Author: claimsbot

1. A digital broadcast reception apparatus comprising:
primary and secondary systems being tuned to a physical channel, receiving a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from a broadcast station through the tuned physical channel, and demodulating and decoding the received digital broadcast signal;
a tuning controller for instructing said primary and secondary systems about a physical channel to be tuned to;
a switching controller for instructing said tuning controller to switch between a diversity operation mode in which the said primary system and said secondary system are tuned to the same physical channel and cooperate with each other to demodulate and decode the digital broadcast signal through a diversity process and an independent reception operation mode in which said primary system and said secondary system individually and independently demodulate and decode the digital broadcast signal;
a current position detector for detecting a current position; and
broadcast area information storage device in which is stored broadcast area information including a physical channel and a broadcast area of a broadcast station of a broadcast service that may be received, and at least either one of information concerning a relay station of said broadcast station and information concerning an affiliate station of said broadcast station,
wherein, based on the current position detected by said current position detector and the broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device, said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to switch between said diversity operation mode and said independent reception operation mode, and
wherein based on the current position detected by said current position detector and the broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device, said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to select said diversity operation mode if the detected current position is close to a boundary of a broadcast area that is acquired from said broadcast area information as a broadcast area of a broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, and to select said independent reception operation mode if the detected current position is not close to the boundary of said broadcast area, wherein
said tuning controller instructs said primary and secondary systems to, if a reception state of a currently received broadcast service is deteriorated in a case where said primary and secondary systems are operating in the diversity operation mode, cooperate with each other to search a relay station and an affiliate station of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, and in a case where said primary and secondary systems are operating in the independent reception operation mode, one system of said primary and secondary systems demodulates and decodes the digital broadcast signal of the currently received broadcast service while the other system searches a relay station and an affiliate station of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service.
2. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to, if the detected current position is located in a near-boundary area of the broadcast area of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service which is acquired from said broadcast area information and also in an area overlapping a broadcast area of a relay station or an affiliate station of said broadcast station, perform said independent reception operation mode in which one system of said primary and secondary systems demodulates and decodes the digital broadcast signal of the currently received broadcast service while the other system searches the relay station and the affiliate station of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, and if said relay station or affiliate station cannot be detected in said search, switch to said diversity operation mode and search said relay station and affiliate station.
3. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device is estimated based on a zip code of the location of and a transmission power of a transmitting station listed in a frequency list that is included in a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from said broadcast station.
4. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device is updated upon updating of a cell list descriptor and a cell link frequency descriptor included in a network information table section included in a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from said broadcast station.
5. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said broadcast area information storage device stores at least either one of information that identifies a transport stream transmitted from said relay station and information that identifies a transport stream transmitted from said affiliate station, as at least either one of the information concerning the relay station of said broadcast station and the information concerning the affiliate station of said broadcast station.
6. A digital broadcast reception apparatus comprising:
primary and secondary systems being tuned to a physical channel, receiving a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from a broadcast station through the tuned physical channel, and demodulating and decoding the received digital broadcast signal;
a tuning controller for instructing said primary and secondary systems about a physical channel to be tuned to;
a switching controller for instructing said tuning controller to switch between a diversity operation mode in which the said primary system and said secondary system are tuned to the same physical channel and cooperate with each other to demodulate and decode the digital broadcast signal through a diversity process and an independent reception operation mode in which said primary system and said secondary system individually and independently demodulate and decode the digital broadcast signal;
a current position detector for detecting a current position; and
broadcast area information storage device in which is stored broadcast area information including a physical channel and a broadcast area of a broadcast station of a broadcast service that may be received, and at least either one of information concerning a relay station of said broadcast station and information concerning an affiliate station of said broadcast station,
wherein, based on the current position detected by said current position detector and the broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device, said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to switch between said diversity operation mode and said independent reception operation mode, and
wherein based on the current position detected by said current position detector and the broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device, said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to select said diversity operation mode if the detected current position is close to a boundary of a broadcast area that is acquired from said broadcast area information as a broadcast area of a broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, and to select said independent reception operation mode if the detected current position is not close to the boundary of said broadcast area, wherein
said tuning controller instructs said primary and secondary systems to, when searching the relay station and the affiliate station of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, perform tuning preferentially from a channel having a higher possibility of reception at the current position indicated by said current position information based on said broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device, and if it is determined that said relay station or affiliate station cannot be detected in said tuning, perform tuning preferentially from a channel of a relay station or an affiliate station in which a distance is shorter, said distance being a distance between said current position and the position of the center of gravity of said broadcast area thereof which is acquired from said broadcast area information, or a distance between said current position and a boundary of said broadcast area which is acquired from said broadcast area information.
7. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
said switching controller instructs said tuning controller to, if the detected current position is located in a near-boundary area of the broadcast area of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service which is acquired from said broadcast area information and also in an area overlapping a broadcast area of a relay station or an affiliate station of said broadcast station, perform said independent reception operation mode in which one system of said primary and secondary systems demodulates and decodes the digital broadcast signal of the currently received broadcast service while the other system searches the relay station and the affiliate station of the broadcast station broadcasting the currently received broadcast service, and if said relay station or affiliate station cannot be detected in said search, switch to said diversity operation mode and search said relay station and affiliate station.
8. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
said broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device is estimated based on a zip code of the location of and a transmission power of a transmitting station listed in a frequency list that is included in a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from said broadcast station.
9. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
said broadcast area information stored in said broadcast area information storage device is updated upon updating of a cell list descriptor and a cell link frequency descriptor included in a network information table section included in a digital broadcast signal of a broadcast service broadcasted from said broadcast station.
10. The digital broadcast reception apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
said broadcast area information storage device stores at least either one of information that identifies a transport stream transmitted from said relay station and information that identifies a transport stream transmitted from said affiliate station, as at least either one of the information concerning the relay station of said broadcast station and the information concerning the affiliate station of said broadcast station.

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 hearing assistance device, comprising:
an enclosure that includes a faceplate and a shell attached to the faceplate;
a power source;
a flex antenna having a shape of at least a substantially complete loop around the power source, wherein the flex antenna maintains separation from the power source and wherein the flex antenna has at least a portion including a shape memory that tends to straighten the flex antenna from a flexed position, and bias a portion of the flex antenna into contact with an interior surface of the enclosure;
a transmission line connected to the flex antenna; and
radio circuit connected to the transmission line and electrically connected to the power source.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the flex antenna has a shape of at least a substantially complete first loop and a substantially complete second loop around the power source, and the transmission line is connected to both the first loop and the second loop.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the first loop and the second loop provide different polarities.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the transmission line is configured to float the radio circuit over the power source.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the transmission line is configured to float the radio circuit besides the power source.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein the flex antenna includes at least one loop of a flex circuit, the flex circuit has a flat profile, and a flat side of the flex antenna is substantially parallel to an axis of the at least one loop.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the flex antenna includes a flex circuit, the flex circuit including a conductive layer sandwiched between dielectric layers.
8. The device of claim 1, wherein the faceplate includes a grove, and the flex antenna is at least partially received within the groove of the faceplate.
9. The device of claim 1, wherein the hearing assistance device includes a hearing aid.
10. The device of claim 1, wherein the shape of the flex antenna includes a first loop at least substantially complete around the power source and a second loop at least substantially complete around the power source, and the first and second loops are electrically connected in parallel.
11. The device of claim 1, wherein the shape of the flex antenna includes a first loop at least substantially complete around the power source and a second loop at least substantially complete around the power source, and the first and second loops are electrically connected in series.
12. A method of forming a hearing assistance device with a power source, comprising:
placing a flexible antenna loop into a shell of the device; and
enclosing the flexible antenna loop within housing, including:
enclosing the flexible antenna loop between the shell and a faceplate;
substantially encircling the power source with the flexible antenna loop; and
maintaining separation between the flexible antenna loop and the power source

wherein the flexible antenna loop has at least a portion including a shape memory that tends to straighten the flexible antenna loop from a flexed position, and bias a portion of the flexible antenna loop into contact with an interior surface of the shell.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein placing the flexible antenna loop into the shell of the device includes placing a loop of multi-filar wire into the shell of the device.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein placing the flexible antenna loop into the shell of the device includes placing a flex antenna loop into the shell of the device, and wherein the flex antenna loop includes a flex circuit.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising integrally forming the flex antenna loop with a flex circuit transmission line, and connecting the flex circuit transmission line to a radio circuit.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising forming a flex circuit, including sandwiching a layer of dielectric material between two layers of conductive material, wherein the flex circuit transmission line is formed using the flex circuit.
17. The method of claim 14, further comprising stamping out a template from the flex circuit, the template including a first portion used to form the transmission line, a second portion used to form the antenna loop, and a third portion used to form a second antenna loop.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising forming the flex antennal loop into a desired shape to substantially loop around and maintain distance from the power source before placing the loop into the shell of the device.
19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
compressing the flex antenna loop;
placing the compressed flex antenna loop into the shell of the device; and
relaxing the flex antenna loop to bias a substantial portion of the loop into contact with an interior surface of the shell.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the faceplate includes a grove, and wherein placing the flexible antenna loop into the shell of the device includes placing the flexible antenna loop into the groove of the faceplate to be at least partially received in the groove the faceplate, and enclosing the flexible antenna loop between the shell and a faceplate.
21. The method of claim 12, wherein the hearing assistance device includes a hearing aid.

1. An optoelectronic component
comprising a support body on which an optoelectronic transmitter or receiver is arranged,
comprising a transparent layer placed over and encapsulating said transmitter or receiver,
comprising an optical element arranged over said transparent layer,
characterized in that
said optical element is bonded to said transparent layer by means of an adhesive layer composed of a single-component resin.
2. The component as recited in claim 1,
wherein said adhesive layer is a UV-initiated or photoinitiated, cationically cured epoxy resin.
3. The component as recited in claim 1 or 2,
wherein said adhesive layer has a glass transition temperature of more than 100 C.
4. The component as recited in any of claims 1 to 3,
comprising an adhesive layer that is optically matched to said transparent layer.
5. The component as recited in any of claims 1 to 4,
wherein said transparent layer and said optical element are made of glass, of polyacrylate, of polyurethane, or of epoxy resin molding compound.
6. The component as recited in any of claims 1 to 5,
wherein said optical element has a defined roughness or waviness on its joint surface.
7. The component as recited in any of claims 1 to 6,
wherein a keying is realized on the joint side of said optical component.
8. The component as recited in claim 7,
wherein said keying is realized by means of indentations or projections, particularly in the form of nub- or lug-like structures formed on said optical element.
9. The component as recited in claims 1 to 8,
wherein spacing elements are arranged between said optical element and said transparent layer and are preferably formed on said optical element.
10. A method for the precision-fit bonding of transparent parts of optoelectronic components, comprising the steps of:
applying a thin resin layer of a cationically initiated, curable epoxy resin to one surface of one of the transparent parts to be bonded,
placing and orienting a further transparent part on said resin layer,
exposing the assembly to UV or visible radiation in order to set said resin layer,
curing said resin layer completely.
11. The method as recited in claim 10,
wherein the complete cure of said resin layer is performed at elevated temperature.
12. The method as recited in claim 10 or 11,
wherein the exposure to UV radiation is effected for less than 5 s at an irradiance of less than 100 mWcm2.
13. The method as recited in claim 12,
wherein said exposure to UV radiation is effected by means of a UV flash and curing is performed at temperatures above 120 C.
14. The method as recited in any of claims 10 to 13,
wherein an epoxy resin comprising a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A as its chief constituent and a cation-releasing photoinitiator is used for the resin layer.
15. The method as recited in claim 14,
wherein an epoxy resin is used that includes the following constituents, stated in weight-percent:
80 to 99% bi- and multifunctional epoxy resins
0 to 10% monofunctional epoxy resin
0-19% vinyl ether
0-10% aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohol
0-5% bonding agent
0.1-5% photoinitiator for cationically initiated curing.
16. The use of a cationically initiated, curable epoxy resin having a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A as its chief constituent for the positionally precise bonding of transparent parts of optoelectronic components to additional optical elements such as mirrors or lenses.
17. The use as recited in claim 16 for reliably bonding the following combinations of materials constituting parts to be joined: plasticplastic, plasticglass, glassglass.
18. The use as recited in claim 17 for the functionally reliable bonding of SMD-capable optoelectronic components for the automotive industry.

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 computer implemented method comprising:
receiving at a server of a backend system that supports a network of users, an indication of a topic selected as a primary topic to be an anchor for a collaboration thread, wherein the backend system is to model the primary topic as a data structure available as a network resource to the users in the network, wherein the collaboration thread is associated with the data structure in the backend system;
creating the collaboration thread in the backend system in response to receiving the indication, to provide a collaborative environment for multiple users;
associating, in the backend system, the created collaboration thread to the primary topic to anchor the collaboration thread to the primary topic in the backend system, including referencing the collaboration thread in the backend system as a context resource of the network resource of the primary topic;
assigning an audience of users unique to the collaboration thread, the audience defined by the primary topic and one or more additional topics selected as boundary topics that provide boundaries to the primary topic,
wherein the backend system includes definitions of associations of users to the topics, and the audience is assigned by intersecting users associated to the primary topic with users associated with the one or more boundary topics;

presenting the collaboration thread to the assigned audience to enable only the assigned audience to participate in the collaboration thread; and
dynamically altering the assigned audience after presenting the collaboration thread to the assigned audience by dynamically changing either the primary topic or a boundary topic of the collaboration thread.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the primary topic further comprises:
receiving the indication in response to providing selectable topics derived from a catalog of topics stored in the backend system.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the primary topic further comprises:
receiving a topic entered by a user of the backend system, the backend system to model the entered topic as a network resource within the backend system.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the audience of users comprises:
assigning users to the audience based on explicit and inferred associations of the users to the network resources.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the audience of users comprises:
assigning users to the audience based on subscriptions of the users to the primary and boundary topics.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the audience of users comprises:
assigning users to the audience with an authorization level with respect to posting to the collaboration, wherein the authorization level is based on a role of the user.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein first and second boundary topics are selected, and wherein assigning the audience comprises:
performing a logical AND operation to filter the audience based on associations of the users to both the first boundary topic and the second boundary topic.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein first and second boundary topics are selected, and wherein assigning the audience comprises:
performing a logical OR operation to filter the audience based on associations of the users to either the first boundary topic or the second boundary topic, where the first boundary topic and the second boundary topic have the same type.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically altering the audience by changing the topic further comprises:
dynamically altering the audience by changing multiple boundary topics of an assigned audience.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the assigned audience is assigned based on the primary topic and a first boundary topic, and wherein dynamically altering the audience comprises:
narrowing the audience by applying an additional, second boundary topic as a narrowing filter.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the collaboration thread to the audience further comprises:
assigning the collaboration thread to a user-owner that initiated the collaboration thread; and
further comprising:
generating a network of trusted users associated with the user-owner, wherein presenting the collaboration thread to the assigned audience comprises presenting the collaboration thread to users only within the network of trusted users whose defined associations match the primary topic and the boundary topic.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the backend system comprises a business system.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the indication of the primary topic further comprises:
receiving the indication in response to providing selectable topics derived from business objects of the business system.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the indication of the primary topic further comprises:
receiving the indication in response to providing selectable topics identified as forming communities of interest, the topics including one or more of an area of practice, location, use of a business tool, or a business goal.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the business system comprises an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.
16. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having content stored thereon, which when executed, cause a machine to perform operations including:
receiving at a server of a backend system that supports a network of users, an indication of a topic selected as a primary topic to be an anchor for a collaboration thread, wherein the backend system is to model the primary topic as a data structure available as a network resource to the users in the network, wherein the collaboration thread is associated with the data structure in the backend system;
creating the collaboration thread in the backend system in response to receiving the indication, to provide a collaborative environment for multiple users;
associating, in the backend system, the created collaboration thread to the primary topic to anchor the collaboration thread to the primary topic in the backend system, including referencing the collaboration thread in the backend system as a context resource of the network resource of the primary topic;
assigning an audience of users unique to the collaboration thread, the audience defined by the primary topic and one or more additional topics selected as boundary topics that provide boundaries to the primary topic,
wherein the backend system includes definitions of associations of users to the topics, and the audience is assigned by intersecting users associated to the primary topic with users associated with the one or more boundary topics;

presenting the collaboration thread to the assigned audience to enable only the assigned audience to participate in the collaboration thread; and
dynamically altering the assigned audience after presenting the collaboration thread to the assigned audience by dynamically changing either the primary topic or a boundary topic of the collaboration thread.
17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the content for assigning the audience of users comprises content for
assigning users to the audience based on explicit and inferred associations of the users to the network resources.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the content for assigning the audience comprises content for one or more of
performing a logical AND operation to filter the audience based on associations of the users to both the first boundary topic and the second boundary topic, or
performing a logical OR operation to filter the audience based on associations of the users to either the first boundary topic or the second boundary topic, where the first boundary topic and the second boundary topic have the same type.
19. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the content for receiving the indication of the primary topic further comprises content for
receiving the indication based on one or more of selectable topics derived from a catalog of topics stored in the backend system, a topic entered by a user of the backend system, selectable topics derived from business objects of the business system, or selectable topics identified as forming communities of interest, the topics including one or more of an area of practice, location, use of a business tool, or a business goal.