An optical transmission apparatus includes a modulation unit that generates modulated light by modulating light while bias on which a low-frequency signal is superimposed is applied thereto; an optical amplification unit that generates amplified light by amplifying the modulated light while holding an intensity of the amplified light at a changeable target value; an optical detection unit that generates an electric signal by performing photoelectric conversion on a part of the amplified light; an amplification unit that amplifies the electric signal while suppressing variation in the amplified electric signal, the variation being due to a change of the target value; and a control unit that detects a low-frequency component from the amplified electric signal the variation of which is suppressed and controls the bias on a basis of the detected low-frequency component, the low-frequency component being generated by the low-frequency signal.

In optical communication at or above 10 Gbps, a Mach-Zender modulator (referred to hereafter as an MZ modulator) is used. An MZ modulator is a modulator for modulating the intensity of input light in response to a drive signal superimposed on a bias voltage.
An MZ modulator varies the intensity of output light in accordance with the magnitude of the voltage applied thereto. However, even when a voltage of the same magnitude is applied, the intensity of the output light varies with temperature variation and the passage of time. Therefore, even when the bias voltage and the drive signal remain the same, the intensity of the output light from the Mach-Zender modulator varies with temperature variation and the passage of time.
In response to this problem, techniques for controlling the bias voltage in accordance with a change of the relationship between the applied voltage and the intensity of the output light have been proposed (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-133176, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-88702, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2013/114628, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2011/104838, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2011/030763, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2018-54907, and Hiroto Kawakami, "Auto bias control technique for optical 16-QAM transmitter with asymmetric bias dithering," OPTICS EXPRESS, Vol. 19, No. 26, p. B308-6312, December 2001). The relationship between the applied voltage and the intensity of the output light is referred to hereafter as the optical output characteristic.
In these techniques, for example, a low-frequency AC signal (referred to hereafter as a "dither signal") is superimposed on a DC voltage (in other words, a bias voltage). Then, modulated light (i.e., light that is modulated) is generated by applying the DC voltage to an MZ modulator and inputting a drive signal into the MZ modulator, the dither signal being superimposed on the DC voltage. Further, an electric signal is generated by performing photoelectric conversion on the modulated light. By detecting a low-frequency component, which oscillates at the frequency of the dither signal, from the generated electric signal and feeding the detected low-frequency component back to a bias voltage generation circuit, the bias voltage is controlled to an appropriate value.
This control enables to suppress the variation in the modulation characteristic (more specifically, the relationship between the intensity of the drive signal and the intensity of the modulated light, and the relationship between the intensity of the drive signal and phase of the modulated light), the variation in the modulation characteristic being caused by drift in the optical output characteristic (in other words, optical output variation due to temperature variation and the passage of time).
Optical communication at or above 100 GHz is realized by multi-valued modulated light or modulated light with a bandwidth limited by a Nyquist filter or the like. These types of modulated light are also generated by an MZ modulator with a controlled bias voltage. When modulated light is subjected to multi-value processing or bandwidth limitation, the modulated light generated by the MZ modulator or the like is reduced in intensity.

Optical transmission apparatus and bias control method


A cation exchange membrane having a laminated structure of at least three layers of cation exchange polymer. In a membrane in accordance with the invention, the cation exchange polymer in the laminate has a polymer backbone and cation exchange groups carried on recurring side chains attached to the polymer backbone with the number of carbon atoms in the polymer backbone in relation to the cation exchange groups defining an ion exchange ratio (IXR) for each layer. The layers have differing IXR values which provide one or more high IXR layers and one or more low IXR layers with the IXR of the low IXR layers being less than about 17 and the IXR of the high IXR layers being at least about 15. In a membrane in accordance with the invention, the high and low layers further provide a change in IXR of at least about 2 in at least two locations across the thickness of the membrane.

A fuel cell utilizing a proton (cation) exchange membrane (PEM) as the electrolyte and employing a direct feed fuel such as methanol, ethanol, dimethoxymethane, trimethoxymethane, etc., and oxygen/air as the oxidant has the capability to replace batteries in small, portable applications. Direct methanol proton exchange membrane fuel cells (DMPEMFC's) are of particular interest for such applications. At the present time, the performance level of DMPEMFC's is almost high enough that small cells of this type can be competitive with primary lithium batteries in terms of size and weight. Such fuel cells have several advantages over lithium batteries including (a) the potential for much lighter weight and greater compactness, especially for long-duration operating times, (b) simpler "recharge" involving only the addition of fuel rather than battery replacement and (c) elimination of disposal issues (quite expensive for lithium batteries) and the need for storage of batteries.
The DMPEMFC is also a potentially attractive power source for vehicles and other low to medium power applications such as auxiliary power supplies and lawn mowers. Benefits to be derived from using DMPEMFC's as power sources include dramatic reductions in emissions of air pollutants, reduction in the nation's dependence on imported petroleum since methanol can be made from indigenous fuels such as coal and natural gas and also from renewable sources such as wood and biomass, and an overall increase in energy efficiency. Since liquid methanol as a fuel has a much higher energy density, it avoids the difficulties and hazards associated with the handling of gaseous reactants such as hydrogen. Consequently, DMPEMEC's have the potential for use in vehicles, particularly in California and the Northeast where there are initiatives for low or zero-emission vehicles.
One drawback to fuel cells which employ direct feed fuels, particularly DMPEMFC's, is that that proton (cation) exchange membranes do not totally prevent the so-called "crossover" of fuel through the membrane. The term "crossover" refers to the undesirable transport of fuel through the membrane from the fuel electrode or anode side to the oxygen electrode or cathode side of the fuel cell.
The fuel crossover diminishes cell performance for two primary reasons. Firstly, the transported fuel cannot react electrochemically on the anode side and, therefore, contributes directly to a loss of fuel efficiency (effectively a fuel leak). Secondly, the transported fuel interacts with the cathode i.e., the oxygen electrode, and lowers its operating potential and hence the overall cell voltage. The reduction of cell voltage lowers specific cell power output and also reduces the overall efficiency. Therefore, it is especially desirable to provide a cation exchange membrane for use in a fuel cell which has a low fuel crossover rate.

Multiple layer membranes for fuel cells employing direct feed fuels


A receiving apparatus may achieve optimal RF and IF gain control while suppressing saturated amplification due to interference. The receiving apparatus includes an RF variable gain Amp that amplifies a received RF signal, a mixer that converts an output signal of the RF variable gain Amp into an IF signal, an IF variable gain Amp that amplifies the IF signal, a demodulator that demodulates an output signal of the IF variable gain Amp, and an AGC circuit. The AGC circuit sets a period of gain control for the RF variable gain Amp to be shorter than a period of gain control for the IF variable gain Amp when gains of the RF variable gain Amp and the IF variable gain Amp are controlled based on the output signal of the IF variable gain Amp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus and a receiving method for receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal such as, for example, a terrestrial digital broadcasting wave and the like in mobile terminals, vehicle-mounted terminals and so on while moving or at stationary sites, an LSI (Large Scale Integration) for a radio frequency signal, and an LSI for a base band signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an AGC independent control technique for selecting a channel of an RF signal received by an antenna, and performing an automatic gain control (AGC) for RF amplification and intermediate frequency (IF) amplification in an RF unit independently. This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application Serial No. 2007-167508 filed Jun. 26, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-290178 discloses a technique for AGC in a receiving apparatus, the RF receiving apparatus having a frequency conversion circuit that converts an RF signal received by an antenna into an IF signal, including an RF variable gain amplifier (hereinafter amplifier being abbreviated as "Amp") that amplifies the RF signal; a mixer that amplifies a particular channel from an output signal of the RF gain Amp and outputs the IF signal; first and second IF variable gain Amps that amplify the IF signal output from the mixer; a demodulation circuit that demodulates the IF signal from the second IF variable gain Amp; a detection circuit that detects a level of the IF signal from the second IF variable gain Amp and controls a gain of the second IF variable gain Amp based on a result of the detection; and a comparison circuit that compares an output of the detection circuit with a preset level and controls gains of the RF variable gain Amp and the first IF variable gain Amp based on a result of the comparison. The RF variable gain Amp generally includes a low noise Amp (LNA) that amplifies an RF signal with low noise.
The disclosed RF receiving apparatus performs gain control of the second IF variable gain Amp until the detection level of the received input signal reaches a predetermined value, and performs gain control of the RF variable gain Amp when the detection level exceeds the predetermined value. In this manner, in performing an AGC operation to keep the level of the input signal for the demodulation circuit constant, it is possible to perform the AGC operation at high speed and to deal with a strong input.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-102008 also discloses a technique for AGC in a receiving apparatus, wherein the receiving apparatus and receiving method are capable of improving reliability of AGC by changing a gain of a RF variable gain Amp and keeping a gain of an IF variable gain Amp constant when a received signal is large, and by keeping the gain of the RF variable gain Amp constant and changing the gain of the IF variable gain Amp when the received signal is small.
However, the receiving methods and apparatuses as noted above have the following problems.
A first problem is considered with reference to FIG. 5 of the present application. FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram showing examples of an RF variable gain Amp gain control (RF-AGC) operation and an IF variable gain Amp gain control (IF-AGC) operation in a conventional receiving apparatus. The conventional receiving apparatus changes a gain of one of the RF variable gain Amp and the IF variable gain Amp depending on input levels IN1 to IN3, which are input levels of a signal received by an antenna. For example, the gains of the RF variable gain Amp and the IF variable gain Amp are enlarged for small input levels up to input level IN1, and as the input level increases to IN2, the gain of the IF variable gain Amp is decreased to the minimum level and the gain of the RF variable gain Amp remains unchanged. As the input level further increases to input level IN3 corresponding to the maximum value of dynamic range, the gain of the RF variable gain Amp decreases to the minimum level. However, in such a gain changing method, since an RF gain variable range is different from an IF gain variable range, it is not possible to perform proper gain control due to a difference between RF response speed and IF response speed.
A second problem is considered with reference to FIG. 6 of the present application. FIG. 6 is a schematic waveform diagram of frequency vs. signal level (intensity), showing interference between a desired received signal and adjacent channel signals. In the prior art, when a plurality of interference with very strong power from adjacent channels are received out-of-band from the desired received signal, a band pass filter (BPF) may be used at input sides of an LNA and a mixer to filter out undesired signals. However, in the absence of a filter that limits a frequency band to a desired signal band, undesired signals may occur due to saturated amplification, thereby deteriorating the received signal and line quality. Accordingly, there arises a need to control an RF variable gain Amp constituted by an LNA so that it does not have excessive gain. However, there also arises a need for the RF variable gain Amp to have sufficient gain in order not to deteriorate signal quality such as a noise figure (NF) of the LNA. There is a need to achieve optimal gain control from these conflicting constraints.
However, in the conventional receiving method, as shown in FIG. 6, when the power of the interference is large compared to the small power of the desired received signal, the gain of the RE variable gain Amp becomes maximal, which results in a higher possibility of saturated amplification due to signal interference. For example and as shown in FIG. 6, in some cases a signal level (intensity) of a desired received signal CH0 may become decreased, and signal level (intensity) of adjacent channel signals CH1 and CH2 may become enlarged under a phasing effect, so that a synthetic signal is produced due to interference at a receiving point between a direct wave and a reflected wave due to fast movement of a mobile receiver. In this case, when the signals CH0, CH1 and CH2 are amplified, the desired signal CH0 interferes with the amplified adjacent channel signals CH1 and CH2, which results in deterioration of reception quality of the desired signal CH0.

Radio frequency receiving apparatus, radio frequency receiving method, LSI for radio frequency signal and LSI for base band signal


A server, with access to information about the spending of consumers, is operative to register when any of the consumers develops a new payment channel which is not tracked by a payment network. In respect of such consumers, the server automatically analyses the tracked spending behavior of the consumers before and after the new spending channel is opened, to identify differences between the spending behavior before and afterwards. By aggregating this information among multiple consumers, and multiple merchant classes, the server obtains data characterizing consumer spending using the new payment channel.

The present invention relates to methods, devices and software for collecting information about consumer spending, particularly consumers who use a mobile wallet application.
Payment cards used by individuals (here "consumers") are conventionally associated with a payment network. FIG. 1 shows the basic operation of a conventional system. A consumer holds a payment card, typically a credit or debit card, issued by an issuer bank. The consumer goes to a POS (point-of-sales) terminal 1 operated to a merchant to make a purchase of a product. Note that the term "product" is used in this document to include any of physical objects, data products (such as music or software) or services. The POS terminal 1 reads the details of the payment card, and sends them, together with data including the amount of the purchase, to the server 3 of an acquirer bank at which the merchant maintains an account. The acquirer bank server 3 contacts a payment network server 5 of the payment network, and passes on the payment card details and the amount of the purchase. The payment network server 5 uses the payment card details to identify the issuer bank. The payment network server 5 contacts an issuer bank server 7 operated by the issuer bank, and sends it the payment card details and the amount of the purchase. The issuer bank server 7 decides either to authorize the purchase, or not to, and sends a corresponding message to the payment network server 5. The payment network server passes this information to the acquirer bank server 3, which passes the message back to the POS terminal 1. If the issuer bank server 7 authorized the transaction, then the purchase is now completed. At some later time (during clearing and settlement operations), the issuer bank transfers the payment amount to the acquirer bank.
The same basic scheme is used when the consumer, instead of using the POS terminal 1, uses a communication device 9 associated with the consumer to contact, using a communication network 11, a server 13 which functions as an online store. The communication device may be a smart phone, a tablet computer or a PC. In this case, the online store server 13 replaces the POS terminal 1 in the payment process described in the preceding paragraph. The consumer enters the payment card details into the communication device 9, or they may be pre-stored there.
Both situations described above give the payment network server 5 opportunities to collect valuable information about the spending habits of consumers. The payment transactions are recorded in a transaction database 10, and analyzed by an analysis computer system (which may be the payment network server 5 itself, but may alternatively be a separate computer system), typically after a certain amount of information in respect of each payment card has accumulated. For example, the payment network server 5 can determine that a certain consumer makes payments in a certain geographical region, from certain merchants, at certain times. Various mechanisms exist to enrich the information gathering procedure, for example using information the payment network server 5 receives about the consumer from the issuing bank server 7.

Methods and devices for collecting information about consumer spending


The present invention provides, in a vehicular power transmitting apparatus including a differential portion electrically controlled, a control device which can quickly decrease the engine rotation speed, even if the operational state of an electric motor is limited. An engine-stop controlling means (112) includes limiting means for limiting the differential state of a differential portion (11) by a switching brake (B0) and a switching clutch (C0) when the operational state of a first electric motor (M1) is limited. Therefore, a torque in a direction for decreasing a rotation speed (NE) of an engine (8) is applied by limiting the differential state of the differential portion (11), for example, in a vehicle stopped state. As a result, the rotation speed (NE) of the engine (8) is quickly decreased to pass through a resonance point in a short time, whereby occurrence of resonance phenomena can be prevented.

A vehicular power transmitting apparatus including an electrically controlled differential portion is known. In the electrically controlled differential portion, a differential state of rotation speeds between an input shaft to which an internal combustion engine is connected and an output shaft is controlled, by controlling an operational state of an electric motor connected to a rotary element of a differential mechanism in a power transmissive state. For example, a power output device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. H10-306739) may be one example of such a power transmitting apparatus. In the vehicular power transmitting apparatus thus structured, the differential mechanism is comprised of, for example, a planetary gear unit having rotary elements of which rotations are controlled by controlling the electric motor connected to the rotary element in the power transmissive state.
It is well known that a torsional vibration or twisting vibration is generated in a power transmitting system by torque variations in an internal combustion engine resulting from a rotational motion thereof. The torsional vibration is amplified by a resonance phenomena of the power transmitting system, and is then transmitted to a vehicle body. Generally, a resonance area (resonance point) falls within a low rotation speed area of the internal combustion engine in which the rotation speed is less than an idle rotation speed. In a stopping process of the internal combustion engine in a differential manner, when the rotation speed falls within the resonance point, there is a fear of the above-mentioned resonance phenomena being caused. In view of this, in Patent Literature 1, upon stopping the internal combustion engine, the rotation speed thereof is controlled by controlling the electric motor to quickly pass through the resonance point, for thereby preventing occurrence of the resonance phenomena.
However, for example, if a charge/discharge of a battery supplying electric power to the motor is limited, the operational state of the electric motor is limited. If the internal combustion engine is controllably stopped by the electric motor in this state, limitation is imposed on an output torque output from the electric motor, which may lengthen a time period necessary for decreasing the rotation speed of the internal combustion engine. Thus, in a decreasing process of the rotation speed of the internal combustion engine, there is a fear that longer time period is required to pass through the resonance point, causing resonance phenomena.

Control device for vehicular power transmitting apparatus


The present disclosure provides a rechargeable battery for an induction garbage bin, comprising a steel shell, a battery core, an output structural component and an intermediate connection structural component, the battery core being provided in the steel shell, wherein, a lower end of a USB fixing structural part of the intermediate connection structural component is fittingly sleeved on an open end of the steel shell; a positive end of the battery core is connected with a positive tab connection point (B+) on a PCB substrate, a negative end of the battery core is connected with a negative tab connection point (B−) on the PCB substrate; the output structural component is fittingly clamped and sleeved on a USB metal part of the intermediate connection structural component; and a positive clamp output end (O+) of the electronic component is in close contact with a metal languet of a positive cap of the output structural component. The rechargeable battery for an induction garbage bin according to the present disclosure is convenient to fabricate, safe and reliable, and has a high energy utilization rate.

With improvement of people's living standards, the technologies of smart home, and internet-of-things are developing rapidly, and modernization of home life is an inevitable trend. At present, almost all traditional dustbin industries have launched their own intelligent inductive dustbins, which must be a future trend. The intelligent induction garbage bin is also bound to be a consumption habit of common people. Just like televisions and washing machines at that time, which are now widely available, the intelligent induction garbage bin will also become popular in the next few years.
One indispensable component in the smart home is a battery; at the very beginning, most of small batteries that people frequently used were alkaline batteries; and with improvement of a battery technology, high-energy batteries such as nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion batteries emerge with ever-increasing energy density and ever-decreasing weight and volume.
Requirements for working voltages are different in various electric appliances; if an ordinary lithium battery is used directly, a battery voltage may exceed a rated voltage range of an electric appliance, which will bring safety hazards to use of the electric appliance, resulting in an unstable operating state in a minor circumstance, and in a serious circumstance, resulting in abnormality, which causes irreversible damage, increases safety risks, and even incurs a short circuit, burns the circuit, and triggers a major safety accident.
When an electric appliance is operating, the working voltage will be affected more or less, which causes disturbance; especially with respect to an electric appliance comprising an induction component, when it is turned on or off, a voltage pulse higher than a power supply voltage will be generated more or less, which has an impact on a power supply, threatens safety of the circuit, and affects normal operation of the electric appliance.
Therefore, in actual application, it is necessary to clamp an output voltage of the battery used, to ensure that the working voltage of the electric appliance is within its suitable rated range. At a same time, it is necessary to process a high-voltage pulse generated by the operating electric appliance, which is superimposed on the working power supply, to ensure normal operation of the electric appliance.

Rechargeable battery for induction garbage bin

NATIONAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER OF ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming recesses (a via hole and wiring grooves) in a insulation film; forming a seal layer on inside surfaces of the recesses by using a gas based on a silane having an alkyl group as a precursor; applying EB-cure or UV-cure to the seal layer; and filling up the recesses with a conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by forming a groove wiring in a low-permittivity (low-k) film.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, attendant on the tendency toward semiconductor devices higher in the degree of integration and minuter in size, a reduction in RC delay has come to be needed especially. In view of this, it has been proposed to use copper (Cu) having a low specific resistance as a wiring material, in place of aluminum (Al) used conventionally, and to use a low-permittivity (low-k) film with a low permittivity as an insulating material. As to low-permittivity (low-k) insulating films, development of insulating films with a relative permittivity k<3.0 has been under way, and examples of such insulating films include hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ), and aromatic compound-containing organic insulating film. Hereinafter, the low-permittivity film means an insulating film with a relative permittivity k<3.0.
In recent years, in the wiring structures in which grooves formed in an insulating film are filled up with a wiring material to form wirings (for example, dual Damascene structure), a hybrid structure obtained by combining an aromatic compound-containing insulating film easy to process with polymethylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) has been widely used. In consideration of the 45 nm or 32 nm generation as a design rule, the use of a low-permittivity film with a permittivity of not more than 2.5 as a insulation film to be provided with vias has been proposed. In general, a low-permittivity film is susceptible to plasma damages at the time of processing thereof, and, as a result, tends to be hygroscopic. In addition, since the low-permittivity film often has pores formed therein for reducing the permittivity, and the presence of the pores accelerates absorption of moisture. Where the low-k film is thereafter subjected to a wetting treatment, the pores may form paths through which a chemical liquid penetrates. Besides, the pores may permit a metal to ooze out into the insulation film.
Where absorption of moisture into the insulation film has occurred, corrosion (e.g., oxidation) of the barrier metal film is caused upon degassing, resulting in oozing out of the metal into the insulation film or an increase in the via resistance due to deterioration of the barrier property. In addition, the adhesion between the insulation film and the copper seed layer is also deteriorated, generating such fatal defects as electro-migration and stress migration arising from the vias.
As a countermeasure against the plasma damages to the low-permittivity film, development of a pore-sealing technology has been being made (refer to Non-Patent Document 1 (M. Ueki, M. Narihiro, H. Ohtake, M. Tagami, M. Tada, F. Ito, Y. Harada, M. Abe, N. Inoue, K. Arai, T. Takeuchi, S. Saito, T. Onodera, N. Furutake, M. Hiroi, M. Sekine and Y. Hayashi, "Highly Reliable 65 nm-mode Cu Dual Damascene Interconnects with Full Porous-SiOCH (k=2.5) Films for Low-Power ASICs", 2004 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers p60-61, 2004.)).
In the technology disclosed in Non-patent Document 1, after a low-permittivity film is processed, a sealing material film is built up for the purpose of sealing. In this case, etch-back should be conducted for securing conductivity at the bottom parts of the vias. This makes it possible to secure conductivity at the bottoms of the vias and to leave the sealing material film in the form of spacers in the trenches and on side wall parts of the vias. However, this process has the problem that the bottom parts of the vias cannot be sealed, and the problem that the bottom parts of the vias undergo etching damages during the spacer forming process, resulting in a rise in the interlayer capacity (refer to Non-patent Document 2 (S. Arakawa, I. Mizuno, Y. Ohoka, K. Nagahata, K. Tabuchi, R. Kanamura and S. Kadomura, "Breakthrough Integration of 32 nm-mode Cu/Ultra Low-k SiOC (k=2.0) Interconnects by using Advanced Pore-Sealing and Low-k Hard Mask Technologies", 2006 IEEE p210-212, 2004.)). These problems become more conspicuous as the lowering in the permittivity of the insulation film is accelerated.
In order to solve the above problems, elimination of the etch-back step may be contemplated as a method for attaining the object. It is considered that via conduction can be secured to a certain extent by reducing the deposited film thickness to a level of several nanometers. In this case, however, the coverage of the side wall parts would be insufficient, and the sealing effect would be deficient, resulting in deteriorated reliability.
An example of the method of manufacturing a wiring structure by use of a low-permittivity film in the related art will be described below, referring to manufacturing step sectional views shown in FIGS. 6A to 6I.
As shown in FIG. 6A, a wiring groove 251 is formed in an insulating film (not shown) formed on a semiconductor substrate (not shown), and a wiring 253 is formed inside the wiring groove 251, with a barrier metal layer 252 therebetween. For example, the wiring 253 is formed from copper (Cu) in a thickness of 60 nm. Next, a barrier layer 254 covering the wiring 253 is formed. The barrier layer 254 is composed of a silicon carbonitride (SiCN) film formed by a chemical vapor deposition (e.g., PE-CVD: plasma enhancement CVD) method, and is formed in a thickness of 30 nm. Subsequently, a insulation film 211 is formed. The insulation film 211 is composed, for example, of an MSQ (methyl-hydrogen-silsesquioxane)-based porous film having a permittivity of not more than 2.5, the thickness being 250 nm. The insulation film 211 may be formed by a CVD method or by an SOG coating method. In addition, the material of the wiring 253 is not limited to copper but may be other metal such as silver (Ag), gold (Au) and aluminum (Al).
Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, an etching mask 231 for forming a via is formed on the insulation film 211 by use of a chemical amplification type ArF resist. The diameter of a via pattern 232 formed in the etching mask 231 was 60 nm.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6C, by dry etching conducted using the etching mask 231 [see FIG. 6B], a via hole 213 is formed in the insulation film 211. In the dry etching, a carbon fluoride (CFx)-based gas was used as the etching gas. Thereafter, the etching mask 231 is removed by ashing with an oxygen (O2)-based gas. This etching treatment is carried out at a low pressure so as to minimize the plasma damages to the insulation film 211, which is a low-permittivity (low-k) film. In this case, the gas pressure was set to 0.27 Pa, and is desirably not more than 0.67 Pa.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, an etching mask 233 for forming wiring grooves is formed on the insulation film 211 by use of a chemical amplification type ArF resist. The width of wiring groove patterns 234 formed in the etching mask 231 was 60 nm.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6E, by dry etching conducted using the etching mask 233 [see FIG. 6D], wiring grooves 214 are formed in a depth of 140 nm in the insulation film 211. In this dry etching, a carbon fluoride (CF)-based gas was used as the etching gas. Thereafter, the etching mask 233 is removed by ashing with an oxygen (O2)-based gas. This treatment is carried out at a low etching atmosphere pressure so as to minimize plasma damages to the low-permittivity (low-k) film. The pressure of the etching atmosphere was set to 0.27 Pa.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6F, the barrier layer 254 at a bottom part of the via hole 213 is removed, to expose the wiring 253 there. The etching for this removal is conducted using a carbon fluoride (CF)-based gas. Further, the surface of the wiring 253 thus exposed is washed with an organic cleaning liquid.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6G, a seal layer 215 having a thickness of 1 nm or below is formed on inside surfaces of the via hole 213 and the wiring grooves 214 by using dimethylphenylsilane (DMPS) as a precursor. This treatment was carried out under the conditions of a substrate RF bias power of 150 W, a film forming atmosphere pressure of 0.67 kPa, a flow rate of DMPS as precursor of 500 cm3/min, a flow rate of helium (He) as carrier gas of 1000 cm3/min, and a substrate temperature of 350° C., but these conditions are not limitative.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6H, a tantalum (Ta) film having a thickness of 7 nm is formed as a barrier layer 216 on the surface of the insulation film 211 inclusive of the inside surfaces of the via hole 213 and the wiring grooves 214, with the seal layer 215 therebetween, by a sputtering method. Further, a copper seed layer (not shown) is formed in a thickness of 45 nm. Subsequently, the inside of the via hole 213 and the wiring grooves 214 is filled up with a copper (Cu) film 217 by an electrochemical plating (ECP) method or a CVD method. Next, an annealing treatment for grain growth is conducted at 250° C. for 90 sec. Subsequently, the surplus copper (Cu) film 217 (inclusive of the copper seed layer) on the insulation film 211 is polished away by a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method, to complete copper wirings 218 in which the via hole 213 and the wiring grooves 214 are filled up with the copper film 217, with the barrier film 216 therebetween, and which are connected to the wiring 253 through the via hole 213.
After the dual Damascene process as above-mentioned, the insulation film 211 which is a low-permittivity film has received much plasma damages, the surface layer damaged part has absorbed moisture, and absorption of moisture into the film through pores has progressed.
In the case where the thickness of the seal layer 215 is 1 nm, the resistance (mean value) is raised by 50%, and the dispersion of resistance is also increased by a factor of 3 or more, as compared with the case where the sealing treatment is not conducted. This is not permissible on a device design basis. Besides, in the case where the thickness of the seal layer 215 is 0.5 nm, defects are generated upon the subsequent test of reliability (stress migration, electro-migration). This is considered to show that the small thickness of the seal layer 215 made the sealing effect insufficient, so that film quality deterioration (oxidation) of the barrier metal proceeded due to degassing from the inside of the film, oozing-out of copper (Cu) is observed, and, as shown in FIG. 6I, the adhesion between the copper (Cu) seed layer and the insulation film was deteriorated, resulting in the defect composed of formation of a void 219 inside the via hole 213.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


An innovative detection system for detecting small numbers of target analytes is disclosed. This system provides a novel method for attaching multiple copies of reporter groups to a single site on an analyte of interest. This system preferably comprises a virus capsid enclosing multiple detectable reporter groups, and a linking molecule which is capable of linking the capsid to the analyte of interest.

This invention is directed to a novel detection system for detecting small numbers of analytes, and a method for making said detection system.
The need for the detection of smaller amounts of target analytes requires the development of more sensitive detection systems. The most widely employed approach solves this problem simply by increasing the number of target analytes, for example, the PCR-like approach. A second general approach is to develop more sensitive methods for detecting limited numbers of target analytes. An example using this approach is the bead-based fiber-optical arrays. See Walt, D. R. (2000), Science 287:451-452. A third general approach involves attaching a larger number of commonly used reporter groups to each target analyte. Since an analyte of interest may offer only a limited number of sites for attaching reporter groups, this third approach is limited by the number of independently available attachment sites, unless multiple reporter groups can be attached to each attachment site. Numerous methods applying this third approach have been reported. For example, multiple reporters may be attached to single attachment sites either by creating a branched structure on the attachment site and then attaching reporter molecules to the distal ends of the created branches, or by bundling the reporter groups together and then attaching the bundle to the individual attachment sites of an analyte of interest.
One example of a commercial technology using the third approach is the Quantigene system. This system uses branched DNA (bDNA) technology to detect target RNA molecules.
Another commercially available method using the third approach involves microspheres, which are small polystyrene particles enclosing multiple reporter groups. The microspheres are often covered with functional groups, thereby enabling the microspheres to be attached to particular targets. For instance, Molecular Probes (Eugene, Oreg.) produces polystyrene microspheres with diameters of as small as 20 nm. The 20 nm microspheres produced by Molecular Probes are reported to contain about 200 equivalents of fluorescein, and can be visualized as single particles in light microscopes, appearing as point sources of fluorescence. See Molecular Probes: Handbook of Fluorescent Probes and Research Chemicals, Sixth Edition, page 111. However, it is generally recognized that polystyrene microspheres are not generally useful for detecting small numbers of target analytes because they tend to be too sticky, and often generate a high, nonspecific background signal.
Alternative methods and approaches for bundling reporter groups would provide new approaches for efforts to reduce nonspecific background binding to levels which would allow detection of fewer analytes than is possible with currently available reporter bundles. Thus, novel methods for bundling could be the central elements in detection systems which are capable of detecting smaller numbers of analytes of interest.
This disclosure provides a new approach for creating a detection system which is capable of linking multiple copies of reporter groups to virtually any target analyte of interest. In this disclosure, a viral particle, preferably a bacteriophage particle, more preferably a Bacteriophage T4 capsid, is used as a scaffold or container to bundle multiple copies of reporter groups.
Various molecules have been incorporated into a viral particle for different purposes, and individual virus particles have been stained with various agents and visualized in light microscopes. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,484 and Matsumato, S., Morikawa, K. and Yanagida, M. (1981), J. Mol. Biol. 152:501-516. See also Doolittle, M. M., Cooney, J. J. and Caldwell, D. E. (1996), J. Ind. Microbiol. 16(6):331-341. However, these previous uses of viral particles either rely on the infectiousness of the virus, or have a limited capability to detect a broad range of analytes of interest.
In contrast, a prominent feature of the presently described detection system is that it can detect almost any analyte of interest by incorporating multiple copies of reporter groups and a linking molecule into a non-infectious viral particle. A major practical advantage of a detection system thus formed is that it provides a simple, fast method for the detection of small numbers of analytes. It is especially true when the nature of the target analytes is such that they cannot be amplified and/or if they offer only a single or a few sites for attaching reporter groups.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a detection system that is capable of detecting a small number of analytes of interest, and to provide a method for making such a detection system.
In achieving this object, there has been provided, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a detection system capable of binding to an analyte, wherein the detection system comprises a non-infectious viral particle, a reporter group linked to the viral particle, and a linking molecule which is capable of linking the viral particle to the analyte; and wherein the reporter group and the linking molecule are not components of a naturally occurring virus.
In one embodiment, the viral particle is a bacteriophage particle, preferably a bacteriophage of the T Even family, and more preferably a Bacteriophage T4.
In a preferred embodiment, the bacteriophage particle comprises a capsid and does not have a tail structure. More preferably, the capsid is a Bacteriophage T4 capsid.
In another embodiment, the detection system of the present invention comprises at least 50 reporter groups, preferably at least 100 reporter groups, and more preferably at least 200 reporter groups.
In yet another embodiment, the reporter group comprises a fluorescent molecule, which preferably comprises a fluorescent protein, such as a green fluorescent protein. The fluorescent protein may preferably be enclosed within a Bacteriophage T4 capsid.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the reporter group comprises an outer capsid protein covalently linked to a fluorescent protein. Preferably, the outer capsid protein is a non-essential outer capsid protein.
In a preferred embodiment, the linking molecule comprises an outer capsid protein covalently linked to an extra amino acid sequence. The outer capsid protein preferably is a non-essential outer capsid protein, such as the hoc and soc proteins of Bacteriophage T4. The extra amino acid sequence preferably comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a single chain Fv molecule, an Annexin and a DNA methyltransferase.
In another embodiment, the detection system comprises at least two bacteriophage particles which are linked together, either covalently or non-covalently, which thereby permits an increased number of reporter groups to bind to a single analyte.
A detection system has also been provided, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, wherein said detection system comprises a viral particle, a fluorescent protein which is enclosed within the viral particle, and a linking molecule which is capable of linking the viral particle to the analyte; and wherein the linking molecule is not a component of a naturally occurring virus.
In another aspect of the present invention, the detection system comprises a viral particle, a reporter group which is linked to the viral particle and comprises a first outer capsid protein covalently linked to a first extra amino acid sequence, and a linking molecule which is capable of linking the viral particle to the analyte and comprises a second outer capsid protein covalently linked to a second extra amino acid sequence; and wherein the first and second extra amino acid sequence are not identical.
There has been provided, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method making a detection system, comprising the steps of:
(1) providing a viral particle;
(2) providing a reporter group comprising a first outer capsid protein;
(3) linking the reporter group to the viral particle;
(4) providing a linking molecule which is capable of linking the viral particle to the analyte and comprises a second outer capsid protein; and
(5) linking the linking molecule to the viral particle; wherein the reporter group and the linking molecule are not components of a naturally occurring virus; and wherein either the reporter group or the linking molecule, or both, are exogenous to the viral particle.
In a preferred embodiment, either the step (3) or the step (5), or both, of the above method are not performed in a cell.
The detection system of the present invention comprises a non-infectious viral particle, a reporter group, and a linking molecule which is capable of linking the viral particle to an analyte of interest. The viral particle used in the present invention preferably is a noninfectious viral particle, more preferably a non-infectious bacteriophage particle, such as a non-infectious particle from a bacteriophage of the T4 Even family, and most preferably a Bacteriophage T4 capsid. The reporter group may be any molecule which can be detected by a detection means, such as light microscopy or fluorescence microscopy. In a preferred embodiment, the reporter group comprises a fluorescent protein enclosed in the cavity of the viral particle. The linking molecule may be a fusion protein comprising an outer capsid protein and an extra polypeptide. The linking molecule is capable of linking the viral particle to the target analyte of interest, either via covalent interactions or non-covalent interactions, or both. For example, the extra polypeptide may be a single chain Fv molecule which directly binds to the target analyte of interest. The extra polypeptide may also indirectly bind to the target analyte via another molecule, for example, via a bivalent protein which can simultaneously bind to the extra polypeptide and the target analyte.
The reporter group and the linking molecule preferably are not components of a naturally occurring virus. In one embodiment, the reporter group and/or the linking molecule are exogenous to the viral particle, and are synthesized and/or prepared separate from the viral particle. For example, the reporter group and/or the linking molecule may be assembled or linked to the viral particle after the viral particle has been isolated from cells in which the viral particle is expressed and assembled. The reporter group and/or the linking molecule may be linked to the viral particle out of cells or in a cell free system.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9cdetection systemxe2x80x9d means an isolated system which is capable of binding to an analyte of interest. A detection system is capable of xe2x80x9crecognizingxe2x80x9d an analyte if the system is capable of binding to the analyte.
An xe2x80x9canalytexe2x80x9d means any object of interest. For example, an analyte may be a molecule, a chemical compound, a protein, a polynucleotide, a lipid, a polysaccharide, a cell, a component of a cell, or a tissue.
A xe2x80x9creporter groupxe2x80x9d is a molecule which is capable of being detected by a detection means. A reporter group includes, but is not limited to, a radioactive or fluorescent chemical compound, an antibody, a fluorescent protein, a protein conjugated with a radioactive or fluorescent chemical compound, a protein or chemical compound which binds to another radioactive or fluorescent protein or chemical compound.
A xe2x80x9clinking moleculexe2x80x9d is a molecule which is capable of linking two object together. For example, a linking molecule may be a bivalent antibody fragment or a single chain Fv molecule which can non-covalently bind to two different objects simultaneously.
An object is xe2x80x9clinkedxe2x80x9d to another object if the two objects associate with each other via either non-covalent interactions or covalent interactions, or via both types of interactions. As used herein, non-covalent interactions include the physical restrains imposed by a viral capsid to a molecule enclosed therein.
A first protein xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d a second protein means that the first protein comprises the amino acid sequence of the second protein.
An xe2x80x9couter capsid proteinxe2x80x9d is a naturally occurring protein which is located at the exterior surface of a viral capsid.
A xe2x80x9cnon-essential outer capsid proteinxe2x80x9d is an xe2x80x9couter capsid proteinxe2x80x9d expression of which is not required for the viability of a virus. A virus may be either a naturally occurring virus or a virus which has been intentionally modified by humans.
A component is xe2x80x9cexogenousxe2x80x9d to a viral particle if the component is not a component of the virus from which the viral particle is derived. A component of a virus is a component which is encoded by the genome of said virus and can be expressed therefrom. Said genome can be either naturally occurring, or has been intentionally modified by human in the laboratory.
The term xe2x80x9cnaturally occurring,xe2x80x9d as applied to an object, refers to the fact that the object can be found in nature. For example, a polypeptide or polynucleotide that is present in an organism, including a virus or a viral particle, is xe2x80x9cnaturally occurringxe2x80x9d if the organism can be isolated from a source in nature and has not been intentionally modified by man in the laboratory.
As used herein, a viral particle is the physical embodiment of a virus or part thereof, and is said to be xe2x80x9cderivedxe2x80x9d from said virus. A viral particle preferably comprises a viral capsid which may be either naturally occurring or has been intentionally modified by man in the laboratory. A viral capsid, as used herein, may or may not contain the nucleic acid material of the virus from which the capsid is derived.
A xe2x80x9cnon-infectiousxe2x80x9d viral particle is a viral particle which is incapable of infecting host cells upon contacting said host cells under normal conditions. Normal conditions are conditions under which the host cells are maintained in nature or in the laboratory. A viral particle is capable of infecting a host cell if the particle can enter the host cell and produce a copy thereof. A non-infectious bacteriophage particle is incapable of forming plaques when being plated on its bacterial host.
A protein is xe2x80x9cenclosedxe2x80x9d in a viral particle if the protein is located in the cavity of the viral capsid of the viral particle.
Viral Particle
A viral particle from any type of virus, preferably a bacterial virus or bacteriophage, may be used to construct the detection system of the present invention. The viral particle preferably is non-infectious, thus reducing potential health hazards associated with using infectious viruses. When a bacteriophage particle is used, it preferably is from a bacteriophage of the T Even family. More preferably, the bacteriophage particle is a mutant which has only a capsid and does not have a tail structure. Most preferably, the bacteriophage particle is a T4 capsid. A bacteriophage particle without a tail structure may reduce non-specific binding, and thus enhance the sensitivity of detection.
A Bacteriophage T4 mutant which consists of only a capsid after completion of assembly is preferably used. Bacteriophage T4 capsid has a size of about 65xc3x9795 nm, which is too small to be visible in light microscopes. The Bacteriophage T4 capsid is usually attached to a contractile tail. Normally, the capsid and tail are independently assembled inside a suitable bacteria and then combined. Numerous mutants are readily available that allow one to make complete capsids without tails.
A bacteriophage capsid may comprise several non-essential outer capsid proteins, deletion of which does not significantly affect the viability of the bacteriophage. For example, hoc and soc proteins of Bacteriophage T4 are two non-essential outer capsid proteins which are inserted into multiple sites on the exterior surface of the Bacteriophage T4 capsid. Normally, the exterior surface of a Bacteriophage T4 capsid comprises about 160 copies of hoc protein and about 960 copies of soc protein. Both proteins may be added and incorporated into a T4 capsid after the capsid has been assembled without both proteins. Hoc and soc protein can associate tightly with the capsid surface upon incorporation. See, for example, Black, L. W., Showe, M. K. and Steven, A. C. (1994), Molecular Biology of Bacteriophage T4 (ed. by J. D. Karam, ASM Press), pages 218-258, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In one embodiment, the detection system may comprise at least two viral particles, preferably two bacteriophage particles, more preferably two Bacteriophage T4 capsids without the tail structures. The two viral particles are preferably linked via outer capsid proteins. For example, an outer capsid protein of one viral particle may be covalently linked to an outer capsid protein of the other viral particle. Linkers capable of cross linking proteins may also be suitable for linking the outer capsid proteins of two viruses. For suitable linkers, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,524, U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,542, and Landsdorp, et al., xe2x80x9cCyclic Tetramolecular Complexes Of Monoclonal Antibodies: A New Type Of Cross-linking Agent,xe2x80x9d Euro. J. Immunol., 16:679-83 (1986). These references are hereby incorporated by reference.
Reporter Group
A reporter group may be any molecule which can give rise to a detectable signal. It may be, or preferably may not be, a component of a naturally occurring virus. For example, it may be a fluorescent compound, such as fluorescein or R-phycoerythrin, or a radioactive compound, which is linked, preferably covalently linked, to an outer capsid protein of the virus. A reporter group may also be a ligand which can bind to a detectable receptor, for example, a fluorescein-conjugated antibody, and the ligand may be linked, preferably covalently, to an outer capsid protein of the viral particle.
Methods for linking a chemical compound to a protein are well known in the art. For instance, a chemical compound may be covalently linked to a protein via the side chains of the amino acid residues of the protein. Suitable side chains include amine, carboxyl, phenyl, thiol or hydroxyl groups. A chemical compound may also be covalently linked to a protein via a linker. Various conventional linkers are well known, for example, disiocyanates, diisothiocyanates, bis(hydroxysuccinimide) esters, carbodiimides, maleimide-hydroxysuccinimide esters, and glutaraldehyde.
In addition, a chemical compound may be non-covalently linked to a viral capsid. For example, a chemical compound may bind to a fusion protein comprising a hoc protein and a single chain Fv molecule which specifically recognizes the chemical compound. The fusion protein is incorporated into the viral capsid via the portion consisting of hoc protein.
Preferably, a reporter chemical compound may be linked to an outer capsid protein of the virus after completion of the assembly of the virus. For example, a mutant virus whose capsid lacks a particular type of non-essential outer capsid protein may be used. First, a chemical compound may be conjugated to the non-essential outer capsid protein, and then, the conjugated non-essential outer capsid protein may be incorporated, preferably out of cells, into an assembled capsid of said virus. Preferably, conjugation of the chemical compound to a non-essential outer capsid protein does not significantly affect the ability of the outer capsid protein to be incorporated into the viral capsid. The ability of the modified outer capsid protein to be incorporated into a capsid can be easily tested by evaluating whether the final capsid has the reporter chemical compounds. In one embodiment, a reporter chemical compound is preferably linked to a viral capsid after the linking molecule, which is capable of linking the viral capsid to the target analyte of interest, has been incorporated into the viral capsid.
Where a non-essential outer capsid protein has multiple incorporation sites on a viral capsid, multiple copies of reporter group may be incorporated into the capsid. For example, soc and hoc protein are non-essential outer capsid protein of Bacteriophage T4. Soc and hoc protein have about 960 and 160 incorporation sites on a T4 capsid, respectively. T4 mutants which lack either soc or hoc protein are available. See, for example, Ishii, T and Yanagida, M. (1977), J. Mol. Biol. 109:487-514, which is herein incorporated by reference. T4 mutants which lack both hoc and soc protein are also available or can be prepared by standard phage cross techniques. See id. A reporter chemical compound may be linked to either soc or hoc protein using methods as appreciated by one of skill in the art. The soc or hoc protein thus modified may then be incorporated into the capsid of the T4 mutant which lacks soc or hoc protein. By this means, at least about 960 reporter chemical compounds may be incorporated into a T4 capsid via soc proteins, and at least about 160 reporter chemical compounds may be incorporated via hoc proteins. Because each soc or hoc protein may be linked to more than one reporter compound, the total number of incorporated reporter chemical compounds may be well above 960 or 160, respectively. Moreover, by changing the relative concentration between the mutant T4 capsid and the modified non-essential outer protein, one of skill in the art may link various numbers of the reporter chemical compound to the T4 capsid. For instance, the number of reporter chemical compounds that can be attached to a mutant T4 capsid via soc protein may range, for example, from zero to at least about 50, or to at least about 100, or to at least about 200, or to at least about 960.
In another embodiment, the reporter group may be a fusion protein comprising an outer capsid protein covalently linked to an extra amino acid sequence which preferably is a fluorescent protein. The outer capsid protein preferably is a non-essential outer capsid protein. The fusion protein preferably is incorporated into a capsid after completion of the assembly of the viral capsid, for example, the incorporation may be performed after the viral capsid has been isolated from cells in which it is assembled. More preferably, the fusion protein is incorporated after the linking molecule, which is capable of linking the capsid to an analyte of interest, has been incorporated into the viral capsid. In a preferred embodiment, the virus is a T4 mutant which lacks hoc or soc protein, and the fusion protein comprises hoc or soc protein, respectively. In a more preferred embodiment, the T4 mutant further lacks the tail structure. Where an outer capsid protein, preferably a non-essential outer capsid protein, has multiple incorporation sites on a viral capsid, multiple copies of a fusion protein comprising a fluorescent protein and the outer capsid protein may be incorporated into the viral capsid.
In a preferred embodiment, the reporter group comprises a fluorescent protein which is enclosed within the viral capsid. A fluorescent protein can emit light at a detectable wavelength, preferably at a visible wavelength, upon being excited at another wavelength. There are several suitable, commercially available fluorescent proteins with different excitation and emission properties. For example, red fluorescent protein, cyan fluorescent protein, yellow-green fluorescent protein, green fluorescent protein and blue fluorescent protein are commercially available from Clontech. More preferably, the Green Fluorescent Protein isolated from jellyfish Aequorea Victoria may be used.
A capsid targeting sequence (CTS) may be added to the N-terminus of a fluorescent protein. A CTS is a sequence with which a protein is capable of being located into the cavity of a viral capsid during assembly of the capsid. In Bacteriophage T4, the preferred CTS consists of ten amino acid residues, having the amino acid sequence Met-Lys-Thr-Tyr-Gln-Glu-Phe-Ile-Ala-Glu. It has been shown that an average of about 200 Green Fluorescent Proteins from jellyfish Aequorea Victoria, fused with the CTS sequence, can be targeted into a single T4 capsid. See Mullaney, J. M. and Black, L. W. (1998), J. Mol. Biol., 283:913-929, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Linking Molecule
The linking molecule is capable of linking the viral particle to a target analyte of interest. A suitable linking molecule may be any kind of molecule, including, but not being limited to, a chemical compound which is linked to the virus and is capable of binding to, or cross linking, the target analyte of interest. A suitable linking molecule may also be an antibody, a fragment of an antibody such as the Fab fragment of an antibody, or a single chain Fv molecule. A chemical compound may be linked to an outer capsid protein via traditional means as appreciated by one of skill in the art. Preferably, a chemical compound is linked to a non-essential outer capsid protein, and then incorporated into a viral capsid after completion of the assembly of the capsid. For example, incorporation may be performed after the capsid has been isolated from cells from which it is assembled. More preferably, the nonessential outer capsid protein is hoc or soc protein of Bacteriophage T4, and the viral particle is a mutant Bacteriophage T4 capsid which lacks hoc or soc protein. Most preferably, the mutant T4 capsid lacks a tail structure.
In a preferred embodiment, the linking molecule may be a fusion protein comprising an outer capsid protein and an extra amino acid sequence. Preferably, the outer capsid protein is a non-essential outer capsid protein, and the extra amino acid sequence is a single chain Fv molecule specific to the target analyte. More preferably, the viral particle is a mutant Bacteriophage T4 capsid which lacks said nonessential outer capsid protein. A preferred nonessential outer capsid protein is either hoc or soc protein of Bacteriophage T4. Most preferably, the mutant T4 capsid lacks the tail structure. It has been shown that hoc or soc proteins can be fused with other polypeptides and that these fusion proteins can be attached to T4 capsids. See Ren, Z. J., Baumann, R. G. and Black, L. W. (1997), Gene 195:303-311; Ren, Z. J., Lewis, G. K., Wingfield, P. T., Locke, E. G., Steven, A. L. and Black, L. W. (1996), Protein Science 5:1833-1843; Ren, Z. J. and Black, L. W. (1998), Gene 215: 439-444; Jiang, J., Abu-Shilbayeh, L. and Rao, V. B. (1997), Infection and Immunity 65: 4770-4777. These references are hereby incorporated by reference. Thus, a capsid lacking hoc or soc protein offers about 160 or 960 sites, respectively, for incorporation of fused linking molecules.
A single chain Fv molecule (scFv) has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,692, U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778, R. Raag and M. Whitlow, xe2x80x9cSingle Chain Fvs. xe2x80x9d FASEB Vol 9:73-80 (1995) and R. E. Bird and B. W. Walker, xe2x80x9cSingle Chain Antibody Variable Regions,xe2x80x9d TIBTECH, Vol 9: 132-137 (1991). These references are incorporated herein by reference. A single chain Fv molecule usually comprises a variable region of an antibody light chain and a variable region of an antibody heavy chain. The two variable regions are covalently linked by a peptide linker, and form a target binding site. Construction of a scFv molecule is disclosed, for example, in European Patent Application No. 239400, U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778, and R. E. Bird and B. W. Walker, Single Chain Antibody Variable Regions, TIBTECH, Vol 9: 132-137 (1991). These references are hereby incorporated by reference.
A single chain Fv molecule may be made by fusing an antibody""s light chain variable region with its heavy chain variable region via a peptide linker. Variable regions of antibodies may be derived by immunizing an appropriate vertebrate, normally a domestic animal, and most conveniently a mouse. The immunogen will be the target analyte of interest, or where a hapten is of interest, an antigenic conjugate of the hapten to an antigen such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). The immunization may be carried out conventionally with one or more repeated injections of the immunogen into the host mammal, normally at two to three week intervals. Usually three days after the last challenge, the spleen is removed and dissociated into single cells to be used for cell fusion to provide hybridomas from which mRNA can readily be obtained by standard procedures known in the art. DNA sequences may be obtained through reverse transcription of the mRNAs. The above procedures can produce an antibody specific to almost any immunogenic target analyte of interest. The DNA sequences coding for the variable regions of the thus produced antibody may be used for construction of a single chain Fv molecule.
Variable regions of antibodies may also be obtained using M13 bacteriophage display. See Burton et al, Adv. Immuno. 57:191-280 (1994). Essentially, a cDNA library for antibodies is generated from mRNA obtained from a population of antibody-producing cells, such as B-lymphocytes. Amplified cDNAs are cloned into M13 phage display vectors creating a library of phage which expresses the antibody fragments on the surface of phages. Phages which display the antibody fragment of interest are selected using the affinity to the antigen. The selected phages are amplified to produce the antibody of interest, which may be used for construction of a single chain Fv molecule.
In another embodiment, an antibody or a single chain Fv molecule specific to an analyte of interest may be linked to an outer capsid protein via chemical means as appreciated by one of skill in the art, for example,.using protein-protein cross linkers. Conjugation of an antibody or a single chain Fv molecule to another protein preferably may not significantly affect the binding specificity and affinity of the antibody or scFv molecule and the ability of the outer capsid protein to be stably associated with the viral capsid. The binding specificity and affinity of a antibody or scFv molecule thus modified, and the ability of the outer capsid protein to stably associate with the viral capsid, may be evaluated by testing whether the viral particle is able to bind to the analyte of interest.
Where both the reporter group and the linking molecule are linked to outer capsid proteins, the outer capsid protein used for conjugating the linking molecule preferably is different from the outer capsid protein that is used for conjugation of the reporter group. For example, when a Bacteriophage T4 mutant which lacks both hoc and soc proteins is used, the linking molecule may be linked to the hoc protein while the reporter group may be linked to the soc protein.

Inviable virus particles as scaffolds for constructing flexible detection systems


A method and system for invoking by a client computer system of a function of an object of an object class provided by a server computer system. The client sends a request to a server that comprises a Universal Resource Locator ("URL") that identifies a script, an object class, and a function of the object class to invoke. In response to receiving the request, the server starts the script and transfers control to the script. The script instantiates an object of the object class identified in the URL of the received request and invokes the function identified in the URL of the received request. The invoked function performs the behavior of the function, creates a response to be sent to the client, and sends the response to the client. The response contains state information describing a state of the object after the behavior of the function is performed. When the client subsequently sends a request to invoke a function of the object class, the state information is included in the request so that the function can perform its behavior based on the state information.

The Internet comprises a vast number of computers interconnected so that information can be exchanged among the computers. Various protocol and other interface standards have been developed for the Internet so that each computer will understand information of the other computers. The World-Wide Web ("WWW") is a subset of the Internet computers that support the Hypertext Transfer Protocol ("HTTP"). HTTP is an application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hyper-media information systems that defines the format and contents of messages and responses sent between client programs ("clients") and server programs ("servers") over the Internet. In addition, HTTP is a generic, stateless, object-oriented protocol which can be used for many other tasks, such as name servers and distributed object management systems, through various extensions.
The Internet facilitates information exchange between servers and clients that are located throughout the world. Each computer on the Internet has a unique address (e.g., "acme.com"). When a client wishes to access a resource (e.g., document), the client specifies a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") that uniquely identifies the computer on which the server executes and the resource. An example of a URL is "http://acme.com/page1." In this example the server is identified by "acme.com" and the resource is identified by "page1." The URL has two parts: a scheme and a scheme-specific part. The scheme identifies the high-level protocol through which the information is to be exchanged, and the scheme-specific part contains additional information that identifies the server computer and the resource. The "http" at the beginning of the example URL is the scheme and indicates that the remainder of the URL should be interpreted according to HTTP. The remainder specifies a server computer (e.g., "acme.com") followed by additional information that is specific to the server. For example, the additional information may be a path name within the server computer to a Hypertext Markup Language ("HTML") document.
HTTP is based on a request/response paradigm. An HTTP message consists of a request from a client sent to a server and a response sent from the server to the client. A client sends a request to the server in the form of a request line comprising a method (e.g., "GET") and a URL, optionally followed by a request header that allows the client to pass additional information about the request, a general header that allows a client to specify optional behavior that can be performed by the server, and an entity header and entity body that allow the client to send arbitrary information that is understood by a server. The server responds with a status line indicating status of the request (e.g., success or fail) followed by a response header that allows the server to send additional information to a client, and a general header, entity header, and entity body that is analogous to those sent in the request. The request line of an HTTP request begins with a method token followed by a request URL. HTTP defines three request line methods that include "get," "head," and "post." HTTP further defines extension methods. The status line of an HTTP response includes a status code and a user readable reason phrase that indicates the status of the request. The headers generally contain a list of fields that include a field name, a colon, and a field value.
HTTP has been extended to permit a client to specify that a computer program is to be executed by the server. Two such extensions are the Common Gateway Interface ("CGI") and the Internet Server Application Programming Interface ("ISAPI"). CGI defines a sub-protocol of HTTP for running external softwares or gateways under a server in a platform-independent manner. A URL in an HTTP request specifies not only the protocol and server computer, but also a script, a behavior of the script, and parameters to pass to the script. When a server using CGI receives a URL, it recognizes that the client is requesting that a script be invoked. The server parses the information from the HTTP request and stores the information in "environment variables." For example, an environment variable named "scriptlname" contains the name of the script to be executed, and the environment variable named "content.sub.-- length" contains the length of the entity body attached to the request. The server also invokes the specified script. The executing script can then request the various environment variables to be supplied by the server. Although the CGI and ISAPI protocols specify the format and semantics of executing a computer program at servers, they do not specify how to implement such server or scripts.
Because a client can specify a program to execute, there is a possibility that a client may request execution of a program for which it is not authorized or that may cause serious problems on the server computer. For example, if a client sends to a server a file that contained a program to erase a disk drive and requests that it be stored on the server computer. The client might then request that the client execute that file, which would result in erasure of the disk drive. Although servers could be developed to ensure that no such programs can be executed, currently typical servers do not provide such assurances. It would be desirable to have a mechanism that would allow existing servers to provide such assurances.

Method and system for invoking methods of objects over the internet


A printed circuit board according to the present invention is a printed circuit board (4) including a component mounting pin (1) made of a metal wire to connect with a semiconductor chip (10). The semiconductor chip (10) is a surface mounting type semiconductor chip having an electrode pad on its mounting surface for use in a flip-chip mounting system. The component mounting pin (1) is formed by using wire-bonding technology. This printed circuit board (4) is able to decrease malconnections or disconnection caused by a difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the semiconductor chip (10) and the printed circuit board (4).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printed circuit boards, and more particularly to a printed circuit board with a conductive component mounting pin.
2. Description of the Related Art
[Patent Document 1]: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-183466 "Multilayer Printed Circuit Board" (published on Jul. 7, 2005)
The Background Art of the Patent Document 1 has described a flip-chip mounting system printed circuit board using suitable technology such as solder bump in which a solder resist layer 70 is formed on an upper layer of a via hole 160 and a conductor circuit 158, bumps 76U and 76D being formed on the via hole 160 and the conductor circuit 158 through an opening portion 71 of the solder resist layer 70. An IC (integrated circuit, not shown) chip may be electrically connected to the printed circuit board by C4 (flip-chip) mounting.
However, the above Patent Document 1 fails to mention a printed circuit board with a component mounting pin disclosed in the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Printed board with component mounting pin


A system and a method using the system for wireless communication using a vehicle telematics unit, including the steps of: prior to a vehicle telematics unit establishing a network connection, assigning a temporary internet protocol (IP) address having a short-term lease duration to a mobile device to permit communication between the telematics unit and the mobile device; and if the network connection is not established prior to the expiration of the short-term lease duration, renewing the temporary IP address, wherein the renewal lease duration is shorter than the earlier lease duration.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a networking protocol that may be used to configure client devices that wish to be connected to the network so that the devices can communicate using an internet protocol address (or IP address). The client devices may request configuration data from the host server; this data includes an IP address, a default route, and one or more domain name system (DNS) server addresses.

Dynamic DHCP for Wi-Fi connectivity in a vehicle


Data packets of multiple different protocols are transmitted over a broadband wireless air interface between network stations subscribing to the broadband wireless access service. A first network station receives data packets of different network protocols in an upper layer for transmission to a second station over the wireless air interface. The different protocol data packets are processed in the upper layer to look up a destination address and class of service, and are transmitted to a single generic packet convergence sublayer along with an identification tag indicating the destination address and class of service. The generic packet convergence sublayer maps the identification tag to a single connection ID (CID) of a second station of the broadband wireless access service, without having to carry out any packet inspection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to broadband wireless access and is concerned with protocol schemes for enabling communications among network stations over a broadband wireless air interface in various network topologies, e.g., point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, relay, mesh, and others.
2. Related Art
Broadband wireless access has been developed to meet increasing demand for rapid Internet connection as well as for integrated data, voice, and video services. Networks can be created using broadband wireless technology by deploying a number of base stations (BS) at spaced intervals over an area to be covered by the network, creating high capacity wireless access systems. A wireless air interface can be provided between each subscriber station and a base station to provide a communication path from the subscriber to multiple core networks to which the interface is providing access. One problem with broadband wireless networks is the lack of a universal standard for communication via the wireless air interface (first mile/last mile connection), to allow communication of data packets to and from the different core networks involved. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ("IEEE") Standard 802.16 for a wireless air interface IEEE Standard 802.16 is one example of a standard protocol for the air interface for a wireless metropolitan area network.
One requirement of a broadband wireless air interface, such as an IEEE 802.16 interface, is the ability to transport multiple protocol types, such as Internet Protocol versions 4 and 6 ("IPv4", "IPv6"), Ethernet, 802.1Q/VLAN, and the like. It must also be capable of extension to transport new protocols which have yet to be developed over the air interface.

Method and system for generic multiprotocol convergence over wireless air interface


Disclosed herein is a system for facilitating the generation of a customized response based on a context, in accordance with some embodiments. Accordingly, the system may include a communication device configured for receiving at least one sensor data from at least one sensor associated with at least one user. Further, the system may include a processing device configured for analyzing the at least one sensor data and determining a context based on analyzing. Further, the processing device may be configured for identifying a customized profile associated with the context. Further, the system may include a storage device configured for retrieving the customized profile. Further, the processing device may be configured for generating a customized response based on the at least one sensor data and the customized profile. Further, the system may include a presentation device. Further, the presentation device may be configured to present the customized response.

The field data processing is technologically important to several industries, business organizations and/or individuals. In particular, the use of a virtual assistant application is prevalent for providing professional administrative, technical, administrative, or creative assistance to users remotely.
Further, the virtual assistant application may be able to interpret human speech and deliver a response via a synthesized voice. Further, the virtual assistant application may deliver the response such as an answer to the questions, read text messages, tell jokes, make phone calls, play music, and control smart appliances. The virtual assistant application delivers a preselected response via the synthesized voice and also there may be a preselected visual component associated with the preselected response. Existing techniques for the virtual assistant application are deficient with regard to several aspects. For instance, current technologies do not generate a customized response based on a context. Furthermore, current technologies do not provide a visual component such as a customized 3D hologram associated with the customized response based on a context.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods, systems, for facilitating the generation of a customized response based on a context that may overcome one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or limitations.

Methods and systems for facilitating the generation of a customized response based on a context


Methods of treating and/or preventing surface infections, such as acne, in an animal, such as a human being, using antibiotics incorporating borinic acid complexes, especially picolinic acid derivatives, are disclosed, along with compositions of these antibiotics.

2.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of boron-containing compounds, particularly compounds with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, or both activities, and uses thereof. Methods for preparing and using these antibiotics, and pharmaceutical compositions thereof, are also provided.
2.2 The Related Art
Acne vulgaris is the most common skin disease which affects 85% of individuals at some time between the ages of 12- and 24 years. At present, 45 million people in the US have acne, while 17 million Americans seek treatment every year. Acne is a disease of the pilosebaceous unit, involving abnormalities in sebum production, follicular epithelial desquamation, bacterial proliferation and inflammation. The pathogenesis of acne is multifactorial, with microbial proliferation and inflammation acting as central mediators to this condition. In hair follicles, the mixture of cells and sebum creates an environment for the proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), a bacterium that occurs commonly on the skin. Chemotactic factors released by P. acnes attract lymphocytes and neutrophils, as well as producing other pro-inflammatory molecules. This results in an inflammatory process where a plug composed of skin cells and sebum in sebaceous follicles is formed.
Current treatments for acne include antibiotics applied topically and systemically and also topical retinoids. However, these treatments are not satisfactory due to the long time course of therapy, which usually can take four to six weeks or longer. In addition, topical irritation and systemic side effects are also major issues with current products. Therefore, there is a need for an improved therapy for acne that is shorter acting, devoid of side effects, and inhibits both the bacterial and inflammatory contributors to the pathogenesis. The present invention addresses these problems by providing borinic esters that exhibit anti-inflammatory and/or antibacterial activities. Thus, the present invention represents a new modality for the treatment of acne.
Rosacea is a chronic skin disease that causes redness and swelling, mostly of the face and eyes. It is sometimes referred to as "adult acne". The cause of rosacea is unknown and may be inherited. The disease affects 14 million Americans, occurs mostly in adults, is more common in women but is more severe in men. The current treatments are quite ineffective and may take weeks to months to see only a slight improvement. Thus, new therapies for rosacea are badly needed.
Acne and rosacea are common conditions that have a concomitant inflammatory component to their pathology. Inflammation is a defense reaction caused by tissue damage or injury, characterized by redness, heat, swelling, and pain. The primary objective of inflammation is to localize and eradicate the irritant and repair the surrounding tissue. For the survival of the host, inflammation is a necessary and beneficial process. The inflammatory response involves three major stages: first, dilation of capillaries to increase blood flow; second, microvascular structural changes and escape of plasma proteins from the bloodstream; and third, leukocyte transmigration through endothelium and accumulation at the site of injury. The leukocyte adhesion cascade is a sequence of adhesion and activation events that ends with extravasation of the leukocyte, whereby the cell exerts its effects on the inflamed site. These steps are not phases of inflammation, but represent the sequence of events from the perspective of each leukocyte. One goal of inflammation research is to develop methods to control inflammation by modulating or blocking leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium. This can result in the discovery of new anti-inflammatory agents. Anti-inflammatory agents function as blockers, suppressors, or modulators of the inflammatory response. The inflammatory response begins with a release of inflammatory chemicals into the extracellular fluid. Sources of these inflammatory mediators, the most important of which are histamine, prostaglandins, and cytokines, are injured tissue cells, lymphocytes, mast cells and blood proteins. The presence of these chemicals promotes and furthers the reactions to inflammation, which are redness, heat, swelling, and pain.
Anti-inflammatory drugs block or suppress the inflammatory response, preventing or reducing the appearance of adverse reactions to the irritant. Diseases and conditions such as acne, rosacea, asthma, arthritis, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, for example, are treated with non-steroidal or steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Aspirin and some other anti-inflammatory drugs exert their analgesic effects by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis. In one aspect, the present invention relates to borinic esters that demonstrate anti-inflammatory activity by blocking the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines include, but are not limited to IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8. The action of blocking these cytokines with compounds disclosed herein results in a reduction in the inflammatory components of redness, heat, swelling and pain.
While such treatments have historically required protracted therapeutic modalities, some drugs are not esthetically acceptable (often resulting in intense reddening, peeling, or drug coloration) which detract from patient adherence to the treatments. The products described herein are typically white colored and have enhanced stability. Thus, the present invention addresses a number of vexing diseases.

Boron-containing compounds and methods of use


The present invention discloses a method for improving paging speed of a called user in CDMA trunking system. For a first trunking terminal supporting minus time slot call manner, said method includes: it makes minus time slot paging cycles of the first trunking terminal and a trunking core network keep synchronous; the first trunking terminal selects a minus time slot paging cycle to calculate a paging time slot according to the presence of its own minus time slot paging cycle and the presence of a minus time slot paging cycle contained in an overhead message of a call channel, and monitors the call channel on the calculated paging time slot; the base station system selects a minus time slot paging cycle to calculate a paging time slot of the user according to the presence of its own minus time slot paging cycle and the presence of a minus time slot paging cycle contained in a paging request message, and transmits a paging message on the call channel according to the calculated paging time slot. The method of the present invention effectively shortens the duration of establishment of a trunking call, and simultaneously maintains the compatibility for the existing trunking terminals.

Trunking communication is an important branch of wireless communication, which is mainly used in the field of professional mobile communication. The most important character of trunking communication is that the voice communication is performed in a manner of half-duplex, connected in a manner of push to talk, wherein the called user may answer the call without off-Hook, and a high connection speed is demanded. Out of optimization on trunking communication markets, digital trunking communication systems developed by communication manufacturers has come into entering this field, and relevant standards are issued one after another, and national standards for trunking communication develop in a "trunking" state in a period of time.
In a trunking communication system based on CDMA, CDMA technology is combined with a private scheduling communication system, and the communication manner of half-duplex is adopted, so that a quick connection can be carried out and group call, viz. one-to-many call manner is supported. Thus, it not only develops the services of cellular communication systems, but also debarrasses the private dispatching communication system from its limit in function and area.
As a professional trunking system, the most important difference from the traditional cellular communication lies in its high capacity and quick access. In a CDMA cellular system, the called user is paged by a manner of time slot. After the handset is power on, a time slot is calculated in accordance with IMSI to monitor a paging channel; when the system is to page a user, also a time slot (which is the same as the time slot for the monitor of the system terminal) is calculated in accordance with IMSI of said user, and a paging message is sent on said time slot, so that paging to the user is carried out. The smallest paging time slot cycle in existing CDMA systems is 0 (viz. 1.28 seconds), which leads to conceivable long paging time for some users and is far from meeting the requirement of quick access of the trunking system. Although a concept of the minus time slot is suggested in IS2000 R1sD protocol, it is merely corresponding to common voice call and simultaneously without support from trunking terminals or systems. Thus, the minus time slot paging cycle needs to be supported in the trunking system, so as to shorten the paging time of a trunking call and meet the requirements of trunking.
Furthermore, during used in existing R1s0 or R1sA systems, the minus time slot paging cycle should not only be usable in existing trunking terminals but also be usable in old trunking terminals. Furthermore, common voice calls and trunking functions of other trunking terminals not supporting the minus time slot should not be influenced. However, the paging time slot in the prior art is synchronized from trunking terminals to the system and cannot carry out compatibility of the old trunking terminals. Hence, the synchronizing mode needs to be changed to realize compatibility of all the trunking terminals.

Method for improving paging speed of a called user in CDMA trunking system


An ultra wide band wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) communication includes a transmitter configured to transmit a first indicator of a multi-radio band transmission, and a receiver configured to receive a second indicator of a multi-radio band transmission.

ECMA 368/369 is a standard specification for the Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers of a High Rate Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless communication system. ECMA 368/369 has received acceptance as a common platform for technologies such as next generation Bluetooth®, Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB) and Wireless Firewire (IEEE 1394). The specification supports a MAC layer and a PHY layer that runs at data rates up to 480 Mbps. The PHY layer is designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz frequency spectrum.
The ECMA 368 PHY layer uses Multi-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (MB-OFDM) to transmit information. The operating frequency spectrum is divided into 5 radio band groups. Each radio band within a radio band group has a bandwidth of 528 MHz. The first four radio band groups have three radio bands each with a bandwidth of 528 MHz and the fifth radio band has two radio bands with a bandwidth of 528 MHz, for a total of 14 radio bands, each with a bandwidth of 528 MHz. The specification requires a device, such as a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) to operate in at least the first radio band group. Operating in the other radio band groups is optional.
The ECMA 386 MAC layer has a completely distributed architecture and provides MAC service to a higher layer protocol or adaptation layer. There is no central coordinating device and each WTRU in a network supports all MAC functions. Each WTRU within radio range coordinates with other WTRUs using periodic beacon frames. The beacon frames provide network timing, scheduling and capability information as well as other information and functions.
One way in which the beacon frames provide information is via an information element (IE) included in the beacon frame or in a command frame. This IE may include a beacon period (BP) switch IE and/or a distributed reservation protocol (DRP) IE. The BP switch IE, in particular, may include an element ID field, a length field, a BP move countdown field, a beacon slot offset field, and a BP start (BPST) offset field.
In addition, MAC superframe structures from ECMA 368 include beacon periods (BPs) and medium access slots (MASs).
FIG. 1 shows a typical format of a DRP IE 100 in accordance with the prior art. The DRP IE 100 may include an element ID field 102, a length field 104, a DRP Control field 106, a target/owner DevAddr field 108, and a series of DRP allocation fields 110.
ECMA 368/369 supports data rates up to 480 Mbps. These rates are inadequate to support applications such as high definition TV (HDTV), which requires data rates of 1 Gbps or greater depending on the format. It would therefore be desirable to have a UWB system with both PHY an MAC layers that support high data rates (1 Gbps and above).

Distributed reservation protocol for enabling multi-band transmission in next generation ultra wide band technology