Abstract: A directional antenna is disclosed that includes an inner conductor positioned within an outer conductor. The directional antenna includes multiple slots around the periphery of the antenna and efficiently dissipates energy received at the slot, and is able to generate a directional azimuth pattern.

Abstract: A holographic optical element (HOE) device is mounted in wireless optical telecommunication system transceiver. The HOE device includes a developed emulsion material having an interference pattern recorded thereon, sandwiched between a pair of elements, such as a pair of clear glass plates. In operation, the HOE device uses the recorded interference pattern to diffract received light rays towards an optical processing unit of the system receiver. A transmitter unit can be positioned at least in part behind the HOE device. An opening in the emulsion material allows a light signal transmitted from the transmitter unit to be substantially unaffected by the recorded interference pattern. The transceiver can also include a spotting scope and an alignment beacon.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention includes a method to form an air gap in a multi-layer structure. A dual damascene structure is formed on a substrate. The dual damascene structure has a metallization layer, a barrier layer, a sacrificial layer, and a hard mask layer. The sacrificial layer is made of a first sacrificial material having substantial thermal stability and decomposable by an electron beam. The sacrificial layer is removed by the electron beam to create the air gap between the barrier layer and the hard mask layer.

Abstract: A plurality of channels are received as a received signal. Each channel is associated with a code. For each of the plurality of channels, others of the plurality of channels are subtracted from the received signal and a result of that subtracting is despread as data for that channel.

Abstract: A method for operation of an exposure tool in the fabrication of an integrated circuit to control registration between a preceding layer of and a succeeding layer. The preceding layer having a first alignment mark and a first registration mark. The succeeding layer is aligned to the preceding layer using an exposure tool. The succeeding layer has a second alignment mark and a second registration mark. The exposure tool measures alignment of the first alignment mark relative to the second alignment mark. After additional process steps are performed, a measurement tool measures registration relating to relative positions of the first registration mark and the second registration mark. Both the alignment information from the exposure tool and the registration information from the measurement tool is analyzed to determine corrections to improve registration between the layers, and the operation of the exposure tool is altered to improve registration.

Abstract: The present invention is a printer capable of directly accessing a server on a network. This printer makes a first request for obtaining a resource, determines the structure of the resource based on the first response to the first request, sets pages to be printed based on the structure of the determined resource, makes a second request for obtaining the structural data within the set pages to be printed, generates print data based on the second response to the second request, and prints the resource based on the generated print data. Thereby, the time required for obtaining a resource from a server and printing such resource is shortened, and the network resources may be used efficiently.

Abstract: The present invention aims to provide an article turning-round apparatus improved so that a series of articles can be successively turned round at a high velocity and there is no restriction imposed on the positions at which the articles are loaded and unloaded.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards a focus-position compensator for reducing focus variations on a microlens array. The focus-position compensator comprises a plurality of tiles that are affixed to a structure disposed between the lenslets of the microlens array and the target of the collimated light from the lenslets. Each tile refractive index and tile thickness is chosen to obtain a tile focus-position correction that will apply to a region of the microlens array.

Abstract: The present invention displays text within a region by identifying text boxes within the region. To identify the text boxes, the invention uses scan lines that are spaced at intervals that are smaller than the text height of the text to be placed in the boxes. These scan lines are combined to identify the full text boxes. Additionally, under the invention, a region is transformed before text boxes are generated for the region. The transform is an inverse of a text transform that is applied to the text placed in the region. This allows rotated and skewed text to be placed in the region. The invention also facilitates displaying a single text string across several disjointed regions.

Abstract: A powder spray booth includes a booth canopy wall arrangement to contain powder during a spraying operation; and a booth floor that is rotatable relative to the booth wall during a spraying operation. The floor can be rotated about an axis that is also the longitudinal axis of the spray booth. The booth may be generally cylindrical in shape with a round floor. The booth canopy and top are supported on a base frame separately from the floor. By this arrangement, the floor can be rotated relative to the booth canopy. A powder extraction apparatus in the form of a low pressure duct suspended off the floor draws up powder that has collected on the floor. The extraction duct is stationary with respect to the rotating floor during a spraying operation. The floor may also be translated along the axis of rotation between a first position in which the floor can rotate and a second position in which the floor is sealed against a lower edge of the booth canopy wall.

Abstract: A network system is structured by connecting on a network a plurality of storage devices and a DSC, and directly copies image data picked-up by the DSC. The storage device includes in front thereof LEDs for displaying that the operation is OK including a Power LED and a Ready LED, LEDs for displaying the operating situations including a Busy LED and an Error LED, and an LED dedicated for displaying whether or not a functional switch of the DSC selects an operating target.

Abstract: The present invention provides a test method for simulating outdoor exposure conditions for testing a coated substrate to evaluate environmental etching of paint caused by acid rain. The test method requires that the test substrate have an acid solution having a pH of less than 6.0 applied thereto by spray or in atomized droplets. The substrate is held in a substantially horizontal position of less than 15° to the horizontal and exposed to heat of above a black panel temperature of 30° C. and light during testing. The light source must emit light in the spectral distribution of at least visible and ultraviolet light, including the spectral distribution of sunlight. Following exposure to testing the substrate is evaluated for environmental etch.

Abstract: A multifunctional dispersant useful in lubricating compositions is prepared by heating together (a) a dispersant and (b) 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole or a hydrocarbyl-substituted 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole which is substantially insoluble in a hydrocarbon oil of lubricating viscosity at 25° C., and further either (c) a borating agent or (d) an inorganic phosphorus compound, or both (c) and (d). The heating is sufficient to provide a reaction product of (a), (b), and (c) or (d) which is soluble in hydrocarbon oil at 25° C.

Abstract: A matrix optical switch that can switch the transmission path of an optical signal without requiring a driving unit for each optical switch is realized. A matrix optical switch for switching a transmission path of an optical signal by connecting plural input sides and plural output sides, respectively, comprises: a semiconductor optical waveguide substrate; a photo mask choosing system for selecting and arranging one photo mask from plural photo masks each of which has printed thereon a pattern connecting plural input sides to plural output sides; and a light source for casting output light having larger energy than a band gap of the semiconductor optical waveguide substrate onto a photon injection area between the plural input sides and the plural output sides on the semiconductor optical waveguide substrate via the selected photo mask.

Abstract: A sender produces a background video image 4 from a reference video image 1 and a depth map 3 and synthesizes the background video image 4 in a background buffer 5. A projection converting matrix 6 for synthesizing is calculated. A receiver receives the reference video image 1, the depth map 3 and the projection converting matrix 6. The receiver produces a free viewpoint video image 11 and a background video image 12. The background buffer 13 is dynamically renewed. The free viewpoint video image 11 and the image in the background buffer 13 are synthesized with each other, and the background video image in the concealed regions in the free viewpoint video image are complemented to obtain the complemented image 14.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for (1) extending SQL to support direct invocation of frequent itemset operations, (2) improving the performance of frequent itemset operations by clustering itemset combinations to more efficiently use previously produced results, and (3) making on-the-fly selection of the occurrence counting technique to use during each phase of a multiple phase frequent itemset operation. When directly invoked in an SQL statement, a frequent itemset operation may receive input from results of operations specified in the SQL statement, and provide its results directly to other operations specified in the SQL statement. By clustering itemset combinations, resources may be used more efficiently by retaining intermediate information as long as it is useful, and then discarding it to free up volatile memory.

Abstract: An amine-functional copolymer improved in color and odor, and a method for efficiently producing the amine-functional copolymer in the form of a powder by efficiently hydrolyzing a vinyl alcohol/N-vinyl carboxamide, are provided. The amine-functional copolymer, of which a 10 wt % aqueous solution has a Gardner index of at most 3 as measured in accordance with ASTM D1544. Such a copolymer is obtainable by a method for producing an amine functional copolymer by hydrolyzing N-vinyl carboxamide copolymer in the presence of an acid or base catalyst, wherein the hydrolysis is carried out in an aqueous medium having a salt dissolved therein.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for use with a client and server device connected through a communication link. The client device sends a startup request to the server device. The startup request identifies a streamable media content that is to be provided to the client device, a communication link bandwidth associated with the communication link, and an amount of the desired streamable media content that is to be provided at a bitrate greater than the encoded bitrate but no greater than about the communication link bandwidth. The server device buffers at least the amount of the streamable media content, and transmits the amount of the buffered streamable media content at the higher bitrate. The server device locates a discrete rendering point in the amount of the buffered streamable media content and initiates transmission beginning with the discrete rendering point.

Abstract: A power amplifier's complex pre-distortion curve is generated by decomposing a representation of an input signal, processing the resulting decomposed signals using analog techniques, and performing signal re-composition. In one implementation, two different halves of a transfer function corresponding to the amplitude characteristics of the amplifier are separately modeled and then combined to generate a control signal used to control a voltage-controlled attenuator that attenuates the input signal, while two different halves of a transfer function corresponding to the amplifier's phase characteristics are separately modeled and then combined to generate a different control signal used to control a voltage-controlled phase shifter that adjusts the phase of the input signal. The resulting output signal corresponds to an amplitude-and-phase pre-distorted signal that can be applied to linearize a corresponding (high power) amplifier.