A multi-purpose battery for mobile phones includes a battery casing and a charging battery unit accommodated in the battery casing. The battery unit has a positive pole connected via a contact "a" of a switching switch to positive poles of a charging contact terminal and a power supply contact terminal. The contact "a" of the switching switch further connects an illuminating element and a press switch to the charging battery unit and negative poles of the charging contact terminal and the power supply contact terminal. The switching switch has another contact "b" connected in series with a buzzer and a high-voltage generator, both of which capable of forming a loop with the charging battery unit when the press switch is pressed. The high-voltage generator is connected to an electric guide rod controllable by a push switch to extend from or retract into the battery casing. All of the above-mentioned components are embedded below an outer planar surface of the battery casing to facilitate operation.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a multi-purpose battery for mobile phones, more particularly to a battery that, in addition to having the basic functions of charging and power supplying, has safety and protection functions.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
With their compact size and light weight, mobile phones are very popular today. However, conventional mobile phone batteries are basically used to supply power to the mobile phone.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of a conventional mobile phone battery B. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the battery B. As shown, a battery casing 1 is provided with a charging contact terminal 11 at an end surface. A power supply contact terminal 12 (not shown in FIG. 1) is opposedly provided at a bottom edge of the charging contact terminal 11. After the battery B has been charged and mounted at a backside of a handset A, a battery unit 2 will supply power to the handset A via the power supply contact terminal 12.
It is a waste of electric power if the battery B can only supply power to the handset A. It is desirable to have a mobile phone battery that, in addition to supplying power to the mobile phone and being rechargeable, has additional functions.

Creation Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd.


Tool storage device having an angled surface with apertures formed therein sized for receiving the drive ends of power tools.

The present invention generally relates to devices for the storage of tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices for the storage of powered driving tools such as impact wrenches and impact drivers typically found in automobile repair garages, services stations, and in automobile or vehicle manufacturing and repair facilities.
Most garages or other repair facilities use air compressed or electric powered drivers to assist in manipulation of screws, bolts, nuts, lugs, and other types of fasteners. Such powered drivers typically include impact wrenches or impact drivers, which generally consist of a pistol grip handle with means for connecting the tool to electric or compressed air power, and a drive end. The drive end is typically a shaft which terminates at a rectilinear male drive end that is adapted for insertion into the female end of a socket or other means for manipulating a nut, bolt, lug, or other such fastener.
Prior tool storage systems do not accommodate powered driving tools of the type discussed above. Accordingly, these tools and others like them are typically stored wherever possible, resulting in a potentially disorganized garage or repair facility. In operations for the manufacture or repair of vehicles such as automobiles, efficiency is important, and the lack of an organized system for the storage of all tools can result in decreased efficiency and repetition of effort. Furthermore, such lack of organization can result in temporary loss of tools, or repetitive investment in tools that are difficult to find. Accordingly, a need exists for a means of organizing powered drive tools that complements existing tool storage means and that provides a means of organizing a vehicle manufacture or repair facility. Such a means of organization can increase the efficiency of the facility and contribute to more economical and less time consuming operations.
The present invention provides a means of organizing and storing power driven tools that is compatible with existing tool storage devices such as chests and cabinets, and can also be used separately, providing a moveable means of storing power driven tools such as impact drivers and wrenches.
Specifically, the present invention provides a device for holding at least one power driven tool of the type comprising a handle and a substantially rectilinear male drive end at a terminal end thereof, the male drive end being adapted to be inserted into a substantially rectilinear female end of a component to be driven or manipulated by the tool;
the device comprising at least one aperture formed in a surface of the device, the aperture having an internal dimension substantially equal to the maximum dimension of the male drive end and having a cross-sectional configuration for retaining the male drive end in a fixed position, while the portion of the device posterior to the drive end is unsupported and cantilevered from the aperture, the surface in which the at least one aperture is formed being positioned at an acute angle with respect to a horizontal or a vertical plane;
a support and biasing bar on an inner surface of the device, the bar having apertures formed therein corresponding to the apertures formed in the surface of the device and aligned therewith; and
means for separating the surface in which the at least one aperture is formed from a second surface by a distance at least equal to the length of the male drive end.


A method of making a paper product includes forming an aqueous cellulosic web on a structuring fabric in a papermaking machine, non-compactively dewatering the cellulosic web on the structuring fabric, and drying the cellulosic web to form the paper product. The portion of the structuring fabric on which the cellulosic web is formed has a planar volumetric index of at least about 26.

Field of the Invention
Our invention relates to paper products such as absorbent hand towels. Our invention also relates to processes of manufacturing paper products such as absorbent hand towels.
Related Art
It is desirable for many types of paper products to have diverse properties. For example, absorbent paper products must be able to mop up large amounts of liquid before becoming saturated. As another example, customers greatly prefer that absorbent paper products feel soft to the touch. Absorbency and softness, however, are contradictory properties when it comes to manufacturing paper products. Most techniques for increasing the absorbency of paper products will also have the effect of decreasing the perceived softness of the products. Conversely, most techniques for increasing the softness of paper products will have the effect of decreasing the absorbency of the products. For example, calendering basesheets that make up the paper products can increase the softness of the products. Calendering, however, also has the effect of reducing the caliper of the basesheets. And, as absorbency of paper products is generally proportional to the caliper of the products, calendering the basesheets will also have the effect of reducing the absorbency of the products. The use of wet and dry strength resins are examples of other techniques that improve the properties of paper products. Such resins are added to the furnish used in a papermaking process, and the resins have the effect of improving the underlying strength of the resulting paper products, e.g., the cross machine direction (CD) or machine direction (MD) wet tensile strength of the products. Wet and dry strength resins, however, also have the undesirable effect of reducing the perceived softness of the resulting products.
Another challenge in manufacturing paper products is that paper making is a relatively low margin industry, and, thus, there is a constant need to find more economically efficient products and processing. In terms of products, the basis weight or bulk of paper products are properties that are often studied in an attempt to devise more economical products. There is a constant search for paper products that have a lower basis weight or higher bulk, but still have comparable properties in all other aspects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Soft, absorbent sheets having high absorbency and high caliper, and methods of making soft, absorbent sheets


The present invention relates to a communication system. The communication system includes a handheld communication device, a primary communication module, and a secondary communication apparatus. The primary communication module is configured for communicating with the secondary communication apparatus within a predetermined coverage area. When receiving a short message signal, the handheld communication device broadcasts a search signal. The secondary communication apparatus detects the search signal and sends a response signal to the handheld communication device according to the user's operations. The handheld communication device detects whether the response signal is received and processes accordingly. The present invention also provides a method of applying a security function for short messaging adapted for supporting the aforementioned communication system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to communication systems, and particularly, to short message services of handheld communication devices.
2. Background
In wireless networks, end-user terminals, such as handheld communication devices, may be used to communicate in a variety of ways. One way is by short message services (SMS) feature. The most widely used application of handheld communication devices is SMS. Security of short message is important because the short message may be confidential.
In order to ensure that SMS messages are not inadvertently read by someone, a password is usually assigned to display the short message. When the user wants to read the short message, he must input the correct password. If the password is forgotten, the user will not be able to read the short message. If the user wants to share the password then a simple password may be used to ensure everyone can remember.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an automatic protection system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.

Method and mobile communication system with a security function for short messaging

Baoan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province


A filtration apparatus is described wherein entrained solids are removed from particulate-carrying fluid by filtration under vigorous conditions with filter tubes. The filter apparatus comprises a plurality of tiers of filters, each tier comprising filter tubes supported on a tube sheet. The apparatus also contains a tiered conical sluicing system to concentrate and centralize the particulates. The solids discharge from the filter tubes and pass through the sluicing system to exit the apparatus through particulate outlet means. The use of the apparatus is characterized by a reduced re-entrainment of particulates in the fluid leaving the apparatus.

In the gasification of coal or oil, the process produces a desired synthesis gas but also produces considerable particulate solids such as ash. To efficiently utilize the synthesis gas so produced it is necessary to remove the entrained solids from the gas. This separation is often accomplished by a process of filtration conducted at elevated temperature and/or elevated pressure.
It is known to use, in such filtration processes, porous filter elements comprising a plurality of filter tubes, also referred to as candles because of the shape thereof, arranged in a parallel relationship and supported by a support tube or tube sheet.
The construction of the filter tubes will depend to a large extent upon the conditions under which the filtration is to be conducted. Under moderate filtering conditions including a filtration temperature of about 150.degree. C. and a filtration pressure of about atmospheric, the filtration tubes are constructed from polyester, acrylic or glass. When streams of entrained solids in gases resulting from gasification of coal or oil are to be filtered, the filtration conditions are typically more vigorous, e.g., using temperatures as high as 900.degree. C. and pressures from 5 to 30 times atmospheric. Under these conditions the filter tubes are constructed from porous ceramic or even porous, sintered steel.
The particles of solid to be removed by filtration are from about 0.2 micron to about 20 microns in size and are present in the gas in quantities of up to 10 parts per thousand parts by weight of gas, or even more. As filtration progresses, the deposit of particulates on the filter tubes increases as evidenced by an increased pressure drop. Eventually, the filter elements must be cleaned as by shaking the tubes, reversing the flow of gas or by other conventional means.
The construction of an industrial filter assembly containing a number of individual filtering elements, e.g., elements comprising a plurality of filter tubes, poses a number of mechanical problems. Some means of properly, conveniently and economically assembling the potentially hundreds of filter tubes must be devised. Some method of introducing the solids-containing fluid to be filtered must be employed and the fluid must be evenly distributed across the individual filter tubes. Moreover, there must be some method of cleaning the particulates from the filter tubes and subsequently collecting the particulates and removing them from the filter assembly.
Conventional filter assemblies for filtering solids from particulate-carrying fluids, particularly particulate-carrying gas, under vigorous filtration conditions typically comprise a main filtration vessel equipped with fluid inlets and fluid and particulate outlets and a single tube sheet attached to the interior wall of the vessel. This tube sheet has a plurality of filter tubes attached thereto. As the need for increased filtration capacity increases, the tube sheet is enlarged in diameter to support more filter tubes. At some diameter, the tube sheet will sag in the center unless the tube sheet is made sufficiently thick to retard such sagging. Eventually, this enlargement and thickening becomes economically unattractive. To prevent sagging by the provision of center supports is not generally satisfactory because of differential expansion and contraction of the supported tube sheet at the elevated temperatures of the filtration.
In Tassicker et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,184, there is described a filter vessel wherein a plurality of filter assemblies are contained within the vessel and supported in a spaced apart relationship by a single support tube within the vessel. This tube, in addition to supporting these filter assemblies, cooperates with the assemblies and the vessel's outlet means to serve as a discharge tube for directing the filtered gas to the gas outlet. However, such devices having centrally-supported filter assemblies have operating problems when constructed on a large scale and there is risk of re-entraining the particulate solids in the filtered gas.
It would be of advantage to have a filter assembly for removing particulates entrained in a gas or other fluid under vigorous conditions of filtration which can be constructed for large scale operation and which reduces the re-entrainment of the filtered particulates in the filtered gas.


A method is provided for a virtual clinic to establish communications and working relationships among itself, patients, physicians, and insurance companies patient to facilitate the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients. In one embodiment, a patient may contact its insurance carrier via a web page on the Internet. The insurance company then matches the patient to one of its plans and then forwards information to the virtual clinic which then responds to the patient's web request. The patient is then put in operative communication with a physician who is known by the virtual clinic to be licensed to practice medicine in the patient's current location and to have expertise in the patient's condition.

1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for a patient to contact a physician remotely and to receive medical services via a virtual clinic which contracts with doctors and insurance companies, and allows for the patient to submit remotely diagnostic information from his/her home so that a physician may make a diagnosis and recommend treatment.
2. Background of the Related Technology
In the United States alone, nearly a million people visit their doctor at least once (National Center for Health Statistics-http: www.cdc.gov/ncds/fastats/docvisit.htm). The average patient visits a doctor 3.1 times per year. The most frequent principal reason for the visit is a general medical examination, the most frequent diagnostic procedure performed is a blood pressure check, and the most frequent principal diagnosis is upper respiratory tract infection. Other diagnoses in the top 20 categories for which patients visit their doctor include diabetes, arthritis, asthma/bronchitis, sinus infection, etc.
A typical visit to the doctor's office involves the patient completing a questionnaire detailing demographics, insurance/financial or payment procedure, personal information (habits like smoking, occupation), past medical problems, family history, and the reason for the present visit. The physician or one of his/her staff asks the patient additional questions and records the patient's pulse, blood pressure and weight. The physician performs a visual examination of the patient, and may inspect the ears and throat, listen to their heart, lungs and abdomen with a stethoscope, feel the patient's body for enlargement of organs, accumulation of fluid in the body cavities, any lumps or tender spots, range of movements or restriction of various joints and a neurological exam, etc. The physician may then order laboratory investigations such as blood tests, EKG, X-rays, etc. Based on part or all of this database, the physician formulates a diagnosis and, if necessary, recommends a treatment which can be one or all of the following:                1. Medicines        2. Surgery        3. Physical therapy        4. Rest        5. Observation        6. Additional evaluation, consultations, diagnostic testing, etc.Follow up visits for minor complaints such as a sore throat usually do not require thorough examination. Follow-up visits to reassess the effectiveness of blood pressure medicines or diabetic medicines typically involve a discussion and/or limited examination. Doctors usually maintain offices in expensive medical buildings, have staffs which command high salaries, have multiple phone lines and other overhead expenses which are ultimately all added to the patients' bills.
The patient or his or her legal guardian typically makes an appointment to see the doctor days to weeks in advance, mostly at the doctor's convenience, leaves the home or office, drives several miles, misses work, tries to find a parking spot (which may not be available or gratis), and waits in the doctor's office before he or she is seen.
Most of the office visits, especially for follow up or for minor complaints, are very brief examinations with the physician, require an inordinate amount of time, and money is wasted in the process. Additionally, the driving back and forth and waiting may exacerbate the patient's condition.
Telemedicine is the use of electronic information and communication technology to provide and support health care when distance separates the participants.
A major drawback of the presently available telemedicine system is its set up cost, which are approximately $100,000 per site. At a minimum, there must be two sites, one for the patient and one for the doctor. Moreover, both the patient and the doctor have to travel to their respective telemedicine facility because the communication signals only begin and/or end at the facility and nowhere else. Furthermore, there are no mechanisms for integrating telemedicine into an existing physician practice to facilitate payment for telemedicine-based services.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a mechanism which allows for a patient to contact a physician remotely and to receive medical services, wherein the arrangement of services between doctors and insurance companies is facilitated electronically and provides the ability for patients to submit diagnostic testing to a physician and to correspond with that physician, such that they can receive a diagnosis and treatment.


An apparatus comprising a pair of sensors for monitoring the status of a telephone line and a local station which detects unauthorized use and causes actuation of a disruption signal to make the telephone line unusable.

This invention relates generally to telephone lines and more particularly to apparatus that protects telephone line systems against unauthorized use.
Previously various codes were used to provide privacy and to avoid fraudulent use of telephone lines; However it soon became apparent that the known system did not provide the required protection and the codes were really easy to obtain.
Therefore no setting system has been developed that would program the protective action. At the present it is easy for an intruder to connect to an unauthorized telephone line, by using a portable telephone with two hooks and connect to outside telephone lines connection box, or using wireless telephones in the same frequency and codes equal to the unauthorized user. There are known systems to solve this problem, so I developed this invention, in the minute anyone attempts to use a telephone line without authorization, the invention will immediately prevent the potential intruder from accomplishing said act.
The object of this invention is to provide for a small and smart easy to use and inexpensive device.

Apparatus to prevent unauthorized use of telephone lines


The present invention provides a very simple structure to delay high fuel delivery to a turbocharged engine until a sufficient turbocharger boost pressure is available for adequate combustion, by providing a simple dashpot to limit movement of the throttle shaft. A brea-away throttle lever is used so that the operator can position the control lever at any position, even though the position of the throttle shaft itself is being limited by the dashpot. Preferably, the damping structure is entirely housed within the fuel injector pump, where it will be safe from debris, and constantly flushed with clean fuel.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control systems for fuel injection pumps, and in particular to systems to limit transient smoke during sudden changes in the throttle position of a turbocharged engine.
Description of the Related Art
Emissions regulations for diesel engines include limits on peak, acceleration, and lug exhaust smoke levels as measured by the US Federal Smoke Cycle. High brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) turbocharged engines cannot meet the peak and acceleration smoke limits without the use of devices that delay high fuel deliveries until sufficient turbocharger boost pressure is available for adequate combustion.
This delay can currently be accomplished in two different ways. First is to use an electronic delay. This requires an electronically metered fuel system which may or may not be present on the vehicle. Second is to use an aneroid control which detects the turbocharger pressure directly and uses it to control the fuel injection volume. Such an aneroid requires an intake manifold pressure tap, piping, pressure-to-motion transducer and complicated internal pump linkages.

Injection pump throttle dashpot for transient smoke control


During manufacture of thread-sewn book blocks (11) from a stack of flat sequentially juxtaposed signatures (3) which are sewn together by way of a double-stranded binding thread (9) which penetrates the folds (4) from the outside and extends in sections along the inside edge of the folds and is pulled out again, the binding thread sections (16, 17) which are inserted by a first sewing needle (5) between the legs (14) of the signatures (3) are captured by a gas jet and conveyed in form of a loop (21) to the adjacent second sewing needle (6) which pulls the loop (21) out of the signature (3) through a return stroke motion using a hook (22).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing thread-sewn book blocks from a stack of flat sequentially juxtaposed signatures which are sewn together with a double-stranded binding thread penetrating the folds of the signature from the outside and extending along the inside edge of the folds and being pulled out of the folds at an exit point, with the help of parallel stitched seams oriented at right angles to the folds, wherein with each of the stitched seams there is associated a first sewing needle which penetrates a fold with the binding thread from the outside, and a second sewing needle which pulls the binding thread out of the fold at the exit point, wherein there are provided means for joining the binding thread which is guided inseparably in the first sewing needle, with the second sewing needle inside a spread-apart signature.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of this type is described in EP - A - 0 295 220, wherein the double-stranded binding thread is transferred between the first to the second sewing needle through a thread carrier shuttling translationally back and forth between the two sewing needles.
This process is executed using exclusively mechanical means which are not only expensive and prone to wear, but also require a considerable effort in order to attain the proper adjustment.
These disadvantages led to the object of the present invention, namely to provide a simple method of the type described above for reducing the effort required to transfer the binding thread between the cooperating sewing needles during a sewing operation when mechanical parts are employed, and the wear associated therewith.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing book blocks


A compact solid-state laser array for nonlinear intracavity frequency conversion into desired wavelengths using periodically poled nonlinear crystals. The crystals contain dopants such as MgO and/or have a specified stoichiometry. A preferred embodiment comprises a microchip laser cavity that includes a solid-state gain chip, such as Nd:YVO4, which also provides polarization control of the laser; and a periodically poled nonlinear crystal chip such as PPMgOLN, for efficient frequency doubling of a infrared laser pump beam into the visible wavelength range. The described designs are especially advantageous for obtaining low-cost green and blue laser sources. The use of such high-efficiency pumps and nonlinear materials allows scaling of a compact, low-cost architecture to provide high output power levels in the blue/green wavelength range.

Compact and low-cost visible laser sources with Watt-level power outputs have long been desired, especially for consumer electronics applications. One application that would be enabled by such laser sources is projection displays, either in rear-projection (TV) or front-projection format. The advantages of laser sources over traditional, bulb-based sources, are numerous. They include wider wavelength gamut, longer lifetime, higher throughput efficiency of the projection light engine due to low etendue and linear polarization of the laser light source.
Of the three basic colors (red, green, and blue, or RGB) required for projection display applications, green color has been the most challenging. The reason is the lack of commercially viable semiconductor materials that can provide direct lasing in the green wavelength. The most efficient semiconductor lasers rely on material systems such as InGa(Al)P that lase most efficiently in the near-infrared spectral region. In the visible spectrum, efficient operation down to ˜650 nm in the red wavelength regime can be achieved and semiconductor laser designs can be extended down to ˜635 nm with somewhat decreased efficiency and reliability. On the shorter wavelength side, GaN-bases material systems have been under intense development in recent years and semiconductor laser products in the violet (˜400 nm to ˜445 nm) spectral range have been commercialized. For these lasers, achieving longer wavelengths i.e., >470 nm in an efficient and reliable way represents a nearly insurmountable challenge. Thus, the majority of the visible spectrum (between ˜470 nm blue and ˜635 nm red) does not have an efficient semiconductor laser solution.
In non-consumer-electronics (scientific, instrumentation, etc) or lower-power applications (laser pointers), green laser sources have been developed using a diode-pumped solid-state laser platform with nonlinear frequency doubling. Since the 1990s, the indirect solution for the green laser source, available in non-consumer-electronics (scientific, instrumentation, etc) or lower-power applications (laser pointers) has been based on nonlinear frequency doubling (also known as second-harmonic generation, or SHG) of neodymium (Nd)-based solid-state lasers, such as Nd:YAG or Nd:YVO4. These solid-state gain materials can be pumped by infrared semiconductor lasers (e.g., at ˜808 nm) to produce laser radiation at ˜1064 nm wavelength. This radiation can then be frequency doubled into the green 532 nm wavelength using such nonlinear crystals as KTP or LBO. Similar technique can be used to obtain the blue wavelength such, e.g. 473 nm by frequency-doubling a 946 nm solid-state laser. A review of such approaches can be found in the book by W. P. Risk, T. R. Gosnell and A. V. Nurmikko, "Compact Blue-Green Lasers", Cambridge University Press (2003).
The main obstacle in bringing the frequency-doubled, diode-pumped solid-state laser platform to mass manufacturing is its high cost and lack of scalability. While low-power green lasers (e.g., laser pointers) can be obtained with relative ease, scaling power to achieve Watt-level output typically requires costly cavity designs with multiple optical components, cooling modules with separate temperature controls, and large package dimensions.
Several ideas to overcome these limitations have been proposed. One concept relies on optically pumping a thin layer of semiconductor gain material, instead of a solid-state laser material, and intracavity frequency doubling the infrared laser radiation into the visible wavelength spectrum (A. Caprara, J. L. Chilla, L. A. Spinelli, "Intracavity frequency-converted optically-pumped semiconductor laser," U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,068). This optically pumped semiconductor laser platform allows obtaining high power output in the blue-green spectral range, but still requires traditional, high-cost laser cavity architectures. This is a serious obstacle in using this platform in mass manufacturing. Another approach is using electrically pumped vertical extended cavity semiconductor lasers or laser arrays (Published US Patent Application 2006/0,029,120). The manufacturability of this platform is higher compared to the optically pumped lasers, because of the integrated nature of the pump and the gain in a single chip. However, this integrated nature is also a limiting factor and it makes it more difficult for electrically pumped lasers to reach the high power and high efficiency levels required in mass-producible devices for consumer markets.
Comparing the surface-emitting semiconductor laser and solid-state laser platforms for their use in producing green or blue wavelengths via nonlinear frequency doubling (or second-harmonic generation, frequently abbreviated as SHG), one can conclude that the solid-state laser platform is advantageous due to its higher gain, especially at the 1064 nm wavelength that can be readily converted into 532 nm green via SHG. However, increasing output power of the visible solid-state laser source while keeping the platform simple and low-cost has proven to be a much bigger challenge than it is for surface-emitting semiconductor laser.
One solid-state laser platform that could address both issues of mass manufacturability at low cost and scaling to high power levels is the so-called microchip laser platform. Originally described in the early 1990s (U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,539), this platform offers a compact, alignment-free laser cavity which comprises the gain crystal (such as Nd:YAG) and the nonlinear crystal, such as KTP (Potassium Titanium Oxide Phosphate, or KTiOPO4). The microchip laser platform is manufacturable at low-cost. It can also be scaled to high power levels by extending the microchip concept from a single emitter to multiple emitters, i.e. laser array. This was also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,445, and later, in Published US Patent Application 2002/0,186,731.
However, despite the described advantages of these laser sources, their introduction to large-volume consumer-electronic markets did not happen, except at very low power levels as in laser pointers. One reason for this is the low efficiency of the overall green laser module (although hereinafter we will generally be referring to the green wavelength of 532 nm wavelength for description clarity, most of the description also applies to other frequency-doubled wavelengths, such as 473 nm blue).
Indeed, most low-cost single-emitter green laser sources have electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies on the order of a few percent. Ignoring the power requirements of cooling modules, one can make the following illustrative estimate. It is known to use 808 nm edge-emitting lasers producing several hundreds of milliwatts (say, 300-500 mW) to produce only about 5-10 mW of green wavelength with a Nd:YVO4 gain crystal and a KTP nonlinear crystal. Thus, even the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is generally in the range of 1-3%. Assuming 50% power conversion efficiency for the pump diode, we find that the overall electrical-to-optical efficiency is on the order of 1-2%. Trying to scale such low-efficiency single-emitter laser sources to achieve a several-Watt output power could result in ˜100 W of heat generated per 1 W of visible output. Several problems will immediately arise due to such inefficiency. One is keeping the platform compact and simple, since one will necessarily have to isolate the emitters sufficiently for best thermal performance. Another is dissipating such large amounts of heat without high-cost means such as using large chillers, etc.
Analyzing the root causes of low efficiency, one can understand that the conventional platform based on nonlinear materials such as KTP (more efficient) or LBO (less efficient) lacks the high conversion efficiency into the second-harmonic wavelength (e.g., green). Attempts to solve this problem were made by increasing the fundamental laser power and still using the KTP crystal. One example of such work can be found in the paper by Y-F. Chen, T-M. Huang, C-L. Wang, and L-J. Lee, "Compact and efficient 3.2-W diode-pumped Nd:YVO4/KTP green laser," Applied Optics, vol. 37, p. 5727 (1998). The paper reported optical-to-optical (808 nm to 532 nm) conversion efficiency of 25%. However, one can also conclude that this was achieved in a platform that had to give up the advantages of low-cost and scalability. Some examples are fiber-coupled pump diode output (high-cost), curved mirror requiring active alignment (high cost and not scalable to arrays), cooling of crystal to 17° C. (high cost).
Another problem, which prevents this platform from providing a reliable product, is the low reliability of KTP crystals at the high power density levels in the green wavelength range. It is known that KTP crystals develop high-absorption areas in and around the green beam propagation path and therefore this phenomenon does not allow the use of KTP in high-power applications. The bulk nonlinear material that is normally used for high power green laser sources is LBO, but its nonlinear conversion efficiency is an order of magnitude lower than KTP's conversion efficiency. Therefore, LBO and other low-efficiency bulk nonlinear materials are not useful for low-cost, high-power applications.
In summary, despite the many advantages of solid-state lasers, conventional solutions for frequency-doubled visible solid-state laser sources cannot be engineered for high-power, low-cost, manufacturable, and reliable consumer-electronics products. The engineering problems are fundamental and multiple design goals (primarily, high power, low cost, and reliability) cannot be met at the same time. It must also be noted that the low efficiency limitation mentioned earlier is also a big factor for a surface-emitting semiconductor laser platform, which is typically less efficient compared to the 1064 nm solid-state laser platform.

Solid-state laser arrays using nonlinear frequency conversion in periodically poled materials


A method, receiver device and terminal for signaling an adaptation request to adapt a coding/decoding of real-time signals of a real-time communication session, from a receiver device to a sender device. The method is such that the adaptation request relates to a demand for aggregation and/or redundancy of frames, that it is generated according to the existence of a signaling parameter arising from a phase of negotiation of codecs used during initialization of the communication session and in that it is transported via a real-time protocol of RTP type.

An example of an existing voice-over-IP communication system is described with reference to FIG. 1. This figure illustrates a bidirectional voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication system with two telephony terminals (100 and 150) connected by an IP packet network (125). The "signaling plane" is not shown in this figure; however possible solutions for setting up and managing calls may be based on various known protocols such as:                SIP/SDP (for Session Initiation Protocol/Session Description Protocol) according to IETF specifications RFC 3261 and RFC 4566, as in multimedia services over IMS (for IP Multimedia SubSystem). In order to facilitate signaling exchanges on media capacities and the associated offers/answers, it is also possible to use "SDPcapneg" according to IETF specification RFC 5939.        JSEP (for JavaScript Session Establishment Protocol) which uses SDP syntax to define WebRTC session descriptions (with an exchange via WebSocket or another means).        H.323/H.245.
FIG. 1 is a simplified view of the "media plane" and of the audio chain used when the call is set up. Here, only the case of a mono audio signal is considered, the ambient acoustic signal for example being captured by a microphone (101 and 151) at each end of the communication. It will be noted that the case of a mono input/output signal may easily be generalized to a multichannel case.
The remote signal is rendered via a loudspeaker (102 and 152). The captured and rendered audio signals in general undergo various acoustic processing operations when sent and when received (103 and 153) such as for example:                analog/digital conversion, gain control, noise reduction, echo cancellation, etc., when sent        digital/analog conversion, gain control, etc., when received.
When sent, the preprocessed audio signal is coded into successive frames—typically with an (in general fixed) frame length ranging from 10 to 60 ms—and the coded frames are formed into IP packets (104 and 154).
The packets are typically transported using the RTP protocol (RTP standing for Real Time Protocol), which is described in IETF specification RFC 3550, this protocol being located above the IP/UDP (for User Datagram Protocol) transport protocols. It will be noted that the UDP protocol may be replaced by another transport protocol, for example by TCP (for Transmission Control Protocol) in order in particular to facilitate passage through networks with NAT (for Network Address Translation), proxies or firewalls.
When received (105 and 155), the packets are delivered to a jitter buffer that aims to compensate for variations in the reception times, and the signal is decoded (while compensating for any loss of frames) and lastly the reconstructed signal is post-processed (103 and 153) and rendered.
The communication is here assumed to be bidirectional and the communication system thus forms a closed-loop system with feedback. The feedback may be transported in two ways:                "Out of band" (i.e. contained in packets that form an additional stream with respect to the RTP media stream). Typically, the RTCP protocol (RTCP standing for Real-Time Control Protocol) is used as feedback channel. RTCP allows control packets to be transmitted in packets separate from the RTP stream. It will be recalled that RTCP packets may be of substantial size and therefore result in a non-negligible additional bit rate; in addition, the possible loss of packets may be problematic, because if RTCP is used for adaptation purposes the transported request may be lost. The transmission of packets using RTCP protocol may be discontinuous and non-repetitive, this possibly making the adaptation less reactive and dependent on the network conditions (packet losses, etc.).        "In band" (i.e. in the RTP media stream). This type of feedback may be considered more robust than RTCP because it is possible to repeat a given request in a plurality of successive packets (typically every 20 ms for codecs such as AMR, AMR-WB or EVS, which are considered below). It will be noted that in certain situations (call waiting, listening to voicemail, etc.), it is possible for the RTP packets to be sent in a single direction, however it is here assumed that the transmission of RTP packets is bidirectional for the feedback to work.
It will be recalled that there are various RTP-protocol profiles the main ones of which are AVP (for Audio Video Profile) according to specification RFC 3551 and AVPF (for Audio Video Profile with Feedback) according to specification RFC 4585. Without loss of generality, the secure versions thereof (SAVP and SAVPF where the prefix "S" means "Secure") are not reviewed here because these security aspects are beyond the scope of the invention. A major difference between AVP and AVPF is the time constraints on the transmission of RTCP packets: with AVP it is possible to send an RTCP packet on average only every 5 seconds, this in general being insufficient to achieve a reactive adaptation in case of very variable network conditions. In addition, with the AVFP protocol it is possible to use RTCP FB (FB for FeedBack) messages whereas only RTCP APP (APP for "Application defined") packets are defined in AVP for transporting feedback outside of the RTCP reports (SR and RR).
In general, a plurality of types of degradation may potentially affect the quality of voice over IP:                variable bandwidth/congestion of the network        losses, de-sequencing, repetition of packets        delay, variation in packet transmission delay        clock drift between the terminals
There are various solutions for mitigating these various types of degradation, including terminal adaptation solutions. Two types of adaptation may be distinguished between in VoIP terminals: sender-based adaptation and receiver-based adaptation.
For the sender to be able to adapt and decide on its adaptation ("sender-based" adaptation), said sender must receive feedback from the remote receiver indicating, for example, the observed loss rate or the available bandwidth as estimated by the remote receiver.
In a "receiver-based" adaptation, the feedback received by the local sender (104) is an adaptation decision (for example the choice of the mode or rate to be used) made by the remote receiver (155)—this feedback is transmitted first to the remote sender (154) then to the local receiver (105).
In FIG. 1, this feedback is indicated by dashed arrows pointing in the direction from the receiver 155 to the sender 104. Of course, this feedback may be given in the other direction of the communication, with feedback, from the receiver 105 to the sender 154, transmitted via the blocks 104 and 155; this inverse direction is not shown in FIG. 1 in order not to clutter this figure.
In one example of adaptation solutions, to control variation in bandwidth or congestion of the network, it is possible to implement the techniques described below.
When a codec operates at a fixed rate, one adaptation solution for modifying the actual data rate over the network consists in varying the number of consecutive signal frames in a packet (frame bundling) and thus varying the packet rate and the relative rate of IP/UDP/RTP protocol headers (and of protocol headers of lower layers). When the call negotiation uses the SDP protocol, the ability to use this adaptation of the packet rate depends on the parameters "ptime" and "maxptime", which respectively define the minimum and maximum possible lengths of a frame. For example, for ptime=20 and time maxptime=240, a packet represents 20 ms of signal and it is possible to multiplex up to 12 frames per packet.
FIGS. 2a to 2d illustrate examples of IP packet formats in which one or more frames are sent per packet. The default packet generation mode is considered to correspond to the case of FIG. 2a in which the current frame N is placed in packet P, i.e. in which it is possible to consider that P=N. An example of frame bundling is given in FIG. 2b, in which frames N and N−1 are placed in packet P—the packet rate is therefore two times lower than the frame rate and it is possible to consider that P=└N/2┘ (└⋅┘ represents rounding to the integer below).
When a codec is multi-rate, it is also possible to change the rate of the codec. This change in rate may be carried out depending on the available bandwidth as estimated by the remote receiver and received by feedback ("sender-based" decision) or depending on a rate change request received by feedback ("receiver-based" decision).
It will be noted that there are also solutions other than coding adaptation to avoid congestion—these alternative solutions do not operate at the RTP level or at the application-layer level, but at a lower level. They will not be described here because they are beyond the scope of the invention.
It will lastly be noted that, for non real-time applications using the TCP protocol (TCP standing for Transmission Control Protocol), one conventional approach to adaptation to channel conditions consists in varying the TCP rate using feedback via which the receiver sends a retransmission request (ARQ for Automatic ReQuest) with an indication of the packets not received; the TCP rate is adapted depending on this feedback. The indication of congestion in TCP was originally limited to the indication of losses but it has since been extended to other parameters (analysis of the variation over time in RTT (for Round-Trip Time), etc.).
For a degradation due to packet loss, a minimalist approach to managing this type of degradation is to apply a frame-loss correction in the receiver. This approach is merely reactive and cannot always "hide" very well "holes" (i.e. missing information that is not received) in the decoded signal, in particular when a plurality of consecutive frames are lost or if the codec used is sensitive to losses (a predictive codec for example). It is also necessary to ensure a rapid recovery (return to normal) of the audio signal; the correction for lost frames often produces artefacts that will be more or less audible depending on the type of codec and the loss correction method used. The loss correction may be implemented in the audio decoder or integrated in the receiver into the adaptation operations of the jitter buffer (by "lengthening" the current signal and "stitching" it with the future signal once available and decoded).
A better approach to countering frame losses is to use redundancy, i.e. to repeat entire or partial coded frames (for example, important coded parameters); this approach however has a cost in terms of data rate and delay.
Examples of use of partial redundancy are given for the IETF OPUS ("inbandfec" mode) and 3GPP EVS ("channel-aware mode") codecs, which are known to those skilled in the art. Examples of use of complete redundancy (or "application-layer redundancy") are given in section 10 of the 3GPP specification TS 26.114 (version 15.0.0) for the AMR, AMR-WB and EVS codecs. Below, "application-layer redundancy" will be shortened to "redundancy".
FIGS. 2c and 2d illustrate cases of redundancy in which the coded frame N is repeated in a following packet with a distance, called the "offset", that is denoted K—for K=1, which is shown in FIG. 2c, the packet N contains the frame N and the preceding frame N−1, whereas for K=2, which is shown in FIG. 2d, the packet N contains the frame N and the frame N−2, and an empty frame (NO_DATA). For a larger offset K, the number of empty frames (NO_DATA) "inserted" between the current frame of index N and the redundant frame of index N−K is K−1. It will be noted that it is possible to combine frame redundancy and frame aggregation, this case not being described in detail here (see 3GPP TS 26.114 FIGS. 10.12 and 10.13).
When the call negotiation uses the SDP protocol, the use of this type of application-layer redundancy depends on the "max-red" parameter when the latter is defined in the payload format for a given codec. Typically the "max-red" parameter gives the maximum duration (in ms)—as measured by the sender—between the transmission of a frame (called the primary frame) and the transmission of a redundant version; this parameter therefore allows a maximum delay to be set when redundancy is used. For example "max-red=20" indicates that it is possible to use redundancy and that a redundant frame may be transmitted up to 20 ms after the original frame. In general, when "max-red" is set to 0, this amounts to deactivating use of redundancy and if "max-red" is not present as a signaling parameter (SDP attribute), this indicates that there is no limitation on the use of redundancy—provided that the global passband specified by the SDP parameter "b=AS:" according to IETF RFC 4566 and the coding modes permitted in the session are respected.
For the other types of degradation mentioned, a conventional method used to absorb network jitter, to manage packet repetitions and desequencing, and to re-establish a synchronous stream consists in using a jitter buffer on reception. Static buffers and adaptive buffers are distinguished between. These buffers in general also allow problems with clock drift to be managed. The management of jitter buffers is not reviewed here because it is beyond the scope of the invention.
The 3GPP specification TS 26.114 describes, as seen above, possible coding-adaptation methods. For voice, a plurality of mechanisms for signaling feedback or adaptation requests are described therein:                use of CMR requests (CMR standing for Codec Mode Request)        the use of RTCP packets of RTCP APP type (APP standing for APPlication-defined)
FIGS. 3a to 3d illustrate the payload format of the AMR and AMR-WB codecs. The detailed specification of the RTP payload for AMR and AMR-WB may be found in the IETF specification RFC 4867. The mode said to be "bandwidth-efficient" is the only one described here, but it will be recalled that there is another mode that is said to be "octet-aligned". In the octet-aligned mode all the fields of the payload—the header of the payload, the ToC entries, the coded data—are individually aligned (with zero padding if necessary) so that the length (in bits) of these fields is a multiple of 8 (therefore these fields are an integer number of octets in length); in the bandwidth-efficient mode this alignment to an integer number of octets is used only on the complete payload, and therefore this mode may be considered to be more efficient because it requires less zero padding and therefore, of the two formats, it gives the packets of smallest size. However, the octet-aligned mode has more functionalities, such as the ability to sort the coded data by robustness (robust sorting), to use interleaving, or to use a CRC code in the frame to make the transport more robust with respect to frame losses or bit errors.
The payload of a packet for AMR and AMR-WB is illustrated in FIG. 3a: it comprises a PH header (PH standing for Payload Header), a ToC field (ToC standing for Table of Contents) and the SD data (SD standing for Speech Data) coded using AMR or AMR-WB. In the bandwidth-efficient mode, the header is simply a CMR (for Codec Mode Request) field on 4 bits as indicated in FIG. 3b; the definition of the indices in FIG. 3c is that of table 1a of the 3GPP specification TS 26.101, which is entitled "AMR Speech Codec Frame Structure", version 14.0.0, for the AMR codec, and that of table 1a of version 14.0.0 of the 3GPP specification TS 26.201, which is entitled "AMR Wideband Speech Codec; Frame Structure", for the AMR-WB codec.
These indices define different coding modes with different rates for the AMR and AMR-WB codec respectively.
The ToC field consists of a ToC entry list on 6 bits, in which the ith entry represents the ith frame contained in the current packet. Each ToC entry has the format given in FIG. 3d, in which:                F (1 bit): F=1 indicates that the current frame is followed by another frame in the payload; F=0 indicates that it is the last frame of the packet.        FT (4 bits): frame-type index, which indicates that the current frame has been coded using a certain AMR or AMR-WB mode or that it is a question of a silence identifier (SID) or of a non-transmitted frame (NO_DATA).        Q (1 bit): frame-quality index, if Q=0 the frame is damaged.
It is therefore possible to transport a plurality of frames coded in AMR and in AMR-WB and the ToC field allows them to be demultiplexed unambiguously.
It will be noted that it is possible to add bit padding (octets of padding) at the end of the payload. In this case the bit "P" (for Padding) in the RTP header may, optionally, be set to 1 and the additional bits added as specified in RFC 3550; the last octet of this padding contains the number of octets added at the end of the payload (including this last octet).
The 3GPP EVS codec uses multi-mode coding. This EVS codec (EVS standing for Enhanced Voice Services) was standardized at the end of 2014. It is currently defined in two source-code versions:                source code in fixed-point format (3GPP TS 26.442)        source code in floating-point format (3GPP TS 26.443)
The input signal of the EVS codec is sampled at a frequency of 8, 16, 32 or 48 kHz and the codec may represent narrowband (NB), wideband (WB), super-wideband (SWP) or fullband (FB) telephonic audio bandwidths. The data rates of the EVS codec are divided into two modes:                EVS Primary, which comprises                    fixed bit rate coding modes: 7.2, 8, 9.6, 13.2, 16.4, 24.4, 32, 48, 64, 96 and 128 kb/s            a variable bit rate (VBR) coding mode with an average rate close to 5.9 kbit/s for active speech and that in fact uses a combination of coding modes at 2.8, 7.2 and 8 kbit/s            a channel-aware mode (CAM) at 13.2 kbit/s in WB and SWB only (which uses a form of partial redundancy to improve robustness to frame losses)                        EVS AMR-WB IO the bit rates of which are identical to the 3GPP AMR-WB codec (9 modes of 6.6 to 23.85 kbit/s)
In addition to the above there is the discontinuous transmission (DTX) mode in which frames detected to be inactive are replaced by SID frames (SID Primary or SID AMR-WB IO) which are transmitted intermittently, on average once every 8 frames. Algorithmic details of the EVS codec are given in the 3GPP specifications TS 26.441 to 26.450 and they are therefore not repeated here.
The payload format for transporting with the RTP protocol data coded using EVS is defined in appendix A of the specification TS 26.445. This format is illustrated in FIGS. 4a to 4g.
There are two different modes for forming the EVS packets:                The mode by default: the packets are either in compact format or in header-full format, in order to avoid conflicts in size between these two modes priority is given to the compact mode the sizes of which are "protected", whereas the sizes of the header-full mode are penalized by adding zero padding in case of conflict with a size of the compact mode.        The header-full mode
Examples of RTP payloads in compact format are given in FIGS. 4a and 4b for the case of EVS Primary and of EVS AMR-WB IO, respectively; it may in particular be seen that for EVS Primary the payload is merely coded data, there being no payload header and it being impossible to signal an adaptation request (FIG. 4a); for EVS AMR-WB IO, data coded in compact mode are reorganized (certain bits are permutated) and a CMR decreased to 3 bits is defined as header (FIG. 4b). This particular 3-bit CMR case is not described in detail here because there is no free CMR code in this 3-bit signaling space, and therefore it is impossible to make any request other than a 3-bit change of rate.
Examples of RTP payload in header-full format are given in FIGS. 4c and 4d. In the first case (FIG. 4c), a single frame is transported and a ToC header octet (8 bits) is inserted. In the second case (FIG. 4d), two frames are transported in the same packet with 2 ToC headers (2 octets) and a CMR field (1 octet) is also used. In comparison with the payload format of the AMR and AMR-WB codecs, it may therefore be seen that the header-full payload format of the EVS codec also implements CMR and ToC concepts but that these fields are defined using octets (8 bits) and therefore, in the header-full mode, naturally octet aligned, the first bit (MSB) being set to 1 for the CMR and to 0 for the ToC.
A definition of these fields is given in the specification TS 26.445, Appendix A. For the sake of conciseness, all the details of the specification TS 26. 445, Appendix A will not be repeated here.
The 8-bit CMR field is divided into three portions:                H (1 bit): always 1        T (3 bits): bits indicating the type of request in order to distinguish between the various NB, WB, SWB and FB Primary EVS modes (which include the VBR and CAM modes) and EVS AMR-WB IO mode.        D (4 bits): CMR request
The possible values of the CMR field are defined in the specification TS 26.445, Appendix A and define the various modes of the codec. They are recalled in FIG. 4g. Certain codes are not used.
Similarly, the 8-bit ToC field is divided into 3 portions:                H (1 bit): always 0        F (1 bit): If F=1, another frame follows the current frame, if F=0, it is a question of the last frame of the packet.        FT (6 bits): bits indicating the frame type, i.e. EVS Primary or EVS AMR-WB IO (including the SID mode). This field is itself divided into 3 portions: EVS mode (1 bit), Unused/Q bit (1 bit) depending on the EVS-mode bit, and EVS rate (4 bits).
It will be noted that for EVS it is also possible to add bit padding (octets of padding) at the end of the payload. In this case the bit "P" (for Padding) in the RTP header may—optionally—be set to 1 and the additional bits added as specified in RFC 3550; the last octet of this padding contains the number of octets added to the end of the payload (including this last octet).
The use of RTCP APP for voice over IMS is detailed in section 10 of the 3GPP specification TS 26.114. The format of an RTCP APP packet is illustrated in FIG. 5a. The meaning of the fields of the RTCP header (V, P, PT, length, SSRC/CSRC) is not reviewed here. The "Name" field is by convention set to "3GM7" for "3GPP MTSI Release 7". The payload portion relates to data added in the "Application dependent data" field. This portion contains a header identification field (ID) followed by data (FIG. 5b). A plurality of ID values (on 4 bits) are specified in TS 26.114.
Certain ID values apply to all the codecs:                ID=0 0 0 0: padding (zero padding)        ID=0 0 0 1: redundancy activation request ("RedReq")—in this case, the data following the ID are on 12 bits, and each bit (i=1 to 12 starting from the end) indicates whether it is necessary to repeat packet N−i (if the bit is set to 1) or not (if the bit is set to 0).        ID=0 0 1 0: aggregation request ("FrameAggReq")—in this case, the data following the ID are on 4 bits, and only 4 values (among 16 possible values), corresponding to the transmission of 1 to 4 frames per packet, are predefined.
Other values apply to specific codecs:                ID=0 0 1 1: CMR request to change mode (coding rate) for AMR and AMR-WB ("AmrCmr")        ID=0 1 0 0: mode change request for EVS (EVS Primary)        ID=0 1 0 1: coded audio bandwidth change request for NB, WB, SWB or FB EVS ("EvsBandwidthReq")        ID=0 1 1 0: request to activate the EVS channel-aware mode (CAM) ("EvsParRedReq")        ID=0 1 1 1: request to switch from EVS Primary to EVS AMR-WB IO ("EvsIoModeReq")        ID=1 0 0 0: request to switch from EVS AMR-WB IO to EVS Primary ("EvsPrimaryModeReq")
It will be noted that it is possible to combine a plurality of RTCP APP requests in the same RTCP APP packet (for example a redundancy activation request and an aggregation request).
Thus, the current adaptation requests permitted by the CMR field in RTP packets for AMR, AMR-WB and EVS codecs are insufficient to perform every possible type of adaptation. In particular, the CMR is limited to changes in rate as specified by the receiver, for the AMR and AMR-WB codecs, and changes in rate, coded audio bandwidth and CAM mode control for the EVS codec.
The request by the receiver of a form of adaptation other than those permitted by CMR, such as frame aggregation or redundancy, requires the use of RTCP APP in voice-over-IMS applications (as specified in specification TS 26.114). However, to be usable, RTCP APP requires the AVPF profile.
Current telephony applications of VoLTE type (VoLTE standing for Voice over LTE (Long Term Evolution), which is a technique for transporting speech over the 4G LTE cell phone networks specified in GSMA IR.92) and of VoWifi type (VoWifi standing for Voice over Wi-Fi, which is a technique for transporting speech over Wi-Fi networks, and which is specified in GSMA IR.65) are based on the minimalist profile of voice over IMS, in which the AVPF profile is not permitted for voice; only the RTP AVP profile is permitted. This implies that RTCP packets of RTCP APP (or RTCP FB) type cannot be used in these applications.
When the AVP profile is permitted and depending on rate limitations (SR and RR fields in SDP), the actual uses of RTCP is limited at best to the transmission of "basic" reports of the following types: Sender Report (SR) and/or Receiver Report (RR), the network functionality of which is in particular to transmit keep-alive messages. "Sender-based" adaptation is therefore highly constrained by the fact that the feedback of the receiver in RTP is not regular enough and limited to a few "basic" quality indicators.
There is thus a need for a method that allows the receiver to reactively and robustly specify in-band (in an RTP stream) various types of adaptation, for any type of audio or video codec.
The present invention aims to improve the situation.
To this end, it provides a method for signaling an adaptation request that requests adaptation of the coding/decoding of real-time signals of a real-time communication session, on behalf of a receiving device, to a sending device. The adaptation request is such that it relates to a frame redundancy and/or aggregation request, that it is generated depending on the existence of a signaling parameter obtained in the phase of negotiation of the codecs used that took place during the initialization of the communication session and that it is transported via a real-time protocol of RTP type.
Thus, the use of the RTP protocol to request an adaptation makes it possible to obtain a reactive adaptation, contrary to the transmission of RTCP packets, which is not carried out in real-time.
The adaptation requests relate to adaptations different from the coding-mode changes of the prior art. This request signaling therefore allows the possibilities of reactive adaptation to be broadened.
The various particular embodiments mentioned below may be added independently or in combination to one another, in the steps of the signaling method defined above.
In a first embodiment, a field included in a mode-change request of CMR type is used to transport the adaptation request that requests adaptation of the communication session.
This type of request transport has the advantage of not increasing the size of the IP packets. It allows CMR values that have not been used in prior-art methods to be used to specify other types of adaptation.
In one particular embodiment in which the sending and receiving devices use coders/decoders of AMR or AMR-WB type, CMR codes 9 to 14 are used to code aggregation and redundancy requests that request aggregation and redundancies of various rates.
These codes are reserved for future uses and may advantageously define adaptations of aggregation or redundancy type.
In one particular embodiment in which the sending and receiving devices use coders/decoders of EVS type, CMR code values with T="111" and D other than "1111" are used to code the redundancy requests that request redundancies of various rates.
These codes are reserved for future uses and may advantageously define adaptations of aggregation or redundancy type.
In a second embodiment, a field of the padding request at the end of the signaling of the RTP protocol is used to transport the adaptation request that requests adaptation of the communication session.
This type of request transport also has the advantage of allowing both an aggregation and/or redundancy adaptation request and a coding-mode adaptation request be made. The use of a padding field at the end of the signaling then becomes useful to specify another type of adaptation.
The present invention also relates to a receiving device that transmits a signaling of an adaptation request that requests adaptation of the coding/decoding of real-time signals of a real-time communication session, to a remote sending device. This device is such that it comprises:                a module for verifying the existence of a signaling parameter obtained in the phase of negotiation of the codecs used that took place during the initialization of the communication session;        an adapting module able to determine an adaptation request relating to a frame aggregation and/or redundancy request; and        a module for inserting the request into a payload format via a real-time protocol of RTP type.
This device has the same advantages as the method described above, which it implements.
The invention also relates to a communication terminal comprising a receiving device such as described.
It relates to a computer program containing code instructions for implementing steps of the signaling method such as described, when these instructions are executed by a processor.
Lastly, the invention relates to a processor-readable storage medium (which may or may not be integrated into the receiving device and which may optionally be removable) storing a computer program that implements a signaling method such as described above.

Signaling of a request to adapt a voice-over-IP communication session


A blade configured for use in a blending apparatus includes a body portion and a pair of wing portions extending from the body portion. At least a leading edge of the blade is forged to increase a hardness property. The leading edge may have a minimum thickness that provides a relatively blunt leading edge. The wing portions of the blade may be formed after forging the blade.

Food processors and blending devices have existed for many years. One example of a blending device is shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,655,834 and 6,979,117, which are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.
Food processors and blending machines are being used now more than ever, particularly in the high-volume, commercial beverage industry. People are increasingly becoming aware of the benefits, in terms of taste and quality, of well-processed beverages. Blended fruit smoothies and similar fruit drinks, popular with all types of people ranging from the fitness conscious to the less active, require a food processor or blending machine. Cold beverages, in particular, which utilize fruit (frozen or fresh) and ice to prepare present unique challenges in beverage preparation. An appropriate blending machine will break down the ice, frozen fruit, and other ingredients in attempting to achieve an ideal uniform drink consistency. In addition, food processors or blending machines are ideal for mixing nutritional supplements into beverages while similarly attempting to achieve an ideal uniform drink consistency.
In addition to the recent increase in the popularity of smoothies, food processors and blending machines are being used to produce many new and different beverages. For example, different types of coffees, shakes, dairy drinks, and the like are now commonly served at many different types of retail business locations. Consumers are demanding more diversity and variety in the beverages available at these smoothie and other retail stores. The keys to producing a high quality beverage, irrespective of the specific type of beverage, are quality ingredients and a high quality blending machine that will quickly and efficiently blend the ingredients to produce a drink with uniform consistency.
All blending machines include some type of rotatable blending blade. The blending blade typically moves at relatively high rotational speeds to blend the ingredients. Blending blades typically include a sharpened leading edge that penetrates and cuts the ingredients as the blade rotates. Maintaining sharpness of the leading edge of the blending blade over extended use of the blending machine is often one design objective for blending blades. Increased sharpness of the blending blade usually minimizes the amount of power required to operate the blending machine to blend ingredients.
The blending blade may also have a unique bent shape that improves mixing of the ingredients. The bent shape may change over extended use of the blending machine or in response to blending certain ingredients such as ice or other hard materials.
Blending machines may benefit from improvements in blending blades.

Mixing blade for blending apparatus and methods


The present invention provides an improved process for continuously casting aluminum alloys and improved aluminum alloy compositions. The process includes the steps of continuously annealing the cold rolled strip in an intermediate anneal using an induction heater and/or continuously annealing the hot rolled strip in an induction heater. The alloy composition has mechanical properties that can be varied selectively by varying the time and temperature of a stabilizing anneal.

Aluminum beverage containers are generally made in two pieces, one piece forming the container sidewalls and bottom (referred to herein as a "container body") and a second piece forming a container top. Container bodies are formed by methods well known in the art. Generally, the container body is fabricated by forming a cup from a circular blank aluminum sheet (i.e., body stock) and then extending and thinning the sidewalls by passing the cup through a series of dies having progressively smaller bore sizes. This process is referred to as "drawing and ironing" the container body. The ends of the container are formed from end stock and attached to the container body. The tab on the upper container end that is used to provide an opening to dispense the contents of the container is formed from tab stock.
Aluminum alloy sheet is most commonly produced by an ingot casting process. In the process, the aluminum alloy material is initially cast into an ingot, for example, having a thickness ranging from about 20 to about 30 inches. The ingot is then homogenized by heating to an elevated temperature, which is typically 1075.degree. F. to 1150.degree. F., for an extended period of time, such as from about 6 to about 24 hours. "Homogenization" refers to a process whereby ingots are raised to temperatures near the solidus temperature and held at that temperature for varying lengths of time. The process reduces microsegregation by promoting diffusion of solute atoms within the grains of alumina and improves workability. Homogenization does not alter the crystal structure of the ingot. The homogenized ingot is then hot rolled in a series of passes to reduce the thickness of the ingot. The hot rolled sheet is then cold rolled to the desired final gauge.
Although ingot casting is a common technique for producing aluminum alloy sheet, a highly advantageous method for producing aluminum alloy sheet is by continuously casting molten metal. In a continuous casting process, molten metal is continuously cast directly into a relatively long, thin slab and the cast slab is then hot rolled and cold rolled to produce a finished product.
Some alloys are not readily cast using a continuous casting process into an aluminum sheet having mechanical properties suitable for forming operations, especially for making drawn and ironed container bodies. By way of example, some alloys have low yield and tensile strengths, a low degree of formability and/or a high earing which lead to a number of problems.
It would be desirable to have a continuous aluminum casting process in which the aluminum alloy sheet can be readily fabricated into desired objects. It would be advantageous to have a continuous casting process in which the aluminum alloy sheet has a high degree of formability, low earing and high strength.

For heat treatable aluminum alloys and treatment process for making same


A technique for alerting users to the existence of an interactive station within a virtual world accessible via the World Wide Web and determining whether the user is authorized to access the interactive station. An indicator is provided within the virtual world which shows to users the location and existence of an interactive station of the virtual world. The user selects the interactive station indicator in order to attempt to gain access to the interactive station. The virtual world may then verify whether the user is authorized to access the interactive station. Further, if the user is authorized to access the interactive station, the virtual world may maintain access to user data during the user's visit to the interactive station and modify the users data in accordance with the users activities therein. Also, the virtual world may use data provided by the user to perform functions in accordance with the users activities during the user's access to the interactive station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for indicating to a participant in a virtual world the position of an interactive station and qualifying the participant to interact with the interactive station. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for maintaining personal information with an avatar as it interacts within a virtual world.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet has existed for a number of years as a means for exchanging information. The first phase in the development of the Internet was the development of a TCP/IP infrastructure which permitted documents and data to be stored on a networked system of computers which permitted access of the documents by users of the Internet. This system was difficult to use, as access was restricted to serious or expert level computer users who could maintain internal cognitive maps of data space.
The next phase of the Internet development was the development of the World Wide Web, which is a hypermedia system which added another layer of abstraction to the existing Internet structure. This abstraction provided an addressing scheme in the form of a unique identifier or universal resource locator (URL). With this system, anyone could tell where to go and how to get there for any document or piece of data within the Web. This permitted use by novice computer users. However, the only form of navigation consisted of direct reference in the form of a URL such as "http:.backslash..backslash.www.ibm.com.backslash.". In combination with Internet search engines that have been developed for finding URLs for information on the Web, the World Wide Web now provides a retrieval mechanism which compliments the original storage mechanism of the Internet. Still, the system is not entirely user friendly as the user must rely on rigid addressing standards, search engines for finding URLs/addresses, and links within documents to navigate through the World Wide Web.
The recent explosion in popularity of the Internet can be attributed to a number of factors, the advent of the World Wide Web among them. Another factor has been the decreasing cost of computers and related technologies, and the increases in the speed of communication via high speed modems and the like. This has made possible the graphic-rich portion of the Internet, which is accessed via the World Wide Web. This graphic rich content has given the Internet the mass appeal that it previously lacked.
In the World Wide Web, documents or sites are typically written in the definition language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Until very recently, the World Wide Web comprised sites which include almost exclusively two dimensional graphics. This was due in part to limitations inherent in HTML. The Internet itself is a large number of computers networked together which contains a large number of sites. Each site has its own unique URL which identifies the computer (server) on the Internet on which the site resides. Typically, a user accesses a site on the Internet from a personal computer via a phone line to an Internet service provider which links the user to the Internet. The user needs Web browser software, such as Netscape Navigator from Netscape Communications Corporation or WebExplorer from International Business Machines Corporation, on his or her computer in order to view most World Wide Web content on the Internet. The Web browser software is able to display the HTML content of World Wide Web sites on the user's monitor.
While it was the advent of two dimensional graphically intense Web sites that spurred the popularity of the Internet, the next level of technology may bring Internets, internal networks such as intranets, and networks in general to a new level. This third phase of Internet development has been the introduction of intranetworks, which are essentially documents and their data (World Wide Web sites) which have been rendered sensually. That is, a user interacts or exists within a site or intranetwork and experiences and perceives the site from within. This new Internet technology involves three dimensional technology which permits simulation of real world objects. The three dimensional technology, also known as virtual reality, permits users to enter three dimensional worlds. Additionally, this three dimensional phase of the Internet permits virtual worlds in which actual people actually participate interactively with each other.
However, this technology is still embryonic. The technology is written in a definition language known as Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML). VRML is a language for describing multi-participant interactive simulations in virtual worlds networked via the global Internet and hyperlinked with the World Wide Web. To appropriately view or access a VRML document or site on the World Wide Web, a user is required to have an appropriate VRML viewer or browser in addition to (or in combination with) a Web browser.
As virtual worlds become a reality, virtual worlds will provide a number of advantages over two dimensional documents that will become apparent. Three dimensional worlds hold a promising future in the area of electronic commerce, as users of an electronic store or electronic mall can shop through the store and see and inspect the items that are available. It is also anticipated that virtual worlds will become prevalent in business and social environments as well. Today, virtual worlds lack a number of systems and characteristics that will make them more accepted to the general public. For example, virtual worlds at this time simply do not support many kinds of activities that are available either via standard personal computer systems or in real life interactions with the environments that virtual worlds attempt to mimic.
Three dimensional virtual worlds typically comprise large amounts of data. A virtual world will typically be a web site logically located at a server with participants accessing the virtual world via VRML enabled browsers or clients. The flow of data back and forth is limited by the communications link, such as a user's modem speed, and by network traffic, as well as the speed and ability of a user's computer to process data from the server. Accordingly, this can place a limitation on how virtual a virtual world can really be, and how well a virtual world can mimic the real life scenario it is attempting to exemplify. Depending on the architecture of the server, the virtual world is downloaded to the user's computer, from which the user navigates the virtual world via the local browser or client. The user's participant in the virtual world, which is sometimes referred to as an avatar, typically logically exists on the browser with links back to the server. The user sees via the user's monitor what the avatar sees in the virtual world, and the information regarding the user's avatar is sent back to the server so that the virtual world downloaded to each user can be updated with information about the location and movement of each user's avatar. In this way, each user is kept current with the state of each user's avatar via the user's browser. Also, any user activities which affect the virtual world from more than a local perspective are sent to the server.
Like with HTML-based websites, a need exists for screening users within a virtual world or permitting users of a virtual world with access only to permitted parts of a virtual world. However, as a user is a participant in a multi-user virtual world, existing two dimensional paradigms will not work. Accordingly, given the constraints involved with operating a virtual world over the Internet, a technique needs to be developed which invites participants to interact with elements within a virtual world which intuitively identifies interactive locations and which requires or permits registration and review of the participants in order to prevent unauthorized use, gain information about the participants, collect money from the participants, etc.

Interactive station indicator and user qualifier for virtual worlds


An apparatus comprising an elongated rod and a strap. The elongated rod is generally adapted for sliding under a bottom of a locked door. The elongated rod generally includes a main section, a curved section, a handle end and an actuator end. The handle end, the curved section and the actuator end generally extend away from the main section in the same direction such that the handle end, the curve section, the main section, and the actuator end define a plane. The strap is generally adapted for engagement with an opening mechanism of the locked door. A first end of the strap is attached to the actuator end and a second end of the strap is attached to the main section by a first connection device. The first connection device is generally adapted to slide along the main section of the elongated rod.

A person can find themselves locked out of their home or office and unable to enter. For example, keys can be locked inside, a key can be broken off in the lock or the keyway of the lock can be glued through vandalism. Police may need to gain access through a locked door in order to help in an emergency or prevent a crime. Locksmiths can drill a hole into the lock case to release the locking mechanism or drill out the cylinder. However, drilling a hole in a lock case to release the locking mechanism causes damage to the unit and often requires replacement of the lock. Similarly, drilling out the cylinder requires inserting and re-pinning a new cylinder. Another method for pin and tumbler locks is to use a pick set to pick the lock. However, pick sets are illegal in most states, except when used by registered locksmiths. High security locks can be designed to prevent picking.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus and/or method for opening locked doors without causing damage to the door or to the lock and without the time consuming, or futile, process of picking the lock.

Apparatus and method for opening locked doors


A method, an apparatus, and a system for real-time multimedia communications using a software-defined network (SDN) are provided. The method includes receiving, by a processor, a path metric indicative of transmission capacity between directly-connected service nodes in the SDN, determining, by the processor based on the path metric, a cascade network topology comprising an optimal path between a first edge node and a second edge node, wherein the optimal path has the lowest transmission latency among data transmission paths in the SDN between the first edge node and the second edge node, and based on a determination that multimedia data is to be transmitted between the first edge node and the second edge node, transmitting the multimedia data between the first edge node and the second edge node in accordance with the optimal path.

Real-time multimedia (e.g., audio or video) communications have wide applications, such as conferences, live broadcasting, or webinars. Multimedia streams can be generated using an end-user terminal equipped with audio/video (A/V) devices (e.g., a microphone and/or a camera) and compressed as bitstreams. The bitstreams can be packetized and transmitted as data packets over a network, such as the Internet, to target users. Once the data packets are received at an end-user terminal, the multimedia bitstream can be decompressed, rendered, and presented (e.g., using a speaker or a display) to a target user.
For multiple-user communications events, multiple end-user terminals can be used to send and receive multimedia streams simultaneously for interactive communications. As the scale of the users increases, expectations of quality and capability of the network and system for supporting such large-scale multimedia communications also become higher.

Large-scale real-time multimedia communications


In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device such as a flash memory device, an insulating pattern having an opening is formed to partially expose a surface of a substrate. A first silicon layer is formed on the exposed surface portion of the substrate and the insulating pattern. The first silicon layer has an opened seam overlying the previously exposed portion of the substrate. A heat treatment on the substrate is performed at a temperature sufficient to induce silicon migration so as to cause the opened seam to be closed via the silicon migration. A second silicon layer is then formed on the first silicon layer. Thus, surface profile of a floating gate electrode obtained from the first and second silicon layers may be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor memory device, in general, is classified as either volatile or non-volatile. Volatile semiconductor memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices and/or static random access memory (SRAM) devices, have a relatively high response speed. However, the volatile semiconductor memory devices lose data stored therein when power is shut off. Although non-volatile semiconductor memory devices, such as electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) devices and/or flash memory devices, have a relatively slow response speed, non-volatile semiconductor memory devices can maintain data stored therein when power is shut off. In EEPROM devices, data is electrically stored (i.e., programmed) or erased through a Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling mechanism and/or a channel hot electron injection mechanism.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,293 discloses a method of manufacturing a flash memory cell. In accordance with the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,293, a method of manufacturing a flash memory cell includes the steps of forming an oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate in which a device isolation layer is formed, patterning the oxide layer to expose the semiconductor substrate at a portion in which a floating gate will be formed to thereby form an oxide layer pattern, sequentially forming a tunnel insulating layer and a first polysilicon layer on the entire structure, planarizing the first polysilicon layer until the oxide layer pattern is exposed to thereby form a floating gate, etching the tunnel insulating layer and the oxide layer pattern in the exposed portion to a given thickness, forming a dielectric layer on the entire structure, sequentially forming a second polysilicon layer, a tungsten suicide layer and a hard mask, patterning the second polysilicon layer, the tungsten silicide layer and the hard mask to form a control gate, and injecting impurity ions into the semiconductor substrate at the both sides of the floating gate to form a junction region.
The floating gate is self-aligned by the oxide layer pattern partially exposing the semiconductor substrate.
As a packing density of the semiconductor device has become more highly integrated, an aspect ratio of an opening defined by the oxide layer pattern (by which a portion of the semiconductor substrate is exposed) has been increased, thereby generating void(s) in the first polysilicon layer filling up the opening.
The void(s) generated in the first polysilicon layer is opened during the planarization process of the first polysilicon layer, and thus an opened seam is formed at a surface of the floating gate. The opened seam deteriorates a breakdown voltage characteristic of the dielectric film formed on the floating gate and a coupling ratio of the flash memory device. Further, leakage current characteristic through the dielectric film is deteriorated.
In the case of partially removing the first polysilicon layer to remove the void(s) in the first polysilicon layer and then forming an additional polysilicon layer on the first polysilicon layer, the tunnel insulating layer between the first polysilicon layer and the semiconductor substrate is damaged by the etchant used during the etching process for removing the void(s). As a result, breakdown voltage characteristic of the tunnel insulating layer is deteriorated.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


The present invention relates to compositions and methods that promote the induction of IL-12 in a patient. The composition includes activated allogeneic cells that are administered to a patient with a disease such as cancer. Administration of the composition skews the patient's immune response to a Th1 environment and produces detectable levels of IL-12 in the patient's plasma, without any IL-12 related toxicity.

The most precise, powerful and safest disease prevention and treatment mechanism known is the natural 'sterilizing' immune response which combines elements of both innate and adaptive immunity to clear the body of a large variety of foreign pathogens without medical intervention. The immune system is designed to 'remember' the cleared foreign antigens in order to quickly mount an immune response upon re-infection. Immune systems, even those of cancer patients, can recognize and mount a response to foreign antigens, such as found on viruses and bacteria, sufficiently enough to completely destroy and eliminate them from the body. The ferocity and specificity of this sterilizing immune response can be witnessed in the manner in which an inadequately suppressed immune system can completely destroy large transplanted organs, such as a kidney, liver or heart, while sparing self tissues. The destructive effect of this immunity against foreign antigens would be beneficial if this effect could be redirected to tumors and/or other antigens that escape due to an insufficient immune response by the patient.
Immunotherapy is dedicated to developing methods to harness, direct and control the immune response against a variety of infectious and noninfectious diseases including cancer. Therapeutic vaccines are a type of immunotherapy designed to educate the immune system. In patients with existing cancers, the vaccines are designed so the patient's immune system recognizes the tumor cells as foreign. If tumors are recognized by the immune system as a foreign pathogen, an immune response could theoretically be elicited which could cause immune cells to destroy large tumors and seek out and destroy metastatic tumor cells wherever they reside in the body. After successful immunotherapy, the ability of the immune system to 'remember' eliminated foreign cells would enable the immune system to eliminate any recurrent cancer cells without any additional treatment, much like the immune system protects against opportunistic infections.
An individual's immune system response to diseases or to disease organisms can be either a Th1 response or Th2 response. In a Th1 response, the CD4+ T cells become polarized toward Th1 cells and conversely, in a Th2 response, the CD4+ T cells become polarized toward Th2 cells. This increasingly popular classification method is referred to as the Th1/Th2 balance. Th1 cells promote cell-mediated immunity, while Th2 cells induce humoral immunity. Cellular immunity (Th1) directs natural killer cells (NK), T-cells and macrophages to attack abnormal cells and microorganisms at sites of infection. Humoral immunity (Th2) results in the production of antibodies used to neutralize foreign invaders. In general, Th2 polarization of CD4+ T cells has been shown to relate to cancer progression in most human and animal cancer studies, while Th1 polarization is correlated with tumor regression and anti-tumor immunity.
The immune response of an individual, Th1/Th2 balance, can be evaluated through the balance of cytokines in the individual. Cytokines are small cell-signaling protein molecules. The term cytokine is used as a generic name for a diverse group of soluble proteins and peptides that act as regulators normally at nano- to picomolar concentrations and which, either under normal or pathological conditions, modulate the functional activities of individual cells and tissues. These proteins also mediate interactions between cells directly and regulate processes taking place in the extracellular environment. Interleukins are a group of cytokines involved in immunomodulation and can be synthesized by a variety of cells in the immune system. There are a number of interleukins, such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12, and each of these interleukins has a specific role within the immune system.
Th1 cells produce Type 1 cytokines that are involved in inflammatory responses. Type 1 cytokines include, for example, IL-2, IL-12, IL-15, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, TNF-beta, GM-CSF and C-C chemokines. Th2 cells produce Type 2 cytokines that are involved in humoral immune responses. Type 2 cytokines include, for example, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13 and TGF-beta. Th1 and Th2 immune responses are counter-regulatory, such that increased Type 1 responses downregulate Type 2 responses and increased Type 2 responses downregulate Type 1 responses.
IL-12 is a heterodimer composed of a p35 and a p40 subunit. It is produced primarily by Antigen Presenting Cells (APC). IL-12 can also be produced by monocytes and macrophages, dendritic cells and B-cells. IL-12 exerts immunomodulatory effects on T-cells and natural killer cells. Endogenous IL-12 is known to be involved in generating optimal Th1 responses and can play an important role in cell-mediated immunity against intracellular pathogens.
IL-12 has been the subject of intense investigation because it modulates important components of the immune system and has been demonstrated to have dramatic anti-tumor effects in the laboratory and in animal studies. IL-12 has been implicated, for example, in inhibiting growth of human lung adenocarcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia. However, the use of exogenous IL-12 in a therapeutic regimen has been limited by high toxicity in humans.