An articulated connector for a rail vehicle having a plurality of rail car bodies including a first and a second rail car body supported on a bolster of a Jacobs bogie. The articulated connector includes a spherical joint mechanism connecting the first rail car body and the second car body to one another, the spherical joint mechanism having at least two spherical joint bearings, and the spherical joint mechanism being disposed on the bolster of the Jacobs bogie.

Rail vehicles having Jacobs bogies are sufficiently known from the prior art. The most famous here is the TGV in which two rail car bodies are supported on a Jacobs bogie in a gangway region.
Such a Jacobs bogie comprises a frame, with a respective set of wheels being arranged at the frame by primary springs at both ends of the frame. A so-called bolster that is supported on the frame by secondary springs is supported on the frame. The two rail car bodies are supported on the bolster by a spherical joint mechanism. Such a spherical joint mechanism for a Jacobs bogie is known from WO 2005/023619. However, the pitching movements and the kink movements, rolling movements and compensating movements are greatly restricted here. The reason for this can be found in the fact that only the one rail car body is movable relative to the other rail car body. The other rail car body is fixedly connected to the bolster so that it is rigid. This means that both pitching movements and kink, rolling and compensating movements are only permitted to a relatively small degree.

Rail vehicle with articulated connection


(N+j)th (1≦j≦N, N and j are integers) and (2N+j)th scan electrodes are disposed corresponding to a jth scan electrode. An (M+k)th (1≦k≦M, M and k are integers) signal electrode and a kth electrode are disposed corresponding to a kth signal electrode. A first pixel switch element connects a pixel electrode with the kth signal electrode based on a voltage of the jth scan electrode. A second pixel switch element connects the pixel electrode with the (M+k)th signal electrode based on a voltage of the (N+j)th scan electrode. A switch element connects the pixel electrode with the kth electrode based on a voltage of the (2N+j)th scan electrode.

The present invention relates to a display device, a method of driving the same, and electronic equipment.
A thin film transistor (hereinafter abbreviated as "TFT") liquid crystal device (display device in a broad sense) is mainly driven by using an alternating current (AC) drive method such as a frame inversion drive method, a line inversion drive method, and a dot inversion drive method. In particular, the dot inversion drive method is capable of effectively preventing occurrence of a flicker.

Display device, method of driving the same, and electronic equipment


The present invention relates to a power management method of portable computer and detects the electric power consumption of portable computer through a detection circuit during the operation of portable computer, in addition, dynamically changes any one of the followings: the voltage and frequency of portable computer CPU, the frequency and efficacy of Video Graphics Array (VGA), or the frequency of memory. What is more, the invention provides a plurality of power management modes of portable computer for achieving the object of managing electric power consumption of portable computer.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of managing electric power consumption, and more particular to a method that is applied to working power supply of a portable computer.
(2) Description of Prior Art
To seek for better working efficacy of portable computer of the present day, the operating speed and capability of mobile CPU, which is particularly used for portable computer, has been enhanced, therefore, power consumption of mobile CPU is relatively increased, and further causes higher heat to computer. Hence, both Intel and Microsoft have provided excellent electric power management for mobile CPU of portable computer, such as Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and Speed step. ACPI has defined five states from C0˜C4, the higher states have better efficacy of the electric power management. However, mobile CPU of portable computer still has some drawbacks, e.g., the newly promoted mobile CPU speed of portable computer on the market always falls behind DESK TOP CPU of Desktop PC at three to six months, but its selling price is higher than Desktop PC; the production cost, therefore, can not be reduced.
Seeing that mobile CPU of portable computer causes higher cost, the production lines of many portable computer manufacturers have focused on producing DESK TOP CPU of Desktop PC for replacing mobile CPU of portable computer. Consequently, two kinds of CPUs, DESK TOP CPU and mobile CPU, for portable computers are generated; nevertheless, the reserved mobile CPU for the use of portable computer is able to support Speed step and states C0 to C4 to achieve effective electric power management; whereas DESK TOP CPU of Desktop PC can not support Speed step, in addition, the ACPI thereof can support state C2 only.
Besides, DESK TOP CPU of Desktop PC at P4 2.4 GHz/533 has to consume 10 W of electric power only during the period of idle mode; furthermore, CPU at 2.6 GHz/2.8 GHz at least consumes 15 W of electric power during the period of idle mode. Therefore, it is hard to imagine how many batteries are required for operating a portable computer over two hours at the battery mode.
Seeing that the requirement of information processing devices with the mobility quality in modern society is increasing, the goal of unceasingly producing lighter and smaller portable computer will definitely result in the gradual decrease of portable computer in the future to become a production trend. Nevertheless, considering that a mobile worker operates his/her portable computer in an environment where is not necessary to equip with electric power, hence, each portable computer has a built-in battery for supplying required electric power for peripheral computer apparatus, such as a monitor, a disc, a keyboard and a mouse, etc. However, the built-in battery can not supply with required electric power for a portable computer in a long time.
Inasmuch as there is nothing to do with electric power replenishment with the poor progress of battery capability, how to manage electric power consumption of portable computer, which applies DESK TOP CPU of Desktop PC, in addition, effectively prolong the time of battery usage have become technique subjects to be solved.

Method of portable computer power management using keyboard controller in detection circuit


To provide an inexpensive and flexible conductive thin film which is excellent in carrier mobility and electric conductivity and which is formed by highly orienting nanotube or an electronic functional organic material by simple and convenient means, as well as a thin film transistor using the conductive thin film.

A thin film transistor (TFT) for use in flat panel displays and the like has a structure wherein source and drain electrodes are disposed on one side of a semiconductor layer forming part of the thin film transistor and a gate electrode disposed on the other side of the semiconductor layer at a substantially central position relative to a channel.
Usually, a semiconductor layer of a thin film transistor having the above-described structure is formed by processing a semiconductor thin film formed on a substrate under precise control based on a thin film control process. Here, the semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor formed by the thin film control process calls for an excellent carrier mobility for a semiconductor device to be constructed. To this end, conventional thin film transistors preferentially employ inorganic semiconductors having excellent levels of carrier mobility such as silicon and germanium as semiconductor materials forming such semiconductor layers.
With recent prevalence of mobile information processing terminals such as PDA and the like, demands exist for realization of sheet-like or paper-like high-definition displays of low prices, microelectronic devices of low prices, and like devices. To meet these demands, realizations of inexpensive flexible electrodes and wiring and of flexible miniature thin film transistors of low prices are demanded. In forming such inexpensive flexible electrodes and thin film transistors or the like, it is required that conductor layers and semiconductor layers be imparted with flexibility by inexpensive means. For this reason, conductor and semiconductor materials are being sought which can replace the aforementioned inorganic semiconductors and which can impart resulting conductor and semiconductor layers with flexibility inexpensively.
In recent years, attention has been focused on electronic functional organic materials each comprising such an organic semiconductor compound as thiophene, pentacene or the like as a conductor material for forming a conductor layer to be used as an electrode, wiring or the like and as a semiconductor material for forming a semiconductor layer for use in such a semiconductor device as a thin film transistor, an organic electroluminescent device (organic EL) or the like.
Such an electronic functional organic material has a characteristic that it can be deposited at room temperature or at a temperature close to room temperature. Accordingly, use of such an electronic functional organic material makes it possible to form a conductor or semiconductor layer by a low-temperature process. For this reason, it is possible to form a conductor or semiconductor layer by the use of relatively inexpensive fabrication equipment adapted to the low-temperature process without the need to provide expensive fabrication equipment adapted to a high-temperature process that is needed when using an inorganic semiconductor. In brief, such a conductor or semiconductor layer can be formed inexpensively.
These electronic functional organic materials generally have flexibility. Accordingly, the use of such an electronic functional organic material for a conductor or semiconductor layer makes it possible to impart the layer with flexibility. For this reason, if a conductor or semiconductor layer comprising an electronic functional organic material is formed on a flexible plastic substrate or resin film, it becomes possible to fabricate an electrode, thin film transistor or the like having flexibility easily. Use of such a flexible electrode, flexible thin film transistor or the like enables a sheet-like or paper-like display or electronic device or the like to be constructed easily.
Examples of known thin film transistors of the type using an electronic functional organic material in a semiconductor layer include one having a semiconductor layer comprising oligothiophene which is an organic semiconductor compound. The semiconductor layer of this thin film transistor comprises an oligothiophene thin film formed by evaporating oligothiophene on a substrate or depositing oligothiophene on the substrate by coating the substrate with a solution of oligothiophene in an organic solvent. However, since the semiconductor layer of this known thin film transistor is formed by mere evaporation or deposition of oligothiophene without orientation or alignment, the thin film transistor has a far lower carrier mobility at channel than a thin film transistor using silicon or the like. The carrier mobility of such a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer formed by mere evaporation or deposition of oligothiophene is about 0.001 cm2/Vs for example (see patent document 1 for example).
Thus, such a conductor or semiconductor layer comprising an electronic functional organic material has a problem that the carrier mobility thereof is considerably lower than that of a layer comprising an inorganic semiconductor. Specifically, the carrier mobility of single-crystalline silicon is about 103 cm2/Vs, that of polycrystalline silicon about 102 cm2/Vs, and that of amorphous silicon about 1 cm2/Vs, whereas that of a layer comprising such an electronic functional organic material as oligothiophene is about 0.001 to about 0.01 cm2/Vs.
The carrier mobility of the conductor or semiconductor layer comprising an electronic functional organic material is considerably lower than that of the layer comprising an inorganic semiconductor because the conductor or semiconductor layer formed by mere evaporation or deposition of the electronic functional organic material has electronic functional organic material molecules therein with their axes positioned disorderly, which impedes smooth charge transfer between plural electronic functional organic material molecules, thus lowering the electric conductivity of the layer. For this reason, it has been difficult for the prior art to use electronic functional organic materials in forming a conductor layer for use as an electrode, wiring or the like or in forming a semiconductor layer in a semiconductor device such as a thin film transistor, an organic electroluminescent device or the like, particularly, a semiconductor layer in a high-definition image display device, a high-speed LSI, or the like.
In attempt to overcome this difficulty, various studies have heretofore been made with a view to improving the carrier mobility of a conductor or semiconductor layer comprising an electronic functional organic material.
For example, a thin film transistor has been reported in which a crystalline low-molecular electronic functional organic material comprising pentacene or the like is used as an electronic functional organic material to form a semiconductor layer in which the low-molecular electronic functional organic material is oriented and aligned by an evaporation technique (see non-patent document 1 for example).
In this thin film transistor having the semiconductor layer formed by orienting and aligning the low-molecular electronic functional organic material, pentacene, which is an organic semiconductor material, is evaporated on a substrate to form the semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor. Here, pentacene is evaporated at a deposition rate of 1 Å/s on the substrate surface in which the temperature is room temperature (27° C.). This evaporation process causes pentacene molecules to be substantially aligned in the direction normal to the substrate thereby realizing a thin film phase having poor grain boundary. It has been reported that such a structure realized a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer having a carrier mobility of about 0.6 cm2/Vs, which is a relatively high value among values of carrier mobility obtained from semiconductor layers formed by using electronic functional organic materials.
As another art, there has been disclosed a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer comprising an organic semiconductor polymer in which a liquid crystalline substituent group is introduced at side chain, wherein the skeletal chains of the organic semiconductor polymer are aligned in a predetermined direction (see patent document 2 for example).
In this thin film transistor having the semiconductor layer formed by using the organic semiconductor polymer in which a liquid crystalline substituent group is introduced at side chain, the semiconductor layer comprises a liquid crystalline phase of a polythiophene derivative in which such a liquid crystalline substituent group as phenylcyclohexane (PCH)-type substituent is introduced at the 2- or 3-position of thiophene. It has been disclosed that the thin film transistor having a carrier mobility at channel of 6×10−5 cm2/Vs was obtained by orientation of the backbone chain axis of the thiophene polymer caused by orientation of the liquid crystalline substituent group in the liquid crystalline phase.
FIG. 19 is a sectional view schematically showing a sectional structure of the thin film transistor according to the aforementioned patent document 2.
As shown in FIG. 19, the thin film transistor 100 according to patent document 2 includes an insulating substrate 101 formed with a gate electrode 103, and an organic semiconductor film 106 formed over the insulating substrate 101 with a gate insulator 102 intervening therebetween. Further, between the insulating substrate 101 and the organic semiconductor film 106 are formed a source electrode 104 and a drain electrode 105 in such a manner as to connect to the organic semiconductor film 106 directly. The organic semiconductor film 106 is formed by a process including: polymerizing a PCH-type liquid crystal compound (PCH504) and thiophene by a catalytic polymerization method; dissolving the resulting polymer in a chloroform solvent to exhibit a liquid crystalline phase; and coating the upper sides of the gate insulator 102, source electrode 104 and drain electrode 105 with the resulting solution to a film thickness of 1 μm by a casting method. The organic semiconductor film 106 extending over the source and drain electrodes 104 and 105 is subjected to a treatment for orientation control. In the organic semiconductor film 106, the liquid crystalline substituent group introduced in the organic semiconductor polymer forming the organic semiconductor film 106 can be oriented parallel with a rubbing direction. Since the organic semiconductor film 106 formed is thin, the skeletal chains of the organic semiconductor polymer are aligned in a fixed direction relative to the liquid crystalline substituent group, or side chain. Stated otherwise, in the thin film transistor 100 the direction in which the skeletal chains of the organic semiconductor polymer are aligned is controlled by controlling the alignment direction of the liquid crystalline substituent groups by an orientation treatment.
In recent years, attention has also been focused on nanotube (NT) having a nanostructure, particularly, carbon nanotube (CNT), which is an inorganic compound formed from carbon (C) as a semiconductor material for forming a conductor or semiconductor layer.
In these days, many studies are being made of nanotube (NT) and carbon nanotube (CNT) since they exhibit very good electric conductivity and high mechanical strength and are very stable chemically and thermally.
A carbon nanotube has a very small diameter on a nanometer order and a length on a micrometer order and hence has a very high aspect ratio. Therefore, carbon nanotube is extremely close to an ideal one-dimensional system. Such carbon nanotubes include a metallic carbon nanotube having a high electric conductivity and a semiconductive carbon nanotube having a band gap in inverse proportion to the diameter thereof, which are produced in accordance with the diameter and the helical degree which depend upon the symmetry of the molecular structure thereof. Usually, carbon nanotube is synthesized as a carbon nanotube mixture comprising the metallic carbon nanotube and the semiconductive carbon nanotube in proportions of about 1:2 for example. Since the metallic carbon nanotube has a high electric conductivity, it is possible to use the metallic carbon nanotube as a favorable wiring material or as a conductive member for use in devices of microstructure. In using carbon nanotube in a semiconductor layer of a thin film transistor, it is required that the semiconductive carbon nanotube be used. Such a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer formed by using the semiconductive carbon nanotube can obtain a very high carrier mobility at channel of 1000 to 1500 cm2/Vs.
A report has been made of a nanotube-type thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer comprising carbon nanotube, wherein the semiconductor layer is formed to a thickness of about 1.4 nm by dispersing carbon nanotubes each having a diameter of about 1.4 nm at an appropriate dispersion density (see non-patent document 2 for example).
FIG. 18 is a sectional view schematically showing the construction of a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer comprising carbon nanotubes.
According to non-patent document 2, a thin film transistor 200 as shown in FIG. 18 includes a 150 nm-thick gate insulator 202 comprising thermally oxidized silicon formed on an upper portion of a p+ silicon substrate 201 which serves also as a gate electrode, and a 1.4 nm-thick semiconductor layer 203 formed by dispersing semiconductor-type carbon nanotubes of 1.4 nm diameter on the gate insulator 202 at an appropriate dispersion density. Also, a metal such as titanium (Ti) or cobalt (Co) is deposited on the surface of the semiconductor layer 203 by evaporation and, further, source electrode 204 and drain electrode 205 each comprising titanium carbide or cobalt are formed on upper sides of contact sections 206 and 207 in contact with the carbon nanotubes. The thin film transistor 200 is thus constructed. Such a construction yields a nanotube-type thin film transistor having a sufficiently high carrier mobility at channel and favorable electrical characteristics.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-029403
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 09-083040
Non-patent Document 1: C.D. Dimitrakopoulos and another one, IBM J. RES. & DEV. VOL. 45 NO. 1 JAN. 2001 pp 19
Non-patent Document 2: PhaedonAvouris, Chem. phys. 281, pp. 429-445 (2002), FIG. 6, "Carbon nanotube electronics"

Conductive thin film and thin film transistor

Abstract: A conductive thin film (1) is formed by mixing a first material (5) having electric conductivity or semiconductivity and a second material (6) to prepare a mixture and orienting the mixture by utilizing liquid crystallinity thereof.


A system includes a filling structure deployable at least partially in a common iliac artery and an external iliac artery, and a scaffold positioned within a first lumen of the filling structure. The scaffold has a fenestration in a side of the scaffold that is positionable toward an internal iliac artery. The filling structure has a second lumen extending from the first lumen and positionable toward the internal iliac artery. A method includes deploying a filling structure at least partially in a common iliac artery and an external iliac artery and positioning a scaffold within a lumen of the filling structure such that a fenestration in a side of the scaffold is positioned toward an internal iliac artery.

Aneurysms are enlargements or bulges in blood vessels that are often prone to rupture and which therefore present a serious risk to a patient. Aneurysms may occur in any blood vessel but are of particular concern when they occur in the cerebral vasculature or the patient's aorta.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA's) are classified based on their location within the aorta as well as their shape and complexity. Aneurysms that are found below the renal arteries are referred to as infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Suprarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms occur above the renal arteries. Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA's) occur in the ascending, transverse, or descending part of the upper aorta. Infrarenal aneurysms are the most common, representing about 70% of all aortic aneurysms. Suprarenal aneurysms are less common, representing about 20% of the aortic aneurysms. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are the least common and often the most difficult to treat.
The most common form of aneurysm is "fusiform," where the enlargement extends about the entire aortic circumference. Less commonly, the aneurysms may be characterized by a bulge on one side of the blood vessel attached at a narrow neck. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are often dissecting aneurysms caused by hemorrhagic separation in the aortic wall, usually within the medial layer. A common treatment for each of these types and forms of aneurysm is open surgical repair. Open surgical repair is quite successful in patients who are otherwise reasonably healthy and free from significant co-morbidities. Such open surgical procedures are problematic, however, since access to the abdominal and thoracic aortas is difficult to obtain and because the aorta must be clamped off, placing significant strain on the patient's heart.
Endoluminal grafts have recently come into widespread use for the treatment of aortic aneurysms in patients. In general, endoluminal repairs access the aneurysm "endoluminally" through either or both common iliac arteries. The grafts are then implanted. Successful endoluminal procedures have a much shorter recovery period than open surgical procedures.
Aneurysms also frequently occur in the iliac arteries in patients that have an abdominal aortic aneurysm. This has a reported prevalence of around 20-40% of AAA patients. In some patients, an aneurysm extends into an internal or external iliac artery.

Systems and methods with stent and filling structure


An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member that bears a toner image; an intermediate transferring material; a transferring unit that transfers a toner image on the image bearing member to the intermediate transferring material; a bias applying unit that applies a bias to the transferring unit; a cleaning unit that contacts and cleans the surface of the image bearing member; a toner supplying unit that, when an image is not being formed, passes a toner image for supply that is formed on the image bearing member through a transferring position to supply the toner image for supply to the cleaning unit; and a switching unit that switches from a state in which the power supply portion is electrically connected to the bias applying unit to a state in which a resistance value between the power supply portion and a ground is 100 MΩ or more.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a toner supplying means that supplies toner to a cleaning means that cleans the surface of an image bearing member.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, stable image formation is sought in image forming apparatuses using an electrophotographic method. One factor that is necessary to achieve stable image formation is stable cleaning of the surface of an image bearing member.
When bias is applied to the power supply portion of a transferring means, a toner image formed on an image bearing member is transferred to an intermediate transferring material or recording material in the transferring position.
After transfer, a blade member that comes into contact with the image bearing member is preferably used as means for cleaning the surface of the image bearing member. The reason being is that such a configuration is simple.
However, when a blade member comes into contact with an image bearing member as a cleaning means, a problem exists in that the blade member is rolled up when low density images are formed continuously, and therefore cleaning cannot be adequately performed.
Therefore, at a time when an image is not formed, a toner image for supply is formed on an image bearing member and toner is supplied to the cleaning means. In addition, in order to efficiently supply toner to the cleaning means, when the toner image for supply passes through a transferring position, a bias applied to the power supply portion of the transferring means is turned OFF (0 V).
However, even when the bias applied to the power supply portion of the transferring means is turned OFF (0 V) when the toner image for supply passes through the transferring position, most of the toner of the toner image for supply is transferred to an intermediate transferring material or the like in the transferring position. Thus, the problem exists that sufficient toner is not supplied to the cleaning means.

Image forming apparatus supplying toner efficiently to cleaning means cleaning surface of image bearing member


Apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture for obtaining examples that break a visual expression classifier at user devices such as tablets, smartphones, personal computers, and cameras. The examples are sent from the user devices to a server. The server may use the examples to update the classifier, and then distribute the updated classifier code and/or updated classifier parameters to the user devices. The users of the devices may be incentivized to provide the examples that break the classifier, for example, by monetary reward, access to updated versions of the classifier, public ranking or recognition of the user, a self-rewarding game. The examples may be evaluated using a pipeline of untrained crowdsourcing providers and trained experts. The examples may contain user images and/or depersonalized information extracted from the user images.

There are many existing and potential uses for automated facial expression recognition. Perhaps the best known use is the smile detection in digital cameras. There are others, including facial detection in response to various external stimuli, such as consumer reactions to advertisements, product displays, labeling, packaging, and pricing; voter reactions to talking points and evaluation of debate performances; and still other uses.
A need exists for improved methods and apparatus for automatically detecting and classifying facial expressions, including expressions responsive to external stimuli. One approach for developing such systems relies on machine learning techniques. Such techniques typically use large numbers of example images (which term herein indicates still images as well as videos) to discover the features that discriminate between different expression categories. A need also exists for efficient methods to generate and collect data that can be used for training automatic expression classifiers. The design of these data collection methods may be quite important for the success of the machine-learning expression classifiers that machine-learn using the collected data.

Data acquisition for machine perception systems


A solder material test apparatus includes a control unit and a storage unit which stores master data in advance in which a printing process time when a printing process is performed by using a test-sample solder material is associated with deterioration degree data of the test-sample solder material at the printing process time. The control unit includes a deterioration degree data acquiring unit which acquires deterioration degree data for indicating a deterioration degree of a test-sample solder material, a reading unit which reads a printing process time associated with deterioration degree data set as a limit value with reference to master data and reads a printing process time associated with the deterioration degree data acquired by the deterioration degree data acquiring unit, an operating unit which operates an available remaining time that indicates difference between the printing process times, and a display control unit which informs the available remaining time to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solder material test apparatus which tests a solder material used on a production line in a factory, a method of controlling the same, a solder material test program, and computer-readable recording medium storing the solder material test program.
2. Description of the Related Art
On the production line of printed boards, electronic components are mounted on the board by performing a printing process of printing a solder material on a board, a mounting process of mounting an electronic component on the printed solder material and a reflow process of fixing the electronic component on the board by soldering.
In the above-mentioned printing process, the solder material is put on the surface of a metal mask placed on the board. The metal mask is formed with an opening corresponding to a wiring pattern. The solder material on the metal mask surface is pushed and rotationally moved by a movable squeegee. Furthermore, the solder material being rotationally moved is squeezed out of the opening onto the board by the pressing force of the movable squeegee. Due to this, the solder material is printed to the board (see paragraph [0011] in JP-A-5-99831).
The metal mask is in continuous use for a number of boards, in a state the same one of solder material is rested thereon. Accordingly, the solder material is rotationally moved by the movable squeegee repeatedly each time printing is performed. Although the solder material gradually deteriorates due to rotational movement, the deteriorated solder material is to constitute a factor causing defects on the printed board.
For this reason, deterioration degree of the solder material on the metal mask should be analyzed in-line so as to determine whether or not the deterioration degree of the solder material exceeds an application limit (value considered that durability of the solder material reaches a limit). If the deterioration degree of the solder material exceeds the application limit, it is important to replace the solder material lying on the metal mask. In addition, before supplying a solder material onto the metal mask, it is important to analyze the deterioration degree of the solder material to be supplied and check whether or not the deterioration degree exceeds the application limit before supplying the solder material.
Here, the solder material has a viscosity, oxidation degree, and reducing power that serve as indexes in evaluating the deterioration degree thereof. The reason of the viscosity, oxidation degree and reducing power is an index is because of the following.
It is known that, as solder material deteriorates, its viscosity increases to proceed to oxidation and lower the reducing power. Herein, it is also known that, when a solder material highly viscous is printed on the board, such defects as 'breakages' or 'blurs' are ready to occur on the board thus printed. Meanwhile, it is also known that, in case an oxidized solder material is printed to the board, such inferiorities as 'solder balls' or 'solder unfused' are ready to occur on the post-reflow board. Furthermore, it is also known that, the solder material lowered in reducing power is printed to a board, such inferiority as 'wettability reduction' readily occurs on the post-reflow board.
Namely, the viscosity, oxidation degree and reducing power of a solder material are correlated to the occurrence rate of printed board inferiorities. For this reason, the viscosity, oxidation degree and reducing power of a solder material serves as a significant index in evaluating the deterioration degree of a solder material. Accordingly, it is possible to analyze the deterioration degree of the solder material by measuring at least one of the viscosity, oxidation degree, and reducing power of a solder material.
Conventionally, there are various methods to analyze the deterioration degree of solder material, as exemplified in JP-A-5-99831 (date opened: Apr. 23, 1993), JP-B-8-20434 (date published: Mar. 4, 1996) and JP-A-10-82737 (date opened: Mar. 31, 1998).
JP-A-5-99831 discloses a method to measure the viscosity of a solder material depending upon a velocity of a solder material flowing on a squeegee surface. JP-B-8-20434 discloses a method of measuring the acid degree of a solder material (oxidation degree and reducing power of the solder material) by conducting a titration by use of a solder material sampled. JP-A-10-82737 discloses a technique of measuring the surface oxidation rate (oxidation degree and reducing power of the surface of the solder material) of a solder material according to the ultraviolet-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Therefore, it is possible to analyze the deterioration degree of the solder material by using the viscosity, oxidation degree, and reducing power of a solder material measured by using the above-mentioned methods as deterioration data which indicates the deterioration degree of the solder material.
However, in the above-mentioned methods according to JP-A-5-99831, JP-B-8-20434, and JP-A-10-82737, the deterioration degree data of the solder material used in the printing process should be frequently measured and checked whether or not the deterioration degree data of the solder material exceeds the application limit (desired value). If the deterioration degree data of the solder material exceeds the application limit, the solder material should be changed in a prompt manner thereby taking a lot of labor and time.
At the same time, if it is possible to estimate a print time or the number of printing processes required until the deterioration degree data of the solder material used in the printing process exceeds the application limit (desired value), the deterioration degree does not need to be frequently measured such that the labor and time of a user who controls a production can be reduced.

Solder material test apparatus, and method of controlling the same


A snow groomer having a frame extending along a longitudinal axis; ten supporting wheels connected to the frame by respective axle shafts to form a row of five supporting wheels on each longitudinal side of the frame, each supporting wheel on one longitudinal side of the frame facing a supporting wheel on the opposite longitudinal side of the frame, so that facing pairs of supporting wheels define a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth axle; two tracks, each looped about the supporting wheels aligned along a respective longitudinal side of the frame; an engine assembly of over 430 HP; and a mass distributed as follows: 16%+/−2% on the first axle; 20%+/−2% on the second axle; 20%+/−2% on the third axle; 22%+/−2% on the fourth axle; and 22%+/−2% on the fifth axle.

A snow groomer of the type described above is used for surface grooming ski runs of all types, and must therefore be capable of maneuvering freely regardless of the slope and size of the run. Since the overall weight and size of the groomer, however, seriously impair maneuverability and climbing performance on very steep slopes, snow groomer manufacturers have opted to keep the overall weight within a relatively low range, thus precluding the use of high-power engines, which would otherwise be desirable for certain grooming jobs and to improve efficiency.


In this information transmission system, a first user terminal gains access to a business server through a communication network, to transmit a body text of an electronic mail in voice information there. The business server converts the voice information into text information, discriminates the information to be converted into a pictogram, from this information, and further converts it into a pictogram. A user of the first user terminal recognizes a destination from the mail body text and transmits an electronic mail including the pictogram/text mixed body text to, for example, a second user terminal. Also in a TV phone, the voice information is similarly converted into text information and pictogram and combined with an image, and displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information transmission system and an information transmission method suitable for a small-sized communication terminal such as a portable phone, and more particularly, to an information transmission system and an information transmission method capable of performing an easy input operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small-sized communication terminals including portable phone, PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) are in wide use for a private purpose and a business purpose. Especially, many of these communication terminals are respectively provided with a function of transmitting and receiving electronic mail.
The electronic mail requires input of body text and destination as the text information. The small-sized communication terminal has a few keys (buttons) on the data input portion because of its limited space of key arrangement. For example, in a portable phone, an input keyboard serves both as keys for entering text information and numeric keys for entering dial information. A user has to operate a plurality of keys as for one character when entering text in many cases, which makes the input work troublesome.
Then, a first proposal is made in which a voice corresponding to the contents of mail is entered from a portable phone, this is converted into the text information by a special voice recognition device connected to a communication network such as the Internet, and the information is stored into its storage as mail data (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2001-211265 (paragraphs 0017 and 0022, FIGS. 3 and 6)).
FIG. 16 shows the outline of a communication system according to the first proposal. A telephone terminal 101 is connected to a host 103 through a base station 102. The host 103 is connected to a voice recognition device 105 through the Internet 104. A voice recognition program is installed into the voice recognition device 105. A storage 106 is connected to the voice recognition device 105.
In the communication system 100 of the first proposal, when transmitting mail of text format from the telephone terminal 101, a user at first enters mail address and the like through a predetermined input operation, then enters the contents that should be the text mail, with voice, and transmits this to the voice recognition device 105 as voice mail. When receiving the voice mail on the side of the voice recognition device 105, the voice corresponding to the contents is converted into the text information and returned to the telephone terminal 101. A user modifies the text information received by the telephone terminal 101 depending on necessity and transmits this to the destination of the mail. In short, the telephone terminal 101 transmits the voice information of the mail body text to the voice recognition device 105 through the Internet 104, converts this voice information into the text information, and returns it. The telephone terminal 101 can modify the obtained text information properly and transmit it to the destination of the mail.
In this communication system 100 of the first proposal, when a user modifies the text information transmitted as the recognition result from the voice recognition device 105 to the telephone terminal 101, he or she has to do this through the operation of keys on the telephone terminal 101 itself. Therefore, the work of modifying a conversion mistake or partly rewriting the sentence itself is as troublesome and time-consuming as ever.
Then, a second proposal for making easy a whole text input operation of a user's portable terminal is made (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2003-46652 (paragraphs 0028 to 0030 and FIG. 3)).
FIG. 17 shows an important portion of a communication system according to the second proposal. In this communication system 120, a portable terminal 121 is connected to a voice recognition device 123 through a base station 122. When the portable terminal 121 enters the voice and transmits this to the voice recognition device 123 in order to create mail, the voice recognition device 123 converts this into the text information. The converted text information is transmitted from the voice recognition device 123 to a WWW (World Wide Web) server 125 on the Internet 124. The WWW server 125 displays this on a Web in a web description language.
The portable terminal 121 browses the text information in the web description language, which has been created by the WWW server 125, through access to the Internet 124. Modification of the text information is performed on the Web by using a radio button, not illustrated. Therefore, the modification work becomes easier.
As mentioned above, a way of saving the operation work by converting the voice information into the text information and then transmitting it as electronic mail, has been hitherto generally performed. Especially in the field of the portable phones, it is frequent practice to create mail body text having text information such as letter and character combined with pictogram. Use of the pictogram facilitates understanding of the transmission contents of electronic mail or the mood of a transmitting person. In order to create this body text including the pictogram, it is necessary to select some pictogram and enter the pictogram into the text information, and in this case, the processing of entering each pictogram individually through key operation has been required hitherto.
Although it is possible to enter text corresponding to the reading of a voice, since the pictogram is not a phonogram, there is no method of entering the pictogram in the text information. In order to enter a pictogram, it is necessary to specify a position to enter the pictogram in a sentence through the conventional key operation and specify the code information or display a list screen of the pictograms hence to specify and enter a desired pictogram individually. Accordingly, there still remains such a problem that operationality cannot be much improved on the whole because the pictogram cannot be entered with voice even though general text information can be entered easily through voice input and kana conversion of the voice analyzed.

Information transmission system and information transmission method


A semiconductor waveguide type all-optical switch of a simple structure which can switch at high speed with low switching energy. A waveguide is formed within a core layer made of a semiconductor for absorbing controlling light when an electric field is applied, and a pair of electrodes are formed for applying a voltage to a waveguide part where a refractive index change is to be caused. The controlling light together with controlled light is entered in the waveguide. When a voltage is applied, Franz-Keldysh effect causes the wavelength at the optical absorption spectrum edge in the refractive index change part to shift to the long wavelength side. If light of a wavelength satisfying a predetermined condition is used as the controlling light, the controlling light is absorbed only in the refractive index change part for changing the refractive index in the part, thus the controlled light is switched. Preferably, a p-i-n structure is adopted.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical switch used in fields of optical fiber communication, optical information processing, etc., and more particularly to a semiconductor waveguide type optical switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical switch is one of optical circuit parts indispensable for switching terminals, optical fiber cables, etc., in an optical communication system and an optical information processing system. Among the optical switches, those of waveguide type are desirable from the viewpoints of easy integration and cascading. Hitherto, various waveguide type electro-optical switches such as the directional coupler, Mach-Zehnder, and total reflection types have been developed.
Two optical waveguides are disposed partially close to each other for the optical switch of the directional coupler type which uses an increase or decrease in the coupling degree between the two waveguides in the close portion or couple portion for switching the optical path from one of the waveguides to the other thereof. If the length of the couple portion equals to the "complete couple length" determined by the coupling strength, this optical switch causes the light emitting port to be switched in the couple portion thereof by inducing the difference between propagation constants on the two waveguides. The propagation constant change is caused by a change in the refractive index of one of the waveguides when an electric field is applied.
The optical switch of the Mach-Zehnder type has a structure where one waveguide is once branched into two portions which then are again coupled together. An electric field is applied to each branch of the waveguide to change the refractive index thereof, thereby generating a phase difference for the light passing through the branches. These branches of light are turned on or off in response to their phase differences when they are coupled together. The phase difference is caused by the refractive index change of each branch of the waveguide when the electric field is applied.
The optical switch of the total reflection type is made up of two waveguides which cross each other. An electric field is applied to the intersection of the waveguides to change the reflectance ratio, whereby total reflection within the waveguides is used to move a light on one of the waveguides to the other thereof. The reflectance ratio change is caused by the refractive index change of the waveguides when the electric field is applied.
With all the waveguide type electro-optical switches described above, an electric field is applied to the waveguide or waveguides to change the refractive index, however, recently an optical method has been watched as a method which has possibilities of switching operation at higher speed as compared with the waveguide type electro-optical switches. This optical method is to form a waveguide with a semiconductor and enter controlling light in the waveguide to cause the semiconductor to absorb the controlling light, thereby causing a refractive index change in any desired part of the waveguide.
With the above-described optical method, carriers are generated within the waveguide at the same time as the refractive index changes when the light is absorbed. To enable high-speed switching the carriers must be eliminated from within the waveguide for as short time as possible. Known as one of the methods for eliminating carriers to enable high-speed switching is a method of applying an electric field to the waveguide part where the refractive index is to be changed. (Refer to Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 4-3125 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-104943)). Since the carriers are drawn out rapidly from the waveguide by the applied electric field, the recovery time from the refractive index change of the waveguide is shortened to enable high-speed switching.
To reduce switching energy, it is necessary for the controlling light to cause a sufficiently large change in the refractive index on to be made on the waveguide and also necessary for controlled light to be subjected to large phase modulation due to the refractive index change. For this purpose, it is preferably that the controlling light together with the controlled light is entered in the waveguide so as to change the phase of the controlled light. Further, it is preferable that the length of the waveguide part where the refractive index is to change is set long.
As described above, a semiconductor waveguide type optical switch requires that the controlling light entered together with the controlled light in the waveguide is absorbed in a predetermined part of the waveguide and pass through other parts thereof without absorption. In other words, the wavelength of the optical absorption edge in the predetermined part of the waveguide where the controlling light should be absorbed must be made shorter than the wavelength of the optical absorption edge in any other part thereof. To meet this requirement, it is possible to form the waveguide portion where the refractive index is to be changed and other portions thereof with semiconductors which differ in energy gap; however, this cannot easily be implemented.

Semiconductor optical waveguide type switch including light control means


An optical pickup apparatus comprising: an objective lens focusing laser light emitted from a laser diode to a signal recording layer of an optical disc; a photodetector including a substantially square light-receiving region made of first to fourth sensors divided by boundaries in a first direction corresponding to a tracking direction and a second direction crossing the first direction, the light-receiving region being irradiated with reflected light of the laser light which is reflected from the signal recording layer thereof; and a half mirror reflecting the laser light in a direction of the objective lens and allowing the reflected light to pass therethrough in a direction of the photodetector, the boundary in the second direction for dividing the first to fourth sensors in the light-receiving region being set according to a shape of a spot of the reflected light directly applied from the half mirror to the light-receiving region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup apparatus performing a reading operation of a signal recorded in an optical disc or a recording operation of a signal into the optical disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been widespread optical disc devices capable of a signal reading operation and signal recording operation by applying laser light emitted from an optical pickup apparatus to a signal recording layer of the optical disc.
The optical disc devices are widely available in general, which use optical discs called CD (Compact Disc) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). As laser light for performing the reading operation of a signal recorded in a CD standard optical disc, infrared light with a wavelength of 780 nm is used, and as laser light for performing the reading operation of a signal recorded in a DVD standard optical disc, red light with a wavelength of 650 nm is used.
Thickness of a protective layer provided on a top face of a signal recording layer of the CD standard optical disc is specified at 1.2 mm, and a numerical aperture of an objective lens used for the reading operation of a signal from this signal recording layer is specified at 0.45. Thickness of a protective layer provided on a top face of a signal recording layer of the DVD standard optical disc is specified at 0.6 mm and a numerical aperture of an objective lens used for the reading operation of a signal from this signal recording layer is specified at 0.6.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical system making up an optical pickup apparatus performing a reproduction operation of a signal recorded in a signal recording layer L provided in an optical disc D in the DVD standard, and a configuration of the optical pickup apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 6.
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser diode emitting a laser beam, which is red light with a wavelength of 650 nm, and reference numeral 2 denotes a diffraction grating that is provided at a position where the laser light emitted from the laser diode 1 enters, and that splits the laser beam to generate a main beam which is 0th order diffracted light and sub beams which are ±1st order diffracted lights. Reference numeral 3 denotes a half-wave plate that the laser light having passed through the diffraction grating 2 enters, and that adjusts a polarization direction of the laser light emitted from the laser diode 1 to an S-direction or P-direction of linear polarization light.
Reference numeral 4 is a half mirror that is provided at a position where the laser light having passed through the diffraction grating 2 and the half-wave plate 3 enters, and that has a control film formed thereon which reflects the laser light in a direction of the optical disc D and which allows return light reflected from the signal recording layer L of the optical disc D to pass therethrough. Reference numeral 5 denotes a collimating lens that is provided at a position where the laser light reflected by the half mirror 4 enters, and that converts the incident laser light into parallel light.
Reference numeral 6 is a raising mirror that the laser light having been converted into the parallel light by the collimating lens 5 is incident, and that reflects the laser light to change an optical axis in a perpendicular direction. Reference numeral 7 is a quarter-wave plate that is provided at a position where the laser light reflected by the raising mirror 6 enters, and that polarizes the laser light incident from the side of the raising mirror 6 from the linear polarization light into circular polarization light and polarizes the return light which is laser light incident from the opposite side, from the circular polarization light into the linear polarization light.
Reference numeral 8 is an objective lens that is provided at a position where the laser light having passed through the quarter-wave plate 7 is applied, and that generates a spot in a shape suitable for the reproduction operation performed by focusing the laser light on the signal recording layer L provided in the optical disc D. The laser light focused on the signal recording layer L provided in the optical disc D by the objective lens 8 is reflected by the signal recording layer L to enter the objective lens 8 from the side of the optical disc D as return light.
The return light entering the objective lens 8 passes through the objective lens 8, and then enters the quarter-wave plate 7 to be converted by the quarter-wave plate 7 from the circular polarization light into the linear polarization light. The return light having been polarized as above is reflected by the raising mirror 6, and then enters the collimating lens 5.
The return light entering the collimating lens 5 passes through the collimating lens 5 to enter the half mirror 4. The laser light and the return light are reversed with each other in a polarization direction of the linear polarization light by a reciprocal transmission operation, which is an operation that the laser light passes through the quarter-wave plate 7 onward and the return light passes therethrough backward, and therefore, the return light entering the half mirror 4 as above is not reflected by the control film provided for the half mirror 4 but passes through the control film.
The half mirror 4 adds astigmatism to the return light passing therethrough in order to generate a focus error signal for a focusing control operation, however, it has a problem that coma aberration is generated due to its characteristics. Reference numeral 9 denotes an AS (Astigmatism) plate that provided at a position where the return light having passed through the half mirror 4 enters, and that is made up so as to enlarge the astigmatism generated in the half mirror 4 to become in a size suitable for generating a focus error signal and so as to correct the coma aberration generated in the half mirror 4.
Reference numeral 10 is a photodetector that is provided at a position where the return light having passed through the AS plate 9 is applied and that is made up so as to generate a focus error signal and a tracking error signal by using a change in spot shape formed by irradiation.
The optical system of the optical pickup apparatus to be used in general is configured as described above, and a generation operation of the tracking error signal will be described below referring to FIG. 2.
For a light receiving portion of the photodetector 10, there are provided a four-divided sensor portion 10a to which a main beam M in the return light is applied as shown in FIG. 2 and two-divided sensor portions 10b and 10c to which sub beams S1 and S2 are applied, respectively, are provided. The four-divided sensor portion 10a is made up of sensors A, B, C, and D as shown in the figure, while the two-divided sensor portions 10b and 10c are made up of sensors E, F and sensors G, H, respectively.
In such configuration, if a spot position of the laser light with respect to a signal track provided for the optical disc D is displaced in a radial direction of the optical disc D, that is, if tracking deviation occurs, a position of the main beam M formed on the four-divided sensor portion 10a by irradiation and positions of the sub beams S1 and S2 formed on the two-divided sensor portions 10b, 10c by irradiation, are displaced in a direction of an arrow A or B. As a result of this, an amount of light received by each of the sensors is changed.
A circuit diagram illustrated in FIG. 2 is for a tracking control operation called differential push-pull method. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 is a first adder for adding a signal obtained from the sensor A irradiated with the main beam M to a signal obtained from the sensor D irradiated therewith, reference numeral 12 is a second adder for adding a signal obtained from the sensor B irradiated therewith to a signal obtained from the sensor C irradiated therewith, reference numeral 13 denotes a first subtracter for subtracting an output signal obtained from the second adder 12 from an output signal of the first adder 11, reference numeral 14 denotes a second subtracter for subtracting a signal obtained from the sensor F irradiated with the sub beam S1 from a signal obtained from the sensor E irradiated therewith, and reference numeral 15 denotes a third subtracter for subtracting a signal obtained from the sensor H irradiated with the sub beam S2 from a signal obtained from the sensor G irradiated therewith.
Reference numeral 16 denotes a third adder for adding an output signal of the second subtracter 14 to an output signal of the third subtracter 15, reference numeral 17 denotes an amplification circuit for amplifying an output signal of the third adder 16 by K times (K is set based on a light amount ratio between a light amount of the main beam and a light amount of the sub beams) to be output, reference numeral 18 denotes a fourth subtracter for subtracting an output signal of the amplification circuit 17 from an output signal of the first subtracter 13, and its output signal is output to an output terminal 19 as a tracking error signal.
Supposing that signals obtained from each of the sensors A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H and the tracking error signal is TE, the tracking error signal TE is calculated by TE=(A+D)−(B+C)−K{(E−F)+(G−H)}, and such tracking error signal TE can be obtained from a circuit shown in FIG. 2. An art relating to an optical pickup apparatus performing the tracking control operation by such differential push-pull method is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H08-339556.
a, b, and c of FIG. 5 show states where the main beam M in the return light is applied to the four-divided sensor portion 10a, in which the a and c show states where the spot position of the laser light is deviated with respect to the signal track, and the b shows a state where the spot of the laser light is positioned on the signal track.
As is obvious from such figures, the spot shape of the main beam M formed by irradiation on the four-divided sensor portion 10a is in a circular shape close to a perfect circle, since the coma aberration generated at the half mirror 4 is corrected by the AS plate 9. If the spot shape of the main beam M is in the circular shaped beam as mentioned above, a well-balanced push-pull signal can be obtained, and therefore, the tracking control operation can be performed accurately.
In the optical pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 6, there can be considered elimination of the AS plate 9 for cost reduction. If the AS plate 9 is eliminated, an astigmatism enlargement operation can not be performed, and therefore, the focus error signal generation operation is affected. However, it was confirmed that the focusing control operation can be carried out without trouble by devising a detection circuit.
On the other hand, if the AS plate 9 is eliminated, the coma aberration generated at the half mirror 4 can not be corrected, and therefore, the spot shape of the main beam M generated by irradiation on the four-divided sensor portion 10a becomes a deformed circular shape as shown in FIG. 4. If such deformed circular spot shape of the main beam is formed by irradiation on the four-divided sensor portion 10a, the push-pull signal which is a signal output in the track direction becomes unbalanced, and therefore, an tracking error signal generation operation can not accurately be performed, which causes a problem that the tracking control operation can not accurately be carried out, so that costs could not be reduced.


A method of generating an image comprises receiving a signal over a USB interface comprising encoded display data for one or more rectangular group of pixel tiles within an image and position data for the or each group of pixel tiles. The coefficients are obtained from the encoded display data, maybe by converting variable bit length fields into AC coefficients and an inverse Haar transform performed on them to generate pixel data for each rectangular group of pixel tiles. A frame buffer, which may be part of the display, is then updated with the generated pixel data ready for output to the display device. Copy protection may also be incorporated using AES negotiated over HDPC.

This invention relates to a method of generating an image and to a device for generating an image.
In desktop computing, it is now common to use more than one display device. Traditionally, a user would have a computer with a single display device attached, but now it is possible to have more than one display device attached to the computer, which increases the usable display area for the worker. For example, International Patent Application Publication WO 2007/020408 discloses a display system which comprises a plurality of display devices, each displaying respectively an image, a data processing device connected to each display device and controlling the image displayed by each display device, and a user interface device connected to the data processing device. Connecting multiple display devices to a computer is a proven method for improving productivity.
The connection of an additional display device to a computer presents a number of problems. In general, most computers will be provided with only one dedicated video output port such as a VGA output connection. One method by which a second display device can be added to a computer is by adding an additional graphics card to the internal components of the computer, which will have an additional graphics output port. The additional graphics card will provide an additional video output which will allow the second display device to be connected to the computer. However, this solution is relatively expensive and is not suitable for many non-technical users of computers, for whom physically correctly adding the additional video card to their computer is a difficult task.
An alternative method of connecting the second display device is to connect the additional display device to a USB socket on the computer, as, in general, all modern computers are provided with multiple USB sockets. This provides a simple connection topology for the user, but requires additional hardware and software to be present, as in general, USB has a bandwidth that makes the provision of a good quality video output a non-trivial task. It is also desirable that any additional hardware between the computer and the display device is kept as simple as possible, in order to keep down the cost of this solution of adding an additional display device. This means that when connecting an additional display device using a limited bandwidth technology such as USB, certain complex tasks can be difficult to achieve. This is particular the case as desktop computers are more frequently being used to output video, for example through websites such as the You Tube® website.


A velocity indication system of a vehicle includes one or more velocity sensors configured to sense a vehicle velocity and to generate velocity data therefrom. The system also includes a control unit configured to receive the velocity data and to generate a control signal based on the velocity data. The system also includes a tactile velocity indicator. The tactile velocity indicator includes a frame that defines an opening therein. The tactile velocity indicator also includes a haptic element, at least partially protruding from the opening so as to be touchable by a passenger of the vehicle via the opening. The tactile velocity indicator also includes an electric motor configured to drive the haptic element in response to the control signal to move relative to the frame according to a haptic element velocity that corresponds to the sensed vehicle velocity.

Modern day motor vehicles are equipped with sensor systems that detect the travelling speed of the vehicle, as well as the direction of travel, and provide this information to the drivers or otherwise use this information to control aspects of the motor vehicle. Typically, velocity data from various sensors is transmitted to one or more vehicle system control units, which use the velocity data in accordance with respectively associated vehicle systems, e.g., speed control and other driver assistance systems, to control certain aspects of the motor vehicle.
In terms of providing the driver with information about the velocity of the motor vehicle, a control signal is generated from the velocity data. The control signal controls a speedometer to visually depict the vehicle speed via an electronically controlled analog-style pointer based gauge or a digital display. The direction of travel may also be visually depicted similarly.
Traditional speedometers, however, are premised on the assumption that the driver of the vehicle is the focal point for providing information such as vehicle speed. As such, the traditional speedometer is uniformly located in dashboard or front instrument panel of the vehicle, where the driver of the vehicle can see it and use the information to control the vehicle accordingly.
As the driving experience moves more towards reliance on autonomous electric vehicles, the driver seat of the vehicle becomes less of a focal point for conveying information relevant to control of the vehicle. Indeed, as motor vehicles become more autonomous, the role of driver may become ambiguous, shared among several passengers at any given time. And at the same time, the disconnect between drivers and the act of driving continues to grow as drivers increasingly occupy their commuting time with activities other than driving. As such, traditional driver-centric speedometers may no longer be viable.
What is needed is a velocity indicator that is more ambient, and is therefore not focused on the driver seat and the front instrument panel; that can indicate vehicular velocity to any or all of the passengers during autonomous driving, whether or not those passengers are actively participating in the act of driving; and that facilitates the quick re-establishing of control of vehicular speed by the passengers when desired.
As such, there is a need in the art for devices, systems and methods for tactile velocity indication that does not suffer from the above drawbacks.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A thermoplastic copolymer prepared from acrylonitrile and para-alpha-dimethylstyrene via bulk or solution polymerization has an improved heat distortion temperature and can be used together with graft copolymers and further components for the preparation of thermoplastic moldings.

The present invention relates to copolymers containing para-alpha-dimethylstyrene, to a thermoplastic composition and its preparation.
The preparation of copolymers of para-alpha-dimethylstyrene (DMS) with further monomers, e.g. acrylonitrile (AN), maleic acid derivatives (in particular anhydride and imines) leads to thermoplastic molding materials with improved properties and in particular to improved heat distortion temperatures. The use of natural sources, like limonene, alpha-, beta-pinenes or other terpenes, to prepare the monomer DMS which has the following formula
is also part of the invention. Also the further monomers, like acrylonitrile, can be prepared starting from natural sources, e.g. from amino acids.
The synthesis of polymers and copolymers from or containing styrene has long been known. A historical overview is outlined e.g. in "Modern Styrenic Polymers: Polystyrene and Styrenic Copolymers" (edited by J. Scheirs and D. B. Priddly, John Wiley and Sons, 2003).
There are several problems involved in pure polystyrene, like e.g. its brittleness and chemical resistance. In order to prepare a thermoformable composition based on the monomer styrene with a higher heat distortion temperature, copolymers of styrene with other monomers were prepared. One commercial important derivative is a copolymer of styrene with acrylonitrile, usual referred to SAN copolymer. The Vicat softening point of such polymers is in the range of 103-120° C., with an average of about 110° C. These polymers are described e.g. in EP-A 022 200, U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,946 and EP-A 0 712 895.
Several strategies are known to improve the Vicat temperature, each however with particular disadvantages. Thus instead of using styrene as a monomer, alpha-methylstyrene was proposed in the literature. It was found years ago that the Vicat temperature of copolymers improved by using alpha-methylstyrene instead of or on addition to styrene. However, the monomer alpha-methylstyrene is not readily polymerized, and remaining monomers are hard to remove from the thermoplastic composition. Furthermore, the copolymers often have an unpleasant smell. The improvement of the property heat-distortion-temperature (HDT) in these copolymers and in economically important blends of SAN and PVC is not so effective as with blends of PVC with copolymers of maleic N-phenyl imide on a weight to weight basis.
The preparation of copolymers from styrene and maleic anhydride or maleic N-imides has been reported to arrive at copolymer materials with high glass temperatures. The copolymer from styrene and maleic anhydride however is very brittle and the copolymers from styrene and maleic-N-imides contain nitrogen and tend to strongly yellow on thermal processing procedures particularly at higher temperatures, which is disadvantageous (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,949 and EP-A 0 721 476).
The use of various mixtures of para-and meta-alpha-dimethylstyrene has been described in the literature. In DE-A 2036420 the polymerization of acrylonitrile with polybutadien and dimethylated styrene is described. Here also an improvement in the glass temperature can be reached. The heat distortion temperature (HDT) of these copolymers was found to be up to 131° C. These copolymers however do not reach the goal to provide with a cheap modifier for polymers like PVC.
A further incentive to reach a suitable copolymer of styrene derivatives and acrylonitrile with a good heat distortion temperature is the fact that styrene today is not considered as being a sustainable monomer. As the sources of oil and gas are more and more limited, monomers are preferred which can be obtained from natural and in particular plant sources.

Copolymers of para-alpha dimethylstyrene and thermoplastic compositions


Several different spanning trees are calculated for a network. The network has several different ingress points via which packets can enter the network. Each of the spanning trees is associated with (at least) one of the ingress points, such that different spanning trees are associated with different ingress points. Packets that enter the network via a particular ingress point are forwarded through the network according to the spanning tree associated with that particular ingress point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to networking and, more specifically, to virtual network devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to provide increased network reliability, redundant switches and links are often included in a network. If a switch or link fails, a redundant switch or link, already in place within the network, can quickly be enabled to replace the failed switch or link. Since the redundant switch or link can typically be enabled as a replacement more quickly than the failed component can be replaced or repaired, having redundant links and/or switching provides a more reliable network.
When redundant components are included within a network, it is often desirable to be able to use the redundant components during normal network operation, before the failure of corresponding components. For example, if two links are implemented between a pair of switches, it is desirable to use both links (as opposed to leaving one link idle) to provide increased bandwidth. However, if multiple redundant links are active at the same time, management of those links may be undesirably complicated (e.g., due to the need to avoid bridging loops). This complexity extends to other situations in which multiple redundant components are used during normal operation. For example, if multiple redundant routers are simultaneously used in a network, management of the network may become more complicated due to the need to have a different point of management for each network device. As these examples show, it is desirable to be able to reduce the complexities that arise when multiple redundant components are used within a network.

System and method for implementing multiple spanning trees per network


A method of performing preventative maintenance on an auger in a tire filling mixing machine, by: (a) mixing a polyurethane isocyanate and a catalyst in a first mixer to form a virgin polyurethane; (b) grinding polyurethane core bits in a grinder, the grinder having an auger and a motor; (c) mixing the virgin polyurethane and the ground core bits in a second mixer thereby forming a mixed flatproofing material; (d) injecting the mixed flatproofing material into a tire; (e) measuring vibration of the auger; and (f) comparing the measured vibration of the auger to a predefined maximum vibration; and (g) removing the auger from the grinder if the measured vibration exceeds the pre-defined maximum vibration for a predefined period of time, or removing the auger from the grinder if the measured temperature of the auger exceeds the pre-defined maximum temperature for a predefined period of time.

The Applicant has previously developed novel systems for mixing materials to form a flatproofing material that was injected into tires. Examples of these novel systems are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,988,524 and 6,918,979, incorporated herein by reference. In these systems, the machine first grinds up used tire pieces and then mixes these ground tire pieces together with a liquid virgin rubber material (such as polyurethane) to form a flatproofing mixture. This flatproofing mixture is then injected into the core of a tire through an attached injector. The flatproofed tire is then allowed to cure (typically for 24 hours) such that the flatproofing mixture solidifies in the tire and then tire is then ready for use.
These existing systems operate with a first mixer that mixes isocyanate and a catalyst to form a virgin rubber/polyurethane. The resulting virgin polyurethane is then mixed with ground up rubber core bits (from recycled tires) in a second mixer to form the final flatproofing material. The grinder that has an auger in it and the recycled tires are dropped from a hopper down onto the auger where they are then ground up into small pieces. A wire screen at the end of the auger ensures that none of the ground up pieces are larger than a desired diameter in size when these ground up pieces are mixed with the virgin polyurethane.
As can be appreciated, the auger in the grinder must be strong and durable and constructed to endure considerable wear and tear. Failure of the auger results in a shutdown of the entire tire filling system. It would therefore be desirable to monitor its operation so as to prevent auger failure. Having the ability to spot auger problems well in advance of auger failure would enable the system operators to schedule preventative repair and/or replacement. Specifically, system operators would be able to replace and/or repair the auger during normal downtime. In addition, spotting auger problems well ahead of time would give system operators the ability to re-order a new auger for installation prior to the auger failing and the whole system shutting down.
As will be explained, the present system can be used to predict auger failure, such that countermeasures can be taken in a timely fashion.

System for predicting auger failure in a tire injection filling mixing machine


The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services.

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a 'Beyond 4G Network' or a 'Post LTE System'. The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like. In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed.
The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as "sensing technology", "wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure", "service interface technology", and "Security technology" have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as a sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication may be implemented by beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) as the above-described Big Data processing technology may also be considered to be as an example of convergence between the 5G technology and the IoT technology.
Recently, a sliding-window superposition coding (SWSC) technique capable of greatly reducing the influence of interference signals caused by neighboring cells in a cellular network has been proposed. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an interference environment in which sliding-window superposition coding may be applied.
Referring to FIG. 1, a first base station 100 (hereinafter, referred to as a base station (BS), a cell, or the like) is located in cell 1 110, a second base station 101 is located in cell 2 111, and a third base station 102 is located in cell 3 112, and a first terminal 120 (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile station (MS), a terminal, user equipment, or the like) receives signals that are transmitted from the first base station 100 and the third base station 102 and a second terminal 121 receives a signal that is transmitted from the second base station 101. At this time, the second terminal 121 receives all the signals that are transmitted from the first and third base stations 100 and 102, which act as an interference with the second terminal 121.
The sliding-window superposition coding method that may be applied in such a situation will be described based on the following Table 1.
TABLE 1Block123. . .b − 1bU V X1 = f(U, V)1 m11  m11 m12   m12 . . .  . . . . . . . . .   . . . m1,b−1 m1,b−1 1    X2m21m22. . .. . .m2,b−1 m2b Y1Ø{circumflex over (m)}21{circumflex over (m)}11{circumflex over (m)}22{circumflex over (m)}12 . . .. . . . . .. . .{circumflex over (m)}2,b−1 {circumflex over (m)}1,b−1{circumflex over (m)}2b  Y2Ø Ø   {circumflex over (m)}11{circumflex over (m)}21{circumflex over (m)}12{circumflex over (m)}22. . . . . .. . . . . .{circumflex over (m)}1,b−1{circumflex over (m)}2,b−1, {circumflex over (m)}2b
Transmitter 1 transmits codeword X1 to receiver 1 and a transmitter 2 transmits codeword X2 to receiver 2. At this time, the transmitter may be a base station and the receiver may be a terminal. The transmitter transmits one message over a plurality of blocks and forms a codeword by superposing a plurality of layers to transmit the message over a plurality of blocks. Specifically, the transmitter 1 performs superposition coding on U and V codewords to generate the codeword X1, and the transmitter 2 transmits the codeword X2 in an existing manner. At this time, the U codeword and the V codeword may each be called one layer. Here, the codeword means an encoder output or a transmission symbol after the encoder output has undergone modulation (for example, a QAM symbol).
In block 1 that is a first block, the transmitter 1 codes message 1 known in advance to all transceivers into the codeword U(1), codes message m11 to be transmitted to the receiver into codeword V(1), and then performs superposition coding on the U(1) and V(1) to generate codeword X1(1) and transmit the generated codeword X1(1) to the receiver 1. In block 2 that is a second block, the message m11 is coded into codeword U(2), message m12 is coded into codeword V(2), and then the U(2) and V(2) are subject to superposition coding to generate codeword X1(2) and transmit the generated codeword X1(2) to the receiver 1. The transmitter 1 transmits the codeword generated up to block b-1 to the receiver 1 in the same manner, codes messages m1 and b-1 into the codeword U(b) in block b that is a last block, codes the message 1 known in advance to all the transceivers into codeword V(b), and then performs superposition coding on the U(b) and V(b) to generate the codeword X1(b) and transmit the generated codeword X1(b) to the receiver 1.
The transmitter 2 codes message m21 into codeword X2(1) and transmits the codeword X2(1) to the receiver 2 in the block 1 and codes message m22 into codeword X2(2) in the block 2 and transmits the codeword X2(2) to the receiver 2. The transmitter 2 transmits the codeword generated up to the block b to the receiver 2 in the same manner.
Because the transmitter has transmitted the same message over two blocks, the receiver performs decoding using the superposed received signal transmitted over the two blocks. The signal transmitted from the transmitter 1 passes through the receiver 1 from the transmitter 1 which is a desired channel, and the signal transmitted from the transmitter 2 passes through the receiver 1 from the transmitter 2 which is an interference channel, such that the receiver 1 receives a received signal Y1 with the superposed signal and noise. The signal transmitted from the transmitter 2 passes through the receiver 2 from the transmitter 2 which is a desired channel, and the signal transmitted from the transmitter 1 passes through the receiver 2 from the transmitter 1 which is an interference channel, such that the receiver 2 receives a received signal Y2 with the superposed signal and noise. The receiver 1 cancels the U(1) using the message 1 known in advance based on Y1(1) and Y1(2) received in the block 1 and block 2 and treats the V(1) as noise to decode an interference signal X2(1) in the receiver 1 position. Thereafter, the U(1) is canceled by using the message 1, the X2(1) decoded in the previous step is canceled, and the V(2) and the X2(2) are treated as noise to decode [V(1) U(2)] which is a desired signal, to thereby recover the message m11. If a received signal Y1(3) superposed in block 3 is received U(2), that is, m11 is treated as a message that is known in advance, such that the same operation is repeated. If a received signal Y1(b) superposed in the last block b is received by the receiver, the same operation is repeated, but because the V(b) is an already known message, the information may be canceled.
The receiver 2 also repeats the operation similar to the receiver 1. The receiver 2 cancels the U(1) using the message 1 known in advance based on the Y1(1) and Y1(2) received in the block 1 and block 2 and deals with the X2(1), V(2), and X2(2) as noise to decode the interference signal [V(1) U(2)] in the receiver 1 position, to thereby recover the m11. Thereafter, the U(1) is canceled by using message 1 and the V(1) decoded in the previous step is canceled to decode the X2(1), to thereby recover the message m21. Similar to the receiver 1, the receiver 2 repeats the same operation, and the decoding is performed in the last block b by using the fact that the V(b) including the already known message is used in the last block b.

Apparatus and method for generating and transmitting CQI in a wireless network

Abstract: According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a CQI transmission method of a terminal in a wireless communication system includes: estimating a channel of a serving base station and an interference base station to which sliding-window superposition coding (SWSC) is applied; generating channel quality information (CQI)-related information on the serving base station and the interference base station based on the estimated channel to indicate an achievable rate region; and transmitting the generated CQI-related information. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and therefore other embodiments are possible.


A valve cap apparatus is provided for use with a musical instrument having a valve case configured to receive a valve. The apparatus includes a main end cap having a first attachment portion configured to be removably coupled to an end of the valve case, and a secondary end cap having a second attachment portion configured to be removably coupled to the main end cap.

The present invention relates generally to musical instruments, and particularly to brass instruments having valves for changing the distance that a column of vibrating air travels before exiting the instrument. More particularly, the present invention relates to end caps for valve chambers used in brass instruments.
Brass instruments, for example trumpets, often include various tubes coupled to valves so that a musician can vary notes emanating from the instrument by operating the valves to change the distance that a vibrating air column travels within the instrument. Components of the instrument, including the valve components, are subject to sympathetic vibrations caused by the vibrating air column as it travels through the instrument. These sympathetic vibrations feed back into the vibrating column of air and affect the quality of the sound from the instrument, including both the tone and overtones, also known as color or timbre. Air column vibrations represent a wide range of frequencies which give the sound "tone" or "color". Vibrations of metal in critical areas dampen particular frequencies. Therefore, tone and color of the sounds produced change as alloys, mass and metallurgical make-up of the instrument changes vibrating characteristics of the metal.
Brass instruments therefore are designed so that the effects of vibrating components within the instrument result in desirable tone and timbre. Because the initial vibrating column of air coming into the instrument is unique to each musician, however, the particular sound quality, that is, tone and timbre, from a given brass instrument varies according to the musician. Thus, some musicians prefer an instrument with components different from standard components for that instrument, such as a mouthpiece that is about 25% heavier than a standard mouthpiece.
Valves in a brass instrument are a particular source of sympathetic vibration that affects sound quality such as tone and timbre. Valves typically include a valve case with an end cap located at one end and a valve actuator located at another end, such as a reciprocating push button for a piston valve or a rotating trigger for a rotary valve. Like the heavier weight mouthpieces, some musicians prefer heavier weight valve components, which can be created using a heavier weight valve end cap. Because the effect on sound quality created by changing the weight of the valve end cap varies between individuals, musicians would welcome a system that allows for readily changing the weight of the valve end cap to suit a particular musician's needs.
According to the present invention, a valve cap apparatus is provided for use with a musical instrument that has a valve case. The apparatus includes a main end cap configured to be removably coupled to an end of the valve case and a secondary end cap configured to be removably coupled to the main end cap.
According to another aspect of the invention, the instrument is a brass instrument such as a trumpet. According to yet another aspect, the valve case is a piston valve case. According to still another aspect, the main end cap has a greater mass than the secondary end cap. According to still another aspect, a third end cap is provided that can be coupled to either the main or secondary cap. The third cap can be coupled to the secondary cap when the secondary cap is coupled to the main cap, and the second and third caps can be substantially identical.
According still yet other aspects of the invention, the main cap includes an air passageway and the secondary cap includes an air passageway that is in fluid communication the main cap air passageway when the main and secondary caps are coupled together. An end of the valve case can be threaded and the main cap can be configured to engage the threaded end. The end of the valve case can be threaded on an outer surface.
According to another aspect of the invention, the main cap is threaded and the secondary cap is configured to engage the main cap threads. According to yet other aspects of the invention, the threaded region on the main cap can be formed on a wall that defines an air passageway through the main cap, and the secondary cap includes a threaded post configured to engage the threaded portion of the main cap. According to still another aspect, the threaded post includes an air passageway in communication with the air passageway of the main cap.
According to still yet another aspect of the invention, a proximal portion of the main cap is coupled to the valve case and a thickened distal portion provides additional weight. Similarly, the secondary cap can include a proximal portion that is coupled to the main cap and a thickened distal portion that provides additional weight.
According to another aspect of the invention, the main cap includes a finger-engaging surface to facilitate gripping the main cap when coupling the main cap to the valve case. The finger-engaging surface can be a knurled surface. The secondary cap can include a finger-engaging surface to facilitate gripping the secondary cap when coupling the secondary cap to the main cap, and, similarly, this finger-engaging surface can be a knurled surface.
Further according to the present invention, a brass instrument is provided. The brass instrument has a mouthpiece, a first tube coupled to the mouthpiece, a bell, a second tube coupled to the bell, and at least one valve coupled between the first and second tubes. An adjustable end cap is coupled to the at least one valve. The end cap includes a main cap coupled to a distal end of a valve case and a secondary cap coupled to the main cap.
According to other aspects of the invention, the instrument is a brass instrument such as a trumpet and the valve case is a piston valve case. According to yet another aspect, a third end cap is provided to be coupled to either the main or secondary cap. The third cap can be coupled to the secondary cap when the secondary cap is coupled to the main cap, and the second and third caps can be substantially identical.
According to still another aspect of the invention, a kit is provided for adjusting a mass of a metal musical instrument having a valve case configured to receive a valve. The kit includes a plurality of end caps configured to be coupled to a distal end of the valve case and to other end caps in order to permit incremental adjustment of the mass of the valve case by coupling selected end caps to the valve case. According to yet still another aspect, the plurality of end caps includes a main end cap and a secondary end cap, and the main end cap has more mass than the secondary end cap.
According to another aspect of the invention, the plurality of end caps are formed to include air passageways. According to yet another aspect, the plurality of end caps can include male and female threaded portions to permit the end caps to be coupled to the distal end of the valve case and to an adjacent end cap. The plurality of end caps can have different masses.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the presently perceived best mode of carrying out the invention.