An process for cooking bacon includes the steps of continuously feeding bacon strips in three or more rows to an inlet of a spiral cooking oven, moving the bacon strips along a spiral path inside the spiral oven, applying a cooking fluid into the spiral oven and through the spiral path, and cooking the bacon strips in the spiral oven to a yield percentage having a mean bandwidth variation not greater than 4.5%. A conveyor belt having variable weaving includes belt openings that are initially larger through an inner side of the belt than through an outer side of the belt, when the belt is straight. When the belt collapses into the spiral configuration, the openings adjust so that the areal size of the openings is similar on both lateral sides of the belt, resulting in more even distribution of cooking fluid and more uniform cooking.

Commercial cooking of bacon has conventionally been performed in linear industrial microwave cooking systems that occupy substantial floor space in a food processing facility or other location and involve high energy costs. As the bacon is cooked, it shrinks and loses weight rapidly due primarily to the removal of fat. The bacon is cooked until it reaches a yield percentage determined by dividing the weight of the cooked bacon by the weight of the starting uncooked bacon. The desired yield percentage can be determined empirically for a particular oven, and must be low enough so that the bacon is thoroughly cooked and suitable for consumption.
Industrial microwave cooking ovens have a level of cooking nonuniformity which can be defined in terms of standard deviations. In one example, a particular type of bacon may be thoroughly cooked at a yield percentage of 40 or lower. In order to ensure that all of the bacon in the oven is thoroughly cooked, it may be desirable to set the yield percentage for the oven to a target percentage that is three standard deviations below the yield percentage of 40. If the oven has a standard deviation of 3%, then the target yield percentage for the oven would have to be set at 31 in order to ensure that substantially all of the bacon is cooked to a yield percentage of 40 or lower. At a target yield percentage of 31, approximately two-thirds of the bacon in the oven would be cooked to yield percentages between 28 and 34 (within one standard deviation). Approximately 95% of the bacon in the oven would be cooked to yield percentages between 25 and 37 (within two standard deviations of 31), and over 99% of the bacon would be cooked to yield percentages between 22 and 40 (within three standard deviations of 31). Essentially no bacon would be undercooked to a yield percentage greater than 40.
Another measure of cooking nonuniformity is the mean bandwidth variation. To determine the mean bandwidth variation, it is necessary to divide the cooking conveyor belt in to three sections of equal width. Then, determine the mean yield percentages for bacon strips placed and cooked in the first side portion, the center portion, and the second side portion of the belt. The mean bandwidth variation is the difference between the highest and the lowest of the three mean yield percentages. For example, if the first side portion has a mean yield percentage of 39.7, the center portion has a mean yield percentage of 33.7, and the second side portion has a mean yield percentage of 35.9, then the mean bandwidth variation will be 6.0% (the difference between 39.7 and 33.7). If the mean bandwidth variation is used as a control parameter, then the oven should be set so that the target yield percentage is no higher than the yield percentage required for fully cooked bacon minus the mean bandwidth variation.
Because of the wide variations in cooking experienced in industrial microwave processes, and the relatively high standard deviations and mean bandwidth variations, it has been necessary to set the target percentage for the oven far below the yield percentage needed for thoroughly cooked bacon, in order to ensure that all of the bacon is thoroughly cooked. There is a need or desire for an industrial bacon cooking process that has far greater uniformity and lower mean bandwidth variation so that the overall yield can be increased without undercooking any portion of the bacon. There is also a need or desire for an industrial bacon cooking process that occupies less floor space. There is also a need or desire for an industrial bacon cooking process that yields more uniformly cooked bacon.

Continuous process for cooking bacon with improved recovery


In a jack which has in its body a tip contact piece for engagement with a tip electrode of a plug when the plug is inserted into the jack body through its plug insertion hole, the tip contact piece is a U-shaped metal piece whose two legs form first and second contact pieces for gripping therebetween the tip electrode of the plug. The first contact piece is longer than the second one and its forward end is inwardly convexed to form an engaging protrusion for engagement with the neck of the tip electrode. The engaging protrusion extends into the plug insertion hole to a depth of about 20% of its inner diameter. When the plug is inserted into the jack body, a forward contact portion of the second contact piece resiliently contacts the crest of the tip electrode after the latter has moved past the engaging protrusion of the first contact piece.

The present invention relates to a jack which has a tip contact piece for engagement with a tip electrode of a plug upon its insertion into the jack body.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional jack of this kind. When a plug 12 is not inserted, a tip contact piece 11 assumes such a position as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 1A, whereas when the plug 12 is inserted, the tip contact piece 11 is thrust aside or displaced by a spherically-headed tip electrode 13 of the plug 12 as shown in FIG. 1B, and as the plug 12 is further pushed into the jack, an engaging protrusion 15 of the tip contact piece 11 slides down the spherical surface of a radial protrusion 14 of the tip electrode 13 into engagement with its neck 16 as depicted in FIG. 1A. As a result of this, the plug 12 is anchored to the jack and the tip end portion 17 of the tip contact piece 11 resiliently contacts the radial protrusion 14 of the tip electrode 13, thus establishing electrical connection between the tip contact piece 11 and the tip electrode 13.
To ensure good contact between the tip end portion 17 of the tip contact piece 11 and the radial protrusion 14 of the tip electrode 13, the prior art jack is designed so that the tip contact piece 11 extends close to or across the center axis X of the jack as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 1A while not in use but is displaced relatively greatly when the plug is inserted in the jack. Accordingly, the amount of displacement D of the tip contact piece 11 is large between its initial position (indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 1A) and its outermost position where the engaging protrusion 15 makes contact with the radial protrusion 14 of the plug 12 as depicted in FIG. 1B. For example, in the case where a tip contact piece 11 of phosphor bronze, 0.4 mm thick, is used for a standard 6.4 mm diameter plug, it is customary in the prior art that the length L of the contact piece 11 is 11 mm and its maximum amount of displacement D is 3 mm or more, and the initial position of the engaging protrusion 15 of the tip contact piece 11 is close to the center axis X of the jack. That is, the engaging protrusion 15 projects into the plug insertion hole to a radial depth of about 50% of its inner diameter. Since the tip contact piece 11 is subjected to substantial displacement, a highly resilient material (phosphor bronze, usually) is used therefor so that the resiliency of the tip contact piece 11 will not be impaired by its displacement, and this inevitably raises the material cost. Moreover, the tip contact piece 11 is formed long with a view to maintain its resiliency, and hence is bulky, and this also increases the material cost.


A method for forming a semiconductor structure having a deep sub-micron or nano scale line-width is disclosed. Structure consisting of multiple photoresist layers is first formed on the substrate, then patterned using adequate exposure energy and development condition so that the bottom photoresist layer is not developed while the first under-cut resist groove is formed on top of the bottom photoresist layer. Anisotropic etching is then performed at a proper angle to the normal of the substrate surface, and a second resist groove is formed by the anisotropic etching. Finally, the metal evaporation process and the lift-off process are carried out and the Γ-shaped metal gate with nano scale line-width can be formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to forming a semiconductor structure, more particularly for forming a semiconductor structure having a deep sub-micron line-width.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The semiconductor technology right now is still highly researched and developed to improve the current semiconductor device performance; also, deep sub-micron scale or so-called nano-scale line-width metal electrode technology is a key technology for semiconductor device manufacturing and could become much more important when the device dimension continues being downscaled. The previous sub-micron scale line-width metal electrode technology all can be carried out by the photolithography technology. However, forming deep sub-micron scale or so-called nano scale metal electrode using conventional photolithography technology is more challenging.
At the present day, for deep sub-micron technology development, optical lithography combined with the Phase-Shift Mask (PSM), extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) or electron-beam Lithography (EBL) all can be used for the exposure process with the main purpose of shrinking down the line-width. Nevertheless, the investment cost of the hardware equipment, maintenance or materials will be highly increased. In addition, for EBL, the throughput is an issue that may become practical concern for the industrial mass production. As a result, technologies targeting deep sub-micron or nano scale resolution without using any expensive phase-shift mask or advanced lithography equipments are indispensably required for reducing production cost.
For high-frequency applications, device having sub-micron or nanometer gate with mushroom cross-section will be necessary. The mushroom gate is with small footprint for a short gate length and with large cross-sectional area in the top for lower gate resistance. This can simultaneously avoid parasitic resistances and achieve better performance at high frequencies. A wide variety of mushroom type gates including T, Γ, or Y shaped gates have been demonstrated successfully to improve device performances at microwave or millimeter-wave frequencies.
About the photolithography technology related principium in the semiconductor field, photoresist mask for protecting the underneath semiconductor from etching or ion implanted will be firstly defined and formed, and then selectively etching step or implantation step will be proceeded.
Normally, the character of photoresist under lighting will be changed due to the light energy. For positive photoresist, after being exposed, the bonding of the positive photoresist will be interrupted, then the positive photoresist will be solved under the develop step. The un-exposed portion of the positive photoresist will be retained, as the acid-resisting armor layer. For the negative photoresist, after the negative photoresist under being exposed, the bonding of the negative photoresist will be connected, then the negative photoresist will be retained under the develop step. The un-exposed portion of the negative photoresist will be solved.
Furthermore, for better understanding of prior techniques related to sub-micron or deep sub-micron gate patterning, efforts were made to carry out literature study and patent search. Related prior arts are described and discussed in the followings:
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,698, "Method of making ultrashort FET using oblique angle metal deposition and ion implantation", multiple tilt-angle metal evaporation steps and multiple etching steps are performed to remove the residual surface metal. However, it is not easy to control the line-width and the overall process is quit complex. Furthermore, it is not easy to realize T-type or Γ-type gate formation by this technique.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,730, "Lift-off technique for producing metal pattern using single photoresist processing and oblique angle metal deposition", the method only used a single layer of photoresist and partially development was carried out to form photoresist groove. Partially development is not easy to control when compared to the selective development in the multi-layer resist structure. Furthermore, it is not easy to realize T-type or Γ-type gate formation by this technique. The overall process is relatively simple when compared to the present advanced technology. However, its application still would be quite limited.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,179, "Method of fabricating sub-micron gate electrode by angle and direct evaporation", vertical anisotropic etching process and multiple metal evaporations, including twice tilt-angle metal evaporation steps and a vertical metal evaporation step, were used. Finally, the assisted metal pattern has to be removed. Although Γ type gate with sub-micron line-width can be formed, the process steps are more complex. The method disclosed in this invention is time-consuming and with higher production cost.
Therefore, new technology with simple process steps, lower production cost and sub-micron line-width capability will be urgently required as the time cost or performance factors are essential considerations for mass production in semiconductor industry.

Method for forming a semiconductor structure having nanometer line-width


A secure magnetic stripe card stripe reader (MSR) module and software system capable of encrypting the magnetic stripe data to CPI, SDP and CISP standards for use in point of sale (POS) and other applications requiring data security using non secure networks and computing devices. Additionally, when incorporated within an attachment for conventional personal digital assistant (PDA) or cell phone or stationary terminal, provides encrypted data from the magnetic head assembly providing compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards Publication Series FIPS 140 covering security and tampering standards. Moreover, this module and software system includes the capability of providing secure POS transactions to legacy transaction processing systems and POS terminals transparently to the existing infrastructure. Furthermore, this module and software system includes the capability of transparently providing detection of fraudulently copied magnetic stripe cards.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for protecting magnetic stripe data in transit from the magnetic stripe reader to a host computer while maintaining compatibility with the data format contained within the magnetic stripe data. The present invention further relates to a magnetic stripe reader assembly which replaces the magnetic head in conventional point of sale terminals (POS) which encrypts the magnetic stripe information within the magnetic head preventing unauthorized access to said information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a secure magnetic stripe reader attachable to a POS or handheld computing device which enables the secure reading and writing of information on a single or multiple track magnetic stripe by encrypting the card data prior to entering the POS or PDA in a format transparent to the devices normal operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cards which have a magnetic stripe attached thereto are ubiquitous in modern society today. That is, nearly everyone carries one of the following cards, each of which typically have a magnetic stripe attached thereto: credit cards, bank cards, automatic teller machines cards (ATM cards), debit cards, identification cards, drivers' licenses, security access cards, check cashing cards, etc.
The necessity and usefulness of devices which decode the information on such cards are well known. The need to read and decode and save the information on such cards using low cost and portable computing devices including PDA's and cell phones has become increasingly evident in recent months. One such application is in reading the custom formats used in US state driver's licenses. To date, forged drivers licenses used to purchase alcohol and tobacco do not contain correctly encoded data on the attached magnetic stripe. The described invention can be used to read the various formats in use by various US state's department of motor vehicles and display the physical description recorded on the magnetic stripe. Liquor stores, bars, and law enforcement agencies can use this portable system to determine the authenticity of the identification cards being used to purchase controlled substances. One benefit of the current invention over previous art is the increased security of the device and the information transferred. In the age verification application, only the information necessary for the user identification is output from the head in a readable format. Other data such as the driver's license number is output in an encrypted format and stored for later verification of the identifications acceptance if required by law enforcement agencies.
Another application in using MSR card reader attachments with handheld computing devices such as PDA's and cell phones, is to process credit card and debit card transactions. In these applications, the wireless and movable nature of the POS transaction makes security a requirement. If clear text of the card data is allowed to enter the handheld, a virus or "Trojan horse" program could capture the data to compromise the card holder's monetary accounts. Card skimming, which is the illegal recording and use of credit/debit card information to make fraudulent purchases, currently represents approximately 25% of credit/debit card company losses. This number is expected to increase to over a billion dollars in the future. In spite or long standing regulations that no track data be stored by POS terminals, transaction processing gateways, or merchants in clear text formats it is common knowledge that this data is stored and has been compromised. Millions of credit and debit cards magnetic stripe data has been stolen from these sources and used to transact fraudulent transactions. The major credit and debit card brands have enacted new regulations in an attempt to curb availability of the magnetic stripe data. Unfortunately compliance to these new regulations could require replacing all POS terminals deployed. With millions of POS terminal in use the cost to the merchants for upgrading POS equipment to comply with the new regulations is prohibitive.
With one implementation of the current invention selected card track data is encrypted during the reading of the magnetic stripe with a format as described in hidden des standard data format drawing. The combination of clear text track data and the encrypted track data which is output from the reader has the same track data format as read from the card which allows legacy POS equipment to function without modification. After the encrypted data is sent to the processing bank via various secure and insecure networks the required keys are used to decrypt and reconstruct the original magnetic stripe data and format of the card data for processing. The output being encrypted as required by the major brands provides for adherence to the new regulations without replacing the POS equipment.
In another implementation of the current invention selected card track data is encrypted during the manufacturing of the card with a format as described in hidden des standard data format drawing. The data written to the card is used to generate a one way hash code. This hash code and the encryption key used to encode the data are stored in a secure database for future use in decrypting the card data. As with other embodiments of this invention the encrypted card data format is compatible with legacy or the current non encrypted data format currently in use. The clear text information remaining in the stripe data is sufficient for legacy POS equipment to perform is current tasks without changing the current applications or infrastructure. After the encrypted data is sent to the processing bank via various secure and insecure networks the required keys are used to decrypt and reconstruct the original magnetic stripe data and format of the card data for processing. It should be noted that this application and the former where that card data is encrypted in the MSR are cross compatible and there would be benefit in using both techniques together. Encrypting the data in the reader attaches reader and POS information to the card while encrypting during manufacturing prevents standard card readers from reading and storing the data for illicit uses.
In addition to providing a low power, secure intelligent magnetic stripe reader for handheld computing application this invention can be used in legacy products to provide the additional security required in today's POS markets. The modules intelligent interface can be configured to various digital interfaces such as SPI, I2C, or serial TTL which are supported by the legacy equipment currently in use. In addition, the module can mimic the output of a conventional head providing encrypted data to the legacy equipment. In addition the module can output using new protocols such as Bluetooth.
Current wired and wireless transaction processing servers rely on whatever the networks "end to end" security is for protecting credit and debit card transactions. In many applications, the network is secure from the transaction terminal to the processing banks server. In some applications, most noticeably the use of cell phone and other handheld computing devices as the POS transaction terminal, the security provided by the network is less than ideal. WAP based transaction processing is subject to the security implementation provided by the wireless carrier. In the case of one such wireless provider, Nextel®, the encryption and hence the security of the data varies from clear text to 56 bit DES to 128 bit TDES. While the TDES meets the card industry standards for security, the others do not, which makes it impossible to guarantee end to end strong encryption of at least the TDES level. The present invention supports strong end to end encryption along with the ability to interface to banks legacy transaction processing systems and to in addition verify the cards authenticity.

Transparently securing data for transmission on financial networks


A reactive and adsorptive (i.e., multi-functional protective) textile and methods for constructing and using same which possess at least chemically reactive and biocidal properties. Nanoparticles from different classes such as metal oxides, metal hydroxides, metal hydrates and POMs are incorporated into elements which can be utilized in a wide variety of protective materials. The nanoparticles may be treated to reduce water solubility or combined with halogens, alkali metals or secondary metal oxides to specifically engineer the nanoparticle to address a particular chemical or biocidal threat. In one aspect, a protective spatially-distributed biocidal interface is provided comprising a textile having interior structures, wherein protective nanoparticles bonded to said interior structures such that an article or portions of an article which are maintained in proximity to the textile are permitted to safely pass through a contaminated environment without dispersing the nanoparticles from protective proximity to the article.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to protective textiles, and in particular, to reactive and adsorptive textiles for providing multi-functional protection from chemical and biological agents and methods for providing and using such textiles for decontamination.
2. Description of Related Art
Historically, activated carbon has been incorporated into textiles for clothing and into filters to provide adsorptive protection. While activated carbon is extremely effective for adsorbing toxic vapors, activated carbon imparts only partial protection against chemical agents, which are captured through physical entrapment within its pores. Since this entrapment is a physical process, activated carbon does nothing to neutralize an absorbed chemical, it simply stores it. Such storage presents a host of problems: these materials may be released over time; the carbon has capacity restrictions and thus cannot be used indefinitely; and storage results in disposal problems after usage. Finally, activated carbon does not provide protection from biological agents (such as anthrax or small pox). Previously, protection against biological contamination has been relegated to barrier methods, i.e. full body suits. In addition to the life support problems associated with hermetic sealing, these barriers present similar disposal problems after being coated with harmful entities.
To fulfill a long standing need to provide biocidal components for protective systems for military and civilian EMS applications, scientists have been developing metal-based nanoparticles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,488 discloses effective biocidal properties of metal-oxide nanoparticles when dispersed as a powder or combined in a test tube with biological contaminants. Due to the unique physical properties and size of nanoparticles, it has heretofore been impossible to separate and fix the nanoparticles into a tangible form that could be flexibly integrated into protective systems and combined with conventional adsorbents.
Accordingly, a need exists for an efficient and effective protective system which has biocidal properties for the destruction of biological agents in addition to reactive properties for the adsorption, decomposition and neutralization of chemical agents.

Multi-functional protective textiles and methods for decontamination


A wideband -shaped monopole dipole includes a first dipole unit, a second dipole unit, a feed device, a parallel-wire and two double-leads set between two cantilevers of the first dipole unit and the second dipole unit. The parallel-wire connects the first dipole unit with the second dipole unit in a parallel connection. The feed device includes a feed pad and a coaxial cable. The double-leads between the cantilevers of the first and second dipole units extend to form two parallel plates acting as a first balancer and a second balancer to balance impedance components of the first and second dipole units. A feed point of the feed device is disposed on a center portion of the parallel-wire. The feed pad is provided on one line of the parallel-wire. Outer and inner conductors of the coaxial cable are respectively coupled to the feed pad and the other line of the parallel-wire.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to dipoles and, more particularly, to a wideband -shaped monopole dipole.
2. Description of Related Art
For base station systems in mobile communication, wideband antennas which have high front-back ratio and medium beamwidth are generally needed, for instance wideband antennas having beamwidth of 90°, 65° or 32°, or wideband antennas used in a dual-band common use of CDMA and GSM, DCS and PCS, or PCS and UMTS, or wideband antennas used in a tri-band common use of DCS, PCS and UMTS. Known wideband antennas which can meet requirements of the above radiation characteristics are corner reflector antennas and logarithm periodic antennas. However, corner reflector antennas and logarithm periodic antennas usually have large size and high manufacturing cost.
To overcome the shortcomings as previously described, persons in the field of mobile communication analyzed and found that:
A half-wave symmetrical dipole having a beamwidth of about 75˜80° in an H-plane is set above a boundless metallic-based reflective plate and has a quarter-wave distance to the boundless metallic-based reflective plate. When the height of the dipole is adjusted, the beamwidth will also change accordingly. However, the change range of the beamwidth is narrow and the beamwidth of 90±8° or 65±6° is unlikely to be obtained. If the reflective plate is limited in a range of less than four-fifth wave, the front-back ratio of the dipole is unlikely to be controlled below the range of 28 dB to 30 dB.
To obtain a predetermined beamwidth in the H-plane and a high front-back ratio, based on suggestions of double-ring antennas, a -shaped monopole dipole is formed by a connection of two symmetrical dipoles in a same plane by a parallel-wire, and a balance feed on a center portion of the parallel-wire. Via adjusting the size of the symmetrical dipoles and the impedance of the parallel-wire, an impedance match on feed points can be performed.
As shown in FIG. 1, the improved -shaped monopole dipole has a simpler configuration and fewer feed points and, thus, control of the beamwidth in the H-plane and the front-back ratio is able to be realized, which can overcome shortcomings of the corner reflector antennas and the logarithm periodic antennas. However, in practice, since the bandwidth with the standing wave ratio thereof less than 1.30 is about 10%, the -shaped monopole dipole can only meet the requirements of a single-band of CDMA, GSM, DCS or UMTS, but cannot meet the requirements of a dual-band common use of CDMA and GSM824˜960 MHz, a tri-band common use of DCS1710˜1880 MHz, PCS1850˜1990 MHz and UMTS1920˜2170 MHz, or a dual-band common use of two of DCS1710˜1880 MHz, PCS1850˜1990 MHz and UMTS1920˜2170 MHz.
In summary, employing the wideband -shaped monopole dipoles as radiation units is simple and reliable, and has a lower cost manufacturing. However, if the metallic-based reflective plate is limited, the front-back ratio is hard to control. Also, the ordinary conventional half-wave dipoles cannot perform a wideband capability. When a number of radiation rows are utilized to control the front-back ratio, a complex feed network is needed, which will inevitably increase the manufacturing cost.

Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) Ltd.


Methods and systems are provided for cylinder deactivation to reduce tailpipe emissions and increase exhaust temperature. In one example, a method may include operating a first set of cylinders in a first combustion cycle over modified eight strokes and a second set of cylinders in a second combustion cycle over modified four strokes. Each cylinder in the first set of cylinders may be selectively deactivated via a variable displacement engine (VDE) mechanism while each cylinder in the second set of cylinders may be selectively deactivated via an active decompression technology (ADT) mechanism.

Engine emission control systems may include one or more exhaust catalysts such as three-way catalysts, NOx storage catalysts, and SCR catalysts. At catalyst light-off temperature (e.g., operational temperature), the exhaust catalyst may oxidize and reduce exhaust constituents in an exhaust gas which are then released into the atmosphere. When a temperature of the exhaust catalyst is below the light-off temperature, the exhaust catalyst may not be able to effectively treat the reactive constituents of the exhaust gas, and as a result, emissions may increase and the toxic constituents in the exhaust gas may be directly released into the atmosphere.
One way to maintain temperature of exhaust catalysts above their respective light-off temperatures and reduce exhaust emissions is to operate the engine cylinders with an increased number of strokes to generate a higher amount of heat. One example approach to operate engine cylinders with an adjusted number of strokes is provided by Lewis in U.S. Pat. No. 8,820,049. Therein, the number of cylinder strokes is increased or decreased based on a condition of a catalyst. By increasing the number of cylinder strokes in a cycle of a cylinder, heat continues to be delivered to the catalyst, engine efficiency may be increased, and the catalyst may not reach its oxygen storage capacity. In addition, during conditions when the catalyst temperature falls below a predetermined temperature, the number of cylinder strokes may be increased so that additional heat may be transferred to the catalyst. The number of cylinder strokes in a cycle of an engine may be adjusted based on the capacity and/or the stored amount of oxidants in a catalyst.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such a system. As one example, adjustment of a number of cylinder strokes may be selectively carried out by cylinder deactivation. However, technologies such as variable displacement engine (VDE) method wherein cylinders are deactivated by keeping the intake and exhaust valves closed over a cycle, and active decompression technology (ADT) wherein one or more cylinder valves may be held open for an entire cycle, as used for cylinder deactivation, may increase undesirable noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in the vehicle. The increased NVH may be due to differences in torque output profile from the active and deactivated cylinders.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a method for an engine comprising: operating a first set of cylinders in a first combustion cycle over eight strokes and a second set of cylinders in a second combustion cycle over four strokes, each cylinder in the first set of cylinders selectively deactivated and reactivated via a variable displacement engine (VDE) mechanism during the first combustion cycle. In this way, by using combination of modified four stroke combustion cycles and modified eight stroke combustion cycles, a uniform engine torque profile may be generated.
As one example, in an eight cylinder engine, the cylinders may be divided into two groups of four cylinders each and the two groups of cylinders may be controlled with separate combustion cycles. The variation in combustion cycles in the different cylinders is carried out using variable displacement engine (VDE) and active decompression technology (ADT®) cylinder deactivation mechanisms to produce gas torques equivalent to those of conventional four stroke operation. Each cylinder in the first group of cylinders may be operated with a first cycle of eight strokes and the VDE mechanism is implemented to adjust valve openings. The intake and exhaust valves may be active for two consecutive engine revolutions, deactivated for two subsequent, consecutive revolutions, and then reactivated for the next two consecutive revolutions. Within the eight strokes, three consecutive compression and expansions strokes are attained. Each cylinder in the second group of cylinders may be operated with a second cycle in an alternating activated/deactivated sequence. For the cylinders in the second group, a valve lift mechanism may be used to hold valves open by a small amount during deactivation operation. Further, throttling may be adjusted in order to reduce air from the second set of cylinders to mix while one or more cylinders are deactivated.
In this way, by using a combination of eight stroke cycles and four stroke cycles on a V8 engine, the torque profile (output) of the engine may be maintained consistent over time without a difference in torque output due to cylinder activation or deactivation. By maintaining consistent torque output, NVH concerns may be reduced resulting in a smooth engine operation. The technical effect of using cylinder deactivation mechanisms to operate the engine cylinders with eight strokes and four strokes is that exhaust temperature may be increased, NOx emissions may be reduced, and emissions quality may be maintained. By trapping air in the deactivated cylinders, increasing intake throttling, and combining four and eight stroke cycles, exhaust temperature may be increased, and catalyst temperature may be maintained above its light-off temperature. Overall, by adjusting combustion in eight engine cylinders, NOx generation may be reduced while increasing exhaust temperature to maintain functionality of exhaust catalysts.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Methods and systems for reducing engine exhaust emissions


An implantable pulse generator is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the implantable pulse generator includes a housing, a feedthru, and a header. The housing includes an electronic component housed within the housing. The feedthru is mounted on the housing and includes an electrical insulator and a lead connector block. The electrical insulator includes a header face and a housing face opposite the header face. The lead connector block extends from the header face of the electrical insulator. The housing face faces in the general direction of the electronic component. The lead connector block is in electrical communication with the electronic component. The header includes an electrically insulative barrier and an outer covering. The electrically insulative barrier includes a feedthru face and a cavity. The feedthru face abuts the header face and the lead connector block resides in the cavity. The outer covering extends over the electrically insulative barrier.

Current implantable pulse generators (e.g., pacemakers, defibrillators or implantable cardioverter defibrillators ("ICD")) employ header/feedthru designs that are difficult to assemble. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, which is an isometric view of a feedthru/header assembly 5 of a prior art ICD 10, eight feedthru wires 15 extend through the ICD housing 17 via ceramic insulators 20 to couple to connector blocks 25. Four wires 15 pass through each small circular insulator 20. During assembly, each wire 15 must be inserted through its respective insulator 20 and then formed such that it can reach its respective connector block 25 without being too close to adjacent wires 15, adjacent blocks 25 or the ICD housing 17. Each wire 15 is then welded to its respective connector block 25.
As can be understood from FIG. 1, should spacing be insufficient between adjacent wires 15, between a wire 15 and an adjacent block 25, or between a wire 15 and the ICD housing 17, a short can occur and lead to catastrophic failure of the ICD 10. Thus, the assembly difficulty and shorting potential associated with current ICD header/feedthru assembly designs results in manufacturing costs and failure rates that are higher than desired. Manufacturing costs are further increased by the use of platinum for the wires 15.
Once each wire 15 is welded to its respective block 25, a header 30, which is shown in phantom line, is cast about the wires 15 and blocks 25. However, as can be understood from FIG. 1, the wires 15 and blocks 25 combine to form complex and cumbersome geometries that can lead to air voids within the formed header 30. Such voids require drilling and filling in order to reduce the likelihood of a short occurring across the void. Such rework unnecessarily increases manufacturing costs. Additionally, due to the large amount of material that must be cast to encompass the wires 15 and blocks 25 and form the header 30, curing times for the cast material can be substantial, further increasing manufacturing costs.
There is a need in the art for a feedthru/header assembly with increased reliability and decreased manufacturing costs. There is also a need in the art for a method of manufacturing such a feedthru/header assembly.

Implantable pulse generator including an integrated block feedthru and header assembly


An illuminating device, as for a microscope, includes a light source and a reflecting filter system. The beam of light of the light source undergoes a plurality of reflections in the reflecting filter system. The entering beam of the reflecting filter system has an optical beam offset and/or a change in direction relative to the exiting beam.

Illuminating devices of the type described are known, for example, from German Patent Application DE 199 31 954 A1. This illuminating device is used as a light source and wavelength selection device for a DUV (=deep ultra-violet) microscope. Illuminating devices for DUV microscopes must provide illuminating light of a narrow illumination wavelength range for which the microscope optics are corrected. The illumination wavelength range is characterized by the spectral position of the intensity maximum and the half-value width thereof. Known systems for selecting the desired illumination wavelength range from a spectrum of a suitable light source, such as a mercury vapor lamp, include both narrow-band transmission filter systems and reflecting filter systems. These filter systems are arranged in the illumination beam path and feed light of the selected to the illumination wavelength range to the microscope as useful light.
Narrow-band transmission filter systems in the DUV provide peaks having a very narrow half-value width; however, the maximum transmission and, thus, the maximum value of the peaks, is only about 20% of the input optical power present upstream of narrow-band transmission filter system. Therefore, narrow-band transmission filter systems do not constitute efficient wavelength selection devices for DUV light.
The known reflecting filter systems are composed of several reflecting filters on which the light of the light source is incident at a certain angle of incidence and at which it is reflected. In these reflecting filter systems, the reflected and thus useful component of the light of the selected illumination wavelength range is considerably more than 90% of the input optical power.
In the reflecting filter system known from German Patent Application DE 199 31 954 A1, provision is made for an arrangement of reflecting filters in which the angles of reflection at the individual reflecting filters are smaller than 30°. This makes it possible to produce a half-value width of the selected illumination wavelength range of smaller than 20 nm. Using such a reflecting filter system with small angles of incidence, the optical power exiting the reflecting filter system can be about 98% of the input optical power, depending on the type of reflecting filters used.
FIG. 1 from German Patent Application DE 199 31 954 A1 shows such an illuminating device together with a DUV microscope. In this context, the reflecting filter system is arranged between the light source and the DUV microscope, which by itself requires an enormous amount of space. If the DUV microscope is used as a semiconductor inspection microscope, it must be installed and operated in a clean room. Since the expenditure for operating a clean room increases considerably with increasing volume, the equipment installed there must be arranged in the most space-saving way possible, ideally requiring only a small footprint.
It is often necessary to use several illuminating light sources in an optical system and particularly in a microscope system, the illuminating light sources in each case having an illumination wavelength range extending from the infrared via the visual to the DUV wavelength ranges. To this end, usually, up to three different light sources along with the lamp housings are integrated opto-mechanically, which can only be accomplished using a number of deflection mirrors and/or points of beam combination in the illumination optics and disadvantageously involves an enlargement or increase in the number of optical beam paths.


At a first time point, a first light capturing device at a first spatial location in a three-dimensional (3D) space captures first light rays from light sources located at designated spatial locations on a viewer device in the 3D space. At the first time point, a second light capturing device at a second spatial location in the 3D space captures second light rays from the light sources located at the designated spatial locations on the viewer device in the 3D space. Based on the first light rays captured by the first light capturing device and the second light rays captured by the second light capturing device, at least one of a spatial position and a spatial direction, at the first time point, of the viewer device is determined.

Wearable devices may be used in a wide variety of display applications such as those related to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), telepresence, telemedicine, 3D video, omnidirectional video, etc. Such a display application can render or display imagery depicting a virtual or augmented world to a viewer of a wearable device, and represent the viewer at a specific spatial position and a specific viewing angle in the virtual or augmented world. To add dynamism and interaction into viewer experience, the application can directly or indirectly monitor physical movements of the wearable device or the viewer, and change spatial positions and viewing angles of the viewer in the virtual or augmented world based on actual physical movements of the wearable device or the viewer.
However, it can be difficult to accurately, reliably and responsively track physical movements of a single wearable device or a single viewer. Components used for tracking purposes should be miniaturized into relatively tiny footprints and mechanically, electrically or optically incorporated into an overall relatively small form factor of the wearable device. Low-latency data communication should be provisioned and configured in relation to these device tracking components. Complex device tracking algorithms should be designed, perfected, and implemented. Given the challenges for device tracking involving only a single wearable device, it can be especially difficult to concurrently track a relatively large number of wearable devices accurately, reliably and responsively.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


A patterned substrate has a laminated pattern having laminating patterns formed by drying droplets containing a pattern formation material. A lower layer pattern contains a surfactant that is lyophilic with respect to droplets that form an upper layer pattern.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a patterned substrate, an electro-optical device, and a method for manufacturing an electro-optical device.
2. Related Art
Known displays equipped with light emitting elements include organic electroluminescence displays (organic EL displays) used as an electro-optical device equipped with an organic electroluminescence element (organic EL element).
Methods for manufacturing organic EL elements are generally classified by the kind of material that makes up its organic EL layer thereof. When the material that makes up the organic EL layer is a low-molecular weight organic material, a vapor phase process is utilized, in which the organic EL layer is formed by the vapor deposition of this low-molecular weight organic material. On the other hand, when the material that makes up the organic EL layer is a high-molecular weight organic material, a liquid phase process is utilized, in which the high-molecular weight organic material is dissolved in an organic solvent or the like, and a coating of this solution is applied and dried.
With an inkjet method, which is a type of liquid phase process, tiny droplets of solution are discharged, so the location where the organic EL layer is formed, the film thickness, and the like can be controlled more precisely than with other liquid phase processes (such as spin coating). Furthermore, since an inkjet method involves discharging the droplets only in the region where the organic EL layer is to be formed (the element formation region), the high-molecular weight organic material (the raw material) can be used in a smaller amount.
With an inkjet method, however, as the contact angle of the droplets increases with respect to the element formation region (that is, as wettability decreases), the discharged droplets end up clumping in just one part of the pattern formation region. As a result, depending on the boundary between droplets and other factors, this can lead to problems such as a loss of uniformity of shape (such as the film thickness uniformity of the organic EL layer, or the film thickness uniformity between organic EL layers).
In view of this, it has been proposed in the past that the wettability of the discharged droplets be improved in an inkjet method (see JP-A-2002-334782, for example). In JP-A-2002-334782, the pattern formation region (over the transparent electrode) is subjected to a lyophilic plasma treatment (oxygen plasma treatment) before the droplets are discharged. This improves the wettability of the droplets and increases the uniformity of the pattern shape within the pattern formation region.
In general, an organic EL layer is formed from a laminated pattern having at least a light emitting layer that emits colored light and a hole transport layer formed between this light emitting layer and an anode (such as an ITO film). When a laminated pattern such as this is formed, with an inkjet method, the upper layer pattern and the lower layer pattern are made of materials with different polarity in order to prevent the lower layer pattern from dissolving into the droplets that form the upper layer pattern. For example, the upper layer pattern is formed by dissolving or dispersing a lipophilic light emitting material in an aromatic organic solvent, and the lower layer pattern is formed by dissolving or dispersing a hydrophilic hole transport layer in water.
In other words, a material with low wettability with respect to the lower layer pattern is selected for the material that forms the upper layer pattern. Accordingly, the lower layer pattern has to be subjected to the above-mentioned lyophilic plasma treatment in order to ensure the wettability of the droplets that form the upper layer pattern.
However, since the lower layer pattern (such as a hole transport layer) is formed from an organic substance with low plasma resistance, a problem is that subjecting this lower layer pattern to a plasma treatment or the like can damage the lower layer pattern. Another problem is that tacking on this plasma treatment step results in correspondingly lower productivity of the organic EL display.

Patterned substrate, electro-optical device, and method for manufacturing an electro-optical device


A bi-directional video signal transmission system is equipped with transmission lines having coupled upsteam and downstream segments. With the entire band of a RF signal being taken as a modulation frequency band, an image signal modulated to a frequency band and RF-multiplexed in the upstream segment is introduced into the downstream segment at the modulated frequency and is then branched to demodulate the same frequency band, thereby obtain one video signal transmission channel. In response to a request by a subscriber, a channel management section assigns and releases the transmission channels and further outputs a control command whereby a transceiver control section performs switching-control of the transmission frequencies to transceiver units.

The present invention relates to a system for transmitting video signals.
As one of bi-directional video signal transmission systems is known a split type bi-directional CATV system which is equipped with coaxial cables having a star network topology and which has fixed frequency range for transmitting and reaceiving each. The video signal is modulated to the frequency in the fixed range for transmitting and multiplexing to RF upstream, and it is block-converted to the fixed range for receiving at the center and multiplexed to RF downstream. Thus, the split type bi-directional CATV system requires two fixed channels for each video source. In a typical arrangement for additional use as CATV, the number of the channels for transmitting video signals becomes on the order of 3 because of sufficiently ensuring the CATV channels. There are problems which arise with such an arrangement, however, in that, a channel allocated for one video source cannot be used for other video source, that is, a channel for transmitting video signal cannot be shared by plural video sources. Even if taking the high-split system, the number of effective video sources is half the number of channels in RF signal band, so it implies that the RF signal band cannot be utilized effectively. In addition, difficulty is encountered to prevent the wire tapping by a third party because it is easy to retrieve video signals by setting the channel of the tuner. This can provide a problem in security in one-to-one image communication. Moreover, the provision cost increases because of using a bi-directional amplifier as the repeating amplifier.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus in a distributed data processing system for handling requests. The processing of each request received at a server system is monitored, wherein the server system includes a plurality of servers. An average work load size is estimated for the plurality of servers based on previous actual work load information in response to completion of processing of a request. A most recent value of the average work load size is assigned for the plurality of servers to each request arriving at the server system. The request is forwarded to a server within the plurality of servers having a lowest estimated amount of work to process.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved distributed data processing system and in particular to the method of handling requests in a distributed data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for load balancing the requests from clients in a distributed data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Over the last few years, a surge in the number of Internet users and server providers has occurred. The number of Internet users has been growing geometrically since the early 1900""s. This growth calls for capacity planning, performance, and management studies to properly handle the Internet traffic with the ultimate goal being to speed up users"" response time, or increase their file transfer throughout. Some particular file serving applications that have been receiving particular attention are the World Wide Web (WWW) and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). One problem to be solved is how to serve the increasing number of users and their work-load demands within acceptable users"" performance criteria.
One solution is to make the server hardware run faster, but this is expensive. A cheaper solution is to provide a cluster of identical parallel servers to accommodate the large transaction rates of the requests generated by the users (the number of servers being dependent on these rates). The servers share the data and the network address; to the users, these servers appear as a single node. This solution, however, requires the assignment of each request to the right server. This arrangement means that new techniques to balance the load among the servers are needed. Special attention has been made to the case where the clients are only reading information from servers, such as for example, Web servers. The load balancing of the servers means that the servers should be as evenly loaded as possible at any given time. It is important to avoid assigning requests to a server that is busier than another one. This rule reduces unnecessary queueing time and thus will not increase the user""s response time. It will also reduce congestion at the servers and thus avoid any resource allocation problems that may arise.
Mechanisms presently available for load balancing the servers include the following schemes: (1) round robin; (2) forward the request to the server with the least number of requests in its queue; (3) forward the request to the server with the fastest response time; and (4) use a server agent to determine the actual load on each server.
The knowledge of the load at each server at any decision point is an important element. Techniques (1) and (2) above do not take into account such information, while techniques (3) and (4) do. The latter methods, however, require communication with the servers to obtain the load statistics. This requirement requires specific software to run on the servers and the front-end processor (the load balancing node). Techniques (1) and (2) usually do not work well because the statistical distributions of the workloads generated by the clients are not identical. Using these methods may cause one server to be busier than another. For example, consider the case of two clients and two servers. One client is generating a heavy work load, while the other one is generating a light one. If it so happens that the arrival pattern of requests to the front-end processor is such that the odd numbered requests are from the first client and the even numbered requests are from the second one, then it will be the case that one server will be a lot busier than the other one.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for load balancing parallel servers in a distributed data processing system.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a distributed data processing system for handling requests. The processing of each request received at a server system is monitored, wherein the server system includes a plurality of servers. An average work load size is estimated for the plurality of servers based on previous actual work load information in response to completion of processing of a request. A most recent value of the average work load size is assigned for the plurality of servers to each request arriving at the server system. The request is forwarded to a server within the plurality of servers having a lowest estimated amount of work to process.

Method and apparatus for load balancing of parallel servers in a network environment

International Business Machines Corporation


An instantaneous fluid heater having a fluid heating chamber including therein a plurality of electrical heating elements. The supply of electrical power to the respective ones of the electrical heating elements is controlled by a solid state switch which is gated by a zero crossing trigger device to supply power to the heating elements. Each of the trigger devices includes means for comparing a control potential and ramp signal potential coupled to them to selectively gate the solid state switches to energize the heatiing elements in response to the comparison of the potentials. In this fashion, all of the heating elements are not turned on at the same time, and undesirable light flickering and unacceptable disturbances in the line voltage is eliminated.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of heating devices for heating water and more particularly to the provision of a heating device which is electrically controlled and heats water instantaneously on a demand basis immediately prior to the time the water is to be used.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional devices for heating water there is normally provided a large storage tank of some 40-60 gallons in which water is stored after it has been heated, normally by electric or natural gas means. The storage tanks are usually sized to store all of the hot water that a consumer would normally demand in any given period of time. Because of the stand-by storage of the standard water tank, even the best insulated tank can lose as much as 20% or more of the heat necessary to keep a constant water temperature. Assuming that the water is to be used on a rather intermittent basis, the cost of keeping the water at a continuous temperature is extremely high with regard to a specific amount of water that is to be utilized.
Therefore, a conventional water heating system is inefficient when utilized for intermittent use. Logically speaking, intermittent use might even be considered in the normal household environment since frequently, water is used most frequently on a demand-basis during the morning and evening peak hours.
In the prior art, there have been instantaneous-type water heaters developed to heat the water immediately prior to its use. Typically, these "in-line heaters" supply water at a rather limited flow rate and that water is heated by methods which have been notoriously inefficient, thereby limiting the applicability of the instantaneous-type water heaters.

Energy Saving Products of Tennesse, Inc.


Improved techniques and graphical user interfaces that enable users to shuffle a group of media items in accordance with categories associated with the media items are disclosed. According to one aspect, techniques can operate to categorically shuffle media items having categories associated therewith. According to another aspect, a user interface control can be graphically presented to a user to assist the user in selecting a shuffle setting. The shuffle setting provided by the user affects the nature of the shuffle. For example, the shuffle setting can impact the likelihood that two adjacent media items in the group of media items will be from the same one or more categories following the shuffle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to media management and, more particularly, to media management on computing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, media management application programs operate on personal computers to facilitate storage and playback of media items, such as songs (music). One example of a media management application program is iTunes®, produced by Apple Computer, Inc. A media management application program typically enables its user to browse or search through a collection of songs (i.e., audio tracks) stored on a personal computer. A collection or group of songs can pertain to a library or playlist of songs. However, given the popularity of storage and playback of songs from personal computers, it is not uncommon that users store several thousand different songs on their personal computer.
Still further, a media management application can shuffle songs in a group of media items to reorder the songs. The shuffle operation can be at the request of a user or automatically initiated at the request of the media management application. Conventionally, however, the shuffle behavior is fixed. Namely, a conventional media management management application program can perform a random shuffle operation. The random shuffle operation, however, yields statistically random results. As such, with the random shuffle operation, sporadically adjacent songs (i.e., audio tracks) will be from the same artist or album. However, some users desire that the shuffle operation avoid adjacent songs from the same artist or album. On the other hand, there are likely other users who desire that the shuffle operation occasionally yield adjacent songs that are from the same artist or album.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques to provide shuffle operations for songs or other media items.

Techniques and graphical user interfaces for categorical shuffle


A reference voltage circuit includes first circuitry that generates a thermal voltage that is approximately proportional to absolute temperature, a first voltage multiplier, second circuitry that generates an inverse thermal voltage that is approximately inversely proportional to absolute temperature, a second voltage multiplier and a summer. The first voltage multiplier multiplies the thermal voltage to obtain a first multiplied voltage. The multiplied voltage is not equal to the thermal voltage. The second voltage multiplier multiplies the inverse thermal voltage to obtain a second multiplied voltage. The summer sums the first multiplied voltage with the second multiplied voltage to obtain a reference voltage.

A bandgap reference voltage circuit provides an output reference that is insensitive to temperature, supply voltage and process variations. Bandgap reference voltage circuits are used in a wide variety of electronic circuits, such as wireless communication devices, memory devices, voltage regulators, filters, analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters and so on.
There are a variety of ways to generate a bandgap reference voltage that, in general, fall into two main categories. The first category is current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage. The second category is voltage mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage.
In current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage, current from a first current source that has a positive temperature coefficient is summed with current from a second current source that has a corresponding negative temperature coefficient to produce an output current. A bandgap reference voltage (VREF) is achieved by passing the output current through a resistance. The use of corresponding positive and negative temperature coefficients in the first and second current sources results in the effects of temperature being canceled out, thus stabilizing the bandgap reference voltage (VREF). For examples of bandgap reference voltage circuits that use current mode generation, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,046 and United States Patent Application number 2004/0155700A1.
In voltage mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage, a base-emitter voltage (VBE) is generated from a bipolar transistor having a negative coefficient. A thermal voltage (Vt) is generated that is proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT). The thermal voltage (Vt) has a positive coefficient at room temperature. The thermal voltage is equal to the expression kT/q where k is Boltzmann's constant, T is absolute temperature, and q is the elementary electron charge constant. Neither k nor q is temperature-dependent, and the result is that thermal voltage (Vt) is directly proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT). The thermal voltage (Vt) is multiplied by a constant (K) and summed with the voltage (VBE). The result is a reference voltage (VREF) that is described by Equation 1 below:VREF=VBE+KVt  EQUATION 1
For examples of voltage mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,684 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,773.
Current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage has the ability to achieve a bandgap reference as low as approximately 1 volt. Additionally, current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage can produce a programmable bandgap reference voltage as the output current has zero temperature coefficient. However, current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage typically requires one or more relatively large resistors, which can result in a large chip size.
Voltage mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage requires smaller total resistance than current mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage, but typically cannot be used for generating a bandgap reference voltage less than about 1.2 volts. Also, using the voltage mode generation of a bandgap reference voltage, the resulting bandgap reference voltage typically is 1.2 volts or a positive integer multiple of 1.2 volts.

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.