A method of estimating the noise in a digital image for use in subsequent image processing, includes receiving a source digital image having a plurality of pixels; selecting a pixel of interest; providing a plurality of orientations for the pixel of interest; using gradient analysis on the source digital image and the plurality of orientations to select the most suitable orientation for estimating noise for the pixel of interest; using the selected orientation in the pixel of interest to determine a noise-free pixel estimate for the pixel of interest; and repeating for other pixels of interest and using the noise-free pixel estimates to calculate a noise characteristic value representing the noise estimate for the source digital image.

Some digital image processing applications designed to enhance the appearance of digital images take explicit advantage of the noise characteristics associated with the digital images. For example, Keyes et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,906 describe a method of sharpening digital images which includes the steps of measuring the noise components in the digital image with a noise estimation system to generate noise estimates and sharpening the digital image with an image sharpening system which uses the noise estimates. Similarly, digital imaging applications have incorporated automatic noise estimation methods for the purpose of reducing the noise in the processed digital images as in the method described by Anderson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,178.
In commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,775, Snyder et al. disclose a method of image processing which includes a step of estimating the noise characteristics of a digital image and using the estimates of the noise characteristics in conjunction with a noise removal system to reduce the amount of noise in the digital image. The method described by Snyder et al. is designed to work for individual digital images and includes a multiple step process for the noise characteristics estimation procedure. A first residual signal is formed from the digital image obtained by applying a spatial filter. This first residual is analyzed to form a mask signal which determines what regions of the digital image are more and less likely to contain image structure content. The last step includes forming a second residual signal and sampling the second residual signal in the image regions unlikely to contain image structure as indicated by the first residual signal. The method taught by Snyder et al. requires the use of the mask signal to produce accurate noise estimates due to the fact that the spatial filter used to calculate the second residual image does not fully filter the image structure content.
It is desirable in any noise estimation method to obtain a residual signal that is pure noise, with no image structure content. This will lead to more accurate estimation of the noise characteristics in the image. Existing techniques suffer from the problem of image structure contamination in the residual signal used to estimate the noise. In other words, the spatial filter that produces the residual signal does not fully filter out image structure. The masking technique cannot fully exclude image structure pixels from the residual signal.

Calculating noise estimates of a digital image using gradient analysis


The disclosure provides a method and device for number display based on the mobile terminal and a mobile terminal. The method includes: an International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI, automatic match function is enabled according to a user selection, IMSI information in a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, card is read, the IMSI information is parsed to acquire Mobile Country Code, MCC, information; an MCC number format list is matched according to the MCC information to acquire and store a corresponding number display format; and when a user opens a dialling interface to input a number, the number is displayed according to the corresponding number display format. The disclosure solves the problem of not being adapted to a display style of the mobile terminal, and has the beneficial effects that an accustomed phone number display style of a corresponding country is automatically matched according to a phone number input by a user and the phone number is displayed according to the number display style, thereby enhancing system performance and improving user experience.

Since mobile terminals manufactured by the same mobile terminal manufacturer may be used by users in different countries or areas, and number display styles used by the users in different countries or areas are different; taking mobile phones for example, when the mobile phones of the same model are sold to many countries, and a user in each country inputs phone numbers in a dialling interface, a number display style is not necessarily an accustomed style of the user or an accustomed display style of a country where the user is.
For conforming to usage habits of the users, a method used by each mobile terminal manufacturer currently is: according to different countries to which the mobile terminals are sold and the different number display styles used by the users, producing different versions of mobile phone software, and customizing the number display styles adapting to different countries in the corresponding mobile phone software. But above method in the related art increases the cost of manufacturing the mobile terminal largely, and when the same mobile terminal, like a mobile phone, is switched from one user of one country to another user of another country for use, the problem of being unaccustomed to the display style still remains.

Method and device for number display based on mobile terminal, and mobile terminal


An extra step for a conventional replica forming process for diffraction gratings used in lasers is described herein. Applicant has discovered that the deterioration of a replica diffraction grating, when used with intense laser light, is accelerated due to small quantities of the radiation leaking through minute fractures in the aluminum reflective coating. Applicant has identified the source of this problem as occurring during the removal of the replica from the master grating. Applicant's improvement to this conventional process is to deposit a thin reflective overcoat of aluminum on the surface of the replica after the replica has been removed from the master and cleaned. The overcoating is performed in a vacuum chamber by sputtering or evaporation. This overcoat is not subjected to any subsequent destructive forces and hence remains relatively opaque. A typical thickness of the overcoat is around 100 nm. An oxide layer is formed over the aluminum and a third layer of aluminum is formed over the oxide.

Diffraction gratings are frequently used in lasers for reflecting back into a laser's resonating cavity only a narrow range of wavelengths of light centered at one particular wavelength. Light energy at this wavelength resonates within the cavity and is emitted through a partially reflective mirror at the other end of the cavity. Examples of such diffraction gratings and various methods of making these diffraction gratings are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,465; 5,436,764; and 5,493,393, incorporated herein by reference.
Typically, a master diffraction grating is first manufactured. This master grating is then used to form many replica gratings. Each of these replica gratings may then be used as a master grating for forming other replica gratings. Accordingly, compared to the master, the replicas may be made inexpensively.
As described in the '465 patent, a master grating may be formed by depositing aluminum over a substrate, such as glass. A diamond tool under interferometric control may then be used to etch very closely spaced grooves in the aluminum layer. The separation of the grooves is related to the wavelength of the light to be reflected by the grating and to the narrowness of the range of wavelengths it is required to reflect. In one embodiment, the diamond tool etches on the order of tens of thousands of grooves per inch. The diffraction grating may be ten inches square and one inch thick. Creating a precision master grating by physical etching is, therefore, an extremely time consuming and expensive process.
Once a master grating has been made, replicas of the grating are made in the following process. A release agent, such as described in the '764 patent, is coated on the surface of the master. This is preferably done in a vacuum chamber. A thin (e.g., 1 micron) reflective layer, such as aluminum, is then sputtered or evaporated onto the release layer. The master grating is then removed from the vacuum chamber. Liquid epoxy, such as described in the '465 patent, is then deposited on the aluminum layer, and a glass substrate is then placed on top of the epoxy. After the epoxy is cured, the glass layer, epoxy layer, and aluminum layer are then lifted from the master grating, resulting in a replica of the master grating.
Applicant has discovered that, when the replica is removed from the master grating, imperceptible damage is done to the thin layer of aluminum on the replica.
When the replicated diffraction grating is used as a selective wavelength reflector for generating a laser light beam, the replicated grating is subjected to intense light energy. Changes in the groove shape occur when the grating is exposed to intense light for long periods of time. This causes a loss of reflectance in the desired diffraction order, where some of the optical energy is shifted to other diffraction orders due to large scale groove angle changes, and some of the energy is lost to scatter due to small scale surface distortions of the groove faces.
Up until now, it was believed that the lifetime of such replicas could not be extended.
Applicant has discovered that the aluminum coating deposited during the replication process, typically about 1 micron thick, is subjected to forces during the subsequent take-apart step of the replication process which tend to generate very small fractures in the aluminum coating. These fractures allow small quantities of ultraviolet radiation to leak through to the underlying epoxy when the grating is put into service in an excimer laser. The ultraviolet light which reaches the epoxy causes photodecomposition of the epoxy, releasing gases which cause blisters in the overlying aluminum coating. This blistering greatly increases scatter losses from the reflecting facets of the grating. The ultraviolet light also causes bulk shrinkage of the epoxy, which distorts the original groove shape, causing a loss of reflectivity in the desired diffraction order. These effects severely limit the useful lifetime of the grating, causing unavailability of the equipment in which it is used at relatively frequent intervals.
What is needed is an improved replication process which lengthens the life of the replica gratings.

Reflective overcoat for replicated diffraction gratings


This invention presented a universal de-interlacing method and system by the motion detection, the motion adaptive interpolation, the directional edge interpolation, the 3:2 pull-downed detection and the 3:2 Pull-Downed recovery. Four-field motion detection can detect the motion area and the still area. By cooperating with the motion adaptive interpolation and the directional edge interpolation the picture possesses the very clear quality, high contrast, and high resolution. The 3:2 pull-downed detection and the 3:2 Pull-Downed recovery can detect the 3:2 Pull-Downed movie sequence and recover the interlaced fields into a progressive frames universally without too much overhead of computational power.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for de-interlacing, and more particularly, to a method and system for four fields de-interlacing with motion detection, motion compensation, directional edge interpolation, 3:2 pull-downed detection, and 3:2 pull-downed recovery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern computer systems are not constrained by data transfer rate required for the non-interlaced format to the same extent as were early television systems. However, the use of interlaced display formats for many consumer video products is common and unlikely to disappear soon. In order to display this interlaced material on a non-interlaced computer display there is a need for de-interlacing.
De-interlacing has become an important technique for scanning rate conversion in nowadays. Interlaced sequences are usually transmitted to the audiences by 60 fields per second. In order to display these interlaced sequences on the progressive devices (e.g. Computers, HDTV), the progressive devices ought to reconstruct the missing field. If de-interlacing is not done perfectly, audiences will suffer uncomfortable visual artifacts. These kinds of defects such as edge flicker, line crawling will cause critical distortion m the output frames.
Progressive devices commonly use a non-interlaced video display format, also called a progressive scan. That is, an entire frame is scanned line-by-line, typically from top to bottom. The process repeats and re-scans the entire frame at a given refresh rate, for example, 75 Hz. In contrast, many sources of consumer video, such as television signals, use an interlaced display format. Interlaced systems interleave two or more fields to display an entire frame. A typical U.S. NTSC television signal uses two fields, each with video data for every other horizontal line of the entire frame, and consecutively scans the two fields 30 times per second. The audience perceives the resulting image as a blend of the two individual fields with an effective refresh rate of 60 Hz. If instead, the entire frame was scanned progressively at 30 Hz, the audience might perceive a flicker of the displayed image. The flicker is much less apparent with higher refresh rates such as 60 Hz. The interlaced format thus reduces flicker without requiring a doubling of the data transfer rate needed to update the entire frame at 60 Hz. It calls the 3:2 pull-down. While 3:2 pull-down method transforms sequences from 24 frames per second into 60 fields per second, it generates fields patterns like "EOE OE" or "OEO EO" (E means even field, O means odd field) where fields together like "EOE" or "OE" means they came from the same frame. Other interlaced video formats are also common, such as the 50 Hz phase alternation line (PAL) system used in Europe.
The timing of the two or three fields generated from a frame is the same and the fields generated by way of this are called the fields in progressive video. On the contrary, if the timing of each field is different, then the fields are called the fields in interlaced video. The images of a motion are on the same location if the fields are at the same timing in the fields in progress video, but they are on the different locations in the fields in interlaced video.
A frame is combined by an odd line field and an even line field. In other words, interleaving the odd and even lines combines the frame. Thus, the method for de-interlacing a field to reconstruct a frame is to interleave the odd and even lines of the field and a complement field. The de-interlacing methods are classified as three categories: intra-field interpolation, inter-field interpolation, motion adaptive interpolation.
As mentioned above, inter-field interpolation is a simple de-interlacing method that it just combines two interlaced fields into one progressive frame. Inter-field interpolation may suffer severe visual quality degradation if there are lots of fast motion images in those field sequences. So inter-field interpolation is not considered to be a good method for de-interlacing a 60fps fast-motion field source. Another popular linear technique is intra-field interpolation, which constructs a new field by the intra-field interpolation to combine with the current field. The audiences may not feel uncomfortable while watching sequences de-interlaced by the intra-field interpolation. But there is a disadvantage while adopting intra-field interpolation, the vertical resolution is halved due to the interpolated new field: the output frame will be blurred after the combination of the current field and the interpolated new field. Motion Estimation can obtain good image quality, but it also costs a lot of time. Thus a motion adaptive interpolation with all kinds of advantages and precise motion detection is preferred.

Four-field motion adaptive de-interlacing


An FBGA packaged device including a die adhered to a substrate with a small gap being formed between the die and substrate. An opening is formed through the substrate adjacent the center portion of the die. An encapsulating mold is formed around the die extending into the gap and also filling the channel. At least one barrier is disposed in the gap between the substrate and the die adjacent the channel to control the flow path of the encapsulating material as the mold is formed in the package.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication. More particularly, the present invention relates to the fabrication of BOC (Board-on-Chip) FBGA (fine-pitch ball grid array) packages.
2. Background of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art which may be related to various aspects of the present invention which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Microprocessor-controlled circuits are used in a wide variety of applications. Such applications include personal computers, control systems, telephone networks, and a host of consumer products. As is well known, microprocessors are essentially generic devices that perform specific functions under the control of a software program. This program is stored in a memory device coupled to the microprocessor. Devices such as these are formed from a plurality of electrical circuits placed together in what is known in the art as a package. The packaging of electrical circuits is a key element in the technological development of any device containing electrical components. Many electrical circuits are packaged for surface mounting, and Fine-Pitch Surface Mount Technology (FPT) and Pin Grid Array (PGA) technology are well developed areas of this type of packaging technology. In addition, an emerging packaging method has been developed using Ball Grid Array (BGA) technology.
BGA technology offers several advantages over FPT and PGA. Among the most often cited advantages of BGA are: reduced co-planarity problems, since there are no leads; reduced placement problems; reduced paste printing problems; reduced handling damage; smaller size; better electrical and thermal performance; better package yield; better board assembly yield; higher interconnect density; multilayer interconnect options; higher I/Os for a given footprint; easier extension to multichip modules; and faster design-to-production cycle time.
While BGA technology provides many benefits, there is still a growing demand for more component functionality in a smaller space. Despite the benefits provided by BGA technology, BGA is still a surface mount technology like FPT and PGA and, thus, is limited by the space available on the mounting surface. Significant research and development has been devoted to finding ways to get more and more capabilities into smaller areas. Engineers have been challenged with finding ways to increase hardware capabilities, with memory capacity being one area in which board geography is at a particular premium is memory. However, regardless of whether FPT, PGA or BGA is implemented, surface mount technologies are limited by the space available on the ceramic substrate or printed circuit board (PCB). As a result, the amount of memory will disadvantageously be limited by the dimensions of the mounting surface.
An advance in BGA array technology has been found in the reduction of ball pitch used in forming the arrays. This technology, known as Fine-Pitch ball Grid Array (FBGA), allows for a smaller footprint and higher density of electrical connections than does conventional BGA technology. For example, in one instance a conventional BGA device measures 35 mm square and contains 352 balls or bumps in the array, this is compared to a similar device made using FBGA technology which measures 21 mm square and contains 400 balls in the array.
In forming BGA and FBGA packages, one important step is that of encapsulating the microchip or die and substrate. Proper flow of the encapsulating material is required to obtain maximum uniformity in the resultant characteristics of the molded encapsulating material. Non-uniform material characteristics in the molded encapsulating material can create undesired stresses resulting in cracking of the encapsulating body. Other harmful effects of improper molding techniques include delamination of the molded encapsulating material and bridging of electrical pathways. Thus the encapsulating process plays an important role in formation of BGA and FBGA packaged devices.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems set forth above.
Certain aspects commensurate in scope with the originally claim invention are set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of certain forms the invention might take and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Indeed, the invention may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an FBGA packaged device is provided. The package includes a die adhered to a substrate with a small gap being formed between the die and substrate. An opening, or a channel, is formed through the substrate adjacent the center portion of the die. An encapsulating mold is formed around the die, extending into the gap and also filling the channel. At least one barrier is disposed between the substrate and the die adjacent the channel to control the flow path of the encapsulating material, or molding compound, as the mold is formed in the package.
The present invention also provides a method for forming an encapsulated BGA or FBGA device allowing for improved moldability in the encapsulated package. The method provides for strategically placing a barrier between a die and a substrate to control the flow of molding compound thus producing more uniform material characteristics and fewer defects in the resultant mold.

U-shape tape for BOC FBGA package to improve moldability


An adaptive echo cancellation system and method employing an algorithm suitable for a digital repeater with sub-band filtering is disclosed. Cross- and auto-correlation measurements used to estimate the residual coupling are computed from normalized cross and power spectrums which avoid the problems associated with narrow bandwidth signal components. The normalized cross- and power spectra are additionally masked in frequency to reduce the influence of interfering spectral components outside of the passband of the sub-band filter. Regularization of the iterative estimation process is applied to maintain stability and compensate for the bandwidth reduction associated with the sub-band filter and the spectral mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio frequency (RF) repeaters. More particularly, the present invention relates to echo cancellation systems and methods for an on-frequency RF repeater.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
An on-frequency RF repeater extends the coverage of a basestation by receiving, filtering, and re-transmitting signals of interest at the same frequency and at a higher power level. Repeaters with high forward gain often exhibit echoes due to RF coupling between the input and output antennas. Echo cancellation is employed to reduce the echo. One approach to echo cancellation which employs autocorrelation techniques is disclosed in T. Pham and M. P. Fuerter, "System for convolutional echo cancellation by iterative autocorrelation", US Patent Application 2002/0181699, Dec. 5, 2002. However, correlation-based methods such as in the above published '699 application can fail when the input signal comprises a strong narrowband component, such as GSM, because the auto-correlation of the input signal and echo overlap.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved system and method for echo cancellation.

Adaptive echo cancellation for an on-frequency RF repeater with digital sub-band filtering


A depsipeptide containing N-substituted glycine residue having the formula (1) or (2): ##STR1## (wherein R.sub.1 is a straight or branched alkyl group of 5-20 carbon atoms or a straight or branched alkoxymethyl group of 5-15 carbon atoms; R.sub.2 is a group of the formula --A--B--W--(D).sub.m --(E).sub.n, --A--B--W--(D).sub.m --(E).sub.n --F or --A--B--W--(D).sub.m --(E).sub.n --F--Z; R.sub.3 is a hydroxyl group, a lower alkoxy group, a benzyloxy group, or a group of the formula --Z, --Z--G or --Z--G--J; A, B, D, E, F, G and J independently are an N-substituted glycine residue or a residue of an amino acid selected from the group consisting of alanine, valine, leucine, serine, etc.; W and Z independently are a residue of an amino acid selected from the group consisting of an aspartic acid, a glutamic acid, etc.; at least one of A, B, D, E, F, G and J is an N-substituted glycine residue) or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof.. The above depsipeptides have a promoting activity on the production of apolipoprotein E, and are useful as a therapeutic agent for neurologic damages, especially dementia, and hyperlipemia.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel depsipeptide containing N-substituted glycine residue and a pharmaceutical composition containing the same as an active ingredient. The depsipeptides of the invention have a promoting activity on the production of apolipoprotein E and are useful as therapeutic agents for neurologic damages, especially dementia, and hyperlipemia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a therapeutic agent for senile dementia, there have been mainly applied activators of cerebral circulation and metabolism, but these drugs have no improving effect on disintegration of the central nervous system which is believed to cause senile dementia. Consequently, they do not show any improving effect on dysmnesia or acalculia which is said to be the main symptom of dementia. In view of this, there has been desired a drug as a new type of the therapeutic agent for senile dementia which may promote the repair and growth of nervous systems while inhibiting the disintegration of the central nervous system. On the other hand, it has been reported that apolipoprotein E may be generated at a high level at the damaged sites of nervous systems which are being repaired (For example, refer to M. J. Igunatius et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 83, 1125 (1986)). This suggests that apolipoprotein E will play an important role in repairing the damaged nervous systems.
Moreover, it has recently been reported that a remarkable reduction in a plasma cholesterol level can be observed when apolipoprotein E is administered intravenously to WHHL rabbit, which is a model animal for human familial hypercholesterolemia homozygote (Yamada et al., Proceeding of National Academy Science USA, Vol. 86, pp. 665-669, 1989). Also, it has been reported that plasma cholesterol and plasma triglyceride can be noticeably decreased by transducing a gene for apolipoprotein E into the mouse liver and expressing apolipoprotein E in a large mass (Shimano, H. et al., Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol. 90, pp. 2084-2091, 1992).
As is apparent from these reports, the increase in plasma apolipoprotein E concentration has been regarded as extremely effective in the treatment of hyperlipemia, especially familial hypercholesterolemia homozygote which has been hitherto considered as difficult to be treated with the prior art drugs.

Depsipeptides containing N-substituted glycine residue


A cache memory device in an N-way (N is an integer of 2 or larger) set associative system includes a way detection unit detecting one way exhibiting a specified strength on the basis of a reference history defined as bits representing a win/loss relation between ways and updated so as to indicate one way exhibiting the specified strength, and an error detection unit detecting a bit error in the reference history if the way detection unit does not detect one way exhibiting the specified strength.

The present invention relates generally to a cache memory device in an N-way set associative system, and more particularly to a cache memory device capable of detecting a bit error in a reference history without using redundant bits such as parity bits and to a reference history bit error detection method.
In the cache memory device in the N-way set associative system, it has hitherto been known that way information, as shown based on an LRU (Least Recent Used) algorithm, exhibiting the earliest time of being referred to (or updated) for the last time within the same set, is written back to a main storage device (main memory), and this scheme is advantageous in terms of performance.
An operation of the conventional cache memory device will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is an explanatory flowchart showing the operation of the conventional cache memory device.
When an access request to a specified address in an address space of the main memory (S200), to begin with, this address is separated into a match address and a line address. A tag RAM of each way is searched according to the line address, and an entry address read from the tag RAM is compared with the match address (S201). If the entry address is coincident with the match address, this implies that the way concerned is hit (S202: Yes). In this case, the hit way is sent back, and there is effected an access to a copy of the main memory that is retained on a data RAM of the way concerned (S203).
Whereas if the match address hits none of the entry addresses of the ways (S202: No), information of a certain way is written back (or invalidated) and thrown away from the entry of the tag RAM, and the copy of the main memory having an address corresponding to the access request is read into a cache. A reference history is read for selecting this throw-out way (replace target way) (S204) Next, it is judged whether a 1-bit error in the reference history is detected (S205). This error detection is executed based on redundant bits attached to the readout reference history (which may be called, e.g., a parity check). Then, if the parity check occurs (S205: Yes), it is considered that this reference history contains an error, and an error report is made (S206). Then, a way having the lowest number among the valid ways is sent back (S207). Further, in the case of making a win/loss decision based on the reference history, if there occurs a contradictory in a reference time relation, the same process as when the parity error occurs has hitherto been executed in order to prevent zero-select or double-select of the way.
The write-back to the main memory involves retaining, in a tag memory (or a memory area that can be referred to by the set equal thereto), the reference history (which may also be called LRU bits) capable of making a comparison between earliness and lateness of the reference time within the same set. Further, according to a device requested to have a reliability, the redundant bits such as the parity bits, ECC (Error Correcting Code) and so on are added to the reference history.
If the system increases in scale with an extended address space, a must-be-cached address space likewise increases. If a block size of the cache is the same, each time the cacheable address space is doubled, it follows that a data size of the entry address in the tag memory increases by 1 bit. At this time, there might be a case where the redundant bits for detecting the error in the reference history can not be sufficiently ensured due to a restraint of the data size in the tag memory and so on.
It is an object of the present invention to detect the bit error in the reference history without adding the redundant bits to the reference history in the cache memory device in the N-way set associative system.

Cache memory device and reference history bit error detection method


A sleeve for the construction of a hose pipe extends about a longitudinal axis. The sleeve has greater elongation capacities in one direction than in the other with respect to the longitudinal axis.

The invention relates to a sleeve intended to be used for the construction of a pipe for the passage of a fluid, as well as a pipe comprising such a sleeve.
The word "sleeve" is understood to mean that this sleeve can form part of a pipe construction, that it may be a tube, a sleeve of a tube, a sheath, folded or welded. There may be a plurality of sleeves in the pipe construction. One sleeve may be connected to the other sleeve or partially connected to another sleeve or not connected to another sleeve.
Pipes intended to be used for the flow of fluid, such as hose pipes, may need to be of great length, which thereby increases the weight of the pipe when it is to wound up and put away. In order to reduce the weight and bulk of the pipe, there are known pipes which have properties of extension by means of which the pipe is elongated and enlarged when water flows within it. This ensures that the pipe has a sufficient pipe length and maintains a high flow rate and retracts when the flow of water within it is stopped. The retracted pipe is of lower weight and is less bulky, which facilitates transport and storage thereof after use.
Such a pipe comprises at least one sleeve of extendible synthetic material and a textile reinforcement. The disadvantage of this pipe is that the textile reinforcement used, which is a knitted fabric, tends to stretch across its diameter, which means that the pipe has a large mass per unit length.
These are the disadvantages which the invention aims to overcome by proposing a sleeve for the construction of a pipe, the sleeve offering improved performance with respect to the prior art.


A frequency selection apparatus, a mobile communications system, and a multi-band resource management method are disclosed. The frequency selection apparatus includes                an acquisition unit configured to collect environmental information about a mobile station for each frequency band according to system frequency bands that a mobile station can use, and        a frequency selection unit configured to determine the frequency band to be used and the system to be connected to, based on the environmental information and information provided by the mobile station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a frequency selection apparatus, a mobile communications system, and a multi-band frequency resource management method for realizing effective use of frequency resources, maintaining a service area, and improving throughput under an environment where two or more cellular systems using the same communication system in two or more frequency bands are in service.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years and continuing, demands for mobile communication services are rapidly increasing, and realization of high speed and large capacity communication services are called for, such as not only conventional voice and low speed data communications, but also moving picture and high-speed data transmissions. In order to meet these demands, it is necessary to use wide frequency band in mobile communications services that are capable of providing both high-speed (large capacity) and low-speed data communications.
However, radio frequency is a limited resource, and since it is difficult to obtain a wide band, communication systems that effectively use frequency are called for. Although radio communication systems have been advanced, are being diversified, and are offering various services, there are cases where a sufficient service area cannot be offered by a new system to be introduced.
Further, a radio communication system that uses two or more different frequency bands has been proposed, and put in practical use (for example, Non-Patent Reference 1), the radio communication system providing a wide service area and effective use of frequency.
Further, in PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), a system that is compatible with an 800 MHz and a 1.5 GHz band is available (for example, Non-Patent Reference 2). A base station and a mobile station according to this method are capable of standing-by, and communicating in the 800 MHz band and the 1.5 GHz band, wherein a frequency channel from one of the 800 MHz band and 1.5 GHz band is assigned. In this way, congested traffic of the 800 MHz band is distributed to the 1.5 GHz band.
Further, the frequency band at which the mobile station stands by is assigned based on information about a "band shift probability", the information being provided by the network. A frequency channel that is available to the mobile station is obtained by the mobile station measuring the received signal strength of both frequency bands when a voice communication is to be carried out such that a suitable frequency band that can satisfy a desired quality is selected, and the communication is carried out.
Further, in Europe, in an attempt to smoothly introduce a W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system, a mobile station compatible to both W-CDMA and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is being studied, and an experimental verification of connecting the compatible mobile station to a GSM and a W-CDMA network is also being carried out (for example, Non-Patent Reference 3).
A handover process from W-CDMA to GSM is as follows. In the case that a mobile station is communicating by using a switched line of a W-CDMA system, when received signal strength becomes less than a threshold, the network of W-CDMA directs the mobile station to measure a GSM signal. If the mobile station finds a GSM base station, a signal of which is greater than the threshold of received signal strength, the handover from W-CDMA to GSM is started.
Then, a RAN (Radio Access Network)
Controller determines whether a resource is available at the GSM base station. If the determination is affirmative, i.e., if there is a resource that can be assigned, the GSM base station transmits a handover command.
When the mobile station receives the handover command, connection to the GSM base station is carried out. As a result, a radio connection in agreement with the command is established. Then, the mobile station transmits a handover completion message to the GSM base station, connection with a GSM network is started, and the connection with the W-CDMA network is released.
A study is also being made about controlling two or more communication systems. There, a mobile station is controlled so that it is connected to one of the communication systems. In this way, system throughput is raised compared with the case where the mobile station is capable of communicating in only one communication system (for example, Non-Patent Reference 4 reference).
Further, studies are being made about methods to improve the throughput (for example, Non-Patent Reference 5). An example is a method wherein resources of two or more systems using the same communication parameter are independently controlled such that loads are properly distributed between the systems. Another example is a method wherein each mobile station corresponding to each system selects a system that provides the greatest throughput where two or more systems each having different transmission speed, number of channels, area composition, and propagation property are available.
By controlling two or more radio systems as described above, effective use of frequency resources, obtaining a service area, and improvement in the throughput are attained.                [Non-Patent Reference 1] R. Heichkero, et al., "Ericsson Seamless Network", Ericsson Review, No. 2, pp. 76-83, 2002        [Non-Patent Reference 2] Yeshiva, Fukazawa, and Masuda, "Special Issue: 1.5 GHz band common method, System Outline", NTT DoCoMo Technical Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 6-14, April 2003        [Non-Patent Reference 3] G. Alsenmyr, et al., "Handover Between WCDMA and GSM", Ericsson Review, No. 1, pp. 6-11, 2003        [Non-Patent Reference 4] A. Tolli and P. Hakalin, "Adaptive Load Balancing between Multiple Cell Layers", proceedings of VTC Fall 2002, Vol. 3, pp. 1691-1695, September 2002        [Non-Patent Reference 5] T. Shono, K. Uehara, and S. Kubota, "Proposal for System Diversity on Software Defined Radio", IEICE Trans. on Fund., Vol. E84-A, No. 9, pp. 2346-2358, September 2002
[Description of the Invention]
[Problem(s) to be Solved by the Invention]
However, there are the following problems in the conventional technologies described above.
In the control system described above, control is performed based on measurement of a received signal, wherein difference in the frequency characteristic of the signal is not taken into consideration.
When selecting a system out of systems that use different frequency bands, and switching is to be carried out in an actual system, it is necessary to consider differences in propagation properties, fading influences, and the frequency bandwidth that can be obtained in real environments.

Frequency selection apparatus, a mobile communications system, and a multi-band frequency resource management method


A radially fired water heating apparatus (10) having a plurality of stacked segments of multiple-loop, finned coiled tubing (58) separated by inner and outer support baffles (86, 88), all contained within a cylindrical baffle (20) which cooperates with the coiled tubing (58) and support baffles (86, 88) to direct combustion by-products into an annulus (24) promoting heat transfer to a countercurrent flow of inlet air, the water being supplied to and recovered from the stacked segments of coiled tubing (58) through inlet and outlet headers (54, 56) disposed outside cylindrical baffle (20) that can be selectively modified by installing or removing baffles (90, 92) for either single-pass or multiple-pass operation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved gas-fired water heating apparatus, and more particularly, to a radially fired water heating apparatus that is adaptable for either commercial water heater or boiler use. One aspect of the invention relates to a water heating apparatus comprising a plurality of vertically stacked, multiple-turn planar coils. Another aspect of the invention relates to a water heating apparatus comprising a double walled jacket that functions as a secondary heat exchanger, transferring heat by countercurrent flow from the flue gasses to incoming combustion air. Another aspect of the invention relates to a water heating apparatus that proportions combustion air and fuel independently to control operation in response to heating demand. Still another aspect of the invention relates to a water heating apparatus that is adapted for use in a condensing environment.
2. Description of Related Art
A general review of design factors and standard references to be considered in specifying commercial water heating systems is disclosed in "A Variety Of Design Factors Govern Hot Water Heater Choices", CONSULTING/SPECIFYING ENGINEER, JANUARY 1991, p. 48-51. Such factors include, by way of example, whether the system is to utilize direct or indirect heating, the anticipated load or demand, thermal efficiency, utilization temperatures, whether the system will be used in a condensing environment, water quality, corrosion, scale, and the like.
Many direct fired, commercial water heating systems are presently available. One commercially available system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,299, utilizes a horizontal combustion chamber around which water flows through a double-walled shell that is wound repeatedly around the combustion chamber with spaces between each successive winding to accommodate a countercurrent flow of exhaust gasses.
Another commercially available system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,204, utilizes a dual tank design. One tank contains the primary heat exchanger in which a horizontally mounted conventional burner heats water flowing through two-pass, U-bend firetubes. Exhaust gasses that exit the primary heat exchanger at 350.degree. F. to 400.degree. F. are routed to a secondary heat exchanger where they are passed countercurrent to ambient makeup water to preheat the water before entering the primary exchanger. Makeup air is preheated to over 200.degree. F. by passing it through ductwork which surrounds the exhaust gasses exiting the secondary exchanger.
Some of the newer prior art systems utilize primary exchanger sections comprising a vertically disposed, radially directed, cylindrical burner in combination with a plurality of fixed length, copper-finned tubes arranged vertically around the burner. Water flows through the tubes, which are typically connected to headers located above and below the combustion zone, either in single or double-pass configurations. In some heaters, the copper-finned tubes are intermeshed and completely surround the burner to enhance heat transfer. Difficulties have been experienced with these heaters, however, because of the limited amount of expansion or contraction that can be accommodated with the fixed tube design, and also because any condensate that may form around the horizontal fins tends to pool up on the fins, leading to corrosion and/or scaling problems and diminished thermal efficiency.
More recently, a radially fired water heating system has been introduced that utilizes horizontally disposed coils of self-baffling extruded copper tubing. This self-baffling tubing, with a generally hexagonal cross-section, is also believed likely to trap water and corrosive products on the outside of the tubing when used in a condensing environment. Most conventional designs employing coiled copper tubing use a stainless steel heat shield that is wrapped around the burner, preventing direct impingement heating on the coils. At least one design utilizes an inlet header disposed inside the circumference of the coils, making it difficult or impossible to inspect the water side of the heat exchanger section.
Another prior art condensing water heater comprises a boiler section designed as a horizontal, double-row coil of finned copper tubing surrounding a cylindrical perforated-plate flameholder in combination with an economizer designed as a single coil of finned stainless steel tubing disposed radially outward from the primary coil.
Notwithstanding the systems disclosed in the prior art, a radially fired water heater apparatus is needed that is characterized by a plurality of horizontally disposed, multiple-looped, finned coils supported and separated vertically by baffles adapted to promote efficient heat transfer to water passing through the coils; vertical inlet and outlet manifolds disposed outside the coils for easy access and inspection, the manifolds being selectively adaptable for use in either a single-pass or multiple-pass configuration; and jackets providing countercurrent heat transfer between the exhaust products exiting the primary heat exchange section and the inlet air.


A lamp ballast system includes a frequency inverter unit having a driver circuit connected to a voltage multiplying unit so as to receive a voltage-multiplied direct current output therefrom, an oscillator circuit connected to and driven by the driver circuit so as to generate a high-frequency oscillating current output, and a converter circuit connected to the oscillator circuit and operable so as to convert the oscillating current output into a stable high voltage, high frequency alternating current output. A phase correction unit interconnects the converter circuit and the lamp load, and includes at least one set of a transformer and a capacitor that are connected in series.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lamp ballast system that can provide a stable operating current to a lamp load.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional lamp ballast system, the operating current that is provided to a lamp load generally fluctuates according to the characteristics of an alternating current (AC) power input. The fluctuation as such can lead to inefficient power consumption and in a shorter service life for the lamp load and electrical components of the lamp ballast system.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a lamp ballast system that can supply a stable operating current to a lamp load even under the presence of input power fluctuations.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp ballast system that can automatically cut-off current supply to the lamp load upon detection of load over-voltage conditions.
According to the present invention, a lamp ballast system is adapted to be connected to a lamp load, and comprises a rectifying and filtering unit, a voltage multiplying unit, a frequency inverter unit, and a phase correction unit. The rectifying and filtering unit is adapted to rectify and filter an alternating current input so as to generate a direct current output. The voltage multiplying unit is connected to the rectifying and filtering unit so as to receive the direct current output therefrom. The voltage multiplying unit is operable so as to generate a voltage-multiplied direct current output. The frequency inverter unit includes a driver circuit, an oscillator circuit, and a converter circuit. The driver circuit is connected to the voltage multiplying unit so as to receive the voltage-multiplied direct current output therefrom. The oscillator circuit is connected to and is driven by the driver circuit so as to generate a high-frequency oscillating current output. The converter circuit is connected to the oscillator circuit so as to receive the high-frequency oscillating current output. The converter circuit is operable so as to convert the oscillating current output Minot a stable high voltage, high frequency alternating current output. The phase correction unit is adapted to interconnect the converter circuit and the lamp load, and includes at least one set of a transformer and a capacitor that are connected in series.
Preferably, an over-voltage protection unit is connected to the phase correction unit, the voltage multiplying unit and the driver circuit. The over-voltage protection unit inhibits operation of the voltage multiplying unit and the driver circuit upon detection of an over-voltage condition at the phase correction unit.


A method of manufacturing bleached mechanical and chemithermomechanical pulp is provided, having enhanced bleaching effect, wherein lignocellulose material is passed through at least one preheater or through a chemical treatment system, a steam separator and a refiner where the lignocellulose material is converted into a pulp suspension which, after steam separation, is passed at least to a storage vessel and to a screening department, from which the major part of the pulp suspension is separated as a substantially finished product or is separated and further treated. The reductive bleaching agent is added to the advancing pulp suspension without a bleaching tower. The method is characterized by adding the bleaching agent at a location downstream of the refiner and upstream of the screening department, and by bleaching the pulp under drastic conditions of temperature and minimized oxygen access at the location and immediately downstream of the location.

It is known to use an oxidizing bleaching agent, primarily some peroxide, and a reducing bleaching agent, primarily dithionite, in the manufacture of bleached mechanical pulp, for instance thermomechanical pulp. It is also known to bleach one and the same mechanical pulp with both types of bleaching agent, i.e. in an oxidizing bleaching stage followed by a reducing bleaching stage, or vice versa.
This also applies to the manufacture of chemithermomechanical pulp. Peroxide, normally hydrogen peroxide, is a highly effective bleaching agent that bleaches the pulp to high brightness. However, peroxide bleaching normally requires the use of separate bleaching towers and also other bleaching plant equipment, which results in high capital investment costs.
Concerning reductive bleaching agents and then primarily dithionite—normally sodium dithionite—besides the use of bleaching tower the bleaching agent can be added directly to the pulp suspension, for instance in a storage tower, therewith obviating the use of bleaching tower and other bleaching equipment. This latter alternative results in a lowering of the capital investment costs. Such known dithionite bleaching is normally effected in a temperature range of 40-60° C. In order to enhance the bleaching response, i.e. the bleaching efficiency, it has been suggested that the dithionite is charged directly to a refiner (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,987 owned by Joachimides et al, and a lecture entitled "Reductive Bleaching in Refiners", Tappi Pulping Conference 1998, pp. 509-515). This method of procedure leads to an increased bleaching efficiency in comparison with a typical dithionite bleaching process, but manifested also drawbacks in the form of scaling within the refiner and a tendency towards corrosion damage.
In order to be successful when bleaching pulp with, for instance, dithionite, it is necessary to check and control the pH-value of the pulp suspension, the access of air to the pulp suspension, which should be restricted to the greatest possible extent, and the presence of hazardous and undesired metals in the pulp suspension, for instance transition metals.
Transition metals, particularly iron and manganese, are detrimental to the bleaching of mechanical pulp with, e.g., as well hydrogen peroxide as dithionite. The presence of manganese ions in significant quantities is particularly serious when bleaching pulp with hydrogen peroxide, whereas it is the iron ions that are particularly harmful when bleaching pulp with dithionite. These transition metals are normally removed from or neutralized in the pulp and the pulp suspension, by complex-binding the transition metals with a complexing agent, for instance in the form of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and/or diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA). It has also been suggested that a reducing chemical, such as sodium hydrosulfite or sodium sulphite for instance, is added to the pulp suspension in addition to a complexing agent. Successes have also been achieved by treating wood chips solely with a complexing agent and with both of the aforesaid chemicals.

Method for manufacturing bleached mechanical and chemithermomechanical pulp


A method for forming a metal interconnection of a semiconductor device avoids over-etching and under-etching through the use of the “self-stop” function of a nitridation layer, to prevent the occurrence of openings and voids in a copper interconnection and to obtain a constant trench depth. The method includes forming nitride films on a semiconductor substrate by primary annealing, the semiconductor substrate being provided with a first IMD film and a tungsten plug; depositing a second IMD film on the semiconductor substrate on which the nitride films are formed; depositing a photoresist on the second IMD film and patterning the photoresist; etching the second IMD film using the patterned photoresist to form a trench; removing the nitride films using a chemical; depositing a copper barrier metal film and a copper seed layer in the trench from which the nitride films are removed, and depositing copper; secondarily annealing the substrate on which the copper is deposited; and planarizing the secondarily annealed substrate by chemical-mechanical polishing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to metal interconnection formation in semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a method for forming a metal interconnection of a semiconductor device, in which, in a single damascene process using lower and upper inter-metal dielectric (IMD) films, a nitridation layer is thinly deposited and annealed before forming a trench in the upper IMD film. This obtains a constant trench depth by avoiding over-etching or under-etching when forming the trench, thereby preventing the occurrence of openings and voids in a copper interconnection.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An electrical interconnection in a semiconductor device is formed by patterning a metal layer, which is typically made of copper to improve the operating speed of the device. To overcome etching difficulties, the metal interconnection is typically formed by a damascene process, which may be a dual damascene process or a single damascene process.
In a dual damascene process, an etch-stop layer and an IMD film are stacked and are then etched to form a via hole or a contact hole and a trench in the stacked layers. A diffusion prevention layer and a seed layer are sequentially formed on the entire surface of resulting structure, namely, on the substrate including the via hole and the trench. Here, the seed layer of a copper interconnection is a Cu seed layer, so that the diffusion prevention layer is a copper barrier metal film. The copper is deposited by electroplating and is then planarized by, for example, by chemical-mechanical polishing, to form simultaneously a via plug in the via hole and the copper interconnection in the trench.
During copper deposition, however, a lower transistor may be contaminated by diffusion of copper atoms through the contact hole. Therefore, the electrical contact in such cases is formed by a single damascene process in which a deposition of tungsten is used to first fill the via hole. Then, the copper interconnection is formed only in the trench above the contact hole. A related art method for forming a metal interconnection of a semiconductor device using a single damascene process is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a contact hole is formed in a first IMD film 101 formed on a semiconductor substrate (not shown), and a tungsten plug 102 fills the contact hole. A second IMD film 103 is deposited on the first IMD film 101 to cover the filled contact hole and is then selectively etched to form a trench in which a copper barrier metal film 104 and a copper 105 are sequentially deposited.
When etching to form the trench, however, under-etching (FIG. 1A) or over-etching (FIG. 1B) may be experienced. For example, in the under-etching shown in FIG. 1A, there is an opening in the copper interconnection. In the over-etching shown in FIG. 11B, an excessive deposition of the copper barrier metal film 104 tends to occur along the upper edges of the tungsten plug 102 and thus creates an overhang 106 under which a void 107 may be generated. The openings in the copper interconnection and the voids in the copper deposition increase the resistance of the metal interconnection, thereby degrading device characteristics.

Method for forming metal interconnection of semiconductor device


A method for incorporating diverse Varieties of intercalants or templates directly during hydrothermal synthesis of clays such as hectorite or montmorillonite-type layer-silicate clays. For a hectorite layer-silicate clay, refluxing a gel of silica sol, magnesium hydroxide sol and lithium fluoride for two days in the presence of an organic or organometallic intercalant or template results in crystalline products containing either (a) organic dye molecules such as ethyl violet and methyl green, (b) dye molecules such as alcian blue that are based on a Cu(II)-phthalocyannine complex, or (c) transition metal complexes such as Ru(II)phenanthroline and Co(III)sepulchrate or (d) water-soluble porphyrins and metalloporphyrins. Montmorillonite-type clays are made by the method taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,454 issued to Hickson, Jun. 13, 1975; however, a variety of intercalants or templates may be introduced. The intercalants or templates should have (i) water-solubility, (ii) positive charge, and (iii) thermal stability under moderately basic (pH 9-10) aqueous reflux conditions or hydrothermal pressurized conditions for the montmorillonite-type clays.

The synthesis of new materials with potential as acidic catalysts or supports is of interest to industries that employ zeolites and clays in these traditional uses, e.g. the petrochemical industry. These minerals are crystalline, open-framework silicates that have pores and channels (in the case or three-dimensional zeolites) or galleries (two-dimensional clays and pillared clays) available as microenvironments for chemical reaction. The smectite clay minerals of interest in this invention have two tetrahedral silicate layers sandwiching a central octahedral layer in a so-called 2:1 arrangement, see FIG. 1. Isomorphous substitutions in the lattice such as Mg(II) for Al(III) in the octahedral layers of montmorillonite clays or Li(I) for Mg(II) in the octahedral layers of hectorite clays cause an overall negative charge that is compensated for by the presence of interlayer, or gallery cations. A significant amount of interlayer water is also present and the cations are easily exchangeable. The d(001) spacing indicated in FIG. 1 is the crystallographic unit cell dimension along the c-axis, and includes the fixed measurement of the clay layer (.about.9.6.ANG.) along with the variable interlayer or gallery spacing.
The usual method for modifying such silicate minerals is by ion-exchange, where the alkali or alkaline earth cation is replaced by, for example, a catalytically active species. However, a more direct method is to incorporate intercalants, especially more complex molecules, during hydrothermal crystallization of the silicate. The inventive technique is applicable to hectorite clays that were made in the presence of water-soluble porphyrins and metalloporphyrins, and is also applicable to a wide variety of organics and organometallics, of the types illustrated in FIG. 2.
Mn-porphyrins supported on clays have recently been demonstrated as promising hydrocarbon mono-oxygenation catalysts. The adsorption characteristics of dye-clay mineral systems have been extensively studied in terms of staining tests and metachromasy, which has implications in geochemistry and agriculture, and fluorescence to probe photoprocesses at solid surfaces and photo-redox reactions in organized media. The dyes methyl green (MG) and alcian blue (AB) are biological stains, and ethyl violet (EV) is known to display metachromasy with clays. The other intercalants or templates used are bulky transition metal complexes, such as Ru(II)o-phenanthroline) and Co(III)sepulchrate. Metal chelates such as Ru(II)- and Fe(III)-phenanthrolines adsorbed onto clays have been studied by electric dichroism, in terms of ligation, and are props of the gallery space as pillars. All synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), microanalysis, Nz BET surface area measurements, thermal gravietric analysis, and diffuse reflectance UV-visible spectroscopy (DRS) when appropriate.

Organic or organometallic template mediated clay synthesis


An extendible coupling for replacing damaged sections of tubing used in underground sprinkler systems is disclosed. The disclosed coupler includes a pair of telescoping sections and a threaded connection between the two sections. The threaded connection is used to cause the telescoping sections to move relative to one another, causing the coupler to extend and causing nipples used at ends of the coupler to extend into the sections of tubing being joined.

(a) Field of the Invention
This application relates to a device and method for connecting sections of tubing used in underground sprinkler systems. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a telescoping coupler that includes a threaded portion that is used to extend the coupler in order to drive the ends of the coupler into the open ends of the sections of partially-buried tubing to be joined.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
For the reasons discussed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,624,139 and 5,403,046, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, polyethylene is widely used for the tubing or ducts that are used in forming underground sprinkler systems. The polyethylene tubing is tough and relatively stiff, so that it will not collapse due to the weight of the soil used to backfill the trench used to lay out the sprinkler system. The stiffness of the polyethylene tubing, however, creates problems whenever it is necessary to join two lengths or sections of polyethylene tube or hose. Often, the need to join sections presents itself when a section of the tubing or hose has developed a leak, such a leak from a hole caused by water that has been allowed to freeze in the tubing, or by mechanical damage caused while digging around the sprinkler system. To repair the leak, the damaged section must be removed, and the two remaining sections joined.
One common type of device for joining sections of tubing includes one-piece couplers such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,996,855 to Cheswright. The use of types of couplers for joining sections of polyethylene tubing is common, but often leads to further damage to the tubing. This damage includes kinking sections of the tubing, with the kink creating a weakened section in the tubing, and significant distortions to the ends and inner diameter of the sections to be joined, such that inner diameter is enlarged to the point where a water-tight seal cannot be achieved. Many of the problems associated with making connections with devices such as the Cheswright device stem from the fact that to install the coupling, the installer very frequently has to insert the fitting into the first section of tubing, and then lift and try to gently bend the tubing in order to shorten that length of tubing enough to insert the remaining end of the fitting into the second section of tubing. Even if due care is exercised in the installation, while so bending the hose it often kinks, which substantially weakens the integrity of polyethylene hose. This in turn is likely to lead to future failures of the system.
My U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,624,139 and 5,403,046 solved the problems associated with the limited space between the sections of tubing, and thus greatly reduced, if not eliminated, the need to bend the tubing in order to install a fitting that would join two sections. My solutions disclosed in these patents solve the problems associated with space between the sections to be joined, but through years of use in the field it was discovered that it is often very difficult to insert the ends, or nipples, of the fittings into the polyethylene tubing sections to be joined. This problem is inherent to the repair of polyethylene tubing, simply due to the toughness and stiffness of polyethylene tubing.
Still further, an efficient mechanism for joining the components of the disclosed invention without using chemical solvents or ultrasonic welding is also needed.
Therefore, a review of known devices reveals that there remains a need for a simple device that facilitates the insertion of fittings used connect a pair of sections of polyethylene tubing that are partially buried.


A combination of electronic hardware, a microprocessor (embodied, e.g., in a personal-style computer (“PC”)), and control software blended together with unique systems integration techniques. When stationed at a machine tool, the result is an grated, interactive and intuitive machine tool or workstation capable of computer aided design (CAD), optional reverse engineering parts via coordinate measurement machining (CMM), toolpath generation computer aided manufacturing (CAM), and direct machine tool control (Direct CNC) by one person at one work station with a common human machine interface (HMI) and common file formats.

CNC machine tools have been around for many years for producing a machine part from raw material, such as sheet steel, billet aluminum, etc. A CNC machine tool refers to a large heavy machine which is controlled by servo motors to move the raw material, referred to sometimes as a workpiece, relative to a cutting tool in a linear and/or rotational manner. This movement enables a cutting tool to pass through the workpiece to remove material accurately from the workpiece, thereby producing a machine part, or one process state of the machine part.
Part manufacturing by use of CNC machine tools can be divided into three distinct disciplines. Design (CAD), toolpath strategies (CAM) & manufacturing (CNC). Each of these disciplines can be further divided into sub-disciplines. Quite often these disciplines do not operate serially, instead being performed over multiple revisions until all requirements are met.
Conventional systems typically have three independent systems, one for each of the three distinct disciplines. These systems are usually in physically separate locations. CAD and CAM are software tools, while machine tools are a combination of software, electronics and mechanical systems. Since these systems are general independent systems, revisions to one system may require completely regenerating another (i.e., if the CAD design changes, the new CAD file may have to be reimported and require a new CAM program as well).
Depending on the part complexity and skill level of the individuals performing these disciplines, it may require one to hundreds of individuals to achieve the desired results. The time allocated to each of these disciplines maybe, but not always equal to each other.

Integrated CAD/CAM/CNC software machine tool and machine tool therewith


Nematic liquid crystal display device, in which the isocontrast curve has obtained a more symmetrical shape by combining two and four sub-pixels with twist angles which are smaller than 90 degrees, at which the sub-pixels are obtained by providing different orientation directions (11) in an orienting layer (8) by means of linearly polarized light. If a cholesteric nematic liquid crystal material is used, a sub-pixel may have a twist angle of more than 90 degrees, while pairs of sub-pixels then have twist angles of opposite twist sense, at which the sum of the absolute values of the twist angles is smaller than 180 degrees.

The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device having a plurality of pixels, comprising a layer of nematic liquid crystal material between a first substrate which is provided with a first orientation layer inducing a first orientation direction and a tilt angle in the molecules of the liquid crystal material, and a second substrate which is provided with a second orientation layer inducing two orientation directions in the molecules of the liquid crystal material, so that a pixel is divided into two sub-pixels.
Display devices of this type are generally used in, for example, monitors, TV applications and, for example, in display devices for motorcars and instruments.
A display device of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is described in "A Full-Color TFT-LCD with a Domain-Divided Twisted-Nematic Structure", SID 92 DIGEST, pp. 798-801. In the domain-divided twisted-nematic LCD described in this article, pixels are divided into sub-pixels so as to reduce the viewing angle dependence, with the angle dependence being different for both sub-pixels, which is achieved by introducing different orientation or tilt angles on a surface for different parts of a pixel. In the device shown in this article, this is realized for a part of the cell by providing an orientation layer, yielding a high tilt angle after rubbing, on a layer yielding a low tilt angle after rubbing.
A drawback of this method is that two different layers of different materials must be provided, usually a first (in)organic layer yielding a low (pre)tilt and then a second organic layer yielding a high (pre)tilt. This requires an additional photolithographic step (providing the photoresist, masking, illuminating, developing and finally stripping of the photoresist). Moreover, when these layers are rubbed for obtaining the ultimate tilt angle at the interfaces, the layers with the high and low (pre)tilts will mix so that undefined edges of sub-pixels are created. If such a substrate (as used in active matrix displays) is provided with switching elements, they may get damaged due to electrostatic aspects during rubbing. Also with other multidomain techniques such as, for example the amorphous TN effect, the viewing angle dependence may be reduced. However, display devices based on this effect have a low contrast due to the formation of reverse-tilt disclination lines during operation of such display devices. It is true that the contrast can be enhanced to some extent by adapting the production process, but this results in a grainy image because the separate TN domains become visible.

Multi-domain LCD with subpixels having twist angles with opposite twist sense of within 60 and small/greater 90 degrees

Flat Panel Display Co. (FPD) B.V. Prof. Holstlaan 4


A speed servo control for a tape drive comprising a take up reel having tape wound therearound, the tape extending to a supply reel and wound therearound. A flutter roller is arranged to press said tape that extends between the take up reel and the supply reel to rotate with circulation of the tape. A first tachometer is connected to said take up reel to rotate therewith. A second tachometer is connected to the flutter roller to rotate therewith, the first and second tachometers connected to a servo system for controlling the speed of the take up reel drive motor according to the select speed of the tape. The second tachometer from the flutter roller normally controls the servo for controlling the take up reel speed. A mechanism is provided for ignoring a tachometer signal from the second tachometer and controlling using the first tachometer, until the tape is tensioned against the flutter roller after start up. The mechanism for ignoring is advantageously a third tachometer connected to the supply reel and a pulse detector sensing pulses from the third tachometer and signal connected to the switch such that when a certain number of tachometer pulses are sensed from the third tachometer, or a certain stable frequency of pulses is sensed from the third tachometer, the switch is switched from the first tachometer (take up reel) as input, to the second tachometer (flutter roller) as input to the servo system.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for driving a tape at a constant speed in a tape drive. For new high density digital tape recorders which need to run the tape at constant low speed, typically 5-10 cm/sec, this has been heretofore accomplished with a fly wheel capstan, and a pressure roller.
In prior art tape drives which use a capstan and pressure roller, the tape is moved with the speed of the capstan surface. Typical examples of such drives include video recorders, 4 millimeters and 8 millimeters tape drives, and some audio open reel recorders. Such drives are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,984,111; 5,323,280; and 3,692,255.
Low speed video tape drives can include the capstan and pressure roller arrangement for translating the tape at a constant speed in addition to a means of turning the reels to wind the tape, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,869 and 4,390,909.
It is also known to control tape speed by direct tape speed measurement, such as by a roller, and issuing a correction signal to a take up reel motor such as disclosed in 5,491,594; 4,696,439 or 4,514,672; or by calculating tape speed by a reel tachometer and applying correction signals to the take up reel motor such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,166.

Tape drive start up and stop tape speed control


In a semiconductor memory including a memory cell array and a redundant memory cell array, a defective memory cell address detecting circuit includes a precharge transistor for precharging a COMP signal line of outputting a signal indicative of whether or not an input address is an address of the defective memory cell, and a plurality of detection transistors connected in parallel to the COMP signal line. Each of the detection transistors has a gate connected to receive, through a wired connection, a corresponding bit and its inverted bit of bits of the input address signal. Thus, the number of detection transistors connected in parallel to the COMP signal line can be reduced to a half of the number required in the prior art.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory, and more specifically to a defective memory cell address detecting circuit used in a semiconductor memory so configured to be recovered by replacing a defective memory cell with a redundant memory cell.
2. Description of Related Art
In the prior art, in many cases, this type of semiconductor memory has such a redundant construction that, when a defective memory cell exists in a memory cell array in which data is written and read in accordance with an address designated by an address signal supplied from an external, the defective memory cell is replaced with a previously prepared redundant memory cell, so that the whole of the chip is saved from a small amount of defective memory cells. In this case, there is provided a defective memory cell address detecting circuit for discriminating whether or not a given address is the address of the defective memory cell. This type of semiconductor memory having the redundant memory cell array in addition to the memory cell array is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,075 and European Patent EP 0 763 794 A2, the content of both of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a circuit diagram for illustrating one example of the prior art defective memory cell address detecting circuit.
As shown in FIG. 5, the shown prior art example includes fuses f1, f3, f5 and f7 having one end receiving address bits A0T, A1T, A2T and A3T of an address signal, respectively, inverters Inv1, Inv2, Inv3 and Inv4 receiving the address bits A0T, A1T, A2T and A3T, respectively, for outputting inverted address bits A0N, A1N, A2N and A3N, respectively, fuses f2, f4, f6 and f8 having one end receiving the inverted address bits A0N, A1N, A2N and A3N, respectively, and source-grounded MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 having a gate connected to the other end of the fuses f1 to f8, respectively, so that at least one of these MOS transistors is turned on when an address other than the address of the defective memory cell is inputted. The shown circuit also includes a MOS transistor Tr18 having a drain connected to a power supply voltage, a gate connected to receive a precharge signal P, and a source connected to a drain of each of the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8, for precharging a signal line LCOMP for outputting a signal indicative of the result of the defective memory cell address detection. This signal will be called a "COMP signal" in this specification.
With this arrangement, in the case that a defective memory cell exists in the memory cell array, there are cut off only ones so selected from the fuses f1 to f8 as to maintain all of the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 in an OFF condition only when an external address indicates the address of the defective memory cell. For example, assuming that the memory cell at the address (A0T, A1T, A2T, A3T)=(0, 1, 1, 0) is defective, if the fuses f2, f3, f5 and f8 are cut off, all the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 are maintained in the OFF condition only when the external address indicates the address of the defective memory cell, and any one of the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 is turned on when the external address indicates an address other than the address of the defective memory cell.
Now, an operation of the defective memory cell address detecting circuit constructed as mentioned above will be described.
First, the MOS transistor Tr18 is put in an ON condition during a predetermined period of time by the precharge signal P supplied from an external. Thus, the signal line LCOMP for the COMP signal is precharged to a high level. On the other hand, the defective address detection is carried out after completion of this precharging.
When the external address indicates an address of a non-defective memory cell in the memory cell array, since any one of the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 is turned on, the signal line LCOMP for the COMP signal is brought to a low level.
However, when the external address indicates the address of the defective memory cell in the memory cell array, since all of the MOS transistors Tr1 to Tr8 are maintained in the OFF condition, the signal line LCOMP for the COMP signal is maintained at the high level.
When the COMP signal is at the low level, the memory cell array is maintained in an operating condition, and on the other hand, the redundant memory cell is maintained in a non-operating condition. When the COMP signal is at the high level, the memory cell array is put in the non-operating condition, and on the other hand, the redundant memory cell is put in the operating condition.
As mentioned above, even if the defective memory cell exists in the memory cell array, the whole of the chip can be recovered by replacing the defective memory cell with a previously prepared redundant memory cell.
In the above mentioned prior art defective memory cell address detecting circuit, the MOS transistor for receiving the address signal and the MOS transistor receiving the inverted signal of the address signal are provided independently for each bit of the address, and fuses are cut off which are selected from among the fuses connected to the MOS transistors so as to maintain all the MOS transistors in the OFF condition only when the external address signal designates the address of the defective memory cell. Accordingly, the transistors connected to the cut-off fuses become unnecessary for detecting the address of the defective memory address.
Here, if the number of unnecessary transistors becomes large, a load capacitance of the signal line LCOMP for the COMP signal indicative of the result of the defective memory cell address detection becomes large, with the result that a significant signal delay occurs.

Defective memory cell address detecting circuit


Seat rails and pivot frames are easily attached to a main frame of a motorcycle. Pivot frames and seat rails are connected to the sides of a rear end portion of a main frame in the form of a round pipe. Upper ends of the pivot frames and front ends of the seat rails are held against the sides of the rear end portion of the main frame such that their attachment axes L1, L2 are substantially aligned with an axis LO of the main frame and the upper ends and the front ends are staggered longitudinally in an overlapping relationship as viewed in a side elevation. The upper ends and the front ends are then welded to the main frame along continuous welding lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame structure suitable for use in a motorcycle or similar vehicle.
2. Description of Background Art
One conventional frame structure which is suitable for a motorcycle is disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. 4-71747 and includes a main frame in the form of a round pipe extending rearwardly from a head pipe on which a front wheel is steerably supported. A pivot frame is provided which includes an upper end welded to a side of a rear end of the main frame and extends downwardly. A seat rail includes a front end welded to a side of the rear end of the main frame and extends rearwardly. The upper end of the pivot frame has an axis extending vertically and crossing the axis of the main frame and the axis of the front end of the seat rail.
The pivot frame and the seat rails are formed of round pipes. The pivot frame has an intermediate pivot to which the front end of a rear arm is attached by a shaft, with a rear wheel supported on the rear end of the rear arm. A seat is supported on the seat rail.
Because the axis of the pivot frame at its attachment region crosses the axis of the main frame, the pivot frame and the seat rail are welded in different directions, respectively. Since the pivot frame and the seat rail need to be installed by the use of different welding processes, the entire welding operation is complex and carried out in a large number of steps, and cannot easily be automated.
Inasmuch as the pivot frame and the seat rail are welded separately from each other, different accuracy levels of the respective welding processes tend to greatly affect the overall welding accuracy.
The main frame in the form of a round pipe makes it difficult to fabricate an abutment structure of the upper end of the pivot frame due to the accuracy requirement for a cut edge thereof. Furthermore, it is difficult to weld the pivot frame to the main frame because the pivot frame needs to be welded along a three-dimensional line in the circumferential direction of the main frame. The welding line cannot sufficiently be increased even though increasing the welding line is desirable for increasing the welding strength.


A transactional web page for procurement of a downloadable video game may provide for checking of whether a game device meets system specification requirements for play of the downloadable video game. Game devices that do not meet such system specification requirements, but that do meet requirements for play of a streaming version of the video, may be provided an option for play of the streaming version of the video game.

The present invention relates generally to video games, and more particularly to qualification of game devices for receiving video game content.
Video games provide fun and enjoyment for many. Video games allow users to participate in a variety of simulated activities. Video games allow game players, using computer devices, to perform roles and experience activities that the game players may not be able or desire to experience directly, whether due to cost, danger, or equipment concerns, or simply due to a role or activity being a fantasy. In providing simulated activities, video games may present a game player a simple display with simple and captivating interactions, or allow a game player to immerse him or herself in a richly detailed and extensive virtual world populated by a cast of characters. Some video games may therefore utilize little amounts of data for game play, with little in the way or processing and presentation. Other video games may utilize large amounts of data in providing for game play, data that may be extensively processed and preferably presented using advanced computer capabilities.
The computer devices used to play video games may also vary. These computer devices may include game devices in the types of game consoles, personal computers, tablet computer, smart phones and the like. These game devices may vary widely in terms of the presence, configuration, and state of utilization of hardware and software present on the device. Moreover, these game devices may vary widely in capabilities not only across device types, but also within device types, and even for the nominally same device based on device use by a user.
Different video games may therefore have potentially markedly different requirements as to device capabilities. Similarly, different devices, even with the same device type, or even nominally the same device, may have markedly different capabilities.

Methods and systems for video game streaming transaction support


The present invention teaches an integrated steering system for use with a directional control system and an electronic control system for controlling an engine and a first and a second feature. The integrated steering system comprises an integrated ignition system and a multifunction switch. The integrated ignition system comprises a lock having a key, an ignition, and a microcomputer for coupling the ignition with the electronic control system if the lock is enabled by the key, and for preventing the ignition from being coupled with the electronic control system if the lock is disabled by the key. Moreover, the multifunction switch is coupled with the microcomputer for enabling and disabling the first and second features such that the microcomputer controls the first and second features in response to the multifunction switch.

Steering systems are known within the automotive industry. Traditionally, steering systems comprise a number of independent components. Each component of this known design must be assembled together to form the system itself.
Referring to FIG. 1, a known configuration of a steering system 10 is illustrated. System 10 comprises a lock cylinder 55 having a key 60 for enabling and disabling an ignition switch 45 through wires 50. To provide a degree of security, system 10 also comprises a solenoid based steering lock. However, as a means of insuring against theft, lock cylinder 55, ignition switch 45 and solenoid 40 are assembled within a housing which is die cast with a heavy material, such as zinc for example. By this arrangement, a large force is required to pull out lock cylinder 55 from a lock cylinder housing (not shown), to enable ignition switch 45 and disable the solenoid steering lock 40 and "hot wire" the ignition.
Moreover, system 10 comprises a multifunction switching system 30. Multifunction switch system 30 provides switch control to enable and disable independently at least two functional features such as the windshield wiper speed, turn signals, dimmer, hazard lights, parking lights, and brights. To achieve this end, multifunction switch system 30 interfaces with either an internal electronic module or externally electronic control unit.
Lock cylinder 55, ignition switch 45, solenoid 40, and multifunction switch system 30 are all configured within, without, as well as proximate to a steering column 34. Column 35 is further coupled with a clockspring 25 for for transmitting power and signal information of the steering system. To realize this feature, clockspring 25 is mechanically coupled with a steering wheel 15 having an airbag 20, while also being electrically coupled with an electronic control unit.
Several shortcoming are apparent to this know configuration. These include limited security, complexity of assembly, and expense with respect to components and their manufacture, for example. In view of these problems, a need remains for a steering system having improved security, that is simple to assemble and reduces the overall cost of the product.


A variable revolving position device capable of facilitating revolving as well as providing a stable support for the display device at the same time. The variable revolving position device comprises a base, a revolving axle and a normal force providing device. The base includes a housing and a bottom, and the revolving axle includes a load bearing end and a friction block, wherein the housing has at least a first friction surface set correspondingly against a second friction surface formed in the upper surface of the friction block. The friction block is disposed in the housing, and is capable of moving along the axis up and down as well as revolving variably. The normal force providing device is disposed between the friction block and the bottom, where the normal force providing device provides a normal force pushing the friction block upwardly along the axis so that the second friction surface contacts the first friction surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a revolving position device and a display device for using the same; particularly, the present invention relates to a revolving position device for use with a display device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The progress of the electronic display device technology fulfills mankind's various needs in the information society. Widely applied in the products such as personal digital assistants, PC monitors, household electronic appliances and even billboards, the electronic display device has become more and more important in our daily life.
Currently, there are two common types of position devices available for the household electronic display device. One is immobile type and the other is revolving type. The former type of position device is either in conjunction with the housing of the household electronic display device or disposed under the bottom surface of it. Although it provides a fairly stable support, there is also the drawback that the household electronic display device cannot be revolved at will. As to the later type of position device, although it makes it possible for the user to revolve the household electronic display device at will, due to the conventional structure of the spring fixation device, which mostly consists of a reaming base and a spring to stabilize the revolving axle, there is often a shaking problem, which results from the elastic fatigue of the spring or abrasion of the connection portion induced from overuse or repeatedly rotating the revolving axle. In addition, when the household electronic display device is heavier, it is also inconvenient for the user to revolve it.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional structure of the revolving position device. As FIG. 1 shows, the revolving position device includes a base 20, a revolving axle 30 and a spring fixation device 40, wherein the revolving axle 30 has a bearing seat 50 at the top, capable of supporting the household electronic display device 60. In a case where the user demands to rotate the revolving axle 30, the user has to overcome the gravity of the household electronic display device 60 and the friction between the revolving axle 30 and the spring fixation device 40 to meet the above demand. However, due to the elastic fatigue of the spring fixation device 40 or the abrasion of the connection portion induced from overuse or repeatedly rotating the revolving axle 30, there is often a shaking problem associated with the household electronic display device 60.


A control circuit for a DC-DC converter includes: an output control circuit configured to control an output voltage of a DC-DC converter according to a reference voltage; a reference control circuit configured to control the reference voltage according to an open-circuit voltage of an external power supply coupled to the DC-DC converter; a limiting circuit configured to limit a current flowing from DC-DC converter to an external load; and a stopping control circuit configured to stop operation of the limiting circuit until the reference voltage reaches a given value.

A solar battery is known as a clean energy source. Since a solar battery generates an electric power by sunlight, the electric power to be obtained depends on illumination and changes according to a state of the weather, unlike other batteries. The difference between the changing electric powers is detected as a difference between open-circuit voltages, for example.
With respect to this, a patent document 1 (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 08-297516) discloses a technique that periodically stops the operation of a DC-DC converter connected to the solar battery, and measures the open-circuit voltage, for example. A patent document 2 (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-81711) discloses a technique that performs switching control by using a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal generated based on the open-circuit voltage of the solar battery, and flows a charging current from the solar battery to a storage battery.
The DC-DC converter which changes the output voltage of the solar battery may include a soft start function that secures an electric power used for the operation of a control circuit for the DC-DC converter at start-up, and limits a rush current to an output-side smoothing circuit. At this time, the limit value of a current is set up on the basis of a lower electric power in order to have a margin of the current. The start-up time until the output voltage of the DC-DC converter reaches a given rated value becomes long since a rate of increase of a voltage is low, as compared with the case where the limit value of the current is set up on the basis of a higher electric power.
With respect to this, a patent document 3 (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-288979) discloses a power supply device that detects an input voltage from a battery, acquires a duty and a soft start period corresponding to the input voltage from a table, and outputs a PWM signal based on the duty until the soft start period elapses. The patent document 3 discloses that the power supply device changes to a normal mode after the soft start period elapses.

Control circuit for DC-DC converter, DC-DC converter, and control method of DC-DC converter


A hearing device component (6) comprises a sensor-unit (8) for receiving an audio-signal (AS), a separation device (9) for separating part-signals (PSi) from the audio-signal (AS), a classification device (10) for classifying the part-signals (PSi) separated from the audio-signals (AS), and a modulation device (11) for modulating the part-signals (PSi), wherein the classification device (10) is communicatively coupled to the modulation device (11) and wherein the modulation device (11) is designed to enable a concurrent modulation of different part-signals (PSi) with different modulation-functions depending on their classification.

Hearing devices can be adjusted to optimize the sound output for the user depending on the acoustic environment.
EP 1 605 440 B1 discloses a method for signal source separation from a mixture signal. EP 2 842 127 B1 discloses a method of controlling a hearing instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 8,396,234 B2 discloses a method for reducing noise in an input signal of a hearing device. WO 2019/076 432 A1 discloses a method for dynamically presenting a hearing device modification proposal to a user of a hearing device.

Hearing device component, hearing device, computer-readable medium and method for processing an audio-signal for a hearing device