An apparatus for signal processing based on an algorithm for representing harmonics in a fractal lattice. The apparatus includes a plurality of tuned segments, each tuned segment including a transceiver having an intrinsic resonant frequency the amplitude of the resonant frequency capable of being modified by either receiving an external input signal, or by internally generating a response to an applied feedback signal. A plurality of signal processing elements are arranged in an array pattern, the signal processing elements including at least one function selected from the group including buffers for storing information, a feedback device for generating a feedback signal, a controller for controlling an output signal, a connection circuit for connecting the plurality of tuned segments to signal processing elements, and a feedback connection circuit for conveying signals from the plurality of signal processing elements in the array to the tuned segments.

This invention relates to fractal harmonic overtone mapping of speech and musical sounds for high-resolution, dynamic control of input sensitivity, adaptive control of output acoustics and phonology, and for information storage and pattern recognition.
Current strategies for computer speech recognition and voice analysis are generally based on processes that transform information derived from the frequency spectrum of sound. The primary tools in spectral analysis of sound are the Fourier transform and many variants. A large variety of mathematical functions such as inverse spectral ("cepstral") and wavelet analyses have also been applied to speech perception. Current strategies for speech processing reflect the theory that sound is perceived in the inner ear tonotopically, with location along the cochlea correlating with frequency.
A number of prior patents explain the current strategies for signal processing and their limitations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,544 teaches that autocorrelation has proven unreliable. One reason that is mentioned is that the sample rate can introduce artifacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,291 supports advantageously adjusting, in a coordinated manner, a handful of parameters. U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,437 reviews coding methods that use a lattice to encode pitch periods and differences between pitch periods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,383 explains how speech and musical signals are approached differently in the current art. A proposed solution is to encode signals with several modes, using different modes for musical signals and voiced speech signals. U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,383 does not, however, address unvoiced speech.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,190 discloses various approaches to coding speech including a proposal for phase-binned speech but requires separate accounting based on a "voicing decision." U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,155 discusses input from a "basilar membrane model device", with time delays or autocorrelation as a means for signal analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,073 discloses a way of enhancing a frequency spectrum, using the history of sound signals a short interval before as well as information about sound signals a short interval afterward. The inclusion of information over time is a key aspect of many current approaches to signal analysis.
Cochlea, the Latin word for "chamber," is pronounced either as "coke"-lee-uh or as in the phrase "the cockles of the heart" (from the Latin cochleae cordis, "chambers of the heart"). Like the heart, it has a spiral shape (a "cockleshell"), which acts somewhat like a prism to separate sound into its various component frequencies. Frequency information is processed in the inner ear, which consists of the cochlea, the cochlear nucleus, and a variety of brain centers. There are three problems with a psychoacoustic model that uses only tonotopic frequency information.
Critical bands, which limit our ability to hear frequencies that are too close together, indicate that there is a signal processing mechanism along the length of the cochlea that may provide contrast enhancement or automatic gain control. Experiments show that for typical tones, the fundamental and harmonic overtones 2 through 6 are perceived as distinct tones and higher harmonics are perceived as a fused "residue tone" or "residual tone." Humans apparently can only be consciously aware of harmonic overtones that are far enough apart to fall into separate critical bands. Humans cannot hear harmonic overtones that are "too close together." However, this does not preclude possible mechanisms that advantageously make use of information in higher harmonic overtones via unconscious processes. Signal processing via such "hidden Markov models" is a common theme in neural network modeling.
"Active hearing" refers to recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism of hearing including the function of the protein prestin and the presence of a spectrum of self-reinforcing vibrations in the inner ear. These reverberations are due to positive feedback loops across the width of the cochlea involving outer hair cells and their stereocilia. Stereocilia act as valves that control the flow of charged ions (like transistors, controlling the flow of more power than they absorb, according to C. D. Geisler, From Sound to Synapse, Oxford Univ Press, 1998). When movement of an outer hair cell's stereocilia change its voltage, the protein prestin causes the cell to elongate or contract. (D. Oliver et al., Science 292, 2340, 2001). This rocks the cochlear partition, which triggers the cell's stereocilia, causing the cycle to repeat. In effect, each segment of the cochlea is a regenerative receiver. This is the historical term used for radio receivers that used positive feedback. They invariably had a regeneration control to vary the amount of positive feedback (Philip Hoff, Consumer Electronics for Engineers, Cambridge Univ Press, 1998).
According to active hearing, when a sound is initially perceived there may be a gesture-like shift in the reverberations in the cochlea. Hearing a sound may force the cochlea to "tune in." This type of process would be analogous to "adaptive optics" and would require dynamic feedback with a time scale estimated to be on the order of 0.5 ms. Thus, the function of the cochlea is more than a prism-like separation of sound into its component frequencies.
Multiple maps of auditory space have been suggested by experiments involving researchers wearing distorting earpieces that disrupt their ability to judge whether sounds are "up" or "down." (P. M. Hofman, J. G. A. Van Riswick, A. J. Van Opstal, Nature Neuroscience, 1 (5)417,1998). Unlike experiments with distorting eyeglasses, which take time for readjustment afterwards, correct sound localization occurred immediately when the fake ears were removed. Thus, shifting between cortical representations is possible, raising the question of how frequency information distributed along the cochlea (a one-dimensional analog) could be sufficient to model the three-dimensional world. An additional problem is how the complexity of multiple maps would be managed.
Two innovationssolutions were developed by the author. The first is from the field of neural network signal processing and is the concept "harmonic fields." The second is from the field of optimization theory and is an extension of the mathematical concept of an adaptive walk on a virtual landscape, "fractal mapping." If the virtual landscape is a map of the neuromuscular patterns for sound in the throat and also the sensorineural patterns for sound in the ear, combined with the neural feedback for dynamic control of active hearing in the cochlea, optimization of the multiple interacting streams of data applying to different size scales but have similar recursive possibilities could occur. The result would be similarity and function across different size scales, leading the author to the concept "a fractal map of harmonic overtone space."
The invention was developed in the course of research for the paper, "Fractal harmonic reconstruction of ancient South Asian musical scales," by Robert Patel Quinn, M. D. The invention is introduced as a method for analyzing harmonic overtones, which are high pitch sounds that have frequencies which are an exact multiple of the fundamental frequency. Although a frequency can be described both as a harmonic and as an overtone, the terminology employed in the paper distinguishes harmonics from overtones by using numbers for harmonics and letters for overtones, and uses the convention that harmonic 1 is the fundamental frequency of a tone. Musical notes are drawn as a column (a musical staff) with higher pitch harmonic overtones at the top and the fundamental at the bottom.
In contrast to neural network signal processing models of the sense of touch and vision, which involve "receptive fields" that are spatially contiguous, the olfactory system processes smells by "molecular receptive range." (K. Mori, Y. Yoshihara, Progress in Neurobiology, Vol 45, 585, 1995). An analogous process in the ear could correlate sounds an octave apart, leading to harmonic fields.
Harmonic fields can be visualized (FIG. 3) as a connection (a neuron) linking two points in the cochlea; for example, those that correspond to harmonics 9 and 3. Another example of a harmonic field is shown by the neuron linking harmonics 3 and 1. Each neuron would also function as a "sensor" for coinciding harmonics 6 and 2 of other tones with different fundamentals, reinforcing the linking relationship; the harmonic fields are detectors of the ratio rather than of specific numbers. Higher order connections between these neurons ("neural networking") and signals flowing toward the brain as well as "active hearing" signals flowing toward the cochlea are important components of the fractal harmonic overtone mapping model. The hypothesized harmonic fields are scanned and the results are integrated into a multi-dimensional map. The illustration shows that sound first enters the inner ear at the high-frequency end of the cochlea. Depending on the speed of sound in the fluid of the cochlea and the speed and course of neural signals, this may be a reason that harmonics are scanned from high to low frequencies, although the spiral design of the cochlea tends to ensure that harmonics are perceived roughly simultaneously.
A more fundamental reason why high frequency harmonics would be expected to be perceived first is the fact that the higher sampling rates possible at high frequencies would allow the wavelength of sound to be identified faster.
"Inharmonic fields" would not be expected to develop. Unevenly spaced "inharmonic fields" would not be expected to develop naturally in the nervous system since reinforcement would not occur from inputs with a variety of fundamental frequencies if their harmonics were not appropriately spaced.
If designed according to a genetic algorithm approach, efficiency suggests that some harmonic fields are redundant. An evolutionary approach would tend to produce enough complexity to exploit information but not too much for processing. The paper proposes the assumption that "harmonic fields develop only for tones that provide new information (the prime factors 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11)." This is because scanning through these prime number ratio harmonic fields (looking for simultaneous or near-simultaneous sounds) and then using other neurons to scan for simultaneous or near-simultaneous "higher order" correlations of neural network signals would result in information that can be recorded in a consistent fashion on a five dimensional fractal map. Information associated with ratios such as 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 12 would be included in the map, offset by an appropriate magnitude. It would be redundant to require separate dimensions to represent the same information. Prime-numbered fields would carry new information.
The information from harmonic fields would constitute parallel channels (streams) of information. Parallel processing would allow hidden Markov models to solve the problems of phonology and segmenting the stream of speech. This is currently the major roadblock to current strategies for computer speech recognition and voice analysis which do not perform signal processing in terms of categorical features.
The method section of the author's paper, "Fractal harmonic reconstruction of ancient South Asian musical scales," opens with, "The basic idea of a fractal is that the same processes, or the same statistics or properties of a figure, are found at all size levels. In a fractal representation of multidimensional space each feature of the fractal represents a different axis and the range of values (magnitude) of each feature is plotted along that axis. Familiarity with the relationship between points on one or two axes gives familiarity with the relationships between points on all axes" (See to "B. Levitan; santafe.edu\nk.html.") "We can map out a rectangular array using the first two factors, then for the next factor we add another array displaced horizontally, followed by a copy of the arrays displaced vertically. By alternating these steps as we add successive factors, we develop the recursive property that gives the representation its fractal nature." These steps establish that a multidimensional map can be graphically represented in two dimensions. It should be noted that the cited online article by Bennett Levitan was an explanation of how he and Simon Pariser could graphically display various nucleic acid base pairs and the way they mutated to become codons for other amino acids. Although this is in a different field, the pattern of iterative steps (first left to right, then top to bottom, then left to right, etc.) was followed in constructing the fractal harmonic overtone map in order to establish a consistent convention.

Fractal harmonic overtone mapping of speech and musical sounds


An input control apparatus capable of suppressing characteristic deterioration, reducing the circuit scale of a turbo decoder and effectively using memory of the turbo decoder. In this apparatus, control section (110) acquires information on a coding rate and coding block length of a received signal, determines the number of bits of systematic part Y1, and parity parts Y2 and Y3 in accordance with the coding rate and/or coding block length and so that the number of bits of one sequence of the parity parts falls below the number of bits of systematic part Y1 and controls bit number reduction section (109) so that the determined number of bits is obtained. Bit number reduction section (109) reduces the number of bits of systematic part Y1, and parity parts Y2 and Y3 output from separation section (108) under the control of control section (110) and decoder (111) performs turbo decoding using each sequence reduced by bit number reduction section (109).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) transmission apparatus 10 and OFDM reception apparatus 20. First, the configuration of OFDM transmission apparatus 10 will be explained. Transmission data of a bit sequence is subjected to channel coding (turbo coding) by coder 11, and the coded signal is subjected to data iteration processing and puncturing processing (rate matching processing) by rate matching section 12. The signal after the rate matching processing is subjected to data modulation mapping by modulation section 13 and output to IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) section 14.
The signal output from modulation section 13 is subjected to an inverse fast Fourier transform by IFFT section 14, and an OFDM signal is thereby formed and a guard interval is inserted into the OFDM signal by GI (Guard Interval) insertion section 15. The OFDM signal with the guard interval inserted is converted from a digital signal to an analog signal by D/A conversion section 16, and the analog signal is up-converted to a radio frequency by RF (Radio Frequency) conversion section 17 and sent to OFDM reception apparatus 20 through antenna 18.
Next, the configuration of OFDM reception apparatus 20 will be explained. Noise is superimposed on the signal sent from OFDM transmission apparatus 10 over the propagation path and the signal is received by antenna 21. The signal received by antenna 21 is down-converted from a radio frequency to an intermediate frequency by RF conversion section 22, separated (subjected to quadrature detection) into signals of I component and Q component channels and then output to A/D conversion section 23. The signals of the I component and Q component channels are converted from analog to digital by A/D conversion section 23, and with guard intervals removed by GI removing section 24, the digital signals are output to FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) section 25.
The signals output from GI removing section 24 are separated into sequences in subcarrier units by FFT section 25 and the separated signals are demodulated by demodulation section 26. The demodulated signals are subjected to rate dematching processing by rate dematching section 27 and the signals subjected to the rate dematching processing are separated into three sequences by separation section 28. The same number of bits are deleted from the three separated sequences by bit number reduction section 29 and each sequence from which the bits have been deleted is subjected to channel decoding (turbo decoding) by decoder 30 and received data is thereby obtained.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of coder 11 of OFDM transmission apparatus 10. In this figure, systematic bit sequence (transmission data) u is output as systematic bit sequence X1 as is, while it is also input to element coder 31 and interleaver 32. Element coder 31 generates a codeword for input systematic bit sequence u. The generated codeword is output as parity bit sequence X2.
Interleaver 32 has a conversion function for converting a read order corresponding to a write order and outputs input systematic bit sequence u to element coder 33 in a different order from the input order. Element coder 33 generates a codeword for the bit sequence output from interleaver 32. The generated codeword is output as parity bit sequence X3.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of decoder 30 of OFDM reception apparatus 20. The received signal sequences have noise (assumed to be additive white Gaussian noise here) and correspond to a systematic bit and a parity bit respectively. These received signal sequences are input to decoder 30.
Element decoder 41 performs decoding processing on the received signal sequence corresponding to systematic bit sequence X1 (hereinafter referred to as "systematic part Y1") and the received signal sequence corresponding to parity bit sequence X2 (hereinafter referred to as "parity part Y2") together with a priori value La1 which is reliability information transmitted from deinterleaver 45 and outputs external value Le1 to interleaver 42. The external value indicates the increase in symbol reliability by the element decoder. External value Le1 is rearranged by interleaver 42 and input to element decoder 44 as a priori value La2. Note that decoding by element decoder 44 is not performed in a first iteration, and therefore 0 is assigned as a priority value.
Element decoder 44 receives a sequence obtained by rearranging systematic part Y1 by interleaver 43, the received signal sequence corresponding to parity bit sequence X3 (hereinafter referred to as "parity part Y3") and a priori value La2, performs decoding processing on them and outputs external value Le2 to deinterleaver 45. External value Le2 is subjected to an operation by deinterleaver 45 of restoring the order before rearranged by the interleaver, input to element decoder 41 as a priority value La1 and decoded repeatedly. After being decoded several or over ten times repeatedly, element decoder 44 calculates a posteriori value L2 defined as a logarithmic posterior probability ratio and deinterleaver 46 deinterleaves the calculation result. Hard decision section 47 then performs hard decision on the deinterleaved sequence, outputs the decoded bit sequence, and error detection section 48 performs error detection on the decoded bit sequence and outputs the detection result.
Non-Patent Document 1: C. Berrou, A. Glavieux "Near Optimum Error Correcting Coding And Decoding: Turbo-Codes," IEEE Trans. Commun., Vol. 44, pp. 1261-1271, October 1996.

Input control device and input control method


Ghosts accompanying composite video signals are suppressed using separate filters for suppressing macroghosts and microghosts, the filtering parameters of these filters being adjustable responsive to digital programming signals generated by a computer. Computation includes data acquisition and channel characterization steps followed by a decision step for comparing the most recent set of channel characterization results with the next most recent set to determine whether stable ghosting conditions obtain. Data acquisition and channel characterization steps are repeated until stable ghosting conditions obtain, so the subsequent calculations with respect to the filter used for suppressing macroghosts are accurately performed. Where the filter suppressing macroghosts includes IIR and FIR sections for suppressing post-ghosts and preghosts, respectively, these calculations are carried out substantially on a separable basis, simplifying the calculations. Then, a step of calculating the filtering parameters for the FIR filter used for suppressing microghosts is followed by further data acquisition and channel characterization steps and a decision step comparing the most recent set of further channel characterization results with the next most recent set of further channel characterization results to determine similarity. If the sets of further channel characterization results are substantially the same, either method loops back to the further data acquisition step; if not, the adjustable filtering parameters for the filters are reset to initial values and the method restarts automatically.

Television engineers have given considerable thought to ghost-cancelation circuitry for inclusion in television receivers that also include a display device for reproducing the television image in a form suitable for viewing by humans. Ghost images, caused by multipath reception and commonly referred to as "ghosts", are a common occurrence in television pictures that have been broadcast over the air or have been transmitted by cable.
The signal to which the television receiver synchronizes is the strongest of the signals it receives, which is called the reference signal, and is usually the direct signal received over the shortest reception path. The multipath signals received over other paths are thus usually delayed with respect to the reference signal and appear as trailing ghost images. It is possible, however, that the direct or shortest path signal is not the signal to which the receiver synchronizes. When the receiver synchronizes to a reflected (longer path) signal, there will be a leading ghost image caused by the direct signal, or there will be a plurality of leading ghosts caused by the direct signal and other reflected signals of lesser delay than the reflected signal to which the receiver synchronizes. The parameters of the multipath signals--namely, the number of different-path responses, the relative amplitudes of the different-path responses, and the differential delay times between diffent ones of the different-path responses--vary from location to location and from channel to channel at a given location. These parameters may also be time-varying.
The visual effects of multipath distortion can be broadly classified in two categories: multiple images and distortion of the frequency response characteristic of the channel. Both effects occur due to the time and amplitude variations among the multipath signals arriving at the reception site. When the relative delays of the multipath signals with respect to the reference signal are sufficiently large, the visual effect is observed as multiple copies of the same image on the television display displaced horizontally from each other. These copies are sometimes referred to as "macroghosts" to distinguish them from "microghosts", which will be presently described. In the usual case in which the direct signal predominates and the receiver is synchronized to the direct signal, the ghost images are displaced to the right at varying position, intensity and polarity. These are known as trailing ghosts or "post-ghost" images. In the less frequently encountered case where the receiver synchronizes to a reflected signal, there will be one or more ghost images displaced to the left of the reference image. These are known as leading ghosts or "pre-ghost" images.
Multipath signals of relatively short delays with respect to the reference signal do not cause separately discernible copies of the predominant image, but do introduce distortion into the frequency response characteristic of the channel. The visual effect in this case is observed as increased or decreased sharpness of the image and in some cases loss of some image information. These short-delay, close-in or nearby ghosts are commonly caused by unterminated or incorrectly terminated radio-frequency transmission lines such as antenna lead-ins or cable television drop cables. In a cable television environment, it is possible to have multiple close-in ghosts caused by the reflections introduced by having several improperly terminated drop cables of varying lengths. Such multiple close-in ghosts are frequently referred to as "microghosts".
Long multipath effects, or macroghosts, are typically reduced by cancelation schemes. Short multipath effects, or microghosts, are typically alleviated by waveform equalization, generally by peaking and/or group-delay compensation of the video frequency response.
Since the characteristics of a transmitted television signal are known a priori, it is possible, at least in theory, to utilize such characteristics in a system of ghost signal detection and cancelation. Nevertheless, various problems limit this approach. Instead, it has been found desirable to transmit repeatedly a reference signal situated, for example, in a section of the TV signal that is currently unused for video purposes and to utilize this reference signal for the detection of ghost signals prior to arranging for the suppression of ghost signals. Typically, lines in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) are utilized. Such a signal is herein referred to as a Ghost Canceling Reference (GCR) signal; and a variety of different GCR signals have been described in patents and other technical publications.
Bessel pulse chirp signals are used in the GCR signal recommended for adoption as a standard for television broadcasting in the United States of America. The distribution of energy in the Bessel pulse chirp signal has a flat frequency spectrum extending continuously across the video frequency band. The chirp starts at the lowest frequency and sweeps upward in frequency therefrom to the 4.1 MHz highest frequency. The chirps are inserted into the first halves of selected VBI lines, the 19.sup.th line of each field currently being preferred. The chirps, which are on +30 IRE pedestals, swing from -10 to +70 IRE and begin at a prescribed time after the trailing edges of the preceding horizontal synchronizing pulses. The chirp signals appear in an eight-field cycle in which the first, third, fifth and seventh fields have a polarity of color burst defined as being positive and the second, fourth, sixth and eighth fields have an opposite polarity of color burst defined as being negative. The initial lobe of a chirp signal ETP that appears in the first, third, sixth and eighth fields of an eight-field cycle swings upward from the +30 IRE pedestal to +70 IRE level. The initial lobe of a chirp signal ETR that appears in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh fields of the eight- field cycle swings downward from the +30 IRE pedestal to -10 IRE level and is the complement of the ETP chirp signal.
The strategy for eliminating ghosts in a television receiver relies on the transmitted GCR signal suffering the same multipath distortions as the rest of the television signal. Circuitry in the receiver can then examine the distorted GCR signal received and, with a priori knowledge of the distortion-free GCR signal, can carry out a procedure known as channel characterization, in which the magnitudes, phases and occurrence times of the ghosts are determined respective to the reference signal. This is done by calculating the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of the ghosted GCR signal and dividing the terms of that DFT by the corresponding terms of the DFT of the non-ghosted GCR signal known a priori, thus to generate the respective terms of the DFT of the channel. These DFTs are all in the time domain. The occurrence times of the ghosts and the amplitudes of their in-phase components are then used for calculating the adjustable weighting coefficients of a digital filter through which the composite video signal from the video detector is passed to supply a response in which ghosts are suppressed, which filter is referred to as a "ghost-cancelation" filter in this specification. The terms of the channel DFT are analyzed to determine the largest of them, which is replaced by zero in a modified DFT. The other terms are reversed in sign in the modified DFT, which is the desired DFT of the ghost-cancelation filter. The weighting coefficients of this ghost-cancelation filter are adjusted to approximate this desired DFT as closely as possible. The GCR signals can be further used for calculating the adjustable weighting coefficients of an equalization filter connected in cascade with the ghost-cancelation filter, for providing an essentially flat frequency spectrum response over the complete reception path through the transmitter vestigial-sideband amplitude-modulator, the transmission medium, the television receiver front-end and the cascaded ghost-cancelation and equalization filters.
The inventors have configured the ghost-cancelation filter as a cascade connection of a recursive digital filter principally used for cancelling post-ghosts and a non-recursive digital filter principally used for cancelling pre-ghosts. A recursive digital filter has an infinite impulse response, so is commonly referred to as an IIR filter. A non-recursive digital filter has an finite impulse response, so is commonly referred to as an FIR filter. One may seek to carry out adjustments to the IIR and FIR filters independently, directly relating the smaller terms of the DFT of said reception channel later in time than the largest term of the DFT of said reception channel to tap weights in the IIR filter, and directly relating the smaller terms of the DFT of said reception channel earlier in time than the largest term of the DFT of said reception channel to tap weights in the FIR filter. Directly relating the DFT terms to tap weights in the filters is a relatively simple computational procedure that was followed in the prior art when just post-ghosts or just pre-ghosts were being corrected.
Suppose, then, those portions of the channel characterization results descriptive of post-ghosts are used to adjust the filtering coefficients of just the IIR filter principally used for cancelling post-ghosts. Suppose further those portions of the channel characterization results descriptive of pre-ghosts are used to adjust the filtering coefficients of just the FIR filter principally used for cancelling pre-ghosts. When the IIR filter adjustments and FIR filter adjustments are carried out independently, ghost suppression is good when there are only post-ghosts and not too many of them. Ghost suppression is also good when there are only pre-ghosts and not too many of them.
Ghost suppression tends to be poor, however, when there are both post-ghosts and pre-ghosts of appreciable energy, even though the ghosts are few in number. The problem of too many post-ghosts and of too much differential delay between those ghosts can be solved by using an IIR filter with a greater number of taps with non-zero weighting and an increased number of programmable bulk delay devices. The problem of too many pre-ghosts and of too much differential delay between those ghosts can be solved by using a FIR filter of more complex design. When there are both post-ghosts and pre-ghosts to be suppressed, however, the problem of poor ghost suppression is not solved by dealing with the post-ghost problem and with the pre-ghost problem separately.
The inventors observe that ghost suppression is good when conditions are such that one of the cascaded filters has substantially no effect on the response of the other. The problem is that when there are both post-ghosts and pre-ghosts to be suppressed, the IIR and FIR filter responses are interactive with each other. By way of illustrating this interaction, suppose the IIR filter precedes the FIR filter in their cascade connection with each other. For each post-ghost cancelled by the IIR filter, a pre-ghost supplied to that filter will give rise to a ghost of the pre-ghost. The ghost of the pre-ghost is delayed from the pre-ghost by the same interval as the suppressed post-ghost was delayed from the predominant signal.

Methods for operating ghost-cancelation circuitry for TV receiver or video recorder


This invention is directed to solid electrolytes containing a solvent and, in particular, a solvent comprising certain substituted tetrahydrofurans, substituted 1,3-dioxolanes, substituted 1,4-dioxanes, and substituted tetrahydropyrans.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to solid electrolytes containing a solvent and, in particular, a solvent comprising a substituted cyclic ether, and optionally, an organic carbonate. This invention is further directed to solid electrolytic cells (batteries) containing an anode, a cathode and a solid electrolyte containing a solvent comprising a substituted cyclic ether. This invention is also directed to methods for enhancing the cycling efficiency of the solid electrolytic cells by employing a solid electrolyte which contains a solvent comprising a substituted cyclic ether.
2. State of the Art
Electrolytic cells containing an anode, a cathode and a solid, solvent-containing electrolyte are known in the art and are usually referred to as "solid batteries". These cells offer a number of advantages over electrolytic cells containing a liquid electrolyte (i.e., "liquid batteries") including improved safety features. Notwithstanding their advantages, the use of these solid batteries over repeated charge/discharge cycles is substantially impaired because these batteries typically exhibit significant drops in their charge and discharge capacity over repeated cycles as compared to their initial charge and discharge capacity.
Specifically, solid batteries employ a solid electrolyte inerposed between a cathode and an anode. The solid electrolyte contains either an inorganic or an organic matrix as well as a suitable inorganic salt. The inorganic matrix may be nonpolymeric [e.g., .beta.-alumina, silicon dioxide, lithium iodide, etc.] or polymeric [e.g., inorganic (polyphosphazene) polymers] whereas the organic matrix is typically polymeric. Suitable organic polymeric matrices are well known in the art and are typically organic polymers obtained by polymerization of a suitable organic monomer as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,283. Suitable organic constituents include, by way of example, polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyethyleneimine, polyepichlorohydrin, polyethylene succinate, and an acryloyl-derivatized polyalkylene oxide containing an acryloyl group of the formula CH.sub.2 .dbd.CR'C(O)O-- where R' is hydrogen or lower alkyl of from 1-6 carbon atoms.
Because of their expense and difficulty in forming into a variety of shapes, inorganic non-polymeric matrices are generally not preferred and the art typically employs a solid electrolyte containing a polymeric matrix. Nevertheless, electrolytic cells containing a solid electrolyte containing a polymeric matrix suffer from low ion conductivity and, accordingly, in order to maximize the conductivity of these materials, the matrix is generally constructed into a very thin film, i.e., on the order of about 25 to about 250 .mu.m. As is apparent, the reduced thickness of the film reduces the total amount of internal resistance within the electrolyte thereby minimizing losses in conductivity due to internal resistance.
The solid electrolytes may also contain a solvent (plasticizer) which is typically added to the matrix in order to enhance the solubility of the inorganic salt in the solid electrolyte and thereby increase the conductivity of the electrolytic cell.
Suitable solvents well known in the art for use in such solid electrolytes include, by way of example, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, .gamma.-butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, glyme (dimethoxyethane), diglyme, tetraglyme, dimethylsulfoxide, dioxolane, sulfolane and the like.
The solid, solvent-containing electrolyte is typically formed in one of two methods. In one method, the solid matrix is first formed and then a requisite amount of this material is dissolved in a volatile solvent. Requisite amounts of the inorganic salt and the electrolyte solvent are then added to the solution. This solution is then placed on the surface of a suitable substrate (e.g., the surface of a cathode) and the volatile solvent is removed to provide for the solid electrolyte.
In the other method, a monomer or partial polymer of the polymeric matrix to be formed is combined with appropriate amounts of the inorganic salt and the solvent. This mixture is then placed on the surface of a suitable substrate (e.g., the surface of the cathode) and the monomer is polymerized or cured (or the partial polymer is then further polymerized or cured) by conventional techniques (heat, ultraviolet radiation, electron beams, etc.) so as to form the solid, solvent-containing electrolyte.
When the solid electrolyte is formed on a cathodic surface, an anodic material can then be laminated onto the solid electrolyte to form a solid battery (i.e., an electrolytic cell).
Notwithstanding the above, the initial capacity of solid batteries is often less than desirable. Moreover, even when the initial capacity of the solid battery is relatively high, such solid batteries often exhibit rapid decline in capacity over their cycle life. The lithium anode in such a cell may undergo a slow chemical change thereby limiting the cell's cycle life.
Specifically, the cumulative capacity of a solid battery is the summation of the capacity of a solid battery over each cycle (charge and discharge) in a specified cycle life. Solid batteries having a high initial capacity but which rapidly lose capacity over the cycle life will have low cumulative capacity which limits the effectiveness of these batteries for repeated use.
Secondary batteries can be recharged because they incorporate highly reversible chemical-electrochemical reactions to generate electrical energy. However, there are limits to how many times a battery can be recharged; and when the battery no longer has a reasonable recharge capacity (amp hours) or becomes unchargeable, it is considered to have failed. Reasons for such failures include corrosion, loss of active material on the electrode by mechanical failure, electrolyte erosion of active material, dissolution and nonredeposition of active material, and formation of inactive or nonconducting species.
A particular difficulty with electrolytic solvents heretofore used in solid solvent-containing electrolytes is their volatility and low flash points. Examples of such known solvents include dioxolane and tetrahydrofuran (THF). THF, for example, boils at 65.degree. C. and has a much lower flash point. Safety considerations require a search for lower volatility solvents which maintain or surpass the favorable performance of known solvents for solid solvent-containing electrolytes such as dioxolane.
In view of the above, the art is searching for methods to safely enhance the cumulative capacity of such solid batteries. It goes without saying that increases in the cumulative capacity of solid batteries would greatly facilitate their widespread commercial use.

Cyclic ethers, solid electrolytes containing such ethers and electrolytic cells produced therefrom


A hatch cover lock with an automatic first locking mechanism for securing a removable hatch cover of a railway hopper car to the railway hopper car and secondary manually operated locking mechanism to secure the hatch cover to the hopper car in addition to the automatic first locking mechanism which allows the hatch cover to be opened from either side of the hopper car, and which cooperates to prevent accidental removal of the hatch cover and/or batten bar from the hopper car.

Railway cars, of the type commonly referred to as covered hopper cars, are widely used by the railroad industry to transport various products throughout the country. These hopper cars are generally trough like cars having an interior storage area and openings in the top of the hopper called hatches to allow material to be transferred into the hopper. It is the general practice in the industry to load material into the hopper car through the hatch in the roof of the hopper car and subsequently remove the material from an opening in the bottom section of the hopper.
A single car may have several hatch covers that are used to close the openings in the top of the hopper car to prevent spillage and unwanted materials and infestation to enter the hopper car during transportation and storage of the material in the hopper car. The hatch may extend the entire length of he hopper car; therefore, it is generally desirable to have multiple hatch covers due to the unwieldy nature of single hatch. The hatch covers are generally planar sections that have a seal around their perimeter and are placed over the openings in the top of the hopper car for securely sealing the hatch opening of the hopper car during transportation.
The hatch covers are usually held down by one of two methods or a combination of both. One of such methods or devices utilized to secure the hatch covers to the hopper cars are hinged covers with batten bars that extend transversely across the hatch cover and are secured to the roof of the hopper car. The batten bars are generally narrow sheets of steel, aluminum or other relatively high strength material that are hinged at one end with a hinge pin assembly and held by a latch or locking device adjacent the hatch opening on the other end. The hinge pin assembly allows the batten bar to be swung away from a position overlying the hatch cover about an axis parallel to the top surface of the hopper car to allow opening of the hatch cover. A second method or mechanism for securing the hatch cover to the hopper car eliminates the need for batten bars by providing an overlapping lip on the cover. This approach also outfits the hatch cover with a hinge pin assembly so that it to may be rotated about an axis parallel to the top of the hopper car and secured thereto by a lock or latch.
Whichever approach is used, on either side of the hatch opening into the hopper car is an area generally designated as a walkway for railroad personnel to allow the personnel to move about the top of the car. A major drawback with prior art safety hooks is that often times the hatch cover and the batten bar are hinged to open on opposite sides of the hatch opening thus obstructing both walkways on either side of the hatch opening. This creates additional work for the railroad personnel as they are required to continually traverse the hatch opening in order to unlock the batten bars and hatch covers. In addition, the continual crossing of the hatch opening by railroad personnel to get to the latches can create Potential safety problem as well.
In order to cover such a large opening with a hatch cover that is manageable by railroad personnel it is well known to use a series of hatch covers to cover a single opening. The use of a series of hatch covers however requires that each individual hatch cover be secured to the roof of the hopper car and each joint between adjacent hatch covers be secured. This has been accomplished in the past by utilizing a variety of adjacent locking devices for holding the batten bar and hatch cover hinge pins in a secure manner.
This series of locks securing the hatch cover led to another major problem with the prior art locking devices for holding the batten bar hinge and the hatch cover hinge. The hatch cover is outfitted with a seal gasket of a resilient nature, thus, when the hatch cover is in its locked position compressing the seal, the seal about the periphery of the hatch cover supplies an upward force on the hatch cover. Therefore, when a hatch hinge or a batten bar hinge was unlocked by railroad personnel, such personnel should be careful to avoid potential injury from the hatch popping open and upward due to the force from the compressed resilient seal.
A problem associated with prior locking assemblies for the hatch covers is the possibility for the hatch cover to be accidentally left unsecured. For example, if the hatch hinge or the batten bar hinge section is not locked down with the hatch cover in its closed position this can create circumstances where the hatch cover has a tendency to fly off of the hopper car after the train is moving.


According to an aspect, a mobile electronic device includes a first and a second display unit, a first and a second operation detection unit, and a control unit. The first and the second display unit display a first and second operation screen respectively. The first and the second operation detection unit detect an operation for the first and second display unit respectively. The control unit performs a switching control to switch between a first state and a second state. In the first state, a display of the second display unit is deactivated and an operation detected by the second operation detection unit is processed as an operation for the first operation screen. In the second state in, a display of the first display unit is deactivated and an operation detected by the first operation detection unit is processed as an operation for the second operation screen.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a mobile electronic device, a control method and a storage medium storing therein a control program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multitask function is well-known which enables the user to switch and use a plurality of programs on a display unit. A mobile electronic device supporting such a multitask function displays a list of programs executed in background as a menu according to the user's operation and executes a program selected from the menu in foreground (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-209560).
However, a menu operation explained above may be troublesome for some users. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a mobile electronic device, a control method and a control program that allow the user to switch programs easily.

Mobile electronic device with dual touch displays and multitasking function, control method, and storage medium storing control program


Composite materials containing silicon, titanium, carbon, and nitrogen, formed by spark plasma sintering of ceramic starting materials to a high relative density, demonstrate unusually high electrical conductivity as well as high-performance mechanical and chemical properties including hardness, fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance. This combination of electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties makes these composites useful as electrical conductors in applications where high-performance materials are needed due to exposure to extreme conditions such as high temperatures, mechanical stresses, and corrosive environments.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention resides in the field of electrically conductive ceramics, and incorporates technologies relating to nanocrystalline materials and sintering methods for densification and property enhancement of materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ability of ceramics to withstand extreme conditions of temperature, mechanical stress, and chemical exposure without failure or with at most a very low failure rate has led to the use of ceramics in high-performance applications, such as heat engines, cutting tools, wear and friction surfaces, and space vehicles. In recent years, the use of ceramics has extended into the fields of microtechnology and nanotechnology, since the high-performance characteristics of ceramics has made them attractive candidates for meeting the increasing demands of nano-scale electronics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
In addition to their mechanical properties, certain ceramics are of increasing interest for their ability to conduct electricity since various kinds of electrical devices are being designed for use in environments that require temperature resistance, high strength, and chemical inertness. In the microelectronics industry, for example, ceramics are used as substitutes for silicon, as trays and wafer carriers, and as ruggedized microchip substrates. In microwave technologies, conductive ceramics are attractive for their ability to perform effectively in high-temperature environments while absorbing or shielding components from electromagnetic interference. In the automotive industry, the high-temperature, high-strength, chemically inert, and electrically conductive character of ceramics make them attractive candidates for components such as fuel injector assemblies. The need for these qualities extends to medicine as well, since a variety of medical devices, such as implants, prostheses, and surgical devices, would benefit from a combination of electrical functionality, high strength and chemical inertness. This combination of properties is also of benefit to electrodes used in electrical power supplies such as batteries and solid oxide fuel cells. A similar need exists in analytical and testing devices for materials used as chemical sensors, gas separation materials, and materials for hydrogen absorption. In the aerospace and defense industries as well, materials with these properties are needed for aircraft and aircraft engines and for thermal management materials in human spaceflight applications.
Although ceramics are traditionally known as electrical insulators, ceramics can be made conductive in various ways. In amorphous SiCN-based ceramics, one way is by adding dopants to form electrically conductive composites. This method has been investigated by Hermann, A. M., et al., J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 84, 2260–2264 (2001), and Ramakrishnan, P. A., et al., Applied Phys. Lett. 78, 3076–3078 (2001), who used boron as a dopant for Si—C—N ceramics and reported that the resulting Si—B—C—N has a conductivity of about 10 (Ω·m)−1. Another method is by annealing the ceramic above its pyrolysis temperature. Amorphous silicon-carbon-nitride ceramics that are derived from polymers can be made conductive in this manner. Haluschka, C., et al., J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 20, 1365–1374 (2000) report that the electrical conductivity of amorphous Si—C—N ceramics at room temperature can range from 10−13 to 102 (Ω·m)−1 depending on the pyrolysis atmosphere and subsequent heat treatments, and that the electrical conductivity has a positive temperature coefficient. In general, however, the published literature on Si—C—N and Si—B—C—N indicates that the electrical conductivity of these ceramics is only moderate.
A further disadvantage of Si—C—N and Si—B—C—N ceramics is reported by Shah, S. R., et al., Acta Materialia 50, 4093–4103 (2002), who state that the polymerization of the polymeric precursor to form the amorphous material is often accompanied by the evolution of ammonia which introduces pores into the material and also hinders the crosslinking process. Ceramic samples prepared in this manner typically have a porosity of about 10%, with a pore size of the same order or magnitude as the particle size of the powder. This results in poor mechanical properties which, together with an electrical conductivity that is only moderate, limits the use of Si—C—N and Si—B—C—N ceramics in both structural and functional applications.
While amorphous Si—C—N ceramics typically have poor mechanical properties, these properties can be improved by crystallization of the amorphous Si—C—N at high-temperature to form Si3N4/SiC composites. See Bill, J., et al., Advanced Materials 7, 775–787 (1995). Unfortunately, the electrical conductivity of the crystallized product is relatively low due to the combination of the SiC which is semi-conducting and the Si3N4 which is electrically insulating. Entirely separate from Si3N4/SiC composites and Si—C—N ceramics in general are titanium carbide, titanium carbonitride, and titanium nitride, which exhibit both high electrical conductivity and excellent mechanical properties but are difficult to sinter to full density. TiCN and TiN are primarily used as thin layers that are formed by chemical or physical deposition, as reported by Patscheider, J., et al., Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing 16, 341–363 (1996), and Veprek, S., et al., Surf. Coat. Technol. 109, 138–147 (1998). TiCxN1-x is also used as an additive to Si3N4 ceramics for purposes of increasing strength and improving electrical conductivity, as reported by Duan, R.-G., J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 22, 2527–2535 (2002); Duan, R.-G., J Eur. Ceram. Soc. 22, 1897–1904 (2002); Herrmann, M., et al., CFI-Ceramic Forum International 73, 434–445 (1996); Bogkovic, S., et al., J. Mater. Synthesis and Processing 7, 119–126 (1999); and Herrmann, M., et al., J Eur. Ceram. Soc. 12, 287–296 (1993). The procedures reported in these papers involved sintering of the materials into composites by hot pressing, and the papers demonstrate that the addition of the TiN resulted in an increase in electrical conductivity from 10−10 (Ω·m)−1 for sintered Si3N4 to 103 (Ω·m)−1 for a sintered Si3N4/TiN composite containing 30 vol % TiN. Thus, while the TiN improved the electrical conductivity, the resulting value was still relatively low.
Of further relevance to this invention is the literature on electric field-assisted sintering, which is also known as spark plasma sintering, plasma-activated sintering, and field-assisted sintering technique. This process is disclosed in the literature for use on metals and ceramics, for consolidating polymers, for joining metals, for crystal growth, and for promoting chemical reactions. The densification of alumina powder by spark plasma sintering is disclosed by Wang, S. W., et al., J. Mater. Res. 15(4)(April 2000): 982–987.
All citations appearing in this specification, including published papers, patents and Internet websites, are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes legally capable of being served thereby.

Electrically conductive Si-Ti-C-N ceramics

The Regents of the University of California


An enclosure is described for the box of a pick-up truck. The box of a pickup truck is defined by a front wall, side walls and a rear gate the flat upper surfaces of the box forming a rectangle. The enclosure has a front wall, side walls and a rear gate which has a lower flange surface substantially congruent with the uppermost, outermost edge of the box, and mountable atop same. This defines a space enclosed by the box and an enclosure. The enclosure of the present invention is hinged internally within the defined space and is characterized in that between the other side wall of an enclosure of the invention and the corresponding side wall of a box is provided a pair of lifting arms to assist in the lifting, and closing, of said enclosure and a pair of latches to keep the enclosure in the lowermost closed position and is further defined by a weatherproof seal.

Truck Caps or toppers are often used to secure the cargo box of pickup trucks. Truck caps are generally of the same height of the cab of the pickup truck making the enclosed area about half the height of the average person causing an operator to stoop over to access anything in the load bed of the pickup truck. To alleviate this problem, truck caps maintain or increase their height at the rear section of the cap, making the truck with cap less aerodynamic. Truck caps are fixedly mounted to and depend on the truck they are mounted on for their structural strength and are generally weak, heavy and do not maximize material properties in their construction. Truck caps incorporate an approximately vertical rear access door hingedly attached at its upper edge to provide the only access to the trucks' cargo area. These most common truck caps will hereinafter be referred to as conventional truck caps.


A coffee dispenser includes a housing with a bin for holding coffee and a base with an upright wall for supporting the bin over the base. The bin includes a hopper in the lower end with a dispensing opening therein for dispensing coffee to a coffee filter located on the base. A volume control mechanism includes a slide plate with an opening therein slidably mounted under the hopper dispensing opening to cover a portion of the opening, to reduce the overall opening size. A shutter is mounted under the slide plate and is operable to open and close to thereby dispense coffee into a coffee filter. A trigger mechanism is connected to the shutter to repeatedly open and close the shutter for a uniform time period during each dispensing sequence.

There have been a wide variety of apparatus in the prior art which were designed for dispensing granular materials, such as coffee. In general, these prior art devices dispense product into a hopper or similar apparatus which will hold a predetermined volume of material. This hopper is then utilized to dispense the predetermined quantity of material to the consumer. Examples of this type of device may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,087 to Lack et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,648 to Contreras, U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,037 to Held, U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,491 to Tuvim et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,396 to Russillo et al.
In order to provide the dispenser with the capability of dispensing variable quantities of product, a number of mechanisms were developed to provide a hopper with an adjustable volume. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,149 to Hausam, U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,751 to Hetland et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,940 to Peterson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,463 to Pellegrino, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,744 to Henderson.
While all of these devices were capable of fulfilling their intended purposes, they still suffer several drawbacks. First, the dispensing process was a two-step process, requiring the distribution of a quantity of product into a hopper, and then a second step of dispensing the contents of the hopper to the consumer. This two-step process complicates the mechanism, and increases the cost to produce the device.
In addition, many of the devices either require more than one hopper, of varying size, or a complicated variable volume hopper, in order to distribute a variety of different volumes of product. Again, the use of a plurality of hoppers, or the use of a variable volume hopper, required complicated apparatus to achieve its purpose. Thus, the prior art devices tended to be relatively expensive to produce and maintain.


The invention relates to a method of obtaining 3,3-diphenylpropylamines (I), wherein R1 is H, alkyl, haloalkyl or alkoxyalkyl, R2 is alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, NO2, CN, CHO, which may be free or protected, CH2OH or COOR6, and R3 and R4 are selected independently from H and alkyl or together with the nitrogen to which they are bound form a ring having 3 to 7 members. The inventive method consists in reacting a propylenephenylamine and a disubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon and, if necessary, separating the desired enantiomer or the mixture of enantiomers, and/or converting the compound (I) into a salt. Compounds (I) are muscarinic receptor antagonists which can be used in the treatment of urinary incontinence and other symptoms of urinary bladder hyperactivity. Said compounds include tolterodine.

3,3-diphenylpropylamines are known which act as muscarinic receptor antagonists and are useful in the treatment of urinary incontinence and other symptoms of urinary bladder hyperactivity. Said compounds include the compound N,N-diisopropyl-3-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenylpropylamine, the (R) enantiomer of which is tolterodine, the International Nonproprietary Name of the compound (R)-(+)-N,N-diisopropyl-3-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenylpropylamine [(R)-tolterodine]. The (S) enantiomer, (S)-(−)-N,N-diisopropyl-3-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenylpropylamine or (S)-tolterodine, and its use in the treatment of urinary and gastrointestinal disorders has been described in international patent application WO 98/03067. The use of tolterodine and some of its derivatives in the treatment of asthma in mammals has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,538,035.
Tolterodine and other 3,3-diphenylpropylamines analogs were first described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,600. Said patent described several methods for preparing tolterodine and its analogs generally based on displacing a tosylate with diisopropylamine. Said method has several drawbacks. The displacement reaction occurs very slowly, therefore several days are needed to carry out said reaction, and the total yields are low. Some of the reagents used such as methyl iodide or lithium aluminium hydride are expensive and their use involves a hazard. All this makes the total method expensive and not very productive.
An alternative method of obtaining tolterodine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,914. Said method comprises reducing 3,4-dihydro-6-methyl-4-phenyl-2H-benzopyran-2-one with DIBAL (diisobutylaluminum hydride) in toluene to give the corresponding hemiketal 6-methyl-4-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran-2-ol which is then subjected to reductive amination to yield racemic tolterodine. This method also has some drawbacks because the DIBAL reagent is used, which is expensive and hazardous, therefore it is not suitable for being put into practice on an industrial level.
International patent application WO 03/014060 describes a method of obtaining tolterodine which, although it partially solves some drawbacks of the previous methods, still includes problematic steps, particularly obtaining the intermediate 3-(2-methoxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenylpropanol, transforming it into the tosylate derivative and subsequently displacing the tosylate with diisopropylamine. These steps still have serious problems, such as the steric hindrance of diisopropylamine in the tosylate displacement reaction, making the nucleophilic substitution reaction difficult, the high temperatures necessary for it, as well as the long reaction times that they comprise, even days.
A different approach for preparing the (R)-tolterodine enantiomer is formed by several enantioselective syntheses such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,248 or by Andersson et al. in J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 8067-8070, describing methods in which the participation of asymmetry inducers or chiral auxiliaries respectively, which are generally very expensive reagents, is necessary.
An alternative method to tolterodine synthesis which allows reducing the cost of the method and at the same time achieves good yields and the use of less hazardous reagents is described in Spanish patent application ES 2,235,648. This document details obtaining tolterodine by means of a synthetic route comprising a reductive amination reaction between a 3,3-diphenylpropanal derivative and diisopropylamine in the presence of a reducing agent. Nevertheless, obtaining the starting aldehyde requires several synthetic steps considerably lengthening the global method.
It is therefore necessary to solve the problems associated with the methods belonging to the state of the art and to provide an alternative method of obtaining tolterodine and other 3,3-diphenylpropylamines analogs which improves the cost-effectiveness of the process by using more cost-effective reagents and starting materials which further allow reducing the number of steps of the synthetic route leading to obtaining it. Said method must advantageously be applicable on an industrial level and must provide the desired product with a good yield and quality.

Method of obtaining 3,3-diphenylpropylamines


An annular safety system for a well produced by gas lift includes a packer, a landing nipple below the packer and an operating seal unit to which primary and secondary well tubings and a control line are connected. There is an inline valve in the secondary tubing and safety valve operated by the control line in a primary flow conduit in the operating seal unit. After the operating seal unit is inserted through the packer to automatically land and be locked in the landing nipple and the packer operated to anchor and seal in a well casing, flow passages are formed for conveying lift gas from the secondary tubing to around the landing nipple for lifted flow upward through the primary conduit and tubing. When the well is being produced by lift gas, and pressure in the control line is reduced purposely or by rupture of the control line, the safety valve operates to prevent upward lifted flow in the primary tubing. If lift gas pressure in the secondary tubing is reduced purposely or by rupture, the inline valve prevents upward flow. The operating seal unit may be unlocked from the landing nipple for retrieval from the packer and well.

(1) Technical Field
This invention pertains to a well system utilizing two flow conduits. The invention particularly pertains to a system useful in a well produced by gas lift for preventing flow of lift gas through a secondary well tubing to surface and production flow to surface through a primary well tubing.
(2) Background Information
Prior annular safety systems for gas lift wells utilized complicated and expensive assortments of packers, sidepocket mandrels, gas lift valves and safety valves. These annular safety system installations required pressurized gas or production in tubing casing annular flow passages with inaccessible safety valves positioned below one or two packers. Well servicing tools could not be lowered into some of the installations on wireline because of restrictions or abrupt offsets in the flow conduits. The annular safety system of this invention requires no gas lift valves, side pocket mandrels and only one packer. Pressurized lift gas or production does not flow in the tubing casing annulus. All safety valves used are above the only packer required and are easily retrievable. Full bore well tubings are utilized permitting wireline servicing tools to be lowered through the production tubing.


An electronics system comprises a frame including a first wireless communicator and at least one component associated with the electronics system. The at least one component includes a second wireless communicator. A manager of the electronics system is in wired communication with the first wireless communicator and configured for determining a compatibility of the at least one component with the electronics system via wireless communication between the first wireless communicator and the second wireless communicator.

Electronics systems maintain an intricate balance of between the many varied components of the system. Many different factors affect compatibility of the components, including physical compatibility of size, shape, connections, etc., as well as electrical compatibility of power, current, and various electrical operating characteristics of each component. Moreover, certain components, such as power units and cooling units, are matched to handle the number, size, and type of circuitry components of the electronics system.
During design and manufacture of an electronics system, the compatibility of components of the electronics system is optimized to meet the performance goals for the electronics system. However, as electronics systems age and new components are developed or improved, there is desire to upgrade one or more components of the electronics system. Whenever an original component of an electronics system is removed and replaced with a different component, which typically has more advanced performance characteristics and somewhat different power/current demands, a question arises regarding the compatibility of the new component with the original electronics system. In many cases, the new component is being added by a consumer or other technician who is unfamiliar with the performance constraints of the electronics system that affect whether or not the replacement component is compatible with the electronics system.
Whether assembling a new electronics system or modifying an existing electronics system, installing the wrong component can compromise performance of the electronics system. In more serious case, the wrong component can prevent operation of the electronics system and/or seriously damage the component and/or electronics system.
Accordingly, installing replacement components in an electronics system poses significant performance issues affecting the health of the electronics system.

Wireless monitoring of component compatibility in an electronics system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention provides a pharmaceutics of traditional Chinese medicine and preparation method thereof, said pharmaceutics is prepared from Geranium, Root of Membranous Milkvetch, Herba Solani Nigri, Honeysuckle Flower, Flower of Common Bombax, Fruit of Belleric Terminalia, Herba Hedyotis Diffusae, Pomegranate Rind, Radix Oryzae, Fructus Trapae. The pharmaceutics of the present invention can clear away heat and toxic materials, activate blood circulation and supplementing qi, raise bacteria count of CD4 lymphocyte of infected person of AIDS and subject of AIDS (CD4 lymphocyte 100-400 unit/mm&sup3), and ameliorate hypodynamia, alopecia, anorexia, diarrhea, and status of activity function.

Though clinical manifestations of AIDS are complicated, the pathogenic reasons are limited in two aspects of internal and exogenous causes. Exogenous causes generally are evil, toxin, skin diseases or infections, while internal causes are the extreme weaknesses of entrails, Qi and blood; but exogenous evils do the damage mainly because there are internal weaknesses in the first place, and exogenous evils exert effects through internal causes. Phlegm retention and congestion are the pathologic outputs formed by functional disorders of entrails, Qi and blood induced by AIDS, at the same time they also become pathologic factors to cause the generation of superficial nodules, ulcers and malignant tumors. Because this disease is a general disease, internal factors play the major role in pathopoiesis. Chinese patent No. 97119177.8 discloses a Chinese herbal medicine for treating AIDS, which mainly contains Snakegourd root, Bitter melon, Dandelion, Chinese pulsatilla root, Liquorice Root, Lespedeza cuneata, Root of Membranous Milkvetch, Calculus equi, Flos lonicerae, Dyers woad leaf, Baical skullcap root, Radix ginseng silvestris, Cornu antelopes, and Oreocharis benthamii var. In addition, it also contains Green Basilisk, Shenshandiaoyuncao, Cavalerie mosla herb (mini), and Glabrousleaf pittosporum leaf (maxi). This Chinese herbal medicine for treating AIDS is prepared by rumination technique to obtain the pure natural elites in plants and animals, the obtained materials are extracted and refined by high technological equipment and advanced techniques. This drug can inhibit the multiply of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and improve the capacity of human antibodies, increase the immunological functions of adrenal cortex, genital gland and cells. But the therapeutic effect of this drug is not as good as desired, and its preparation method is not suitable for large scale industrial production. Therefore, there is a need for a new and effective Chinese herbal medicine preparation for treating AIDS.

Pharmaceutical composition comprising a combination of Chinese traditional medicines

Beijing Qijieyuan Pharmaceutical Technology Development Co., Ltd.


The invention provides a pixel having a light emitting surface, the pixel containing at least a set of tristimulus colors in light emitting diodes embedded in a light scattering medium which includes the light emitting surface characterised in that the light emitting surface is non-focsing. The invention also provides a video display screen constructed from a plurality of pixels and apparatus for delivering power to the screen.

It is known to use discrete light emitting diodes (LEDs) for signalling and for graphic displays. LEDs have been available in red and green for some time, and , more recently, blue LEDs have become available; combinations of these colours have the ability to produce all colours, including white. U.S. Pat. Specification No. 4,992,704 describes the combination of red, green and blue LEDs in a unitary housing, of transparent or translucent material, to support red, green and blue LEDs in fixed, spaced relationship to each other. The housing is domed to form a lens; the purpose of the lighting device is to enable a signalling device or lamp to produce all colours in the visible light spectrum. Thus the signalling device or lamp can exhibit a change in colour, signalling a change in state.
It has now been found that a combination of red, green and blue LEDs can be used in connection with video screens, to produce a screen which has properties far superior to those presently experienced.
In various situations, it is desirable to use large screens of approximately billboard size. A major use of such screens is in shopping centres and malls, where large video screens can be use for point of sale advertising or entertainment.
Existing large video screen suffer from a major drawback. All displays on such screens include vertical and horizontal black lines. These arise because of the technology involved in translating the display to the large screen. Prior art screens are based on conventional cathode ray tubes, or use a rear projection three gun system, In every case, the resultant display on the large screen contains gaps, which appear as vertical and horizontal black lines, giving the display a "pasted" effect.
It is an object of the present invention, in one embodiment thereof, to provide a large screen which is capable of a video display in which these vertical and horizontal black lines cannot be detected visually.
Prior art screens also have the disadvantage of being quite bulky, For example, in the case of rear projection screens, any sized viewing area typically will be about two metres thick.
It is an object of the present invention, in an embodiment thereof, to provide a large screen which is substantially slimmer than these prior art screens.
Large video screens in current use also have other problems which make it difficult to use them in situations where normal/high ambient light conditions, wide viewing angle and short viewing distance prevail, for example, in shopping malls. Prior art large screen video displays suffer from one or more of the following problems: large grain (pixel) size, low light output and excessive directionality. As a consequence, the video images on these large screens often appear faded or dim and in addition cannot be seen clearly at oblique angles or at short viewing distances.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide large screen video displays with high light output (brightness), high resolution and a wide viewing angle. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a large screen video display capable of producing photo-realistic images in full colour, with imperceptible flicker under all practical viewing conditions or image content, and free of image degradation due to gaps, motion smearing and directionality caused by physical limitations of the display medium.
In relation to large video screens, there is a problem in delivering power. Prior art methods of delivering power rely on the use of multi-stranded low resistance cable. In such a configuration, it is very difficult to minimise the loop area formed by the load, the power supply and the power supply leads. This results in lead inductance and transient oscillation on the power supply by the fast switching of
It is a further object of this invention in one embodiment thereof, to overcome the problems faced by the prior art methods and to deliver power to large video screen with a minimisation of direct current voltage drop and amplitude of the transient oscillation induced on the power supply by switching of the LEDs.

Pixel, video display screen and power delivery


An apparatus is configured to process at least one of video data, audio data and ancillary data to generate an output for broadcast. The apparatus includes a plurality of processing components and a control engine configured to receive at least one topology from a host system, each of the at least one topology provides a grouping of the plurality of processing components to process the at least one of the video data, the audio data and the ancillary data received by the apparatus, respectively. For each of the at least one topology, the control engine is configured to determine commands for execution by the processing components on a frame-by-frame basis, to generate the commands for execution by the processing components, and to send commands to the processing components to process the data.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to audio and video processing. More specifically, at least one embodiment relates to processing audio and video signals in topologies maintained by an audio/video/ancillary data subsystem.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The challenges presented to audio and video processing systems, especially those employed in live broadcasts, are substantial. Many applications of audio and video processing systems require high performance and high reliability. In some applications, even a momentary fault can result in an on-air glitch apparent to a large audience of viewers and/or listeners.
Audio and video systems are often provided as a host system and an additional apparatus that processes the audio and video data based on instructions received from the host system. Despite being a distinct piece of hardware, these audio and video processing apparatuses are completely dependent on communication with the host system. For example, a host system can provide data and control signals required for operation of the audio/video processing apparatus. Such an approach results in an architecture that uses resources of the host system (that may be needed for other tasks) and is immediately rendered inoperative if the host system lags or crashes or should communication between the host system and the apparatus be interrupted or cease altogether.
The importance of high reliability results in some audio/video apparatuses being equipped with a mechanical relay that bypasses the audio/video processing apparatus in the event of a loss of power. However, this approach simply couples the input of the audio/video apparatus to the output of the apparatus. The approach does not allow more advanced functionality of the audio/video processing apparatus to be used.

Apparatus, system and method for processing video data, audio data and ancillary data


An anchor for an implantable medical device, for example, and implantable physiologic sensor, includes a proximal hub portion, an intermediate portion extending radially and distally from the hub portion, and a distal portion extending distally from the proximal portion and adapted to engage an inner surface of a target vessel for securing the implantable medical device therein. The anchor can assume a collapsed configuration for delivery through a catheter, and an expanded configuration for fixation within the vessel once deployed. The intermediate portion extends from the proximal portion at an oblique angle, allowing the anchor to be retracted and re-collapsed within the delivery catheter after initial deployment, if re-positioning or removal of the implantable medical device is necessary or desired.

Medical devices that can be implanted within a patient's body for monitoring one or more physiological parameters and/or to provide therapeutic functions are known. For example, sensors or transducers can be placed in the body for monitoring a variety of properties, such as temperature, blood pressure, strain, fluid flow, chemical properties, electrical properties, magnetic properties, and the like. In addition, medical devices can be implanted that perform one or more therapeutic functions, such as drug delivery, cardiac pacing, defibrillation, electrical stimulation, and the like.
One parameter of particular interest is blood pressure. One or more implantable pressure sensing modules can be used in conjunction with cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices to facilitate optimization of CRM device settings. In such systems, the pressure sensing module is delivered transvenously to a target vessel (e.g., the pulmonary artery), and anchored in the vessel using various fixation techniques. Accurate placement of the sensing module is an important factor in accurately and reliably measuring the desired parameter. Additionally, under some circumstances, it becomes necessary to re-position an implantable sensor module after initial deployment, or alternatively, to remove the sensor from the patient entirely.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and methods for placing and anchoring implantable medical devices within a patient's body. In particular, there is a need for an anchoring system that can be accurately re-positioned and re-deployed, or in the alternative, removed from the patient's vasculature, after an initial deployment.


The operating characteristics of a dynamic comparator is used to automatically change the resolution of a sloped or ramped analog-to-digital converter (ADC) by switching the comparator on and off between first (slow) and second (fast) clock frequencies and comparing the amplitude of a sampled input signal against a ramp input signal. The slow clock frequency is first used to determine the area of interest, while the fast clock frequency is then used to zoom into a high resolution area of interest.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to analog to digital converters (ADCs) and more particularly to an ADC including a dynamic comparator circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
On-chip analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are currently being utilized for simplifying systems, reducing system power and reducing system weight. CMOS image sensors, moreover, have been widely accepted for visible imaging applications since they enable easy integration of on-chip ADCs. CMOS image sensors typically consist of an array of passive or active pixel sensors (APS) which are particularly adapted for parallel processing. The ADC architecture can consist of one ADC per chip down to one ADC per pixel. The single ADC per chip operates at high speeds while the ADC per pixel operates at the frame rate. A good compromise has been found to have one ADC per column. With such an approach, ADCs are needed which fit in a column's width, in the order of approximately 10 μm, and operate at a row repetition rate.
Sloped or ramped ADCs are also well known in the art and operate at row rates and take up minimal chip area. These converters have been used in conventional CMOS image sensors and can meet the required row rates and lay out area. A sloped ADC uses a single dynamic comparator to compare the input signal voltage level to a ramp voltage signal. Once the ramp voltage passes the amplitude of the input signal, the comparator latches the ramp's count value into one or more memory cells which are later read off the chip in binary fashion.
An inherent limitation of a sloped ADC, however, has been in the comparator. If the ADC is operating at a frequency f, the ADC digitizing time is 1/f. For an N bit ADC, the comparator has 1/[f(2n−1)] seconds for each comparison and hence needs a bandwidth of f(2n−1). Similarly, the gain of the comparator needs to be doubled for each bit of resolution. For each additional bit of resolution, the gain bandwidth product (GBP) of the comparator quadruples, and the ADC begins to require a considerable increase in power. Therefore, for high resolution and fast frame active pixel sensor (APS) arrays, a sloped ADC heretofore has been less appealing. For example, a 600×600 APS array, operating at 30 frames/sec., will have an 18 kHz row rate. Since time is needed to sample and hold the input, the ADC will have a sample rate on the order of 22 kHz. For 12 bits of resolution, the comparator will need to switch at approximately 90 Mhz.
Dynamic comparators, however, have been found to offer a desirable solution to the power problem in that they require only a small area, are fast, and use relatively low power. As such, they become a desirable component in an ADC. High speed and gain can also be achieved by using positive feedback, which is also well known in the art.
Dynamic comparators have a reset time and a latch time. During reset, the input is sampled, while during latch, the comparator swings to predetermined output levels. It is to be noted that power is dissipated only when the clock signal applied switches on or off. Thus, average power Pave is proportional to frequency f, i.e., Pav=CV2f, where f is the switch rate (clock frequency). When desired, some quasi-dynamic comparators use a small amount of bias current to help with the input sampling.


A stereo camera system in a motor vehicle, in particular for classifying objects and determining distance. In order to ensure secure installation and precise positioning of the camera system, in particular fixing of its lateral position, the camera system is provided with at least two camera modules, and a mount, in which camera modules are installed at a specified lateral distance apart, the mount being cemented to the inside of the windshield.

Stereo camera systems or stereo front-camera systems (SFK systems), in which two camera modules, generally parallel to one another, which detect the roadway area in front of the vehicle through the windshield, are mounted in the motor vehicle, are used for classifying objects on a roadway, for assigning attributes to objects, and for determining the distance of objects from a motor vehicle. For the required accuracy in determining the distance of contours in the stereo video image for distances greater than/equal to 40 m, the relative positions of the contours must be resolved into the micrometer range on the electronic imaging chips. To do this, the relative positioning of the two cameras to one another must be effected in a very precise and stable manner; in addition, the position of the camera system with respect to the vehicle must also be defined in a precise and stable manner at any given time.
For this purpose, a support, for example a diecasting of aluminum or magnesium, is mounted in the roof structure of the vehicle, which accommodates the camera modules in accommodating regions and the control and analyzing electronics in a central region. In addition, the support seals the optical path of the camera against soiling and scattered light and permits simpler installation of the camera system in the process of manufacture.
In such conventional stereo camera systems in a motor vehicle, however, changes in spacing of the camera modules with respect to one another and with respect to the motor vehicle are a problem. Changes in spacing that take place slowly, due for example to thermal expansion of the support, may be compensated for by readjustment of image correction data. For this purpose, the required parameters may be detected by a separate sensor system or may be determined directly from the image processing system.
On the other hand, brief changes in spacing, which may for example be injected into the support by vibrations, can generally not be corrected. The support system must therefore have a high degree of rigidity to all vibrations under the video frequency—generally 30 Hz–100 Hz, depending on the system. However, more rigid design of the support generally results in higher manufacturing costs and a higher total weight and yet fails to provide sufficient suppression of vibrations.

Stereo camera arrangement in a motor vehicle


A fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount having an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve disposed radially outwardly of the inner sleeve with a predetermined radial spacing therebetween, and an elastic body interposed between the inner and outer sleeves for elastically connecting the inner and outer sleeves. The fluid-filled elastic mount has a generally annular fluid chamber formed between the inner and outer sleeves so as to extend over the entire circumference of the mount. The fluid chamber has a substantially constant cross sectional area over the entire circumference thereof, is filled with a non-compressible fluid having a kinematic viscosity of not higher than 100 centistokes, and undergoes substantially no deformation upon a rise in pressure due to the presence of a stopper portion provided in the chamber which may consist of a ring-like rigid member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount capable of damping and/or isolating vibrations applied thereto, based on flows of a fluid contained therein. More particularly, the invention is concerned with such a fluid-filled elastic mount capable of exhibiting sufficient damping and/or isolating characteristics with respect to the vibrations applied in any radial direction perpendicular to the axis of the mount.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A cylindrical elastic mount is known as a device for elastically or flexibly connecting two members in a vibration system in a vibration damping or isolating manner. Examples of such a cylindrical elastic mount are disclosed in laid-open Publication No. 48-310 of examined Japanese Utility Model Application and British Patent No. 1063863. The cylindrical elastic mount disclosed therein has an inner and an outer sleeve which are made of a metallic material and are disposed in radially spaced-apart relation with each other. Between these inner and outer sleeves, there is interposed an elastic body for elastically connecting the two sleeves. The thus constructed elastic mount is adapted to damp and/or isolate vibrations which are applied between the inner and outer sleeves primarily in radial directions perpendicular to the axis of the mount. This type of cylindrical elastic mount is widely used as a differential mount, engine mount, body mount or suspension bushing for a motor vehicle, for example.
To meet increasing requirements for a higher degree of vibration damping capability, a so-called fluid-filled mount has been recently proposed, as disclosed in Publication Nos. 48-36151 and 52-16554 of examined Japanese Patent Applications. A fluid-filled elastic mount as disclosed in these publications has two fluid chambers which are formed between the inner and outer sleeves, and are disposed opposite to each other in a radial direction of the mount. The two fluid chambers are held in fluid communication with each other through a suitable orifice passage, so that applied vibrations may be effectively damped by resonance of a fluid flowing through the orifice passage. The thus constructed fluid-filled elastic mount can provide excellent vibration damping characteristics, which have not been obtained by the above-described elastic mount that utilizes only the elastic body for damping the input vibrations.
In the fluid-filled elastic mount, effective flows of the fluid between the two fluid chambers through the orifice passage take place as a result of relative pressure changes between the two chambers, when the mount receives vibrations in the radial direction in which the two fluid chambers are opposed to each other. Upon application of vibrations in the other radial directions of the mount, however, the fluid-filled elastic mount is not able to provide a satisfactory effect of damping the applied vibrations.
However, it is rather difficult for the fluid-filled elastic mount to provide a sufficient degree of damping and/or isolating effect for the vibrations applied in all the radial directions perpendicular to the axis of the mount. Even if the elastic mount receives vibrations applied in only one radial direction, the installation of the mount on a motor vehicle, for example, must be effected so that the direction in which the two fluid chambers are opposed to each other coincides with the radial direction in which the vibrations are applied to the mount, since the mount exhibits sufficient damping characteristics only for the vibrations applied in that direction. Thus, cumbersome procedures and considerable precision are needed for the installation of the conventional fluid-filled elastic mount.

Fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount having annular fluid chamber with constant cross sectional area over the entire circumference


In accordance with the present invention, a first shorting bar drives the data lines of a TFT array having integrated gate driver circuitry. Another set of shorting bars drive the corresponding terminals of the gate driver circuitry. The pixel voltages are measured after all the pixels are charged by the driving signals applied to the shorting bars. Gate voltages are progressively applied to the gate lines by the gate driver integrated circuit (IC) via the set of shorting bars that, in turn, are driven by clock signals received from one or more pattern generators. Voltages are concurrently applied to the data lines which are connected together by the first shorting bar. The application of voltages generates a display pattern that is subsequently compared to an expected display pattern. By comparing the resulting display pattern and the expected display pattern, possible defects are detected.

The present invention relates generally to inspection of thin film transistor (TFT) arrays, and more specifically to inspection of TFT arrays that have integrated circuit (IC) drivers.
In a finished liquid crystal flat panel, a thin layer of liquid crystal (LC) material is disposed between two sheets of glass. On one sheet of glass, a two-dimensional array of electrodes has been patterned. Each electrode may be on the order of 100 microns in size and can have a unique voltage applied to it via multiplexing transistors positioned along the edge of the panel. In a finished product, the electric field created by each individual electrode couples into the LC material and modulates the amount of transmitted light in that pixelated region. This effect when taken in aggregate across the entire two dimensional array results in a visible image on the flat-panel.
A significant part of the manufacturing cost associated with LCD panels occurs when the LC material is injected between the upper and lower glass plates. It is therefore important to identify and correct any image quality problems prior to this manufacturing step. The problem with inspecting LCD panels prior to deposition of the liquid crystal (LC) material is that without LC material, there is no visible image available to inspect. Prior to deposition of LC material, the only signal present at a given pixel is the electric field generated by the voltage on that pixel, if driven by an external electrical source. Means of testing such panel arrays typically take advantage of an electrical property of the pixel (such as electrical field or pixel voltage as a function of changing drive voltages on the transistor gates or data lines). Array testers devised by Photon Dynamics use a voltage image optical system (VIOS), as described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,911, for example. Array testers sold by Applied Komatsu use an electron beam and imaging system to detect defects. Both these array test machines require a means to electrically drive the sample in conjunction with their respective detection methodologies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,687, issued to Henley et al. and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes an array test method according to which a pattern of electrical driving signals are applied to the panel under test. Referring to FIG. 1, a typical active matrix LCD panel segment 10 is shown as including, an array of pixels 12. Each pixel 12 is activated by addressing simultaneously an appropriate drive line 14 and gate line 16. A drive element 18 is associated with each pixel. The drive lines 14, gate lines 16, pixels 12 and pixel drive elements 18 are deposited on a clear glass substrate by a lithographic or other processes. Odd numbered gate lines may be addressed simultaneously via shorting bar 30, which joins every other gate line 16. Even numbered gate lines may be addressed by a second shorting bar (not shown). Similarly, odd numbered data lines may be addressed via shorting bar 28, which joins every other data line 14. Even numbered data lines may be addressed by a second shorting bar (not shown). Different drive patterns may be applied to the gate and data lines to determine which pixels may be defective.
Typically, electrical drive circuitry of the final display panel is added during manufacturing and assembly of the panel into its final form (for example, computer monitor, cell phone display, television, etc.) FIG. 2 shows a panel 200 that is in electrical communication with printed circuit board 204 using a multitude of connectors 204. Panel 200 of FIG. 2 is assumed to include the circuitry shown in FIG. 1. A gate driver integrated circuit (IC) (not shown) is mounted on printed circuit board 204 which is then brought into electrical contact with panel 200 for driving the pixel gate lines.
Recently, however, with the increased application of amorphous silicon material and associated processes and designs, integrated circuit (IC) gate drivers are being formed on the panel, as shown in simplified FIG. 3. See for example Kim et al, "High-Resolution Integrated a-Si Row Drivers," SID 05 Digest, page 939; Lebrun et al "Design of Integrated Drivers with Amorphous Silicon TFTs for Small Displays, Basic Concepts" SID 05 Digest, page 950.

Array test using the shorting bar and high frequency clock signal for the inspection of TFT-LCD with integrated driver IC