An electromagnetic radiation treatment regime includes identifying a target area of a patient. An electromagnetic radiation source, for example, a low frequency and/or radio frequency electromagnetic radiation source, is selected, along with treatment session parameters, such as, pulse frequency, pulse duration, electrical current, magnetic flux density, and/or treatment session exposure time. An amount of electromagnetic radiation is applied to the target area, and a response to the electromagnetic radiation in the target area is measured. Based on an evaluation of the measured response, the treatment parameters may be modified for one or more subsequent electromagnetic radiation treatment session.

1. Field of the Invention
Low frequency electromagnetic radiation and radio frequency electromagnetic radiation are applied separately or in combination with one another to a target area of a patient. The electromagnetic radiation alters the control system of at least some of the cells forcing them to return to a normal cellular control system, and/or the electromagnetic radiation serves to promote apoptosis or cell death in at least some of the cells, with little to no effect on the surrounding normal cell population.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cells contain mechanisms that regulate and control their various activities, among these are the control mechanisms that maintain proper growth rates of a cell, as well as the timing of cell death, when appropriate. Normal cells grow or replicate in response to an external signal, such as a growth factor that acts on an extracellular membrane bound protein, initiating a signaling cascade that ultimately leads to cell growth. For example, nerve growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, and epidermal growth factor, represent three such factors. Thus, growth in a normal cell is externally regulated and includes an important external input.
Normal cells also include mechanisms which control programmed cell death, or apoptosis. It is important that cells die off in order to limit the number of genetic mutations in a population of cells, which occur more frequently with increased cell divisions, as well as to keep tissues and organs functioning properly.
A number of factors contribute to the control and orchestration of cell growth, as well as cell death. Perhaps the most basic of these is deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA"). DNA is a complex biomolecule comprised of a series of corresponding base pairs of nucleic acids. These base pairs may have positive or negative charges, which therefore render positive or negative charges at various points along the DNA molecule. Due in part to the charge distribution, DNA can assume a number of shapes or conformations depending on the quantity and movement of charge in the biomolecule. For instance, DNA can be in a linear conformation with a negative charge in its base pairs, thereby forming double helix as is the case with nuclear DNA. It can also be in a circular form, such as in mitochondrial or bacterial DNA. Thus, DNA comprises the building blocks from which cells are formed.
Moreover, DNA contains the genetic information of the cell, and must be copied or replicated each time the cell divides. Similarly, DNA strands must be separated and sorted into dividing cells during mitosis, i.e., growth, and meiosis, i.e., reproduction, in order to convey the genetic information to the next generation of cells. Therefore, these processes also affect the rate of cell growth, and the conformation of the DNA molecule affects the replication, mitosis, and meiosis processes.
Microtubules also affect cell growth. A microtubule is a hollow cylindrical polymer dipole with its negative pole at the centrosome of the nucleus of a cell and its positive pole at the cell membrane. Microtubule growth occurs at the positive pole at the cell membrane, and therefore can be said to radiate out from the centrosome. Accordingly, microtubules connect the cellular membrane to the nucleus of a cell. Microtubules are also used within the nucleus to guide separating DNA strands during mitosis.
Energy drives the many processes in a cell, including growth, DNA replication, mitosis, and meiosis. The cell is a self-regulating system where the functions are regulated within the energy level required. More in particular, the cellular control system sets the level of energy required for a specific function of the cell. This energy, in the form of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is synthesized in the mitochondria of the cell.
A proton driven ATP synthesis is a critical mechanism of the cellular control system. Specifically, the electron transport chain is a series of proteins associated with the mitochondrial membrane that transfer electrons stepwise between the proteins. Simultaneously, protons are pumped against an electrochemical gradient to the exterior of the membrane. Energy is temporarily stored in this proton gradient. Upon flowing back through the inner membrane, these protons are acted upon by the membrane bound enzyme ATP synthase to relinquish this energy to ATP, an energy storage mechanism which stores this energy in phosphate bonds.
The protein cytochrome C is an important component of the electron transport chain located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Rather than being membrane bound, cytochrome C is loosely associated with the inner membrane by covalent bonds and flows along the inner membrane. Furthermore, cytochrome C has a heme group containing iron that allows cytochrome C to transport electrons between proteins. It is a central component of the electron transport chain and ATP synthesis.
Significant energy is produced through ATP synthesis mediated by the electron transport chain. For instance, the protons pumped across the membrane exert an electrochemical gradient reaching about 60 to 100 milliVolts ("mV"). This is in addition to the normal potential across the membrane of about 140 mV. Accordingly, at its maximum, the total potential is in a range of about 200 to 240 mV. Moreover, with a low proton gradient, electron transport occurs at a maximum rate, while an increase of the proton gradient causes a decrease in electron transport. Thus the magnitude of the electrochemical gradient can affect both the rate and direction of the electron transport, in turn determining the amount of ATP generated.
Cellular energy production does not change gradually or continuously, but jumps between different levels, wherein different levels of energy are required to perform different cellular functions. For instance, the electron transport chain can operate to produce energy at a basic level, such as to maintain resting membrane potentials, etc., or jump to a new level as required for meiosis and cell division, etc., or jump to a functional level for secretion, contraction, etc. Once the energy is produced, it is stored in the phosphate bonds of ATP.
The discharge of energy from ATP can be accomplished by hydrolyzing the energy rich phosphate bonds. A first hydrolysis step reduces ATP to adenosine diphosphate, or ADP. A subsequent step reduces ADP to adenosine monophosphate, or AMP. A further step reduces AMP to pyrophosphate. Each of these steps hydrolyzes one phosphate bond, releasing significant energy to be utilized by the cell in various ways, such as to maintain membrane potential, enzymatic activity, protein synthesis, mitosis, etc. Corresponding with each hydrolysis step is a decrease of the electric charge of the molecule as ATP has a negative electric charge of four; ADP, three; AMP, two; pyrophosphate, one.
Proteins also affect the rate of cell growth and death. For instance, proteins are critical to a variety of cellular processes, including ATP synthesis, signal transduction, cell division, secretion, etc. Proteins are comprised of a series of amino acids and assume three dimensional conformational shapes. Moreover, proteins may have positive or negative charges appearing at various points in the molecule, often in relation to amino- or carboxyl-groups or charged side chains. For example, in the circular form of a molecule, there may be a negative charge at one pole and two positive charges at the other pole, the charges themselves, being attractive, contribute to a circular form of the molecule. For instance, the amino acids glutamine and arginine, at each pole, can assume this charge of positive and negative.
Complex proteins can assume any of at least three (3) energy states, namely, from lowest to highest: linear; circular; or twisted. A possible intermediate horseshoe form exists between linear and circular in energy. As a result of charge differential over the molecule, membrane proteins are dipoles which can turn and twist under electric field changes to the membrane potential. These molecules can be linear or circular, horseshoe or twisted in their conformation, each having a corresponding electrochemical state. Depolarization of the membrane can change the conformation of the protein to an active state, such as from a linear to a circular conformation. Associated with the twisted form of the protein is a distribution of negative and positive charges along the molecule which represents the highest energy state of the molecule, and thus, when the molecule changes conformation into the circular form, a significant amount of energy is released.
Conformational changes of membrane bound proteins can be affected by the membrane potential, as is evidenced in the example of the Na+/K+ voltage gated ion channel. Specifically, there is a net amount of potassium ion (K+) inside the cellular membrane and a net amount of sodium ion (Na+) outside, wherein the membrane is permeable to potassium ion (K+), but is impermeable to sodium ion (Na+). In nerve and muscle cells, when the membrane is depolarized upon the application of electric current, the voltage gated ion channel is activated, initiating an action potential across the membrane and inducing a conformational change in the voltage gated ion channel, which in turn allows sodium ion (Na+) to enter the cell. The subsequent flow of potassium ion (K+) across the membrane repolarizes the membrane, to a potential in the range of approximately 50 to 100 mV.
There are many types of membranes within a cell, each having a membrane potential. The membranes include the cellular outer membrane, the mitochondrial inner and outer membranes, and the nuclear membrane. The cellular membrane can be described as a lipid bilayer with a mosaic of protein impregnations or imprints. Here, the membrane potential is established by a negative charge on a protein whose hydrophilic end projects into the interior of the cell. This potential determines the movement of ions and molecules across the membrane, such as discussed above for potassium ions (K+) and sodium ions (Na+). However, it is also possible that protons (H+) also move across the membrane, as a consequence of electron transport as described above in relation to ATP synthesis at the mitochondrial membrane. The membrane of the mitochondria involves the control of metabolism, mainly oxidative, by its potential, and ATP synthesis via electron-proton transport. The nuclear membrane, in the interior of the cell, contains the DNA of the cell within its boundary.
The lipid bilayer of a cellular membrane is interspersed with proteins of various composition and function which are charged, such that they have a dipole moment. Although all cells have a membrane potential or dipole moment, studies on membrane potential have been essentially limited to muscle or nerve cells where changes in the membrane potential are the result of an electrical signal. In muscle cells, this electrical signal initiates contraction of the muscle. In nerve cells, this electrical signal initiates the transmission of neurotransmitters between neurons.
Although all cells exhibit electrical properties, this has been investigated seriously only in nerve, brain and muscle cells, and the action potential is the predominant observation. All cells have a membrane potential, but only nerve and muscle cells are able to produce an action potential which is both a signaling and activating mechanism. The action potential normally is initiated at one end of a nerve or muscle cell by a depolarization of the membrane, resulting in a reduction of the magnitude of the potential. At a certain point of depolarization, called threshold, the action potential is discharged and is self-propagated to the other end of the cell to end in a synapse or junction, where it generates a depolarization called a synaptic potential. The depolarization causes the release of a neurotransmitter which diffuses across the synaptic gap to depolarize the postsynaptic cell body (which contains the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes, etc.), to produce an action potential in the postsynaptic cell which can repeat this process.
The nerve cell, or neuron, may be either excitatory or inhibitory. The excitatory neuron acts as previously described to produce a depolarization. On the other hand, the inhibitory neuron releases an inhibitory neurotransmitter which acts to hyperpolarize the postsynaptic cell body, creating an increase in the magnitude of the membrane potential and can prevent activity or an action potential in the postsynaptic cell.
Changes in the cellular membrane potential of a postsynaptic cell can cause a change in the genetic material within the nucleus of that cell. For example, the action potential impacting the cell body of a neuron, or nerve cell, produces a depolarization which activates the FOS gene which is related to growth and regulation. FOS is also a known proto-oncogene, meaning that an appropriate virus can transform it into an oncogene, thereby initiating a cancerous process.
There are relevant functions which membrane polarization regulates. For instance, in the neuronal membrane, polarization results in the switching on of the action potential, also referred to as depolarization of the membrane to threshold. The membrane acts as a semiconductor where current can be turned on or off, wherein the transport system or other function can be turned off by hyperpolarization of the membrane.
Although the membrane potential is a Donnan or electrochemical equilibrium potential, it requires an appreciable amount of energy to maintain it. To maintain the membrane potentials, mitochondrial energy production is needed to synthesize ATP, which is used as the energy source separating ions across the membrane and maintaining the membrane potential. For example, the inner membrane of the mitochondria maintains a membrane potential of about 140 mV as a result of the Na+/K+ voltage gated ion channel. However, the membrane potential can increase anywhere from about 60 to 150 mV due to the accumulation of protons on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane, for a total potential in the range of about 200 to 290 mV. Accordingly, a significant amount of energy is required by the cell to maintain membrane potentials, as well as cellular processes within the cell that keep the cell functioning normally.
Unlike normal cells, abnormal cells do not possess the normal cellular control mechanisms and instead exhibit, among other things, uncontrolled cell growth and immortality. For instance, abnormal cells may have genetic mutations, such as gene deletions, additions, point mutations, etc., that result in the interference of normal cell functioning and processes. This is the case in cancer cells, as well as cells infected with a virus such as H1N1 influenza, more commonly referred to as swine flu, or human immunodeficiency virus ("HIV"). Moreover, cancer cells and virally infected cells share some of the same fundamental components and mechanisms.
One of the features common to abnormal cells such as cancer cells and virally infected cells is an uncontrolled growth rate. For instance, the cancer cell appears to have an almost constant signal to grow and reproduce. Specifically, growth or reproduction of the cancer cell is a result of a signal to grow and reproduce that is internally generated by the cancer cell. In other words, the cancer cell can grow in the absence of outside or external signals. This is in stark contrast to normal cells which grow and divide only in response to an external signal such as a growth factor. Accordingly, growth of cancer cells is entirely internally regulated and independent of the limitations of its environment, and therefore can grow continuously. Indeed, this uncontrolled growth is a major factor contributing to the production of tumors in cancer tissue.
A cancer cell's development can be broken into two phases, wherein the cancer cell behaves differently in each phase. The first phase is called initiation or promotion, and occurs when the cancer cell is first initiating and developing. This phase is generally accepted to be reversible. The remaining phase of the cancer cell's development is called progression and is considered to be irreversible. During this phase, the cancer cell propagates and proliferates, and can lead to the growth of tumors, invasion of neighboring tissues, and even metastasis to distant parts of the body. In order for the cancer cell to metastasize, it must break away from its adhesion to adjacent cells or the extracellular matrix and enter the blood or lymph stream. Then the cancer cell eventually adheres to another tissue, organ, or cellular structure.
In a number of aspects, including growth, an infected cell acts similarly to a cancer cell, except that the progeny are viruses rather than cells. Once inside a host cell, viral DNA is integrated into the host cell DNA through a process called transgenesis. Depending on the point of insertion, transgenesis may inactivate a tumor suppressor gene which repairs damage, and therefore, renders the cell incapable of repairing damage. This can lead to increased incidence of genetic mutations and, ultimately, cancer in the cell. A similar result may occur from infection by an oncogenic virus, which induces cancerous type growth in the cell. Regardless of the method of transgenesis, once integration of viral DNA into the host genome is complete, the virus induces the host cell to continuously replicate, thereby also replicating the viral DNA. This replication occurs until the cell bursts, releasing a multitude of virus molecules into the body. Indeed, this is the goal of the virus, allowing its genes to propagate throughout a host organism. Importantly, the signal to replicate comes from the virus itself, and therefore, similar to a cancer cell, it is internally controlled. Since it does not rely on external factors for growth, the virally infected cell can continue to grow continuously until the cell bursts. Thus, the cancer or infected cell supersedes the control system of the normal cell regarding growth.
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is also a part of a normal cell's control system. Abnormal cells, such as the cancer cell and virally infected cell, no longer have a signal to initiate apoptosis and, therefore, these cells do not die off, rather, they become immortal.
Cellular structures and molecules are known to exhibit electrical and magnetic properties. For example, as previously discussed, molecules such as proteins and DNA can have charged regions or components, whether positive or negative, which contribute to the electrical activity of the molecule. Membranes also have electrical properties as a result of the electrochemical potential established and maintained by the presence and movement of ions around and across the membrane. As mentioned previously, most of the information concerning electrodynamics of the normal cell has been obtained from studies of nerve and muscle cells.
Cellular structures and molecules also exhibit magnetic properties. For instance, the protons within nuclei of cells are responsive to a magnetic field. Since each proton is a dipole, it will align or spin in a particular direction, either up or down, when placed in a magnetic field. Placing a cellular sample in a steady state magnetic field results in the orientation of the protons of the cellular sample so they spin in the same direction, i.e., all up or all down. Application of a magnetic pulse, 90° out of phase, excites the protons of the nuclei and forces the protons into the transverse plane. Subsequent to the application of the magnetic pulse, the protons return to their original position generated by the steady magnetic field, known as relaxation. This relaxation has a characteristic time constant, or duration of excitation, unique to each cellular sample type. For instance, the time constant is different for different types of tissues of the body, and the time constant for cancer tissue is different than for non-cancerous tissue of the same type. Fluids have a relatively long time constant, in the range of about 1,500 to 2,000 milliseconds ("ms"), whereas water containing tissues have a time constant of about 400 to 1,200 ms, and fatty tissues have a shorter time constant in the range of about 100 to 500 ms.
Thus, protons in different tissues of the body have different periods of excitation duration, or time constants. An example of this is presented in Table 1 below showing the excitation times of proton populations for each of two different magnetic flux densities, 0.5 Tesla ("T") and 1.5 T:
TABLE 1Proton Population0.5 T1.5 TSpleen760 ms1,025 msLiver395 ms570 msFat192 ms200 msMuscle560 ms1,075 msCSF—2,060 msGrey Matter (Brain)780 ms1,100msWhite Matter (Brain)520 ms560 ms
Moreover, the Larmor frequency (r/2πB), which relates to the angular momentum of a spinning or precessing proton, for excitation of a proton (H+) increases with an increase of the magnetic field, or magnetic flux density. For example, at 0.15 T it may be 6.39 MHz; at 0.5 T, 21.29 MHz; at 1.5 T, 63.87 MHz; at 3.0 T, 127.74 MHz.
To date, the utilization of the electrical and magnetic properties of cellular components and molecules to affect changes in a cell have been essentially limited to cardiac pacemakers or defibrillators, the magnetic stimulators, and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The cardiac pacemaker is used therapeutically to deliver an electrical current or voltage directly to the heart muscle cells, usually those in the ventricle, in order to correct fibrillation or tachycardia. Specifically, the rate at which the heart pumps blood is controlled by the medulla in the brain which sends signals via sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves to the SA node of the heart to modulate the nodes' oscillatory depolarizations, thus producing the heart rate. If the heart rate becomes too high, as in the case of tachycardia, fibrillation may result, which is characterized by groups of ventricular muscles contracting independently of the SA node and each other, or asynchronously, resulting in a negligible blood pressure. The defibrillator corrects this by temporarily stopping the heart with an intense electric shock, after which, the heart should return to its normal rhythm. The pacemaker therefore utilizes the electrical properties of cells and neuronal signaling to effect a change in the body.
The magnetic stimulator, such as manufactured by MagStim and Danntec, has been used for diagnostic purposes, rehabilitation and psychological research. Essentially, the magnetic stimulator delivers current or voltage to nerve cells, either in the brain or peripherally, via a magnetic field to depolarize motor cortex neurons and measure nerve conduction time. This involves the use of magnetic coils placed over a target area to produce a pulsed magnetic field, thereby inducing an electric field and resulting in an electrical current applied to a targeted area of the brain. Despite the use of a magnetic field to generate an electrical current, the magnetic field is not directly utilized for therapeutic purposes.
Magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI") utilizes an EMR field applied to selected regions of the body for the purpose of producing an image. To accomplish this, magnetic fields are applied to specific regions of the body in order to excite particular cellular components, such as protons within molecules or nuclei of cells. The excited protons or nuclei then release this excess energy and return to equilibrium levels via the process of relaxation, and the time required for this return to equilibrium is known as the relaxation time. Raymond Damadian discovered in the early 1970's that the relaxation time of cancer cells is different from the neighboring normal cells, and thus the presence of cancer can be determined and its magnitude observed. Accordingly, MRI utilizes the EMR properties of cells to provide an image of the tissue or organ, however, it does so based upon the magnetic properties of cells, without utilization of the electrical currents induced by the MRI equipment itself.
Despite the fact that medical technology has utilized both electrical and magnetic properties of cells, cellular components and molecules independent of one another, no known medical technology simultaneously controls and utilizes both electrical and magnetic properties for therapeutic treatment purposes.
The interrelation between electric and magnetic properties of cells may be observed. For example, when tissues or organs or body parts are exposed to a changing magnetic field, an electric field is produced which causes a current based on ionic movement. Positive and negative ions move in opposite directions, similar to the interior of an electric battery. Accordingly, there is energy imparted by the magnetic field. For example, according to quantum mechanics, there are only two possible states of a proton (H+), with values of ±½, corresponding to whether the proton is in the spin up or spin down direction. The energy (E) of each state is:E=μB=rhI·B where B is the magnetic field, h is Planck's constant, μ is the angular momentum, r is the gyromagnetic ratio, and I is the Angular momentum quantum value (½ for protons).
Present treatment regimens for cancer patients include surgery, chemoradiation, and pharmaceutical drugs, which are directed primarily to the removal or eradication of the cancer cell population. However, these methods cannot be limited solely to the cancer cell population, and as a result, normal healthy cells are also removed and/or eradicated in the process.
For example, surgery has been a common technique for combating cancer, and is often used for the removal or excision of tumors. However, there are significant risks involved with surgical treatment, as with any surgery, including possible complications, hemorrhaging, adverse reactions to aesthesia, etc. Moreover, surgical removal of cancer cells is only feasible once the cancer has grown to a substantial population, and can therefore not be implemented for precancerous or early stages. While precancerous cells exhibiting abnormal characteristics can be surgically removed in order to avoid the development of cancer, this often involves removal of surrounding normal healthy tissue as well. Further, surgery may not be practical for the treatment of other forms of abnormal cells, such as those infected with a virus.
Chemoradiation has also been used to treat cancer. The main problem with this therapy is safety. Chemoradiation involves subjecting tissue to toxic levels of radiation, which is intended to damage the DNA of the cells within the irradiated tissue, and thereby prompt cell death. However, this is a highly risky procedure as it is difficult to isolate just the cancer cells, and so the surrounding healthy tissue cells are also irradiated, damaged, and die. Because of its safety problems and lack of specificity, chemoradiation can only be utilized a limited number of times. Moreover, the cancer cell can mutate to become resistant to chemoradiation, further complicating treatment. Similar problems would be encountered if chemotherapy or chemoradiation were used to treat other abnormal cells, such as virally infected cells.
Cancer research, and in particular, research guided by the National Institute of Health, has been aggressively pursuing pharmaceutical treatment regimens since the discovery of the first significant anticancer drug, cis-platinum over fifty years ago. However, the results have not been particularly significant given the effort and funding levels directed to this research. For example, although a number of new anticancer drugs have been developed by pharmaceutical companies, they have not succeeded in significantly increasing present levels of effectiveness which, with few exceptions, have improved only minimally over the past fifty years. Also, most if not all pharmaceuticals for treating cancer produce significant adverse side effects. This is also the case for many of the antiviral drugs on the market. Thus, it appears critical to develop a new treatment regimen that could complement, if not replace altogether, present treatment regimens. It would be significantly beneficial for such a new treatment regimen to comprise none of the harsh and often detrimental side effects of known treatment regimens.
It is evident that known treatment regimens for cancer cells are non-specific, and equally and adversely impact all cells, normal and abnormal, in an affected area. More in particular, the known treatment regimens involving chemoradiation and/or pharmaceuticals are highly toxic to all cells and produce significant adverse side effects, and known treatment regimens requiring surgery involve removal of healthy cells along with target cancer cells. In any case, the known treatment regimens for cancer cells are simply not completely effective. Accordingly, the medical community needs a safe and effective treatment regimen for cancer cells.


A method (and resulting structure) for fabricating a sensing device. The method includes providing a substrate comprising a surface region and forming an insulating material overlying the surface region. The method also includes forming a film of carbon based material overlying the insulating material and treating to the film of carbon based material to pyrolyzed the carbon based material to cause formation of a film of substantially carbon based material having a resistivity ranging within a predetermined range. The method also provides at least a portion of the pyrolyzed carbon based material in a sensor application and uses the portion of the pyrolyzed carbon based material in the sensing application. In a specific embodiment, the sensing application is selected from chemical, humidity, piezoelectric, radiation, mechanical strain or temperature.

The present invention is directed to manufacturing objects. More particularly, the invention provides a method and resulting structure for integrating a chip structure onto a film of flexible material. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to integrated circuit chips provided on polymer based structures such as a film of parylene material. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to other chip structures including discrete electronic components, micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS), nano-electrical mechanical systems (NEMS), displays, power supplies, biological chips, medical chips, and biomedical chips. Additionally, the integrated chip and film structures can be applied to the fields of electronics, life sciences, publishing, medicine, business, finance, and/or other areas of commerce and/or lifestyle.
Over the years, microelectronics have proliferated into many aspects of modern day life. In the early days, Robert N. Noyce invented the integrated circuit, which is described in "Semiconductor Device-and-Lead Structure" under U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,877. Integrated circuits evolved from a handful of electronic elements into millions and even billions of components fabricated on a small slice of silicon material. Such integrated circuits have been incorporated into and control many conventional devices, such as automobiles, computers, medical equipment, and even children's toys.
Conventional integrated circuits provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. In order to achieve improvements in complexity and circuit density (i.e., the number of devices capable of being packed onto a given chip area), the size of the smallest device feature, also known as the device "geometry", has become smaller with each generation of integrated circuits. Increasing circuit density has not only improved the complexity and performance of integrated circuits but has also provided lower cost parts to the consumer.
An integrated circuit or chip fabrication facility can cost hundreds of millions, or even billions, of U.S. dollars. Each fabrication facility will have a certain throughput of wafers, and each wafer will have a certain number of integrated circuits on it. Therefore, by making the individual devices of an integrated circuit smaller, more devices may be fabricated on each wafer, thus increasing the output of the fabrication facility. Making devices smaller is very challenging, as each process used in integrated fabrication has a limit. That is to say, a given process typically only works down to a certain feature size, and then either the process or the device layout needs to be changed. Additionally, as devices require faster and faster designs, process limitations exist with certain conventional processes and materials.
An example of such a process is packaging of such integrated circuit chip using molding and/or encapsulation techniques. More particularly, conventional integrated circuits are often diced into individual integrated circuit chips. Such chips are individually packaged mounted on lead frames using die attach and/or bonding techniques. The chip and lead frames are then encapsulated using injection molding processes. Such molding processes use epoxy based plastic materials that are often very durable, but hard and rigid. Lead frames must also often be bonded using wire bonding techniques to connect the individual integrated circuits to leads and/or connectors. Plastic encapsulating packages are often cumbersome, difficult to integrate with other devices, and are limited due to size and shape. Other limitations include lack of biocompatibility, hermeticity, and general degradation in salt/water environments, among others. These and other limitations will be described in further detail throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for processing materials is desired.

Method for integrating pre-fabricated chip structures into functional electronic systems


A liquid discharge recording head which discharges a liquid includes a substrate on which liquid-discharge-energy-generating elements are provided and which constitutes a part of a flow path for supplying the liquid; and a covering resin layer which is provided on the substrate, which constitutes a part of the flow path, and which includes orifices for discharging the liquid, wherein the covering resin layer is composed of an oxetane resin composition containing an oxetane compound having at least one oxetanyl group in its molecule and a photocationic polymerization initiator as essential components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge recording head including highly accurate flow paths that have a low stress and satisfactory chemical resistance and that are formed by patterning with ultraviolet irradiation or the like, and a liquid discharge apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of liquid discharge apparatuses is an ink-jet printer apparatus that discharges, for example, ink as a liquid and that employs an ink-jet recording method (liquid-jet recording method). Such an ink-jet printer apparatus includes an ink-jet recording head for discharging ink. The ink-jet recording head includes a plurality of constituent units each composed of a discharge port (i.e., orifice) that discharges ink in the form of a minute droplet, a flow path communicating with the orifice, and an ink-discharge-pressure-generating element provided on a part of the flow path. In order to produce high-quality images using such an ink-jet recording head, small droplets of ink discharged from the orifices are preferably discharged from each orifice at a constant volume and a constant discharging rate.
Examples of ink-jet recording heads that meet the above discharging conditions include ink-jet recording heads described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 56-123869, 57-208255, and 57-208256. In the ink-jet recording heads described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 56-123869, 57-208255, and 57-208256, ink flow paths and nozzles composed of orifice parts are formed on a substrate having ink-discharge-pressure-generating elements by patterning a photosensitive resin material or a photoresist, and a cover such as a glass plate is bonded on the component having the ink flow paths and the nozzles. Examples of the photosensitive resin material and the photoresist include photopolymers using photopolymerization of a diazo resin, p-diazoquinone, or a vinyl monomer in the presence of a polymerization initiator; dimerization-type photopolymers using a reaction of polyvinyl cinnamate or the like and a sensitizer; mixtures of orthoquinone diazide and a phenol novolak resin; mixtures of polyvinyl alcohol and a diazo resin; polyether photopolymers prepared by copolymerizing 4-glycidylethylene oxide with benzophenone or glycidylchalcone; copolymers of N,N-dimethylmethacrylamide and, for example, acrylamide benzophenone; unsaturated polyester photosensitive resins; unsaturated urethane photosensitive resins; photosensitive compositions prepared by mixing a bifunctional acrylic monomer, a photoinitiator, and a polymer; dichromate photoresists; non-chromium water-soluble photoresists; and polyvinyl cinnamate photoresists.
Another example of an ink-jet recording head that meets the above discharging conditions is an ink-jet recording head produced by a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 61-154947. According to the method of producing an ink-jet recording head described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 61-154947, a pattern of ink flow paths is formed on a part of a substrate, the part in which the ink flow paths are formed, using a soluble resin; the pattern of the ink flow paths is covered with an epoxy resin or the like; the substrate is cut; and the soluble resin forming the pattern of ink flow paths is then removed by dissolving, thereby producing the ink-jet recording head.
In the ink-jet recording heads described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 56-123869, 57-208255, 57-208256, and 61-154947, for example, a heating resistor, which serves as an ink-discharge-pressure-generating element provided on a part of an ink flow path, is provided in a direction parallel to the flow of ink. Each orifice that discharges the ink is provided at an end of the corresponding ink flow path and in a direction perpendicular to the flow of the ink. In such ink-jet recording heads, the orifice is disposed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the heating resistor. Consequently, the discharge direction of ink is perpendicular to the growth direction of a bubble formed on the heating resistor. That is, the growth direction of the bubble is different from the discharge direction of the ink.
In such ink-jet recording heads, since a part of an orifice disposed at an end of the corresponding ink flow path is formed of an end of a substrate, the distance between the ink-discharge-pressure-generating element and the orifice is determined by cutting of the substrate. Therefore, in controlling the distance between the ink-discharge-pressure-generating element and the orifice, the accuracy with which the substrate is cut is very important. The substrate is generally cut with a mechanical device such as a dicing saw, and it is difficult to realize high accuracy with such a mechanical device.
Unlike the ink-jet recording heads described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 56-123869, 57-208255, 57-208256, and 61-154947, in other ink-jet recording heads, for example, an electrothermal conversion element, which is an ink-discharge-pressure-generating element, is provided so as to face an orifice. Thus, the growth direction of a bubble formed on the electrothermal conversion element is substantially the same as the discharge direction of ink. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 58-8658 and 62-264957 describe such ink-jet recording heads. In the ink-jet recording head described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 58-8658, a dry film serving as an orifice plate is bonded to a substrate having electrothermal conversion elements, with another patterned dry film therebetween, and orifices are formed on the dry film serving as the orifice plate by photolithography at positions facing the electrothermal conversion elements. In the ink-jet recording head described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 62-264957, a substrate having ink-discharge-pressure-generating elements is bonded to an orifice plate produced by electroforming, with a patterned dry film therebetween.
In the ink-jet recording heads described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 58-8658 and 62-264957, the orifice plate has a small thickness of, for example, 20 μm or less, and it is difficult to produce the orifice plate uniformly. Furthermore, in these ink-jet recording heads, even when the orifice plate can be produced, it is extremely difficult to perform the process of bonding with the substrate having ink-discharge-pressure-generating elements because of the brittleness of the orifice plate.
Furthermore, regarding discharging conditions in ink-jet recording heads, it is necessary not only to discharge ink from orifices at a constant volume and a constant discharging rate, but also to discharge minute ink droplets at precise positions. In ink-jet recording heads, in order to discharge ink at precise positions, the distance between an electrothermal conversion element provided at a discharge-energy-generating part and an orifice (hereinafter referred to as "OH distance") is preferably small.
An example of a method of producing an ink-jet recording head having a highly precise OH distance is a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-286149. This patent document describes a method of producing an ink-jet recording head including the steps of forming an ink flow path pattern that forms ink flow paths on a substrate having ink-discharge-pressure-generating elements using a soluble resin, forming a covering resin layer that forms an ink flow path wall on the soluble resin layer by performing solvent coating of a solution, prepared by dissolving a covering resin containing an epoxy resin that is a solid at room temperature in a solvent, on the soluble resin layer constituting the ink flow path pattern, forming orifices on the covering resin layer disposed on an upper part of each of the ink-discharge-pressure-generating elements, and removing the soluble resin layer constituting the ink flow path pattern by dissolving. In the method of producing an ink-jet recording head described in this patent document, in view of the formation of a pattern having a high aspect ratio and a property of ink resistance, a cationic polymer of an alicyclic epoxy resin is used as the covering resin.
In ink-jet recording heads, the use of the methods and the materials described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 6-286149 and 7-214783 causes the following additional problems.
The cured product prepared by cationic polymerization of such an alicyclic epoxy resin has excellent adhesive force with a base substrate. However, because of a high internal stress of the cured product, the covering resin layer made of the cured product is peeled off from the base substrate. Furthermore, in the cured product prepared by cationic polymerization of an alicyclic epoxy resin, cracks (film breakages) are also generated particularly in the vicinity of a corner, e.g., a pattern edge, of the resin film on which a stress is concentrated, thereby significantly degrading the reliability as an ink-jet recording head. In addition, some of these materials have insufficient patterning performance and do not provide the minute patterning performance for forming the structure of an ink-jet recording head.
In ink-jet recording heads, in particular, when the covering resin layer serving as an ink flow path wall is formed so as to have an elongated shape or a large thickness, and when the ink flow path has a minute and complex structure, the covering resin layer is easily peeled off or cracks on the covering resin layer are easily generated. Furthermore, in ink-jet recording heads, in order to maintain the image quality, the head surface from which ink is discharged is cleaned so as to remove extra ink adhered to the head surface. In the head cleaning of an ink-jet recording head, since the head surface is wiped with a cleaning component or the like, a mechanical load is applied to the head surface, which may accelerate the removal of the covering resin layer from a substrate.

Liquid discharge recording head having an improved oxetane resin covering layer as part of a liquid flow path and liquid discharge apparatus


According to the invention, a hybrid fuel cell system (100) is characterized by comprising a load portion (3) which consumes electric power; first control means (11) for obtaining a supply electric power set value (P bat ref) indicating electric power supplied from the electric power storage device (40), based on a supply electric power set value (P fc ref) indicating electric power supplied from the fuel cell (20) and a consumption electric power set value (P mot ref) indicating electric power consumed by the load portion (3); difference obtaining means (41) for obtaining a difference between the supply electric power set value (P bat ref) and an actual supply electric power value (P bat mos) indicating electric power actually supplied from the electric power storage device (40); and second control means (12) for controlling the amount of electric power consumed by the load portion (3) based on the difference.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hybrid fuel cell system. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement of an electric power control method in a hybrid fuel cell system including an electric power storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional hybrid fuel cell system, in order to prevent over discharge/overcharge of a battery that is an electric power storage device, a remaining electric capacity of the battery is detected, and an amount of electric power generated by a fuel cell is adjusted, whereby a balance between charge and discharge in the battery is maintained.
An example of such a technology is a fuel cell power supply unit disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-45765. In this fuel cell power supply unit, an amount of electric power remaining in a secondary battery and an electric current output from a fuel cell are detected, and the electric current output from the fuel cell is controlled in a feedback manner based on a set signal corresponding to the amount of electric power remaining in the secondary battery and a measurement signal corresponding to the electric current output from the fuel cell.
However, in the above-mentioned technology, the output electric current and a state of charge detected by sensors attached to the fuel cell and the secondary battery are used as the base information for control without being processed. Therefore, due to insufficient accuracy of the sensor and variation in the detected values obtained by the sensors, the information obtained by the sensors may differ from the actual information. If electric power control is performed based on the information having an error, an imbalance may be created between charge and discharge in the entire fuel cell system. Such an imbalance causes over discharge/overcharge of the secondary battery, and makes it difficult to maintain the optimum efficiency of the electric power generation in the entire system.


A closure having child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation includes a plastic inner shell having a skirt with at least one internal thread, an external bead on the skirt and a circumferential array of teeth on the bead. A plastic outer shell has a skirt externally encircling the skirt of the inner shell. The outer shell has an internal bead on its skirt, a circumferential array of first teeth on one side of the internal bead, a circumferential array of second teeth on the other side of the internal bead, and at least one third engagement element adjacent to an edge of the skirt. The inner shell is positionable within the outer shell in child-resistant and non-child-resistant positions, in which the teeth on the inner skirt engage the first or second teeth on the outer shell.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,899,348, 6,039,195 and 6,327,770 disclose closure and container packages that are particularly well-suited for prescription applications. The container includes a sidewall with an externally threaded finish and a deflectable release element cantilevered from the finish on a side of the threads remote from the open mouth of the container. The closure includes a base wall with an internally threaded peripheral skirt having locking lugs at the edge of the skirt remote from the base wall. These locking lugs on the skirt cooperate with a locking lug on the deflectable release element of the container to secure the closure to the container in a child-resistant mode of operation. To release the closure, the release element is deflected downwardly toward the container sidewall to move the locking lug on the release element out of engagement with the locking lug on the closure skirt. A dome extends from the inner periphery of the base wall and has an external thread that is adapted to be received within the open mouth of the container in an inverted non-child-resistant mode of operation of the closure. A general object to the present invention is to provide a closure and package of the general type disclosed in the noted patents, in which the closure is convertible between child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation without inverting the closure with respect to the container finish.
A closure having child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation, in accordance with a first aspect of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, includes a plastic inner shell having an upper end, a skirt with at least one internal thread, at least one external bead on the skirt and at least one external engagement element on the skirt. A plastic outer shell has a skirt externally encircling the skirt of the inner shell. The outer shell has at least one internal bead on its skirt, at least one internal first engagement element on a side of the internal bead adjacent to the upper end of the inner shell, at least one second engagement element on a side of the internal bead remote from the upper end of the inner shell, and at least one third engagement element adjacent to an edge of the skirt remote from the upper end of the inner shell. The inner shell is positionable within the outer shell at a non-child-resistant first position with the external bead on the inner shell disposed on a side of the internal bead on the outer shell remote from the base wall of the inner shell, and with the second engagement element on the outer shell disposed for engagement with the external engagement element on the inner shell. The inner shell is positionable within the outer shell at a child-resistant second position with the external bead on the inner shell disposed on a side of the internal bead of the outer shell proximate to the base wall of the inner shell, and with the external engagement element of the inner shell disposed for engagement with the internal first engagement element of the outer shell.
In the preferred embodiment in accordance with this first aspect of the invention, the internal bead on the outer shell is disposed between circumferentially continuous internal channels on the skirt of the outer shell, the first internal engagement element on the outer shell includes a circumferential array of teeth within a first of the channels, and the second internal engagement element on the outer shell includes a circumferential array of teeth within a second of the internal channels. The external engagement element on the inner shell in the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a circumferential array of teeth on the external bead, which are engageable with the teeth in the first and second internal channels of the outer shell in the child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation respectively.
A closure in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention includes a plastic inner shell having a skirt with at least one internal thread, and a plastic outer shell having a skirt externally encircling the skirt of the inner shell and at least one engagement element adjacent to an edge of the skirt. The skirts of the inner and outer shells have opposed radially facing surfaces. One of these surfaces has a bead with at least one tooth. The other of the surfaces has a bead, with at least one first tooth disposed above the bead and at least one second tooth disposed below the bead. The inner shell is positionable within the outer shell in a first mode of operation such that the bead on the one surface is positioned below the bead on the other surface, and the at least tooth on the bead of the first surfaces is disposed to engage the at least one second tooth on the other surface. The inner shell is positionable within the outer shell in a second mode of operation such that the bead on the one surface is positioned above the bead on the other surface, and the at least one tooth on the bead of the first surface is disposed to engage the at least one first tooth on the other surface. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one tooth on the bead includes a circumferential array of teeth on the bead, the at least one first tooth includes a circumferential array of first teeth, and the at least one second tooth includes a circumferential array of second teeth. In the preferred embodiment, the bead with the circumferential array of teeth is an external bead on the inner shell, and the bead with spaced circumferential arrays of first and second teeth are an internal bead and internal arrays of teeth on the skirt of the outer shell.

Closure and package having child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation


A cascade heat pump system is configured with variable-speed compressors which allow operation at a high system coefficient of performance for a given thermal load. An electronic control module may be utilized to dynamically vary the speed of the compressors to achieve maximum energy efficiency. Variable-speed fans or blowers may also be used.

Heat pumps are often employed to provide heating or cooling to a target space or zone, often the indoor area of a residential or commercial building. The most common type of heat pump is the air-source heat pump, which transfers and amplifies heat between a target space and the air in another space, often an ambient environment. For heating, ventilation, and air conditioning/refrigeration (HVAC/R) applications, heat pumps often utilize the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle, in which a circulating refrigerant is used as the medium which absorbs heat from one space and subsequently rejects the heat elsewhere.
In a single-stage vapor-compression heat pump system, the refrigerant flows through an evaporator which absorbs heat and produces a vapor and then to a compressor that provides the necessary pressure increase before entering a condenser to reject the heat. The refrigeration is then expanded to a low pressure using an expansion device such as a thermal expansion device (TXV) before returning to the evaporator. Fans or blowers are also often used to transfer the heating or cooling effect to the target space or ambient environment. Single-stage vapor-compression systems are not practical for cold-climate heating applications due to the low suction pressure of the refrigerant at low ambient temperature and the difficulty of efficiently operating compressors at high compression ratios and compressing refrigerants with large specific volume.
One known cold-climate heating solution is a multi-stage cascade heat pump system, in which multiple separate vapor-compression cycles are coupled to each other with the evaporator of the higher-stage cycle removing the heat of the condensing refrigerant of the immediately lower stage cycle. Each cycle in a multi-stage cascade system usually uses a different refrigerant suitable for that temperature, with the refrigerant selected to be best suited for its operating conditions. Multi-stage cascade heat pump systems have the advantages of a lower evaporating temperature, smaller compression ratio and higher compressor volumetric efficiency when compared with single-stage systems.
Two-stage cascade systems have been used in HVAC/R for many decades. However, these traditional two-stage cascade systems suffer from inherent inefficiencies that result from the overlap of the condensing temperature in the lower stage and the evaporating temperature in the upper stage. This shortcoming can be partially avoided by introduction of a liquid-vapor heat exchanger and desuperheaters. However, there exists a continuing need to develop cascade heat pump systems with increased energy efficiency.

Cascade floating intermediate temperature heat pump system


A system for controlling the atmosphere in the container comprising a membrane separation apparatus to separate nitrogen and a second separation apparatus, adapted to separate carbon dioxide and water vapor from a gas mixture in the container. The separated nitrogen is returned to the container, as is at least a portion of the carbon dioxide and water vapor, so as to produce and/or maintain a pre-determined atmosphere composition within the container thereby to prevent spoilage of perishable products within the container.

The present invention relates to systems for controlling the atmosphere within containers and more particularly to systems for controlling the atmosphere in containers used for the storage and transportation of perishable produce such as fruit, vegetables and flowers.
It is known that during the storage and/or transportation of perishable produce its preservation can be enhanced by controlling the atmosphere surrounding the produce. For example, it has been found that an atmosphere in which nitrogen predominates is particularly useful for controlling the preservation of perishable products. Furthermore, in addition to controlling the amount of oxygen present in the atmosphere there has also been found a need to control the amount of other substances which may be present, for example, carbon dioxide and ethylene which might be formed by the produce whilst contained within the container.
In our European Patent Application EP-A-467668 there is described a system for controlling the atmosphere of a container for use in the storage and/or transportation of perishable goods. The system includes adsorption means in the form of a plurality of beds, each bed being designed preferentially to adsorb from the atmosphere one or more of water vapor, carbon dioxide, oxygen and ethylene. Some of the beds are designed to work on a temperature swing adsorption cycle and at least one bed is designed to operate on a pressure swing adsorption/desorption cycle. Although the system described in our earlier application achieves all of the requirements in terms of atmosphere control it remains complicated and somewhat bulky.
As a simpler alternative to such adsorption/desorption, systems incorporating semi-permeable membranes have been employed; known plants for the separation of gas mixtures, for example, air, by such membranes are constructed so as to present a large surface area of membrane to the air to be separated.
For example, such plants may employ a multitude of identical, elongate, hollow fibers which are formed from a suitable semi-permeable membrane and which extend in parallel to one another. The fibers are usually mounted in and typically extend from one end to the other of a pressure vessel. The air to be separated is fed under pressure into a header at or adjacent one end of the fibers so that it flows longitudinally through the fibers. The insides of the fibers are maintained at a higher pressure than that which obtains on the outside of the fibers. The components of the air diffuse through the membranes at different speeds such that as the air passes along the inside of a membrane so a faster permeating component, for example, oxygen, passes more and more to the low pressure side. Accordingly, a nitrogen rich product gas in the order of 99.5% by volume nitrogen may be withdrawn under pressure from the end of the pressure vessel opposite that at which the feed gas is introduced.
Membrane systems are generally used in two configurations to control the amount of oxygen within food transport containers:
a) to separate nitrogen from the atmosphere surrounding the container and adding it to the container to displace oxygen, or PA1 b) to separate nitrogen from the atmosphere within the container and recirculating the separated nitrogen back into the container to displace oxygen.
In both configurations, the remaining, nitrogen-depleted atmosphere is usually vented to environment. Such systems suffer from the fact that the membranes are highly permeable to carbon dioxide (and water vapor), which therefore tends to pass through the system with the non-nitrogenous part of the atmosphere and is then vented; this leads to carbon dioxide- and water vapor-depletion of the atmosphere within the container, which is damaging to certain high quality perishable products. Accordingly, in practice system a) is usually employed on an intermittent basis so that too much carbon dioxide is not lost, but this is relatively crude, inefficient and unable to maintain the accurate control of atmosphere composition which is necessary for high quality food products. System b) is not often employed, because the loss of carbon dioxide and water vapor is much greater than with system a).
It is an aim of the present invention to address the above problems, and to provide a simple and effective system which will achieve independent control of the gases likely to be found in the atmosphere of a container for perishable goods.


Disclosed is an analgesic composition including an opioid analgesic and a therapeutically effective amount of P7C3, and the present analgesic composition may treat acute and facilitated pain very effectively, and has a significantly high synergistic effect compared to the effect by administration of individual drugs.

Tissue injuries after an operation and the like evoke pain. Tissue injury leading to chronic pain is a field in which medicinal treatment effects are not well satisfied. The exact mechanisms of chronic pain still remain to be determined.
A variety of neurotransmitters are known to be involved in nociceptive modulation in the central nervous system, and research activities have been focused on such neurotransmitters. However, no magic bullets have not been established.
Recently, aminopropyl carbazole (P7C3) was discovered, and systematic administration of P7C3 has shown neuroprotective effects in animal models of neurodegenerative disease without knowledge of the clear action mechanisms. However, analgesic effects of P7C3 against pain have not been known.
Opioid is an analgesic, which usually acts on the receptors located in the central nervous system, and morphine is a representative drug of opioid.
Morphine exhibits affinity for the δ and κ opioid receptors, and is also active for the μ opioid receptors related to the central nervous system, brain, spinal cord, and thus exhibits effects such as pain alleviation, drowsiness, changes in mood, and mental clouding. Morphine belongs to a strong opioid class used for intermediate to severe pain. The opioids including morphine and morphine-like homologs have potent analgesic effects, but is reported to cause many side effects, for example, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, clouding of consciousness, unpleasantness, pruritus, and constipation. Problems which aggravate biliary tract pressure, urinary tract retention, and hypotension symptoms have been reported. The development tolerance to opioid analgesia, the risks of drug dependency, the drug abuse, and the like are another undesirable effects. Therefore, studies on methods for decreasing the total amount of opioids used and obtaining synergistic effect for an analgesic action have continued.

Analgesic composition including opioid analgesic and P7C3


Systems for providing reliable, controllable power without releasing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) to the environment. Any CO2 generated is captured and converted to hydrocarbons, which may be used as hydrocarbon feedstock or as additional fuel. Some of these systems can even reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. The systems may utilize a carbon-neutral energy source.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released by the United Nations on Feb. 2, 2007 states that it is unequivocal that climate change due to global warming is occurring and that it is at least 90 percent certain that humans are responsible. A major cause of this warming is the increased concentration of the "greenhouse gas" carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, primarily due to humans burning hydrocarbon fossil fuels to produce energy for transportation and electrical power generation. See FIG. 1. To address the problem of global warming, several countries who are signatories of the Kyoto Protocol agreement are establishing laws to reduce the rate of carbon dioxide emission within their jurisdictions. Several state and local governments in the United States of America are also implementing such laws. One of the legal approaches being used in Europe and elsewhere is a "cap and trade" system. With this approach, decreasing annual limits are set on the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by each company. Companies that go over their annual cap might be fined. However, efficient companies that emit less than their cap amount earn "carbon credits" that can be sold or traded to excess emitters. According to an article in the Feb. 14, 2007, edition of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper of Saint Paul, Minn., USA, there are now firms such as London-based "Sindicatum Carbon Capital Ltd., which develops projects that produce emission credits." The article also states that "Global emissions-permit trading was worth about $21.5 billion in the first nine months of 2006, almost double the $11 billion in all of the previous year, the World Bank said in October."
A Feb. 3, 2007, newspaper article by Thomas H. Maugh I I and Karen Kaplan of the Los Angeles Times states that the IPCC report "also said warming would continue even in the extremely unlikely event that global carbon dioxide could be stabilized at its current level. Such a stabilization would require an immediate 70 percent to 80 percent reduction in emissions, said Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego." The carbon dioxide level persists and builds up because the main natural mechanism for "permanently" removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is the process of photosynthesis, in which plants use energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into plant tissue materials such as sugars and cellulose. The total plant population of the earth cannot consume carbon dioxide at a rate equal to the current rate of carbon dioxide emission from human activities. Carbon dioxide can be "temporarily" removed from the atmosphere when it dissolves in bodies of water such as the ocean, forming carbonic acid. This carbonic acid may react with certain ions in the water to form relatively insoluble materials, such as calcium carbonate (limestone). Coral polyp animals use this process to form their coral reef homes. However, excess carbonic acid raises the acidity of the water, endangering the lifeforms living in the bodies of water. Recent "bleaching" of coral reefs has been attributed to this acidification of the ocean, accompanied by the water temperature increases due to global warming. However, if the "carbonated" water warms up or the air pressure above the water is reduced, some of the carbonic acid decomposes and carbon dioxide is released back into the air. An example of this decomposition process is the CO2 bubble formation and "fizzing" which results from the pressure release upon opening a container of a carbonated beverage.
In order to meet CO2 emission reduction targets of present or future regulations such as those based on the Kyoto Protocol, some power generation stations are experimenting with an approach called "carbon sequestration." In this approach, CO2 gas emitted during the burning of coal or other fossil fuels is trapped at the source and pumped underground. In favorable locations, this gas could be used to pressurize underground petroleum reservoirs, to enhance oil recovery. However, there is no guarantee that the CO2 will not eventually leak back to the surface and re-enter the atmosphere. Such a sequestration approach is proposed by David Keith in the following paper: David W. Keith, Minh Ha-Duong and Joshuah K. Stolaroff (2005). Climate strategy with CO2 capture from the air. Climatic Change, published on line, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-005-9026-x Dr. Keith's proposed carbon trapping is based on reacting CO2 gas with an NaOH solution, then reacting this solution with CaO to form lime (calcium carbonate), then heating the lime to release the CO2 gas again. A large amount of energy is needed for the heating process, thus reducing the net energy output of the power generation station.
There is currently a social movement to develop and deploy "carbon-neutral" technologies for energy generation, technologies that do not emit carbon dioxide. An example of this would be a wind turbine generator. While considerable CO2 might be emitted generating the energy used in manufacturing a wind turbine, when the final device is in operation, no additional CO2 is released. Thus, the manufacturing process may be "carbon-positive" (net CO2 emissions), but the operation of the finished wind turbine is "carbon-neutral". If the process of manufacturing a second turbine uses an amount of energy equal to the lifetime energy output of the first turbine, then both the manufacturing of the second turbine and its total energy output will effectively be completely "carbon-neutral". For purposes of this patent application, technologies that are "carbon-neutral" during operation will be referred to as "carbon-neutral" energy sources. Other "carbon-neutral" energy source technologies can include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, hydroelectric, tidal hydroelectric, wave action hydroelectric (such as the SEADOG™ pump, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,953,328 and 7,059,123, available from Independent Natural Resources, Inc. (INRI), Eden Prairie, Minn., USA), nuclear, and geothermal. Unfortunately, some carbon-neutral technologies, particular solar and wind, are intermittent. Thus, they are not well suited as the sole power source for applications requiring continuous reliability, such as electrical utilities or vehicle propulsion.
The electrical utilities industry in the United States has its prices set by a government commission, and must petition the commission to approve any rate increases. The industry frequently expects any new equipment to last for 50 years in service. State and federal governments are discussing legislation that would require electrical utilities to reduce their total CO2 emission, and to obtain some minimum percentage of their total electrical output from "renewable energy" sources in a few years. Utility company executives are beginning to request that the federal government establish these laws soon, so the utilities will be able to plan and design equipment that will meet the new standards as they install their next equipment upgrades. It would be valuable if the next equipment could be retrofitted into the large installed base of power generation equipment, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of current equipment. It would also be useful if the new systems could provide flexibility to ease the transition from the current installed base to a future infrastructure based on "renewable energy" sources and more sustainable systems.
While the electrical utilities industry is currently developing approaches that may take them at least part way to their CO2 reduction targets, the transportation industry, and particularly airplanes and ocean-going vessels, have more difficult challenges. Vehicles must generally carry their fuel or energy source with them over long distances. Batteries or fuel cells may work for automobiles, once the technology and the "refueling" infrastructure are developed, but these energy sources tend to be heavy, and sometimes bulky. Airlines in particular require light weight, compact, efficient energy sources, and it is difficult to see how fossil fuels and their accompanying CO2 emissions would be replaced in this industry any time soon. Therefore, the airline industry (and others) will be strongly "carbon-positive" for the foreseeable future. In "cap and trade" countries, such industries will be under pressure to buy increasing amounts of increasingly expensive "carbon credits" from other companies. If a "carbon-negative" technology could be developed that would collect CO2 from the atmosphere and convert the carbon to a useful non-gaseous form, the industries that are forced to use fossil fuels could use this CO2 collection/remediation technology to offset their emissions, thereby meeting their net CO2 emission cap targets. Such a "carbon-negative" technology has been described in the commonly owned and currently pending patent application "Apparatus and Method for Collecting an Atmospheric Gas", U.S. Patent Application 60/900,564, filed Feb. 9, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such a "carbon-negative" technology has been described in commonly owned provisional patent application U.S. 60/900,564, "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING AN ATMOSPHERIC GAS," (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,464,545,) which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Some preliminary efforts have been made at developing technologies that could chemically convert greenhouse gases such as CO2 into other materials using process that might be considered carbon-negative. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,181, "Reactor for solar processing of slightly-absorbing or transparent gases", Jensen, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,187, "Solar reduction of CO.sub.2", also by Jensen, et al. However, these are energy-intensive, high temperature processes, requiring intense concentrated sunlight and associated expensive equipment. Furthermore, these patents do not address the problem of collecting the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and concentrating the gas to make the subsequent chemical reaction processes more efficient.
Other interesting related technologies are discussed in the following documents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,699, "Photosynthetic solar energy collector and process for its use", Hallman, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,882, "Gas fixation solar cell using gas diffusion semiconductor electrode", Ang, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,816, "Process for storing solar energy in the form of an electrochemically generated compound", Williams, et al. These patents also do not adequately address the problem of removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
Thus, as the world seeks to control greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and to transition to renewable energy sources and a more environmentally sustainable power generation infrastructure, there is a need for a technology capable of allowing existing fossil fuel based energy technologies to be modified to operate with no net greenhouse gas emission, or even to operate with a net reduction of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reliable carbon-neutral power generation system


The propagation of very high frequency signals, e.g., 8 to 10 GHz, via a path printed on a printed wiring board is enhanced by arranging the path so that it simulates a high-quality transmission path at very high frequencies. The path comprises a conventional lead and a series of microstrips, in which the design of the microstrips is optimized to (a) minimize insertion loss and group delay distortion, (b) maximize return loss, and (c) minimize pulse distortion.

A packaged substrate may be mounted on a printed wiring board for the purpose of interfacing a source of very high-frequency signals, e.g., an optical fiber, with other circuits also mounted on the printed wiring board. The interface may include a converter that converts the optical signal to an electrical signal and an amplifier that amplifies the resulting signal. A coaxial cable is typically used to connect the output of the amplifier to the other printed wiring board circuits. The prior art has recognized that such a coaxial connection is usually expensive and bulky.
One prior art arrangement uses a set of three so-called gull-wing lead connections in place of a coaxial cable connection. Specifically, the three gull-wing leads extend as terminals from the mounted substrate to three pads printed on the printed wiring board, in which a center gull-wing lead is the signal lead. The pads provide capacitive matching to compensate for the inductance exhibited by the center gull-wing lead at very high frequencies, e.g., up to four GHz. Accordingly, the capacitive compensation, to some extent, neutralizes the degrading effect of the inductance that the center gull-wing lead exhibits in the presence of very high frequency signals.
We have recognized, however, that such prior art compensation suffers from a number of transmission problems. Specifically, it does not deal with, for example, so-called group delay.

Printed wiring board modified gull wing signal lead connection


An improved device and method for determining when to start a timer that applies a temporary offset to a signal quality measurement of a cell that is a candidate for reselection in a 3GPP Hierarchical Cell Structured wireless communications system. For a cell ranking criterion R, the timer is started to apply the temporary offset according to present invention rules that insure that the temporary offset is not applied until a candidate is eligible for reselection, preventing premature expiration of the timer and unintended cell reselection. A present invention mobile unit that uses the improved method includes a housing, a central processor, a timer for applying the temporary offset, and a memory. The memory includes computer code that applies the claimed invention rules for starting the timer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communications network. In particular, the present invention discloses a method for a mobile unit, often known as a UE (User Equipment), to correctly start a timer in the UE that applies a penalty for cell reselection in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) service area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a simple block diagram of a wireless communications network 10, which is defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications. The wireless communications network 10 comprises a plurality of radio network subsystems (RNSs) 20 in communications with a core network (CN) 30. The plurality of RNSs 20 is termed a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or UTRAN for short. Each RNS 20 comprises one radio network controller (RNC) 22 that is in communications with a plurality of Node Bs 24. Each Node B 24 is a logical node responsible for radio transmission/reception in one or more cells to/from the UE and each cell has its radio coverage area. The wireless communications network 10 assigns a mobile unit 40 (generally termed a "UE" for User Equipment) to a particular RNS 20, which is then termed the serving RNS (SRNS) 20s of the UE 40.
Additionally, a network may utilize a hierarchical cell structure (HCS). FIG. 2 illustrates an example HCS 100 but another HCS may be structured quite differently and have more or fewer layers. In this example, pico cells 105 have the smallest ranges. Micro cells 110 have a larger coverage area than the pico cells 105. Similarity, macro cells 120 have a larger coverage area than micro cells 110. The different hierarchical layers can be created using different frequencies, but different frequencies may also be used on the same layer to cope with system load, for example. Generally, in a network utilizing an HCS the system capacity progressively improves as the UE 40 reselects from the macro cell 120 to the pico cell 105. Therefore, typically, the relative HCS priority given to a specific cell is cell size dependent and increases from the macro cell 120 to the pico cell 105.
Data destined for the UE 40 is sent by the CN 30 (or UTRAN 20u) to the SRNS 20s. It is convenient to think of this data as being sent in the form of one or more packets that have a specific data structure, and which travel along one of a plurality of radio bearers (RBs) 28, 48. An RB 28 established on the SRNS 20s will have a corresponding RB 48 established on the UE 40. The RBs 28, 48 are numbered consecutively, from RB0 to RB31. Typically, RB0 to RB4 are dedicated signaling RBs (SRBs), which are used for passing protocol signals between the UTRAN 20u and the UE 40. RBs 28, 48 greater than four (i.e., RB5, RB6, etc.) are typically used to carry user data.
The RNC 22 utilizes a Node B 24, which is selected by the UE 40 by way of a Cell Update procedure, to transmit data to, and receive data from, the UE 40. The Cell Update procedure is initiated by the UE 40 to change a cell as defined by a Node B 24.
Selection of a new cell region will depend, for example, upon the location of the UE 40 within the domain of the SRNS 20s. The UE 40 sends data to the wireless communications network 10, which is then picked up by the SRNS 20s and forwarded to the CN 30. Occasionally, the UE 40 may move close to the domain of another RNS 20, which is termed a drift RNS (DRNS) 20d. A Node B 24 of the DRNS 20d may pick up the signal transmitted by the UE 40. The RNC 22 of the DRNS 20d forwards the received signal to the SRNS 20s. The SRNS 20s uses this forwarded signal from the DRNS 20d, plus the corresponding signals from its own Node B 24 to generate a combined signal that is then decoded and finally processed into packet data. The SRNS 20s then forwards the received data to the CN 30. Consequently, all communications between the UE 40 and the CN 30 must pass through the SRNS 20s.
Please refer to FIG. 3 in conjunction with FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a simple block diagram of a UMTS radio interface protocol architecture, as used by the communications network 10. Communications between the UE 40 and the UTRAN 20u is effected through a multi-layered communications protocol that includes a layer 1, a layer 2 and a layer 3, which together provide transport for a signaling plane (C-plane) 92 and a user plane (U-plane) 94. Layer 1 is the physical layer 60, and in the cells is responsible for transmitting/receiving signals to/from UE 40. Layer 2 includes a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer 70, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 72, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 74. Layer 3 includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 80 and some Non Access Stratum (NAS) layers, e.g. Call Control (CC), Mobility Management (MM), etc. The U-plane 94 handles user data transport between the UE 40 and the UTRAN 20u, whereas the C-plane 92 handles transport for signaling data between the UE 40 and the UTRAN 20u. The RRC 80 sets up and configures all RBs 28, 48 between the UTRAN 20u and the UE 40. The PDCP layer 22 provides header compression for Service Data Units (SDUs) received from the U-plane 94. The RLC layer 72 provides segmentation of PDCP 70 SDUs and RRC 80 SDUs into RLC protocol data units (PDUs), and under acknowledged mode (AM) transfers, can provide upper layers (such as the PDCP layer 70 or the RRC layer 80) with a confirmation that RLC PDUs have been successfully transmitted and received between the UTRAN 20u and the UE 40. The MAC layer 74 provides scheduling and multiplexing of RLC PDUs onto the transport channel, interfacing with the physical layer 60. It is the RRC layer 80 that is responsible for the establishment and configuring of the RBs 28, 48.
A number of reconfiguration procedures are available to the RRC layer 80 to setup and configure RBs 28, 48. These procedures involve the UTRAN 20u sending a specific message to the UE 40 along an RB 28, 48, and the UE 40 responding in turn with a corresponding message. Typically, the message is sent along RB2, which is an SRB. The messages include Radio Bearer Setup, Radio Bearer Reconfiguration, Radio Bearer Release, Transport Channel Reconfiguration, and Physical Channel Reconfiguration. For each of these reconfiguration messages, the UE 40 has a corresponding "Complete" or "Failure" response message indicating success or failure of the procedure on the UE 40 side, and which may provide the UTRAN 20u any necessary information for the UTRAN 20u to complete the procedure. The reconfiguration messages and the corresponding response messages can carry information elements (IEs), which are fields of data that hold ancillary information. In addition to these reconfiguration procedures, there also exists a Cell Update procedure, which originates with a Cell Update message from the UE 40 and is responded to by the UTRAN 20u. The Cell Update procedure is used by the UE 40 to indicate a change of cell location (i.e., Node B 24). The UE 40 initiates a Cell Update procedure in a variety of cases; to uplink data transmitted from the UE 40 to the UTRAN 20u, as a paging response, due to a radio link failure, re-entering a service area, due to an RLC 72 unrecoverable error, a periodical cell update, and for cell reselection.
Due to traffic loads at different Node Bs 24, movement of the UE 40, and because the effective ranges of neighboring cells normally overlap at least in part, the quality of signal between the UE 40 and the cells varies. The purpose of cell reselection is to always camp on a cell (Node B 24) with good enough quality for effective communications, even if that cell is not the optimal cell at the time. A cell reselection evaluation procedure is performed to find out if another cell offering better signal quality exists when triggered by the UE 40 or when system information relevant to cell reselection changes. One system factor relevant to cell reselection is defined in the IE "Cell_selection_and_reselection_quality_measure" to indicate using Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) of a Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) or received energy per chip divided by the power density (Ec/N0) of a Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) in the serving cell as the quality value of the received signal Qmeas for FDD cells. The relevant system information transmitted by the serving cell 24 on an SRB includes other information such as whether or not a Hierarchical Cell Structure (HCS) is operating and parameters for all counters, timers, offsets, and thresholds used to control the cell reselection process.
The first step in the cell reselection process is to select candidate neighboring cells based on measurement rules and perform measurements on those cells. These measurement rules differ for intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and inter-RAT measurements. Secondly, the signal quality level of the serving cell 24 and system information provided thresholds are used to select candidate neighboring cells (adjacent Node Bs 24) fulfilling certain predefined requirements, known as S criterion. If an HCS is indicated in the system information, it is possible to further restrict candidate cells to only those cells having a higher HCS priority than the serving cell. It also may be necessary to take the motion of the UE 40 into account. If the number of reselections during a system indicated time period Tcrmax exceeds a system indicated number Ncr, the UE 40 is considered to be fast moving and candidates are chosen from neighboring cells having an equal or lower HCS priority than the serving cell. Some cells, including possibly the serving cell, are excluded from being potential candidates according to other predefined rules, such excessive load on those cells.
When HCS is used, an additional quality level threshold criterion H is used to identify target cells on a different layerand is shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. This H criterion is not applied for fast moving UEs 40. For all terms in the FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the subscripts "s" indicate the serving cell and the subscript "n" indicates the respective candidate neighboring cell that is currently being measured or ranked. The term "Qmeas" indicates the quality value of the received signal derived from the averaged CPICH Ec/N0 or CPICH RSCP for FDD cells, from the averaged P-CCPCH RSCP for TDD cells and from the averaged received signal level for GSM cells. The term "Qhcs" specifies a quality threshold level for applying prioritized hierarchical cell reselection. The term "TO*L" is a time dependent temporary offset defined in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the term "TEMP_OFFSET" equates to one of two system offsets depending on the reselection setting of the quality value of the received signal for FDD cells (i.e. IE "Cell_selection_and_reselection_quality_measure" defined in 3 GPP TS 25.331 section 10.3.2.3) and specifies an temporary offset applied to H and R criterion. The term "PENALTY_TIME" indicates the time duration during which the temporary offset is to be applied to the neighboring cell. The term "T" is a timer in the UE 40 (one corresponds to each target cell) that is started at zero when certain conditions are met. The function W(PENALTY_TIME−T) is equal to zero when the timer T is greater than the PENALTY_TIME and equal to one when the timer T is less than or equal to the PENALTY_TIME. The term "L" is zero when the HCS priority of an HCS serving cell (HCS_PRIOs) is equal to the HCS priority of an HCS candidate neighboring cell (HCS_PRIOn), otherwise "L" is equal to one.
Once the UE 40 has selected candidate cells that fulfill the S and the H criterion, the signal quality of candidate cells is evaluated and the candidates are ranked according to an R criterion shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The term "Qmeas" again indicates the signal quality for the respective cell. The term "Qhyst" equates to one of two system constants specifying a hysteresis value depending on the reselection setting of the quality value of the received signal for FDD cells (i.e. IE "Cell_selection_and_reselection_quality_measure" defined in 3 GPPTS 25.331 section 10.3.2.3). The term "Qoffset" specifies an offset between the two cells and equates to one of two system determined offsets depending on the reselection setting of the quality value of the received signal for FDD cells(i.e. IE "Cell_selection_and_reselection_quality_measure" defined in 3 GPPTS 25.331 section 10.3.2.3). The term "TO*(1−Ln)" again is a time dependent temporary offset defined in FIG. 5.
If all the above criteria are met during a time interval Treselection, the cell with highest R ranking is normally chosen to be the new serving cell. Note that the serving cell is also ranked and may be the highest ranked candidate cell, if all the above criteria are met for serving cell during a time interval Treselection. Both the H and the R criteria comprise factors that, in certain circumstances, involve the application of the temporary offset for a system defined time duration PENALTY_TIME. The purpose of the temporary offset is to help insure that cell reselection does not occur as a result of a brief fluctuation in signal strength of a candidate cell. The temporary offset effectively requires a stronger, sustained signal strength to qualify for reselection. The application of the temporary offset is then multiplied by the L term (in the case of H) or by (1−L) in the case of R.
Obviously, the L term can eliminate the temporary offset due to the multiplication, leading to a problem when an HCS system is used. As can be seen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, for the quality threshold criterion H, during quality estimation of candidate cells, the temporary offset applies for PENALTY_TIME to cells on a different HCS priority level as the serving cell. For the quality level threshold criterion H, the temporary offset will be applied if HCSn < > HSCs (the serving cell and the target cell have different HCS priority levels) and Qmeasn−Qhcsn>0 (the quality of signal for the target cell is greater than the system threshold) if any cell has fulfilled the criterion H>=0. This means that the temporary offset will be applied for PENALTY_TIME to a neighboring cell only while it is possible for that neighboring cell to become a candidate cell.
However, as can be seen in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, for the cell-ranking criterion R, the temporary offset applies for PENALTY_TIME to the cells on the same HCS priority level as the serving cell. For the cell-ranking criterion R, the temporary offset will be started if HCSs=HCSn (the serving cell and the target cell have the same HCS priority level) and Qmeasn>Qmeass+Qoffset (the quality of signal of the target cell is greater than the quality of signal for the serving cell plus the system specified offset). Because the quality of signal must be measured before candidate cells can be ranked, or re-ranked as the case may be, the timer Tn may be started prior to the ranking of candidate cells. Because starting the timer will apply the temporary offset and applying the temporary offset effectively reduces a candidate cell's ranking, the temporary offset may be applied while the ranking Rn of the target cell is less than the ranking Rs of the current serving cell. Applying the temporary offset in this manner is not reasonable because the penalty will be applied too early (while the candidate cell is ineligible for reselection) and become invalid.
Please refer to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the scenario described above. In the graph, the upper horizontal line designates an Rs criterion ranking for the serving cell. In this example, the ranking Rs of the serving cell is assumed to remain constant. The lower horizontal line indicates when the measured quality of signal of an HCS target cell equals the quality of signal of the serving cell plus the applicable system defined offset. The wavy, somewhat diagonal line indicates an example ranking Rn over time for the HCS target cell.
In the example, at time T1, while the ranking Rn for the target cell is less than the ranking Rs of the serving cell, the prior art specification states that the timer Tn for applying the temporary offset is started because the quality of signal for the target cell is greater than the quality of signal for the serving cell plus the applicable offset (Qmeasn>Qmeass+Qoffsetsn). If the duration PENALTY_TIME is equal to T2−T1,the timer Tn becomes equal to the PENALTY_TIME and the temporary offset is eliminated at time T2. The timer Tn is not reset to reapply or continue the temporary offset because the criteria for starting the timer Tn remains valid and the serving cell has not changed.
At time T3, the ranking Rn of the target cell reaches equality with the ranking Rs of the serving cell making the target cell now eligible for reselection. The higher-ranking Rn of the target cell could be the result of some temporary influence and immediately return to a lower ranking Rn when the influence is gone. However, immediately after reaching this equality, because the ranking Rn now exceeds the ranking Rs, the UE 40 reselects to the target cell without applying the penalty temporary offset. The purpose of applying the temporary offset is to help insure that cell reselection does not occur as a result of a brief fluctuation in signal strength of a candidate cell by requiring a larger, sustained signal strength to qualify for reselection.

Penalty of cell reselection for a wireless device