maltophilia is its nearly universal resistance to broad-spectrum antibiotics such as imipenem and aminoglycosides, and increasing resistance to 'last-line' cephelasporin antibiotics such as ceftazidime and cefotaxime.
One unique mechanism that S. maltophilia has evolved to become multi-drug resistant (MDR) is its production of highly branched, anionic exopolysaccharides (EPS) to form biofilms. Biofilms are comprised of secreted, high molecular weight EPS such as alginic acid, which encapsulate a population of bacterial cells to create a 'niche' environment that is often impermeable to antimicrobials, detergents or other organic compounds.
While several pathogenic bacteria are capable of producing alginic acid biofilms, S. maltophilia is unique in that the EPS that comprise the biofilm are highly anionic due to the addition of branched poly-D-galacturonic acid (HexA)-ethyl-D-lactate (Lac) chains. Recent studies indicate the additional negative charge of S. maltophilia EPS due to the branched HexA-Lac group enables biofilm binding to metallic or plastic surfaces, as well as creating, a heat-, acid- and detergent-resistant environment that allows S. maltophilia to colonize water purification systems, ventilators and stents. As a result, S. maltophilia is the 2nd leading cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia, with over 70% of all S. maltophilia-specific, ventilator associated MDR infections caused by biofilm forming strains.
In biofilm-positive MDR infections, surgery is the main option to either remove infected lung tissue or perform a lung transplant, although both are often not feasible since the patient is immunocompromised and therefore at greater risk of additional infections. This is especially a problem for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, in which accumulation of mucin in the lungs creates a viscous, damp environment in which biofilm-producing S. maltophilia can thrive. S. maltophilia is the 2nd most common cause of chronic infection in CF patients after P. aeruginosa, with estimates as high as 20% of all MDR infections. Thus, biofilm formation plays a central role in the pathogenicity of S. maltophilia, and strategies targeting. EPS degradation will enable more effective treatments to prevent chronic. S. maltophilia infection, particularly in CF and immunocompromised patients.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to these and other ends.

Thermally stable enzymes, compositions thereof and methods of using same


An electronic sign with multiple direction positionable rear access doors, wherein sliding rear access doors are utilized to provide for access to the inner regions of the electronic sign while maintaining a thin profile. One or more of a plurality of sliding rear access doors can be disengaged from a back panel and urged rearwardly a minimal distance and then positioned laterally and unobtrusively along the length of a top track opposing a bottom track allowing the electronic sign to maintain a thin and unobtrusive profile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic sign, and more specifically relates to an electronic sign with access doors which are positionable in multiple directions at the rear of an electronic sign structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art electronic signs often are supported with support components which are incorporated to lend support to the structure of an electronic sign. Often, the components of the support structure are fashioned to allow access to the rear portion of the electronic sign for the purpose of maintenance or equipment changeout and must be structured to allow opening of rearwardly located access panels or doors which can be hinged and which open outwardly. As such, the structure may be extraordinarily cumbersome or may be constructed larger than practical to accommodate such access, such as by providing sufficient space for the opening of hinged doors or panels. Support structure may be fashioned in a manner which can limit or prohibit opening of some access doors or panels or which may require partial disassembly of the support structure. Operation of large access doors in windy conditions can be difficult and can be hazardous to personnel where a door can be caught by the wind and propelled out of control into a maintenance worker. What is needed is an electronic sign having a thin profile for all modes of operation, including a rear access panel arrangement which allows for controlled and unobstructed access to the inner, rear and other portions of an electronic sign, whereby the access panels may be unobstructingly actuated and maneuvered in multiple directions without interference by adjacent support structure.

Electronic sign with multiple direction positionable rear access doors


The position of a mobile gaming object within a video gaming environment is determined using at least one combined Radio Frequency (RF) signal. Each combined RF signal includes at least a pair of RF signals that have a known relationship therebetween. Based on signal information representative of properties of the combined RF signal as received and the known relationship, respective distances between the mobile gaming object and a plurality of transmitter/receivers can be determined. The position of the mobile gaming object within the video gaming environment is then determined from the distances.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless systems and more particularly to determining position within a wireless system and/or tracking motion within the wireless system.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, radio frequency (RF) wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, RFID, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof. As another example, infrared (IR) communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IrDA (Infrared Data Association).
IR communications are commonly used video games to detect the direction in which a game controller is pointed. As an example, an IR sensor is placed near the game display, where the IR sensor to detect the IR signal transmitted by the game controller. If the game controller is too far away, too close, or angled away from the IR sensor, the IR communication will fail.
Further advances in video gaming include three accelerometers in the game controller to detect motion by way of acceleration. The motion data is transmitted to the game console via a Bluetooth wireless link. The Bluetooth wireless link may also transmit the IR direction data to the game console and/or convey other data between the game controller and the game console.
While the above technologies allow video gaming to include motion sensing, it does so with limitations. As mentioned, the IR communication has a limited area in which a player can be for the IR communication to work properly. Further, the accelerometer only measures acceleration such that true one-to-one detection of motion is not achieved. Thus, the gaming motion is limited to a handful of directions (e.g., horizontal, vertical, and a few diagonal directions.
Therefore, a need exists for motion tracking and positioning determination for video gaming and other applications that overcome the above limitations.

Positioning within a video gaming environment using RF signals


A briquette meeting required strength that is formed in an energy-saving manner from ferrous metal working scrap, such as grinding chips, and a method of making the briquette are provided. In a briquette formed by applying a pressing pressure to a ferrous metal working scrap, the percentage by weight of grinding chips is in the range of 10 wt % to 35 wt %. Viscous water-containing grinding chips crushed to a desired size and metal working scrap, such as gear cutting chips, are mixed in a feed hopper 7, and a pressing pressure is then applied to the raw mix by use of a compression pressing machine 8 to form a briquette B of ferrous metal working scrap. The content of a grinding fluid of the viscous water-containing grinding chips is 20 wt % to 60 wt %.

Conventionally, grinding chips resulting from grinding become spongy bodies that contain a grinding fluid, such as grinding water and grinding oil used during grinding, and after dried in a machining plant, the spongy bodies, are incinerated in an incineration furnace, disposed by landfill for value, or used as a reducing agent for blast furnaces in a steelworks.
For grinding chips containing about 70% of ferrous metals, for example, as described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-23237, a treatment method of briquetting is known so that such grinding chips are reused as a raw material in blast furnaces of a steelworks. In this method, grinding chips, turning chips and metal powders for composition adjustment are blended and heated in a primary heating furnace to remove moisture, oil and the like, whereby a preliminary briquette is made, and after that, briquetting is performed by secondary heating in a high-temperature secondary heating furnace.
Furthermore, as described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-241854, there is known a method of making a briquette by which grinding chips resulting from grinding are naturally dried to reduce the content of a grinding fluid to not more than 20 wt %, shot waste resulting from shot blasting and gear cutting chips resulting from gear cutting, the oil content of which is reduced to not more than 6 wt %, are added to these grinding chips, the blending ratio of these materials is adjusted to 2 (grinding chips): 1 (shot waste): 7 (gear cutting chips), and a pressing pressure is applied after mixing and string.
However, in the method described in the Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 56-23237, equipment and devices such as a large heating furnace must be provided on a large scale and besides the treatment requires a large quantity of energy, posing the problem that the effect of recycling resources decreases by half.
The briquette making method described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-241854, which involves mixing shot waste, has the problem that during the extrusion of moisture by applying a pressing force, shot waste becomes a hindrance and that in some ways of mixing, shot waste induces a decrease in shatter strength and variations in required strength after briquetting, thereby causing cracks.
The present invention was made in view of these problems in conventional techniques and has as its object the provision of a briquette meeting required strength that is formed in an energy-saving manner from ferrous metal machining scrap, such as grinding chips, a method of making the briquette, a mashing crusher of grinding chips capable of reducing the energy consumed in briquetting in order to effectively reuse grinding chips, and a briquette making apparatus that uses the mashing crusher.

Briquette of ferrous metal working scrap, method of making the same, mashing crusher of grinding chips and briquette making apparatus using the same


An information recording/reproducing apparatus for reproducing picture and audio signals in synchronization reproduces audio/still-picture information which has been recorded onto a recording medium in a receiving order and in a time-sharing manner. Still-picture reproduction circuitry is provided for reproducing the still-picture from a designated reproduction starting position on the recording medium in accordance with a designated still-picture reproduction starting position. Detection circuitry is provided for detecting an audio synchronization signal from audio packets positioned on the recording medium after the still-picture packet to be reproduced. Sound reproduction circuitry is provided for reproducing audio data from an audio packet positioned on the recording medium after the audio packet which contains the detected audio synchronizing signal.

The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing apparatus and, more particularly to an information reproducing apparatus which records an audio still-picture program on a predetermined recording medium.
Audio still-picture programs having highly precise still pictures and various display effects for updating the still picture of interest (by cutting, scrolling, wiping, dissolving, etc.) rather than merely changing over the screen can be provided in the form of digital data as one or are packet transmitted through a communication satellite channel or CATV.
In the case of a still-picture program, an audio still-picture program, in particular, digital data representing sound and image are sent in the form of packet type data. The format of this packet is shown in FIG. 3.
As shown in FIG. 3, one frame (=2048 bits) includes 7 packets. The leading 16 bits of this frame are used for a synchronizing signal FS. Another 16 bits are further attached to the synchronizing signal FS as a frame control signal FC. The frame control signal FC contains additional information such as mode information.
Furthermore, one packet (288 bits) is comprised of 16-bit headers HA and HS, 174-bit data portion, and 82-bit error correction data. The header HA indicates an attribute of the packet, that is, a kind of service (i.e. whether the packet is an audio still-picture program). The header HS is information indicating a kind of packet in the attribute indicated by the header HA. If the header HS is examined, it can be determined whether information in the data portion located immediately after the header HS is program control data. In the case of an audio still-picture program, if the header HS is examined, it can be determined whether the data which is located immediately after the header HS is on sound or image. The 174-bit data portion contains audio data, image data, and program control data. Program control data are information indicating the start or end of the program, transmission time, display time, and the like.
The digital still-picture program is transmitted at the transmission speed of several Mbps, and audio data and image data are both compressed.
In the image compression, each screen is coded one by one, and packets including additional information such as a synchronizing signal, coding parameter, and coding data are transmitted according to the coding format. The audio data is coded in every several ms, and transmitted as a packet having a synchronizing signal, coding parameter, coding data, and the like. However, the synchronizing signal of the coding format of the image data and that of the audio data are not simultaneously transmitted.
FIG. 2 shows the apparatus which records, reproduces, and searches an audio still-picture program transmitted in the above-described packets.
In the recording, a digital data string inputted from the input terminal 100 is synchronized by the synchronizing signal FS in the reception/demodulation circuit 102. The string is received and demodulated in this circuit 102. The demodulated digital data is separated into each packet by the packet separating circuit 104. The header correcting circuit 106 decodes the error correcting codes of the headers HA and HS. The error correcting decoder 108 decodes the error correcting codes which are attached to the header HS and the data portion.
In the packet string in which the error correcting code is decoded in the error correcting decoder 108, a kind of service is identified by the service identification circuit 110 in accordance with the header HA, and the packets of the audio still-picture program are picked up. Then, in the searching information adding circuit 112, information needed for search is added, and the information is transmitted to the recording reproducing circuit 118 through the bus A. This recording reproducing circuit 118 receives a recording control signal from the recording reproduction search control circuit 116 and writes in the recording medium 120 (i.e. magneto-optic disk). The above-described recording processings are controlled by CPU 122.
In the reproduction and search, under the control of the CPU 122, the recording reproducing circuit 118 receives a reproduction control signal from the recording reproduction search control circuit 116 and reads out the data from the recording medium 120. Furthermore, the circuit 118 decodes the error correcting code and transmits the data to the bus A. The searching information read-out circuit 126 reads out necessary information for search through the bus A. The CPU 122 controls search and reproduction on the basis of this searching information.
The packet string which is read out under the control of the CPU 122 on the basis of the searching information is identified whether it is on audio data or image data by the packet identification circuit 126. Then, the packet of audio data is transmitted to the audio decoder 136 and the packet of image data is transmitted to the image decoder 138.
The audio decoder 136 decodes the audio packet and outputs it through the output terminal 140 as audio data. The image decoder 138 decodes the image packet and calculates the timing of image display from the transmitted transmission time data and image display time data. When the time for displaying the image has come, the decoded image packet is outputted from the output terminal 142 as an image signal.
After that, an audio amplifier, speaker, and monitor (not shown) connected to the output terminals 140 and 142 reproduce the audio still-picture program.
However, in the above-described prior art, problems have arisen in the case where a still-picture program or audio still-picture program is recorded or an image is searched for and the program is reproduced from that searching point. This problem is described below in detail.
Generally, in the case of the still-picture program or audio still-picture broadcasting, program control data includes an image transmission time (a reception time) and broadcasting time (an actual time when an image is displayed). In this type of apparatus, demodulated image data is displayed at a specified time according to a designated display switch effect. In the audio reproduction, a received sound is demodulated and reproduced at real time.
That is, the image data is received and stored in a memory in advance and displayed at a specified time. On the other hand, the audio data is reproduced at real time. In other words, the audio data is received much later than the corresponding image data.
There is no problem under such a condition in the case where a still-picture program or audio still-picture data is received and merely outputted. However, the problem has arisen in the case where the image data and audio data are recorded on a magneto-optic disk and the like, and reproduced at an operator's desired time (the designated broadcasting time might have already passed).
As described above, in the case of a still-picture program and an audio still-picture program, an image being displayed on a monitor is not the image being received at real time, but received earlier than the monitor display. Therefore, when a program recording on the recording medium 120 is started, the actual recording is started from the image which is displayed much later. In other words, the still picture which is being displayed at the point where the operator has designated for recording cannot be actually recorded. Furthermore, in the case of a still-picture program (including an audio still-picture program), since a still picture which is displayed on a screen is delivered as a plurality of packets, if the recording on the recording medium 120 is started with the packet which is received after the operator has designated a recording, the recording is started with the packet which is in the middle of a packet group comprising a still picture. If the program recorded in that way is reproduced, the first image cannot be reproduced correctly since the signal of the first image cannot be synchronized. For the above-described reasons, in the case where the still-picture program is recorded, the recording needs to be started at the head of the packets of the still-picture program.
To record the still-picture program from the beginning to the end on the recording medium 120, the recording needs to be started much earlier than the display time. However, there is the other drawback that an unnecessary part of a program may also be recorded.
The problem may arise when the audio still-picture program recorded in the recording medium 120 is reproduced. The reasons will be described along with FIG. 4. In the diagram, Vk (k=1, 2, . . . ) represents an image packet and AL (L=1, 2, 3, . . . ) represents an audio packet. The diagram illustrates the state that the packets are stored in the order of reception.
It is assumed that the image packets are read out from the point A. When the image packets V1, V2, and V3 are read out, the audio packets A1, A2, A3, . . . which are located after the point B are read out. However, the audio packets A1, A2, A3, . . . are simply transmitted later than the image packets V1, V2, V3 timewise. It is not always that the audio packets A1, A2, A3 correspond to the image packets V1, V2, V3. In the case of the audio data, normally, the first packet of a series of audio data includes a synchronizing signal which commands the starting of an audio reproduction. However, in the case where the audio packet A1 does not contain a synchronizing signal, there is the problem that the demodulation processing can not be correctly performed resulting in noise generation.

Information recording/reproduction apparatus for reproducing picture and audio signals in synchronization


An apparatus for aerobic biological treatment of waste water is described, in which a great number of carrier members having a large surface area to which microorganisms adhere are movably set in a cylindrical reactor within a given range of height, and the carrier is horizontally moved substantially continuously so that a part of the carrier is cleaned with cleaning air. The partial cleaning system eliminates the disadvantages associated with intermittent cleaning of the whole carrier.

Waste water treatment using aerobes is advantageous in that the apparatus for retaining microorganisms within a reactor is less restricted in design as compared with treatment using anaerobes; for aerobes are more proliferative than anaerobes. Waste water treatment using aerobes is roughly divided into a suspension system using microorganisms suspended in waste water and an organic membrane system using microorganisms immobilized on a solid carrier. While various methods and apparatus for these systems have been proposed to date, the suspension system involves a problem that the floc of microorganisms has a low sedimentation rate and sometimes overflows the apparatus, failing to secure a requisite amount of the microorganisms (called a bulking phenomenon), which leads to reduction in treated water quality. To the contrary, the organic membrane system is free from such a problem and also achieves high efficiency in waste water treatment. From this standpoint, the latter system tends to be adopted in preference to the former system.
In spite of the above advantages, the organic membrane system essentially requires an intermittent cleaning operation to prevent clogging of the reactor with the proliferating microorganisms. To this effect, the treatment must be suspended to clean the reactor by air jetted from a cleaning pipe provided beneath the bottom of the reactor. However, some kinds of carriers or some structures for holding the carrier make it difficult to conduct cleaning properly while securing a sufficiently effective surface area of the carrier.
In more detail, in a system in which spherical or irregular-shaped inorganic molded or natural fillers as a carrier are merely packed in a reactor, the fillers contact to each other only to provide a small effective surface area, and with small spaces among themselves, they are liable to be clogged. In a system in which a cylindrical carrier holder having a large surface area, such as a honeycomb structure, is placed in a reactor, the effective surface area decreases as the microorganisms proliferate on the inner surface of the structure, and the structure is not easy to clean. In a system in which a fibrous or ribbon-shaped metallic or plastic material is supported by a column or a cage, interstices among fibers or ribbons, where densely entangled, are soon filled with the microorganisms, resulting in considerable reduction in effective surface area. Additionally, if this system is cleaned vigorously, the microorganisms fall off the carrier excessively to markedly reduce the treating capacity after the cleaning operation, failing to continue the treatment in a stable manner.
The intermittent cleaning is also accompanied by a serious disadvantage that the cleaning pipe is easily clogged during the treatment. Further, the air jetted from the cleaning pipe usually goes up almost vertically. In a common reactor whose height is about 4 to 5 m, the air flow diffuses to a diameter of about 30 cm at the most. Accordingly, in order to apply the air jet flow to every part of the carrier, it is necessary to densely provide a large number of nozzles for spouting air. This not only incurs increased initial cost and operating cost but makes operation control difficult.

Apparatus for aerobic treatment of waste water


The invention relates to a reflective feature, e.g., reflective security feature or reflective decorative feature, comprising a first element at least partially coplanar with a second element. The first element causes incident light to be reflected with a first intensity that varies as the angle of incidence changes relative to a surface of the reflective feature. The invention also relates to a direct write printing process for forming such a reflective feature from an ink comprising metallic nanoparticles.

Recent advances in color copying and printing have put increasing importance on developing new methods to prevent forgery of security documents such as banknotes. While there have been many techniques developed, one area of increasing interest is in developing security features that cannot be readily reproduced, particularly by a color copier or printer.
One approach that has been taken is to formulate an ink for creating a printed image that is visually distinct from its reproduction. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,059,245, 5,569,535, and 4,434,010, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe the use of stacked thin film platelets or flakes. Images produced with these pigments exhibit angular metamerism. These pigments have been incorporated into security inks used, for example, in paper currency. These pigments have also been incorporated into plastics applications (see, for example, PCT Publication WO 00/24580, published May 4, 2000). Additional inks and security features are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,705,356; 4,779,898; 5,278,590; 5,766,738; and 6,114,018, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,307, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a printing ink that contains a single dye or mixture of at least two dyes that is formulated in order to create the greatest possible metamerism between the formulated ink and a reference ink on the basis of two defined types of illumination. The original image is described as having visually clearly identifiable differences compared to its copy.
Another approach used to produce security documents has been to produce a "covert" image that contains a material which cannot be seen by the naked eye but which can be made visible under specific conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,324,567, 5,718,754, and 5,853,464 disclose the use of Raman active compounds. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,944,881 and 5,980,593 describe fluorescent materials that can be used in an ink. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,084 discloses a document containing an information marking comprised of a first color that is at least partially opaque or visible in infrared light and a second color, which conceals the first color in the visible spectrum, but is invisible to infrared light.
Inks that change upon chemical exposure have also been used for security documents. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,720,801, 5,498,283, and 5,304,587 disclose ink compositions that are invisible when printed, and develop a color upon exposure to bleach.
While these efforts afford printed images that are difficult to reproduce, advances in color copiers and color printers continue to be made. Therefore, a need remains for features and for processes for forming such features, particularly for security documents, which cannot be easily reproduced, and which are visually distinct from their reproductions.
Additionally, the need exists for providing the ability to create security features that display variable information, e.g., information that is individualized for a specific product unit, such as a serial number, which variable information cannot be easily or readily duplicated or copied. The need also exists for providing the ability to create security features displaying variable information and having high resolution at commercially acceptable rates.

Reflective features with co-planar elements and processes for making them


Various aspects of the present invention are directed to a nanowire configured to couple electromagnetic radiation to a selected guided wave and devices incorporating such nanowires. In one aspect of the present invention, a nanowire structure includes a substrate and at least one nanowire attached to the substrate. A diameter, composition, or both may vary generally periodically along a length of the at least one nanowire. A coating may cover at least part of a circumferential surface of the at least one nanowire. The nanowire structure may be incorporated in a device including at least one optical-to-electrical converter operable to convert a guided wave propagating along the length of the at least one nanowire, at least in part responsive to irradiation, to an electrical signal. Other aspects of the present invention are directed to methods of fabricating nanowires structured to support guided waves.

Guided waves ("GWs") have long been of scientific and practical interest. GWs include surface-plasmon-polariton ("SPP") waves and electromagnetic waves that propagate within waveguides, such as optical fibers and other dielectric or semiconductor waveguides. A SPP is an electromagnetic excitation with an electromagnetic field that propagates along an interface between a material with a negative dielectric constant, such as a metal, and a medium having a real, positive dielectric constant. A SPP is generated as a result of coupling a photon to a surface plasmon of the material with the negative dielectric constant. A plasmon is a quantum of the collective excitation of free electrons in a solid.
As shown in FIG. 1, a SPP wave 100 may be excited in a metal 102 having a dielectric constant ∈m by irradiating the metal 102 with electromagnetic radiation using a number of different illumination configurations. The SPP wave 100 propagates along an interface 102 between the metal 104 and surrounding dielectric medium 106 (e.g., air) having a real, positive dielectric constant ∈s. Because the SPP wave 100 is concentrated at the interface 102, the intensity of the SPP wave 100 may be two to three times the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation used to excite the SPP wave 100. Due to Ohmic losses in the metal 104, the intensity of the SPP wave 100 decays exponentially during propagation along the interface 102.
Free-space light cannot be directly coupled into surface plasmons of the metal 102 due a mismatch between the dispersion relations for the SPP wave 100 and incident photons. In other words, the free-space light and the surface plasmons exhibit different wave momenta at the same frequency. A number of different excitation configurations have been developed to couple free-space light into surface plasmons of the metal 104. One of the more common SPP excitation configurations is the so-called Kretschmann geometry in which a prism is used match the photon and SPP wavevectors. Some other common SPP excitation configurations include forming a diffraction grating in the metal 104 or roughening the interface 102 of the metal 104 to provide a similar diffraction effect.
The enhanced intensity of a SPP wave may be used in a number of different applications. For example, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy ("SERS") is a well-known spectroscopic technique for performing chemical analysis. In SERS, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation irradiates a specially prepared, nanostructured metal surface. A sample to be analyzed is placed on or near the roughened metal surface. Irradiation of the sample and the roughened metal surface generates an intense SPP that the sample experiences. The intense SPP is one factor that increases the number of Raman scattered photons from the sample that are characteristic of the sample's chemical composition. Raman scattered photons are a result of photons (i.e., Stokes and anti-Stokes radiation) that are scattered inelastically from the sample.
In addition to SPPs utility in sensor and spectroscopic applications, metallic interconnects that support SPPs are currently being investigated as replacements for conventional optical interconnects, such as optical fibers and other dielectric waveguides, used in electronic devices. As the size of electronic devices continues to relentlessly decrease every few years, further increases in processor speed may be prevented by thermal and signal delay issues associated with electronic interconnection between electronic components. Optical interconnects are believed to provide one solution to signal delay problems because optical interconnects posses a large data carrying capacity compared to conventional microscale or submicroscale metal signal lines. However, widespread utilization of optical interconnects has been hampered due to a large size mismatch between nanoscale and microscale electronic components and the optical interconnects. Optical interconnects are limited in size by the fundamental laws of diffraction to about half a wavelength of light and tend to be about one or two orders of magnitude larger than nanoscale and microscale electronic components.
Replacing conventional optical and metallic interconnects with plasmonic structures has been proposed because metals commonly used in electrical interconnects, such as copper and aluminum, allow excitation of SPPs. SPP waves propagating along a plasmonic interconnect could be used to transmit data signals to and from other chips or electronic devices. Thus, plasmonic interconnects would allow for the large data carrying capacity of conventional optical interconnects, while having the nanoscale or microscale dimensions of conventional metal interconnects. Additionally, plasmonic interconnects can also allow for electrical signals to be transmitted concurrently with SPP waves to further increase processing speed.
Therefore, a need exists for developing improved nanostructures that enable coupling electromagnetic radiation to GWs supported by the nanostructures. Additionally, a need exists to reduce the size mismatch between waveguides and other components in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Nanowire configured to couple electromagnetic radiation to selected guided wave, devices using same, and methods of fabricating same

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present disclosure discloses an uplink power control method, a device and a system. A terminal device may first determine a target downlink signal for performing a downlink path loss estimation, perform the downlink path loss estimation based on the determined target downlink signal to obtain a downlink path loss estimate, then can determine transmitting power of an uplink signal according to the downlink path loss estimate, and transmit the uplink signal according to the determined transmitting power, thereby implementing uplink power control in a beamforming scenario, and improving the system performance.

In a traditional Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, for determining transmitting power of an uplink signal, a terminal device needs to perform a downlink path loss estimation based on a downlink signal, and determine the transmitting power of the uplink signal after performing path loss compensation according to a downlink path loss.
The downlink signal used for the downlink path loss estimation in the LTE system does not perform narrowband transmit or receive beamforming, and thus an uplink path loss can be estimated using the obtained downlink path loss.
In a New Radio (NR) system, narrowband beamforming is carried out in transmission of the uplink and downlink signals, so the uplink and downlink path losses are likely to be inconsistent, that is, there may be a big difference between the downlink path loss obtained based on the downlink signal and the actual uplink path loss, and the downlink path loss obtained based on the downlink signal may not be directly used for uplink path loss compensation, i.e. cannot be directly used for uplink power control.
Therefore, how to perform uplink power control in a beamforming scenario will be an urgent problem to be solved.

Uplink power control method, device and system

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A wet type frictional engagement device includes a hydraulic fluid feed device for feeding hydraulic fluid between a pair of friction plates which are frictionally engaged with each other by a pushing element. By feeding hydraulic fluid between the pair of friction plates the distance between those plates are changed and thereby the transmission of power is controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wet type frictional engagement device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a wet type frictional engagement device, a lockup clutch of a torque converter and a clutch or a brake to engage, disengage or lock a component of an automatic transmission are known.
However, in the above conventional wet type frictional engagement devices, only one of a pair of friction plates which are frictionally engaged with each other in a case filled with oil is pushed against the other friction plate by a predetermined force, and no oil is forcibly fed between the friction plates.
Accordingly, in the engagement or semi-engagement of the conventional frictional engagement device, a sufficient quantity of oil is not fed between the friction surfaces. As a result, a film of oil of an appropriate thickness can not be stably formed on the friction surfaces, and a friction coefficient between the friction surfaces is apt to change. Therefore, especially in a state of semi-engagement, what is called "judder" is caused in the clutch, and it becomes impossible to operated the clutch smoothly.


A method and apparatus for statistical compilation is presented. A statistic component portion for each statistic is stored in each a plurality of banks in a multi-location memory. At least one statistical update stream is received. Each statistical update stream includes a plurality of statistical updates, where each statistical update includes a statistic identifier and an update operand. Received statistical updates are scheduled to produce a scheduled update stream. A control block executes the updates. The control block retrieves the current value of one of the statistic component portions from memory and combines the current value with the update operand of a corresponding statistical update. The resulting updated component value is then stored back into memory. When a processing block issues a statistic request, the control block fetches each of the component portions from memory and combines the component portions to produce a total statistic value.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to statistical compilation, and more particularly to statistical compilation in a communications network.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In data communication systems or other data processing systems that involve a large number of statistics that have to be maintained, maintenance of the statistics can become a complicated task that consumes a relatively large amount of available resources in the system. For example, in a data communication system a number of parameters relating to data traffic must be maintained for billing purposes, network maintenance, and the like. Each of these statistics may be stored in a memory structure such that periodically the statistics can be retrieved and analyzed to generate billing information, perform network utilization studies, etc. Each time a particular statistic needs to be updated in the memory, the current value stored in the memory must be read, the modification to the value made, and the resulting value stored back into the memory.
Having to perform these statistical updates can consume a significant amount of the available resources of the data path processors within the communication network. This may interfere with the level of efficiency with which the data path processors perform the other functions which they are designed to perform, such as those associated with directing data traffic through the network. The degradation in efficiency becomes increasingly significant as traffic speeds and the number of statistics maintained increase.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for statistical compilation that reduces the resources required on the part of the function components in the system, such as data path processors in a communication network.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for statistical compilation


A dual toilet brush (10) comprising an elongate handle (12). A first brush head (14) is connected to a first end of the elongate handle (12) for cleaning an interior surface (16) of a bowl (18) of a toilet (20). A second brush head (22) is connected to and extends outwardly from the first end of the elongate handle (12) above the first brush head (14), for cleaning an overhanging rim (24) of the toilet (20).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to toilet bowl cleaning apparatuses and more specifically it relates to a dual toilet brush. The dual toilet brush contains a first brush head and a second brush head on an elongate handle to clean an interior surface of a bowl and an overhanging rim of a toilet more efficiently.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous toilet bowl cleaning apparatuses have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,660,318 to Anderson; U.S. Pat. No. 1,848,868 to Churchill; U.S. Pat. No. 2,242,004 to Kapinos and U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,775 to Banks all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A surface mount semiconductor package includes a semiconductor device, a metal pad on which the semiconductor device is mounted, and a housing formed of a flowable material which bonds to the metal pad and encapsulates the semiconductor device when cured, where the metal pad includes a waffled surface opposite the surface on which the semiconductor device is mounted for accepting solder between the metal pad and a substrate and for permitting solder wetting therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor device packages and lead frames therefor and, more specifically, the invention relates to a high power semiconductor device adapted for surface mounting.
2. Related Art
Packages for high power semiconductor devices which can be surface mounted on flat support board surfaces are well known. One such package is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/583,219, filed on Jan. 4, 1996, entitled SURFACE-MOUNT SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE which is incorporated herein by reference. Such packages are very well adapted for surface mounting to the conductive patterns of a flat support board, such as an IMS structure (a thick copper or aluminum substrate covered by a thin insulation film which has a thin patternable copper or other conductive solderable upper surface).
It is known to provide a pattern of shallow spaced indentations (or waffles) on one surface of the metal heat sink pad of the prior art surface mount packages, which surface couples to the semiconductor die. It is known that the waffle pattern improves the solder down of the die to the waffled surface.
Of critical concern to designers in the art is the solder down characteristics of the metal heat sink pad of the package to the IMS board. In high power applications, the solder down of the metal heat sink pad is of particular importance because of the need for good heat dissipation.
Surface mount packages of the prior art are designed with metal heat sink pads having smooth flat surfaces, which smooth flat surfaces are soldered to substrates (such as IMSs). Unfortunately, the smooth flat surface of the metal heat sink pad often does not properly wet with solder which results in poor contact with the IMS. Further, when the surface is slightly concave, undesirable solder voids result.
Consequently, heat transfer from the surface mount package to the IMS is adversely affected and elevated die temperatures result (possibly damaging the device). Further, the mechanical integrity of the package to IMS junction may be degraded resulting in poor ruggedness and susceptibility to failure, particularly under vibration. The above disadvantages are exacerbated when the package size increases, and the surface area of the metal heat sink pad correspondingly increases, which is the typically the case in high power devices.
Accordingly, there is a need in the semiconductor packaging art for an improved surface mount package with superior solder down characteristics to the substrate resulting in better thermal and mechanical performance.

Lead frame with waffled front and rear surfaces