Showing papers by "Panasonic published in 2011"

Low-temperature, high-performance solution-processed metal oxide thin-film transistors formed by a ‘sol–gel on chip’ process

Abstract: A low-temperature, solution-based preparation of amorphous, metal oxide semiconducting thin-films is reported. This ‘sol–gel on chip’ hydrolysis approach yields thin-film transistors with high field-effect mobilities, reproducible and stable turn-on voltages and high operational stability.

Wireless power transmission system

Abstract: A power transmitting antenna includes a first resonant circuit including a power transmitting coil. A power receiving antenna includes a second resonant circuit including a power receiving coil. When the power transmitting antenna and the power receiving antenna are electromagnetically coupled to each other, the power transmitting antenna and the power receiving antenna have an odd-mode resonance frequency corresponding to an odd-mode resonant condition, and an even-mode resonance frequency corresponding to an even-mode resonant condition, and the even-mode resonance frequency is higher than the odd-mode resonance frequency. A wireless power transmitting apparatus is provided with a power transmitting circuit configured to generate high-frequency power at a variable frequency, and supply the high-frequency power to the power transmitting antenna. A control circuit sets the frequency of the high-frequency power generated by the power transmitting circuit to one of the odd-mode resonance frequency and the even-mode resonance frequency.

Battery module and battery assembly used in battery module

Abstract: A battery module includes a plurality of battery assemblies stacked together. Each of the battery assemblies includes an insulating case which accommodates a plurality of cells. A first connection plate connects the same polarities of the cells, and a second connection plate connects polarities opposite the same polarities of the cells. The first connection plate includes a first connection terminal which protrudes in a direction opposite a direction toward the second connection plate. The second connection plate includes a second connection terminal which protrudes in a direction toward the first connection terminal. The first connection terminal protrudes outwardly of the case. The second connection terminal protrudes inwardly of the case. In the battery assemblies adjacent to each other in a stacking direction, the first connection terminal of one battery assembly and the second connection terminal of the other battery assembly are fitted to each other. The first connection terminal of one battery assembly protrudes inwardly of the case of the other battery assembly.

High-capacity lithium insertion materials of lithium nickel manganese oxides for advanced lithium-ion batteries: toward rechargeable capacity more than 300 mA h g−1

Abstract: Lithium nickel manganese oxides Li[NixLi(1/3−2x/3)Mn(2/3−x/3)]O2 (x = 1/2, 2/7, and 1/5) are prepared and characterized by XRD and FT-IR, and the samples are examined in non-aqueous lithium cells at room temperature and 55 °C. Among these materials LiNi1/2Mn1/2O2 (x = 1/2) shows the highest operating voltage and the smallest polarization with a rechargeable capacity of ca. 230 mA h g−1 and Li[Li1/5Ni1/5Mn3/5]O2 (x = 1/5) shows the lowest operating voltage and the largest polarization with a rechargeable capacity more than 300 mA h g−1. Extraordinarily large rechargeable capacity of Li[Li1/5Ni1/5Mn3/5]O2 together with an anomalously long voltage plateau at 4.5 V only observed at first charging process is examined by window-opening charge and discharge, continuous charge and discharge combined with differential chronopotentiometry at room temperature and at 55 °C, and possible mechanisms are discussed in terms of lithium insertion scheme.

From local structure to nanosecond recrystallization dynamics in AgInSbTe phase-change materials

Abstract: Phase-change materials are key components in rewritable optical disks and are promising for non-volatile electronic memories. The very different structure and ultrafast recrystallization dynamics of another class of phase-change materials, Sb–Te-based alloys, now suggests their use in future memory applications.

Nitride semiconductor device

Abstract: A nitride semiconductor device includes: a first semiconductor layer made of first nitride semiconductor; a second semiconductor layer formed on a principal surface of the first semiconductor layer and made of second nitride semiconductor having a bandgap wider than that of the first nitride semiconductor; a control layer selectively formed on, or above, an upper portion of the second semiconductor layer and made of third nitride semiconductor having a p-type conductivity; source and drain electrodes formed on the second semiconductor layer at respective sides of the control layer; a gate electrode formed on the control layer; and a fourth semiconductor layer formed on a surface of the first semiconductor layer opposite to the principal surface, having a potential barrier in a valence band with respect to the first nitride semiconductor and made of fourth nitride semiconductor containing aluminum.

Multi-task low-rank affinity pursuit for image segmentation

Abstract: This paper investigates how to boost region-based image segmentation by pursuing a new solution to fuse multiple types of image features. A collaborative image segmentation framework, called multi-task low-rank affinity pursuit, is presented for such a purpose. Given an image described with multiple types of features, we aim at inferring a unified affinity matrix that implicitly encodes the segmentation of the image. This is achieved by seeking the sparsity-consistent low-rank affinities from the joint decompositions of multiple feature matrices into pairs of sparse and low-rank matrices, the latter of which is expressed as the production of the image feature matrix and its corresponding image affinity matrix. The inference process is formulated as a constrained nuclear norm and l 2;1 -norm minimization problem, which is convex and can be solved efficiently with the Augmented Lagrange Multiplier method. Compared to previous methods, which are usually based on a single type of features, the proposed method seamlessly integrates multiple types of features to jointly produce the affinity matrix within a single inference step, and produces more accurate and reliable segmentation results. Experiments on the MSRC dataset and Berkeley segmentation dataset well validate the superiority of using multiple features over single feature and also the superiority of our method over conventional methods for feature fusion. Moreover, our method is shown to be very competitive while comparing to other state-of-the-art methods.

Group-based paging for machine-type-communication (MTC) devices

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for paging a group of MTC devices, and for transmitting parameter information to the MTC devices using the paging mechanism. MTC devices are grouped together and a different group ID per group to which the MTC device belongs is assigned to the MTC device. A specific group paging resource indication is determined for each group wherein each MTC device is assigned one of the group paging resource indications. The network pages MTC devices of a group by transmitting a paging message at the corresponding channel resources and including the corresponding group ID. Additionally, the group paging resource indications of several groups of MTC devices can be aligned in such a way with the transmissions and re-transmissions by the network, that the different groups respectively receive the transmission and re-transmissions of the paging message.

Transmit power control for physical random access channels

Abstract: The invention relates to methods for adjusting the transmit power utilized by a mobile terminal for uplink transmissions, and to methods for adjusting the transmit power used by a mobile terminal for one or more RACH procedures. The invention is also providing apparatus and system for performing these methods, and computer readable media the instructions of which cause the apparatus and system to perform the methods described herein. In order to allow for adjusting the transmit power of uplink transmissions on uplink component carriers, the invention suggests introducing a power scaling for uplink PRACH transmissions performing RACH procedures on an uplink component carrier. The power scaling is proposed on the basis of a prioritization among multiple uplink transmissions or on the basis of the uplink component carriers on which RACH procedures are performed.

Zoom lens system, interchangeable lens device, and camera system

Abstract: This zoom lens system is provided with: a first lens group that has negative power; a second lens group that has positive power; a third lens group that has negative power; and a fourth lens group that has positive power. During zooming, the first lens group, second lens group, and third lens group move along the optical axis. During focusing, the third lens group moves along the optical axis. The zoom lens system satisfies the conditions: 2.5 ≤ | (1 - (β 3T ) 2 ) × (β 4T ) 2 | ≤ 7.0 and 0.5 ≤ Bf W /f W ≤ 4.0 (β 3T being the lateral magnification of the third lens group at an infinite object distance at the telephoto end; β 4T the lateral magnification of the fourth lens group at an infinite object distance of the telephoto end; Bf W the back focus of the entire system at the wide angle end; and f W the focal length of the entire system at the wide angle end).

Contextualizing object detection and classification

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate how to iteratively and mutually boost object classification and detection by taking the outputs from one task as the context of the other one. First, instead of intuitive feature and context concatenation or postprocessing with context, the so-called Contextualized Support Vector Machine (Context-SVM) is proposed, where the context takes the responsibility of dynamically adjusting the classification hyperplane, and thus the context-adaptive classifier is achieved. Then, an iterative training procedure is presented. In each step, Context-SVM, associated with the output context from one task (object classification or detection), is instantiated to boost the performance for the other task, whose augmented outputs are then further used to improve the former task by Context-SVM. The proposed solution is evaluated on the object classification and detection tasks of PASCAL Visual Object Challenge (VOC) 2007 and 2010, and achieves the state-of-the-art performance.

Auto-control of vehicle infotainment system based on extracted characteristics of car occupants

Abstract: An infotainment system is provided for delivering content to multiple occupants of a vehicle. The infotainment system includes: an occupant detector configured to receive characteristic data for occupants of the vehicle and generate a profile for each occupant of the vehicle; a recommendation engine that analyzes the profiles of the vehicle occupants; and a content delivery engine that deliver content to one or more of the vehicle occupants in accordance with the analysis of the profiles of the vehicle occupants.

Rechargeable electric device

Abstract: Under a control by a controller ( 14 ), a rechargeable electric device makes a full charge display to display on a display unit ( 15 ) that a secondary battery ( 11 ) is fully charged, after a start of charging the secondary battery ( 11 ) in a case where either when a count value of a counter reaches a first predetermined value (C 1 ) corresponding to the full charge of the secondary battery ( 11 ), or when a duty ratio of switching signals which make an on/off control of a switching element ( 131 ) becomes smaller than or equal to a predetermined value (D) corresponding to the charge current obtained at a time of the full charge of the secondary battery ( 11 ).

3D-TV Content Storage and Transmission

Abstract: There exist a variety of ways to represent 3D content, including stereo and multiview video, as well as frame-compatible and depth-based video formats. There are also a number of compression architectures and techniques that have been introduced in recent years. This paper provides an overview of relevant 3D representation and compression formats. It also analyzes some of the merits and drawbacks of these formats considering the application requirements and constraints imposed by different storage and transmission systems.

Propagation delay difference reporting for multiple component carriers

Abstract: The invention relates to methods for reporting on downlink timings by a mobile terminal in a mobile communication system. In order to allow for an aggregation access point to obtain information on propagation delay differences of downlink transmissions on aggregated serving cells, the invention suggests the mobile terminal to report timing information based on reception time difference information for a the target/reference cell. The mobile terminal performs measurements relating to transmission and/or reception time differences on the target/reference cell, and reports same to the eNodeB. The eNodeB compares the measurement result to a predefined maximum propagation delay time difference. Alternatively, the mobile terminal performs the measurements, compares same to the predefined maximum propagation delay time difference and then report the comparison result to the eNodeB.

99.3% Efficiency of three-phase inverter for motor drive using GaN-based Gate Injection Transistors

Abstract: In this paper, we present a successful operation of Gallium Nitride(GaN)-based three-phase inverter with high efficiency of 99.3% for driving motor at 900W under the carrier frequency of 6kHz. This efficiency well exceeds the value by IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor). This demonstrates that GaN has a great potential for power switching application competing with SiC. Fully reduced on-state resistance in a new normally-off GaN transistor called Gate Injection Transistor (GIT) greatly helps to increase the efficiency. In addition, use of the bidirectional operation of the lateral and compact GITs with synchronous gate driving, the inverter is operated free from fly-wheel diodes which have been connected in parallel with IGBTs in a conventional inverter system.

Timing advance configuration for multiple uplink component carriers

Abstract: The invention relates methods for time aligning uplink transmissions by a mobile terminal in a mobile communication system, and to methods for performing a handover of a mobile terminal to a target aggregation access point The invention is also providing apparatus and system for performing these methods, and computer readable media the instructions of which cause the apparatus and system to perform the methods described herein In order to allow for aligning the timing of uplink transmissions on uplink component carriers, where different propagation delays are imposed on the transmissions on the uplink component carriers, the inventions suggests to time align the uplink component carriers based on a reference time alignment of a reference cell and a reception time difference or propagation delay difference between the downlink transmissions in the reference cell and the other radio cells, the uplink component carriers of which need to be time aligned

Dual‐Gate Thin‐Film Transistors, Integrated Circuits and Sensors

Abstract: The first dual-gate thin-film transistor (DGTFT) was reported in 1981 with CdSe as the semiconductor. Other TFT technologies such as a-Si:H and organic semiconductors have led to additional ways of making DGTFTs. DGTFTs contain a second gate dielectric with a second gate positioned opposite of the first gate. The main advantage is that the threshold voltage can be set as a function of the applied second gate bias. The shift depends on the ratio of the capacitances of the two gate dielectrics. Here we review the fast growing field of DGTFTs. We summarize the reported operational mechanisms, and the application in logic gates and integrated circuits. The second emerging application of DGTFTs is sensitivity enhancement of existing ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFET). The reported sensing mechanism is discussed and an outlook is presented. Dual-gate thin-film transistors (DGTFTs) have gained popularity in recent years. The additional second gate allows controlled shifting of the threshold voltage. The shift depends on the ratio of the capacitances of the two gate dielectrics. We summarize the reported operation mechanism and review the application of DGTFTs in both integrated circuits and sensors. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Method for determination of wireless terminals positions and associated system and apparatus thereof

Abstract: Conventional position estimation methods require the deployment of more fixed anchors in order to increase the accuracy in a crowded indoor environment, or they suffer from inaccuracies due to multipath fading. The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior arts by selecting one or more mobile nodes as virtual anchors when estimating the position of a target mobile node. This takes advantage of the fact that mobile nodes are closer to the target mobile node than the access points in most typical deployments, thus eliminating the need to deploy more access points or fixed anchors for the purpose of position determination. After obtaining an initial estimate of the position of the target mobile node, the target mobile node can serve as virtual anchors to estimate the positions of other mobile nodes, which can then be used to further refine the position estimate of the target mobile node.

Content transmission/reception system

Abstract: To provide a device that easily judges that content that has been edited and moved back differs from original content. A content transmission device 60 divides edited content composed of partial original content and partial edited content to generate transfer data pieces, generates a nonce value of each piece, encrypts the piece based on the nonce value, and transmits the encrypted transfer data pieces and nonce values. When switch occurs between the partial contents, the device 60 generates nonce value such that discontinuity exists between the generated nonce value and immediately previously generated nonce value. A content reception device 70 receives the encrypted transfer data pieces and nonce values, decrypts the pieces based on the nonce values, writes the transfer data pieces into recording medium. When discontinuity exists between currently received nonce value and immediately previously received nonce value, the device 70 detects reception of partial edited content.

System for task and notification handling in a connected car

Abstract: The vehicular notification and control apparatus receives user input via a multimodal control system, optionally including touch-responsive control and non-contact gestural and speech control. A processor-controlled display provides visual notifications of notifications and tasks according to a dynamically prioritized queue which takes into account environmental conditions and driving context and available driver attention. The display is filtered to present only valid notifications and tasks for the current available driver attention level. Driver attention is determined using multiple, diverse sensors integrated through a sensor fusion mechanism.

Touch screen device

Abstract: According to the present invention, a touch screen device includes a first electrode having a plurality of first conductor lines, inclined at a predetermined angle in clockwise and counterclockwise directions with respect to a first direction and provided at a predetermined interval to form a grid-shaped pattern; and a second electrode having a plurality of second conductor lines, inclined at the predetermined angle in clockwise and counterclockwise directions with respect to a second direction, the second direction perpendicular to the first direction and provided at the predetermined interval to form a grid-shaped pattern. The first electrode and the second electrode are superimposed to form a pattern of squares as basic shapes, and the predetermined angle is greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. By superimposing the first electrode and the second electrode, a pattern of two different squares as basic shapes is formed due to interaction of the first electrode and the second electrode. In this manner, it is possible to inhibit the occurrence of moire.

A Low Phase Noise Quadrature Injection Locked Frequency Synthesizer for MM-Wave Applications

Abstract: This paper proposes a 60 GHz quadrature PLL frequency synthesizer for the IEEE802.15.3c with wide tuning range and low phase noise. The synthesizer is constructed using a 20 GHz PLL that is coupled with a Quadrature Injection Locked Oscillator (QILO) as a frequency tripler to generate the 60 GHz signal. The 20 GHz PLL generates a signal with a phase noise that is lower than -105 dBc/Hz using tail feedback to improve the phase noise while having a 17% tuning range. The proposed 60 GHz QILO uses a combination of parallel and tail injection to enhance the locking range by improving the QILO injection efficiency at the moment of injection and has a 12% tuning range. Both the 20 GHz PLL and the QILO were fabricated as separate chips using a 65 nm CMOS process and measurement results show a phase noise that is less than -95 dBc/Hz@1 MHz at 60 GHz while consuming 80 mW from a 1.2 V supply. To the author's knowledge this phase noise is about 20 dB better than recently reported QPLLs and about 10 dB compared to differential PLLs operating at a similar frequency and at a similar offset.

Demonstration of high-density ReRAM ensuring 10-year retention at 85°C based on a newly developed reliability model

Abstract: A new oxygen diffusion reliability model for a high-density bipolar ReRAM is developed based on hopping conduction in filaments, which allows statistical predication of activation energy. The filament in the active cells is confirmed by EBAC and TEM directly for the first time. With optimized filament size, a 256-kbit ReRAM with long-term retention exceeding 10 years at 85°C is successfully demonstrated.

Phase-Change Materials: Vibrational Softening upon Crystallization and Its Impact on Thermal Properties

Abstract: Crystallization of an amorphous solid is usually accompanied by a signifi cant change of transport properties, such as an increase in thermal and electrical conductivity. This fact underlines the importance of crystalline order for the transport of charge and heat. Phase-change materials, however, reveal a remarkably low thermal conductivity in the crystalline state. The small change in this conductivity upon crystallization points to unique lattice properties. The present investigation reveals that the thermal properties of the amorphous and crystalline state of phase-change materials show remarkable differences such as higher thermal displacements and a more pronounced anharmonic behavior in the crystalline phase. These fi ndings are related to the change of bonding upon crystallization, which leads to an increase of the sound velocity and a softening of the optical phonon modes at the same time.

System and method for improving site operations by detecting abnormalities

Abstract: A system for improving site operations by detecting abnormalities includes a first sensor abnormality detector connected to a first sensor and configured to learn a first normal behavior sequence, a second sensor abnormality detector connected to a second sensor and configured to learn a second normal behavior sequence, an abnormality correlation server configured to receive abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data, the abnormality correlation server further configured to correlate the received abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data sensed at the same time by the first and second sensors and determine an abnormal event; and an abnormality report generator configured to generate an abnormality report based on the correlated the received abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data.

A 2.4 GHz ULP OOK Single-Chip Transceiver for Healthcare Applications

Abstract: This paper describes an ultra-low power (ULP) single chip transceiver for wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. It supports on-off keying (OOK) modulation, and it operates in the 2.36-2.4 GHz medical BAN and 2.4-2.485 GHz ISM bands. It is implemented in 90 nm CMOS technology. The direct modulated transmitter transmits OOK signal with 0 dBm peak power, and it consumes 2.59 mW with 50% OOK. The transmitter front-end supports up to 10 Mbps. The transmitter digital baseband enables digital pulse-shaping to improve spectrum efficiency. The super-regenerative receiver front-end supports up to 5 Mbps with -75 dBm sensitivity. Including the digital part, the receiver consumes 715 μW at 1 Mbps data rate, oversampled at 3 MHz. At the system level the transceiver achieves PER=10 -2 at 25 meters line of site with 62.5 kbps data rate and 288 bits packet size. The transceiver is integrated in an electrocardiogram (ECG) necklace to monitor the heart's electrical property.

Illuminating Device And Liquid-Crystal Display Device Using The Same

Abstract: An illuminating device capable of being produced at low costs and irradiating rays of light uniformly to a liquid crystal panel. The illuminating device has a plurality of LED packages each having LED's and a lens, the LED packages being congregated on a plane in a large area. Each of the LED packages includes at least four LED's corresponding to LED's for emitting at least red, green and blue, and at least two of the LED's in each LED package are positioned symmetrically to the center of the lens and emit the same color.

Light source device and projection display apparatus

Abstract: A solid-state light source unit emits excitation light. Fluorescent material layer is formed on each side of a glass substrate of a fluorescent plate so as to interpose a reflective film therebetween. The first optical system optically guides, to a rod integrator, red and blue LED light, and green fluorescence that is generated by excitation occurring when blue laser light emitted from the solid-state light source unit is applied to the fluorescent material layer on one surface of the fluorescent plate, and that is emitted in the −X direction. The second optical system optically guides, to the rod integrator, red and blue LED light, and green fluorescence that is generated by excitation occurring when blue laser light emitted from the solid-state light source unit is applied to the fluorescent material layer on the other surface of the fluorescent plate, and that is emitted in the +X direction.

Communication device and communication method

Abstract: A terminal apparatus (M101) includes a terminal unit (M201) and a near-field communication unit (M107). The terminal unit (M201) includes a main memory (M106) that stores operation history information of the terminal apparatus (M101) and a controller (M105). The near-field communication unit (M107) includes a communication control unit (M216) that performs near-field communication with the mobile apparatus (M102) and a near-field communication memory (M215). The controller (M105) stores, in the near-field communication memory (M215), at least a part of the operation history information stored in the main memory (M106) when a malfunction of the terminal unit (M201) is detected, and the communication control unit (M216) transmits the operation history information stored in the near-field communication memory (M215) by near-field communication to the mobile apparatus (M102), in accordance with a request from the mobile apparatus (M102).