Disclosed herein is a receiving apparatus in a CDMA communication system for transmitting a transmit data subjected to a spread modulation processing with a predetermined spreading factor, and demodulating the transmit data by subjecting received signals to a despread processing. A first despread signal generator multiplies a received signal by the same code as a spreading code on the transmission side for each chip, divides the results of multiplications for all the chips into a plurality of groups, and sums the results of multiplications in each group so as to output respectively a despread signal having a spreading factor which is smaller than the spreading factor on the transmission side. A second despread signal generator sums respective k pair of the despread signals which are output from the first despread signal generator so as to generate a plurality of despread signals having a predetermined spreading factor. A bit error rate estimator judges whether the transmit data is xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d from each of the plurality of despread signals in a predetermined spreading factor, and estimates a bit error rate BER in the predetermined spreading factor by using the results of judgments.

The present invention relates to a CDMA receiving apparatus in a CDMA communication system for transmitting a transmit data which are subjected to a spread modulation processing with a predetermined spreading factor and demodulating the transmit data by subjecting the received signal to a despread processing and, more particularly, to a CDMA receiving apparatus provided with a function of estimating the error rate in a plurality of energy power ratios Eb/N0s which are lower than the Eb/N0 in the current communication.
As a modulation system in mobile communication, digital systems are now mainly used in place of the conventionally used analog systems. Analog cellular systems are generally called a first generation, while digital cellular systems such as PDC (Japanese standard), GSM (European standard), IS54 (US TDMA standard) and IS95 (US CDMA standard) are called a second generation. The systems of the first and second generations are mainly used for voice service, and effectively utilize limited radio bands for communication by making the most use of the analog/digital narrow-band modulation demodulation system.
In a next generation, however, not only telephone communication but communication through a FAX and an electric mail, and communication of inter-computer etc. are possible. In a next generation, therefore, there is a demand for a communication system which enables service of various types of information (multimedia information) such as a motion picture and a still picture in addition to sound and information through the above-described communication means, and which has such a high quality that a user is not aware that communication is performed in a mobile network. A DS-CDMA (direct sequence code division multiple access) system attracts attention as a promising radio access system which will satisfy the above-described demand. The DS-CDMA system is a system for realizing spread spectrum by directly multiplying the signal which is to be spread its spectrum by a signal in a much wider band.
FIG. 12 shows the structure of a CDMA transmitter in a mobile station. In a pilot channel signals are subjected to a BPSK modulation processing by a first modulator 1a and thereafter spread and modulated with a spreading code for the pilot channel by a first spreader 1b. On the other hand, in a data channel, after signals are subjected to an appropriate coding processing such as CRC coding and convolutional coding by an encoder 1c, they are subjected to a BPSK modulation processing by a second modulator 1d, and then spread and modulated with a spreading code for the data channel by a second spreader 1e. A multiplexer 1f combines these signals spread by the first and second spreaders 1b and 1e, respectively, into a vector. The combined signals are then mapped in I channel and Q channel In-phase channel and Quadrature channel which are orthogonal to each other, subjected to frequency conversion and high-frequency amplification by a radio transmitter 1g, and transmitted from an antenna 1h.
FIG. 13 shows the structure of a CDMA receiving unit for 1 channel in a CDMA receiver at a base station. A radio receiver 2a converts the frequency of the high-frequency signal received from an antenna into the frequency of baseband signals, and inputs the baseband signals into a searcher 2b and each of finger portions 2c1 to 2cn. When the direct sequence signal (DS signal) which is influenced by the multi paths are input, the searcher 2b detects the multi paths by autocorrelation using a matched filter (not shown), and inputs the timing data for starting despread and delayed time adjusting data in each path into each of the finger portions 2c1 to 2cn. A despreader 3a in the pilot channel of each of the finger portions 2c1 to 2cn subjects the direct wave or delayed wave which arrives through a predetermined path to a despread processing by using the same code as the spreading code in the pilot channel, integrates the result of the despread processing, thereafter subjects the integrated signal to a delay processing corresponding to its own path, and outputs a pilot channel signal. A despreader 3b in the data channel of each finger portion subjects the direct wave or delayed wave which arrives through a predetermined path to a despread processing by using the same code as the spreading code in the data channel, integrates the result of the despread processing, thereafter subjects the integrated signal to a delay processing corresponding to its own path, and outputs a data channel signal.
A channel estimating portion 3c estimates a channel for compensating for the influence of fading in a communication path by using the despread pilot channel signal, and outputs a channel estimation signal. A fading compensator 3d compensates for the fading of the despread data channel signal by using the channel estimation signal. A RAKE combiner 2d combines the signal output from each of the finger portions 2c1 to 2cn, and outputs the combined signals to a decoder 2e for soft decision error correction as a soft decision data train. The decoder 2e decodes and outputs the transmitted data by soft decision error correction, and inputs the decoded data into an encoder 2f. The encoder 2f subjects the decoded data with an error corrected to the same encoding processing as the encoder 1c (FIG. 12) in the transmitter, and a error rate estimator 2g estimates a bit error rate BER by comparing the result of encoding with the data before decoding. The bit error rate BER is usable for the control of transmission power.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of the transmission power control in a closed loop of an uplink. In a mobile station 1, a spread modulator 11 spreads and modulates a transmit data by using a spreading code which corresponds to a predetermined channel designated by a base station 2, and a power amplifier 12 amplifies the input signal which is subjected to a processing such as orthogonal modulation and frequency conversion after the spread modulation, and transmits the amplified signal from an antenna to the base station 2. In the base station 2, a despreader 21 which corresponds to each path subjects a delayed signal which arrives through an allocated path to a despead modulation processing, and a RAKE combiner/demodulator 22 combines the signal output from each finger.
An Eb/N0 measuring portion 23 measures the ratio Eb/N0 which is the ratio of the signal energy per bit Eb to the noise power N0 of a received signal. A comparator 24 compares the target Eb/N0 with the measured Eb/N0 and if the measured Eb/N0 is larger than the target Eb/N0, it creates a command for lowering the transmission power by TPC (Transmission Power Control) bits, while if the measured Eb/N0 is smaller than the target one, it creates a command for raising the transmission power by TPC bits. The target Eb/N0 is a value necessary for obtaining a bit error rate BER of, for example, 10xe2x88x923 (an error occurs once in 1000 times), and it is input into the comparator 24 from a target Eb/N0 setting portion 25. A spread modulator 26 spreads and modulates the transmit data and the TPC bits. After the spread modulation, the base station 2 subjects them to processing such as DA conversion, orthogonal modulation, frequency conversion and power amplification, and transmits them from the antenna to the mobile station 1. A despreader 13 in the mobile station 1 subjects the signal received from the base station 2 to a despread processing, and a RAKE combiner/demodulator 14 decodes the received data and the TPC bits and controls the transmission power of the power amplifier 12 in accordance with the command designated by the TPC bits. The mobile station 1 and the base station 2 perform the above-described power control in every slot.
In the above-described transmission power control, it is necessary to determine and set the target Eb/N0 in such a manner as to obtain a bit error rate BER of, for example, 10xe2x88x923. If a communication environment is bad, for example, it is necessary to set the target Eb/N0 at a large value in order to obtain a desired bit error rate BER. On the other hand, if the communication environment is good, it is possible to obtain a desired bit error rate BER even if the target Eb/N0 is small. It is therefore necessary to measure the present communication environment, and set the target Eb/N0 in such a manner as to obtain the desired bit error rate. In the prior art, however, it is unfavorably difficult to measure the communication environment and set the target Eb/N0 in such a manner as to obtain the desired bit error rate in a short time.
Furthermore, in the prior art, it is necessary to control the transmission power so that the measured Eb/N0 equals to the target Eb/N0 so as to obtain a desired bit error rate. In the prior art, however, the measured Eb/N0 is compared with the target Eb/N0 and the transmission power is controlled by predetermined quantity using TPC bits in accordance with the result of the comparison. For this reason, it inconveniently takes a long time to obtain the target Eb/N0, in other words, a desired bit error rate.
In addition, although it is necessary to report the bit error rate BER in the current Eb/N0 to a host apparatus in transmission power control, it is impossible to estimate the bit error rate BER in the current Eb/N0 in a short time.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-described problems in the related art, and to set a target Eb/N0 which achieves a desired bit error rate in a short time.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce a control time which is required in order to obtain a desired bit error rate in transmission power control.
It is still another object of the present invention to estimate a bit error rate in a predetermined Eb/N0 in a short time.
To achieve the above-described objects, in the present invention, there is provided a CDMA apparatus comprising: (1) a first despread signal generator for multiplying a received signal by the same code as a spreading code on the transmission side in every chip, dividing the results of the multiplications in all the chips into a plurality of groups, and summing the results of the multiplications in each group so as to output a plurality of despread signals having a smaller spreading factor than the spreading factor on the transmission side; (2) a second despread signal generator for generating despread signals of a predetermined spreading factor by summing every k despread signals out of the plurality of despread signals output from the first despread signal generator, and (3) an error rate estimator for estimating a bit error rate in each spreading factor by judging the transmit data from each of said despread signals in each spreading factor. If the spreading factor becomes xc2xd, the energy Eb per bit becomes xc2xd, so that the Eb/N0 decreases by 3 dB. If the spreading factor becomes xc2xc, the Eb/N0 decreases by 6 dB, if the spreading factor becomes xe2x85x9, the Eb/N0 decreases by 9 dB and the same rule applies correspondingly to the following. Accordingly, the error rate estimator is able to estimate the error rates in Eb/N0s which are lower than the Eb/N0 in the current communication on the basis of the error rate judged in each spreading factor.
To state this concretely, (1) when the first despread signal generator divides the results of the multiplications of the spreading code and received signals for all the chips into 2n groups, it sums the results of the multiplications in all the chips each group, and outputs a plurality of despread signals having a spreading factor of SF/2n, wherein SF is the spreading factor on the transmission side, (2) the second despread signal generator sums 2m (mxe2x89xa6n) despread signals out of the plurality of despread signals output from the first despread signal generator, and outputs despread signals having a spreading factor of S/2(nxe2x88x92m), wherein m is variable so that the second despread signal generator outputs despread signals having various spreading factor, and (3) the error rate estimator judges the transmit data in each bit from each despread signal and estimates the bit error rate in each spreading factor by using the result of the judgment.
In this manner, the error rate estimator is able to count the frequency of errors in each spreading factor (in other words, the frequency of errors in each Eb/N0) in one despread processing for decoding one bit data, and to estimate the bit error rate BER in each spreading factor by accumulating the frequencies of errors during a predetermined time. It is therefore possible to estimate the error rates in a plurality of Eb/N0s which are smaller than the Eb/N0 in the current communication in a short time, and to decide and set the target Eb/N0 which produces a desired bit error rate by interpolation using these plurality of error rates. In addition, since the target Eb/N0 which produces a desired bit error rate is confirmed in a short time, it is possible to obtain a desired bit error rate in a short time by immediately controlling the transmission power so that the actual Eb/N0 equals to the target Eb/N0.
Furthermore, it is possible to calculate the error rate in the Eb/N0 in the current communication by interpolation from the error rates in a plurality of Eb/N0s which are lower than the Eb/N0 in the current communication, and to report the error rate in the Eb/N0 in the current communication to a host apparatus in a short time.


A powder-based material system having an intrinsic and stable degree of porosity provided by hollow ceramic spheres (26) in a fully dense matrix (27). A substrate (22) is formed from a metal powder (70), and may be partially sintered (60). A layer (24) of ceramic powder is arranged on the substrate including the pre-sintered hollow ceramic spheres plus a proportion of nano-sized ceramic particles effective to reduce the layer sintering temperature and to increase the sintering shrinkage of the layer to approximate that of the metal substrate during subsequent co-sintering. The substrate and layer are then co-sintered (61), such as with spark plasma sintering (32, 34, 36), at a temperature and for a duration to fully densify the ceramic powder matrix around the hollow spheres, thereby producing a metal/ceramic material system with low interface stress and with stable porosity during operational temperatures in a gas turbine engine.

Metal components in the working gas path in a gas turbine engine may have a ceramic thermal barrier coating (TBC). Random voids can form in the TBC from sintering shrinkage during processing. These voids can be beneficial for thermal insulation, but detrimental to durability of the TBC and the metal substrate. The amount and size of voids formed and the resulting porosity are not controlled variables. High temperatures in the gas turbine environment can cause changes in the properties of the ceramic TBC, including further sintering, that can lead to spalling of the TBC. Additionally, the thickness of a ceramic TBC is limited due to the mismatch of processing shrinkage between the ceramic coating and the metallic substrate and from differential thermal expansion during operation cycles. This thinness limits the amount of oxidation protection, abrasion protection, and insulation that can be provided by a TBC, and limits its life.
A common method of joining of ceramic coatings to metal substrates is by surface deposition techniques such as High Velocity Oxygen Fuel spraying (HVOF), Air Plasma Spraying (APS), and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). However, these methods provide a non-chemical bond with limited durability.
Ceramic powders and metal powders can be formed into desired shapes, and then sintered to form dense bodies that can be structural. Such fabrication offers rapid manufacturing of net-shape parts. However, the sintering shrinkage of typical metal powders is about 6%, while that of typical ceramic powders is about 1%, and ceramics require much higher sintering temperatures than metals. These sintering disparities, plus different thermal expansion rates and different mechanisms of bonding between atoms, make a stress free bonding of ceramics to metals very difficult under normal circumstances. Such bonding is needed for ceramic coatings on metal components of gas turbine engines, where the ceramic coating serves as a thermal barrier and/or provides object impact resistance and/or desirable abrasion characteristics. Some gas turbine components are exposed to temperatures that cycle from ambient temperatures to about 1,500° C. between shut-down and operational phases of the gas turbine. Operation at such high temperatures causes continued densification of the ceramic material over time.

Powder-based material system with stable porosity


A transmitter for generating modulated signals is shown, wherein in a first-type operating mode, a first digital signal is input into a digital-to-analog converter to obtain a first analog signal that is input into a first-type unit, in which a first-type modulated signal is generated in dependence on at least the first analog signal; and wherein in a second-type operating mode, a second digital signal is input into the digital-to-analog converter to obtain a second analog signal that is input into a second-type unit, in which a second-type modulated signal is generated in dependence on at least the second analog signal. Correspondingly, a wireless communication device is shown, as well as a base station, a module in a wireless communication device, a module in a base station, an integrated circuit, a method, a computer program and a computer program product.

The consumer's growing demand for flexibility and for availability of a variety of services in electronic devices presently pushes forward the miniaturization of device components that implement these services. In the context of mobile phones, after the incorporation of transceivers that are operable in different frequency bands of the second generation mobile radio standards (e.g. the Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM) into so-called dual- and tri-band mobile phones, recent activities are directed to integrate transceivers for both the second and third generation mobile radio standards, with the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) as a representative of the latter type of standard, into so-called multi-mode mobile phones.
The prior art approach to set-up, for instance, a dual-mode transmitter for a dual-mode mobile phone is to design a first transmitter operable according to a first mobile radio standard and a second transmitter operable according to a second mobile radio standard, and then to separately integrate the designed transmitters into the dual-mode transmitter. This approach, however, does not account for the fact that the first and second transmitter will, during operation of the dual-mode mobile phone, not be used concurrently, and thus causes comparably large dimensions and weight of the dual-mode transmitter.

Reuse of digital-to-analog converters in a multi-mode transmitter


A method of detecting faulty via holes of a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board including a number of electric trace segments. The method includes steps of: providing a testing system, the testing system comprising a processor, a storing means and a resistance measuring device, the storing means for storing a function Ymin=fmin(X) wherein X represents a reference resistance associated with a given electric trace segment, Ymin represents a minimum threshold value; measuring a resistance of an electric trace segment of a to-be-tested printed circuit board using the resistance measuring device, a to-be-tested via hole located on the electric trace segment; and judging whether the to-be-tested via hole is a faulty via hole according to the following criteria: if |Xa−X|≧Ymin, the to-be-tested via hole is a faulty via hole, and if |Xa−X|<Ymin, the to-be-tested via hole is an acceptable via hole, wherein Xa represents the measured resistance of the given electric trace segment counterpart of the to-be-tested printed circuit board.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of detecting faults in printed circuit boards, especially, to a method of detecting faults in holes of printed circuit boards.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, as the electronic appliances are becoming smaller in size and diversified in function, printed circuit boards (PCBs) widely used in such electronic appliances are required to have high circuit density and reliability.
In order to ensure that printed circuit board can perform its intended function, PCBs must be tested after manufactured. There may be various faults in the printed circuit boards, for example, impurity, over-etching and disconnection. Faults in transmission lines can be easily observed in a telescope or by an automatic optical inspection (AOI) apparatus, however, faults in holes can not be directly observed, it is difficult to detect faults in various holes.
Therefore, there is a desire to develop a method suitable for detecting faults in various holes.

Method of detecting faulty via holes in printed circuit boards

FuKui Precision Component (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


An optical logic element is disclosed which performs an XOR operation through utilization of the high-speed property of light. On each branched waveguide of a Mach-Zehnder interference type optical waveguide there is provided a phase modulating element whose refractive index undergoes a change when it is irradiated by light. The interference type optical waveguide is adapted to provide different optical output levels when the refractive index changes of the phase modulating elements are both zero or a predetermined value and when they differ from each other. Thus, the optical logic element is capable of performing the XOR or XNOR operation at an ultrahigh speed.

The present invention relates to an optical logic element for controlling an optical signal by light, which is indispensable to high-speed optical signal processings in the fields of optical switching and optical information processings.
It is now being expected that wide-band, new services, such as moving picture communication and image distribution, are developed extensively through utilization of the optical fiber communication technology which permits ultrawide band, ultrahigh-speed transmission. In this instance, ultrahigh-speed signal processing is indispensable at a node at which wide-band signals center. To meet with this requirement, particular attention is being directed to a so-called optical switching, optical signal processing system which processes optical signals intact or processes them making the most use of properties of light and which can therefore be expected to allow a high-speed switching operation and afford further reduction of the processing time through parallel processing, in comparison with a system which once converts optical signals to electrical signals and processes them by the use of an LSI or similar electronic circuit.
One of important functions in optical signal processing is a signal identifying function for identifying an input optical signal to provide it to a desired path. Usually, a signal composed of a digital sequence uses its bit pattern as an indication for recognition, and it can be said that the signal identifying function is to perform a bit pattern matching operation. The bit pattern matching means a function which determines whether digital signal bits of a plurality of input signal cells, allotted to each time slot, match or not, thereby ultimately determining whether the cells match or not. To inplement such a function, an optical logic element is needed which performs an exclusive-OR (XOR) or exclusive-NOR (XOR) operation as a logical operation which provides a different output signal, depending on whether all the above-mentioned plurality of bits assume the same states "1" (or "0") or not.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional XOR optical logical element. Reference numerals 100 and 100' denote photo-transistors (HPT's) each composed of n-InP, p-InGaAsP and n-Inp layers and 101 and 101' LED's each composed of n-Inp, InGaAsP and p-InP layers. The LED's are each connected in series to one of the two HPT's which are simultaneously irradiated with input light beams A and B, and two such unit cells are connected in parallel to the power supply. FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional structure of the unit cell surrounded by a one-dot chain line. Reference numeral 102 indicates a semi-insulating InP layer, 103 an n-InP layer, 104 a p-InGaAsP layer, 105 an n-InP layer, 106 an InGaAsP layer, 107 a p-InP layer, 108 a p-InGaAsP layer, 109 an Au-Zn layer, 110 an Au-Sn layer, 111 a polyimide layer, and 112 a Ti/Au layer. The InGaAsP layers 104 and 106 correspond to a base layer of each HPT and a light emitting layer of each LED, respectively. Assuming that only the input light A (or B) is applied as shown in FIG. 9, the HPT 100 (or 100') are turned ON and the HPT 100' (or 100) connected in parallel thereto are turned OFF, and consequently, only the LED 101 (or 101') emits light. On the other hand, when the input light beams A and B are simultaneously applied, only those of the HPT's 100 and 100' which are not connected to the LED's 101 and 101' are turned ON, with a result that a current will not flow through either of the LED's 101 and 101' and hence they will not emit light. In the absence of the input light beams A and B, a current does not flow through none of the HPT'S, and hence they do not emit light. It will be seen from the above that the optical inputs A and B to the HPT's and the optical outputs C and D from the LED's bear a relationship just like an exclusive-NOR (XOR).
The conventional XOR optical logic element has a shortcoming that its operating speed is not so high, because it converts an optical signal to an electrical signal by phototransistors and then drives light emitting diodes of slow operating speed to obtain therefrom an optical output as mentioned above. Moreover, the prior art XOR optical logic element has a complicated structure, and hence calls for a complex manufacturing process.

Optical Mach-Zehnder type logic element which performs an XOR operation


Speeding up small block intra-prediction in video coding is described herein. The system includes an encoder. The encoder is to execute intra-prediction by deriving a plurality of prediction angles, wherein the prediction angles are based on a video coding standard. The encoder is also to disable a prediction angle for a current block to eliminate a dependency on an immediate predecessor block.

A video stream may be encoded into a variety of video compression formats, or the characteristics of the stream may be changed. In most modern video coding standards, a minimum block size for intra-prediction may be as small as 4×4 pixel blocks. Encoding may also be used when preparing the video stream for transmission between devices or components of computing devices.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.


An electronic device includes a supply circuit board having a switching power supply circuit for outputting DC voltages in conformity with a type of commercial power, and a control circuit, which is connected to the supply circuit board, for performing control in accordance with the type of the commercial power. The control circuit discriminates the type of commercial power based upon a voltage value that is the result of dividing a DC voltage by the supply circuit board, and changes over control of a fixing heater in dependence upon the type of commercial power discriminated. When the door of an image forming apparatus is opened, the supply circuit board halts the supply of DC to a high-voltage circuit, thereby suppressing the generation of high voltage, and the control circuit is notified of the fact that the door has been opened.

In a conventional laser printer, power is supplied from a commercial power supply and the supplied power is applied to a power supply circuit built in the printer. From the power applied thereto, the power supply circuit generates DC voltages necessary for the laser printer, such as 3.3 V used as a low voltage for control circuits and the like, and 24 V used in motors, other drive systems and high-voltage circuits, etc. Commercial power differs in voltage and frequency depending upon the country or area.
Safety standards for the control devices of image printers such as laser printers have been defined in various countries. For example, according to the IEC-1000-3-3 standard in Europe, limit values on voltage fluctuation and flicker have been defined. Furthermore, according to the specifications of IEC-1000-3-3, the rated supply voltage and frequency of commercial power are 220 to 250 V and 50 Hz, respectively.
Ordinarily, in control of a fixing heater in a laser printer, the resistance value of a ceramic heater is optimized so as to satisfy the specifications and obtain appropriate electrophotographic fixation. In terms of controlling the temperature of the fixing heater, on/off duty and frequency are regulated to perform control so as to optimize voltage fluctuation and flicker value.
In North America, on the other hand, the rated voltage and frequency of commercial power are 120 V and 60 Hz, respectively. Consequently, it is necessary to control the resistance value and fixing temperature of the ceramic heater optimum for the commercial power supply.
In the prior art, therefore, the power supply circuit and fixing heater unit are each constructed differently depending upon the supply voltage of each country or area. In addition, the control board of the printer also performs heater control that differs depending upon the supply voltage, and therefore the control board is constructed differently according to the country or area. If printer control boards are thus prepared in accordance with the commercial power supply of each country or area, this will lead to an increase in types of printer control boards and have an adverse effect upon productivity.

Control circuit configurable based on characteristics of commercial power source and image forming apparatus using same


One or more processors within a computing system and the processor(s)' associated local memories may be operatively connected to a main memory enabling data transfer between the main memory and the local memories, in which the computing system can carry out actions that may include: generating a pause condition for one or more processors within a computing system; pausing the one or more processors; saving data from a local memory of the one or more processors to the main memory; hibernating the one or more processors; restoring power to the one or more processors; transferring the saved data originating from the one or more processors back to one originating processor or to designated destination processors in the computing system.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for managing power consumption and heat buildup in a computing system and managing the distribution of computational activity among processors in a multiprocessor computing system.
The increasing clock frequencies and decreasing size of modern microprocessors have generated enormous improvements in computing performance and the convenience of providing such performance within a small footprint. However, these improvements have also led to increased power consumption and considerable heat buildup in the microprocessors. This is particularly true of graphics processors. Thus, there is a need in the art for a software-based solution to the problem of microprocessor heat buildup either in place of, or in addition to, hardware solutions such as the deployment of heat sinks.
In multiprocessor computing systems, the problem of heat buildup may be aggravated by the concentration of a plurality of high-performance processors within a limited space and by an uneven distribution of processing activity among the processors. Such an uneven distribution of computational activity may lead to the generation of local "hot spots" as some processors process more total computational throughput and experience correspondingly greater thermal energy buildup than less active processors within the same computing system. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a software solution to the problem of hot spots in multiprocessor systems.

Multiprocessor system for decrypting and resuming execution of an executing program after transferring the program code between two processors via a shared main memory upon occurrence of predetermined condition


The switch is comprised of a case, a first fixing terminal formed with a contact section exposed at the bottom surface of the case at one end with the other end being outside of the case, a second fixing terminal formed with a contact section exposed at a side surface of a case at one end and with the remaining end being provided outside of the case, a contact piece provided within the case, formed with a fixed contact section always in contact with the first fixing terminal at one end and a moveable contact section capable of contact with the other second fixing terminal at the other end, and with a coil spring section having resilience in a coil winding direction and compression direction at a central section, and an operation body with one end positioned within the case so as to form a pressing section capable of pressing the contact piece in a direction of compression and another end being positioned outside of the case so as to form an operation section pressed from outside.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a push-type switch used in electronic equipment, and specifically relates to a switch turning on and off as a result of ends of a built-in coil spring connecting and disconnecting with contact terminals.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, a "switch" as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. Hei. 7-93074 (related art 1) is provided where a conductive spring is built-into a casing, so that the switch is made to go on and off as a result of contact pieces freely making and breaking contact with connection terminals provided on the inside surface of the box. The "switch" of related art 1 is comprised of a substantially box-shaped case where fixing elements are implanted in a planar manner in an inner bottom surface, a coiled spring contacting piece having a moving end having a springy conductive member curved in the shape of a U with a contact point at an end thereof curved substantially in a semi-circle shape and a fixing end having a contact point at an end thereof while being substantially straight, an operating body constituted by a substantially cylindrical molded member having an inverted c-shaped groove at one end, sliding in a longitudinal direction so as the inverted c-shaped groove traverses the moving end of the contact piece, and a cover supporting the operating body coupled to the case in a slidable manner and sandwiching the coil of the contact piece together with the case.
In related art 1, as shown in FIG. 15, fixing terminals 112 and 113 are provided at the bottom surface within the case 111. A contact piece 114 made of a conductive member having springiness is provided within the case 111. The contact piece 114 is provided such that one end of a coiled spring section 114e is curved in a U-shape, and is formed with a moveable end 114b having a contact point 114c bent in a substantially semi-circular shape at one end, and the other end is in a rectilinear shape forming a fixing end 114a having a contact point 114d making contact with the fixing terminal at the front end.
A contact piece 114 forming a fixing end 114a having a contact point 114d making contact with the terminal 112 is provided.
An operating body 115 is substantially cylindrical and has an inverted c-shaped groove 115a at one end. This groove 115a spans the movable end 114c of the contact piece 114 and is made to slide in a longitudinal direction so that the contact point 114c and the fixing terminal 113 connect and disconnect.
The cover 116 is a lid containing the contact piece 114 within the upper part of the case 111. The cover 116 has a hole 116a supporting the operating body 115 in a manner capable of sliding, links with the case 111, and has a projection 116b sandwiching the coil section 114e of the contact piece 114 together with a u-shaped depression 111a of the case 111.
In the related art 1 formed in this manner, the moveable end 114b is caused to move downwards as a result of the operating body 115 being pressed downwards so as to slide in a manner resisting spring force of the contact piece 114. At this time, the moveable end 114b is made to move according to the spring force of a coil spring and a curve of the moveable end 114b as a result of a spring section 114e moving in a winding direction of the coiled spring taking the contact point 114d making contact with the contact terminal 112. The contact point 114c moves in a horizontal direction in FIG. 15 as a result of the moveable end 114b moving in a downward direction, and is moved to the position of the fixing terminal 113 so as to make contact with the fixing terminal 113, so that the fixing terminal 112 and the fixing terminal 113 enter a conducting state.
Further, when the thrust of the operating body 115 ends, the contact piece 114 returns to its original position due to its own spring force, the contact point 114c is separated from the fixing terminal 113, and the fixing terminal 112 and the fixing terminal 113 enter an insulating state.
However, with the switch of related art 1, the operating body 115 is slid downwards so that the fixing end 114a and the moveable end 114b of the contact piece 114 make contact with the fixing terminal 112 and fixing terminal 113. However, the operating force acting against movement in a downward direction and the contact force necessary in contact between the contact terminal 113 and the fixed terminal 114a and contact between the contact terminal 113 and the moveable end 114b is made by the resilient force due to torsion in the winding direction of the spring section 114e of the contact piece 114.
Resilient force generated by torsion in the winding direction of the coil spring changes according to the amount of torsion. It is therefore difficult to maintain a set value for contact pressure between the contact piece and the fixing terminal.
In particular, with push switches for detecting position used in various electronic equipment for detecting a position of a CD tray etc. of a CD player or computer etc., the operation force used in pressing the push switch is 0 and contact pressure between the contact piece and the fixing terminal is ideally a set value. In the related art example, when the operation force pressing the push switch is made small, contact pressure between the contact piece and the fixing terminals becomes small and there is therefore the problem that the operation force has to be large to implement the set contact pressure. When operation force is made small, the contact pressure is also made small, and contact pressure at a contact start position for the contact piece and the fixing terminal and contact pressure at a time when the contact piece further moves after contact become different. Contact resistance at the contact start position therefore becomes large, errors occur at positions judged to be conducting, and detected position precision therefore becomes poor.
The operation direction of the contact piece due to the operating body deforms the contact piece in the winding direction of the coil spring. This therefore made it difficult to make the operation direction of the switch short.
In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, this invention is advantageous in providing a switch where change in contact pressure due to the position of a contact piece is small.


A power control system with a pseudo-power up, an aircraft including the power control system and a method of controlling power in an aircraft. On-board wiring is protected from faults by electronic circuit breakers (ECBs), which may also control AC/DC electrical power supplies of on-board electrical/electronic equipment. A computer processor operating a user interface, e.g., a graphical user interface (GUI), through a display. An on-board store stores the GUI, other computer applications and the current state of each ECB, e.g., in a breaker state table. In a pseudo-power mode up, the stored circuit breaker state is available without providing power to the ECBs and, correspondingly to the coupled on-board electrical systems. When terminated, the system can power off, or proceed to normal power where each ECB is configured according to the breaker state table prior to providing power to protected systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to powering and maintaining power controlled power systems and, more particularly, to powering and maintaining power controlled aircraft power systems protected by electronic circuit breakers.
2. Background Description
Typical commercial transport aircraft include multiple, complex electrical systems with hundreds of circuit breakers protecting those systems from over-current conditions, traditionally, with Thermal Circuit Breakers (TCB). Thermal circuit breakers normally trip open to protect circuits when enough current passes through the breaker to heat the breaker above a trip point. Additionally, a thermal circuit breaker may be manually opened by pulling on a push/pull breaker switch prior to maintenance, in order to prevent equipment from becoming energized and causing damage, injury, or death. Frequently, tags and locks are attached to open circuit breakers to convey important safety information, and to prevent dangerous closures. Once maintenance is complete, tags and locks must be removed, and the thermal circuit breakers must be manually closed by depressing the push/pull breaker switch. Typical thermal circuit breakers are relatively heavy and require substantial additional aircraft wiring. Since, these heavy thermal circuit breakers are far from optimum or efficient, for this and for many other reasons, some aircraft manufacturers have turned to solid state technology.
Instead, these aircraft manufacturers are replacing heavy thermal circuit breakers with remotely located, Solid State Power Controllers (SSPCs) or Electronic Circuit Breakers (ECBs) for improved circuit protection, ease of use and improved personnel safety. A typical state of the art ECB mimics the states of a standard TCB, i.e., closed, opened/tripped, or locked out. Typically, an internal local processor controls each ECB. A centralized interface processor provides control signals over a data bus to coupled ECBs. Each selected ECB switches states in response these control signals and, may respond to the centralized interface processor with an electrical signal that indicates its current breaker state. ECB state information, including electronic representations of tags and locks, is normally stored in internal ECB non-volatile storage. Since ECBs are electronically controlled by the processor, they can be controlled from any processor interface, regardless of the actual ECB location. So, for example, mechanics, pilots, or other users can remotely determine and change the current state of ECBs without leaving the aircraft flight deck.
Unfortunately, without electrical power, the breaker state is unknown. Because they are fully electronic/electronically controlled, the ECB must have electrical power to view or alter the current ECB state. This can cause problems when electrical power is initially applied or restored. For example, when the airplane is unpowered, a mechanic is not able to open an unpowered ECB prior to a maintenance activity. If the mechanic proceeds with the activity and, subsequently, power is applied to the airplane, the equipment being maintained could be inadvertently powered. This is a hazardous condition, and consequently, could lead to injury or death to the mechanic, or could cause damage to the airplane.
Additionally, if an ECB is replaced during maintenance, the internal state data may be lost or disturbed. This could have the same hazardous consequences, i.e., protected equipment could become inadvertently powered. Furthermore, many ECBs are normally integrated together in a single Line Replaceable Module, (LRM). So, replacing a single such module could impact many individual ECBs and, therefore, many different airplane systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for monitoring and inspecting aircraft electronic circuits during maintenance procedures even in unpowered aircraft and especially during power distribution system maintenance. More particularly, there is a need to allow maintenance personnel to engage in such activity without risking damage to the aircraft, and while protecting personnel from injury or death.

Power control system pseudo power-up, aircraft including the power control system and method of controlling power in an aircraft


A micromachined piezoelectric microspeaker and its fabricating method are disclosed. The micromachined piezoelectric microspeaker comprises a diaphragm and a plurality of contact pads. The diaphragm comprises an active area which is flat, and a non-active area which is wrinkled and surrounds the active area. The plurality of contact pads for electrodes are located outside of the diaphragm and over a wafer. And, the method comprises the steps of forming a compressive film on a wafer, forming a bottom electrode on a predetermined part of the compressive film of the front side of the wafer, forming a piezoelectric film on the bottom electrode and on the compressive film of the front side of the wafer, forming a bottom insulator film on the piezoelectric film, forming a top electrode on a predetermined part of the bottom insulator where the top electrode is located over some part of the bottom electrode, forming a top insulator film on the top electrode and on the bottom insulator film, forming contact pads for the bottom electrode and top electrode at an outside part of each electrode, and removing a predetermined part of the wafer which is located between wafer parts located under the each contact pads.

The prior art provides various examples of piezoelectric transducers. Examples of such piezoelectric transducers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,140,740; 6,064,746; 5,956,292; 5,751,827; 5,633,552; 4,654,554, and 4,979,219. In many cases, the known piezoelectric vibrating plate comprises a single thin metal sheet on one or both sides of which is or are laminated a piezoelectric sheet or sheets consisting of a round thin piece of 20 to 30 mm in diameter. A conventional piezoelectric speaker has a construction in which a vibrating film or sheet is stretched on a frame while being applied tension and a plurality of piezoelectric ceramics are directly stuck on the film. However, ceramic is so fragile that it is very difficult to make thin sheet and also it is not economical in terms of mass production with on-chip circuitry for signal conditioning.
Recently, there has been increasing interest in micromachined acoustic transducers based on the following advantages: size miniaturization with extremely small weight, potentially low cost due to the batch processing, possibility of integrating transducers and circuits on a single chip, lack of transducer "ringing" due to small diaphragm mass. Especially, these advantages make the micromachined acoustic transducers, such as microspeaker and microphone attractive in the applications for personal communication systems, multimedia systems, hearing aid and so on.
Micromachined acoustic transducers are provided with a thin diaphragm by deposition system and several diaphragm materials that must be compatible with high temperature semiconductor process, such as low stress silicon nitride and silicon have been applied as diaphragm. However, micromachined acoustic transducers made by these conventional diaphragm materials suffer from a relatively low output pressure and sensitivity, which are mainly because of the high stiffness and low deflection of these diaphragm materials in case of transducers application. So, in some cases, a conventional piezoelectric speaker used fiber reinforced epoxy, polyester, or ABS resin diaphragm in order to increase the deflection of diaphragm reported in U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,827.
In order to implement the micromachined microspeaker transducers with competitive performance with conventional microspeaker, it is necessary to find the new diaphragm materials that have large deflection with small driving voltage and compatibility with semiconductor process at the same time. Also, proper material and technique should be investigated to cause large deflection of diaphragm.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a micromachined piezoelectric microspeaker which has a new diaphragm materials that have large deflection with small driving voltage and compatibility with semiconductor process at the same time.

Method for fabricating a micromachined piezoelectric microspeaker


An optical disk drive apparatus for recording a predetermined signal on an optical disk by varying predetermined recording conditions and detecting recording characteristics based on a reproduction signal of the predetermined signal is provided. The optical disk drive apparatus includes a reproducing part for reproducing the predetermined signal for a plurality of times; and recording characteristics detecting part for detecting the recording characteristics based on a plurality of reproduction signals supplied from the reproducing part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive apparatus, and particularly relates to an optical disk drive apparatus capable of performing calibration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical disk devices of a recordable-type device may be categorized into a Write-Once type and an Erasable type. There are several recording methods for the Write-Once type optical disk. One method is to dispose a material such as Tellurium (Te) or Bismuth (Bi) on a signal-recording surface of the optical disk and then irradiate a laser beam on the recording surface so as to melt the material and form pits thereon. Another method is to utilize a thin-layer of Sb2Se3, TeOx or an organic dye as a material of a recording surface and then irradiate a laser beam on the recording surface to vary the light reflectivity.
CD-R disk is one of the Write-Once type optical disks which is provided with pregrooves for guiding purpose. The pregrooves are provided in a slightly wobbled manner in a radial direction with a central frequency of 22.05 kHz. The pregrooves are provided with address information called ATIP (Absolute Time In Pregroove) recorded thereon in a multiplexed manner by FSK modulation with a maximum deviation of +/−1 kHz.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a signal-recording format of a CD-R disk. As shown in the figure, the signal recording format of the CD-R disk includes a power calibration area (PCA) provided at a location closer to the center of the disk for recording and measuring an optimum recording power and an information area provided at an outer location. The information area includes a program memory area (PMA) for temporarily storing signal-recording information or skipping information during a Write-Once operation, a read-in area, a user data area and a read-out area.
In case of the CD-R disk which is a write-once type optical disk, an OPC (Optimum Power Control) operation is carried out prior to actual recording of the information, in order to determine an optimum recording power of the laser beam. The OPC operation is an operation for measuring recording characteristics and is carried out on the power calibration area provided at a predetermined position of the disk.
The power calibration area includes a test area for 100 tests (partitions: P100-P001). Each partition includes 15 frames (F01-F15). Test signals are recorded into each one of the 15 frames at 15 different levels of recording power and the test signals recorded in the frames are reproduced individually. A peak value and a bottom value of the test signal are detected for each frame. The optimum recording power is determined based on the peak values and the bottom values. Among the 15 steps of recording power, a recording power that exceeds a predetermined value is selected as the most suitable recording power, i.e., an optimum recording power, for carrying out the following recording operation. Note that it is necessary to select the optimum recording power in such a manner since recording characteristics of the disks differ between different disk manufacturers. If the optimum recording power of the disk is not obtained, the reproduced signals may be reproduced with an increased jitter and at a higher error rate.
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a waveform of an AC-coupled RF (high-frequency) signal obtained by reproducing signals recorded on a CD-R disk for showing a peak value (P) and a bottom value (B) of an envelope of the AC-couple RF signal. The AC-coupled RF signal is obtained by removing DC components from the reproduced signals, and thus only contains alternating current (AC) components.
In the prior art, one level of recording power is assigned to each frame and a recording operation is carried out on the test area at 15 steps of power between the minimum level of power and the maximum level of power. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the peak value (P) and the bottom value (B) of the envelope of the AC-coupled RF (high-frequency) signal reproduced from the test area are detected. A characteristic value for each level of the recording power may be expressed as:characteristic value β=(P+B)/(P−B).If the bottom value (B) takes a negative value and has the same magnitude as the peak value (P), it holds that: P+B=0, resulting in that β=0. When the characteristic value β=0, it may be regarded that the peak value (P) and the bottom value (B) are symmetrical about the horizontal axis. Then, a recording power level for a state where the characteristic value β exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 0.04) is taken as an optimum recording power. Subsequent signal recording is carried out based on the thus-obtained optimum recording power.
In the prior art, since the rotational speed of the optical disk is relatively low, even if recording and reproducing on the test area of the optical disk is carried out at the same speed, the recording characteristic can be measured without reducing an accuracy of measurement. However, recently, due to an increased rotational speed of the optical disk, it is difficult to obtain sufficient number of samples of the signals reproduced from the test area of the optical disk. Accordingly, it has been proposed to reduce the rotational speed of the optical disk during reproduction, so as to maintain the accuracy of measurement of the recording characteristic.
However, in a method which maintains the accuracy of measuring the recording characteristic by reducing the rotational speed of the optical disk, the rotational speed of the optical disk must be reduced from a higher speed to a lower speed. Therefore, there is a problem that a greater load is applied to the optical disk drive apparatus and thus the life of the optical disk drive apparatus becomes shorter.
Also, as has been described above, when it is necessary to perform an operation of reducing the rotational speed from a higher speed to a lower speed, there is a problem that an OPC operation becomes time-consuming.

Optical disc apparatus capable of detecting recording characteristics based on a predetermined signal prerecorded and reproduced


A holographic recording/reproducing apparatus includes a splitter unit for splitting a laser beam into a first laser beam for generating a signal beam and a second laser beam which serves as a reference beam, a spatial light modulator for spatially modulating the first laser beam in accordance with information to be recorded, the modulated first laser beam serving as the signal beam, and a first lens system for focusing the signal beam and the reference beam onto a holographic recording medium. In a recording process, the signal beam and the reference beam are guided through one and the other half-regions separated along the optical axis of the first lens system. In a reproduction process, only the reference beam is guided through one of the half-regions and a signal reproduction beam from the holographic recording medium is guided through a second lens system in the other half-region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holographic recording/reproducing apparatus which either records or records and reproduces information holographically, and also relates to a reproducing apparatus which reproduces holographically recorded information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical holographic recording system, a laser beam from a laser source is split along two optical paths. One of the split laser beams is spatially modulated by a spatial light modulator in accordance with information to be recorded, and the thus modulated laser beam serves as a signal beam. The other one of the split laser beams serves as a reference beam. The signal beam and the reference beam are superimposed on a holographic recording medium so that the two laser beams interfere with each other and an interference pattern is formed on the holographic recording medium as a refractive index variation. Thus, the information is recorded on the holographic recording medium.
When the thus recorded information is reproduced, the signal beam is blocked and only the reference beam is directed onto the holographic recording medium at the same incident position and incident angle as those in the recording process. A diffracted beam corresponding to the original signal beam is obtained from the interference pattern on the holographic recording medium as a reproduction beam, and the reproduction beam is detected by a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor or the like.
The above-described holographic recording system can also perform multiplexed holographic recording. Multiplexed holographic recording is performed by, for example, an angular multiplexing method in which the incident angle of the reference beam on the holographic recording medium at the position where the signal beam is directed is varied or by a shifting method in which the reference beam is shifted in the multiplexing direction.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of a known holographic recording/reproducing apparatus. In this apparatus, a laser beam L from a laser source 101 is split into two laser beams L1 and L2 by a beam splitter 102. The laser beam L1 is guided through a shutter 103 and a lens system 104 into a polarization beam splitter (PBS) 105, and is incident on a reflective spatial light modulator (SLM) 106. The laser beam L1 is spatially modulated by the spatial light modulator 106 in accordance with information to be recorded, and the thus modulated laser beam L1 serves as a signal beam. The signal beam passes through the polarization beam splitter 105 and a first lens system 107, which serves as a Fourier-transform (FT) lens, and is directed onto a holographic recording medium 108.
The other laser beam L2 split by the beam splitter 102 is reflected by a mirror on a so-called page motor such that the reflection angle can be changed, and is focused onto the holographic recording medium 108 by a second lens system 110 as a reference beam. Accordingly, the signal beam and the reference beam interfere with each other and the information is recorded holographically.
When the thus recorded information is reproduced, the signal beam is blocked by closing the shutter 103 and only the laser beam L2, which serves as the reference beam, is directed onto the holographic recording medium 108 along the same optical path as that in the recording process. Accordingly, a reproduction beam corresponding to the recorded information is extracted from the back of the holographic recording medium 108, that is, from the side opposite to that on which the signal beam is incident. The reproduction beam is guided through a third lens system 111, which serves as an inverse Fourier-transform (IFT) lens, and is detected by a CCD sensor 112 or the like (refer to, for example, "Holographic Data Storage" edited by H. J. Coufal, D. Psaltis, and G. T. Sincerbox, Springer Series in Optical Sciences, Springer Verlag, July 2000, p. 350). Thus, a transmissive holographic recording medium is used as the holographic recording medium in this apparatus.
In the above construction, each of the first, second, and third lens systems 107, 110, and 111 has a complex lens structure including a lens group obtained by combining a plurality of lenses in order to increase the field of view and improve the focus performance, and therefore the apparatus is large and expensive.
Apparatuses using a holographic recording medium having a reflective film are also disclosed (refer to, for example, Optical Data Storage 2001, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4342 (2002), p. 567).
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of another known holographic recording/reproducing apparatus which uses a holographic recording medium having a reflective film. In this apparatus, a laser beam L from a laser source 201 is expanded by a beam expander 202 and is split into two laser beams L1 and L2 by a beam splitter 203. The laser beam L1 passes through a beam shaper 204, is reflected by a mirror 205, is guided into a spatial light modulator (SLM) 206, and is modulated in accordance with information to be recorded, and the thus modulated laser beam L1 serves as a signal beam. The signal beam is reflected by a polarization beam splitter 207, passes through a quarter-wave plate 208, is focused by a first lens system 209, which is a lens group serving as a recording/reproducing lens system, and is reflected by a mirror 210. The reflected signal beam passes through the lens system 209 and the quarter-wave plate 208 again so that its plane of polarization changes. Accordingly, the signal beam passes through the polarization beam splitter 207. Then, the signal beam passes through a polarization beam splitter 211, a quarter-wave plate 212, and a second lens system 213, which is a lens group serving as an objective lens, and is directed onto a holographic recording medium 214.
The other laser beam L2 split by the beam splitter 203 is used as a reference beam. The laser beam L2 passes through a beam shaper 215, where the shape of the laser beam L2 is adjusted, is guided into the polarization beam splitter 207 via a mirror 216, a beam contractor 217, a mirror 218, and a Fourier-transform (FT) lens 219, is reflected by the polarization beam splitter 207, passes through the polarization beam splitter 211, the quarter-wave plate 212, and the second lens system 213, and is directed onto the holographic recording medium 214 at the same position as the signal beam.
Accordingly, the signal beam and the reference beam interfere with each other and the information is recorded on the holographic recording medium 214.
When the thus recorded information is reproduced, the signal beam is blocked and only the laser beam L2, which serves as the reference beam, is directed onto the holographic recording medium 214 along the same optical path as that in the recording process. Accordingly, a reproduction beam corresponding to the signal beam is extracted from the front of the holographic recording medium 214, that is, from the same side as that on which the signal beam is incident. The reproduction beam is guided through the second lens system 213 and the quarter-wave plate 212 into the polarization beam splitter 211, is reflected by the polarization beam splitter 211, and is detected by a CCD sensor 211 or the like via a polarizer filter 220.
In the above apparatus which uses a reflective holographic recording medium, that is, a holographic recording medium having a reflective film, the first and second lens systems have a large and complex lens structure. Therefore, compared to the apparatus shown in FIG. 14 which uses a transmissive holographic recording medium, the structure of the entire lens system can be simplified.
However, in this construction, the reference beam reflected by the holographic recording medium 214 is also received by the sensor 221 in the reproduction process. Therefore, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio decreases due to the increase in noise and the efficiency of sensor elements also decreases, which results in lower recording density.

Holographic recording/reproducing apparatus and reproducing apparatus for holographically recorded information


A power amplifier for use in medical and veterinary testing and therapy. A tunable pulse-width-modulated signal generator is connected to a gating element to provide a digital waveform suitable for comprehensive control of the waveform shape and average output power provided by the apparatus. The digital waveform controls a power driver. Through use of a high-Q resonant circuit including a capacitor and a primary winding of a coil assembly, a voltage of about 150-400 volts is increased to about 10 kilovolts at the primary winding. The coil assembly has a secondary:primary turns ratio of 10:1, resulting in a signal of about 100 kilovolts at the output of the secondary winding. This arrangement produces a corona discharge at a discharge pin connected to the secondary winding. A manual tuning embodiment and a self-tuning embodiment are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to corona discharge apparatus including electric power amplifiers, especially suitable for use in medical and veterinary testing and therapy.
2. Related Art
A corona discharge beam is a discharge of electricity produced on the surface of and adjacent to a conductor when the voltage gradient produced by a high voltage exceeds a certain critical value due to ionization of the surrounding air by the high voltage. Corona discharge beams for use in thermotherapy treatment in general and for use in trimming thick film resistors are known in the art.
As a background, U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,677 (Di Mino) discloses a thermotherapy technique in which a beam is used to apply heat to a patient's skin to treat arthritis and other medical conditions. A corona discharge beam is derived from a low radio-frequency power source in which a low radio-frequency carrier in the range of 200 to 300 kHz is overmodulated by a sonic frequency signal in the 3000 to 5000 Hz range to produce a continuous energy waveform. The resulting bursts of radio-frequency energy have a repetition rate at the sonic frequency and a peak amplitude sufficient to cause a corona discharge in the energy range of 5 to 15 watts. The energy from this discharge is applied in 20 second and 30 to 40 second applications to generate heat in a patient.
In the field of trimming thick film resistors with corona discharge, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,911 (Di Mino) discloses a technique for enhancing the electrical characteristics of thick film resistors to bring them to their target values. A generating unit in which a low radio-frequency carrier is overmodulated by a sonic signal to produce bursts of radio-frequency energy which is coupled to an UP probe by a step-up transformer and to a DOWN probe by a step-down transformer. By raising the value of the resistor above the desired target value with the UP probe and then decreasing its value with the DOWN probe the target value of the resistor is attained.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,904 (Markoll) discloses a method of treating arthritis by placing the affected body part in the field of an annular coil driven by a rectangular waveform.
These references, and all documents cited in this specification, are incorporated herein by reference.
The use of corona discharge to treat mammalians has been known since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, as evidenced by the work of Nicola Tesla as told by Margaret Cheney in TESLA: Man Out of Time (Dell, 1981). The use of sonic frequencies to produce the energy wave to create a corona discharge have also been reported. It is clear from these references that the therapeutic use of corona discharge in general is recognized.
Unfortunately, known corona discharge beam devices and resistor trimming devices have shortcomings which limit their usefulness. There is a lack of appreciation of the importance of the waveform that generates the energy to produce to the corona discharge and of the nature of the corona discharge itself. Furthermore, the known applications of corona discharge emphasize the healing effect of the heat generated by the corona discharge and in only a limited way appreciate that the corona energy in and of itself, or the magnetic fields generated by the corona discharge apparatus itself, may have a therapeutic benefit. As a result, the known applications of corona discharge to mammalian therapeutic uses is limited by the lack of understanding of how to generate suitable corona discharges and/or magnetic fields that have beneficial uses, in addition to any thermotherapeutic utility.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a corona discharge beam for therapy which make use of a specially produced waveform in generating energy to produce corona discharge. Moreover, there is a need to produce a therapeutic effect using the corona discharge energy itself or magnetic fields generated by the corona discharge apparatus, and not relying on incidental or additional thermotherapeutic attributes. Further, there is a need to provide a therapeutic device which provides reduced shock hazard to the patient. Of course, it is desirable to provide a therapeutic apparatus which is small, portable, flexible, conveniently adjustable, easy to use, and cost-effective.
It is to meet these and other needs that the present invention is directed.


A pillow for alleviating lower back pain includes an under-knee portion, which holds an individual's knee in flexion when he is lying on his back, and a between-knee portion, which holds the individual's knees a spaced distance apart when he is lying on his side. The under-knee and between-knee portions are connected by a flexible web that permits automatic adjustment of the relative positions of the two pillow portions to accommodate different sizes of users.

The present invention relates to pillows constructed to alleviate lower back pain. There have been many different pillows and cushions that have been designed to alleviate lower back pain. Many of these pillows serve to hold an individual's legs in a flexed position when the individual is lying on his back (supine position). Other pillows hold an individual's knees apart while he is lying on his side (lateral decubitus position). A conventional pillow may be used below the knees to maintain flexion or between the knees to maintain spacing, but the pillow must be re-positioned whenever an individual rolls from his back onto his side, or vice versa. Moreover, a conventional pillow is easily displaced as an individual moves and turns while he is sleeping. Thus, it would be desirable to have a dual-function pillow that provides the necessary support regardless of whether the individual is lying on his back or on his side and that does not have to be re-positioned when the individual moves.
There have been a few attempts in the prior art to construct such a dual-function pillow. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,818, issued to Grabill et al., describes a dual-function pillow that includes three lobes, two of which form a base that is positioned below an individual's knees, and a third lobe which extends from the base between the individual's knees. This device provides support below the knees when an individual is in a supine position, and between the knees when the individual is lying on his side. The construction of this pillow, however, does not allow for adjustment of the position of the center lobe relative to the base lobes. The position of the center lobe is fixed relative to the base lobes. Thus, if the width of the pillow is not precisely tailored to the individual, the center lobe will not be at the correct height when the individual is lying on his side. The width of the pillow should be at least the width of a user's hips to prevent the user's legs from slipping off. However, if the pillow is made wide enough for a majority of users, a user with narrower hips has difficulty using the pillow while lying on his side because the center lobe of the pillow will cause his upper leg to be held up in the air. As for users with wider hips, the fixed center lobe prevents the pillow from resting on the bed while the user is lying on his side, resulting in the user supporting the full weight of the pillow. These difficulties prevent a single pillow from accommodating different sizes of people. This pillow must be custom fit to the user. In short, the prior art design, with the center lobe fixed relative to the base lobes, has several disadvantages that make the pillow impractical for common usage.


The invention relates to a footwear item that is designed for racket sports. The inventive item includes a sole that includes a dynamic element that stores and releases energy when the sole is subjected to lateral stresses. The dynamic element includes at least two pair of elastically deformable support parts which are located longitudinally on either side of the metatarsus support area of the sole and which extend opposite to one another such that a first pair extend on opposite sides of a longitudinal axis of the sole and toward an arch portion of the sole and the second pair extend on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the sole and toward a front part of the sole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical domain of shoes, and more particularly to the domain of footwear items for racket sports.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such shoes are subjected to considerable mechanical stresses, particularly when tennis, badminton, squash or the like are played.
The present invention relates more particularly to a sole intended for such shoes, as it is that which takes up extreme efforts and stresses, while ensuring optimum comfort for the wearers of such shoes.
It is known to produce soles for shoes, for example for sports shoes comprising a sole whose outer face is intended to come into contact with the ground and whose inner face is intended to come into contact with a user's foot.
Shoes are also known, equipped with such a sole which further houses an elastically deformable, dynamic element.
Document EP 0 516 874 describes a shoe of which the front part of the sole is provided with an insert, of the Belleville washer type, making it possible to store and release energy, during walking.
Such a sole is in no way adapted for sports of the tennis or squash type, in which the stresses of the sole and the shoe are extremely more intense and distributed differently than in a conventional walking shoe, such as the one described in that document.


A napkin holder comprised of two separate plates. Each plate is fastened with one pivot point to the same base. This pivot point is between the center and right end on one plate and between the center and the left end on the second plate. Thus, the pivot points being offset, will cause the plates to close when rotated in one direction and to open when rotated in the other direction.

This patent relates to a typical napkin holder, with an added feature which allows the opening between the plates to be adjusted. Previous patents simulating this type of feature were very involved, cumbersome and in no way resemble the typical napkin holder that we are familiar with. Therefore they were not acceptable for general use. This napkin holder is not at all complicated and resembles the everyday holder presently found on the kitchen table. The beauty of this holder is that it will adjust to the exact amount of napkins present, holding them snug and upright, yet not so tight that they cannot be easily removed one at a time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,011 describing an adjustable napkin holder does not have the simplicity or practicality of my invention. Neither does it have the strength or the eye appeal. It doesn't in any way resemble the typical napkin holder we are all familiar with. In the cited patent, the pivot posts are at the very end of a tubular holder. This is the only part that makes contact with the base. There is no contact between the horizontal element of the holder and the base. The holder is well above the base and is made up of rods and tubes. In total it is an extremely complicated make up of tubes, channels, rods and attachments.
In my invention the plates sit firmly on the base. The plates resemble those of a typical napkin holder. The pivots are offset being placed between the center and the end of the plate. FIG. 2 of the drawings shows the pivot to the right of center in the front plate and to the left of center in the back plate. To adjust the opening between the plates, the plates are rotated. When the plates are rotated clockwise they will come closer together and when they are rotated counter clockwise they will move apart.
U.S. Document References Cited,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,011 June 1991 Coto 211/51; 211/43. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,099 October 1987 Arnot and Kaga 211/50; 211/43; 211/184. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,958 April 1974 Dorn 211/43; 211/51; 211/181.


A test facilitating circuit of a microprocessor has a mode register (11). If data stored in the mode register indicates a test mode, the test facilitating circuit uses a test mode function of a cache memory (1), to execute a test program written in the cache memory irrespective of the resetting of the microprocessor. The test program carries out a built-in test on internal circuits of the microprocessor. Results of the test are stored in the cache memory. After the test, an external tester reads the test results out of the cache memory and examines them.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test facilitating circuit for easily carrying out a built-in test on a microprocessor, and particularly, to a test facilitating circuit that uses a cache memory incorporated in a microprocessor as well as an inexpensive tester, to efficiently test the microprocessor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 8 shows a microprocessor having a cache memory, according to a prior art. A built-in test is carried out on the microprocessor.
The microprocessor 800 has a cache memory 1 made of an instruction cache and a data cache, a decoder 2 for decoding an instruction to execute, an address translation unit 3 such as a translation look-aside buffer (TLB) for translating a logical address into a physical address, an operation unit 4 such as an integer data path, ALU, or RF and a floating point unit 5 for executing the instruction decoded by the decoder 2, a sequence control unit 6 such as a branch unit or a branch buffer for controlling the sequence of execution of instructions, a program counter 7, a selector 8 for selecting one of the addresses provided by the sequence control unit 6 and program counter 7, a cache control unit 9 for controlling an access to the cache memory 1 based on the address selected by the selector 8, and an external interface 10 for interfacing data transmission between the outside and the cache memory 1.
The microprocessor 800 has a test mode to test the cache memory 1 by directly writing and reading data to and from the cache memory 1 from the outside. The test mode is used to select good ones among mass-produced microprocessors, and once the microprocessors are shipped, the test mode is not usually used. The test mode is also called the cache test mode in this specification.
The cache test mode externally provides addresses and data to directly access the cache memory 1 and tests whether or not the cache memory 1 has manufacturing defects. Input/output (I/O) pins for passing the addresses and data used for the cache test mode are multiplexed with other pins. The microprocessor 800 may automatically generate the necessary addresses for the cache test mode.
Dotted lines in FIG. 8 indicate address and data paths used in the cache test mode.
When a microprocessor is reset, an uncache/unmap operation is carried out. This operation fetches a first instruction from a specific address that is not in a cache memory and requires no address translation, to execute a boot-up sequence for setting up the microprocessor. The boot-up sequence invalidates the cache memory and initializes a translation look-aside buffer (TLB) used for address translation.
Thereafter, the microprocessor accesses an address in the cache memory 1 or a logical address to be translated into a physical address, to start executing OS (operating system) and application programs.
The microprocessor 800 of the prior art must receive a maximum frequency test before shipment. This test needs a tester that must have higher performance than the maximum performance of the microprocessor 800 to test. Accordingly, the tester is expensive. In addition, the tester must have as many channels as the number of pins of the microprocessor 800 when testing the functions of the microprocessor 800.
Conventional microprocessors have a special cache test mode to test an internal cache memory by directly writing and reading data to and from the cache memory. This mode is not used in a usual operation and is capable of testing the cache memory as if it is a simple memory.
Testers for testing the conventional microprocessors must have higher performance than the maximum performance of the microprocessors, which is improving day by day. Improving the performance of testers results in increasing testing costs.
Recent LSI chips have additional buses such as a bus for a secondary cache, to increase the number of pins of the chips. This results in increasing the number of tester channels that are expensive, thereby further increasing testing costs.
As mentioned above, the performance of microprocessors having an internal cache memory is improving in short periods, and testers for testing the microprocessors must improve their performance accordingly, thereby increasing testing costs.

Test facilitating circuit of microprocessor


The state of motion of a motor vehicle is indicated to a driver of a following vehicle by employing an array of lamps. The state of motion is determined by sensing vehicle velocity, deceleration being measured either directly via a transducer or being derived from measured velocity. When the subject vehicle is determined to be stationary, the lamps are illuminated in a time dependent sequence to produce an animated visual display in which the lamps are illuminated and selected pairs of lamps are sequentially de-actuated to provide a pattern cyclically moving outwardly from the center to both left and right ends of the array. The approach of the following vehicle to within a pre-set distance of the stationary vehicle is sensed and triggers a change in the display to a static visual display in which an outer pair of lamps remain illuminated. During deceleration, the level of deceleration is indicated by illuminating progressively more lamps with increasing deceleration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a display system for a motor vehicle. The display system according to the invention enables an observer to gain some appreciation of the magnitude of the deceleration of an observed motor vehicle, for example, from a following motor vehicle and to be informed if that observed motor vehicle is stationary or moving.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known vehicle display systems include a system which indicates the severity of vehicle braking. One such system is disclosed in Road Research Laboratory Report LR287 issued by the UK Ministry of Transport. Report LR287 discloses a system comprising a multiple brakelight visual display. The number of brake indicator lights which are illuminated in a display is dependent upon the magnitude of deceleration of the vehicle. Report LR287 also refers to a throttle-operated brakelight which is activated to indicate a low level of vehicle deceleration.

Motor vehicle display system and ranging device

Beach Green, Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex


There is provided an electric power supply system comprising a secondary battery unit which stores electric power generated by a solar cell module, a charge switch circuit which disconnects and connects a charge path between the solar cell module and the secondary battery unit, and a charge and discharge control unit which controls the disconnection and the connection of the charge path by the charge switch circuit, wherein, in the charge switch circuit, the disconnection and the connection of the charge path is controlled by an output voltage of the solar cell module when the charge switch circuit cannot be controlled by the charge and discharge control unit.

Effective usage of the energy is realized with the use of an electricity storage device such as a secondary battery. For example, in recent years, solar light power generation systems have been actively developed as eco-friendly, clean energy sources. Because a solar cell module which converts the solar light into electric power does not have an electricity storage function, in some cases the solar cell module is used in combination with a secondary battery. For example, the energy is effectively used by charge and discharge control to charge the electric power generated by the solar cell module into the secondary battery and to discharge the electric power from the secondary battery in response to a request from an external load or the like.
As a technique related to the present invention, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a power supply device of a solar cell having a solar cell, a plurality of secondary batteries which are charged by the solar cell, a charge switch which is connected between each secondary battery and the solar cell and which controls charging of the secondary battery, a discharge switch which is connected between each secondary battery and a load, and a control circuit which controls the charge switch and the discharge switch. In this reference, the control circuit identifies the order of priority of the secondary batteries to be charged by controlling the plurality of charge switches, a secondary battery with a higher priority order is charged before a secondary battery with a lower priority order, and, after the secondary battery with the higher priority order is charged to a predetermined capacity, the secondary battery with the lower priority order is charged.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


The present invention is a multilayered composite comprising porous metal oxide particles that are covalently bonded by way of inorganic ether groups to one or more sites of a first polyhydroxyl-functionalized polymer. This first polymer is in turn covalently bonded by way of inorganic ether groups to one or more sites of a second polyhydroxyl-functionalized polymer. The multilayered composites can be prepared by contacting porous inorganic-oxide particles with a sufficient amount of OH-reactive crosslinking agent to form metal oxide particles imbibed with the crosslinking agent, and then contacting the inorganic-oxide particles with a solution of polyhydroxyl-functionalized polymer under reactive conditions.

Coating technologies are used broadly to tune the surface characteristics of solid substrates. Polymer coatings are routinely used for biocompatibilization, targeted and controlled release of therapeutics, the synthesis of hollow capsules via template-core etching, and stabilizing dispersions. For example, coatings are applied to protect surfaces from environmental damage or biofouling, alter surface hydrophobicity, make the solid biocompatible, enable covalent modification, or protect against particle aggregation. Covalently grafted polymers on solid supports have certain advantages over physisorbed coatings. Covalently grafted polymer coatings can be more stable at high solids concentrations than physisorbed coatings. They are also not susceptible to bridging or depletion flocculation. Covalently grafted polymers can also be more hydrolytically stable. Synthetic strategies for grafting polymer coatings on solid supports include suspension, dispersion, or emulsion polymerizations, grafting-to strategies, surface-initiated polymerization, as well as layer-by-layer assembly followed by chemical crosslinking. While these synthetic approaches are quite versatile, they possess certain drawbacks that are exemplified by not meeting the low-cost requirements for coating commodity chemicals, such as the titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment used in paints. Grafting-to approaches frequently lead to low surface coverages and therefore might not provide appropriate coating properties. Grafting-from approaches require the covalent attachment and removal of a polymerization catalyst or chain-transfer agent in order to avoid homopolymerization. Layer-by-Layer synthesis is a multiple-pot process. Suspension, dispersion, and emulsion polymerizations tend to have low-yields of solids in each solution, particularly for less than 100 nm thick coatings. Thus, the prevailing syntheses often require multiple steps and/or low yield syntheses, and result in low surface coverage and/or non-uniform coatings on the nanoscale. As TiO2 and other commodity chemicals require high yield, low cost coating syntheses, an alternative to these multiple step, multiple pot, and low yield approaches would be useful.
Moreover, uniform nanoscale coatings that mitigate the aggregation of inorganic-oxide particles can be invaluable in dispersion applications. In point, the inorganic-oxide particle pigment is often used in large excess due to it aggregation in order to maintain appropriate hiding. As TiO2 is the most energy demanding ingredient in paint products, enhanced dispersion stability is a pressing sustainability issue.
TiO2 is the optimal white pigment for paint due to its significant hiding capacity, stability, low toxicity, and relatively low cost. Agglomeration of TiO2 reduces hiding, requiring the addition of excess pigment in paint formulations to achieve similar optical properties, a significant source of waste in the paint industry. Non-covalent coatings such as surfactants and polyelectrolytes enhance the stability of TiO2 dispersions through steric and/or electrostatic effects. However, non-covalent coatings are prone to bridging and depletion flocculation, particularly at high concentrations. Covalent coatings with high surface coverage, thicknesses of many nanometers, flexibility, and charge have empirically been shown to enhance particle dispersion. The synthetic approaches for grafting polymers on solid supports listed above unfortunately can yield insufficient polymer surface coverage or charge per surface area for stable dispersions, can be unable to obtain coating thicknesses of roughly 5-75 nm, and can have prohibitively high cost.
Providing a more efficient synthesis for an improved polymer coated oxide particle would be of great value to the industry.

Metal oxide particles with uniform multi-layer polymer coatings

The Regents of the University of California


The present invention relates to a virtual radio map constructing method for Radio-positioning and a device using the same. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a virtual radio map constructing method, including: converting first and second RSS values obtained from two access points adjacent to each of a plurality of access points into first and second RSS values of a linear unit; respectively dividing first and second distances between the access point and the two access points adjacent thereto in an exponential interval, and respectively dividing the first and second RSS values in the exponential interval; generating a plurality of virtual training points by using a plurality of points divided in the exponential interval, and respectively obtaining RSS values of the plurality of virtual training points; and respectively obtaining RSS values of reference points by using RSS values of at least one virtual training points.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a virtual radio map constructing method for Radio-positioning and a device using the same, and more particularly, to a virtual radio map constructing method and a device using the same that may simply construct a radio map.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Due to remarkable development of a mobile communication technology and spread of smartphones, a location based service (LBS) technology has been actively researched. Recently, since all smartphones includes a chip that can perform outdoor Radio-positioning by using a GPS and a mobile communication network, a LBS market has rapidly grown. However, the outdoor Radio-positioning technique using the GPS or the mobile communication network provides high precise location information outdoors, but since signal loss greatly occurs indoors or in shaded areas, precision of the Radio-positioning therein may rapidly decrease.
Accordingly, in order to improve precision of indoor Radio-positioning, techniques using received signal strength (RSS) of a WiFi access point (AP) that is widely installed indoors have been actively researched. The indoor Radio-positioning using the RSS includes a parameter method based on a radio model and a non-parametric method based on training data. The most popular method of the indoor Radio-positioning is the non-parametric method of a fingerprinting Radio-positioning method.
The indoor fingerprinting Radio-positioning method includes a radio map (RM) constructing step of collecting a RSS value at a reference point and a Radio-positioning step of estimating movement of a terminal by using the radio map.
As a typical a radio map constructing method through fingerprinting, a method of collecting a RSS value through training at each reference point is referred to as a static RM. The static RM continues to use the once measured value without updating it.
However, since an indoor wireless channel environment is changed depending on time, movement of an object, or the like, the RSS value changed according to an environment should be corrected in order to ensure precise positioning performance. However, whenever the environment is changed, it is not economical to construct the RM by obtaining a new RSS. Further, it is inefficient to obtain the RSS by measuring it several times at each reference position of a spacious indoor space, and the denser the reference positions are, the more the amount of labor and time is required to measure the RSS.
Background technology of the present invention is disclosed at Korean Patent No. 1390722 (Apr. 30, 2014).
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only to enhance the understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Virtual radio map constructing method and device using the same

SOONGSIL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CONSORTIUM TECHNO-PARK