An apparatus for removing unnecessary data in communication networks and used in a television transmitting and receiving devices of a cable television system and the like is disclosed. In a television receiving device capable of carrying out data communications, if an unnecessary data such as an address change command is contained in the data stream transmitted from the transmitting device to the receiving device, the unnecessary data is removed in advance. That is, in the present invention, if an unnecessary data is contained in a command, then a CRC error is forcibly generated, so that the receiving device can ignore a data stream containing the unnecessary data, thereby removing unnecessary data. In this manner, the damages to the software or hardware of the receiving device can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing unnecessary data in communication networks, which is used in a television transmitting and receiving devices of a cable television system and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus for removing unnecessary data in communication networks, which, in a television data transmitting and receiving devices for carrying out data communication, undesired and unnecessary data such as a command for change of an address loaded in a data stream transmitted from a transmitting end to a receiving end are detected, and the cyclic redundancy check is changed, so that the receiving device can ignore the data stream, thereby removing the unnecessary data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Transmitting and receiving devices for a conventional cable television broadcasting system are illustrated in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, a transmitting device 100 of a broadcasting station transmits data streams in block units. Then the transmitted data streams are sent through a network amplifier 150 to a cable television receiving device 200.
A data stream which is transmitted from the transmitting device of a broadcasting station is constituted as shown in FIG. 2. That is, its format is: 1 byte of flag, 2 bytes of address, 1 byte of command, 16 bytes of data, and 2 bytes of cyclic redundancy check (CRC). That is, the data streams are transmitted in such a sequence in block units.
In the case where the CRC of the transmitting data stream is normal, the cable television receiving device 200 processes the received data in the normal manner. On the other hand, in the case where a CRC error has occurred, the received data are ignored.
In this conventional system, in the case where a command which is not wanted by the cable television receiving device 200 is present in the data stream which are transmitted by the transmitting device 100 of the broadcasting station, that is, in the case where an address change command or the like is received to the receiving device 200, the internal programs and system of the cable television receiving device 200 cannot operate in the normal manner. Not only so, but a serious damage can be inflicted to the expensive software or hardware.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the constitution of another conventional address data correcting apparatus which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No Hei-4-63579.
Referring to FIG. 3, this address data correcting apparatus operates in the following manner. That is, a data transmitting device transmits data having address data which have a certain number of differences between the continuous address data of the digital data which are transmitted in block units. For these transmitted data, the receiving end synchronizes a plurality of the received address data. Then differences between the synchronized continuous address data are detected. Then the detected differences and the mentioned certain number are compared to form block signals which display the presence or absence of errors. In the case of presence of an error, of the correct address data indicated by a flag among the plurality of the address data, there is calculated the time lag value on the address data which is closest to the erroneous data in time, thereby correcting the error.
In this conventional address data correcting apparatus, data errors are detected and corrected without carrying out the encoding for detecting and correcting errors. However, there is no feature of checking unnecessary data for the command data. Therefore, even if an address is duly corrected, if an address change command is transmitted, the system address of the receiving end as well as the transmitting address is changed, resulting in that a fatal damage is inflicted to the hardware or software

Apparatus for removing unnecessary data in communication network


Compounds, compositions and methods are provided for treatment of diseases or complications associated therewith, in which a selectin plays a role. More specifically, particular glycomimetics and uses thereof are described. For example, use of particular glycomimetics for treating sickle cell disease or a cancer involving a selectin, or complications associated with either, is described.

Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to compounds, compositions and methods for treating diseases or complications associated therewith, in which a selectin plays a role such as sickle cell disease or a cancer involving a selectin. More specifically, the present invention relates to particular glycomimetics and uses thereof.
Description of the Related Art
Selectins play, and are being discovered to play, a role in a variety of diseases and complications associated therewith. Inhibitors of selectins may be used to treat such diseases or complications.
Sickle cell disease is an inheritable hematological disorder based on a mutation in the β-globin gene of hemoglobin. Upon deoxygenation, this mutated hemoglobin polymerizes and causes a shape change (sickling) of the red blood cell. This change in red blood cells leads to obstruction of blood vessels causing a wide variety of complications such as stroke, pulmonary hypertension, end-organ disease and death.
In addition to the fatal or potentially fatal complications, there are serious non-fatal complications of sickle cell disease such as pain. The severity of the pain may vary, but normally requires some form of medical attention. Hospitalization may be necessary.
In the U.S. alone, approximately 70,000-80,000 people suffer from sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is estimated to affect one of every 1,300 infants in the general population, and one of every 400 of African descent. Currently, there is no cure for sickle cell disease. The disease is chronic and lifelong. Life expectancy is typically shortened.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for the treatment of sickle cell disease or the complications associated therewith. The present invention fulfills these needs and further provides other related advantages.

Pan-selectin inhibitor with enhanced pharmacokinetic activity


A silver halide color light-sensitive material including a support having thereon at least one hydrophilic colloidal layer is disclosed, wherein the hydrophilic colloidal layer contains a DIR coupler represented by formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, or a heterocyclic group; R.sup.2 represents an organic group; X and Y each represent --N.dbd. or ##STR2## wherein R.sup.3 represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a cyano group, a nitro group, an amino group, an acyl group, an acylamino group, a carbamoyl group, a carbamoylamino group, a sulfonyl group, a sulfonylamino group, a sulfamoyl group, a sulfamoylamino group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group, a hydroxyl group, a sulfenyl group, a sulfinyl group, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, or a heterocyclic group; and Z represents a releasable group which is released on reacting with an oxidation product of an aromatic primary amine developing agent to become a development inhibitor or a precursor thereof and which diffuses into a color developing solution and then decomposes to a compound having no substantial influence on photographic properties.

In the field of color photography, extensive studies have been conducted in an attempt to improve sharpness and color reproducibility. Development inhibitor-releasing couplers (called DIR couplers) have been the subject of some of these studies. As a result, various DIR couplers have been discovered. For example, known DIR couplers include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,554, 3,701,783, 3,615,506, and 3,617,291, and JP-A-52-82423 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). With these DIR couplers, though, the development inhibitor which is released from the light-sensitive material on color development and diffused into a processing solution accumulates in the processing solution, and the processing solution comes to have an unfavorable development inhibitory effect as a result.
In order to overcome this problem, there has been a need to use a DIR coupler releasing a development inhibitor which, after diffusing into a color developing solution, is decomposed to a substance having no substantial adverse effect on photographic properties. Such DIR couplers have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,563. These couplers cause no contamination of the color developing solution, so they are suitable for use in continuous processing. In particular, malondianilide couplers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,563 have been used as DIR couplers because of their high coupling activity. However, the dye image produced from malondianilide couplers has poor resistance to humidity and heat. Some improvement has been made, as exemplified by the couplers disclosed in JP-A-2-28645 but the effects attained are insufficient and still require further improvement. In particular, when a DIR coupler is present in a photographic material in an increased amount, the dye image produced therefrom must have sufficient stability for maintaining its density.

Silver halide color photographic material


A new class of light emitting and laser diodes is disclosed wherein ballistic (without collisions) electron propagation along the nanotubes, grown normally to the substrate plane on the common metal electrode, provides conditions for the light emission from the nanotubes. The electrons, tunneling from the input contact into high energy states in the nanotubes, emit light via electron energy relaxation between the quantum energy levels existing in the nanotubes due to quantum size effect.

The carbon nanotubes (CNT) possess unique properties due to extremely small nanotube diameter (˜1 nm for a single walled nanotube, SWNT) which gives rise to a strong two-dimensional quantization of the energy spectrum. As a result, the electron scattering is largely suppressed and the electrons move along the nanotube ballistically, i.e. without collisions and loss of energy, while the nanotube resistance is essentially controlled by the contact resistances. The minimum contact resistance is determined by the quantum contact resistance of 6.5 kOhm (per contact).
In the previous patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,102,157, the ballistic electron propagation along the nanotube was utilized to disclose a vacuum electron emitter, in which electrons under the potential difference between the contacts V approaching the φ/e, where φ is the nanotube work function (˜4.7 eV for CNT), will be able to escape into vacuum and be collected with an external electrode (anode).
It should be emphasized that the physical meaning of the ballistic transport is more stringent than simple preservation of the electron energy, which is needed for the discussed below invented devices, according to the present invention. It requires a phase coherent resonance for electron propagation, like Fabry-Perot resonance for the light propagation in the laser, see e.g. W. Liang et al, Nature, 411, 665, 2001; or J. Kong et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 106801, 2001. In the disclosed devices, the elastic electron scattering, such as impurity scattering affecting the electron phase, is not important factor since it does not change the electron energy. In the description below, the "ballistic" electron transport implies only the energy conservation during the electron movement within the nanotube.
FIG. 1 illustrates as a Prior Art the ballistic mechanism of electron escape into vacuum discussed in the above cited patent. A CNT is placed between two contacts, which form the emitter circuit. FIG. 1a shows the energy band diagram. The contacts are shown as potential barriers in conjunction with electron reservoirs of the metal electrodes, while the CNT is shown as a low electron density semiconductor 90. When voltage V is applied between the contacts, see FIG. 1b, the voltage is distributed across the input and output contacts as Vin and Vout respectively, according to the tunneling resistance of the barriers. The electrons tunnel through the input barrier into the nanotube and move ballistically (i.e. without energy loss) through high energy states to the positively biased contact. This implies that electrons gain the energy eVin. It is preferable to make the tunneling resistance of the input contact much higher than that of the output contact, i.e. Vin/Vout>>1. Then almost entire applied voltage V will drop across the input contact, V˜Vin. If the energy eVin exceeds the work function φ for the nanotube, the electrons at this contact are ready to escape into vacuum and can be extracted with the anode voltage Va>Vin. In the cited patent, it was assumed that for high energy electrons there is a large probability of electron energy relaxation due to electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions, so that only a fraction of electron will be able to escape into vacuum. Strongly quantized energy spectrum of the nanotubes due to extremely small nanotube diameter dramatically suppresses the electron-phonon interaction thereby making ballistic electron propagation possible. At present, there is a lot of evidence for the ballistic electron movement in the SWNT, both at low voltages (see e.g. W. Liang, et al, Nature 411, 665, 2001 for metallic nanotubes and A. Javey et al, Nature, 424, 654, 2003 for semiconducting SWNT) and at higher voltages, see e.g. Z. Yao et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2941, 2000. In the latter article, the mean free path of the high energy electrons for the backscattering optical phonon emission in SWNT, l0, was estimated to be rather large reaching ˜100 nm. This implies that for the nanotube of a length close to l0 there is a large probability for the electron escape into vacuum.
In the cited above publication by A. Javey et al, a ballistic field-effect transistor was described, wherein the ballistic electron propagation between source and drain contacts on the CWNT was modulated by the gate electrode. The contacts to the nanotube were made from palladium (Pd) which minimizes the contact resistance to its quantum limit of 6.5 KOhm. Other metals form a Schottky barrier with the nanotube, with the tunneling resistance varying in a large range, typically from 10 KOhm to 1 MOhm.
In the cited above U.S. Pat. No. 7,102,157, the ballistic device is made as a single nanotube placed on the insulating substrate and endowed with two contacts at the nanotube ends, see FIG. 1c. In this configuration, parallel placement of multiple identical nanotubes to enhance the output current requires a special manipulator and seems impractical for the device manufacturing. It would be therefore preferable to grow a controllable nanotube array on a metal electrode normally to the electrode plane and then attach a second common contact to all the nanotube tips.
Such a design was partially disclosed by Z. F. Ren et al. in the US patent application # US 20040058153 A1 for fabrication of the field-emission cathode. In this design, the grown nanotubes were covered with an insulating layer, and nanotube ends protrude above this layer. Then the top side is polished to cut off the nanotube ends thus exposing the tips of the nanotubes. The nanotube array in the Ren's patent application was used solely to produce a diode-like cathode-to-anode structure for the field-induced electron emission from the nanotube into vacuum due to electric field focusing at the nanotube tips. Neither second contact to the nanotube tip nor ballistic electron movement along the nanotubes or light emission from the nanotubes are discussed there.

Nanotube array ballistic light emitting devices

Abstract: In the disclosed devices, planar layer deposition technology is used to form a diode structure with two electrodes attached to the nanotubes ends.

Nano-Electronic and Photonic Devices and Circuits, LLC


The present invention provides a fan speed indication system enabling the operator to control engine rotational speed to match specific thrust performance to flight requirements. The invention accommodates variations in engine thrust performance measured at manufacture or overhaul. In one embodiment, the invention provides an analog speed signal to flight control apparatus. The invention may also be configured to provide a digital speed signal to engine power management control apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for thrust control of a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a system which provides a speed signal to the pilot that compensates for thrust performance variations in accordance with measured thrust performance characteristics of a particular gas turbine engine from the standard thrust performance characteristics of that engine model to enable the pilot to more accurately match engine thrust output to thrust requirements.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Design, manufacture and control variations and accumulated tolerances of gas turbine engines cause variation in the operating characteristics from engine to engine within an engine model. One of these operating characteristics is thrust output. In order to provide safe operation of the aircraft, gas turbine engines are commonly designed to generate a predetermined minimum guaranteed or rated thrust level on any given engine regardless of variations in components and subsystems. In addition, pilots operate the aircraft according to predetermined engine model performance curves. These curves allow the pilot to set speed controls to provide the needed thrust for any engine of a model designation even if all accumulated variations in a particular engine are biased toward an engine configuration which produces minimum thrust output. Any engine having tolerances and variations, which are not limited to the least output configuration, will produce more thrust than can be effectively used by the aircraft under particular operating conditions. Excess thrust levels with accompanying higher operating temperatures result from higher than required engine rotational speed. The higher engine operating temperatures contribute to increased engine wear and deterioration which decrease the operating life of the engine.
In the Prior Art for gas turbine engines with hydromechanical fuel systems, the control architecture was designed such that the xe2x80x9cminimumxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d engine performance produces the required thrust with margin at the target thrust setting parameter (fan speed). The target fan speed schedules are determined based on environmental conditions, engine performance characteristics and desired thrust rating. Due to the limitations in hydromechanical fuel systems, individual tailoring of the target fan speed schedules on an engine by engine basis has not been accomplished. Therefore, the thrust setting parameter schedule selected for the xe2x80x9cminimumxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d engine performance produces a large population of engines with excess thrust.
The present invention is a rotational speed indication system for gas turbine engines with hydromechanical fuel controls that compensates for variations in thrust actually produced as compared to the nominal thrust. The invention uses predetermined engine model performance curves and actual engine performance data to calculate a modified thrust setting parameter (fan speed). Curves representing fan speed modification for a particular engine model are programmed into a memory device. Selection of a specific fan speed modification curve produces a speed indication that allows the pilot to more closely match engine thrust to a desired level of thrust. The generated output signal is then sent to the engine operator""s fan speed signal display unit where the modified signal is used by the pilot to set the engine fan speed which corresponds to the desired thrust level. More particularly, the engine operator sets the engine throttle so that the modified fan speed signal matches the target fan speed corresponding to the desired thrust rating for the given ambient conditions. Since the target fan speed is set using the modified fan speed signal, the engine will run at a lower speed as compared to a target set using the unmodified fan speed signal. This in turn results in the gas turbine engine producing the needed thrust while eliminating excess thrust margin caused by the engine-to-engine variation, thus reducing engine temperatures and improving engine operating life.

Speed modification system for gas turbine engine to allow trimming of excess


The present invention is a banking system comprises a borrowing application section, a borrowing information acquiring section that acquires information about the borrowing money permitted by a cashing service dealer, a transaction instruction inputting section that inputs an instruction to carry out a transaction relevant to the financial institution using at least a part of the borrowing money, and a financial transaction instruction section that, when the borrowing information acquiring section acquires the borrowing information, gives an instruction about the transaction relevant to the financial institution using at least a part of the borrowing money to a banking host machine in accordance with the instruction input by the transaction instruction inputting section; thereby, user-friendliness of the machine is increased and the ratio of machine failures is reduced.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic teller machine capable of processing of borrowing from cashing service dealer and financial transaction processing using a cash card and a banking system, and further relates to their financial transaction method and a recording medium recording a financial transaction program for executing the method readable by computer.
(2) Description of Related Art
Recently, credit cards issued by cashing service dealers such as credit companies have been widely used. For example, there are increasing such cards that are permitted, using an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) of a financial institution such as a bank, to carry out cashing transaction between a user and a cashing service dealer and financial transaction (for example, money reception, transfer of money) between the user and the financial institution using the above-mentioned credit card.
For example, the following patent document 1 discloses a technique in which, using a compound type card having both functions as a credit card and a cash card, which is issued by a financial institution, withdrawal from a bank account is carried out using an ATM of a credit card company.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-15139.
However, in conventional ATMs having the cashing function as described above, the cashing transaction carried out between a user and a cashing service dealer and the financial transaction (for example, money reception, transfer of money) carried out between the user and a financial institution to which the ATM belongs are processed independently from each other.
Accordingly, using such conventional ATM, for example, when transferring money borrowed using a cashing to a particular bank account, the user has to carry out the cashing from the cashing service dealer using the credit card once, and receive the cash from the cash take-out port of the ATM first. And then, the user has to carry out the transfer processing using the cash. Accordingly, there resides such problem that the processing is too complicated for the users.
Further, the cash borrowed using the cashing is always taken out (discharged) once from the ATM. Accordingly, within the ATM, the cash is transferred (moved) frequently increasing the ratio of machine failures.

Banking system, automated teller machine, financial transaction method, and a recording medium recording a financial transaction program readable by computer


A wireless sensor network including a plurality of Smart Sensors coupled to a wide area network such as the Internet via a Wireless Sensor Coordinator. Each wireless sensor network comprises a plurality of Smart Sensors, each operable to measure one or more physical quantities. Each wireless sensor communicates the measured data to a Wireless Sensor Coordinator which then stores the collected data in memory. The Wireless Sensor Coordinator further includes a web server operable to post a web site on a network that is accessible by a common web browser. Upon receiving a request for sensed data via the web site, the Wireless Sensor Coordinator retrieves the appropriate measured and stored data and converts it into HTML format pages which are then posted on the web site for review by the requestor.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate, in general, to data collection, processing, and dissemination in a wireless network and more particularly to tracking and monitoring of a web based Smart Sensor network.
2. Relevant Background
Wireless sensor networks consisting of large numbers of inexpensive and energy-constrained devices are an emerging area of networking research. Wireless sensor networks are expected to find a wide range of applications including target tracking, habitat monitoring, and disaster relief. Applications typically involve sensing in harsh and inhospitable terrains; wireless sensor networks can consist of large numbers of wireless devices, each capable to some degree of sensing, processing, and communicating. Together, the wireless devices self-configure into a network without any existing infrastructure, and cooperatively sense, process, and disseminate information to a user of the network.
Despite the versatility of such a self-configuring wireless network, data collected by the wireless sensors cannot be easily accessed. Protocol and bandwidth limitations make the retrieval of data an arduous task. A common web server as would be known to one skilled in the art is too large to reside embedded in a wireless sensor network. Such networks are characterized by limited memory and low computational performance. Thus, while wireless sensing networks offer a great deal of potential, much of their advantages have yet to be realized.
Moreover, messages relayed through a wireless sensor network are generally not reliable and they possess latencies which often discount the value of the information contained within the message.
Most prior art wireless network systems utilize a proprietary software based network tracking and monitoring system. Such a system requires each user to install complex application software at each local drive in order to access sensor activity and sensor data. Due to the diversity of operating systems, computers, and communication protocols, the development of a proprietary based system limits its applicability and results in multiple versions of software. This multiplicity of proprietary software increases the cost of the product and makes its implementation inconvenient. It also limits a user's ability to access sensor data as data access can only occur using a particular hardware resource or platform.
In addition, the evolution of a proprietary based sensor system has led to proprietary communication protocols between the Smart Sensor network and the user software. This, too, leads to less efficient messaging that is incapable of providing any sort of real-time messaging. A need therefore exists to readily access sensor data which is both reliable and real-time based. These and other deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by one or more embodiments of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Web based smart sensor network tracking and monitoring system


A method of a client processing transactions in a NoSQL database that includes inserting client status from a plurality of clients to a NoSQL database, and sending a call from at least one of the clients in the plurality of client to a client server in the NoSQL database, wherein the client server sends a time stamp to the client. The method further includes reading by the client the clients status from the NoSQL database, and the client validating no conflict for a read or write transaction by the client to the database. The client confirms that a latest version of a value is committed before a start time of the transaction. The client performs the read or write transaction if the latest version of the value has been committed.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to NoSQL database and, in particular, the processing of transactions in NoSQL environments.
Description of the Related Art
NoSQL (originally referring to "non SQL" or "non relational") database provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases. Motivations for this approach include: simplicity of design, simpler "horizontal" scaling to clusters of machines, which is a problem for relational databases, and finer control over availability. The data structures used by NoSQL databases (e.g. key-value, graph, or document) differ slightly from those used by default in relational databases, making some operations faster in NoSQL and others faster in relational databases. NoSQL databases are increasingly used in big data and real-time web applications.

Scalable snapshot isolation on non-transactional NoSQL

International Business Machines Corporation


The present embodiments generally relate to enabling participants in an online gathering with networked audio to use a cancelling auralizer at their respective locations to create a common acoustic space or set of acoustic spaces shared among subgroups of participants. For example, there are a set of network connected nodes, and the nodes can contain speakers and microphones, as well as participants and node mixing-processing blocks. The node mixing-processing blocks generate and manipulate signals for playback over the node loudspeakers and for distribution to and from the network. This processing can include cancellation of loudspeaker signals from the microphone signals and auralization of signals according to control parameters that are developed locally and from the network. A network block can contain network routing and processing functions, including auralization, synthesis, and cancellation of audio signals, synthesis and processing of control parameters, and audio signal and control parameter routing.

Acoustics are integral to a space, conveying its size, architecture, materials, even whether it's cluttered or empty. Acoustics also are important in conveying the "feel" of a space. In music performance, the performance space acoustics is vital: Performers adjust their phrasing, tempo, and aspects of pitch according to features of the room reverberation. In video game play, acoustics can be used to indicate the spaces occupied by the players and sound sources.
Among other things, the present Applicant has recognized the consequences of having different acoustics at different locations when participating in network-connected meetings, music recording sessions, live theater performances, gameplay, and the like. Problems that arise in these settings include the lack of a shared acoustic space on a conference call or in live music performance. In video conferences, such as provided by Zoom, the different acoustics of participant spaces emphasizes the physical separation of the participants.
Another difficulty is the need to wear headphones to prevent feedback. Current broadcast and network/internet reverberation systems, e.g., auralization systems, used in gaming, performances, sports broadcasts, or conference scenarios require participants in various locations to wear headphones in order to hear synthetic auralizations that are not the dry acoustic of a room or office. This can restrict the movements of participants and also restrict local communication at any site that has multiple participants. However, the wearing of headphone is often necessary to avoid feedback while maintaining audio quality.
In many scenarios it is desired to have different participants experience somewhat different acoustic settings. For instance in a live music performance, the performers (and audience members close to the stage) would hear a less reverberant sound helpful for hearing each other while performing, whereas those further from the stage will hear a more reverberant sound. As another example, in gameplay, sound sources in different virtual locations benefit from acoustics indicating their virtual surroundings.
Accordingly, among other things, it would be desirable to have a networked audio system that provides for the enjoyment of audio at nodes of the network from a plurality of sound sources, each source that is presented at a given network node having the acoustics desired for that source at that node, and each network node having loudspeakers to render sound.

Networked audio auralization and feedback cancellation system and method

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


An apparatus and a method for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate are disclosed. The apparatus includes a transfer fixture constructed by a base member, a lid member and a compressible member for holding a mold/substrate assembly therein. A plurality of compression pins are mounted through the lid member for supplying a uniform pressure on the mold/substrate assembly and for allowing lateral motion of the mold/substrate assembly relative to the transfer fixture due to a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion. The compressible member is a cellulosic foam sheet which applies a uniform joining force across the entire surface of a wafer and assures abutting contact between the entire wafer and the mold surface. The foam sheet further assists in the lateral movement of the mold/substrate assembly relative to the base member of the transfer fixture.

In modern semiconductor devices, the ever increasing device density and decreasing device dimensions demand more stringent requirements in the packaging or interconnecting techniques of such devices. Conventionally, a flip-chip attachment method has been used in the packaging of IC chips. In the flip-chip attachment method, instead of attaching an IC die to a lead frame in a package, an array of solder balls is formed on the surface of the die. The formation of the solder balls is normally carried out by an evaporation method of lead and tin through a mask for producing the desired solder balls. More recently, the technique of electro-deposition has been used to produce solder balls in flip-chip packaging.
Other solder ball formation techniques that are capable of solder-bumping a variety of substrates have also been proposed. These techniques work fairly well in bumping semiconductor substrates that contain solder structures over a minimum size. One of the more popularly used techniques is a solder paste screening technique which can be used to cover the entire area of an 8 inch wafer. However, with the recent trend in the miniaturization of device dimensions and the reduction in bump-to-bump spacing (or pitch), the solder paste screening technique becomes impractical. For instance, one of the problems in applying solder paste screening technique to modem IC devices is the paste composition itself. A paste is generally composed of a flux and solder alloy particles. The consistency and uniformity of the solder paste composition become more difficult to control with a decreasing solder bump volume. A possible solution for this problem is the utilization of solder pastes that contain extremely small and uniform solder particles. However, this can only be done at a high cost penalty. Another problem in using the solder paste screening technique in modern high density devices is the reduced pitch between bumps. Since there is a large reduction in volume from a screened paste to the resulting solder bump, the screen holes must be significantly larger in diameter than the final bumps. The stringent dimensional control of the bumps makes the solder paste screening technique impractical for applications in high density devices.
Another concern with the solder paste screening technique is that the solder paste is normally applied directly to substrates through a screen mask which contains holes aligned to the paste-receiving pads on the substrate. The substrate may be a silicon wafer or a substrate of any other material. Since the paste is applied directly by the screening method, any problems occurring during the process result in rework of the substrate.
A more recently developed injection molded solder (IMS) technique attempted to solve these problems by dispensing molten solder instead of solder paste. However, problems have been observed when the technique is implemented to wafer-sized substrates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,143, assigned to the common assignee of the present invention, discloses the injection molded solder technique and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. One of the advantages of the IMS technique is that there is very little volume change between the molten solder and the resulting solder bump. The IMS technique teaches the use of a two inch wide head that fills boro-silicate glass molds that are wide enough to cover most single chip modules. A narrow wiper provided behind the solder slot passes the filled holes once to remove excess solder.
The IMS method for solder bonding can be carried out by typically applying a molten solder to a substrate in a transfer process. When smaller substrates, i.e., chip scale or single chip modules (SCM's) are encountered, the transfer step is readily accomplished since the solder-filled mold and substrate are relatively small in area and thus can be easily aligned and joined in a number of configurations. For instance, the process of split-optic alignment is frequently used in joining chips to substrates. The same process may also be used to join a chip-scale IMS mold to a substrate (chip) which will be bumped. Over a small area, flux material which is dispensed in a thin layer over the chip prior to being joined to a solder-filled IMS mold keeps both surfaces in intimate contact due to surface tension of the liquid flux. This is desirable such that when solder in the mold balls-up upon heating to a melting temperature in a furnace, it contacts the solder-receiving pad which is normally covered with gold or other solder-wetting alloy.
Another method that does not have the limitations of the solder paste screening technique of significant volume reductions between the initial paste and the final solder volume is the molten solder screening (MSS) method. In the MSS method, pure molten solder is dispensed. When the MSS solder-bumping method is used on large substrates such as 8 inch or 12 inch wafers, surface tension alone is insufficient to maintain intimate contact between a mold and a substrate. In order to facilitate the required abutting contact over large surface areas, a new method and apparatus for maintaining such are therefore necessary.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a mold to a substrate that does not have the drawbacks and shortcomings of a conventional apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a mold to a substrate that is constructed by a base member, a compressible member and a lid member.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate by utilizing a transfer fixture which is capable of applying uniform pressure on a mold/substrate assembly during the transfer process.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate which includes a transfer fixture for applying an uniform pressure on a mold/substrate assembly and allowing lateral movement of the assembly relative to the fixture due to differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion of the various components.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate which includes a solder mold constructed of a substantially transparent material so that the mold cavities contained therein can be readily examined.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate which includes a lid member having a skeletal configuration such that the mold/substrate assembly can be visually inspected with the lid member mounted on the assembly.
It is still another further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate by using a lid member equipped with a plurality of compression pins having contact points for applying a substantially uniform pressure on a mold/substrate assembly while allowing lateral movement of the assembly due to mismatched coefficients of thermal expansion of the various components during a thermal cycle.
It is yet another further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring solder bumps from a solder mold to a solder-receiving substrate which includes a cellulosic foam member positioned between a mold/substrate assembly and a base member for allowing lateral movement of the assembly relative to the base member due to differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion.

Apparatus for transferring solder bumps and method of using

International Business Machines Corporation


A substrate for a solid-state image pickup element, comprising: an n-type silicon substrate; and an n-type epitaxial growth layer formed on a surface of the n-type silicon substrate, wherein the substrate is configured to form a solid-state image pickup element in the n-type epitaxial growth layer, the solid-state image pickup element comprising: a photoelectric converting section; and a charge transferring section having charge transfer electrodes which transfer charges produced in the photoelectric converting section, and the n-type silicon substrate has a specific resistance of 10/1,000 Ωcm or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for forming a solid-state image pickup element, a solid-state image pickup element using the substrate, and a method of producing the substrate, and more particularly to an improvement in the performance of a solid-state image pickup element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A solid-state image pickup element using a CCD which is employed in an area sensor or the like has: a photoelectric converting section configured by photodiodes or the like; a charge transferring section having charge transfer electrodes which transfer signal charges supplied from the photoelectric converting section; and a wiring section connected to these components. The charge transfer electrodes are adjacently placed on a charge transfer path formed on a semiconductor substrate, and sequentially driven.
Recently, in accordance with an increased number of pixels of a CCD, requests for a higher resolution and a higher sensitivity are growing in a solid-state image pickup element The number of imaging pixels is increased to gigapixels or more.
Under such circumstances, in order to ensure a high sensitivity, since it is difficult to reduce a light receiving area, an area occupied by charge transfer electrodes is forced to be reduced.
Under such circumstances, also requests for improving the performance of a semiconductor substrate for forming a solid-state image pickup element are increasing.
As a semiconductor substrate for forming a solid-state image pickup element, a CZ substrate grown by the Czochralski (CZ) method, an MCZ substrate grown by the magnetic Czochralski (MCZ) method, an epitaxial semiconductor substrate in which an epitaxial layer is formed on the surface of such a CZ or MCZ substrate, and the like are conventionally used.
On the other hand, today, a step of forming a semiconductor device is performed in a super clean room having a very high cleanliness. However, contamination of a semiconductor substrate due to impurities from gasses, water, a semiconductor producing apparatus, and the like cannot be completely avoided. The amounts of impurities which are introduced into a semiconductor substrate in a step of forming an epitaxial layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate are said to be larger than those of impurities which are introduced in a step of forming a semiconductor device.
When an impurity or a crystal defect exists in an element active region of a semiconductor substrate, the quality and characteristics of a semiconductor device are significantly deteriorated. When an impurity or a crystal defect exists in a semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate is susceptible to an irradiation damage due to radiation such as α rays. This damage causes the quality and characteristics of a semiconductor device to be further deteriorated.
In order to remove away such an impurity or a crystal defect from an element active region, intrinsic gettering (IG) based on oxygen precipitation from the interior of a substrate, and extrinsic gettering (EG) not involving oxygen precipitation are conventionally performed (for example, JP-A-2003-92301).
For example, the intrinsic gettering process is performed by executing a two-step heat treatment on a silicon wafer in which an epitaxial growth layer is formed. The two-step heat treatment is configured by an outward diffusion heat treatment in which the wafer is heated in a high-temperature oxygen atmosphere, and a heat treatment for forming a low-temperature oxygen precipitation nucleus. In this way, the intrinsic gettering process is a treatment in which an oxygen precipitation defect is used as the medium. Therefore, it is the that, when the dopant concentration of a substrate exceeds 1018 cm−3, the gettering effect is suppressed in an N+ substrate (for example, "Silicon no kagaku" UCS Handotai Kiban Gijutsu Kenkyukai, pp. 602-607).
Under the situations, as miniaturization of a solid-state image pickup element is further advancing, occurrence of a white scratch defect becomes more problematic. A white scratch defect corresponds to a dark current caused by an impurity or the like, and hence gettering is indispensable. In the case where a high-temperature step is necessary, however, a special apparatus may be required, or a problem of warpage or distortion of a substrate may become more serious on the contrary.

Substrate for forming a solid-state image pickup element, solid-state image pickup element using the same, and method of producing the same


The present invention is related to adhesive compositions comprising a polymer blend of at least two different propylene-based polymers and one or more tackifiers. The polymer blend has a melt viscosity of about 900 cP to about 19,000 cP. When subjected to Temperature Rising Elution Fractionation, the polymer blend exhibits a first fraction that is soluble at −15° C. in xylene, the first fraction having an isotactic (mm) triad tacticity of about 70 mol % to about 90 mol %; and a second fraction that is insoluble or less soluble than the first fraction at −15° C. in xylene, the second fraction having an isotactic (mm) triad tacticity of about 85 mol % to about 98 mol %. The tackifier has a softening point, as determined by ASTM E-28, of about 85 to about 135° C. and an aromaticity of about 2 to about 12 mol % aromatic protons.

Adhesive composition components such as base polymers, tackifiers, and waxes are customarily provided as separate components for formulation into hot melt adhesive (HMA) compositions. In HMA packaging applications, adhesive compositions are sought that provide a desired combination of physical properties, such as reduced set time and improved mechanical strength, including fiber tear and failure mode.
Exemplary base polymer compositions and methods of making polymer compositions for HMA applications are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,294,681 and 7,524,910. Various polymers described in these patents and/or produced by the methods disclosed in these patents have been sold by ExxonMobil Chemical Company as LINXAR™ polymers. In addition, the process platform described in these patents can sometimes be of limited robustness for developing new products or altering product design to satisfy customer needs.
WO Publication No. 2013/134038 discloses a method for producing a polymer blend having at least two different propylene-based polymers produced in parallel reactors. The multi-modal polymer blend has a Mw of about 10,000 g/mol to about 150,000 g/mol. When subjected to Temperature Rising Elution Fractionation, the polymer blend exhibits a first fraction that is soluble at −15° C. in xylene, the first fraction having an isotactic (mm) triad tacticity of about 70 mol % to about 90 mol %; and a second fraction that is insoluble or less soluble than the first fraction at −15° C. in xylene, the second fraction having an isotactic (mm) triad tacticity of about 85 mol % to about 98 mol %.
Tackifiers in HMA applications are generally disclosed in William C. Wake, Adhesion and the Formulation of Adhesives, pp. 190-92, 224 (2d ed. 1982) and in Michael and Irene Ash, Formulary of Adhesives and Sealants, Ch. 3 (1987). Although many different types of tackifiers are known and have been used in HMA adhesive formulations, there remains a need for tackified adhesive formulations that utilize the new base polymers to achieve equivalent or better adhesive performance attributes, including fiber tear, set time, and failure mode, to HMA adhesive formulations that are currently available.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a tackified adhesive compositions utilizing the new polymer blends, such that the adhesive compositions have superior fiber tear, set time, and failure mode compared to commercial HMA adhesive formulations.

Tackified polyolefin adhesive compositions


A heatsink is provided which can be removably secured in a heat transfer relationship to an electronic module or package by an epoxy type adhesive. A screw is provided through one end of the heatsink directly over an edge of the module sealing cap. To remove the heatsink from the module, the screw is turned down to contact the cap. Continued turning causes a prying force between the cap and the module whereby the heatsink is peeled away and removed from the module. All forces are directed between the cap and the module thereby eliminating harmful stress from being transmitted through the solder ball connections and to a supporting circuit card.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for removing an adhesively attached heatsink from an electronic module or package.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heat which is generated by electronic devices during the course of normal operation is typically dissipated into the ambient air before excessive levels can build and cause damage. More sophisticated packaged electronic devices typically comprise several chips in a single package. In this case, a fan or other means must be used to force air over the package to enhance cooling. The trend to compress more chips in a smaller space has lead to the development of multi-layered ceramic module technology which can incorporate numerous heat generating integrated circuit chips in a very confined sealed module. Consequently, these types of modules have particularly challenging cooling needs.
Multi-layered modules are typically mounted to a support card with a plurality of solder ball connections using surface mount array technology. Hence, these modules are sometimes referred to as solder ball connection (SBC) modules. Heat dissipation by conventional convection methods alone has proven inadequate for cooling electronic modules or packages (e.g., SBC modules, etc.) that have a plurality of chips arranged in rows and columns. Typically, the electronic module or package is sealed by a cap which protects the chips but seals in heat. To remedy this, a heat exchanger or heatsink device must be placed in thermal contact with the cap to conduct heat away from the electronic module or package and thereby facilitate cooling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,377 to Komoto et al. discloses a heatsink attached with an epoxy adhesive to a low density integrated circuit package containing several chips. Heat generated by the chips during operation is conducted through the epoxy and is carried away from the module by cooling fluid within the heatsink and thereafter conducted into the ambient air. Epoxy attachment methods have proven superior to many other methods since it assures that the maximum surface areas of the module and the heat sink are in contact for maximum heat exchange.
Epoxy adhesives are substantially a permanent type of attachment method. This presents problems if for any reason a heatsink needs to be removed, such as, for example, when an electronic module or package needs to be repaired or modified, or if the heatsink has simply been initially misplaced on the module or package and needs to be repositioned. Prior art brute force removal methods entail torquing the heatsink with vice-grips while trying to hold the electronic module or package steady. Brute force methods, although sometimes successful, transmit a great deal of stress to the connection joints (e.g., solder balls, etc.) as well as the card. This harmful stress substantially decreases electronic module or package life expectancy and often causes immediate failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,032 to Cutchaw addresses the problem of removably attaching a heatsink to an electronic module or package by using screws to secure the edges of the two components together. The surface areas of the heatsink and module are not in direct contact, but rather, each chip in the top layer of the module has biased thereto a spring loaded piston which is thermally connected with the heatsink.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,936 to Kojima et al. provides a somewhat simplified method for removably attaching a heatsink to an electronic module wherein a heatsink is biased to the sealing cap of the module by a downwardly pressing spring clip. The spring clip and the heatsink are easily removed by loosening two screws securing the spring to jigs attached to the module housing. Although convenient for removal, this attachment method is far less efficient for heat transfer than epoxy attachment methods. The spring clip only applies pressure to the center of the heatsink and therefore the outer surface areas of the module and heatsink will not remain in perfect thermal contact throughout the entire operating and heating cycles of the module.

Apparatus for removing a heatsink from an electronic module or package


An apparatus for detecting particles on a substrate incorporates a calibration system to correct any change in the angle of swing of a beam scanning mirror over a period of time. A pair of optical detectors can be positioned within the optical path between the scanning mirror and the substrate to provide a fixed reference point from which positional adjustments or calibrations can be made over the life of the instrument to eliminate any drifting of the positional signals of the actually detected particles on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting particles that may be stuck on the surfaces of substrates, for example, reticles and masks used for producing printed circuit patterns on semiconductor wafers, such as in the production of LSI (large-scale integrated) product wafers, or substrates that are used in liquid crystal displays, and more particularly, to an optical system for specifying a size of the particles and a location on a substrate where the particles are adhered.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional apparatus for detecting particles is disclosed. A substrate 1, for example, a substrate provided with a circuit pattern formed on a surface thereof, can be aligned horizontally on an inspection stage (not shown) and provided with a pellicle frame 2 on an upper surface thereof. The substrate 1 is adapted to be slidably moved in both the directions shown by the arrow X and arrow Y to enable positional alignment on the inspection stage.
An optical system 3, which can include an He-Ne laser cavity 4 for transmitting a laser beam L, having an appointed angle of polarization, is provided with a beam expander 5. The expanded laser beam L contacts a beam scanning mirror 6, for example, a galvanomirror, that can revolve in the direction indicated by the arrows U-V, to enable the laser beam L to be scanned through a lens 7. The lens 7 permits the laser beam L to be incident upon the surface of the substrate to be inspected. Thus, a linear scanning in the direction shown by the arrow X will occur so that the laser beam, generated from the laser cavity 4, will be irradiated on the substrate to be inspected from an appointed or predetermined angle relative to the vertical plane with a reciprocation of a linear scanning within an appointed or predetermined range in the direction shown by the arrow X.
A detector optical system 8 is arranged at both ends of the substrate in the X-direction and is also inclined to the plane of the substrate. Each of these optical systems includes a collecting lens 9, a fixed slit aperture plate 11, having a long and slender slit 10 in the vertical direction for limiting an incidence of a reflected and scattered beam R which has been reflected and scattered from the particles on the surface of the substrate to be inspected. An optical detector 12 is capable of receiving the laser beam L which has been incident upon the substrate and reflected or scattered from the particles. The optical detector 12 can comprise, for example, a photomultiplier tube and the like for detecting the reflected scattered beam R.
In operation, the laser beam L is incident upon the substrate at the predetermined angle and linearly moves across the inspection stage in the direction shown by the arrow Y, while reciprocally and linearly scanning within the predetermined range in the direction shown by the arrow X. As a result, a reflected and a scattered beam R is reflected and scattered from the particles on the substrate to be inspected and is detected by the optical detector 12. If any particles exist on the surface of the reciprocating substrate to be inspected and is contacted by the laser beam L, it is capable of scattering the laser beam at random in all directions, which will impact the intensity of light measured by the optical detector 12. Correlating the incident of detection with the spatial position of the substrate will indicate the existence of a particle on the surface of that substrate at that location.
As can be appreciated, a close correlation between the actual position of the laser beam L on the substrate surface is necessary for accurately determining the position of any particle. If any deviation is provided in the relationship between the angle of swing of the beam scanning mirror 6, which reciprocally scans the laser beam L transmitted by the laser cavity 4, and the angle of the swing signal put out from the beam scanning mirror 6 on account of any drift in the electrical system resulting from an influence by temperature, or an aging of the circuit parts, or a variation in tolerances of the circuit parts and the like, then a lapse of time occurs, which will correspondingly create an error in determining the accurate position of any particle.
Referring to FIG. 3, when the electrical system does not exhibit any drift and is accurately correlated with the position of the laser beam, then a linear relationship is maintained between the position of the particles obtained by calculation on the basis of the scanning position signals (angle of swing signals) and the actual position of particles. This relationship is shown as a straight line I in FIG. 3. As can be determined, the calculated position of particles corresponding, for example, to particle A and particle B will amount to SA and SB, respectively, and accordingly the positions of the particles A and B can be detected and accurately reproduced for subsequent visual examination purposes. However, if any drift in the electrical system or other error occurs, a deviation, D, can be produced in the relationship between the calculated positions of the particles and the actual position of the particles. Thus, the calculated position of particles corresponding to particles A and B can apparently occur at positions SA' and SB' by incorporating the deviational error D. It is possible that temperature changes can be minimized by the incorporation of a temperature compensation feature into the circuit driving the beam scanning mirror 6, but it is extremely difficult to account for aging and tolerance changes of circuit components and the like that can occur over a period of time with the use of the instrument.
Thus, there is a demand in the prior art to provide a relatively improved economical particle detecting system.

Optical detecting system for determining particle position on a substrate


A method and apparatus for parallelizing operations that change a database is provided. A coordinator process receives a statement that requires data to be written into the database. In response to the statement, the coordinator process assigns granules of work to multiple processes. Each of the multiple processes executes the granule of work by writing to the database a distinct portion of the set of data that is to be added to the database. The various portions of data are then merged to create the set of data to be added to the database.

In typical database systems, users write, update and retrieve information by submitting commands or "queries" to a database application. To be correctly processed, the commands must comply with the database language that is supported by the database application. One popular database language is known as Structured Query Language (SQL).
Multi-processing systems are typically partitioned into nodes, where each node may contain multiple processors executing multiple concurrent processes. To fully utilize the computing power of a multi-processing system, a database application may divide a large processing task required by a query into smaller work granules which may then distributed to processes running on one or more processing nodes. Because the various work granules are being performed in parallel, the processing required by the query can be completed much faster than if the processing were performed on a single node by a single process. One mechanism for implementing parallel operations in a database management system is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/441,527 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Implementing Parallel Operations in a Database Management System" filed on May 15, 1995, by Gary Hallmark and Daniel Leary, incorporated herein by reference now abandoned and re-filed as Ser. No. 08/898,080.
Computer systems often contain resources that can only be accessed in a particular way by one process at a time. In database systems, such resources include sets of data, such as tables, rows, or objects, that can only be written by one process at a time.
Mechanisms have been developed which control access to resources. One such mechanism is referred to as a lock. A lock is a data structure that indicates that a particular process has been granted certain rights with respect to the resource. Before a process can perform an operation on a resource, the process is required to obtain a lock that grants to the process the right to perform the desired operation on the resource.
To perform a write operation on a set of data, a process typically must obtain an exclusive lock on the set of data. To obtain an exclusive lock, the process transmits a request for an exclusive lock to a lock manager associated with the set of data. A lock manager is a process that is responsible for granting, queuing, and keeping track of locks on one or more resources.
If the lock manager has already granted a lock on the resource to another process, or has already received a request for an exclusive lock from another process, then the lock manager process cannot grant the requested exclusive mode lock. Under such circumstances, a lock manager will typically place the lock request in a queue, and grant the request when the request is at the head of the queue and all outstanding locks on the resource have been released.
Unfortunately, the performance benefit gained by parallelizing a database operation is significantly diminished when the operation is divided into work granules that involve writing the same set of data. For example, consider the operation illustrated in FIG. 1, where a coordinator process 102 receives a query 104 that requires a block of data (DATA A-Z) to be generated and then inserted into a table 120 in a database 122.
The coordinator process 102 divides the query into work granules 106, 108 and 110, where each work granule calls for the generation and insertion of a subset of the set of data. In the illustrated example, work granules 106, 108 and 110 represent generate and insert operations for subsets A-G, H-Q and R-Z of data A-Z, respectively. The coordinator process 102 then distributes the work granules 106, 108 and 110 to processes 112, 114 and 116, respectively. Preferably, processes 112, 114 and 116 are executing on separate processors to allow maximum concurrency.
Because the work granules involve writing table 120, the processes must obtain an exclusive lock on table 120 before they can perform their assigned work granules. In the illustrated example, the exclusive lock for table 120 has been granted to process 116. Consequently, process 116 can proceed to perform work granule 110 by inserting subset of data R-Z into table 120. However, an exclusive lock can be held by only one process at a time. Therefore, processes 112 and 114 must wait for process 116 to release the exclusive lock for table 120.
When process 116 completes the performance of work granule 110, process 116 will release the exclusive lock for table 120. At this time, the exclusive lock may be granted to one of the other processes 112 and 114 waiting to write to table 120. The process that is not granted the exclusive lock must wait for the process that is granted the exclusive lock to complete its work granule and release the exclusive lock. When the last process has been granted the exclusive lock, the last process may finally perform the work granule assigned to the last process.
As is evident by the example described above, an attempt to parallelize an operation that involves writing a set of data in a database results in a serial operation, where each of the processes involved in the operation must simply await its turn to perform the portion of the operation that has been assigned to it. Such an attempt to parallelize a write operation may actually result in slower execution than if no attempt to parallelize is made, due to the increased overhead of task scheduling, inter-node communication, and lock management.

Method and apparatus for parallelizing operations that create a table


In a sight line vector detecting system comprising: an infrared light source for illuminating either an eye or a face; a camera for photographing either the eye or the face; and a computer for processing photographed image data of said camera so as to calculate a sight line vector, the computer includes an image processing unit for detecting the true luminance point and the center of the pupil from the photographed image data; and a calculating unit for calculating the sight line vector; and the image processing unit performs such a processing operation that the image processing unit determines a luminance point capable of satisfying a predetermined requirement as the true luminance point among luminance points having the pupils at near places, calculates a center of the pupils, and further, calculates a center of a cornea ball.

Conventionally, technical ideas for detecting lines of sight have been developed as computer input apparatuses designed for handicapped persons who cannot freely use their hands or their fingers. Also, detections of sight lines have been utilized as vehicle assisting means, while sight lines of car drivers are monitored. However, conventional sight line detecting apparatuses have been designed for mounting specific instruments on users, and these sight line detecting technical ideas constrain these users. As a result, there is such a problem that these conventional sight line detecting apparatuses are not so user-friendly. In order to solve this problem, very recently, technical ideas capable of detecting lines of sight (LOS) have been developed by using eyeball models.
In the case that the eyeball models are utilized, correct distances from camera positions up to face surfaces are calculated by simple methods in correct manners, resulting in one problem. For example, the apparatus described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-8-297019 (vehicle-purpose sight line direction measuring apparatus) (will be referred to as "patent publication 1" hereinafter) corresponds to such an apparatus for detecting a sight line of a car driver, while a distance sensor is utilized as means for acquiring a distance from a position of a camera to a face surface of the driver. As the distance sensor, an ultrasonic type sensor, and the like are used. When the ultrasonic type sensor is employed, the following problems occur. That is, the entire sight line detecting apparatus becomes complex; the distance detecting precision is deteriorated if the simple sensor is employed; and if the detecting precision is increased, then the cost of the entire line detecting apparatus is increased.
Also, Information Processing Research Report 2001-HI-93, pages 47 to 54 (Sight Line Measuring System based upon Eyeball Shaped Model), and Eighth Image Sensing Symposium, pages 307 to 312, 2002 (Sight Line Measuring Method based upon Eyeball Model) (will be referred to as "non-patent publications 1 and 2" hereinafter) describe technical ideas capable of detecting directions as to lines of sight (LOS) by utilizing eyeball models. In the apparatuses of these publications, a distance from a camera (otherwise, point light source) up to a face surface must be measured in order that a near-infrared light is illuminated from the point light source to a cornea present in an eye so as to acquire coordinates of a reflection image (called as "Purkinje image"). As the distance measuring method, this distance is measured based upon a focusing value when a lens of the camera is focused on such a position that a dimension of the point light source (namely, dimension of Purkinje image) on an image photographed by the camera becomes minimum. However, it is practically difficult to adjust that the dimension of the Purkinje image correctly becomes minimum. As a consequence, the high-precision distance measurement cannot be expected, but also, the sight line direction by utilizing this measured distance contains errors, resulting in another problem. The Applicant of the present invention has already filed the invention capable of solving these problems (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/078,144, "LINE-OF-SIGHT DETECTING METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR" filed on Mar. 11, 2005) (will be referred to as "patent publication 2" hereinafter).


The invention relates to the field of vaccines against microbial infections and especially bacterial vaccines, in particular to pneumococcal vaccines. More in particular, the invention relates to means and methods to identify, select and isolate a vaccine component for passive and/or active immunization against a microorganism that can be killed by opsonophagocytic cells. The invention relates to a method to identify an opsonophagocytosis inducing antigen as a vaccine component for immunization against a microorganism. The invention describes three pneumococcal proteins SlrA, IgA1 proteinase, and PsaA, and their use as a vaccine component with or without PpmA. The invention also discloses the use of antibodies against said proteins for passive immunization and diagnosis.

The invention relates to the field of biology, more specifically to the field of immunology and microbiology. The invention further relates to the field of vaccines against microbial infections and more in particular bacterial vaccines such as pneumococcal vaccines. More in particular, the invention relates to means and methods to identify, select and isolate a vaccine component to produce a vaccine for passive and/or active immunization against a microorganism that can be recognized and preferably taken up and more preferably killed by opsonophagocytic cells.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading etiological agent of severe infections such as pneumonia, septicemia, meningitis and otitis media, and causes over three million deaths per year worldwide, of which a million are children. The problem of antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae has been enhanced by the successful spread of a limited number of internationally recognized multi-resistant strains. These strains have complicated the treatment of pneumococcal disease, and this has further emphasized the need for vaccination as an alternative means of preventing the large-scale morbidity and mortality associated with pneumococcal infection. The initial attempt to develop an anti-pneumococcal vaccine that consisted of 23 out of 90 of the most prevalent capsular polysaccharides (Pneumovax 23©) was unsuccessful, since the vaccine polysaccharides were unable to elicit an immune response in people at most risk of pneumococcal infection: young children, immuno-compromised patients, and the elderly. Technical advances have allowed the linkage of capsular polysaccharides to highly immunogenic carrier proteins. The implementation of this technology using a vaccine consisting of tetanus toxoid linked to Haemophilus influenzae type B-polysaccharide has led to undetectable levels of carriage of Haemophilus influenzae type B, and an elimination of disease caused by this organism in vaccinated populations. Recently, a polysaccharide conjugate pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar©) has been licensed in the USA by Wyeth Lederle Vaccines. Prevnar© has been released in The Netherlands in 2001. The vaccine formulation is immunogenic in children, and consists of 7 of the most prevalent capsule polysaccharides conjugated to a highly immunogenic (non-pneumococcal) carrier protein. However, unlike the Haemophilus influenzae vaccine, this vaccine covers only 7 out of 90 of the known pneumococcal capsule serotypes, and clinical data from phase three trials conducted in the USA, Israel, and South Africa have shown that the use of this vaccine causes a shift in colonization by non-vaccine serotypes in place of vaccine serotypes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). As a result of this apparent weakness associated with narrow spectrum polysaccharide based antigens, attention has been focused on the non-polysaccharide capsule related pneumococcal proteins, many of which are involved in the pathogenesis of infections. These proteins are considered to be interesting components for future vaccines, since they cover all serotypes of pneumococci. The protein loci are less variable than those encoding the genes for capsular polysaccharide production, and they are more likely to be able to elicit an immune response in children (6, 7, 8, 9).
Further all the vaccines that have been developed thus far are systemic vaccines, i.e. vaccines that have to be injected. A mucosal vaccine that could e.g. be administered intranasally would be preferred for ease of administration, especially in children.
In our ongoing studies on the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of Streptococcus pneumoniae, we have developed a method for the extraction of surface associated pneumococcal proteins and the subsequent testing of said proteins for binding to antibodies. The antibody-antigen complex is identified, said antigen is isolated and characterized and antibodies, produced against said antigen, are subsequently tested for their opsonizing ability for the microorganism. The antigen, which is binding to an antibody with opsonizing ability for the microorganism having such an antigen on its surface, is identified by for example high-resolution two dimensional PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophorsesis) and mass spectrometric identification of the gel spots. This method has provided a means by which we isolated and identified a pneumococcal maturation protein (PpmA) with vaccine potential (10, 11).
The techniques used in the identification of surface-associated pneumococcal proteins, the sequence of ppmA and its protein product (PpmA) and its therapeutic potential are filed under European Patent application nr. 99202640.1.
Many microorganisms are characterized in that they are killed by a phagocytic cell after phagocytosis. Many microorganisms need to be opsonized by opsonins to enhance their phagocytosis. Opsonization is the process of making a microorganism more susceptible for the uptake by a phagocyte. In said process, opsonizing antibodies and/or proteins bind to said microorganism, thereby facilitating the uptake of said microorganism by said phagocyte. Opsonophagocytosis is measured in living phagocytic cells and comprises measuring the uptake by phagocytic cells of microorganisms pretreated with opsonizing antibodies. With this method a selection can be made for surface antigens i.e. antigens naturally or artificially associated with the surface of a microorganism that specifically induce opsonophagocytosis. Of course, surface antigens with opsonophagocytosis inducing ability can be selected from a collection of surface proteins. This typically implies that said surface proteins are isolated from microorganisms and subsequently are purified and tested.

Method for selecting and producing vaccine components and vaccines based thereon


A system for calculating the dimensions of an object during an image capture of the object in an imaging device includes an imaging module, a dimension calculating module, and an indication module. The imaging module is configured for capturing an image of an object. The dimension calculating module is configured for calculating the dimensions of the object. The indication module is configured for indicating the dimensions of the object in the captured image.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to imaging devices and, particularly, to a system and a method for automatically calculating dimensions of an object during an image capture of the object in an imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the applications of image capturing devices such as digital cameras is for capturing images of goods to post the images in an online store for online shoppers to browse. However, majority of those images contain no dimensions of goods, therefore, it is difficult for a shopper to estimate the dimensions of the goods merely by looking at pictures.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for automatically calculating dimensions of an object during an image capture of the object in an imaging device, which can overcome the above-mentioned problem.

System and method for calculating dimensions of object during image capture of object for use in imaging device


A system of a hybrid aircraft includes a first gas turbine engine including a fan, a high speed spool, and a low spool motor configured to drive rotation of the fan. The system also includes a second gas turbine engine and a controller. The controller is operable to determine an operating mode of the hybrid aircraft, control the low spool motor to drive rotation of the fan of the first gas turbine engine responsive to a thrust command while the second gas turbine engine is driven by commanding fuel combustion based on the operating mode, and accelerate the high speed spool of the first gas turbine engine and command fuel combustion at the first gas turbine engine based on a transition of the operating mode to perform a starting operation of the first gas turbine engine.

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to rotating machinery and, more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for asymmetric hybrid aircraft idle.
Gas turbine engines are typically inefficient to operate at low power settings. Operation of a gas turbine engine at idle is the typical lowest power setting available once the gas turbine engine has been started. In some instances, thrust produced at idle may be greater than the thrust needed for ground-based operations, such as taxiing and waiting in a parked position prior to takeoff or after landing. This can result in excess fuel consumption and may reduce engine component life with many repeated taxi, takeoff, and landing cycles.
In some modes of operation, fuel consumption can be reduced by only running one engine, such as during taxi or aircraft descent. However, operating an aircraft with a single engine producing thrust can create a yawing moment on the aircraft that may necessitate compensation actions. Further, the engine that is non-operational may need time to support starting prior to a mode transition of the aircraft or in the event that the fuel-burning engine shuts off unexpectedly.


A system for and a method of wirelessly monitoring one or more patients can include transmitting ultra-wideband pulses toward the one or more patients, receiving ultra-wideband signals, and sampling the ultra-wideband signals. Sampling the ultra-wideband pulses can be performed with a sample rate that is less than the Nyquist rate. Impulse response can be estimated and/or recovered by exploiting sparsity of the impulse response.

Respiratory parameters such as respiratory rate and amplitude can provide vital information about a person's state of health. Diagnosis of several illnesses and disorders, for example sleep apnea, bradydysrhythmia, and/or bradycardia, can be based on the analysis of recordings of respiratory movements while the patient is asleep. Such recordings are often performed overnight in isolated hospital environments using polysomnography during which the patient is required to sleep under conditions of restricted motion while connected to numerous devices and electrodes. Furthermore, for continuous disorders such as sleep apnea, studies might be repeated several times to assess the effectiveness of treatment. The associated costs and discomfort can be high for the patient.
Patients at a risk of undergoing a sudden respiratory death risk have traditionally been monitored by electrocardiography ("ECG"). ECG monitoring can capture tachy dysrhythmias that can be a cause of preventable sudden respiratory death. Historically, it was believed that this was the most cost effective way to detect preventable sudden respiratory death of patients early. However, some patients experience bradydysrhythmia in the ten minutes prior to the calling of a code blue. Bradydysrhythmia is associated with hypoxia, which indicates that respiratory arrest, and not cardiac arrest, may be resulting in a respiratory arrest/death event in these patients. ECG monitoring may not detect the respiratory arrest early enough to allow for successful resuscitation. Respiratory monitoring technology exists. One approach currently available for monitoring respiratory arrest is pulse oximetry. Additionally, respiratory rate monitors, expired and/or transcutaneous CO2 monitoring, and air flow recording devices have also been used. Current respiratory rate and CO2 monitoring devices, however, are not always reliable nor do they produce reproducible data in the awake and active patient. CO2 monitoring can also be expensive and difficult to calibrate. Moreover, as with monitoring for sleep apnea, oximetry monitors rely on connecting the patient to numerous devices and/or electrodes.
As such, a non-invasive non-contact technique that offers low cost and reliable monitoring of respiratory movements is needed.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology offers the possibility of monitoring respiratory movements non-invasively and wirelessly. Indeed, UWB technology has been increasingly studied for ranging and imaging applications in medical environments. Compared with narrowband technologies, UWB offers the large bandwidth suitable for high-resolution ranging while operating in a low-power regime. UWB signals create no or minimal interference with other sensitive equipment in the surroundings, which can be of critical importance in medical environments. Although applications such as the monitoring of respiratory movements and diagnosis of the sleep apnea have been previously considered, they have been limited by several practical challenges. For example, earlier studies focus on estimating only vital signs, such as breathing and heart rates. Diagnosis of many illnesses and disorders, however, requires continuous monitoring of the respiratory amplitude to detect abnormalities in the breathing pattern. This requires accurate tracking of respiratory signals with high range resolution.
Monitoring via UWB can pose several challenges including multipath effects, low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), and high sampling rate requirements. These challenges can be compounded by non-isolated and possibly time-variant environments. Some of these issues have been addressed, but no comprehensive scheme has been suggested that simultaneously deals with all of these issues. For example, earlier techniques have been based on time-of-arrival (TOA) methods that rely on accurate identification of the direct path component. However, in a multipath environment, a direct path may not exist or it may not be the strongest signal. Some schemes assume that the multipath environment is known and time-invariant, but this assumption is not practical in a non-isolated environment. Other schemes attempt to identify the direct path, which is a challenging task and adds additional complexity to the problem.
To improve the effective SNR, a technique has been suggested that utilizes the redundant information available in the sub-peaks of the received signal. See, for example, Lai et al., "Wireless Sensing of Human Respiratory Parameters by Low-Power Ultrawideband Impulse Radio Radar." The effectiveness of this technique is, however, limited. A more widely used technique in typical UWB systems is to utilize multiple pulse transmissions to build a stronger received signal profile through averaging. Because of their large bandwidths, UWB systems require high sampling rates to recover information accurately from the received signals. A solution to this problem has not been previously offered. Further, the techniques rely on equipment such as the digital oscilloscope as their front-end hardware to achieve good tracking accuracy. Dependence on such complex hardware can be a major bottleneck in any efficient and cost-effective UWB solution.

Apparatus and method for wireless monitoring using ultra-wideband frequencies

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A method for processing an image, according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprises the following steps: receiving three-dimensional image data from an application; setting a left eye perspective, which corresponds to the left eye of a user, and setting a right eye perspective, which corresponds to the right eye of the user; and generating a binocular disparity image comprising a left eye perspective image and a right eye perspective image, according to the left eye perspective and the right eye perspective.

By using three-dimensional (3D) graphics, a display device displaying two-dimensional (2D) images may also display 3D models more realistically. However, even when displaying 3D models by using 3D graphics, since the display device that can be verified by the user corresponds to a 2D display screen, a procedure for converting the 3D model to a 2D display screen viewed from the user's (or viewer's) perspective is required.
Since a 2D image that is generally being converted is configured of a left-view image (or left eye perspective image) and a right-view image (or right eye perspective image) that are identical to one another, the stereoscopic effect (or volumetric effect) caused by the binocular parallax cannot be recognized in the stereoscopic display using the binocular parallax.
In order to provide a stereoscopic image having a binocular parallax through the stereoscopic display, a left-eye image and a right-eye image should be generated by an application. Additionally, in case the application does not have such function, the correction is required to be made in the corresponding application so that a binocular parallax image can be provided.
Meanwhile, a method for providing the effects of stereoscopic images in an image display device, which does not provide any stereoscopic images, by determining the eye position of the user's has recently been proposed. However, such a method is inconvenient in that a function of picturing an image with respect to the user's eye position should be realized in the application one by one.

Method for processing image and apparatus for processing image


A seller server receives an offer which specifies a type of product (e.g. a seat on a flight), at least one condition (e.g. destination and date of departure), and an offer price specified by a buyer. The seller server also receives an associated payment identifier that specifies a financial account, such as a credit card account. The payment identifier essentially “guarantees” the offer in that the seller may receive payment from the financial account even if the buyer attempts to renege. The seller determines whether to accept the offer, based on various factors such as the offer price and the availability of appropriate products to satisfy the conditions of the offer. If the offer is accepted, payment is provided to the seller using the payment identifier.

Sellers of various products typically advertise a predetermined price for a product, and customers pay that price for the product. The parent applications of the present application describe a method and apparatus that permits sellers to accept "conditional purchase offers" from buyers, in which a conditional purchase offer specifies a price the buyer is willing to pay for the product. Each conditional purchase offer is further associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account to "guarantee" the offer. If a seller accepts the offer, then that seller can be paid using the payment identifier. Even if the buyer later reneges, the payment identifier guarantees that the seller receives appropriate compensation, typically either the full offer price or a predetermined penalty payment.
The inventions disclosed in the parent applications are especially advantageous in selling excess, perishable inventory such as seats on airline flights. For example, the marginal cost to an airline of selling an additional seat is extremely low. Accordingly, it can be profitable to sell a seat for a low, buyer-specified offer price, especially if the chance of otherwise selling the seat is small (e.g. soon before the flight departs).
However, for various reasons, sellers may believe, correctly or incorrectly, that the drawbacks of such a system as outweighing the advantages. For example, a seller may believe that such a system forces undue competition among sellers for customers that submit offers. For example, if the seller does not accept a reasonable offer, another seller probably will. In fact, the seller may feel compelled to accept unusually low offer prices out of fear that another seller may gain the repeat business of the customer. Although some sellers may have, in fact, incorrectly assessed the magnitude of such drawbacks, the perception alone can prevent the sellers from participating in such a system.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus for processing conditional purchase offers in a manner that reduced the concerns of sellers.

Method and apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one seller


A parts stamper which includes a pair of jaw members, including at least one movable jaw member. The movable jaw member(s) include(s) a cam bearing. The parts stamper includes an actuator which is coupled to a cam element. The cam element cooperates with the cam bearings of the jaw member(s) to cause the jaw members to open and close. The jaw members include tool seats in which various tools can be secured, including an anvil and a number backing plate.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus which are used to imprint indicia onto objects. More particularly, the present invention relates to parts stampers which are used to stamp part numbers or similar indicia into metal parts.
Many devices are manufactured from a number of component parts. It is often necessary to identify such component parts for purposes of repair or replacement purposes. In some cases, manufacturing processes require the identification of component parts which are made by separate fabrication processes or by different vendors. For example, automobiles and trucks are assembled from a number of component parts which require identification. Such identification enables tracking of inventory and is particularly useful when various common parts are used to manufacture different vehicle models.
In the case of stamped parts, such as automobile or truck body parts, part numbers or identification codes have conventionally been imprinted or stamped into the parts. This has been achieved by including a numeral or code stamp in the die member used to stamp the part. One disadvantage with such an assembly is that in order to change a part number or code, the numeral or code stamp has to be changed or replaced. In order to safely change or replace the numeral or code stamp, the die members have to be blocked so as to prevent accidental injury to whomever changes or replaces the numeral or code stamp. This can become time consuming, especially when large dies such as those used to form automobile or truck bodies are involved.
The present invention is directed at a modular parts stamper which can be used to imprint indicia into various metal and non-metal parts.
According to other features, characteristics, embodiments, alternatives and equivalents, the present invention provides a parts stamper which includes:
a body having a yoke structure defined at one end by a pair of spaced-apart wall members and an actuator at an opposite end;
a pair of opposable jaw members, each jaw member including a cam roller bearing at one end and tool seats at opposite ends;
a cam element which contacts the cam roller bearings of the pair of jaw members; and
a linkage structure driven by the actuator and coupled to the cam element.
The present invention further provides a parts stamper which includes:
a body having a yoke structure defined at one end by a pair of spaced-apart wall members and an actuator at an opposite end;
a pair of jaw members having tool seats on one end, including at least one pivotal jaw member which includes a cam roller bearing at an opposite end from the tool seat;
a cam element which contacts each cam roller bearing of the pair of jaw members; and
a linkage structure driven by the actuator and coupled to the cam element.