A method for restoring worn or damaged sun visors for a vehicle to a like-new appearance typical of original sun visors. Any deteriorated upholstery and padding material that covers the core/frame of an original sun visor may be removed and discarded. A new cover is fabricated with an appropriate size to slip over the old visor. The cover is made by sewing together front and rear panels along about 50 percent of their juxtaposed edges. Each panel is shaped like the original core, and has a structural base made of a thin sheet of chipboard or the like; each panel is sufficiently stiff as to be self-supporting. Each panel is cosmetically completed by providing it with an outer covering of finished upholstery material or the like. The slip cover may be placed about a visor core, or about an entire visor, to provide a new outer surface. Once the new slip cover has been slipped over the visor core, the confronting edges along that part of the cover that is still open are then secured to one another, preferably with a fastener like Velcro. This permits the new slip cover to be removed at a later time, if desired, for cleaning, etc. The visor core or old visor may be enveloped with the new slip cover while the structural core is still affixed to a vehicle, or the visor may be removed--and the repair work done on a workbench.

This invention relates generally to vehicular sun visors of the type that are commonly used in automobiles, trucks, recreational vehicles and the like; more particularly, it relates to a method and an assembly for restoring original equipment sun visors to a like-new appearance.
Most large vehicles for carrying passengers (including automobiles, buses, trucks, recreational vehicles, etc.) are equipped with sun visors that are mounted above the vehicle's windshield and along that portion of the body header adjacent the upper edge of the windshield. Because all such sun visors (also known as sun shades) are essentially the same in function, if not in length or width, they will be referred to herein as if they were designed for use on automobiles. Such visors are usually connected to the body header near the windshield pillar by use of a mounting bracket and hinge assembly. This arrangement enables rotational movement (about an essentially vertical axis) and translational adjustment of the visor (about a horizontal axis). Other construction features, common to a wide variety of visors, include application of an attractive outer fabric, or other finish material, over a firm core. The core often includes a wooden or plastic foundation and resilient foam or other padding.
Despite their simple mechanical operation and the minimal functional requirements which they are designed to meet, the designs and shapes of sun visors are diverse. In part, this is attributable to the many variations in vehicle body style. For example, it is well known that when the visor is moved into a storage position against the header, the visor shape must conform with a curvature that is specific to a particular header structure. Thus, many visors include flexible flaps or hinged end portions. Examples of such are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,610,680 and 5,031,951. Moreover, visor geometries are somewhat dependent on the sizes and shapes of windshields and adjoining side windows. They may also be "optimized" for a particular vehicle to best accommodate drivers of various heights, in order to protect the maximum possible number of people from sunlight and glare.
Because they are subject to both manual handling and the direct rays of the sun, visors frequently deteriorate in appearance after they have been subjected to a harsh environment for a period of years. In fact, many visors deteriorate to the point that they are very unattractive; and because they are so prominently visible in front of a driver's or passenger's eyes, they often need to be replaced before the rest of the vehicle has deteriorated to the point of justifying a final trip to a dumping yard. With original equipment manufactures (often abbreviated as O.E.M.) often having to redesign sun visors every time that body styles change, the limited market demand for each style, size and color simply has not supported an after-market source for replacement visors. In fact, because visor fabrics are normally coordinated with the upholstery of each vehicle, custom work has nearly always been required in order to replace or restore a worn visor.
As is typical for articles of mass manufacture, original equipment visors are assembled in programmed manufacturing operations that incorporate customized equipment. Such programmed operations routinely provide a high quality, uniform appearance. For example, when the finish material is applied over the visor core, tension is applied in a predetermined manner to prevent pull out and "bagging" of the material during or after assembly. When the final seam is sewn along the visor edge, the stitching that is visible through the relatively thick visor material appears uniform and evenly spaced from each edge. Generally, original equipment manufacturers are quite successful at providing fast, low cost manufacture of visor products; and their products (which are produced with the use of jigs, fixtures, precision cut pieces of material, etc.) can be expected to retain a neat appearance for many months.
In contrast, when visor repair becomes necessary, the process of restoring a visor to a high quality, uniform appearance is typically a very labor-intensive activity in which a trained and experienced individual must try to duplicate the appearance of assembly line products. Indeed, the expense of repairing or restoring most any visor to an appearance similar to that of the original product is primarily attributable to the labor and skill that is involved in trying to duplicate the quality of original manufacture.
Visor restoration frequently calls for replacement of deteriorated foam padding as well as the outer fabric. Although these materials are normally available and of reasonable cost, the added effort to replace the pad may require efforts at duplicating original manufacturing steps but without customized or heavy duty equipment. For example, in a visor having a flexible flap, a relatively hard visor core may need to be replaced or supplemented before any new foam can be added. In order to ensure that the new visor flap will fit the header curvature and operate in a hinge-like manner, careful alignment and stitching along or through a hard core may be required.
For reasons noted above, after-market visor replacements have not been available on a "universal" basis. But there have been limited efforts to develop some special techniques for visor restoration. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,971 to McLaughlin which describes a plastic-like, or rubberized, slip cover for placement over a sun visor. Portions of the cover are heat shrinkable over a stable core; however, such efforts are not directed toward restoring a visor to the appearance that is typical of a carefully upholstered piece of furniture. Nor has there been made available a simple, efficient means for restoring any of the desirable features associated with certain visor components, e.g., a well-padded appearance. Nor has there been available a simple technique for creating a flexible flap which operates in the same controlled manner as the original visor flap. It is therefore desirable to have a time-saving process which provides quality restoration for a wide variety of sun visors.


A surface coil arrangement of a gradient system for an MR tomography apparatus has coil elements mounted on a first antenna, the antenna being extendable by at least one further antenna that likewise includes an arrangement of at least one coil element, and which is detachably or movably fastened to the first antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a surface coil arrangement for a magnetic resonance tomography of the type wherein an arrangement of coil elements is mounted on an antenna, and wherein the antenna can be extended in size by at least one further antenna element that likewise carries an arrangement of at least one coil element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A surface coil arrangement of the above general type is known from PCT Application WO 03/025607 A1.
Such surface coil arrangements are used in magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), as reception coil systems and possibly at the same time as transmission coils, for which purpose they are placed directly at the region to be examined on the body surface of a patient examined in the MR tomography apparatus. The examination subject is thereby exposed essentially from only one side, i.e., signals are acquired only on one side. In order to counteract the decay of the signal intensity that occurs with increasing distance from the reception coil, arrangements known as "array coils" are used, meaning an arrangement of a number of reception coils. A number of reception coils are operated simultaneously in such an arrangement. The signals of the individual coils (array channels) are supplied to separate receivers and an image is initially calculated for each array channel. These images are then added using suitable combination logarithms, and an image with a large measurement field and a high signal/noise ratio is created. These array coils are suite, for example, for spinal column examinations in which the spinal column can be completely mapped without coil exchange or coil displacement. Coils known as body coils that are situated very close to the body and are used in abdomen or back imaging are a further application.
Conventional body array coils are known that are designed for placement on an average patient body. MR acquisitions in a plane perpendicular to the body axis of the patient depend essentially on the "patient body circumference". This varies from patient to patient, for example as a result of obesity, pregnancy or even because the patient is an infant.
If the patient is obese or if the patient is a pregnant woman, the sides of the patient are not covered by the body array. This leads to a signal discontinuity in the middle of the body of the patient. By contrast, if the patient is extremely thin or a child, the coil is too large for the patient. The coil edges rest on the examination table; the coil cannot be optimally fixed.
WO 03/025607 A1 describes a surface coil arrangement of a gradient system for MR tomography in which a number of coil elements are arranged next to one another. The coil elements are attached to one another without overlap by latches or snaps or the like. A step-by-step adaptation to the circumference of the measurement region to be examined can thereby ensue. Nevertheless, due to fit inaccuracies poorly-exposed areas or poorly-received signals still can occur when the coil arrangement is not situated entirely surrounding the body of the person to be examined because it is too large or does not fully cover the body region because it is too small.
EP 1 521 094 A1 describes a similar arrangement in which a large number of coil elements are mechanically connected with one another, arranged in columns and rows.
DE 102 44 173 describes with an antenna arrangement for magnetic resonance apparatuses in which an inductive coupling of adjacent antenna groups is effected. If the patient is obese or if the patient is a pregnant woman, the sides of the patient are not covered by the body array. A signal discontinuity in the middle of the body of the patient thus occurs.

Surface coil arrangement for magnetic resonance tomographs


A downward transmission line D and an upward transmission line U are provided with a control channel CCH and n pieces of voice channels VCH1-VCHn respectively. Control channel use flag data 101 showing a "free" or "engaged" state of the channel, mode data 102 showing "a control channel retention mode" or "a call-out mode", call-out station number data 103 showing "a station number of a call-out tributary station", transmission voice channel number data 104 showing "a number of voice channel for transmission", reception voice channel number data 105 showing "a number of voice channel for reception", and call-in subscriber number data 106 showing "a subscriber number of a call-in subscriber", are multiplexed on the control channel CCH. Voice channel use flag data 201 showing a "free" or "engaged" state of the cannel and voice data 202 being individual data are multiplexed on each of the voice channels VCH1-VCHn.

The present invention relates to a hierarchical bus type multidirectional multiplex communication system.
The hierarchical bus type multidirectional multiplex communication system has been composed of, for example, a master station and a plurality of relay stations and tributary stations hierarchically connected to the master station respectively. The hierarchical bus type multidirectional multiplex communication system is structured such that, when a fault is generated in any one of the master station or the relay stations of the system, a relay station positioned one rank lower than the master station or the relay station having the fault can perform the same function as the master station does, thereby making a plurality of lower order tributary stations positioned lower than the relay station able to communicate normally.
However, to realize the above, the relay station positioned one rank lower than the fault-generated master station or relay station must have a complex function the same as the master station, because it must control the lower order stations in the same way as the master station by performing switching control based on the preliminarily prepared station data of the lower order stations.

Hierarchical bus type multidirectional multiplex communication system


A time-interleaved digital-to-analog converter (DAC) includes a digital processing circuit, a time-domain dynamic element matching (TDEM) circuit, a plurality of DACs, and a combining circuit. The digital processing circuit generates data sequences according to the digital signal. The data sequences include a first data sequence and a second data sequence. The TDEM circuit swaps a portion of the first data sequence with a portion of the second data sequence to generate a first adjusted data sequence and a second adjusted data sequence. The DACs include a first DAC and a second DAC. The first DAC has a first DAC cell that operates in response to the first adjusted data sequence. The second DAC has a second DAC cell that operates in response to the second adjusted data sequence. The combining circuit generates the analog signal by combining analog outputs of the DACs.

The present invention relates to digital-to-analog conversion, and more particularly, to a time-interleaved digital-to-analog converter with time-domain dynamic element matching and an associated method.
High speed and large bandwidth digital-to-analog converters (DACs) are in great demand for a variety of applications. Time-interleaved DACs enable high speed digital-to-analog conversion operation but suffer from distortion due to mismatches between different DAC channels. Thus, there is a need for innovative time-interleaved DAC architecture which can mitigate the distortion caused by gain mismatch, offset mismatch and/or timing mismatch between different DAC channels.

Time-interleaved digital-to-analog converter with time-domain dynamic element matching and associated method


Techniques and structures to synchronize hierarchical data, comprising. A conflict between data stored at a computing device and data stored at a service provider database is detected. A synchronization operation is performed to synchronize a plurality of objects within the hierarchical entity data stored at the computing device with hierarchical entity data stored at the service provider database.

Data synchronization is the process of establishing consistency among data from a source to a target data storage and vice versa, and the continuous harmonization of the data over time. For instance, in mobile device applications, a mobile device can be represented by a node in a network that is intermittently connected to the network and needs to synchronize regularly with other nodes on the network to maintain the consistency of its data. However, the efficient synchronization of hierarchical data between mobile devices and server databases has suffered from limitations.
Hierarchical data is a data model in which the data is organized into a tree-like structure. The data is stored as records that are connected to one another through links. A record is a collection of fields, with each field containing only one value. The entity type of a record defines which fields the record contains. The problem with hierarchical data synchronization is that multiple synchronization calls are typically necessary to sync one object at a time. Since wireless bandwidth between the mobile device and the target database is often limited, the syncing of graphs or related objects, which include numerous objects, is inefficient.

Mechanism for synchronization of hierarchical data between a mobile device and multi tenant database


The invention pertains to a martial arts training device, a kit for assembling the device, and a method of using the device. The device includes a vertical elongate shaft supported by a rotary bearing, the rotary bearing supported by a base such that the shaft can rotate freely 360 degrees in either direction, the device including at least four arms, each arm extending out from the shaft at about a right angles thereto, the arms being located in spaced apart relationship both with respect to the length of the shaft and with respect to orientation around the shaft in a plane normal to the shaft, wherein each arm after a first arm has a predecessor arm along the shaft, and each arm after the first arm is rotated at least 60° with respect to its predecessor arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to an interactive training device for martial arts training and physical conditioning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditional martial arts disciplines such as Karate and Kung Fu or Tae-kwan-do are based on learning and practicing katas. Katas are systematic standardized series of defensive and offensive movements, including hand and kicking motions, performed in sequence against one or more imaginary opponents. The katas are repeated and learned and once learned become the methods for defending from a real attack. The katas can be practiced on special standardized wooden dummies, consisting of a vertical wooden shaft having three arms extending horizontally from the vertical shaft, and a leg extending outward and then down to the floor. The top two arms are at about shoulder level and displaced from each other by about 32 degrees, approximating an opponent's outstretched arms. The third arm is at mid torso level, roughly aligned with one of the top two arms. A "leg" is directed outward from the vertical shaft at about knee level and then downward towards the floor. The leg is aligned with the two aligned horizontal arms. A martial arts practitioner practices katas by striking and kicking the arms and leg. It is important to note that all of the action of a wooden dummy is confined to a 32 degree sector of the circumference of the vertical shaft. In one type of wooden dummy, the vertical shaft is supported by a wooden framework with attachments for wall mounting. In a second type of wooden dummy known as a spinning dummy or a spinning "Wing Chun" dummy, the vertical shaft is mounted in a bearing within a small base, such that the vertical shaft can rotate and such that the dummy is free standing. Both fixed and spinning dummies have a common arrangement of the shaft, arms and legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,013 discloses a device for combat training having a fixed vertical shaft with at least one elongate cross arm pivotally extending through the shaft on both sides, so that when one end of the cross arm is struck by a user the cross arm rotates around and the user is required to defend against being struck by the other end of the cross bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,679 discloses a device for practicing Karate strikes with a horizontal target mounted on a vertical shaft, the shaft having a mechanism which resists rotation such that when the target is struck it has a range of motion and the snaps back to its original position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,920 discloses a plurality of targets attached to and extending away from a stationary vertical shaft, wherein the targets are connected with connectors which allow a target to move when struck and then spring back to the original position.
These and other training devices are effective in allowing a user to practice kata movements and to gain skill in applying hand and foot strikes. However, the prior art training devices do not provide a training dummy that provides a martial arts practitioner with a full body dynamic training session where his offensive and defensive fighting timing, coordination and instincts are developed without the need to learn a particular series of predefined movement patterns such as katas.
There is a need for a martial arts training device that provides a practitioner with a continuous dynamic training session to practice both offensive and defensive attacks over a wide range of the body with continuous interactions from shoulder to knee level.
There is a need for a martial arts training device that allows a practitioner to develop offensive and defensive fighting techniques, timing and instincts which are not tied to certain predefined movement patterns.
There is a need for a martial arts training device that provides a continuous dynamic training to practice both offensive and defensive attacks over a wide range of the body with continuous interactions from shoulder to knee level which is easy and intuitive to use and inexpensive to build.

Interactive martial arts training apparatus


A 1×N fanout waveguide detector is disclosed. The detector includes a multiple-mode interference (MMI) cavity with input and output ends. A single-mode waveguide is optically coupled to the input end of the MMI cavity so that the optical power in the guided mode is distributed over N modes. The MMI cavity forms N interference nodes at or near its output end. N waveguide detectors are optically coupled to the output end at or near the N interference nodes. The waveguide detectors each have a waveguide that is evanescently coupled to an intrinsic region of a PIN detector. The width of the detector waveguide core, which can be sub-micron, defines the carrier collection distance between the electrodes of the PIN detector. Further, the length of the detector waveguide can be selected to maximize optical absorption to provide optimum quantum efficiency. The waveguide detectors are connected in parallel to provide a high-output photocurrent.

There are many lightwave applications, such as optical telecommunications and chip interconnects, that involve transmitting optical signals and converting them to electrical signals at high data rates. The systems for performing such transmission and conversion usually require a photodetector compatible with the speed and bandwidth of the optical signal. The typical photodetectors are PIN (p-type/intrinsic semiconductor material/n-type) semiconductor detectors.
To date, it has been a challenge to make a Si-based semiconductor PIN photodetector with a bandwidth of 10 GHz or greater. Conventional discrete PIN Si detectors operate at speeds of 2 GHz or less because of their relatively low absorption coefficient and low carrier collection efficiency. The best Si detector known today is the interdigitated lateral trench device (LTD), which operates at speeds of up to 6.5 GHz due to improved absorption by the trench structure.
It is well known that excess optical power density in PIN photodetectors causes detector speed degradation. This is especially true for waveguide-based PIN photodetectors because light is coupled in to a small region about the size of the waveguide. As a result, the detector may not be able to operate at high photocurrent where high-speed operation may require a high current. Where such a system employs evanescent coupling to the intrinsic region of the PIN detector, the intrinsic region can be expanded to dilute the optical power, which in turn prevents the creation of excess carriers. However, the light distribution in the expanded waveguide region (i.e., the waveguide plus the intrinsic region) is not uniform so that the detector electrodes need to be made relative large to ensure adequate detection of the photon-generated carriers. Unfortunately, the relatively large electrode area results in a relatively high detector capacitance, which reduces detector speed. Further, the non-uniform distribution of light in the expanded waveguide region can result in high optical fields, which generate local excess photon-generated carriers. This reduces the detector speed when the excess carriers have to diffuse out of the local excess carrier area to be collected by the electrodes.
Further, photon-generated carriers formed in the intrinsic region of a PIN detector may collected either via electrodes in the top or bottom of the detector as discussed above, or by metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) interdigitated electrodes on the surface of the intrinsic region. In the first design, the carrier collection distance is set by the required minimum detector thickness for efficient light absorption due to evanescent coupling with the waveguide. This thickness, however, limits the detector speed. In the latter design, photon-generated carriers also have to travel to the interdigitated electrodes across the detector, so that the detector thickness also limits the detector speed.


Plate-and-glass assemblies which include a plate, a beverage container detachably assembled to the plate, and a glass holder which is attached to or formed on the bottom of the plate to hold that component and the glass together. The beverage container may be a commonly available beverage can. Separate caps may be provided for adapting any number of beverage container styles to fit a generic glass holder. A radially extending slot may be provided on the cap through which a straw may be provided to facilitate drinking of the beverage in the container. Nested cans may be provided for additional insulation of the beverage. Indicia on the upper, food-receiving surface of the plate facilitate the assembling of the glass to the plate; and an optional drinking straw port provides a convenient way of locking the plate and glass together and also makes it possible to reach the contents of the glass without removing the plate. The glass holder may comprise rails which accommodate beverage cans having rims with two or more different diameters.

A number of situations exist in which the use of conventional plates and glasses is difficult. For example, at parties, picnics, and other social gatherings, guests are often obligated to stand or walk about while eating and drinking. Inevitably, they are forced to hold their plate in one hand and their glass in the other. This does not leave free a hand with which to eat. Therefore, the guest must first seek out a resting place for at least the glass. Not only is this inconvenient, but the availability of suitable resting places is frequently quite limited at a social gathering. Furthermore, a guest may be unable to subsequently identify his drink and may recover another's drink by mistake. It is also frequently difficult to carry a separate plate and glass through a buffet line or when returning to one's seat at a sporting event or movie theater.
Several different assemblies for eliminating the need to use both hands to carry a plate and a glass have been proposed. One such assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,240,020 issued Apr. 29, 1941 to Raiser. That assembly includes a plate having a central aperture for a cup and a hollow handle which extends downwardly from the cup-receiving receptacle. Although this device permits one to carry both the plate and cup with one hand, the cup is not actually attached to the plate and is thus easily dislodged or overturned. Furthermore, liquid can readily slosh over the open top of the cup and onto the food. Still further, the food on the plate can easily come into contact with and foul the exterior of the drinking cup; and food may slosh through the opening in the plate and pass through the hollow handle onto an underlying table or lap.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,804 issued Jan. 12, 1960 to Minton discloses a somewhat similar assembly in which a hollow sleeve forms a receptacle for a glass. This sleeve is joined to a plate component by a bead which releasably engages a flange on the plate. U.S. Pat. No. 211,532 issued Jun. 25, 1968, to Ashton discloses a serving tray having an overall configuration very similar to that of Minton. U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,672 issued May 11, 1976, to Brundage discloses another plate having a hole in which an open cup is set. In this case, the plate has a channel for balancing the plate on the user's forearm while he grasps the lower end of the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,396 issued Jul. 24, 1984, to Harper discloses a plate having a recess for the lower end of a glass in its upper surface. The user's thumb protrudes upwardly through a hole in the plate and presses against the base of the glass to retain it in the recess. This arrangement shares disadvantages with the devices disclosed in the patents cited above. Since the glass is not attached to the plate, momentary relief of the thumb pressure may allow the glass to become dislodged; the drink can easily slosh out of the glass and onto the food; the food can slosh through the hole in the plate; and the food contained on the plate can easily get on the outside of the glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,688,992 issued Oct. 23, 1928, to Smith discloses a cup and saucer combination in which the saucer may either support or cover the cup without sliding about. However, the cup and saucer are not attached to each other. U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,912 issued Aug. 28, 1951, to Davis discloses a watercolor paint set in which the palette has a center portion that rests in the mouth of a water container. As the components of these units are not attached to each other, the units have the same disadvantages as Minton's and those of similar character.
The foregoing and other problems appurtenant to the patented arrangements are resolved by the novel plate-and-glass assemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,737 issued Oct. 22, 1991 to Patterson et al. These assemblies are made up of: (a) a plate with a generally horizontal upper surface for supporting food, a lower surface, and a peripheral rim; (b) at least one glass for holding a drink, the glass having an open upper end which forms a mouth; and (c) cooperating connector components for so detachably securing the mouth of the glass to the lower surface of the plate that the mouth of the glass is covered by the plate and the glass is positioned in an upright orientation when the plate is positioned to support food. In the patented, Patterson et al. plate-and-glass assemblies, the plate-associated connector component--herein designated a "holder" or "glass holder"--is an integral part of the plate with which it is associated.
It was subsequently found (see related application Ser. No. 07/832,436) that an integrally formed glass holder is not required and that one can instead often employ to advantage a holder fabricated as a separate component and subsequently attached to a plate as with an appropriate adhesive, by thermal or ultrasonic welding, or by any other technique appropriate for a particular application of the invention. This provision of a separately fabricated glass holder makes it possible to provide plate-and-glass assemblies which: (1) have the advantages of those disclosed in the '737 patent, but (2) do not require the specially designed plate-with-holder components of the latter. Instead, the novel glass holders disclosed in the parent application allow one to use conventional plates in the plate-and-glass assembly. This has the advantage that the plate can be made of cellulosic and other materials which would perhaps be impractical if the integrated plate-and-glass holder approach disclosed in the '737 patent were employed. Also, the separately fabricated holder gives plate manufacturers an inexpensive entree into the plate-and-glass assembly field.
Separate glass holders of the character disclosed in the just-discussed related application have the disadvantage that it is comparatively expensive to mold these components from plastics, and polymers are often the material of choice. Also, available cups--6, 8, and 12 ounce, for example--differ in diameter at their open, upper ends. This requires that a different glass holder, and therefore different mold, be made available for each different cup size. As a consequence of the foregoing, glass holders as disclosed in the parent application may be too expensive to be used with plates which are non-disposable.
This disadvantage with one-piece glass holders may be overcome by the provision of a triangular array of inexpensive, easily fabricated and applied glass holder components referred to as wedges (see the parent application No. 07/870,392). The spacing of such wedges may be adjustable to allow cups of different sizes to be accommodated.
Additionally, the parent application Ser. No. 07/870,392 recognized the need to accommodate currently-popular insulated plastic containers provided for soft drinks and other beverages. Providing caps having a peripheral recess for these insulated containers allows these containers to be attached to a plate having a glass holder as described in the above-mentioned patent and patent applications filed by the present Applicants. Specifically, this peripheral recess engages the glass holder wedge array of application Ser. No. 07/870,392, the locking component of application Ser. No. 07/832,436, and the integral locking mechanism of the '737 patent.
The parent application also recognized that a straw port may be formed in the side of the cap of the insulated container. The parent application thus provided an apparatus having: (a) a first straw located within the cup and extending through the straw port; and (b) a second straw that mates with the first straw and extends around the plate to allow access to the user. This allowed the user to drink from the container without removing it from the plate.
The wedges provided by the parent application have the disadvantage that they require the separate steps of arranging the wedges in the correct positions on the underside of a plate holder and then adhering the wedges to the plate at these correct positions. They also require a separate injection molding process with attendant molds therefor. Consequently, the costs of manufacturing a plate having a glass holder formed on the underside thereof may be too expensive to be used and then disposed of.
Further, the provision of a straw port in the side of the cap of an insulated container as disclosed in the parent application requires an unwieldy two-straw system: one primarily inside and protruding from the insulated container and one outside the insulated container. This complicates the assembly of the glass and straw to the plate and leaves a hole in the cap through which fluid may leak during transportation.


A raman spectrum measuring method for drug inspection is provided, comprising: measuring raman spectrum of a sample to be inspected to acquire an original raman spectrum curve of the sample; determining whether the original raman spectrum curve has a characterizing portion, and if not, measuring a mixture of the sample and an enhancing agent to acquire an enhanced raman spectrum curve of the sample; and if the original raman spectrum curve of the sample to be inspected has a characterizing portion, comparing the original raman spectrum curve of the sample with data in an original raman spectrum database of a drug to determine whether the sample contains the drug, otherwise, comparing the enhanced raman spectrum curve of the sample with data in an enhanced raman spectrum database of the drug to determine whether the sample to be inspected contains the drug.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a technical field of security inspection, in particular to a method for inspecting drugs using raman spectra technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, Customs Anti-smuggling Bureau typically inspects drugs by selective examination and identification. In the selective examination, reagent kits or test strips are mainly used to test the drugs. The method has advantages of high speed, convenience and low cost. However, it has a strong specificity, e.g., if the type of the sample to be inspected is unknown, it will need to try by various reagents or test strips one by one, in particular, when the smuggling drug is inspected, the test by the reagents or test strips has a poor reliability due to various adulterated compositions contained in the smuggling drugs, and thus may obtain wrong results. The methods based on such as Chromatogram, mass spectrometry are typically used in the identification, however, these methods have complex operations and expensive consumptive materials and thus are difficult to be used in field rapid inspection. Therefore, it needs an easy, rapid, accurate and reliable method to perform the smuggling drug inspection.

Raman spectrum measuring method for drug inspection


In the battery deterioration prediction system, a polarization calculation unit calculates negative and positive electrode polarizations from negative and positive electrode resistances, and an electrical current value flowing through the secondary battery. A CCP calculation unit calculates a negative electrode closed-circuit potential on the secondary battery negative electrode open circuit potential and the negative electrode polarization calculated by the polarization calculation unit, and calculates a positive electrode closed-circuit potential based on the secondary battery positive electrode open circuit potential and the positive electrode polarization calculated by the polarization calculation unit. A capacity prediction unit predicts the positive/negative electrode capacity, and positive/negative electrode SOC deviation capacity of a secondary battery based on at least one of the closed-circuit potential of the negative and positive electrodes calculated by the CCP calculation unit, and predicts the battery capacity based on the negative and positive electrode capacities, and the positive/negative electrode SOC capacity deviation.

JP 2013-181875A discloses a system for predicting the degree of deterioration of a secondary battery. The system described in JP 2013-181875A predicts the amount of deterioration of the secondary battery by using a parameter considered to correlate with the amount of impurities adhering to the electrode surface of the secondary battery.


Joint parts of joinable plates to be joined to each other are joined by a plurality of joining bolts. The joining bolts are arranged in a direction of a tensile load F. The joint parts of the plate members have four sections T1 to T4 that vary in elastic modulus. The elastic modulus (E1 to E4) of these sections T1 to T4 have a relationship of E1(T1)>E2(T2)>E3(T3)>E4(T4).

In the case where the joint strength of the joint part of a joinable member is strictly required to have joint strength, a bolted joint having a plurality of bolts arranged in a load direction is used as a coupling means. As a result, the load applied to the joint part is shared by the bolted joint.
In Patent literature 1, it is disclosed to use these bolted joints for joining blade panels or the like of an aircraft.
A conventional bolted joint structure using a plurality of bolts is illustrated in FIG. 7. The bolt join structure 100 is configured such that a plurality of joint bolts 104a-104d (four bolts in FIG. 7) for two plates 102a, 102 to be joined are arranged along a direction of tensile load F.
In the bolted joint structure 100, generally bolts 104b, 104c disposed on a center side have less shared load than bolts 104a, 104d disposed on an outer end side due to small deflection difference of the plates which each transmit the load on the joint parts to the bolts. This state is indicated by line A in FIG. 3.
In the case where the joint parts of the joinable member is made of a composite material, the shared load between the bolts on the outer end side tend to be larger as the composite material has lower ductility than metal. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the load on the joint parts even by using more bolts to join the joint parts.


A circuit arrangement for operating electrical incandescent bulbs, particrly low-volt halogen incandescent bulbs, comprises an inverter in the half-bridge circuit and an overload detector circuit, which comprises a current-voltage transformer, e.g., a resistance (R4), which is serially connected between first half-bridge capacitor (C3) and ground potential. The current-voltage transformer controls a signal-conditioning and cutoff circuit (R5-R7, C4, C5, D4, T3), which disconnects the inverter at least temporarily in the case of overload or short circuit. Preferably, current-voltage transformer (R4) of the overload detector circuit is a component of a frequency adaptation circuit (L1, R4), which opposes a decrease in the frequency of the inverter in the upper power connection range. This variant is particularly cost-favorable, since in this case, no additional component is required for detector circuit (R4).

The invention concerns circuit arrangements for operating electrical incandescent bulbs, particularly low-volt halogen incandescent bulbs.
This type of circuit arrangement contains as principal component a self-starting current-feedback inverter in half-bridge circuit, which chops the low-frequency mains voltage or d.c. voltage of the electrical supply into a high-frequency voltage. This voltage is then transformed by means of a power transformer to the low voltage of the halogen incandescent bulbs that are used, for example, usually to 6, 12 or 24 V. Such circuit arrangements are thus called electronic transformers or electronic converters. A detailed explanation of the functioning of electronic converters is disclosed, for example, in EP Patent 264,765 and DE-OS (Unexamined) 4,011,742.
A protective device is indispensable in order to prevent self-destruction of the circuit arrangement with a possible danger of fire as well as endangering of persons when an overload or short circuit occurs, i.e., when an inadmissible low-ohm load arises, for example, caused by parallel connection of several bulbs or by short circuiting of the bulb leads. For this purpose, a detector circuit is necessary, which supplies a suitable detection signal in the case of overload or short circuit. For brevity this circuit will be called the overload detector circuit in the following. The detection signal then serves as the control signal for a cutoff circuit, which disconnects the electronic converter at least temporarily.
After disconnection, the high-frequency oscillation of the inverter must be initiated again. Commonly, electronic converters contain a starting or triggering generator, which assumes this task. The electronic converter must be separated for a short time from the supply voltage. After a repeated application of the supply voltage, the inverter again oscillates.
A self-oscillating inverter in half-bridge circuit for a low-volt lamp with a protection circuit and a current measurement member is known from DE 42 42 120 A1. The current measurement member comprises essentially four resistors and a zener diode which is connected between the source of the lower half-bridge field effect transistor and the reference potential. A disadvantage of this solution is that the current measuring member requires a relatively large number of components. Also, the signal tapped from the resistance circuit for controlling the protective circuit is approximately proportional to the lamp current. In order to be able to distinguish at all between normal case and overload case, the protective circuit must be configured to have a very steep flank.
EP 0 647,084 A1 discloses a circuit arrangement with a self-starting half-bridge transformer and a detector circuit. The detector circuit comprises a serial connection of a diode and a resistance, which is connected in parallel to the bridge capacitor connected to ground potential. In addition, the bridge capacitors and the power transformer are dimensioned in such a way that the diode is conductive only when overload occurs. The serial resistance then transforms the current flowing through the diode into a voltage signal, which serves as a detection signal and controls a cutoff circuit. A disadvantage of this solution is the fact that the dimensioning of the half-bridge transformer must be fine-tuned to the detector circuit.

Circuit for operating incandescent bulbs with an overload detector circuit

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft fuer elektrische Gluehlampen mbH


A latch type sense amplifier having negative feedback means for use in a memory device includes a first switching unit which is turned on/off by an enable signal and initializes a system operation at a turn-on operation; a second switching unit which is turned on/off according to the voltage state of the data on two data lines at the turn-on operation of the first switching unit and performs a system initial operation; a third switching unit which is turned on by a precharge signal and initializes two output signals; a latch unit for latching the data input via the second switching unit according to the operation of the third switching unit and outputting the latched data to two data output units; and a feedback switching unit which is connected to the data output units of the latch unit and the data lines, is turned on/off according to the voltage state of the other data output unit and pulls-up the voltage difference of the bit line connected to corresponding data line by the voltage on corresponding data output terminal at an on operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sense amplifiers for use in memory devices, and more particularly to a latch type sense amplifier which has a negative feedback device to connect the bit lines to the output unit of the sense amplifier after the sense amplifier is enabled.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Generally, a sense amplifier is a circuit for detecting the voltage or current level of an input signal by a threshold voltage and then amplifying it and in some cases, it includes the function of detecting only the input signal of a predetermined time period.
This sense amplifier is generally used for a minute output signal of a memory device.
A typical type of sense amplifiers used in memory devices as described above is a latch type, and a current driving latch type sense amplifier is shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a latch type sense amplifier according to a prior art. The sense amplifier is comprised of third and fourth PMOS transistors MP3 and MP4 which have their source terminals connected a predetermined positive voltage VCC and are turned on/off by a precharge signal SEAQ applied to their gate terminals; a first PMOS transistor MP1 which has a source terminal connected to the positive voltage VCC and a drain terminal connected to the drain terminal of the fourth PMOS transistor MP4 and is turned on/off by the voltage of the drain terminal of the third PMOS transistor MP3 applied to its gate terminal; a second PMOS transistor MP2 which has a source terminal connected to the positive voltage VCC and a drain terminal connected to the drain terminal of the third PMOS transistor MP3 and is turned on/off by the voltage of the common drain terminal of the fourth and first PMOS transistors MP4 and MP1 applied to its gate terminal; a fourth NMOS transistor MN4 which has a drain terminal connected to the common drain terminal of the fourth and first PMOS transistors MP4 and MP1 and a gate terminal connected to the common drain terminal of the third and second PMOS transistors MP3 and MP2; a fifth NMOS transistor MN5 which has a drain terminal connected to the common drain terminal of the third and second PMOS transistors MP3 and MP2 and a gate terminal connected to the common drain terminal of the fourth and first PMOS transistors MP4 and MP1; a second NMOS transistor MN2 which has a drain terminal connected to the source terminal of the fourth NMOS transistor MN4 and a gate terminal connected to a first data line DATA; a third NMOS transistor MN3 which has a drain terminal connected to the source terminal of the fifth NMOS transistor MN5, a gate terminal connected to a second data line DATAB and a source terminal connected to the source terminal of the second NMOS transistor MN2; and a first NMOS transistor MN1 which has a drain terminal connected to the common source terminal of the second and third NMOS transistors MN2 and MN3 and a gate terminal connected to an enable signal SAC.
The operation of the above described current driving latch type sense amplifier is as follows.
The first NMOS transistor MN1 is turned on/off by the enable signal SAC, and if the first NMOS transistor MN1 is turned on, the sense amplifier starts operating. The second and third NMOS transistors MN2 and MN3 input data read-out from the memory cells (not shown) via the first and second data lines DATA and DATAB and then perform an initial operation of the sense amplifier. The fourth and fifth NMOS transistors MN4 and MN5 and the first and second PMOS transistors MP1 and MP2 constitute a latch unit, and the third and fourth PMOS transistors MP3 and MP4 are means which is turned on by the precharge signal SEAQ and initializes the potential of the output signals SOUT and SOUTB.
FIG. 2 shows a memory read circuit utilizing the prior art sense amplifier as described above. Referring to FIG. 2, the memory read circuit includes a memory cell 50 which stores data having opposite value to each other and outputs the stored data via the bit lines BIT and BITB according to the voltage state of the word line WL by the combination of the designated row addresses; a bit line precharge circuit 40 connected in parallel to the bit lines BIT and BITB connected to the memory cell 50, for precharging and equalizing the bit lines BIT and BITB by a control signal DTEQ; a column selecting circuit 30 controlled by a first column selection signal YSW and a second column selection signal YSWB having an opposite phase to the first column selecting signal YSW, for connecting the bit lines BIT and BITB to the data lines DATA and DATAB; a data line precharge circuit 20 connected in parallel to the data lines DATA and DATAB connected to the column selecting circuit 30, for precharging and equalizing the data lines DATA and DATAB by a control signal CDEQ; and a sense amplifier 10 for amplifying and outputting the data input via the data lines DATA and DATAB.
Only one memory cell 50 is shown in FIG. 2, however, a plurality of memory cells are actually connected in parallel to the bit lines BIT and BITB.
Hereinbelow, the operation of the memory read circuit as described above will be discussed.
If a word line WL is selected by a combination of the designated row addresses and a bit line is selected by a combination of the column addresses, that is, if the first column selection signal YSW is at a logic high state and the second column selection signal YSWB is at a logic low state, the data stored at the memory cell 50 are applied to an input unit of the sense amplifier 10 via the bit lines BIT, BITB and the data lines DATA, DATAB.
The bit line precharge circuit 40 is for precharging the voltage level of the bit lines BIT, BITB before the selected word line is enabled. That is, the PMOS transistors MP21 and MP22 serve to pull-up the bit lines BIT, BITB to a predetermined positive voltage VCC and the PMOS transistor MP25 serves to equalize the voltage difference between the bit lines BIT and BITB. In addition, the PMOS transistors MP23 and MP24 make the bit lines BIT and BITB maintain the positive voltage VCC at a normal state and prevent the greater voltage difference between the bit lines BIT and BITB at a read operation.
The data line precharge circuit 20 has the same function as the bit line precharge circuit 40, and the function of the PMOS transistors MP11 to MP13 constituting the data line precharge circuit 20 corresponds to that of the PMOS transistors MP25, MP21 and MP22 in the bit line precharge circuit 40.
The functions and problems of the sense amplifier used in the prior art memory read circuit will be discussed in detail with reference to FIG. 3.
Before the sense amplifier 10 is enabled, the data lines DATA and DATAB are precharged to the positive voltage VCC and the enable signal SAC and the precharge signal SEAQ are at the logic low levels, as shown in (C) of FIG. 3. Thereby, the first NMOS transistor MN1 is disabled, thus isolating the path for discharging the output node, and the third and fourth PMOS transistors MP3 and MP4 are turned on, thus raising the potentials of the both outputs to the positive voltage VCC level.
After the word line and column line are opened and the precharge operation for the bit lines and data lines is completed, i.e., if the control signals CDEQ and DTEQ input to the precharge circuits 20 and 30 for precharging the data lines and bit lines go to the logic high levels, as shown in (B) of FIG. 3, the voltage of the bit line connected to the low node of the memory cell 50 is lowered, thus generating the voltage difference between the bit lines BIT and BITB.
After delaying for a predetermined time, the enable signal SAC and the precharge signal SEAQ go to the logic high levels and thus the precharge operation for the sense amplifier 10 is completed and the sense amplifier starts sensing the input voltage difference (see (C) of FIG. 3). The minimum voltage difference dV1 (see (D) of FIG. 3) for preventing the malfunction of the sense amplifier 10 is identical to an offset voltage Vdffset generated by the asymmetrical element of the sense amplifier 10.
The second and third NMOS transistors MN2 and MN3 used as the input unit of the sense amplifier 10 convert the voltage difference between the data lines DATA and DATAB into the current difference. This converted current difference varies the discharging speed of the output unit, thereby generating the voltage difference between the both nodes of the output unit. The latch unit comprised of the fourth and fifth NMOS transistors MN4 and MN5 and the first and second PMOS transistors MP1 and MP2 decreases the voltage difference of the output unit, allowing a higher speed latching of the output unit.
If the voltage of the first data line DATA is higher than that of the second data line DATAB, the first output signal SOUT is latched to a logic high level and the second output signal SOUTB is latched to a logic low level. Once the output signals are latched, the first output signal SOUT maintains the logic high state by the second PMOS transistor MP2, thus turning off the fifth NMOS transistor MN5, and the second output signal SOUTB maintains the logic low state by the first, second and fourth NMOS transistors MN1, MN2 and MN4, thus turning off the first PMOS transistor MP1.
After the sense amplifier 10 is latched, the latched state is not changed even when the voltage difference between the data lines DATA and DATAB is changed. Thus, the latch type sense amplifier as described can achieve an operational stability.
On the contrary, if there occurs an asymmetry in the sense amplifier 10, the voltage difference as high as can compensate the offset voltage must be applied to the input unit, and this means that the sense amplifier must be enabled after there generates that much voltage difference between the bit lines after the word line is selected.
In order to reduce the time delay according thereto, the equalizing resistance of the PMOS transistors MP23 and MP24 having a DC pull-up function in the bit line precharge circuit 40 must be great.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, the voltage difference of the bit line pair is continuously increased even after the sense amplifier 10 is latched and then saturated at the value dV2 (see (D) of FIG. 3), and this value is determined according to the current driving power of the memory cell and the current driving power of the DC pull-up.
It is preferable to make the value dV2 small for a fast precharging of the bit lines when the read operation for another memory cell data starts by the address conversion. For this, the equalizing resistance of the DC pull-up must be small.
As described above, the prior art has a problem of conflicting requirements that the equalizing resistance of the DC pull-up must be great to reduce the time delay associated with the enable of the sense amplifier, while the equalizing resistance of the DC pull-up must be small for a fast precharge speed at an address conversion.

Latch type sense amplifier having a negative feedback device


A wiper plate for a cleaning implement, in particular for damp and wet mopping, having an essentially flat cleaning surface, and having first facilities for fastening a handle and second facilities for the detachable fastening of an interchangeable mopping covering, the cleaning surface (7) being subdivided into at least two functional surfaces having different cleaning functions; and means are provided by which the functional surfaces may each be brought into use without the occurrence of substantial mutual, negative influences on their cleaning functions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wiper plate for a cleaning implement, in particular for damp and wet mopping. More particularly, the invention is a wiper plate having an essentially flat cleaning surface, and having first facilities for fastening a handle and second facilities for the detachable fastening of an interchangeable mopping covering. The invention also relates to a cleaning implement having the wiper plate as such, as well as the use of the wiper plate for a cleaning implement.
2. Description of Related Art
Cleaning implements having wiper plates of the species have long been known, and have been described many times in the patent literature, such as in DE 44 03 550 C1. They are essentially made up of a wiper plate functioning as support and holding device for an interchangeable mopping covering, the mopping covering itself, as well as a handle which may be connected to the wiper plate articulatedly or rigidly. The known possibilities for fastening are manifold, and likewise are numerous techniques known for fastening the mopping covering or for its design.
The wiper plates are rectangular, as a rule, but are also designed trapezoidal-shaped. All wiper plates of the species have in common that the surface of the wiper plate facing the floor to be cleaned, from here on called cleaning surface, for simplicity's sake, is predominantly designed to be flat. The reason for this is that the optical impression of a cleaned surface is essentially determined by the evening out of the water film by the cleaning implement during cleaning.
An uneven distribution of the water film invariably leads to the formation of streaks on the cleaned floor, which become visible after drying. These so-called cleaning streaks are generally felt to be irritating. An effective measure for preventing the formation of these streaks is to design the wiper surface of the wiper plate as flat as possible.
The known cleaning implements having wiper plates of the species have the disadvantage that loosening of tough (stubborn) dirt, such as firmly adhering dirt, marks left by shoes, dried food remains, etc, is very difficult. Even when the contact pressure is increased via the handle, tough dirt comes off only after mopping several times, frequently with dirt residues still remaining, which then still have to be subsequently removed using a more suitable cleaning implement or by hand.


A DC AC inverter system includes a full bridge DC AC inverter, a first module with a first capacitance connected to a positive DC input and an intermediate output, and a second module with a second capacitance connected to a negative DC input and to the intermediate output, wherein the first and second capacitance is greater than PΔA/(VΔ*Vnom*2πf); (a) PΔ is a predetermined power imbalance between a first output and the intermediate output and a second output and the intermediate output; (b) Vnom is a predetermined nominal output voltage between the first output and the intermediate output (V1) and the second output and the intermediate output (V2); (c) VΔ is a predetermined fraction of voltage difference, relative to Vnom, between V1 and V2 when there is a power imbalance PΔ; and (d) f is a frequency of V1 or V2.

Conversion of DC to AC is an important part of utilizing renewable energy for consumption in virtually all industrialized countries, as well as in many emerging countries and societies. In the U.S., a national grid provides a network of power that is capable of multiple voltages and phases. In this regard, the national grid can be considered as both an infinite source and an infinite sink and is, therefore, a reliable reference point for all things electrical. For example, in solar installations, energy is harvested in DC and converted to AC that is synchronized to the grid for grid-tied applications. Off-grid applications though, have no grid to which they can be synchronized and, therefore, a reference is usually to earth.
In the U.S., in order to keep transmission and distribution costs low, the grid supply to residences and small business is typically single phase. However, many appliances, such as ovens, air conditioners, electric dryers and emerging charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) benefit from a voltage that is much higher than that used by standard household appliances. As such, an electrical distribution panel typically supplies both 240VAC and 120VAC. However, to keep distribution infrastructure costs low, the utility typically supplies 240VAC. This 240VAC is comprised of three wires from one of the phases of a three phase network, where the three wires are designated as L1 and L2 and N. This configuration provides 240VAC when wires L1 and L2 are referenced to each other and 120VAC when wire L1 or wire L2 is referenced to a neutral point (wire N), or to earth. The two 120VAC supplies are 180° out of phase with each other because of a transformer winding polarity typically used by the utility.
Grid-tied inverters, especially those having a power rating over 1 kW, transfer power at 240VAC (or local utility voltage) and do not need to split that output into two 120VAClines. However, off-grid inverters typically must supply both 240VAC and 120VAC voltages. Usually, this is done using a scaled down version of a utility transformer which splits the voltage into two out of phase AC voltages (a split phase transformer). These split phase transformers are costly and heavy, with cost and weight typically increasing with power rating. As more renewable, predominantly DC, energy sources are installed, dependence on the utility grid decreases. However, in some cases, the utility grid may not be available. In addition, the power requirement for a typical off-grid inverter may be several times larger than that needed for a grid-tied inverter for the same dwelling size, and as a result, a transformer required to provide single and split phase output may weigh on the order of several hundred pounds. Typically, such transformers are bulky; taking up considerable space for themselves and the area clearance needed for thermal dissipation. Such transformers are typically comprised of heavy iron cores and large gauge copper windings. Further, they consume power, even at no-load conditions. Because a typical split phase transformer has both primary and secondary coils, with a magnetic path to couple the two coils, the transformer will have continuous power loss at both the 240VAC as well as the 120VAC output voltage levels.
Several approaches have been tried to deal with the above-described issues using solid state implementations. However, these are complex, costly, and still require the use of a phase splitting transformer, although of a smaller size.

Transformer-less, tapped point AC voltage splitter for full bridge DC AC inverters


Disclosed approaches for validating initialization vectors determining by a configuration control circuit whether or not an input initialization vector is within a range of valid initialization vectors. In response to determining that the initialization vector is within the range of valid initialization vectors, the configuration control circuit decrypts the ciphertext into plaintext using the input initialization vector and configures a memory circuit with the plaintext. In response to determining that the first initialization vector is outside the range of valid initialization vectors, the configuration control circuit signals that the first initialization vector is invalid.

Businesses devote significant resources to developing and implementing designs targeted for programmable electronic devices, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), system-on-chips (SoCs), system-in-packages (SiPs), and adaptive compute acceleration platforms (ACAPs). The implemented designs are sometimes referred to as configuration images and can include configuration data for programmable logic and/or executable program code. The configuration images are often protected using various encryption techniques.
The Advanced Encryption Standard-Galios/Counter Mode (AES-GCM) approach is sometimes used to protect configuration images. AES-GCM provides both authentication and confidentiality and is recognized as being efficient and fast. AES-GCM involves combining a block number with an initialization vector and encrypting the result with a block cipher, which is then XOR'd with configuration image plaintext to produce ciphertext. The same initialization vector is used for decryption of the ciphertext.
Unauthorized parties may attempt to obtain proprietary information about a design by performing differential power analysis (DPA) to learn the value of a secret key. Once the secret key has been discovered, the key can be used to decrypt ciphertext of a design. A DPA attack is a particular type of side-channel attack where the parameters of the power system are analyzed to infer operational properties of a secure element (e.g., cryptography logic). The analyzed properties can be statistically analyzed to derive information about secret keys used by the secure element. A DPA attack on AES-GCM ciphertext can involve inputting a sequence of different initialization vectors and analyzing power attributes during processing of the initialization vectors.

Protection against differential power analysis attacks involving initialization vectors


Systems and methods for testing microelectronic imagers and microfeature devices are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a microfeature workpiece including a substrate having a front side, a backside, and a plurality of microelectronic dies. The individual dies include an integrated circuit and a plurality of contact pads at the backside of the substrate operatively coupled to the integrated circuit. The method includes contacting individual contact pads with corresponding pins of a probe card. The method further includes testing the dies. In another embodiment, the individual dies can further comprise an image sensor at the front side of the substrate and operatively coupled to the integrated circuit. The image sensors are illuminated while the dies are tested.

The microelectronics industry is highly competitive and microelectronics manufacturers are very sensitive to quality and cost considerations. Most microelectronics manufacturers require that suppliers of microelectronic components test the performance of each microelectronic component before shipment to minimize the manufacturer's product losses. For example, microelectronic imagers are commonly tested by establishing temporary electrical connections between a test system and electrical contacts on each microelectronic imaging die while simultaneously exposing an image sensor on the device to light.
One way of establishing a temporary electrical connection between the test system and the contacts on a microelectronic component employs a probe card carrying a plurality of probe pins. The probe pins are typically either a length of wire (e.g., cantilevered wire probes) or a relatively complex spring-biased mechanism (e.g., pogo pins). The probe pins are connected to the probe card and arranged in a predetermined array for use with a specific microelectronic component configuration. For example, when testing a microelectronic imager with a conventional probe card (whether it be a cantilevered wire probe card, a pogo pin probe card, or another design), the probe card is positioned proximate to the front side of the imaging die to be tested. The probe card and the imaging die are aligned with each other in an effort to precisely align each of the probe pins of the probe card with a corresponding electrical contact of the front side of the imaging die.
One problem with testing imaging dies at the wafer level is that it is difficult to expose an image sensor to light while simultaneously aligning the probe pins or the body of the probe card with the corresponding electrical contacts on the front side of the imaging die. For example, because the probe card is positioned over the image sensor to contact the front side bond-pads on the die, the probe card must have a plurality of holes or apertures through which light can pass. This limits wafer-level testing methods because the physical constraints of probe card structures and the limited testing area available on the wafer. Further, the probe card and/or probe pins positioned proximate (but not over) the image sensor also interfere with the light directed to the image sensor (e.g., shadowing, reflections). These limitations result in the ability to test only a fraction of the imaging dies on a wafer of imaging dies as compared to the number of other types of dies that can be tested in non-imaging applications (e.g., memory, processors, etc.). For example, only four CMOS imaging dies can be tested simultaneously on a wafer compared to 128 DRAM dies using the same equipment. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the efficiency and throughput for testing imaging dies.
Another problem with conventional probe card testing methods is that the testing process can introduce moisture and/or other contaminants to the image sensors. For example, conventional probe cards and/or probe pins are positioned over the image sensors to contact the bond-pads on the front side of the dies. Accordingly, tiny particles generated during the testing process or otherwise on the probe pins can fall onto the image sensors. This can cause a malfunction or failure because a particle as small as ten microns can effectively ruin an image sensor. Accordingly, there is a further need to improve the testing of imaging dies.

Systems and methods for testing microfeature devices


A rolling door or shutter (1) has a series of preferably planar panels (3, 3A) which are joined by pairs (6) of pivotally connected hinge members (7, 8). The shutter slides up and down with its side edges guided in tracks (2). When the shutter is closed, e.g. against a bottom sill, the hinge members of each pair (6) pivot about one another to jam between opposing walls (30, 31) of the guide tracks. The pivotal range of each hinge pair may be limited to prevent the hinge pair from straightening when the shutter is suspended. This ensures the hinge pairs always fold in the same way when the shutter is closed. The panels may be rolled steel, extruded aluminium, moulded (optionally transparent) polycarbonate plastic, or tempered glass sheets fitted with edge cappings.

Rolling doors of the prior art have linked panels or segments that can be drawn away from an opening and rolled around a cylinder or drum.
Singapore Patent SG 54616 describes a transparent rolling door having panels that are each made up from sections of transparent plastics material. Brackets fitted to the top edge of each panel engage complementary brackets fitted to the bottom edge of the next panel above to link the panels together. The engagement of the brackets allows the linked panels to wrap around a roller. The brackets, which may be made from extruded aluminium, are attached to the panel edges, for example by screws.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0037888 describes a roller shutter having transparent panels made from a synthetic resin. Adjacent panels are hinged together by the engagement of fitted caps or integrally-formed rounded edges, along the long edges of each panel, in respective C-shaped slots of a hinge member. The short edges of each panel and hinge member slide in a pair of guide rails. The hinging angle of adjacent panels is limited to ensure the shutter slides smoothly without jamming in the guide rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,289 describes a rolling shutter assembly in which adjacent slats are pivotally linked together in pairs, each pair being linked to adjacent pairs of slats by a hinge member. The relative rotation at the pivotal link between slats is restricted to ensure that, as the shutter is unrolled, each slat collapses onto its adjacent lower slat in the desired V-shaped pattern. Upward movement of an upper slat is restricted by engagement with a bracket to prevent the shutter from being opened by lifting from a lower slat, and to prevent upper slats from riding up when a force is applied to flatten the V-shapes of the hinged slats. The width, ie height, of one of the slats is selected or is adjustable to match the height of the shutter to that of the opening over which the shutter is fitted.


Disclosed is a power assist anti-tip wheel system for invalid carriage including at least one connecting support, at least one assist anti-tip wheel, and at least one power driving means. The connecting support is fixedly or detachably connected at one end to a front or a rear side of the invalid carriage. The anti-tip wheel is associated with the connecting support so that it is located in front of or behind the invalid carriage. The power driving means is also associated with the connecting support to drive the anti-tip wheel to rotate when the invalid carriage travels onto a slope or passes a recess or a bulge on a road surface and two drive wheels thereof become suspended and idling. The power driving means can be automatically actuated via a sensing circuit or be manually actuated via a push button. When the anti-tip wheel is driven by the power driving means to rotate, it provides an assistant power source to the invalid carriage and help the same to keep moving forward when the drive wheels of the invalid carriage are idling.

The present invention relates to a power assist anti-tip wheel system for invalid carriage, and more particularly to an anti-tip wheel system equipped with assistant power source to assist an invalid carriage in travelling on a rough road. The upgrade of our living quality and medical level allows us to help more invalid people who are otherwise ignored by the general public. Meanwhile, there are better welfare policies and systems developed in nowaday society, including the provision of various types of traffic means suitable for invalids to assist in their movement. For those invalids who can not walk, there were manually-operated wheelchairs available to assist them to move around. However, such manually-operated wheelchairs can be used only by those invalids whose hands and upper half trunk are in good condition. To meet the needs of invalids whose hands and upper half trunk are not in good condition, there is now electric wheelchair developed and available in the market. The introduction of electric wheelchair to the market is really a good news to the invalids who can not move their hands and legs easily. Since the electric wheelchair has timely solved the pressing need of invalids in traffic even though there are still high risks of accidents on road, the quantity of such electric wheelchair increases from day to day.
On the other hand, motorized vehicles, particularly the automobile and motorcycle, have become a necessary traffic means in our daily life. A problem with automobiles and motorcycles is their exhaust which seriously pollute the air. Under the inevitable trends of environmental protection, environmental friendly electric vehicles are developed and produced. Among these electric vehicles, there is a motorized invalid wheeled vehicle which is light in weight and easy to operate and is therefore widely welcome by many young students, housewives, invalids, and the aged. Such motorized invalid wheeled vehicle has gradually become a main traffic means of invalids for use within short distance.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate two examples of the conventional motorized invalid wheeled vehicles for use by the aged and invalids. The transmission of such wheeled vehicles for use by the aged and invalids. The transmission of such motorized invalid wheeled vehicles can be generally divided into three types according to the designed center of gravity of the wheels, namely, the front-wheel drive, the rear-wheel drive, and the middle-wheel drive. In either drive type, it is necessary to mount at least one anti-tip wheel on the vehicle to prevent the vehicle body from tipping over forward or backward and thereby dangering the aged or invalid operating the vehicle. The motorized invalid wheeled vehicle shown in FIG. 1 is of the type of front-wheel drive with a center of gravity located at a front portion of the vehicle. And, the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 is of the type of rear-wheel drive with a center of gravity located at a rear portion of the vehicle. In either case, the motorized invalid wheeled vehicle is driven by a pair of drive wheels C provided between pilot wheels A and at least one assist anti-tip wheel B. The drive wheels C are actuated by an electric motor D to cause the invalid wheeled vehicle to move forward or backward and/or to turn rightward or leftward.
The at least one anti-tip wheel B is used to protect the short vehicle body from dangerously tipping over forward or backward during moving upward or downward on a slope or due to improper operation of the vehicle. As a result, the provision of the anti-tip wheels B have become a very important part of the motorized invalid wheeled vehicle. Generally, the anti-tip wheel B is located at a position slightly higher than a plane in which the drive wheels C and the pilot wheels A locate. The anti-tip wheel B must be adequately located at a proper height, lest it should become meaningless. An overhigh anti-tip wheel B shall fail to protect the vehicle from tipping over, and an overlow anti-tip wheel B shall always contact with the road surface and makes the operator uncomfortable during driving.
Moreover, in consideration of an active operation of the conventional motorized invalid wheeled vehicle, the pilot wheels A and the at least one assist anti-tip wheel B are so designed that they have diameters smaller than that of the drive wheels C. And, due to limitations in the transmission of power, the drive wheels C can not have a too big diameter as that of the general wheelchairs. As a result, the electric wheelchairs illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can not be conveniently operated when they are used to travel on a rough road. FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 respectively illustrate the rear-wheel drive motorized invalid wheeled vehicle as shown in FIG. 2 travelling on an ascending slope, over a recess, and across a bulge. As shown in the figures, the drive wheels C tend to become suspended when the vehicle passes the slope, the recess or the bulge because there is a difference in height existed between such irregularities and the road surface, as well as because the drive wheels C, the pilot wheels A, and the at least one anti-tip wheel B are not on the same plane. When the drive wheels C become suspended without touching the road or ground surface, they shall fail to supply power to the vehicle for the same to move. That is, the drive wheels C shall idle and cause the whole vehicle to slide downward, be stuck in the recess, or be stopped at the bulge. These conditions surely will cause inconvenience and considerable dangerous conditions may also occur on the front-wheel drive motorized invalid wheeled vehicle illustrated in FIG. 1. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an improved motorized invalid wheeled vehicle to solve the above mentioned problems.

Power assist anti-tip wheel system for invalid carriage


The invention relates to a novel device and a novel method for transporting printable substrates in a precise manner, suitable for various types, sizes and thicknesses of substrate. The invention is also suitable for printing machines that do not come into contact with the substrate, such as ink-jet printing machines.

Transport of printable substrates formed by suction belts in known from the prior art, the function of which is to hold and keep a substrate against said belts as they move. This type of solution, well known to those skilled in the art, has a few disadvantages however. In particular, this type of device, causing movements of air and pressure gradients, can cause deformation of substrates if the latter are large in size. The precision of the printing will therefore be affected. On the other hand, the use of these suction belts with some wide used printing technologies, especially inkjet printing, can cause accidental aspiration of ink present in the printing heads and cause the deactivation of the printing heads. In the best of cases this genre of incident needs reactivating of the heads, and in the worst of cases replacement of the deactivated heads, the latter now unusable if connected to the ink tank.
To rectify these problems, especially to allow displacement of substrates precisely, there are in the prior art techniques using cylinders comprising a plurality of clamps gripping the substrates by the front edge relative to the direction of displacement of the substrate. Adapted to printing machines of inkjet type, this type of solution has several disadvantages however. Indeed, this system needs all the heads inkjet to be arranged orbitally around a large-sized cylinder. Also, this type of system poses the problem of the difficulty in adjusting the position of the printing heads. In fact, for quality printing, ink ejected from the printing heads must form a jet whereof the direction is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. It is understood in this case that the use of a cylinder to transport and hold the substrate, whereof the surface by definition is not flat, means intricate adjusting of the position of the printing heads. For this same reason, it is difficult to use substrates of variable thickness, as the change of substrate means adjusting all the printing heads. On the other hand, the printing pitch, that is, the position of the clamps on the cylinder, is fixed, meaning that the printing rate remains the same irrespective of the size of the substrate.
Also known from the prior art are substrate transport systems using chains or conveyors on which clamps are arranged to grip the substrates and transport them on a transport path whereof a portion is flat, resolving the problem of arrangement of the printing heads. However, this type of solution always has the problem of fixed printing pitch, which imposes a fixed rate and in this case poses the extra problem of not being able to use substrates of different sizes without stopping printing and proceeding with intricate adjusting of the position of the clamps.

Device and method for transporting substrates in a printing machine


Martensitic or austenitic structural-hardening conductive alloy connection leads. Electronic component and fabrication process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connection leads for electronic components. More particularly, the invention relates to connection leads made from a structural-hardening conductive alloy, electronic components comprising such leads and a method of manufacturing such leads.
2. Prior Art
Certain electronic components, especially integrated circuits and active discrete components, consist of an electronic device, for example made of semiconducting material, connected by very fine wires to connection leads, the whole assembly being encased in a protective package made of synthetic material. The connection leads, which emerge on the outside of the package, comprise a part called "internal connection leads", this part being located within the package, and a part called "external connection leads", located outside the package. The external connection leads are intended to connect the electronic component to the printed circuit within which it is incorporated. The connection leads are made either of an alloy of the iron-nickel type having approximately 42% of nickel or of a copper-based alloy. The choice of the alloy used is made, especially, depending on the electrical and mechanical properties desired.
In order to fabricate the connection leads, an alloy strip is taken from which a lead frame is cut, either by a mechanical means or by a chemical means, this lead frame consisting of a plurality of internal and external connection leads connected together by strips of metal and arranged with respect to one another as they will be when they are integrated into the electronic component. The lead frame is then degreased, descaled, rinsed and coated with a galvanic deposition of nickel and then of a precious metal or of copper, before assembly and interconnection with the device made of, e.g., semiconducting material which is soldered or bonded to a metal piece located at the center of the internal connection leads. Next, the assembly thus obtained is overmolded by injecting a polymer under pressure and the external connection leads are isolated from one another by cutting. The external connection leads are then descaled, tinned and then shaped by bending. The electronic component is said to be "encapsulated in a plastic package".
This encapsulation process is also used for passive components, such as, for example, inductors, resistive networks, delay lines or capacitors.
In order to connect the electronic devices, it is also possible to use the process commonly called "tape automated bonding" or TAB, in which the lead frame is fabricated from a polyimide film coated with a copper alloy deposited by galvanic deposition or by colaminating.
These two processes have drawbacks resulting from the inadequacy of the mechanical properties of the alloys used. In particular, with the first process, which uses rolled foils, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the connection leads below 0.1 mm, which limits the miniaturization of the components.
With the second process, which uses depositions on polyimide film, the length of the internal connection leads cannot be increased as much as would be desirable for facilitating mounting.
In both cases, no known means exists for satisfying both the fabrication constraints, especially the formability, and the requirements of mechanical strength of the connection leads. As a result, for example, it is difficult to fabricate integrated circuits having a thickness of less than 1 mm, while for some applications, it would be desirable to be able to fabricate integrated circuits having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm with good fabrication yields.
In addition, the electronic components, consisting of a device encapsulated in packages having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm, are very difficult to handle because of the very great fragility of the external connection leads. In order to improve the mechanical strength of leads, it was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,511 to use a high-strength material having a duplex-structure composed of a reverse-transformed austenite phase and a martensite phase. The material is hardened by cold-rolling before use. Unfortunately, the mechanical strength of this material is not enough to be used to fabricate integrated circuits with very low thickness.

Connection leads for an electronic component


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for display devices with transverse planar microphone arrays. In one embodiment, an example voice-activated device may include a housing, and a display assembly coupled to the housing, where a first vertical axis associated with the display assembly is at an acute angle relative to a second vertical axis associated with the housing. Example devices may include a number of microphone openings disposed in a front face of the display assembly, a speaker coupled to the housing and oriented to direct a portion of sound towards a rear portion of the device, and a fabric disposed over the housing, the fabric comprising an aperture disposed along the rear portion of the device.

Electronic devices may be used in loud or noisy environments. Some electronic devices may be voice-based devices and may detect voice commands. However, in certain environments, electronic devices may be subject to dynamic conditions, including noise, speech or voice from multiple individuals, and so forth. For such devices, detecting voice inputs and/or determining information to present at a display device may be difficult. Accordingly, electronic devices that can provide detect voice commands in various environments may be desired.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the disclosure. The drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosure and shall not be deemed to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. The use of the same reference numerals indicates similar, but not necessarily the same or identical components. Different reference numerals may be used to identify similar components. Various embodiments may utilize elements or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. The use of singular terminology to describe a component or element may encompass, depending on the context, a plural number of such components or elements and vice versa.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Display device with transverse planar microphone arrays


The invention relates to a method for determining the kinetics of action of a cholinergic neurotoxin as well as a method for determining the quantity of neurotoxin in a sample.

The methods for quantifying a cholinergic neurotoxin are currently carried out by measurement of a lethal dose LD50 in rodents, in particular in the mouse or the rat. This is more particularly the case of the detection and measurement method for the biological activity of the botulinum toxin.
Thus, when such a method is used, it involves the sacrifice of numerous mammals, in particular mice or rats.
In order to respond to industrial producers' requirements it has become necessary to find an alternative method to the use of mammals for determining the lethal dose LD50 of cholinergic neurotoxins.
Therefore the problem which the invention seeks to resolve is to provide a new method for determining the kinetics action of a cholinergic neurotoxin, as well as a new method for quantifying a cholinergic neurotoxin.
The inventors have unexpectedly demonstrated that it is possible to use teleostian fish for determining the lethal dose LD50 of cholinergic neurotoxins.

Method for quantifying a cholinergic neurotoxin in a sample


A symmetrical low-cost high-density interface for ATM devices. The interface can connect any device which transmits ATM cells to any device which receives ATM cells. The signals of the interface include two control signals and four, eight, sixteen, or thirty-two data signals. The control signals are SOC, which is sent from a transmitter to a receiver and indicates the start of an ATM cell, and STRB, which determines when the transmitter sends SOC and data signals and when the receiver samples SOC and the data signals. STRB is sent under control of the receiver, and the receiver can thus use STRB to control the rate at which the receiver receives cells or portions thereof from the transmitter.

ATM cells are used to transfer data in high-speed asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. The cells are described in Martin DePrycker, Asynchronous Transfer Mode: Solution for Broadband ISDN, Ellis Harwood Publishers, 2. ed., 1993. Standard ATM cells are 53 bytes in length. Each cell consists of a 48-byte body which contains the cell's data and a 5-byte header, which contains information used by the network to route the cell and by devices receiving the cell to interpret the cell. Cells are used both to carry control information for ATM networks and attached devices and to carry data between the attached devices.
A current problem in the design of ATM networks is the lack of low-cost, high-density ATM interfaces. Ultimately, ATM networks will directly provide ATM cells to and receive cells from low-cost consumer devices comparable to today's telephones, VCRs, CD players, or even smoke detectors. If ATM networks are to reach their full potential, simple, low-cost interfaces for transmitting and receiving ATM cells must be provided for devices such as those listed above. Additionally, ATM devices such as ATM switches require interfaces with a minimal number of pins to achieve high port densities.
A currently-popular example of a simple ATM interface is the UTOPIA interface described in UTOPIA, an ATM-PHY Interface Specification, Level 1, Version 2.01, The ATM Forum, Mar. 21, 1994. The interface is between a device at the ATM layer and a device at the physical (PHY) layer and has two parts: a transmit interface for transferring cells from the ATM layer to the PHY layer and a receive interface for transferring cells from the PHY layer to the ATM layer. Both interfaces require 8 lines to carry data signals and four lines to carry control signals. The transmit interface may additionally include two optional control lines. In the transmit interface, the four required control signals are the following:
TxSOC: Start of cell. Active high signal asserted by the ATM layer when the data lines contain the first valid byte of an ATM cell. PA1 TzEnb*: Enable. Active low signal asserted by the ATM layer during cycles when the data lines contain valid cell data. PA1 TxFull*/TxCalv: Full/cell available. For byte-level flow control, Txfull* is an active low signal from PHY to ATM layer, asserted by the PHY layer to indicate that a maximum of four more transmit data writes will be accepted. For cell-level flow control, TxClav is an active high signal from PHY to ATM layer, asserted by the PHY layer to indicate it can accept the transfer of a complete cell. PA1 TxClk: data transfer/synchronization clock provided by the ATM layer to the PHY layer for synchronizing transfers on TxData.
UTOPIA has a number of disadvantages which limit its use in low-cost devices or devices with high port densities. The first disadvantage is that a minimum of twelve bus lines are required, 8 for data and four for control signals. A second disadvantage is the complexity of the control signals, which include three flow control signals and a clock signal. A third disadvantage is that the UTOPIA interface is not symmetrical, that is, a device at the ATM layer must send to and receive from a device at the PHY layer, and cannot send to and receive from another device in the ATM layer. One consequence of this fact is that devices at the ATM layer cannot be directly connected to each other.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ATM interface which is simple enough that switches using the interface can have high port densities and that low-cost devices can use the interface.

Minimum-pin ATM interface with flow control


The present disclosure relates to coupled circuits and methods of coupling circuits having a power supply wherein a plurality of transistors are inductively coupled directly to the power supply for providing a single DC supply voltage directly to each of the plurality of transistors, and wherein a plurality of transformers have primary and secondary windings, the primary and secondary windings providing, at least in part, inductive loads for inductively coupling the plurality of transistors to the power supply, the plurality of transformers also providing an AC signal path for coupling neighboring ones of the plurality of transistors together.

Current technology trends favor low power supply voltages and low power consumption circuits. A cascode structure is widely used in analog and mixed-signal circuits. FIG. 1a shows a cascode circuit formed by N CMOS transistors 2 while FIG. 1b a cascode circuit formed by N bipolar transistors 4. Note the vertical serial arrangement of the transistors 2, 4 and their connection to the power supply at VDD and ground. Obviously, the maximum drop across any individual transistor 2, 4 will be much less than the difference between VDD and ground, so the transistors 2, 4 are not really being effectively utilized.
Cascode topologies are popular. A typical cascode is an arrangement of electronic active devices that combines two or more amplifier stages for increased output resistance and reduced parasitic capacitance, resulting in high gain with increased bandwidth. The cascode arrangement usually refers specifically to the combination of a transconductance amplifier stage with a current buffer stage.
The minimum supply voltage (VDD in the embodiment of FIGS. 1a and 1b) for an N stage cascode structure is Nx(Vgs-Vth) for CMOS transistors and NxVBE(on) for bipolar transistors. This constraint severely limits the applications for these circuits in low power and voltage applications as there is not enough headroom for signal swing due to supply voltage constraints.
A prior art power amplifier is discussed with reference to FIGS. 6a-6c. Expensive HEMTs made from relatively exotic (compared to silicon) semiconductor materials have been used in the circuit of FIG. 6a to form a power amplifier such as can be used in the final RF stage of a telecommunications device. Exotic HEMT devices tend to need complicated power supplies since the voltage needed tends to be higher than that used elsewhere in communication equipment employing such devices.

Origami cascaded topology for analog and mixed-signal applications

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