8431results about How to "Reduce decrease" patented technology

A low attenuation surface wave transmission line system for launching surface waves on a bare and unconditioned conductor, such as are found in abundance in the power transmission lines of the existing power grids. The conductors within the power grid typically lack dielectric and special conditioning. Accordingly, the present invention includes a first launcher, preferably including a mode converter and an adapter, for receiving an incident wave of electromagnetic energy and propagating a surface wave longitudinally on the power lines. The system includes at least one other launcher, and more likely a number of other launchers, spaced apart from one another along the constellation of transmission lines. The system and associated electric fields along any given conductor are radially and longitudinally symmetrical.

The ability of an ultrasonic system to sweep and lock onto a resonance frequency of a blade subjected to a heavy load at startup is improved by applying a high drive voltage or a high drive current while systematically increasing the level of the applied signal. Increasing the drive signal to the hand piece results in an improved and more pronounced “impedance spectrum.” That is, under load, the increased drive signal causes the maximum phase margin to become higher and the minimum/maximum impedance magnitude to become more pronounced. Increasing the excitation drive signal to the hand piece/blade at startup significantly alleviates the limiting factors associated with ultrasonic generators, which results in an increase of the maximum load capability at startup.

An apparatus and method of reserving conveyance, such as taxis and limousines, in which the pickup locations, times, and contract are established and logged electronically. The system is configured to increase the assurance that the conveyance will arrive properly on time and on location, and that the patron will also keep their end of the agreement. The system preferably configured for disincentives for either party to not follow in accord with the contract.

A method for processing a substrate includes disposing the substrate in a deposition chamber configured to perform a deposition process and depositing a film on the substrate using the deposition process. The substrate having the film thereon is then transferred from the deposition chamber into a treatment chamber and a plasma cleaning process is performed on the substrate in the treatment chamber. Further processing of the substrate is performed after the plasma cleaning process.

A method for forming an oxide film by plasma-assisted cyclic processing, includes: (i) supplying a precursor to a reaction space wherein a substrate is placed; (ii) applying a first RF power to the reaction space for a first period of time without supplying a precursor; and (iii) applying a second RF power to the reaction space for a second period of time without supplying the precursor, wherein the first RF power is lower than the second RF power, and/or the first period of time is shorter than the second period of time.

A ring for surrounding the chordae tendinae of a heart valve, and a system for delivering the ring. The ring gathers the chordae tendinae into a bundle to effectively shorten the chordae tendinae to resolve or reduce valve leaflet prolapse. The body of the ring has an elongated generally linear delivery configuration and a plurality of annular treatment configurations. The body of the ring is releasably carried within a delivery catheter to a treatment location, and a push rod expels the ring from the delivery catheter. Upon being expelled from the delivery catheter, a second end of the ring body will co-axially align with and insert into a first end of the body to form the ring.

A method and network architecture for implementing an energy efficient network. The network includes a plurality of nodes that collect and transmit data that are ultimately routed to a base station. The network nodes form a set of clusters with a single node acting as a cluster-head. The cluster-head advertises for nodes to join its cluster, schedules the collection of data within a cluster, and then transmits the data to the base station. A cluster can intelligently combine data from individual nodes. After a period of operation, the clusters are reformed with a different set of nodes acting as cluster-heads. The network provides an increased system lifetime by balancing the energy use of individual nodes.

A mobile station (1) of a mobile communication network system (2), comprising a GPS/GSM or UMTS based geographical position localising module (3) for localising the geographical position (24c) of the mobile station, which has storage means for storing geographical related base data, and display means (4) for displaying geographical related base data as a map (24) or as a text string, is characterised in that the geographical related base data displayed has been at least partly provided by wireless transmission from the network system and is limited to a predetermined extent depending on the geographical position, travel modus and speed of the mobile station, and the mobile station itself calculates the geographical position which can be presented to others during call set-up or with SMS services and the mobile station can do routing using a navigational algorithm implemented in location finder module (31) of the mobile station.

A first electrode and a sacrificial layer are sequentially formed on a substrate, and then first openings for forming supports inside are formed in the first electrode and the sacrificial layer. The supports are formed in the first openings, and then a second electrode is formed on the sacrificial layer and the supports, thus forming a micro electro mechanical system structure. Afterward, an adhesive is used to adhere and fix a protection structure to the substrate for forming a chamber to enclose the micro electro mechanical system structure, and at least one second opening is preserved on sidewalls of the chamber. A release etch process is subsequently employed to remove the sacrificial layer through the second opening in order to form cavities in an optical interference reflection structure. Finally, the second opening is closed to seal the optical interference reflection structure between the substrate and the protection structure.

A biochip and apparatus is disclosed for performing biological assays in a self-contained microfluidic platform. The disposable biochip for multi-step reactions comprises a body structure with a plurality of reagent cavities and reaction wells connected via microfluidic channels; the reagent cavities with reagent sealing means for storing a plurality of reagents; the reagent sealing means being breakable and allowing a sequence of reagents to be released into microfluidic channel and reaction well; and the reaction well allowing multi-step reactions to occur. The apparatus may further comprise a microactuator, a heating and cooling element, a detector, a moving stage, a magnetic field generator, and a processor operable to perform all necessary functions, such as reagent delivery, magnetic purification, mixing and incubation, heating and cooling, and optical detection on a microfluidic biochip.

A plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) system includes a processing chamber defining an isolated processing space within the processing chamber, and a substrate holder provided within the processing chamber and configured to support a substrate. A first process material supply system is configured to supply a first process material to the processing chamber, a second process material supply system is configured to supply a second process material to the processing chamber and a power source is configured to couple electromagnetic power to the processing chamber. A contaminant shield is positioned along a periphery of the substrate holder and configured to impede external contaminants that permeate the chamber from traveling to a region of the substrate holder, wherein the film is formed on the substrate by alternatingly introducing the first process material and the second process material.

A computer-implemented method for displaying soft keyboards at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display is disclosed. An application with a plurality of objects is displayed on the touch screen display. A first gesture by a user on a first object in the plurality of objects is detected. In response to the first gesture, a first soft keyboard is displayed that contains a plurality of keys including primarily letter keys and including a key for selecting a second soft keyboard different from the first soft keyboard. A second gesture by the user on a second object in the plurality of objects is detected, the second object being other than the key for selecting the second soft keyboard. In response to the second gesture, the second soft keyboard is displayed, which contains a plurality of keys including number keys and including a key for selecting the first soft keyboard.

A method and system deblurs images acquired of a scene by a camera. A light field acquired of a scene is modulated temporally according to a sequence of ons and offs. An optimal coding pattern is selected. The modulated light field is integrated by a sensor of a camera during an exposure time to generate an encoded input image. The encoded input image is decoded according to a pseudo-inverse of a smearing matrix to produce a decoded output image having a reduced blur.

The present invention provides an improved antenna system that, in one embodiment, includes an antenna array comprised of a plurality of elements, each of which is capable of providing a signal. Also included in the improved antenna system is a multi-beam beamformer for producing two spatially independent overlapping beams from the signals provided by two different subsets of the antenna array. The phase of the two beams is compared to realize an interferometer that can provide high or fine resolution data on the position of an object relative to the antenna system. The amplitude of the two beams can also be compared to obtain coarse data on the position of the object. The beamformer includes a switching network for selecting which elements of the antenna array form the two subsets. This permits, for example, the position of the beams to moved, the baseline of the two beams to be varied, and/or the beam width of the beams to be altered. To reduce adverse aerodynamic effects in certain applications, the antenna array is located conformal to the exterior surface of the body on which the array is mounted. Further, to reduce temperature related problems associated with high speed movement of the body on which the array is located, the array is located on the side of the body, as opposed to the front of the body. The side location also provides space for other types of sensors that are preferably located adjacent to the front surface of the body.

According to some embodiments, a waveguide cable includes a dielectric core and a conducting layer surrounding the dielectric core. A first antenna may be provided at a first end of the waveguide cable to receive a digital signal and to propagate an electromagnetic wave through the dielectric core. A second antenna may be provided at a second end of the waveguide cable, opposite the first end, to receive the electromagnetic wave from the dielectric core and to provide the digital signal.

A device for treating a medical condition is provided, and a surgical procedure for implanting the device is disclosed. The device includes a sensor, which is adapted to generate a signal responsive to a state of a patient, and at least one electrode, which is adapted to be coupled to a pelvic site of the patient. A control unit is adapted to receive the signal, to analyze the signal so as to distinguish between an imminent stress incontinence event and an imminent urge event, and, responsive to analyzing the signal, to apply an electrical waveform to the at least one electrode. In various configurations, the device may be used alternatively or additionally to treat fecal incontinence, interstitial cystitis, chronic pelvic pain, or urine retention.

A display apparatus that displays an image on a retina of a user, the display apparatus comprising: an image output unit (100) which includes a light source (101, 110), a wavefront shape change unit (102, 109), and a scan unit (103, 108) and is configured to output display light for displaying the image; and a deflection unit (104, 107) configured to deflect, toward an eye of the user, the display light outputted by the image output unit (100). The deflection unit (104, 107) has a deflection characteristic of suppressing image distortion caused by a change in relative position of the deflection unit (104, 107) with respect to a pupil of the user.

A reflector antenna includes a feed configured to always point during operation in a direction that opposes ingress of water into the feed, and a reflector having a truncated spherical reflecting surface, wherein a relative orientation of the reflector and the feed is adjustable. Another reflector antenna includes a feed configured to always point during operation in a direction that opposes ingress of water into the feed, and a reflector spaced apart from the feed by a focal length at least as great as a diameter of the reflector. Another reflector antenna includes a feed and a reflector having a truncated spherical reflecting surface, wherein the reflector is spaced apart from the feed by a focal length at least as great as a diameter of the reflector.

A system and method of providing an online content portal for sending affiliate content to users of an online account system via the Internet. An online content portal is provided with each user cash account for sending affiliate content. Users conduct purchase transactions with third parties via the Internet using online cash account funds. The system is configured to provide valid charge numbers acceptable to the third parties to consummate the purchase transactions. The charge numbers are similar to standard credit card numbers and universally accepted, where the system is also configured to be the processor of such charge numbers. The shopping and purchase activity of users is monitored and stored along with account information in a user information database. Affiliates may download and/or search the user information database to target users for sending the affiliate content. The online content portal system facilitates collection of valuable user information and identification of users to receive selected types of content.