A gravity flow rack system specifically designed for use in dispensers of cylindrical- or conical-shaped lightweight plastic containers such as disposable yogurt tubs has inclined shelves supporting container flow channels, each of such channels defined by a pair of elongated rails extending from a rear end to a forward lower end of the shelf and terminating at an L-shaped seat or cradle adapted to receive a lower-most of such containers as it reaches the forward end of the channel, and present that lower-most container in an inviting, easy-to-view, label-up orientation for consumer viewing, while remaining containers stacked upstream of the lower-most container in the same channel are generally obscured from view in order to deter inventory mishandling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to shelving systems and, more specifically, to gravity flow racks for use in refrigerated dispensers of generally cylindrical- or conical-shaped individual food containers such as disposable yogurt containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The competing interests of grocers and other retailers in keeping high inventory turnover and consumers in buying the freshest food products available is particularly evident in the refrigerated dairy product aisle of many grocery or convenience stores. Try as grocers may to put older products toward the front of the shelf and newer products toward the rear, consumers invariably rummage through the refrigerated merchandise until they reach the rear of the shelf looking for food package containers bearing later expiration dates. The problem is particularly pervasive with respect to disposable single-serving-size yogurt containers. Such package containers, typically formed as plastic tubs with a relatively slippery surface, have generally cylindrical or conical shapes. This makes the package containers difficult to vertically stack and, when they are so stacked, easy to topple over. They generally have a freshness date or a so-called "sell by" or "age" date stamped in a location that is hidden from view when such containers are stacked, such as on the product's lid.
Consumers have a tendency to disorganize dispenser shelving, and the pre-organized food container arrays on such shelving, to make newer product easier to reach. Furthermore, when restocking conventional, front-loaded flat refrigerated shelves with new product, it is easier for employees to push older product toward the rear of the shelf to make room for new product than it is to properly re-stock the shelf in a manner that keeps the older inventory closest to the consumer, i.e. towards the front of the shelf. Also, such consumer-generated relocation of food containers requires regular re-shelving and reorganizing of such containers, i.e. excessive labor requirements for grocers. All these practices result in less than optimal inventory turnover to the grocers, who are often left with product that remains unsold past its expiration date.
It would therefore be desirable to have a shelving system for use in refrigerated merchandise dispenser units that could organize and maintain individual product containers by date, so that the first product placed into the dispenser is the first product selected by the consumers for purchase, i.e. first-in, first-out.
The use of gravity flow shelving systems to achieve such a first-in, first-out dispenser has been well-known for shelving of large packages found in warehouses, as disclosed in Tipton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,920, and even for dispensers of smaller consumer items, such as lip gloss, aspirin bottles, soda cans and milk bottles. For example, Merl, U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,763 and Lockwood, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,282 disclose gravity flow systems directed for such products.
In addition, Coretti, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,068, owned by B-O-F Corporation of Aurora, Ill., the assignee of the present invention, discloses a wire mesh gravity flow shelving system marketed under the trademark Milk Moover.RTM., which is well-suited for a variety of sizes and shapes of milk containers and is specifically adapted for use in refrigerated dispenser units. The cartons of milk to be dispensed contact the wire mesh shelves at multiple, i.e. more than two, points along the bottoms of the cartons because the carton makes contact with each of the closely-spaced wires of the shelf that are underneath the carton. Such multiple contact points add friction, which can impede the flow of lighter containers, such as disposable yogurt tub containers, to be dispensed on the shelf.
When directed to such cylindrical- or conical-shaped food product containers, such prior art dispensers suffer from several shortcomings. For example, many depend on the use of a stop in the form a reciprocating stage (as in the Tipton et al. patent), a trip wire (as in the Lockwood patent), or swiveling means taking the form of a diverging curved end wall (as in the Merl patent) to interrupt the gravitational movement of the product being dispensed before the lower-most product is placed in a position for display. In other words, such prior art gravity flow racks lack a design that integrally controls the capture and positioning of the lowest container when it reaches the bottom of the shelf. Such integral control is particularly desirable for products packaged in small, slippery, substantially cylindrical or conical containers, e.g. individual serving plastic yogurt tubs, as these containers have a tendency to topple over easily. If such methods as a trip wire or diverging end wall were used to interrupt the path of these small, odd-shaped plastic tubs in a gravity flow rack system, it would be difficult to predict or rely upon consistent placement of the tubs in a "label-up" display position within a dispenser. Typically, one container might slip over another, and become misaligned in an overall end-to-end array of stacked containers. In a worst case, an entire shelf of food containers could spill onto the floor of the dispenser unit or into a store aisle as successive containers keep toppling over the lower edge of the shelf. Such an unpredictable result is unacceptable.
Several of the gravity flow shelving systems of the prior art utilize inclined roller bearings, inclined smooth flat surfaces, or inclined bent wire frames having closely-spaced wire tracks present to facilitate sliding forward movement of containers stored on the shelves until the containers are tightly stacked against a lower-most container at the front of the dispenser shelf (such as for canned food product, and soft drink cans). However, all of such conventional surfaces are inadequate for reliably controlling the flow and label-up display of slippery, relatively unstable, odd-shaped cylindrical or conical food containers. By "label-up", what is meant is that the consumer product information, such as brand-name, flavor, and ingredients, is presented in a consumer-friendly fashion so that the front of the container bearing such labeling faces the consumer standing in front of the display unit. This is particularly true when the containers need to be stacked in an end-to-end array, that is--top-to-bottom in a manner that simultaneously maximizes storage capacity of the shelving system and discourages consumers from manipulating the position of the containers stacked higher than the lower-most container, e.g. for purposes of finding product bearing a later expiration date than the lower-most container.
A further drawback to the conventional gravity flow systems is cost. Material and manufacturing costs for roller bearing surfaces, low-friction flat surfaces, or even closely-spaced wire mesh-type rack shelving are high compared to the various embodiments of the improved gravity flow system of the present invention. Thus, by using a minimal amount of materials, small cylindrical or conical-shaped packages can be more easily stored on shelving and significant savings in materials and manufacturing costs can be achieved, as compared to the gravity flow systems found in the prior art.
The manner in which the present invention overcomes these and other shortcomings of conventional gravity flow systems for use in dispensing cylindrical or conical-shaped packages such as plastic yogurt containers is explained in the following Summary of the Invention, the Drawings, and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.

Gravity flow rack having product display seat


Autoimmune disease therapy in a patient treated with apoptosis-inducing agents is enhanced by co-administration of sphingomyelin. The combination most likely enhances an autoimmune disease cell's ability to undergo ceramide-induced apoptosis by increasing the levels of sphingomyelin in all cellular compartments, thereby providing sufficient substrate for activated sphingomyelinase. In alternative embodiments, sphingomyelin may be administered alone, in combination with corticosteroids, and/or in combination with a apoptosis-inducing agent.

Traditionally, the efficacy of many cancer therapies was believed to arise from the cytotoxicity derived from chemotherapy- or radiation-induced DNA damage. Such DNA damage was considered to trigger an apoptotic response. See Eastman et al., Cancer Invest., 10: 229-240 (1992); Allan, D. J., Int. J. Radiat. Biol., 62: 145-152 (1992). Apoptosis is conceptualized as an inducible preprogrammed pathway of sequential biochemical events, leading to activation of calcium- and magnesium-dependent endonucleases that cleave the nuclear chromatin at selective internucleosomal linker sites. Signals generated at the membrane of the affected cell activate neighboring cells and infiltrating macrophages to phagocytize the dying cell and its disintegrating nucleus.
An early hypothesis on the nature of the lethal damage produced by ionizing radiation identified heterologous double strand breaks in the DNA as the most common type of lesions that lead to mammalian cell death. See Radford, I. R., Int. J. Radiat. Biol., 49: 611-620 (1986); Ward, J. F., Prog. Nucleic Acid Mol. Biol., 35: 95-125 (1988). Such lesions are produced in the DNA by direct interaction with X-rays, or with reactive oxygen intermediates generated within the cell by the radiation. See Steel et al., Int. J. Radiat. Biol., 56: 525-537 (1989). While mammalian cells are proficient in repairing most DNA double strand breaks, not all such lesions are repairable. See Ward, J. F., Prog. Nucleic Acid Mol. Biol., 35: 95-125 (1988). Residual unrepaired DNA lesions can lead to postmitotic cell death. See Bedford, J. S., Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys., 21: 1457-1469 (1991). Therefore, until recently, inefficiency of DNA repair was thought to play a key role in radiation sensitivity.
Similarly, some chemotherapies, for example anthracycline daunorubicin (DNR), were believed to induce cytotoxicity as a result of drug-induced damage to DNA. It was suggested that damage to genetic material could result from free radicals stemming from the quinone-generated redox activity, from intercalation-induced distortion of the double helix, or from stabilization of the cleavable complexes formed between DNA and topoisomerase II. See Chabner et al., Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, J. B. Lippencott Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Pp 349-395 (1989). However, the mechanism by which such damage induced the apoptotic pathway remained unclear.
In recent years, an alternative to the hypothesis that direct DNA damage from cancer therapies mediates induced apoptosis has been established. The sphingomyelin signal transduction pathway for induction of apoptosis has emerged as a leading mechanism in many cancer therapies, including ionizing radiation, autoimmune disease necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and daunorubicin. See Haimovitz-Friedman et al., J. Exp. Med., 180: 525-535 (1994); Kolesnick et al., Cell, 77: 325-328 (1994); Jaffrezou et al., Embo J., 15: 2417-2424 (1996); Bose et al., Cell, 82: 405-414 (1995).
Sphingomyelin is a class of sphingolipids, which constitute a major lipid class in the cell, especially the plasma membrane. See Merrill et al., Toxicol. Appl. Pharmcol., 142: 208-225 (1997). Sphingomyelin is compartmentalized into two distinct pools in the plasma membrane. See Linardic et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269: 23530-23537 (1994). It has been proposed that the sphingomyelin pool localized to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane is dedicated exclusively to intracellular signaling. Alternatively, it has been suggested that inner leaflet, mitochondrial and/or nuclear sites of ceramide production may be involved in induction of apoptosis. (Modrak et al., Mol. Cancer. Ther. 5:200-08, 2006). The observation that there is no difference in sphingomyelin molecular species between the two pools of sphingomyelin in the plasma membrane suggests the importance of compartmentalization in signal transduction. See Fritzgerald et al., Lipids, 30: 805-809 (1995).
Many cancer therapies initiate the sphingomyelin pathway by inducing the rapid hydrolysis of sphingomyelin to ceramide. Ceramide plays a pivotal role in a variety of cellular processes, including regulating programmed cell death. See Merrill et al., Toxicol. Appl. Pharmcol., 142: 208-225 (1997). The specificity of ceramide as a second messenger for apoptosis was demonstrated by the fact that cell-permeable ceramide analogs, but not analogs of other lipid second messengers, were able to recapitulate the effects of TNF-α, Fas, and ionizing radiation and induce apoptosis directly. Induction of apoptosis by ceramide is also stereospecific, since dihydroceramide fails to induce apoptosis. It has been proposed that ceramide initiates apoptosis by activating the stress-activated protein kinase pathway. See Verheij et al., Nature, 380: 75-79 (1996). The role of sphingolipid metabolism in cancer therapy has recently been summarized (Modrak et al., Mol. Cancer. Ther. 5:200-8, 2006).
While many therapies are successful in initiating the sphingomyelin transduction pathway, the induced apoptotic response may be limited or short-lived. For unknown reasons, tumor cells have abnormal lipid composition, including sphingomyelin. Tumor tissues typically have higher concentrations of sphingomyelin than normal tissues; however, it is possible that some tumor cells have reduced sphingomyelin synthesis capabilities. See Koizumi et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 649: 393-403 (1991); Van Blitterswijk et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 778: 521-529 (1984). Additionally, altered lipid metabolism in tumor cells can result in changes in the intracellular distribution of sphingomyelin. Such redistribution within the plasma membrane can lead to misdirected sphingomyelin which is unable to be acted upon by the sphingomyelin hydrolyzing enzymes responsible for generating ceramide in response to cytotoxic treatment. See Bettaieb et al., Blood, 88: 1465-1472 (1996). Consequently, sphingomyelin re-organization within the plasma membrane can impair a tumor cell's ability to generate ceramide-induced apoptosis and lead to reduced sensitivity to certain therapies.
Similarities exist between autoimmune disease and certain types of cancer, such as B-cell or T-cell lymphomas or leukemias. The pathogenic roles of T- and B-cells in human autoimmune disease may involve a variety of mechanistic pathways (e.g., Martin and Chan, Immunity 20:517-27, 2004; McFarland and Martin, Nat. Immunol. 8:913-19, 2007; Stinissen et al., Crit. Rev. Immunol. 17:33-75, 1997). There is reason to believe that therapies targeted against T- and B-cells may have common effects on lymphomas and leukemias and on various autoimmune diseases in which T- or B-cells play a role in etiology. However, previous studies have not identified or characterized a cumulative or synergistic effect between apoptosis-inducing therapeutic agents that affect T- or B-cells and ceramide pathway agents, such as sphingomyelin, on either T- or B-cell related cancers or autoimmune disease. A need exists in the field for effective methods and compositions utilizing apoptosis-inducing therapeutic agents and sphingomyelin for therapy of autoimmune disease.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Sphingomyelin therapy of autoimmune disease

Center for Molecular Medicine and Immunology


The present invention relates to a process for preparing a metal sheet having an excellent rolling property, i.e., a rollable metal sheet, which process comprises the basic steps of: continuously feeding a molten metal on a cooling material having one or two cooling surfaces being transferred and renewed for quench solidification, to thereby prepare a thin cast sheet; impinging a small rigid body particle against the surface of the resultant thin cast sheet, to work the cast sheet; heat-annealing the worked sheet in such a manner that the worked region becomes a fine recrystallized grain layer; and subjecting the cast sheet to a cold or warm rolling, optionally after a removal of oxides present on the surface; and an optional step of heat-treating the rolled sheet for working. The process of the present invention is applicable to the production of various known rollable metal or alloy sheets, such as soft steel, stainless steel, silicon steel, nickel-iron, cobalt-iron, nickel, aluminum, and copper sheets.

Conventionally, various rollable metal sheets are produced by, for example, (i) a continuous casting to prepare a 200 mm-thick cast slab, (ii) heating the slab, (iii) hot rolling, (iv) annealing the hot rolled material, (v) cold rolling, and (vi) an optional heat treatment for working. Recent demands for a reduction in production costs have led to proposals of various methods of eliminating the above-described steps (ii) and (iii) including the single roll and twin roll methods, which comprise continuously feeding a molten metal onto a cooling material having one or two cooling surfaces being transferred and renewed for quench solidification, thereby preparing a thin cast sheet having a thickness of several ten .mu.m to about 10 mm. The above-described single and twin roll methods, etc., provide a rollable metal with a high productivity at a low cost but are plagued by several fundamental problems, and therefore, currently the technology in this field is incomplete, although some products have been put to practical use.
Among the above-mentioned problems, one of the most serious is a loss of the rolling property. In general, contrary to the smooth surface of a hot rolled sheet prepared by the conventional hot rolling process, the surface of a thin cast sheet prepared by the single roll method, twin roll method or the like often has an unevenness of as much as several ten % or more of the sheet thickness, due to rippling, and further, suffers from large variations in the thickness of the sheet in the width direction thereof.
This is a defect inherent to the quench solidifying system and is attributable to a localized difference in the shrinkage accompanying the solidification of the molten metal and a thermal deformation of the roll surface, etc., and can be avoided to some extent by attention to the design and operation of the machinery. This alleviation, however, is limited because, in a rollable metal sheet prepared by a series of production steps wherein a cold rolling or warm rolling step is essential, a ripple or the like on the surface of the metal is squeezed in the rolling direction during the rolling and causes a dimple to be formed in the direction of the sheet body; this is the cause of the occurrence of "scab". The above-described uneven portion also is often a cause of a cracking of a fragile material during cold rolling. In recent years, various methods have been proposed, including a method which comprises casting a soft iron sheet or a stainless steel sheet to a thickness of several ten .mu.m to several mm through a single or twin roll method, and annealing and cold rolling the sheet to prepare a foil strip having a thickness of several ten .mu.m to several hundred .mu.m. Nevertheless, in this method also, the uneven portion present in the thin cast sheet is a cause of contraction or breaking during the cold rolling. As described above, compared to the conventional hot rolling process, the single or twin roll method is an excellent production method having not only the merit of a reduction of costs, such as an elimination of steps and the need for less plant and equipment investment, but also having an advantage in that a cold rolled material having a thickness as small as about several ten .mu.m can be directly prepared. These methods, however, have not been put to practical use, due to problems with the rolling process.
In particular, when the above-described thin cast sheet is used as a starting material for stainless steel sheets, technical problems having an influence on the product quality, such as corrosion resistance, appearance, gloss, polishing property and further, in BA products, streaks and defects called "gold dust", exist on the surface of the steel sheet.
The problem of the surface of the stainless steel sheet has hitherto been solved by conducting a mechanical descaling and pickling after annealing the hot rolled sheet, polishing the whole surface of the coil to remove various defects, and cold-rolling the coil with a large number of passes using a sendzimir mill comprising a multiple roll having a small diameter. A process comprising the steps of annealing, picking, surface polishing, and cold rolling by a small diameter roll is an established technique for preparing a thin strip of stainless steel having a fine surface, and 2D, 2B, and BA products specified in JIS have been produced thereby. The manufacturing techniques for these products are disclosed in detail in Sawatani et al, "Seitetsu Kenkyu (Study in Iron Manufacturing)", N292 (1977), p. 100. Further, to satisfy the need for an elimination of steps, studies have been made into the elimination of the steps of annealing the hot rolled sheet and of surface polishing (see Japanese Examined Patent Publication Nos. 57-38654, 59-46287 and 58-56013). In these studies, however, it was found that the elimination of these steps often has an adverse affect on the surface appearance.
In addition to the above-described prior art, when a product is prepared through the use of the above-described thin cast sheet as a starting material, by the conventional process, compared to the conventional process wherein use is made of a hot rolled sheet as a starting material, the crystal grain of the product becomes large, which leads to serious defects, and thus this step reducing process cannot be put to practical use.
As described above, all of the prior art processes aim at a mirror polish effect on the steep sheet, obtained from the roll, or a change in the dispersed state of a carbide of a steel sheet, and do not always provide a satisfactory solution to the problem. Further, when a thin cast slab, in which recent remarkable developments have been made, is used as a starting material, a problem arises in that a grain pattern is formed in the product if only the prior art method is applied. Therefore, a novel and useful method of solving the above problem is required.
When a unidirectional silicon steel is used as the starting material for the above-described thin cast sheet, a proposal has been made for a technique that will solve a problem of the conventional process for preparing a unidirectional silicon steel sheet, i.e., a problem of a limitation of the silicon content to 4% or less, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 55-69223 and 60-38462, a process for preparing a cold-rollable high silicon steel sheet through the use of a starting material comprising a cast slab having a thickness of not more than several hundred .mu.m prepared by continuously feeding a molten metal containing 4 to 10% by weight of silicon, etc., onto a cooling material having a cooling surface being transferred and renewed to quench the molten metal. A similar method is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-11619. This method is applied to a cast slab having a thickness of 0.7 to 2.0 mm.
All of the silicon steel sheets prepared by the above-described improved method exhibit a good mechanical property when the silicon content is high, but are unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of obtaining a high magnetic property, and stably reproducing these properties.
Specifically, the process for preparing an unidirectional silicon steel sheet wherein use is made of a step of preparing a thin cast sheet by quench solidification is advantageous in that it is possible to eliminate the hot rolling step and increase the silicon content, but is unsatisfactory in the attaining of excellent properties and in the reproducibility of the conventional material subjected to the hot rolling. Further, a satisfactory cold rolling property is not attained in a high silicon content material.

Process for preparing rollable metal sheet from quenched solidified thin cast sheet as starting material


A memory device having a wake-up protocol is disclosed. The memory device comprises a plurality of bitcells operative in a deep-sleep mode having corresponding bitline pairs coupled to the plurality of bitcells, a first PFET coupled between a core voltage supply and the plurality of bitcells configured to supply a core voltage to the plurality of bitcells, and a second PFET having a drain coupled to the plurality of bitcells, a source coupled to a gate of the first PFET, and a gate configured to receive a first wake signal to enable precharge of the plurality of bitcells.

A memory device may include a deep-sleep mode or light sleep mode, which are operating modes in which the memory banks of the memory device are in a reduced power state or altogether completely shut off. The use of a sleep mode reduces the amount of electrical power consumed in comparison to an awake or normal operating mode of the memory device. Power consumption is an important consideration for many of today's electronic devices and in particular battery operated portable electronic devices.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art block diagram of a memory device with some memory instances in a deep-sleep mode. A memory device 10 comprises memory instances 8 and 12. The memory instances 8 are in a deep-sleep mode and the memory instances 12 are in a normal active mode (also referred to as a functional mode). When some or all of the memory instances 8 are awaken, there is a compression effect on the power supply to the memory device.
For instance, when the memory instances 8 are switched to a functional mode, the internal core voltage supplies charges these instances 8 as the instances 8 are awakened. The charging of these instances 8 from sleep mode to functional mode can cause a current surge on the power supply, which often can be very large. So large that often the current surge from the power supply can significantly droop due to the instantaneous current consumed to charge the awaken memory instances. More importantly, the power supply can droop low enough that the currently active memory instances 12 fail.
Furthermore, there is typically a switch that gates the power supply to each of the memory instances. When the switch is opened (meaning a respective instance is not being powered), the internal core voltage supply of the respective instance drains to ground due to leakage current. Eventually, the bitcells of the memory instance will lose its stored contents since the internal power will drop below a minimum voltage to keep the contents stored in the bitcells. In order to gain power savings, a retention mode or a light sleep mode is applied in which the internal core voltage supply is intentionally dropped by a smaller amount in voltage (e.g., dropped about 100 mV) to maintain the stored contents of the memory instances.
FIG. 2 illustrates a graph of a power supply that is pulled down by memory instances being woken up. The graph of the power supply has two voltage rails one potential is set at a voltage VCS (voltage core supply) and the other potential is set at ground. When the memory instances are awakened, a power surge causes the VCS and ground voltages to droop below a minimum operating voltage range Vmin Fail. The memory device must be operated at a voltage range greater than the minimum operating voltage range to perform reliably. Due to the power source drooping below the minimum operating voltage range, the already active memory instances may undesirably fail and lose some or all of the data stored in the memory instances.
In order to combat these shortcomings, prior art has developed various methods for preventing active memory failures. In one method, the current surge from waking the memory banks is reduced by having an inverter delay chain that charges one bank first, and then a next bank after a preset amount of time has elapsed. The delay can be programmed into the inverter delay chain. In other words, the banks are turned on in a stagger manner using delay elements to provide time delays for such staggering. However, drawbacks of this method are high overhead from additional circuitry and extra logic and the staggering turn on of the memory banks is slow. Additionally, the performance of the inverter delay chain elements can undesirably change the wake-up current profile due to the process characteristics of the device.
Another prior art method provides for charging of bitlines of an asleep memory bank when waking up the memory bank. Initially, the bitlines are allowed to discharge or leak to ground as the memory bank is put to sleep. Next, the bitlines are powered up sequentially using the power supply. The power supply droop is thereby minimized by slowly charging up each of the bitlines one at a time for each of the asleep memory banks. However, in actual application this is not useful since there are a tremendous number of bitlines in each of the asleep memory banks. The amount of circuit overhead alone to individually charge each one of the bitlines is untenable; not to mention the amount of time needed to sequentially charge each bitline is very long. Moreover, bitline terminals in general are the most capacitive.
Other prior art methods attempt to reduce power supply droop by waking individual banks of memory one at a time while monitoring the core voltage supply. In addition to the disadvantage of having additional logic to control the waking of the individual banks of the memory, the initial voltage surge in charging and waking an individual bank still creates a lot of undesirable and unacceptable noise that gets permeated into the memory device.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide new methods, circuits, and systems for waking memory banks of a memory device that prevent a steep drop in the current of a power supply and reduce the noise introduced to the memory device without unduly requiring additional logic to implement.

Method and apparatus for memory noise-free wake-up protocol from power-down


Disclosed herein is a cathode active material for secondary batteries and a secondary battery including the same, the cathode active material including lithium manganese oxide (A) having a spinel crystal structure and at least two types of lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt composite oxides (B) containing Ni, Mn, and Co as transition metals, wherein the lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt composite oxides (B) are different from each other in terms of at least one selected from the group consisting of elemental composition, particle diameter, and density.

Technological development and increased demand for mobile devices have led to rapid increase in the demand for secondary batteries as energy sources. Among such secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having high energy density, high operating voltage, long cycle span and low self-discharge rate are commercially available and widely used.
In addition, increased interest in environmental issues has recently brought about a great deal of research associated with electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) as alternatives to vehicles using fossil fuels such as gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles which are main causes of air pollution. Such electric vehicles generally use nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) secondary batteries as power sources. However, a great deal of study associated with use of lithium secondary batteries having high energy density, high discharge voltage and stable output is currently underway and some are commercially available.
In particular, lithium secondary batteries used for electric vehicles should have high energy density, output high power in a short time and be operable under severe conditions for 10 years or longer, thus requiring considerably superior stability and long lifespan, as compared to conventional small lithium secondary batteries. In addition, lithium secondary batteries used for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and the like should have high rate and power characteristics according to operational conditions of the vehicles and exhibit excellent operability even at low temperatures.
Conventional lithium secondary batteries used for small-size batteries generally use lithium cobalt composite oxide having a layered structure for a cathode and a graphite-based material for an anode. However, lithium cobalt composite oxide is disadvantageous in that cobalt used as a main element is very expensive and lithium cobalt composite oxide is unsuitable for use in an electric vehicle in terms of stability. Accordingly, lithium manganese composite oxide having a spinel crystal structure composed of manganese, which is low-cost and exhibits superior stability, may be suitable for the cathode of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles.
However, when lithium manganese composite oxide is stored at high temperature, manganese is eluted into an electrolyte, deteriorating battery properties. Thus, there is a need for measures to prevent this phenomenon. Further, lithium manganese composite oxide disadvantageously has a small capacity per unit battery weight, as compared to conventional lithium cobalt composite oxides or lithium nickel composite oxides, thus limiting an increase in capacity per unit battery weight. Battery design to overcome this limitation should be carried out to put secondary batteries employing the material into practical use as power sources of electric vehicles.
To solve these disadvantages, studies have been conducted into fabrication of an electrode using a mixed cathode active material. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002-110253 and 2004-134245 describe technologies in which a mixture of lithium manganese composite oxide and lithium nickel cobalt manganese composite oxide is used to increase regenerative power or the like. However, these technologies still have disadvantages of poor cycle life of lithium manganese oxide and limitation of improvement in stability.
Further, Korean Patent No. 0458584 describes a technology associated with a cathode active material composed of a nickel-based large-diameter active material compound with an average diameter of 7 to 25 μm and a small-diameter active material compound with an average diameter of 2 to 6 μm (for example, LIxMn2O4-zXz, where X represents F, S or P and 0.90≦x≦1.1 and 0≦z≦0.5) to increase the bulk density of an electrode plate and thereby improve battery capacity.
In addition, to improve battery capacity, life and high-rate discharge properties, Korean Patent No. 0570417 uses lithium dimanganese tetroxide having a spinel crystal structure as a cathode active material, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0080448 uses a cathode active material containing lithium manganese composite oxide, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-134245 uses a cathode active material containing lithium transition metal composite oxide and lithium manganese composite oxide having a spinel crystal structure to fabricate a secondary battery.
However, secondary batteries with desired stability and life characteristics have yet to be developed.

Cathode active material and lithium secondary battery containing the same


A charge-transporting layer, which is a surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, has a matrix-domain structure having a matrix containing constituent β (a polycarbonate resin having a predetermined repeating structural unit) and a charge-transporting substance, and a domain containing constituent α (a polycarbonate resin having a repeating structural unit having a predetermined siloxane moiety).

As an electrophotographic photosensitive member, which is to be loaded in an electrophotographic apparatus, an organic electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as an "electrophotographic photosensitive member") containing an organic photoconductive substance (charge-generating substance) is known. In an electrophotographic process, various members such as a developer, a charging member, a cleaning blade, a paper sheet and a transfer member (hereinafter also referred to as "contact members") come into contact with the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. Thus, in an electrophotographic photosensitive member, the occurrence of image degradation caused by contact stress with these contact members and the like is required to be reduced. Particularly, with recent improvement in the durability of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, the effect of reducing image degradation caused by contact stress in an electrophotographic photosensitive member has been required to persist.
In connection with persistent contact-stress reduction (mitigation), PTL 1 proposes a method of forming a matrix-domain structure in a surface layer by using a siloxane resin having a siloxane structure integrated in a molecular chain. The method indicates that a polyester resin having a specific siloxane structure integrated therein is used to attain not only persistent contact-stress reduction but also potential stability (suppression of variation) during repeated use of an electrophotographic photosensitive member.
Meantime, there is a proposal in which a siloxane-modified resin having a siloxane structure in a molecular chain is added to the surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member. PTL 2 and PTL 3 propose an electrophotographic photosensitive member containing a polycarbonate resin having a specific siloxane structure integrated therein. These literatures report effects such as improvements in solvent cracking resistance due to mold release characteristics and lubricity of the surface of a photosensitive member at an early stage of use.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge, electrophotographic apparatus and method of manufacturing the electrophotographic photosensitive member


A switching power supply apparatus includes a voltage step-up converter that increases input voltage in response to turning on and off of a switching element, a transformer including a primary winding and a secondary winding and the primary winding of which is connected to the output of the voltage step-up converter, a microcontroller that controls the turning on and off of the switching element, an input voltage detection circuit that detects input voltage of the microcontroller, and an intermediate bus voltage detection circuit that detects intermediate bus voltage from the microcontroller. The input voltage detection circuit and the intermediate bus voltage detection circuit are circuits including elements having the same specifications. The microcontroller controls the turning on and off of the switching element based on a result of calculation from voltage values detected by the input voltage detection circuit and the intermediate bus voltage detection circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching power supply apparatus including a voltage step-up converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a case of a power supply apparatus that receives power from a commercial power supply and that has high power capacity, a voltage step-up converter for power factor correction (PFC) is practically required to be mounted in order to clear harmonic current regulation. In a case of a power supply apparatus that receives renewable energy, such as sunlight, since input voltage is greatly varied, a power supply apparatus including a voltage step-up converter in its front stage may be configured in order to correct the variation. When such a power supply apparatus including the voltage step-up converter is configured, the voltage step-up converter is controlled so that the voltage step-up converter detects output voltage and compares the output voltage with reference voltage to make the difference between the output voltage and the reference voltage equal to zero in order to output constant voltage. However, an error (deviation) occurs in the output voltage due to, for example, the resistance in wiring or the variation in the reference voltage. Since selection of components or designing of a circuit with a margin for error causes problems including an increase in size of the apparatus, an increase in cost, and a reduction in efficiency, it is necessary to perform correction in order to obtain an output voltage with higher accuracy. Accordingly, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-240063 discloses a technology to suppress the deviation in the output voltage caused by the variation in a reference voltage source or the variation in a resistor voltage divider in a constant-voltage power supply apparatus.
However, since a measuring terminal for externally measuring the voltage is not generally provided in a circuit path, it is not possible to directly measure the output voltage (intermediate bus voltage) of the voltage step-up converter in the case of the power supply apparatus including the voltage step-up converter in its input state. Accordingly, it is not possible to perform a process in which the intermediate bus voltage that is detected with a detection circuit is compared with the intermediate bus voltage that is directly measured to correct the result of the detection of the intermediate bus voltage including the error. As a result, there is a problem in that it is not possible to set the intermediate bus voltage to a certain value not to accurately output the constant voltage from the voltage step-up converter. This problem is not resolved with the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication NO. 2009-240063.


The present disclosure includes systems, methods, kits, and individual tools (e.g., trial sizers and delivery devices) for medical procedures involving a soft-tissue allograft for the correction of skeletal impairments (e.g., misalignments, arthritis, etc.).

Examples of sizers and delivery devices that can be used for introduction of tissue implants are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,631 (the '631 patent). Another example of an implant assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,092,547 (the '547 patent). An example of an implant for correction of skeletal misalignment is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,591 (the '591 patent). Another example of a tissue implant is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 2017/0189197 (the '197 Publication).
One example of a skeletal impairment condition is a fallen arch or "flatfoot." The condition involves a deformity in which the arches of the foot collapse, resulting in the entire sole of the foot being in complete or nearly complete contact with the ground. This may eventually cause other biomechanical issues with the physiology of the foot that, in turn, may adversely affect other parts of the body. The "flatfoot" condition occurs when the head of the talus bone is displaced medially and distally from the navicular bone, which in turn causes lateral misalignment throughout the foot as the talus and navicular bones tend to move outward. Furthermore, there is a change in relative alignment in the subtalar joint that occurs at the meeting point between the talus bone and the calcaneus bone such that the canal, which should naturally occur between the talus and calcaneus bones, is depressed. This canal is commonly referred to as the sinus tarsi. The misalignment of the talus and calcaneus bones eventually leads to misalignment of other bones in the foot and leg.
Another example of a skeletal impairment condition is osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. The CMC joint is where the saddle-shaped trapezium bone articulates with the first metacarpal bone. An osteoarthritic CMC joint can become painful enough to severely limit activities of daily life for a large portion of the population. While symptoms may be treated with physical therapy, rest and stabilization, or anti-inflammatory medications, surgical intervention may be clinically indicated if pain persists. Interpositional arthroplasty of the CMC joint is the most common surgical procedure to treat osteoarthritis of the CMC joint.
Surgical intervention to treat osteoarthritis of the CMC joint begins with removal of a portion or all of the trapezium bone to create a void. To prevent complete collapse of the first metacarpal bone into the void created, a wire pin is used as a temporary stabilizer to align the base of the first metacarpal bone with the base of the index metacarpal. The flexor carpi radialis (FCP) tendon is then harvested, rolled up and sutured to prevent unrolling, and is interposed between the base of the thumb metacarpal and the scaphoid, the space previously occupied by the trapezium bone. In some cases, an additional procedure called a suspensionplasty is performed, where another piece of tendon is used to tie the base of the thumb metacarpal to the base of the index metacarpal.
While the outcomes of interpositional arthroplasty of the CMC joint are acceptable, there are several disadvantages to the procedure, such as additional trauma to the patient in taking an autograft, morbidity associated with the graft donor site, and inadequate amount or inadequate quality of tendon available. The time it takes to harvest an FCP tendon graft is not insignificant, and can be increased even more if suspensionplasty is added as an additional procedure. Additionally, there is evidence that during healing, the tendon graft weakens and loses structural strength, necessitating the use of pins to help hold the thumb metacarpal in the right position while dense scar tissue forms to support the metacarpal.
Prosthetic material, such as silicone rubber, has also been used to treat osteoarthritic CMC joints. However, all of these silicone rubber devices are subject to dislocation, fracture, abrasion and fatigue, which leads to the generation of small silicone particulate debris that cause a chronic inflammatory reaction called "silicone synovitis."
To address subtalar joint impairments, it has been discovered that by re-establishing the relative alignment between the talus and calcaneus bones, the overall arch structure of the foot can be reestablished as well. While this can be demonstrated by physically manipulating a person's foot, such physical manipulation is impractical during normal use of one's foot. As such, there have been various efforts made to provide implants which operate to physically reposition and realign the talus and calcaneus bones. However, like other prior art systems, apparatuses, and methods for sizing and introducing implants to correct skeletal impairments, the systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed in the '631 patent, the '547 patent, the '591 patent, and '197 Publication, make it exceedingly difficult to simplify the surgical procedure for delivering a tissue implant and maintaining natural motion of the bones after correcting the impairment. Hence, there is a need for a system and method for overcoming one or more of the above identified challenges.

Systems and methods for sizing and introduction of soft-tissue allografts


An electroluminescent device, comprising: a substrate; a first electrode and a second electrode disposed on the substrate; and an electroluminescent layer sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein at least one of the first and second electrodes is configured to have a grating structure; and wherein the grating structure has a grating period within a range of 0.9˜1.1 times of a wavelength of a light wave generated in the electroluminescent layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of display, more particularly, relates to an electroluminescent device and a method for producing the electroluminescent device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel has many excellent advantages, such as, self-luminescence without a back light source, high contrast ratio, small thickness, wide angle of view, quick response, flexibility, adaptability to a wide range of temperatures, simple configuration and manufacturing process, etc. Thereby, the OLED display panel is regarded as a next generation of flat panel display in new technology.
However, since about 30% of photons are limited by a total reflection of a glass substrate and about 50% of photons are limited by a transverse guided wave of an organic layer, only about 20% of photons can exit out of the OLED device. The external quantum efficiency of the OLED device at most reaches 17%. The low external quantum efficiency and light extraction efficiency cause the OLED device to have a low light efficiency, a large power consumption, a high chip heat, a short life, etc.

Electroluminescent device and method for producing the same

Hefei BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


A Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) channel management in a broadband wireless communication system is provided. Operations of a base station include determining a CQI channel operation mode for a CQI channel of a terminal which enters a sleep mode; transmitting at least one message which instructs to enter the sleep mode and includes information indicating the CQI channel operation mode; and managing the CQI channel of the terminal according to the CQI channel operation mode while the terminal operates in the sleep mode. Candidates of the CQI channel operation mode include at least one of a first mode which deallocates the CQI channel in the sleep mode entry, a second mode which maintains the CQI channel in the sleep mode and forbids CQI channel allocation to other terminal during a sleep window, a third mode which deallocates the CQI channel in the sleep window entry without signaling, and a fourth mode which maintains the CQI channel in the sleep mode and allows the CQI channel allocation to other terminal during the sleep window.

A fourth generation (4G) communication system, which is a next-generation communication system, is under development to provide users with services of various Quality of Service (QoS) levels at a data rate of about 100 Mbps. Particularly, the 4 G communication systems are advancing in order to support high speed services by guaranteeing mobility and QoS in Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication systems such as wireless Local Area Network (LAN) systems and wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) systems. Representative communication systems include an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 communication system.
In the IEEE 802.16 system, a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) channel indicates an uplink subchannel used to periodically transmit a radio channel quality measured by a terminal, to a base station. That is, the base station receives the CQI from the terminal and thus determines a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) to apply to downlink traffic transmission using the CQI. For doing so, the terminal is assigned a CQI channel from the base station. The CQI channel allocation is carried out using Information Element (IE) for allocating the CQI channel, in an uplink map message. According to the IEEE 802.16 standard, the CQI channel is allocated according to a period and a duration. That is, the CQI channel is periodically allocated for the duration through one-time allocation information transmission.
The IEEE 802.16 system defines a sleep mode to facilitate scheduling of the base station and to reduce power consumption of the terminal. The sleep mode divides an operation time of the terminal to a sleep window and a listening window, and controls to suspend the communication of the terminal suspends during the sleep window and to perform the communication of the terminal only in the listening window. The entry to the sleep mode is accomplished the request of the terminal and the acceptance of the base station, or the instruction of the base station.
Since the CQI channel is allocated periodically for the defined duration, the entry to the sleep mode when the CQI channel is already allocated hinders management of the CQI channel. That is, even when the CQI channel is allocated on the periodic basis, the CQI channel in the sleep window is wasted because the terminal does not communicate during the sleep window. When the CQI channel is deallocated at the same time as the sleep mode entry in order to avoid the waste, it is necessary to allocate the CQI channel for the communication in the listening window and to deallocate the CQI channel as the listening window ends. That is, the repetitive CQI channel allocation/deallocation in every listening window increases signaling overhead.
While the CQI channel and the sleep mode are defined for the sake of the efficient operation of the communication system, the CQI channel management is ambiguous in the sleep mode entry as discussed above. Hence, what is needed is a method for minimizing the resource waste and the signaling overhead by effectively operating the CQI channel in the sleep mode.

Apparatus and method for operating channel quality indicator channel on sleep mode in broadband wireless communication system


When writing element shapes of a fine pattern on a substrate applied with a resist by scanning an electron beam thereon, ON/OFF control is performed for emitting the electron beam at a predetermined rotational position of the substrate by a blanking-OFF signal, performing writing in a rotational direction of the substrate along with the rotation of the substrate, and terminating the writing by a blanking-ON signal based on write data to perform writing for one round, and repeating the writing based on the ON/OFF control by moving the electron beam or substrate in a radial direction of the substrate and rotation control is performed for controlling the rotation speed of the rotation stage so as to be increased for inner track writing and decreased for outer track writing inversely proportional to the radius of the writing position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron beam writing method and a fine pattern writing system for writing a fine pattern according to a desired uneven pattern when manufacturing an imprint mold, magnetic transfer master substrate, or the like for a high density magnetic recording medium, such as a discrete track medium, bit pattern medium, or the like.
The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing an uneven pattern carrying substrate, including an imprint mold, magnetic transfer master substrate or the like, having an uneven pattern surface formed through a writing step performed by the electron beam writing method described above. The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk medium having an uneven pattern transferred thereto from the imprint mold of uneven pattern carrying substrate, and a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk medium having a magnetized pattern transferred thereto from the magnetic transfer master substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, information patterns, such as servo patterns and the like are formed on current magnetic disk media. In view of the demand of higher recording density, a discrete track medium (DTM) in which magnetic interference between adjacent data tracks is reduced by separating the tracks with a groove pattern (guard band) has been attracting wide attention. A bit pattern medium (BPM) proposed for achieving still higher density is a medium in which magnetic substances forming single magnetic domains (single-domain particles) are physically isolated and disposed regularly, and one bit is recorded in one particle.
Heretofore, fine patterns, such as servo patterns and the like, have been formed on magnetic media by uneven patterns, magnetic patterns, or the like and an electron beam writing method for patterning a predetermined fine pattern on a master of a magnetic transfer master substrate or the like has been proposed. In the electron beam writing method, a pattern is written on a substrate applied with a resist by emitting thereon an electron beam corresponding to the shape of the pattern while rotating the substrate as described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-207738 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-248981 (Patent Document 2).
When writing fine patterns by the electron beam writing method described above, it is difficult to accurately write elements constituting each pattern on the entire surface from the inner to outer circumferential tracks.
That is, according to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, inner circumferential track writing and outer circumferential track writing are performed by rotating the substrate at the same rotational speed. Consequently, the amount of radiation exposure differs for a resist having the same sensitivity between the inner circumferential track and outer circumferential track because the moving speed of the substrate relative to the electron beam is decreased in the inner circumferential track and increased in the outer circumferential track, thereby posing a problem that uniform beam exposure can not be realized.
It is difficult to control the electron gun so that the output power of electron beam is changed slightly because of structural reasons thereof. Therefore, it is necessary to control the moving speed of the substrate or beam deflection speed in the electron beam exposure according to the radius of the substrate at the electron beam emission position.
In particular, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the writing range in a circumferential direction (rotational direction) is defined by ON/OFF control of the electron beam according to the rotational position of the substrate, that is, the beam emission position, so that it is generally the case that the substrate is rotated at a defined constant speed (number of rotations) regardless of the writing position as described above, and the ON/OFF control based on the write pattern data is performed according to an encoder pulse signal generated in association with the rotation of the substrate.
This method has an advantage that the control is simplified since the substrate is always rotated at a constant speed, that is, the rotation time of the substrate for one rotation is always the same, and both inner and outer circumferential portions can be controlled by the timing according to one type of encoder pulse. But the method has a problem that it is difficult to realize beam writing with a constant amount of radiation exposure (dose amount).
That is, when the substrate is rotated at a constant speed, that is, when the rotation time of the substrate for one rotation is the same between inner and outer circumferential writing, the relative moving speed between the emission beam and substrate surface (writing surface) is increased, causing insufficient dose amount unless the beam intensity is increased. On the other hand, the relative speed is decreased in the inner circumferential writing, causing a problem of excessive amount of dose.
Various methods for dose amount control are proposed, but as far as ON/OFF control is concerned, the dose amount control is fundamentally time control based on encoder pulse. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure favorable writing results for a material requiring strict dose amount control.
In these respects, the present invention attempts to provide an electron beam writing method capable of writing a high precision pattern by enabling accurate ON/OFF control of beam emission in a circumferential direction of the substrate for the writing of complicated patterns, such as servo patterns, over the entire surface of the substrate.
That is, the present invention performs rotation control for controlling the rotation speed of a rotation stage on which a substrate is placed so as to be decreased inversely proportional to the radius of writing position of the electron beam in ON/OFF control, thereby keeping the same rotational linear velocity for inner track writing and outer track writing to maintain the same amount of radiation exposure per unit area and to allow pattern writing with the same quality for a resist having the same sensitivity.
The change in the rotational speed in the writing between the inner and outer circumferential tracks results in that the rotation time of the rotation stage for one rotation differ from each other. In the mean time, in order to allow identical signals to be read out from inner and outer circumferential tracks of an actually used magnetic disk medium in one rotation, it is necessary to accurately form fine pattern elements according to the radial position such that the lengths thereof in a track direction become short in the inner circumferential track and long in the outer circumferential track In order to accurately control the scanning of the electron beam writing, it is necessary to control the beam scanning accurately in synchronization with the rotational movement of the rotation stage. Generally, the position and timing control is based on a clock signal generated at a constant time interval.
Where the rotation time of the rotation stage for one rotation differs in the writing between inner and outer circumferential tracks, it is necessary to finely control the length of a writing pattern in a track direction by counting different number of clocks for different tracks. In particular, for a track where the time corresponding to the writing length does not correspond to an integer multiple of the clock signal, having a fraction, the electron beam emission control is performed without regarding the fraction, causing degraded accuracy of written pattern and complicated write control. Therefore, it is also desirable to eliminate these problems.
In view of the circumstances described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electron beam writing method capable of writing a fine pattern, to be formed on a magnetic disk medium, over the entire surface of a substrate in a predetermined manner and highly accurately with a uniform amount of radiation exposure over the entire substrate, and a fine pattern writing system for implementing the electron beam writing method.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an uneven pattern carrying substrate, such as an imprint mold or a magnetic transfer master substrate, having a fine pattern accurately written by an electron beam, and a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk medium using the uneven pattern carrying substrate in which an uneven pattern or a magnetic pattern is transferred from the uneven pattern carrying substrate to the magnetic disk medium.

Electron beam writing method, fine pattern writing system, method for manufacturing uneven pattern carrying substrate, and method for manufacturing magnetic disk medium


A system and method locates a wireless local area network (WLAN) signal source. A wireless LAN signal as an RF signal is propagated from a WLAN signal source at a fixed, known location to a plurality of receivers having unsynchronized clocks. The time-of-arrival is measured at each receiver and the timing relationship from the fixed, known location of the signal source is used to relate time-of-arrival measurements from a signal arriving from an unknown location.

Wireless local area networks are becoming more commonplace as the use of portable computers, such as "laptop," "notebook," and "pen" computers become increasingly common in office environments and other locations. In most conventional wireless local area networks, a number of access point base stations form a cellular network for communicating with wireless mobile stations or other mobile devices. Each access point base station is typically connected to a network server, such as part of an ethernet or other network infrastructure. Any messages transmitted as wireless communication signals are first transmitted to an access point base station instead of transmitted along wireless stations. This type of centralized wireless communication using cells provides control over communications along existing wireless mobile devices. Typically, the wireless communication signals are a spread spectrum communications signal, for example, a direct sequence spread spectrum signal, or a frequency hopping spread spectrum signal.
Although wireless local area networks are becoming more commonplace in offices and similar environments, most wireless local area networks do not provide the capability of determining the location of a wireless mobile device or other signal source operating in the wireless LAN environment. Although some wireless LAN systems provide for signal strength analysis of spread spectrum signals to determine location, none of them provide an accurate means of determining the location of a mobile device operative within the wireless infrastructure defined by access point base stations.
Various types of wireless local area network systems that use location systems of the assignee are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,892,054; 6,987,744; and 7,046,657, the disclosures which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Much of the disclosure in these incorporated by reference patents rely on differential time-of-arrival (TOA) applications that receive a transmitted signal at multiple physical locations corresponding to a receiver to locate a tag transmitter. The clocks could be synchronized so that differences in the indicated time-of-arrival closely approximate the actual time-of-arrival difference. It would be advantageous if the location systems used in a wireless local area network could also determine differences in signal arrival times, for example, when receivers are unsynchronized to aid in locating signal sources such as signaling to receivers, for example, access points.
Commonly assigned U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0193149 and 2005/0280578, the disclosures which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, are directed to a location system and method that achieves time synchronized network performance using unsynchronized receiver clocks and to achieving synchronized network performance with nodes divided into separate networks. A processor is operative with a receiver and determines clock timing relationships for the clocks based on one of at least propagation or processing delays in the receivers to synchronize receiver performance. These systems are not directed, however, to WLAN systems.

System and method for determining signal source location in wireless local area network


A gaming device, such as a slot machine, determines a balance and a “dispensed amount” that is less than the balance. The dispensed amount may be determined by, for example, receiving signals from one or more key presses that specify the dispensed amount. Alternatively, the dispensed amount may be determined in accordance with one or more “balance management rules”. The gaming device in turn dispenses the dispensed amount, for example, by dispensing an amount of currency, transferring the dispensed amount to an account or adjusting a balance of a remote gaming device. The balance is adjusted by the dispensed amount, and this adjusted balance is available for initiating a subsequent play of the gaming device.

A conventional gaming device, such as a slot machine, video poker machine or video blackjack machine, typically requires a player to establish an initial "balance" with the gaming device by providing the gaming device with monetary input. For example, the player may insert currency (bill, coins and/or tokens) into the gaming device. Alternatively, the player may have funds transferred to the gaming device from an account such as a credit card account or casino account. Such an account would typically be identified by a card inserted into the gaming device. Once a balance is established, it is available for initiating a play of the gaming device.
The player then selects a wager amount, which is subtracted from the balance, and initiates a play, for example, by pulling a handle or pressing a button on the gaming device. In response, the gaming device generates a game outcome and a corresponding winning amount that is based on the game outcome. The winning amount may be zero for unfavorable game outcomes, or a greater amount for more favorable outcomes. Typically, greater winning amounts correspond to more unlikely game outcomes. The balance is increased by the winning amount, thereby generating an adjusted balance that is available for initiating a subsequent play of the gaming device.
After any number of such plays, the player may direct the gaming device to dispense the adjusted balance, thereby providing the player with monetary output. Dispensing typically includes activating a hopper in the gaming device to dispense currency to the player. Some gaming devices alternatively credit a credit card or other account with the dispensed amount, eliminating the need for the player to hold and carry dispensed currency. After dispensing, the balance of the gaming device is zero, and another initial balance must be established before subsequent plays of the gaming device may be initiated.
Dispensing the entire balance of the gaming device is often inconvenient for the player. Many players want to separate the amount used to establish an initial balance from any winning amounts awarded by the gaming device, so that the player can play with "house money" (money awarded while playing) and not "his own" money. Such players may establish an initial balance with $10, play until the balance increases (e.g. to $15), request a "cash out" (a dispensing of currency), and finally re-insert the $5 of "house money" to establish another initial balance.
A player may also require money from the gaming device while he is playing. For example, a player may desire to purchase food or drinks from a cocktail server, tip a cocktail server, or provide a companion with currency. In such situations, the player must request a cash out to dispense the balance, use a portion of the dispensed amount, and then re-supply the gaming device with the remaining amount to continue playing.
Dispensing the entire balance of the gaming device is often undesirable to the casino that profits from the gaming device. Each time a player cashes out (has currency dispensed to him), he may decide to stop playing, particularly given the need to re-supply the gaming device with more monetary input. Further, the time spent dispensing the entire balance to the player and re-supplying the gaming device with monetary input is time during which no plays can occur. Accordingly, such time represents lost profits to the casino. In addition, dispensing currency exerts wear and tear on various components of the gaming device, and may eventually require repair and/or replacement of those components.
In light of some of these drawbacks, some businesses offer similar games for personal computer users. Golden Palace is an "on-line" casino that allows a player to play several games using a computer connected to the Internet. Players establish a balance with a credit card account, bank funds transfer or check mailed to a predetermined address. That balance is adjusted accordingly by wager amounts and winning amounts. After one or more plays, the player can specify an amount of the adjusted balance to be dispensed. If a credit card account was used with the Golden Palace, the specified amount to dispense is credited back to the account, up to the total of the original credit card charges. Any remaining amount to dispense is made in the form of a bank funds transfer or check mailed to the player.
Golden Palace is limited in that it is not a gaming device, but is instead an on-line communications channel that facilitates gaming. Accordingly, Golden Palace cannot accept or dispense currency, and so many players will find the corresponding gaming experience highly unsatisfying. The delay in receiving any winnings due tends to further diminish the thrill of winning. In addition, winnings that are mailed out in the form of a check require that the player cash the check at a bank, further increasing the delay in receiving the winnings.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus that overcomes the above-described drawbacks of conventional gaming devices.

Method and apparatus for operating a gaming device to dispense a specified amount


In a job history management system, a printer determines whether the print data includes a job history recorded flag indicating that a PC has recorded a job history of the print data and has transmitted the job history to a job history management server. If the printer determines that the job history recorded flag is not included in the print data, the printer transmits the print data to a multifunction peripheral. Upon receiving the print data from the printer, the multifunction peripheral records the job history of the print data and transmits the job history to the job history management server, without performing a printing process based on the received print data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for managing as a job history, information on a job executed by an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a job history management system records the job history each time a printer or a scanner executes a job, or an image forming apparatus such as a digital multifunction apparatus executes a copy job, facsimile transmission and reception job, or a print job. The job history management system then stores the job history in a database. For example, if the job history is to be recorded in the image forming apparatus, information such as a name of a user who has instructed print processing to be performed, time of print processing, and images and text in a document which has been copied are recorded as the job history. The job history is then transmitted to and managed in a server. By using the job history management system, the user can search the job history managed in the server and refer to the content of the job which has been performed in the past.
However, depending on a performance of the image forming apparatus, time may become necessary for the image forming apparatus to execute the job after the user issues a print instruction due to a load of processing in recording of the job history. Further, it may be difficult for the image forming apparatus to temporarily store the job history until transmitting the recorded job history to the server.
On the other hand, there is a method for recording the job history employing a printer driver. However, if the user uses a printer driver which does not include a job history recording function and instructs the image forming apparatus to perform print processing, unrecorded job history may occur.
To solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-295258 discusses a technique in which the image forming apparatus determines whether the received print data has already been archived. If the received print data has not been archived, the print data is not allowed to be formed into an image.
However, according to the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-295258, if both the printer driver and the image forming apparatus performing print processing do not include the job history recording function, the recorded job history cannot be appropriately managed by the server.

Job history management system and control method thereof


An apparatus in a microprocessor for selectively retiring a prefetched cache line is disclosed. In a first embodiment, a first count of the number of accesses to the prefetched cache line and N second counts of the number of accesses to N lines of a replacement candidate set of the cache selected by the prefetched cache line address are maintained. When another prefetch is requested, if the first count is greater than the smaller of the N second counts, the candidate prefetched cache line is retired into the cache; otherwise the prefetched cache line is discarded. In a second embodiment, a count of accesses to the replacement candidate line is maintained. When another prefetch is requested, if the count is greater than a programmable threshold value, the candidate prefetched cache line is retired into the cache; otherwise the prefetched cache line is discarded.

Modern computer systems include a microprocessor and a system memory for storing instructions to be executed by the microprocessor and data to be processed by the instructions. The time required to read data from the system memory is typically very large relative to the time the microprocessor spends executing one or more instructions to process the data—in some cases one or two orders of magnitude. Consequently, the processor may sit idle while the data is loaded from the system memory, which is very inefficient and degrades system performance.
To alleviate this problem, microprocessors include a cache memory. A cache memory is a memory within the processor smaller than the system memory that stores a subset of the system memory data. When the processor executes an instruction that references data, the processor first checks to see if the data is present in the cache, commonly referred to as a "cache hit," from a previous load of the data. If the load hits in the cache, then the instruction can be executed immediately. Otherwise, if the load "misses" the cache, the instruction must wait while the data is fetched from the system memory into the processor.
Microprocessor designers have recognized that software programs frequently access data and instructions sequentially. Hence, if a load misses in the cache, it is highly likely that the data at the memory addresses following the load miss address will be requested by the program in the near future. Consequently, a microprocessor may speculatively begin loading the next chunk of data after the missing data into the cache, even though the program has not yet requested the next data, in anticipation of a future need for the next chunk of data. This is commonly referred to as a prefetch.
The chunk of data prefetched is commonly the size of a cache line. Caches store data in cache lines. Common cache line sizes are 32 bytes or 64 bytes. A cache line is the smallest unit of data that can be transferred between the cache and the system memory. That is, when a microprocessor wants to read a cacheable piece of data missing in the cache, it reads from memory the entire cache line containing the missing piece of data and stores the entire cache line in the cache. Similarly, when a new cache line needs to be written to the cache that causes a modified cache line to be replaced, the microprocessor writes the entire replaced line to memory.
The conventional approach is to treat the prefetched cache line as an ordinary line fill. An ordinary line fill is a fetch of a cache line from system memory because an instruction accessed data in the cache line. With an ordinary line fill, the fetched cache line is unconditionally written, or retired, into the cache. A disadvantage of unconditionally retiring a speculatively prefetched cache line into the cache is that it potentially replaces a line in the cache that is currently being used or likely to be used in the near future, thereby potentially adversely affecting cache efficiency. A solution to this problem is needed in order to improve cache efficiency.

Microprocessor, apparatus and method for selective prefetch retire


There is described an image-processing apparatus, which makes it possible to compensate for the defect pixel without causing a sense of incongruity in the image. The apparatus includes an image signal acquiring section to acquire the image signals representing an image recorded on a recording medium, a recognizing section to recognize a presence or absence of a defect pixel possibly included in the image signals and a compensating section to compensate for the defect pixel. The compensating section compensates for the defect pixel so that first order differential values of image signals of the defect pixel and those of non-defect pixels adjacent to the defect pixel continue to each other. The compensating section applies a multi-resolution conversion processing to the image signals so as to decompose them into high frequency band components and a low frequency band component, signal intensities of which are compensated for.

The present invention relates to image-processing apparatus, image-processing method, image-processing program and image-recording apparatus.
Recently, when developing a photographic image or producing additional prints of the photographic image, there has been conducted such a processing that an image formed on either a color photographic film or a photographic printing paper are converted to a plurality of image signals by transmitting or reflecting three primary colors of R, G, B through/from the image, and by photoelectrically reading the image with the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, etc.
After having been subjected to various types of image processing represented by negative/positive reversal, brightness adjustment, color balance adjustment, removal of granular noise and enhancement of sharpness, such image signals are distributed through such media as a CD-R, floppy (R) disk and memory card or via the Internet, and are outputted as hard copy images on silver halide photographic paper by an inkjet printer, thermal printer or the like. Alternatively, such image signals are displayed on the medium such as CRT, liquid crystal display or plasma display to be viewed.
Incidentally, when the negative or positive photographic films, photographic prints, etc. are roughly handled or stored under a bad condition, sometimes scars are formed on the surface of them, or various kinds of dirt, such as dusts, fingerprints, etc., are adhered to them. Such the defects of the recording medium refract and/or absorb the image reading light, and therefore, influence the image signals so as to cause image defects of the reproduced image.
Such the defects of the recording medium impede the transmission of the infrared radiation light, while the other parts of the recording medium permit the transmission of the infrared radiation light regardless of the presence or absence of a colored area. By employing this phenomenon, image signals of a pixel corresponding to the defect of the recording medium have been compensated for, based on the infrared image signals acquired by scanning the recording medium with the infrared radiation light other than the image reading light (for instance, set forth in Patent Document 1). According to the abovementioned method, a pixel, at which the signal intensity of the infrared image signal exceeds a certain threshold level, is determined as a defect pixel. Then, when an image signal is larger than the certain threshold level, the defect pixel is compensated for by dividing the concerned image signal by the infrared image signal, while, when an image signal is smaller than the certain threshold level, the defect pixel is compensated for by an interpolation processing based on the signal intensities of the pixels located around the periphery of the defect pixel.
Patent Document 1: Tokkaihei 6-28468 (JP2559970)
According to the abovementioned conventional method for compensating for the defect pixel as set forth in Patent Document 1, however, although it has been possible to compensate for the defect pixel, contained in a flat image, such as, for instance, a wall image, etc., in which colors and brightness slightly change, in a state of keeping continuity with the non-defect pixels without any problem, it has been impossible to eliminate discontinuity between the defect pixel and the non-defect pixels even when compensation processing is applied for such an image as a close-up human face, etc., having a very fine image structure, resulting in occurrence of discontinuity which might yields slight unevenness in the image, and such the unevenness cause a sense of incongruity for face expressions, a feel of material, etc.

Image-processing apparatus, image-processing method, image-processing program and image-recording apparatus


Reduced configuration Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) switches can include N inputs to the OXC switch and N outputs from the OXC switch, where N is at least 3. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch provides N! states, wherein the N! states optically couple any one of the N inputs to any one of the N outputs. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch also includes a number of switching nodes that are selectively optically coupled to the N inputs and N outputs. Each of the number of switching nodes is configurable in at least one of a switching configuration and a pass-through configuration to provide selectively switched optical radiation therefrom and wherein the number of switching nodes is equal to ceiling [ln(N!)/ln(2)] to provide the N! states of the Nxc3x97N OXC switch. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch further includes at least one optical transmission apparatus coupled to at least two of the switching nodes. Related methods are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to microelectromechanical systems in general, and more particularly, to microelectromechanical optical switches.
MicroElectroMechanical (MEM) technology has been used in a wide range of applications. For example, MEM devices have been used in optical switching systems to switch optical radiation from the switch inputs to selected switch outputs. Conventional optical switches, sometimes referred to as Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) switches can include an Nxc3x97N array of reflectors to reflect optical radiation from any switch input to any switch output. Each input and output can be aligned with an associated row or column of the array. For example, in a 2xc3x972 MEM OXC switch having 2 inputs and 2 outputs, the first and second inputs can be aligned with first and second rows of the 2xc3x972 array and the first and second outputs can be aligned with first and second columns of the 2xc3x972 array. In operation, a selected reflector of the 2xc3x972 array can be used to reflect the optical radiation from any switch input to any switch output.
The selected reflector can be located in the array where the column associated with input and the row associated with the output intersect. The selected reflector can be placed in a reflecting position to reflect the optical radiation from the input to the selected output. At least some of the other reflectors can be placed in non-reflecting positions so as not to impede the propagation of the optical radiation from the input to the selected reflector and to the output.
As the number of inputs and outputs of conventional MEM OXC switches increase, so may the number of reflectors used to provide the operations thereof. The number of reflectors, R, used in a conventional Nxc3x97N OXC generally can be expressed as:
xe2x80x83R=N2
Where N is the number of inputs and outputs of the switch. For example, a 2xc3x972 OXC switch may include 4 reflectors, a 3xc3x973 OXC switch may include 9 reflectors, and a 4xc3x974 OXC switch may include 16 reflectors etc. A conventional 2xc3x972 MEM OXC 100 is shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, each of the reflectors 101-104 includes a reflective surface 105-108 and can be placed in either a reflecting or non-reflecting position. Accordingly, the MEM OXC 100 can be placed in 2N2 possible configurations, where each configuration can be defined as a unique combination of reflector positions. Unfortunately, it may not be possible to use all of the 2N2 configurations. In particular, some of reflector configurations may include configurations where two or more reflectors in a row or column of the array are in the reflecting state, thereby blocking the reflection of the optical radiation from the input to the output. For example, to switch optical radiation from input I1 to output O1, reflectors 102 and 103 are placed in non-reflecting positions to allow the optical radiation to propagate from input I1 to output O1. Therefore, some of the possible 2N2 configurations may not allow the MEM OXC to operate properly.
Unfortunately, as the number of inputs and outputs increase, so may the number of reflectors. For example, a 5xc3x975 OXC switch may use 52 reflectors, a 6xc3x976 may use 36 and so on. It is known to reduce the number of reflectors by providing reflectors with reflective surfaces on opposite sides of the reflectors as shown, for example, in FIGS. 2A and 2B. According to FIGS. 2A and 2B, one reflector 200 can operate as a 2xc3x972 MEM OXC switch 201. In particular, inputs I1 and I2 are oriented in first and second directions 225, 235 relative to the reflector 200. Outputs O1 and O2 are oriented in the first and second directions respectively relative to the reflector 200. When the reflector 200 is in the reflecting position, as shown in FIG. 2A, optical radiation can be reflected from input I1 to output O2 and from input I1 to output O1. When the reflector 200 is in the non-reflecting position, as shown in FIG. 2B, optical radiation can pass from the input I1 to the output O1 or from the input I1 to the output O2. Accordingly, the reflector 200 can operate as a 2xc3x972 MEM OXC switch 201. Notwithstanding the above, there continues to exist a need to provide improved OXC switches having a reduced number of reflectors therein.
Embodiments of the present invention can allow MicroElectroMechanical (MEM) Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) switches to have a reduced number of reflectors by providing N inputs to the OXC switch and N outputs from the OXC switch, where N is at least 3. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch provides N! states, wherein the N! states optically couple any one of the N inputs to any one of the N outputs. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch also includes a number of switching nodes that are selectively optically coupled to the N inputs and N outputs. Each of the number of switching nodes is configurable in at least one of a switching configuration and a pass-through configuration to provide selectively switched optical radiation therefrom and wherein the number of switching nodes is equal to ceiling [ln(N!)/ln(2)] to provide the N! states of the Nxc3x97N OXC switch. The Nxc3x97N OXC switch further includes at least one optical transmission apparatus coupled to at least two of the switching nodes.
Reducing the number of switches used in an Nxc3x97N MEM OXC switch may allow for Nxc3x97N switches that use fewer actuators than conventional Nxc3x97N switches. In particular, conventional Nxc3x97N switches may include N2 switches to provide N! switch settings. Such a conventional switch may use, for example, as little as 0.04% of the 2N2 states for a 4xc3x974 switch. In contrast, Nxc3x97N switches according to the present invention can include ceiling [ln(N!)/ln(2)] reflectors. Such a 4xc3x974 switch according to the present invention may utilize 75% of its respective possible states. For example, a conventional 4xc3x974 switch may include 16 switches whereas an Nxc3x97N switch according to the present invention may include 5 switches. Also, fewer switches and actuators may be formed on a smaller substrate area, thereby allowing a reduction in the footprint of an Nxc3x97N switch according to the present invention.
In other embodiments according to the present invention a 2xc3x972 array of reflectors is arranged in first and second rows and first and second columns. First, second and third inputs to the Nxc3x97N OXC switch are selectively optically coupled to at least one of the 2xc3x972 array of reflectors. First, second and third outputs from the Nxc3x97N OXC switch are selectively optically coupled to at least one of the 2xc3x972 array of reflectors. Related method embodiments for all of the above described OXC switches also may be provided. Accordingly, reduced numbers of reflectors and/or actuators may be used in optical cross connect switches.
In other embodiments according to the present invention, an Nxc3x97N OXC switch includes a first movable reflector that is optically coupled to a first input and a second input. The first movable reflector receives first optical radiation in a first direction via the first input and receives second optical radiation in a second direction via the second input. The first moveable reflector provides the first optical radiation to a first output therefrom that propagates in the first direction when the first moveable reflector is in a non-reflecting position and provides the second optical radiation to the first output that propagates in the first direction when the first moveable reflector is in a reflecting position. A second movable reflector provides optical radiation from a third input thereto in the second direction to a second output therefrom when the second moveable reflector is in the non-reflecting position. An optical transmission apparatus optically couples the first output of the first moveable reflector to the third input of the second movable reflector and changes the direction of propagation of the optical radiation at the first output from the first direction to the second direction at the third input.
In other embodiments according to the present invention, the optical transmission apparatus is a fixed reflector. In yet other embodiments according to the present invention, the optical transmission apparatus is a linear or curvilinear waveguide.

MicroElectroMechanical optical cross-connect switches having reduced numbers of reflectors therein and methods of operating same


A planarized cover layer structure of a flexible circuit board includes an insulation layer bonded through a first adhesive layer to a surface of each one of conductive signal lines laid on a substrate of a flexible circuit board. Separation areas respectively formed between adjacent ones of the conductive signal lines are each formed with a filling layer, so that the filling layer provides the first adhesive layer with a planarization height in the separation areas and the planarization height is substantially equal to the height of the conductive signal lines. The filling layer can alternatively be of a height that is higher than the surface of the conductor layer by a covering height so that the first adhesive layer has a planarization height in the separation areas and the planarization height is substantially equal to the sum of the height of the conductive signal lines and the covering height.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a design of a structure of a flexible circuit board, and in particular to a planarized cover layer structure of a flexible circuit board.
2. The Related Arts
In various electronic products that are currently prevailing, including notebook computers, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones, flexible flat cable and flexible circuit boards are commonly used as a carrier board for transmission of signals.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, which are respectively a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a conventional flexible circuit board, as shown in the drawings, a substrate 1 has a first surface 1 and a second surface 2.
A conductor layer 2 is bonded to the first surface 11 of the substrate 1. The conductor layer 2 comprises a plurality of extended conductive signal lines 21. The conductive signal lines 21 are spaced from each other by a predetermined distance, whereby every two adjacent ones of the conductive signal lines 21 define therebetween a separation area 22. The conductive signal lines 21 have a predetermined line height h1 and are generally made of a copper foil material or a composite material.
The substrate 1 is arranged to extend in an extension direction and a free end of the substrate 1 is provided with a plurality of conductive contacts 13. The free end of the substrate 1 is insertable into an insertion slot (not shown) to have the conductive contacts 13 of the substrate 1 electrically engaging corresponding contacts provided in the insertion slot. A first adhesive layer 31 is formed on a surface of the conductor layer 2, which is bonded by the first adhesive layer 31 to an insulation cover layer 4.
In a known manufacturing process, the insulation cover layer 4 is subjected to pressing so that with the adherence of the first adhesive layer 31, the insulation cover layer 4 is securely bonded to the first surface 11 of the conductor layer 2. Due to the separation areas 22 existing between the conductive signal lines 21 of the conductor layer 2, during the process when the insulation cover layer 4 is pressed to bond, the first adhesive layer 31 is deformed and recessed due to being subject to the pressure thereby showing a wave like corrugated surface structure. Thus, the surface where the insulation layer 4 is set is irregular and non-flat surface. This might lead to poor quality of the flexible circuit board and inconsistency of electrical impedance among signal transmission paths provided on the flexible circuit board may result, making it difficult to precisely control the electrical impedance thereof.
Referring to FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view is given to illustrate another conventional flexible circuit board, of which the structure is similar to the conventional flexible circuit board shown in FIG. 2. A difference is that each of the conductive signal lines 21 of the conductor layer 2 is bonded by a second adhesive layer 32 to the first surface 11 of the substrate 1.
In practical applications, both known flexible circuit boards exhibit the above discussed shortcoming and thus lead to problems, such as poor impedance match, reflection of signal, spreading of electromagnetic wave, errors in transmitting and receiving signals, and distortion of signal waveform. The existence of these problems causes troubles to the circuit boards that are used in commonly used high-precision electronic facility.
For electronic devices (such as notebook computers) that have relatively high working frequencies, the precision of impedance gets more severe for higher working frequencies. The circuit boards that are manufactured with the conventional technology may not suit the need of the industry.

Flexible circuit board with planarized cover layer structure