Apparatus for processing semiconductors are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a substrate may include: a first ring disposed concentrically about a substrate support, the first ring configured to position a substrate atop the substrate support during processing; and a second ring disposed between the substrate support and the first ring, the second ring configured to provide a heat transfer path from the first ring to the substrate support.

Conventional semiconductor process chambers, for example, such as etch chambers, typically utilize a substrate support having one or more rings (e.g. an edge ring) disposed atop the substrate support and configured to secure the substrate in a desired position during processing. However, the inventors have observed that conventionally used edge rings may comprise different thermal properties (e.g. different heating and cooling rates) compared to the substrate support, thereby causing temperature non-uniformities proximate the edge of the substrate, thus causing an undesirable non-uniform processing of the substrate. In addition, the edge ring may be heated to a higher temperature than the substrate support during processing due to heat generated by the process or by processing components, for example, such as an upper electrode (e.g., showerhead or ceiling), thereby leading to further temperature non-uniformities.
Thus, the inventors have provided an improved apparatus for processing a substrate.

Thermal management of edge ring in semiconductor processing


A WWW client-server system is provided with a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which achieve significant reduction in operator work load in comparison with conventional keyboard entry. According to the present invention, lengthy data, which is not suitable for keyboard data entry, is stored as a file in the client device in advance, and is transferred to the server device at the time of search. The server device carries out the search for requested information based on the transferred file data. Furthermore, a search query can be constructed at the client based on combined search conditions made up from search-condition file names and search condition data previously transferred to the server.

This application is based upon and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application 8-077939 filed Mar. 29, 1996, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to two-way communication systems which transfer information, such as search conditions and search results, between a client and a server in response to requests from the client. Namely, the present invention relates to, for example, a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system used in a WWW (world wide web) client-server system. The present invention particularly relates to a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system used in the WWW client-server system which allows large quantities of data to be transferred from a WWW client to a WWW server connected through the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keeping pace with recent developments of the Internet, WWW client-server systems have been increasing in the number of business application fields in which they can be used. Various execution and search requests issued from a WWW client to a WWW server involve sending large quantities of data, especially in the case where a search request composed by the client and to be sent to the server requires a significant amount of data for its definition. What is needed is a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow such massive data transfer from the WWW client to the WWW server.
Special types of search request information, such as genetic information, provided by a server device requires a long search-condition clause to be entered at a client device. Such a long data sequence, is generally not suitable for keyboard data entry. What""s needed is the ability of storing information in a file in the client device in advance, and transferring the information to the server device at the time of the search, so that the server device can carry out the search for requested information based on the transferred file.
Typically, data transfer from a client device to a WWW server connected through the Internet requires data entry into the client device, and such data entry is typically carried out using the following methods.
A first method of data entry is keyboard entry of the data by an operator working at the WWW client device. The data is entered into an input field on the display which typically displays an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) menu transferred from the WWW server, and, then, the entered data is sent to the WWW server through the Internet.
A second method of data entry is to copy (cut and paste) data to an input field from a window on the same display. In this case, the window shows a list of candidate data for transfer to the WWW server.
The first method of keyboard data entry into the input field is prone to key-touch errors during lengthy data entry, and is also time consuming.
The second method of copying (cutting and pasting) data into the input field from a window on the same display is time consuming in terms of copy-range selection, and, also, is susceptible to possible erroneous character transformation during the copying process.
Accordingly, there is also a need in WWW client-server systems for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow massive data transfer from a client to a server without imposing an onerous work load on an operator.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow data to be transferred from a client to a server by identifying data on a client display, extracting a relevant file from a client memory device, and sending the relevant file to the server, to request the server to register the file, to execute the file, or to search registered files.
Further, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow an execution-request transfer from a client to a server to be made by entering the execution request on the client display and sending the request to the server, or by identifying the execution request on the client display, extracting file-stored execution requests from a client memory device, and sending the file to the server.
Moreover, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow search-condition transfer from a client to a server to be made by entering the search conditions on the client display and sending the search conditions to the server, or by identifying search conditions on the client display, extracting file-stored search conditions from a client memory device, and sending the file to the server.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can issue a completion message after completion of a data transfer from a client to a server so as to inform the server of the end of the transfer.
Further, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow a server to store client-sent information, to carry out client-issued requests based on client-registered information provided on a file-unit basis, and to allow the server to notify the client of the execution results.
Moreover, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow a server to generate search parameters based on client-sent search conditions to search for client-registered information provided on a file-unit basis.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can request the server to eliminate transferred information when execution results notified by the server are satisfiable.
Accordingly, it is a general objective of the present invention to provide a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can satisfy the needs described above.
It is another and more specific objective of the present invention to provide a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow data transfer from a client to a server by identifying data on a client display, extracting a relevant file from a client memory device, and sending the relevant file to the server, in order to request the server to register the file, to execute the file, or to search registered files.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a means for preparing lengthy data in advance at the client display and then transferring such data from the client to the server in a way that significantly reduces the user""s work load.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a method and system of transferring information from a client to a server in a client-server system which achieves significant reduction in operator work load in comparison with conventional keyboard entry. According to the present invention, the data to be transferred to the server is prestored in a file in the memory media of the client. A display is transferred to the client from the server, the display providing fields for entering data. The file in the client""s memory media is subsequently entered on the display provided from the server. The file is transferred to the server at the time of search. The server device carries out the search for requested information based on the transferred file data. A search query can be constructed at the client based on combined search conditions made up from search-condition file names and search condition data previously transferred to the server.
Another aspect of the present invention is that a file name of a file is indicated on a display which is created based on menu information provided from the server. After indicating that file-unit-based information is to be registered; and reading the file corresponding to the file name from the memory media, the file is then transferred to the server. The above two steps are carried out when a file extracted from the memory media is transferred from the client to the server.
As another aspect of the present invention, an execution request is identified at the client on the display which is provided from the server, the execution request being made to the server. The execution request can be directly transferred to the server. But when the execution request is longer than a predetermined data length, the execution request is first read from the memory media and then transferred to the server.
As another aspect of the present invention, a search-condition identifier is entered at the client on the display provided from the server. A file is read from the memory media, and transferred to the server. This file stores the search conditions to be transferred to the server and corresponds to the search-condition identifier that was indicated.
As a further aspect of the present invention, a file-transfer-completion message is issued from the client when file transfer to the server is finished.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server allocates file space for storing the file transferred from the client. The file-unit-based information transferred from the client is stored in the server""s file space. A receipt-completion message to the client is issued from the server when all files transferred from the client are received. The server carries out the execution request or search conditions request obtained from the client. Upon completion, the server then sends the execution results or search results to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention search conditions are entered on the display of the client. This display was previously created based on menu information provided from the server. The search conditions to be used by the server are transferred from the client to the server. Search parameters are generated at the server based on the search conditions obtained from the client. Searching is accomplished at the server based on the generated search parameters for file-unit-based information transferred from the client in advance. The search results are transferred to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, an elimination request is sent from the client to the server based on one of the execution results and search results which had been previously sent from the server to the client. A file transferred from the client is then expunged at the server based on the elimination request sent from the client.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a system for transferring information between a client and a server which includes: a local-memory for pre-storing information, the information having a file structure for transfer to the server and a search-condition transfer unit for reading at least one file from the local-memory unit and for transferring this file to the server. The server has a search unit which executes a search based on search conditions contained in this file transferred from the client and transfers the results back to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the search unit of the server has a search-condition storage unit for storing at least one file transferred from the client; and a search-execution unit for transferring search results to the client. The search results are obtained from a search based on combined search conditions made up from at least some of the files stored in the search-condition storage unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the search-execution unit includes a search-result transferring unit for transferring search results to the client. The search results are obtained from a search based on combined search conditions made up from at least some of the files and search-condition data transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the system further includes a file-transfer instructing unit, a file indicating unit and a file-transfer unit. The file-transfer instructing unit accepts an entry of data indicating that file-unit-based information is to be transferred. The entry of the data is made on a display which is created based on menu information provided from the server. The file indicating unit accepts at least one file name. The file-transfer unit reads at least one file indicated by the file indicating unit from the local-memory unit and transfers this file to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes an execution-request instructing unit which accepts an entry of an execution request on the menu information provided from the server. The client also further includes an execution-request-transfer unit which transfers the execution request indicated by the execution-request instructing unit to the server. Alternately, the execution-request-transfer unit reads the execution request indicated by the execution-request instructing unit directly from the local-memory and then transfers the execution request to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes a search-condition indicating unit which accepts an entry of a search-condition identifier on a display created based on menu information provided from the server. A search-condition-file-transfer unit of the client reads the files from the local-memory unit based on the search-condition identifier indicated by the search-condition indicating unit and transfers the files to the server. A search-condition-transfer unit transfers the search-condition identifier indicated by the search-condition indicating unit to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes a transfer-completion-message issuing unit for sending a file-transfer-completion message to the server when either the file-transfer unit, the execution-request transfer unit, or the search-condition-file-transfer unit finishes transfer of all files to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes: an execution-request-storage unit for storing files of execution requests sent from the client and an execution unit for transferring execution results to the client. The execution results are obtained from an execution based on combined execution conditions made up from a plurality of the files of the execution requests stored in the execution-request-storage unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the execution unit of the system further includes an execution-results-transfer unit for transferring execution results to the client, the execution results being obtained from an execution based on combined execution conditions made up from the files of the execution requests and execution-request data transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes a completion-message issuing unit for issuing a receipt-completion message when the server receives all files transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes a parameter generating unit for generating parameters based on the search conditions obtained from the client. The parameters are used for searching in an information-storage unit of the server. The server includes a search unit for searching in the information-storage unit based on the search parameters generated by the parameter generating unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes an elimination-request issuing unit for sending an elimination request to the server based on one of the execution results and search results which are sent from the server to the client; and an elimination unit for eliminating the files stored in the information-storage unit of the server based on the elimination request sent from the client.
According to the present invention, transfer of lengthy data from the client to the server does not require the operator to make keyboard entry of the data. File-unit-based information corresponding to either data registration, an execution request, or a search request is extracted from the memory unit of the client to be sent to the server. Thus, only key information needs to be entered in order to read desired data from the memory unit. Also, the server device stores the search request sent from the client in the memory unit so as to carry out the search request made by the client at a later stage.
Key information for reading file-unit-based information to be transferred to the server from the client memory unit is entered in a menu display provided by the server using predetermined protocols. Since the file-unit-based information is transferred to the server, keyboard entry of lengthy data is unnecessary.
The execution request itself is entered at the client and subsequently transferred to the server. Alternately, the long-data-length request stored in the local memory unit is read according to the execution request and transferred to the server. In the case of a short data length which imposes no load on the operator, the execution request itself entered on the display can be transferred to the server. Alternately, with a long data length imposing the load on the operator if working manually on the data entry, the file-unit-based information extracted from the local memory unit according to the input execution request (local-memory-means-search key) can be transferred to the server. Namely, a request having a short data length can be transferred to the server without resorting to the extraction of the file-unit-based information from the local memory unit, whereas a request having a long data length can be extracted from the local memory unit to be transferred to the server.
Search conditions entered on the display provided by the server are transferred to the server as long as the search request has a short data length. Alternately, long search conditions stored in the local memory unit are extracted according to the input search conditions and transferred to the server if the search conditions have a long data length. Either one of these two operations can be selected for transfer to the server. Accordingly, simple search conditions are directly transferred to the server, and long and complex search conditions are extracted from the local memory unit to be transferred to the server since the keyboard data entry would impose a heavy load on the operator.
The client sends a file-transfer message to the server when the data transfer from the local memory unit of the client to the server is completed. In response to the file-transfer message, the server executes various requests indicated by the client.
The server stores the files sent from the client, and sends a receipt-completion message to the client after receiving all the files from the client. Then, the server carries out a request from the client, and sends execution results to the client. Based on the execution results from the server, the client can make a decision as to whether to issue a further request, to terminate a request process, or some other operation.
The server generates parameters indicating storage positions of files sent from the client, so that the server can access to the starting positions of the stored files.
When the execution results are sent from the server to the client, the client makes a decision based on the execution results, and sends an elimination request for purging files when there is no further request or when files stored in the server are no longer necessary. In response, the server can eliminate the files indicated by the elimination request, so that the server can avoid a waste of the file storage.
The client reads a file from the local memory unit, and sends it to the server. The server carries out a search based on the search conditions contained in the file, and sends the search results to the client.
Search is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from the search conditions of a plurality of files stored in the search-condition storage means.
The server carries out a search based on combined search conditions made up from both the search conditions of a plurality of stored files and the search-condition data sent from the client.
The client indicates a file transfer operation and a relevant file name so as to transfer a file to the server.
The client transfers to the server an execution request which is entered manually. Alternately, the client reads an indicated execution request from the local memory unit to transfer it to the server. The client transfers to the server search conditions which are entered manually. Alternately, the client reads indicated search conditions from the local memory unit to transfer them to the server.
The client sends a file-transfer-completion message to the server when the file-transfer unit, the execution-request-transfer unit, or the search-condition-file-transfer unit finishes transfer of all the files. In response, the server can start executing a process such as a search process.
The server can carry out execution of a plurality of execution files sent from the client by combining them together.
The server can carry out an execution based on a combined execution request made up from the execution-request data sent from the client and the execution-request files.
The server sends a receipt-completion message to the client when the server has finished receiving all the files transferred from the client.
The server searches for stored files based on parameters generated for the search.
The client makes a decision based on the execution results sent from the server, and sends an elimination request for purging files when there is no further request or when files stored in the server are no longer necessary. In response, the server can eliminate the files indicated by the elimination request, so that the server can avoid a waste of the file storage. A summary of the improved results of the invention are as follows.
A large amount of data transfer from the client to the server is achieved in the WWW client-server system. Search for files sent from the client is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from a plurality of search-condition files.
Search for files sent from the client is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from both the plurality of search-condition files and the search-condition data. Information to be transferred to the server is indicated on a display, and a file extracted from the client memory means according to the indication is transferred to the server.
The execution request such as programs to be executed by the server is entered on the client display, and is transferred to the server. Alternately, the indicated execution request is extracted from the client memory unit, and is transferred to the server.
Search conditions to be used by the server are entered on the display, and are transferred to the server. Alternately, the indicated search conditions are extracted from the client memory unit, and are transferred to the server.
The client sends a completion message to the server when all the transfer from the client to the server is completed, so that the server can know the end of the transfer.
The server can carry out an execution based on combined execution conditions which are made up from a plurality of stored execution files such as those containing programs.
The server can carry out an execution based on combined execution conditions which are made up from both the plurality of stored execution files and the execution-request data.
The server stores information sent from the client and carries out a request from the client based on the stored information and then sends execution results to the client. The server receives search conditions from the client, and generates parameters to be used for a search of the client-sent information based on the search conditions.
When the execution results sent from the server to the client are satisfactory or when files transferred to the server are no longer necessary, the client can make a request to the server to purge the transferred files.
As described above, according to the present invention, the local files indicated at the client device are sent to the server. This way, data registration to the server database through a network such as the Internet or a data-base search at the server device can be readily achieved although registered data or search keywords are lengthy.
Especially, when a search is made through a network for gene arrangements stored in a gene-arrangement data bank, the present invention can achieve significant reductions in the operator""s work load and work time compared to conventional keyboard entry of gene-arrangement data up to several kilo bytes.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Local-file-transfer method and local-filed-transfer system for client-server system


A temperature controller is provided for controlling a coolant temperature in a liquid coolant system including a liquid circulation circuit, in which coolant for cooling a machine circulates, and a refrigeration circuit for cooling the coolant. The operating capacity of a compressor of the refrigeration circuit is variably adjusted by an inverter, and when the operating condition of the machine is changed, the frequency value for driving the compressor is varied in accordance with the change. Accordingly, it is possible to immediately correspond to the change of a liquid temperature to be generated in the future. In addition, an appropriate control mode can be selected as a control for varying the frequency in combination with a normal feedback control, such that the liquid temperature may converge on a set value or may be co-changed to a room temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature controller of a liquid cooling system for maintaining the temperature of coolant in a machine, such as a machine tool, at a predetermined value using a refrigeration circuit and, more particularly, to an improvement in a control precision of the coolant temperature in consideration of the change of an operating condition, or a parameter relevant to the quantity of heat generated in a machine.
2. Description of a Prior Art
Conventionally, as a temperature controller of a liquid cooling system for controlling a coolant temperature in a machine, such as a machine tool, at a predetermined value, a system has been well known in which coolant is cooled using a refrigeration circuit to hold the coolant temperature constant.
For example, as disclosed by the Japanese Utility Model Publication Gazette No. 48-27351, a temperature grade around a machine such as a machine tool is held constant in the course of operation and the heat strain of each part of the machine is restrained to the extent possible by measuring the temperature of cooling oil in the machine and the temperature of the machine, and feedback-controlling the temperature difference between the cooling oil temperature and the machine temperature to maintain it at a previously set value.
In addition, as disclosed by the Japanese Patent Publication Gazette No. 46-16216, it is known that the same effect as mentioned above can also be obtained by maintaining the temperature difference between the cooling oil temperature and the room temperature at a predetermined set value.
In both cases, in order to maintain the temperature difference at a set value, a compressor in a refrigeration circuit is turned ON and OFF in accordance with the difference between the temperature difference and the target set value for control. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, when the temperature difference reaches the set value from the high temperature side, the compressor is stopped (a1, a2, . . . ). On the other hand, when the temperature difference rises from the set value by a certain quantity, the compressor starts its operation (b1, b2, . . . ). Therefore, the cooling oil temperature changes considerably in accordance with the change of ON and OFF of the compressor as shown by a solid line in FIG. 12 and the change of the machine temperature in accordance with the above-mentioned change is delayed, so that the hunting of the control could be generated.
As disclosed by the Japanese Patent Laying Open Gazette No. 60-131149 or the Japanese Patent Laying Open Gazette No. 60-133273, it is considered that the change of the coolant temperature is smoothed and a temperature control precision of a machine can be improved by adjusting the operating capacity of a compressor in a refrigeration circuit having an inverter with a variable frequency.
However, when the operating condition of the machine changes, for example, when the rotation frequency of a main shaft of the machine tool increases while the coolant temperature is feedback-controlled, it takes considerable time until the machine temperature, that is, the coolant temperature changes by the above-mentioned change. As a result, hunting due to the response delay of the control could be generated for example, so that there is the possibility that a stable control can not be performed.

Temperature controller of liquid cooling system


In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body 1 which is provided at a surface 2 with a transistor comprising a gate structure 21, a patterned layer 10 is applied defining the area of the gate structure 21. Subsequently, a dielectric layer 18 is applied in such a way, that the thickness of the dielectric layer 18 next to the patterned layer 10 is substantially equally large or larger than the height of the patterned layer 10, which dielectric layer 18 is removed over part of its thickness until the patterned layer 10 is exposed. Then, the patterned layer 10 is subjected to a material removing treatment, thereby forming a recess 19 in the dielectric layer 18, and a contact window 28,29 is provided in the dielectric layer. A conductive layer 30 is applied filling the recess 19 and the contact window 28,29, which conductive layer 30 is subsequently shaped into the gate structure 21 and a contact structure 26,27 establishing an electrical contact with the surface 2 of the semiconductor body 1.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body which is provided at a surface with a transistor comprising a gate structure, by which method a patterned layer is applied defining the area of the gate structure, and a dielectric layer is applied in such a way, that the thickness of the dielectric layer next to the patterned layer is substantially equally large or larger than the height of the patterned layer, which dielectric layer is removed over part of its thickness until the patterned layer is exposed, after which the patterned layer is subjected to a material removing treatment, thereby forming a recess in the dielectric layer, and a conductive layer is applied filling the recess, which conductive layer is shaped into the gate structure.
Such a method is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,225. This method is often referred to as replacement gate technique. In order to subsequently make electrical contact with the surface of the semiconductor body, conventional CMOS process flow steps need to be carried out, that is to say a contact window needs to be etched in the dielectric layer at the area of the planned electrical contact, which contact window needs to be filled by applying a further conductive layer, which further conductive layer needs to be shaped locally into a contact structure establishing the electrical contact with the surface of the semiconductor body.
A disadvantage of this method is that an additional conductive layer is required for the provision of an additional interconnect layer comprising the contact structure establishing the electrical contact with the surface of the semiconductor body. A further disadvantage is that after planarisation of the dielectric layer, a contact to the gate structure is to be made in the same process step as a contact to the semiconductor body, which latter contact requires etching and subsequent metal filling to a larger depth than the former contact.
It is an object inter alia of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph, which method enables the provision of an additional interconnect layer without increasing the number of metal deposition steps.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method, which enables the provision of a contact to the gate structure and a contact to the semiconductor body in the same process step, which latter contact requires etching and subsequent metal filling to a similar depth as the former contact.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that, prior to the application of the conductive layer, a contact window is provided in the dielectric layer, which contact window is filled with the conductive layer, which conductive layer is locally shaped into a contact structure establishing electrical contact with the surface of the semiconductor body.
As the gate structure and an additional interconnect layer comprising the contact structure are provided from a single conductive layer, no additional metal deposition step is needed.
Although only part of the patterned layer may be removed during the material removing treatment and replaced by the conductive layer, it is advantageous to remove the patterned layer completely during this treatment and apply an insulating layer in the recess thus formed at the area of the gate structure, which insulating layer forms a gate dielectric of the transistor. In this way, the flexibility as regards the choice of materials for the gate structure and the gate dielectric is increased. In order to improve the performance of the transistor, it may be advantageous to apply a dielectric material with a dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide (xcex5xcx9c4) as the gate dielectric and, hence, as the insulating layer from which the gate dielectric is formed. In this respect, tantalum oxide (Ta2O5; xcex5xcx9c20-25), aluminum oxide (Al2O3; xcex5xcx9c10) or silicon nitride (Si3N4; xcex5xcx9c7) can be applied to advantage, as these materials are deposited in a conformal and reproducible way by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The conductive layer, from which the gate structure of the transistor and the contact structure are formed, is advantageously applied by depositing a layer comprising a metal or a combination of metals. In contrast with polycrystalline silicon, which is often applied as a gate material, metals intrinsically have a relatively low resistance and do not suffer from detrimental depletion effects. In this respect, a low-resistance metal such as aluminum, tungsten, copper or molybdenum can be advantageously applied. If a metal or a combination of metals is used, the conductive layer is preferably applied as a double-layer consisting of a layer composed of the metal or the combination of metals on top of a layer acting as adhesion layer, barrier layer, or adhesion layer and barrier layer. In this respect, titanium (Ti) or tantalum (Ta) may be applied as adhesion layer and titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN) or titanium tungsten (TiW) as barrier layer.
In order to increase the compactness of the semiconductor device, the conductive layer, which fills the recess at the area of the gate structure and the contact window at the area of the contact structure, is advantageously subjected to a maskless material removing treatment until the conductive layer overlying the dielectric layer is removed. In this way the gate structure and the contact structure are fully recessed in the dielectric layer, which is characteristic of a damascene process. The above mentioned maskless removal of the conductive layer is preferably accomplished by means of chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). A subsequent maskless removal of the insulating layer is not required, but can be beneficial if the insulating layer involves a high dielectric constant material.
In order to suppress e.g. short-channel effects such as punch-though and short-channel threshold-voltage reduction, which effects start to play an important role in the device behavior of MOS transistors with channel lengths decreasing below 2 xcexcm, impurities can be advantageously introduced via the recess at the area of the gate structure into the semiconductor body in a self-registered way by using the dielectric layer as a mask. The impurities are advantageously introduced into the semiconductor body by means of ion implantation, which in general includes a high-temperature anneal, which is used to restore the damage in the crystal lattice caused by the implantation and to activate the as-implanted impurities.
In order to further increase the compactness of the semiconductor device, the contact structure is advantageously applied covering at least part of an oxide field insulating region, which is provided at the surface of the semiconductor body to separate active regions in the semiconductor body. Such a contact structure is also referred to as a borderless contact In certain circumstances it may be advantageous that the contact structure establishes an electrical contact between active regions separated from each other by an oxide field insulating region. In case of a CMOS inverter, an electrical contact needs to be established between the drain of an NMOS transistor and the drain of an adjacent PMOS transistor.
The contact window may be provided in the dielectric layer by locally etching this layer on the basis of a fixed time or using end-point detection. However, in order to counteract serious etching of the underlying oxide field insulating region, the surface of the semiconductor body at the area of the contact structure is advantageously provided with an etch stop layer prior to the application of the dielectric layer, which etch stop layer is composed of a material with respect to which the dielectric layer is selectively etchable. In this respect, it is advantageous to apply silicon nitride as the etch stop layer and silicon oxide as the dielectric layer. Alternatively, aluminum oxide can be used instead of silicon nitride and/or PSG (phosphosilicate glass) or BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass) instead of silicon oxide.
The patterned layer defining the area of the gate structure of the transistor may be applied composed of, for example, silicon nitride or aluminum oxide. However, in order to match the process flow to conventional CMOS processing, the patterned layer is advantageously applied comprising a semiconductor material.
The patterned layer may be advantageously applied by depositing and patterning a layer comprising a silicon germanium alloy. The layer may be composed of a silicon germanium alloy, which is given by the chemical formula GexSi(1xe2x88x92x), or a silicon germanium alloy with a small percentage of carbon, which is given by the chemical formula GexSi(1xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92y)Cy. In these formulas x represents the fraction of germanium lying in the range between about 0.1 and 1, y the fraction of carbon lying in the range between about 0.001 and 0.05, and (1xe2x88x92x) respectively (1xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92y) the fraction of silicon. When subjected to a wet chemical etching treatment in e.g. a hot, concentrated sulphuric acid (H2SO4) solution, such a silicon germanium alloy etches about 10 times or more faster than silicon.
One embodiment of the method in accordance with the invention, in which silicon is advantageously used as the semiconductor material, is characterized in that the patterned layer is applied by depositing and patterning a layer comprising silicon, and the dielectric layer is applied, after which the patterned layer is subjected to the material removing treatment wherein the silicon of the patterned layer is etched away, thereby forming the recess at the area of the gate structure, after which the dielectric layer is provided with the contact window at the area of the contact structure.
Another embodiment of the method in accordance with the invention, in which silicon is advantageously used as the semiconductor material, is characterized in that, prior to the application of the patterned layer, a masking layer is applied to the surface of the semiconductor body, which semiconductor body is a silicon body, the masking layer being composed of a material with respect to which silicon is selectively etchable, after which the patterned layer is applied by depositing and patterning a layer comprising silicon, and the dielectric layer is applied, which dielectric layer is provided with the contact window at the area of the contact structure, which contact window exposes the masking layer, after which the patterned layer is subjected to the material removing treatment wherein the silicon of the patterned layer is etched away, thereby forming the recess at the area of the gate structure. The masking layer is applied in order to protect the surface of the silicon body at the area of the contact structure from being attacked by the etching mixture applied for etching of the silicon present in the patterned layer. In this respect, silicon oxide may, for example, be advantageously applied as the masking layer, although other materials may also be used.
The dielectric layer is advantageously removed over part of its thickness by means of chemical-mechanical polishing. Experimentally, it is observed that the moment of stopping the chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) of the dielectric layer is rather critical if the patterned layer comprises semiconductor material. If the CMP process is stopped too early, remainders of the dielectric layer are left on the patterned layer which hinder the subsequent removal of the patterned layer or part of the patterned layer. If the CMP process is carried on too long, the definition of the height of the planned gate structure is adversely affected. In order to improve the height definition of the process, it is advantageous to apply the patterned layer as a double-layer with a first sub-layer comprising the semiconductor material with on top a second sub-layer composed of a material having a larger resistance towards the removal of the dielectric layer than the semiconductor material and being selectively etchable with respect to the dielectric layer. Hence, the second sub-layer will act as etch stop layer during the removal of the dielectric layer. In this respect, it is advantageous to apply silicon nitride as the second sub-layer and silicon oxide as the dielectric layer. Alternatively, aluminum oxide can be used instead of silicon nitride and/or PSG (phosphosilicate glass) or BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass) instead of silicon oxide.
After shaping the conductive layer into the gate structure and the contact structure, a further dielectric layer is applied, in which further dielectric layer vias are etched exposing at least part of the gate structure and at least part of the contact structure, which vias are filled by applying a further conductive layer. By using the method in accordance with the invention, the vias exposing the gate structure and the contact structure are of a similar depth, which facilitates etching and conformal filling of these vias.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


An digital watermark embedding device including an interface unit configured to acquire content in a digital form and digital watermark information, the device includes, a codeword generating unit configured to generate a base codeword including a bit sequence including the digital watermark information; a shifting unit configured to generate a plurality of correcting codewords differing from one another by permutating an arrangement in the bit sequence included in the base codeword depending on a plurality of shift amounts, the plurality of shift amounts differing from one digital watermark information to another, under a predetermined permutation rule; and a watermark superimposing unit configured to embed the plurality of correcting codewords in the content.

Recently, services for distributing contents in a digital form such as movies and music over the Internet or the like have been offered. Such contents are encrypted using a digital rights management (DRM) technology and then distributed. The DRM technology prohibits the contents from being illegally copied or distributed.
Unfortunately, incidents have occurred in which a viewer has illegally copied by photographing a picture content displayed on a computer display or a television monitor using filming equipment such as a camcorder, and has illegally distributed the copy of the picture content. Picture contents displayed on a display are not encrypted, and therefore it is difficult to prevent the picture contents copied by photographing from being distributed.
To address this, technologies of embedding in advance information, such as an identification number of a viewer, as a digital watermark in the content are being developed. Even if, for example, the picture content with a digital watermark embedded therein that is displayed on a display is photographed using a camcorder to be illegally copied, the digital watermark still remains in the copy of the picture content. After such a picture content illegally copied by capturing a picture in analog form has been distributed, it is possible to obtain the identification number of a viewer who has illegally used the picture content by detecting a digital watermark from the copy of the picture content. Accordingly, even in cases where the picture content is illegally copied by capturing a picture in analog form and is uploaded to a posting site or the like, the administrator of the picture content can specify where the picture content has come from, from information embedded in the uploaded picture content.
Digital watermark technologies can be applied to electronic advertisements (digital signage). For example, by detecting digital watermark information from a moving image obtained by capturing, with a camera, an advertisement motion picture with digital watermark information embedded therein shown on a street screen or a television screen, a user can obtain additional information such as detailed information of a commercial product introduced in the advertisement motion picture.
The content in which a digital watermark is embedded is sometimes degraded because of data compression processing, partial cutout of data, or filtering, for example. Therefore, the embedded digital watermark preferably has a resistance to degradation of data so as to be able to be detected by a digital watermark detecting device even if such data degradation occurs. Particularly in cases where a digital watermark is used for the purpose of protection for copyright, it is preferable that a digital watermark be able to withstand such an attack as one in which a malicious user analyzes a digital watermark and invalidates the digital watermark.
One of such attacks for invalidating a digital watermark is called a "collusion attack". In an example of the collusion attack, a plurality of users separately obtain contents that are identical and in which different digital watermarks are embedded, and compare the contents to one another, so that the digital watermarks are analyzed. For example, data of portions corresponding to one another of the contents that are identical and in which different digital watermarks are embedded is averaged, which results in creating the content with the degraded digital watermark.
Digital watermarks having resistance to such a collusion attack are being studied.
For example, D. Boneh and J. Shaw, "Collusion-Secure Fingerprinting for Digital Data", in Proc of CRYPTO'95, LNCS 963, 1995, pp. 452-465″ and G. Tardos, "Optimal Probabilistic Fingerprint Codes", in STOC'03, ACM (2003), 2003, pp. 116-125″ has proposed a collusion-secure code with which, when c users make a collusion attack on data with a digital watermark embedded therein, there is a probability equal to or less than ε that digital watermark information for a user who is not a member of the collusion is detected. Unfortunately, the lengths of collusion-secure codes proposed in the above documents are very long and therefore are difficult to use. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-178857 proposes a technique of reducing the lengths of collusion-secure codes. In this technique, a plurality of candidates of a threshold used for tracing an authorized user are generated by calculation, and a plurality of code lengths corresponding to the respective ones of the plurality of threshold candidates are obtained by calculation. Of the values of the plurality of code lengths, the smallest value is selected. Using the selected code length, codewords that differ from one user to another are generated.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-324720 proposes a technique of adding redundant bits to digital watermark information to generate an error correction codeword and embedding the error correction codeword in the content. It is also proposed that, for the error correction codeword, a plurality of pieces of scramble data is generated by using a plurality of different keys, and each scramble data is embedded as individual digital watermark information in the original content.

Digital watermark embedding device, computer-readable recording medium, and digital watermark detecting device and computer-readable recording medium


An air-fuel ratio control system for an automotive engine controls an air-fuel ratio at which fuel is delivered to the automotive engine to a desirable lean air-fuel ratio so as to maintain the automotive engine to operate with a predetermined degree of instability less than an allowable degree of instability. The air-fuel ratio control system sets a desirable lean air-fuel ratio to an air-fuel ratio shifted toward a side of more rich air-fuel ratios by a predetermined value from the leanest air-fuel ratio at which the automotive engine operates with a predetermined degree of instability and a lower guard of air-fuel ratio to an air-fuel ratio shifted toward a side of more lean air-fuel ratios by a predetermined value from the desirable lean air-fuel ratio.

One known type of air-fuel ratio control system for an automotive engine regulates an air-fuel ratio to the leanest extent considerably close to a critical air-fuel ratio at which misfiring may possibly occur so as to keep the degree of operating instability of the automotive engine less than an allowable degree of operating instability. The term "operating instability" as used herein shall mean and refer to the degree of change in engine speed or in engine vibration. In the air-fuel control system, a characteristic curve of operating instability relative to an air-fuel ratio for an automotive engine is experimentally provided so as to determine the leanest air-fuel ratio in a range wherein the automotive engine operates with an allowable degree of operating instability. Such an air-fuel ratio control system is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56(1981)-33571 entitled "Air-Fuel Ratio Control System For Internal Combustion Engine" published Aug. 4, 1981.

Air-fuel ratio control system for automotive engine


An apparatus and a method of calculating a channel frequency domain correlation are disclosed in the invention. The apparatus of calculating the channel frequency domain correlation includes: a pilot channel preliminary estimation unit configured to preliminarily estimate a frequency domain channel response at pilot subcarriers of a receiving signal to obtain a pilot channel preliminary estimation value; a determination unit configured to determine a channel frequency domain correlation value which can be reliably calculated; a first channel frequency domain correlation value calculation unit configured to calculate the channel frequency domain correlation value which can be reliably calculated using the pilot channel preliminary estimation value to obtain a reliably calculated channel frequency domain correlation value; and a second channel frequency domain correlation value calculation unit configured to calculate an other channel frequency domain correlation values using the reliably calculated channel frequency domain correlation value. The invention may also effectively apply to calculation of the channel frequency domain correlation and channel estimation.

Being affected by surrounding buildings, objects, pedestrians, vehicles and the ground, etc, a wireless signal may suffer reflection, refraction, diffraction and dispersion, etc. Therefore, the wireless signal received by the receiving end generally has suffered severe fading and time delay spread. In order to recover the transmitted data, the receiver needs to estimate the wireless channel gone through by the signal and then to compensate for the loss suffered by the received signal. The module for estimating the channel is referred to as a channel estimation module, and the module for compensating for the received signal is referred to as an equalization module. The channel estimation module is essential to the wireless system. The better the performance of the channel estimation is, the better the bit error performance of the system will be, that is, the more data the system will correctly receive.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology is a transmission technology newly developing in recent years. The OFDM system first performs IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) transform to data to be transmitted at the transmitting end to transform it into a time signal which is subsequently transmitted in time domain. At the receiving end, the received signal first is transformed into frequency domain through FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), and then undergoes such operations as equalization, demodulation and decoding to restore the transmitted signal. Since a multipath channel with certain time delay extension gone through by the transmitted signal in time domain will be equivalently transformed to a flat fading channel, the OFDM system has great anti-fading capability, and has been widely used in recent years, for example, wireless communication systems such as Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) system and LTE (Long Term Evolution), and digital television broadcasting systems such as DMB-T (Digital Multimedia Broadcast-Terrestrial), CMMB (China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting) and DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting).
Herein, the frequency domain data carried by the kth subcarrier in the lth OFDM symbol is Xk,l, and the frequency domain equivalent received signal Yk,l, corresponding to the frequency domain data may be expressed as:Yk,l=Hk,lXk,l+Nk,l  (1)wherein, k and l are integrals, Hk,l is the equivalent frequency domain flat fading channel gone through by Xk,l, Nk,l is the frequency domain equivalent additive Gaussian white noise of which the average is zero and the variance is σN2.
The channel estimation for the OFDM system is an estimation of the equivalent frequency domain channel response Hk,l. Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) criterion is a criterion minimizing the estimation error average. The channel estimation algorithm based on MMSE criterion is one of the optimal channel estimation algorithms. According to the MMSE channel estimation algorithm, the estimation value Ĥk,l of the channel frequency domain response at the kth subcarrier in the lth OFDM symbol may be calculated according to formula (2):Ĥk,l=wk,lHĤk,lP  (2)
In the above formula, the variable Ĥk,l is an estimation value of the channel frequency domain response at the subcarrier (k,l), the vector wk,l is a filter coefficient of the MMSE channel estimator, the vector Ĥk,lP is formed by arrangement of channel impulse response evaluation values of pre-selected pilot points for estimating the channel frequency domain response at the subcarrier (k,l). Assuming that each data subcarrier performs the MMSE channel estimation using M observation points, M being an integral, and the serial number for the M observation points respectively being (k1, l1), (k2, l2), . . . , (kM, lM), then the vector Ĥk,lP may be expressed as the following formula (3):Ĥk,lP=└Ĥk1,l1 Ĥk2,l2 . . . ĤkM,lM┘  (3)
According to MMSE criterion, wk,l is a solution minimizing the function J(wk,l), wherein the function J(wk,l) is given by formula (4):J(wk,l)=E{∥Ĥk,l−Hk,l∥2}  (4)Wherein, the function E{ } is used for calculating the mathematical expectation value.
According to the Orthogonal principle, wk,l may be calculated through the following formula (5).wk,l=θk,lTΦk,l−1  (5)
Wherein, θk,l is a cross-correlation vector for the frequency domain channel response at the subcarrier (k,l) and the M observation points received value, which can be expressed as:θk,l=[θk-k1,l-l1 θk-k2,l-l2 . . . θk-kM,l−lM]T  (6)
The correlation value θk-km,l-lm, M=1, 2, . . . , M in formula (6) may be expressed as follows:θk-km,l-lm=E{Hk,l·Ĥ*km,lm}  (7)
In formula (5), matrix Φk,l is a self-correlation matrix of the M observation points received value, which may be expressed as follows:
                              Φ                      k            ,            l                          =                  [                                                                      Φ                                                                                k                        1                                            -                                              k                        1                                                              ,                                                                  l                        1                                            -                                              l                        1                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        2                                            -                                              k                        1                                                              ,                                                                  l                        2                                            -                                              l                        1                                                                                …                                                              Φ                                                                                k                        M                                            -                                              k                        1                                                              ,                                                                  l                        M                                            -                                              l                        1                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        1                                            -                                              k                        2                                                              ,                                                                  l                        1                                            -                                              l                        2                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        2                                            -                                              k                        2                                                              ,                                                                  l                        2                                            -                                              l                        2                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        M                                            -                                              k                        2                                                              ,                                                                  l                        M                                            -                                              l                        2                                                                                ⋮                                                                                ⋱                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        1                                            -                                              k                        M                                                              ,                                                                  l                        1                                            -                                              l                        M                                                                                Φ                                                                                k                        2                                            -                                              k                        M                                                              ,                                                                  l                        2                                            -                                              l                        M                                                                                …                                                              Φ                                                                                k                        M                                            -                                              k                        M                                                              ,                                                                  l                        M                                            -                                              l                        M                                                                                ]                                    (        8        )
Wherein, the self-correlation value Φkm-km′,lm-lm′, ∀m′,m=1, 2, . . . , M may be expressed as follows:Φkm-km′,lm-lm′=E{Ĥkm,lm·Ĥ*km′,lm′}  (9)
The correlation value given by formula (7) and (9) includes both time domain correlation and frequency domain correlation. Generally, it may be considered that the time domain correlation and the frequency domain correlation in the correlation values are independent from each other, therefore formula (7) and (9) may respectively be expressed as a product of the time domain correlation value and the frequency domain correlation value, as shown by following formula (10) and (11).
                                                                            θ                                          k                -                                  k                  m                                            ,                              l                -                                  l                  m                                                              =                                                    θ                                  Δ                                                                                f                                                                          (                                  k                  -                                      k                    m                                                  )                                      ·                                          θ                                  Δ                                                                                t                                                                          (                                  l                  -                                      l                    m                                                  )                                                                        (        10        )                                          θ                                                    k                m                            -                              k                                  m                  ′                                                      ,                                          l                m                            -                              l                                  m                  ′                                                                    =                                                            N                0                                                          δ                                                  (                                                                                k                        m                                            -                                              k                                                  m                          ′                                                                                ,                                                                  l                        m                                            -                                              l                                                  m                          ′                                                                                )                                                                                E                s                                                          (                                                      k                    m                                    ,                                      l                    m                                                  )                                              +                                                    θ                                  Δ                                                                                f                                                                          (                                                      k                    m                                    ,                                      k                                          m                      ′                                                                      )                                      ·                                          θ                                  Δ                                                                                t                                                                          (                                                      l                    m                                    -                                      l                                          m                      ′                                                                      )                                                                        (        11        )            Wherein, N0 is a single side band power spectral density, N0=2σN2, Es(km,lm) is the energy of the transmitted signal carried by the subcarrier (km,lm). The function δ(km−km′,lm−lm′) is expressed as follows.
                              δ                                (                                                            k                  m                                -                                  k                                      m                    ′                                                              ,                                                l                  m                                -                                  l                                      m                    ′                                                                        )                          =                  {                                                    1                                                                                if                                                                                k                      m                                                        =                                                                                k                                                  m                          ′                                                                                and                                                                                l                        m                                                              =                                          l                                              m                        ′                                                                                0                                            others                                                                        (        12        )
It can be seen from the above analysis that the already known time domain correlation value θΔt(l−lm) and the frequency domain correlation value θΔf(k−km) are the premise for a smooth implementation of the MMSE channel estimation algorithm.
Wherein, the time domain correlation θΔt(l−lm) is correlated with a relative moving speed of the transmitting end and the receiving end and the type of Doppler fading experienced by the channel. For example, when the Doppler power spectral of the channel is the most common Clarke model (also referred to as Jakes model), the time domain correlation value θΔt(l−lm) may be expressed as follows:θΔt(l−lm=J0(2πfdTs(l−lm))  (13)Wherein, function J0 is the first kind of zero order Bessel function, Ts is the baseband sample period of the system, fd is a single base band maximum Doppler frequency, which is correlated with the relative moving speed of the transmitting end and the receiving end, and can be calculated through the following formula (14):
                              f          d                =                                            F              G                        ·            v                    c                                    (        14        )
In formula (14), FG is a carrier frequency, v is a moving speed of the receiving end relative to the transmitting end, c is the light speed. In other words, under the premise that the type of channel Doppler is known, as long as the moving speed of the receiving end relative to the transmitting end is estimated and obtained, the time domain correlation characteristic of the channel may be obtained.
However, compared to the calculating process for the time domain correlation, the calculating process for the frequency domain correlation characteristic of the channel is more complicated. This is because the frequency domain correlation characteristic of the channel is related with the path number of the time multipath channel through which the signal is transmitted, power of each path and a time delay. The algorithm for calculating frequency domain correlation is generally divided into two categories: one is to estimate the time multipath channel through which the signal is transmitted, the other is to take statistics on the frequency domain received pilot signal based on the definition of channel frequency domain correlation, to obtain the estimation value of the channel frequency domain correlation.
In recent communication systems applying OFDM principle, the pilot usable for channel estimation may be limited, such as TD-LTE system with UE-Specific Reference Signal. In such a case, a small piece of time-frequency transmission resource used by certain receiver may have been transmitted through a channel different from time-frequency transmission resources around it. That is, the receiver faces two serious problems: firstly, it is impossible for it to observer how the multipath channel experienced by it is distributed in the whole frequency band; secondly, the number of the pilot usable by it is very limited. The first problem makes the receiver unable to estimate the time domain multipath channel through which the received signal is transmitted. The second problem makes the receiver unable to accurately estimate the channel frequency domain correlation coefficient required by all MMSE channel estimation using frequency receiving pilot.

Apparatus and method of calculating channel frequency domain correlation


Poly ICLC or liposome-encapsulated Poly ICLC (LE Poly ICLC) in combination with antisense oligonucleotides (AS) act synergistically in post-exposure prophylaxis or therapy of influenza infections, especially H5N1 virus infections.

Influenza viruses are etiological agents of deadly flu that continue to pose global health threats and have caused global pandemics that killed millions of people worldwide. The global crisis posed by the emergence of the avian H5N1 influenza virus provides testament to the challenges of defending against a deadly virus that is unpredictable and ever changing. As the human death toll from the bird flu outbreaks continues to increase, the world is moving closer to a potential influenza pandemic. With a reported case fatality over 50%, an influenza pandemic by a highly transmissible strain of avian H5N1 influenza virus could potentially kill millions of people worldwide.
There are a number of commercially available antiviral drugs which can be considered as the first line of defense against seasonal or avian influenza infections. There are two conventional influenza drugs, namely amantadine and rimantadine, which have been used clinically to reduce the severity and duration of seasonal flu. These compounds arc M2 ion-channel blocking adamantine derivatives that work by interfering with viral uncoating inside the cells. In recent years, good advances have been made in the development of anti-influenza drugs, particularly the development of neuramidase inhibitors, namely Tamiflu™ (Zanamivir) [4-acetamido-5-amino-3-(1-ethylpropoxyl)-1-cyclohexene-1-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (invented by Gilead Sciences and marketed by Roche AG, and Relenza™ (Oseltamivir) (4-guanidino-Neu5Ac2en) (marketed by Glaxo-SmithKline). Neuraminidase is one of the glycoproteins present on the virus surface, and it is an enzyme that cleaves sialic acid residues from the receptors for the virus. The inhibition of this enzyme by Tamiflu™ and Relenza™ stops the spread of this virus and effectively suppresses infection.
One of the greatest challenges with current stockpiling of antiviral drugs as part of pandemic planning or bioterrorism defense is high level of drug-resistance of influenza viruses. Most seasonal human influenza strains (H3N2) are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, thereby limiting their usefulness against seasonal influenza. When the distribution of genetic mutations associated with resistance of avian H5N1 influenza virus to amantadine and rimantadine was determined, it was found that more than 95% of isolates of avian H5N1 influenza from Thailand and Vietnam contained resistance mutations to these drugs. While many western nations are stockpiling drugs such as Tamiflu™ as part of the pandemic preparedness plan, there is a growing concern that the circulating avian flu virus may be resistant to Tamiflu™. Significant number of the avian flu clinical isolates from hard-hit areas in Vietnam had developed resistance to Tamiflu™. As global fears of a pandemic grow, the use of neuraminidase inhibitors against seasonal influenza has been shown to significantly increase, and this will lead to corresponding incidence of drug-resistance to these drugs. Another challenge posed by stockpiling of Tamiflu™ is that for the drug to be effective, it has to be given within 48 hours after exposure. Once the symptoms of infection appear the therapeutic efficacy of the drugs decreases dramatically. To better defend against influenza, whether seasonal and/or pandemic, there are compelling reasons to develop novel drugs or drug combinations that are safe, effective and less likely to give rise to drug-resistance.
Poly ICLC is a synthetic, double-stranded RNA (ds RNA) comprised of polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic (I:C) acid stabilized with poly-L-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose. Poly ICLC is a potent immunomodulating agent (Wong 2007). Liposome encapsulated Poly ICLC (LE Poly ICLC) was found to be a broadly effective prophylactic against a number of seasonal and avian influenza viruses in pre-exposure therapies (Wong 2007). LE Poly ICLC was also found to provide high level of protection in mice against highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus. The window of protection provided by LE Poly ICLC was determined by pre-treating mice with 2 intranasal (IN) doses (1 mg/kg/dose) of LE Poly ICLC at day 1 to day 20 prior to infection with 10 LD50 of influenza A/PR/8/34 virus. Although LE Poly ICLC when given to experimental animals in a pre-exposure prophylactic mode has been shown to provide complete protection against a number of influenza virus strains, including H5N1, H3N2 and H1N1 subtypes, its efficacy when administered in a post-exposure treatment mode after viral infection remains to be determined.
Ribonucleotide oligonucleotides (RNOs) are known to provide antiviral protection, including protection against influenza A viruses. Liposome encapsulated RNOs have been shown to be effective in the post-exposure treatment of mice infected with influenza A virus (Wong 2003). Other antisense oligonucleotides useful against influenza virus infections are know (Mizuta 1999; Zhang 2010).
There is a need in the art for new therapies against viral infections, in particular against influenza A virus.

Post-exposure therapy of influenza A infections

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence


Systems and methods are provided for determining a presence of an electronic message recipient based on an attribute of the electronic message, such as the content and/or context of the electronic message. The systems and methods can include acquiring, at a server, an electronic message from a sender, and determining an attribute of the electronic message. Based on the determined attribute, the server assigns an urgency level to the electronic message, which corresponds to a response time period. The server then monitors the recipient's device for a response to the electronic message, and to collect monitoring data about activity performed by the recipient on the device, or the environment surrounding the device. If the recipient does not respond within the response time period the server informs the sender a presence status of the recipient based on the monitoring data.

Electronic messaging, such as text messaging, emails, chat messages, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, or voicemail, have become very popular and have replaced many live voice conversations between individuals. Many people use text-based electronic messaging even when they need a prompt response, even though the sender usually does not know whether the recipient is present at their electronic messaging device, and may not even know when the recipient will see the electronic message. Some electronic messaging systems indicate whether system users are idle or "away" (unavailable), based on a predetermined length of inactivity on the messaging device, a status manually set by the user, or based on the recipient's schedule or calendar appointments.
In some situations, electronic message senders desire to know whether recipients are present, as some electronic messages carry a higher sense of urgency or importance, and the sender expects a prompt response. A drawback of the current electronic messaging systems is that the sender may not have any indication of the recipient's presence because either the messaging systems do not provide a status, or because the predetermined idle time has not yet expired. Additionally, when a recipient views an electronic message but chooses to ignore the electronic message and not interact with the messaging device, whereby the sender may falsely believe that the recipient is not present.
An improved method and system for providing electronic message recipient presence statuses is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for determining presence based on an attribute of an electronic message


A display may have pixels configured to display images. The pixels may be formed from thin-film transistor circuitry on a substrate. Color filter elements formed from colored polymer such as colored photoimageable polymer may be formed on the substrate. A black matrix formed from black photoimageable polymer may have an array of openings. The colored polymer may have first portions that overlap the black matrix and second portions in the openings that form the color filter elements. In some portions of the pixels, the thin-film transistor circuitry may be interposed between the first portions of the colored polymer and the black matrix. In other portions of the pixels, data lines may be formed that are overlapped by the black matrix and that are interposed between the first portions of the colored polymer and the black matrix.

This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to electronic devices with displays.
Electronic devices such as cellular telephones, computers, and other electronic devices often contain displays. Liquid crystal displays have a layer of liquid crystal material interposed between upper and lower substrates. Pixels may be formed from thin-film transistor circuitry. Color filter elements are used to provide the display with the ability to display color images. In some configurations, the color filter elements and thin-film transistor circuitry are provided on the inner surface of the upper substrate.


A device structure and method for a non-volatile semiconductor device comprises a trenched floating gate and a control gate and further includes a source region, a drain region, a channel region, and an inter-gate dielectric layer. The trenched floating gate is formed in a trench etched into the semiconductor substrate. The trenched floating gate has a top surface which is substantially planar with a top surface of the substrate. The source and drain region have a depth approximately equal to or greater than the depth of the trench and partially extend laterally underneath the bottom of the trench. The inter-gate dielectric layer is formed on the top surface of the trenched floating gate, and the control gate is formed on the inter-gate dielectric layer. In one embodiment, the device structure also includes sidewall dopings that are implanted regions formed in the semiconductor substrate which extend substantially vertically along the length of the trench. The sidewall dopings are immediately contiguous the vertical sides of the trench and laterally separate the trench from the source region and the drain region.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture, and more particularly, to semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture including a trenched gate.
Conventional semiconductor non-volatile memories, such as read-only memories (ROMs), erasable-programmable ROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable-programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), and flash EEPROMs are typically constructed using a double-poly structure. Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the device structure of a conventional nonvolatile memory device 100 including a substrate 102 of a semiconductor crystal such as silicon. The device 100 also includes a channel region 104, a source region 106, a drain region 108, a floating gate dielectric layer 110, a floating gate electrode 112, an inter-gate dielectric layer 114, and a control gate electrode 116. The floating gate dielectric layer 110 isolates the floating gate electrode 112 from the underlying substrate 102 while the inter-gate dielectric layer 114 isolates the control gate electrode 116 from the floating gate electrode 112. As shown in FIG. 1, the floating gate dielectric layer 110, the floating gate electrode 112, the inter-gate dielectric layer 114, and the control gate electrode 116 are all disposed on the surface of the substrate 102. The device structure of conventional non-volatile memory devices as shown in FIG. 1 is limited to the degree to which the active devices can be made smaller in order to increase device packing density and performance. Additionally, the stacked dual gate structure which is formed on the substrate surface is sensitive to process variations of overlaps between the floating gate and the source and drain junctions.
In accordance with the present invention, a non-volatile semiconductor device is fabricated to include a trenched floating gate and a control gate. Embodiments employing the principles of the present invention improve the device scaleability and packing density by reducing the lateral diffusion of the source and drain regions under the trenched floating gate. The corner-limiting lateral diffusion of the source and drain regions under the trenched floating gate also minimizes the process variations of overlaps between the trenched floating gate and the source and drain regions. Moreover, the present invention reduces the stacked gate height of the structure thus providing better process control and manufacturability. Furthermore, a device fabricated according to the principles of the present invention can be more efficiently programmed and erased than conventional non-volatile devices.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a device structure for a non-volatile semiconductor device includes a trenched floating gate and a control gate. The trenched floating gate is formed in a trench etched into a semiconductor substrate. The device structure further includes a source region, a drain region, and a channel region which is implanted in the substrate beneath the bottom surface of the trench. An inter-gate dielectric layer is formed on a top surface of the trenched floating gate, and the control gate is fabricated on the inter-gate dielectric layer.
In another embodiment, a device structure fabricated according to the principles of the present invention comprises a trenched floating gate, a control gate, and sidewall dopings. The sidewall dopings are formed in a semiconductor substrate having a trenched floating gate and laterally separate the trench in which the trenched floating gate is formed from the source and drain regions. The sidewall dopings are immediately contiguous the vertical sidewalls of the trench and immediately contiguous the substrate surface. The sidewall dopings reduce the coupling between the control gate and the source and drain regions and reduce leakages from the vertical sides of the trench in which the trenched floating gate is formed. Furthermore, the sidewall dopings of the present invention enhance the program and erase efficiency of the non-volatile device by contributing to higher electrical fields around the bottom corners of the gate trench where program and erase operations take place when compared to the electrical fields of prior art devices.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a trenched floating gate semiconductor device with sidewall dopings is fabricated by first etching a trench in the silicon substrate and implanting the substrate with dopant impurities to form a channel region beneath the trench. The sidewall dopings are then formed by implanting the substrate at an angle with dopant impurities. After the sidewall dopings have been formed in the substrate, a trench-to-gate insulating layer is formed inside the trench followed by the layer of polysilicon to form the trenched floating gate. The polysilicon layer is planarized until it is substantially planar with the substrate surface. An inter-gate dielectric layer is then formed on the top surface of the trenched floating gate. Next, a control gate is fabricated on the inter-gate dielectric layer, and control gate spacers are formed at the vertical side surfaces of the control gate. Finally, source and drain regions are implanted into the substrate.

Trenched gate non-volatile semiconductor method with the source/drain regions spaced from the trench by sidewall dopings


A shielding member is proposed for shielding an opening on a side of a server cabinet, the opening being adjacently connected to a base panel of a server cabinet, wherein the server cabinet includes a first positioning portion corresponding to the opening. The shielding member includes: a body, which is dimensioned to cover the opening; an operational portion formed on the body to correspond to a side of the back panel of the server cabinet, wherein the operational portion is formed with a second positioning portion corresponding to the first positioning portion; and a combining portion formed on the body and away from the side of the base panel of the server cabinet, for being combined with the side of the opening away from the base panel, so as to effectively and conveniently shield the opening adjacently connected with the base panel of the server.

Industrial servers carry out various functions that are hard to predict when they are initially assembled and configured. As such, the design of servers usually includes reserved space and interface circuitry in order to accommodate further expansion such a standard product can meet the requirements of most expansion scenarios. In different technical fields, servers fulfill different purposes according to the applications. In order to increase the usage life and maximize usage, it is typical to reserve space in a server for electrical connections and installation of circuit boards having I/O functions, as well as a corresponding openings adapted for the connection bus to expose I/O contacts therefrom.
Typically the backside of a server cabinet has reserved slots for connecting to one side of an integrally formed shielding panel. When an additional circuit board needs to be installed therein to connect to the exposed I/O contacts, the shielding panel can be repeatedly folded back and forth to break it off so as to detach the shielding panel therefrom. However, if the circuit board is subsequently removed, the opening for exposing I/O connectors becomes unprotected and thus requires a shielding member to reduce the influence of electromagnet interference and to help keep dust out.
There are two different kinds of openings that are often used on the backsides of servers. One is formed in a central region of a back panel and the other is adjacently connected to a base panel of the machine cabinet. For servers having relatively thinner cabinets, the opening of the latter construction is generally adopted.
Referring to FIGS. 1A through 1D, a conventional shielding member for shielding an idle slot available for the insertion of PCI card is illustrated. The rectangle-shaped shielding member 1 is composed of a thin strip body 10, a plurality of blocking portions 11 protrudingly-formed along the two long corresponding sides of the body 10, a pressing member 12 bent along the same direction as the long side, the pressing member 12 being further provided with a plurality of protrusions 121 thereon. The shielding member 1 further includes bumps 13 formed respectively on each short side and an operational portion 14 perpendicularly folded up onto the body 10 in an opposite direction of the bumps 13.
In applying the shielding member 1 to shield an opening formed after the removal of an expansion card, first and preferably use both hands to hold two ends of the shielding member 1 from the exterior of the server cabinet, then push the pressing member 12 into the opening (not shown) until it is blocked by a blocking portion 11, and, at the same time, the bump 13 is also fastened to one side of the opening while the operational portion 14 is pushed to abut against the other side of the opening that is fastened with the bump 13, such that the blocking portions 11 and the protrusions 121 restrict the movement of the shielding member 1 towards in or outside of the server, whereas the operational portion 14 and the bumps 13 restrict the movement of the shielding member 1 on the lateral sides or towards the left and right hand sides, thereby fastening the shielding member 1 to the unused opening to protect it from outside contaminants.
While the shielding member can protect the unused opening from outside contaminants, it is necessary to bend or eliminate the shielding members from one long side when the shielding member is used to shield one side of the base panel of a server cabinet. Although the sides thereof are constituted to have a plurality of bumps, the base panel of a server cabinet does not have corresponding positioning structures, adversely affecting the stability after installation.
Also, in that the shielding member is generally constituted to match and cover the opening, when the opening is small, it is possible to install the shielding member with only one hand, but when the opening is big, the installation requires both hands to exert force evenly on both sides to accomplish installation, which is troublesome to apply.
Further, while one may pull the operational portion outward to remove the shielding member, the structure is rather small to be held firmly, and if the length of the operational portion is added, it is likely to protrude from the backside of the server, thereby causing inconvenience in disassembly.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved shielding structure that can be easily and conveniently used for shielding an opening of the backside of a server without difficulty.