Systems and methods for time domain channel representation information for Wi-Fi sensing. Wi-Fi sensing systems include sensing devices and remote devices configured to communicate through radio-frequency signals. Initially, a sensing device receives a channel representation information configuration representative of channel state information in time domain. The sensing device then receives a sensing transmission and generates a sensing measurement based on the sensing transmission. Thereafter, the sensing device generates a time domain representation of the sensing measurement and selects one or more time domain pulses indicative of the time domain representation based on the channel representation information configuration. The sensing device communicates the one or more time domain pulses to a sensing algorithm manager for use in determining motion or movement.

Motion detection systems have been used to detect movement, for example, of objects in a room or an outdoor area. In some example motion detection systems, infrared or optical sensors are used to detect movement of objects in the sensor's field of view. Motion detection systems have been used in security systems, automated control systems, and other types of systems.
A Wi-Fi sensing system is one recent addition to motion detection systems. The Wi-Fi sensing system may include a sensing device and a remote device. In an example, the sensing device may initiate a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) sensing session and the remote device may participate in the WLAN sensing session initiated by the sensing device. The WLAN sensing session may refer to a period during which objects in a physical space may be probed, detected and/or characterized. In the Wi-Fi sensing system, information that is representative of channel (i.e., channel representation information) may need to be transmitted from one device to another device (for example, from the sensing device to the remote device) over the air. The channel representation information may be used by a sensing algorithm to determine motion and/or movement of objects. In an example, the remote device (which sends a sensing transmission) may include the sensing algorithm. As the sensing device calculates channel representation information, the sensing device may be required to send the channel representation information to the sensing algorithm included in the remote device for further processing. This necessitates the sending of the channel representation information from the sensing device to the remote device over the air.
The representation of the channel between devices is currently captured in Channel State Information (CSI). CSI is typically a set of complex values in frequency domain representing amplitude attenuation and phase rotation of each tone of a multi-tone OFDM signal. In an example, for 20 MHz channel bandwidth, 52 CSI complex pairs are used to represent the channel. In another example, for 40 MHz channel bandwidth, 104 CSI complex pairs are used to represent the channel. As the bandwidth increases, the number of CSI complex pairs used to represent the channel also increases. Accordingly, transmission of channel information from one device to another device may require passing of a significant amount of information and as a result, channel capacity that may otherwise be used for data transfer is consumed. Also, channel utilization caused by transmission of the CSI over the air is magnified for wider channel bandwidth as a greater number of complex values needs to be sent.


Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for data transfer between electronic, hand-held devices, including cell phones, and computer systems, including servers and PCs, as well as component methods and systems of these data-transfer methods and systems. Component methods and systems of the present invention include secure links between various devices, enhancements to electronic hand-held devices that enable service applications to run continuously or intermittently on the devices, deployment of dynamically created service applications to electronic, hand-held devices, and various additional component methods and systems that facilitate the above-mentioned component methods and systems. One embodiment of the present invention is a robust, efficient, secure, and user-friendly method and system for transferring data between cell phones and personal computers.

In the early days of computing, data was transferred between computers by physically transferring the data encoded in physical media, including punch cards and, later, magnetic disk platters. With the advent of sophisticated, high-bandwidth electronic communications media, data-transfer protocols, and various higher-level protocols, such as HTTP over TCP/IP, data transfer between various types of computer systems, including main frames, high-end servers, and PCs has become routine and extremely economical. For example, during the span of a second, enormous amounts of textual, graphical, audio, and video data are transferred across the world between web servers and PCs via the Internet.
During the past ten years, there has been a spectacular increase in the availability and use of wireless, hand-held electronic devices, including cell phones, email devices, personal digital assistants ("PDAs"), and other such devices. Although the sophistication and capabilities of these small, hand-held devices have increased significantly, they are still generally far less sophisticated, and have far less computational power than, personal computers and computer systems. Moreover, these devices are generally interconnected through different communications infrastructures than those used to interconnect computer systems, although, in certain cases, both computers and hand-held electronic devices may be interconnected through common communications media.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical computer, hand-held-device, server, and communications environment. In FIG. 1, a high-end server system 102 is interconnected with a remote personal computer ("PC") 104 via the Internet 106. The Internet 106 transfers data packets through various physical communications media, including high-bandwidth optical lines, telephone lines, a variety of routing computer systems, and other communications media, including local networks and local wireless networks, using a complex, hierarchically organized set of protocols. Cell phones 108 and 109 are connected through the phone network 110. The phone network employs different protocols and different physical communications media, although, as pointed out above, the phone network and the Internet may share certain physical communications media. Communication between cell phones 108 and 109 via the phone network 110 is robust, user-friendly, and extremely economical, just as data transfer by file-transfer protocols, email, and Internet browser applications through the Internet is extremely robust, user friendly, and economical. However, in many cases, data transfer and communication between cell phones 108-109 and server computers 102 and PCs 104 is difficult, not user friendly, time consuming, and relatively expensive.
FIG. 2 illustrates, using the illustration conventions of FIG. 1, a scenario in which economical and user-friendly data transfer from a cell phone to a personal computer would be desirable. As shown in FIG. 2, the cell phone 109 may be used to record a digital image of a scene 202 via a digital camera commonly included within cell phones. However, most cell phones have only limited capacity for storing these digital images, and currently, there are few practical services available for transferring digital images from cell phones to other devices and systems. It may be possible to physically transfer the image from cell phone 109 to PC 104 via a removable memory device, and it may also be possible to transfer the digital image from cell phone 109 to PC 104 using a physical cable for electronically interconnecting 204 the cell phone to the PC. Of course, while direct electronic connection through cables requires that the cell phone be brought to the location of the personal computer, or vice-versa, it is often a relatively cumbersome, not-user-friendly, and slow procedure, involving loading special software, purchasing cables compatible both with the cell phone and the personal computer, and other such tasks. While removable memory-storage devices can be used to store digital images transferred from the cell phone until the removable storage devices can be, in turn, physically transferred to the location of the personal computer, purchasing removable storage devices with sufficient storage capacity that are compatible both with the cell phone and the personal computer may represent a challenge for many users, and removable storage devices may be lost, damaged, or intermingled with other removable storage devices containing other types of data. It is also possible, in certain cases, to transmit digital images from the cell phone 109 to the phone network 110, and from the phone network to the Internet 106 for final transfer to a PC or server using specialized multimedia messaging protocols. However, acquiring access to such protocols may require installation of applications on the cell phone and relatively cumbersome data entry to the cell phone in order to install the transferred applications and to direct transfer of digital images to a desired server or personal computer. Moreover, in many cases, the transfer is not secure, and may not be reliable. The occurrence of various types of errors during transfer, for example, may result in loss of the digital image.
The difficulties associated with transferring digital images from cell phones to personal computers, from a first cell phone to a second cell phone, and difficulties associated with transferring other types of data from cell phones and other types of electronic, hand-held devices to personal computers and remote electronic, hand-held devices are becoming more noticeable and annoying to consumers as the capabilities of electronic, hand-held devices increase, and as consumers become more familiar with the existing, highly robust, and user-friendly data-transfer systems for transferring data between and among personal computers and servers. Therefore, users, manufacturers, vendors, and developers of cell phones and cell phone-related technologies have all recognized the need for a more robust, user-friendly, efficient, and economical method and system for transferring data between cell phones and computer systems, between various types of electronic hand-held devices, from personal computers to electronic hand-held devices, and other such data transfers in heterogeneous environments.

Method and system for establishing a user-friendly data transfer service application executing within a heterogeneous distributed service application execution environment


A cross-rolling mill has upper and lower work rolls which can be made to cross one another together with their respective backup rolls by moving upper and lower roll chocks in pass lines opposite to each other with upper and lower cross heads. Upper and lower gradient portions are formed at opposite inclinations at side faces of the upper cross head and the lower cross head, respectively. Wedges having upper and lower oppositely inclined surfaces slidably engage the gradient portions of the upper and lower cross heads. The upper and lower cross heads can thus be moved in opposite pass line direction by moving the inclined surfaces of the wedges upward and downward.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a roll crossing apparatus for causing the upper and lower rolling rolls of a cross-rolling mill to cross each other in horizontal directions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of an essential portion of a cross-rolling mill of the prior art, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a roll crossing apparatus of the mill of FIG. 8.
As shown, shafts 35 are rotated, as better seen from FIG. 9, through individual bevel gears 34 by individual motors 51. Then, screw shafts 32 threaded to nuts 33 are rotated through individual worm reduction gears 31. Thus, an upper cross head 29 and a lower cross head 30 fitted in guides 36 are moved in opposite pass line directions.
As these upper and lower cross heads 29 and 30 move, an upper work roll chock 25 and an upper backup roll chock 27, and a lower work roll chock 26 and a lower backup roll chock 28 revolve in opposite directions about the central portions of the upper and lower work rolls 21 and 22, as taken in the roll axis directions, to cause the upper work roll 21 and an upper backup roll 23, and the lower work roll 22 and a lower backup roll 24 to cross each other.
In the rolling operation, a rolled sheet S has its shape adjusted by regulating the cross angle and by bending the upper and lower work rolls 21 and 22.
The apparatus described above has the following drawbacks.
(1) Since the upper and lower cross heads 29 and 30 having considerable lengths are individually supported at two points along their lengths by two of the screw shafts 32, they typically have large thicknesses in the pass line directions. This makes it necessary to provide a wide window (i.e., the spacing between the inner side surfaces) for the housing 20 or deep grooves which are formed in the inner side surfaces of the housing 20 to accommodate the upper and lower cross heads 29 and 30. Unless the housing 20 is to have low strength and rigidity, it is necessary to further enlarge the size of the housing.
(2) Since the loads to be borne by the upper and lower cross heads 29 and 30 are applied directly to the screw shafts 32 and the nuts 33, these shafts 32 and nuts 33 have to be large which thus requires that the roll crossing drive train elements, such as the worm reduction gears 31, to be large.
(3) Each stand has to be equipped with as many as sixteen sets of screw shafts 32, nuts 33 and worm reduction gears 31; therefore, the apparatus is accordingly complicated and expensive.
(4) When an existing parallel rolling mill is to be reformed into a cross-rolling mill having a high ability to control the sheet shapes, the housing 20 has to be remarkably worked.

Roll crossing apparatus for cross-rolling mill


The present disclosure provides a method and system for heat dissipation in semiconductor devices. In one example, an integrated circuit semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate; one or more metallurgy layers connected to the semiconductor substrate, and each of the one or more metallurgy layers includes: one or more conductive lines; and one or more dummy structures between the one or more conductive lines and at least two of the one or more dummy structures are connected; and one or more dielectric layers between the one or more metallurgy layers.

This disclosure relates to the design and fabrication of semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to a system and method of heat dissipation for semiconductor devices.
Heat generation from electronic devices is well known. For example, a typical microprocessor typically consumes approximately 40 watts of electricity, a majority of which will eventually be transformed into heat. However, if the heat is not well dissipated, the performance of electronic devices may be degraded—poor heat dissipation may cause damages to electronic devices, and reduce the reliability and life expectancy of the devices.
Generally, heat produced in a semiconductor device is dissipated by device conduction. Typically, heat simply emits through materials utilized to form the basic wiring structure of the semiconductor device. Frequently, no special structures are provided to help dissipate heat within the semiconductor device.
Prompted by the advancement of integrated circuit materials and design, new generations of semiconductor devices possess smaller and more complex circuits, thereby enhancing the need for heat dissipation. In addition, low-k materials have been introduced to replace the conventional SiO2 material to address RC delay issues. However, most of the low-k materials possess poor thermal conductivity.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved system and method for dissipating heat in semiconductor devices.

System for heat dissipation in semiconductor devices

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd


A machine and method for printing and feeding a top web onto a bottom web in a form, fill and seal machine without stressing the bond formed between the two webs.

Form, fill and seal machines using printed top webs are well known. In some form, fill and seal machines, feeding of a bottom web pulls a printed top web bonded to the bottom web through a web printer, onto the bottom web and into a sealing station where the webs are heat and pressure bonded together to close filled pockets in the bottom web and form sealed packages.
Downstream feeding of the bottom web pulls the printed top web material from a supply roll, through the printer and onto the bottom web for heat and pressure bonding onto the bottom web. The high pulling force is transmitted from the bottom web to the top web through the previously formed and not yet cooled and stabilized heat and pressure bond between the webs. The pulling force stresses the bond and can rupture the bond securing the top web to the bottom web.
Form, fill and seal machines may be used to package sterile items such as pharmaceutical products, medical devices, foods and the like. A ruptured bond between the top and bottom webs due to the force required to pull the top web from the printer and onto the bottom web can destroy the sterility of the sealed pockets.
Higher speed form, fill and seal machines, the top web is fed between a pair of nip rolls located between the printer and the sealing station. The nip rolls are powered driven to pull the printed top web from the printer at a high speed and deliver the printed top web to the bottom web at the sealing station.
While the use of nip rolls to positively pull the top web from the printer for delivery to the sealing station increases throughput and reduces pulling stresses on the bond between the two webs, the nip roll engaging the top surface of the top web picks up wet ink from the top of the top web and reprints the ink on the top of the web, creating undesirable ghost images on the top web. Sealed packages with ghost images are not marketable.
Thus, there is a need for an improved web printing and feed machine which delivers printed top web to a form, fill and seal machine at low or no tension without stressing the bond between the top and bottom webs and does not print ghost images on the top web. The improved web printing and feed machine should feed top web through the machine and print the top web without increasing the tension of the top web when delivered to the form, fill and seal machine. The top web should not be fed onto the bottom web by pulling the top web through the printing and feed machine either by the bond with the bottom web or by nip rollers. The bottom web should not pull the top web through the printer and onto the bottom web. Rather, the top web should be paid out onto the bottom web under low or no tension without the use of nip rollers.

Web printing and feed machine and method


A guidewire for penetrating an occlusion within a duct or vessel, such as a blood vessel, has an elongated main guidewire body of a small, first diameter. The guidewire is terminated at its distal end with an enlarged resilient tip portion having a lubricious outer surface, and is shaped and constructed to penetrate the occlusion. The guidewire body is constructed to be to be relatively flexible in the distal end corresponding to the enlarged tip and relatively stiffer in portions proximal thereof for manipulation of the wire from its proximal end to cause the distal tip portion to penetrate the occlusion and form a passage therein. In an embodiment, an outer sleeve is slid over the main body and butting against the proximal end of the enlarged tip portion contributes to axial stiffness of the combination to enable manipulation through the occlusion. After placement this sleeve is removed and a dilatation catheter is slid over the main body, and enters the occlusion behind the enlarged tip portion.

The invention relates to medical guidewires for narrow passages of a body, and particularly guidewires that are designed to cross an occlusion of a duct or vessel, such as a coronary artery. A physician introduces the distal end of the guidewire into the body, e.g., via a puncture, and manipulates the flexible tip of the guidewire to enter the desired passageway and follow its convolutions to a treatment site. A dilatation catheter or other medical device may then be advanced over the guidewire to the site.

Guidewire for crossing occlusions in blood vessels


A microfabricated actuator of the vertical comb-drive (AVC) type or staggered vertical comb-drive type for torsional or linear applications includes torsion springs which permit self-aligned deformation of the device (micromirror) structure of the actuator through the heating of the torsional springs to plasticity. The torsional springs can include perpendicular-beam springs or double folded beams which allow axial movement of the spring when heated. Heating of the springs can be by bulk heating of the actuator structure or by Joule heating to the torsional springs by passing an electrical current therethrough.

This invention relates generally to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and more particularly the invention relates to torsional and linear vertical comb MEMS actuators and to the microfabrication of the actuator.
Electrostatic comb-drive actuators are used in numerous MEMS applications where they have demonstrated their capability for extended ranges-of-movement, stable and reliable operation, and design flexibility in different frequency ranges. In particular, many optical MEMS applications employ comb-drive actuators for torsional and linear motions. For example, lateral comb-drives and mechanical hinges or linkages made of polysilicon or single-crystal silicon have been demonstrated to make torsional actuators. From these applications, linkage- and hinge-designs have been identified as sources for reliability problems and for limitations on maximum frequencies of operation. One design for torsional actuators uses vertically aligned comb-drives to achieve both higher frequencies and larger scan angles than those characterizing the planar polysilicon structures. Other vertically aligned comb-drives have employed polysilicon on SOI and single-crystal silicon fabricated using wafer bonding.
FIG. 10 is a plan view of an Angular Vertical Comb-drive (AVC) actuator including a device structure 10 (micromirror for example) which is supported by torsion springs 12 on a support layer 14. Typically, layer 14 is a silicon on insulator (SOI) layer and device structure 10 and torsion springs 12 are fabricated therefrom by conventional photoresist masking and etching techniques. Comb-drive actuators 16 comprising stationary comb fingers on support layer 14 and interdigitated moveable comb fingers on device structure 10 rotatably move device structure 10 on torsion springs 12 in response to electrical drive signals applied to the comb fingers on device structure 10 through electrical contacts 18.
The basic fabrication processes for AVCs and SVCs (Staggered Vertical Comb-drive) are first to define the stationary and movable comb structures on the same level of silicon layer, and to deflect either the stationary comb structure by the residual stress induced by a metal layer, or else the movable comb structure using the surface-tension force that arises as a result of the reflow of a patterned-photoresist layer. A limitation of the residual-stress method of fabrication is that the structure must be sufficiently flexible so that it undergoes appreciable deformation. Designs that meet this requirement are generally limited in their ultimate operating frequencies to a few hundreds Hertz, Hz. The challenging problems for the reflow of polymer hinges have been the control and reliability of the polymer material.
To improve the performance of torsion-bar micro-actuators, AVC-type torsional actuators that are composed of all-single-crystal-silicon structures have been fabricated using controlled-plastic-deformation in silicon that is annealed at elevated temperatures. In recent years, polysilicon and single-crystal silicon membranes were demonstrated to be plastically deformed forming hemispherical domed structures as a result of the pressures of heated gases trapped in a cavity. Plastically deformed polysilicon structures have been used in a self-assembled MEMS process.
The present invention is directed to a vertical comb type actuator with novel torsion springs and to a novel method of fabricating the AVC and SVC type actuator including thermal processing of the torsion springs to cause a permanent deflection of the device structure relative to the support structure.

Microfabricated vertical comb actuator using plastic deformation

The Regents of the University of California


In a network of mobile agents, data integrity can be improved by providing an agent server that can migrate between devices operating in the region of interest (ROI). The agent server distributes agent clients onto devices in the ROI and provides agent server services to the agent clients, including receiving and storing data from the agents. When the agent server device is to leave the ROI, the agent server can migrate to any device executing an agent client and continue to provide the agent server services, including data collection and aggregation, from the device to which the agent server has migrated.

Agents running on mobile devices within a region of interest (ROI) can move or copy themselves to other devices that enter the ROI. Typically, each mobile device acts on its own without any central authority or role in the ROI. Content acquired between various agents can be fragmented and/or duplicated as agents move from mobile to mobile within the ROI.
What is required is a system and method that can establish a distributed client/server relationship between various Agents that persist within a ROI in order to manage the integrity of the data collected over time by agent activity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for migrating an agent server to an agent client device


A passive optical network (PON) in accordance with the invention uses a superframe having a number of subframes arranged in a two-dimensional array, wherein for normal data transfer subframes are allocated to each optical network unit (ONU) column by column, left to right, and within each column subframes are allocated from top to the bottom. Initially, for ranging, at least two subframes are allocated to an ONU, adjacent to a diagonal of the superframe (which may go from the top left corner of the superframe to the bottom right corner, or alternatively from the top right corner to the bottom left corner). In some embodiments, instead of allocating subframes column by column, the subframes are evenly spaced apart from one another, and conflicts with a previous allocation are resolved by adjustment, and optionally an evaluation function may be used to find an optimal allocation.

In a passive optical network (PON), a number of optical network units (ONUs) are placed in a corresponding number of offices or homes, and are coupled by passive devices to a single optical line terminal (OLT), that may be placed, for example, in a central office of a telephony service provider. Such a passive optical network (PON) may be configured as a single medium that is shared among multiple optical network units (ONUs). The optical line terminal (OLT) may communicate (in the downstream direction) with the multiple optical network units (ONUs) by broadcasting Ethernet packets, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. Each optical network unit (ONU) extracts packets addressed to itself based on the media-access-control (MAC) address in the normal manner.
Transmission of the Ethernet packets (in the upstream direction) from multiple optical network units (ONUs) to the optical line terminal (OLT) must be coordinated, to avoid collisions (e.g. in case transmissions by two or more optical network units (ONUs) overlap partially) on the shared medium. In some prior art systems, each optical network unit (ONU) is allocated an identical fraction of the total bandwidth (in a time-division-multiplexed channel), and the optical network units (ONUs) synchronize their transmissions to avoid collisions. For example, as noted in an article entitled "Design and Analysis of an Access Network based on PON Technology" by Glen Kramer and Biswanath Mukheijee each of N (e.g. 16) optical network units (ONUs) is assigned a time slot, and each optical network unit (ONU) may transmit any number of packets that may fit within the allocated time slot, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. If a packet cannot be completely transmitted within a current time slot, it is transmitted in the next slot Although there are no collisions and no packet fragmentation, such a fixed round-robin slot allocation cannot handle bursty traffic situations.
A dynamic scheme that reduces the timeslot size when there is no data would allow the excess bandwidth to be used by other ONUs, as noted in an article entitled "Interleaved Polling with Adaptive Cycle Time (IPACT): A Dynamic Bandwidth Distribution Scheme in an Optical Access Network" by Glen Kramer, Biswanath Mukherjee and Gerry Pesavento. As noted therein, if the OLT is to make an accurate timeslot assignment it should know exactly how many bytes are waiting in a given ONU. One approach could be to relieve the OLT from timeslot assignment altogether and leave it to ONUs. In such a scheme, every ONU, before sending its data, will send a special message announcing how many bytes it is about to send. The ONU that is scheduled next (say, in round-robin fashion) will monitor the transmission of the previous ONU and will time its transmission such that it arrives to the OLT right after the transmission from the previous ONU.
Another approach is to perform simple hub-polling wherein the OLT polls each ONU as to the amount of bandwidth needed by the ONU (which may be the same as its current queue length). However, as noted in the just-described article, simple hub polling has a disadvantage of increasing the polling cycle due to accumulation of walk times (switchover times). In access networks, this problem is even more pronounced than in LANs, as the propagation delays in the access network are much higher. For example, in a PON with 16 ONUs each having 200 μs round-trip delay (ONU and OLT are 20 km apart) the accumulated walk time is 3.2 ms. This is how much time would be wasted in every cycle in the hub polling.
The just-described article proposes an interleaved polling approach where the next ONU is polled before the transmission from the previous one has arrived. This scheme provides statistical multiplexing for ONUs and results in efficient upstream channel utilization. A three ONU example is described as follows in reference to FIGS. 2A–2D. Let us imagine that at some moment of time t0 the OLT knows exactly how many bytes are waiting in each ONUs buffer and the Round-Trip Time (RTT) to each ONU. The OLT keeps this data in a polling table shown in FIG. 2A. At time t0 , the OLT sends a control message (Grant) to ONUI, allowing it to send 6000 bytes (see FIG. 2A). Since, in the downstream direction, the OLT broadcasts data to all ONUs, the Grant should contain the ID of the destination ONU, as well as the size of the granted window (in bytes). Upon receiving the Grant from the OLT, ONU1 starts sending its data up to the size of the granted window (FIG. 2B). In our example—up to 6000 bytes. At the same time, the ONU keeps receiving new data packets from its user. At the end of its transmission window, ONU1 will generate its own control message (Request). The Request sent by ONU1 tells the OLT how many bytes were in ONU1's buffer at the moment when the Request was generated. In our case there were 550 bytes.
Even before the OLT received a reply from ONU1, it knows when the last bit of ONU1's transmission will arrive. This is how the OLT calculates this: (a) the first bit will arrive exactly after the RTT time. The RTT in our calculation includes the actual round-trip time, Grant processing time, Request generating time, and a preamble for the OLT to perform bit- and byte-alignment on received data, i.e., it is exactly the time interval between sending a Grant to an ONU and receiving data from the same ONU. (b) since the OLT knows how many bytes (or bits) it has authorized ONU1 to send, it knows when the last bit from ONU1 will arrive. Then, knowing RTT for ONU2, the OLT can schedule a Grant to ONU2 such that first bit from ONU2 will arrive with a small guard interval after the last bit from ONU1 (FIG. 2B). The guard intervals provide protection for fluctuations of round-trip time and control message processing time of various ONUs. Additionally, the OLT receiver needs some time to readjust its sensitivity due to the fact that signals from different ONUs may have different power levels because ONUs are located at different distances from the OLT (far-near problem).
After some time, the data from ONU1 arrives. At the end of the transmission from ONU1, there is a new Request that contains information of how many bytes were in ONU1's buffer just prior to the Request transmission. The OLT will use this information to update its polling table (see FIG. 2C). By keeping track of times when Grants are sent out and data is received, the OLT constantly updates the RTT entries for the corresponding ONUs Similarly, the OLT can calculate the time when the last bit from ONU2 will arrive. Hence, it will know when to send the Grant to ONU3 so that its data is tailed to the end of ONU2's data. After some more time, the data from ONU2 will arrive. The OLT will again update its table, this time the entry for the ONU2 (see FIG. 2D).
If an ONU emptied its buffer completely, it will report 0 bytes back to the OLT. Correspondingly, in the next cycle the ONU will be granted 0 bytes, i.e., it will be allowed to send a new request, but no data. Note that the OLT's receive channel is almost 100% utilized (Requests and guard times consume a small amount of bandwidth). Idle ONUs (without data to send) are not given transmission windows. That leads to a shortened cycle time, which in turns results in more frequent polling of active ONUs. As it is clear from the description above, there is no need to synchronize the ONUs to a common reference clock (as traditionally done in TDMA schemes). Every ONU executes the same procedure driven by the Grant messages received from the OLT. The entire scheduling and bandwidth allocation algorithm is located in the OLT.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,184 granted to Hou , et al. on Nov. 27, 2001 (that is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) discloses a method and apparatus for dynamically allocating bandwidth among a number of subscriber units in an upstream channel of a communication network, such as a multichannel hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable television system. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,184 illustrates, in FIG. 3 a time division multiple access (TDMA) frame structure used therein. A transport stream, shown generally at 300, includes first, second, and third superframes, denoted by reference numerals 310, 350 and 380, respectively. Each superframe is shown as being comprised of a number NF of frames, although the number of frames need not be the same in each superframe on different channels. In particular, the first superframe 310 includes frames 320, 330 . . . 340, the second superframe 350 includes frames 360, 362 . . . 364, and the third superframe 380 includes frames 390, 392 . . . 394. Furthermore, each frame is shown including a number Ns of slots, although the number of slots need not be the same in each frame. For example, the first frame 320 of superframe 310 includes slots 322, 324, 326 and 328. Moreover, the size of each superframe, frame or slot may vary.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,262 granted to Sierens, et al. on Jul. 27, 1999 (that is also incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) discloses a method for TDMA management, in which a central station is enabled to transmit downstream frames to the terminal stations to allow the terminal stations to transfer upstream frames to the central station in time slots assigned thereto by way of access grant information included in the downstream frames. The downstream frame is a superframe having a matrix structure with rows and columns, and a first portion and a second portion of the matrix structure is an overhead portion and an information portion respectively. The overhead portion includes the access grant information and the size of the overhead portion is flexibly adaptable. The central station and the terminal stations are adapted to send and to interpret the superframe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,262 states that the first byte of such a frame is a predetermined synchronization byte S. Bytes 2 to 188 can be used for user data, followed by 16 bytes for error correcting code. Using the frame as a basic block (row), a superframe is constructed of 8 consecutive frames. The superframe is divided in columns containing dedicated blocks. The column containing the first byte of every frame contains a synchronization byte S as mentioned earlier. The next 8 columns form a TDMA Control Block TCB which contains 1 bit for superframe synchronization S', a second bit for specifying a counter C for slot synchronization of the TDMA and per row maximum 4 Transmit Enable Addresses TEA1–TEA4 for specification of the terminal station allowed to send information in a corresponding timeslot of the upstream channel.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,262, the TEAs listed in the downstream frame indicate which terminal station may upon the consecutive zero crossing of its counter transmit an upstream burst. If 4 upstream bursts have to start during a specific downstream frame, then 4 TEAs will be required in the corresponding row of the TCB part of the downstream frame. If only 3 upstream bursts have to start, the fourth TEA is assigned a zero value by the central station. Typically, a row of the TCB controls the burst starting transmission during the next frame. It cannot control transmission during the current frame, since some latency is required for processing the TEA in the terminal station. It should be noted that use could be made of special code TEAs as a result of which any terminal station would be allowed to transfer upstream information, thereby realizing a combination of TDMA and of the Aloha or contention principle. Acknowledgements could then be broadcast in operation and maintenance messages.
See also a presentation entitled "Ethernet PON (EPON) TDMA Interface in PHY Layer and other considerations" by J. C. Kuo and Glen Kramer, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) Study Group, Portland, Oreg., March 2001.

Allocation of upstream bandwidth in an ethernet passive optical network


The present invention provides a temple that has a sufficient elasticity and that can respond to twisting so as not to apply excessive force to a hinge portion or a bracket on the side of a lens portion, when a pair of eyeglasses is worn, and a pair of eyeglasses provided with the temple.

As a typical eyeglass frame, there are one of a full rim type and one of a half rim type.
Then, to the rims to which right and left lenses are attached, temples that abut on the sides of a wearer's head to fix the position of the pair of eyeglasses are attached so as be capable to pivoting inwardly toward the rims.
In an eyeglass frame thus configured, the temples put in their maximum opened states hold portions of a wearer's head portion (in particular, temporal faces) positioned near his/her ear portions to apply pressure thereto, thereby fixing the position of the eyeglass frame.
At this time, in order not to make the wearer feel too tight or otherwise too loose during his/her use, the pressure applied to the head portion by the temples is adjusted by bending the temples forcibly to change the amount of opening thereof.
However, because a typical material for the temples is synthetic resin or metal which are not very high in flexibility, there is a limit to the pressure adjustment by the amount of opening of the temples.
Therefore, the temples are not so elastic that the wearer can get such a good feeling as a gentle touch.
In order to solve such a problem, an eyeglass frame was developed in which an elastic member is arranged between a temple and a bracket so that a moderate pressure is applied to a temporal face by bending the elastic member elastically (see Patent Literature 1).
As an eyeglass frame of another configuration, there is also one where a core bar portion is disposed in a temple (earpiece), as described in Patent Literature 2.
Since this core bar portion is partially bent in an L shape, elastic bending is made possible, so that the temple of this invention can apply a moderate lateral pressure to a wearer.

Temple and pair of eyeglasses with the same

Abstract: In a temple (A) for a pair of eyeglasses including an elastic compression portion between a hinge portion (3) to a lens portion and an ear pad portion (2), the elastic compression portion (1) is provided with a plurality of linear arch portions (11) and the linear arch portions are arranged side by side.


An object of the present invention is to provide a translationally regulatable mRNA which has wider application and can perform specific ON-OFF regulation, an RNA-protein complex specifically bound to the mRNA, and a translational regulatory system. The present invention provides an mRNA having an RNA-protein complex interacting motif-derived nucleotide sequence 5′ to the ribosome-binding site or within the 5′ region of the open reading frame, and an mRNA having a nucleotide sequence complementary to an RNA-protein complex interacting motif-derived nucleotide sequence 5′ to the ribosome-binding site or within the 5′ region of the open reading frame.

With the progress of post-genomic science, information has accumulated about the structures and functions of biomolecules such as proteins or RNAs. There has been a growing tendency of synthetic biology, which exploits such increasing information to understand the systems of life through "synthesis", in contrast to previous reductive or analytical biology. Particularly, the artificial (re)construction of biomolecules or genetic circuits has received considerable attention in terms of not only life science research but also industrial application. Particularly, there has been a demand for the progress of translational regulatory systems which can recognize a particular protein and regulate arbitrary gene expression.
Heretofore, the conventional technique is known, in which the induction of transcription of DNA is regulated by small molecules or proteins (see Non-Patent Document 1). This technique is a method for modulating the regulation of transcription from DNAs to RNAs. However, this technique had the problem that it cannot be applied directly as a technique of regulating translation from RNAs to proteins. Moreover, there is a naturally occurring system (S15, ThrRS, etc.) in which the protein regulates a translation level upon binding to its own mRNA 5′ untranslated region (5′-UTR). However, no artificial translational repression/activation system of a target gene using such an RNP interacting motif has been constructed intracellularly or extracellularly.
Moreover, RNAs called "riboswitches", in which mRNAs induce structural change in response to metabolites, resulting in the regulation of gene expression, have been discovered in recent years in bacteria and have received attention. However, natural riboswitches use substrates limited to small molecules such as vitamins or amino acids and therefore, cannot regulate gene expression in response to biomacromolecules such as RNAs or proteins. Furthermore, natural riboswitches are limited to systems for performing the feedback regulation of their own expressions and therefore, have not been applied so far to the development of artificial systems that regulate arbitrary gene expression. Thus, the development of artificial riboswitches having such functions has been expected.
The conventional technique is known as to translational regulation using RNA aptamers or antisense. There also exists a technique which involves introducing a small molecule theophylline-binding aptamer into an artificial RNA using yeast to prepare an "RNA switch" which performs ON/OFF regulation of gene expression in a manner dependent on the presence of theophylline (Non-Patent Document 2). However, this technique had the problem that it is a system responding to the aptamer for small molecules and therefore, cannot be applied to biomacromolecules such as proteins as substrates.    Non-Patent Document 1: Trends Biochem Sci. 2005; 30 (6): 275-9    Non-Patent Document 2: Nat Biotechnol. 2004 22 (7): 841-7. 2004

Protein-responsive translational regulatory system using RNA-protein interacting motif


Provided is a system and method for an anti-foaming needle assembly for avoiding foam generation when extracting a liquid from a vessel having a chamber with a bottom and opposite thereto an opening sealed with a penetrable and re-sealable stopper providing an inner surface above the chamber. More specifically, the anti-foaming needle assembly includes a needle base having: a first end and opposite thereto a second end and a sidewall there between, the second end structured and arranged for temporary connection to a syringe having a barrel and a plunger; a first needle having a hollow shaft and a first length extending from the first end to provide an open distal end above the first end, the first needle having a second end vented through the sidewall; and a second needle having a hollow shaft and a second length extending from the first end generally parallel to the first needle to provide, when inverted, a distal end above the first end and below the distal end of the first needle, the second needle having a second end in fluid communication with the second end of the needle base. An associated method of use is also provided.

Although pre-loaded syringes are used in some applications, it is far more common for medications to be provided in pre-measured vials. Typically, a vial is a sterile container, commonly glass, which has a penetrable and re-sealable stopper that acts to contain the liquid drug solution safely within while permitting a needle to pass through for extraction.
Medication within the vial is typically provided in one of two forms, the first is as a liquid drug solution ready for extraction. Due to shipping costs, weight, and potentially the longevity of the medication, the second form is dry—such as a powder, which is reconstituted by injecting a measured amount of water or other liquid into the vial to provide a drug solution.
For either option, the same issue of foaming may occur. As the vial contains the desired liquid and is sealed, the general method of loading a syringe is to direct the needle of a syringe through the rubber stopper and then draw back on the plunger of the syringe to create suction within the chamber of the syringe, and correspondingly suction the liquid through the needle.
As the liquid is drawn into the syringe the pressure drops within the syringe and air may be sucked into the vial around the needle. Moreover, while the rubber seal is sufficient to prevent liquid leaking out around the needle, the pressure differential and flexible nature of the rubber stopper may permit air to be sucked in.
As the vial is typically inverted during extraction, the rubber seal is then at the lowest point of the vial. Accordingly, any air entering the vial around the needle must percolate through the liquid within the vial—thus creating the issue of bubbling and foaming. As more and more liquid is extracted, more and more air will be sucked in and more foaming may occur.
It should be noted that in some cases the seal between the needle and the rubber seal is so tight that air will not enter, but without the introduction of air, it may be all but impossible for the user to withdraw the desired amount of drug solution.
Of course, one recommended option is to draw into the syringe a volume of air equal to the volume of drug solution to be withdrawn from the vial, insert the needle through the stopper, invert the vial and inject the air into the vial and then withdraw the drug solution. For the typical end user patient this is impractical. If too much air is injected into the vial, the drug solution may be forced out around the needle. If the air is injected through the drug solution and not above it, then again bubbling and foaming may occur.
If the medication is for an infusion treatment where it is likely the entire vial is to be used in one treatment, then this process must be repeated many times, and with each repeated process the same issues of foaming and potential loss occur. In addition, the repeated back and forth of injected air and suctioning of the drug solution will also most likely add bubbles to the drug solution within the syringe, which is also undesirable.
To facilitate the introduction of air into the vial during the extraction process, devices known as Mini-Spike® by Braun Medical Inc. have been developed. In general, these devices are in essence a structure operating as a vented needle, an example of which can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,878 to Rains and entitled Vented Needle with Sideport. More specifically, Rains teaches a main body having two ports at right angles to one another—one to conduct liquid and the other to conduct air. These ports each terminate in the needle tip providing a continuous slanted end structure. The port for air is slightly above the port for liquid, but the difference in height is appreciably immaterial.
Although effective at introducing air into the vial during extraction of the drug solution, because the air and fluid ports are effectively adjacent to each other and both are within the drug solution during extraction, the improved flow of air provided by the air port delivers air directly into the drug solution and results in even greater bubbling and foaming then does air seeping in around a non-vented needle.
The earlier reference of Scislowicz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,520 also provides two ports, in this case on their side of a piercing tip. As with the reference Rains, the Scislowicz device has the air port and the liquid port effectively next to each other, and as such both are disposed within the liquid during extraction from the vial. Thus, as with the more contemporary Rains device, the Scislowicz device again is highly effective at generating bubbling and foaming during the extraction process.
Moreover, whether of the Scislowicz, Rains, Mini-Spike® or generic style equivalent, these types of vented needles permit the development of foam within the vial because during extraction the air delivery point is within the drug solution itself.
Hence, there is a need for a method and system for an anti-foam needle assembly, able to remove drug solution from a vial that is capable of overcoming one or more of the above identified challenges.

System and method for anti-foaming needle assembly


Systems and methods for adjusting a signal used for the detection of the movement of an object in a space represented by a set of data Aij, associated with pixels forming a multidimensional space i, j, evolving with time, and represented at a succession of instants T, wherein the data are associated with the parameter A in the form of a digital signal DATA(A), composed of a sequence Aijt of binary numbers of n bits associated with synchronization signals defining the instant T of the space, and the position i, j in this space, in which the signals Aijt are received, in which the threshold and the gain in detection sensitivity of the parameter A are adapted.

The invention relates generally to methods and devices for automatic visual perception, and more particularly to methods and devices for adapting the detection sensitivity of a parameter carried by a signal. Such devices can be termed an electronic spatio-temporal neuron, and are particularly useful for image processing, but may also be used for processing other signals, such as audio signals.
Methods and devices are already known that have suggested statistical analysis of the points or pixels of a digital video signal coming from an observation system, for the realization of efficient devices capable of operating in real time. PCT WO 98/05002 relates to one such technique.
It is desirable to provide devices including combined data processing units of a similar nature, each addressing a particular parameter extracted from the video signal. In particular, it is desirable to provide devices including multiple units for calculating histograms, or electronic spatio-temporal neuron STN, each processing a DATA(A), . . . by a function (fog) in order to generate individually an output value S, wherein these output values form together a feedback R available on a bus.

Method and device for adapting a signal for the detection of the movement of an object

Abstract: The detection sensitivity of the parameter variation is also adapted.


A method includes requesting a time maintained in a first clock domain, receiving, in a second clock domain, a first time value from the first clock domain in response to requesting the time maintained in the first clock domain, determining, in the second clock domain, a latency associated at least with receiving the first time value from the first clock domain, and determining a second time value based on the first time value and the determined latency.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Communication networks typically employ network devices such as bridges and routers to forward information within the network. To efficiently schedule, or otherwise manage, operations within the network, network devices may generate various clock signals. Typically, some of the clock signals within a particular network device are generated independently of each other (e.g., derived from different oscillators) such that they belong to different clock "domains." As a result, clocks within a network device may differ not only by having different frequencies and phases, but also by experiencing drift relative to one another. This lack of synchronization causes uncertainty, or "jitter," in the latencies associated with transactions between the different clock domains. For operations or applications requiring highly accurate and precise time alignment between two different clock domains, the latency and jitter inherent in clock domain crossings can be problematic.

Accurate time capture and transfer between clock domains


A stand mixer comprising a lower housing with a support rotatably mounted thereto and a mixing bowl removably connected to the support. Between the mixing bowl and the support is a self-locking connection. The self-locking connection comprises the support having an aperture and the mixing bowl having a member fixably connected to the mixing bowl. The member fixedly connected to the mixing bowl is adapted to be inserted into the aperture of the support. The member has an engagement surface formed therein. The support has a cam surface. Rotation of the support drives the cam surface upon the engagement surface of the member. This rotates the member in unison with the support and cams down the mixing bowl against the support to lock the mixing bowl to the support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stand mixers and, more particularly, to a stand mixer with a rotating bowl.
2. Prior Art
Various types of stand mixers are known in the prior art. Examples of stand mixers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,219; U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,700 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,993.

Stand mixer with locking connection between the mixing bowl and the bowl support


A plasma processing apparatus includes an external circuit electrically connected through a line to an electrical component in a processing chamber and a filter provided on the line to attenuate or block noise introduced into the line from the electrical component toward the external circuit. The filter includes a coil having constant diameter and coil length; a tubular outer conductor accommodating the coil and forming a distributed constant line in which parallel resonance occurs at multiple frequencies in combination with the coil; and a movable member for changing each winding gap of the coil and provided in an effective section where a specific one or a plurality of parallel resonance frequencies is shifted to a higher frequency side or a lower frequency side in frequency-impedance characteristics of the filter by changing the winding gap of the coil in the effective section in a longitudinal direction of the coil.

Conventionally, there is known a plasma processing apparatus for performing plasma processing such as etching or the like on a target substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or the like by using plasma. This plasma processing apparatus has a temperature control function for controlling a target substrate to a predetermined temperature by transferring heat to a mounting table on which the target substrate is mounted. In order to realize the temperature control function, there is used a heater for controlling Joule heat generated by a heating element provided in the mounting table.
However, when the plasma processing apparatus employs the heater system, a part of the high frequency power, which is applied from the high frequency power supply to the mounting table to generate plasma, flows as noise into a heater power supply line through the heating element.
Therefore, the present applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-173027, a technique for providing a filter for attenuating or blocking noise of a high frequency on the heater power supply line. This filter includes an air core coil, a cylindrical outer conductor accommodating therein or surrounding the air core coil, and insulating comb-shaped members selectively inserted into winding gaps of the air core coil. In the air core coil of the filter, there is an effective section for shifting a specific one or a plurality of parallel resonance frequencies in frequency-impedance characteristics by changing the winding gap. In the filter, the comb-shaped members of the winding gap are inserted into the effective section of the air core coil so that a parallel resonance frequency corresponding to the frequency of the noise to be blocked can be obtained.
However, the frequency of the noise varies depending on the type of the plasma processing apparatus or the frequency of high frequency power applied to the mounting table. Therefore, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-173027, it is necessary to reconstruct a filter having different winding gap widths in order to obtain different parallel resonance frequencies corresponding to different frequencies of the noise.


Various embodiments include apparatus and methods having circuitry to test continuity of conductive paths coupled to dice arranged in a stack.

Computers and other electronic products such as televisions, digital cameras, and cellular phones often use one or more devices to perform electrical functions. Some of these devices may include a memory device having semiconductor dice arranged in a stack. The dice may include memory cells and associated circuitry to store data and other information. The stacked device may include conductive paths to allow communication to and from the memory cells and the circuitry.
The stacked devices may also include additional circuitry such as a conventional boundary scan circuitry for testing purposes. In some cases, conventional boundary scan circuitry may increase device area, impose a higher test time delay, consume more power, and increase loading to the conductive paths.

Stacked device conductive path connectivity


A chassis system control method comprising the steps of measuring rotational speed of a plurality of vehicle wheels; estimating, responsive to each wheel rotational velocity, a relative velocity between the wheel and a corresponding corner of a vehicle body; determining a chassis system control command responsive to the estimations; and applying the chassis system control command to control the chassis system responsive to the estimations, wherein need for body to wheel relative position and/or relative velocity sensors is eliminated.

Many vehicles are marketed with controllable vehicle chassis systems. Example controllable vehicle chassis systems are anti-lock brake systems, traction control systems, and controllable variable force suspension systems. A typical anti-lock brake system includes wheel rotational velocity sensors that provide, for each wheel, an output signal indicative of wheel rotational velocity.
Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/235,733, filed Apr. 29, 1994, and assigned to the assignee of this invention described an automotive anti-lock braking system that uses vehicle wheel speed sensors, wheel-to-body relative position sensors and body corner accelerometers to affect a desired anti-lock braking control. U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,658, assigned to the assignee of this invention, describes a vehicle variable force suspension system control responsive to body-to-wheel relative position sensors and body corner accelerometers.

Chassis control system for controlling a vehicle chassis system based on wheel speed data


Some embodiments described herein include apparatuses and methods of forming such apparatuses. One such embodiment may include a routing arrangement having pads to be coupled to a semiconductor die, with a first trace coupled to a first pad among the pads, and a second trace coupled to a second pad among the pads. The first and second traces may have different thicknesses. Other embodiments including additional apparatuses and methods are described.

Many electronic items, such as computers (e.g., servers, desktops, laptops, and tablets) and mobile phones, usually have a device included in an IC package. The IC package may include a semiconductor die having circuitry formed thereon that may be part of a device, such as a memory device to store information or a processor to process information. The IC package often has conductive paths coupled to the die. The conductive paths may include traces to carry signals communicated between the device in the IC package and other components in the electronic item. In some situations, if such traces are improperly arranged, the integrity of signals carried by those traces may suffer.


A random noise signal generator circuit comprising a random noise source that produces a random noise signal, an amplification circuit that amplifies the random noise signal to produce an amplified random noise signal, a feedback loop having a DC offset correction circuit, and a summer. The DC offset correction circuit processes a fed back portion of the amplified random noise signal to produce a DC offset correction signal. The summer sums the random noise signal produced by the random noise source and the DC offset correction signal to produce a summed signal. The summer is electrically coupled to the amplification circuit for providing the summed signal to the amplification circuitry. The amplification circuitry amplifies the summed signal to produce a random noise output signal.

Random number generation is an important aspect of many digital and electronic applications. For example, in the field of cryptography, random number generation is key to encryption algorithms. A random bit stream is a sequence of binary signals lacking discernible patterns or repetition over time.
In electrical circuitry, a random bit stream may be generated from a source that naturally exhibits random characteristics. For example, thermal noise in a CMOS field effect transistor (FET) channel injects a random component into the value of the current passing through that channel which can then be amplified to obtain a signal that is sufficiently random for a particular use. It is generally not possible to obtain a purely random signal by practical means, although it is possible in theory. For practical applications, what is sought is the ability to generate a signal that has a high degree of randomness, and thus a low degree of predictability, and which is suitable for use for the particular practical application.
However, generating a bit stream that has a sufficiently high degree of randomness based on a physical random phenomenon can be problematic. As is known in the art, the mere act of sampling the signal may interfere with the degree of randomness of the random physical phenomenon being measured. For example, in order to ensure a high degree of randomness, or unpredictability, the measurement circuitry should not introduce any bias into the probability that the measured value will be translated into a binary 0 or a binary 1. For example, if a sampling circuit measures a voltage level of noise at a given moment in time and compares it to a known threshold generated by the sampling circuitry, process and/or voltage and/or temperature variations may cause a drift in the threshold value over time, which may skew the sampling circuitry to translate more sampled values to one bit value or the other. Thus, the process is no longer truly random since there is no longer an equal chance of sampling a "1" or a "0".
Current random bit stream generators inject a bias into the random bit stream generators that reduces the degree of unpredictability of the bit stream. A need exists for a method and an apparatus for generating a bit stream that has a sufficiently high degree of randomness (i.e, unpredictability) to be usable for a particular application. In particular, it would be desirable to generate a bit stream from a naturally occurring randomness source within the random bit generator circuitry itself. In addition, a need exists for preventing drift from randomness or unpredictability over time due to process and/or voltage and/or temperature variations.

Random noise generator and a method for generating random noise


A microphone stand assembly includes a leg base that has a number of legs each having an end pivotally connected to a lower end thereof. A post includes a lower tube having a lower end connected to the leg base, an upper tube slidably received in the lower tube, and a first clamping sleeve for holding the upper tube in place relative to the lower tube. A pivotal base includes a seat secured to an upper end of the upper tube and including a first through hole therein. The pivotal base further includes a connecting block including a section pivotally connected to the seat and a second through hole defined therein. A holder rod is slidably extended through the first through hole, the second through hole, and the upper tube. The holder rod is removable from the first through hole and the upper tube. A second clamping sleeve is provided to hold the holder rod in place relative to the upper end of the connecting block. A microphone holder is secured to the upper end of the holder rod.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable stand assembly for microphones.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 of the drawings illustrates a conventional stand assembly for microphones. The stand assembly includes a base 1', a post 2', a rotational seat 3', an inclined rod 4', and a microphone holder 5. The base 1' includes a main body 11' having a central hole 111' for receiving a lower end of the post 2'. A retaining screw 113' is extended through a transverse hole 112' defined in an upper end of the main body 11' to retain the lower end of the post 2' in position. The main body 11' further includes three openings 144' defined in a lower end thereof Three legs 12' are mounted to the main body 11' by means of extending bolts 115' through aligned holes 116' defined in the lower end of the main body 11' and a hole 117' in an end 121' of each leg 12'.
The post 2' includes a lower tube 21' and an upper tube 22' connected by a clamping sleeve 23'. The upper tube 22' is telescopically received in the lower tube 21' to allow adjustment of the overall height of the lower tube 21' and the upper tube 22'. After adjustment of the overall height, the upper tube 21' is positioned by rotating the clamping ring 23'. The rotating seat 3' includes two discs 31' and 32' and a pad 33'. The disc 31' has a rod 314' attached to a side thereof. The rod 314' has a transverse hole 311' through which an upper end of the upper section 22' of the post 2' is extended, and a retaining screw 312' is extended through an axial screw hole 313' of the rod 314' to retain the rod 314' in position. The disc 32' includes a groove 323' defined in a side thereof that faces the pad 33'. The groove 323' may hold a portion of the inclined rod 4'. A retaining screw 321' is extended through a hole 322' of the disc 32', a hole 331' of the pad 33, and engaged with the screw hole 313' of the disc 31' to retain the inclined rod 4 in position after completion of adjustment of inclination angle of the inclined rod 4. The microphone holder 5' is mounted to an upper end of the inclined rod 4' for holding a microphone (not shown).
In use, the microphone stand assembly can be assembled to a status shown in FIG. 9. Yet, the microphone stand assembly can be folded to a status shown in FIG. 10 when not in use. A drawback of such a stand assembly resides in that the inclined rod 4' is located on a side of the post 2' and thus causes a deviation of center of gravity, i.e., the stability of the post 2' is adversely affected. A further drawback of the conventional stand assembly resides in that the inclined rod 4' is exposed and thus occupies a larger space and results in an unaesthetic appearance. In addition, the engagement between the seat 1' and the post 2' is not reliable as it uses a retaining screw 113'. Furthermore, the retaining screws 113', 312', and 321' are all exposed and thus might adversely affect the vision effect on a stage.
The present invention is intended to provide an improved foldable microphone stand assembly to solve the above problems.


A method for manufacturing a crosslinked polyolefin separator and a separator are provided. The method includes putting a polyolefin and a polyolefin elastomer into an extruder first, and putting an alkoxy silane containing a carbon-carbon double bond functional group, an initiator and a crosslinking catalyst to form the separator. The crosslinked polyolefin separator has high meltdown temperature and low shutdown temperature.

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in energy storage technology day by day. As the application field of energy storage technology has been extended to mobile phones, camcorders, lap-top computers, and even electric cars, many efforts have been devoted to studying and developing electrochemical devices. In this aspect, electrochemical devices are attracting more attention, and especially, development of rechargeable secondary batteries is the focus of attention, and more recently, in the development of batteries, new electrode and battery design for improving the capacity density and specific energy have been studied and developed.
In currently available secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries developed in early 1990's have much higher operating voltage and energy density than traditional batteries using an aqueous electrolyte solution such as Ni-MH, Ni—Cd and lead-acid batteries, and by virtue of these advantages, lithium secondary batteries are gaining much attention.
A lithium secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, an electrolyte solution and a separator, and the separator is required to have insulating properties to separate the positive electrode from the negative electrode for electrical isolation and high ionic conductivity to increase the lithium ion permeability based on high porosity.
The separator needs to have a large difference between shutdown temperature and meltdown temperature to ensure the safety of the lithium secondary battery including the separator. To increase the difference between meltdown temperature and shutdown temperature, it is necessary to perform control to reduce the shutdown temperature and increase the meltdown temperature.

Crosslinked polyolefin separator and manufacturing method thereof


The present invention provides: a mononuclear metal complex that has high catalytic activity and can be used as a hydrogenation reduction catalyst that allows efficient hydrogenation reduction of a substance to be reduced; a tautomer or stereoisomer thereof; or a salt thereof. Provided is the mononuclear metal complex represented by the following formula (1), a tautomer or stereoisomer thereof; or a salt thereof.

Hydrogen can be produced from various raw materials such as fossil fuel, biomass, and water. There are growing expectations for hydrogen to be used as an energy source for fuel cell cars and energy for home and business use, for example. Hydrogen is the ultimate clean energy source because only water is left after it is burned. If the use of hydrogen energy as automotive fuel etc. becomes more widespread in the future, it not only can reduce air pollution but also can serve as a fundamental countermeasure against global warming. In order to achieve 80% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050, it is necessary to spread such use of hydrogen energy.
Various studies have been made for hydrogen, and for example, an iridium metal complex is disclosed that causes carbon dioxide to be reduced (hydrogenated) by hydrogen to generate formic acid (see Non-Patent Document 1).

Mononuclear metal complex, hydrogenation reduction catalyst, dehydrogenation catalyst, method for producing hydrogenation reduction product, method for producing hydrogen (H

Abstract: In the formula (1), Ar1 is an aromatic anionic ligand or an aromatic ligand, or is not present, Ar2 is a ligand having aromaticity and may or may not be substituted, and when Ar2 is substituted, the number of substituents may be one or more, M is an atom or ion of a transition metal, A1 and A2 are both carbon atoms, or one of A1 and A2 is a carbon atom and the other is a nitrogen atom, Y is an anionic group or a cationic group, or is not present, L is any ligand or is not present, and m is a positive integer, 0, or a negative integer.


Cables or other elongated objects are protected from traffic by a plurality of double-ended protector members disposed end to end and interconnected by flexible connector structure allowing bending between adjacent protector members.

Devices commonly known as cable protectors or cable covers used to protect cables, cords, hoses, pipes or other elongated objects from traffic damage are well known. These devices are positioned over road and other surfaces and incorporate one or more channels or cavities accommodating the elongated objects to be protected.
Common materials employed to manufacture cable protectors include rubber, polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane. Rubber and PVC protectors offer longer sections of up to twelve feet in length. The stronger polyurethane protectors typically come in three feet long interlocking sections. Softer and more flexible material such as rubber and PVC can conform to the curved road surface (for drainage), therefore are not susceptible to dislocation by vehicle traffic, and can be offered in longer lengths. The stronger materials such as polyurethane are more rigid, therefore the cable protector must be in shorter segments so that the protector can conform better to the curved road surface. To hold the many small sections together, interlocking joints are built into both ends of each section, which significantly add to cost. In general, currently available cable protectors function rather well within their respective loading classification but with one major short coming: high cost. A protector for medium traffic load on a small residential street (about 20 feet wide) can cost as much as one thousand dollars or more.
The state of the prior art is exemplified by the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,266, issued Jul. 7, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,565, issued Mar. 20, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,036, issued Nov. 19, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,410, issued Dec. 31, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,822, issued Mar. 17, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,881, issued Apr. 12, 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,212, issued Jun. 8, 2004, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,186, issued Jun. 10, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,967, issued Jun. 29, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 2,299,356, issued Oct. 20, 1942, U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,370, issued Dec. 12, 1967, U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,385, issued Oct. 31, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,458, issued Feb. 6, 1996, U.S. Design Pat. No. D412,490, issued Aug. 3, 1999, U.S. Design Pat. No. D418,818, issued Jan. 11, 2000, U.S. Design Pat. No. D429,695, issued Aug. 22, 2000, U.S. Design Pat. No. D436,578, issued Jan. 23, 2001 and U.S. Design Pat. No. D437,832, issued Feb. 20, 2001. Exemplary of commercially available cable protectors are those made available under the Linebacker trademark by CableRamps.com of Phoenix, Ariz. and the Megaduct cover made by Geist Manufacturing, Inc., of Lincoln, Nebr.

Apparatus for protecting cables or other elongated objects from traffic damage


Compositions and methods for maintaining healthy skin and alleviating skin conditions such as redness, inflammation, irritation and skin aging, as well as for maintaining healthy scalp and hair are disclosed. The oral compositions disclosed comprise antioxidants including lycopene, gallic acid and ascorbic acid. Preferably lycopene has been water-extracted, more preferably under acid conditions. In the method of treatment aspect of the invention, an oral composition containing antioxidant(s) is administered to a person concurrently with a topical treatment for said skin conditions. Preferred topical compositions comprise cyclohexane polyols, such as cyclohexanediol or cyclohexanetriol.

A proper diet is a contributing factor in maintaining healthy skin. There are a variety of known dietary supplements which can affect human skin conditions. (International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, 2004; and U.S. Pharmacopoeia Dietary Supplement Monographs).
In my previous patent application (Chomczynski, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/925,851, filed Aug. 25, 2004) we disclosed that oral administration of tomato products can be beneficial for maintaining healthy skin and for treatment of skin conditions, when used in conjunction with a topical treatment including cyclohexanol derivatives. It was disclosed further that an active component(s) of tomato is associated with a water insoluble tomato residue. The water insoluble tomato residue is mainly composed of plant polysaccharides forming a matrix inter-spaced with water insoluble tomato components, most notably carotenoids. There are several carotenoids which have been identified (Khachik et al., 2002) in tomato (lycopersicum esculantum and its wild variety). The most characteristic carotenoid found in tomato is lycopene. Lycopene is present in high concentration in ripe tomato fruits and also in watermelons, pink grapefruits, pink guavas and papayas.
Known beneficial health effects of lycopene include: reducing risk of cancer (such as prostate cancer), and protecting tissues from oxidative damage especially protecting proper function of the human eye (Khachik et al, 2002). Lycopene has been used in cosmetic compositions and oral supplements in humans (www.lycopene.org).
Lycopene has also been used as a part of cosmetic and medical compositions to improve skin health. In cosmetic compositions, Berens et al. (U.S. Published Patent Application 2004/0170585, published Sep. 2, 2004, par. 19) used lycopene as an antioxidant in the treatment of skin pigment disorders. Cochran describes compositions for providing nutrients and regulatory components to the human body; those compositions include lycopene as an antioxidant (U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,846, Cochran, issued Apr. 11, 2000).
Gupta, in U.S. Published Patent Application 2004/0161435, published Aug. 19, 2004, discloses topical treatment of skin aging promoting collagen and elastin in the skin by a treatment with a composition including lycopene.
Lycopene is included in topical compositions to treat human skin to affect tanning activity (WO 97/47278) and for treatment of the scalp and/or acne affecting 5 alpha-reductase activity (JP-2940964).
Popp et al, describes a dietary supplement composition for promoting healthy skin with lycopene as a part of composition containing other necessary ingredients such as vitamins, microelements and other chemically defined components (U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,158, issued Oct. 7, 2003). The supplement is provided in the form of a tablet, powder, capsule, wafer, liquid or liquid filled capsule.
Gorsek describes treatment of age-related eye ailments with an orally ingested composition including lycopene (U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,756, issued Aug. 15, 2000).
Lorant et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,769, issued Sep. 23, 2003) uses lycopene in the form of a suspension or solution for oral administration and for topical application to improve cutaneous skin aging.
Adsorption by humans of lycopene from dietary sources can be as low as 2.5% (Tyssandier et al., 2003). Heating and processing tomatoes into tomato paste increases bioavailability of lycopene (Hof, 2000). Also, presence of oil increases bioavailability of lycopene (Deming, 1999, p. 2216).
Plant fiber can be used as a dietary supplement to obtain a beneficial effect on bowel health (U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,019, Lang et al., issued Jun. 22, 2004). The fiber described in the '019 patent includes water-extracted tomato fiber. The extracting fluid is most preferably water, but organic solvents such as chloroform and hexane can also be used for the extraction (p. 6). Since lycopene is soluble in both chloroform and hexane, the benefit of the fiber composition described in the '019 patent does not appear to be related to lycopene. In addition, it is indicated that the extracted material was not treated with either acid or alkali (claim 14).
Schmoutz et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,100, issued Mar. 30, 2004) describes confectionary products comprising at least 25% fat, 6% to 15% sugar, and at least 15% vegetable solids. The vegetable solids can include tomato solids (claim 6).
In addition to lycopene, various antioxidants were used as an adjunct part of dietary supplement to improve skin conditions (International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, 2004; and U.S. Pharmacopoeia Dietary Supplement Monographs, Vaya J, 1).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,517 (Murad, issued Oct. 5, 1999) describes pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating acne based on the use of zinc and vitamin A. These compositions comprise, as an adjunct ingredient, vitamin C, and can be administered topically or orally.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,721 (Ghosal, issued May 22, 2001) describes a stabilized antioxidant formulation comprising vitamin C supplemented with 0-5% gallic acid. The role of gallic acid in the invention is to stabilize and prevent oxidation of vitamin C.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,974 B1 (Del Soldato, issued Mar. 22, 2005) describes the use of certain pharmaceutical compounds to address the oxidative stress in pathological situations, including acne. The described compounds are synthetic multi-component molecules with precursor subcomponents comprising gallate and ascorbate moieties.
Gallic acid (trihydroxy benzoic acid), a potent antioxidant, is described as an anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory agent (Shahrzad, 2001). High concentration of gallic acid, either as single molecule or as a building block of polyphenols, are found in tea, wine (Singleton, Adv Dietary Res, 1981, 27, 149-242) and cocoa (Lee, 2003).
In addition, U.S. Published Patent Application 2004/0152760 A1 (Castillo et al., published Aug. 5, 2004) describes the use of polyhydroxylated compounds and compositions for the treatment of amyloidosis, especially Alzheimer's disease. The useful compounds comprise gallic acid and its derivatives. The useful compositions also include ascorbic acid as an antioxidant.

Antioxidant dietary supplement compositions and methods for maintaining healthy skin


A method for providing debounce and jog control for a keyboard includes loading a first electronic storage register with a value indicative of a debounce period for the keyboard and loading a second electronic storage register with a value indicative of a jog period for the keyboard. The keyboard is scanned for a pressed key, and a signal indicative of the pressed key is debounced. The method further includes providing electronic signals for key status and jog and asserting an interrupt in accordance with the indicated debounce period and the indicated jog period while the debounced signal indicates the pressed key is down. Keys of the keyboard other than the pressed key are prevented from being scanned until the debounced signal indicates that the pressed key has come up.

This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for electronic data entry and more particularly to methods and apparatus for matrix or touch-screen keyboard control.
In at least one known configuration of an industrial controller or computer, a matrix keyboard or matrix touch screen is scanned continuously to determine whether a key has been pressed. This scanning can be done either via software or hardware polling. Whichever type of polling is used, this configuration requires that a debounce period be determined and a debounce algorithm be developed to prevent data from the keyboard from being contaminated with unintended multiple signaling of each keypress. For matrix keyboards and matrix touch screens from different manufacturers, circuit impedance varies. This variable impedance results in variable rise and fall times of make and break signals, thus requiring different debounce periods.
Some industrial applications require support for a "jog" function, i.e., a "jog key" is provided that controls movement of a motor while the "jog" key is held down. In known keyboard control systems that provide a jog function, this function is provided by software that constantly polls the state of the keys on the keyboard. This polling increases the load on the controller and tends to make it less responsive. Also, when a key is held down, the software remains responsive to other keys on the keyboard. If the user or a nearby person happens to press or another key while one key is held down or fumble while attempting to press a particular key, all of the keys that are hit or held down eventually are eventually read by the software program interpreting the input keystrokes. The erroneously activated keys may cause unintended and/or unpredictable consequences in the operation of an industrial device.

Method and apparatus for keyboard control with programmable debounce and jog


An optical integrated circuit is used to simultaneously test both the transmit fiber and the receive fiber in a fiber optic pair which extends between a telephone central office and a subscriber's site. By testing both fibers simultaneously testing time is cut in half without the loss of any important information, as fibers are replaced in pairs. In addition, the cost of test equipment is reduced considerably, as the expensive portions of the test equipment can be used for twice as many optical circuits as was heretofore possible. Finally, there are half as many connections needed between the optical switch and the optical integrated circuits built in accordance with the present invention, thereby simplifying their interconnections, and eliminating the extra cost in optical ports and interconnecting fiber.

Heretofore, telephone lines have been primarily comprised of copper cables. In particular, pairs of copper cable have extended from telephone central offices to individual residential and commercial customers. Presently, there are on the order of one hundred fifty million telephone lines which extend to the premises of such customers ("subscribers"). The vast number of subscriber lines requires that means be provided for automatically testing such lines whereby, if a fault were to occur to a line, an appropriate service person could be dispatched to make repairs, possibly even before the subscriber becomes aware of the fault. Thus, automatic test equipment has been developed which is capable of testing subscriber lines repetitively and automatically.
As the metal network, comprised of copper cabling, is being replaced by fiber optic lines, the need has arisen to provide means for automatically testing the fiber optic communications lines, in much the same manner that the copper cables have heretofore been tested. A problem with the testing of fiber optic lines, however, is that, unlike copper, it is significantly more difficult to launch a test signal into a fiber optic path. In particular, it is quite simple with copper to make an electrical connection anywhere along the cable without otherwise impairing any other connection which has been made to the cable. With fiber optic lines, on the other hand, connections are significantly more difficult to make in that means must be provided for coupling the optical test signal onto the path to be tested in order to both launch the test signal into the line and to view the results of such test signal. In addition to the problem of coupling signals into a fiber optic line, there is also a problem in that the equipment which is used for such testing is extremely expensive. Consequently, the difficulty in coupling signals to a fiber optic line is compounded by the large expense involved in both coupling signals and in providing the signals in the first place. Thus, it would be desirable to be able to provide, and substantially reduce the expense of, means for automatically testing fiber optic lines which does not have the problems of the systems heretofore used.

Circuit for testing an optical communication system


A device includes a first virtual power line, a second virtual power line, a first delay circuit, and a first wakeup detector. The first virtual power line and the second virtual power line are coupled to a power supply correspondingly through a first group of transistor switches and a second group of transistor switches. The first delay circuit is coupled between gate terminals of the first group of transistor switches and gate terminals in the second group of transistor switches. The first wakeup detector is configured to generate a first trigger signal after receiving a signal from the first delay circuit.

A static random access memory generally includes bitcells distributed in memory banks and various control circuits to control the read operation and write operation of the bitcells. Examples of the control circuits include local input-output circuits, main input-output circuits, local control circuits, and main control circuits. The static random access memory also includes power management circuits to power up or shut down the power supplies for the bitcells and the power supplies for the control circuits.

System and method of power management in memory design

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


An image processing method for determining a characteristic of image data in each area in whole image area and performing binarization processing appropriate for the characteristic, the method comprises the steps of: calculating gradation levels around a pixel in the image data; selecting a threshold value matrix appropriate for the pixel, in response to the calculating step, from the group consisting of a threshold value matrix consisting of single threshold value elements for simple binarization, a threshold value matrix comprising different threshold value elements for halftone processing, and at least one threshold value matrix comprising interpolation of both the threshold value matrixes; and binarizing the pixel by a systematic dither method using the threshold value matrix which is selected in the selecting step.

This invention relates to a stencil printer for reading an original image through image input means such as a scanner, performing image processing for read original image data, perforating a heatsensitive stencil sheet, and printing (digital printer), a system using an electrophotographic technology for forming a latent image on a photosensitive body and transferring the image to paper (digital copier), or a method and a system for copying onto thermosensible paper, etc.
Generally, pseudo gradation processing using a dot area modulation method including a systematic dither method is used to represent light and shade of an image of multiple-valued image data read through original input means on an image output device that can output only binary data of "0" and "1."
The systematic dither method is as follows: M.times.N pixels are considered a minimum unit of gradation representation and an M.times.N threshold matrix corresponding thereto is prepared and is superimposed on the original image with the threshold matrix as a kind of mask for comparing the density of each pixel with its corresponding threshold value. If the image data is greater than the threshold value, "1" is output; if the image data is less than the threshold value, "0" is output. Upon completion of the M.times.N pixel processing, the threshold matrix is moved to the next M.times.N pixel position and the same processing is repeated for binarization.
In the pseudo gradation processing using the systematic dither method, gradation is not compatible with resolution. To provide sufficient gradation, the threshold matrix size needs to be enlarged, thus reproducibility of an area requiring resolution like characters worsens.
A method for solving the problem is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 63-180273 as follows: Edge resemblance of an image is calculated and the area is divided into a character area and a photo area according to the calculation result. Binarization with a single threshold value is executed in the character area and binarization with the systematic dither method using a threshold matrix for outputting halftone dots is executed in the photo area. The two different processes are switched for use in both the areas, thereby providing pseudo gradation representation good in gradation and resolution.
In the method, however, the image is separated into the character area and the photo area according to the edge resemblance of the image and the two different binarization processes are switched for each area boundary, so that an output image becomes discontinuous, resulting in a sense of incongruity.

Image processing method and system with selection of threshold matrix, from group including matrix with thresholds interpolated from other matrixes, based on edge resemblance in reference area