Isoprenoids are compounds derived from the five-carbon molecule, isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Investigators have identified over 29,000 individual isoprenoid compounds, with new ones continuously being discovered. Isoprenoids are often isolated from natural products, such as plants and microorganisms, which use isopentenyl pyrophosphate as a basic building block to form relatively complex structures. Vital to living organisms, isoprenoids serve to maintain cellular fluidity and electron transport, as well as function as natural pesticides, to name just a few of their roles in vivo. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical and chemical communities use isoprenoids as pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals, flavoring agents, and agricultural pest control agents. Given their importance in biological systems and usefulness in a broad range of applications, isoprenoids have been the focus of much attention by scientists.
Conventional means for obtaining isoprenoids include extraction from biological materials (e.g., plants, microbes, and animals) and partial or total organic synthesis in the laboratory. Such means, however, have generally proven to be unsatisfactory. For example, organic synthesis is usually complex since several steps are required to obtain the desired product. Furthermore, these steps often involve the use of toxic solvents, which require special handling and disposal. Extraction of isoprenoids from biological materials may also require toxic solvents. In addition, extraction and purification methods usually provide a low yield of the desired isoprenoid, as biological materials typically contain only small quantities of these compounds. Unfortunately, the difficulty involved in obtaining relatively large amounts of isoprenoids has limited their practical use. In fact, the lack of readily available methods by which to obtain certain isoprenoids has slowed down the progression of drug candidates through clinical trials. Furthermore, once an isoprenoid drug candidate has passed the usual regulatory scrutiny, the actual synthesis of the isoprenoid drug may not lend itself to a commercial scale.
As a solution to such problems, researchers have looked to biosynthetic production of isoprenoids, Some success has been obtained in the identification and cloning of the genes involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,745 to Meyer et al. describes the production of limonene and other metabolites in plants. Although many of the genes involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis may be expressed in functional form in Escherichia coli and other microorganisms, yields remain relatively low as a result of minimal amounts of precursors, namely isopentenyl pyrophosphate.
In an effort to address the lack of isopentenyl pyrophosphate, some investigators have attempted to increase isopentenyl pyrophosphate production. Croteau et al. describe in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,895 the nucleic acid sequences that code for the expression of 1-deoxyxylulose-5-phosphate synthase, an enzyme used in one biological pathway for the synthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Low yields of isopentenyl pyrophosphate remain, however, since several more enzymes are needed to catalyze other steps in this isopentenyl pyrophosphate biosynthetic pathway. Further, the reference does not address an alternative pathway for isopentenyl pyrophosphate biosynthesis, namely the mevalonate pathway.
Thus, the current invention is directed toward solving these and other disadvantages in the art by increasing the typically low yields associated with conventional synthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and isoprenoids. Specifically, the current invention is directed toward identification of new methods for the synthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate, as isopentenyl pyrophosphate represents the universal precursor to isoprenoid synthesis.


This invention relates to microscopy, and particularly to scanning microscopes for confocal fluorescence microscopy.
In fluorescence microscopy, a sample to be examined is treated with one or more dyes that selectively attach to parts of the sample and, when illuminated with excitation light of one wavelength, fluoresce at light of another, emission wavelength. The fluorescent light is examined microscopically to identify the parts of the sample to which the dyes have attached. Typically, in modem fluorescence microscopy, the illumination is provided with a laser, which provides relatively intense light over a narrow spectrum to excite particular dyes selectively.
It is advantageous in fluorescence microscopy to use a scanning microscope that images only one point or pixel of the sample at a time. Where the image is to be digitized for computerized enhancement or analysis, this permits descritization of the sample by use of a relatively simple detector and relatively simple optics. Also, scanning microscopy makes confocal microscopy possible, which provides higher resolution than would otherwise be available. As discussed hereafter, scanning microscopy may be accomplished either by moving the scanning spot using a fixed objective lens, by moving the optical system itself, or by moving the sample.
An early approach to scanning microscopy is illustrated in Petran et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,980, which discloses the use of a fixed, extended light source focused on a Nipkow disc, having spiral apertures, which produces a point source of light that scans the object field of a fixed microscope objective. The light emitted from the sample is focused on a complementary aperture in the disc and thereafter propagated to an eyepiece to effectuate confocal microscopy. A similar approach is disclosed in McCarthy et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4, 863,252, which is directed to producing relative movement of the optics and sample stage for selecting the region and depth of the sample to be scanned.
More recently, scanning microscopes have employed a fixed point source and fixed objective, and cause the illumination light and the light emitted from the specimen to be scanned. For example, Hayashi U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,306 discloses a scanning microscope wherein the beams produced by a plurality of point sources are caused to scan in two dimensions by pivoting mirrors operated by galvanometers. More generally, Atkinson U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,127 describes the use of scanning optics to alter the path of a light beam through a fixed microscope objective.
The aforementioned types of scanning microscopes require highly corrected and expensive lenses to achieve high resolution and sensitivity. They also require complex and expensive optical systems mechanical scanning devices.
Another recent approach to scanning microscopy is illustrated by Boettner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,465, wherein the microscope objective itself is translated laterally in two orthogonal directions to scan the sample by moving the focal point of the objective. While this approach provides the advantage of reducing the effect of off-axis light beams by ensuring that the light emitted from the specimen is always on axis, the use of linear translation to cover the entire region to be scanned limits both the area that can be scanned and the speed at which scanning can occur, and can work only with low mass objectives which have limited optical performance.
Accordingly, there is a need for a scanning microscope that provides high resolution, high sensitivity and high scanning speed using relatively straightforward and inexpensive, but high performance, optics and mechanics.
The invention of the present application meets the aforementioned need by providing a scanning microscope that employs a combination of rotational and linear scanning to permit the use of a relatively simple optical elements and a relatively simple mechanical scanning system. In its general form the microscope comprises an objective lens for receiving light emitted from a sample in object space and propagating it to image space thereof, a collection lens that receives light from the objective lens and propagates it to a focal point in image space of the collection lens, and a motor, having an axis of rotation that is offset from and extending in substantially the same direction as the optical axis of the objective lens, for rotating the objective lens around the axis of rotation. This causes an optical pathway to be scanned across a sample in object space of the objective lens.
The sample is mounted on a stage. After each rotation of the objective lens, the stage and the optics are moved relative to one another with respect to the axis of rotation so that each subsequent scan covers a new part of the sample. Thus, the entire sample may be scanned. The stage and the optics may be moved relative to one another in another lateral direction as well, to move another sample, or sample portion, under the scanning area.
For fluorescence microscopy, a light source, typically a laser, is provided. A wavelength-selective beamsplitter directs the laser light toward the objective lens, while allowing fluorescence or reflected light emitted from the sample to pass through to the collection lens.
A photo detector is placed at the focal point of the collection lens in image space so as to convert the intensity of the light emitted from the sample at the focal point of the objective lens in object space to an electrical signal. Preferably, an aperture is placed at the image space focal point of the collection lens so as to provide confocal microscopy. Additional detectors may be used, combined with corresponding wavelength-sensitive beamsplitters to tap light from the collection lens, for measuring the intensity of various wavelengths of fluorescence light produced by excitation of the sample.
To achieve high resolution, the maximum numerical aperture of the objective lens may be used. A light-path-altering optical element is inserted between the light source and the objective lens so as to translate the light centered on the axis of rotation to light centered on the optical axis of the objective lens, thereby filling the entrance pupil of the objective lens despite rotation thereof.
Where the objective lens is fixed, a rotating light-path-altering optical element receives light from an off-objective-optical-axis point in object space of said objective lens and directs it along the objective optical axis, and vice versa.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved scanning microscope and scanning microscopy method.
It is another object of the invention to provide a scanning microscope that achieves high resolution and sensitivity with relatively straightforward optics.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a scanning microscope that achieves high resolution and sensitivity with a relatively straightforward scanning mechanism.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a relatively high speed scanning microscope.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor light emitting devices including a wavelength-converting material and a filter material.
2. Description of Related Art
The color of light emitted from a semiconductor light emitting device chip such as a light emitting diode may be altered by placing a wavelength-converting material in the path of the light exiting the chip. The wavelength-converting material may be, for example, a phosphor. Phosphors are luminescent materials that can absorb an excitation energy (usually radiation energy) and store this energy for a period of time. The stored energy is then emitted as radiation of a different energy than the initial excitation energy. For example, “down-conversion” refers to a situation where the emitted radiation has less quantum energy than the initial excitation radiation. The energy wavelength effectively increases, shifting the color of the light towards red.
If some light emitted from the chip is not absorbed by the phosphor, the unconverted light emitted from the chip mixes with the light emitted from the phosphor, producing a color between the color of the light emitted from the chip and the color of the light emitted from the phosphor. When used in applications requiring a particular color, the color of light emitted from the chip and the amount of light converted by the phosphor must be tightly controlled.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method of fabricating a storage node with a supported structure of a stacked capacitor device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been the trend to scale down the sizes of memory cells to increase the integration level and thus memory capacity of a DRAM chip. As the sizes of DRAM devices are decreased, the capacity of the capacitors in the DRAM devices is correspondingly decreased. One approach to increasing capacity of the capacitor involves increasing the surface area of the storage node. As known in the art, the surface area of a storage node in a capacitor-over-bit-line (COB) structure is mostly increased by increasing the height since the design rule limits the horizontal dimension of the storage node. However, a higher storage node height causes instability of storage node structure, which is the cause of device failure due to two-bit or multi-bit failure during DRAM operation.
FIGS. 1-5 are schematic, cross-sectional diagrams showing a conventional method for fabricating a storage node of a crown-type stacked cell capacitor. As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate 10 such as a silicon substrate having thereon conductive blocks 12a and 12b is provided. A dielectric layer 14 such as silicon nitride and a dielectric layer 16 such as undoped silicate glass (USG) are deposited over the substrate 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional lithographic process and a dry etching process are carried out to etch high aspect ratio openings 18a and 18b into the dielectric layers 14 and 16. Subsequently, a cleaning process may be performed to remove the etching byproducts or particles from the surfaces of the substrate 10 and from the interior surfaces of the openings 18a and 18b.
As shown in FIG. 3, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process is carried out to form a conformal silicon layer 22 on the surface of the dielectric layer 16 and on the interior surfaces of the openings 18a and 18b. The silicon layer 22 may be doped polysilicon.
As shown in FIG. 4, a planarization process such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is performed to selectively remove the silicon layer 22 from the surface of the dielectric layer 16, while leaving the silicon layer 22 on the interior surfaces of the openings 18a and 18b intact.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, a wet etching process involving the use of HF/NH4F chemistry or Buffer Oxide Etcher (BOE) is performed to remove the dielectric layer 16, thereby forming storage nodes 30a and 30b. Typically, the height H of the storage nodes 30a and 30b is approximately equal to the depth of the openings 18a and 18b, which is normally 1.6-1.7 micrometers.
One drawback of the above-mentioned prior art method is that when etching the high aspect ratio openings 18a and 18b it is difficult to obtain a straight sidewall profile. The tapered sidewall profile of the high aspect ratio openings 18a and 18b leads to small bottom critical dimension A. The small bottom critical dimension A results in so-called storage node bridge phenomenon during subsequent cleaning or drying processes.


2-Lower alkyl-cyclopentan-1,3-diones are important intermediates for the total synthesis of steroids. A number of syntheses of this important class of intermediates have been reported, including syntheses which involve the cyclization of gamma-ketoesters in the presence of base. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,130 to Bucourt, et al., teaches such cyclization in the presence of alkali metal tertiary alcoholates. French Pat. No. 1,564,830 to Watson, et al. teaches such cyclizations in the presence of sodium hydride.
Since alkali metal tertiary alcoholates and sodium hydride are relatively expensive and somewhat difficult to prepare in large quantities and are thus not practical for a large-scale commercial cyclization process, it would be desirable to have a cyclization method which would afford high yields of product and which would utilize relatively inexpensive and easy to prepare cyclization agents.


In existing communication networks, end-users may request network-based content (e.g., text, images, audio, video, and the like) available from media content servers. Disadvantageously, however, existing media content servers may be slow and, therefore, unsuitable for high-bandwidth multimedia services (e.g., online video rentals). Furthermore, since such high-bandwidth multimedia services use a combination of content streaming and storing, end-user devices with limited storage and processing capabilities (e.g., cellular phones) cannot support many high-bandwidth multimedia services (e.g., mobile music and video downloads). Moreover, existing multimedia storage solutions do not provide back-up services for storing end-user generated content.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel fungicidal diacylimide compositions which are useful as agricultural fungicides.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many compositions are known in the literature which are active as fungicides; however, the compounds of this invention show broad spectrum fungicidal activity, particularly against many agricultural pathogens.


Inflatable elements, bag or belt, deploying from locations adjacent vehicle occupants have been proposed and suggested to distribute belt loading during a collision (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,682,498 and 3,841,654).
Prior restraint systems have combined seat belts, including lap and shoulder components, with inflatable members. For example, vehicle air bags have been proposed to be mounted adjacent shoulder belts and lap belts for deployment upon rapid deceleration of a vehicle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,662). Other prior inflatable bag vehicle restraint systems have required that the bag be supported by a portion of the vehicle in front of the occupant (i.e., the dashboard or wheel post unit). Further, prior lap belt mounted bags were deployable in front of the occupant's belt and have not caused the lap belt to have its slack removed by the inflation of the bag.
Finally, it has been proposed to provide bags for inflation between the occupant and shoulder straps (U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,569).
None of the prior art proposals provide proper protection where the restraint system can only be deployable from and restrained by a lap belt area.


This invention relates to water swellable absorbent articles made from crosslinked polyelectrolytes, methods for their preparation, and to a composition consisting of polyelectrolytes containing a copolymerized crosslinker which is useful to make absorbent articles.
It is known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,669,103 and 3,670,731 that cross-linked polymeric sorbents can be sandwiched between flexible supports to achieve disposable diapers or dressings.
It is further known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,988,539; 3,393,168; 3,514,419 and 3,557,067 that water swellable cross-linked carboxylic copolymers can be prepared. However, these prior art copolymers are all crosslinked during copolymerization or crosslinked after polymerization with subsequent neutralization of the carboxylic acid groups to form water swellable polyelectrolytes and hence these prior art polyelectrolytes cannot be crosslinked in situ as a coating on a substrate or as a flexible film thereof.
It is known from Ser. No. 468,794 filed Apr. 9, 1974 and Ser. No. 450,650 filed Mar. 13, 1974 that water swellable cured articles can be made from polyelectrolytes that have been crosslinked after polymerization with the addition of special crosslinking compounds prior to the heating or curing step.
The present invention is an improvement over these inventions in that the crosslinking agent is built into or copolymerized with the polyelectrolytes during polymerization. The advantage of this invention is that only a single solution needs to be sent to users and the chance of operator error in the mixing of the crosslinking agents is eliminated.


Generally, modern automatic battery chargers employ one of a number of charging methods, such as demand-based automatic boost charging, time-limited demand-based automatic boost charging, fixed extension demand-based automatic boost charging, or the like.
Limitations of standard demand-based boost charging systems and methods include that initiation and reversion thresholds must exceed the DC load on the battery plus the fully charged battery's current at boost charging voltage. Another limitation is that the initiation and reversion thresholds must allow for battery current variations caused by battery manufacturing differences, temperature, and aging. Because the method is not adaptive, another limitation of standard systems is that thresholds must be selected to avoid over-charging for the severe cases. This results in under-charging in most applications.
Limitations of time-limited demand-based boost charging systems and methods include the same general limitations as the standard demand-based boost charging method. The time-limited systems adds a backup means of boost charge termination, limiting the impact of over-charging if the initiation and reversion thresholds are too optimistic for the application. Another limitation is the time limit is not adaptive. It is set to a time that is ideal for only one specific recharge case and non-optimal for all others.
Limitations of fixed-time-extension demand-based boost charging systems and methods have the same general limitations as the standard demand-based boost charging method. It adds a fixed time extension to the boost charge, for the purpose of achieving a more complete charge for conservative reversion transition current settings. The limitation is that time extension is not adaptive. The time extension is the same regardless of battery condition, depth of battery discharge, temperature, etc. The selected value is a compromise between over-charging in some cases and under-charging in others. For example, some existing battery charges have a fixed six-hour extension to a demand-based boost charge. Since this time extension is fixed the battery will be over charged when it is lightly discharged and requires a shorter boost charge, or it will be under-charged when it is deeply discharged and requires a longer boost charge.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-articulated arm mechanism suitable for use in working robots and manipulators, and more particularly to an arm mechanism which has high rigidity against operational reaction forces or other loads which are imposed on the arm during operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a multi-joint robot has a series of arms with articulated joints on a fixed base or pedestal, performing an assigned job by a working tool which is attached to the distal end of the arms. Therefore, the force applied to a work is invariably reflected by a bending moment acting on the base portion of the arms, causing operational errors by arm flexure which occurs to a greater degree with longer arms. For this reason, the application of the multi-articulated robots has been limited to those fields in which the robots can perform a required job without contacting the work, free of the reaction forces as in welding and coating operations. They have been considered unsuitable for operations like grinding or other machining operations which involve reaction forces or operations which require attaching a testing device or other devices of a large weight at the distal end of the arm.
Nevertheless, the multi-articulated arm mechanism is superior in operability to the arm mechanisms of the perpendicular coordinates system or the parallel type arm mechanisms, and accordingly extremely convenient for performing complicated operations, for example, the operations which have to be carried out in a narrow limited space or the operations which require evasion of obstacles.


The present disclosure relates to a light emitting device, a method of manufacturing the same, a light emitting device package, and a lighting system.
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is manufactured by combining a p-n junction diode, which is characterized in converting electric energy into light energy, with Group III and V elements in the periodic table of the chemical elements. The LED may produce various colors by adjusting a composition ratio of a compound semiconductor and materials.
The LED may generate light energy corresponding to an energy gap between a conduction band and a valance band by combining electrons in an n-layer and electron-holes in a p-layer when forward voltage is applied.
Especially, a blue LED, a green LED, and an Ultra Violet (UV) LED using a nitride semiconductor are commercialized and are extensively used.


The present invention relates to a pull-on disposable wearing article.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1993-317356 (REFERENCE) discloses a pull-on/closed type diaper comprises a pair of fastening strips bonded to transversely opposite side edges of front and rear waist regions so as to extend outward and tear-apart lines provided immediately inside the bonded region in each of the fastening strips along which the front and rear waist regions are disconnected from each other. A distal end of the fastening strip is provided with an engaging region defined by a pressure-sensitive adhesive coated on this distal end or defined by a tape strip provided with a plurality of hooks bonded thereto. This disposable diaper provided with the tear-apart lines and the fastening strips allows the diaper to be used as an open-type diaper after the front and rear waist regions have been disconnected from each other along the tear-apart lines.
While the fastening strips are not actually used before the front and rear waist regions are disconnected from each other along the respective tear-apart lines, there is anxiety that the engaging region might be mischievously contaminated to unworkable condition and/or might come in contact with the wearer's skin and might uncomfortably irritate the wearer's skin.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an asynchronous serial data receiving device and an asynchronous serial data transmitting device, which are connected to or installed in a data processing device such as a microcomputer or the like, and more particularly relates to an asynchronous serial data receiving device and an asynchronous serial data transmitting device, which operate data communication based on the asynchronous data receiving and transmitting method capable of controlling the data reception conducted at the receiving device in the case where sampling interval between each of the bits forming a communication data is not constant, and also controlling the data transmission conducted at the transmitting device in the case where transmission interval between each of the data forming bits is not constant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of communication between different microcomputers or between a microcomputer and a peripheral device are classified into two methods; namely a method in which data are received and/or transmitted in parallel per each data unit formed by a plurality of bits, and a method in which data are received and/or transmitted in serial per each data bit. The method in which data are received and/or transmitted in parallel can communicate more data per unit time than the case in which data are received and/or transmitted in serial. However, the former method requires many more cable distributions, which thereby increases the total cost for communications overall.
On the other hand, the methods in which data are received and/or transmitted in serial can be further classified into two communication methods; namely the synchronous serial data transmission and/or reception method in which the timing for synchronization between the transmission side and the reception side is adjusted by use of a clock signal, and the asynchronous serial data transmission and/or reception method in which no clock signal is used for adjusting the timing for synchronization. Since the asynchronous serial data transmission and/or reception method requires no clock signal, although it requires less cable distributions than those of the synchronous serial data transmission and/or reception method, its operation speed tends to be slow.
FIG. 23 is an exemplary view showing the general idea of a receiver section and a transmitter section in the asynchronous serial data communication system. In the figure, reference numeral 220 denotes an asynchronous serial data transmitting device as the transmitter section in the asynchronous serial data communications, numeral 221 denotes an asynchronous serial data receiving device as the receiver section in the asynchronous serial data communications, numeral 223 denotes a communication enable signal which is output from the receiver section 221, and input to the transmitter section 220, and reference numeral 224 denotes a communication data which is output from the transmitter section 220, and input to the receiver section 221.
The operation in the conventional asynchronous serial data communication system is now explained below.
FIG. 24 is an exemplary view showing an example of the communication data format used in the asynchronous serial data communications. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a start bit which is a one-bit signal of the logic low level, 6 denotes a data bit, 7 denotes a parity bit which is added to the communication data in order to improve reliability of the data, and reference numeral 8 denotes a stop bit for indicating the end of the data transmission, which is formed by either one-bit signal or two-bit signal of the logic high level.
xe2x80x9cParityxe2x80x9d includes an even parity which sets the parity bit in such a manner that the number of bits of the logic xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d (hereinafter may be referred to as xe2x80x9clogic high levelxe2x80x9d or just as xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d) in the communication data formed by the total number of data bits 6 and parity bit 7 becomes a certain even number, and also includes an odd parity which sets the parity bit in such a manner that the number of bits of the logic xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d in the communication data formed by the total number of data bits 6 and parity bit 7 becomes a certain odd number. There is also communication data which requires no parity bit.
FIG. 25 is a block diagram of the conventional asynchronous serial data receiving device as the receiver section 221. In the figure, reference numeral 252 denotes a serial-to-parallel conversion circuit which inputs a communication data 224 on the basis of a data shift signal 254, and converts it from the serial data to the parallel data 253.
FIG. 26 is a timing chart indicating the operation of the serial-to-parallel circuit 252 shown in FIG. 25. When the receiver section 221 is in the state in which it can receive the data signal, it sends a communication enable signal 223 by setting it to the logic low level to the transmitter section 220. The transmitter section 220 recognizes that the communication enable signal is in the low level, and sends a binary data signal xe2x80x9c0101001001xe2x80x9d.
On this occasion, the start bit 5 has been added to the head portion of the binary data signal to be transmitted, and also the stop bit 8 has been added to the last portion of the data. The receiver section 221 receives the communication data 224, detects the start bit 5 and starts receiving the entire communication data 224.
The same baud rate is set to both the transmitter section 220 and the receiver section 221, wherein the reception and transmission of the communication data are executed in accordance with the thus set baud rate.
Under the ideal condition, the value of the communication data 224 is taken into the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 252 at the center of each bit. In FIG. 26, the communication data 224 is taken into the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 252, when the data shift signal 254 is changed from high to low.
Since the conventional asynchronous serial data transmitting and receiving devices are configured as such, the transmitter section 220 and the receiver section 221 generally operate at different operation clocks from each other. For this reason, since the time required for communicating a data of one bit can be set only to a time period whose length is a multiple of integer of an operation clock cycle, even in a case where the same baud rate is set to both the transmitter section 220 and the receiver section 221, there has been caused a setting error of the baud rate.
FIG. 26 shows an example of the operation in the case where the receiver section 221 receives a communication data formed by eight data bits 6 and one data bit 8, when the communication time for one-bit data is set to the time period corresponding to four cycles of the clock signal 11 used therein.
In the figure, it is arranged in such a manner that when the data shift signal 254 is changed from the high level to the low level, the communication data 224 is taken into the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 252, and the data taken into the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 252 is formed as xe2x80x9c101000100xe2x80x9d excluding the start bit 5.
In the example shown in FIG. 26, a communication data receiving error can be observed at the sixth, seventh and ninth bits of the communication data 224. If the baud rate set in the case of FIG. 26 is made smaller, the communication time for one-bit data is made longer, so that occurrence of the baud rate setting error with respect to the communication time for one-bit data can be efficiently suppressed.
For this reason above, in the actual case of the asynchronous serial data transmitting and receiving devices, there has been such a problem that the largest baud rate has to be suppressed down to the level in which no data receiving error occurs.
The present invention has bee n proposed to solve the problems aforementioned, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an asynchronous serial data receiving device and an asynchronous serial data transmitting device, which operate data communication based on the asynchronous data receiving and transmitting method capable of raising the maximum baud rate, yet even without changing the frequency of the operation clocks at the respective receiver section and the transmitter section, by enabling the setting of baud rate of the asynchronous serial data receiving device as the receiver section and that of the asynchronous serial data transmitting device as the transmitter section more precisely.
In order to achieve the above object, an asynchronous serial data receiving device according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:a serial-to-parallel data conversion means, which takes in a communication data of one transmission unit starting with a start bit, and converts and outputs the communication data into a parallel data, a control signal generating means for generating a data shift signal to indicate the timing at which the serial-to-parallel conversion means should take in each of the bit data forming the communication data, and outputting the generated data shift signal to the serial-to-parallel conversion means, a count correction means, which generates a count value correction signal for controlling the time interval between a first timing at which it takes the first bit data of the received communication data into the serial-to-parallel conversion means and the second timing at which it takes in the second bit data following the first bit data into the serial-to-parallel conversion means for each of the bit data of the communication data, and outputs the generated count value correction signal to the control signal generating means, wherein the control signal generating means controls the output timing of the data shift signal in accordance with the count value correction signal output from the count correction means, and the serial-to-parallel conversion means takes in each of the bit data of the communication data on the basis of the data shift signal.
The count correction means in the asynchronous serial data receiving device as constructed above comprises: a counting means for sequentially inputting the data shift signals and counting the number of the data shift signals, and a selecting means for selecting either one of the signal output from the counting means and a predetermined value, and outputting the selected value to the control signal generating means as a count value correction signal.
An asynchronous serial data transmitting device according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises: a parallel-to-serial data conversion means, which transmits a communication data of one transmission unit starting with a start bit, and converts and outputs the communication data into a serial data, a control signal generating means for generating a data shift signal to indicate the timing at which the parallel-to-serial conversion means should transmit each of the bit data forming the communication data, and outputting the generated data shift signal to the parallel-to-serial conversion means, a count correction means, which generates a count value correction signal for controlling the time interval between a first timing at which it transmits the first bit data of the received communication data from the parallel-to-serial conversion means and the second timing at which it transmits the second bit data following the first bit data from the parallel-to-serial conversion means for each bit data of the communication data, and outputs the generated count value correction signal to the control signal generating means, wherein, the control signal generating means controls the output timing of the data shift signal in accordance with the count value correction signal output from the count correction means, and the parallel-to-serial conversion means transmits each of the bit data of the communication data on the basis of the data shift signal.
The count correction means in the asynchronous serial data receiving device as constructed above comprises: a counting means for sequentially inputting the data shift signals and counting the number of the data shift signals, and a selecting means for selecting either one of the signal output from the counting means and a predetermined value, and outputting the selected value to the control signal generating means as a count value correction signal.


Various known coffee making appliances involve adding of coffee beans in one of various forms (i.e., ground or unground) to a container that is part of a machine in which heated water is delivered to the container and passes therethrough. The container typically includes a filtering mechanism so that heated water exiting the container is in the form of brewed coffee. Certain appliances require pre-ground coffee beans to be added in the form of “grounds.” Other appliances are designed to accept whole coffee beans into a hopper or opening and include mechanisms that grind the beans into a ground form and then complete the brewing process. It is sometimes preferred to keep whole beans on hand for making coffee so that the coffee may be ground immediately prior to brewing, as this is believed to produce the freshest tasting coffee beverage. Yet other appliances required use of pods or pre-packaged coffee grounds in a serving-sized filter container to be inserted into the appliance. In such instances, the pre-packaged pods or containers are limited to being filled with ground coffee. Certain pre-packaged containers require placement into a separate filter mechanism in the appliance, while others have built-in filtering mechanisms.


One type of data store that may conventionally be used to implement storage and maintenance of large datasets is a block-based data store. In a block-based data store, data such as key-value records are stored in data blocks that are optimized for sequential access from storage. In order to enable the performance of queries of a block-based data store, indices may be constructed that are associated with various attributes, values, or other information in the data store. To date, the development of indexing techniques for block-based data stores has focused mainly on maximizing query speed for complete, static sets of data blocks. Thus, conventional techniques commonly regard indexing as a one-time process performed upon importation of a complete dataset. Such conventional techniques typically do not prioritize indexing speed and/or efficiency, and may not enable efficient incremental indexing of dynamic datasets.
In a wide variety of real-world applications, indexing speed and/or efficiency may be important considerations, as may be the ability to incrementally index a dataset that is constantly changing. Some dynamic block-based data stores may continually receive and incorporate new records, in some cases millions or even billions of times per second. As such, techniques for efficient incremental indexing of block-based data stores may be desirable.


Platinum is a candidate for utilization as a conductive material in advanced semiconductor processing. Platinum can be utilized in an elemental form, or as an alloy (such as, for example, rhodium/platinum), and can be deposited onto a substrate by, for example, sputter deposition or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. Platinum is typically formed to have a relatively smooth upper surface. Such smooth upper surface can be advantageous in, for example, applications in which circuitry is formed over the platinum layer. Specifically, the relatively smooth surface can provide a substantially planar platform upon which other circuitry is formed. However, there can be advantages to incorporating roughened conductive layers into integrated circuitry in applications where high surface area is desired, as with capacitor electrodes. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop methods of forming platinum layers having roughened outer surfaces.
In another aspect of the prior art, platinum-comprising materials are frequently utilized as catalysts in, for example, the petroleum industry, as well as in, for example, automobile exhaust systems. Frequently, an efficiency of a catalyst can be improved by enhancing a surface area of the catalyst. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop methods of enhancing surface area of platinum-comprising materials.


The present invention relates generally to a method of using standard .ZIP files and strong encryption technology to securely store files, and more particularly to a method of integrating existing strong encryption methods into the processing of .ZIP files to provide a highly secure data container which provides flexibility in the use of symmetric and asymmetric encryption technology. The present invention adapts the well established and widely used .ZIP file format to support higher levels of security and multiple methods of data encryption and key management, thereby producing an efficient, highly secure and flexible digital container for electronically storing and transferring confidential data.
Compression of computer files has been available for many years. Compressing files can save large amounts of disk space, and can reduce transfer time when downloading files from the Internet or transferring files through email. Almost any file one downloads from the Internet is compressed in some way. A standard compressed file or folder as it is sometimes called contains one or more files that were compressed into a single file or folder. Many different compression formats have been developed over the years. The .ZIP format, created by the assignee of the present invention, is perhaps the most common compressed file format for the personal computer. Any file with a “.zip” extension most likely contains one or more files of data archived, that is, each either compressed or stored, in the .ZIP format. “.Zipping” a file has become a commonly used term meaning to compress the file into the .ZIP format archive so that it occupies less disk space, and similarly, “unzipping” a file means decompressing a compressed file in the .ZIP format.
A .ZIP file is generally recognized as a data compression and archiving format invented by PKWARE, Inc. The .ZIP format is a file format designed for combining data compression technology with file archiving techniques. Many commercially available software products are available for compressing or “zipping” files or other data into the .ZIP format. These .ZIP files can then be used to reconstruct the original data through the “unzipping” process. Data compression converts the contents of a file into an encoded format requiring less computer storage space or in the case of transmission less network bandwidth than the original uncompressed file.
Archiving, in the context of a .ZIP file, is a method of storing information about the characteristics of a file in a catalogue of files, known as the Central Directory, inside the .ZIP file, allowing each file to be retrieved individually by its characteristics. This capability is widely used. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, file name, file size, and file creation date and time.
Software programs such as PKZIP® written by PKWARE, Inc. are used to process files in the .ZIP format. Such programs allow one or more files of any type to be compressed and archived into a file of the .ZIP format type for efficient file storage and transmission over computer and communication networks. This format and the software programs that process .ZIP files have become ubiquitous.
Data encryption is used by many software programs to provide data privacy. Data encryption is a method of encoding data so that it cannot be reproduced in its original form unless an associated key is provided. Decryption uses this key to convert the encrypted data back into its original state. The key is known only to the person encrypting the data or by those other people with whom the person encrypting the data chooses to share the key. The key is used to “unlock” the data so that it can again be used in its original form.
Keys are uniquely generated using data known to the person encrypting a file or other data associated with recipients and users of the file. This data can be a user-defined password or other random data. Several methods are commonly used for processing the keys used for data encryption. Encryption using a key generated from a password is an example of symmetric encryption. Encryption using a public/private key pair is an example of asymmetric encryption. An example of one method for processing encryption keys supported by this invention uses a public/private key pair commonly associated with digital certificates as defined by the document Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile (RFC 2459). A digital certificate is a unique digital identifier associating a public and private key pair to an assigned individual, a group, or an organization. When used for encrypting data, the public key of an individual is used to process an encryption key which only the individual in possession of the corresponding private key can use for decryption. A digital certificate is issued to an individual, a group, or an organization for a fixed period of time and can only be used during this time period. After the time period has elapsed, the digital certificate will be considered to have expired and must be reissued for a new time period.
The strength of a data encryption method is determined at least in part by its key size in bits. The larger the key size a data encryption method uses, the more resistant it is to cryptanalysis. Cryptanalysis, or popularly “cracking”, is the unauthorized access to encrypted data. Strong encryption is a type of data encryption that uses key sizes of 128 bits or more. A number of encryption encoding methods are known today. Examples supported by the present invention include but are not limited to Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Data Encryption Standard (DES), 2DES, 3DES, and others. A number of key sizes are commonly used today. Examples supported by the present invention include but are not limited to 128 bits, 192 bits, and 256 bits.
Many software programs available today that process .ZIP files use data encryption to encrypt files after compression as they are written to the .ZIP file. The data encryption method used by these software programs uses a key size of 96 bits or less and is considered weak or moderate encryption by today's standards. These software programs use keys generated using user-defined password data. Weak data encryption may not provide sufficient security to computer users that store and transfer their confidential data files using the .ZIP format.
Password-based key generation has been a commonly used method of applying data encryption, however, known vulnerabilities to cracking methods such as “brute force password cracking” make this method of encryption insufficient to meet today's more advanced security needs. Another known limitation of password-based security is the lack of non-repudiation. Non-repudiation is the ability to be certain that the person or program that created an encrypted .ZIP file cannot deny that fact and that their identity is bound to the .ZIP file they created. This cannot be achieved with symmetric encryption methods. Today, non-repudiation is an important aspect of security related to the implementation of digital certificates and digital signatures. It is critically important to be able to prove that a creator or sender of an encrypted file did in fact create the file, i.e. not repudiate his/her action.
Therefore, a need exists to extend the options for levels of security available to programs that process .ZIP files. This extended of security capability makes use of the encryption technologies available today or others that may gain acceptance in the future.


1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with example embodiments relate to a plasma monitoring apparatus and a plasma processing apparatus including the same.
2. Description Of Related Art
In the related art, a semiconductor device is manufactured through a plurality of unit processes including, for example, a deposition process using plasma, an etching process, and the like. In accordance with the miniaturization of semiconductor devices and high degree of integration of semiconductor products, the effects of a non-uniform distribution of plasma to the properties of semiconductor devices are increased.


This invention relates generally to coin handling and processing apparatus such as coin wrapping apparatus and more particularly to a coin stacking tube device suitable for incorporation in any of such apparatus.
A typical example of a conventional coin wrapping apparatus is that of a construction wherein coins supplied from a hopper onto a turntable are arrayed by centrifugal force applied thereto along the periphery of the turntable, and a coin counting mechanism counts the coins while the coins are sent from the turntable to a coin passage and propelled therealong by, for instance, a propelling belt. The coins delivered from the coin passage one after another are received in a coin stacking tube to be stacked therein, the coins thus stacked being dropped into a coin wrapping device comprising a plurality of coin wrapping rolls disposed around a circle directly below the coin stacking tube. The thus stacked coins are wrapped by the wrapping rolls with a piece of paper, and the lateral edges of the paper are fold crimped to form firm beads by which the paper is maintained in tightly wrapped state.
In the case when it is required to change the denomination of coins to be wrapped in the coin wrapping apparatus, various parts of the apparatus must be readjusted so that the apparatus is set for the new denomination of coins. Of these parts, the number of coins supplied onto the turntable, the rotating speed of the same, the lateral width of the coin passage, the height and the position of the propelling belt, the positions of the wrapping rolls to be brought into contact with the stack of coins, and the rotating speed of the wrapping rolls can be readjusted comparatively easily by interlinking those members controlling these values with a member for setting the apparatus to a different denominations of coins.
However, the adjustment of the inner diameter of the coin stacking tube is not easy, and therefore it has been a conventional practice to prepare a number of coin stacking tubes each having a different inner diameter suitable for a specific denomination (or one outer diameter) of coins and, at the time of changing the denomination of coins to be wrapped, to replace the existing coin stacking tube with another suitable for the new denomination.
In this case also, the denomination changing operation is found to be troublesome because of the requirement of the selection and the replacement, and furthermore there has been a high possibility of erroneous selection of the coin stacking tube, causing unsatisfactory stacking of coins in the erroneous coin stacking tube.
Recently, a type of coin stacking tube whose inner diameter is made variable in accordance with the denomination of coins has been developed. In this kind of coin stacking tube, the space for receiving the coins is formed by a plurality of blades provided in an outer casing, the inner edge of each blace contacting against the inner surface of the preceding blade, the stem part of each blade being supported rotatably about an axis fixed to the outer casing, and all blades being rotated in either of the opening and closing directions in accordance with the denomination setting in the coin wrapping apparatus, whereby the space formed within the plurality of blades is adapted for the denomination or the outer diameter of the coins to be stacked therein.
In this example, however, in order to assure smooth rotation of the blades at the time of expension or constraction of the interior space of the coin stacking tube, the rotating axes for the blades must be secured to the outer casing in parallel with each other. If the rotating axes are not accurately, parallel, the coin stacking space formed therein cannot be of a correct circular cross-section, thus causing unsatisfactory stacking of coins within the tube, and the uneven contacting of the innermost edges of the blades against the inner surfaces of the preceding blades causing a considerable torque to be required for rotating the blades.


1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a 3-dimensional (3D) display device and a method thereof, and more particularly, to a 3D display device which uses a barrier to enable a user to view a 3D image without 3D glasses, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of electronic technologies, various kinds of electronic apparatuses have been developed and distributed. Display apparatuses such as televisions (TVs) are representative of home appliances.
In recent years, 3D display devices, which enable a user to view a 3D image, are increasingly being distributed. The 3D display devices may be divided into a glasses type system and a non-glasses type system according to whether the 3D display device uses 3D glasses.
One example of the glasses type system is a display device which employs a shutter glasses method. In the shutter glasses method, the display device outputs a left-eye image and a right-eye image alternately, and a left shutter glass and a right shutter glass of a 3D glasses apparatus worn by a user are opened and closed alternately in association with the output of the display device, thereby making the user feel a sense of depth.
The non-glasses type system may be referred to as an autostereoscopy system. A 3D display device of the non-glasses type method displays a space-shifted multi-view image, and projects light corresponding to images of different points of view onto a left eye and a right eye of a user using a parallax barrier or a lenticular lens, thereby making the user feel a sense of depth.
As described above, the non-glasses type system has the advantage of enabling users to view a 3D image without glasses.
FIG. 1 is a view to explain an operation of a related-art display device which uses a parallax barrier.
Referring to FIG. 1, a barrier 10 is disposed on an upper portion of a display panel 20. The barrier 10 includes a plurality of vertical line patterns. An odd line (a) and an even line (b) are turned on or off by being driven alternately.
The display panel 20 displays a frame in which a left-eye image (L) and a right-eye image (R) are placed alternately in a vertical column direction, and then displays a frame in which a left-eye image (L) and a right-eye image (R) are placed in reverse order of the previous frame.
The barrier 10 switches driving of the odd line and the even line according to the operation of the display panel 20. Accordingly, the left-eye image is continuously input to the left eye and the right-eye image is continuously input to the right eye, such that the user can feel a sense of depth.
However, since such a non-glasses type system provides a multi-view image, crosstalk in which a left-eye image and a right-eye image are mixed may occur.
In particular, when the user changes his or her location, the right-eye image may be projected onto the user's left eye and the left-eye image may be projected onto the user's right eye according to the movement of the user, and thus, a reverse image in which the left-eye image and the right-eye image are reversed may be generated.
Therefore, there is a demand for a method for displaying a 3D image effectively in a non-glasses type system.


I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for high rate data transmission.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, packet data, broadcast, messaging, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication for multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Data usage for wireless communication systems continually grows due to increasing number of users as well as emergence of new applications with higher data requirements. However, a given system typically has limited transmission capacity, which is determined by the design of the system. A substantial increase in transmission capacity is often realized by deploying a new generation or a new design of a system. For example, the transition from second generation (2G) to third generation (3G) in cellular systems provides substantial improvements in data rate and features. However, new system deployment is capital intensive and often complicated.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to improve transmission capacity of a wireless communication system in an efficient and cost effective manner.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a solenoid valve. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling the solenoid valve to achieve a desired flow rate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solenoid valves are used in a multitude of various operations. One use is the automotive industry wherein a solenoid valve is used in conjunction with a vapor canister in a vehicle emission system. For instance, under normal operating conditions, fuel vapors from the vehicle's fuel tank are stored in the vapor canister. The canister is purged by drawing fresh air through the canister into the intake manifold of the engine. Purging the canister disrupts optimum air-fuel ratio and may result in inefficient operation of the engine. Thus, a solenoid valve is used to control the flow rate of fuel vapor being drawn from the vapor canister into the intake manifold.
Modern engines are tightly tuned for optimum operating performance. The amount of canister purge vapor entering the intake manifold is controlled by the solenoid. The solenoid valve is turned on and off or cycled based on various operating parameters. The duty cycle or percentage of time that the solenoid valve is open regulates the flow of fuel vapors being purged from the canister.
Various types of control systems to control or regulate the desired flow of fuel vapor from the vapor canister are known. One type of system controls operation of the solenoid valve through a duty cycle pulse width modulation. Duty cycle pulse width modulation control systems use from 5 to 100 percent of the duty cycle to vary the flow. Such systems fail to provide the flexibility necessary to control and, more specifically, regulate flow at both the low and high ends of the duty cycle. For instance, the slope of the flow rate versus percent duty cycle for optimum low end control may not be suitable for high end flow and vice versa.
Thus, it is advisable to have a control system which provides optimum flow control characteristics throughout the entire range of the duty cycle. For instance, the flow rate may be modified independently of the duty cycle wherein the overall slope of the flow rate with respect to the duty cycle may change for various percentages of duty cycle.
Another type of control system uses a current signal to actuate an armature so that flow is proportional to current. These control systems tend to have more hysteresis and are not useful for the initial 25 percent of the full scale signal.


The present invention is directed to a fan array fan section utilized in an air-handling system.
Air-handling systems (also referred to as an air handler) have traditionally been used to condition buildings or rooms (hereinafter referred to as “structures”). An air-handling system is defined as a system that includes components designed to work together in order to condition air as part of the primary system for ventilation of structures. The air-handling system may contain components such as cooling coils, heating coils, filters, humidifiers, fans, sound attenuators, controls, and other devices functioning to meet the needs of the structures. The air-handling system may be manufactured in a factory and brought to the structure to be installed or it may be built on site using the necessary devices to meet the functioning needs of the structure. The air-handling compartment 102 of the air-handling system includes the inlet plenum 112 prior to the fan inlet cone 104 and the discharge plenum 110. Within the air-handling compartment 102 is situated the fan unit 100 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as an inlet cone 104, a fan 106, and a motor 108), fan frame, and any appurtenance associated with the function of the fan (e.g. dampers, controls, settling means, and associated cabinetry). Within the fan 106 is a fan wheel (not shown) having at least one blade. The fan wheel has a fan wheel diameter that is measured from one side of the outer periphery of the fan wheel to the opposite side of the outer periphery of the fan wheel. The dimensions of the handling compartment 102 such as height, width, and airway length are determined by consulting fan manufacturers data for the type of fan selected.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary prior art air-handling system having a single fan unit 100 housed in an air-handling compartment 102. For exemplary purposes, the fan unit 100 is shown having an inlet cone 104, a fan 106, and a motor 108. Larger structures, structures requiring greater air volume, or structures requiring higher or lower temperatures have generally needed a larger fan unit 100 and a generally correspondingly larger air-handling compartment 102.
As shown in FIG. 1, an air-handling compartment 102 is substantially divided into a discharge plenum 110 and an inlet plenum 112. The combined discharge plenum 110 and the inlet plenum 112 can be referred to as the airway path 120. The fan unit 100 may be situated in the discharge plenum 110 as shown), the inlet plenum 112, or partially within the inlet plenum 112 and partially within the discharge plenum 110. The portion of the airway path 120 in which the fan unit 100 is positioned may be generically referred to as the “fan section” (indicated by reference numeral 114). The size of the inlet cone 104, the size of the fan 106, the size the motor 108, and the size of the fan frame (not shown) at least partially determine the length of the airway path 120. Filter banks 122 and/or cooling coils (not shown) may be added to the system either upstream or downstream of the fan units 100.
For example, a first exemplary structure requiring 50,000 cubic feet per minute of air flow at six (6) inches water gage pressure would generally require a prior art air-handling compartment 102 large enough to house a 55 inch impeller, a 100 horsepower motor, and supporting framework. The prior art air-handling compartment 102, in turn would be approximately 92 inches high by 114 to 147 inches wide and 106 to 112 inches long. The minimum length of the air-handling compartment 102 and/or airway path 120 would be dictated by published manufacturers data for a given fan type, motor size, and application. Prior art cabinet sizing guides show exemplary rules for configuring an air-handling compartment 102. These rules are based on optimization, regulations, and experimentation.
For example, a second exemplary structure includes a recirculation air handler used in semiconductor and pharmaceutical clean rooms requiring 26,000 cubic feet per minute at two (2) inches water gage pressure. This structure would generally require a prior art air-handling system with a air-handling compartment 102 large enough to house a 44 inch impeller, a 25 horsepower motor, and supporting framework. The prior art air-handling compartment 102, in turn would be approximately 78 inches high by 99 inches wide and 94 to 100 inches long. The minimum length of the air-handling compartment 102 and/or airway path 120 would be dictated by published manufacturers data for a given fan type, motor size and application. Prior art cabinet sizing guides show exemplary rules for configuring an air-handling compartment 102. These rules are based on optimization, regulations, and experimentation.
These prior art air-handling systems have many problems including the following exemplary problems:                Because real estate (e.g. structure space) is extremely expensive, the larger size of the air-handling compartment 102 is extremely undesirable.        The single fan units 100 are expensive to produce and are generally custom produced for each job.        Single fan units 100 are expensive to operate.        Single fan units 100 are inefficient in that they only have optimal or peak efficiency over a small portion of their operating range.        If a single fan unit 100 breaks down, there is no air conditioning at all.        The low frequency sound of the large fan unit 100 is hard to attenuate.        The high mass and turbulence of the large fan unit 100 can cause undesirable vibration.
Height restrictions have necessitated the use of air-handling systems built with two fan units 100 arranged horizontally adjacent to each other. It should be noted, however, that a good engineering practice is to design air handler cabinets and discharge plenums 110 to be symmetrical to facilitate more uniform air flow across the width and height of the cabinet. Twin fan units 100 have been utilized where there is a height restriction and the unit is designed with a high aspect ratio to accommodate the desired flow rate. As shown in the Greenheck “Installation Operating and Maintenance Manual,” if side-by-side installation was contemplated, there were specific instructions to arrange the fans such that there was at least one fan wheel diameter spacing between the fan wheels and at least one-half a fan wheel diameter between the fan and the walls or ceilings. The Greenheck reference even specifically states that arrangements “with less spacing will experience performance losses.” Normally, the air-handling system and air-handling compartment 102 are designed for a uniform velocity gradient of 500 feet per minute velocity in the direction of air flow. The two fan unit 100 air-handling systems, however, still substantially suffered from the problems of the single unit embodiments. There was no recognition of advantages by increasing the number of fan units 100 from one to two. Further, the two fan unit 100 section exhibits a non-uniform velocity gradient in the region following the fan unit 100 that creates uneven air flow across filters, coils, and sound attenuators.
It should be noted that electrical devices have taken advantage of multiple fan cooling systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,845 to Bonet uses a multiple-fan modular cooling component for installation in multiple component-bay electronic devices. Although some of the advantages realized in the Bonet system would be realized in the present system, there are significant differences. For example, the Bonet system is designed to facilitate electronic component cooling by directing the output from each fan to a specific device or area. The Bonet system would not work to direct air flow to all devices in the direction of general air flow. Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,262 to Simon and U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,880 to El-Ghobashy et al. teach fan arrays for use with electronics.
Even in the computer and machine industries, however, operating fans in parallel is taught against as not providing the desired results except in low system resistance situations where fans operate in near free delivery. For example, Sunon Group has a web page in which they show two axial fans operating in parallel, but specifically state that if “the parallel fans are applied to the higher system resistance that [an] enclosure has, . . . less increase in flow results with parallel fan operation.” Similar examples of teaching against using fans in parallel are found in an article accessible from HighBeam Research's library (http://stati.highbeam.com) and an article by Ian McLeod accessible at (http://www.papstplc.com).


Adjustable water ski bindings are utilized to attach water skis to the feet of skiers and consist of a foot piece which is stationary on the water ski and a heel piece which is adjustable lengthwise of the water ski. In order to attach the water ski to the foot, the toe is first inserted into the front vamp or foot piece and then the heel piece is pressed against the heel until a tight fit on the foot is accomplished. The heel piece can be attached to a mounting plate which is slidable in guides attached to the ski on opposite sides of the plate. The mounting plate can carry two latch members having teeth which cooperate with ratchet teeth on the guides and when the teeth are engaged, the heel piece will be locked against rearward movement which would loosen the heel piece. Quick loosening of the heel piece can be accomplished by disengagement of the teeth by movement of the latch members so that the skier is able to quickly remove the ski from his foot in the event of a fall into the water. Present locking mechanisms for the heel piece utilize pawl or latch members and springs which are unnecessarily complicated since either pivots or guide slots are required in the mounting plate for the latch members and separate springs are required for these members. The U.S. Pat. to W. J. Meucci No. 3,137,014 is an example of guide slots cut in the mounting plate for latch or pawl members. The use of pivots connected to the mounting plate for latch or pawl members is illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. to H. A. Moline 2,970,325; B Roudebush 3,127,623; and W. W. Bennett 3,102,279. Also, the patent to R. I. Rumig, 2,866,210 requires a separate spring attached to the mounting plate for the latch member. These prior locking mechanisms for ski bindings are unnecessarily expensive and are, under some circumstances, difficult to operate during attachment and removal of the ski from the foot.


The present invention is directed to an improved flyback converter in which energy is re-circulated through the converter's flyback transformer windings in a controlled manner to eliminate the need for pre-load or bleeder resistors on the output(s) and to provide enhanced cross regulation on lightly loaded multiple output windings.
Conventional dc-to-dc power flyback converters designed for discontinuous mode operation subject the input power bus to a demand for current that ramps up from zero to a controlled peak level into the primary of a coupled inductor and is then interrupted. The input current then remains zero for an interval typically greater than one half of the total power period. At the instant the input current is interrupted, the stored energy in the coupled inductor forces current to immediately start flowing in the secondary or output winding. The wave shapes of the input current to the primary and the output current from the output winding are the same as that of a right triangle in each case. The current wave shapes thus produced are therefore the least desirable from the standpoint of stress management. In addition, during that period that follows the reset of the core as the current in the secondary falls to zero, and before the start of the next power cycle, the coupled inductor is performing no function.
Conventionally designed dc-to-dc power converters are typically provided with bleeder resistors that provide a minimum guaranteed load to prevent the output voltage from increasing at light load and to reduce the likelihood of a temporary spike on the output in the event of normal load interruption. The control loop bandwidth is limited and if a converter were operating at 50-150 kHz, a number of power cycles might be produced after the interruption of the load before the duty cycle on-time could be reduced, resulting in a jump in voltage on an unloaded output. Although necessary, a bleeder contributes to loss of efficiency. Flyback dc-to-dc power converters having multiple output windings typically have bleeder resistors on all outputs for the same reason as above and also because energy stored in the leakage inductance of the primary is coupled to the secondary windings and voltage on an isolated unloaded secondary output will continue to rise with the interruption of a normal load if there is no bleeder. Bleeders are also used on multiple outputs to enhance cross regulation.


Chicken eggs are one of the most important foods in the human diet, and are an exceptional source of proteins and fats, as well as amino acids and fatty acids. Every year in the United States an estimated 90 billion eggs are produced, with three fourths of these eggs being used for human consumption. An estimated 250 eggs per person are consumed annually in the United States.
Many of the eggs consumed by humans are eaten as food ingredients, rather than directly as cooked eggs (such as boiled, fried, poached, etc.). In some cases whole eggs are used as food ingredients, for example as baking applications. However, it is often desirable to use just a portion of an egg as a food ingredient. For example, egg yolk is an excellent emulsifier and surfactant, and is an essential component of mayonnaise and various other foods. The egg yolk makes up approximately one third of the liquid weight of an egg, and is high in fats and fatty acids. Important fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are found in egg yolk, as are unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, and linolenic acid) and saturated fatty acids (e.g. palmitic acid, stearic acid, and myristic acid). Egg yolks also contain some proteins, typically on the order of 2 to 3 grams out of about 15 to 20 grams of yolk within an egg weighing approximately 50 grams.
The egg white, known as well as the albumen, also has unique uses as a result of having high protein content. Egg whites are used in many products, such as to make mousse and to enhance protein content of foods. Egg white is approximately two-thirds of the total weight of an egg, with approximately 90 percent of that weight coming from water. The remaining weight of the egg white comes primarily from protein, along with various trace minerals, vitamins, some fats, and glucose. A typical large egg may contain 35 to 40 grams of egg white, of which about 4 to 5 grams are proteins. The most common protein in egg whites is ovalbumen, which accounts for over half of the proteins. Ovotransferrin and ovomucoid are additional primary proteins, with other proteins including ovoglobulin G2, Ovoglobulin G3, ovomucin, lysozyme, ovoinhibitor, ovoglycoprotein, flavoprotein, ovomacroglbulin, avidin, and crystatin. The egg white contains no dietary cholesterol, but does contain small quantities of other lipids and fats.
Thus, egg yolks are very high in fats, but low in proteins; while egg whites are very high in proteins, but low in fats. However, egg yolks do contain some proteins, and egg whites do contain small quantities of fats.
Due to their different compositions and uses, it is often desirable to separate egg yolks and egg whites from one another. Various systems and methods have been developed for separation of eggs into yolks and whites. Separation of yolk and white from whole eggs can be done at high speeds under automated conditions, and can very effectively separate the yolks and eggs, with relatively little mixing of the yolk and eggs.
Despite the uses of existing technology to separate yolks from whites, a need exists for further separation of egg components, including components in both the egg yolk and the egg white. This is true because the mere physical separation of the egg yolk from the egg white is not always sufficient to maximize use of the yolks and whites. For example, with regard to the yolk, it can desirable to also remove the yolk proteins from the yolk fats for at least two reasons: First, traditional uses of the yolk as an emulsifier improve upon reduction of the protein content. Second, the removal of the protein provides an isolated protein material that has further uses for applications where high-protein materials are desired and where specific yolk proteins are desired in isolated form. Similarly, with regard to the egg white, removal of non-protein materials creates a higher quality isolated protein. Also, separation of the proteins into different sizes and types can have significant benefits for production of specialized products.
In addition to the benefits associated with separating proteins and fats from nearly pure egg yolks and pure egg whites, a need also exists for separation of proteins and fats from mixtures that contain both egg yolks and egg whites. Such mixtures are created, for example, as a result of incidental breakage of yolks during the separation of the yolk from the white during the cracking process. Similarly, some egg white can remain with the egg yolk during cracking. These mixtures result in increased levels of proteins in the separated egg yolk, and increased levels of fats in the separated egg whites. The ability to separate the primary constituents (proteins and fats) within the mixtures can have meaningful advantages in terms of nutritional value and performance for specific applications (such as to create mayonnaise).
Yet another scenario for separation of fats and proteins in eggs arises due to production of eggs at hatcheries (or other facilities) where the eggs are not primarily raised for human consumption. For example, sterile eggs and non-incubated eggs from hatcheries are not produced or used for human consumption. Although these hatchery-derived eggs are typically not provided for regular human consumption, they are still of value as a source of fats and proteins. Currently the hatchery-derived eggs are not processed so as to be separated into yolk and white components, because they are produced in facilities that are not served by a high speed cracker and separator. Instead, the hatchery-derived eggs are often broken and the contents run through a separator to remove the egg shells, a process that mixes the egg yolks and proteins. This mixed egg yolk and white, which is considered inedible for human consumption, is typically used as a combined additive for uses such as animal feed. However, a need exists for a means for effectively separating the fats and proteins from these mixtures of inedible eggs so as to gain the maximum benefit of the proteins and fats so that they may be used in the most desirable manner. This is best achieved by separating them from one another.
As noted above, the most prevalent means of separating egg components is limited to the separation of whole yolks and whites from one another. This separation is commonly performed at high speeds and efficiencies using automatic equipment. However, alternative efforts for further separation of egg components into more isolated components have been attempted. Unfortunately, these methods have proven problematic for various reasons, including because the processes are inefficient, impractical, or have other deficiencies.
An example of such efforts is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/971,802 (“the '802 application”), assigned to Biova, Inc., and which is directed to a method of separating lipids from an egg mixture by using a cross-linking reagent. The cross-linking reagent is added to an egg mixture containing lipids and solubilized proteins, causing the lipids to crosslink so they can be separated from the proteins. Suitable crosslinking reagents include cyclobetadextran, silicon dioxide, colloidal silica material, fumed silica materials, and synthetic calcium silicate hydrates. The method of the '802 application may can include adjusting the pH level of the egg mixture to a pH at which the cross-linking reagent is functional so that cross-linking of the lipids occurs. The proteins are subsequently separated from the cross-linked lipids to provide a separated protein. The separated proteins may be obtained by subjecting the egg mixture to one or membranes or filters of various sizes to separate or further isolate proteins or populations of proteins of interest.
Although it may be possible to separate proteins and fats derived from eggs using the teachings of the '802 application, significant drawbacks are associated with the methods and materials it discloses. First, the inclusion of the cross-linking reagent is problematic if the egg components will eventually be consumed by humans, in that there is often opposition on the part of the public and regulatory agencies to consume materials that have been subject to adulteration by organic reagents, such as cyclobetadextran, or by inorganic materials such as colloidal or fumed silica materials. The aversion to the use of these cross-linking reagents exists, in part, because of the potential for undesirable modification or contamination of the crosslinked ingredients. Although naturally occurring silica is widespread in nature, its use in food processing is unusual, and risks opposition by consumers even if little or none of the crosslinking agent remains in the separated components.
Second, the use of the crosslinking reagent necessarily adds expense to the processing of the egg mixture, both because of the cost of the crosslinking reagent itself, as well as the costs associated with the additional steps of crosslinking the fats and subsequent removal of the crosslinking agent (such as silica) from the fats after separation of the fats and proteins, assuming the fats are intended for further use. Thus, not only does the use of a reagent result in potentially problematic alteration and/or contamination of the egg material with crosslinker, especially the egg yolk (since it is the fats that are crosslinked, and fats are primarily found in the yolk), but the use of the reagent adds expense and complexity to the egg processing methods: A step must be made to add the reagent to the egg mixture, one to induce crosslinking of the fats, as well as steps to reverse the crosslinking, when possible, after separation of the crosslinked egg fats and egg proteins. These steps all take time, equipment, and effort.
Yet another problem with the methods taught in the '802 application is that the use of the reagents creates an issue with regard to waste silica (or other crosslinking agent), which must be removed from the fats for most uses of the fats, and which can result in creation of an undesirable waste stream that must be disposed of, even if it is not hazardous. Today there is an increased emphasis on processes that use limited resources and which produce little or no waste product, and the '802 application does not fully satisfy this objective.
Therefore, a need exists for methods and equipment for separating egg components into proteins and fats (or other substituents, such as amino acids). Such methods and equipment should include the ability to separate the components of exclusively egg yolk materials, exclusively egg white materials, and mixtures of various levels of egg yolk and egg white. Preferably such methods and equipment can be efficient, cost effective, produced without undesirable alteration of the egg components (such as alteration with cross linkers), and do not create excessive undesirable waste streams.


1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a filtering circuit, and more particularly to a filtering circuit which can suppress a jammer in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a multi-channel wireless communication environment, we have not only the signal in a desired channel, but also jammers in other channels. All of the jammers should be suppressed so strongly that the signal to noise ration (SNR) of the desired signal can be improved to a level necessary for successful wireless communication.
A channel selection filter with the frequency characteristic to pass only the signal in the desired channel is needed to suppress jammers. The bandwidth of the filter corresponds to that of the channel bandwidth.
A short-range communication system has a narrow channel bandwidth of less than 1 MHz, while some other communication systems have much wider channel bandwidths, for example, 20 MHz for Wi-Fi and more than 4 GHz for ultra-wideband (UWB).
Generally, in an integrated circuit (IC), the die area of an analog filter is inversely proportional to the frequency bandwidth. This means that the analog channel selection filter in a short-range communication system would typically occupy more than half of the entire wireless IC. A digital filter is used for channel selection in most of the commercial wireless IC's for a short-range communication system since a digital filter can be implemented with much smaller area than an analog filter.
In the case of using a digital filter for channel selection, analog signals including the desired signal and jammer signals must be converted to digital signals before suppressing jammers. Given that a wireless IC should provide successful communication under jammers 40 dB larger than the desired signal, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) should have a 40 dB wider dynamic range than it should have without the presence of jammers. Therefore, the ADC is required to have higher resolution, leading to larger power consumption.
The block diagram shown in FIG. 1 is a proposed architecture to suppress jammers without any analog filters as an example of background art.
This architecture has two signal paths between a mixer circuit and an ADC.
In the first path, the jammers are extracted from the input signal by suppressing a desired signal. The input signal to the first path is converted to a digital signal using an ADC with a low resolution. Subsequently, only the desired signal is suppressed using a digital band stop filter. Finally, the digital signal that contains only the jammers is converted back to an analog signal.
In the second path, the input signal is delayed such that that jammers in the output of the second path are synchronous with jammers in the output signal of the first path.
The output signal from the first path consists of only jammers while the output signal from the second path consists of the desired signal and jammers. The jammers can be suppressed by subtracting the output signal in the first path from the output signal from the second path.
Since this architecture shown in FIG. 1 does not contain analog filters, it can be realized with a smaller integrated circuit die area than previous architectures having analog filters. In addition, the required ADC resolution can be reduced since the jammers are suppressed before reaching the second ADC.
However, the architecture shown in FIG. 1 has the severe problem of introducing noise to the system.
The delay circuit in the second path consists of sample and hold circuits connected in series as shown in FIG. 2.
The number of sample and hold circuits, Nc, is equal to the total delay time required for the delay circuit, Td, divided by the sampling time of the sample and hold circuit, Ts, as in the following equation 1:Nc=Td/Ts  Equation 1
Td is set to a value equal to the delay time seen by the jammers going through the first path. This delay is nearly equal to the reciprocal of the bandstopwidth of the digital band stop filter in the first path, which corresponds with the bandwidth of the desired channel.
Ts is typically set to one-quarter of the reciprocal of the entire bandwidth of all the signals including the desired signal and jammers.
This architecture usually needs more than 100 sample and hold circuits in a narrow band communication system.
Since a delay circuit introduces noise, such as thermal noise and switching noise, this architecture makes the SNR significantly worse.


The gain error, e.g., the difference between the actual transfer function and an ideal transfer function of a current feed-back instrumentation amplifier (CFIA) depends on the accuracy of matching between the CFIA's input transconductor and feedback transconductor. Some existing CFIAs try to address the gain error using an architecture in which each transconductor includes pre-amplifiers to create a transfer function proportional to the ratio between the degeneration resistors of the input and feedback transconductors, see FIG. 1. The advantage of this circuit architecture is that it provides a gain error that depends almost exclusively on matching of resistors which is superior to the matching of transistors. While the preamplifiers provide an overall low gain error, their noise adds to the total noise of the instrumentation amplifier, making this architecture less suitable for low noise designs. Another disadvantage is the presence of feedback loops around each pre-amplifier, which makes frequency compensation rather complex and difficult.
In another approach, the CFIA's transconductors are each based on a differential pair of transistors with degeneration. The noise is significantly lower than the CFIA implementation that uses preamplifiers, and there are no extra feedback loops. However, the gain error will also change: it will now be affected not only by the mismatch between the degeneration resistors of the input and feedback degeneration transconductors, but also by any mismatch between the degenerated differential paired transistors of each transconductor and by any mismatch between the respective tail currents being fed into each transconductor. As noted above, resistors match much better than transistors do, so the transistor mismatch will have a dominant effect on the gain error.