Devices and methods capable of addressing filter responses are disclosed. For example, a method for compensating a first low-pass filter and a second low-pass filter is disclosed. The method includes injecting a reference tone fR and a cutoff tone fC into the first low-pass filter, and measuring respective filter responses of the reference tone fR and the cutoff tone fC while changing capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency of the first low-pass filter until a first capacitor code ICODE is determined that most accurately causes the first low-pass filter to utilize a desired cutoff frequency f0, performing a similar operation for the second low-pass filter until a second capacitor code QCODE is determined, and calibrating for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter.

Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, contain sophisticated integrated electronics used to receive and transmit wireless data. Unfortunately, the analog electronics of such integrated electronics is subject to process variation from one wafer to the next. This can result in characteristics of various components—e.g., resistor values and capacitor values—varying to the point that it may be impossible to use a particular device without some form of individualized device compensation. The issue of component variation can even extend to devices within a single chip. Thus, even two identically-designed devices in a single chip can and do exhibit substantial mismatch. This problem tends to increase in severity as integrated circuit geometries continue to shrink.

Methods and systems for calibrating an analog filter


Disclosed are a glass panel packaging box and a de-packaging method thereof. The glass panel packaging box includes a box body and a cushioning separator plate arranged in the box body. The cushioning separator plate is arranged between two glass panels. The cushioning separator plate includes a main body corresponding to the glass panels and lugs respectively extending from two opposite side edges of the main body. The box body includes a bottom board and side boards perpendicularly connected to the bottom board. The side boards include receiving slots that correspond to the lugs. The glass panel packaging box and the de-packaging method thereof provide lugs on the cushioning separator plate to make separation of the cushioning separator plate and the glass panel easy so as to increase working efficiency and allow reduction of the thickness of the cushioning separator plate used with a large-sized glass panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of packaging, and in particular to a glass panel packaging box and a de-packaging method thereof.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have a variety of advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and are thus widely used. Most of the LCDs that are currently available in the market are backlighting LCDs, which comprise an enclosure, a liquid crystal panel received in the enclosure, and a backlight module arranged in the enclosure. The operation principle of the liquid crystal panel is that with liquid crystal molecules interposed between two parallel glass substrates, application of electricity is selectively carried out to control the liquid crystal molecules to change direction in order to refract out light emitting from the backlight module for generating images.
The liquid crystal panel comprises a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate, a color filter (CF) substrate that is opposite to the TFT substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate. In a manufacturing process of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate, a packaging box is used to transport glass panels and de-packaging is carried out on the entire box of glass panels once they are transported to an associated working station.
Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view of conventional packaging of glass panel is shown. Glass panels 100 are sequentially stacked in a packaging box 300. Between the glass panels 100, rigid or flexible materials are provided to serve as cushioning separator plates 500 that separate adjacent ones of glass panels 100 for the purposes of avoiding the formation of vacuum between stacked glass panels 100 that makes the retrieval of individual panel difficult. Commonly used cushioning separation plates 500 are of a shape and size corresponding to the glass panels 100 and also have the same. However, to de-package and retrieve the glass panels after the glass panels 100 have been packaged and shipped to a client site or have been stored for a period of time, since vacuum can be easily formed between the glass panels 100 and the cushioning separator plates 500, it is still possible that the panels get stuck due to vacuum. When suction cups 700 are used to retrieve a glass panel 100, the glass panel 100 that is sucked and held may get sticking to the separator plate 500 on the under side. If the cushioning separator plate 500 is further stuck to the glass panel 100 in contact with an underside thereof (as shown in FIG. 2), then the glass panel 100 that is stuck to the underside of the cushioning separator plate 500 may also be raised and will fall during transportation by the suction cups 700 (as shown in FIG. 3) and get broken, thereby heightening the manufacture cost.
To alleviate the above discussed situation of panel sticking, a conventional solution is to increase the thickness of the separator plate. The larger the size of the glass panel is, the greater the thickness of the cushioning separator plate will be, in order to avoid as much as possible the glass panel and the cushioning separator plates being stuck to each other due to vacuum formed therebetween. Such a solution, however, will increase the weight of the packaging material and heighten the expense of the packaging material, and will also reduce the number of glass panels packaged so as to result in an increase of transportation expense.

Glass panel packaging box and de-packaging method thereof

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


Cured tobacco having a lower concentration of tobacco specific nitrosamines, can be produced from a transgenic tobacco plant having a heterologous nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide that catalyzes production of active oxygen species. The heterologous nucleotide sequence is operably coupled to a regulatory nucleotide sequence that directs expression of the polypeptide. The regulatory nucleotide sequence can include constitutive and/or inducible promoter elements.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods of producing tobacco having reduced levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines in the cured leaves and transgenic tobacco plants for producing tobacco having reduced levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines in the cured leaves.
Description of the Related Art
In many organisms, antioxidant activity increases upon exposure to conditions that increase the formation of active oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide. There is evidence that active oxygen species are ubiquitous messengers in plants that stimulate defense responses against stressful conditions.
It has been reported that tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are produced primarily in the curing process. It is believed that antioxidants interfere with the nitrosation of secondary alkaloids thereby reducing the formation of TSNAs. Commonly owned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/235,636 discloses a method for reducing tobacco specific nitrosamine content in cured tobacco by increasing the levels of antioxidants in the tobacco prior to harvesting. The methods disclosed in that application include root pruning prior to harvesting, severing the xylem tissue prior to harvesting, and administering antioxidants or chemicals that produce an increase in antioxidants to the tobacco plant after harvesting. U.S. application Ser. No. 10/235,636 and all publications referred to below are hereby incorporated into the present application entirely and for all purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,671 discloses that plants, for example potatoes, can be transformed with a gene encoding glucose oxidase to produce plants that are resistant to disease. See also, Wu et al. (Plant Physiology, 115:427-435, 1997).
Bema and Bernier (Plant Molecular Biology, 33:417-29, 1997) have shown that wheat germin has oxalate oxidase (OxO) activity and (Plant Molecular Biology, 39:539-49, 1999) that the promoter of the gemin gf-2.8 gene is active in transgenic tobacco. Indeed, most germins and many germin-like proteins have OxO activity. (Bemier and Bema, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 39:545-9, 2001). PCT Application Publication Number WO 99/04013 discloses the expression of oxidase enzymes as a method of producing resistance to stress in a variety of plants.
Published U.S. Application No. 2004/007218 discloses a method for determination of the level of H2O2 in a cell by measuring expression of a reporter polypeptide from a promoter that is inducible by H2O2.

Reduction of tobacco-specific nitrosamines using genetic modification to elevate production of native antioxidants in tobacco


An information processor includes a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and the processor configured to: acquire first statistical information about distribution of most significant bit position that is not a sign or least significant bit position that is not zero for each of a plurality of first fixed-point number data, the data being a computation result of the computation in the first layer; execute computation on a plurality of output data of the first layer according to a predetermined rule, in the computation in the second layer; and acquire second statistical information based on the predetermined rule and the first statistical information, and determine a bit range for limiting a bit width when a plurality of second fixed-point number data, the data being a computation result of the computation in the second layer, are stored in a register, based on the second statistical information.

Deep learning is machine learning using a multilayered neural network. A deep neural network (hereinafter referred to as DNN), which is an example of deep learning, is a network in which an input layer, a plurality of hidden layers, and an output layer are arranged in order. Each of the layers has one or more nodes, and each node has a value. The node of a certain layer is coupled to the node of a following layer via an edge, and each edge has a parameter such as weight or bias.
In the DNN, a value of the node in each layer is found by executing predetermined computation based on a value of the node in a preceding layer, the weight of the edge and so on. When input data is input to the node in the input layer, a value of the node in a following layer is found by executing the predetermined computation. Using the data found by the computation as an input, a value of the node in a following layer is found by executing the predetermined computation in the layer. A value of the node in the last output layer becomes output data with respect to the input data.
Since image data to be computed has a relatively small number of bits, a DNN processor that executes the computation of the DNN may execute computation using a fixed-point computator. In this case, a floating-point computator is not used and thus, power consumption for computation may be suppressed. The use of the fixed-point computator having more simple circuit configuration than the floating-point computator enables the DNN processor to be configured with small circuit dimension.
However, due to the fixed number of bits, the fixed-point number has a narrower dynamic range than the floating point number. For this reason, an overflow occurs as a result of computation such that a value of the computation result may be saturated. Conversely, low-order bits may be omitted due to underflow. This leads to a decrease in the accuracy of the computation result.
Thus, in the computation of the DNN, dynamic fixed-point that dynamically adjusts the decimal point position of the computation result data found by computation has been proposed. According to a known method of dynamically adjusting the decimal point position, statistical information about the distribution of the effective most significant bit position of intermediate data in the computation result in each layer is acquired, thereby adjusting the fixed-point position of the intermediate data to an optimum position, based on the acquired statistical information. Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2018-124681, 2012-203566, 2009-271598, and 07-84975.

Information processor, information processing method, and storage medium


Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus are provided capable of reducing rotation torque on startup even if a toner is solidified. The toner cartridge includes a toner stirring member having a rotating shaft and a stirring blade; a toner discharge member having a spiral-shaped conveyance blade attached to a conveyance shaft; a second gear having a bearing projection protruding radially inwardly from an inner peripheral surface of an annular base part, which is rotatably supported in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft; an abutment member protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft, against which the bearing projection abuts under rotation of the second gear; first and third gears for transmitting rotation of the second gear to the conveyance shaft; and a rotationally driving section for imparting a rotating force to the second gear.

1. Field of the Technology
The present technology relates to a toner cartridge which is used in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, and to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus which is mounted in a printer, a copy machine, or the like forms an image using a toner which is stored in a developing device in the image forming apparatus. In the field of an image forming apparatus, a toner cartridge which supplies a toner to a developing device has been hitherto known. When the toner in the developing device is consumed, the toner cartridge supplies a toner in the toner cartridge into the developing device.
For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2011-33836, there is disclosed a toner cartridge comprising: a toner storage container having a toner storage section which for storing a toner which is supplied to a developing device and a toner discharge section having a toner discharge port, the toner discharge section being adjacent to the toner storage section; a toner stirring member disposed in the toner storage section, the toner stirring member having a toner stirring plate for stirring a toner stored in the toner storage section and a pair of flexible stirring blades for scooping up a toner stored in the toner storage section and conveying it to the toner discharge section; and a toner discharge member disposed in the toner discharge section, for conveying a toner which has been conveyed to the toner discharge section by the toner stirring member toward the toner discharge port.
In the toner cartridge disclosed in JP-A 2011-33836, the paired stirring blades are provided at an interval of 180 degrees in a circumferential direction of a rotating shaft, and are each disposed at the front end of each toner stirring plate protruding from the rotating shaft outwardly in a radial direction of the rotating shaft so as to extend in the radial direction outwardly. Each of the stirring blades is designed to have a length long enough to make contact with an inner surface of the toner storage section in the radial direction of the rotating shaft. In this construction, as the rotating shaft is rotated, a toner attached to the inner surface of the toner storage section can be scraped off by the paired stirring blades, wherefore the amount of toner residues that have remained on an inner wall of the toner storage section without being conveyed to the toner discharge section can be minimized.
However, in the toner cartridge disclosed in JP-A 2011-33836, since the toner conveying members start to rotate simultaneously immediately after the placement of the toner cartridge, it follows that, depending on an environment in which a toner is left standing, the toner may be solidified, with the consequence that a rotating motor is brought into a locked state, thus causing a malfunction.
Furthermore, there may be a case where a driving torque produced in a rotationally driving portion of the developing device is increased to exceed a permissible value. If the torque in the driving portion is increased to exceed a permissible value, for example, in an engagement part between gears disposed at the rotating shafts of a roller, a stirring member, etc., there will arise gear tooth slippage, or equivalently a phenomenon in which gear teeth are mutually slipped with the consequence that the gears are rotated at a dash by the number of slipped gear teeth, not rotating gears while engaging gear teeth one by one. If such a tooth slippage phenomenon occurs, the developing roller will be rotated at an excessively high speed, wherefore a sufficient amount of developer cannot be fed from the developing roller to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of an electrophotographic photoreceptor, which results in occurrence of image defects, namely so-called image voids.

Toner cartridge with differential member and image forming apparatus


A verification system implements technical solutions for verifying the delivery of messages transmitted by mobile communication systems and the processing of those messages. The message verification system includes a model database and verification processing circuitry configured to receive transmitter route data, receive receiver route data, determine a viewshed for a message, and compare the viewshed to the receiver route data.

Recent decades have brought tremendous advances in communication systems. These advances have enabled the global proliferation of smartphones and many other mobile communication systems. Smartphones have placed WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, and NFC communication systems, as well as GPS capability, in the pocket of almost every individual, almost all of the time. Improvements in verifying the delivery of messages transmitted by mobile communication systems and the processing of those messages will further enhance the effectiveness of modern communication systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Verification system for message delivery and processing


A pair of supports with a platform at the top of each support. The platforms hold the top and bottom tilt in type windows so they can be easily cleaned. The top support also has a clamp to make it easier to hold the bottom window while cleaning the top window.

This invention relates, in general, to a portable window sash support and, in particular, to a portable window sash support to be used with tilt type double hung window sashes to prevent damage to the tilted sash, the track mechanism which allows the sash to tilt in, damage to the vinyl or wood sash, insulated glass seals and the finish of the window sill itself.


An object of the present invention is to use the smallest possible number of bosses, screws, and nuts to install a shield plate to a front grille. To achieve this object, protruding members of grille protruding toward the rear of a vehicle body are provided at the upper edge of a back-side opening of a bumper grille. A protruding portion is provided at the end of the respective protruding member. An engagement hole vertically penetrating the protruding portion is provided in the protruding portion, and a step portion protruding downward from the height of the engagement hole is provided at the lower part of the end of the protruding portion. The shield plate is provided with insertion holes into which the protruding portions are inserted. A tongue is formed at the lower center of the insertion hole. The transverse movement of the shield plate is restricted by the insertion of the tongue into the engagement hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a construction for attaching a front grille shield plate.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 10 shows a front grille 50 and a shield plate 51 attached to the back side thereof. As shown in the figure, the front grille 50 is provided with cylindrical bosses 50a at four corners of a back-side opening of the front grille 50. The shield plate 51 is fixed to the front grille 50 by putting screws 52 through screw holes 51a provided corresponding to the cylindrical bosses 50a and threadedly installing the screws 52 to the cylindrical bosses 50a.
FIG. 11 shows a front grille 55 and a grille net 56 attached to the back side thereof. As shown in the figure, the front grille 55 is provided with rod-shaped bosses 55a at four corners of an opening thereof. The grille net 56 is fixed to the front grille 55 by putting rod-shaped bosses 55a through attaching holes 56a and threadedly installing nuts 57 to the rod-shaped bosses 55a.
However, when the cylindrical bosses or rod-shaped bosses are formed to the front grille, shrinkage sometimes occurs on the surface thereof. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the number of bosses. Also, the use of many screws or nuts increases the number of parts and installation man-hour. In particular, if the engine room is small, a tool for tightening the screws, such as a screwdriver, sometimes interferes with other parts, which makes the work difficult to do.

Construction for attaching a front grille shield plate


The current invention provides methods for the up-regulation of trkA in a mammal, including humans, comprising the administration of an effective amount of a compound of formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 are, independently, --H, --CH.sub.3, --CO(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl), or --COAr, where Ar is optionally substituted phenyl;. R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of pyrrolidine, piperidine, and hexamethyleneimino; or PA1 a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.. In addition, the current invention provides method to increase the effect of NGF (Nerve Growth Factor), NGF-like activities or NGF agonists, whether such is from endogenous or exogenous sources.. Further, the current invention provides methods for maintaining the homeostasis and health of the hippocampus, hypothalamus, and cortex, thus maintaining their biological functions.

The trk proteins are a family of receptor tyrosine kinases, whose function is the signal transduction of neurotrophins. The trk receptor family consists of three known members (A-C), each binding specific neurotrophins. Thus, the neurotrophins induce many of their effects through one of these trk receptors. Most germane to the current invention is the trkA receptor, which binds the neurotrophin Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).
NGF is an essential neurotrophin in maintaining homeostasis of nerve tissue in both the peripheral and central nervous system. The critical activity of NGF has been demonstrated in the development, maintenance, and repair of nerves. In addition to the homeostatic benefit of endogenous NGF, it has been suggested that exogenously administered NGF, molecules having NGF-agonist activity or molecules that can stimulate NGF or NGF-like activity, may be useful in treating damaged nerve tissue, e.g., nerve damage due to trauma, surgery, disease, old age, etc. It would be useful if an agent were available which would enhance the beneficial effects of endogenous or exogenous NGF, NGF-like activities or NGF agonists. Such an agent might be one which would increase the response of nerves to NGF via up-regulating the molecular target of NGF, i.e., its receptor, trkA. For further information, see: "Severe Sensory and Sympathetic Neuropathies in Mice Carrying a Disrupted trk/NGF Receptor Gene", Smeyne, R. J., et al., Nature, 368, pp. 246-248, Mar. 17, 1994.
Recently, it has been shown that the hormone estrogen regulates the gene coding the NGF receptor, viz., trkA. It has been known that estrogen appears to have a beneficial effect on maintaining healthy nerve tissue in many animal species, including humans. For further information, see: "Estrogen Differentially Regulates Estrogen and Nerve Growth Factor Receptor mRNAs in Adult Sensory Neurons", Sohrabji, F., et al., J. Neurosci., 14(2), pp.459-471 (1994) and "The Effects of Ovariectomy and Estrogen Replacement on trkA and Choline Acetyltransferase mRNA Expression in the Basal Forebrain of the Adult Female Sprague-Dawley Rat", McMillan, P. J., et al., J. Neurosci., 16(5), pp. 1860-1865, 1996 and references cited therein.
Therefore, it would seem reasonable that estrogens, e.g., 17-.beta.-estradiol, estrone, and the like, would be useful in the treatment of conditions where increasing the effect of molecules that directly or indirectly activate trkA receptor would be beneficial. However, estrogens are known to have many detrimental side-effects, e.g., cancer risk, uterine stimulation, and the like, vitiating their use in such cases.
It would be beneficial if an agent were available that would up-regulate the trkA/NGF system without estrogenic side-effects.


A process for cooling or heating a fluid or a body by a vapor compression circuit having a centrifugal compressor and containing a heat transfer fluid, the heat-transfer fluid including at least two of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, 1,1-difluoroethane and 3,3,3-trifluoropropene, wherein: the ratio of the Mach number of the centrifugal compressor to the Mach number when the centrifugal compressor has, under the same operating conditions, the heat-transfer fluid is replaced with 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane is at least 0.97 and at most 1.03; the compression ratio of the centrifugal compressor is less than or equal to the compression ratio when the centrifugal compressor has, under the same operating conditions, the heat-transfer fluid is replaced with 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane. Also, equipment suitable for implementing this cooling or heating process, and also to a process for converting existing equipment.

Fluids based on fluorocarbon compounds are widely used in many industrial devices, in particular air conditioning, heat pump or refrigeration devices. These devices have in common the fact that they are based on a thermodynamic cycle comprising the vaporization of the fluid at low pressure (in which the fluid absorbs heat); the compression of the vaporized fluid to a high pressure; the condensation of the vaporized fluid to liquid at high pressure (in which the fluid releases heat); and the expansion of the fluid in order to complete the cycle.
The compression step is carried out using a compressor, which may be, in particular, a centrifugal compressor.
The choice of a heat transfer fluid (which may be a pure compound or a mixture of compounds) is dictated, on the one hand, by the thermodynamic properties of the fluid and, on the other hand, by additional constraints, and in particular environmental constraints.
It is in this way that chlorinated compounds (chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons) have the disadvantage of damaging the ozone layer. Henceforth, generally non-chlorinated compounds such as hydrofluorocarbons are therefore preferred to them.
In particular, many air conditioning systems currently operate with HFC-134a as heat transfer fluid. However, HFC-134a has a global warming potential (GWP) which is too high. It is therefore desirable to replace HFC-134a with another heat transfer fluid having a lower GWP.
However, any modification of the heat transfer fluid may pose problems in adapting the vapor compression cycle system. In particular, when the cycle uses a centrifugal compressor, the replacement of the heat transfer fluid may require a change of the centrifugal compressor itself or at the very least a modification of the operating parameters of the compressor liable to degrade the efficiency of the system or to accelerate wear phenomena.
Documents WO 97/17414 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,743 propose the replacement of dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) with compositions comprising HFC-134a in cycles comprising a centrifugal compressor. The choice of substitute compositions is mainly made as a function of the molecular weight. However, the molecular weight is not in fact sufficiently predictive of the behavior of the various heat transfer fluids.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,064 proposes the replacement of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) with compositions comprising, in particular, 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane (CFC-123) in cycles comprising a centrifugal compressor. The choice of the substitute compositions is mainly made as a function of the Mach number.
Documents WO 2005/108522 and WO 2007/126414 disclose mixtures of fluoroolefins and of other heat transfer compounds as heat transfer fluids. However, these documents do not identify any composition specifically suitable for a vapor compression system comprising a centrifugal compressor.
Document WO 2007/053697 also describes compositions based on fluoroolefins intended to be used as heat transfer fluids. Example 7 describes compounds suitable for replacing 1,2,2-trichlorofluoroethane (CFC-113) in cycles provided with a centrifugal compressor. The choice of the compounds is based on a calculation of theoretical rotational speed of the blades of the compressor. The approximations used in this calculation are however reserved for relatively heavy fluids.
Document WO 2009/018117 describes mixtures of fluoroolefins and of other heat transfer compounds as heat transfer fluids, especially as a replacement for HFC-134a. However, this document does not identify any composition specifically suitable for a vapor compression system comprising a centrifugal compressor.
Document WO 2009/151669 describes various heat transfer compositions based on specific lubricants and fluoroolefins.
None of the documents of the prior art proposes a heat transfer fluid as a replacement for HFC-134a in a vapor compression system comprising a centrifugal compressor, which both has a GWP below that of HFC-134a and guarantees the maintenance or even an improvement of the performances of the centrifugal compressor relative to HFC-134a.
There is therefore a real need to develop such a heat transfer fluid.

Heat-transfer fluid for a centrifugal compressor


A level shifter apparatus and method for minimizing duty cycle distortion are provided. The level shifter includes a bank of comparators each having an associated threshold built into it. The comparators compare a difference in source voltages for two power domains to these built-in thresholds and output a signal indicative of whether the threshold is exceeded. The output signals from the comparators are provided to a thermometric decoder which generates control signals based on these output signals. The control signals are used to control stages in a level shifter for modifying the voltage output of the level shifter. Individual stages may be enabled to thereby monotonically modify the voltage output of the level shifter and thereby decrease a time required to achieve a voltage having a level that causes a state change in a driven circuit. As a result, duty cycle distortion is minimized and maximum operational frequency is increased.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to an improved integrated circuit apparatus and method. More specifically, the present application is directed to a level shifter apparatus and method for minimizing duty cycle distortion.
2. Description of Related Art
Level shifters are integral components of any circuit that operates from different power supply boundaries. The level shifters act as the interfaces between these different power supply domains to send/receive signals across these boundaries. However, the voltage mismatch between the two power domains may cause severe duty cycle errors if simple receivers are used for level shifting. This error gets worse as the mismatch in the power supply voltages between the two domains gets larger. To appreciate this, a simple explanation of how a simple level shifter works is provided below.
FIG. 1 illustrates a simple level shifter in accordance with a known implementation. The level shifter shown in FIG. 1 operates as an inverter. The voltage input VIN to the level shifter 100 comes from a first power domain 110, having voltage source VDDC and ground GNDC, and circuits 115 operating based on voltage source VDDC and ground GNDC. The level shifter 100 itself resides in a second power domain 120, having voltage source VDDA and ground GNDA. It is assumed, for this explanation that GNDC=GNDA=gnd. The main failure mechanism in such a level shifter 100 as shown in FIG. 1 is the mismatch in the drive strength between the pull-up PFET 130 and the pull down NFET 140.
Suppose that initially the output of the level shifter 100 is high (VDDA). The capacitance loading the output node of the level shifter, CL, is the loading due to the circuitry 125 being driven by the level shifter 100. It is assumed that the threshold voltage at which the circuitry 125 changes its state is called V_TRIP.
At time t0, the voltage input, VIN, to the level shifter 100 changes from low to high (gnd to VDDC). At this instant, the maximum pull down current provided by the NFET 140 may be described as:INMAX=KN*(VDDC−VTN)α  (1)
where KN is a transconductance parameter taking into account device size, mobility, etc., VTN is the NFET 140 threshold voltage, and α is a fitting parameter that may vary with process (e.g., doping, threshold voltage, mobility, gate oxide thickness etc. variations across a single wafer and across multiple wafers), as well as device length.
At t0, the maximum discharge current from CL is given by:ICLmax=CL*(δVout/δt)max  (2)
where Vout is the output voltage of the level shifter. Assuming VDDA>VDDC, then the pull-up current still provided by the PFET 130 can be modeled as:IP=f(VDDA−VDDC)  (3)
where f( ) is a monotonically increasing function of VDDA−VDDC. Hence, the larger VDDA-VDDC, the larger the pull-up current will be. Applying Kirkoff's current law to t0, one may write:CL(δVout/δt)MAX=INMAX−f(VDDA−VDDC)  (4)(δVout/δt)MAX=[INMAX−f(VDDA−VDDC)]/CL  (5)
FIG. 2 displays Vout versus time plots for various VDDA−VDDC settings. That is, FIG. 2 describes the time transient of Vout upon the instantaneous switch in state of the input VIN (from 0 to VDDC). The various traces for Vout correspond to various VDDA−VDDC values. The value of V_TRIP is also shown in FIG. 2.
It can be seen from FIG. 2 that for larger VDDA−VDDC settings, the δVout/δt gradient is reduced causing the amount of time it takes for Vout to reach V_TRIP to be increased. This time, labeled T_TRIP, can be used to directly compute the maximum frequency of operation of the level shifter for a given VDDA−VDDC setting:FMAX<1/(2*T_TRIP)  (6)Thus, the increase in the T_TRIP value also reduces the maximum operating frequency of the level shifter.
In addition, T_TRIP can provide information about the duty cycle distortion introduced by this circuit. In the worst case where INMAX=f(VDDA−VDDC), Vout will never discharge and the level shifter has become useless.
There are many level shifter circuits presently available, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,333 describes as high-to-low level shifter in which an external signal switches between a high voltage domain high potential and a high voltage domain low potential while an internal signal switches between a low voltage domain high potential and a low voltage domain low potential. However, these known level shifter circuits do not address the issues arising due to high frequency operation.

Level shifter apparatus and method for minimizing duty cycle distortion

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of forming a compressive channel layer in a PMOS device and a PMOS device having a compressive channel layer are provided. The method includes (a) forming a buffer oxide layer on a silicon semiconductor substrate having a gate oxide layer and a gate electrode thereon, (b) forming a silicon nitride layer on the buffer oxide layer, (c) implanting impurities into the silicon nitride layer, and (d) etching or patterning the silicon nitride layer and the buffer oxide layer into which impurities are implanted to form gate spacers on sidewalls of the gate electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of forming a compressive channel layer of a p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) device and to a PMOS device having a compressive channel layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor devices become more highly integrated and the speed of the semiconductor device increases, a thinner gate oxide layer and a higher driving current are beneficial. However, as the size of the device is reduced, a gate voltage may be reduced, and a driving current may be reduced in proportion to the gate voltage and/or a breakdown voltage of a gate dielectric. Under certain conditions, the device performance may be degraded due to an increased incidence of hot carrier injection (HCI). This may occur when the size of the device is reduced, but the voltage applied to the gate of the device is not proportionately reduced.
In order to solve the problem, a method of improving the mobility of a carrier by applying stress to silicon has recently been developed. As a typical example, a method of using a Si—Ge layer having different lattice constant from the crystal of a silicon layer has been widely used. In this method, a Si—Ge epitaxial layer is grown on a Si substrate, and an epitaxial Si layer is grown thereon to apply stress to the upper silicon layer that constitutes the channel layer of the device. In the normal crystal structure of silicon, atoms exist at the summits of a regular hexahedral structure. Meanwhile, a compressed silicon substrate receives compressive stress in a direction parallel to the surface thereof so that the compressed silicon substrate has a modified rectangular crystal structure. When the crystal structure is compressed by external force, the electrical and physical characteristics of the silicon are changed, so that the mobility of the carrier that moves therein improves. As a result, the speed and performance of the semiconductor device are improved.
However, in order to selectively form a Si—Ge layer only in PMOS devices (that is, in order to separate the PMOS devices from n-type metal oxide semiconductor [NMOS] devices), an additional oxidation process must performed. As a result, the manufacturing process is relatively complicated, and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor device increases. Furthermore, since the Si—Ge layer reduces the band gap of the silicon channel layer, when the semiconductor device is operated, a leakage current may increase.

Method of forming compressive channel layer of PMOS device using gate spacer and PMOS device having a compressed channel layer


A touch-and-close fastener part (32) includes a functional layer forming a backing surface and formed from a thread system with at least two line elements (12a-12d, 14a-14c) forming meshes (16a-16b″, 20a-20a″) and connected to one another. At least one further individual functional layer, formed and/or formable with connecting elements (30, 30″), is formed from a further thread system incorporated at least in individual sections into the thread system. The thread systems are connected to one another with the formation of passage sites (24a-24d) whose free cross-sectional area takes up more than 20% of the corresponding backing area.

Touch-and-close fastener parts of this type are used in a wide variety of areas, especially in fastening systems, for example, on articles of clothing, luggage, pieces of furniture, linings in vehicle interiors, etc., and are accordingly known in very widely varying designs. Typically, the touch-and-close fastener part is a textile surface touch-and-close fastener with mushroom-shaped interlocking elements and is generally made of a plastic material. On a back that faces away from the connecting elements, the touch-and-close fastener part can have a coating, for example, an adhesive layer.
Another application of a touch-and-close fastener part is the connection or fastening of an abrasive wheel to an abrasive holder. EP 0 781 629 B1 discloses an abrasive wheel including a layer having an abrasive that is impermeable to particle flow and that can be fastened directly or indirectly via an adapter to an abrasive holder in a work environment. Openings penetrate at least the layer having the abrasive. A hook and loop fastener adaptation layer is designed to be permeable to gas and particles. The openings are made as perforations through which gas and particles can flow and are distributed almost uniformly over the entire surface of the abrasive wheel or a part of it. The individual openings forming the perforation are connected to one another, with their distance to one another being chosen such that almost unimpeded continuous removal of the grinding dust is enabled.
An adapter used in this connection has a hook and loop fastener adaptation layer, a foam particle layer, and a velour layer. The hook and loop fastener adaptation layer faces toward the grinding wheel and is penetrated by the perforations. A typically round grinding wheel has a velour on its back for adhering to the grinding plate. The corresponding arrangement of the opening of the perforations relative to one another and relative to the extractor of the grinding disk causes almost unimpeded transport of the grinding dust to the extractor.

Touch-and-close fastener part and method for producing a touch-and-close fastener part


A color filter is provided which has picture elements arranged adjacently on a substrate, each picture element comprising a red segmental layer, a green segmental layer, and a blue segmental layer, wherein at least one color of the segmental layers is colored with a dye, and at least one of the other colors of the segmental layers is colored with a pigment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter for a liquid crystal display, a process for producing the liquid crystal display, and a liquid crystal display device employing the color filter.
2. Related Background Art
Generally, liquid crystal display devices are employed for various uses such as personal computers, word processors, automobile navigation systems, and miniature television. The demand therefor is increasing in recent years. Correspondingly, reduction of the production cost thereof is strongly desired.
The color filter for the liquid crystal display device is constituted of arrangement of an number of picture elements comprising respectively color segmental layers of red (R), green (G), or blue (B), and light-intercepting black matrixes in the peripheries of the color segmental layers to increase the display contrast. The respective color segmental layers of the color filters comprises a coloring material which selectively transmits R, G, or B. The coloring material includes dyes and pigments. Pigments are widely used since the pigments are more durable.
The colored picture element portions of the color filter are formed by dying, pigment dispersion, pigment electrodeposition, or a like method.
To meet the demand for the cost reduction of the color filter, printing methods and ink-jet methods are proposed for formation of the colored picture element portions. The printing methods, however, involve steps of transfer of a coloring matter from a printing plate and drying of the printed matter for each of the colors of R, G, and B repeatedly, namely three times. The production efficiency of printing methods is disadvantageously poor.
In the ink-jet methods, on the other hand, three coloring liquids containing a coloring matter of R, G, or B are ejected on a substrate by an ink-jet method, and the deposited coloring inks are dried to form colored picture element portions, as shown, for instance, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-75205. The ink-jet method enables simultaneous formation of picture elements of R, G, and B, thereby simplifying the production process greatly and reducing the production cost remarkably.
In formation of color layers with ink dots by ink-jet method, color mixing is liable to occur at the boundaries between different colors of color segmental layers. In particular this phenomenon is remarkable when the gaps between the color segmental layers are narrowed. The color mixing between the different colors of the color segmental layers impairs the image quality of the liquid crystal panel, and lowers the yield of the filter to raise the production cost. Therefore, the ink-jet method requires broad gaps between the segmental color layers such that the color mixing is not caused. This makes it difficult to increase the number of picture elements in a certain area to raise the fineness of the image.
The use of a pigment improves the heat resistance and the lightfastness of the filter. However, the pigment dissolves the light polarization effect owing to its light scattering more remarkable than dyes to lower the image contrast of the liquid crystal panel.


An illuminating device includes: a light source; a light guide plate which converts light emitted from the light source into a surface light ray and emits the surface light ray through a front surface of the light guide plate; and an optical sheet which changes a propagation direction of the surface light ray emitted from the light guide plate. The light source is arranged in opposition to one end surface of the light guide plate. A polarization state converting structure to convert a polarization state of the light propagating through the light guide plate is provided in a rear surface of the light guide plate. The polarization state converting structure contains an inclination plane having a ridge line extending in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the one end surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly to a lead line formed on a peripheral portion of a display area.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a related-art liquid crystal display device, a plurality of video signal lines that supply a video signal, and a plurality of scanning signal lines that are so formed as to intersect with the video signal lines to supply a scanning signal are formed on a liquid crystal surface side of one transparent substrate of a pair of transparent substrates which are opposed to each other through a liquid crystal, layer. A plurality of pixels are formed respectively in an area surrounded by the video signal lines and the scanning signal lines. A video signal driver circuit that supplies the video signal, and a scanning signal driver circuit that supplies the scanning signal are arranged in a peripheral portion of a display area in which the plurality of pixels are formed. Signal lines called "lead lines", which are formed in the peripheral portion of the display area, are electrically connected between the video signal lines and the video signal driver circuit, and between the scanning signal lines and the scanning signal driver circuit, to supply the video signals and the scanning signals to the respective pixels.
Also, there is a liquid crystal display device configured such that a connection terminal portion is formed in a side portion of the transparent substrate, the connection terminal portion and the lead lines are electrically connected to each other, and the scanning signals and the video signals are supplied from an external of the transparent substrate through the connection terminal portion. As the liquid crystal display device thus configured, there is a liquid crystal display device disclosed in, for example, JP 2007-272255 A. The liquid crystal display device disclosed in JP 2007-272255 A is configured such that a conductive layer is formed over an upper layer of the lead lines through an insulating film so as to cover an overall surface of an area between the display area and the connection terminal portion, which is an area in which the lead lines from the scanning signal lines are formed, and a potential fluctuation given to the transparent substrates opposed to each other by an electric field from the lead lines is suppressed by the conductive layer.


An apparatus is provided which includes: a first stack including a lower, a middle, and an upper layer of conductive material with insulator layers therebetween, and a second stack including the middle and upper layers with one of the insulator layers therebetween. In an example, a first of the insulator layers has a lower breakdown voltage than a second of the insulator layers. The apparatus further includes a first via over the first stack, wherein the first via is in contact with a pair of the lower, middle and upper layers that have the first of the insulator layers therebetween. The apparatus further includes a second via over the second stack, wherein the second via extends through the upper layer and is in contact with the middle layer. In an example, the second via is isolated from a sidewall of the upper layer by a spacer.

Integrated circuit chips often comprise passive components, such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc. Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitor is a passive component that may be used in many applications, such as Radio Frequency (RF) applications, in analog integrated circuits, etc. MIM capacitors have attracted great attention because of their high capacitance density that supplies small area, increases circuit density, and further reduces the fabrication cost.
In many applications, it may be useful to have a MIM to be used as a capacitor in a relatively high voltage application, and an adjacent MIM to be used as a capacitor in a relatively low voltage application. In an example, in a conventional system, if both a high voltage MIM and a low voltage MIM are to be supported on a same wafer or process, this may require multiple mask layers (e.g., each mask layer to form a corresponding metal or insulator layer of a MIM), which may be costly and/or time consuming.

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure supporting high voltage applications and low voltage applications


Methods, apparatuses (e.g., DSL system hardware, DSL systems, vectoring control entities), techniques, systems, etc. are used for initializing one or more DSL lines joining a vectored DSL line group operating in Showtime. A super-periodic orthogonal pilot sequence from a set of super-periodic orthogonal pilot sequences is assigned to each joining DSL line, wherein each such super-periodic orthogonal pilot sequence in the set has length L and is orthogonal to other sequences in the set over length T. These super-periodic orthogonal pilot sequences are used on the joining DSL lines to generate at least T sync-symbols worth of initialization data, which is processed to generate initialization data and FEXT mitigation coefficients for use when the joining DSL lines become part of the vectored DSL line group.

Dynamic spectrum management level-3 (DSM3) or "vectoring" is a technique in DSL communication systems for mitigating the crosstalk inherent in twisted-pair networks by cancelling or precoding the signals from a multiplicity of collocated transceivers. Certain aspects of vectoring that can be considered background art are described in U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2009/0245340, U.S. Patent Publ. 2008/0049855, U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2010/0195478, U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2009/0271550, U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2009/0310502, U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2010/0046684 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,843,949.
Among other things, the G.vector (G.993.5) standard provides a framework for actively cancelling far-end crosstalk (FEXT) among lines in the vectored DSL system. This framework provides for lines to non-disruptively join the vectored system by enabling estimation of coefficients for mitigating FEXT (a precoder for downstream transmissions and a post-canceller for upstream transmissions) from and into the initializing (i.e., joining) lines. This framework is created by introducing new phases (signaling as well as messaging) and modifying some of the existing phases of initialization provided by the G.993.2 (VDSL2) standard. The new signaling phases introduced by G. vector may be broadly partitioned into two groups. The first group is vector-1 signals. These consist of sync symbols only with intervening silence (i.e., the transmitter goes quiet between sync symbols). Additionally, a predefined binary pilot sequence modulates tones of the sync-symbols. The primary purpose of vector-1 signals is to enable mitigation coefficient estimation for FEXT from the joining line(s) into the lines that are already in Showtime. The second group is vector-2 signals. These consist of sync symbols modulated by a pilot sequence as well as regular symbols carrying the special-operations channel (SOC) messages. The primary purpose of vector-2 signals is to enable mitigation coefficient estimation for FEXT into the joining line(s) (from other joining lines as well as from lines that are already in Showtime).
A typical G.vector initialization involves six distinct and non-overlapping G.vector signaling phases: Four non-overlapping phases comprising 0-P-VECTOR 1, R-P-VECTOR 1, 0-P-VECTOR1-1 and R-P-VECTOR 1-1; One phase of overlapped 0-P-VECTOR 2 and R-P-VECTOR 1-2; and One phase of overlapped 0-P-VECTOR 2-1 and R-P-VECTOR 2.
Pilot sequences are provisioned in G.vector to enable the accurate estimation of FEXT mitigation coefficients between any pair of lines in the vectored system. The G.vector standard allows the vector control entity (VCE) to assign the pilot sequence to each line; however, it does not specify any details on the sequences that must be used (i.e. their choice, composition, etc. can be vendor-discretionary).
A common process uses a set of orthogonal sequences, wherein every user is assigned a unique sequence of length (or period) L. For a vectored system of N users, FEXT mitigation coefficients on a given tone (or sub-carrier) between any pair of users can be unambiguously resolved at the end of a pilot sequence period if L≧N. This suggests that the duration of the vector-1 or vector-2 phases must be at least L sync-symbols (with L≧N) to guarantee successful estimation of FEXT mitigation coefficients between any pair of users on a specific tone. In an exemplary vectored system with N=512 users, where the system uses the pilot sequence process above, each new G.vector signaling phase must last at least 512 sync symbols (approximately 32 seconds for a 4 kHz symbol-rate system). Thus, a typical G.vector initialization would require more than three minutes (6 phases×32 seconds) of additional time over and above the time required for G.993.2 initialization (about 40 seconds). Three or four minutes for initializing a G.vector line before entering Showtime is highly undesirable from a customer perspective, and most of this type of delay would be due to additional time spent in the G.vector signaling phases. The problem can be further exacerbated when one pilot sequence period is insufficient to achieve vectored signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance that is reasonably close to ideal FEXT-free SNR due to the impact of noise in estimates of the FEXT mitigation coefficients, meaning multiple pilot-sequence periods may have to be accommodated in the G.vector signaling phases.
Accordingly, methods and apparatuses for reducing the time needed for G.vector initialization are desirable.

Systems and methods for G.vector initialization


A vibration damper assembly that may be attached and moved about a payload or optical mount surface of an optical structure such as an optical table. The vibration damper assembly may include a sensor and an actuator that may be disposed within a housing. In some embodiments, the vibration damper assembly or components thereof may be incorporated into an optical structure in the form of an optical component to be disposed or mounted on an optical mount surface of an optical structure such as an optical table. Embodiments of the vibration damper system may include a controller in communication with the damper assembly Embodiments of the controller may use adaptive tuning, auto-ranging selection of gain factors and other features in order to optimize damping performance.

In many experimental research and industrial applications equipment and methods are used that are adversely affected by vibration. Vibration may be intrinsically caused by the equipment and methods, or the vibration may be transferred to the equipment from the surrounding environment. As such, it is desirable in these circumstances to have a low vibration mount surface and mount components for mounting such sensitive equipment. One example of an optical structure with an optical mount surface is an optical table which is typically used for mounting optical equipment as well as other equipment that is sensitive to vibration. In order to reduce vibration transferred to an optical table, most optical tables are equipped with vibration isolators which reduce vibration transmitted to the table from the floor upon which the table rests.
The vibration isolators may be assembled to the table at predetermined locations to optimize damping of the vibrational modes of the optical table. Often, one or more vibration isolators are positioned between a coupling surface of the optical table and the one or more table supports or legs, thereby passively limiting the transmission of vibrational influences from the environment to the devices supported on the coupling surface of the table. Exemplary passive vibration isolators include fluid bladders, springs, shocks, foams, and the like.
An optical table itself, however, has its own natural frequencies and corresponding flexural vibration modes that can be easily excited by residual vibration coming through the isolators or by other sources such as acoustical excitation, air turbulence and dynamic forces generated by the payload equipment installed on the optical table. The main flexural vibration modes usually have a global character, which means that an excitation at any point of the table generates a vibration pattern encompassing the whole optical table structure. These natural vibrations are only very lightly damped, in general, and therefore can reach high amplitudes unless special damping means are introduced into the optical table structure. Some special damping means may include passive dampers that may be specifically tailored to natural frequencies of the optical table.
Passive dampers of various designs are widely used in construction of optical tables. The "Shock and Vibration Handbook", ed. By C. M. Harris, 4th edition, 1996; 5th edition, 2001, Ch. 37, provides a survey and a classification of dampers or damping treatments. According to this reference, known types of damping treatments include free-layer damping treatments, where the energy is dissipated by means of extensional deformation of a damping layer (made of visco-elastic material) induced by flexural vibration of the base structure. Also included are constrained-layer damping treatments, where the constraining layer helps induce relatively large shear deformations in the visco-elastic layer in response to flexural vibration of the base structure, thereby providing more effective energy dissipation mechanism. Also included are integral damping treatments, including use of damped laminated sheets and/or damped joints in the construction assembly and tuned passive dampers, which are essentially mass-spring systems having resonances which are matched or tuned to one or more resonance frequencies of the base structure. The application of the tuned damper replaces the resonance peak of the base structure, typically, by two peaks of lesser amplitude. Finally, damping links, i.e., visco-elastic elements joining two parts of the structure that experience large relative motion in the process of vibration are disclosed.
However, even with such passive damping equipment installed, an optical table or other optical structure may have vibration characteristics different than an analytical model that was used to tune such damping equipment. Additionally, differing payload configurations may create differing harmonic frequencies as well as differing nodes and anti-nodes in an optical table or other optical structure. Also, there is a growing demand for high precision and high throughput capabilities in the optoelectronics and semiconductor industries, as well as similar needs for modern scientific experimental instruments. These needs require higher damping performance of optical structures such as optical tables and optical components that may be mounted to optical mount surfaces of the optical tables.
In light of the foregoing, there is an ongoing need for methods and devices configured to efficiently reduce vibration in an optical structure that arise from a variety of vibration sources. In addition, there is a need for vibration damping capability that may be moved about an optical mount surface of an optical structure such as an optical table or the like in order to position the damping capability in the location where it is needed most. What has also been needed are systems and methods for applying vibration damping capability directly to optical components which may be mounted onto an optical mount surface of an optical structure. Also, there is a need for control systems for active vibration damper assemblies that are adaptable to payload changes on an optical structure, can accommodate a wide variety of vibration magnitude variations, can be easily or automatically tuned and can be incorporated into active vibration damping systems which may be produced at a modest cost.

Methods and devices for active vibration damping of an optical structure


A gas detection-use image processing device includes a processing part that performs first processing of acquiring a first image including a region image illustrating a region where a gas candidate has appeared, extracted from an infrared image, on each of a plurality of infrared images captured at a plurality of different times to acquire a plurality of first images. The gas detection-use image processing device also includes a decision part that decides similarity between two first images, in consideration of a movement of the region image in the two first images. The gas detection-use image processing device further includes a determination part that determines whether the gas candidate is a gas, based on the similarity decided by the decision part and whether the region image is moved.

When a gas leak occurs, a slight temperature change occurs in a region where the leaked gas is in the air. As a technology for detecting a gas by using this principle, there is known a gas detection using an infrared image.
For example, as the gas detection using an infrared image, Patent Literature 1 discloses a gas leak detection device including: an infrared camera that captures an image of a region of an inspected object, and an image processing unit that processes an infrared image captured by the infrared camera, in which the image processing unit includes a fluctuation extracting unit that extracts dynamic fluctuation due to a gas leak from a plurality of infrared images arranged in time series.
The inventor has found that, in a case where a camera for capturing an infrared image is installed at an angle where the sky is included in the background, there is a possibility that a moving cloud is detected as a gas.

Gas detection-use image processing device, gas detection-use image processing method, and gas detection-use image processing program


An illumination device having a body with attributes of a swivel/universal socket and/or typical ball-and-socket joint. The illumination device can be releasably coupled to surfaces and illuminate a specified surface by aiming the illumination device without needing to also move the base. Once the illumination device is aimed to illuminate the area of interest, the light body will remain in this position until further user input.

Illumination devices, such as flashlights, are often used in areas that are dimly lit and have restricted space, making it difficult to perform certain jobs. It is preferable to mount the illumination device in restricted spaces and aim the illumination device to illuminate a desired surface without requiring a user to hold the device. Illumination devices can be coupled to mountable bases that allow for some adjustment to aim the illumination device, such as flashlight holders. A variety of illumination devices are also known, such as LED penlights, lights with bendable shafts, platform lights mounted to bases that can slide and swivel, etc. However, current illumination devices are usually bulky, have limited aiming adjustments, and/or require a user to hold the device.


A memory is disclosed having a plurality of memory cells in a memory array arranged in rows and columns, each of the memory cells capable of storing a logic state therein. Each pair of bit lines is associated with one of the columns. A column decoder selects a column in the array responsive to a column address. A plurality of word line drivers selects, in response to a row address, a row of memory cells for connection with their associated pair of bit lines. A plurality of row isolation circuits isolates and enables a selected group of memory cells of each row from the remainder of the row in response to a bulk write signal. Each row isolation circuit has a conduction path between its associated word line driver and the selected memory cells in the associated row. A bulk write signal is sent to each column containing the selected memory cells. A first logic state is then written into the selected memory cells in response to the bulk write signal.

Computer systems utilize cache memories to enhance system performance. A data cache contains the cached data, and a cache tag memory contains a portion of the address field, usually the most significant bits, of the addresses of the data stored in the cache. A processor, when making a memory access, accesses the desired memory location through the cache. If the desired location is already in the cache, access is complete. If it is not, the memory location is fetched from main system memory and loaded into the cache.
Any device used in specialty designs such as cache memories must take special device functions into consideration. For example, cache memories must occasionally be cleared, or written to in a bulk write operation. Often times the cache tag memory contains a valid bit for each address location, which is cleared to invalidate each entry. One technique for clearing cache memories utilizes a bulk write operation, which clears the entire memory in the cache tag for all tag bits including the valid bits. This allows the entire memory to be reset in a single step.
Special functions such as bulk write operations must be properly handled by any device design. Designs which improve device speed often do so at the expense of being able to handle more complex functions. Devices which can perform more complex functions such as flash clear often must sacrifice speed in order to do so.
Conventional memory devices such as static random access memories (SRAMs) are generally arranged in rows and columns. In these memory devices, a row select line, generally decoded from a row address value, connects each of a number of memory cells associated with the row address value to a pair of associated bit lines; each pair of bit lines is associated with a column of memory cells.
In prior systems, to clear the memory, traditional methods would clear the entire memory upon power up of the system or invalidation upon switching between programs by storing a zero in all of the memory locations by various methods. One method requires sequentially addressing all of the memory locations and forcing a zero therein. Another method of clearing the entire memory requires selecting all word lines and then writing a selected logic state into all cells.
One disadvantage to forcing all memory cells to zero is that drivers must be present which can drive all of the memory locations to a "0" logic state. The drive requirements for switching capacitances of the word lines and bit lines, thus clearing all of the memory cells, results in relatively large drive transistors. The resulting peak current of these methods often exceeds acceptable limits. If the entire memory can be cleared, one section at a time, for example, the current transients can be minimized or staggered. This approach, however, requires additional time to clear the entire memory.
Another method for clearing memory cells requires unbalancing the memory cells by raising ground on one side of cross coupled inverters. This method has been typically used with full CMOS cells. A disadvantage of this type of selective clearing is that some type of interconnection is required for each of the memory cells which increases the amount of space occupied by the memory array. To clear the memory cells, each column of memory cells requires a separate run of conductive material to interface with each of the memory cells for the clear function.
It is not necessary, however, to clear the entire memory. Only valid bits in cache applications, for example, need to be cleared. With larger densities, it is desirable to confine clear, or bulk write, functions to only a portion of the memory to reduce transient current and time required to clear the memory. There, therefore, exists a need for a more versatile memory that allows clearing of less than all of the memory cells.
It would be desirable for the invention to provide a circuit in a semiconductor memory which isolates a selected group of memory cells for clearing. It would further be desirable to provide a means of isolating the selected group of memory cells of each row from the remainder of the row in response to a bulk write signal. It would yet be desirable to bulk write to each memory cell in each column of the selected group of memory cells. Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having reference to the following specification together with the drawings.


A system (40) for identifying proximate devices (1,2) comprises at least one correlation server (5) for correlating data received from the devices so as to match two or more of the devices and at least one application server (6) for carrying out an application involving matched devices. The at least one correlation server (5) and the at least one application server (6) are distinct servers so as to provide a greater flexibility and scalability. The devices (1,2) may be mobile consumer devices.

Mobile devices, such as mobile (cellular) telephones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), laptop computers, and (portable) gaming consoles increasingly have multiple functions. Modern mobile telephones, for example, are not only suitable for making telephone calls but often also include a calculator, a calendar, and even games. Mobile phone games are typically designed for a single player, involving only the mobile device they are played on. However, some types of games require multiple players, each player using his/her own device. Before a multiple player game can begin, the players have to be selected and, accordingly, their mobile devices have to be identified.
It is possible to identify other mobile (or non-mobile) devices using a stored phone list containing the telephone numbers of other mobile devices and the respective names of their owners. However, the phone list contains no information regarding the availability and proximity of the other mobile devices. If a multiple player game is to be played with a group of players who are located in each other's vicinity, for example within viewing distance, the mobile devices of that group have to be identified in another way. Of course it is possible to manually enter the telephone numbers of participating mobile devices, if these numbers are known. However, this is cumbersome and prone to errors, in particular when the telephone numbers have to be read aloud.
Using Bluetooth© for identifying devices is also cumbersome. An elaborate procedure is required in which another device is selected from a so-called device discovery list and a password may be required to enable Bluetooth© pairing. This procedure is neither quick nor effortless.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple yet effective identification mechanism for mobile devices located in each other's vicinity.
Such an identification mechanism can also be used in mobile devices other than mobile telephones, for example in PDAs, laptop computers and so-called notebook computers. An identification mechanism may not only be used in gaming applications, as PDAs and similar devices may in general need to identify other devices in order to initiate a transaction between the devices. An example of a transaction is exchanging information, such as data files, calendar appointments, and other information.
The identification mechanism would primarily be used for (mobile or non-mobile) devices which are located in each other's vicinity, as remote devices would not likely be involved in a multiple player game or data exchange. In particular, it is often desired to invite (the owner of) a device to join a game, to engage in gaming interaction, to exchange a data file, to exchange an electronic business card, to carry out a financial transaction or to exchange calendar data when (the owner of) the device is in view. For the invited device to join the game or exchange data, it first has to be identified. Accordingly, there is a need to automatically identify proximate devices and to subsequently activate a service, such as a game, involving the identified proximate devices.
International Patent Application WO2009/014438 (TNO/KPN) discloses an application server that uses a method of identifying proximate mobile devices by means of sensory identifiers. A detected sensory identifier, such as a particular sound or image, may be verified in the server. Such a verification by the server makes it unnecessary for the mobile devices to contain verification software and/or hardware, thus keeping the mobile devices relatively simple and hence inexpensive. The mutual identification resulting from this known method is typically used to initiate a game, transaction or other activity. This further activity requires suitable software running on the server. The obvious choice for the server for carrying out the further activity (game, transaction) resulting from the identification would be the server used for the identification process. However, when different servers are provided for performing several different further activities, several servers would be used, each server providing both the identification and the resulting activity. This would, however, require multiple instances of the identification process. In addition, each server would have to have the resources (memory, processing capacity) to run both the identification and the activity applications, thus making the servers relatively expensive.

Servers for device identification services

Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO


A portable insulin delivery device that supplies insulin in a pre-pressurized chamber, passes the insulin through a pressure-dropping labyrinth to a flow control valve. The valve is activated by a piezoelectric actuator. This allows for precise insulin delivery. An electronic package provides for programming of basal rates and bolus. A pressure sensor relays data concerning normal operation and pressure changes that indicate problems. The processor, keypad, displays power source, fluid pressure sensor and fluid flow control actuator are housed in a base unit. A removable cartridge unit houses the pre-pressurized fluid reservoir, flow path labyrinth, and flow control valve.

The present invention relates to fluid drug delivery devices and, in particular, it concerns a portable insulin delivery device.
There are known portable insulin delivery devices, commonly referred to as insulin pumps, that generally consist of a pump mechanism, an insulin container, a processor, and a power source for the processor and pump mechanism. The pump mechanisms of prior art generally use motor driven push rods to push a piston into the insulin containment region of the insulin container, thus forcing the insulin into a delivery tube and therefore into the patient. The inventions of prior art have gone to great lengths to devise variation of the motor driven push rod and piston assembly that is accurate, reliable, and space efficient. Disclosures representative of this case of devices will be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,248,093, 5,637,095, 5,097,122, and 5,505,709. Devices based on this configuration suffer from two inherent problems, the motor and the push rod and piston assembly, as discussed in the following paragraphs.
The amount of insulin delivered to the patient is therefore controlled by the speed at which the motor turns (RPM's) and the amount of time the motor is turning. The accuracy of insulin delivery is, then, dependent on the reliability and accuracy of the motor. Variations on RPM's will cause variations in the amount of insulin delivered to the patient. Due to a limited power supply the motor is turned on and off at preset intervals. Even when the system is operating properly, the medication is delivered in "spurts" and the delivery rate is determined as an average over time.
As the motor turns, it moves a push rod, which in turn moves a piston that forces the insulin out of the container. The seal between the piston and the side of the container must be very tight in order to prevent leakage of insulin. A side effect of this tightness is the tendency of the piston to move forward at an uneven rate. That is to say, that the piston may stick and then jump forward. This uneven movement of the piston causes uneven delivery of the insulin to the patient.
The prior art has developed elaborate devices to detect and respond to occlusion and other flow rate or system malfunctions as is demonstrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,097,122, 5,462,525, 4,619,653, and 5,647,853. In cases of occlusion, most commonly these devices allow the motor to continue to push against the blockage. Due the limitation of the motor, and since this happens only in cases of full occlusion, this is not a very satisfactory solution. Further, if the blockage is opened, the pressure built up in the container and delivery tube is released through the tube, thereby forcing a possibility dangerously larger than prescribed dose of insulin into the patient. One proactive approach to occlusion includes the use of "inert" cleaning fluid being pumped through the device and into the patient.
There is therefore a need for a portable insulin delivery device that is able to deliver the insulin at a substantially consistent dosage rate, quickly detect flow rate malfunction, overcome blockage with substantially no affect on the prescribed dosage or the use of non-medicative cleaning fluids, and has very low energy requirements. It would be preferable if the device had low power requirements, and was more compact and economical than devices currently in use.


A direct conversion circuit that not only down-converts the received modulated signal using a down-converting mixer into a baseband signal, but also, after performing a passive low pass filtering to remove higher-order components, performs up-conversion of the baseband signal using an up-converting mixer. Active elements such as highly sensitive amplifiers do not operate on the baseband signal itself, but on the up-converted version of that baseband signal, thereby reducing the 1/f noise introduced by those active elements. The downstream circuitry after the up-conversion may be coupled by intervening capacitors since the downstream circuitry is operating on a higher frequency signal. Accordingly, the DC offset introduced by the downstream active elements is reduced.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to analog integrated circuit design, and more particularly, to up-converting a down-converted baseband signal in a direct conversion architecture without the baseband signal passing through active elements.
2. Background and Related Art
Electrical signals have proven to be an effective means of conveying data from one location to another. The further a signal is transmitted, however, the greater the decay in the signal and the greater the chance for irreversible loss in the data represented by the signal. In order to guard against this signal decay, the core electrical signal that represents the data (i.e., the baseband signal) may be modulated or superimposed on a carrier wave in the Radio Frequency (RF) frequency spectrum.
In order to properly interpret the signal, conventional RF receivers extracts the baseband signal from the received signal. The data represented by the extracted baseband signal may then be interpreted by other downstream circuitry. In order to perform this extraction, typical receivers include circuitry which first converts the received radio frequency modulated signal into an intermediate frequency ("IF") signal. This intermediate frequency signal is then converted into the baseband signal for further data processing. Receiver architectures that convert through the intermediate frequency are often called "heterodyne" receiver architectures. Naturally, circuit elements (called "IF components") are required in order to deal with the intermediate conversion to and from the intermediate frequency.
It is desirable to reduce the cost, size, and power consumption of a particular receiver architecture design for strategic marketing of the receiver. This is particularly true of wireless RF receivers since those receivers are often portable and run on battery power.
One technology developed in order to reduce RF receiver cost, size, and power consumption is called "direct conversion." Direct conversion refers to the direct conversion of RF modulated signals into corresponding baseband signals without requiring conversion through the intermediate frequency. Such direct conversion receiver architectures are often also called "zero-IF," "synchrodyne," or "homodyne" receiver architectures.
FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional direct conversion circuit 400 in accordance with the prior art. The circuit 400 includes an antenna 401 which receives the RF modulated signal. The antenna 401 then provides the received signal to an amplifier 402 which amplifies the signal for further processing. The amplifier 402 may be, for example, an RF low noise amplifier.
The amplified signal is then split into two branches, an "in-phase" branch 410, and a "quadrature-phase" branch 420. Each branch includes a mixer that initially receives the amplified signal. For instance, the in-phase branch 410 includes an in-phase mixer 411, and the quadrature-phase branch 420 includes a quadrature-phase mixer 421. A local oscillator 430 provides a sine or square wave signal as a control signal to each of the mixers. Each mixer is configured to nonlinearly process the amplified signal and control signal, resulting in output signal components at frequencies equal to the sum and difference of amplified signal and control signal frequencies, plus higher-order components at other frequencies. The circuit includes a 90-degree phase shifter 431 which causes the control signal for the quadrature-phase mixer 421 to be 90 degrees out of phase with the control signal for the in-phase mixer 411.
The signal from the in-phase mixer 411 is then passed through a low pass filter 412 to a baseband amplifier 413 to complete the extraction of the baseband (difference frequency) signal from the received signal as far as the in-phase branch 410 is concerned. Likewise, the signal from the quadrature-phase mixer 421 is passed through a low pass filter 422 to a baseband amplifier 423 to complete the extraction of the baseband (difference frequency) signal as far as the quadrature-phase branch is concerned. The in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals are then processed by signal processing circuitry 450.
The direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 does not convert through an intermediate frequency and thus there are no IF components needed to deal with an intermediate conversion. Consequently, the direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 is smaller, and requires less power than conventional heterodyne receiver architectures. Furthermore, the direct conversion circuit does not have to deal with image suppression as much as do heterodyne receivers.
However, there are some performance issues for the direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 that limit its practical implementation. In particular, conventional direct conversion circuits suffer from Direct Current (DC) offset and 1/f noise. The DC offset in conventional direct conversion receivers has two primary origins. One primary origin is the down-converting mixer itself in which the DC offset are self-mixing DC products present at the mixer outputs. The other primary DC offset origin is in active elements, such as highly sensitive amplifiers, that operate on the down-converted baseband signal. Such DC offsets can swamp out the much weaker desired signal.
The active element (such as the active mixer and the highly sensitive amplifier) that operates on the baseband signal may also introduce significant 1/f noise. 1/f noise refers to a phenomenon whereby the level of noise introduced by an active element is much higher when operating on signals having a frequency spectrum that favors lower frequencies. Baseband signals tend to have frequency spectrums that tend towards lower frequencies as compared to the modulated form of the signal. Accordingly, the active elements that operate on the baseband signal in direct conversion circuits tend to introduce high levels of noise thereby adversely degrading the signal-to-noise ratio.
Direct conversion circuits have many advantages in terms of size, power consumption, and cost to manufacture. In addition, direct conversion circuits also have good selectivity and the mitigation of an image frequency. However, as mentioned above, many direct conversion circuits also have some drawbacks in the form of increased DC offset and 1/f noise. According, what would be advantageous are direct conversion circuits that have reduced exposure to DC offset and 1/f noise.

Up-conversion of a down-converted baseband signal in a direct conversion architecture without the baseband signal passing through active elements


A process for mounting an outer bearing ring involves press fitting a stamp into the outer ring so that the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring assumes the shape of the stamp. Using the stamp, the outer ring is then press fitted into the recess of a machine part so that the contour of the external peripheral surface of the outer ring is plastically molded through axial stretching into the machine part. To mount an inner ring, a stamp with a bore is press fitted onto the inner ring so that the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring pressing against the stamp assumes the shape of the bore of the stamp. Using the stamp, the inner ring is then press fitted onto the machine part and the contour of the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring is plastically molded through axial flow forming into the machine part.

The pressing of bearing rings into, for example, the bore of a bearing housing or onto a shaft is known. To ensure a secure seating of the bearing rings, the bearing rings are press fitted into the bore and/or onto the shaft with an overlap which depends on the specific requirements of the application. However, this typically involves competing concerns. On the one hand, an overlap as great as possible is desirable to produce a fixed and permanent seating of the bearing. On the other hand, an overlap as small as possible is preferable to avoid the negative consequences of press fitting, such as deformation of the bearing ring and the resulting out-of-roundness or even damage to the bearing ring and damage to the seat.
Particularly when high demands are placed on the dimensional accuracy and roundness in the region of the raceway or the bearing surface of the bearing ring, the typical method of proceeding is to first manufacture the bearing ring as precisely as possible and to then design the mounting process in such a way that the bearing ring is deformed as little as possible during mounting so that its dimensions are thus altered as little as possible. For this purpose, the bearing ring is positioned as carefully as possible on the seat that is provided for the bearing ring, for example in a housing bore or on a shaft and, if necessary, secured against creep.
Axial locking can be achieved by way of shoulders or stop faces and, for example, clamping rings or nuts provided for this purpose. However, locking the bearing ring against twisting is significantly more difficult. In principle, it is possible to use machine parts which engage with a form fit. However, this requires a relatively large outlay and thus frequently involves relatively high costs. Locking by way of fitting, which is more favorable with respect to costs and outlay, is typically only utilized for the range of smaller overlaps, because otherwise the precisely manufactured bearing rings are unacceptably deformed. This practice is thus restricted to fields of use with lower stresses.
DE 34 09 247 A1 discloses a process for producing bearing seats precisely on axes in light metal die cast parts in which needle bushings are press fit into calibrated sintered parts. Press fitting a hardened bearing bushing into a non-hardened bushing is discussed in DE 21 17 018 C2. The two-part bearing ring produced in this way is pressed with the aid of a mandrel into a matrix, with the external diameter of the bearing ring being calibrated through extrusion.
A need thus exists for a way of mounting bearing rings which is able to fulfill the very high demands for dimensional accuracy of the mounted bearing rings while at the same time ensuring durable and loadable fixing of the bearing rings.