A two-battery on-board electrical system in a motor vehicle is disclosed, in which an on-board electrical system control unit is disposed between the batteries, and one battery is used primarily to supply the usual consumers while the other is used primarily to supply the starter. The on-board electrical system control unit 16 includes an on-board electrical system module, which performs the requisite reverse switching operations and has one further terminal, by on-board electrical system components required for starting an operation can be supplied with voltage. These on-board electrical system components are supplied at maximum priority, and if the supply battery is too greatly discharged are jointly supplied by both batteries, but it is nevertheless assured that during the starting process the other on-board electrical system components are not connected to the starter battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for the voltage supply in a motor vehicle and, more particularly, to a device for supplying voltage in a motor vehicle having two batteries.
2. Prior Art
Until now, the voltage supply in motor vehicles was typically done with the aid of a single battery charged by a generator. In modern motor vehicles with many electrical consumers, one battery is sometimes no longer sufficient for the voltage supply. To assure starting two separate batteries are used that are typically connected in parallel to one another. To assure that the two batteries are not cyclized at the same time and thus to prevent voltage drops that can occur during actuation of the starter at voltage-critical components, a charging/disconnection module is connected between the two batteries. This charging/disconnection device is provided in a device for voltage supply in a motor vehicle described in German Patent 41 38 943. During the starting process this module disconnects the battery associated with the starter from the rest of the on-board electrical system. Since the rated voltage of the battery assigned to the starter is somewhat lower than the rated voltage of the on-board electrical system battery, it is assured that the starter battery will be optimally charged at all times.

Device for supplying voltage in a motor vehicle including two batteries and having improved reliability


The present invention relates to methods and kits for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) in a subject. Particularly, the present invention relates to methods and kits for diagnosing a subtype of MS in a subject, the subtype selected from relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS), primary progressive MS (PPMS) and a pathologic sub-type of MS lesions selected from Pattern I and Pattern II MS lesion.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of presumed autoimmune etiology. MS is characterized by focal lesions (plaques) in the brain and spinal cord leading to progressive neurological dysfunction. The etiology of MS is unknown, but it is thought to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Currently, there is no specific test for diagnosing MS and the diagnosis relies on recognition of the clinical history of the subject. The diagnosis can be supported by MRI of the brain and spinal cord, analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid, and evoked potential studies of the visual and somatosensory pathways. In addition, systemic or infectious etiologies with similar presentation must be excluded. Multiple sclerosis may progress and regress unpredictably; however, there are several patterns of symptoms. Approximately 85-90% of patients begin with a relapsing-remitting (RRMS) course and 40% eventually become progressive (secondary progressive MS, SPMS); in 10%, MS presents a primary progressive course (PPMS). The different MS subtypes are characterized by the past course of the disease (e.g. unpredictable relapses, remissions and progression of neurologic decline). From a clinical perspective, patients with different disease courses show different treatment responses. For instance, patients with relapsing-remitting MS are more likely to respond to immunomodulatory therapy than those with a progressive disease course (Bitsch and Bruck, CNS Drugs, 2002; 16(6):405-18). Thus, characterizing the MS subtype is important not only for prognosis but also for therapeutic decisions.
MS is not only heterogeneous in its clinical symptoms and rate of progression, but also in its response to therapy and histopathological findings (Lucchinetti et al., 2000, Ann Neurol 47, 707-17). The pattern of active demyelination is identical among multiple lesions examined from a given MS patient, yet heterogeneous between patients, suggesting pathogenic heterogeneity. Pattern I is characterized by T-cell/macrophage-mediated demyelination. Pattern II is characterized by antibody/complement-associated demyelination. Pattern III is defined by a distal oligodendrogliopathy, and pattern IV is characterized by oligodendrocyte degeneration in the periplaque white matter; to date pattern IV has only been identified in autopsy cases. Patterns I and II lesions show the typical perivenous distribution and sharp borders that are the pathological hallmarks of MS lesions and are thought to result from classical autoimmune mechanisms (Lucchinetti, et al., 2004, Ann Neurol 56, 308). MRI is commonly used to visualize MS lesions in vivo. The use of MRI to study MS lesions is limited, however, because it cannot provide information about the pathological composition of the lesions. From a clinical standpoint patients with Pattern II, but not Pattern I, have been reported to respond to plasmapheresis (Keegan et al., 2005, Lancet 366, 579-82). Thus, there is a need for identifying patients that would be responsive to treatment with plasmapheresis.
The McDonald criteria was introduced in 2001, and revised in 2005 (Polman et al., 2006, Ann Neurol.; 59(4):727-8), as guidelines to facilitate early and accurate diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Diagnostic classifications are reduced to a) having MS, b) not having MS, or c) having possible MS. Advantages to the Criteria include the capability of making a definitive diagnosis of MS either after a monosymptomatic presentation or in the context of a primary progressive course. However, the diagnostic classification scheme and MRI criteria remain complicated and tedious, and this complexity limits their use in everyday practice. Furthermore, the specificity of these criteria is relatively low, emphasizing the importance of clinical judgment in excluding other diagnoses. In addition, studies have observed that standard MS disease-modifying medications can benefit patients who do not yet fulfill these diagnostic criteria. Finally, the McDonald criteria decreased the time required for MS diagnosis substantially, however it is still limited for those individuals who are diagnosed with possible MS, or those who will eventually receive a diagnosis of PPMS.
Although MS is considered a T cell mediated disease, several pieces of evidence support a role for B cells in the disease (Archelos et al., 2000, Ann Neurol. 47, 694-706). B cells can contribute to MS progression by their secretion of antibodies and cytokines, or by acting as antigen presenting cells (APC) to activate pathogenic T cells. B cells are significantly more efficient in processing and presenting antigens recognized by the antibodies they produce. Thus, it is not surprising that linear B and T cell epitopes are co-localized in CNS antigens targeted by the autoimmune response in human and experimental models of MS (Meinl et al., 2006, Ann Neurol. 59, 880-92; Wucherpfennig et al., 1997, J Clin Invest. 100, 1114-22).
Immune System Biomarkers
The immune system in both its innate and adaptive arms can be viewed as a type of biological health-maintenance system. In physiological terms, the cells and molecules comprising the immune system are considered to act to manage inflammation (Cohen, 2000, Academic Press, London). Inflammation is classically defined as the collective processes activated by injury that lead to healing. The immune system, by the way it initiates and manages inflammation, maintains the body by healing wounds, containing pathogens, organizing the structure of connective tissue, growing (angiogenesis) or destroying blood vessels, triggering regeneration of certain organs, activating the apoptosis of aged cells and those with irreparable DNA damage, degrading accumulations of abnormal molecules, disposing of waste, and performing other vital activities (Cohen, 2000). These varied expressions of inflammation maintain the integrity of the organism in response to its relentless post-developmental decomposition due to neoplasia, environmental injuries and infections, accumulations of metabolic products, waste, and other intoxications, and the inexorable advance of entropy.
The possibility that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) antibodies in MS patients are generated as a response to myelin self-antigens has been investigated in detail. Antibodies reactive with several CNS antigens have been described, including those directed against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), oligodendrocyte-specific protein (OSP), myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP), myelin associated glycoprotein, 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′ phosphodiesterase (CNPase) and ab-crystallin. When analyzed, the subclasses of these antibodies correlated with a pro-inflammatory immune response. Many of these autoantibodies have been detected also in blood (Lalive et al., 2006, Proc Natl Acad Sci US. 103, 2280-5). In addition, higher titers of antibodies reactive with non myelin autoantigens (Annunziata et al., 1999, J Neurol Sci. 168, 32-6; Barned et al., 1995, Neurology. 45, 384-5; Colaco et al., 1987, Clin Exp Immunol. 68, 313-9; Roussel et al., 2000, J Autoimmun. 14, 259-65; Spadaro et al., 1999, Mult Scler. 5, 121-5) and to pathogens (Cepok et al., 2005, J Clin Invest. 115, 1352-60) have been also found in MS patients.
The role played by antibodies in MS still awaits further clarification. Antibodies to conformational epitopes in MOG have been purified from MS lesions and shown to alter the physiology of CNS cells (Lalive et al., 2006). Accordingly, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0009096 provides methods utilizing detection or quantification of autoantibodies to specific epitopes of myelin/MOG components for diagnosis or prognosis of MS.
Antibodies reactive with linear epitopes in CNS antigens have also been isolated from MS lesions (Dalakas, 2006, Pharmacol Ther. 112, 57-70; Genain et al., 1999, Nat. Med. 5, 170-5), suggesting that they also play a direct role in MS pathology. Moreover, antibodies to MBP isolated from MS patients have been shown to have direct proteolytic activity (Ponmarenko et al., 2006, Proc Natl Acad Sci US. 103, 281-6). U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2003/0092089 relates to an assay for detecting MBP autoantibodies, and alternatively in conjunction with the measurement of other biochemical markers associated with MS and related diseases.
Biomarkers are anatomic, physiologic, biochemical or molecular parameters associated to specific disease states. The search for MS biomarkers has been focused on indicators of the general activity of the inflammatory process. Several biomarkers aim at following not the inflammatory process itself, but its consequences such us neurodegeneration and axonal loss. Thus, altered levels of neurofilament light chains, tau and 14-3-3 protein have been described to correlate with axonal loss in MS patients.
Since MS is felt to be an organ specific autoimmune disorder, immune biomarkers have the potential to reflect disease activity and its response to therapy. Several large-scale proteomic studies have attempted the characterization of antibodies in CSF and serum, aiming to identify yet unknown targets of the autoimmune attack in MS patients (Lefran et al., 2004, J Immunol 172, 669-78). Moreover, specific antibodies have been investigated as biomarkers in MS, resulting in the identification of several up-regulated antibody responses to myelin antigens in CSF and/or serum. However, these biomarkers were not generalizable to the majority of MS patients or could not be validated in independent studies (Rinaldi and Gallo, 2005, Neurol Sci. 26, S215-7; Lim et al., 2005, Mult Scler. 11, 492-4). Similarly to what has been observed in other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes (Quintana et al., 2004, Proc Natl Acad Sci, 14615-21) and systemic lupus erythematosus (Li et al., 2005, J Clin Invest. 115, 3428-39), it is possible that no single biomarker will be conclusive, but rather a pattern of several biomarkers forming a fingerprint will be required.
The Antigen Chip
Antigen microarrays are newly developed tools for the high-throughput characterization of the immune response (Robinson et al., 2002, Nat Med 8, 295-301), and have been used to analyze immune responses in vaccination and in autoimmune disorders (Robinson et al., 2002; Robinson et al., 2003, Nat. Biotechnol. 21, 1033-9; Quintana et al., 2004; Kanter et al., 2006, Nat Med 12, 138-43). It has been hypothesized, that patterns of multiple reactivities may be more revealing than single antigen-antibody relationships (Quintana et al., 2006, Lupus 15, 428-30) as shown in previous analyses of autoimmune repertoires of mice (Quintana et al., 2004; Quintana et al., 2001, J Autoimmun 17, 191-7) and humans (Merbl et al., 2007, J Clin Invest 117, 712-8; Quintana et al., 2003, J Autoimmun 21, 65-75) in health and disease. Thus, autoantibody repertoires have the potential to provide both new insights into the pathogenesis of the disease and to serve as immune biomarkers (Cohen, 2007, Nat Rev Immunol. 7, 569-74) of the disease process.
Antigen microarrays have been used to characterize serum autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and neuromyelitis optica. However, high-affinity specific antibodies in MS have not been reported with any regularity in serum (Meinl et al., 2006, Ann Neurol. 59, 880-92; O'Connor et al., 2007, Nat Med 12, 12; Zhou et al., 2006, Proc Natl Acad Sci US. 103, 19057-62). In contrast to autoantibodies in serum, Kanter and associates have used microarrays to detect lipid (Kanter et al., 2006) and αB-crystallin (Ousman et al., 2007, Nature. 448, 474-9) reactive antibodies in the CSF. Strikingly, the antibodies to αB-crystallin were of low affinity, detectable at 1:20 dilution (Ousman et al., 2007).
PCT Pub. No. WO 02/08755 to some of the inventors of the present invention is directed to a method, system and an article of manufacture for clustering and thereby identifying predefined antigens reactive with undetermined immunoglobulins of sera derived from patient subjects in need of diagnosis of disease or monitoring of treatment. The '755 publication discloses the use of antigen arrays for identifying antigens reactive with immunoglobulins of sera derived from subjects afflicted with various diseases. Further disclosed are diagnostic methods, and systems useful in these methods, employing the step of clustering a subset of antigens of a plurality of antigens, said subset of antigens being reactive with a plurality of antibodies being derived from a plurality of patients having an impaired immune system and suffering from a disease, and associating or deassociating the antibodies of a subject with the resulting cluster. While WO 02/08755 discloses methods useful in diagnosis of MS among other autoimmune diseases, there is no disclosure of diagnosing different subtypes of MS or monitoring MS progression.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0260770 to some of the inventors of the present invention discloses an antigen array system and diagnostic uses thereof. The application provides a method of diagnosing an immune disease, and particularly type 1 diabetes, or a predisposition thereto in a subject, comprising determining a capacity of immunoglobulins of the subject to specifically bind each antigen probe of an antigen probe set. The antigen probe set comprises a plurality of antigen probes selected from the group consisting of at least a portion of a cell/tissue structure molecule, at least a portion of a heat shock protein, at least a portion of an immune system molecule, at least a portion of a homopolymeric polypeptide, at least a portion of a hormone, at least a portion of a metabolic enzyme, at least a portion of a microbial antigen, at least a portion of a molluscan antigen, at least a portion of a nucleic acid, at least a portion of a plant antigen, at least a portion of a plasma molecule, and at least a portion of a tissue antigen, wherein the binding capacity of the immunoglobulin of the subject is indicative of the immune disease or the predisposition thereto. However, none of the prior art discloses an antigen array that can provide a specific, reliable, accurate and discriminatory assay for diagnosing MS, specifically for discriminating between different subtypes of MS and predicting or monitoring disease progression. Such discriminatory assays would be highly valuable in tailoring adequate therapeutic approach for each patient.
PCT Pub. No. WO 07/137,410 relates to methods for the diagnosis MS, different forms of MS or another demyelinating disorder. Particularly, WO 07/137,410 relates to specific metabolites, identified by their molecular masses, found to have different abundances or intensities between clinically diagnosed MS or other neurological disorders, and normal patients. Nevertheless, WO 07/137,410 does not disclose nor mention the use of testing an antibody reactivity pattern for identifying unique signature patterns in different subtypes of MS, and to further differentiate between patients having MS and those afflicted with other neurological disorders.
Thus, there remains a need for improved diagnostic methods and kits useful in diagnosing MS and particularly, diagnosing subtypes of MS in a subject.


A method of matching job profiles with a candidate profile is disclosed. A plurality of concepts corresponding to an ontology is extracted from a candidate profile. A normalized candidate profile is generated, wherein the normalized candidate profile includes the plurality of concepts. A search query is formed at least in part based on the normalized candidate profile and the ontology. The search query is submitted to a source of job profiles. An initial batch of job profiles potentially matching the candidate profile is received from the source of job profiles. At least a subset of the plurality of concepts corresponding to the ontology is extracted from a job profile among the batch of job profiles. A normalized job profile is generated, wherein the normalized job profile includes the at least a subset of the plurality of concepts. Whether the normalized candidate profile matches with the normalized job profile is determined.

Matching a job seeker with a list of relevant job openings that the job seeker may be interested in pursuing is challenging for a number of reasons. One key challenge is that resumes and job profiles can be presented by different people in very different formats and styles. The terminology used in resumes and job profiles to describe a particular feature or characteristic can also be very different. The above challenges are further compounded by the volume of potential job profiles available for matching with the job seeker. As a result, poorly matched results may be obtained.

Ontology development for profile matching


In one embodiment a system is provided for multirate communications allowing for different data rates for each data unit on a channel, including both data units from different mobile units and from the same mobile unit. A sending unit preferably begins by determining the rate at which to start communications, and monitors, for example by use of an RSSI detector, for an indication that the rate should be changed. A rate adjustor implements the change, and can make changes as frequently as every data unit. The encoder applies the appropriate rate and inserts a rate indicator indicative of the data or encoding rate, and sends the data unit. On receiving data units, the receiving unit first determines the rate for each data unit or group of units, then appropriately decodes the data unit(s). As a result, the actual data throughput can be adjusted to permit optimized throughput.

In recent years there has seen a tremendous increase in the demand for wireless networks capable of handling data communications. In order to accommodate this increased demand there is a constant search to find improved, more efficient approaches to communicating data. One such approach has been to suggest multiple rates for communicating data. In the case of voice communications this is primarily important in permitting a higher quality signal for those units having the higher data rates, although in some systems it may also permit increased loading by having users go to lower rates (and hence produce somewhat lower interference levels). In non-voice data communications the concerns are somewhat different. Because the data rate directly effects the throughput, most users will prefer to use a higher rate, thus keeping air/billing time to a minimum. However, system flexibility is still desirable, allowing for lower rates to be used for channels suffering from higher levels of interference, thus permitting increased correction coding rates to be employed.
One limitation of current or proposed multirate coding schemes is that the rate is typically established at the beginning of a communications session. While this may be fine for a more or less stationary remote unit, it does not allow for changes in moving remote units or the surrounding environment. Thus, for example, if a user were to initiate a file transfer from a PDA (personal digital assistant), which finally received an allocation right before entering a shadowed region (turning a corner behind a building, entering a tunnel, etc.) a higher data rate would typically be negotiated. But, because the majority of the communication session would occur in the shadowed region, the continued use of the higher data rate will lead to a higher error and repeat transmission rate. Similarly, if the user were to start communications within a shadowed region, say a parking garage, but the majority of the session was completed in a good quality coverage zone, significantly more time will be required than actually needed to complete the data transfer. This is disadvantageous both to the user, who pays more, and the operator, who's limited channel resources are tied up needlessly, even potentially blocking higher priority uses. Finally, as both examples indicate, where multiple users having quite different channel characteristics are accessing the same communication channel, a single rate applied to both such as done in prior art systems is at best a compromise detrimentally effecting both users.
There remains therefore a need for an improved means for providing multirate data communications in wireless systems that solves these and related problems.

Method and apparatus for multirate data communications


A friction material for a synchronizer ring which exhibits good heat resistance, wear resistance and scorching resistance properties has 30 to 70% by weight of a carbon material, 10 to 40% by weight of a thermosetting resin, 5 to 30% by weight of metal fibers or metal particles and 5 to 40% by weight of inorganic fibers or inorganic particles, and having a porosity of 10 to 50%. The carbon is porous graphite particles of a size distribution in which not less than 50% of the entire number of said graphite particles have a particle diameter from 44 to 250 .mu.m. The thermosetting resin is a novolac type phenol resin, epoxy modified phenol resin, melamine modified phenol resin, cashew modified phenol resin, hydrocarbon resin modified phenol resin or cresol modified phenol resin. The metal fibers or metal particles are an alloy containing aluminum, copper, iron, nickel, zinc or lead as the main ingredient, the inorganic fibers or particles are barium sulfate, wollastonite, silicon, potassium titanate, glass or alumina and organic fibers and cashew dust are each contained in an amount of not more than 10% by weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to friction material used for a synchronizer ring in a speed change gear, for example in a syncromesh transmission.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A synchronizer ring is a ring-shaped member assembled, for example, in a speed change gear of an automobile for synchronously rotating two gears which are changed and meshed upon gear changing operation of the speed change gear such that the two gears engage smoothly with each other.
The synchronizer ring has a friction material layer secured to a ring-shaped structural body. The friction material layer is disposed to the inner circumference of the structural body, to the outer circumference of the structural body or on both sides of the inner circumference and outer circumference of the structural body. In each case, the friction material layer is frictionally engaged to a tapered portion (cone portion) of the speed change gear.
As a friction material for the friction material layer, copper alloys, for example, MBA-2 and MBA-5 are often used. Further, a paper material is also used although not frequently. In addition, molybdenum is sometimes secured by flame spraying to the structural body.
The following characteristics are required for the synchronizer ring:
(1) Having a large dynamic friction coefficient to a mating member for synchronizing two gears by frictionally engaging a tapered portion as the mating member. PA1 (2) Having a low friction coefficient at a relative speed nearly equal zero (hereinafter referred to as "static friction coefficient") in order to decrease impact shocks upon engaging a mating gear. PA1 (3) Being resistant to scorch as a result of braking frictional heat when braking is applied to a mating member, and particularly being resistant to scorch from braking frictional heat generated upon misoperation of a shift lever.
The misoperation of the shift lever referred to above occurs when the shift lever is displaced without properly pedaling the clutch pedal. Upon this misoperation, since the engine torque is transmitted to one gear and the other gear is rotated at a torque greater than the torque of idling when the clutch is completely disengaged, a large thermal load (reaching ten and several times as much as the usual load) is applied to the synchronizer ring. As a result, the temperature of the friction material is elevated by braking frictional heat, possibly causing carbonization or abnormal wear to deteriorate the synchronizing function.
Copper alloys are often used as the friction material since precedence tends to be given to the characteristic (3) among the three characteristics described above. However, since copper alloys have a relatively low dynamic friction coefficient, the characteristics (1) and (2) which copper alloys exhibit are poor.
In view of this, the friction surface of the copper alloy has been made as dual or triple composite layers, thereby increasing the capacity for absorbing the braking frictional heat and increasing the dynamic friction coefficient, to improve characteristic (1). However, if the friction surface is made in composite layers, it results in the problem of the mechanism of the speed change gear being complicated, enlarged in scale and expensive.
On the other hand, although a paper material has characteristics (1) and (2), it is susceptible to scorch by braking frictional heat upon misoperation of the shift lever. Further, although molybdenum exhibits good dissipation of braking frictional heat upon misoperation of the shift lever, it performs relatively poorly respecting characteristics (1) and (2).
In addition, to provide the synchronizer ring with a satisfactory friction characteristic, it is necessary to form a number of fine holes to the friction material. If a number of fine holes are formed in the friction material, when the synchronizer ring is brought into contact with a mating member, the formation of oil membranes at the friction interface is reduced, thereby increasing the dynamic friction coefficient. Thus, the friction material used in a synchronizer ring should have good heat resistance, wear resistance, scorching resistance and porosity, together.

Friction material for a synchronizer ring


A controller for a disk drive measures track misregistration, extracts non-repeatable runout from measured track misregistration, determines one or more components of non-repeatable runout at various radial locations of a disk, and compares the determined components to known values at different altitudes to determine an operating altitude of a disk drive.

Disk drives are digital data storage devices which can enable a host device to store and retrieve large amounts of data in a fast and efficient manner. A typical disk drive includes a plurality of magnetic recording disks which are mounted to a rotatable hub of a spindle motor and rotated at a high speed. An array of read/write transducers is disposed adjacent surfaces of the disks to transfer data between the disks and the host device. The transducers can be radially positioned over the disks by a rotary actuator and a servo system.
A plurality of nominally concentric tracks can be defined on each disk surface. As understood by those skilled in the art, a preamp and driver circuit generates write currents that are used by a first transducer to selectively magnetize the tracks during a data write command. A secondary transducer, generally proximate to the first transducer, amplifies read signals detected by the transducer from the selective magnetization of the tracks during a data read command. Under certain configurations, the first and second transducers can be fashioned to be one in the same. A read/write channel and interface circuit are connected to the preamp and driver circuit to transfer the data between the disks and the host device.
Each transducer (or transducer pair) is connected to a structure referred to as a "slider." The slider is mounted on a spring-loaded flexible beam structure that can cause the slider with the connected transducer to press against a disk surface when the disk is stationary. When the disk spins up to operating speed, the high rotational speed causes air to flow under the slider thereby generating a fluid or hydrodynamic bearing, commonly referred to as an "air bearing" by those skilled in the art. The purpose of the air bearing is to provide adequate and appropriate force on the transducer-bearing slider so that a threshold separation is maintained between the transducer and the disk. Thus, a transducer floats over the surface of a spinning disk without physically touching the disk. The space between a transducer and a spinning disk (i.e., the transducer-to-disk clearance) is referred to as the "head/disk clearance" or just "clearance." Clearance is an important parameter for operation of a disk drive. If clearance is too large, a transducer cannot properly read and write a disk. If clearance is too small, there is chance that the transducer will crash into the spinning disk and cause physical damage to either or both the transducer and disk (referred to as "disk crash"). The operating clearance is also important even in the intermediate case(s) where the head has neither excessively large clearance nor unacceptably small clearance. The significance of this last regime is an outcome of the fact that optimal reading and writing performance may be carefully tuned under a fairly small range of allowable clearance values.
The altitude at which a disk drive operates influences clearance. At high altitudes, the reduced air pressure generally diminishes the ability of the air bearing to maintain proper clearance, which can cause a disk crash. Unfortunately, conventional disk drives are not configured to detect operating altitude. Although numerous altitude detection technologies exist that utilize pressure transducers for barometric estimation of altitude, cost, measurement sensitivity, accuracy and packaging concerns have prevented incorporation into disk drives here-to-date. As such, a need exists for an economical, yet reliable, way to detect operating altitudes of disk drives.

Disk drive with altitude detection via analysis of non-repeatable runout components


Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for transmitting uplink control information in an OFDMA communication system. The method, in which the uplink control information is transmitted using an ACK channel in the OFDMA communication system, includes the steps of receiving data bits of the uplink control information, outputting transmit symbols of sub-carriers by performing orthogonal modulation with respect to symbols for codewords of the received data bits, and inverse fast fourier transforming and transmitting a transmit signal including bundles of sub-carriers allocated the modulated transmit symbols.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting control information in a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for transmitting uplink control information in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access communication system (OFDMA).
2. Description of the Related Art
Current mobile communication systems are developing toward the 4th generation which provides ultra high-speed multimedia services. The 4th generation system is the end result of the 1st generation analog mobile communication system, the 2nd generation digital mobile communication system, and the 3rd generation mobile communication system providing high-speed multimedia services such as the IMT-2000. This 4th generation mobile communication system provides access to a number of networks including a satellite network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), an Internet, etc., in one mobile terminal. In effect, the 4th generation mobile communication system can support all services of voice services, video services, multimedia services, Internet data services, voice mail services, instant message services, etc., by using one mobile terminal. The 4th generation system strives for a transmission rate of 20 Mbps and mainly employs an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme to provide high-speed multimedia services.
Herein, the OFDM scheme implies a digital modulation scheme for multiplexing a plurality of orthogonal carrier signals. Such an OFDM scheme is used for dividing a single data stream into several low-speed streams and simultaneously transmitting the low-speed streams by using several sub-carriers having low transmission rates.
A multiple access scheme based on the OFDM scheme is referred to as an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) scheme. The OFDMA scheme denotes a scheme in which sub-carriers in one OFDM symbol are distributed to a plurality of users (i.e., a plurality of subscriber terminals). A communication system based on such an OFDMA scheme includes additional physical channels for transmitting uplink control information. These physical channels include a channel quality information (CQI) channel, an ACK/NACK channel, and a coefficient for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channel.
Hereinafter, a structure of a transmitter 10/receiver 20 for transmitting/receiving the uplink control information in the conventional OFDMA communication system will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an internal structure of the transmitter 10. The transmitter 10 includes a binary channel encoder 11, a modulator 12, and an inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT) unit 13.
If information data bits of uplink control information are generated, the binary channel encoder 11 receives the information data bits and outputs a codeword to the modulator 12 by using binary channel codes (e.g., (20,5) block codes).
Herein, the modulator 12 includes a coherent modulator or a differential modulator. The modulator 12 receives the codeword output from the binary channel encoder 11, finds transmit symbols corresponding to the codeword based on a coherent modulation scheme or a differential modulation scheme, and then, outputs the transmit symbol to the IFFT unit 13. Herein, the modulator may employ a predetermined modulation scheme (e.g., a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) scheme or a differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) scheme).
The IFFT unit 13 receives the transmit symbol from the modulator 12, performs IFFT with respect to the transmit symbol, and then outputs the transmit symbol.
Hereinafter, an internal structure of the receiver 20 will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 2. The receiver 20 includes a fast fourier transform (FFT) unit 23, a demodulator 22, and a binary channel decoder 21. If a receive signal is input from the transmitter 10, the FFT unit 23 performs FFT with respect to the receive signal and outputs a receive symbol to the demodulator 22.
The demodulator 22 may include a coherent demodulator or a differential demodulator correspondingly to the modulator of the transmitter 10. The demodulator 22 receives the receive symbol output from the FFT unit 23 and finds a soft decision value of the receive symbol based on a demodulation scheme corresponding to the modulation scheme of the transmitter (e.g., a coherent demodulation scheme or a differential demodulation scheme).
The binary channel decoder 21 receives the soft decision value found in the demodulator 22, determines which the transmitted codeword is, and outputs information data bits corresponding to the decided codeword.
Although the uplink control information transmitted/received through the transmitter 10/the receiver 20 having the above described structure occupies a small portion in the overall communication service, it is necessary to ensure high reliability with respect to the transmission of the uplink control information because the uplink control information is very important in communication system operation. However, generally speaking, a physical channel for transmitting the uplink control information is allocated a small number of frequency-time axis resources to reduce overhead rates. Accordingly, it may be advantageous to employ a transmission method different from that for channels such as traffic channels transmitting much information and allocated many resources.
The conventional technique employs a transmission method in which binary channel encoding is combined with coherent modulation or differential modulation as described above in order to transmit the uplink control information.
However, if the uplink control information is transmitted in the transmission method using a small number of frequency-time axis resources, the number of errors may increase, thereby lowering the stability of communication system operation. In other words, the uplink control information may be transmitted with insufficient pilot tones. As a result, channel estimation performance is degraded, thereby degrading the performance of the coherent modulation/demodulation. Herein, if the number of pilot tones is increased in consideration of only channel estimation, the number of data tones may be excessively insufficient. In addition, if the binary channel encoding is performed separately from the modulation, the separation may prevent the achievement of optimized performance. Further, if many frequency-time axis resources are used for the transmission of the uplink control information to raise system stability, overhead rates may increase, thereby reducing the throughput of a communication system.

Apparatus and method for transmitting uplink control information in OFDMA communication systems


A solid state image capturing apparatus is disclosed. A pixel array section has unit pixels containing photoelectric conversion elements, the unit pixels being two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix, and column signal wires correspondingly to columns of the matrix of the unit pixels. A line scanning section selectively controls lines of the matrix of the unit pixels of the pixel array section. An analog-to-digital conversion section converts an analog signal outputted from unit pixels of a line of the matrix of the unit pixels selected by the line scanning section through a corresponding column signal line to a digital signal. A conversion clock supply section selectively generates a conversion clock having a first clock period or a second clock period. An addition section adds unit pixel digital signals converted in the analog-to-digital conversion section by the conversion clocks having the first clock period and the second clock period, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid state image capturing apparatus and a camera apparatus having the same and, in particular, relates to those that convert analog signals that are output from unit pixels through column signal wires into digital signals and read the digital signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a column-parallel ADC equipped CMOS image sensor has been proposed. In this CMOS image sensor, analog-digital converters (hereinafter abbreviated as ADCs) are disposed correspondingly to columns of a matrix of unit pixels.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of a column-parallel ADC equipped CMOS image sensor 10 of the related art. In FIG. 1, a unit pixel 101 has a photodiode and an in-pixel amplifier. The pixels 101 are two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix shape and compose a pixel array section 102. Line control wires 103 (103-1, 103-2, and so forth) and column signal wires 104 (104-1, 104-2, and so forth) are, respectively, arranged for individual lines and individual columns of the matrix shaped pixel arrangement of the pixel array section 102. Line addresses and line scanning of the pixel array section 102 are controlled through the line control wires 103-1, 103-2, and so forth by a line scanning circuit 105.
ADCs 106 corresponding to the column signal wires 104-1, 104-2, and so forth are disposed on one end side of respective column signal wires and compose a column process section (column-parallel ADC block) 107. A digital-to-analog converter 108 that generates a ramp waveform reference voltage Vref for the ADCs 106 (hereinafter this converter is referred to as the DAC) is disposed. In addition, a counter 109 is disposed for the ADCs 106. The counter 109 counts in synchronization with a clock CK having a predetermined period and measures a time for a comparator 110 that will be described later to perform a comparison operation.
The ADC 106 has the comparator 110 that compares an analog signal, obtained from a unit pixel 101 of a selected line of the matrix through the column signal wire 104-1, 104-2, or the like, with a ramp waveform reference voltage Vref generated by the DAC 108. In addition, the ADC 106 has a memory 111 that stores a count value of the counter 109 based on a comparison output of the comparator 110 to provide a function of converting analog signals supplied from the unit pixels 101 into an N-bit digital signal.
The column addresses and column scanning of the ADCs 106 of the column process section 107 are performed by a column scanning circuit 112. In other words, N-bit digital signals that are digitally converted by the ADCs 106 are columnwise scanned by the column scanning circuit 112, read by a horizontal output wire 113 having an 2N-bit width, and sent to a signal process circuit 114 by a horizontal output wire 113. The signal process circuit 114 is composed of 2N sense circuits, 2N subtraction circuits, 2N output circuits, and so forth corresponding to the 2N-bit wide horizontal output wire 113.
A timing control circuit 115 generates clock signals and timing signals, with which the line scanning circuit 105, the ADCs 106, the DAC 108, the counter 109, the column scanning circuit 112, and so forth operate, based on a master clock MCK. The generated clock signals and timing signals are supplied to relevant circuit sections.
Next, the operation of the CMOS image sensor 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be outlined with reference to timing charts shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C.
FIG. 2A shows a horizontal synchronous signal (H synchronization). FIG. 2B shows a clock supplied to the DAC 108, and the counter 109. FIG. 2C shows a ramp waveform reference voltage Vref that is output from the DAC 108.
The voltage of the ramp waveform changes as the clock occurs. The voltage of the ramp waveform and the output of a unit pixel are compared. The count value corresponding to the voltage of the unit pixel obtained by the comparison is stored in a memory 111. The count value stored in the memory 111 becomes a digital value of the unit pixel and is output.
FIG. 3A to FIG. 3F are timing charts showing an example of the more detailed operation of the CMOS image sensor 10.
With reference to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3F, after the first read operation from unit pixels 101 of a selected line to column signal wires 104-1, 104-2, and so forth has been established, a lamp waveform reference voltage Vref shown in FIG. 3A is supplied from the DAC 108 to the comparators 110. Thus, the comparators 110 compare the signal voltages Vx of the column signal wires 104-1, 104-2, and so forth with the reference voltage Vref. In this comparison operation, when the reference Vx becomes the same as the signal voltage Vx, the polarity of the output of the comparator 110 is inverted. When the output of the comparator 110 is inverted, the memory 111 stores a count value N1 of the counter 109 corresponding to a comparison time of the comparator 110. FIG. 3C shows a clock that generates a count value. FIG. 3D shows changes of the count value N.
In the first read operation, as shown in FIG. 3E, a reset component ΔV of each unit pixel 101 is read. The reset component Δ contains as an offset a fixed pattern noise that varies between unit pixels 101. However, the fluctuation of the reset component is generally small and the reset level is common in all pixels. Thus, in the first read operation, the signal voltage Vx of each of the column signal wires is nearly known. Consequently, when the reset component ΔV is read in the first read operation, by adjusting the ramp waveform reference voltage Vref, the comparison time of the comparator 110 can be relatively shortened.
In the second read operation, in addition to the reset component ΔV, a signal component corresponding to the amount of incident light of each of the unit pixels 101 is read in the same manner as the first read operation. In other words, after the second read operation from unit pixels 101 of the selected line to the column signal wires 104-1, 104-2, and so forth has been established, the ramp waveform reference voltage Vref is supplied from the DAC 108 to the comparator 110. Thus, the comparators 110 compare the signal voltage Vx of the column signal wires 104-1, 104-2, and so forth with the reference voltage Vref.
When the reference voltage Vref is supplied to the comparators 110, the counter 109 performs a second counting operation. In the second counting operation, when the reference voltage Vref becomes the same as the reference voltage Vx, the polarity of the output of the comparator 110 is inverted. When the output of the polarity is inverted, as shown in FIG. 3F, the memory 111 stores a count value N2 of the counter 109 corresponding to a comparison time of the comparator 110. At this point, the first count value N1 and the second count value N2 are stored in different locations of the memory 111.
After the foregoing sequence of the AD conversion operations has been complete, the column scanning circuit 112 scans respective columns. As a result, the first and second N bit digital signals stored in the memory 111 are supplied to the signal process circuit 114 through the 2N-bit wide horizontal output wire 113. A subtraction circuit (not shown) of the signal process circuit 114 performs a subtraction process of (second operation signal)−(first operation signal). Thereafter, the resultant signal is output to the outside of the CMOS image sensor 10. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated for each line and thereby a two-dimensional image is generated.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-278135, hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1, describes an example of a solid state image capturing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Solid state image capturing apparatus and camera apparatus


A method for forming an insulating layer for a microelectronic device includes the steps of forming a conductive pattern on a surface of a microelectronic substrate, and forming a spin-on-glass layer on the surface of the microelectronic substrate covering the conductive pattern. The spin-on-glass layer is baked at a temperature in the range of 400.degree. C. to 750.degree. C., and a moisture blocking layer is formed on the baked spin-on-glass layer. By reducing moisture absorbed from the air into the spin-on-glass layer, a relatively low etch rate and a relatively low dielectric constant can be maintained for the spin-on-glass layer. Related structures are also discussed.

A microelectronic device may include electrical interconnections for transferring electrical signals. These interconnections are typically formed by patterning conductive layers, and these interconnections may influence the operating speed of the microelectronic device. Multi-layered interconnection technologies have thus been developed to reduce the length of interconnections to thereby improve operating speeds of microelectronic devices. The multi-layered interconnection technologies can also reduce the size of a microelectronic device thus facilitating higher levels of device integration.
In particular, multi-layered interconnections can be provided by forming an interlayer insulating layer between upper and lower interconnections. The interlayer insulating layer is preferably planarized at a low temperature so that the characteristics of electronic devices such as transistors are not significantly changed. The interlayer insulating layer is also preferably formed of a material having a relatively low dielectric constant to reduce parasitic capacitances between adjacent interconnections.
Spin-on-glass layers have been used to provide interlayer insulating layers which can be planarized at relatively low temperatures and provide relatively low dielectric constants. A spin-on-glass interlayer insulating layer can be formed by coating a liquid spin-on-glass based material on the microelectronic device including the lower interconnection and hardening a spin-on-glass layer by baking it at a predetermined temperature. Contact holes can be formed in the interlayer insulating layer exposing portions of the lower interconnections. The upper interconnections can be formed on the interlayer insulating layer with contact to the lower interconnections provided through the contact holes.
A spin-on-glass layer, however, may exhibit a relatively strong hygroscopicity. In other words, a spin-on-glass layer may absorb moisture. If moisture is absorbed into the spin-on-glass layer, a wet-etch rate of the spin-on-glass layer may increase, and the dielectric constant may also increase. Accordingly, a wet-etch used to remove a natural oxide on portions of the lower interconnection exposed by the contact holes may have an increased etch rate due to the absorption of moisture. Accordingly, the spin-on-glass interlayer insulating layer may be undesirably etched when removing the natural oxide from the lower interconnection so that the size of the contact hole is undesirably increased. In addition, parasitic capacitances between adjacent interconnections may increase if moisture is absorbed by the spin-on-glass interlayer insulating layer. An operating speed of the microelectronic device may thus decrease due to the increased parasitic capacitances.
A quantity of moisture absorbed by a spin-on-glass interlayer insulating layer can be reduced by thermally treating the spin-on-glass layer at a temperature greater than 800.degree. C. A thermal treatment at a temperature greater than 800.degree. C., however, may change the characteristics of transistors formed under the spin-on-glass layer. In particular, this thermal treatment may reduce channel lengths as a result of re-diffusion of dopants in the source/drain and channel regions thus altering the dopant concentrations of the transistor channel regions. Accordingly, there continues to exist a need in the art for improved interlayer insulating layers and methods for forming microelectronic devices.

Methods for forming moisture blocking layers


A multiple photosensitive element array and lens system particularly adapted for use in a camera for providing scene image light intensity signals for use in automatic exposure and automatic focus control. A two-dimensional photometric sensor array of planar photosensitive array segments is centrally disposed on an integrated circuit substrate so that the planar segments each receive light from corresponding segments of the image focused thereon for developing first light intensity related signals in response thereto. At least one pair of linear range arrays, each comprising a plurality of photosensitive elements, is mounted on the substrate on either side of the two-dimensional sensor array, such that the linear range arrays are separated by a baseline distance extending across the two-dimensional photometric sensor array. A lens system is provided for focusing an image of a scene to be photographed upon each of the two-dimensional photometric sensor array and the linear photosensitive element range arrays. The photosensitive elements of the pair of linear photosensitive element arrays each receive light from a fractional portion of the image focused thereon and develop second light intensity related signals in response thereto. The segments of the sensor array preferably include a central segment, a first plurality of inner segments and a second plurality of outer segments, wherein each segment is closely spaced and electrically insulated from adjacent segments. The photosensitive array and lens system is preferably employed in a camera having an autofocus control system for controlling the focus of a camera imaging lens based on the second light intensity related signals and an autoexposure control system for controlling the exposure of an image of the scene based on the first light intensity related signals.

In recent years, automatic focus or autofocus (AF) and automatic exposure (AE) video and still photographic cameras have come into common usage as the cost of integrated circuits, photosensors, and miniaturized servo systems for adjusting the focal length of the imaging lens and controlling the exposure time period have become much less expensive. In addition, the availability of inexpensive microprocessors, RAM and ROM chips, and other microcontroller components has allowed designers to incorporate sophisticated algorithms with active or passive range sensors for AF systems and with multi-segmented photometric sensor arrays for AE systems to provide the user with highly accurate "point and shoot" capabilities. These capabilities have been incorporated in relatively simple range finder photographic cameras and highly complex single lens reflex (SLR) photographic still cameras as well as in video cameras.
The development and incorporation of multi-segmented photosensor integrated circuit arrays for use in photographic still cameras is summarized in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,258 to Bell et al, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '258 patent discloses an improved multi-segmented photometric sensor coupled to selection circuitry for selecting a combination of the signals derived from each segment of the sensor for setting the exposure conditions of the image captured by the camera. The photometric sensor may also be used in conjunction with an electronic strobe flash for providing a reflected light intensity feedback signal that is processed and employed to set the duration of the flash.
In AF control systems, active or passive range finders have been developed to provide signals from which the distance between the camera body and (typically) the subject or structure in the scene that the user has centered the imaging lens on may be determined and employed with a motorized servo-system to adjust the focal length of the imaging lens. Passive range finders employ one or more pairs of linear photo-diode arrays that are positioned a fixed distance apart which forms the baseline of the autoranging triangulation system. In triangulation AF systems, the baseline is a necessary dimension which allows for the formation of similar triangles used to calculate subject distance. Generally, as the baseline dimension and focal length increases and the linear sensor array width (pitch) decreases, the maximum sensing distance increases.
Typically, a pair of focusing lenses are positioned with respect to each pair of spaced apart linear photosensitive arrays to focus the image the camera is pointed at onto the linear arrays. In SLR camera systems, the focusing lenses are arranged symmetrically with respect to the optical axis of the camera's imaging lens and light passing through the lens (TTL) is diverted by half silvered mirrors through the pair of focusing lenses and onto the linear arrays. In range finder cameras, the pair of focusing lenses and the associated linear arrays of photosensitive elements are mounted on the camera a distance away from the imaging lens.
The photo-electrically converted signals from the photosensitive elements of the linear arrays are processed by the microprocessor based AF control algorithm to detect a displacement of the two images focused thereon and to provide a control signal to a motor which drives a gear mechanism to adjust the imaging lens focus. The operation of a typical AF system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,557 to Ishizaki et al (incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) and is referred to in the above incorporated '259 patent.
Various efforts have been made to reduce the number of photosensitive components and lensing systems necessary for providing accurate AE, AF and photoflash control by employing signals derived from the segments of the multicell photometric arrays in conjunction with or in substitution for signals developed from the linear arrays of photosensitive elements to fine tune the AE and AF functions as described in the above incorporated '258 and '557 patents. In video cameras, where two dimensional CCD arrays are employed, output signals from selected CCD elements are employed in AF and AE operations as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,995 to Baumeister. After analog to digital conversion, the most significant bit and least significant bit portions of the digitized word corresponding to the analog signal output of the selected CCD elements are employed in automatic focus and exposure adjustments. Simultaneously, the digital word information is processed to develop the recorded video information for each corresponding pixel of the image being recorded.
In a similar fashion, although employing redundant photosensitive elements, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,007 to Yoshida describes a range sensor of multiple pairs of linear photosensitive element arrays and a multi-segment photometric sensor, where the pairs of linear arrays are spaced so as to coincide with segments of the photometric sensor. The range sensor and photometric sensor are formed on separate IC substrates and are employed in a TTL arrangement within an SLR camera where separate lensing elements image the scene viewed through the imaging lens of the camera onto the respective sensors. The signals developed by the photometric sensor segments and the pairs of linear photosensitive element arrays are combined to provide AF and AE functions, particularly for the automatic exposure control of the flash duration. While the positioning of the linear photosensitive element arrays of the range sensor so that they fall within each segment of the photometric sensor of the '007 Patent may have certain utility in TTL arrangements, the advantages that may be gained thereby in that context are achieved at the cost of substantial reduction in the baseline between respective pairs of linear arrays employed in the AF function.
Despite these advances, problems remain in the integration of the components of the AF and AE systems to achieve miniaturization, low cost and accuracy in both assembly in-camera systems and correlation of the signals derived by the range sensor and photometric sensor elements. In practice, the separate integrated circuit chips on which the photometric sensor arrays and linear range sensor arrays are formed must be precisely aligned during assembly of the camera with the camera imaging lens, the viewfinder optics and with each other. The four alignment operations are time consuming, and alignment errors affect camera AF and AE functions that result in poor quality photo images.

Composite photometric and range finding element array


A positioning device for a positioning element, which is rotationally displaceable about a first axis, including a positioning member engaged with the positioning element. The positioning member is rotatable about a second axis perpendicular to and spaced from the first axis. The positioning device further includes a slotted link disposed on the positioning element and arranged radially about the first axis, a threaded spindle rotatable about a fixed point, and a link block inserted into the slotted link it cannot be turned. The link block is defined by a spindle nut engaged with the threaded spindle. The thread pitch of the threaded spindle corresponds to a predefined range of the positioning angle of the positioning element such that the positioning element is displaceable within the range of the positioning angle by two rotations of the threaded spindle or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positioning device for a positioning element, which is rotationally displaceable with respect to a first axis, and which includes a positioning member which engages with the positioning element, the positioning member being rotatable about a second axis that is perpendicular to and spaced from the first axis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Positioning devices of this type are provided in signature feeders with the model designation P311, which are components of saddle stitchers marketed by Heidelberg Web Systems Inc., Durham, USA under the name Pacesetter 1000. These positioning devices include a sprocket provided on the positioning element with which a worm gear meshes. The positioning element is provided with a valve including a control disc having a hole pattern, which, under normal operating conditions, periodically produces a fluid connection between a suction device and a vacuum generator. The suction device functions in the signature feeder to open the signatures which are then transferred along a saddle chain of the saddle stitcher. The suction device includes suction boxes which are in fluid connection with the vacuum generator during a periodically recurring time window and applies suction to a respective arm of a respective signature feeder within this time window.
Opener drums are disposed parallel to the axis of the suction device, and each of the suction boxes for a respective one of the signature arms is disposed thereon. For dispensing the signatures to the saddle chain, the suction boxes are aerated after the time window has expired such that the signatures separate from the suction boxes. The timing of the separation of the signatures from the suction boxes must be adaptable to the processing speed and to the material properties of the signatures. Accordingly, the control disc is rotationally displaceable.
A transfer drum precedes the gripper drum. The transfer drum transfers signatures taken from a signature stack using the separating device and releases the signatures to the opener drum.
The signature feeders include an operating side on which operating elements are disposed. The operating elements include a rotary knob for turning the worm gear which, via turning of the sprocket meshing therewith, rotationally displaces the control disc, and thus, the time window and the timing at which the signatures separate from the suction boxes is changed.
In some instances, the required displacement of the control disc requires that the worm gear must execute a plurality of revolutions. This makes it more difficult to a reproducibly set the timing at which the signatures separate from the suction boxes.

Positioning device for a rotationally displaceable positioning element


A light quantity adjusting method is used for driving a light emitting device with two drive current levels. The drive current levels are controlled by the first set data and the second set data, respectively. First, a resolution ratio and light quantity characteristics are stored. The resolution ratio represents a ratio between a drive current setting resolution of the first set data and a drive current setting resolution of the second set data. The light quantity characteristics represents a relationship between the first set data and a light emission quantity of the light emitting device. A value in the first set data is obtained as a first set value through adjustment for a quantity of light. Next, a change amount, from the first set value in the first set data is calculated using the light quantity characteristics. The calculated change amount is converted into a value in the second set data as a second set value using the resolution ratio.

The present invention relates to a light quantity adjusting method which is carried out in advance when a light quantity level of emitted light from a light emitting device having a light emitting element such as a laser light source is changed over to another one, and a light quantity adjusting apparatus using the light quantity adjusting method, and also relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material using a laser light source or the like, to which the light quantity adjusting apparatus is applied. In particular, the present invention relates to an image exposure technique for, when a recording material for printing such as a thermal plate is exposed, determining a normal exposure power and an exposure power for an edge.
In the field of printing, there is generally used an image forming apparatus for focusing a laser beam on a recording material such as a photosensitive material as a recording material for printing to expose the recording material. For example, a Computer to Plate (CTP) process has been carried out, in which a digital image is formed using a computer, and during plate-making, an image is directly recorded on a printing plate without interposing a film. In the image forming apparatus used in such a CTP process or the like, from a viewpoint of a productive efficiency with which an image is formed on a recording material for a short time period, there is used a scanning system in which an image is formed with a laser beam while the recording material is relatively moved at a high speed with respect to the laser beam emitted from a laser light source. For example, a photosensitive material is exposed using the laser beam in correspondence to a digital image signal to record an image on the photosensitive material while the photosensitive material is held on a surface of a rotating drum.
With this technique, a lighting state of a light beam emitted from a light source for exposure is controlled using a binary coded image signal generated based on image data of an original image to be recorded, and a photosensitive material is two-dimensionally scanned with the light beam to record a desired image on the photosensitive material by moving the photosensitive material relative to the light source for exposure. The image for plate-making is a dot image using dots. The dot image is recorded in the form of a set of a large number of dots formed through scanning exposure using a light beam having a predetermined size in correspondence to the resolution.
When a single dot or a fine pattern such as a fine line is exposed using a short pulse in forming an image using this image forming apparatus, there arises a problem that since the exposure recording is carried out while the recording material is moved at a high speed, the exposure power (exposure energy density) corresponding to this movement is insufficient, and thus the fine pattern is not precisely exposed and recorded by a light beam. For example, when a negative photosensitive material as a recording material is exposed, photo-curing of an exposed portion of the negative photosensitive material does not sufficiently progress owing to insufficiency of the exposure power, and hence the dot, the fine line or the like is not precisely reproduced. In addition, when a positive photosensitive material as the recording material is exposed, the exposed portion of the positive photosensitive material such as the dot or the fine line, which becomes a non-image portion is not perfectly removed owing to the insufficiency of the exposure power.
Heretofore, the beam diameter of the laser beam is reduced and also the exposure power density is increased to cope with the above-mentioned problem. However, such methods cause another problem that an optical system is contaminated due to the ablation and the life-time of a semiconductor laser diode is shortened since the exposure power is increased. For this reason, the precise processing cannot be still executed for the fine pattern, and the life-time of the laser light source is shortened to increase the maintenance cost.
On the other hand, JP 8-23422 A discloses an image forming apparatus in which when turn-ON/OFF of emission of a laser beam is switched in correspondence to a fine pattern, a light quantity level of the emitted laser beam for a limited time period of at least one of a time period right after turn-ON and a time period right before turn-OFF is made higher than that for a time period other than that limited time period to allow an exposure recording edge (edge-portion) of a fine pattern to be precisely exposed to the laser beam. That is to say, there is disclosed a system in which when an internal portion except for an edge portion is exposed, the light quantity level of the laser beam is set to a predetermined level and the exposure power is set to a normal exposure power, while when a dot of the edge portion of the image is exposed, the light quantity level of the laser beam is increased and the exposure power is set to a dot exposure power. That is, there is disclosed a so-called method of increasing a dot light quantity in which only for a certain time period of one or both of a time period right after rise of the pulse and a time period right before fall of the pulse, the exposure is carried out at a power higher than that in the normal exposure.
However, in the system disclosed in JP 8-23422 A, since the exposure power is changed between two stages, i.e., the normal exposure power and the dot exposure power, the light quantity of the laser beam must be adjusted to two levels of high light quantity level and low light quantity level. This requires the complicated work in which prior to the processing for, forming an image on the recording material, the adjustment must be carried out twice, i.e., the light quantity of the laser beam must be adjusted to the high light quantity level and the low light quantity level. The light quantity adjustment must be carried out whenever the exposure recording is carried out, and whenever the recording material or a kind of recording material is changed over to another one. Thus, there arises a problem that when a plurality of recording materials are processed in large quantities, a total time period required to adjust the light quantity becomes long, and hence the light quantity adjustment process is inferior in productive efficiency with which an image is recorded on a recording material for a short time period.

Light quantity adjusting method, light quantity adjusting apparatus, and image forming apparatus


Disclosed is a space-saving autonomous mobile robot capable of switching two types of light irradiation appropriately. The robot includes a moving mechanism, an autonomous movement controller for controlling the moving mechanism, a self-location recognition unit for sensing a self-location of the robot, a map data storage unit for storing a map data on locations of marks, a slit light device for irradiating a detection area with slit light, an infrared device for irradiating a detection area with infrared rays, and a switch determination unit for comparing a mark-formed region and the self-location, and then, for switching between the slit light and infrared devices, based on the comparison result. Moreover, the infrared device irradiates the detection area when the self-location is within the mark-formed region, while the slit light device irradiates the detection area when the self-location is outside the mark-formed region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to autonomous mobile robots, generally. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an autonomous mobile robot equipped with both a road surface sensing device and a current location verification device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical mobile robot is equipped with a device for checking a road surface, which is called "road surface sensing device" This device has a function of determining whether or not there is any obstacle in front of the robot. Specifically, the device irradiates a road surface in front of the robot with predetermined slit light, and then, captures an image of the irradiated area. Finally, it analyzes the pattern of the light in the captured image (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications 6-43935 and 2002-144278).
In addition, a typical mobile robot is equipped with a device for verifying its current location, which is called "current location verification device". This device allows the robot to pick up images of landmarks formed beforehand on an active area, and it then verifies or recognizes the current location or the surrounding conditions of the robot, based on features of the captured landmarks, such as a color, size or shape (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2002-149240).
Generally, a robot, particularly a legged robot is provided with various systems such as sensors, circuits and power units. Therefore, it is difficult for such a robot to have an inner space enough to accommodate both a road surface sensing device and a current location verification device. If both devices are accommodated, then the robot ends up enlarged.
Moreover, if installed in a robot, then both devices need to be switched appropriately in order to save the energy. This is because landmarks are not necessarily formed throughout the active area.
The present invention has been conceived, taking the above description into account. An object of the present invention is to provide a space-saving autonomous mobile robot capable of switching two types of light irradiation, such as infrared rays and slit light, appropriately.


When a semiconductor package is stored in a transport tray and when a semiconductor package is transported by a transport tray, the semiconductor package comes into contact with the side wall of the transport tray, so that the end face of the semiconductor package is chipped and dust is generated from the end face of the semiconductor package. Provided is a technology for a semiconductor package that includes a multilayer structure having at least a synthetic resin layer and includes an outermost edge portion such that the end face of the synthetic resin layer protrudes outward compared to the end faces of the other layers constituting the multilayer structure.

In recent years, due to the demand for miniaturization and high density of electronic devices and the like, and the accompanying miniaturization and the like of semiconductor packages, semiconductor packages with a so-called chip size package structure are used, the size of the semiconductor packages having been made as close as possible to the size of a semiconductor chip.
Moreover, in order to improve production efficiency, a so-called wafer level package technique has been proposed, in which, after a plurality of semiconductor chips is formed, the semiconductor chips are packaged in a wafer state in a batch, and then individualized to obtain semiconductor packages. A semiconductor package having a chip size package structure manufactured by such a technique is generally called a wafer level chip size package (WLCSP for short). Note that the step of individualizing a wafer in order to obtain a semiconductor package is also called a dicing step, which is performed by processing such as, for example, dividing, separating, cutting, and machining.
A process of manufacturing a semiconductor package has been conventionally performed in the following order. That is, the process of manufacturing a semiconductor package includes a dicing step of individualizing a semiconductor chip having a circuit pattern from a wafer, a mounting step of placing the semiconductor chip on a lead frame and the like, a wire bonding step of wire connecting between the semiconductor chip and the lead frame, and a molding step of coating and sealing the wire-bonded semiconductor chip and the lead frame with a resin or the like. However, in recent years, a technique called flip-chip packaging may be performed, in which, without using the lead frame and the wire bonding, a semiconductor chip is inverted, and a bump including a solder ball, for example, is placed on a pad formed on the back surface of the semiconductor chip, thereby forming terminals to be connected to the outside and wiring the semiconductor chip. In the wafer level package technique, in general, a wafer is wired in the state of the wafer before individualization by using the flip-chip packaging technique, and is individualized after undergoing a step such as a molding step.
In these semiconductor packages, in order to make the size of a semiconductor package as close as possible to the size of a semiconductor chip, the entire semiconductor package, particularly the surface other than an electrode surface and the opposite surface of the semiconductor package, is not sealed with resin or the like, and the semiconductor chip may be exposed. Therefore, when such a semiconductor package is stored in a tray for transportation, there is a problem that the end face of the semiconductor package rubs against the side wall of the tray and dust is generated. Furthermore, there is a problem that the end face of the semiconductor package comes into contact with the side wall of the tray due to vibration when the semiconductor package is stored in the tray and transported, and the semiconductor package is chipped. Many techniques have been disclosed for countermeasures against these problems.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for a semiconductor package provided with a semiconductor element on which a protrusion electrode is formed and a sealing resin layer on the surface of the protrusion-electrode-forming side, in which the semiconductor package has a stepped portion formed on the outer periphery of the semiconductor package and the sealing resin layer.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for a semiconductor element having a cubic shape and having a protective resin layer formed on a part of each of four surfaces except a surface having an electrode and a surface opposite to the surface having the electrode.
However, the techniques disclosed in the prior art documents are not desirable from the viewpoint of productivity because it is necessary to add a new processing step in order to solve the above-described problems.

Semiconductor package having a multilayer structure and a transport tray for the semiconductor structure

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


An apparatus and method for comparing values A comparator comprising inputting two comparison values to be compared, determining the number of a leading "1" in each of the values and outputting two position values, wherein the position values have a bit size smaller than the comparison values, comparing a first position value of the position values from a second position value of the position values, and outputting a signal indicating a first comparison value of the comparison values is either greater than a second comparison value of the comparison values, equal to the second comparison value or less than the comparison value, based on a result of the comparing operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to comparators used in computer and other systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a microprocessor it is often necessary to compare two values (A and B) to determine if A is greater than B, B is greater than A or A is equal B. For example, in microprocessors with cache units it is necessary to check if the address of the data or instruction to be fetched is in the cache. To do so the address has to be compared with the upper and lower limits of an address range.
Conventional comparators subtract A from B and determine if the subtraction results in a zero by observing whether a carry-out occurs at the most significant bit of the result. This approach requires a entire adder, even if sum bits are not used. Since speed is critical a look ahead adder or a carry select adder is sometimes used. Such adders increase the size (i.e., area requirement) of the conventional comparator.

N-bit comparator using count leading 1 circuits

International Business Machines Corporation


A pump drive shaft for an automatic transaxle wherein the cross-sectional profile of the internal flow tube has been modified to a non-cylindrical configuration to increase the flow of transmission fluid through the pump drive shaft from the torque converter. A selected surface of the non-cylindrical tube is positioned at a predetermined angular orientation within the pump drive shaft to provide increased radial clearance between the flow tube and the fluid inlets/outlets to increase the flow of transmission fluid from the torque converter. In various embodiments the flow tube is elliptical, rectangular, bi-lobular in cross-section or a variation thereof, which produces an axially extending fluid passage between the flow tube and the fluid inlets/outlets having an increased cross-sectional and flow capacity from the torque converter. The present disclosure also sets forth a method of installing the present internal flow tube within the pump drive shaft.

The present invention relates generally to the field of automatic transmission hydraulic systems and, more particularly, to an improved pump shaft for the Ford AX4S, AXODE, and AXOD transaxles and other similar transmissions.
The Ford AX4S transaxle has a variable displacement pump that supplies fluid under pressure to the hydraulic system. In the Ford transaxle the torque converter cover assembly drives the impeller blades and rotates a pump drive shaft that operates the pump. It contains hydraulic fluid and provides a mating surface for the Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) piston and damper assembly. The turbine is driven by fluid from the impeller and transmits power to the chain drive and planetary gear sets. The reactor or stator component redirects fluid flow returned from the turbine to the impeller so that it rotates in the same direction as the impeller, which assists in torque multiplication.
The original equipment manufacture (hereinafter "OEM") pump drive shaft includes fluid passages extending through the shaft and through an internal flow tube installed therein, which transmit automatic transmission fluid (hereinafter "ATF") to the TCC piston to release the torque converter clutch. The internal ATF flow tube installed within the pump drive shaft defines an axial fluid passage between the flow tube and the pump shaft bore, which forms part of the turbine fluid circuit and carries ATF flow from the torque converter.
A problem in the Ford AX4S transaxle arises when this axial fluid passage becomes even partially restricted with particulate debris upsetting the balance of ATF flow through the torque converter. The lack of adequate ATF flow may cause delayed engagement, converter shudder, overheating, and lock up problems. Thus, the present invention has been developed to resolve this problem and other shortcomings of the prior art.

Pump drive shaft with internal flow tube and method of installation


An inner- or outer-rotor type three-phase permanent magnet stepping motor constituted by a stator having circumferentially equidistantly arranged three magnetic poles each having small teeth equal in number and in pitch, and a rotor rotatably arranged along the circumference of the stator and constituted by a cylindrical permanent magnet magnetized to provide circumferentially alternately arranged pairs of north and south poles, the number of the pairs being selected to Zm under the condition that Zm satisfies Zm=3n-1 or Zm =3n+1 (n being a natural number not smaller than 1). Alternatively, the rotor is constituted by a ring-like permanent magnet magnetized so as to form two magnetic poles in the axial direction thereof and a pair of gear-like magnetic bodies each having Zr teeth on its circumference are arranged respectively on the axially opposite ends of the ring-like permanent magnet. The respective teeth arrangements of the gear-like magnetic bodies are circumferentially shifted by 1/2 teeth pitch, under the condition that the number Zr of the teeth satisfies Zr=3n-1 or Zr-3n+1. Further, the small teeth of the stator are circumferentially arranged substantially in the same pitch as that of the poles or teeth of the rotor so that static and dynamic torque of the stepping motor including cogging torque are increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a permanent magnet stepping motor, and particularly relates to a permanent magnet stepping motor for use in office automation equipment such as a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated to "LBP") which is required to be low in cost, small in size and high in output.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as inexpensive three-phase permanent magnet stepping motors, motors of the inner rotor type in which the number of magnetic poles of each rotor is 6 or more have been much used, and motors in which the number of magnatic poles of each stator is selected to be small are used in order to make the motors inexpensive.
In order to make a permanent magnet stepping motor for use in office automation equipment high in output, it is necessary to make the diameter of its rotor large. In a permanent magnet stepping motor of the inner rotor type, however, there has been a problem in that the diameter of the rotor cannot be made large relatively to the outer diameter of the motor if the outer size of the motor is determined.
In addition, as for the number of phases of the motors, there are motors of the two-phase type, three-phase type, four-phase type and five-phase type. In the motors of the four- or five-phase type, the drive circuit becomes complicated correspondingly to the number of the phases and therefore the motors become high in cost correspondingly.
On the other hand, as the number of phases of the motor increases, the smaller the vibration of the motor during rotation of the motor.
Further, in the case of practical application to an LBP, it is also necessary to reduce vibrations during rotation in addition to the requirements on its low cost and high output. In order to satisfy the requirement both on the low cost and low vibration at the same time, a three-phase motor is better than a two-phase motor in general viewpoint, but there have been no conventional three-phase permanent magnet stepping motors which can satisfy the above conditions.

Three-phase permanent magnet stepping motor


A field effect transistor (20) for chemical sensing, comprising an electrically conducting and chemically sensitive channel (2) extending between drain (5) and source (6) electrodes. A gate electrode (7) is separated from the channel (2) by a gap (10) through which a chemical to be sensed can reach the channel (2) which comprises a continuous monocrystalline graphene layer (2a) arranged on an electrically insulating graphene layer substrate (1). The graphene layer (2a) extends between and is electrically connected to the source electrode (5) and the drain electrode (6). The substrate supports the graphene layer, allowing it to stay 2-dimensional and continuous, and enables it to be provided on a well defined surface, and be produced and added to the transistor as a separate part. This is beneficial for reproducibility and reduces the risk of damage to the graphene layer during production and after. Low detection limits with low variability between individual transistors are also enabled. There is also provided a chemical sensor (30) using the transistor (20) and a method for providing the transistor (20).

Chemical sensing using field effect transistors (FETs), for example, a FET capable of detecting gas as described in the 1975 article I. Lundström, "A Hydrogen-Sensitive MOS Field-Effect Transistor" Applied Physics Letters 26, 55-57 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,368 awarded to Svensson et. al. In the aforementioned article the transistor device has a palladium gate that is catalytically active with hydrogen dissociatively adsorbing and atomic hydrogen then absorbing into the palladium gate.
Chemically sensitive FETs with an air gap between the channel and the gate have been described in e.g. Janata's 1985 U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,514,263 and 4,411,741 which describe a chemically sensitive field effect transistor with an air gap for measuring components in either gases or liquids. These FETs are similar to the Lundström MOSFET in that they both include a doped semiconductor substrate which acts as a channel and a pair of doped regions forming source and drain electrodes, however in Janata's device the metal gate is suspended above the semiconductor substrate, defining an air gap. A voltage is applied to the gate and when gases or liquids with a dipole moment are introduced into the air gap, they are attracted to the charged gate or to the semiconductor surface.
When chemically sensitive FETs are used in chemical sensing applications, that is, when such a FET is used in/as a sensor, the sensor further comprises means for electrically controlling and/or biasing the FET for sensing so that detection of the chemical will manifest as or in an electrical signal, which thus becomes a chemical indicative electrical signal. By predetermining the relation between the sensed chemical, e.g the concentration thereof, and the resulting chemical indicative electrical signal, the electrical signal can be used solely, not only to detect presence or not of the chemical, but also to determine the amount, typically the concentration, of the chemical.
Following the isolation of graphene in 2004 by K. S. Novoselov et al, "Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films" Science, 306, 5696, 666-669, its use in various application areas has been investigated, including for chemical sensing applications. Lower detection limits have become possible, in part due to the low noise of graphene transistors and also due to the high surface area and the large field effect in graphene which enables large shifts in the Fermi level by applying a gate voltage, thus tuning the electronic properties for sensor applications.
Parts-per-billion detection was demonstrated in the 2007 article Schedin et. al., "Detection of individual gas molecules adsorbed on graphene", Nature Materials, 6, 9, 652-655, and showed stepped noise indicating individual molecular adsorption and desorption events. In the aforementioned article, the graphene was in the form of small cleaved flakes.
The detailed mechanism behind the detection in graphene sensors is still a hotly debated topic, however, there is no doubt that graphene can be used in chemical sensing applications and that it enables lower detection limits than in conventional chemical sensing.
In Z. Cheng et. al., Nano Letters 10, 1864 (2010), a suspended graphene sensor is disclosed. It comprises a graphene field effect transistor (Gra-FET) fabricated from a mechanically exfoliated graphene supported on a silicon/silicondioxide substrate. Source-drain contacts of Cr/Au is defined by e-beam lithography and subsequent metallization. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chamber is incorporated over the "Gra-FET" chip to confine an electrolytic solution and a non leak Ag/AgCl reference electrode is used as an electrolyte gate. Etching of the silicon oxide underneath the graphene is carried out in situ to accomplish the suspension and make comparison possible between a situation with and without suspension, showing that suspension improved the sensing properties. However, the sensor is not practical, accomplishing suspension by in situ-etching is cumbersome and is prone to result in differences in the suspension between individual sensors, risk of damage to the graphene layer during the etching and risk of damage to the graphene layer when the substrate has been etched away under it.
A general problem with this device, and often a general problem with many disclosed devices involving graphene at the present date or at present, is that they are mainly designed for experimental purposes and not to be realizable as commercial products for practical use. They therefore, more often than not, have problems in areas such as robustness, reproducibility, individual variability, production yield and cost efficiency. For example, when low detections limits are sought, it does not matter if one individual sensor can be made very sensitive if this is not repeatable so that many sensors with, in principle, equal sensitivity and low detection limit can be manufactured, or, if the sensor, during use or manufacture, is likely to or too easily may have its sensibility negatively affected. Damage to the graphene layer may destroy or at least impair the chemical sensing capabilities. Since the degree and impact of damages typically are, more or less, random in nature, also small damages may contribute to undesirable individual variability among sensors of the same type and construction, which may be a particular problem for sensors with low detection limits, as enabled by graphene. It is therefore desirable to reduce the risk of damage to the graphene layer to the greatest extent possible.
A step toward practical gas sensing involving graphene was taken in the 2011 article G Lu et. al., "Toward practical gas sensing with highly reduced graphene oxide: A new signal processing method to circumvent run-to-run and device-to-device variations", ACS Nano, in press/published online. The article discusses fabrication and characterization of gas sensors using a back-gated FET platform with chemically reduced graphene oxide as the conducting channel, and signal processing method that addresses device-to-device variations. The gate is a silicon wafer and on top of the gate there is a silicondioxide layer onto which Cr/Au electrodes were fabricated using e-beam lithography. A few drops of reduced graphene oxide suspension were cast onto the fabricated electrodes to accomplish a network of suspended reduced graphene oxide platelets left on the electrodes after solvent evaporation. The network serves as the conducting channel between the drain and source electrodes. However, the presented solution results in considerable differences in sensor response between individual devices with uncertainty of placement and thickness of the reduced graphene oxide platelets. Also, the flexible nature of graphene makes suspension of an entire flake unlikely and thus contribution from the SiO2 substrate highly probable.

Field effect transistor for chemical sensing using graphene, chemical sensor using the transistor and method for producing the transistor