A treating device according to the present invention comprises: a transmitting member for transmitting energy, for treating living body tissue, to the living body tissue; an outer sheath through which the transmitting member is passed; and a grasping section supported at the tip end portion of the outer sheath so as to be capable of turning with respect to the transmitting member, which allows the living body tissue to be grasped against the transmitting member. With such an arrangement, curved portions are formed on each of the transmitting member and the grasping section such that the transmitting member and the grasping section are in close contact. Furthermore, an edge portion is provided to a tip end portion of the transmitting member, at the side of the transmitting member in the direction toward which the grasping section heads, at the time of the grasping section turning on the turning axis toward the transmitting member so as to close.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treating device, and more particularly relates to a treating device wherein living body tissue is grasped between an ultrasonic probe and a jaw, and the living body tissue is subjected to treatment such as incision, excision, coagulation, dissection, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As of recent years, procedures have come to be performed wherein a slender endoscope is inserted into the body cavity so as to observe organs within the body cavity, and perform various types of medical treatment under endoscope observation as necessary.
One known method of the aforementioned medical treatment performed under endoscope observation is to perform medical treatment using a treating device. In the event that such a treating device uses ultrasonic waves for example as the energy for subjecting the living organism to treatment, the treating device is configured as an ultrasonic treating device, and is configured so as to enable treatment such as incision, excision, coagulation, or the like, by the living body tissue being grasped between an ultrasonic probe and a jaw.
Generally, such an ultrasonic treating device has a configuration in which an operator-side operating unit is connected to the base end portion of an outer sheath of an insertion portion, with an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic vibrations being disposed at this operating unit and a treating section for treating the living body tissue being disposed on the tip portion of the outer sheath of the insertion portion.
Also, a vibration transmitting member which is an ultrasonic probe for transmitting ultrasonic vibrations from the ultrasonic transducer to the treating section side is inserted through the interior of the outer sheath of the insertion portion. The base end portion of the vibration transmitting member is connected to the ultrasonic transducer. Further, a jaw is disposed on the treating section so as to be turnable as to the ultrasonic probe (vibration transmitting member).
Also, an operating handle for performing opening/closing operations of the jaw as to the ultrasonic probe is provided to the operating unit. Further, a jaw operating rod is inserted through the interior of the outer sheath of the insertion portion so as to be capable of advancing/retracting in the axial direction. The operating rod advances/retracts in the axial direction in accordance with the operations of the operating handle, so that the jaw of the treating section performs opening/closing operations as to the ultrasonic probe in accordance with the advancing/retracting actions of the operating rod. Such an arrangement enables the living body tissue to be grasped between the ultrasonic probe and the jaw by performing the closing operation of the jaw.
Next, the ultrasonic treating device transmits ultrasonic vibrations from the ultrasonic transducer to the treating section side via the vibration transmitting member, with the living body tissue thus grasped, thereby performing treatment such as incision, excision, coagulation, or the like, of tissue or blood vessels or the like while coagulating the living body tissue so as to prevent hemorrhaging due to frictional heat from mechanical vibrations.
Also, the reverse face from the grasping face on the tip side of the ultrasonic probe may be used with the ultrasonic treating device, so as to perform dissection treatment of living body tissue, such as dissecting the gallbladder from the liver.
A greater number of proposals have been made with such ultrasonic treating device with respect to conventional devices, in order to perform treatment such as incision, excision, coagulation, dissection, etc., of living body tissue, more efficiently.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-78714 discloses art relating to ultrasonic treating devices wherein, in addition to performing coagulation and incision of living body tissue while grasping the living body tissue between a treating section of a vibration transmission member which is an ultrasonic probe and a grasping section of a jaw, a spatula-shaped portion is provided on the tip end of the ultrasonic probe so as to facilitate dissection processing of living body tissue with the spatula-shaped portion.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,118 B1 discloses art relating to ultrasonic treating devices wherein a tip portion is formed in a non-symmetrical curved shape as to the plane of turning direction of a jaw, and further, an edge portion is provided in the generally axial direction on a face of a vibration transmitting member which is an ultrasonic probe, opposite to a grasping face where living body tissue is grasped, thereby enabling dissecting processing in addition to performing incision, excision, and coagulation of living body tissue.


A workload of a virtualized computing environment is rebalanced by resizing and/or moving one or more virtual machines allocated resources from a shared pool of resources in the virtualized computing environment based upon multiple resource capacities specified for each virtual machine and representing different portions of the resources from the shared pool of resources, e.g., minimum and desired resource capacities.

The invention is generally related to computers and computer software, and in particular, to logically-partitioned and virtualized computing environments.
Computing technology has advanced at a remarkable pace, with each subsequent generation of computing system increasing in performance, functionality, and storage capacity, often at reduced cost. In addition, workload allocation of computing and other hardware resources is often employed to maximize the utilization of hardware resources such as processors, memories, networks, storage devices, etc., and thereby reduce the overall costs necessary for supporting a desired workload capacity. Optimizing workload allocation can also have a positive impact on power costs and environmental concerns due to a reduction in the amount of hardware resources required to support a given workload.
Many computer or data processing systems employ virtualization, also referred to as logical partitioning, which enables one or more individual physical computers to each run several operating environments, or operating systems, at once in a virtualized computing environment. In some instances, for example, a single physical computer, which may also be referred to as a host, can run a plurality of operating systems in a corresponding plurality of virtual machines (VMs), also referred to as logical partitions (LPARs). Each operating system resides in its own virtual machine, with each virtual machine allocated a part of a physical processor, an entire physical processor, or multiple physical processors from the computer. Additionally, a portion of the computer's memory may be allocated to each virtual machine. An underlying partition manager, often referred to as a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM), manages and controls the virtual machines. The hypervisor is typically a part of the system firmware and manages the allocation of resources to the operating systems and virtual machines. As such, one physical computer may run one or more virtual machines and thus virtualize the underlying hardware resources used by the applications, operating systems, and other program code configured to operate in those virtual machines.
Virtualization is increasingly used in data centers and cloud computing applications, which may provide for cost efficiencies through elastic computing, whereby hardware resources from multiple hosts are provisioned and de-provisioned based on workload changes. In such applications, individual workloads may change over time, and as such virtualization may be employed to effectively multiplex hardware resources over multiple workloads to provide an overall greater resource utilization. In order to balance costs, an assumption may be made that not all workloads will run with maximum resource requirements at the same time, so fewer hardware resources than the sum of all maximum resource requirements for workloads may be allocated for a given set of workflows, resulting in the hardware resources being overcommitted. As one example, a cloud provider may allocate more virtual processors (CPUs) across multiple virtual machines on a particular host computer under the assumption that some of the virtual machines will only run at off-peak hours when other virtual machines are shut down or otherwise deactivated.
Some data centers and cloud computing applications may also support the virtualization of other types of hardware resources, such as storage devices and networks, which may enable virtual machines to access virtual networks and/or storage devices, and with the particulars of the underlying hardware supporting such virtual entities managed in a manner that is effectively hidden from the virtual machines. The allocation of such hardware resources to virtual machines may also impact performance and efficiency, as overloading networks and/or storage devices can lead to slow response times, and in some instances, to an inability of a virtual machine to connect to an underlying hardware resource.
In some virtualized computing environments, types of resources such as processors, memory, storage, networks, etc. are managed in shared pools, and virtual machines are placed on one or more hosts based upon resource capacities assigned to such virtual machines. These resource capacities may, in some instances, be specified by administrators or even consumers, and may represent portions of a shared pool of resources that are to be allocated to particular virtual machines. For example, in some environments, a virtual machine may be assigned one or more processor cores and/or fractions of a processor core (e.g., 1.5 CPUs from 10 CPUs available in the shared pool), or may be assigned a portion of the computing power of one or more processor cores (e.g., 1 GHz from 40 GHz available in the shared pool).
Optimizing the placement of virtual machines and the allocation of hardware resources to virtual machines can improve the performance and responsiveness of virtual machines while also utilizing the resources of a virtual computing environment in an efficient and cost effective manner. Accordingly, a continuing need exists in the art for optimizing the placement of virtual machines and the allocation of hardware resources in a virtual computing environment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rebalancing virtual resources for virtual machines based on multiple resource capacities

International Business Machines Corporation


A sensor arrangement for an internal combustion engine so as to provide a signal when one cylinder of the engine is at a pre-determined position. The sensor arrangement includes an inductive sensor that is mounted directly in the cam cover of the engine and which cooperates directly with one of the cam lobes.

This invention relates to a cylinder discriminating sensor layout and more particularly to an improved arrangement for providing a signal indicative of the phase relationship of an internal combustion engine.
As is well known, many controls for an internal combustion engine are dependent upon the phase angle of the output shaft of the engine. Where multiple cylinder engines are employed, it is also necessary to determine not only the phase angle of the output shaft but which cylinder is at its top dead center position at a given point in time. Alternatively, a reference signal is generated when one cylinder of the engine is at top dead center so that the control system can discriminate which cylinder is firing at a given phase angle of the engine output shaft.
Sensors of the aforenoted types are normally mounted in proximity to the output shaft of the engine. However, such measurements directly from the engine output shaft have some disadvantages. The first of these disadvantages is that the crankshaft of the engine is normally a relatively inaccessible component and if the sensors are mounted in proximity to the crankshaft they also become inaccessible. Furthermore, it is very difficult to check the conditions of these sensors and/or the wire leads leading to them when such remote positioning is employed.
In addition to these disadvantages, when the engine operates on a four stroke cycle, not only is it necessary to determine when a given cylinder is at its top dead center position but also whether this cylinder is at top dead center at a time when it is fired or when it is merely completed the end of its exhaust stroke and the beginning of the next intake stroke. This problem may be avoided by operating the sensors off of another shaft that is driven from the crankshaft at one half engine speed. However, such additional shaft drives not only complicate the construction but also give rise to problems in where the sensors will be located.
It is, therefore, a principal object to this invention to provide a cylinder discriminating sensor layout for an internal combustion engine wherein the sensor is positioned in a readily accessible area.
It is a further object to this invention to provide a cylinder discriminating sensor layout for an internal combustion engine wherein the sensor cooperates with a shaft of the engine which is normally driven at one half engine output shaft speed but which does not require the use of an auxiliary shaft solely for the sensor.
It is a further object to this invention to provide an improved mounting arrangement for an internal combustion engine sensor that places the sensor in an easily accessed position and also places the sensor where it can not be contaminated and the leads going to it can be readily inspected.
A further problem with sensors of the afornoted types is that the mounting of not only the sensor but also the element on the shaft with which it cooperates is critical. That is, if the sensor is not mounted accurately, then the timing positions will be incorrect. Furthermore, sensors of the types previously proposed have required the provision of a sending element that is fixed to the shaft with which the sensor cooperates. If this element is not correctly positioned on the shaft, timing errors can also result.
It is, therefore, a further object to this invention to provide an improved sensor arrangement for an engine wherein the sensor can cooperate with an element of the engine rather than a separate part which must be fixed to an element of the engine.
It is well known in four cycle engines to drive the camshafts at one half engine speed. Therefore, the camshafts themselves provide a readily accessible shaft which is driven at one half engine speed and which can provide the necessary sensor arrangement without necessitating an additional shaft. However, sensor arrangements that cooperate with engine camshafts have, heretofore, required the provision of an additional element on the camshaft to cooperate with the sensor to provide a signal.
It is, therefore, a still further object to this invention to provide an improved sensor arrangement for an internal combustion engine wherein the sensor signals are derived directly from a cam lobe of the camshaft.
A further disadvantage of previously proposed sensor arrangements for cooperation with the camshafts of engines has been that the sensor itself has been mounted either within the cam cover of the engine and/or on some element that places the sensor in a awkward or difficult place to access, such as the cylinder head or the like.
It is, therefore, a still further object to this invention to provide an improved sensor arrangement for cooperation with the camshaft and wherein the sensor is carried directly by the cam cover of the engine.


Described are a method and system for diluting a sample in a liquid chromatography system. A sample flowing at a first flow rate is combined for a predetermined time with a diluent flowing at a second flow rate to generate a volume of diluted sample. The diluted sample has a dilution ratio determined according to the two flow rates. A portion of the volume is loaded into a sample loop of an injection valve and subsequently injected into a mobile phase flowing to a chromatography column. The method eliminates the need to have a technician available to perform dilutions or to transfer the sample to a remote location for dilution. Advantageously, manufacturing or processing downtime to perform the dilution is not required and the amount of sample flowing to waste is reduced.

High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems sometimes require that a sample be diluted before it is injected into the mobile phase flowing to a chromatography column. Various reasons exist for diluting the sample prior to injection. For example, a system may not be capable of injecting a sufficiently small quantity of sample (e.g., picoliters) to avoid a mass overload condition for the chromatography column. Alternatively, the native solvent containing the sample may be inappropriate for the stationary phase due to a physical property (e.g., pH level) of the solvent. In another example, the sample may be dissolved in a strong solvent that interacts with the stationary phase, leading to ambiguous results in the chromatogram.
Dilutions can be performed manually by a skilled technician; however, it is not always practical to keep a technician available to perform dilutions. In many instances, the technician and equipment for performing the dilution are located an inconvenient distance from the HPLC system. Significant delay can occur if the sample is transferred to a remote location for dilution, potentially resulting in manufacturing or processing downtime. Moreover, the additional inconvenience of tracking the transported sample is often necessary.
The present invention addresses the problems set forth above and provides additional advantages.

Automated dilution for liquid chromatography


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, system, and computer program product for implementing user specific encryption in a database system. A computer receives a query statement including a user specific key and data, the data including data needing encryption and non-encrypted data. The computer encrypts the data needing encryption using the user specific key. The computer inserts both the encrypted data and the non-encrypted data into a table row in a database. The computer creates a hash of the user specific key, and stores the hash of the user specific key in the table row with the data.

Enormous amounts of data are being stored through web applications every day. Computer databases allow storage of digital data in an organized format that allows for searches to retrieve a particular subset of data utilizing specialized commands in a query language, such as Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL allows data entry, manipulation, and deletion. SQL statements can be generated by a client application based on user input or stored in database procedures to be run on a schedule or on request by a Database Administrator (DBA). The SQL is executed by a Database Management System (DBMS), which is a software system designed to allow administration of a database and to control access to a database.
Within a database, some data tables may contain both user sensitive information, such as birthdates, credit card numbers, etc., as well as non-sensitive information. Data protection is required to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. Most databases are protected by a single userid or "machine id" for all users to access the data. A second method of data protection includes the use of a unique database userid and password for each individual user, along with table definitions that include a field to allow segregation of data by the userid. This last approach requires maintenance by a Database Administrator (DBA) to create a new userid for each user and set permission access by table for each new userid, which can be time consuming on a busy database. While database files are typically encrypted as a whole, this does not prevent authorized users from seeing all the data in the table. Some encryption of table fields may be performed, but it is time and resource consuming to decrypt all rows when doing searches, causing a slow-down of database performance.

Field level database encryption using a transient key


A method of aligning die and stamping substrate for nano-imprint lithography is described. The method includes aligning the die by linearly displacing the die along a first axis using a first flexure member and pressing the die along a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis while maintaining coupling of the die with the first flexure member.

A disk drive system includes one or more magnetic recording disks and control mechanisms for storing data within approximately circular tracks on the disk. A disk is composed of a substrate and one or more layers deposited on the substrate (e.g., aluminum). A trend in the design of disk drive systems is to increase the recording density of the magnetic recording disk used in the system. One method for increasing recording density is to pattern the surface of the disk with discrete tracks, referred to as discrete track recording (DTR). A DTR pattern may be formed by nano-imprint lithography (NIL) techniques, in which a pre-embossed forming tool (a.k.a., stamper, embosser, etc.), having an inverse pattern to be imprinted, is pressed into an embossable film (i.e., polymer) disposed above a disk substrate to form an initial pattern of compressed areas. This initial pattern ultimately forms a pattern of raised and recessed areas. After stamping the embossable film, an etching process may be used to transfer the pattern through the embossable film by removing the residual film in the compressed areas. After the imprint lithography process, another etching process may be used to form the pattern in a layer (e.g., substrate, nickel-phosphorous, soft magnetic layer, etc.) residing underneath the embossable film.
One prior DTR structure contains a pattern of concentric raised areas and recessed areas under a magnetic recording layer. The raised areas (also known as hills, lands, elevations, etc.) are used for storing data and the recessed areas (also known as troughs, valleys, grooves, etc.) provide inter-track isolation to reduce noise. The raised areas may have a width less than the width of the recording head such that portions of the head extend over the recessed areas during operation. The recessed areas have a depth relative to fly height of a recording head and raised areas. The recessed areas are sufficiently distanced from the head to inhibit storage of data by the head in the magnetic layer directly below the recessed areas. The raised areas are sufficiently close to the head to enable the writing of data in the magnetic layer directly on the raised areas. Therefore, when data are written to the recoding medium, the raised areas correspond to the data tracks. The recessed areas isolate the raised areas (e.g., the data tracks) from one another, resulting in data tracks that are defined both physically and magnetically.
A press may be used to imprint embossable films residing on one or both sides of a disk substrate. The press utilizes a die for each side of the disk to be imprinted. The die is coupled to a stamper that is pressed into the film to form the imprinted pattern in the film. A DTR disk may not be viable if the imprinting surface of the stamper is not concentrically aligned with the center of a disk substrate. This requirement may be particularly important when data tracks are generated on both sides of the disk because the data tracks on each side need to be in co-axial alignment with each other. As such, the imprinting of an embossable film above a disk substrate requires an alignment step, in which a centerline of the disk is aligned with a centerline of the imprinting surface, before the embossable film is actually imprinted.
Conventional presses utilize 2 and 4 post precision die sets to attain alignment of the top and bottom dies used to imprint films on each side of a disk. A 4-post die set is illustrated in FIG. 1. One problem with such post die sets is that the posts contain bushings or ball bearing sleeves (guides) that wear out or seals that leak lubricant over repeated use. Another problem with such die sets is that the multiple posts hinder access to the die space. Furthermore, current specialized press alignment methods typically require the use of an air bearing supported die that is adjusted to correct for alignment offset. In addition, such presses must be stopped, the die must then be unclamped, supporting air pressure applied, positional adjustments made, supporting air pressure removed, and the die be re-clamped in order to secure the alignment. As a result, the use of such presses results in high maintenance costs due to frequent mechanical wear and breakdown of components, inconsistent accuracy and reliability, and slower manufacturing cycle times.

Method of aligning a die and stamping a substrate for nano-imprint lithography


An optical pointing device for instructing a predetermined operation by moving an index over a display screen of a computer is configured such that a plurality of photocouplers are arranged on vertical sides and horizontal sides of a rectangular operation plane at a predetermined pitch in such a manner that lines of action thereof cross each other at a right angle, coordinates of a first shading pointer contacted to the surface of the operation plane are detected by the photocouplers, coordinates of a second shading pointer contacted to the surface of the operation plane are then detected, and a moving direction is set from the coordinates to move the index. Therefore, a plurality of locations on the surface of the operation plane can be detected by the photocouplers independently, the moving direction can be set from the coordinates of locations where two pointers are placed, and only the moving direction is instructed from the operation plane, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the pointing device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an input device for instructing a desired function by moving an index to and aligning it with an icon indicating a printing function on a display screen without inputting characters from a keyboard when printing output, for example, is instructed to a computer.
2. Background Art
A conventional pointing device is such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Shown in FIG. 3 is a pointing device 80 called "mouse" which contains a ball 81 which can rotate in any direction to move an index in all 2-D directions and which is provided with a sensor 82 for detecting the rotational direction and amount of the ball 81 with a magnetic or optical means.
To move the index displayed on a display screen of a computer (not shown), the ball 81 is rotated by moving the pointing device 80 on a flat surface such as the surface of a desk and the sensor 82 which has detected the rotation of the all 81 generates signals corresponding to the rotational direction and amount. Based on the signals, the index displayed on the display screen of the computer is moved to a targeted location.
A pointing deice 90 shown in FIG. 4 is such that two substrates 91 each of which consists of two electrodes 92 laid parallel to each other and a resistor film 93 having a predetermined resistance characteristic and formed between the electrodes 92 are placed one upon the other in such a manner that they cross each other at a right angle and have appropriate spacing between the resistor films 93 thereof.
Since one of the substrates 91 is made from an appropriate flexible member such as a resin film, when a finger is placed on the surface of the pointing device 90 at an arbitrary point and moved to an arbitrary direction, for example, from point P3 to point P4 in the figure, the resistor films 93 contact each other at locations on which the finger is placed sequentially and a predetermined resistance change occurs. This resistance change is calculated by an arithmetic circuit 95, for example, to obtain a moving direction, whereby the index displayed on the display screen of the computer is moved in that calculated direction.
However, in the above-described conventional pointing devices 80 and 90, when the index is to be moved, for example, from an end to an end of the display screen, it must be moved a long distance. A wide area is required on the surface of a desk in the pointing device 80 shown in FIG. 3, or the substrate 91 becomes large in size in the pointing device 90 shown in FIG. 4, resulting in a bulky pointing device.
When the above-described pointing device 80 is operated on a narrow surface of a desk or the pointing device 90 is reduced in size, in order to move the above index a long distance, the pointing device 80 must be moved over the surface of the desk a number of times or the pointing device 90 requires a finger to be placed and moved over the surface of the operation plane a number of times, thus complicating the operation.
When the moving amount of the index over the display screen with respect to the moving amount of the pointing device 80 or the moving amount of the finger over the surface of the pointing device 90 is increased to solve the above problems, operation within a narrow range is possible, but the movement of the index becomes rough, thereby making it difficult to move the index to a targeted location. Solutions to these problems have been awaited.

Optical pointing device and pointing method using the same


A method of using metallized and nonmetallized nanostructured chemicals as surface and volume modification agents within polymers and on the surfaces of nano and macroscopic particulates and fillers. Because of their 0.5 nm-3.0 nm size, nanostructured chemicals can be utilized to greatly increase surface area, improve compatibility, and promote lubricity between surfaces at a length scale not previously attainable.

It is common practice to modify particulates of polymer, organic, inorganic, man-made or natural origin materials with silane coupling agents, surfactants, polymeric coatings, chemical oxidation treatments, chemical reduction treatments, hot and cold treatments, and radiation exposures in attempts to alter the surface properties of the particle with itself or with a secondary material, or to improve its dispersive characteristics.
Prior art associated with particulates, coatings, and processing techniques has not been able to precisely control particulate and material surface properties and surface-surface interactions at the 1 nm to 50 nm level. Therefore, a need exists for surface modification agents and techniques to provide such control.

POSS nanostructured chemicals as dispersion aids and friction reducing agents


Provided are a semipolar nitride semiconductor structure and a method of manufacturing the same. The semipolar nitride semiconductor structure includes a silicon substrate having an Si(11k) surface satisfying 7≦k≦13; and a nitride semiconductor layer formed on the silicon substrate. The nitride semiconductor layer has a semipolar characteristic in which a polarization field is approximately 0.

The inventive concept relates to a nitride semiconductor, and more particularly, to a semipolar nitride semiconductor structure having a semipolar characteristic, and a method of manufacturing the semipolar nitride semiconductor structure.
It is absolutely necessary to lower a price of a light emitting diode (LED) for market entry of solid state lighting. For this, it is necessary to increase productivity by increasing the size of a substrate and to reduce cost by increasing chip efficiency.
Methods to reduce costs include reducing the price of a luminaire by suppressing efficiency droop to reduce the number of chips used for a bulb, and replacing a present phosphor conversion LED with color mixing to increase efficiency. As a method of replacing a present fluorescent light by reducing the price of solid state lighting, an LED is used that increases productivity and has high efficiency and low efficiency droop, having a large substrate of 8 inches or more.
There have been many arguments on reasons for efficiency droop. Known reasons are light leakage due to many dislocations within a quantum well and an overflow of electrons due to energy band bending through a piezoelectric field. As a method of suppressing efficiency droop caused by the above-described reasons, there a nonpolar GaN substrate has been implemented. When a nonpolar substrate is used, no polarization field is generated, and thus energy band bending is prevented. Thus, overflow may be reduced, and defects occurring due to the use of a GaN bulk substrate may be reduced by more than 100 times as compared with a hetero-epitaxy method of the related art.
However, a GaN bulk substrate has a diameter of 4 to 6 inches, and the price thereof is several thousands of dollars, and thus it is difficult to apply the GaN bulk substrate for commercial purposes. Furthermore, in practice, the price of a non-polar or semipolar GaN substrate is high.

Semipolar nitride semiconductor structure and method of manufacturing the same

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a molded glass object. In the method, glass melt is made to flow from the front end portion of a nozzle; a prescribed weight of the glass melt flowing out is received by a glass melt receiving portion provided on a forming mold moved beneath the nozzle, wherein multiple forming molds are sequentially moved beneath the nozzle; the glass melt gob received is moved from the glass melt receiving portion to a hollow provided on the forming mold; and in the hollow, a molded glass object is formed while blowing gas upward through a gas outlet provided in the bottom of the hollow. The method is characterized in that the front end of the nozzle is constantly positioned outside the space vertically above the gas outlet. Methods of manufacturing press molded articles of glass and optical glass elements are described.

Methods of receiving in a forming mold a prescribed quantity of glass melt continuously flowing out of a nozzle, forming it into a sphere or similar shape, and employing the glass object obtained as a preform in the forming of molded optics or the like are known. Good preforms are manufactured not with a cutting blade, which causes the glass received in the forming mold to retain traces that could become defects in the press formed article, but by using the constriction produced in the flowing glass when the quantity of glass flowing out has reached a certain quantity to naturally sever the glass. The examples of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) Heisei No. 5-147949 (the Publication) describe such a method.
In the method disclosed in the Publication, the front end portion of the glass melt is received by the rim portion of the forming mold, and when the weight of the front end portion reaches a prescribed level, the constriction portion is used to separate the front end portion and slide it into the forming mold, with gas blown upward through gas outlets in the bottom of the forming mold being used to float the glass melt and form it into a sphere.
In the molding of preforms described in the Publication, numerous preforms are molded by a method in which forming molds are positioned at equal intervals about the rotational axis of a turntable undergoing indexed rotation, continuously flowing glass melt is received by successive forming molds and shaped, the shaped preforms are removed from the forming molds, and glass melt is received anew in the emptied forming molds.
The problem lies in that when the forming molds are moved, the gas blown upward from the forming molds sticks to the nozzle, with the nozzle and the glass flowing out of the nozzle ending up cooling. In the method of the Publication, this problem does not occur during receiving of the glass melt (referred to as casting) because the nozzle is not directly above the gas outlet of the forming mold. However, the gas being blown out of the gas outlets ends up being blown onto the nozzle when the forming mold is moved into the casting position and when the forming mold is moved out of the casting position.
In the forming of preforms, particularly in precision press forming such as the forming of molded optics, it is necessary to precisely control the weight of the preform and mold preforms without defects such as devitrification or striae. Viewed from this perspective, the blowing of the gas onto the nozzle even briefly is a substantial practical problem in that it results in a change of viscosity in the glass melt, thereby affecting the flow rate.
Accordingly, the present invention aims to solve the problem of gas from the gas outlet blowing onto the nozzle and changing the flow rate by altering the viscosity of the glass melt when the forming mold is moved into or out of casting position. The object of the present invention is to provide a method and device of manufacturing glass preforms with little variation in weight, and a method of employing the molded glass objects produced by this method as preforms in press molding to manufacture molded glass articles.

Method of manufacturing molded glass objects, method of manufacturing press molded articles, and method of manufacturing glass optical elements


A wireless terminal for a wireless communication, the wireless terminal includes: a memory that includes a buffer configured to store uplink data, wherein the uplink data is configured to be transmitted; and a controller configured to transmit a buffer status report, the buffer status report including a first index, wherein the first index is one of a plurality of buffer status indices and corresponds to a buffer size indicating a size of the uplink data stored in the buffer, wherein the memory is configured to store a buffer status table in which a range from a minimum value of the buffer to a maximum value of the buffer is divided into a plurality of subranges, the plurality of subranges being associated with a part of the plurality of buffer status indices, and a rest of the plurality of buffer status indices are associated with one or more reserved fields.

In recent years, in a wireless communication system (also referred to as a mobile communication system) such as a portable phone system (cellular system), the next generation wireless communication technology has been discussed in order to more increase the speed and the capacity of wireless communication. For example, in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) being a standard organization, developing specifications of the communication standard referred to as long-term evolution (LTE) or the communication standard referred to as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) which has been based on the wireless communication technology of LTE has been already performed. In addition, studying enhancement of the function has been continuously carried out. For example, the discussion about standardization of the fifth-generation mobile communication system (also referred to as a 5G system) that realizes the contents of an operational scenario and technical requirements presented from the international telecommunication union radio communication sector (ITU-R) has been carried out.
In the wireless communication system as described above, a wireless terminal transmits uplink (also referred to as a UL) scheduling information, for example, a buffer status report (also referred to as a BSR) of the wireless terminal (also referred to as a terminal, a user terminal, or a mobile station), to a wireless base station such that the wireless terminal is capable of assisting that a wireless base station (also referred to as a base station) performs scheduling of wireless resources with higher efficiency. Regarding transmission of a buffer status report (BSR) of the wireless terminal, for example, information is transmitted based on the volume of data stored in a transmission buffer of the wireless terminal.
From a viewpoint of transmission efficiency of the BSR, the wireless terminal performs compression of information volume by converting the volume of data stored in the transmission buffer (also referred to as a buffer) into an index value (also referred to as a BSR index). The index value is obtained by quantizing the volume of the data in a predetermined granularity. Therefore, a buffer status report index table (also referred to as a BSR index table) is provided in the wireless terminal and the wireless base station. In the BSR index table, a range from the minimum value of the BSR to the maximum value thereof (for example, a range from 0 bytes to 150000 bytes) is divided into a plurality of subranges, and the index value of each subrange corresponds to a range of a data volume (also referred to as a buffer value or a buffer size) in the buffer. Any one (for example, the last BSR index) of a plurality of BSR indices in the BSR index table is correlated with a state where the buffer value exceeds the maximum value.
The wireless terminal identifies an index value (also referred to as a BSR index, a BSR index value, or a BSR value) associated with a subrange corresponding to a data volume (also referred to as a buffer value, a buffer size, or data available for transmission) in the buffer, in accordance with the above-described BSR index table. The wireless terminal transmits a BSR including the identified BSR index. The wireless base station receives a BSR from the wireless terminal, and thus may recognize the amount of wireless resources that a wireless terminal needs to be allocated, and is able to perform suitable scheduling. The wireless terminal may actively request allocation of wireless resources from the wireless base station.
The transmission of the BSR from the wireless terminal is triggered in accordance with a period designated by setting information transmitted from the wireless base station, for example. The wireless base station estimates a buffer size of the wireless terminal based on the BSR from the wireless terminal and updates the estimated value of the buffer size of the wireless terminal based on, for example, the amount of wireless resources allocated in scheduling. The BSR may be transmitted from the wireless terminal by a trigger other than the period designated by setting information transmitted from the wireless base station. For example, it is assumed that the wireless terminal transmits a BSR to the wireless base station when a packet of an uplink signal is generated, or in a case where the number of padding bits included in the packet is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
Examples of the related art include PTL 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2016-181925, NPL 1: 3GPP TS36.211 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 2: 3GPP TS36.212 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 3: 3GPP TS36.213 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 4: 3GPP TS36.214 V14.2.0 (2017 March), NPL 5: 3GPP TS36.300 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 6: 3GPP TS36.321 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 7: 3GPP TS36.322 V14.0.0 (2017 March), NPL 8: 3GPP TS36.323 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 9: 3GPP TS36.331 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 10: 3GPP TS36.413 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 11: 3GPP TS36.423 V14.3.0 (2017 June), NPL 12: 3GPP TS37.324 V0.2.0 (2017 September), NPL 13: 3GPP TS37.340 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 14: 3GPP TS36.425 V14.0.0 (2017 March), NPL 15: 3GPP TS38.201 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 16: 3GPP TS38.202 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 17: 3GPP TS38.211 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 18: 3GPP TS38.212 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 19: 3GPP TS38.213 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 20: 3GPP TS38.214 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 21: 3GPP TS38.215 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 22: 3GPP TS38.300 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 23: 3GPP TS38.321 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 24: 3GPP TS38.322 V1.0.0 (2017 September), NPL 25: 3GPP TS38.323 V0.3.0 (2017 August), NPL 26: 3GPP TS38.331 V0.0.5 (2017 August), NPL 27: 3GPP TS38.401 V0.2.0 (2017 July), NPL 28: 3GPP TS38.410 V0.4.0 (2017 September), NPL 29: 3GPP TS38.413 V0.3.0 (2017 August), NPL 30: 3GPP TS38.420 V0.2.0 (2017 July), NPL 31: 3GPP TS38.423 V0.2.0 (2017 June), NPL 32: 3GPP TS38.470 V0.3.0 (2017 September), NPL 33: 3GPP TS38.473 V0.3.0 (2017 September), NPL 34: 3GPP TR38.801 V14.0.0 (2017 March), NPL 35: 3GPP TR38.802 V14.1.0 (2017 June), NPL 36: 3GPP TR38.803 V14.1.0 (2017 June), NPL 37: 3GPP TR38.804 V14.0.0 (2017 March), NPL 38: 3GPP TR38.900 V14.3.1 (2017 July), NPL 39: 3GPP TR38.912 V14.0.0 (2017 March), NPL 40: 3GPP TR38.913 V14.3.0 (2017 June).

Wireless terminal, wireless base station, and transmission method of buffer status report


A location service-providing system and a method for providing a deferred location request service by using previously computed position estimates. In the system and the method, if an H-SLP transmits an SUPL INIT message including location information to a target SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET) according to a location service request from an SUPL AGENT, the location information including at least one of a previous position estimate and previous assistant data, the target SET receives the SUPL INIT message, determines whether it is possible to provide the location service by reusing at least one of the location information in the SUPL INIT message and previously stored location information, when it is possible, determining position information by reusing at least one of the location information in the SUPL INIT message and the previously stored location information, and providing the SUPL AGENT with the position information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for providing a location service, and more particularly to a system and a method for providing a location service that can provide a deferred location request service.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increase in demand for various location-related services based on location, various location services using the location of a mobile terminal are being provided and development for the expansion of location services is being accomplished. The expansion of location services will be the basis of a 4G communication service.
Recently, a deferred location request service or a triggered location request service is being provided as a location service. A deferred location request service refers to a service for establishing preset criteria, periodically or non-periodically computing the position estimates of a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Enabled Terminal (SET), and providing an SUPL AGENT with occurrence of a corresponding event when the position estimates of the SET satisfies the preset criteria.
A conventional method for providing deferred location request service information will be described with reference to FIG. 1 illustrating a method for providing a deferred location request service according to the prior art. A SUPL AGENT 10 transmits a Mobile Location Protocol Triggered Location Reporting Request (MLP TLRR) message, thereby requesting a Home-SUPL Location Platform (H-SLP) 20 to provide a deferred location request service in step 102.
If the MLP TLRR message is received from the SUPL AGENT 10, the H-SLP 20 determines the routing information of a corresponding target SET 30 in step 104. That is, the H-SLP 20 determines if the target SET 30 is in a roaming state and uses a SUPL.
If the target SET 30 is not in a roaming state and uses the SUPL, i.e. a location service, the H-SLP 20 transmits a SUPL Initiation (INIT) message to the target SET 30 and starts the deferred location request service in step 106. The SUPL INIT message includes a SESSION_ID, which is an identification (ID) for identifying message exchanges between the H-SLP 20 and the target SET 30, a Position (POS) method representing a positioning method, and criteria used for determining if an event has occurred.
If the SUPL INIT message is received from the H-SLP 20, the target SET 30 determines if the target SET 30 is currently connected to a packet data network in step 108. If the target SET 30 is not currently connected to the packet data network, the target SET 30 attempts a connection to the packet data network.
After performing a network connection with the H-SLP 20, the target SET 30 transmits a SUPL POS INIT message to the H-SLP 20 in step 110. The SUPL POS INIT message includes a SESSION_ID, which is an ID for identifying message exchanges between the H-SLP 20 and the target SET 30, a LOCATION_ID representing information about a network including the target SET 30, a NETWORK_ID, a SYSTEM_ID, and a SET_CAPABILITY representing positioning capability.
If the SUPL POS INIT message is received from the target SET 30, the H-SLP 20 compares the SET_CAPABILITY included in the SUPL POS INIT message with its own location measurement capability, thereby determining a POS METHOD. Further, the H-SLP 20 and the target SET 30 perform positioning according to the determined POS method in step 112.
After performing the positioning, the target SET 30 compares its own position estimates with the event occurrence criteria included in the SUPL INIT message, and determines if an event requested by the SUPL AGENT 10 has occurred. As a result of the determination, if the event has occurred, the target SET 30 reports the occurrence of the event to the H-SLP 20 by using a SUPL DEFERRED_REPORT message in step 114. The SUPL DEFERRED_REPORT message includes a SESSION_ID, a CLIENT_ID, and a POS_ESTIMATE representing the computed position estimates of the target SET 30.
If the SUPL DEFERRED_REPORT message is received from the target SET 30, the H-SLP 20 reports the occurrence of the event to the SUPL AGENT 10 by using an MLP Triggered Location Report (TLR) message in step 116. The MLP TLR message includes a REQ_ID for identifying the deferred location request service, and a TLR_POS representing the computed position estimates of the target SET 30.
After reporting the occurrence of the event, if the deferred location request service is being provided, the target SET 30 transmits a SUPL DEFERRED START message for subsequent positioning to the H-SLP 20 by using the event occurrence criteria included in the SUPL INIT message, thereby requesting the start of a new positioning procedure in step 117.
If the SUPL DEFERRED START message is received from the target SET 30, the H-SLP 20 performs a subsequent positioning procedure of the target SET 30 in step 118. The target SET 30 compares its own position estimates with the event occurrence criteria included in the SUPL INIT message, and determines if the event requested by the SUPL AGENT 10 has occurred.
If the event has occurred, the target SET 30 reports the occurrence of the event to the H-SLP 20 by using the SUPL DEFERRED_REPORT message in step 120. If the SUPL DEFERRED_REPORT message is received from the target SET 30, the H-SLP 20 reports the occurrence of the event to the SUPL AGENT 10 by using the MLP TLR message in step 122. Further, the target SET 30 and the H-SLP 20 repeat steps 117, 118, 120 and 122 until a preset end time is reached. If the preset end time is reached, the procedure for providing the deferred location request service information is terminated.
The conventional method for providing the deferred location request service information as described above repeats a series of steps of: first computing the position estimates of a SET; comparing the computed position estimates with corresponding criteria; and determining if an event requested by a SUPL AGENT has occurred, and reporting the results of the determination.
In the conventional method as described above, since the required position estimates of a SET must be newly computed whenever the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event is determined, the whole process is complicated due to the repetitive positioning. Further, the conventional method is inefficient because the computed position estimates of the set or assistant data for computing the position estimates are used only once for determining if a corresponding event has occurred even when it can be reused for determining if a subsequent event has occurred.

Location service-providing system and deferred location request service-providing method using previously computed location in location service-providing system


The present invention aims to provide a semiconductor laser device which has a structure that is easy to manufacture, a satisfactory temperature characteristic as well as high-speed response characteristic. The device includes the following: an n-type GaAs substrate 101; an n-type AlGaInP cladding layer 102 formed on the n-type GaAs substrate 101; a non-doped quantum well active layer 103; a p-type AlGaInP first cladding layer 104; a p-type GaInP etching stop layer 105; a p-type AlGaInP second cladding layer 106; a p-type GaInP cap layer 107; a p-type GaAs contact layer 108; and an n-type AlInP block layer 109. The device has a ridge portion and convex portions formed on both sides of the ridge portion, and the p-type GaAs contact layer 108 is formed on the ridge portion only.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser device, in particular, to the semiconductor laser device used for an optical disk system, information processing or as a light source for optical communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among the various semiconductor laser devices used for the light source for an optical disk system, a ridge semiconductor laser device is mainly used, and there is a tendency that high-speed response (an improvement in speed of response when an optical output rises in response to injected current) as well as high power output for high-speed writing is demanded. In order to achieve the high-speed response, it is necessary to reduce a value of resistance or a capacitance of the laser device.
For the reduction in value of resistance, on one hand, it is efficient to enlarge the area of a contact layer in the region where current is injected. Therefore, for the conventional ridge semiconductor laser device, a ridge portion is rendered more vertical and an area of a contact layer formed as the top layer of the ridge portion is enlarged, for example, by using anisotropic dry etching for ridge formation. Extending a cavity length is also effective for reducing a value of resistance since the extention increases the contact area.
On the other hand, for the reduction in capacitance, it is effective to reduce a capacitance generated as a result of the p-n junction formed between the block layer and the cladding layer. For example, according to the ridge semiconductor laser device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publications No. H8-222801 and No. 2003-188474, a capacitance reduction layer is inserted between the block layer and the cladding layer.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of the conventional ridge semiconductor laser device described in the Japanese Laid-Open Publications mentioned above.
As shown in FIG. 1, an n-type AlGaInP cladding layer 1102, an active layer 1103, a p-type AlGaInP first cladding layer 1104 and a p-type GaInP etching stop layer 1105 are subsequently laminated on an n-type GaAs substrate 1101, composing the conventional ridge semiconductor laser device.
A ridge portion having a predetermined width is formed by laminating a p-type AlGaInP second cladding layer 1107, a p-type GaInP cap layer 1108 and a p-type GaAs first contact layer 1109 on the p-type GaInP etching stop layer 1105. An n-type AlInP block layer 1110 and a capacitance reduction layer 1106 forming a current/light narrowing structure in a state where the p-type GaAs first contact layer 1109 in the ridge portion is open. It should be noted that the capacitance reduction layer 1106 is made of GaAs or AlInP whose impurity concentration is low.
A p-type GaAs second contact layer 1111 is formed on the n-type AlInP block layer 1110 and the p-type GaAs first contact layer 1109.
In the ridge semiconductor laser device composed as described above, a capacitance reduction layer is inserted between the block layer and the cladding layer. It is therefore possible to reduce the capacitance generated as a result of the p-n junction formed between the block layer and the cladding layer, and reduce the capacitance in the laser device.
Another example of the prior art for realizing the reduction of capacitance is described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-46197 as the ridge semiconductor laser device in which a dielectric layer, not a semiconductor layer forms the current/light narrowing structure so as not to form the problematic p-n junction.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the conventional ridge semiconductor laser device according to the Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-46197.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the ridge semiconductor laser device according to the Japanese Laid-Open Publication 2003-46197, an n-type AlGaAs cladding layer 1202, an active layer 1203, a p-type AlGaAs first cladding layer 1204 and a p-type AlGaAs etching stop layer 1205 are sequentially laminated on an n-type GaAs substrate 1201.
A ridge portion which has a predetermined width and is formed in stripes and a wing portion that is convex are formed by laminating a p-type AlGaAs second cladding layer 1206 and a p-type GaAs contact layer 1207 on the p-type AlGaAs etching stop layer 1205. A dielectric layer made up of SiO2, Si3N4 and the like is formed in a state where the p-type GaAs contact layer 1207 is open, so that the current/light narrowing structure is formed.
On the dielectric layer 1208 and the p-type GaAs contact layer 1207, a p-type ohmic electrode 1209 is formed whereas on the n-type GaAs substrate 1201, an n-type ohmic electrode 1210 is formed.
In the ridge semiconductor laser device constructed as above, it is possible to realize the reduction of capacitance since the p-n junction is not formed in the vicinity of the block layer within the device.
However, in the ridge semiconductor laser device according to the Japanese Laid-Open Publications No. H8-222801 and No. 2003-188474, it is not possible to sufficiently reduce the capacitance even with the above solution, since the p-n junction is formed also between the contact layer and the block layer. The problem is that high-speed response cannot be achieved. The semiconductor laser device, in general, has a multi-layered structure formed by crystal growth, which results in the formation of a p-n junction in almost the whole area within the device. This causes another problem in that it is not possible to sufficiently reduce the capacitance even with the above solution, and a high-speed response cannot be realized. In addition, crystal growth is required to be performed three times, which causes a longer lead time and a high price of the chip. The likeliness that a stress at the time of bonding concentrates on the ridge portion when a device is built up using a junction down mounting decreases the reliability of the device.
In the ridge semiconductor laser device according to the Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-46197, a laser device is manufactured by performing crystal growth one time, the current/light narrowing structure is formed using the dielectric layer, and a wing portion is formed on both sides of the ridge portion. Owing to this, the problems related to high-speed response, lead time, price of a chip and the reliability of the device are respectively resolved. However, another problem is that a refractive index of the practical dielectric layer used for the block layer is small (approximately 2 at minimum) so that there rises a necessity to build a thick cladding layer below the block layer, taking a horizontal angle (Δn: effectual difference in refractive index in and outside the ridge portion) into consideration. This necessity causes an increase in the amount of reactive current, which in turn increases the amount of threshold current. As a result, the temperature characteristic is degraded. Using a dielectric layer which has a thermal conductivity lower than that of a semiconductor layer in order to form the current/light narrowing structure further degrades the temperature characteristic of the device.

Semiconductor laser device and method of manufacturing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a method for machining a workpiece surface, wherein an area to be machined of the workpiece surface is machined under the influence of a polishing operation and wherein, during the machining, the displacement of the area to be machined relative to a reference area rigidly coupled to the workpiece surface is monitored by means of interferometry. The invention further relates to a machining apparatus, comprising a polishing tool and a measuring tool, while the measuring tool comprises an interferometer. Preferably, the polishing tool comprises a fluid jet polishing device.

The invention relates to a method for machining a workpiece surface, in which an area to be machined of the workpiece surface is machined under the influence of a polishing operation.
Such a method is generally known and is often used for polishing surfaces of optical components, such as refractive optical components, for instance lenses or windowpanes from glass, quartz or BK7, and reflective optical components such as mirrors, from metal or ceramics. Known methods for polishing, in addition to polishing with a grinding template and grinding paste, are, generally, material-removing techniques such as SPDT (single point diamond turning), CCP (computer controlled polishing), MRF (magneto-rheologic finishing), FJP (fluid jet polishing) and EEM (Elastic Emission Machining), IBF (Ion Beam Figuring) and IBP (Ion Beam Polishing).
A problem which occurs with the known operations is that it is relatively time-consuming to manufacture a workpiece whose surface has a very great form accuracy. This is chiefly caused by the fact that it is often not possible to measure the form of the workpiece during machining. In particular when manufacturing aspherical optical surfaces, the polishing operation in an iterative process needs, each time, to be interrupted for measuring the workpiece in a separate measuring operation. Often, the measuring operation then takes place in a separate measuring environment, so that, each time, the workpiece has to be clamped again.
The invention contemplates a method for machining a workpiece surface, in particular an optical workpiece surface, with which, while maintaining the above-mentioned advantages, the drawbacks mentioned can be obviated.

Method and apparatus for polishing a workpiece surface

Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO


A method of providing a haptic output includes detecting a condition; determining if a head-mounted haptic accessory comprising an array of two or more haptic actuators is being worn by a user; determining an actuation pattern for the array of haptic actuators; and in response to detecting the condition and determining that the head-mounted haptic accessory is being worn by the user, initiating the actuation pattern to produce a directional haptic output that is configured to direct the user's attention along a direction.

Wearable electronic devices are increasingly ubiquitous in modern society. For example, wireless audio devices (e.g., headphones, earbuds) are worn to provide convenient listening experiences for music and other audio. Head-mounted displays are worn to provide virtual or augmented reality environments to users for gaming, productivity, entertainment, and the like. Wrist-worn devices, such as smart watches, provide convenient access to various types of information and applications, including weather information, messaging applications, activity tracking applications, and the like. Some wearable devices, such as smart watches, may use haptic outputs to provide tactile alerts to the wearer, such as to indicate that a message has been received or that an activity goal has been reached.


A system and method for the halftoning of gray scale images by utilizing a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the image against an anisotropic stochastic screen is disclosed. The anisotropic stochastic screen comprises a non-deterministic, non-white noise function which, when thresholded, is designed to produce anisotropic dot patterns having a power spectrum characterized as having negligible low frequency components and a high-frequency region which has an absence of stronger dominant spikes.

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for printing, reproducing or displaying images. More particularly, the teachings disclosed herein are applicable to methods and apparatuses wherein dispersed dot halftoning is implemented.
Color is a powerful tool and has become an essential component of communication. The use of color facilitates the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Color can sway thinking, influence perceptions, change actions, and cause reactions. Similarly, the use of images is integral to communication and can be applied to a range of applications including, for example, explaining concepts and ideas, marketing goods and services, prompting responses and inspiring new ideas. The ability to faithfully reproduce images and colors is essential to communication as inaccuracies in color or poor image quality can defeat the purpose of or entirely destroy the intended communication. Those involved in the development of document processing systems or devices such as marking engines, printers, scanners, fax machines, electronic libraries, and the like to construct, produce, print, transmit, scan, store and archive documents and their constituent elements are continuously looking for ways to improve the accuracy and total image quality of their products.
Digital images are commonly represented as one or more separations, with each separation conventionally represented as a monochromatic bitmap, which may be described as an electronic image with discrete signals (hereinafter, pixels) defined by position and density. Monochromatic images typically are represented with a single separation while color images and documents commonly are represented as two or more separations with each separation comprising a set of color density signals for a single primary or secondary color. In monochromatic and color applications, density is described as one level in a number of possible states or levels. When more than two levels of density are used in a separation, the levels are often termed "gray", indicating that they vary between a maximum and minimum, and without reference to their actual color.
Common input devices including document scanners, digital cameras and computer imagery generators are capable of describing an image with a large number of gray levels, with 256 levels a commonly selected number, although larger and smaller levels are possible. In such systems, image density signals are commonly represented as continuous tone (contone) pixels, varying in magnitude from a minimum to a maximum, with a number of gradations between corresponding to the bit density of the system. Thus, a common 8-bit system provides 256 density levels or shades of color for each separation.
Within a stage of the printing process of many printing devices, the potential image signal gradations are reduced to a limited number of possibilities, and are commonly binary, e.g., they either produce a dot or not at a given location. This quantization resolution reduction is due to the physical processes involved are binary in nature or have been restricted to binary operation for reasons of cost, speed, memory or stability (e.g., ink jet printers, old binary CRT displays, laser xerography). Thus, given a color separation with 256 possible density levels or shades of color, a set of binary printer signals must be produced representing the contone effect. This process is referred to as halftoning.
Generally, in a halftoning operation, each pixel value in an array of contone pixels over a given area of the separation is compared to one of a set of preselected thresholds (the thresholds may be stored as a dither matrix and the repetitive pattern generated by this matrix is considered a halftone cell) as taught for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,194 to Holladay. The effect of such an operation is that, for a given area of the image, some of the thresholds in the matrix will be exceeded, i.e., the image density level of the pixel value at that specific location is larger than the value stored in the dither matrix for that same location, while others are not. In the binary case, the pixels or cell elements for which the thresholds are exceeded might be printed, while the remaining elements are allowed to remain white or unprinted, dependent on the actual physical quantity described by the data. Since the human visual system tends to average out rapidly varying spatial patterns and perceives only a spatial average of the micro-variation in a printed area produced by a printer, the halftone process described above can be used to produce a close approximation to the desired color of that area in the contone input.
The dither matrix of threshold values is often referred to as a "screen", and the process of generating the binary image from the contone image using the screen is called "screening". Conventional digital halftones start as a number of isolated dots which grow bigger as more colorant is requested on the paper. These screens are referred to as clustered-dot screens. The fundamental spatial rate at which the dots in a clustered dot screen are repeated is commonly referred to as the screen's spatial frequency. The higher the screen spatial frequency, the finer and smoother appearing the image and also the greater is the capacity for the dots to represent fine detail in the image.
Dithering creates problems in color document reproduction where the repeating pattern of a screen through the image, when superposed over similar repeating patterns in multiple separations, can cause undesirable image artifacts, particularly in a printing system with less than ideal registration between separations. For example, it should be appreciated that dithering can cause "subject moiré," wherein a period component in the image subject content beats, or interferes, with a screen frequency as well as color-to-color moiré, where the screens from different separations beat.
Dispersed dot screens are one alternative to conventional clustered dot screens. Dispersed dot screens are designed such that as the image density increases and more colorant (printed dots) is added, the added dots are not necessarily constrained to be adjacent to other each. Thus, instead of producing dots that grow in size with increased colorant on paper, dispersed dot methods grow in number and produce a well-dispersed pattern of isolated dots at spaced pixel locations. Dispersed dot screens generally provide higher spatial resolution than comparable clustered dot screens. Another advantage of dispersed dot screening over conventional cluster dot is the suppression of moiré.
One option for dispersed dot screening attempts to create a smooth dither pattern by locating dots within any specific intensity pattern such that they are spread as uniformly across the screen as possible. A recursive algorithm that produces such an optimal dither (the dots are as far apart as they can be at each level) is taught by R. E. Bayer, "An optimum method for two level rendition of continuous-tone pictures," Proc. IEEE International Conf. on Communications, Conference Record, pp 26-11–26-15. More particularly, the Bayer screen has threshold values that are arranged such that when thresholded against increasing levels of density, the halftone dots are placed as far as possible from the other dots used to render lower density levels. However, images produced using such an "optimally smooth dither pattern" can be filled with objectionable patterns. Additionally, Bayer dispersed dots have many frequency components and, thus, the potential to beat with subject frequencies. A second option for implementing dispersed dot screens, uses a dither matrix wherein the dots are randomly scattered across the screen. However, use of a "truly random" screen such as would be representative of uniformly distributed and uncorrelated spectrum generally results in rather poor image quality.
Stochastic screening is an implementation of dispersed dot screening that combats the image artifacts associated with Bayer type screens and truly random screens. A stochastic screen contains dots with a random nature, and its halftone patterns can be less visible than structured halftone patterns produced by traditional clustered dot screens. In stochastic screening, the screen is neither truly random nor optimally smooth but rather is designed to produce patterns with pleasant noise characteristics. The pleasant noise characteristics are achieved by designing the screen so as to distribute the noise energy in the region of high spatial frequencies, where the human visual system has a significantly reduced sensitivity. Such uncorrelated, high frequency noise is often referred to as blue noise. Blue noise patterns have the desired aperiodic, uncorrelated structure of white noise without low frequency graininess. See, e.g., Digital Halftoning, R. A. Ulichney, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1987, (fifth printing, 1996).
Conventionally, stochastic screens have been designed such that the screen replicates a blue noise pattern as described above. A stochastic screen having a blue noise pattern traditionally is defined to mean a type of binary pattern produced after thresholding a gray-scale image (i.e., dot pattern) that has negligible low-frequency components and further possess the properties of isotropy and aperiodicity, which, when expressed in terms of the radially averaged power spectrum, has small or negligible low-frequency components, a transition region, and a high-frequency region which has an absence of stronger dominant spikes. That is, the dot pattern must have a collection of properties that must essentially include aperiodicity, isotropy (or low anisotropy), and lack of low-frequency graininess (i.e., dot patterns having a reduced number of dots per unit area). In this respect, a conventional stochastic screen has specific design goals as described above. That is, a stochastic screen is designed such that the power spectrum of the blue noise pattern has a small or negligible low frequency component and a high-frequency region which has an absence of dominant spikes and the resulting dot pattern (i.e., the image resulting from a screening process) is aperiodic, isotropic, and devoid of low-frequency graininess.
Information on designing and using a stochastic screen known as a blue noise mask can be found in a family of patents to Parker et al., including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,111,310 and 5,477,305 which are herein incorporated by reference. The blue noise mask of Parker et al. meets the design goals for stochastic screens described above. More particularly, the family of patents to Parker et al. teach constructing an blue noise mask such that when thresholded at any level, the resulting dot profile is a locally aperiodic and isotropic binary pattern with small low-frequency components, which in the halftoning literature, is known as a blue noise pattern. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,121 to Wang, discloses a stochastic halftone screening method for designing an idealized stochastic screen and is herein incorporated by reference as it discloses a particular stochastic screen useful in implementing one or more embodiments of the invention, as will be more fully explained below. The idealized stochastic screen design method of Wang also provides classical stochastic screen representing blue noise.
Conventional stochastic screens with the design methods and goals of the prior art provide good image quality. Stochastic dots tend to be used in printing where either a very high frequency response is needed or you wish to avoid subject moire or color-to-color moire. They have found significant use in ink jet printing where the isolated dots are repeatable and thus local density is predictable and controllable. However, such conventional stochastic screens do not exploit the improvements in electrostatographic printing machines that have provided the ability to consistently and accurately produce small isolated dots using techniques such as high addressability, pulse width pulse position modulation (PWPM) or the like, and improvements in stability and uniformity of the marking processes. In such cases, and in many lithographic printing settings, it is possible to accept some degree of lowered stability (compared to clustered dots) to acquire the advantageous properties of high spatial resolution, and moire resistance. Thus, in accordance with the teachings below, there is described a method for halftoning an image using an anisotropic stochastic screen.
In one embodiment, the anisotropic stochastic screen generates a dot pattern that has an anisotropic power spectra while retaining the desirable characteristics of negligible low-frequency components and a high-frequency region which has an absence of stronger dominant spikes. Beneficially, the anisotropy achieved using a screen constructed of anamorphic pixels which can be obtained using conventional writing techniques such as high addressability, PWPM, or the like. One advantage of the present teachings is that the use of such anisotropic dots produces a screen with higher frequency content than conventional stochastic screens employing isotropic dots. Additionally, the teachings herein describe an anisotropic stochastic screen that achieves good dispersion of printed dots, results in an output image with good spatial frequency characteristics, and possess acceptable image quality.
In accordance with another embodiment disclosed herein, there is provided a method for halftoning an image by comparing a pixel of image data to a threshold level signal from a set of halftone threshold signals comprising a screen of anamorphic pixels, each threshold signal within the set of halftone threshold signals corresponding to an anamorphic pixel within the screen generating an output signal according to the comparison of the halftone threshold signal to the image data.
In accordance with another aspect of the teachings herein, there is provided a method of halftoning gray scale images by utilizing a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the image against an anisotropic stochastic screen, the anisotropic stochastic screen comprising a random non-deterministic, non-white noise function that, when thresholded, is designed to produce anisotropic dot patterns having a power spectrum characterized as having negligible low frequency components and a high-frequency region which has an absence of stronger dominant spikes.
In accordance with another aspect of the teachings herein, there is provided an apparatus for halftone image information, comprising a memory storing an anisotropic stochastic screen, the anisotropic stochastic screen including a set of halftone threshold level signals, each threshold signal corresponding to a unique location in a halftone cell and a comparator receiving a pixel of the gray scale image and one of the halftone threshold signals from the memory and producing an output signal according to the comparison of the halftone threshold signal to said image signal; wherein the anisotropic stochastic screen is comprised of a non-deterministic, non-white noise function which, when thresholded, produces an anisotropic dot pattern having a power spectrum characterized as having negligible low frequency components and a high-frequency region which has an absence of stronger dominant spikes.


A limited entry unit dosage package is provided, which mandates the completion of a sequence of steps to access single unit dosages within depressions on the package. The user grips a trapezoidal section of an access tab to expose a finger depression. The user thereafter grips a cover overlying a depression which contains the unit dosage form. This cover is pulled back thereby exposing the unit dosage. This unit dosage is sealed from access by children, as well as sealed from air and liquids.

The present invention relates generally to packaging of unit-dosage drug formulations, and more particularly in providing a package that both satisfies the U.S. Poison Prevention Packaging Act regarding child-resistance, and provides a safe, sturdy, and economical package for the transport and dispensing of drug formulations.
Recent Federal legislation has been enacted requiring manufacturers to provide child-resistant packaging. The U.S. Poison Prevention Packaging Act was enacted to safeguard children from self-administering pharmaceuticals that may pose a danger to them. The marketplace contains many children's formulations that are made to be palatable, but with the unfortunate side-effect that this predisposes children to believing that any pills or liquids in bottles will taste good, and do not present a danger.
It is desirable to provide a package form that is both easy to use for adults, protective for the pharmaceutical within, and difficult for children to open. The package of the present invention is easy to open for an adult, access being facilitated by entry at discrete points, with many steps necessary to access the drug form within. This method of access is both obvious to an adult, yet inhibitory to a child. The material forming the blister package is sufficiently strong such that even an adult would have great difficulty in tearing it without utilizing the prearranged scheme for tearing across the perforated score lines. The blister package is sturdy enough for fragile drug forms, provides protection from physical stresses, and is also moisture resistant. These considerations are important for pharmaceuticals formed by lyophilization, or "freeze-drying". The dosage form may be a capsule, tablet, Gelcap.TM. capsule or the like. The invention is also comprised of a water-tight lidding sheet, which must be peeled back to expose the dosage form within. Access to the fragile drug forms is inhibited to children by allowing for only limited entry points on the blister package, combined with sequential performance of a number of steps to obtain access to a single dosage form.


An oil-free/oil-less air compressor with a piston positioned for reciprocating in a bore, the piston having a first piston ring assembly made from a rigid, high temperature polymer, and a second piston ring assembly comprising a first portion that engages the bore, the first portion made from a relatively soft, self-lubricating polymer, and a second portion that biases the first portion against the bore.

The present invention relates to oil-free/oil-less air compressors. It finds particular application in conjunction with oil-free/oil-less air compressors with a piston ring set designed for improved sealing between a piston and cylinder bore. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention is also amenable to other applications.
Oil-free/oil-less air compressors are known in the art and generally refer to the family of air compressors that do not use oil to lubricate the piston-cylinder bore region, instead relying on the self-lubricating nature of the ring material for lubrication. FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a section of a piston 10 and cylinder bore wall 12 of a conventional oil-free/oil-less air compressor. Generally, oil-free/oil-less air compressors employ a piston 10 having a crown 14, a top annular recess 16, and a rider ring annular recess 18. The top annular recess 16 receives a compression ring 20 for sealing between the piston 10 and the cylinder bore wall 12. The rider ring annular recess 18 receives a rider ring 22 for preventing contact between the piston and the cylinder wall 12 in order to avoid resulting damage to these parts. The rider ring 22 does not typically provide any sealing between the piston 10 and the cylinder bore wall 12.
Piston rings for oil-free/oil-less air compressors are typically manufactured from round sintered tubes made of relatively soft, conformable polymeric materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based materials. Conventional PTFE rings, however, lack sufficient internal tension to conform the ring to distortions in a cylinder bore. Further, high operating temperatures can result in conventional PTFE rings losing what tension they have and high run-in wear on the soft polymeric rings can preclude the rings from effectively sealing. To improve sealing, some oil-free/oil-less air compressor pistons employ multiple PTFE compression rings or use rigid, high temperature polymer piston rings. Rigid polymer rings, however, do not conform well to bore distortions due to their rigidity.

Oil-free/oil-less air compressor with an improved seal


It is an object to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device including a thin film transistor whose electric characteristics are stable. In addition, it is another object to manufacture a highly reliable semiconductor device at low cost with high productivity. In a semiconductor device including a thin film transistor, a semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor is formed with an oxide semiconductor layer to which a metal element is added. As the metal element, at least one of metal elements of iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, gold, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, and tantalum is used. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer contains indium, gallium, and zinc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thin film transistor formed over a flat plate such as a glass substrate is manufactured using amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon, as typically seen in a liquid crystal display device. A thin film transistor using amorphous silicon has low field effect mobility, but such a transistor can be formed over a glass substrate with a larger area. On the other hand, a thin film transistor using polycrystalline silicon has high field effect mobility, but a crystallization step such as laser annealing is necessary and such a transistor is not always suitable for a larger glass substrate.
In view of the foregoing, attention has been paid to a technique by which a thin film transistor is manufactured using an oxide semiconductor, and such a transistor is applied to an electronic device or an optical device. For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose a technique by which a thin film transistor is manufactured using zinc oxide or an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor as an oxide semiconductor film, and such a transistor is used as a switching element or the like of an image display device.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same

SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO., LTD.


A charge control agent comprises a monoazo metals-compound including a monoazo compound represented by the following formula [I]:

This invention relates to a charge control agent for electro photography including a monoazo metals-compound and a toner for developing an electrostatic image including the agent.
An electro photography system performs to develop an electrostatic latent image by toner which are carried out frictional electrification, transferring and fixing toner image onto paper, to obtain images and characters.
In order for obtaining high resolution images, fine pulverized toner or resins having a high acid value therefor are used. If the pulverized toner had insufficient electrostatic charge, the toner image cannot be developed vividly and may cause foggy. For giving a sufficient frictional electrification property, a charge control agent is pre-added to the toner. It is known as the charge control agent having a negative electrification property, metallic complex salts of monoazo dyes, metallic complex salts of salicylic acid or naphthoic acid or dicarboxylic acid, copper phthalocyanine pigments and resins including acids-component. It is known as the charge control agent having a positive electrification property, nigrosine dyes, azine type dyes, triphenylmethane type dyes, resins of quaternary ammonium salt and resins having quaternary ammonium groups at a side chain thereof.
For instance, the metallic complex salts of monoazo dyes are mentioned in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 63-267793, 7-97530, 9-169919, 10-186713, 11-7164 and 2001-26337.
However, the conventional charge control agents may decompose and deteriorate to lose a charge control property and make poor stability when being exposed to mechanical friction, mechanical shock, electric shock, optical irradiation, temperature change, high temperature, humidity change or high humidity. Moreover, when the toner image is transferred and fixed onto the paper with heat or pressure, the resins having a high acid value in the toner may make the charge control agent decompose or sublimate to cause the image on the paper to be indistinct. Furthermore, the rise speed of the electrification is so slow that the electrostatic charge becomes insufficient in an early stage of the development, thus the toner image is not developed vividly and will deteriorate on the way of the development.
The present invention has been developed to solve the foregoing problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide charge control agent for electro photography including monoazo metals-compound which causes the sufficient frictional electrification property for the toner, excellent thermal resistance, excellent moisture resistance, stability and hardy sublimation. It is another object of the present invention to provide the toner including this compound for the electrostatic image development which causes resistance of mechanical friction, mechanical shock, electric shock and optical irradiation, promotion of fast rise speed of the electrification and of good quality of the developed toner image.

Charge control agent and toner for electrostatic image development containing the same

Abstract: and metals of a metallic element or a metalloid coordinating to the monoazo compound. A toner for developing an electrostatic image comprises: the charge control agent including the monoazo compound and metals of the metallic element or the metalloid coordinating to the monoazo compound, a resin for the toner and a colorant.


An implementation verification policy for each of a set of change management tasks associated with one of a set of service requests within an information technology (IT) environment is created via a configuration management device. Each of the set of change management tasks is automatically implemented. An error associated with the automated implementation of one of the set of change management tasks is detected based on the implementation verification policy created for one of the set of change management tasks. The error is automatically correlated with a service request that caused the error.

The present invention relates to information technology changes. More particularly, the present invention relates to automated information technology error and service request correlation.
Information technology (IT) environments include various management processes to handle different aspects of operation. These processes include service request management, change management, release management, and deployment management.

Automated information technology error and service request correlation