Provided are a method and apparatus by which a first entity receives information about one or more Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service providers or information about one or more IPTV services from a second entity by using a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving information about a service provider or information about a service.
2. Description of the Related Art
An Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) corresponds to a service that delivers various services including an information service, a moving picture contents and broadcasting contents service, and the like to TVs via an IP network, that is, a high speed Internet network infrastructure. With the development of communication and broadcasting convergence services, there is increasing interest in the IPTV, and in this regard, it is expected that such activeness related to the IPTV will have a significant effect on not only communication and broadcasting industries but also on multimedia contents and electronic device industries.
According to the related art, in order to receive an IPTV service via an IP network, an IPTV service user needs to arrange a set-top box or any apparatus including the set-top box function that varies according to IPTV vendors. That is, only a user, who has an IPTV set-top box manufactured according to a specification set by a service provider providing an IPTV service, can receive the IPTV service from the service provider. For example, in the case where three IPTV service providers such as A, B, and C companies provide IPTV services, a service user, who purchased a set-top box of the A company, can only use an IPTV service from the A company. Hence, in order to use an IPTV service from the B or C company, the service user has to separately arrange a set-top box of the B or C company. Such a compatibility problem between an IPTV service and set-top boxes makes selection difficult for service users, and as a result, this compatibility problem deteriorates IPTV services quality or becomes an obstacle to the spread of IPTV services.
In order to solve this compatibility problem, recently, the Open IPTV Forum was established to discuss standardization. Members of the Open IPTV Forum have been in discussion to release a common specification independent from IPTV service providers and to provide IPTV services based on such a common specification to users who desire to use IPTV services.
The Open IPTV Forum aims to develop an interface and a hardware platform which are independent from the IPTV service providers, so as to allow a user to easily use IPTV services provided from the IPTV service providers. According to an Open IPTV forum architecture, a user may use services provided from different IPTV service providers, without separately arranging set-top boxes that vary according to the IPTV service providers, whereby service users may have a wider range of options with respect to selecting services.

Method and apparatus for discovering internet protocol television service (IPTV) provider and IPTV service by using session initiation protocol


A transverse cradle assembly comprises at least one pair of a set of cradle assemblies. The set of assemblies is mirror imaged. Each assembly comprises an upper cradle and a lower cradle having a slot therein for mutually and opposedly securing a slidable locking block having an incline. The upper and lower cradles are pivotally joined together at one end. As a device is loaded onto the set of assemblies, the slidable locking block moves along the slots to correspond with the loading of the device. When suitable weight is applied to the ends of the upper cradles, the upper cradle slot engages the incline on the block thus locking it into place. The cradle assembly is secured to a mounting slide and may further be secured onto a platform if desired.

Cradle assemblies and the like are well know in the arts for holding and storing devices that can rest thereon. In the marine industry, such devices are employed to cart and tow marine vessels to and from the water, dry docking areas, maintenance and repair locations, etc. These devices are typically constructed of a pair of opposed cradles. A marine vessel may be urged between, and ride upon, these opposed cradles which are fastened to a boat trailer. The cradles usually are secured along the length of the boat trailer and thus, are parallel to the keel of the marine vessel. In this fashion, the opposed edges of the vessel's bottom are in physical contact with the cradles. The vessel is then secured onto the cradle assembly by mechanical means such as by tying its bow to the trailer.
Difficulties and disadvantages of these prior art marine cradle assemblies are evident from their construction. First, there is the cost of length-intensive cradles, which are typically manufactured of a non-corrosive metal. A second disadvantage of the prior art results from the angular configuration of a vessel's bottom as the present cradles only come into contact with the edges of that bottom. A third problem is well known in that these devices are generally pivotally connected to their bases (or trailers) which results in a less than satisfactorily stabilized cradle assembly. Other disadvantages are known throughout the industry.


A diaphragm is provided in a pump case so as to define a pump chamber communicated with an external member having an air chamber. A motor actuates the diaphragm to introduce air to the air chamber. An exhaust valve exhausts air in the pump chamber to lower a pressure in the air chamber. In the exhaust valve, an exhaust port is communicated with the pump chamber. A flexible valve body having a larger size than the exhaust port is disposed so as to close the exhaust port from a side facing the pump chamber. An actuator is disposed in an opposite side to the valve body relative to the exhaust port, and driven by the motor so as to be movable between a first position retracted from the exhaust port and a second position passing through the exhaust port so that the valve body is actuated so as to open the exhaust port. An urging member always urges the actuator to the first position thereof.

The present invention relates to a rapid exhausting mechanism in a pump unit which is suitable for a small-sized sphygmomanometer for measuring blood pressure at a wrist, for example.
Conventionally, a small-sized sphygmomanometer is composed so that, for example, a cuff wound around an upper arm is pressurized to a predetermined pressure level by a small-sized air pump, the pressure in the cuff is gradually lowered at a constant-speed by a normal exhausting mechanism after the blood flow is interrupted once by pressing the artery, patterns of the pressure inside the cuff and vibration amplitude incidental to pulsation of the artery are processed by a microcomputer, and the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure are measured. The rapid exhausting mechanism is to instantaneously exhaust air in the cuff after the measuring process is over, and it is necessary that no air leaks when carrying out pressurization and measurement.
Generally, it is preferable that characteristics of the normal exhausting mechanism used for a sphygmomanometer reside in a linear decrease in the pressure inside the cuff at a constant speed of 3 mmHg through 4 mmHg per second or so as time elapses and characteristics of the rapid exhausting mechanism reside in a quick descent of the pressure as time elapses.
FIG. 3 shows such a pump unit equipped with respective exhausting mechanism as described above. In the same drawing, the pump unit 1 is composed of a pump section 2 driven by an electric motor, a normal exhausting mechanism 3 for exhausting air at a constant speed through, for example, a slit, a rapid exhausting mechanism 4 driven by a plunger, and a tubular body 5 having flexibility.
The normal exhausting mechanism 3 and rapid exhausting mechanism 4 are provided separately from the pump section 2, and these components are connected by the tubular body 5. The tubular body 5 connects an exhaust port 6 of the pump section 2, the normal exhausting mechanism 3 and rapid exhausting mechanism 4 with each other. In addition, the same tubular body 5 is connected to a cuff (not illustrated) wound around, for example, an upper arm. An air path 8 which communicates with a pump chamber 7 of the pump section 2, normal exhausting mechanism 3, rapid exhausting mechanism 4 and the cuff is formed inside the tubular body 5.
In the pump unit 1 thus constructed, as the pump section 2 is driven, and air is taken from the outside into the pump chamber 7, the air in the pump chamber 7 is sent into a cuff through the air path 8. When the pressure in the cuff is pressurized to a predetermined pressure level, air exhaust in the air path 8 is commenced by the normal exhausting mechanism 3. In synchronization therewith, air of a greater volume than the volume of air exhausted from the normal exhausting mechanism 3 is sent into the cuff from the pump chamber 7.
Also, as the cuff is internally pressurized to a predetermined pressure level, the pump section 2 stops its operation, whereby the pressure inside the cuff is gradually lowered by utilizing normal exhaust of the normal exhausting mechanism 3. At this time, patterns of the pressure inside the cuff and vibration amplitudes incidental to pulsation of the artery are processed by a microcomputer, and the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure are measured. After the measurement is processed, the air in the cuff is discharged with a breath by the rapid exhausting mechanism 4.
However, in the pump unit 1, the normal exhausting mechanism 3 and rapid exhausting mechanism 4 are provided separately from the pump section 2. Therefore, the pump unit 1 has a number of components, and its structure is also complicated. In addition, since the rapid exhausting mechanism 4 of the pump unit 1 employs an exclusive plunger as an actuator, the mechanism 4 becomes heavy and large-sized, resulting in an increase in production costs.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-352379A proposes a relatively small-sized exhausting mechanism. This configuration includes, as an exhausting mechanism in a diaphragm type pump equipped with an actuator for vertically moving a diaphragm, an intake one-way valve having a valve body which is made of a flexible member and is provided so as to correspond to an intake port, and an exhaust one-way valve having a valve body which is made of a flexible member and is provided so as to correspond to an exhaust port. Here, minute concave and convex irregularities are provided on the surface to which the valve bodies comes in contact with, thereby preventing the valve bodies are adhered thereon. The respective one-way valves can be opened in minute differences in pressure between the upstream side and downstream side.
However, it is ignored air leakage at the position where the minute concave and convex irregularities are provided, which is caused when the upstream side is at a high pressure level.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An installation method of panels includes a step of assembling panels by fitting projection parts 2, 3 of one panel 1 to insertion grooves 5, 6 of another panel 1, and a step of elastically attaching panels by applying an elastic tensioning force between assembled of panels. Also, a rail type fixing apparatus for installing panels includes a rail 20 having a guide groove 21 formed in a longitudinal direction thereof, and a plurality of attachment panels which are guided along guide groove 21 and are provided movably in the longitudinal direction of the rail 20 and in which a hook projections 32 are provided, and an elastic member which is provided between adjacent attachment panels and applies a tension restoring force between hook projections of the attachment panels to draw the hook projections 32 of the respective attachment panels 30 to each other.

Generally, installation panels attached to the floors, walls and ceilings of gymnasiums or houses are made of long, flat cut wood with a certain length, width and depth, and they are attached by inserting, fitting and assembling several panels sequentially.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a general method in which the installation panels are assembled and attached to an attachment surface A. According to the FIG. 1, long wooden supports 100 are arranged at fixed intervals sequentially, and the panels 101 are assembled on the supports 100. At this time, the panels 101 have projections 104, 105 and insertion grooves 102, 103 formed on the long edge and the short edge, are assembled and attached sequentially in an insertion and fitting method using the projections 104, 105 and insertion grooves 102, 103 and are fixed firmly by adhering the panels 101 to the supports 100 using fixing means such as nails or adhesives.
Since the panels 101 are made of wood, they are expanded and shrunk in accordance with the environment of depository or installation, that is, the variations of temperature and humidity. Generally, the total amount of expansion or shrinkage of the panels in the length is not severe, so that there is no defect in that direction. However, the amount of expansion or shrinkage of the panels in the width is severe.
Accordingly, when the panels 101 are shrunk, a gap between the panels widens and a space is formed so that alien substances can be put into the space. Also, it can spoil the beauty of the floor surface. In the case where the panels are expanded, their width widen, so that the panels 101 are stuck fast in the direction of width and accordingly there occurs a protrusion problem in which any assembled portion of the panels 101 cannot resist the expansion force and the portion rises as shown in FIG. 3(a).
Due to this problem, when making a installation of the inserting and fitting type panels, an extra gap x between panels 101 should be placed assuming that a displacement length caused by expansion of one panel is x. FIG. 2 shows an example of conventional panel attachment method, wherein the case that the extra gap 5x is placed every 5 panels 101, spacers 106 of 5x size should be inserted into every 5 panels and should be removed after finishing the installation.
However, since this conventional method is to make an extra gap in every determined panels 101 and insert the spacers 106 in consideration of the shrinkage and expansion rate of the panels 101, and remove the spacers 106 again after finishing the installation, the assembling work can't be carried out quickly due to the cumbersome work involved and needs an expert with much experience.
In addition, since the expansion or shrinkage rate of the panels 101 just before installation varies in transport procedure and keeping state and temperature/humidity of the place where the panels are installed, it is very difficult for an amateur to determine the extra gap and even the expert often fails to determine the extra gap precisely, and causes defects due to the shrinkage or expansion after installation.
And if many extra gaps are placed when constructing the panels, in case that the line L is drawn on the panels in the gymnasium or other similar place, the line L won't be drawn smoothly due to the extra gaps as shown in FIG. 3(b). So the appearance will not be good.
Also, when we have to remove the attached panels for repair and demolishment, it is difficult to separate the support or panels fixed with nails or strong adhesives, and it even causes a waste of resource and pollution, since the panels are broken and scrapped in the process of removal.

Installation method of panel and rail-type fixing apparatus


A novel polymer optical waveguide and method of manufacturing is presented herein. A digitally manufactured process is described which utilizes a micro-dispensed UV optical adhesive as the contour guiding cladding, a fused deposition modeling technology for creating a core, and a subtractive laser process to finish the two ends of the optical interconnect. The optical waveguide can be printed directly on a circuit board in some embodiments. Alternatively, using a slightly modified process including a step to bond the optical fiber to the substrate, the optical interconnect can be manufactured on a flexible substrate.

Interconnects are currently metal conductors and the amount of information that can be transferred is limited.
Electrical Interconnects
Signal attenuation is one of the largest issues of electrical interconnects due to resistance of the conductor and electric loss. These issues can be magnified at higher frequencies. Complex systems can be created to account for this with equalization and amplification up to the physical noise limitations.
One way to improve the performance of a conductor is to increase its cross-sectional area, which reduces the resistance. The downside to this is that the cost and physical size requirements of the conductor are increased which can limit the applications for this solution.
If size constraints are important, simply scaling the conductor down does not increase the bit rate capacity of the line due to the resistance x capacitance time constant of the wire which sets the shortest pulse that could readily be sent on the line. This makes the information carrying capacity of the electrical conductor independent of the size of the line. To better explain this, there are two types of electrical wiring, resistive capacitive (RC) and inductive capacitive (LC). Whether a line is RC or LC at a given frequency is primarily determined by its cross-sectional size which determines whether resistive (limited by the bulk resistance of the metal) or inductive (crowding of the current towards the surface of the wire) impedance dominates at a given frequency. At the gigahertz frequencies of modern electronics, interconnected lines on chips are RC controlled and off chip is LC controlled. (Kobrinsky, M. J. et al. On-Chip Optical Interconnects. Intel Technology Journal 8, 129-141 (2004); Miller, D. A. B. Optical interconnects to electronic chips. Appl. Opt. 49, F59-F70, (2010)).
The capacity of electrical lines from such resistive limits can be written approximately as:
   B  ≤         B    0             A         L     2
Where A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor, L is the length of the conductor, Bo is a constant and is approximately 1016 for RC-limited lines on a chip and approximately 1017 for inductive capacitive lines with resistive loss for off-chip equalized RLC lines.
Another important consideration is that the overall energy consumption of computer systems is becoming ecologically significant and optical interconnects can help reduce this power consumption. The three main core operations of a computer system are logic switching, memory and interconnects where the interconnects amount for the highest energy dissipation. (Miller, D. A. B. Optical interconnects to electronic chips. Appl. Opt. 49, F59-F70, (2010)).
Optical Interconnects
When investigating other options to solve the problem of limited high frequency data transmission, optics is arguably the best option moving forward. In optical interconnects, the very low loss and dispersion of optical fiber allows for a much higher rate of information transmission. At short distances, optics can assist in interconnect density and interconnect power as well as improve signal integrity and timing. (Keeler, G. A. et al. The benefits of ultrashort optical pulses in optically interconnected systems. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics 9, 477-485, (2003); Kuan-Neng, C., Kobrinsky, M. J., Barnett, B. C. & Reif, R. Comparisons of conventional, 3-D, optical, and RF interconnects for on-chip clock distribution. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 51, 233-239, (2004); Miller, D. A. B. & Ozaktas, H. M. Limit to the Bit-Rate Capacity of Electrical Interconnects from the Aspect Ratio of the System Architecture. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing 41, 42-52).
Light rays propagate via discreate paths through a fiber where each path is called a mode and corresponds to an angle of incidence. Different modes take different times to travel along the fiber. The total number of modes is defined by the numerical aperture which is given by:
      N      A    =              (                  n       1       2            -             n       2       2                )             1     /     2          =            n     0            sin             (                  θ       α            2          )
Where n0=refractive index of the air, n1=refractive index of the core, and n2 is the refractive index of the cladding. The larger the difference in refractive index, the higher the number of modes which can be guided through the fiber. With a step index fiber, the number of possible modes Nm is related by:
      N   m    =         0    .    5                  (                  π              d              N              A            λ          )        2
Where d is the diameter of the fiber and λ is the wavelength of the light used. With these constraints in mind, a larger diameter fiber with larger delta n, and a lower wavelength light will lead to a fiber that transmits more information. (P. V. Thorat, S. W., P. A. Thombre. Plastic Optical Fiber. International Journal of Engineering Research and Reviews 2, 95-104 (2014)).
New optical interconnects are an interesting option but have fabrication and design related issues: (1) how to route optics through tight spaces without high losses due to scattering; (2) how to connect optics to light generating sources; and (3) how to increase the delta n and reduce the wavelength to increase the number of modes.
Additive Manufacturing
Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, can be used to make a product in a consecutive layering sequence. Highly complex and precise structures which are difficult to produce by conventional methods, can be easily produced using additive manufacturing technologies. The predefined user design in 3D printing techniques has shortened the manufacturing time with respect to a variety of materials. For a large amount of different input material, commonly, 3D printing can be classified into solid, liquid and powder-based techniques. Solid-based techniques are comprised of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), liquid-based techniques are comprised of stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing (DLP), and Direct Ink Writing (DIW), and powder-based techniques are comprised of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and Selective Laser Melting (SLM). (N. Mohan, P. Senthil, S. Vinodh, N. Jayanth, "A review on composite materials and process parameters optimization for the fused deposition modeling process," Virtual and Physical Prototyping, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2017).
FDM has several advantages including low cost for set up and maintenance, ease of use, and ease in design. Precise control over the temperature systems effectively protects the solidified layers from impairment by the temperature fluctuation during solidification. Without this precise control over the temperature systems, delamination with the neighboring printed layers may occur which can lead to unexpected porosity and a rapid decrease in mechanical strength. The mechanical properties of the final print are a function of the interface between the print layers, which is a function of interaction, thickness, and gap, etc. The surface quality and appearance of the product is highly determined by the printing parameters including printing speed, extrusion speed, nozzle temperature and work platform temperature, etc.
In general, for the FDM process, filaments should be thermoplastics with polymer chains that can be mobilized easily on heating above their glass transition temperature (Tg) or composite materials. ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), PA (Polyamide) and PC (Polycarbonate) are the most commonly used feedstock due to their lower costs. Filaments are supplied to the heater (liquefier) by two rollers. The filaments become semi-molten within the liquefier and are subsequently extruded out from a nozzle connected to the liquefier as more and more semi-liquid feedstock accumulate inside. The work platform is preheated to the proper temperature for targeted feedstock. During the printing process, it is moved following a pre-programmed script which can be derived from tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging scans, or CAD model data. The feedstock from the nozzle is deposited onto the top surface of the aimed area. The layer by layer construction is achieved by movement of the module along the Z direction.
Additive Manufacturing for Waveguides
Circular plastic optical fibers that are produced using additive manufacturing have the ability to improve upon the performance of metallic interconnects and the current state of the art in optical interconnects. The state of the art in optical interconnects includes patch cable type interconnects, integrated circuit (IC) manufactured silicon rectangular waveguides, and liquid/liquid micro-dispensed optical interconnects. Patch cable polymer optical fiber interconnects are manufactured by extruding polymer pellets through a heated die and then rolled on spools. The fibers are then jacketed, and the fiber ends are processed to include connectors. To apply these fibers to circuit boards for the next generation of computer devices with this spooled product technology, fibers are assembled into cables and the cables are then manually connected to the components on the board. This results in extremely fast data transmission rates, but the fibers are of a large size and require significant time to assemble, are difficult to align, too large for standard packaging, relatively expensive, and not scalable to high volume production.
Rectangular silicon waveguides are an interesting alternative to fiber cable technology. IC processes are used to fabricate on-board single mode rectangular silicon waveguides that operate in the longer wavelengths of 1300 nm or 1500 nm where Si is transparent, and use continuous wave telecommunications single-mode lasers. (D. A. B. Miller, Optical interconnects to electronic chips, Applied Optics 49 (25) (2010) F59—F70; C. Baks, D. M. et al., Dense 24 TX+24 RX fiber-coupled optical module based on a holey CMOS transceiver, Proceedings 60th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) (2010); Jun Su Lee, et al., Meeting the Electrical, Optical, and Thermal Design Challenges of Photonic-Packaging, IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS 22 (6) (2016); D. A. Miller, Device requirements for optical interconnects to silicon chips, Proceedings of the IEEE 97 (7) (2009) 1166-1185; M. Zuffada, The industrialization of the silicon photonics: technology road map and applications in 2012, Proceedings of the ESSCIRC (ESSCIRC), IEEE, 2012). These rectangular waveguides are fabricated in two dimensions and complex mirror and lens systems are required if a z-direction change is required. Optical losses are also created when connecting rectangular fibers to circular cross section (CCS) fibers. The current state of the art also includes a new micro-dispensing only technique, where an optical fluid material is micro-dispensed inside another optical material and UV cured to produce a working fiber. (Yasuhara, K., F. Yu, and T. Ishigure, Circular core single-mode polymer optical waveguide fabricated using the Mosquito method with low loss at 1310/1550 nm. Optics Express, 2017. 25(8): p. 8524-8533).
Although functional products could be created by each of these methods, each presents disadvantages that prevent advancement of these techniques to commercial levels. Current chip to chip technology has not been able to overcome the problem of how to densely route 3-dimensional optical interconnects through tight spaces without losses due to scattering; how to easily connect optical interconnects to devices; how to take advantage of less expensive and lower wavelength multimode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes (VCSEL); and how to do the foregoing in cost effective packages.
Flexible Optoelectronic Devices
Interest continues to grow in developing new materials and processes that allow for the development of flexible optoelectronic devices that can be efficiently fabricated on flexible substrates. (Someya, T., Bao, Z. & Malliaras, G. G. The rise of plastic bioelectronics. Nature vol. 540 379-385 (2016); Zardetto, V., Brown, T. M., Reale, A. & Di Carlo, A. Substrates for flexible electronics: A practical investigation on the electrical, film flexibility, optical, temperature, and solvent resistance properties. J. Polym. Sci. Part B Polym. Phys. 49, 638-648 (2011); Ahn, J. H. et al. Heterogeneous three-dimensional electronics by use of printed semiconductor nanomaterials. Science, 314, 1754-1757 (2006)). Flexible photonics must be able to maintain their optical performance while being mechanically deformed through bending, folding, rolling, twisting, stretching or compression. (Qiang, Z. et al. Fano filters based on transferred silicon nanomembranes on plastic substrates. Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 061106 (2008)). This flexible capability enables the development of new devices such as flexible imaging, optical interconnects, solar cells, and sensors. (Zhou, L. et al. All-organic active matrix flexible display. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 083502 (2006); Bosnian, E. et al. Highly reliable flexible active optical links. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 22, 287-289 (2010); Guidotti, D., Yu, J., Blaser, M., Grundlehner, V. & Chang, G. K. Edge viewing photodetectors for strictly in-plane lightwave circuit integration and flexible optical interconnects. in Proceedings—Electronic Components and Technology Conference vol. 2006 782-788 (2006); Shibata, T. & Takahashi, A. Flexible opto-electronic circuit board for in-device interconnection. in Proceedings—Electronic Components and Technology Conference 261-267 (2008); Swatowski, B. W. et al. Flexible, stable, and easily processable optical silicones for low loss polymer waveguides. in Organic Photonic Materials and Devices XV (eds. Tabor, C. E., Kajzar, F., Kaino, T. & Koike, Y.) vol. 8622 862205 (SPIE, 2013); Yoon, J. et al. Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs. in Materials for Sustainable Energy: A Collection of Peer-Reviewed Research and Review Articles from Nature Publishing Group 38-46 (World Scientific Publishing Co., 2010)). There are numerous advantages to using flexible optoelectronics in that they can be used as a foil over irregular surfaces for distributed sensing applications, used on movable surfaces in robotics, or folded into compact modules for portable devices. This capability along with packaging improvements due to significantly lower overall thickness, weight, and compactness of products can lead to the development of exciting new devices. (Bosnian, E. et al. Highly reliable flexible active optical links. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 22, 287-289 (2010); Fjelstad, J. Flexible circuit technology. (2007)
Several new technologies are currently being used to fabricate flexible optoelectronic devices. They are typically fabricated using one of the two main categories of non-contact printing and contact printing of solutions on flexible substrates. Non-contact printing includes screen printing, inkjet printing, and slot-die printing. In non-contact printing the inks are dispensed through openings and structures are defined by moving the substrate in a preprogramed pattern. The more common methods are contact printing types which include gravure, offset, flexography, micro-contact, nano-imprinting and dry transfer printing. In contact printing the structures with inks are brought into contact with the substrates. (Shibata, T. & Takahashi, A. Flexible opto-electronic circuit board for in-device interconnection. in Proceedings—Electronic Components and Technology Conference 261-267 (2008)). While each of these techniques have advantages, a major disadvantage is that mirrors or other optical devices are required to change the direction of the light rays out of the plane of the substrate to connect with components. (Khan, S., Lorenzelli, L. & Dahiya, R. S. Screen printed flexible pressure sensors skin. in ASMC (Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference) Proceedings 219-224 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2014); Li, L. et al. A fully-integrated flexible photonic platform for chip-to-chip optical interconnects; Dangel, R., Horst, F., Jubin, D., . . . N. M.-J. of lightwave & 2013, undefined. Development of versatile polymer waveguide flex technology for use in optical interconnects; Choi, C. et al. Flexible optical waveguide film with 45-degree micromirror couplers for hybrid E/O integration or parallel optical interconnection. in Photonics Packaging and Integration IV vol. 5358 122 (SPIE, 2004).
Integrated photonics have many compelling advantages for computing and communication applications, including high-speed and extremely wide bandwidth operation. Current systems are typically hybrid assemblies of packaged photonic devices where printed circuit boards often serve to route electrical signals and power, and in some cases, have runs of optical fibers. Development of a hybrid assembly method of optical interconnects for photonic systems would allow for higher transmission rates, lower power requirements, improved signal integrity and timing, less heat generation, and improved security of communication signals.
Given the shortcomings of the prior art, what is needed is an additive manufactured plastic optical interconnect that can be inexpensively mass produced can improve data transmission rates for a wide range of devices.

Digital fabrication of a small diameter polymer optical waveguide


According to one embodiment, a toner supply device includes a motor and an estimating unit. The motor rotates a toner container that supplies a toner to an image forming apparatus. The estimating unit estimates a toner residual amount in the toner container at a second point in time on the basis of a total rotation time representing time in which the motor rotates in a period of use from a first point in time when the toner container is attached to the image forming apparatus to the second point in time.

In recent years, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) forms an image on a sheet-like medium (hereinafter referred to as "sheet") such as paper using a coloring agent such as a toner. In the image forming apparatus, a dedicated container in which the toner is stored (hereinafter referred to as "toner container") is attached in a predetermined position. The image forming apparatus receives the supply of the toner from the toner container by rotating a motor provided to drive a supply mechanism of the toner container. The image forming apparatus calculates an amount of the toner present in the toner container (hereinafter referred to as "toner residual amount"). The image forming apparatus displays the calculated toner residual amount.
In the related art, the toner residual amount is estimated on the basis of an integrated value of a rotation time of the motor and a predetermined reference time.
However, if fluctuation occurs in the number of revolutions of the motor or if the number of revolutions of the motor is not fixed, the toner residual amount sometimes cannot be accurately estimated.


A carriage that can be attached to and move on a rail is provided. The carriage has a contact area that supports a cable connection, for example, for a power supply. An end section of the contact area is designed so as to fold down on removal of a pressure exerted by a section of the cable connection lying thereon, so that as a result the carriage is contracted.

The present embodiments relate to a carriage that is movably attached to a rail.
Attaching technical equipment to the ceiling of a room enables the available space to be used economically in many situations. For more flexible use of devices suspended from the ceiling use is frequently made of longitudinal ceiling rails with transverse carriages, which permit transverse displacement or transverse travel of the technical device attached to the carriage. Technical devices suspended from the ceiling are found not only in factories but also in hospitals, where medical diagnostic devices are attached in this way. DE 19838594 C1 describes an x-ray ceiling stand with a transverse carriage suspended from a longitudinal ceiling rail.
Movable technical devices suspended from the ceiling may be supplied with power using cables. EP 0819226 B1 describes energy chains used to guide the cable.
Supplying power to a technical device suspended from the ceiling using a cable connection, for example, a cable guided in an energy chain, has the drawback that the cable connection hangs down between the attachment points. Cable connections that hang down restrict the space and increase the risk that people will knock against cables that are hanging down. The use of energy chains improves the situation because the cables are guided in a controlled manner. However, the self-supporting area of the energy chain can sag considerably. To reduce this, the transverse carriage is generally fitted with a brace or a support bracket, which carries part of the energy chain. The longer this support bracket is, the more the sag in the energy chain is reduced. However, a drawback of this is that extending the brace restricts or reduces the area available for the carriage to travel. The space requirement for the ceiling stand is thus increased.
DE 102005022343 A1 and DE 102005027672 A1 describe a power rail above a longitudinal rail for a transverse carriage. The transverse carriage is supplied via the power line by a sliding contact. This solution is not easy to implement technically for high voltages and entails the difficulty of how the power rail can or should be suitably protected.

Carriage with pivoted brace for a cable connection


An adjuvant for glyphosate having increased activity, lower irritancy and lower toxicity than conventional adjuvants, and method of controlling weeds using the same. The adjuvant is C.sub.8 to C.sub.22 sarcosinate or sarcosinate salt, such as sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, or combinations thereof, which is combined with glyphosate in low concentrations and provides effective activity.

Glyphosate, or N-phosphonomethylglycine (HOOCCH.sub.2 NHCH.sub.2 PO (OH).sub.2), is a well-known translocated, postemergence, broadspectrum herbicide. The typical commercial formulation contains about 41% of the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate and is believed to contain about 16-20% by weight of a tallow amine ethoxylate surfactant. Glyphosate is a relatively insoluble acid, and thus is typically formulated and applied as a salt, such as the isopropylamine, sodium or ammonium salt.
Surfactants are incorporated into the formulation to improve the activity of the glyphosate. However, the term "surfactant" is ambiguous, as the form supplied by manufacturers is not necessarily a single compound, but can be a mixture. For example, with ethoxylated surfactants, the degree of ethoxylation can be and typically is a statistical mixture. The literature describes use of surfactants in glyphosate compositions and in particular, Weed Science, Vol. 25, pp 275-287 (1977) demonstrates the necessity of including a surfactant in glyphosate formulations. However, tallow amine ethoxylate is a severe eye irritant.
Conventional glyphosate formulations include the use of surfactants such as silicone to enhance the rainfast properties of glyphosate formulations. However, commercialization of such formulations has been hindered by the cost of incorporation of such surfactants into the formulations, and by the hydrolytic instability of such adjuvants. Other formulations including surfactants are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,362,705, 5,180,414 and 5,118,338.
Adjuvants are typically used in formulations to aid the operation or improve the effectiveness of the pesticide, herbicide, or other active ingredient. The term includes wetting agents, spreaders, emulsifiers, dispersing agents, foaming adjuvants, foam suppressants, penetrants, and correctives. For example, adjuvants such as Valent X-77.RTM. Spreader are commonly used to enhance the performance of Fluazifop-P-butyl, another selective herbicide. However, Valent X-77.RTM. Spreader and other ethoxylated nonionic surfactants contain free ethylene oxide which may form 1,4 dioxane, a known carcinogen.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide glyphosate adjuvants and formulations which do not suffer from the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide herbicide formulations with excellent activity, lower irritancy and lower toxicity than conventional formulations.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide efficacious glyphosate formulations with relatively low amounts of surfactant compared to conventional formulations.

N-acyl sarcosinates as glyphosate adjuvants


A novel display device capable of adjusting color purity is provided. A novel display device with improved adhesion of a color filter is provided. A novel display device capable of excellent reflective display is provided. The display device includes a transistor, a reflective electrode layer formed on the same surface as a source electrode layer or a drain electrode layer of the transistor, a first insulating layer over the reflective electrode layer, a coloring layer which is over the first insulating layer and overlaps with the reflective electrode layer, a second insulating layer over the coloring layer, and a pixel electrode layer over the second insulating layer. The coloring layer includes at least a first opening and a second opening. The pixel electrode layer is electrically connected to the transistor through the first opening. The second insulating layer is in contact with the first insulating layer in the second opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object, a method, or a manufacturing method. In addition, the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a display device, an electronic device, a manufacturing method thereof, or a driving method thereof. One embodiment of the present invention particularly relates to, for example, a reflective liquid crystal display device.
Note that the term "display device" means a device including a display element. In addition, the display device includes a driver circuit for driving a plurality of pixels, and the like. Furthermore, the display device may include a control circuit, a power supply circuit, a signal generation circuit, or the like formed over another substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent rapid spread of portable information terminals such as smartphones, improvement in their performance has progressed rapidly. Their screens have been increased in size and resolution, and some recent ones have resolutions as high as over 300 ppi.
For example, liquid crystal display devices generally have a structure in which R, G, and B sub-pixels are provided in a display region and provided with their respective color filters. The color filters are provided over a substrate (a counter substrate) which faces an active-matrix substrate (a substrate provided with elements (e.g., transistors) for driving pixels).
With the increase in resolution, the alignment accuracy between an active-matrix substrate and a counter substrate provided with color filters can be recognized as a problem. In view of this problem, attention has been focused on what is called a color filter on array (COA) structure, in which a color filter is formed on the active-matrix substrate side.
As a liquid crystal display device with a COA structure, a reflective or semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device which includes a color filter, a pixel electrode, and a reflective layer on the active-matrix substrate side and in which light entering from the counter substrate side is transmitted through the pixel electrode and the color filter and is reflected by the underlying reflective layer and is visually recognized is disclosed (e.g., see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Display device and electronic device with a color filter

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


‘NCCC1’ is a new cultivar of eastern redbud tree with unique, multi-colored foliage that includes a range and combination of colors including green, white, purple, and pink on emerging and young foliage.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct hybrid cultivar of Cercis canadensis herein referred to by the cultivar name 'NCCC1'. This new redbud was developed through a breeding program at North Carolina State University, Mills River, N.C. 'NCCC1' was selected from a population of second generation descendants from a hybrid cross between Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,556) (male parent) and Cercis canadensis 'Silver Cloud' (non-patented) (female parent). Plants of the original F1 hybrids between 'Forest Pansy' and 'Silver Cloud' were planted in Mills River, N.C., and isolated from other Cercis. Open pollenated seeds were collected from these trees in 2004 and germinated in the spring of 2005. Nineteen seedlings were selected that expressed purple and/or variegated foliage traits and were also planted in Mills River, N.C. 'NCCC1', originally designated as H2005-055-003, was selected primarily for its attractive multi-colored foliage in spring and early summer. The first asexual propagation of 'NCCC1' was carried out in 2009 by budding at a nursery in Belvidere, Tenn. 'NCCC1' has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics, through repeated asexual propagation, over a 9-year period.


Storage mediums and a computer-implemented method for automating web navigation and content extraction are provided. In particular, a storage medium with program components which are executable through a common application program interface and are utilizable by a developer to write programming instructions is provided. In some cases, the storage medium may include a program component for adaptively navigating through one or more websites and another program component for extracting scripted content from the one or more websites. In addition or alternatively, the storage medium may include a program component for standardizing content on a web page. In some cases, the storage medium may be configured to allow a user to include XPath query language in program instructions written from the storage medium. A storage medium comprising program instructions executable using a processor for performing such functions and a computer-implemented method employing such processes are also provided herein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to world wide web navigation and content extraction and, more specifically, to methods and systems for automating such processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The amount of information on the world wide web has increased dramatically in the past several years. Many individuals and organizations use such a resource for gathering information. Unfortunately, harvesting information from the world wide web is typically a time consuming process. In particular, collecting information from the world wide web often involves manually navigating through sites and extracting information by copying the information via manual data reentry and/or cut and paste features. In some cases, custom applications can be written to automate the collection process. However, the development of such codes is time consuming. In particular, the development of custom applications typically involves a great deal of analysis to outline the navigational routes through a website and the steps needed to query and extract content from the website. In addition to being time consuming to prepare, custom applications are generally complex to write and, therefore, typically require one or more skillful programmers. In cases in which the content is not formatted in the industry standard layout, the script will further need to outline steps to convert the content to the standard layout so that the material may be interpreted correctly. Such a conversion will further complicate the application code, consuming more of the programmer's time.
In addition to requiring a complex set of program instructions and taking a large amount of time to prepare, custom applications are highly prone to failure when changes are made to websites that the code accesses. More specifically, the navigational routes included in the custom applications may be rendered useless when information on an accessed website has changed. Consequently, custom applications are generally restricted to collecting unscripted content from websites. "Unscripted content," as used herein, may generally refer to website content which does not depend on client-side scripts in order to obtain the content. In other words, unscripted content may refer to information displayed on a website that is governed by the website's server.
In contrast, "scripted content" may refer to website content which includes one or more executable scripts from which to access the content. In this manner, scripted content may refer to information on a website which is susceptible to change without interface with the website's server. Such scripted content is sometimes referred to as dynamic hyper text markup language (DHTML), however, other markup languages known in the website development industry may be referred to as scripted content as well. Examples of information which may be desirable to display as scripted content may include, for instance, stock quotes from brokerage websites, prices of specific items from online commercial vendors and online auction sites, regional weather information, airline ticket information, shipment tracking information, news headlines on news organizations websites, and bank account balances. Other information may be displayed as scripted content as well or alternatively, depending on the design specifications of a website.
As such, it would be advantageous to develop systems and methods for automating world web navigation and content extraction. For example, it would be beneficial to develop systems and methods which extract content, particularly scripted content, from websites without user intervention. Such systems and methods may also be configured to navigate websites without user intervention as well. In addition to automating website navigation and content extraction, it would be advantageous to develop a system which can standardize web content and/or allow for the incorporation XPath query language within a custom application.

Automated world wide web navigation and content extraction


According to an aspect, an information processing device includes: a touch panel for detecting a contact; and a controller configured to display a virtual keyboard including a plurality of buttons on the touch panel, and receive, when the touch panel detects a contact started at a first position on the surface of the touch panel and terminated at a second position on the surface of the touch panel, a character string including characters corresponding to the buttons displayed on a trajectory obtained by connecting each position at which the contact is detected from when the contact is started at the first position to when the contact is terminated at the second position as input.

In recent years, touch panels have been widely used so as to realize small-sized information processing devices enabling intuitive operations and including no device that requires a physically large area, such as a keyboard. As technologies for inputting characters by using such a touch panel, a technology for inputting characters in handwriting on a touch panel (e.g., Patent Literature 1) and a technology for inputting characters by using a virtual keyboard displayed on a touch panel (hereinafter, referred to as a "virtual keyboard") (e.g., Patent Literature 2) are known.

Information processing device and character input method


A gear pump which is fitted with a magnetic coupling (6) to ensure against leaks uses circulation of the pump fluid to cool the magnetic coupling. The circulation is established by supplying the pump rotor (4) with radial channels (24) which terminate in recesses on the periphery of the rotor and which are connected to an axial channel (26) in the rotor shaft leading to the end of the shaft which is nearest the magnetic coupling. The fluid which is drawn through the channels (24) is mixed with the main stream of fluid in a section which is cut out of the wall of the pump chamber (16), and fresh cooling fluid is drawn via the chamber (40) to the radial gap in the magnetic coupling.

Pumps provided with a magnetic coupling between the motor and the rotor are used for pumping liquids, such as chemicals, inflammable liquids, foodstuffs, etc. where it is required or desirable to have a completely leakproof pump.
Partly due to eddy currents in the magnetic coupling caused by the rotation of the permanent magnet and partly because of bearing and hydraulic losses the magnetic coupling may get inadmissibly hot, so that cooling becomes necessary. This is obtained in known constructions by using the pressure drop across the pump to conduct a part of the pump fluid through the coupling. This entails some disadvantages, however, in particular because the viscosities of the pump fluids are in themselves different, they are temperature dependent, and furthermore the pressure drop across the pump varies, so that there is no control of the coolant, i.e. the part of the pump fluid used for cooling. This means that the cooling of the magnetic coupling has to be individually adapted to the specific pump fluid and its temperature. The leakage of pump fluid for cooling purposes means a reduced pump capacity, and there is a pronounced risk that the calibrated opening for the coolant clogs up because of its small size.

Cooling arrangement for magnetic couplings in pumps


A graphical method and system of tracking projects managed in accordance with Theory of Constraints project management techniques. A graph of project and feeding chain buffer consumption is constructed for at a glance project status review by management. Alternate buffer consumption models may be utilized.

The present invention relates to the field of project management and scheduling techniques. In particular, the present invention concerns a novel approach to Theory of Constraints (TOC) buffer graphing, tracking and the management of projects in accordance with TOC techniques.
Various techniques have been used for the management of project scheduling. One of the techniques used to manage such project scheduling is, for example, (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) chart techniques. PERT chart techniques have been used quite extensively in the management of project scheduling. The PERT technique uses a well known critical path method.
Another technique that has been used for project scheduling and tracking is the Theory of Constraints (TOC). This technique, which is a relatively new approach, is described in detail in the book xe2x80x9cCritical Chain,xe2x80x9d by Eliyahu Goldratt (The North River Press, Great Barrington, Mass. 1997). Some of the key principles of the TOC include the focusing of attention on the critical chain (that chain of events and staff that most determines the delivery interval), eliminating multi-tasking of individuals when building and implementing schedules, and the managing of progress via intervals rather than dates.
In particular, TOC schedules are created by estimating 50% confidence intervals for the individual development tasks of the complete project, i.e. 50% probability of completing the individual task, and then linking them together to create an overall schedule. Because the probability for delivery of the product at completion of the 50% chain is significantly legs than 100% probability, a project buffer, PB, or safety interval, must be added at the end of the critical chain. For non-critical components that feed into the schedule, a feeding buffer, FB, is inserted at the point where the non-critical component links into the critical chain. The xe2x80x9cpaddingxe2x80x9d in the schedule, then, is located at the end of each component chain rather than distributed throughout all tasks.
One of the major drawbacks that exists with presently available TOC-based systems and methods is the inability to quickly and easily generate, update, interpret and understand buffer charts which are suitable for use by all project members in tracking progress to plan.
In particular, presently available tabular systems and methods do not allow project members, or more importantly project managers the ability to readily visually ascertain at a glance, by reference to a chart or model or graphical illustration, when buffer levels are getting too low, such that action can be taken in order to improve delivery results.
Another drawback that exists is the inability to know the actual status of each project component, and especially one that is critical (in order to apply the TOC methodology of identifying and elevating the critical chain). It is difficult, however, to determine this unless one analyzes the detailed schedule and derives the critical chain from dates cascaded by the presently known tools, such as, for example, a software product known as ProChain.
Consequently, there exists a need to quickly and easily generate and update buffer charts by using, for example, a computer system and method. In addition, there exists a need to quickly and easily visually detect when buffer levels are getting too low, so that appropriate action may be taken by project members. Furthermore, there exists a need to provide management with a simple method which may be used to determine a current critical chain.
These needs and others are met using a novel approach to Theory of Constraints (TOC) project management. In the known TOC project management approach, schedules contain buffers or xe2x80x9csafety intervalsxe2x80x9d located at the end of non-critical task chains and at the end of the critical chains. Some consumption of these buffers is likely during development, and progress relative to plan is tracked by monitoring these buffer levels. Furthermore, acceptable buffer consumption may be modeled in a number of ways, including as a linear process over time.
The project management approach of the present invention utilizes feeding and project buffer chart construction and interpretation, and includes a graphical method to identify the effect of critical chain components on the overall project. Specifically, buffer consumption over actual project time is plotted such that one may easily and readily determine, by visual reference to the graph, when buffer consumption crosses a visually discernible minimum consumption line and/or an xe2x80x9calarm linexe2x80x9d which should trigger some corrective management action.
It should be noted that this approach to TOC buffer graphing, tracking and management can be accomplished by the use of computers. For example, several software packages such as Microsoft Project, ProChain (a TOC scheduler) and Microsoft Excel (as well as various other spreadsheet programs) may be employed to automate the inventive methods and techniques disclosed herein.

Method and system for theory of constraints buffer graphing, tracking and management


A method of tenderizing meat comprising providing an amount of meat and treating the meat with a composition comprising an enzyme mixture consisting of bromelin, ficin, papain and/or actinidin.

A large portion of commercially raised meat is limited in value because conventional preparation methods result in meat that is unacceptably tough and dry. A variety of methods have been used to tenderize naturally tough meat, such as mechanically interrupting the muscle fibers of the meat. However, none of these methods have produced a meat product that can be cooked using conventional preparation methods, and that results in a post-preparation product that is consistently tender and suitable for human consumption. Note that the word meat as used herein means any animal protein excluding liquid proteins such as blood.
Therefore, it would be useful to have a method of tenderizing meat so that the meat can be cooked using conventional methods, and that results in a post-preparation meat product that is consistently tender and suitable for human consumption.

Composition and method for tenderizing meat


A housed integrated circuit unit package is provided with a heat sink for removal and dissipation of heat from electronic circuits housed in packages. The heat sink, mounted on an outer surface of the package, includes a plurality of pins secured at one end with a retainer and flared out at the other end into a starburst or bouquet configuration, the pins being in the form of rods selected from solid cylinders and tubes. The bottom of the retainer-bound end is coated with a securing substance, such as solder or a heat-conducting adhesive, which is planarized to facilitate positioning of the heat sink on the package. The heat sink is secured to the package by means of solder or a heat-conducting adhesive. The heat sink is produced by securing a plurality of elongated rods by retainers placed at intervals corresponding to a height of the heat sink, cutting off said rods adjacent to one side of the retainer, and flaring the rods at the other free end of the cut-off rods into a starburst-like configuration. The retained ends of the rods are dipped into a solder or heat-conducting adhesive and planarized to provide a planar surface for mounting the heat sink on the surface of the package.

Integrated circuit units, such as integrated circuit chips (ICs) and hybrid integrated circuit (HIC) modules, are conventionally housed in suitable plastic or ceramic packages to protect them mechanically, electrically and chemically. However, such packages are not always capable of efficiently dissipating the heat generated by the circuits. In order to overcome this problem, a given package is provided with a heat sink that is attached to its outer surface. Typically a heat sink utilizes an array of elongated fins arranged on a common platform. The heat sink is often used in conjunction with a cooling fluid, such as air, circulating through the spaces between the fins for conducting the heat away from the circuit. One example of a prior art pin-fin heat sink, 61, mounted on a pin grid array package, 62, is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 7 is shown another version of a prior art channeled-fin heat sink, 71, mounted on quad flatpack package 72. A drawback of the prior art heat sink is its relative high cost. A pin-fin heat sink is made by a costly process of machining out of a block of metal a plurality of square pin fins. Furthermore, a channeled fin heat sink is highly dependent on the direction of the cooling fluid flow. The fluid flowing through the channels between the fins of the channeled-fin heat sink removes heat much more efficiently than the fluid flowing transverse to the heat sink.


A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing such a semiconductor device having a field effect transistor with improved current driving performance (e.g., an increase of drain current) of the field effect transistor comprising the steps of ion implanting an element from the main surface to the inside of a silicon layer as a semiconductor substrate to a level shallower than the implantation depth of the impurities in the step of forming the semiconductor region before the step of ion implanting impurities from the main surface to the inside of the silicon layer as a semiconductor substrate to form the semiconductor region being aligned with the gate electrode.

The present invention relates in general to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same; and, more particularly, it relates to a technique that is effective in the manufacture of semiconductor devices having field effect transistors.
As one example of field effect transistors that are mounted on semiconductor devices, insulated gate field effect transistors, referred to as MISFETs (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), have been known. Since the MISFETs have the characteristic that they can be adapted easily for high integration, they have been used generally as transistor devices constituting integrated circuits.
A MISFET generally has a constitution comprising a channel forming region, a gate insulating film, a gate electrode, a source region and a drain region. The gate insulating film is disposed to a device forming region on the main surface (device forming surface, circuit forming surface) of a semiconductor substrate, and it is formed, for example, as a silicon oxide film. The gate electrode is disposed by way of the gate insulating film on the device forming region of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and it is formed, for example, as a polycrystal silicon film that has been introduced with impurities for reducing the resistance value. The channel forming region is disposed in a region of the semiconductor substrate opposing the gate electrode (region just below the gate electrode). The source region and the drain region are formed of a pair of semiconductor regions (impurity diffusion regions) disposed on both sides of the channel forming region in the direction of the channel length so that the channel forming region is disposed therebetween.
A MISFET having a gate insulating film made of a silicon oxide film is usually referred to as a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor). Further, the channel forming region is a region in which a current channel (channel) connecting the source region and the drain region is formed. Further, those devices in which current flows along the direction of the thickness (direction of depth) of the semiconductor substrate is referred to as a vertical type and those devices in which current flows in the direction of a plane (direction of surface) of the semiconductor substrate are referred to as a horizontal type. Further, those devices in which a channel for electrons (conduction channel) is formed to the channel forming region between the source region and the drain region are referred to as an n-channel conductivity type (simply as n-type), while those devices in which a channel for holes is formed thereto are referred to as a p-channel conductivity type (or simply as p-type). Further, those devices in which a drain current flows only when a voltage higher than a threshold voltage is applied to the gate electrode are referred to the an enhanced type (or E type or normally off-type), while those devices in which a drain current flows with no application of voltage to the gate electrode are referred to as depression type (or D type or normally on-type).
By the way, the size of a MISFET has become finer along with the trend toward high integration or multi-function use. In order to suppress the occurrence of a short channel effect or hot electrons along with refinement of the MISFET, an LDD structure, in which the density of impurities in the drain region on the side of the channel forming region is lowered, has been adopted in a MISFET of the sub-micron generation having a gate length of 1 (μm) or less. Since the LDD structure can decrease the amount of diffusion of the drain region to the side of the channel forming region and can ensure the size of the channel length, it can suppress the occurrence of the short channel effect. Further, since it can moderate the gradient of the impurity density distribution in the pn-junction portion that is formed between the drain region and the channel forming region to weaken the electric field intensity generated in the region, the amount of hot carriers being generated can be decreased.
A MISFET of the LDD structure is obtained mainly by forming a gate electrode by way of a gate insulating film on the main surface of a semiconductor substrate; then ion implanting impurities to the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby forming a semiconductor region that is aligned with the gate electrode (extension region); then forming a side wall spacer to the side wall of the gate electrode; and then ion implanting impurities to the main surface of the semiconductor substrate so as to form a semiconductor region (contact region) being that is aligned with the side wall spacer.
On the other hand, refinement of the size of a MISFET results in an increase in the gate resistance due to a decrease of the gate length size, and an increase in the source resistance, drain resistance and contact resistance due to a shallowing of the source region and the drain region, whereby improvement for higher speed operation of a memory IC (integrated circuits), logic IC and hybrid IC having a memory function and logic function is inhibited.
In view of the above, a technique for reducing the resistance by using a refractory metal silicide film for coping with refinement and higher speed operation has been proposed. Particularly, the use of a technique for reducing the resistance, which is referred to as a salicide technique (salicide: self-alignment silicide), is effective for attaining a hybrid IC.
As a known literature relevant to the present invention, the following Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-82678) is mentioned. The Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of ion implanting germanium (Ge), thereby forming source-drain regions with less junction leakage, at a high concentration and with a shallow junction.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-82678.

Semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same


The invention relates to a method for estimating a delay of a signal received at a mobile station MS from a specific network element BS1, BS2 of a network for determining the location of the mobile station. In order to reduce the false alarm ratio and to increase the acquisition probability, it is proposed that the method comprises estimating the delay within a search window. The search window is determined based on location information available for the specific network element BS1, BS2 and on a known distance of the mobile station MS to at least one other network element BS0, BS1. The invention relates equally to a corresponding mobile station MS, to a corresponding network element BS0, and to a communication system comprising at least one mobile station and at least two network elements.

The location of a mobile station can be determined by a positioning procedure, for example a positioning procedure which is part of a location service.
Location services in cellular systems are based on determining the delay of signals transmitted by different network elements of a cellular network to a mobile station of which the location is to be determined. In case of a line-of-sight transmission, the delay of the signals is directly dependent on the distance between the mobile station and the respective transmitting network element.
A location service puts other demands on the acquisition of signals than usual communication services, and in particular on the finger searching process (a process known for RAKE type receivers) for the delay estimation using information of an impulse response.
For usual communication services, the strongest signals are of the highest interest. The searching can therefore be carried out by picking up the peaks in the impulse responses. For location services, in contrast, it is an aim to find the signal which arrives first, preferably the line of sight signal, if available.
For usual communication services, further the covering range is different, since only the signals from the serving network element have to be acquired. The serving network element is the network element serving the cell in which the mobile terminal is currently located. Thus for usual communication services, the delay profile is mainly determined by the cell size of the network. For location services, in contrast, the covering range is determined by the size of the server cell and the neighboring cells, since signals from a plurality of network elements are required for determining the exact position of the mobile station.
For illustration, FIG. 1 shows a cellular network with a server base station BSs as serving network element in a server cell 10 having a hexagonal shape. The mobile station MS, of which the current location is to be determined, is situated in this server cell 10. The server cell 10 is surrounded by six further hexagonal cells 11, which are served by immediately neighboring base stations BSn constituting further network elements. Additional base stations, which are still farther away from the mobile station MS, might have to be taken into account in addition.
The searching procedure for detecting a delayed signal for a location service is normally carried out in the impulse response of signals received from different network elements. The searching may be performed with a correlation procedure, e.g. with a matched filter, starting from a zero delay. The delay is then increased until a correspondence is found. The delay can be estimated e.g. by an edge detection in the impulse response profile of the received signals. The length of the impulse response profile is much longer than the width of the signal shape. Therefore, the search for an edge is started from a certain position of the signal by comparing the amplitude of sampling data with a pre-defined threshold. On the one hand, this threshold has to be set high enough in order to avoid that a noise peak is detected as the signal edge, which would result in a false alarm. On the other hand, the threshold has to be set low enough to guarantee that the signal edge is detected even if the signal strength is rather weak.
Principally, the length of the impulse response should be long enough to cover the possible maximum delay. It is known from the searching procedures for delayed signals, however, that the length of the searching range generally affects the false-alarm rate in the acquisition of a signal. The longer the searching range, the higher the false alarm rate will be. The problem is even more severe for location services, since the signals are partly much weaker and the noise is higher for neighboring network elements, while the delays are bigger. The majority of the noise is the interference caused by the server network element when acquiring the neighboring network element.
The same kind of problems may occur in other cellular network based positioning procedures.


A system and method obtaining structured information from a conversation including receiving a first input from a user, determining a first set of slots filled based on the first input using natural language processing and a non-linear slot filling algorithm, determining first conversation based on the first set of slots filled, determining a first empty slot associated with the first conversation, prompting the user for a second input, the second input associated with the first empty slot, filling the first empty slot using natural language processing and the non-linear slot filling algorithm, determining that the slots associated with the first conversation are filled; and, responsive to determining that the slots associated with the first conversation are filled, initiating an action associated with the conversation.

Present systems for obtaining structured information from a conversation between a human and computer (e.g. chatbot, artificial intelligence, digital assistant, etc.) rely on decision trees. Such systems require developers to build the decision trees using either code or a visual designer. Reliance on decision trees has drawbacks. For example, one drawback is that a developer is required to implement all possible paths and scenarios, which results in complicated nets of nodes, which are difficult to implement and maintain. Another example drawback is that interaction between the human and computer relies on the computer understanding the place in the complicated net of nodes that is the decision tree and navigating the same with natural language, which often results in conversations that are awkward and dissimilar from a conversation that would occur between two humans.
Present systems also fail to utilize analytics to determine what information to prompt the user for next in a conversation and to utilize information from a previous conversation to supply necessary information for a conversation.


A rotary disk humidifier of the type that has multiple parallel spaced disks rotatably mounted in a water reservoir in a housing with controls for maintaining the water level in the housing to obtain an optimum wetted disk area above the water level exposed to air flow to achieve optimum humidification. At one theoretical extreme, the water level is at or above the center of rotation of disks decreasing the area of the disks exposed to free air flow through the housing. At the other theoretical extreme with the water level just at or slightly above the outer diameter of the disks, there is a grossly insufficient wetted area of the disk to approach the optimum area. Between those extremes there is a mathematical optimal range of the ratio inner wetted diameter of the disk Ri to the outside wetted diameter of the disk Ro (or the average outer diameter of the disk—the disk may not be circular) of about 0.30.

Rotary disk humidifiers have been commercially available for decades. They generally include a stack of flat circular disks that are mounted closely spaced and parallel to one another on a central shaft that rotates and immersed in a water reservoir so that as the disks rotate through the water bath, air flows across the disks above the water bath entraining water vapor in the air stream and thereby humidifying air exiting from the humidifier.
However, no attempt insofar as the present inventor is aware, has been made to optimize the wetted area of the disks exposed to air flowing through or across the disks.
For example, in the Burns, U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,505, a humidifier is disclosed with a spaced stack of annular disks rotated through a water bath with an axial flow inlet 44 that drives air axially through the center of the disks, which air is blocked by a plate 26 to cause the air to turn radially across the disks. No attempt or discussion is contained in the Burns patent relating to optimizing the wetted area of the stacked disks 10.
The Persons, U.S. Pat. No. 2,054,039, shows an axial to radial flow air conditioning system in FIG. 2A and what appears to be a radial-inlet to radial-outlet system in FIG. 2. But again, no attempt is made by Persons to optimize the wetted area of the disks exposed to air. The same is true of the Persons, U.S. Pat. No. 2,060,636.
In the Tamm, U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,517, a method for moistening air is disclosed including a plurality of stacked disks rotatable in a reservoir with water illustrated in FIG. 2, with the water level shown at FIG. 9. This is an extremely low water level and provides a very narrow wetted area of the disks above the water level.
The deficiency in Tamm is also shown in the McElreath, U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,922, relating to a humidifier, and this system makes no attempt to optimize the wetted area of the disks.
The Filss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,597, shows a plurality of circular plates but the system is designed not for humidification, but for purifying gasses, and therefore, is not relevant to the present invention.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in the prior art and to optimize the wetted area Awe of humidifier disk stacks in a humidifier.


A gate lock is composed of a lock base, a lock core with a slot defined therein, a latch member and a bolt assembly. A gate is mounted in a frame, which can be mounted in a doorway. The gate lock is mounted on the gate and the bolt assembly of the gate lock is mounted on the frame. When the gate is closed, the bolt is engaged in the slot in the lock core. The lock core is then rotated 90 degrees. The bolt will not slide out of the slot, and the gate is locked. To unlock the gate, the lock core is rotated 90 degrees in the opposite direction. The gate is then lifted upward allowing the bolt to slide out of the slot, thus enabling the gate to swing open.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gate lock, and particularly relates to a gate lock mounted on a gate or barrier to prevent children or pets from getting out.
2. Description of the Related Art
Little children normally lack an awareness of danger. They may wander out of a room or a home without parents noticing. Pets can also get out easily if there are no restrictions. Gates or barriers are usually mounted in doorways to prevent small children or pets from getting out.
However, the gates are usually secured with simple latches or locking devices, which can be easily opened by some smart children, thus rendering the gates ineffective in protecting children or pets.
Therefore, the invention provides a gate lock to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


A method and control unit for configuring an add-on interface of a vehicle are presented. The vehicle comprises at least one vehicle internal system, at least one add-on system, the add-on system being arranged in the vehicle after the vehicle is produced by a manufacturer, and at least one internal communication unit arranged for communication with at least one vehicle external communication unit. The method comprises: receiving, using the at least one internal communication unit, configuration information related to at least one sensor of the vehicle from the at least one vehicle external communication unit; and configuring, based on the configuration information, how at least one sensor signal Ssensor from the at least one sensor is to be processed by an add-on interface, the add-on interface being arranged in the vehicle as an interface between the at least one vehicle internal system and the at least one add-on system.

The following background information is a description of the background of the present invention, which thus not necessarily has to be a description of prior art.
Vehicle manufacture may be conducted in a variety of ways. In for example the car industry, the manufacturer usually produces vehicles that are complete and intended for direct delivery to final customers.
The heavy vehicle industry, however, commonly also employs other kinds of production methods. Manufacturers of heavy vehicles may, as in the car industry, produce vehicles intended for delivery directly to final customers or final users of the vehicles. However, it is also common that heavy vehicles produced by the manufacturer are only partly manufactured, i.e. are only completed to a certain extent, including vehicle internal systems, in view of being subsequently completed by another part than the manufacturer, for example a user or a customer of the manufacturer, e.g. a third-party supplier, in such a way as to meet specific requirements of the final customers or users.
It may also be that the vehicle, although substantially completed by its manufacturer, will be provided with further functionalities and/or systems, in this document denoted add-on systems, e.g. by another party such as a third-party supplier, a customer, or a final user, before it is put into use. It is for example usual that commercial vehicle manufacturers, as well as producing fully equipped vehicles, produce also vehicle versions being only partly manufactured, for example intentionally comprising only the chassis, or the chassis and the driver compartment/cab. The partially manufactured vehicle is then intended to be subsequently completed with one or more additional systems and/or functionalities by another party than the manufacturer, in accordance with the specific requirements of the another party, being e.g. a final customer and/or final user.
For example, chassis produced by a vehicle manufacturer may be designed to be usable in any desired way as bases for building on in order to construct mobile homes, fire vehicles, ambulances, concrete mixer trucks, refrigerated vehicles, or any other especially adapted vehicle. Also, for example a bus chassis may be produced by the vehicle manufacturer with little or no bodywork, with the intention to complete the vehicle with subsequent building-on performed by a bus bodybuilder. Generally, a bodybuilder installs/adds one or more add-on systems, i.e. does bodywork, on a vehicle after its original manufacture.
Thus, the building-on and/or addition of one or more systems and/or functionalities carried out by another party may be very extensive, and at least some building-on is also very common in the case of heavy vehicles. For this reason, the vehicle manufacturer often also prepares the vehicle in such a way as to facilitate subsequent building-on.
For example, one or more power takeoffs are often included in the vehicle by the manufacturer, e.g. so that add-on systems may be connected for example to the vehicle's engine and/or gearbox to enable them to be provided with driving power from the vehicle. There may also be connections to make it possible to use, for example, the vehicle's electrical system, hydraulic system and/or pneumatic system for implementation of add-on functions. A vehicle may thus be provided with a plurality of power takeoffs, and the power takeoff requirement may vary depending on the kinds of applications built onto the vehicle. Certain applications may for example require power which is constantly available when the engine of the vehicle is running, irrespective of whether the vehicle is moving or not, e.g. in the case of concrete mixer trucks, refrigeration units in refrigerated vehicles. Other applications may only need power on distinct occasions, e.g. upon activation of an additional system. The activation of a power takeoff for, and hence activation of the operation of, one or more built-on systems and/or functionalities is often not such that continuous or unregulated power takeoff is desirable, since it is only usually required in certain situations, e.g. upon a demand from the built-on systems and/or functionalities themselves or from, for example, the vehicle's driver.

Method and control unit for configuring an addon interface


In the tin float bath process of flat glass production, proposed automatic recuperative natural gas burners will replace the existing electrical heating elements. The use of natural gas instead of electricity creates a more energy-efficient bath operation, amounting to an approximately seventy percent savings. Control of the burner zones is comparable to that utilized with the replaced electrically heated zones. Combustion air and natural gas are ignited and burned within a heat-radiating chamber. The residue from burnt gases is exhausted externally to the bath and has no contact whatever with the atmosphere inside the bath. Advantages comprise a less complicated installation with minimal maintenance and with little or no replacement parts, all of which contribute to longevity not attained by prior art. Additionally, shutdown of the process is not necessary to remove and replace a possible defective burner, as is required with defective electrical heaters. Only periodic visual inspection is required. Auxiliary burners presently used to preheat the bath are unnecessary prior to the flow of molten glass from the melting tank. The proposed burners will fulfill this function before continuing with the process heating to the point required for maintaining the temperature profile of the tin float bath.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the controlled cooling of the molten flat glass ribbon as it passes through the tin float bath at a continuous rate. Manufacturing flat glass comprises the delivering of molten glass to a bath of molten tin and advancing the glass along the surface of the tin bath under thermal conditions that do not contaminate the internal atmosphere. Such contamination is detrimental to both the glass product and the molten tin. Glass at approximately 1900 degrees F enters the bath from the melting tank and at approximately 1200 degrees F exits the bath to a cooling lehr. In present installations the temperatures in the bath are maintained with electrical resistance heaters suspended from the roof over the flat ribbon of glass. Such electrical heaters do not contaminate the bath atmosphere and have been used over the past twenty year period.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attempts to burn natural gas over the bath by the glass industry failed the industry's contamination requirements. This invention originates a unique application of the automatic recuperative natural gas burners to flat glass production for the first time. Combustion air and natural gas are ignited and burned within a heat-radiating chamber. The residue from burnt gases is exhausted externally to the bath and has no contact whatever with the atmosphere inside the bath. Recuperative burners have been used previously by the steel and aluminum industries, but never in the tin float bath process by the glass industry.

Tin float bath for manufacturing sheet glass utilizing recuperative gas burners


The present invention provides a package device for reducing the electromagnetic/radio frequency interference, which includes a first substrate with a shielding structure on the under surface of the first substrate, and an insulating layer on the shielding structure. The first substrate includes a through hole that is filled with the conductor therein. A plurality of lead-frames located on the bottom surface of the first substrate. A second substrate located above between the two lead-frames. Then, the molding compound encapsulated to cover the above structures to form a package device. Therefore, the shielding path of the package device is constructed of the plurality of lead-frames, the conductor within the first substrate, the shielding structure, and the grounded to discharge the electromagnetic/radio frequency out of the package device, thus, the electromagnetic/radio frequency interference for the package device can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a package device, particularly to indicate to a package device with electromagnetic interference shield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recently, the electrical technology is developed rapidly, and the electronic equipment is used for widely application. Because of the electromagnetic interference is generated from the electronic equipment and the restraint is generated from the environment of the electronic equipment, the electromagnetic compatibility for the electronic equipment is an important issue to consider. The objective of the shielding structure is that preventing the performance of other electronic devices is to be reduced, or the damage to the inside electronic device.
In general, the electromagnetic/radio frequency interference would be caused by the package device is that the interaction between the every electronic devices located on the package device. For example, the noise capacitance and inductance would be influenced the package device when the work current passed through the conductive wirings, or the signal passed through the grounded line, or the mutual inductance is caused between the conductive wirings.
FIG. 1 shows the package device that utilizes the metal sheet to be an electromagnet interference shield. The package device includes a substrate which consisted of an insulating layer 110/a metal sheet 112/an insulating layer 114, wherein the metal sheet 112 is a shielding structure for reducing the electromagnetic/radio frequency interference, and a heat dissipation apparatus which is attached to another insulating layer 114. The conventional separating apparatus 116 consisted of a plurality of power devices, which is electrically coupled with the printed circuit board 122 through the pin 120. Thus, the electromagnetic/radio frequency is generated from the package device that can be discharged or eliminated through the printed circuit board 122 to the grounded (not shown).
The heat is generated from the conventional separating apparatus 116 in the package device. The heat is dissipated via the heat dissipation apparatus 118 for the package device. However, the heat dissipating capability is not good for the insulating layer 114. The heat is generated from the power devices 116 that would be dissipated through the insulating layer 110/metal sheet 112/insulating layer 114 to the heat dissipation apparatus 118 to affect the stability of the package device. Even the electromagnetic/radio frequency interference of the package device can be discharged by external connecting to the printed circuit board 122 and the grounded (not shown in figure).
FIG. 2 shows another conventional separating apparatus structure for the package device. According to the above illustration of FIG. 1, the capability of the substrate is not good for heat dissipating when the constructed material is insulating layer 110/metal sheet 112/insulating layer 114. Therefore, the difference between the FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is that the shielding structure is a single insulating layer 110. The insulating layer 110 is electrically coupled with the power device 116, and another side of insulating layer 110 is attached to the heat dissipation apparatus 118. Similarly, the power device 116 is electrically coupled with the printed circuit board 122 through the pin 120. Another difference between FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is that the package device is electrically coupled with the shielding structure via the conductor. Herein, the shielding structure is a single layer which consisted of the metal layer 126 and the printed circuit board 128, or a multilayer structure which consisted of alternated a plurality of metal layers 126 and a plurality of printed circuit boards 128. The single layer or multilayer of shielding structure is used for discharging the electromagnetic/radio frequency from the printed circuit board 128 through the power device 116, the shielding structure to the conductor 124 to form a shielding path of discharging the electromagnetic/radio frequency. According to the above discussion would be obtained the heat dissipating path for the package device, but the fabricating of the package device is still difficult and the cost would be increased.

Package device with electromagnetic interference shield


A light quantity adjuster includes: a blade member forming an aperture; a stepping motor that moves the blade member to open/close the aperture; and a control section that controls driving of the stepping motor, and increases a rotational speed of the stepping motor after a resistance acting on the stepping motor changes from static friction to dynamical friction in case of closing the aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light quantity adjuster that adjusts the quantity of light input via a lens, and an imaging apparatus using the light quantity adjuster.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging apparatus, such as a video camera or still camera, is provided with a light quantity adjuster that adjusts the quantity of light input via a lens. In general, the light quantity adjuster has a blade member disposed on the optical axis of the lens, and a drive section that moves the blade member to change the size of the aperture.
A stepping motor, for example, is used as the drive section of the light quantity adjuster.
An imaging apparatus according to a related art drives the stepping motor of the light quantity adjuster always at a constant speed to change the state of the aperture from an open state to a closed state, thereby capturing a still image. When the amount of movement of the blade member from the open state of the aperture to the closed state thereof is large, a change in the quantity of light passing the aperture forms a wavy curve, resulting in a longer exposure time.
When the exposure time (shutter speed) becomes longer, the reproducibility of exposure drops, degrading the quality of the image. When the shutter speed becomes greater than the period of a vertical sync signal of the imaging apparatus, changeover of images occurs during exposure, so that exposure control of the imaging apparatus becomes complex.
A change in the quantity of light passing the aperture will be described referring to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relation between the actual change in light quantity when the stepping motor is driven always at a constant speed, and a change in light quantity instructed by a microprocessor.
For example, a frictional resistance occurs between the drive shaft of the stepping motor and a member that transforms the rotation of the drive shaft to the movement of the blade member. Accordingly, the actual change in light quantity starts with a delay from the timing (triggering) at which an instruction indicating the start of the operation is transmitted to the stepping motor (state a). Then, the drive speed of the stepping motor becomes faster to catch up with the instructed change in light quantity, so that the actual change in light quantity is faster than the instructed change in light quantity (state b).
When the actual change in light quantity catches up with the instructed change in light quantity thereafter, the actual change in light quantity cannot become greater than the instructed change in light quantity, so that the drive speed of the stepping motor becomes slower to cause the actual change in light quantity to become substantially equal to the instructed change in light quantity while making a transient response (state c). Because the actual change in light quantity transiently responds to the instructed change in light quantity, the actual change in light quantity becomes a wavy curve, making the exposure time longer.
One way to avoid the prolongation of the exposure time is to make the electric period of the stepping motor shorter. A technique of shortening the electric period of a stepping motor is described in, for example, JP-A-2004-12938 (Patent Document 1). According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the conduction phase that is ahead of the phase of conduction to the coil in the light quantity adjustment state, which is determined by the condition of conduction to two sets of electromagnets, in the closing direction by 90 degrees is set as an initial conduction phase.