A method for increasing electron flow and enhancing electrical conductivity in an electrical ribbon conductor by providing a plurality of parallel bridges spanning the ribbon conductor from one edge to the other, connecting them electrically, insulating the bridges from the surface of the ribbon conductor and from adjacent bridges, and generating or externally supplying a magnetic field along the direction perpendicular to the ribbon surface. Also disclosed is an electrical ribbon conductor apparatus which produces enhanced electrical conductivity, and has a two or three tiered structure with a plurality of parallel bridges spanning the ribbon conductor from one edge to the other, connecting the edges electrically, and insulated or spaced from the surface of the conductor and from adjacent bridges.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for increasing electron flow in an electrical ribbon conductor, and an electrical ribbon conductor having an improved configuration which produces enhanced electrical conductivity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When copper wire and ribbon are used in coil windings of electromagnets, transformers, electrical motors and generators, the amount of current flow is limited by Ohm's law, beyond which no improvement was feasible. Significantly improved electrical conductivity is presently achieved by using superconductors operating at cryogenic temperatures below 4.degree. K., or high temperature superconductors at temperatures in the 70.degree.-140.degree. K. range (about the temperature of liquid nitrogen and above), but none is yet available to operate at room temperature. Superconductors require specialized plumbing, cooling devices, coolant, dewars, etc., and high maintenance costs are involved. In computer chip technology, the electron velocity is determined by the nature of semiconductor materials, and no accelerating device for electrons is used.
Weiss U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,650 teaches apparatus which utilizes semiconductor components installed in parallel as active elements, and which is used in the presence of a magnetic field for measuring, controlling, regulating, modulating, or other translating purposes. In contrast, the present invention does not involve any semiconductors. Although Weiss utilizes parallel circuitry, there is no other similarity to the present invention. The parallel installation of the Hall current bridges of the present invention span a ribbon conductor from one edge to the other, between which no designed potential differences should exist, except for the small resulting potential differences due to Hall current electron migration. Thus there is a radical difference between the parallel installation of the Weiss semiconductor devices and the present invention.
Applicant is unaware of any prior work in this particular domain of the shaping of electrical conductors for the purpose of enhancing electrical conductivity by increasing electron flow velocity.
The Illustrated Dictionary of Electronics, 4th ed., (1988) by Rufus P. Turner and Stan Gibilisco, sets forth on page 271 the definition of "Hall effect" as "A phenomenon observed in thin strips of metal and in some semiconductors: When a strip carrying current longitudinally is placed in a magnetic field that is perpendicular to the strip's plane, a voltage appears between opposite edges of the strip that, although it is feeble, will force a current through an external circuit. The voltage is positive in some metals (such as zinc) and negative in others (such as gold)."
It has been found that when a magnetic field oriented perpendicular to the ribbon surface is applied or self generated, the longitudinal electron velocity is increased if a transverse electron flow in the direction opposite of Hall current can be generated on a conductor ribbon. To accomplish this, Hall current is drained from the edge of electron accumulation and the drained electrons are transported to the other edge via parallel insulated bridges running across the ribbon surface, which are herein called Hall current bridges.

Apparatus and method for increasing electron flow


A device is disclosed for containing and dispensing flowable materials contained in a material handling unit which is located at least in part within an outer container. The material handling unit includes a first, relatively rigid portion having a nozzle affixed to one end thereof and a readily reshapable bladder affixed to the other end thereof, with the nozzle having a one-way check valve permitting ejection of the contents therefrom. The outer container admits air into the space between the containers to thereby cause selective expellation of the contents of the material handling unit without direct manual contact by a user with the device.

Squeezable dispensing devices for dispensing flowable materials are well known and such devices have heretofore been developed and/or utilized wherein bladder containment and/or pressure dispensing are shown. Such arrangements, for example, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,223,289, 3,225,967, 3,270,920, 3,342,377 and 4,147,278 showing various arrangements wherein the contents of a bladder are urged therefrom by a gas introduced into a contained volume adjacent to the bladder.
Other arrangements making use of a bladder containing materials to be dispensed by pressure are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,469,250 issued Sep. 4, 1984 and 4,760,937, issued Aug. 2, 1988 to Evezich (the Applicant herein). In this arrangement a separate bladder is housed within an outer shell, the former showing a device having a removable cap and nozzle construction and utilizing a projection positioned at the base of the nozzle for piercing the bladder to allow dispensing of its contents, the various elements not being permanently affixed to one another.
Dispensing devices have also heretofore been known and/or utilized wherein an inflatable bladder is utilized to push contents out of a container (see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,294,289, 4,213,545 and 3,592,365), as have devices utilizing volume reducing structures for selectively changing the volume of the dispensing device (see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,715,981, 3,474,936, and 4,098,434).
While dispensing devices making use of bladders and/or pressure dispensing have heretofore been suggested and/or utilized, further improvements could nevertheless still be utilized.

Containing and dispensing device for flowable material having relatively rigid and deformable material containment portions


Disclosed is an automatic digital image enhancement method, including: determining the defects existing in the image based on pixel values, such as pixel luminance values and pixel color values, of the input digital image, and making corrections based on the determination results. The method can process images of digital photos, digital videos and make enhancement on exposure and color of the images. The method disclosed can also improve quickly and apparently the visual quality and appearance of images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing technology, particularly, to a method for processing digital images in order to automatically improve and enhance the visual quality of the digital images.
2. Description of the Related Technology
With the development of digital technology, digital cameras and digital video cameras have already entered into people's life. The remarkable difference between a digital camera and an ordinary photographic camera is that the digital camera stores a picture in numeric data. However, the digital camera does not use a roll of the film as that used in the ordinary photographic camera. This makes the digital camera smaller in size and easier to carry. In addition, digital images can be transferred to different kinds of image processing devices. By using these image process devices, various image post-processing techniques can be applied to images to improve the quality thereof when the images involve defects such as backlighting defects, underexposure defects, overexposure defects, contrast defects and color casting defects. The resulting quality of the processed photos may not be possibly produced by optics lens photography.
Photos taken by the digital camera are not always desirable. Firstly, the automatic exposure system of the digital camera is not always correct. For instance, due to wrong exposure detection, faces of a portrait photo taken under strong backlight may be underexposed. Furthermore, due to the loss of dynamic range when the image is digitized or compressed by a lossy compression algorithm (like JPEG or MPEG), in recording scenes with a very high dynamic range, digital cameras will make compromises that allow only the important part of the scene captured. As a result, some parts of the captured image may be washed out or flattened. The captured image will be very different from what human eyes can see in the real situation. On the other hand, the power of typical build-in flashlight is normally not powerful enough to fill on the distant objects. In a more extreme case, some cheaper cameras do not have a build-in flashlight. As a result, photos taken in dim environment are dark and the objects cannot be seen clearly. Accordingly, there is an essential need to make enhancement on digital images taken by digital cameras in order to get good photos under varies lighting conditions.
In existing automatic photo enhancement processes, methods of "Auto Level" and "Auto Contrast" only try to globally widen the dynamic range of an image. Poorly exposed photo with full dynamic range cannot be corrected by these methods. For example, the current methods cannot correct a backlight photo that has a very high contrast and full dynamic range. For the automatic method of "Histogram Equalization", a global transformation function is constructed for a specific image. This algorithm just works well in case the histogram of the image is uniform, whereas some parts of the image are too bright and the other parts are too dark. If the histogram of an image does not have a uniform property, histogram equalization may produce erroneous color and unnatural looking. For example, the face of a person in the image will become very dull. The methods mentioned above do not identify whether exposure defects exist on an image or not. They just try to modify an input image until the output image satisfies certain statistic criterions. With such a criterion, undesirable results may be produced. In reality, to enhance a digital image by software, a user has to adjust different parameters manually (e.g. levels, curves, brightness, contrast and saturation). This involves lots of trials and errors. Since these enhancement methods always adjust images globally, regions of the image that are originally good may be distorted (e.g. washed out or flattened) after being processed.

Digital image processing system and method for processing digital images


The invention relates to a closed rear gown for a patient to wear in the hospital that provides for modesty and for convenient access to the patient""s body by the medical and nursing staff for patient care. The gown is provided with a front opening and closing by the patient and for opening and closing the sleeves at the top of the shoulder to provide for access to the shoulder, arms and back of the patient by the medical and nursing staff. A telemetry pocket may also be provided.

The present invention relates to a gown to be worn by a patient. More particularly, the present invention relates to a front tying gown with snap closing sleeves that would typically be provided for a patient to wear during his or her stay in a hospital.
There are gowns in widespread use in hospitals and other medical facilities. Typically, patients staying in a hospital are provided with a gown, as patient apparel, by the hospital. The gowns commonly worn by patients staying in a hospital generally provide for opening and closing in the rear of the gown by one or more ties. These gowns have the disadvantage that the patient finds it difficult to tie and untie the gown with the ties in the rear and sometimes needs the assistance of a nurse to tie and untie the gown.
It is known to provide in a rear opening patient gown a telemetry pocket, which is usually located on or near the center chest portion of the gown. The telemetry pocket accommodates the majority of patient monitors and provides an opening through the gown for wire connections.
It is further known to provide in a rear opening patient gown steel gripper closures on the sleeves that allow for the snap opening and closure of the sleeves. Those gowns having gripper or snap closures are commonly referred to as I.V or intravenous gowns because they facilitate access to the shoulder and arm for insertion, care and removal of intravenous administrations to the patient. Additionally, some gowns use Velcro closures for the rear closing of the gown and for opening and closing the sleeve.
Gowns worn by patients, which tie and untie in the front, are generally known as examining gowns. Examining gowns that tie in the front are commonly used for certain examinations, such as mammographies and x-rays. These gowns have the disadvantage that the doctor or medical provider does not have easy access to the posterior of the patient""s body, which may be necessary for certain medical examinations or procedures. Such examining gowns are not known to have a telemetry pocket or to have sleeve snap closures.
These patient gowns do not simultaneously provide for both patient modesty and patient care and examination. There is a need to provide for a gown that may be worn by a patient during his or her stay in the hospital that allows the patient to easily and conveniently dress and undress his or herself in the gown by providing for opening and closure of the gown in its front, while also providing for convenient patient care, such as, convenient access to the shoulder, arms and/or back of the patient and a pocket for holding medical devices.
The invention relates to a patient gown for improving patient modesty and simultaneously providing for convenient patient care. More specifically, the invention relates to a patient gown that opens and closes in the front, allowing the patient to dress and undress himself or herself, that further provides for a telemetry pocket and that may provide for opening and closing of the sleeves or shoulders of the gown.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide for a gown that improves patient modesty.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for a patient gown that, while improving patient modesty, allows for the carrying of telemetry equipment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for a patient gown that while improving patient modesty allows for an opening and closing of the sleeves or shoulders of the gown to provide for better patient care.
It is a further object of this invention to provide for a patient gown that combines front opening of the gown with a telemetry pocket and opening and closing of the sleeves or shoulders of the gown for better patient care.
Other objects advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent hereinafter.


A sheet of material formed for folding into a three-dimensional structure. The sheet has edges formed with joinder structures, such as dovetails, and a plurality of folding structures, such as slits, grooves or displacements, that control folding of the sheet in a manner causing the joinder structures to be folded into interlocking interengagement. The folding structures are configured for very precise folding of the sheet so that the folding structures will be in precise registered juxtaposition. Additionally, the sheet of material includes a retention structure, such as a retention fold or a retention deformation, which will prevent unfolding of the sheet. A method for fastener-free joining of sheet edges together also is disclosed, as are the resulting three-dimensional structures.

The Related Applications set forth above, and incorporated herein by reference, set forth in considerable detail apparatus and methods for bending or folding sheet material to form three-dimensional structures. Flat sheets are provided with a plurality of folding structures which will produce folding of the sheets along fold lines that can very precisely be controlled. The folding structures are typically slits, grooves or displacements that are positioned on alternating sides of a desired fold line so as to define spaced-apart bending or folding straps that precisely control folding of the sheet. Most preferably, the folding structures also produce edge-to-face engagement of the sheet material on opposite sides of the folding structures to further enhance folding precision and structural strength.
The folded sheets of the Related Applications often have been used to produce three-dimensional structures in which free or adjacent edges of the sheets are folded into abutting or overlapping relation and then are joined together to stabilize the resulting structure against unfolding. The previous techniques for securing the edges of the folded sheets together have varied considerably, depending upon the application, but in many instances the sheet edges have merely been joined together using standard fasteners such as screws, rivets, other mechanical fasteners, and/or welding, brazing or adhesives.
One of the very substantial advantages of the apparatus and method of the Related Applications is the ability to fold sheet material with both great precision and complexity using low folding forces. Precise and complex folding of sheet material allows techniques for joining the edges of the sheet material to be based upon precise registration of the edges at the end of the folding process so that joinder structures provided at, or proximate to the edges can be folded into registration with each other for the purpose of coupling the joinder structure together against separation of the edges.
The complexity with which sheets can be folded using the techniques set forth in the Related Applications allows a great reduction in the number of separate parts required to create a structure. Further reducing the number of parts by eliminating separate mechanical fasteners, therefore, is highly desirable, and elimination of separate welding, soldering and adhesive bonding steps also reduces the cost associated with the finished part.
Moreover, the precise sheet folding systems of the Related Applications can be applied to a wide range of sheet thicknesses. Thus, fastener-free sheet edge joining should also be capable of being used in applications requiring high strength joinder of the sheet edges.
What is needed is an apparatus and method to employ the ability to precisely fold sheet material in a manner which will allow fastener-free, high strength, low cost joinder of edges of the sheet material.
What is needed is an apparatus and method to provide an apparatus and method for forming enclosures or housings for various purposes, including the enclosure of electrical components, which apparatus and method lend themselves to efficient and low-cost manufacturing processes.
The apparatus and method of the present invention have other objects and features of advantage which will become apparent from, or are set forth in more detail in, the accompanying drawing and Detailed Description Of The Invention.

Apparatus and method for joining the edges of folded sheet material to form three-dimensional structure


In a smartphone that outputs PCM data and DSD data of different data format from PCM data to a USB DAC, to prevent generation of noises from the USB DAC when the smartphone accepts stopping instruction of outputting digital audio data to the USB DAC while outputting DSD data to the USB DAC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a music reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A music reproducing program that allows a smartphone or a tablet PC to function as a music reproducing apparatus is present. The music reproducing program allows the smartphone to reproduce music from a speaker of the smartphone and to output digital audio data from the smartphone to an external USB DAC (D/A converter). Conventionally, as digital audio data, PCM data (first digital audio data) that is encoded by PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) system in which sampling frequency is 44.1 kHz and the number of quantum bits is 16 bits is main stream. In recent years, there has been DSD data (second digital audio data) that is encoded by a 1-bit DSD (Direct Stream Digital) system in which a sampling frequency is 2.8224 MHz (=44.1 kHz×64) as digital audio data.
When the music reproducing program allows the smartphone to output DSD data from the smartphone to the USB DAC, the music reproducing program occasionally allows the smartphone to output the DSD data from the smartphone to the USB DAC via USB using frames of PCM data. This system is called DoP (DSD Audio over PCM Frames). For example, a USB audio class supports PCM data, but does not support DSD data. For this reason, when the smartphone and the USB DAC execute communication that supports the USB audio class, DSD data is output from the smartphone to the USB DAC by DoP.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating DSD data that is stored in frames of PCM data. The frames of PCM data is configured by 24 bits. DSD data is stored in 16 bits of 24 bits. A marker that includes information representing that it is DSD data is stored in 8 bits of 24 bits. The USB DAC can judge that the digital audio data that is output is DSD data by the marker.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a concept of DoP output. The smartphone outputs DSD data to channel for PCM data of L channel of the USB DAC and to channel for PCM data of R channel of the USB DAC by DoP. In DoP output, DSD data is output from the smartphone to the USB DAC while DSD data is made look like PCM data. For this reason, noises are generated at time of switching from output of PCM data to output of DSD data (DoP output) or from output of DSD data to output of PCM data. To repress noises, the music reproducing program is designed so that the switching from output of PCM data to output of DSD data (DoP output) or from output of DSD data to output of PCM data is not executed as much as possible.
In the conventional music reproducing apparatus, when DSD data is output from the smartphone to the USB DAC (DoP output), stopping instruction of outputting (for example, so-called "pause") from a user is accepted and the music reproducing apparatus allows the smartphone to stop the USB DAC (pausing process). At this time, as illustrating in FIG. 8, a device driver occasionally inserts PCM data automatically. For this reason, switching from output of DSD data (DoP output) to output of PCM data occurs and noises are generated from the USB DAC.

Abstract: A controller 11 outputs mute data representing silence of DSD data to a USB DAC 2 when it accepts pausing instruction while outputting DSD data to the USB DAC 2.


The present invention relates to a system (10), method and terminal (14) for measuring the quality of service or QoS for services, for example, of the Internet type in which a telecommunications network (12) supports the delivery of the services by a server (16). The system (10) and the corresponding method allow to collect by means of the network (12, 18, 20) the QoS information, in particular information of insufficient QoS, to identify the causes of insufficient QoS and to discriminate in the attribution of said causes among the terminal (14), the server (16) or the network itself (12). The terminal (14) in addition to generating “objective” information about the QoS, such as the time for downloading a Web page, dimensions of the Web page and number of objects composing the page, is also able to generate “subjective” information, indicative of the actual QoS perceived by a user of the terminal (14).

Systems and methods are known for monitoring QoS in transferring information (data) between a client terminal or user and an Internet server.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,439 discloses a system and method in which an Internet Service Provider (ISP) associates to predefined Web pages appropriate enabling keys able both to activate, at the client terminal, predefined programs for collecting QoS parameters, and to transmit the collected parameters to the Service Provider.
A first problem shared by known systems and methods for collecting the QoS consists of the fact that such systems and methods provide for the collection of specific QoS parameters of the Service Providers, neglecting parameters linked to the characteristics and functionality of the telecommunications network supporting the Internet services.
This approach, which is typical of known systems and methods, is substantially unsatisfactory because it neglects one of the essential elements of QoS for Internet services; QoS depends on the various architectural elements that participate or contribute to the use of Internet services, i.e. in part on devices or parameters under the Service Provider's control, in part on devices or parameters linked to the telecommunications network and to those responsible for its operation (operator), in part on devices or parameters associated to the type of terminals or connections used by the clients themselves.
In other words, since all the architectural elements that participate or contribute to the use of Internet services can cause an insufficient QoS, there is the problem of having available tools able to discriminate the causes of insufficient QoS attributing the responsibility individually to said architectural elements.
An additional problem of the prior art, in particular in the case of Internet services on mobile networks, consists of the fact that the transmission of QoS parameters is limited to Service Providers only, while the clients of these types of services tend to ascribed the responsibility for insufficient QoS, not to the Service Provider, but to the network operator who, however, not having adequate tools available, due to the limited nature of known systems and methods, is incapable of identifying the causes of said insufficient QoS.
Therefore, the problem exists of making available to network operators, and not only to Service Providers, in particular in the case of mobile networks, adequate tools for collecting and managing QoS information.
Another problem of the prior art resides in the fact that the terminals generally used to transmit the measurements are able to transmit absolute QoS information, for instance, in terms of transfer times, number of Web pages transferred and so on, while for network operators, in particular in the case of mobile networks, but also for the Service Provider, it would be important to know subjective parameters, i.e. parameters indicative of clients' actual perception.

System, method and terminal for measuring the quality of service in a telecommunications network


A lateral shear interferometer including a pair of cubic prisms having a diagonal semi-reflective plane as the lateral shear producing element is used to test optical components having aspheric surfaces. An effective aperture is defined by the cubic prisms such that rays propagating therewithin will leave the cubic prisms with a first beam and a second beam propagating divergently with respect to each other. An aperture stop is used to allow only one of the beams to pass therethrough while reject the other. The fringe density of the interference pattern is therefore reduced to be more suitable for analysis. The lateral shear interferometer also provides stable interference patterns as long as a deviation of the light beam incident upon the cubic prisms does not exceeds the limits defined by the effective aperture of the cubic prisms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lateral shear interferometer for use in the testing of optical elements having aspheric surfaces.
2. Description of Prior Art
Optical elements are traditionally made with spherical surfaces which are easy to manufacture and test but are less precise in processing light beams. With the advance of fabrication technologies, optical elements with aspherical surfaces are now easier to made and are gradually replacing the optical elements with spherical surfaces.
Method for testing aspheric surfaces include the Form Talysurf test method, the Ronchi test method, and the interferometry test methods etc. The interferometry testing methods includes shearing interferometer, high density array interferometer, sub-Nyquist analysis method, long wavelength interferometry, two wavelength interferometry, two wavelength holography, sub-region testing method, null optics method, computer generated hologram, and zone plate interferometer etc. For a comprehensive understanding of these methods, interested readers can refer to a technical paper entitled "Interferometry Testing of Aspheric Surfaces" authored by James C. Wyant and published on SPIE Vol. 816 Interferometry Metrology (1987).
It is a drawback of conventional interferometers that the fringes in an interference pattern are in general too dense to be analyzable. A lateral shear interferometer can be used to overcome this drawback by providing low density fringes. However, the interference patterns produced by using conventional lateral shear interferometers are easily affected by external vibrations so that automated fringe analysis is impossible.

Lateral shear interferometer for testing aspheric surfaces

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A method is provided for allocating system resources across multiple nodes of a system communicating through a hardware device. The method provides for allocation of transaction units or identifiers in an allocating component for use in a multiple target component which may be in a distinct target node within the multiple node system. Based on the operations or requests that a target node receives from multiple external request source nodes, each requiring the use of target transaction unit objects such as transaction identification bits, the method provides inclusion of such information in the initial request to a target node which allows any data transmission between the source node and the target node, or the target node and the source node to be accomplished without any further intervention by the allocating component. Such component may be a local memory control agent or device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for use in a multiprocessor, multi-node computer system which utilizes distributed memory located in various nodes when such nodes are interconnected through a communications pathway such as a crossbar device which keeps track of data transaction identifiers. The disclosure relates to a method of allocating hardware resources in a computer system by distributing the responsibility of allocating these resources across various components in the system to improve processing speed and reduce system latency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, multiprocessor computer systems utilizing groups of coordinated processing systems and distributed system resources have used hardware devices to communicate between groups of processors in a single system. Such computer systems frequently group one or more microprocessor systems along with memory, input/output controllers and other devices which are local to such processors acting as a single subsystem. Such processor subsystems are frequently coupled together through hardware devices acting as communications pathways, sometimes referred to as crossbars, which allow communications between the groups of processors allowing access to each group's memory by other groups of processors.
In such systems, it is necessary to provide information through the communications pathway so that other groups of processors may know the availability of resources available to it remotely in other nodes of the system. The related art demonstrates various methods used at controlling access to resources allocating "credit based flow control" throughout a distributed system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,134 issued to Haga finds a central control apparatus which provides exclusive control to processors over specific memory locations within a shared memory region. Haga is directed at controlling access to certain memory spaces and does not anticipate management of hardware resources where such resources managed are not memory regions themselves but rather resources needed to access any arbitrary memory location. The Haga disclosure does not teach management of the resources needed to access memory contents across the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,271 issued to Curley, et al., teaches the use of an apparatus which addresses partitioning and management of system resources such as storage, terminals, and memory. The Curley patent teaches the use of system resources that are controlled and managed by the operating system software, as opposed to a method for use of hardware to allocate memory resources for use across the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,822 issued to Brantley, Jr., et al., discloses a multiprocessing system having nodes containing processors and associated memory modules with dynamically allocated storage across the entire system. The Brantley disclosure teaches a method whereby the virtual memory page table entries are constructed in such a way as to assign the location of such pages of global memory that are to be used by the processor at hand as local pages of memory. The patent also teaches a method which allows interleaving sequential accesses. The present invention does not provide for manipulating page tables to achieve the method provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,227 issued to Dias, et al., discloses a multiprocessor computer system which defines a method for optimizing exclusive control of specific memory locations shared as synchronization flags in the system. In this patent, memory locations managed by the invention are identified by software and a locking mechanism is specifically invoked with software intervention. The present invention does not require software intervention and does not utilize the method taught in Dias. Furthermore, the present invention's resource management method does not relate to memory locations, but rather to resources that support the access of a memory location when such resources are not visible to the operating software.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,456 issued to Naghshineh, et al., teaches a method for controlling the flow of input and output requests provided from multiple processors in a system to a given input/output device or input/output bus. The present invention is not limited to input/output requests within the system and is not invoked by operating system software or user programs operating on the system. Further, the method disclosed in the present invention does not affect the requested data in the system, but only the resources used to access data within the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,484 issued to Tran, et al., defines a system that uses dynamically variable width buses to process multiple requests onto a wide system bus shared by multiple processors. This patent teaches optimizing bus band width wherein the present invention defines a centralized method of allocating buffer space for the working space of an issued request within the system, and does not attempt to pack multiple data items together on a dynamically resized system bus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,897 issued to Brown, et al., teaches a method of furnishing unique worldwide identifiers to an input/output subsystem so as to support configuration of the input/output devices after a fault within the system. Although Brown teaches use of node identifiers locally, the present invention does not bear on the subject of providing unique node identifiers on a global basis throughout the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,771 issued to Neustaedter, teaches a method of managing data buffers for an input/output controller device. The method in this referenced patent requires an extensive amount of software support in both the operating system and the input/output controller device to operate. The method taught in the present invention is independent of software and does not require the participation of input/output device controllers in order for the method to operate.
While management of memory resources across a distributed processing system have been addressed in various aspects by the patents set forth above and other disclosures, none have taught a method whereby one system component can be assigned the responsibility of allocating resources on a second system component when such first component is supplying the resource consuming operations. Credit based system resource management methods, as used in the past, do not provide for obtaining additional hardware resource information useful in managing and applying system resources as they apply to distributed systems throughout a multiprocessor computer system.

Distributed allocation of system hardware resources for multiprocessor systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A library device includes: a housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, the housing having a first surface and a second surface differing from each other; a first track that is provided within the housing, the first track extending along the first surface; a second track that is provided within the housing, the second track extending along the second surface, the second track being parallel with the first track; and an accessor device that includes a first portion engaging with the first track, and a second portion engaging with the second track.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, there has been known a library device (also referred to as a data storage system or the like in some cases) which stores data cartridges within a plurality of cells. FIG. 6 is an example showing an external perspective view of a conventional library device.
As shown in FIG. 6, a library device 200 has magazines 260, drive devices 250, and an accessor device 240. The magazines 260 have a plurality of cells 280 for accommodating data cartridges in a horizontal attitude. The drive device 250 reads and writes data from and onto a recording medium within the data cartridge. The accessor device 240 transports data cartridges. The two magazines 260 are arranged in directions in which opening parts of the cells 280 oppose each other. The accessor device 240 has a picker mechanism (not shown in the figure) which take data cartridges in and out, and a swivel mechanism (not shown in the figure) for rotating the picker mechanism.
In general, an accessor device which transports data cartridges of a library device takes out a data cartridge from a drive device or a cell, and returns the data cartridge to the drive device. At this time, the accessor device pulls or pushes with a force that withstands the retentive force of the data cartridge or the resistance between the data cartridge and the drive device or the cell. Therefore, the accessor device requires a level of rigidity that withstands these forces. If the accessor device does not have this level of rigidity, it may not be able to pull out or return the data cartridge from or into the drive device and the cell in some cases.
If the height of the library device becomes high, the accessor device may collapse due to the above relationship of force in some cases, when the accessor device is operating to pull out or return the data cartridge. In order to perform these operations stably, there has been proposed a structure that is provided with a guide (refer to FIG. 3 of Patent Document 2). This type of structure has an extra structure added thereto compared to conventional structures. As a result, as a whole library device, this may cause the structure to become more complex and more large-scale.
In the accessor device of Patent Document 1, in order to realize stable operations of pulling out and returning a data cartridge without a guide, there is provided a structure in which the level of rigidity of the accessor device is made higher. This type of structure, compared to conventional structures, leads to a weight increase of the accessor device and limitation of materials to be used.


An apparatus for simulation of an anatomical structure may include a left ventricle component having an inlet port configured to receive fluid flow therethrough, an aortic arch component having an outlet port configured to receive fluid flow therethrough, an aortic annulus component attached to and disposed between the left ventricle component and the aortic arch component, and an introducer configured to receive an elongated catheter assembly therethrough. The aortic annulus component may have an inner surface including simulated stenotic nodules. The introducer may be in fluid communication with at least one of the left ventricle component and the aortic arch component.

The present invention is related to prosthetic heart valve replacement, and more particularly to systems and methods for simulated deployment of prosthetic heart valves.
Prosthetic heart valves that are collapsible to a relatively small circumferential size can be delivered into a patient less invasively than valves that are not collapsible. For example, a collapsible valve may be delivered into a patient via a tube-like delivery apparatus such as a catheter, a trocar, a laparoscopic instrument, or the like. This collapsibility can avoid the need for a more invasive procedure such as full open-chest, open-heart surgery.
Collapsible prosthetic heart valves typically take the form of a valve structure mounted on a stent. There are two types of stents on which the valve structures are ordinarily mounted: a self-expanding stent and a balloon-expandable stent. To place such valves into a delivery apparatus and ultimately into a patient, the valve must first be collapsed or crimped to reduce its circumferential size.
When a collapsed prosthetic valve has reached the desired implant site in the patient (e.g., at or near the annulus of the patient's heart valve that is to be replaced by the prosthetic valve), the prosthetic valve can be deployed or released from the delivery apparatus and re-expanded to full operating size. For balloon-expandable valves, this generally involves releasing the entire valve, assuring its proper location, and then expanding a balloon positioned within the valve stent. For self-expanding valves, on the other hand, the stent automatically expands as the sheath covering the valve is withdrawn. Once a self-expanding valve has been fully deployed, it expands to a diameter larger than that of the sheath that previously contained the valve in the collapsed condition.
Designs of prosthetic heart valves may be tested in simulated environments (e.g., in large animals or in testing equipment) before the designs are used in human patients. Typically, aortic valves are tested in healthy tissue or similar environments, which may not accurately simulate the diseased tissue in which these heart valves are usually implanted in a human. A healthy tissue environment may be more or less resistant to radial expansion than a diseased human aorta, which may result in inaccuracies in the simulated deployment such as prosthetic heart valves migrating away from the installed location in a testing environment.
There therefore is a need for improvements to the devices, systems, and methods for simulated deployment of prosthetic heart valves. Among other advantages, the present invention may address one or more of these needs.

Transcatheter heart valve delivery deployment simulator

St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.


The photoelectric circuit board according to the present invention is a photoelectric circuit board, wherein a rigid portion where at least a conductor circuit and an insulating layer are formed and layered and one or more flex portions that are bendable are integrated, external connection portions for mounting an optical element and/or a package substrate on which an optical element is mounted are formed in above-described rigid portion, and an optical circuit is formed in at least one of above-described flex portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric circuit board and a device for optical communication.
2. Discussion of the Background
To meet the miniaturization needs of device applications, a flex-rigid substrate has been conventionally used in an electric device such as personal computers, digital video cameras, digital cameras, CCD modules, liquid crystal panels and optical conversion modules.
Various kinds of flex-rigid substrates to be used in electric devices of this kind have been proposed (for example, see JP-A 06-268339).
Moreover, a larger data processing capacity and a faster data processing capacity have been demanded for the above-described devices as a result of a much improved performance and multifunction capability.
The contents of JP-A H06-268339 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Photoelectric circuit board and device for optical communication


The invention relates to a process for producing alkylated aromatics, preferably ethylbenzene, in a multiple bed reactor in which at least two catalysts, each comprising a molecular sieve, are used in sequential beds. The first alkylation catalyst is selected to have a higher activity or alpha value than the subsequent alkylation catalyst.

A variety of processes for converting aromatics in the presence of molecular sieve catalysts are known in the chemical processing industry. Aromatic conversion reactions include alkylation and transalkylation to produce alkylaromatics such as ethylbenzene (EB), ethyltoluene, cumene and higher aromatics. An alkylation reactor which produces a mixture of mono- and poly-alkylaromatic compounds may be linked in some way with a transalkylation reactor to maximize the net production of mono-alkylaromatic compounds. Such alkylation and transalkylation conversion processes can be carried out in the liquid phase, in the vapor phase, or under conditions in which both liquid and vapor phases are present. The preferred catalysts and the byproduct formation differ with the severity of reaction conditions and the phase conditions in which the reaction is carried out.
In efforts to improve commercial alkylation operations, emphasis is placed not only on the conversion efficiency of the catalyst but also on the selectivity of the catalyst, including reduced production of certain byproducts. For example, in the manufacture of ethylbenzene, ethylene and benzene are introduced into an alkylation reactor in the presence of various catalysts. Some of the byproducts include diethylbenzenes, xylenes, propylbenzene, cumene, butylbenzene, and other components referred to collectively as heavies. Production of unwanted byproducts increases feedstock usage as well as the cost of separating such unwanted byproducts. Byproducts which are not removed can materially impact the efficiency of downstream operations, such as the dehydrogenation of EB to form styrene monomer.
It has been shown that zeolites like ZSM-5 show high activity and selectivity for vapor phase alkylation of benzene with ethylene and that catalysts of this type in the acid form remain active for unusually long periods between regenerations. Discussion of acid zeolite ZSM-5 for vapor phase alkylation is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,506, which is herein fully incorporated by reference and which describes control of the exothermic heat of reaction by conducting the reaction in a series of reactors with intermediate cooling and addition of ethylene between stages.
Another process for vapor phase alkylation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,224, which is herein fully incorporated by reference. Benzene and dilute ethylene are reacted in vapor phase over a solid porous catalyst selected from ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-35, ZSM-38, and other similar materials in a series of reaction zones with intermediate injection of cold reactants and diluent to control temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,991, which is herein fully incorporated by reference, describes vapor phase ethylbenzene production in which a feedstock containing benzene and ethylene is applied to an alkylation reaction zone having at least one catalyst bed containing a monoclinic silicalite catalyst having a weak acid site concentration of less than 50 micromoles per gram.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,485, which is herein fully incorporated by reference, describes vapor phase ethylbenzene production by alkylation over a split load of monoclinic silicalite alkylation catalysts having different silica/alumina ratios. A feedstock containing benzene and ethylene is applied to a multi-stage alkylation reaction zone having a plurality of series-connected catalyst beds. At least one catalyst bed contains a first monoclinic silicalite catalyst having a silica/alumina ratio of at least 275. At least one other catalyst bed contains a second monoclinic silicalite catalyst having a silica/alumina ratio of less than about 275.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,687, which is herein fully incorporated by reference, describes ethylbenzene production by alkylation over a stacked reactor loaded with zeolite beta followed by zeolite Y to reduce overall flux oil production.
A disadvantage of vapor phase alkylation reactions is the formation of polyalkylated byproducts. While the art currently provides for various transalkylation processes to handle some of the alkylation byproducts such as diethylbenzene, it would be desirable to reduce the production of byproducts, especially byproducts that are not easily handled in an alkylation/transalkylation process. It would also be desirable to reduce the quantity of reactants consumed in production of byproducts
Recently, catalysts have been developed which allow the alkylation reactions to be carried out in the liquid phase alkylation at relatively mild reaction conditions. The reduced temperature associated with operating in the liquid phase allows for a significant reduction in undesirable by-products.
In existing facilities designed for vapor phase reactions, it can be cost-prohibitive to retrofit for a liquid phase operation unless a substantial increase in production capacity is required. Improved catalysts allowing lower temperature operation in such vapor phase facilities are highly desirable.


Systems and methods relating to patch antennas. A patch antenna has a substrate, a resonant metal plate at one side of the substrate, and a ground plane at the other opposite side of the substrate. Two feed pins are used to couple the antenna to other circuitry. The feed pins pass through the substrate and holes in at the ground plane. The feed pins are physically disconnected from both the resonant metal plate and the ground plane. The feed pins are capacitively coupled to the resonant metal plate to provide an electronic connection between other circuitry and the patch antenna.

Patch antennas are the work-horse antenna for receipt of L-band signals broadcast from satellites. These signals include Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and other communications systems such as Globalstar, Iridium and a host of other L-Band satellite communications systems such as Inmarsat.
The civilian signals transmitted from GNSS satellites are right hand circularly polarized (RHCP). Circularly Polarized (CP) signals have the advantages that the received signal level is independent of the rotation of a CP receiving antenna in a plane orthogonal to the propagation vector.
Conceptually, circularly polarized signals can be thought of as comprised of two orthogonal, linearly polarized signals offset in phase by 90 degrees ("in phase quadrature"), as shown in FIG. 1.
When a circularly polarized wave is reflected at a low impedance surface (such as metallized glass), the polarization direction becomes reversed or "cross polarized", so that a RHCP wave becomes LHCP and vice versa. Multipath interference can cause pure CP waves to become instantaneously elliptical (i.e. tending toward linear polarization) when the 'direct', RHCP wave is combined with a 'reflected' LHCP wave.
A receiving antenna with a "pure" CP response has the property that cross polarised signals are strongly rejected (−20 dB or better), significantly reducing the response to reflected signals, while reception of the direct signal is unaffected.
Considerably better positioning accuracy can be obtained in GNSS systems that have antennas with a "pure" CP response.
It has been shown that GNSS receivers with the capability to track satellites from more than one constellation are able to offer considerably improved positioning, primarily because of the larger number of satellites that can be simultaneously tracked ("in view").
As a consequence almost all new GNSS receiver chips now in development, as at the date of this application, are designed to receive signals from multiple constellations.
While all GNSS constellations broadcast navigation signals on multiple frequencies, this disclosure is concerned primarily with those broadcast in the "L" band. The GNSS constellations in service, or planned, are as set out below:                U.S: GPS-L1: 1575.42 MHz (in service)        Russian Federation: GLONASS-L1: 1602 MHz (+13, −7)*0.5625 MHz (in service)        People's Republic of China: COMPASS-L1: 1561 MHz (being deployed).        Europe: Galileo L1: 1575.42 MHz (overlay on the US GPS frequencies, planned).
Patch Antenna Types
The most widely used antenna element for reception of GPS L1 signals has been single feed ceramic patches, see FIG. 2.
Typically, such antennas are comprised of a rectangular block of low loss, high dielectric substrate material (1) such as ceramic, typically 25 mm×25 mm×4 mm or smaller. A first major surface is metalized as a ground plane (2), and a resonant metal plate is metalized on the second major surface (3). The feed pin (4) is connected to the resonant metal plate and isolated from ground, passing through an aperture in the ground plane.
This structure constitutes two orthogonal high-Q resonant cavities, one along a first major axis (5) and another along the second major axis (6) of the patch.
There are a number of well-known techniques commonly used to elicit a CP response from a single feed patch element. Two widely utilized techniques are shown in FIG. 3(a) and FIG. 3(b), wherein the feed pin (12(a)) and (12(b)) is connected to a resonant plate (10(a)) and (10(b)), having corner chamfers (9) and/or small dimensional offsets, each associated with specific feed pin locations (7), (8).
The patch is electromagnetically coupled to free space by the fringing fields between the resonant metal plate (10) and ground plane (11).
Small single feed antennas with this structure are characterized by low cost, narrow bandwidth, and a "pure" CP response at a single frequency.
Such antennas are ideal for low cost GPS receivers because the GPS L1 signal is a single frequency carrier, direct sequence modulated with the navigation and spreading signals.
The nature of a circular E-M wave inherently suggests that a circularly polarized antenna can be realized with two linearly polarized antennas that are disposed orthogonally, with summing means to combine the signals present on the two feed pins in phase quadrature.
Such a structure is achieved with a dual feed patch antenna (see FIG. 4). This, more general architecture also utilizes a substrate (12) with a ground plane (13) on first side and a square resonant metal plate on the second side (14), but has two feed pins (15) (16), connected to the resonant metal plate, each isolated from the metallized ground plane. The feed pins are equally offset from the patch center and located so that the angle subtended between two lines drawn from each feed pin location to the patch centre is 90 degrees.
Typically, but not necessarily, the feed pin positions are located on the major 'X' axis (17) and 'Y' axes (18) in the plane of the patch.
In this configuration the antenna provides two orthogonal linear antennas. At all frequencies, there is a high degree of electrical isolation between the two feed pins.
If the signals which are in phase quadrature and which are present at the feed pins, are combined in phase quadrature, the response of the antenna will either be LHCP or RHCP depending upon the polarity of the phase offset of the Q (quadrature) signal phase relative to that of the I (In-phase) signal.
Two alternate combining networks are shown in FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b). With reference to FIG. 5(a) the function of a combining network can most readily be understood in terms of summing device (19), with isolated ports (such as a Wilkinson combiner), having a 90 degree phase shift in one branch (20) (such as a λ/4 transmission line), connected between a first antenna feed (21) and a first input (22) of the summing network (19), with the second antenna feed (23) connected directly to the second input to a summing device. FIG. 5(b) shows another form of quadrature combining network that utilizes a 90-degree hybrid, a device that has precisely the required transfer function.
Dual feed antennas (including variants with aperture coupled feeds) are characterized by a narrow bandwidth, but have a "mathematically correct" response. This provides a "pure" CP response over the entire bandwidth of the antenna. The requirement for a hybrid combiner makes the dual feed architecture somewhat more costly than single feed.
Relative Characteristics of Patch Antennas
The axial ratio ("AR") parameter for a CP antenna is a measure of the maximum to minimum response to a linearly polarized wave propagating in a plane orthogonal to a line to the antenna center.
The frequency response of a single feed patch to linearly polarized excitation is a function of the field rotation relative to the receiving antenna. This effectively reveals the axial ratio. In FIG. 6, curves A and B show that the axial ratio for a typical 25 mm×25 mm×4 mm single feed patch at GPS and GLONASS frequencies is about 8 dB for certain rotation angles of the linear field (shown at Zenith).
This shows that, by its nature, a single feed patch element exhibits a truly circular response (AR=0 dB) only where the curves for all rotation angles intercept, i.e. at a single frequency. The corollary is that at the 1 dB bandwidth corner frequencies, the response is strongly elliptical.
Well-tuned single feed patch antennas are ideal for GPS because GPS L1 navigation signals are DSS modulated single frequency carriers. However, reception of multiple constellation signals requires antennas to operate over an extended bandwidth.
In urban regions GNSS signals are commonly reflected from buildings so that a delayed, cross-polarized signal is superimposed on the direct signal. The effect of poor axial ratio in a receiving antenna is that the cross polarized signals are not strongly rejected by the antenna so that the signals input to a GNSS receiver are "smeared". They are also subject to "flutter" for individual satellite signals due to cross-polarization interference (standing wave) effects.
Dual feed patch antennas theoretically can exhibit a virtually ideal axial ratio (AR=0 dB) over the entire bandwidth of the patch. This is because each axis is isolated from the other and, at higher elevation angles, both receive equal amplitudes for an incident CP wave, and contribute equally. Thus, dual feed antennas offer considerably improved performance for multi-constellation reception.
The feed impedance of a single feed patch (See FIG. 2) is a strong function of the offset distance of the feed pin from the patch center. At the resonant frequency, with the feed pin at dead centre of the patch, the feed impedance is a short circuit to ground, and a high impedance with the feed pin offset close to the edge the resonant metal patch.
For a 4 mm×25 mm×25 mm patch, the feed impedance is approximately 50 Ohms with the feed pin offset by approximately 2 mm from the patch centre. To minimise feed inductance, the physical feed pin diameter is typically about 1.5 mm diameter. Thus, the dimensions in a small patch element are too small to accommodate dual feed pins with a convenient feed impedance.
Given sufficient radio frequency ("RF") gain, the limitation to sensitivity of a GNSS receiver comprised of an antenna and a receiving circuit, is the ratio of the received signal carrier power to the total system noise, commonly referred to the antenna terminals, in a one Hertz bandwidth ("C/No")
Total system noise is at least the sum of galactic noise, local black-body radiation, man-made noise, noise generated in the receiver, plus effective noise generated as a function of losses in the antenna.
As is known, it is important to provide an optimum noise match (impedance) between the antenna and the first RF amplifier stage (known as "Γopt"). Thus, it is also important that the feed impedance of the antenna have a value that is an optimum noise match to the first RF amplifier stage, requiring a minimum of additional matching components.
Small single feed patch elements can be configured to provide a convenient (50 Ohm) real impedance but only at a single frequency.
From the aforesaid, it will be appreciated that single feed antennas are considerably deficient for reception of multiple constellation GNSS signals and it is not feasible to realized a more appropriate dual feed patch according to prior art on a small high dielectric substrate.
Furthermore, the dual feed antenna has a requirement for a signal combining network. All known combining network are relatively large compared with the dimensions of a miniaturized antenna, and all represent additional cost. There is therefore a need for a means to achieve the same combining function using smaller less expensive components.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Disclosed is a method of improving the penetration of a vitamin B3 compound into skin. The method involves a skin care regimen in which at least two skin care compositions are used in sequence to treat a target portion of skin where a skin health or appearance benefit is desired. The first composition applied to the skin is a low-pH skin care composition that contains a first concentration of a vitamin B3 compound. The second skin care composition applied to the skin is a conventional skin care composition that contains a higher concentration of the vitamin B3 compound than the first composition. When applied in the proper sequence, the regimen results in an unexpectedly high vitamin B3 flux into the skin.

Skin is the first line of defense against environmental insults that would otherwise damage sensitive underlying tissue and organs. For example, skin maintains a relatively water-impermeable barrier between an organism and its environment to prevent dehydration. Additionally, skin plays a key role in a person's physical appearance. Generally, most people desire to have younger, healthy looking skin. And to some of these people, the tell-tale signs of skin aging such as thinning skin, wrinkles, and age spots are an undesirable reminder of the disappearance of youth.
Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors can lead to a decline in skin appearance and function. For example, as skin ages naturally, there is typically a reduction in the cells and blood vessels that supply the skin and a flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction, which leads to thinning and general degradation of the skin's barrier function. Additionally, lifestyle choices and exposure to the environment (e.g., ultraviolet radiation, pollution, cigarette smoke, smog, wind, heat, low humidity, harsh surfactants, abrasives) may lead to the premature appearance of age spots and uneven skin tone. As a result, treating the signs of aging in skin has become a booming business in youth-conscious societies. Treatments range from cosmetic creams and moisturizers to various forms of cosmetic surgery.
Numerous agents, both natural and synthetic, are known for use in skin care compositions marketed to treat various skin conditions, especially those associated with aging. One example of a class of well-known skin care agents are vitamin B3 compounds such as niacinamide, which have been used in the cosmetics industry to provide a variety of skin health benefits. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,998 discloses the use of niacinamide for regulating the oily/shiny appearance on skin, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,528 discloses the use of niacinamide for regulating the signs of skin aging. More recent studies have suggested that low-pH compositions containing niacinamide may improve efficacy, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,833,398 and U.S. Publication No. 2020/0009123. However, low pH niacinamide compositions can sometimes suffer from stability problems due to their ability to ionize and complex with other ingredients in the composition. Thus, formulating with niacinamide at low pH may limit formulation flexibility. Additionally, it is believed, without being limited by theory, that ionized forms of niacinamide can inhibit penetration through the skin barrier, which is comprised of highly keratinized corneocytes in a lipid matrix.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method of improving skin penetration of a vitamin B3 compound. It would also be desirable to improve skin penetration of a stable vitamin B3 compound from a low-pH composition.

Method of improving penetration of a vitamin B3 compound into skin


A wireless communication device capable of restraining interference and thereby improving transmission quality. A wireless controller includes a wireless communication interface, and a baseband controller includes a baseband communication interface for controlling the transfer/reception of baseband signals, a logic circuit, and a memory. The wireless communication interface and the baseband communication interface are connected to each other by a communication line, and the memory stores, with respect to individual radio frequencies of a receive radio signal, bit rates for the communication line at which interference caused by noise produced around the communication line is minimized. When notified of a receive radio frequency, the logic circuit reads, from the memory, an optimum bit rate which corresponds to the receive radio frequency and at which the interference is minimized, and sets the optimum bit rate in the wireless communication interface and the baseband communication interface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication device for performing wireless communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile phone terminal comprises, as its main components, an RF transceiver (RF-IC) for converting an RF (Radio Frequency) signal to a baseband signal and vice versa, and a baseband processor IC (PHY: physics) for processing the baseband signals. In recent years, the analog interface between the RF-IC and the PHY is being replaced by a digital interface.
As such digital interfaces, DigRF has been standardized for 3G (3rd Generation) applications and JC-61 has been standardized for WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) applications.
These standards permit interconnection between the RF-IC and the PHY, and since hardware connectivity is guaranteed for ICs complying with the standards, the standardization is expected to accelerate liberalization of the digital mobile phone component market.
FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic configuration of a mobile phone terminal. The mobile phone terminal 5 comprises an antenna section 50, an RF-IC 60, and a PHY 70. The illustrated terminal is of a direct conversion type wherein an RF signal with a frequency equal to that of the carrier wave is directly converted to a baseband signal and vice verse without involving an IF (Intermediate Frequency) stage.
The antenna section 50 includes antennas 51 and 52, a switch 53, and band-pass filters 54a, 55b-1 and 55b-2. The RF-IC 60 includes amplifiers 61a, 61b-1 and 61b-2, an adder 62, mixers 63a-1, 63a-2 and 63b-1 to 63b-4, D/A converters 64a-1 and 64a-2, A/D converters 64b-1 to 64b-4, a multiplexer (MUX) 65, a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 66, a driver 67, a receiver 68, and a synthesizer 69. The PHY 70 includes a driver 71, a receiver 72, a multiplexer 73, a demultiplexer 74, and a logic circuit 75.
When the RF signal is to be received, the switch 53 switches to a receive side (the antenna 51 is connected to the input terminal of the band-pass filter 55b-1). The RF signal received by the antennas 51 and 52 is input to the band-pass filters 55b-1 and 55b-2 through which a desired RF frequency is passed to be sent to the RF-IC 60.
The RF signal output from the band-pass filter 55b-1 is applied to the amplifier 61b-1 in the RF-IC 60, and the amplifier 61b-1 provides differential outputs, which then are supplied to the mixers 63b-1 and 63b-2. Similarly, the RF signal output from the band-pass filter 55b-2 is applied to the amplifier 61b-2 in the RF-IC 60, and the amplifier 61b-2 provides differential outputs, which are input to the mixers 63b-3 and 63b-4.
The synthesizer 69 outputs in-phase (I) local signals I(+) and I(−) having the same frequency as the RF frequency (I(+) and I(−) are opposite in phase), and also outputs quadrature (Q) local signals Q(+) and Q(−) (Q(+) and Q(−) are opposite in phase) with the same frequency.
The mixer 63b-1 mixes the RF signal (+), which is one of the signals output from the amplifier 61b-1, with the local signal I(+) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate a baseband signal. Also, the mixer 63b-1 mixes the RF signal (−), which is the other signal output from the amplifier 61b-1, with the local signal I(−) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate a baseband signal.
On the other hand, the mixer 63b-2 mixes the RF signal (+) output from the amplifier 61b-1 with the local signal Q(+) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate a baseband signal. Also, the mixer 63b-2 mixes the RF signal (−) output from the amplifier 61b-1 with the local signal Q(−) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate a baseband signal. The mixers 63b-3 and 63b-4 carry out identical processes.
The analog baseband signals output from the mixers 63b-1 to 63b-4 are input to the A/D converters 64b-1 to 64b-4, respectively, which then perform analog/digital conversion to obtain digital baseband signals.
The A/D converter 64b-1 outputs an I digital baseband signal generated from the RF signal received by the antenna 51, and the A/D converter 64b-2 outputs a Q digital baseband signal generated from the RF signal received by the antenna 51.
Also, the A/D converter 64b-3 outputs an I digital baseband signal generated from the RF signal received by the antenna 52, and the A/D converter 64b-4 outputs a Q digital baseband signal generated from the RF signal received by the antenna 52.
The multiplexer 65 multiplexes the two I baseband signals output from the A/D converters 64b-1 and 64b-3 into one baseband signal, and also multiplexes the two Q baseband signals output from the A/D converters 64b-2 and 64b-4 into one baseband signal. The two, I and Q digital baseband signals thus obtained are output to the driver 67, which then sends the signals to the PHY 70.
In the PHY 70, the receiver 72 receives the digital baseband signals and outputs the received signals to the demultiplexer 74. The demultiplexer 74 demultiplexes the baseband signals into a number of signals equal to that before the multiplexing, which signals are sent to the logic circuit 75, where a predetermined process is performed on the received baseband signals.
A wireless technology using multiple antennas to transmit and receive data is called MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). In the mobile phone terminal 5, the two antennas 51 and 52 are used to receive data, and the received data is multiplexed and then demultiplexed, thereby enabling communication tolerant to multipath fading.
When transmitting an RF signal, on the other hand, the switch 53 switches to a transmit side (the antenna 51 is connected to the output terminal of the band-pass filter 54a). The logic circuit 75 in the PHY 70 generates and outputs digital baseband signals, and the multiplexer 73 multiplexes the received baseband signals. The driver 71 sends the multiplexed baseband signals to the RF-IC 60.
In the RF-IC 60, the receiver 68 receives the multiplexed digital baseband signals and outputs the received signals to the demultiplexer 66. The demultiplexer 66 demultiplexes the baseband signals into the number of signals equal to that before the multiplexing, and outputs the demultiplexed signals to the D/A converters 64a-1 and 64a-2.
The D/A converters 64a-1 and 64a-2 each subject the corresponding baseband signal to digital/analog conversion, to generate two analog baseband signals. The mixer 63a-1 mixes one of the baseband signals output from the D/A converter 64a-1 with the local signal I(+) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate an RF signal. Also, the mixer 63a-1 mixes the other baseband signal output from the D/A converter 64a-1 with the local signal I(−) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate an RF signal.
On the other hand, the mixer 63a-2 mixes one of the baseband signals output from the D/A converter 64a-2 with the local signal Q(+) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate an RF signal. Also, the mixer 63a-2 mixes the other baseband signal output from the D/A converter 64a-2 with the local signal Q(−) output from the synthesizer 69, to generate an RF signal.
The adder 62 adds together the two signals output from the mixer 63a-1 and respectively mixed with the local signals I(+) and I(−), and also adds together the two signals output from the mixer 63a-2 and respectively mixed with the local signals Q(+) and Q(−), to generate I and Q RF signals.
The amplifier 61a combines differential inputs, namely, the two RF signals, into one signal, which is sent to the band-pass filter 54a. The band-pass filter 54a passes a desired RF frequency therethrough, the resulting RF signal being transmitted from the antenna 51 into the air.
As conventional techniques, a technique has been proposed wherein the interface between the radio portion and the baseband portion employs 8B/10B encoding for communication (PCT-based Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-502679 (paragraph nos. [0008] to [0013], FIG. 1)).
The range of bit rates that can be set for the digital interfaces between the RF-IC 60 and the PHY 70 of the mobile phone terminal 5 has its lower and upper limits determined, respectively, by the transmission band and the specifications of high-speed I/O devices (drivers, receivers, etc.). For example, where the RF signal received by the two branches (two antennas 51 and 52) has a frequency bandwidth of 20 MHz, the bandwidth of each of the two branch outputs after the mixing is about 10 MHz.
Also, provided the resolution of the digital signal after the A/D conversion is 10 bits (in FIG. 14, each signal line labeled "10 bits" represents ten 1-bit signal lines), the bandwidth of one A/D output line equals a bit rate of about 20 Mb/s. Accordingly, the lower-limit bit rate of the digital interface between the driver 67 and the receiver 72 is derived as 800 Mb/s (=20 Mb/s×10 bits×2 (two I and Q signals)×2 (two branches)).
The bit rate 800 MB/s is, however, a value reckoned taking account only of the I and Q signals; in practice, a minimum of 1 Gb/s is required where control signals, such as those for error correction by redundant encoding, and other header information are taken into consideration (as for the upper-limit bit rate, a maximum of about 3 Gb/s is currently available, depending on the specifications of high-speed I/O devices).
Conventional lower-speed interfaces between the RF-IC and the PHY used to have a bit rate of about 100 Mb/s. The RF frequency at the antenna section is of the order of several GHz (e.g., 1 GHz) and its frequency band is spaced significantly from that of the interface. Accordingly, conventional terminals are not associated with the problem that the transmission quality degrades due to noticeable interference.
In the latest mobile phone terminal 5, on the other hand, the digital interface between the RF-IC 60 and the PHY 70 has an even higher bit rate because of multiplexing and increased rate per signal line, as stated above.
Consequently, the frequency band of the signal transferred through the digital interface approaches the RF frequency band at the antenna section 50, and thus a problem arises in that noise produced at the digital interface leaks into the antenna section 50, causing such an interference as to degrade the transmission quality.
FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating interference between the digital interface and the antenna section 50. The figure shows the manner of how noise produced at the digital interface leaks to the antenna section 50 through a certain isolation and enters the RF-IC 60 via an input terminal Pin for the RF signal.
Noise is thought to reach the antenna section 50 mainly through the air, GND (ground) or power supply, and electromagnetic waves generated at the digital interface travel through the air, GND or power supply to the antenna section 50. If such a phenomenon occurs, the noise affects the RF frequency and the noise-containing RF signal enters the RF-IC 60 and is processed, causing degradation of the transmission quality.
The term "isolation" represents an element that causes a change in the amount of interference (the amount of noise leak) and is an index indicating to what extent the interference is reduced. For example, where the signal output from the output terminal of a certain circuit fluctuates by 1 V and if the isolation between the input and output terminals of the circuit is −60 dB, the signal input to the input terminal fluctuates by 1 mV due to the interference. (When converted to antilogarithm, −60 dB equals 10−60/20=0.001, and therefore, a fluctuation corresponding to 1/1000 of 1 V appears at the input terminal. Namely, 1 V×0.001=1 mV.)
Similarly, if the isolation is −80 dB, the signal input to the input terminal fluctuates by 0.1 mV. (When converted to antilogarithm, −80 dB equals 10−80/20=0.0001, and therefore, 1 V×0.0001=0.1 mV.) If the isolation is −100 dB, the signal input to the input terminal fluctuates by 0.01 mV. (When converted to antilogarithm, −100 dB equals 10−100/200=0.00001, and therefore, 1 V×0.00001=0.01 mV.)
Interference occurs to a certain extent, and the amount of interference varies also in accordance with the value of the isolation as mentioned above. (Under the same environmental conditions, the smaller the value of the isolation, the smaller the amount of interference becomes.)
FIG. 16 represents frequency spectra of signals traveling through the digital interface, wherein the vertical axis indicates signal strength (mVrms) and the horizontal axis indicates frequency (MHz). The figure represents simulation results obtained with NRZ (non-return to zero) signals transferred through the digital interface between the driver 67 and the receiver 72.
Spectrum g1 represents the strength of a signal traveling through the digital interface at a bit rate of 1 Gb/s, and spectrum g2 represents the strength of a signal traveling through the digital interface at a bit rate of 1.5 Gb/s.
Where the isolation between the digital interface and the input terminal Pin is −120 dB, the strength of the signal at the digital interface is, in the case of the spectrum g1, equal to 8.6 mVrms at the RF frequency 1.5 GHz, and therefore, noise leaking from the digital interface into the input terminal Pin is equal to 8.6 nVrms (=8.6 mVrms×0.000001).
Usually, the amplitude of the RF signal at the input terminal Pin has a small value of about 1 nV, and when the bit rate of the digital interface is 1 Gb/s as in the spectrum g1, the noise has an amplitude greater than that of the signal (1 nV<8.6 nV). Consequently, the isolation value −120 dB is not small enough, and the isolation needs to be lowered further.
To set the isolation to a desired value, design and implementation may be modified so that the amount of interference may fall within an allowable range (e.g., a multilayer substrate is used to increase the thickness of the GND pattern). This technique, however, leads to increase in cost.
On the other hand, when the bit rate of the digital interface is 1.5 Gb/s as in the spectrum g2, the signal strength at the digital interface is equal to 0.2 mVrms at the RF frequency 1.5 GHz, and therefore, noise leaking from the digital interface into the input terminal Pin is equal to 0.2 nVrms (=0.2 mVrms×0.000001). In this case, the amplitude of the signal is greater than that of the noise (0.2 nV<1 nV).
Accordingly, where the isolation is −120 dB, the amount of noise leak can be reduced by raising the bit rate of the digital interface to 1.5 Gb/s. This holds true, however, only with respect to the RF frequency 1.5 GHz. The RF frequency varies depending on the wireless communication standard and the country where the terminal is used. In practice, therefore, a specific frequency cannot be set, and it is not possible to restrict the amount of noise leak to a fixed level or lower with respect to various RF frequencies.
For example, in FIG. 16, the relationship of signal strength between the spectra g1 and g2 is reversed at the RF frequency 2 GHz, compared with the relationship at the RF frequency 1.5 GHz. This reveals that for the same isolation (=−120 dB) and at the RF frequency 2 GHz, the amount of noise leak is greater when the bit rate of the digital interface is 1.5 Gb/s (spectrum g2) than when the bit rate of the digital interface is 1 Gb/s (spectrum g1).
In the case of lower RF frequencies represented in FIG. 16, the signal strength at the digital interface is high irrespective of at what bit rate the NRZ signal may be transferred, under the condition that the bit rate of the digital interface is at or above 1 Gb/s, for example. With respect to low RF frequencies, therefore, significant noise is produced at all times.
Thus, with increase in the bit rate of the digital interface between the RF-IC and the PHY, the extent to which the digital interface interferes with the antenna section 50 increases. Since the amount of noise leak varies depending on the RF frequency, however, the interference cannot be effectively restrained by merely setting the bit rate of the digital interface to a specific value.
Future RF-ICs are required to deal with various RF frequencies on a single chip, and thus it is difficult to restrain noise over the entire RF frequency range with the bit rate between the RF-IC and the PHY fixed.


An information interaction method is applied to a first terminal installed with an interaction program, the first terminal is connected to a second terminal installed with a voice player and a lighting device, and the method includes: acquiring, by the first terminal, at least one type of interaction information of voice information, text information and expression information and at least one interaction effect of a sound effect and a lighting effect that are corresponding to the interaction information; and sending acquired effect data to the second terminal according to the interaction information and the interaction effect, the second terminal displaying the effect data.

With the continuous development of information technologies, application scenarios of information interaction increase. For example, information interaction may be applied to a scenario of children education, to increase parent-children interaction and convenience and enjoyment of communication. Therefore, how to perform information interaction becomes an issue concerned by people.
Currently, when performing information interaction, two terminals need to be separately installed with an App (application) that supports an intercom function, and after the App is opened, the two terminals need to be connected via Bluetooth. After the two terminals are connected successfully, information interaction may be performed. In the information interaction process, one terminal acquires voice information, and sends the acquired voice information to the other connected terminal, and the other terminal plays the voice information.
During an implementation process of the present disclosure, the inventor found that the foregoing method has at least the following problems:
Because when the foregoing method is used to perform information interaction, two interacted terminals need to be separately installed with an App that supports an intercom function, and interacted information is voice information, the foregoing information interaction manner has certain limitations, and the interaction manner is relatively single, which are adverse to the application of information interaction.

Information interaction method and terminal

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A storage apparatus uses the tube of an overhead door hinge to releasably attach a rack to hang storage items. The storage apparatus has a mounting hook affixed to a rigid rail and may also includes a support bracket for retaining space between the overhead door and the storage apparatus such that it remains parallel to the door when closed. An alternative embodiment includes a mounting bracket which can be attached to an overhead door and used in lieu of the hinges. Another embodiment includes a single hook which swings freely from the overhead door when mounted.

The garages of homeowners and renters are notoriously cluttered as more and more items are not stored in the home due to inside storage space limitations, size, awkward shape of object, seasonality, or nature of being for outdoor use. Not only do the neighbors occasionally see this unsightly clutter, but also it can be a nuisance and danger to those walking around it. There is a need for an attractive storage system where items, and even the storage apparatus for storage one transports one's items in, can be stored and retrieved safely, quickly, and easily and that uses a previously unused storage area.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,823 and publication 20060038468 indicate a way that storage boxes can be attached to an overhead door panel. In both cases the storage boxes are bolted or screwed to the garage door panel, which causes it to be slow to install and remove, and requires tools for attachment. It will also damage and leave holes in the overhead door panel after removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,539 indicates a way to store fishing rods on a rack attached to an overhead door panel. These racks, like the previous prior art example, are also bolted or screwed to the overhead door panel, are also slow to install and remove, will require tools to attach, and will also damage and leave holes in the overhead door panel after removal.
The Cobra storage system rack can be bolted or screwed directly to the overhead door panel, and in some cases, the door panel trim must be bent back from the frame holding the panel and attached at that point. The Cobra storage system is a rigid device that requires tools for attachment and is slow to install and remove. If the Cobra storage system is not screwed or bolted into the panel, it can be removed without damage to the garage door panel other than a possible slight bending of the door panel trim. The Cobra rack's closed loop design requires that the most of the fishing rods and long garden tools, for which it was designed, be threaded in from the side. This is difficult and can be impossible in some single car garages.
Publication 20110067310 uses the screw, or nut and bolt hardware that attaches the overhead door hinge to the overhead door in order to attach a flat netting to an overhead door panel. This netting is not designed to be easily removable. It will be slow to install and uninstall the netting. It may be difficult to fit the netting correctly without it being custom made. The reason it may need to be custom made is that it is up to each garage door installer to decide how many sets and how far apart horizontally the overhead door hinges are installed on an overhead door so there is no set length between the hinges to which the netting attaches itself.
Publication 20120234505 uses the outside of the overhead door hinge's pivoting horizontal cylinder to loop flexible strapping between two vertical hinges. This strapping also contains loops of strap for one to slide in fishing rods. The attachment method, though a little faster than the other options, still will take some time to thread and then loop each end through the hinges, and then hold the strap in place while tightening the strap through the fastener. The strapping lacks the sturdiness and clean appearance of more rigid racks. In addition, the strapping is very difficult to thread a fishing rod through. Also, threading in from the side, in some single car garages, is impossible.
We have found each prior art example mentioned above has weak or non-existent features:                a. Prior art examples manner of attaching their device to the garage door makes it difficult to attach easily or quickly.        b. Prior art examples use loops to hold storage items. It is difficult, cumbersome and time consuming to thread storage items through loops because it requires coming in from the side. Coming in from the side for some tools, sports equipment, and fishing rods in some small garages is not possible due to the space limitations.        c. Prior art of rigid storage systems all require tools for installation and damage the overhead door panel.        d. Prior art examples require multiple steps and considerable time to produce each unit so it increases the cost of their manufacturing and their consumer sale price


An image decoding apparatus obtains the prediction error or a restored image of the encoding object image by inverse processing of the encoding processing of encoded image data encoded by motion compensation predictive coding, in which a restored image is obtained by adding the prediction error and a reference image, a reduced size image of the restored image is generated and stored along with the restored image; wherein, when an image is encoded by an encoding mode that uses reference pixels that include two times or more number of pixels of a region of a predetermined number of pixels, a reference image is obtained by reading out and expanding the stored reduced size image of the restored image, and when an image is encoded using reference pixels of less than two times a number of pixels of the predetermined number of pixels, the reference image is obtained from the stored restored image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image decoding apparatus and image decoding method that enables a reduction in a memory bandwidth.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, accompanying the spread of the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) and H.264 standards and the like, image processing has become digitalized. As a result, the transmission of high quality HD image data is also being widely performed. On the other hand, because of the widespread use of portable terminals such as mobile phones, the necessity to display images of a comparatively low resolution is also high. Further, display apparatuses for displaying standard quality SD images are also in widespread use. Thus, the demand for devices that can generate images of a lower resolution (reduced image) than the resolution of the input image data is also high.
The processing speeds of most devices that are equipped with a decoding apparatus that generates a reduced image in this manner are comparatively slow. Therefore, in this kind of apparatus, there is the drawback that, in order to secure the necessary data transfer speed when performing processing to decode image data it is necessary to increase the bit width of the memory interface. For example, when the required memory bandwidth in a mobile telephone or the like is large, in order to enable storage of image data in an external memory, the number of pins of the external memory increases and the package size of the memory also increases.
In this regard, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-4440 discloses technology that can reduce a memory bandwidth by generating an image with a reduced resolution (reduced image) when decoding high quality encoded image data. In that proposed technology, by simply compressing and retaining reference images used for decoding processing, the data amount required for decoding processing is reduced to enable reduction of the memory bandwidth.
However, according to the technology in that proposal, all the reference images are obtained by thinning-out processing, and there is thus a drawback that errors when performing difference decoding are accumulated, which deteriorates the image quality.

Image decoding apparatus and image decoding method