An apparatus for transporting racks of sealed sample tubes, mixing a sample material contained within the tubes, and aspirating samples from the tubes. The apparatus includes a car which runs along a rail. The car drives racks containing the sample tubes into a mixer channel disposed above and running parallel to the rail. The mixer channel is mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the rail to mix samples and position the tubes to be aspirated. A push pin mounted adjacent to the mixer channel extends into the mixer channel and urges individual tubes against an aspirator assembly mounted on the opposite side of the mixer channel. An input queue is disposed proximate the input side of the rail and an output queue disposed proximate the output side of rail. The input queue supports the racks and feeds them into position to be driven by the car mechanism into the mixer channel. The output queue receives racks after being aspirated and feeds them aft to make room for subsequent racks driven by the car from the mixer channel. The racks include a lateral front wall, a lateral rear wall and a horizontal bottom wall connecting the front wall to the back wall. The racks also include a plurality of vertical side walls connected to the front wall and the back wall to define a plurality of tube receptacles. The bottom wall includes a plurality of equidistantly spaced apertures, each of which is centrally located within a tube receptacle to provide the push pin access to the tubes. The bottom wall also includes a plurality of ribs extending from the front wall to the back wall to be engaged by the car. Biasing means are disposed within each of the tube receptacles to support sample tubes therein.

Blood is typically collected from patients in closed, evacuated sample tubes. The samples contained in these tubes are later aspirated from the tubes so that various tests may be performed. However, in order to obtain a substantially homogenous mixture for testing (e.g., an even distribution of blood cells) it is first necessary to mix the sample before aspiration. Further, because vigorous mixing may cause damage to delicate blood cells, a means for gently mixing the samples before aspiration is required.
One system for mixing and aspirating blood samples is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,484, wherein a pair of vertical screw-threaded shafts convey a series of closed containers downward towards a retractable aspiration needle. Differential speed of the feed screws imparts a gentle rocking and rotation on the tubes as they are transported towards the aspiration needle. The disclosed system is limited, however, in that sample tubes must be input individually and optimum mixing is not adequately accomplished. In addition, only tubes of like dimensions may be processed simultaneously. As various tube manufacturers produce sample tubes with different dimensions and sizes, it is desirable that an automated sampler be capable of dealing with sample tubes of varying characteristics simultaneously.
Another system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,411, includes a vertically mounted, rotatable round cassette in which sample tubes are mounted along the periphery. The number of tubes is limited in this system by the size of the cassette. In addition, the cassette cannot be changed while samples are being aspirated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,017 describes a system in which sample tubes are housed in racks, which are vertically stacked, with the tubes in their horizontal orientation, in an input compartment. The racks are stripped from the bottom of the stack one at a time by an input elevator and lowered onto a combined conveyor belt and tilt table. The tilt table mixes the tubes as the conveyor advances the racks to an aspiration station. The sample tubes are then individually indexed to an aspiration probe with the tilt table tilted so that the sealed tube end is below the opposite end. Once samples have been taken from every tube in the rack, the rack is advanced to an output elevator and stacked vertically in an output compartment.
The racks used in the above system are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,465. Each rack includes a base, a front wall and an intermediate wall, wherein the intermediate wall is disposed approximately midway between the base and the front wall. The front wall and the intermediate wall include a linear series of aligned apertures for receiving sample tubes. A spring is disposed between the front wall and the intermediate wall for holding sample tubes against the upper edges of the apertures.
The system of the '017 patent (including the rack of the '465 patent) is limited, however, in the ability to add or remove racks from the input and output stacks. Because the racks are vertically stacked in the input and output compartments, the ability to add or remove racks from the middle of these stacks is precluded without first removing racks above the desired position.


In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a first wiring line composed of a copper containing metal film is formed on or above a semiconductor substrate. A first interlayer insulating film is formed on a whole surface of the semiconductor substrate to cover the first wiring line. The first interlayer insulating film is selectively removed to form a connection hole reaching the first wiring line. A barrier metal film is formed to cover an inner surface of the connection hole and then a copper containing metal film is formed to fill the connection hole. The copper containing metal film formed outside the connection hole is removed. A second interlayer insulating film is formed on a whole surface of the semiconductor substrate to cover the copper containing metal film formed in the connection hole. The second interlayer insulating film is selectively removed to form a wiring line groove such that the copper containing metal film formed in the connection hole is exposed at a bottom. A barrier metal film is formed to cover an inside of the wiring line groove and then a copper containing metal film is formed to fill the wiring line groove. Then, the copper containing metal film outside the wiring line groove is removed to form a second wiring line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method for the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device containing a copper containing metal wiring line and a manufacturing method for the same
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a low resistance material such as copper is used as a wiring line material for demand of the high speed operation of a semiconductor device.
As a damascene process for forming a copper wiring line structure, a single damascene method and a dual damascene method are known. In the single damascene method, only a wiring line is formed by the damascene process. In the dual damascene method, a wiring line groove is embedded with copper in addition to a connection hole, to form the connection plug and the wiring line. Conventionally, in the single damascene method, the connection plug is formed of a refractory metal such as tungsten. However, in the dual damascene method, the connection plug is formed of a copper containing metal in addition to the wiring line. Therefore, the low resistance of the wiring line structure can be realized, and it is possible to contribute for the high speed operation of the semiconductor device.
FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross section views showing the wiring line structure formed by a method forming of the connection plug and the wiring line by the dual damascene method. FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view showing a state in which a first copper containing metal wiring line 220a has been formed. First, processes to the state of FIG. 1A will be described. First, a first silicon nitride film 212 and a first silicon oxide film 214 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 210 on which devices such as a transistor are formed. Subsequently, a wiring line groove is formed in the first silicon nitride film 212 and the first silicon oxide film 214 by a dry etching. A barrier metal film 216a and a copper film 218a are formed in this order to fill the wiring line groove. Subsequently, the surface of the substrate is flattened by a CMP method. Thus, the first copper containing metal wiring line 220a is formed. Subsequently, a second silicon nitride film 222 and a second silicon oxide film 224 are formed. In this way, the state of FIG. 1A is achieved.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, a connection hole 226 for a connection plug and a wiring line groove 228 are formed in a second silicon oxide film 224 by a lithography method and an etching method. Subsequently, an etching gas is changed and the etching of a second silicon nitride film 222 is carried out. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1C, the barrier metal film 230 is formed on the whole of second silicon oxide film 224 having the connection hole 226 and the wiring line groove 228.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1D, a copper film 232 is formed on the barrier metal film 230 and fills the connection hole 226 and the wiring line groove 228.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1E, the surface of the substrate is flattened by the CMP method, and the copper film 232 and the barrier metal film 230 in a portion other than the wiring line groove 228 are removed. Thus, the connection plug 234 and a second copper containing metal wiring line 220b are formed.
By repeating a series of the above-mentioned processes, the semiconductor device is formed to contain a multiple wiring line structure.
However, as mentioned above, when a wiring line and a connection plug are formed of copper by the dual damascene method, a production yield of the semiconductor device is so low that the semiconductor device can not be produced stably.
Also, in order to use the semiconductor device stably for a long term, points to be improved are still remained. Therefore, further improvement is demanded to increase the reliability of the semiconductor device. It is easy for copper and copper containing metal to cause migration, and the migration is supposed as one of the estimated causes that such a problem occurs. However, the cause is not clear.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method for the same


A cartridge for removably connecting to a cable that electrically connects a tow vehicle to a towed vehicle is provided. The cartridge includes a body having a first end and a second end and a plurality of openings extending from the first end to the second end. The cartridge also includes a common contact member having a female contact end and a male contact end, wherein the female contact end is disposed in and the male contact extends from a corresponding one of the plurality of openings, and wherein the female contact end has an outer diameter that is smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding body opening in which it is disposed to allow for a lateral movement of the female contact end within the body. The cartridge also includes a plurality of noncommon contact members each having a female contact end and a male contact end, wherein each female contact end is disposed in and each male contact extends from a corresponding one of the plurality of openings, and wherein each female contact end has an outer diameter that is smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding body opening in which it is disposed to allow for a lateral movement of each female contact end within the body.

An effective connection of a heavy duty truck trailer to a truck tractor, either directly or via another trailer, includes a multi-function electrical connection. The connection is made by use of a cable having multiple (preferably seven) wires within it and connectors at the ends of the cable. SAE J560 governs the functions of those wires and of the terminals in the plug-like connector moieties at the cable ends and in the corresponding socket-like connector moieties with which the cable-end connectors are mateable. SAE J560 also governs the relative positions, the geometries and the dimensions of those matable connector moieties. Pursuant to SAE J560, the cable-end moieties are defined as plugs having female contact terminals, and the other moieties (mounted to the tractors and the trailers) are defined as sockets having male contact terminals.
In use of those cables, they commonly are mated to the tractor sockets on a long term basis. When a tractor is not connected to a trailer, the cable remains connected to the tractor, and the cable (which commonly is self-coiling) and its other end connector are stored at the rear of the tractor. It is the connector at the rear (trailer) end of the cable which far more frequently is mated to and unmated from a trailer socket, and which has its terminals exposed to the environment when it is unmated from a trailer socket. That environment can be hostile to the wellbeing of those terminals. As a consequence, the terminals in the plug at the rear end of the cable can be degraded so that they do not make sound contact with trailer socket terminals and need to be repaired or replaced. Other events, such as inadvertent dragging of an unmated cable-end plug on a road surface, can damage the terminals in the plug.
Heretofore, the cable-end connector plugs have been designed, manufactured and assembled in ways which either make it difficult to repair damaged plug terminals or make it necessary to replace the entire cable with its connectors to achieve the desired correction. Plug terminal repairs (or replacements) are either difficult and time consuming or costly to accomplish. A need exists for a way to repair or replace damaged terminals in such cable-end plugs quickly, effectively and economically.

Contact insert cartridge for plugs of tractor/trailer jumper cables


A method of decrypting a message encrypted using a truncated ring cryptosystem. The method comprises selecting a window parameter T determining a plurality of windows of a predetermined size, each window being shifted by an amount less than or equal to the window parameter T. A decryption candidate is determined for each possible window. Each decryption candidate is tested to determine whether it is a valid message. The result of the decryption is chosen to be a valid message found in the previous step or if no valid message is found it is indicated that the message could not be decrypted. By this method, a constant number of decryption candidates are determined for each decryption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing public key cryptography.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When communicating over public networks, it is often necessary to secure communications in order to prevent interception or fraud by a third party. Cryptographic schemes often use intractable mathematical problems to ensure security of communications. In private key systems, two correspondents share a secret key prior to initiating communications. They can then employ an encryption algorithm using the secret value to keep their communication private from those who do not know the secret value. However, with such systems it is necessary for the two correspondents to agree on the secret beforehand, which may be as difficult as communicating securely in the first place.
Public key cryptosystems address the problem of distributing keys by assigning a pair of keys to each user. Each user has a private key and a corresponding public key, which are mathematically related so that it is computationally infeasible to derive the private key from the public key. The public key may be published and therefore made widely available to all users. To encrypt a message for a particular recipient, the sender uses the recipient's public key. Only the recipient knows the corresponding private key and therefore is the only party able to decrypt the message.
NTRU is a public key encryption system described in U.S. Pat. No, 6,081,597. The NTRU system uses a mathematical structure called a truncated ring of polynomials, which is denoted by R. The NTRU system uses four publicly known system parameters to initially set up the system. These are the degree of polynomials N, two moduli p, q, and the window parameter T. Typically, p is chosen to be 3 or X+2, and q is chosen to be a power of 2. The elements of the ring R may be represented as polynomials of a degree less than N. Operations in the ring are performed by polynomial addition and multiplication with the additional identity that XN=1.
To generate keys in the NTRU system, each user chooses secret polynomials f and g in the ring R. From the polynomial f, the user computes inverses modulo p and q which are denoted as fq−1 and fp−1 respectively. The user can then compute its public key h as fq−1 g. The private key consists of the polynomials f and fp−1.
When a second user wants to send the first user an encrypted message, it uses the first user's public key h. The second user also has access to the system parameters. A message m is encrypted as e=m+prh (mod q). The value r is randomly chosen for each encryption.
Upon receipt of an encrypted message m, the recipient decrypts the message by computing a=ef(mod q). The recipient then establishes a window in the range
            -      q        2                to                        q      2        .  The recipient selects coefficients for a in the window. The recipient computes m=a fp−1 (mod p). The recipient then checks that m is in the set of valid messages. If m is in the set of valid messages, then the message has been recovered. Otherwise, the recipient chooses a new window and proceeds to select coefficients in the new window. The four mentioned steps are repeated. This may continue for multiple windows until a valid message is found. Once a valid message is found, execution will stop. If all of the possible windows are exhausted and no valid message has been found, then the recipient will experience an error condition and report that the message cannot be deciphered.
In order to avoid indecipherable messages, it has been suggested that the parameter T be chosen to be at least 30, and as large as 150. Since a large number of windows may be tested, it is likely that a valid message will be found eventually. In most cases however it is not necessary to check all of the windows.

Method and apparatus for protecting NTRU against a timing attack


An apparatus for supporting a board is disclosed. The apparatus includes a support device including a support bar extending beyond the board toward the ground when deployed to provide support to the board.

In the sport of snowboarding, the rider must secure his or her boots into the bindings on the board. In most cases, this is done while on the snow, and in most cases this is done after getting off of a chair-lift. Securing the second binding tends to be the most challenging, and often times the rider sits down (e.g., on the snow or a bench) to secure the bindings to avoid falling over. Once on the ground the rider can easily secure the bindings, but then must ultimately stand back up to continue riding. In addition, when securing the bindings, the binding straps tend to fall within the foot-bed area of the binding, interfering the rider placing the boot therein.


A clutch device for a vehicle, including a spring device (4), which attempts to force a friction plate (3) in a first direction for engagement of the clutch, a pneumatic actuator (10) with a cylinder (11) and a piston (16), which divides the cylinder (11) into a main chamber (20) and an auxiliary chamber (21), and a compressed air source (31), which is arranged via a controllable valve device (32,33) for communication with the main chamber (20) for movement of the friction plate (3) in a second, opposite direction for disengagement of the clutch. The clutch device includes a computer (50) with a memory (54), wherein there is stored a desired auxiliary force exerted against the release bearing (19) as a second function (C2) of the release bearing's (19) position. The clutch device further includes a sensor (22), which is arranged to establish the release bearing's position, and a sensor (23), which is arranged to establish the pressure of the air in the auxiliary chamber. A valve device (36) can connect the compressed air source (31) with the auxiliary chamber (21), and the computer (50) can receive signals from the sensors (22,23), establish any difference between the measured auxiliary chamber pressure and the desired auxiliary chamber pressure and control the controllable valve device and the valve device (32,33,36) in accordance with the difference and thereby provide the auxiliary force.

The invention relates to a clutch device for a vehicle, comprising                a mechanical spring device, which constantly attempts to force a friction plate in a first direction for engagement of the clutch,        a pneumatic actuator which has a cylinder and a piston, which is movable therein, and which divides the cylinder into a main chamber and an auxiliary chamber,        a release bearing with a rotating part, which is connected to the friction plate and a rotationally stationary part, which is connected to the piston, and        a compressed air source, which is arranged via a controllable valve device for communication with the main chamber for movement of the friction plate in a second, opposite direction for disengagement of the clutch.
The prior art that forms the basis for the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1–5.
Clutches of the above-mentioned type may in principle be of a pushing type as illustrated in FIG. 1 or of a pulling type as illustrated in FIG. 2, where a longitudinal direction, i.e. axial direction for the clutch extends between the left and the right edges of the page relative to the reader. For the sake of simplicity, corresponding components of the clutches are indicated by the same reference numerals.
Both clutch types comprise a clutch cover 1, which is connected to a driving flywheel 2 of an engine (not shown). A friction plate 3 is axially movable and rotationally fixed to a driven shaft (not shown), which may be connected to a gearbox of the vehicle. The friction plate 3 is influenced via a pressure plate 3′ by a diaphragm spring 4, which constantly attempts to force the friction plate 3 into abutment against the flywheel 2 for rotationally fixed connection of the flywheel 2 with the driven shaft, thus enabling a torque to be transmitted from the flywheel to the driven shaft.
The diaphragm spring has a radially external portion 6, a central portion 7 and a radially internal portion 5, which are engaged with a rotating bearing race 19a of a release bearing 19 (FIG. 4), which is connected to an actuator 10. For the pushing clutch the actuator 10 is arranged to exert a pushing force F against the release bearing 19, i.e. a force that is exerted towards the left in FIG. 1, and for the pulling clutch the actuator 10 is arranged to exert a pulling force against the release bearing 19, i.e. a force that is exerted towards the right in FIG. 2.
It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the radially external portion 6 of the diaphragm spring 4 for the pushing clutch abuts against the pressure plate 3′, and that the diaphragm spring is tiltably connected with the clutch cover 1 at its central portion 7 in the same way as a cup spring. The diaphragm spring 4 is hereby pre-tensioned in such a manner that it constantly attempts to move the friction plate into engagement with the flywheel 2.
If the release bearing 19 is moved a distance s, the diaphragm spring 4 is tilted in the clockwise direction about the central portion 7, as indicated by the dotted line, and in such a manner that the radially external portion is moved away from the flywheel 2 and the clutch can be disengaged.
It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the central portion 7 of the diaphragm spring 4 for the pulling clutch abuts against the pressure plate 3′, and that the diaphragm spring's radially external portion 6 abuts against the clutch cover in such a manner that the diaphragm spring can tilt about this external portion 6.
If the latter diaphragm spring 4 is influenced by a pulling force F, it is bent outwards a distance s away from the flywheel 2 and tilts in the anticlockwise direction about the external portion 6, with the result that central portion 7 is moved away from the flywheel 2 and the clutch is disengaged.
From these figures it can be seen that radially extending portions of the diaphragm spring for the pushing clutch can be compared to a two-armed lever, while corresponding portions of the diaphragm spring for the pulling clutch can be compared to a one-armed lever.
For an actuator that exerts the same force F against the release bearing, a force K is obtained against the friction plate for both types of clutch.
K=F×B/A, where B is the distance from the release bearing to the tilting location, and A is the distance from the tilting location to the location where the diaphragm spring abuts against the friction plate, on the understanding that this equation illustrates a connection between K and F in the case where the diaphragm spring comprises only mutually independent, e.g. sector-shaped levers. A simplification of this kind, however, illustrates the principle of the mode of operation.
However, since the ratio B/A for the pulling clutch is greater than for the pushing clutch, for a pulling clutch a greater torque can be transmitted from the flywheel 2 to the driven shaft than for a pushing clutch on the assumption that for both clutches the same force is needed against the release bearing in order to disengage the clutch.
For vehicles where large torques are transmitted between the flywheel and the driven shaft, it is therefore advantageous to employ a pulling clutch, whereby the actuator and the force that has to be exerted for operation of the clutch may be relatively small.
In addition to the diaphragm spring, a spring device that influences the friction plate may also comprise other springs (not shown), whose spring force the release bearing also has to overcome during a disengagement of the clutch. A typical spring characteristic for such a spring device, i.e. the force that is exerted by the spring against the release bearing, as a function of the release bearing's travel distance s, is indicated in FIG. 3. This characteristic may be called a first function. Since this force is equal to the oppositely directed force exerted by the release bearing, these forces will be referred to hereinafter as F.
As illustrated in FIG. 3 where this spring characteristic is indicated by thick solid line C1, the force F increases initially during a first distance s1 until it reaches a maximum value, whereupon the force F decreases slightly immediately before the release bearing reaches a position wherein the friction plate 3 no longer abuts against the flywheel. During this distance s1 the clutch is therefore engaged.
This portion s1 is succeeded by a second curve area s2 and a third curve area s3 where the clutch is disengaged, the derivative of the first function, i.e. the spring characteristic, being negative in the area s2 but it may once again be positive in the area s3. Over large portions of the second area s2 the derivative of the first function is numerically relatively large, i.e. for a small travel distance for the release bearing a great change is obtained in the force F.
If the actuator is a hydraulic actuator, good, stable control of the actuator can be obtained by means of a proportional valve during engagement of the clutch despite the large, negative derivative of the first function or the spring characteristic during an engagement of the clutch, since the hydraulic fluid is practically incompressible.
In the case of large vehicles such as lorries and busses, compressed air is used at present for the operation of actuators for other systems in the vehicle, e.g. the braking system, which is advantageous since there is no need amongst other things for any return line leading used fluid back to a reservoir.
The use of a pneumatic actuator and a proportional valve for operation of the clutch presents some difficulties, however, since the engagement of the clutch may be imprecise on account of the substantial, negative derivative of the first function in the second area s2.
Attempts have been made to eliminate this difficulty by means of an additional spring or linearising spring, which provides a more linear, total characteristic together with the diaphragm spring. This linearising spring, however, contributes towards an increase in the total force and must be adapted to suit each individual diaphragm spring's characteristic.
Moreover, the use of a pulling clutch for such large vehicles is advantageous, since the forces that have to be exerted by the clutch actuator via the release bearing may be relatively small.
From WO 94/13972 a pneumatic, pulling clutch actuator is known, where the auxiliary chamber is used only for complete displacement of the piston during assembly or disassembly of the clutch device, or more specifically during a connection of the clutch actuator with the diaphragm spring or release of the clutch actuator from the diaphragm spring. Apart from this application of the auxiliary chamber, it has no function and makes the clutch device complicated and expensive.
An actuator that can be constructed in this way is illustrated in FIG. 4. The actuator 10 comprises an annular cylinder 11 with a radially internal cylinder wall 12 and a radially external cylinder wall 13, which are securely interconnected at their first ends via a first, circular end wall 14. At the second ends of the cylinder walls, a second, circular end wall 15 is sealingly attached to the external cylinder wall. Between the end walls 14, 15 there is mounted in the cylinder 11 a piston 16 with a tubular piston rod 17, which extends sealingly and slidably between the internal cylinder wall 12 and the radially internal end of the second end wall 15. The piston rod is securely connected to an external bearing race 19b of a release bearing 19, whose internal bearing race 19a is arranged for connection with a diaphragm spring 4, which can rotate relative to the actuator 10. The actuator therefore has a through-going, central passage through which can be passed a driven shaft, which can be connected to the friction plate 3, e.g. via longitudinal teeth of the friction plate and the driven shaft respectively.
The piston 16 together with the second end wall 15 and the first end wall 14 define a first cylinder chamber or main chamber 20 and a second cylinder chamber or auxiliary chamber 21 respectively.
For operation of this actuator a valve device 30 may be employed, which is illustrated in FIG. 5, where an actuator 10 is also schematically illustrated.
The valve device 30 comprises a compressed air source 31, a first valve 32 via which compressed air can be supplied to the main chamber 20 for movement of the piston 15 in the direction of the arrow A. For removal of compressed air from the main chamber 20, a second valve 33 is provided. A sensor 22 is provided to establish the position of the piston 15 and thereby the release bearing 19 relative to the cylinder 11. The valves 32 and 33 are used for normal operation of the clutch while the vehicle is running.
In addition, the valve device comprises a third valve 34, via which compressed air can be introduced into the auxiliary chamber 21 for movement of the piston against the direction of the arrow A, thus enabling the actuator 10 to be connected to or disconnected from the diaphragm spring 4. Furthermore, a fourth valve 35 is provided for removal of compressed air from the auxiliary chamber 21. A pressure gauge 23 may also be provided for measuring the pressure of the air in the auxiliary chamber 21.

Clutch device utilizing a compressed air source


External modulation is accomplished in a dual waveguide device wherein substantially identical input optical beams are supplied to the waveguides and wherein each waveguide through its electrode is subject to individual, mutually exclusive control. Modulation signals are applied to each waveguide via its separate electrode. Control signals are applied to each waveguide for adjusting the modulation chirp parameter to a desired fixed, non-zero value. Typically, the desired value of the chirp parameter is one which provides the lowest fiber dispersion penalty for the system. Modulated lightwave signals emerging from the waveguides are combined to form a single output signal suitable for transmission over an optical fiber. In one embodiment, Mach-Zehnder interferometer having separately controllable waveguides has its input coupled to a CW laser. Both III-V semiconductor and Ti:LiNbO.sub.3 Mach-Zehnder interferometers have been utilized as external modulators in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Long haul fiber transmission systems have historically been limited by such factors as fiber loss, fiber dispersion, fiber nonlinearities, and amplifier noise. With the advent of practical optical amplifiers, these systems are effectively no longer subject to loss limitations. Rather, the significant system limitation has become dispersion. Present fiber optic transmission systems use transmitters employing direct current modulation of laser diodes. When modulated, these lasers produce pulses exhibiting large, uncontrolled wavelength shifts called "chirp." In the presence of a dispersive medium such as an optical fiber, the chirped pulses can be severely distorted when they finally reach a remote receiver.
System limitations imposed by dispersion may be countered by the use of dispersion-shifted fiber, "zero-chirp" transmitters, dispersion equalization, and soliton propagation. The use of dispersion-shifted fiber attempts to minimize dispersive loss within the transmission band whereas the use of zero-chirp transmitters attempts to maintain the transmission wavelength constant, preferably at the attenuation loss minimum for the fiber. Dispersion equalization, both at the receiver and at the transmitter, has been utilized to substantially compensate for the effects of dispersion on the transmitted pulses. Soliton propagation is dependent upon the presence of small amounts of dispersion at the transmission wavelength.
In the prior art, zero-chirp transmitters have been developed to ameliorate the problem caused by chirped pulses transmitted at high bit-rates over dispersive optical fiber. Generally, the term chirped pulses refers to pulses those whose wavelength swings dynamically about a central wavelength. The amount of chirp varies randomly as the transmitter operates thereby causing the chirped pulses to incur penalties in such systems. These penalties involve additional loss which limits the maximum transmission length or maximum transmission bandwidth due to intersymbol interference in the transmitted data pulses. In conventional optical fiber, the wavelength at which the fiber loss minimum occurs does not necessarily coincide with the wavelength at which zero dispersion occurs. Thus, when the lightwave transmitter produces optical pulses at a particular wavelength corresponding to the loss minimum of the fiber, wavelength chirping of the pulses causes pulse spreading because different wavelength components of the pulses experience different amounts of dispersive delay. Dispersion is higher for wavelength components of the pulses not at the zero dispersion wavelength. By removing chirp from the transmitted pulses, it has been thought possible to produce pulses with the minimum spectral width substantially at a single desired wavelength using a zero-chirp transmitter and thereby assure that only a small amount of pulse spreading is experienced. In general, such zero-chirp transmitters include an external modulator coupled to a laser. One external modulator which has been proposed is a lithium niobate, Mach-Zehnder interferometer using push-pull drive signals on the separate arms of the interferometer. See, for example, Koyama et al., J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 87 et seq. (1988) and Namiki et al., Proc. of Seventh International Conf. on Integrated Optics and Optical Fiber Communication, paper 19D4-2 (1989).
While the zero-chirp transmitter offers a potentially attractive solution for high bit-rate transmission at a wavelength "in the" optical fiber exhibiting non-zero dispersion, better performance has been predicted by using pulse compression techniques in the transmitter to achieve a dynamically varying chirp in a broad negative region. See Koyama et al., J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 6, No. 1, FIG. 8, p. 91 (1988). Subsequent to this prediction, however, the art continues to express the need for lowering the transmitter chirp to zero as the method for combatting dispersion when communicating away from the zero dispersion wavelength of the optical transmission fiber. See, Okiyama et al., J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 6, No. 11, p. 1686, 1691 (1988).

Tunable chirp, lightwave modulator for dispersion compensation


A device for controlling shift in a vehicle may include a data detector configured to detect data for a shift control and a controller configured to determine a short-term driving tendency of a driver using the data, determine a long-term driving tendency of the driver using the short-term driving tendency of the driver, and control shift in the vehicle in consideration of a running mode of the vehicle and the long-term driving tendency which are determined from the data.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for controlling shift in a vehicle, and more particularly, to a device and a method for controlling shift in a vehicle which may more accurately reflect a driver's intention when shift is performed by controlling the shift in consideration of a running mode and a long-term driving tendency of a driver.
2. Description of Related Art
Rating satisfaction of running performance in respect to a customer is dependent on how a vehicle runs and coincides with a driving tendency of the customer. While tendencies of the customers vary, however, performance characteristic of the vehicle is set to one performance characteristic in the same vehicle model. Therefore, reaction of the vehicle may not coincide with the tendency of the customer. Accordingly, the customer frequently makes a complaint about the running performance of the vehicle. That is, when the driving tendency of the customer is recognized, and a shift is controlled so that the vehicle responds suitably to the driving tendency of the customer, the satisfaction of the customer regarding running performance may be maximized.
Accordingly, many methods of learning the driving tendency of the customer over a long period of time and controlling the shift in accordance with the learned driving tendency has been developed. In a device for controlling shift in the vehicle, a function of controlling a shift pattern of the vehicle so as to be different in accordance with the driving tendency is typically operated only in a normal running mode, and in a case in which a running mode is changed to a sporty mode, the device for controlling shift in a vehicle controls the shift in the vehicle only by the shift pattern of the existing sporty mode.
However, because when the running mode is the sporty mode, the shift is controlled in the vehicle in the shift pattern of the sporty mode that is regardless of the tendency of the driver, the shift cannot be controlled in accordance with the learned driving tendency. Accordingly, the actual driving will of the driver may not be reflected on the shift and the driver may dissatisfy with the driving performance.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Device and method for controlling shift in vehicle


In the method for stabilizing an artificial patina layer produced on a copper panel, a transparent cover layer consisting of water glass and hydroxycellulose is applied onto the patina layer immediately after it is produced. The cover layer can consist of sodium or potassium water glass and hydroxycellulose, and is applied onto an artificially patinated copper panel by either immersion or spraying. After immersion or spraying, the cover layer is dried. This occurs in an atmosphere with a temperature of approximately 20.degree. C. to 150.degree. C., within a time period of approximately one to one and a half hours.

The invention concerns a method for stabilizing an artificial patina layer produced on a copper panel.
In the processing of copper panels with an artificial patina layer, it has been found that, in particular when such copper panels are bent, the patina layer at least partially detaches. The chips and dust resulting from this can lead to environmental impacts, in particular to skin irritation and to tool corrosion.
Although efforts have already been made to protect an artificial patina layer with clear varnish, clear varnish cannot be applied until after the "maturing" process of an artificial patina layer is complete. The reason for applying the clear varnish after completion of the maturing process is that clear varnish is not porous enough to allow the maturing process to proceed. The "maturing process" is understood to mean a reaction in which the artificial patina layer is exposed to the atmosphere for a period of approximately one week to several weeks. During this period the crystal structures of the artificial patina then react in combination with atmospheric moisture in such a way that the particular desired patina is achieved in terms of both color and structure.
But even when the clear varnish is applied after completion of the maturing process, it is basically impossible to prevent moisture from migrating under the clear varnish layer from the edges of a copper panel or from the machining edges. The clear varnish layer can then chip and thereby take at least portions of the artificial patina layer with it. Moreover when clear varnish is used it is impossible to prevent it from cracking over large areas, or to prevent hairline cracks in the clear varnish layer through which moisture can penetrate. This again ultimately allows the entire coating, consisting of clear varnish and artificial patina, to be pulled off somewhat like a skin. This would, however, cause the artificially generated patina to disappear.
In order to eliminate the disadvantages referred to above, until now copper panels equipped with an artificial patina layer have usually been reshaped, directly after production of the patina layer, in the manner desired based on the application. The copper panels reshaped in this manner were then exposed to the open atmosphere in order to allow the maturing process to proceed.


A medicament having an anti-wrinkle action, which comprises as an active ingredient a retinoid having a fundamental structure of a phenyl substituted carbamoyl benzoic acid or a phenyl substituted carboxamide benzoic acid (for example, 4-(3,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)phenylcarboxamide) benzoic acid, 4-[(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)carbamoyl]benzoic acid, or the like).

Retinol or retinal has been known to be effective against skin disorders such as wrinkles, warts, eczema, and dandruff (European Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 391033, U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,665, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,114 and the like). Retinoic acid has been known to reduce wrinkles (European Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 379367, Drugs and Aging, 2, pp. 7-13, 1992). This substance has been used in the United States as a medicament for treatment of skin damaged from ray of sunlight. It is reported that wrinkles caused by aging can be treated with retinal, retinal, and retinoic acid (U.S. Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001/53347). However, retinoic acid is highly irritative to skin and induces flare or inflammatory dermatitis. Therefore, development of an anti-wrinkle agent which is low epispastic has been desired.
The term "retinoids" is a general name for compounds which exert similar actions to those of retinoic acid or a part of the actions by binding to receptors that are essential for expression of the physiological actions of all-trans-retinoic acid or 9-cis-retinoic acid (three sub-types of each receptor are known to exist). Among them, some compounds have almost the same level of actions as that of retinoic acid or a higher level of actions. However, a skin irritative action generally increases in proportion to the level of the pharmacological actions (J. Med. Chem., 32, pp. 834-840, 1989). Moreover, 4-[(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl) carbamoyl]benzoic acid, one of typical retinoids, has been reported to be ineffective on dermatopathy caused by rays of sunlight (WO96/30009).


In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for marking a sample of a doped crystalline material. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of causing a controlled alteration to the crystalline material at a preselected spot on the sample of the crystalline material, sufficient to cause a change in a cathodoluminescence spectrum of the crystalline material at the preselected spot and utilizing the altered cathodoluminescence spectrum to mark the crystalline material.

Diamonds and other gemstones are often marked for purposes of identification, security and tracking. Unique marks, symbols, logos or bar codes are often used to provide a particular gemstone, such as, for example, a diamond, with a unique characteristic, so that the marked stone can be identified and distinguished from other gemstones. Many techniques, such as laser etching and ion beam marking, have been proposed for imprinting the unique indicia on the gemstone.
Typically, the mark can be seen using a jeweler's loop or an ordinary microscope. A problem with known marking techniques is that the marks produced can be seen and altered by unauthorized persons, and thus, rendered unusable as a unique identifying mark. Accordingly, there is a need for a marking method that imprints a unique identifying mark that is difficult to detect and alter.

Method for marking a crystalline material using cathodoluminescence


A transmitter 131 in a communication system 101 receives data to be transferred, performs STBC coding thereon to acquire two signals, performs an OFDM transmission process on the signals which are radio-transmitted to from antennas 141, 142 having polarization polarities orthogonal to each other. A receiver 151 radio-receives the signals using antennas 161, 162 having polarization polarities orthogonal to each other, and performs STBC decoding on two signals acquired by performing an OFDM reception process on the received signals, respectively, thereby acquiring the transferred data. The inclinations of the antenna 141 and the antenna 161 are equal to the inclinations of the antenna 142 and the antenna 162, and are typically 45 degrees.

There is an increasing demand for a high data rate in wireless communications. As techniques that fulfill such a demand, techniques, such as STBC (Space Time Block Code), OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), and polarization diversity, have been proposed in the following documents.
[Non-patent document 1] A. V Zelst, R. V Nee and G. Awater, Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) for OFDM Systems, Proc. of VTC, pp. 15-18, 2000.
[Non-patent document 2] J. J. A. Lempianen, J. K. Laiho-Steffens, A. Wacker, Experimental results of cross polarization discrimination and signal correction values for a polarization diversity scheme, Proc. of VTC 97, vol. 3, pp. 1498-1502, 1997.
[Non-patent document 3] E. Shin and S. Safavi, A simple theoretical model for polarization diversity reception in wireless mobile environments, proc. of ISAP 99, vol. 2, pp. 1332-1335, 1999.
[Non-patent document 4] Chang-Jun AHN, Iwao Sasase, Convolutional Coded Coheretn and Differential Unitary Space-Time Modulated OFDM with Bit Interleaving for Multiple Antennas system, THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS, TECHNICAL REPORT OF IEICE, SST 2002-47, pp. 75-80, October 2002.[Non-patent document 5] S. M. Alamouti, A Simple transmit diversity scheme for wireless communication, IEEE Journal of Sel. Communication, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 48-60, January 2001.[Non-patent document 6] M. Rupp, C. F. Meeklenbrauker, On extended Alamouti Schemes for Space-Time Coding, Proc. of WPMC 2002, Vol. 1, pp. 115-118, October 2002.
Non-patent document 1 discloses an invention relating to the OFDM scheme. Particularly, it shows that the use of a plurality of antennas on both a receiver side and a transmitter side can achieve a high transfer rate on multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channels.
However, various schemes which can achieve faster communications with higher quality are further demanded.
Further, non-patent document 2 discloses a polarization diversity scheme. It is known the XPD (CROSS Polarization discrimination) value for a combination of a horizontal polarization antenna and a vertical polarization antenna varies between 5 dB and 15 dB depending on the environment.
This is the result of measuring the ratio of reception powers in orthogonal diversity branches. When the reception powers of the polarization branches become equal to each other, the maximum diversity gain is achieved.
When the unbalance of reception powers becomes large, however, the diversity gain is not achieved. This is because weak channels are neglected at the stage of coupling diversities.
Non-patent document 3 discloses an ideal model when two antennas of different polarities are used on the transmitter side, two antennas of different polarities are used on the receiver side, and the inclination of one of the receive antennas to one of the transmit antennas is equal to the inclination of the other one of the receive antennas to the other one of the transmit antennas.
Non-patent document 4 is a report on the past research in which one of the inventors of the present invention participated, and discloses an invention which performs unitary space-time modulation and demodulation and generates signals with a time lag provided therebetween using multiple antennas.
Further, non-patent documents 5 and 6 disclose coding and decoding schemes using Alamouti codes that are widely used in the STBC scheme.
The invention has been made to solve various problems of the known systems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a communication system, a transmitter, a receiver, a transmitting method, and a receiving method, which efficiently perform communications using antennas of different polarizations, and a program which allows a computer to realize them.

Communication system, transmitter, receiver, transmitting method, receiving method, and program

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology


An image processing apparatus that communicates with a server that has a microblogging function performs user authentication processing and follows a user authenticated by the user authentication processing in accordance with the performing user authentication processing succeeding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique in which a microblogging function provided by a service providing server is used by communicating with the server via a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there are services that provide a microblogging function as a communication tool. This microblogging function is a type of blog function by which a user holding an account posts short sentences called "microposts" as "messages" or "comments" to the service. Here the user may include, for example, an image forming apparatus itself, a linking service, an object on a cloud service or an application, and is not limited to an actually user (human). A unique identifier is assigned to each "message" and "comment" that a user posts or transmits. In the microblogging function, communication is carried out via a "timeline" or "following". Here the "timeline" is a user specific Web page that registers, displays and manages, as a list, "comments" related to a registered "message", when a user registers a "message". Here, the user that registered the "message" and other users perform communication by exchanging information by registering information related to the message as "comments" on the "timeline".
Also, "following" is registering with another user so as to be able to display on one's own Web page a message posted by the other user (hereinafter a user that follows other users will be referred to as a follower).
Amongst CRM (Customer Relationship Management) services provided as cloud services, there are examples in which a microblogging function to be used as a communication tool during work is provided. In these cloud services, client information, business discussion information, etcetera are linked to "messages" and "comments" in order to further improve the user's convenience of use. Furthermore, at the same time, in CRM services, file sharing functions are provided in which files are shared between users, wherein the files can be saved, edited, updated, and referenced. An example of this is Chatter provided by Salesforce.com as a microblogging function. Document, File, etcetera are examples of file sharing functions. Also, a technique of performing communication via the above mentioned "timeline" and "follow" has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-129009).
Conventionally, when a user wishes to follow another user, the user can follow the other user by performing follow registration. Also, a user that uses an apparatus such as an image forming apparatus can cause the apparatus to acquire a message that the user posted, by causing the apparatus to follow the user. In such a case, it becomes possible for to cause the apparatus to operate in accordance with messages that the user posts. However, there is no simple mechanism for a user that uses an apparatus to cause the apparatus to follow the user, conventionally, and the process is cumbersome.

Image processing apparatus, method of controlling the same and storage medium thereof


An array of chip sockets defined by an organic matrix framework surrounding sockets through the organic matrix framework and a method of fabrication, the chip sockets are characterized by being rectangular with smooth walls that meet at corners that have radii of curvature of less than 100 microns thereby facilitating a close fit of each socket to the intended chip size, enabling compact chip packaging and miniaturization.

Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is directed to a polymer frame that may be used, inter alia for chip packaging, specifically to embedded chips.
Description of the Related Art
Driven by an ever greater demand for miniaturization of ever more complex electronic components, consumer electronics such as computing and telecommunication devices are becoming ever more integrated. This has created a need for support structures such as IC substrates and IC interposers that have a high density of multiple conductive layers and vias that are electrically insulated from each other by a dielectric material.
The general requirement for such support structures is reliability and appropriate electrical performance, thinness, stiffness, planarity, good heat dissipation and a competitive unit price.
Of the various approaches for achieving these requirements, one widely implemented manufacturing technique that creates interconnecting vias between layers uses lasers to drill holes through the subsequently laid down dielectric substrate through to the latest metal layer for subsequent filling with a metal, usually copper, that is deposited therein by a plating technique. This approach to creating vias is sometimes referred to as 'drill & fill', and the vias created thereby may be referred to as 'drilled & filled vias'.
There are a number of disadvantages with the drilled & filled via approach. Since each via is required to be separately drilled, the throughput rate is limited, and the costs of fabricating sophisticated, multi-via IC substrates and interposers becomes prohibitive. In large arrays it is difficult to produce a high density of high quality vias having different sizes and shapes in close proximity to each other by the drill & fill methodology. Furthermore, laser drilled vias have rough side walls and taper inwards through the thickness of the dielectric material. This tapering reduces the effective diameter of the via. It may also adversely affect the electrical contact to the previous conductive metal layer especially at ultra small via diameters, thereby causing reliability issues. Additionally, the side walls are particularly rough where the dielectric being drilled is a composite material comprising glass or ceramic fibers in a polymer matrix, and this roughness may result in stray inductances.
The filling process of the drilled via holes is usually achieved by copper electroplating. Electroplating into a drilled hole may result in dimpling, where a small crater appears at the end of the via. Alternatively, overfill may result, where a via channel is filled with more copper than it can hold, and a domed upper surface that protrudes over the surrounding material is created. Both dimpling and overfill tend to create difficulties when subsequently stacking vias one on end of the other, as required when fabricating high-density substrates and interposers. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that large via channels are difficult to fill uniformly, especially when they are in proximity to smaller vias within the same interconnecting layer of the interposer or IC substrate design.
The range of acceptable sizes and reliability is improving over time. Nevertheless, the disadvantages described hereinabove are intrinsic to the drill & fill technology and are expected to limit the range of possible via sizes. It will further be noted that laser drilling is best for creating round via channels. Although slot shaped via channels may theoretically be fabricated by laser milling, in practice, the range of geometries that may be fabricated is somewhat limited and vias in a given support structure are typically cylindrical and substantially identical.
Fabrication of vias by drill & fill is expensive and it is difficult to evenly and consistently fill the via channels created thereby with copper using the relatively, cost-effective electroplating process.
Laser drilled vias in composite dielectric materials are practically limited to a minimum diameter of 60×10-6 m, and even so suffer from significant tapering shape as well as rough side walls due to the nature of the composite material drilled, in consequence of the ablation process involved.
In addition to the other limitations of laser drilling as described hereinabove, there is a further limitation of the drill & fill technology in that it is difficult to create different diameter vias in the same layer, since when drill different sized via channels are drilled and then filled with metal to fabricate different sized vias, the via channels fill up at different rates. Consequently, the typical problems of dimpling or overfill that characterize drill & fill technology are exasperated, since it is impossible to simultaneously optimize deposition techniques for different sized vias.
An alternative solution that overcomes many of the disadvantages of the drill & fill approach, is to fabricate vias by depositing copper or other metal into a pattern created in a photo-resist, using a technology otherwise known as 'pattern plating'.
In pattern plating, a seed layer is first deposited. Then a layer of photo-resist is deposited thereover and subsequently exposed to create a pattern, and selectively removed to make trenches that expose the seed layer. Via posts are created by depositing Copper into the photo-resist trenches. The remaining photo-resist is then removed, the seed layer is etched away, and a dielectric material that is typically a polymer impregnated glass fiber mat, is laminated thereover and therearound to encase the via posts. Various techniques and processes can then be used to planarize the dielectric material, removing part of it to expose the ends of the via posts to allow conductive connection to ground thereby, for building up the next metal layer thereupon. Subsequent layers of metal conductors and via posts may be deposited there onto by repeating the process to build up a desired multilayer structure.
In an alternative but closely linked technology, known hereinafter as 'panel plating', a continuous layer of metal or alloy is deposited onto a substrate. A layer of photo-resist is deposited over an end of the substrate, and a pattern is developed therein. The pattern of developed photo-resist is stripped away, selectively exposing the metal thereunder, which may then be etched away. The undeveloped photo-resist protects the underlying metal from being etched away, and leaves a pattern of upstanding features and vias.
After stripping away the undeveloped photo-resist, a dielectric material, such as a polymer impregnated glass fiber mat, may be laminated around and over the upstanding copper features and/or via posts. After planarizing, subsequent layers of metal conductors and via posts may be deposited there onto by repeating the process to build up a desired multilayer structure.
The via layers created by pattern plating or panel plating methodologies described above are typically known as 'via posts' and feature layers from copper.
It will be appreciated that the general thrust of the microelectronic evolution is directed towards fabricating ever smaller, thinner, lighter and more powerful products having high reliability. The use of thick, cored interconnects, prevents ultra-thin products being attainable. To create ever higher densities of structures in the interconnect IC substrate or 'interposer', ever more layers of ever smaller connections are required.
If plated, laminated structures are deposited on a copper or other appropriate sacrificial substrate, the substrate may be etched away leaving free standing, coreless laminar structures. Further layers may be deposited on the side previously adhered to the sacrificial substrate, thereby enabling a two sided build up, which minimizes warping and aids the attaining of planarity.
One flexible technology for fabricating high density interconnects is to build up pattern plated or panel plated multilayer structures consisting of metal vias or via post features having various geometrical shapes and forms in a dielectric matrix. The metal may be copper and the dielectric may be a film polymer or a fiber reinforced polymer. Typically a polymer with a high glass transition temperature (Tg) is used, such as polyimide or epoxy, for example. These interconnects may be cored or coreless, and may include cavities for stacking components. They may have odd or even numbers of layers and the vias may have non circular shapes. Enabling technology is described in previous patents issued to Amitec-Advanced Multilayer Interconnect Technologies Ltd.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,682,972 to Hurwitz et al. titled "Advanced multilayer coreless support structures and method for their fabrication" describes a method of fabricating a free standing membrane including a via array in a dielectric, for use as a precursor in the construction of superior electronic support structures. The method includes the steps of fabricating a membrane of conductive vias in a dielectric surround on a sacrificial carrier, and detaching the membrane from the sacrificial carrier to form a free standing laminated array. An electronic substrate based on such a free standing membrane may be formed by thinning and planarizing the laminated array, followed by terminating the vias. This publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,320 to Hurwitz et al. titled "Coreless cavity substrates for chip packaging and their fabrication" describes a method for fabricating an IC support for supporting a first IC die connected in series with a second IC die; the IC support comprising a stack of alternating layers of copper features and vias in insulating surround, the first IC die being bondable onto the IC support, and the second IC die being bondable within a cavity inside the IC support, wherein the cavity is formed by etching away a copper base and selectively etching away built up copper. This publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,641 to Hurwitz et al. titled "Integrated circuit support structures and their fabrication" describes a method of fabricating an electronic substrate comprising the steps of; (A) selecting a first base layer; (B) depositing a first etchant resistant barrier layer onto the first base layer; (C) building up a first half stack of alternating conductive layers and insulating layers, the conductive layers being interconnected by vias through the insulating layers; (D) applying a second base layer onto the first half stack; (E) applying a protective coating of photo-resist to the second base layer; (F) etching away the first base layer; (G) removing the protective coating of photo-resist; (H) removing the first etchant resistant barrier layer; (I) building up a second half stack of alternating conductive layers and insulating layers, the conductive layers being interconnected by vias through the insulating layers, wherein the second half stack has a substantially symmetrical lay up to the first half stack; (J) applying an insulating layer onto the second half stack of alternating conductive layers and insulating layers, (K) removing the second base layer, and (L) terminating the substrate by exposing ends of vias on outer surfaces of the stack and applying terminations thereto. This publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The via post technology described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,682,972, U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,320 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,641 lends itself to mass production, with very large numbers of vias being simultaneously electroplated. As mentioned above, current drill & fill vias have an effective minimal diameter of about 60 microns. In contradistinction, via post technology using photo resist and electroplating, enables much higher densities of vias to be obtained. Via diameters of as little as 30 micron diameter are possible and various via geometries and shapes could be cofabricated within the same layer.
Over time, it is anticipated that both drill & fill technologies and via post deposition will enable fabrication of substrates with further miniaturization and higher densities of vias and features. Nevertheless, it would appear likely that developments in via post technology will maintain a competitive edge.
Substrates enable chips to interface with other components. Chips have to be bonded to substrates through assembly processes that provide reliable electronic connections to enable electronic communication between chips and substrates.
Embedding chips within the interposers to the outside world enables shrinking the chip package, shortening the connections to the outside world, offers cost savings by simpler manufacturing that eliminates die to substrate assembly processes and potentially has increased reliability.
Essentially, the concept of embedding active components such as analog, digital and MEMS chips involves the construction of chip support structures or substrates, having vias around the chip.
One way of achieving embedded chips is to fabricate chip support structures onto the chip array on the wafer where the circuitry of the support structure is larger than the die unit size. This is known as Fan Out Wafer Layer Packaging (FOWLP). Although the size of silicon wafers is growing, expensive material sets and manufacturing process are still limiting the diameter size to 12″, thereby limiting the number of FOWLP units one can place on the wafer. Despite the fact that 18″ wafers are under consideration, the investment required, materials sets and equipment are still unknown. The limited number of chip support structures that may be processed at one time increases the unit cost of FOWLP, and make it too expensive for markets requiring highly competitive pricing, such as wireless communication, home appliances and automotive markets.
FOWLP also represents a performance limitation since the metal features placed over the silicon wafer as fan-out or fan-in circuitry are limited in thickness to a few microns. This creates electrical resistance challenges.
An alternative fabrication route involves sectioning the wafer to separate the chips and embedding the chips within a panel consisting of dielectric layers with copper interconnects. One advantage of this alternative route is that the panels may be very much larger with very many more chips embedded in a single process. For example, whereas for example, a 12″ wafer enables 2,500 FOWLP chips having dimensions of 5 mm×5 mm to be processed in one go, current panels used the applicant, Zhuhai Access, are 25″×21″, enabling 10,000 chips to be processed in one go. Since the price of processing such panels is significantly cheaper than on wafer processing, and since to throughput per panel is 4× higher than throughput on wafer, the unit cost can drop significantly, thereby opening new markets.
In both technologies, the line spacing and the width of the tracks used in industry are shrinking over time, with 15 micron going down to 10 microns being standard on panels and 5 microns going down to 2 microns on wafers.
The advantages of embedding are many. First level assembly costs, such as wire bonding, flip chip or SMD (Surface Mount Devices) soldering, are eliminated. The electrical performance is improved since the die and substrate are seamlessly connected within a single product. The packaged dies are thinner, giving an improved form factor, and the upper surface of the embedded die package is freed up for other uses including stacked die and PoP (Package on Package) technologies.
In both FOWLP and Panel based embedded die technologies, the chips are packaged as an array (on wafer or panel), and, once fabricated, are separated by dicing.
Embodiments of the present invention address fabricating embedded chip packages.
Embodiments of the present invention address polymer frames with sockets for chips, for packaging chips.

Method of fabricating a polymer frame with a rectangular array of cavities

Zhuhai Advanced Chip Carriers & Electronic Substrate Solutions Technologies Co. Ltd.


A stabilization assembly for securing and stabilizing two or more bicycles on a bicycle rack. In a presently preferred embodiment, the assembly comprises a stabilization bar which can be selectively varied in length by sliding one tube within another. Each end of the stabilization bar is provided with a cradle and a securing strap. The stabilization bar is attached to the frame of each bicycle by resting a portion of the frame within one of the cradles and wrapping the associated securing strap around the frame. The strap is then secured to the frame using hook and loop fastener surfaces or other suitable means.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices used to stabilize two or more objects relative to each other, and more particularly, to a stabilization assembly for use in securing and separating two or more bicycles being held by a rack.
2. The Background Art
As the popularity of bicycling has increased, it is common for people to transport their bicycles on their automobile or truck to the place where the bicycles will be ridden. This is particularly true for specialized bicycles, such as racing bicycles or mountain bicycles. One common means for transporting bicycles on an automobile or truck is to hang them from a rack that is mounted to the bumper, trailer hitch, or other part of the vehicle transporting the bicycles.
On one of the most common types of bicycle racks, the bicycles are hung from hooks projecting from the rack. When a single bicycle is being transported, it is hung from the hooks of the rack and secured by holding it against the upright supports of the rack with elastic straps ("bungee cords") or similar means. This works reasonably well because the upright supports of the rack run adjacent to the frame of the bicycle being secured, but do not interfere with projecting portions of the bicycle, such as the handlebars or pedals.
However, when two or more bicycles are to be carried on the same frame, as would often be the case when a group is traveling together in the same vehicle to the place where the bicycles will be ridden, the situation becomes more complex. Not only must the bicycle hanging closest to the upright supports be secured to those supports, but the other bicycles must be secured to each other to prevent shifting, swaying, or other movement that might cause damage to the bicycles. This is often done using additional bungee cords.
Unfortunately, the use of bungee cords to secure multiple bicycles pulls the bicycles together, often causing damage as parts of two different bicycles touch or rub together. Moreover, unlike the rack which was designed to handle the projecting portions of a bicycle, when two bicycles are held together with bungee cords or similar means, their projecting portions often interfere with either other, increasing the possibility of damage to the bicycles.

Stabilization assembly for bicycle racks


The present invention is a rotor for a vehicle a.c. generator which increases the operational life of the a.c. generator. The rotor, in the present invention for a vehicular a.c. generator includes a bobbin having a rotor coil for generating a magnetic field wound thereon and including fixing portions for supporting lead wires of the rotor coil; a pair of rotor cores for sandwiching the rotor coil and the bobbin therebetween; slip rings having terminals to be connected to the lead wires; grooves formed in the rotor core for housing the lead wires, the lead wires extending between the fixing portions and the terminals; and a rear fan provided so as to cover the grooves. The fixing portion, the terminal and the groove for each of the lead wires are provided so as to be substantially aligned, and the groove has an inward portion near an inner periphery of the rotor formed in a greater width than an outward portion near an outer periphery of the rotor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an a.c. generator mounted on a vehicle, in particular, the present invention relates to portions of the generator for leading out both ends of a rotor coil.
2. Discussion of Background
FIGS. 5 through 8 show the structure and the problems of a conventional vehicular a.c. generator. FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the a.c. generator. FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a rotor with a portion of a cooling fan cut away. FIG. 7 shows a detail view of a portion of the generator, where an end of a rotor coil is led out. FIG. 8 shows a schematic view to explain how vibration is applied to a rotor core. Referring to FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 designates a stator, which comprises a front bracket 2, a rear bracket 3 and a stator core 5 with a stator coil 4. Reference numeral 6 designates the rotor, which comprises a pair of rotor cores 7 and 8, the rotor coil 9 sandwiched between the rotor cores 7 and 8, and a rotary shaft 10. The rotary shaft 10 has a portion thereof near the front bracket 2 provided with a pulley 11 and a portion thereof near the rear bracket 3 provided with slip rings 12 for supplying an exciting current to the rotor coil 9. The rotor core 7 has a front fan 13 provided thereon, and the rotor core 8 has a rear fan 14 provided thereon.
On the rear bracket 3 are provided a brush holder 16 with brushes 15 in slidable contact with the slip rings 12, a rectifier 17 for rectifying an a.c. output from the stator coil 4, and a voltage regulator 18 for controlling the output voltage from the stator coil. In the rotor 6, the rotor cores 7 and 8 alternately provide magnetic poles 19 and 20 as shown in FIG. 6. The rotor coil 9 is wound on a bobbin 21 and sandwiched between the rotor cores 7 and 8 as shown in FIG. 5. The rotor coil 9 has lead wires 9a at its wind-start portion and its wind-completion portion. The respective lead wires are held by fixing portions 21a formed on the bobbin 21, extend into respective grooves 8a formed in the rotor core 8 so as to be electrically protected by insulating sleeves, are fixed at respective hooks 12a formed on the respective slip rings 12, and are connected to connecting terminals 12b by spot-welding or a similar technique.
Wiring of the lead wires 9a is carried out on an automatic machine. The automatic machine requires that the grooves 8a formed in the rotor core 8 be directed in a direction deviated from a radial direction from each of the fixing portions 21a toward the center of the rotary shaft 10. By this arrangement, the lead wires 9a, which are provided in the grooves 8a from the fixing portions 21a to the hooks 12a, are subjected to a centrifugal force in a bending direction. The grooves 8a have a resin filled on bottoms thereof to bond the lead wires 9a thereto so as to cope with the centrifugal force. As shown in FIG. 7, the lead wires extend in space and apart from the bottoms of the grooves 8a to be connected to the connecting terminals 12b at locations where the lead wires are fixed to the hooks 12a. In FIG. 6 is shown only one of both lead wires at the wind-start portion and at the wind-completion portion.
In the a.c. generator thus constructed, the stator coil 4 generates a.c. power when an exciting current is supplied to the rotor coil 9 through the brushes 15 and the slip rings 12 with the rotor 6 driven by an internal combustion engine. The rectifier 17 converts the a.c. power into d.c. power before outputting the power from the generator. The voltage regulator 18 regulates the exciting current to control the output voltage from the generator. Since the stator coil 4, the rectifier 17 and the voltage regulator 18 produce heat, the front fan 13 and the rear fan 14 provided on the rotor cores 7 and 8 introduce external air to constantly cool these devices in operation.
The conventional a.c. generator has a great speed increasing ratio with respect to the driving internal combustion engine since the generator can provide sufficient output even in a low revolution range. The conventional generator has recently reached a maximum at 18,000 RPM. Under the circumstances, the lead wires 9a, which are provided in a direction deviated from a radial direction starting at the center of revolution, are subjected to a great centrifugal force. Additionally, significant angular accelerations, that are caused by variations in the revolution of the internal combustion engine, are applied to the rotor 6. As a result, the lead wires 9a are subjected to a great stress. In addition, the rotor core 8 is subjected to vibrations caused by the electromagnetic attraction between the magnetic poles 20 of the rotor core 8 and the stator core 5 as shown in FIG. 8. The vibrations create a problem in that the resin, which has been filled in a groove 8a to bond the relevant lead wire 9a to the bottom thereof is exfoliated from the bottom of the groove 8a at an outer side of the rotor core 8.
In the case of a vehicular a.c. generator rated at 100 A as output for instance, the caloric value of the stator coil 4 is about 500 W at the maximum, and the caloric value of the rectifier 17 is about 120 W at the maximum. Although the front fan 13 supplies air to the stator coil 4 to cool the stator coil and the rear fan 14 also supplies air to the stator coil 4, the temperatures of the stator coil 4 and the rectifier 17 are raised to about 200xc2x0 C. when the engine room is at a temperature of 100xc2x0 C. The cooling air supplied by the rear fan 14 cools the rectifier 17 and the voltage regulator 18 as indicated in an arrow A in FIG. 5, and is heated by cooling the rectifier 17 and the voltage regulator 18. The heated air passes the outer side of the rotor core 8. Additionally, the rotor coil 9 produces heat at about 60 W. Under these circumstances, the lead wires 9a and the bonding resin in the grooves 8a in the outer side of the rotor core 8 are exposed to a high temperature, which can reach temperatures of up to 150xc2x0 C. in some cases.
As explained, the lead wires 9a are subjected to high temperatures and the stresses caused by the vibrations and the centrifugal forces during operation. Such operating conditions are made even more severe because of demands to obtain high output from the generator and to operate the generator faster. This has created a problem in that the resin, which has been provided to bond the lead wires 9a to the bottoms of the grooves 8a, is deteriorated to cause separation of the resin from the bottoms of the grooves 8a, causing the lead wires to be cut off. In addition, the resin that has separated is flown by the centrifugal force in the generator. The flown resin could come between the stator core 5 and the rotor cores 7 and 8, damage the insulation of the stator coil 4 or another device, or damage a brush 15, which is an additional problem.
In order to cope with these problems, there has been proposed a technique as disclosed in JP-Y-644296. In this technique, a fan, which is provided on a rotor core, has an inner circumferential portion engaged with an outer circumferential portion of slip rings, lead wires of the rotor coil are surrounded by a slip ring and a barrier provided on the fan at a location to connect the lead wires to the slip rings, and an insulated material is filled in the space defined by the slip ring and the barrier for fixing of the lead wires. By this arrangement, even if the insulated material separates from the rotor core because of thermal deterioration or another factor, the centrifugal force can be received by the barrier provided on the fan to reduce the stress applied to the lead wires. However, this arrangement can not provide complete measures to avoid the disconnection between the resin and the rotor core since a thermal stress is applied to a connecting portion or the insulating material because of the presence of the difference of coefficients of thermal expansion between the insulated material and a metallic part, such as a surrounding barrier and a slip ring. In addition, this arrangement can not avoid adverse effects, such as problems caused by scattering of broken pieces of the insulated material in the generator, including a decrease in an air volume introduction area of the fan and an increase in mechanical unbalancing degree.
It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems, and to provide a rotor for a vehicular a.c. generator capable of decreasing stress caused by a centrifugal force applied to lead wires of a rotor coil to prevent a resin material from detaching and scattering, thereby avoiding disconnection of a lead wire so as to provide a high reliability.
The present invention provides a rotor for a vehicular a.c. generator, comprising a rotor coil for generating a magnetic field; a bobbin having the rotor coil wound thereon and including fixing portions for supporting lead wires for the rotor coil; a pair of rotor cores for sandwiching the rotor coil and the bobbin therebetween; a front fan and a rear fan provided on both outer ends of the rotor core; slip rings having terminals to be connected to the lead wires for supplying an exciting current to the rotor coil; and grooves formed in an outer side of the rotor core near the rear fan for housing the lead wires, the lead wires extending between the fixing portions and the terminals; wherein the fixing portion, the terminal and the groove for each of the lead wires are provided so as to be substantially aligned in a radial direction of the rotor, the groove has an inward portion near an inner periphery of the rotor formed in a greater width than an outward portion near an outer periphery of the rotor, the rear fan covers the groove except for a part of the inward portion thereof, and the groove has a resin material filled therein.
As explained, in accordance with the present invention, the lead wires are provided so as to be directed to a radial direction of the rotor, the grooves for housing the lead wires are formed so as to have the inward portion formed in a greater width than the outward portion, and the resin material which is filled in the grooves to fix the lead wires is held between the rear fan and each of the grooves. This arrangement can decrease a stress caused by a centrifugal force to avoid disconnection of a lead wire or prevent a resin material from detaching, or being broken and scattered, thereby to provide a highly reliable rotor for a vehicular a.c. generator, which can cope with requirements of high revolution and high power.


The present invention encompasses a capture membrane comprising a porous filter membrane having a hapten bound directly or indirectly to the membrane wherein complexes formed by specific binding having an anti-hapten bound to a binding member of the specifically binding complex are removed from a solution by the hapten as the solution passes through the membrane. In the preferred embodiment biotin is the hapten and avidin or streptavidin is the anti-hapten.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a diagnostic reagents, capture membranes, which are useful in removing specifically binding complexes from solutions and assay methods using such reagents. The specifically binding complexes include antigen/antibody complexes, DNA, anti-DNA (antibody to DNA) or Single Strand DNA Binding Protein (such as SSB from E. coli), DNA, DNA hybrids, RNA, RNA hybrids, and similar specifically binding complexes.
2. The Related Art
There are extensive teachings in the art of diagnostic assays and reagents involving specifically binding complexes. Antigen/antibody reactions are widely used to determine antigen and antibodies. The labeling of members of these complexes with detectable markers such as enzymes or florescent dyes is well known. The binding of antigen or antibodies and solid supports as a means of removing complexes from solutions is also known. The use of haptens such as biotin and anti-haptens such as streptavidin in diagnostic assay is extensively discussed in a review article that appears in Analytical Biochemistry 171, 1-32 (1988).
Biotin attached to a solid-support is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,287, 4,478,914, and 4,656,202. These patents describe precise layering technique wherein biotin is first attached to a solid-surface and the subsequent application of successive layers of avidin and extender results in a controlled modification of surface characteristics.
European Patent No. 87,307,850.5 is directed toward a method for routine plant-virus diagnosis which includes biotin attached to a macro-molecule that is conjugated to a sample of probe DNA. The probe containing compound is applied to a solid-matrix which has a test sample of DNA derived from plant tissue immobilized thereon. The presence of the target sequence is determined by washing the matrix with enzyme linked avidin followed by assaying for enzyme activity associated with the matrix.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,031 describes an enzyme-immunoassay which utilizes the biotin-avidin system as a convenient and stable linking group for connecting a reporter enzyme to an antibody.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,237 describes the use of the biotin-avidin system in a method for detection and determination of ligands. A surface having an antibody for the ligand of interest attached thereto is reacted with a sample of the ligand followed by a second ligand specific antibody that is conjugated with biotin. This complex is then reacted with an avidin conjugated enzyme and the results are determined by measurement of enzyme activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,025 describes a screening assay for tumor globulin. A tumor globulin-biotin conjugate on ELISA plates is reacted with avidin conjugated enzyme and quantification of the tumor globulin bound to the plate is determined by the application of the appropriate chromogenic substrate thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,057 describes an immunoassay having biotin conjugated to a solid support through an antibody-virus complex. This biotin-antibody virus complex is then reacted with avidin conjugated to a reporter group or a label and the presence of the label associated with the surface is indicative of the presence of virus in the sample.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,727,019, and 4,632,901 describe an immunoassay wherein avidin is attached to a solid support and binds a ligand present in the sample to the support. U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,685 describes a diagnostic reagent that also involves avidin immobilized on a solid support. U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,810 describes a detection system wherein a suspension of particles having avidin covalently bound thereto reacts with a biotin-antibody complex to form a complex which results in a flocculent appearing solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,075 describes a method for ligand determination based on the biotin-avidin system without any solid support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,530 describes an immunometric assay process that comprises a ternary complex of an antigenic substance, and a first and second antibody bound to the antigen in which the complex is removed from solution by filtering through a membrane.
Clinical Chemistry, 34, No. 8, p. 1585 (1988) describes a monoclonal antibody based noncompetitive avidin-biotin assay for luteinizing hormone (LH) in urine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,751, describes a method for measuring antigens which comprises: forming in a liquid phase reaction a soluble complex wherein an antigen (Ag.sub.1), antibody (Ag.sub.1) or hapten (H) is linked through, respectively, a specific antibody (Ab), antigen (Ag) or anti-hapten (Anti-H), to a matrix which is soluble in the liquid phase and carries a ligand (X), the matrix capable of being chemically attached to more than one specific antibody (Ab), antigen (Ag) or anti-hapten (Anti-H); forming an insolubilized complex comprising a solid support linked to the ligand (X) of the soluble complex through an anti-ligand (Y), the insolubilized complex carrying a label (Z) linked to the antigen (Ag.sub.1) through an anti-antigen (Anti-Ag.sub.1), to the antibody (Ab.sub.1) through an anti-antibody (Anti-Ab.sub.1) or to the hapten (H); washing the insolubilized complex; and observing the washed insolubilized complex for the presence of the label (Z) wherein the presence of the label (Z) is an indication of the level of the antigen (Ag.sub.1), antibody (Ab.sub.1) or hapten (H) in the sample.
European Patent Application No. 86111379.3 describes multilayer immunoassay test devices involving the use of labeled reagents comprising a chemical group having a detectable physical property such as fluorescence or color.
European Patent Application No. 88.308164.8 describes a method for determination of single-stranded DNA based on the binding of a single-stranded DNA to a single-stranded DNA-binding protein to which is bound a solid support.
Molecular Immunology, 34: 221-230 (1989) describes an ELISA system involving immobilization of biotinylated CAbs through linkage by streptavidin to biotinylated carrier proteins absorbed on polystyrene. The present invention provides technology for removal of specifically binding complexes from a solution and differs from the prior art in that the reagent of this invention is a porous membrane with a hapten preferably biotin bound directly or indirectly to the membrane.

Hapten derivatized capture membrane and diagnostic assays using such membrane


Metering automation controller functionality includes accessing a project code that defines one or more operations of an industrial automation controller, analyzing the project code to identify one or more capabilities of the industrial automation controller that are utilized by the one or more operations, generating a file indicative of the one or more capabilities of the industrial automation controller, transmitting the file to a server that generates a certificate for authorizing the industrial automation controller to execute the project code, receiving the certificate from the server that identifies the file and an authorization for the industrial automation controller to execute the project code to perform the one or more operations, and transmitting the project code, the file, and the certificate to the industrial automation controller for execution.

The present disclosure relates generally to controllers of industrial automation system. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to controlling which functionality of a controller in an industrial automation system is available.
Industrial automation systems may be used to provide automated control of one or more actuators. Specifically, a controller may receive power from a power source and output a conditioned power signal to an actuator to control movement of the actuator. Typically, controllers for industrial automation systems are available for sale (either individually, as a component within an industrial automation system, or as a subcomponent within an industrial automation component) from manufacturers or sellers with a limited number of combinations of features and/or capabilities. As such, a customer may be unable to find a controller having a specific combination of features he or she seeks. The customer may end up paying a higher price to purchase a controller having one or more extra features and/or capabilities that he or she does not plan on utilizing. Similarly, the customer may end up purchasing a controller that lacks one or more of the particular features he or she sought and adapting an application for operating the controller to accommodate the purchased controller. Further, once a customer purchases a controller, the customer may be locked into the features of the controller at the time of purchase, without the ability to add or remove features. Accordingly, it may be desirable to give customers the ability to customize the features of the controller before purchase and add or remove features after the controller has been purchased.

Systems and methods for metered automation controller functionality


The low power data line and method may comprise a line (30, 102) connecting a plurality of devices (60, 104) to an output (32, 104). The devices (60, 104) may be independently accessed to provide data to the output (32) along the line (30, 102). A switch (40, 120) may be disposed in the line (30, 102) to selectively disconnect a segment (52, 132) of the line (30, 102) connected to at least one of the devices (60, 104) from the output (32).

Data lines connecting a device to an output are well known. To reduce the number of data lines in a system, a number of devices may be connected to a shared line. The devices may be independently driven to selectively provide requested data along the shared line. Accordingly, the devices may communicate with one another or with an output along the shared line.
Shared lines typically suffer performance degradation due to resistance and capacitance (RC) delay associated with driving the line rail-to-rail each time a device is accessed. The higher capacitance (C) of a shared line requires more power to be used in charging or discharging the line and increases the delay. The higher resistance (R) of the shared line also serves to increase the delay.


A video image signal processing and recording system provides for operation in a first mode in which real time display of video is provided and in a second mode in which the video image signals are digitized and stored in a memory and being read out and displayed in response to selection of a display mode for the system. In an enhanced mode operation for the system, increasing of the low light intensity value of the displayed real time images or displayed memory images to compensate for low light conditions or for the effects of back lighting. The video image signal processing and recording system is described with reference to an application in a door entry system for a residential building.

In entry or door access systems or surveillance systems that employ television monitoring, typically a television camera is mounted on an outer wall at or near an entrance of a building or residence. The field of view of the television camera is determined as a function as application. Some surveillance systems provide a wider field of view because only movement of an intruder is to be detected. However, in video entry systems for residential applications or video surveillance of ATM machines associated with ATM machines must allow identification of a person seeking entrance to the residence, or a person using the ATM, requiring a small field of view.
Typical entry or door access systems that are direct viewing systems show the occupant a "live" picture of the field of view of the camera. Such systems do not provide for saving a video image either as it is being produced or for storing to provide a history of images.
Some systems, particularly those used at ATM locations, include a video recorder. However, these devices have limited storage capacity and video tapes must be changed.
Another problem associated with known video monitoring systems is insufficient illumination and blind spots due to a back-lit condition where the image cannot be recognized.
Moreover, such video monitoring systems are generally inflexible. For example, systems that are currently operate on only one type of video broadcast system standard, such as NSTC or PAL.

Method and apparatus for video image processing and recording

Industrial Technology Research Institute