1. A flow-rate measuring method for measuring a flow rate of a fluid inside a tube by using a heating unit that heats the fluid flowing through the tube from the outside thereof so as to generate a heated portion in the fluid inside the tube and a detecting unit disposed downstream of the heating unit and configured to detect the heated portion, generated by the heating unit, of the fluid inside the tube, the flow rate being measured on the basis of a distance between the heating unit and the detecting unit, a time period between a point at which the heated portion of the fluid inside the tube is generated by the heating unit and a point at which the heated portion is detected by the detecting unit, and a cross-sectional area of the tube,
wherein the heating unit heats the fluid by a microwave heating technique, and microwaves are applied to the fluid by using a transmission line,
the heating unit includes a microstrip line as the transmission line, a ground conductor, and a dielectric member interposed between the microstrip line and the ground conductor,
the tube extends through the dielectric member, and
the microstrip line is disposed on the surface of the dielectric member so as to extend crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the tube.
2. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting unit detects the heated portion on the basis of a change in absorbance of detection light at a predetermined wavelength caused by a temperature change in the fluid.
3. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 2, wherein the tube has a partly different tubular shape at a part where the detecting unit is disposed, the partly different tubular shape being made to cause a thickness of the fluid inside the tube to decrease at a portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes, relative to a portion upstream of the portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes.
4. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 2, wherein a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser diode is used as a source of the detection light at the predetermined wavelength for the detecting unit, and a photo diode that detects a light intensity of the laser beam is provided.
5. A flow-rate measuring device for measuring a flow rate of a fluid inside a tube, comprising a heating unit that heats the fluid flowing through the tube from the outside thereof so as to generate a heated portion in the fluid inside the tube; and a detecting unit disposed downstream of the heating unit and configured to detect the heated portion, generated by the heating unit, of the fluid inside the tube, the flow-rate measuring device measuring the flow rate on the basis of a distance between the heating unit and the detecting unit, a time period between a point at which the heated portion of the fluid inside the tube is generated by the heating unit and a point at which the heated portion is detected by the detecting unit, and a cross-sectional area of the tube,
wherein the heating unit heats the fluid by a microwave heating technique, and microwaves are applied to the fluid by using a transmission line,
the heating unit includes a microstrip line as the transmission line, a ground conductor, and a dielectric member interposed between the microstrip line and the ground conductor,
the tube extends through the dielectric member, and
the microstrip line on the top surface of the dielectric member so as to extend crosswise to the tube.
6. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 5, wherein the detecting unit detects the heated portion on the basis of a change in absorbance of detection light at a predetermined wavelength caused by a temperature change in the fluid.
7. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the tube has a partly different tubular shape at a part where the detecting unit is disposed, the partly different tubular shape being made to cause a thickness of the fluid inside the tube to decrease at a portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes, relative to a portion upstream of the portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes.
8. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 6, wherein a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser diode is used as a source of the detection light at the predetermined wavelength for the detecting unit, and a photo diode that detects a light intensity of the laser beam is provided.
9. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 1, wherein the microstrip line has a line width of 2 mm to 6 mm.
10. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 1, wherein the tube has an inner diameter of 1 mm to 4 mm.
11. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 5, wherein the microstrip line has a line width of 2 mm to 6 mm.
12. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 5, wherein the tube has an inner diameter of 1 mm to 4 mm.
13. A flow-rate measuring method for measuring a flow rate of a fluid inside a tube by using a heating unit that heats the fluid flowing through the tube from the outside thereof so as to generate a heated portion in the fluid inside the tube and a detecting unit disposed downstream of the heating unit and configured to detect the heated portion, generated by the heating unit, of the fluid inside the tube, the flow rate being measured on the basis of a distance between the heating unit and the detecting unit, a time period between a point at which the heated portion of the fluid inside the tube is generated by the heating unit and a point at which the heated portion is detected by the detecting unit, and a cross-sectional area of the tube,
wherein the heating unit heats the fluid by a microwave heating technique, and microwaves are applied to the fluid by using a coaxial line,
the coaxial line includes a center conductor that transmits microwaves, an external conductor that concentrically surrounds the center conductor, and a dielectric member provided between the center conductor and the external conductor,
the tube extends through the dielectric member, and
the center conductor is disposed so as to extend crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the tube.
14. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 13, wherein the detecting unit detects the heated portion on the basis of a change in absorbance of detection light at a predetermined wavelength caused by a temperature change in the fluid.
15. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 14, wherein the tube has a partly different tubular shape at a part where the detecting unit is disposed, the partly different tubular shape being made to cause a thickness of the fluid inside the tube to decrease at a portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes, relative to a portion upstream of the portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes.
16. The flow-rate measuring method according to claim 14, wherein a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser diode is used as a source of the detection light at the predetermined wavelength for the detecting unit, and a photo diode that detects a light intensity of the laser beam is provided.
17. A flow-rate measuring device for measuring a flow rate of a fluid inside a tube, comprising a heating unit that heats the fluid flowing through the tube from the outside thereof so as to generate a heated portion in the fluid inside the tube; and a detecting unit disposed downstream of the heating unit and configured to detect the heated portion, generated by the heating unit, of the fluid inside the tube, the flow-rate measuring device measuring the flow rate on the basis of a distance between the heating unit and the detecting unit, a time period between a point at which the heated portion of the fluid inside the tube is generated by the heating unit and a point at which the heated portion is detected by the detecting unit, and a cross-sectional area of the tube,
wherein the heating unit heats the fluid by a microwave heating technique, and microwaves are applied to the fluid by using a coaxial line,
the coaxial line includes a center conductor that transmits microwaves, an external conductor that concentrically surrounds the center conductor, and a dielectric member provided between the center conductor and the external conductor,
the tube extends through the dielectric member, and
the center conductor is disposed so as to extend crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the tube.
18. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 17, wherein the detecting unit detects the heated portion on the basis of a change in absorbance of detection light at a predetermined wavelength caused by a temperature change in the fluid.
19. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 18, wherein the tube has a partly different tubular shape at a part where the detecting unit is disposed, the partly different tubular shape being made to cause a thickness of the fluid inside the tube to decrease at a portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes, relative to a portion upstream of the portion through which the detection light of the predetermined wavelength passes.
20. The flow-rate measuring device according to claim 18, wherein a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser diode is used as a source of the detection light at the predetermined wavelength for the detecting unit, and a photo diode that detects a light intensity of the laser beam is provided.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing computer readable instructions that cause a computer to perform a selective prediction encoding method for identifying an encoding method for a macro block, comprising the steps of:
performing ACDC prediction and Advanced Video Coding (AVC) intra prediction for said macro block;
generating an ACDC code amount from the ACDC prediction and an AVC code amount from the AVC intra prediction for said macro block;
selecting, between an ACDC prediction encoding method and an AVC intra prediction encoding method for said macro block, the method which corresponds to the smaller of said ACDC code amount and said AVC code amount;
performing the selected prediction encoding method to said macro block; and,
recording an ACDC flag indicating the ACDC prediction encoding method in a flag field when the ACDC prediction encoding method is selected and an AVC flag indicating the AVC intra prediction encoding method in the flag field when the AVC intra prediction encoding method is selected,
wherein the ACDC code amount is generated by entropy encoding a particular value obtained through the ACDC prediction, and the AVC code amount is generated by entropy encoding a further value obtained through the AVC intra prediction.
2. The computer-readable medium according to claim 1, further comprising the step of checking whether said macro block is a predetermined unit of process and performing the steps of claim 1, only when said macro block is one of said predetermined units of process.
3. The computer-readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting further comprises selecting one of the ACDC prediction encoding method and the AVC intra prediction encoding method in accordance with a predetermined criterion, when said ACDC code amount and said AVC code amount are equal to each other.
4. The computer-readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the flag field is included in a macro-block-layer (MB-layer) header of a bit stream.
5. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing computer readable instructions that cause a computer to perform a selective prediction decoding method for identifying a decoding method for a macro block, comprising the steps of:
recognizing a prediction flag value identifying either an ACDC coded macro block or an intra coded macro block, which flag value is included in a header of a received bit stream;
decoding said received bit stream by one of an ACDC prediction decoding process and an Advanced Video Coding (AVC) intra prediction decoding process in accordance with the recognized prediction flag value; and
generating an ACDC code amount by entropy encoding a particular value obtained through the ACDC prediction, and generating an AVC code amount by entropy encoding a further value obtained through the AVC intra prediction.
6. The computer-readable medium according to claim 5, wherein the prediction flag value is recorded in a prediction flag field of a macro-block-layer (MB-layer) header of the bit stream.