Author: claimsbot

1-7. (canceled)
8. A method for storing map data in a navigation system, comprising:
calculating a driving route between a start point and a destination, using a first level map data stored on a mass storage medium;
selecting, based on at least one criterion, a second level map data that include only road path segments within a defined corridor around the driving route; and
storing the selected second level map data in a memory of the navigation system.
9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein all first level map data corresponding to at least one of a first defined region around the start point and a second defined region around the destination are automatically included as a part of the second level map data.
10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the selection of the second level map data is accomplished on the basis of a utilization probability of road path segments within the corridor.
11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the utilization probability is dependent at least on the distance of a particular road path segment from the driving route.
12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the utilization probability is further dependent on a road-class property of the particular road path segment within the corridor.
13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the second level map data are organized in tiles corresponding to geographic areas, and wherein the selection of the second level map data for a particular geographic area tile includes screening all first level map data within the particular geographic area tile in accordance with at least one uniform selection criterion.
14. A navigation system, comprising:
a control system for calculating a driving route between a start point and a destination, using a first level map data stored on a mass storage medium, wherein the control system selects, based on at least one criterion, a second level map data that include only road path segments within a defined corridor around the driving route; and
a memory for storing the selected second level map data.
15. The navigation system as recited in claim 14, wherein all first level map data corresponding to at least one of a first defined region around the start point and a second defined region around the destination are automatically included by the control system as a part of the second level map data.
16. The navigation system as recited in claim 15, wherein the selection of the second level map data is accomplished on the basis of a utilization probability of road path segments within the corridor.
17. The navigation system as recited in claim 16, wherein the utilization probability is dependent at least on the distance of a particular road path segment from the driving route.
18. The navigation system as recited in claim 17, wherein the utilization probability is further dependent on a road-class property of the particular road path segment within the corridor.

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 double core-shell fluorescent material, comprising: an inner core, an inner shell coating the outer surface of the inner core, and an outer shell coating the inner shell, the inner core is a metal particle, the chemical composition of the inner shell is silicon dioxide, and the outer shell is a phosphor represented by the chemical formula (R1-x, Eux)2O3, wherein R is Y, Gd or a combination thereof, 0.02\u2266x\u22660.1.
2. The double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 1, wherein the metal particle is made of at least one of Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd.
3. The double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 1, wherein the particle size of the metal particle is in a range of 20 nm to 100 nm.
4. The double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 1, wherein the inner core is coated by the inner shell to form an inner-coating structure, the inner-coating structure is a microsphere structure.
5. The double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell covers the surface of the inner shell in a form of layer, and the double core-shell fluorescent material is a spherical or spherical-like particle.
6. A preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material, comprising the following steps:
obtaining a metal particle sol;
dissolving the metal particle sol into an alcohol solvent and weak alkaline solution, adding tetraethyl orthosilicate to react and preparing a suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as an inner shell;
preparing a mixture solution containing at least one of yttrium nitrate and gadolinium nitrate with europium nitrate, adding a precipitant or gel, dissolving each nitrate salt and the precipitant or gel utilizing solvent, and adding the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as a inner shell to obtain a precursor of the double core-shell fluorescent material; and
calcining the precursor of the double core-shell fluorescent material to form a phosphor outer shell coating the silicon dioxide inner shell and represented by the following chemical formula: (R1-x, Eux)2O3, wherein R is Y, Gd or a combination thereof, 0.02\u2266x\u22660.1, and obtaining the double core-shell fluorescent material.
7. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, after obtaining the metal particle sol, further comprising surface treating the metal particle sol using surfactant with a concentration of 0.001 gml to 0.01 gml with stirring for 3 hours to 12 hours.
8. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, further comprising repeating the step of obtaining the precursor of the double core-shell fluorescent material, during each repetition, using the previous obtained precursor to replace the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats the metal particle as the inner shell, to obtain the phosphor outer shell with desire thickness.
9. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, after preparing the mixture solution containing at least one of yttrium nitrate and gadolinium nitrate with europium nitrate, further comprising adding urea or oxalic acid as a precipitating agent, mixing and dissolving the urea and oxalic acid, adding the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as a inner shell, adjusting the pH value utilizing ammonia, magnetic stirring for 0.5 hour to 1.5 hours, generating precipitate, filtering, washing, drying, and obtaining the precursor having a outer shell composed by europium, yttrium andor gadolinium oxalate.
10. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, after preparing the mixture solution containing at least one of yttrium nitrate and gadolinium nitrate with europium nitrate, further comprising dissolving the mixture solution of nitrate salt with a solvent, adding citric acid and polyethylene glycol, the amount of the added citric acid is determined by a molar ratio of the citric acid to the metal ions in the metal particle sol of 1.2:1 to 5:1, and the amount of the added polyethylene glycol is determined that a concentration of the polyethylene glycol of 0.08 gml to 0.2 gml, and stirring and reacting in a water bath of 30\xb0 C. to 60\xb0 C. for 4 hours to 8 hours to form a phosphor sol; adding the phosphor sol to the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as a inner shell, continuing to stir and reaction in a water bath of 60\xb0 C. to 90\xb0 C. for 3 hours to 12 hours to obtain a gel.
11. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, after preparing the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as a inner shell, further comprising purifying, dispersing and dissolving the suspension, the purification step comprises: centrifugal separating the suspension, washing with distilled water or anhydrous ethanol to remove remaining weak alkaline solution and residual tetraethyl orthosilicate; the dispersion and dissolving step comprises: dispersing the suspension of the purification step in distilled water using ultrasonic to obtain a purified suspension.
12. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, after preparing the suspension in which silicon dioxide coats a metal particle as a inner shell, further comprising adding surface modifier to the suspension with magnetic stirring, the volume ratio of the surface modifier to the suspension is in a range of 5:1000 to 2:100, the magnetic stirring is for 2 hours to 4 hours to obtain a surface modified suspension.
13. The preparation method of a double core-shell fluorescent material according to claim 6, wherein the precursor of the double core-shell fluorescent material is calcined at a temperature from 600\xb0 C.-1400\xb0 C. for 1 hour to 6 hours.

1. A mobile device, comprising:
a battery;
a battery charger electrically coupled to the battery; and
an image sensor operably coupled to the battery charger to selectively charge the battery.
2. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the image sensor comprises an array of pixels and a timingcontrol circuit for controlling the pixels to selectively provide constant current from the pixels to the battery charger.
3. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the image sensor comprises a timingcontrol circuit and an array of pixels arranged in columns, wherein the timingcontrol circuit selectively controls the pixels so that multiple pixels in an individual column provide current to the battery charger simultaneously.
4. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein:
the image sensor is configured to capture images; and
the image sensor is configured to provide current for charging the battery before andor after capturing images.
5. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein:
the image sensor is configured to capture images; and
the battery powers the image sensor when the image sensor captures images.
6. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein:
the image sensor comprises an array of pixels; and
the mobile device further comprises a signal processor and a switch to (a) direct current from the pixels to the signal processor when the image sensor captures images, and (b) direct current from the pixels to the battery charger when the battery charger charges the battery.
7. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a housing, wherein the battery, battery charger, and image sensor are contained within the housing.
8. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a camera unit including the image sensor.
9. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the image sensor comprises a color complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
10. A mobile device, comprising:
a rechargeable battery;
a battery charger electrically coupled to the battery; and
an image sensor for capturing images, the image sensor having a plurality of pixels and a timingcontrol circuit operably coupled to the pixels, wherein the timingcontrol circuit controls the pixels to selectively provide constant current from the pixels to the battery charger to charge the battery.
11. The mobile device of claim 10 wherein the pixels are arranged in columns, and wherein the timingcontrol circuit selectively controls the pixels so that multiple pixels in an individual column provide current to the battery charger simultaneously.
12. The mobile device of claim 10, further comprising a signal processor and a switch to (a) direct current from the pixels to the signal processor when the image sensor captures images, and (b) direct current from the pixels to the battery charger when the battery charger charges the battery.
13. A method for operating a mobile device, the method comprising:
capturing an image with an image sensor in the mobile device; and
charging a battery in the mobile device with the image sensor.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein charging the battery occurs before andor after capturing the image.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein:
the image sensor comprises an array of pixels and a timingcontrol circuit for controlling the pixels; and
charging the battery comprises providing constant current from the pixels to the battery charger.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein:
the image sensor comprises a timingcontrol circuit and an array of pixels arranged in columns; and
charging the battery comprises controlling the pixels with the timingcontrol circuit so that multiple pixels in an individual column provide current to the battery charger simultaneously.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein capturing the image comprises powering the image sensor with the battery.
18. The method of claim 13 wherein:
capturing the image comprises providing current from a plurality of pixels in the image sensor to a signal processor in the mobile device; and
charging the battery comprises providing current from the pixels to the battery charger.

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. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
one imaging optical system;
an image sensor which includes a left-eye light-receiving element and a right-eye light-receiving element, and outputs a left-eye captured image for left eye and a right-eye captured image for right eye upon receiving light beams having passed through said one imaging optical system;
a detection unit which is able to detect a difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of each of subjects included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image;
a control unit which is able to control a focusing unit of said imaging optical system to focus on a given subject included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, based on the difference of the given subject between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image detected by said detection unit; and
an extraction unit which is able to create an image for binocular stereopsis using an extraction image, extracted from a region which includes the given subject and has a predetermined size, for each of the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image,
wherein said extraction unit sets the region so that the difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of a subject which is different from the given subject and included in both the extraction images has a predetermined value.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the subject different from the given subject is a subject positioned farther from the image capturing apparatus than the given subject.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the subject different from the given subject is a subject, which is determined to stand still across a plurality of captured images obtained before the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image are obtained, among the subjects included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the subject different from the given subject is a subject having a maximum difference between a left-eye captured image and a right-eye captured image obtained during pre-shooting before shooting for recording, which is detected by said detection unit.
5. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
one imaging optical system;
an image sensor which includes a left-eye light-receiving element and a right-eye light-receiving element, and outputs a left-eye captured image for left eye and a right-eye captured image for right eye upon receiving light beams having passed through said one imaging optical system;
a detection unit which is able to detect a difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of each of subjects included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image;
a control which is able to control a focusing unit of said imaging optical system to focus on a given subject included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, based on the difference of the given subject between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image detected by said detection unit; and
an extraction unit which is able to create an image for binocular stereopsis using an extraction image, extracted from a region which includes the given subject and has a predetermined size, for each of the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, said extraction unit setting the region so that the difference between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image at a predetermined distance different from a distance between the given subject and the image capturing apparatus has a predetermined value,
wherein said extraction unit sets the region based on a distance between the centers of gravity of the light beams used to output the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, respectively, a distance between said image sensor and an exit pupil of said one imaging optical system, and the difference between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image at the predetermined distance, which is obtained from the predetermined distance.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when at least one of the regions set for the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image falls outside a range of an effective pixel of said image sensor, said extraction unit sets the region within the range of the effective pixel.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when at least one of the regions set for the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image falls outside a range of an effective pixel of said image sensor, said extraction unit sets the region to eliminate the difference of the given subject between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said left-eye light-receiving element and said right-eye light-receiving element receive light beams having passed through different regions in the exit pupil of said one imaging optical system.
9. A method of controlling an image capturing apparatus including one imaging optical system, and an image sensor which includes a left-eye light-receiving element and a right-eye light-receiving element, and outputs a left-eye captured image for left eye and a right-eye captured image for right eye upon receiving light beams having passed through the one imaging optical system, the method comprising:
a detection step of detecting a difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of each of subjects included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image;
a control step of controlling a focusing unit of the imaging optical system to focus on a given subject included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, based on the difference of the given subject between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image detected in the detection step; and
an extraction step of creating an image for binocular stereopsis using an extraction image, extracted from a region which includes the given subject and has a predetermined size, for each of the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image,
wherein in the extraction step, the region is set so that the difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of a subject which is different from the given subject and included in both the extraction images has a predetermined value.
10. A method of controlling an image capturing apparatus including one imaging optical system, and an image sensor which includes a left-eye light-receiving element and a right-eye light-receiving element, and outputs a left-eye captured image for left eye and a right-eye captured image for right eye upon receiving light beams having passed through the one imaging optical system, the method comprising:
a detection step of detecting a difference, between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, of each of subjects included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image;
a control step of controlling a focusing unit of the imaging optical system to focus on a given subject included in the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, based on the difference of the given subject between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image detected in the detection step; and
an extraction step of creating an image for binocular stereopsis using an extraction image, extracted from a region which includes the given subject and has a predetermined size, for each of the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, the extraction step setting the region so that the difference between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image at a predetermined distance different from a distance between the given subject and the image capturing apparatus has a predetermined value,
wherein in the extraction step, the region is set based on a distance between the centers of gravity of the light beams used to output the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image, respectively, a distance between the image sensor and an exit pupil of the one imaging optical system, and the difference between the left-eye captured image and the right-eye captured image at the predetermined distance, which is obtained from the predetermined distance.
11. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute each step in a method of controlling an image capturing apparatus, defined in claim 9.
12. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute each step in a method of controlling an image capturing apparatus, defined in claim 10.