Commands such as installation operation and launch program commands need to be executed after appropriately switching between an administrator account and another account, for each command, when an installer constituting a program for readily performing installation operations collectively for a plurality of pieces of software or the like is launched. When an installer is launched in the present invention, process-to-process communication is secured between the processes of an administrator account and a user account, and an account to execute a command included in the installer is determined in the process of the administrator account. If the determination result indicates that the account to execute the command is the user account, the command is executed in the process of the user account rather than in the process of the administrator account.

With operating systems (OS) such as Microsoft Windows NT (registered trademark) (including its successors such as Windows 2000/XP/Vista (all registered trademarks)), and UNIX (registered trademark), an administrator account and a general user account can be administered separately. Here, an account is an ID for when using a computer. Each account is provided with authorities for using the computer. For example, an administrator account is provided with execution authorities with respect to various operations, such as changing files and registries affecting the entire system. On the other hand, a general user account has limited execution authorities, and is not provided with authorities for executing operations such as changing files and registries affecting the entire system. Therefore, since software cannot be installed on a system with a general user account, an administrator account is required to perform the installation operation.
Even the UNIX (registered trademark) operating system has a special account called a root account. The root account is provided with authorities to change files affecting the entire system, and such authorities are not provided to other accounts.
Passwords are associated with accounts, and when using a computer, the user enters an account name and a password, and performs authentication with the system. This is called login or logon. Login is allowed if the password associated with the account name is correctly entered, thereby enabling the user to use the computer. The account entered when logging in is generally called a login account. The login account may be an administrator account or a general user account. If logging in with an administrator account, the login account is the administrator account, which implies that the user will use the computer as an administrator. If logging in with a general user account, the login account is the general user account, which implies that the user will use the computer as a non-administrator.
Further, in order to perform strict account administration in such operating systems, sub-processes also succeed authorities. In other words, when a program run under an administrator account launches a separate program, that program is also run under the administrator account. Conversely, when a program run under a general user account launches a separate program, that program is also run under the general user account. Heretofore, a program run with a given account could not execute the program of a separate account without a password being entered.
On the other hand, the existence of "malicious software" following the spread of personal computers and the Internet is problematic. An example of this is when software is installed simply as a result of the user accessing a homepage, or when software different from a nominal program is installed when a program attached to an email is run. Such software acts maliciously to send the user's files over the Internet without the user's knowledge or delete the user's local files, and has become a prevalent social problem.
Even with a conventional OS, the user merely needed to ensure to access the Web and view emails when logged in with a general user account, and to install software after logging in with an administrator account. This was enough to prevent "malicious software" from being automatically installed simply as a result of the user accessing a homepage or executing an attached file.
However, users often log in as an administrator account with little restrictions, and use the computer as an administrator. Therefore, the installation of malicious software is not prevented. Also, it is conceivable that users are themselves not aware of whether or not their account is an administrator account or some other account.
With patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-517853), processing is normally performed under a general user account or an administrator account with a restricted token. It has also been proposed to restrict operations by providing what were originally administrator authorities to a program when the program is run. An administrator account with a restricted token is an account having the same ID as an administrator account, but with reduced authorities.
For example, in a given OS, even if the user logs in with an administrator account, the account will be treated as an administrator account whose authorities are somewhat restricted, and confirmation will always be required when executing operations that change the system. Operations will not be executed with the true administrator account until the user agrees to this. Similarly, even if the user logs in with a general user account, an account name and password prompt screen will be automatically displayed when executing operations that changes the system and operations will be temporarily executed under the administrator account.
According to this method, confirmation is required before performing an operation that alters the system such as an installation operation, thereby enabling the user to reject the operation.
Also, in another given OS, assume that a special account can be provided for a given operation. By only providing authorities related to printing to a resident program (daemon) related to printing, for example, the system also cannot be altered when there is a bug in the resident program or the resident program related to printing is illegally accessed.
In recent years, a great deal of software has been developed following the spread of personal computers (PCs), and electrical appliances such as digital cameras and printers now typically bundle with plural pieces of software. Electrical appliances that interface with PCs may come with over ten pieces of software when it is purchase.
Software called a master installer (or installer) is typically provided to avoid complication of the software installation procedures due to the increased number of pieces of software. The master installer is support software for sequentially running a plurality of software installers, and allowing the user to perform all of the installation operations as if installing one piece of software.
However, installing software takes time and effort if the administrator account name and password prompt screen is displayed every time the installer is launched, as with patent document 1. Therefore, the possibility arises of not being able to adequately fulfill the original objective of the master installer, which is to provide simple batch installation with minimum effort on the part of the user.
If the master installer is itself run under an administrator account, the administrator account name and password prompt screen is displayed only once, but other problems arise in this case.
One such problem occurs when the master installer is used to execute a program whose operating mode differs depending on whether the program is run with an administrator account execution unit (e.g., process under the control of an administrator account) or with a general user account execution unit (e.g., process under the control of a general user account). For example, assume the default web browser in a given OS is run under a general user account execution unit or the like. Then, if different software from the browser needs to be run in order to open files on the Internet, a high security mode that prevents this will be enabled. Also, when the web browser is run under an administrator account, this high security mode will be disabled. In other words, it will be possible to freely open files on the Internet by executing different software from the browser.
Because the master installer is operated under an administrator account, this high security mode will be disabled if, for example, a given browser is launched from the master installer execution unit, given that the browser is operated under an administrator account. The launching of a browser for performing user registration to web services or the like in customer services, for example, is given as an example of an operation performed using a web browser provided by a master installer. Administrator authorities are not particularly necessary with regard to user registration to web services or the like. In other words, if the aforementioned launching of a browser is performed from a master installer, despite administrator authorities not being particularly necessary, the security level of the user's computer is lowered as a result.
Further, different problems occur in the case where the login account is a general user account. For example, assume a resident program exists that receives data from a scanner and saves the received data in a user default image data folder. Typically, Image data folders are administered per account, and configured so that the image data folders of separate accounts cannot be seen. If this resident program is operated under the login account, the resident program saves the scan data to an image data folder of the login account. However, if the accounts are temporarily switched so that the resident program is operated under an administrator account, the scanner data will subsequently be stored to an image data folder of the administrator account. Therefore, a general user constituting the login user becomes unable to access this scan data. In other words, this problem will arise when a resident program such as this is run in the case where a master installer operates the resident program as an administrator account in order to perform an installation operation.
As a similar example, operating systems have conventionally been provided with a function enabling a default printer to be set. This setting is for determining a printer driver to be chosen by default when the user performs printing, and can also be set separately for each account. In the case where the master installer installs the printer driver, the master installer, after installing the printer driver, sets the installed printer driver as the default printer. However, if the master installer is run under an administrator account, this will not result in a default printer being set in the general user account constituting the login account. In other words, when the user installs a printer driver using the master installer, it is only possible to set the default printer of the administrator account, not his or her own login account which actually needs to be set.

Information processing method for executing a command included in an installer and a storage medium storing a program therefor


A fuel heating device may improve cold start performance and solve a number of problems of conventional auxiliary tank and heating systems of a flex fuel vehicle (FFV). The fuel heating device may include a heater having embedded therein a heat emission object for heating fuel, a solenoid valve connected the heater such that a flow path to a first outlet is opened or closed to selectively supply fuel, a temperature sensor installed in the heater, and a controller for turning on and off the heater and opening and closing the solenoid valve according to a temperature of the fuel, in which the outlet of the heater is connected with a cold start injector through a cold start line and an inlet of the solenoid valve is connected with a fuel line connected from the fuel tank.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to a fuel heating device of a flex fuel vehicle, and more particularly, to a fuel heating device for improving cold start performance in which in a vehicle using a flex fuel such as ethanol or the like, a temperature of the fuel is increased in a cold start and the increased-temperature fuel is supplied to an engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, there is a growing interest in biofuels with backgrounds of high oil prices, energy security, and greenhouse gas emission regulation in international society and the spread of the biofuels is also rapidly progressing.
Among the biofuels, due to the advantages of bioethanol with reduced production costs and significant CO2 emission reduction effect (a reduction of about 40% from gasoline), the use of the bioethanol has been gradually increasing, and production of bioethanol and use of bioethanol as alternative energy are increasing while reducing oil consumption over the globe.
In particular, in Latin American countries including Brazil, the portion of flex fuel vehicles (FFV) is increasing so that the portion of FFV using ethanol as the main fuel is about 75%.
However, a fuel of 100% ethanol has a high ignition point and also has a lower steam pressure of 40 kPa or less than gasoline having a steam pressure of 55-70 kPa, and thus, it may have a start problem in low outer temperature conditions, especially, in the wintertime.
To solve the problems, an auxiliary tank system is used in which a separate fuel for a cold start is stored in an engine room and supplied.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional auxiliary tank system 20, in which a fuel supply system using the auxiliary tank system 20 in an FFV using ethanol as a fuel.
The conventional auxiliary tank system 20 is under application to improve low-temperature start performance, and a flex fuel of ethanol and gasoline (for example, a flex fuel containing ethanol of 22% or less) is stored in an auxiliary tank 21 for start improvement, and in a cold start, the flex fuel supplied from the auxiliary tank 21 is supplied to an engine 1.
The auxiliary tank system 20 includes the low-capacity auxiliary tank 21 which stores a cold-start fuel, a dedicated fuel cap 22, a separate fuel pump 23, a bracket 24 for mounting a fuel tank, a fuel line (a cold start line for supplying a fuel to the engine 1 and a vapor line connected with a canister), and a solenoid valve 26 for intercepting or allowing fuel supply through the fuel line.
In the system using the auxiliary tank 21, a controller for controlling fuel supply determines and supplies one of two fuels based on the temperature of cooling water, such that the controller supplies a fuel of the auxiliary tank 21 at a temperature below a set temperature.
To be more specific, when the cooling water temperature is higher than the preset temperature, a fuel pump 11 is driven to supply the fuel of 100% ethanol stored in a main fuel tank 10 to a main injector 2 of the engine 1 through a main line 12; when the cooling water temperature is lower than the preset temperature, the solenoid valve 26 is opened for cold start improvement to supply the fuel stored in the auxiliary tank 21 to a cold start injector (mixer) 26 through a cold start line 25 (fuel pump driving of the auxiliary tank 21).
After a start of the engine 1, the solenoid valve 26 is closed to stop fuel supply from the auxiliary tank 21 and then the fuel of 100% ethanol stored in the main auxiliary tank 10 is supplied to the engine 1 through the main line 12.
However, in such an auxiliary tank system 20, separate parts such as the fuel tank, the fuel cap, the fuel pump, the bracket, and the fuel line needs to be additionally mounted, increasing the cost of the vehicle and increasing the number of parts that are subject to quality assurance and after/service (A/S).
Moreover, there are several problems such as a need for an additional space in a small engine room, a need for injection of a separate fuel, an increase of the fuel cost burden, and a risk of a fire in fuel injection (fuel flow in the engine room).
Generally, in the engine room, the auxiliary tank system 20 is installed close to a dash panel near the indoor, such that in the case of collision, problems, such as damages of a fuel tank and a fuel line (fuel leakage), introduction of the smell of the fuel into the indoor, manipulation problems of the dedicated fuel cap, and excessive pump noise in a start, occur.
To solve the problems, a scheme for heating a fuel supplied from a fuel tank by using a heater in a cold start has been proposed and such a scheme needs heat capacity which may increase the fuel temperature to a set temperature or higher within a short time.
As heater-using schemes, a fuel rail heating system and a fuel injector heating system exist; however, the fuel rail heating system needs a large-capacity heater due to low heat efficiency and necessarily needs preheating, and the fuel injector heating system has low safety (e.g., a back fire).
In addition, a scheme in which a heater is installed in a fuel pump disposed inside a fuel tank, instead of being installed in a fuel rail or an injector, has been proposed, and this scheme adds a heater into a fuel discharge line of the fuel pump in which power is supplied to the heater installed in the fuel pump and the heater is heated to increase the temperature of the fuel discharged from the fuel pump in a start and supply the temperature-increased fuel to the engine.
However, in this scheme, when the fuel heated by the fuel pump is supplied to the engine, the temperature of the fuel is difficult to maintain. In the cold start condition at a sub-zero temperature, a heat loss is large in the fuel line to the engine, so that even when a heat insulating material is put on the fuel line, it is difficult to increase the temperature of a fuel supplied to the engine to a target temperature within a short time of a start instant.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Fuel heating device for improving cold start performance of flex fuel vehicle


A reference mark member used in exposure equipment is protected from being contaminated. A cover assembly, which includes a shutter-like cover, can be selectively opened and closed over the reference mark member to protect the same. A driving system drives the cover between its open and closed positions. An electronic controller controls the operation of the driving system based on the operating state of the equipment. The cover assembly may also include an annular support for the cover which extends around the reference mark member to offer further protection for the same. Protecting the reference mark member prevents the contamination of the reference mark which could lead to an error in an alignment task for which the reference mark is used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exposure equipment for use in manufacturing semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to an apparatus for protecting reference marks used in the exposure equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices involves a wide variety of steps including cleaning, diffusion, photolithography, etching, ion implantation, and the like. These steps are repeatedly performed on a semiconductor wafer in the mass-production of well-known commercial semiconductor devices.
Of the above-stated steps, photolithography is used for forming patterns on a semiconductor wafer. In this process, the image of the pattern of a reticle is projected on the wafer surface using a photoresist. The photolithography process generally involves several steps, that is, photoresist coating, alignment, exposure, development, and inspection. The photoresist is applied by a spin coater, a stepper is used for the alignment and exposure steps, and the inspection step is conducted using inspection equipment.
Successful completion of the alignment/exposure steps using the stepper depends significantly on the alignment of a reticle and a wafer. To effect a correct alignment, a key pattern is formed on the surfaces of the reticle and wafer. For example, the key pattern on the reticle is aligned with a fiducial or fixed reference mark that is formed on a member mounted on a stage of the stepper.
FIG. 1 shows one part of a conventional stepper for driving a stage 10 on which wafers are placed. The stepper comprises an X-motor 12 and a Y-motor 16 which are oriented along an X-axis and a Y-axis, respectively. These motors 12,16 drive the stage 10 through screws 14 and 18, respectively. The location and alignment of the stage 10 is controlled by the screws 14 and 18.
A lamp check sensor 20, a light intensity sensor 22, and a reference mark assembly 24 are located on respective comers of the stage 10. The lamp check sensor 20 senses (monitors) the state of the light radiated onto the stage 10 and the uniformity of its intensity to thereby check the efficiency of a lamp or light source. The light intensity sensor 22 detects the intensity of light transmitted through a projection reduction lens (not shown) having a reticle (also not shown) mounted thereon. The reference mark assembly 24 is used for reticle alignment, and as shown in FIG. 2, a reference mark member 26 is mounted on the top surface of a base 28. The base 28 is fixed to the stage 10 by bolts 30.
The conventional reference mark member 26 is exposed at the top surface of the base 28, and can be contaminated by particles or impurities while the wafer stage is being checked or cleaned, and the stepper is operating.
As shown in FIG. 3, the reference mark member 26 has a pattern comprising a plurality of reference mark sites 32 which are used for the alignment of the reticle. The mark sites 32 are on the order of a micrometer. FIG. 4A is a representation of signals optically detected from a mark site 32, and the signal from such a mark site 32 is clearly distinguished from those from other regions.
Again, referring to FIG. 3, the reference mark member 26 can be contaminated by a contaminant 34, such as a particle or an impurity. Therefore, when the alignment task is conducted, optically-detected signals from the contaminant 34 are produced along with those from the mark sites 32 as illustrated in FIG. 4B. In a seriously contaminated reference mark member 26 it is difficult to distinguish the mark sites 32 from the contaminated areas 34. Accordingly, a reticle alignment error often occurs in the stepper.
In fact, the conventional reference mark member is so easily contaminated that problems such as reticle alignment error, stepper mis-operation, and exposure defects occur, thus creating problems adversely affecting the reliability of the stepper.

Apparatus for protecting a reference mark used in exposure equipment


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing metal artifact in image reconstruction. In at least one embodiment, the method for reducing metal artifacts in image reconstruction comprises collecting at least one uncalibrated image (an X-ray or fluoroscopic image for example) and calibrating the at least one uncalibrated image, forming at least one calibrated fluoroscopic image. A patient to transmitter transform is computed using at least the at least one calibrated image. A reconstructed volume is formed using at least a patient to transmitter transform. At least two of the at least one calibrated fluoroscopic image, the patient to transmitter transform and the reconstructed volume may be combined, forming at least one display image. This image may then be displayed, using a display device for example.

This application is directed in general to image reconstruction. More particularly, this application is directed to metal artifact reduction in an image reconstruction using artifact spatial information.
Forming CT and 3D Fluoroscopic images of a patient's anatomy is well known in the art. It should be appreciated that it is desirable for surgeons to see how well internal fixation of metal implants was performed in post surgical images. However, it is known that metal implants such as pedicle screws and fracture plates/pins for example, may generate streak artifacts in the formation of such fluoroscopic images. Such streak artifacts are created due to the sharp difference in signal attenuation at the boundary of the metal implants and the patient's anatomy.
Many techniques or methods are known for reducing, alternating or eliminating such artifact streaks. One known technique for reducing artifact streaks includes applying ramp filters during the reconstruction of the scan data. Such ramp filters may mitigate but do not eliminate the streak artifacts, since the filters are generally broadly applied to the entire scan data set. Being able to view the surgery site with minimal metal-related steak artifacts is highly desirable.

Method and apparatus for metal artifact reduction in 3D X-ray image reconstruction using artifact spatial information


In an attachment structure for attaching a photovoltaic cell module having flexibility to an installation surface or an attachment member, a back surface of the photovoltaic cell module is attached to the installation surface or the attachment member by being adhered by an adhesive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for attaching a thin-film photovoltaic cell module having flexibility to a predetermined installation surface or an attachment member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a thin-film photovoltaic cell module, a thin-film Si-based photovoltaic cell module in which microcrystal Si (Si: silicon) or amorphous Si is used as a light absorption layer, a compound thin-film photovoltaic cell module in which a compound semiconductor is used as a light absorption layer or the like is known.
Different from a crystal Si-based photovoltaic cell module, such a thin-film photovoltaic cell module has a structure in which a semiconductor thin-film is stacked on a substrate.
Further, although a general thin-film photovoltaic cell module is formed by stacking a semiconductor thin-film on a glass substrate, in addition to this, the thin-film photovoltaic cell module may be formed by stacking a semiconductor thin-film on a flexible substrate or a substrate having flexibility such as a metal substrate, a resin substrate or the like.
It is possible for the thin-film photovoltaic cell module using the flexible substrate as described above to have flexibility itself. Such a flexible thin-film photovoltaic cell module has features such as applicable to various installation surfaces and hardly damaged due to flexibility of the substrate even when load such as deposited snow or the like is applied, compared with a general thin-film photovoltaic cell module using a glass substrate, and has availability different from the general thin-film photovoltaic cell module using the glass substrate.
However, there is a problem that it is difficult to attach the thin-film photovoltaic cell module having flexibility to a roof of a ridge or on a mounting because its rigidity is small due to its flexibility.

Attachment structure of photovoltaic cell module


In a photomultiplier, focusing pieces of a focusing electrode are formed with sufficient height that the photocathode in the adjacent channels cannot be viewed from the first and second stage dynodes of each channel in order to prevent light reflected from the first and second stage dynodes from returning to the adjacent channels. This construction prevents the photocathode from emitting undesired electrons, thereby suppressing crosstalk. Further, by arranging condensing lenses on the outer surface of a light-receiving faceplate in correspondence with each channel, light is reliably condensed in each channel. Further, an oxide film formed over the surface of the focusing pieces prevents the reflection of light off the focusing pieces.

A multichannel photomultiplier 100 shown in FIG. 1 is well known in the art. A conventional photomultiplier 100 includes a photocathode 103a disposed on an inner side of a light-receiving faceplate 103. Electrons are emitted from the photocathode 103a in response to incident light on the photocathode 103a. A focusing electrode 113 includes a plurality of focusing pieces 123 for focusing electrons emitted from the photocathode 103a in each of a plurality of channels. An electron multiplying section 109 includes a plurality of stages of dynodes 108 for multiplying the focused electrons for each corresponding channel. An anode 112 collects electrons multiplied in multiple stages for each channel to generate an output signal for each channel.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention is directed to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutic amount of a glycosylated recombinantly-produced human glucocerebrosidase protein in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The invention is further directed to a method of treating Gaucher's disease comprising administering to a subject afflicted with Gaucher's disease a therapeutic amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutic amount of a glycosylated recombinantly-produced human glucocerebrosidase protein in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Technical Field
The present invention is related to the construction of an expression vector for the synthesis of a recombinant enzyme. More particularly, the present invention is related to the large scale production of glucocerebrosidase by infecting invertebrate cells with a recombinant baculovirus containing the complete cDNA sequence for encoding glucocerebrosidase.

Cloned DNA for synthesizing unique glucocerebrosidase

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A method of fabricating a leadframe-based semiconductor package, and a semiconductor package formed thereby, are disclosed. In embodiments, a semiconductor die having die bond pads along two adjacent edges may be electrically coupled to four sides of a four-sided leadframe. Embodiments relate to lead and no-lead type leadframe.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of fabricating a semiconductor package, and a semiconductor package formed thereby.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the size of electronic devices continue to decrease, the associated semiconductor packages that operate them are being designed with smaller form factors, lower power requirements and higher functionality. Currently, sub-micron features in semiconductor fabrication are placing higher demands on package technology including higher lead counts, reduced lead pitch, minimum footprint area and significant overall volume reduction.
One branch of semiconductor packaging involves the use of a leadframe, which is a thin layer of metal on which one or more semiconductor die are mounted. The leadframe includes electrical leads for communicating electrical signals from the one or more semiconductors to a printed circuit board or other external electrical devices. Common leadframe-based packages include plastic small outlined packages (PSOP), thin small outlined packages (TSOP), shrink small outline packages (SSOP) and thin quad flat packages (TQFP). These packages include leads which extend out from the sides of the encapsulated package, which leads may be surface mounted to a host device such as a printed circuit board (PCB) as by soldering. Another common type of leadframe-based package is a leadless package. These include dual flat no-lead (DFN) and quad flat no-lead (QFN) packages. These packages do not have leads extending out of the sides of the package, but instead have exposed terminals at a bottom surface of the package for soldering to a host device such as a PCB. The leadframe package shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be used in either leaded (e.g., TSOP) or leadless (e.g., DFN) packages.
FIG. 1 shows a leadframe 20 before attachment of a semiconductor die 22. A typical leadframe 20 may include a number of leads 24 having first ends 24a for attaching to semiconductor die 22, and a second end (not shown) for affixing to a printed circuit board or other electrical component. Leadframe 20 may further include a die attach pad 26 for structurally supporting semiconductor die 22 on leadframe 20. While die attach pad 26 may provide a path to ground, it conventionally does not carry signals to or from the semiconductor die 22. In certain leadframe configurations, it is known to omit die attach pad 26 and instead attach the semiconductor die directly to the leadframe leads in a so-called chip on lead (COL) configuration.
Semiconductor leads 24 may be mounted to die attach pad 26 as shown in FIG. 2 using a die attach compound. Semiconductor die 22 is conventionally formed with a plurality of die bond pads 28 on at least first and second opposed edges on the top side of the semiconductor die. Once the semiconductor die is mounted to the leadframe, a wire bond process is performed whereby bond pads 28 are electrically coupled to respective electrical leads 24 using a delicate wire 30. The assignment of a bond pad 28 to a particular electrical lead 24 is defined by industry standard specification. FIG. 2 shows less than all of the bond pads 28 being wired to leads 24 for clarity, but each bond pad may be wired to its respective electrical lead in conventional designs. It is also known to have less than all of the bond pads wired to an electrical lead as shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional side view of leadframe 20 and semiconductor die 22 after the wire bond process. Once wire bonding is completed, a molding process is performed to encase the components in a molding compound 34 to form the finished package. It is known to recess or "down-set" the semiconductor die within the leadframe, as shown in FIG. 3, in order to balance the semiconductor die against the forces of the molding compound as it flows around the die and leadframe.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is typical to have bond pads 28 on first and second opposite sides of the semiconductor die 22 for electrical coupling with their respective leads. According to industry specification and ease of design, bond pads 28 along the first edge of the semiconductor die connect to respective leadframe leads adjacent to the first edge of the semiconductor die, and bond pads along the second, opposite edge of the semiconductor die connect to respective leadframe leads adjacent to the second edge of the semiconductor die.
In an effort to reduce semiconductor die form factor, it is now known to provide bond pads on certain semiconductor die, such as for example ASIC controllers, along only one edge of the die, or two adjacent edges as shown in FIG. 4. A problem with such configurations is that four-sided leadframes generally do not have enough leads on a single side to accommodate all of the die bond pads along the edge of a die having pads along one or two edges (there would be more die bond pads along a side than is shown in FIG. 4).
It is currently known to provide a BGA (Ball Grid Array) package to connect to two-sided die. BGA packages provide the advantage that they have high pin-out density and are able to connect to each of the die bond pads in a flip-chip arrangement. However, BGA packages are expensive and not desirable for certain applications. It is therefore desirable to provide a four-sided leadframe capable of connecting to all of the die bond pads along one or two edges of a semiconductor die.

Method of fabricating a two-sided die in a four-sided leadframe based package


A vehicle antitheft device prevents an erroneous activation of a theft preventing function due to an activation of a system, which is capable of starting an engine in a state where a key is not inserted in an ignition key cylinder. A power source control device causes a starter motor to start the engine when the key is inserted into the ignition key cylinder or an authentication collation through a radio communication is completed. The vehicle antitheft device activates an alarm when an IG signal from the power source control device becomes an ON signal in an uninserted state of the key into the ignition key cylinder. A push start switch, which is push-operated at a time of an engine start, is connected to the power source control device and the vehicle antitheft device. The power source control apparatus turns an ACC signal and the IG signal supplied to the vehicle antitheft device to an ON state in that order when the collation with the portable equipment through a radio communication is completed after an operation of the push start switch. The vehicle antitheft device changes a security function to an unvigilant state when the ACC signal is changed to an ON state.

There is known a vehicle antitheft device that disables a start of an engine at a set mode for a vehicle theft preventing operation of the a vehicle and enables a start of the engine by canceling the set mode when a key is inserted into an ignition key cylinder and a conduction of an ignition switch is detected in the above-mentioned state (For example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-156754). In such a vehicle antitheft device, when a normal starting operation is performed, a theft preventing function is canceled. For this reason, according to the above-mentioned conventional antitheft device, it is avoidable that the situation where the theft preventing function operates due to a normal starting operation is avoidable.
By the way, there exists an ignition system that performs an engine start when a collation between an in-vehicle equipment attached to a vehicle and a portable equipment carried by a vehicle driver is completed through a radio communication and an operation of an engine start switch provided in the vehicle is performed. In such as system, it is required to enable a start of an engine by an ignition switch being conducted even if a key is not inserted into the ignition key cylinder. For this reason, in a vehicle having both the ignition system and the vehicle antitheft device disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document, there may be a situation where the theft preventing function cannot be cancelled even when a normal start operation is performed. Therefore, convenience of a vehicle driver may be deteriorated due to the theft preventing function being activated.


Some embodiments provide application, at a beginning of a first display frame, of a first potential to a pixel imaging element, the first potential to reset the pixel imaging element to a reset state, application, during the first display frame, of a second potential to the pixel imaging element, the second potential to set the pixel imaging element to a desired imaging state, and change, at a beginning of a second display frame subsequent to the first display frame, of the second potential to a third potential, the third potential to reset the pixel imaging element to the reset state.

Some display devices include a two-dimensional array of pixel cells formed on a substrate. Each pixel cell may be adapted to apply a voltage to a corresponding pixel imaging element such as a portion of liquid crystal material. The voltage may establish an electric field across the pixel imaging element, and the pixel imaging element may produce an image pixel of a desired pixel intensity for a given image frame.
Conventional display devices reduce an intensity of the electric field prior to a subsequent image frame. The reduced intensity may be intended to reset a state of the pixel imaging element prior to the subsequent image frame. After the state is reset, a voltage is applied to the pixel imaging element during the subsequent image frame in order to produce another image pixel of desired intensity.


A plasma display panel has a stable addressing characteristic, no dielectric breakdown, and high reliability. Data electrodes (10), first dielectric layer (17) for covering the data electrodes (10), priming electrodes (15), and second dielectric layer (18) for covering the priming electrodes (15) are sequentially formed on back substrate (2). Slotted parts (10a) are formed in a part of each data electrode (10). Thus, data electrodes (10) are prevented from deforming during the manufacturing, and dielectric voltage between data electrodes (10) and priming electrodes (15) is improved.

An alternating-current surface discharge type plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP") typical as an alternating-current (AC) type plasma display panel has the following configuration. The configuration has a front substrate formed of a glass substrate that performs surface discharge and is formed by arranging scan electrodes and sustain electrodes, and a back substrate formed of a glass substrate having data electrodes. The front substrate and the back substrate are arranged so as to face each other in parallel so that the scan electrodes and sustain electrodes form a matrix in combination with the data electrodes and a discharge space is formed in a clearance. The outer peripheries of the front substrate and back substrate are sealed by a sealant such as glass frit. Discharge cells partitioned by barrier ribs are disposed between the substrates, and phosphor layers are formed in cell spaces between the barrier ribs. The PDP having such a configuration generates an ultraviolet ray with gas discharge, and emits light by exciting phosphor of each color with the ultraviolet ray, thereby performing color display.
The PDP divides one field time period into a plurality of subfields, and is driven by a combination of the subfields at which light is emitted, thereby performing gradation display. Each subfield is formed of an initialization time period, an addressing time period, and a sustaining time period. For displaying image data, different signal waveforms are applied to each electrode in the initialization time period, the addressing time period, and the sustaining time period, respectively.
In the initialization time period, for example, positive pulse voltage is applied to all scan electrodes, and a required wall charge is accumulated on a protective film and the phosphor layer. The protective film is disposed on a dielectric layer for covering the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes.
In the addressing time period, negative scan pulses are sequentially applied to all scan electrodes to perform scan. When the positive data pulses are applied to the data electrodes during scan of the scan electrodes in a case having display data, discharge occurs between the scan electrodes and the data electrodes, and a wall charge is formed on the protective film on the scan electrodes.
In the subsequent sustaining time period, a voltage sufficient for keeping the discharge between the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes is applied for a certain period. Thus, discharge plasma is generated between the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes, and the phosphor layer is excited to emit light for a certain period. In the discharge space where the data pulse is not applied in the addressing time period, the discharge does not occur and excitation or light emission does not occur in the phosphor layer.
Such a PDP has a problem where a long delay occurs in the discharge in the addressing time period and the addressing operation becomes unstable, or a problem where the addressing time is set to be long for perfectly performing the addressing operation and the time required for the addressing time period excessively increases. For handling these problems, PDPs where an auxiliary discharge electrode is disposed on the front substrate and a priming discharge caused by the in-plane auxiliary discharge on the front substrate side reduces the discharge delay, and driving methods of the PDPs are disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-195990 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2002-297091, for example.
When the definition is improved and the number of lines is increased in these PDPs, however, the time required for the addressing time period further increases, hence the time required for the sustaining time period must be decreased, and the luminance is hardly secured at high definition, disadvantageously. Also when xenon (Xe) partial pressure is increased for achieving high luminance and high efficiency, the discharge starting voltage increases, the discharge delay increases, and the addressing characteristic degrades, disadvantageously. The addressing characteristic is largely affected by the process, decease of the discharge delay in addressing and reduction of the addressing time are required.
There are the following problems associated with the requirement. In other words, the conventional PDP that performs the priming discharge in the front substrate cannot sufficiently reduce the discharge delay in addressing, has a small operation margin in the auxiliary discharge, or causes false discharge to destabilize the operation, disadvantageously. The auxiliary discharge is formed in the plane of the front substrate, so that priming particles more than required for priming are supplied to an adjacent discharge cell, and crosstalk occurs.
The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems, and provides a PDP that can reduce the discharge delay in addressing and stabilize the discharge characteristic, and has high reliability.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


In a method of determining a fatigue crack lifetime of a low-alloy steel material coming in contact with high-pressure hydrogen in a high-pressure hydrogen environment, estimate a fatigue crack acceleration starting point KmaxT of the low-alloy steel material using a crack-growth threshold stress intensity factor KIH-R obtained through a rising load test on the low-alloy steel material in a high-pressure hydrogen environment. The high-pressure hydrogen environment of the rising load test is a high-pressure hydrogen environment which has the same pressure and atmosphere as in the high-pressure hydrogen environment in which KmaxT is estimated and in which the test temperature tolerance between both environments is ±5° C.

Recently, hydrogen has attracted attention as alternative energy to oil. For high-pressure hydrogen equipment such as pressure accumulators or pipes for storing and supplying hydrogen at a high pressure, there is a demand for materials exhibiting high resistance to high-pressure hydrogen at low cost. However, most metal materials exhibiting brittleness (=hydrogen environment brittleness) to high-pressure hydrogen gas and even materials exhibiting slight hydrogen environment brittleness to hydrogen have to be actually used for economical reasons. Such materials should be verified to be safe in practical use.
A drawing qualitatively showing fatigue crack growth characteristics in high-pressure hydrogen gas is shown in NPL 1 or the like.
A method and a procedure of selecting a material to be used and limiting a usage count, a lifetime, and the like thereof on the basis of test data in a hydrogen gas environment for materials likely to be embrittled in the high-pressure hydrogen gas are disclosed in NPL 2, and the procedure is shown in FIG. 12. In this method, a delayed crack test method of driving a bolt or a wedge into a block with a crack formed therein to load the block, maintaining the resultant block for 1000 hours or more, and acquiring a crack-growth threshold stress intensity factor KIH-H is performed (step s101). A fracture-limit crack depth ac of equipment is acquired from the crack-growth threshold stress intensity factor KIH-H (step s102) and an initially-estimated crack depth a0 is calculated from the inspection limit (step s103).
Subsequently, a fatigue crack growth test in high-pressure hydrogen is performed in conditions of arbitrary repetition cycle times or literature data is acquired (step s104). Conditions of pressure P and stress ratio R (minimum load/maximum load) of actual equipment are set (step s105). Subsequently, a fatigue crack growth analysis is performed on area I, that is, a section of (1−R)×K0(a0) to (1−R)×KIH-H(ac), in the da/dN-ΔK diagram obtained in step s104 (step s106). From this analysis result, the fatigue crack lifetime (repetitive filling lifetime) until the initially-estimated crack depth a0 reaches the fracture-limit crack depth ac or the depth corresponding to 80% of the plate thickness is calculated (step s107). It is determined that the equipment can be safely used when the lifetime is larger than the usage count (YES in step s107), and it is determined that a crack inspection should be carried out or use thereof should be stopped when the usage count reaches the lifetime (NO in step s107). The same test method as described above is disclosed in NPL 3.

Method of determining fatigue crack lifetime in high-pressure hydrogen environment


Tracking a motion of a body by obtaining two types of measurements associated with the motion of the body, one of the types including acoustic measurement. An estimate of either an orientation or a position of the body is updated based on one of the two types of measurement, for example based on inertial measurement. The estimate is then updated based on the other of the two types of measurements, for example based on acoustic ranging. The invention also features determining range measurement to selected reference devices that are fixed in the environment of the body.

The invention relates to motion tracking.
Motion tracking can use a variety of measurement modes, including inertial and acoustic measurement modes, to determine the location and orientation of a body.
Inertial motion tracking is based on measuring linear acceleration and angular velocity about a set of typically orthogonal axes. In one approach, multiple spinning gyroscopes generate forces proportional to the rates at which their spinning axes rotate in response to rotation of a tracked body to which the gyroscopes are attached. These forces are measured and used to estimate angular velocity of the body. Micro-machined vibrating elements and optical waveguide based devices may be used in place of gyroscopes.
Accelerometers generate signals proportional to forces which result from linear acceleration. In an inertial tracking system, the angular velocity and acceleration signals are integrated to determine linear velocity, linear displacement, and total angles of rotation.
As the signals generated by gyroscopic devices are noisy, the integration process results in accumulation of noise components, which is generally known as "drift". Miniaturized and low cost gyroscopic devices typically exhibit greater error. Drift rates can be as high as several degrees per second for a body at rest, and several degrees for every rotation of the body by 90 degrees. Errors in orientation estimates also affect location estimation as the estimated orientation of the body is used to transform acceleration measurements into the fixed reference frame of the environment prior to their integration. Inaccuracy in this transformation can result in gravity appearing as a bias to resulting horizontal acceleration measurements.
One way to correct drift is to use additional sensors, such as inclinometers and a compass to occasionally or continually correct the drift of the integrated inertial measurements. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,077, issued to Eric M. Foxlin on Jul. 8, 1997, discloses such an approach. This patent in incorporated herein by reference.
Another approach to motion tracking uses acoustic waves to measure distance between one or more points on a body and fixed reference points in the environment. In one arrangement, termed an "outside-in" arrangement, a set of acoustic emitters at the fixed points on the body emit pulses that are received by a set of microphones at the fixed reference points in the environment. The time of flight from an emitter to a microphone is proportional to an estimate of the distance between the emitter and the microphone (i.e., the range). The range estimates from the emitters to the respective microphones are used to triangulate the location of the emitters. The locations of multiple emitters on the body are combined to estimate the orientation of the body.
Other measurement modes, such as optical tracking of light sources on a body, can also be used to track motion of the body.


A light positioning device. The light positioning device comprises a light guide plate, a light source assembly and a frame. The light guide plate comprises a protrusion and a recess. The light source assembly is disposed on the protrusion of the light guide plate and abuts the light guide plate. The light source assembly comprises a light source module received in the recess of the light guide plate. The frame is disposed under the light guide plate and light source assembly.

The present invention relates to a light positioning device, and in particular to a light positioning device capable of reducing errors in assembly of a light guide plate, a light source assembly and a frame thereof.
LCD devices are generally multiple-layer structures comprising a light guide plate, a light source assembly, an LCD panel, a reflective plate, a diffusing plate and a frame. Conventionally, the light source assembly is first fixed on the frame and the light guide plate is then fitted into the frame.
Referring to FIG. 1, one side 11 of a conventional frame 1 is formed with a plurality of protrusions 12 and a plurality of recesses 13. The protrusions 12 and recesses 13 are alternately formed on the side 11.
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional light source assembly 2 comprises a flexible circuit board 21 and a plurality of light source modules 22. Each light source module 22 comprises at least one light-emitting diode (LED).
Referring to FIG. 3A, the light source assembly 2 is first disposed on the side 11 of the frame 1. At this point, the light source modules 22 of the light source assembly 2 are respectively received in the recesses 13 of the side 11. A light guide plate 3 is then fitted into the frame 1 and abuts the light source assembly 2 to form a light positioning device 10.
Specifically, a tolerance or error may occur during manufacture of the frame 1. Further, assembly errors may occur between the light guide plate 3 and the frame 1 and between the light source assembly 2 and the frame 1. The cross section of the assembled light positioning device 10 is shown in FIG. 3B. Accordingly, a gap A exists between a light-input surface 31 of the light guide plate 3 and a light-output surface 23 of the light source modules and a displacement B exists between the central line of a LED 24 (or the light source module 22) of the light source assembly 2 and the central line of the light guide plate 3. The gap A and displacement B are often large, such that light from the LED 24 (or the light source module 22) cannot be effectively utilized by the light guide plate 3. Thus, the performance of the light positioning device 10 is adversely affected.
Additionally, assembly of the light positioning device 10 is complicated, resulting in increased manufacturing time, manpower and cost.


Systems and methods include detecting whether a monitored network has a unique configuration; responsive to the unique configuration, determining an ingress point for flow samples; and utilizing the determined ingress point for the flow samples to generate a traffic report for the monitored network. The unique configuration is an inter-Autonomous System (AS) option-C Virtual Private Network (VPN) network where control and data planes are asymmetric. The approach provides traffic projection based on the flow samples with the asymmetric flows.

An approach for configuring inter-AS services and inter-AS VPNs is known as inter-AS option-C. This approach is described in RFC 4364-BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) (February 2006), the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Inter-AS option-C describes an approach by which a Service Provider may use an IP backbone to provide IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for its customers. This approach uses a "peer model", in which the customers' edge routers (CE routers) send their routes to the Service Provider's edge routers (PE routers); there is no "overlay" visible to the customer's routing algorithm, and CE routers at different sites do not peer with each other. Data packets are tunneled through the backbone, so that the core routers do not need to know the VPN routes.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,824,331, issued Sep. 2, 2014, and entitled "System and method for identifying an ingress router of a flow when no IP address is associated with the interface from which the flow was received," the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, describes an ingress PE heuristic approach which uses the originator of L3VPN routes towards the traffic source and within the same VPN service to identify the ingress router. One particular assumption here is that the control plane and data plane paths are symmetric. The knowledge of the ingress router is critical for deriving traffic reports, matrices, etc., such as for traffic engineering.
However, the approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,824,331 does not work with inter-AS option-C. This is because the L3VPN route is learned via a different path from the traffic, thereby wrongly identifying originators as the ingress routers (PE).

Identifying an ingress router of a flow in inter-AS VPN option-C networks with visibility in one AS


Novel N-acyl derivatives of ethylenediaminetriacetic acid are disclosed, as well as a process for preparing the same.

Ethylenediaminetriacetic acid (ED3A) or its salts (such as ED3ANa.sub.3) has applications in the field of chelating chemistry, and may be used as a starting material in the preparation of strong chelating polymers, oil soluble chelants, surfactants and others. Conventional routes for the synthesis of ethylenediaminetriacetic acid were achieved via its N-benzyl derivative, which was subsequently hydrolyzed in alkaline solutions to ED3ANa.sub.3, thus avoiding cyclization to its 2-oxo-1,4-piperazinediacetic acid (3KP) derivative. Syntheses attempted by both the alkaline condensation of chloroacetic acid with ethylenediamine, and the carboxymethylation of the diamine with formaldehyde and sodium cyanide resulted in complex mixtures requiring complex extraction techniques (e.g. almost exclusive solubility of 3KP in boiling dimethylformamide, Can. J. Chemistry 1970, 48(1), 163-175) to generate the desired product, and then in only relatively poor yield. In addition, conventional processes resulted in large quantities of by-product, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (ED4A). Where the by-products were especially objectionable, complicated blocking techniques were necessary in order to achieve a relatively pure solution.
One example of the synthesis of ethylenediamine-N,N,N'-triacetic acid is shown in Chemical Abstracts 78, Vol. 71, page 451, no. 18369c, 1969. There it is disclosed that ethylenediamine reacts with ClH.sub.2 CCO.sub.2 H in a 1:3 molar ratio in basic solution at 10.degree. C. for 24 hours to form a mixture from which ethylenediamine-N,N,N'-triacetic acid can be separated by complexing the same with Co(III). The resulting cobalt complexes can be isolated through ion exchange.
These conventional processes do not produce ED3A with sufficient purity or in sufficient quantity to make the preparation of N-acyl derivatives of ED3A economically attractive. Such derivatives are desirable from the technical standpoint in view of their utility as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, lubricant enhancers, enzyme inhibitors, metal precipitation additives, chelants, emulsifiers, etc.
Co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,728, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a simple process for the synthesis of ED3A or its salts in high yield. Specifically, a salt of N,N'-ethylenediaminediacetic acid (ED2AH.sub.2) is condensed with stoichiometric amounts, preferably slight molar excesses of, formaldehyde, at temperature between 0.degree. and 110.degree. C., preferably 0.degree. to 65.degree. C. and pH's greater than 7.0 to form a stable 5-membered ring intermediate. The addition of a cyanide source, such as gaseous or liquid hydrogen cyanide, aqueous solutions of hydrogen cyanide or alkali metal cyanide, in stoichiometric amounts or in a slight molar excess, across this cyclic material at temperatures between 0.degree. and 110.degree. C., preferably between 0.degree. and 65.degree. C., forms ethylenediamine N,N'-diacetic acid-N'-cyanomethyl or salts thereof (mononitrile-diacid). The nitrile in aqueous solutions may be spontaneously cyclized in the presence of less than 3.0 moles base: mole ED2AH.sub.2, the base including alkali metal or alkaline earth metal hydroxides, to form 2-oxo-1,4-piperazinediacetic acid (3KP) or salts thereof, which is the desired cyclic intermediate. In the presence of excess base, salts of ED3A are formed in excellent yield and purity. This U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,728 also discloses an alternative embodiment in which the starting material is ED2AH.sub.a X.sub.b, where X is a base cation, e.g., an alkali or alkaline earth metal, a is 1 to 2, and b is 0 to 1 in aqueous solutions. The reaction mixture also can be acidified to ensure complete formation of carboxymethyl-2-oxopiperazine (the lactam) prior to the reaction. Formaldehyde is added, essentially resulting in the hydroxymethyl derivative. Upon the addition of a cyanide source, 1-cyanomethyl-4-carboxymethyl-3-ketopiperazine (mononitrile monoacid) or a salt thereof is formed. In place of CH.sub.2 O and a cyanide source, HOCH.sub.2 CN, which is the reaction product of formaldehyde and cyanide, may also be employed in this method. Upon the addition of any suitable base or acid, this material may be hydrolyzed to 3KP. The addition of a base will open this ring structure to form the salt of ED3A.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,177,243 and 5,191,081, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose various intermediates in the aforementioned syntheses.
In view of this relatively new technology, ethylenediaminetriacetic acid now can be readily produced in bulk and high yield.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to produce N-acyl derivatives of ethylenediaminetriacetic acid in high conversions and excellent yield.

N-acyl-N,N',N'-ethylenediaminetriacetic acid derivatives and process of preparing same


An image bar recording system, which, in a preferred embodiment, utilizes a plurality of LED image bars to provide a plurality of latent images which may subsequently be developed in different colors. The print bars are initially aligned so that each color image is precisely registered at the same relative position along the exposed area of a photoreceptor belt. The alignment is accomplished by adding non-image fiduciary pixels to the ends of each print bar and by forming a pair of opposed alignment apertures in the surface of the belt. Y-axis alignment of the print bars is accomplished by detecting edge locations of a first pixel and using this location to select a centrally located fiduciary pixel. The X-axis alignment is then obtained by rotating the print bar to bring a second selected image pixel into alignment as sensed through a second aperture. Once the initial X and Y-axis alignments are complete, subsequent alignment is maintained through subsequent passes by checking the positions of the previously identified pixels as they advance past additional lead edge apertures formed in the process direction along the belt surface.

The present invention relates to registration of plural image exposures formed on a photoreceptor belt by a plurality of image print bars and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for aligning the image print bars relative to each other so that they are aligned in the scan and process directions to form registered color images In a single pass.
Image print bars used in xerographic recording systems are well known in the art. The print bar generally consists of a linear array of a plurality of discrete light emitting sources. Light emitting diode (LED) arrays are preferred for many recording applications. In order to achieve high resolution, a large number of light emitting diodes, or pixels, are arranged in a linear array and means are included for providing a relative movement between the linear array and a moving photoreceptor so as to produce a scanning movement of the linear array over the surface of the photoreceptor. Thus, the photoreceptor may be exposed to provide a desired image one line at a time as the LED array is advanced, relative to the photoreceptor either continuously or in stepping motion. Each LED in the linear array is used to expose a corresponding area in the photoreceptor to an exposure value defined by video data information applied to the drive circuits of the print bars.
In a color xerographic system, a plurality of LED print bars are positioned adjacent to the photoreceptor surface and selectively energized to create successive image exposures, one for each of the three basic colors. A fourth print bar may be added if black images are to be created as well.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art, single pass, color printing system having three exposure stations 10, 12, 14, each station including an LED print bar 10A, 12A, 14A. Each print bar is selectively addressed by video image signals processed through control circuit 15 to produce a modulated output which is coupled through a respective gradient index lens array 10B, 12B, 14B onto the surface of previously charged photoreceptor belt 16. The length of belt 16 is designed to accept an integral number of full page image areas I.sub.1 -I.sub.n, represented by dashed lines. Upstream of each exposure station are charge devices 18, 20, 22 which place a predetermined electrical charge on the surface of belt 16. As the belt moves in the indicated direction, each image area moves past each of the imaging bars, with each bar providing its own exposure pattern in response to the video data input. The exposure pattern begins when the leading edge of the image area reaches a transverse start-of-exposure line represented by a dashed arrow 23. The exposure pattern is formed of a plurality of closely spaced transverse scan lines 24 shown with exaggerated longitudinal spacing on image area 11. Downstream from each exposure station, a development system 26, 28, 30 develops a latent image of the last exposure without disturbing previously developed images. A fully developed color image Is then transferred by means not shown to an output sheet. Further details of xerographic stations in a multiple exposure single pass system are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,059, whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference.
With such a system as that disclosed in FIG. 1, each color image I.sub.1 -I.sub.n must be precisely aligned such that all corresponding pixels in the image areas are registered. Current requirements call for registration tolerances of approximately 125 microns (0.005 inch). The print bar alignment requirements are for the pixels of each bar to be aligned in the transverse or Y-direction of FIG. 1 as well as the process or X-direction. This alignment must be maintained through continuous revolutions (passes) of the photoreceptor.
The main cause of potential print bar misalignment is due to belt conicity in the photoreceptor belt. Belt conicity is created when the two ends of the photoreceptor sheet are welded together to form the belt, causing the two belt edges, 1 and 2 to be of slightly different lengths and imparting a conical configuration to the belt. This would create a situation, referring to FIG. 1, wherein the leading edges of images I.sub.1, I.sub.2, I.sub.3 would rotate as they translate from one position to the next, since the linear surface velocity of a point near the "base" of the belt is traveling at a greater linear surface velocity than a point near the apex. If images I.sub.2, I.sub.3 are to be perfectly registered with image I.sub.1, the leading edges must not be parallel to each other but must accommodate the rotation induced by the conicity of the belt. Since the degree and direction of the conicity of the belt varies from belt to belt, each set of print bars must be individually aligned to correct for the initial misregistration. Once the print bars are correctly aligned, other causes of misregistration, such as thermal expansion and vibration-induced wobble, must also be identified and corrected.
According to the present invention, a method and apparatus is provided for initially aligning multiple print bars in a single pass printing system, so that each bar is first aligned along the transverse or Y-axis and then along the process or X-axis, so as to compensate for the belt conicity and other registration errors. After these alignments, the images formed by each print bar will be in proper registration within the prescribed tolerances. This initial alignment is enabled by modifying the standard print bar design by adding a number of fiduciary (alignment) pixels at each end of the image bar extending outside of the image-forming, central area of the print bar. The term "fiduciary pixels" is intended to suggest that there is a predefined, positional relationship between the fiduciary pixels and the other LED pixels comprising the print bar so that the position of any pixel can be known with great accuracy. These specially designed image bars are first aligned in the transverse or Y-direction by sensing the position of a designated fiduciary pixel through an aperture formed in one edge of the belt. The rotational alignment in the X-direction, also referred to as a skew alignment, is made by sensing a corresponding fiduciary pixel at the opposite end of the image bar, through a second aperture which extends transversely and is opposite to the first aperture on the photoreceptor belt, the location of the two fiduciary pixels being a known distance apart.
Each image bar is aligned in the same manner. Following initial alignment, further alignment is accomplished by monitoring the position of the two previously designated fiduciary pixels and modifying the bar position in response to detection of misregistration signals. More particularly, the present invention relates to an imaging system for forming multiple image exposure frames on a photoconductive member during a single pass including:
a photoreceptor belt adapted to accommodate the formation of an integral number of image exposure frames, said belt having a first and second alignment aperture on opposite sides of the belt width and outside of the exposure frame,
a plurality of linear image print bars, each print bar associated with the formation of one of said image exposure frames, each print bar having a central portion of light emitting pixels which are selectively activated to form said image exposure areas and first and second end portions of light emitting pixels outside of said exposure area which are selectively activated for print bar alignment and registration purposes,
a first and second detecting means associated with said first and second end portions, respectively, for detecting the position of selected ones of said first and second end pixel end portions when said end portions are visible through said alignment aperture, and
means for moving each of said print bars in a transverse direction to establish a transverse registration for each bar and means for rotating the print bar until the detected position signals from said first and second detecting means are concurrent.

Method and apparatus for aligning multiple print bars in a single pass system


A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus of the invention comprises a static magnetic field generation unit which generates a static magnetic field in a gantry, a gradient magnetic field generation unit which applies a gradient magnetic field to a object in the static magnetic field, a radio frequency coil which receives a magnetic resonance signal from the object to which the gradient magnetic field is applied, a contour detection unit which detects a contour of the object, a coil movement unit which moves the radio frequency coil on the basis of the detected contour while the radio frequency coil is placed near and far relative to the object, and an image generation unit which generates a magnetic resonance image on the basis of the received magnetic resonance signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus which utilizes a magnetic resonance phenomenon to generate a magnetic resonance image and an image generation method in the MRI apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is one which visualizes chemical and physical micro information of a substance or observes a chemical shift spectrum by utilizing the phenomenon in which a group of nuclei resonantly absorbs energy of a radio frequency magnetic field rotated at a specific frequency when the group of nuclei having intrinsic magnetic moments is placed in a uniform static magnetic field.
For example, a diagnostic image is taken by the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus as follows: A patient is placed in a combined magnetic field including a static magnetic field formed by a magnet and a gradient magnetic field formed by a gradient magnetic field coil. A radio frequency wave having a predetermined frequency is applied to the patient set in the above-described situation in order to generate the magnetic resonance phenomenon. A magnetic resonance signal is generated by the applied radio frequency wave in the patient, and the magnetic resonance signal is received with a reception radio frequency coil to form the image.
In such an MRI apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,148 (hereinafter referred to as First Reference) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,468 (hereinafter referred to as Second Reference) are well known as a technology which enlarges an imaging range.
In the MRI apparatus disclosed in First Reference, vertically divided coils are previously fixed to an imaging region in a gantry, and the image can be obtained in a wide region while a patient is moved between the vertically divided coils.
In the MRI apparatus disclosed in Second Reference, a table for holding a coil is placed on an already-existing couch as means for vertically fixing coils. A second movable couch is placed on the table, and the patient loaded on the second couch is conveyed into the gantry in a sliding manner.
However, in the technologies disclosed in First Reference and Second Reference, since the coil is fixed, a distance between the coil and the patient is increased, and sensitivity can not be efficiently increased.
An MRI apparatus including a whole body radio frequency coil and a movable surface coil is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln KOKAI Publication No. 64-37939 (hereinafter referred to as Third Reference).
However, in the technology disclosed in Third Reference, because the imaging is performed after the surface coil is brought close to the imaging region, the imaging range in one time becomes narrow.

MRI with automatic contour-controlled separation between RF coil and object being imaged


A low frequency analog circuit and a method for designing the same are provided. In a low frequency analog circuit according to the present invention, a part of MOS transistors employed in the circuit are operated at a weak inversion region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a low frequency analog circuit and a design method thereof, and more particularly, to a method of operating at least one MOS transistor of a circuit in a weak inversion region and a low frequency analog circuit thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Low frequency analog circuits which are normally operated under a frequency of 1 MHz are often used for amplifying signals, e.g., a post-amplifier of a microphone. Conventional low frequency analog circuits are often fabricated as integrated circuit (IC) chips, and MOS transistors of the ICs are often designed for operating in strong inversion regions thereof, e.g., an NMOS (N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor) transistor operating under a condition of "Vgs−Vth>0" for regular operation of the circuit. However, in this manner, performance of the circuit is also limited by the specific condition. For example, a current flowing through an NMOS transistor operating under this condition at a saturation status can be defined as equation (1), that is:ID=(1/2)μnCox(Vgs−Vth)2  (1)
wherein μn represents an electron mobility; Cox represents an oxidation capacitance; Vgs represents a voltage between a gate electrode and a source electrode of the transistor, and Vth represents a threshold voltage of the transistor. Therefore, transconductance (2) can be obtained as indicated below.
                                          g            m                    =                                    2                                            K                                                  (                                      W                    /                    L                                    )                                                                          I                D                                                    ,                            (        2        )            wherein W/L represents an aspect ratio on the MOS transistor, in which W and L represent a width and a length of the MOS transistor respectively. It can be known from the equation (2) that the transconductance gm is related to the current. When the current is greater the transconductance is also greater. However, in further considering a general noise equivalent equation, e.g., equation (3):Vi2/Δf=(8/3)kT(1/gm)+Kf/WLCoxf  (3)wherein f represents frequency, it can be concluded that the greater the transconductance is, the lower the noise would be, which is also known as a higher signal noise ratio (SNR). As such, efforts towards higher SNR and lower power consumption in designing a low frequency analog circuit chip are contradicted to each other.

Low frequency analog circuit and design method thereof

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A form of multicast, referred to as “on-demand multicast,” provides a methodology that allows for “on demand” multicasting of data. On-demand multicast allows clients to join or leave a transmission at any point. There is no transmission session start or end time—the session is continuously available, although data is not necessarily continuously transmitted. Data blocks missed by late-joining clients are retransmitted per amalgamated client requests through multiple transmission cycles until all clients that have joined the transmission session receive all content. Once a client has received all data blocks comprising the content for the session, the client may exit the ongoing session.

Multicast implementations in enterprise servers generally fall into two categories: unreliable and reliable. Unreliable implementations, as might be expected given the name, are used in applications where it is okay if content is missed by the receiver. An example of this is a broadcast of a company meeting. If a client device misses a packet, the video/audio may skip a little, but the server should not have to resend the packet—the client's receipt of the one missed packet is not critical. Reliable implementations, by contrast, are used in applications where it is mandatory that the client device receive the entire transmission. An example of this is distribution of a security hot fix or patch. If a client misses a portion of the transmission, the client may have received an incomplete hot fix and thus still be vulnerable to the security flaw.
In the standard implementations of reliable multicast in use today, content is sent in order over the network connection. All clients must connect to the point of transmission and proceed with the download in step with each other. With typical multicast implementation methodologies, there is no mechanism for clients to join an in-progress session late. For example, an administrator who wants to multicast content to 15 client devices creates a session on the server. Fifteen clients join the session before it begins. The administrator then starts the session and data starts transferring. A 16th Client Now requests to join the in-progress session but is unable to do so because joining the client after the session starts would mean that the late joining client would miss all of the content sent before it joined. Also, a slow client drags down the performance of the entire session. Since all clients will receive the content at the same time, the content can only be streamed at the rate that the slowest client can still process the data (in order to avoid loss).

Reliable multicast with automatic session startup and client backfill support