A torque converter in a vehicle includes a cover for the torque converter, wherein the cover includes a front surface and a back surface and a stud including a head and an end with a shaft therebetween passing through an opening of a flex plate, wherein the head includes a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the top surface include an annular projection penetrating the front surface of the cover and the bottom surface is adjacent the shaft.

Studs and stud welds may be utilized to keep the flex plate or drive plate of a transmission in contact with a torque converter, in particular the torque converter cover. In certain situations, stud welds and weld quality may not perform efficiently. Forces that alternate back and forth like the engine firing and compression strokes induce fatigue on the joint which may lead to failure.

Apparatus for transmitting torque via a weld


A method is disclosed. For example, the method executed by a processor of a multi-function device (MFD) includes executing a defect learning routine to identify defects, cataloging the defects based on a job function, a type of paper, and a machine state, receiving a job request, determining a known defect that has been catalogued based on the job function, the type of paper, and the machine state, and presenting a visualization of the known defect on a display of a user interface before executing the job request.

Multi-function devices (MFDs) are used to process print jobs. An MFD can perform a variety of different functions including printing, scanning, copying, faxing, and the like.
In today's printing environment, customers demand the highest and best image quality at the fastest speeds for the lowest price. Defects can slow down a customer's production, costing the customer's time and money.
Defects can be caused by various different functions and/or components of the MFD. Current defect detection is performed manually. For example, a job may be completed on the MFD and the user may see the defects on the output (e.g., the printed media or electronic image of a scanned document). The user may then have to try to find the cause of the defect via trial and error, which may be time consuming and inefficient.

Defect detection for multi-function devices using machine learning


The invention consists of a chair back support, which consists of at least two flexible elongated supports (2,2a) on both sides of the seat (1), which supports (2, 2a) are connected with support belts (3, 3a and 4, 4a), all supporting a person's back and making gymnastic movements possible both for the back and stomach while sitting on the chair.

When, in the course of development, man started to stand up and walk on two legs there is one part of the body, which, even up to today, has not fully adjusted to this change. As, in ancient times, man divided his body weight between his four legs, the support system of his body could well cope with the load on it. It is different for man today: he regularly has to bend down from a height, often with a heavy load on him. Everybody can understand that the lumbar region, which always has to act as a hinge, cannot well cope with it. An enormous torsion load on the lumbar and pelvic vertebrae lends them to easy injury. However, man has to learn to live with his lumbar region and to support its functions as best as he can. The most efficient way to keep one's back in good condition is to prevent any injuries and degenerations by strengthening the muscles supporting the spine. This way, it is possible to transfer any load from the vertebrae to the muscles supporting them.
Another way to take care of one's back is to work in a position which is as friendly to the back as possible. Also in this respect, as the entire concept of working which sitting was non-existent, the ancient man was in a better position than modern man. Today, most work is performed in a sitting position. When working while sitting, the back often has to be in a bent position impacting load on the lower back.
True, modern ergonomic chairs support the back well, but not enough. Therefore, a chair is continuously being developed, with the latest result being the saddle chair. In its design, the idea of support for the back has been disregarded; instead, the idea is to lend the back as good a posture which does not at all require a support element on the back of the chair. The chair works for some people, but it has not gained extensive popularity. The reason for this is that it is impossible to work at a desk for a whole day with a straight back.
The purpose of the invention presented here is to show a solution to sitting in a bent position.


In an OCDM-based photonic encryption system by applying random noise on unused channels and varying the inter-code phases on realistic framing repetition, an OCDM-based encryption system with provable security guarantees results.

The problem of keeping data transmitted from a sender to a receiver confidential against an adversary acting as an eavesdropper can be solved using encryption schemes. In a nutshell, a (symmetric) encryption scheme is a pair of algorithms: an encryption algorithm, run by the sender, that, on input a secret key and clear data, returns encrypted data; and a decryption algorithm, run by the receiver, that, on input a secret key and encrypted data, returns clear data. (See FIG. 1, described below, depicting an associated model.) The basic correctness requirement is that if the secret keys used by sender and receiver are the same, the clear data recovered by the receiver is precisely the one that was sent by the sender. The basic security (or, more precisely, confidentiality) requirement is, informally speaking, that if the secret key used by sender and receiver is random and unknown to the adversary, then the adversary obtains no information about the clear data from the encrypted data. Note that the adversary is given full access to the encryption and decryption algorithm (but no access to the associated secret key). Several stronger variations of this requirement are actually studied, where the adversary can mount more elaborated attacks, such as "chosen-message", and "chosen-ciphertext" attacks. Classic encryption schemes, developed until the 20th century, where based on basic principles of "confusion" and "diffusion". The first provable confidential scheme, the One-Time Pad, invented by Vernam in the early 1900's, and analyzed by Shannon in its pioneering works in the mid 1900's, was the first provable secure encryption scheme, but is today considered inefficient (as a stand-alone scheme) as it requires a number of random bits at least equal to the number of data bits. Modern encryption schemes use short (e.g., 128-bit) random keys, and are based on block ciphers (such as AES), composed using appropriate modes of operations (such as the CBC mode). Such schemes have limited provable confidentiality properties but are widely believed to be secure and are thus employed in all applications.
Communication over OCDM-based networks allows a receiver to obtain data from multiple senders or from a single sender using multiple parallel data streams. A public encoding algorithm is used by the sender to simultaneously process these data streams, and a public decoding algorithm is used by the receiver to decode any single one of the sender's data streams. The optical fiber physical conditions induce inter-code phase shifts on the data encoded by the sender, but such shifts are not changing the receiver's ability to obtain the sender's data. (See FIG. 2, described below, depicting an associated model.) When no encryption procedure is performed, just as with conventional networks, an adversary acting as an eavesdropper can use the same receiver's algorithm to decode data and thus violate data confidentiality.
Prior techniques for providing security for ultra high bandwidth optical communications over WDM networks includes the use of conventional electronic digital encryption which is not readily scalable to very high data rates and is not robust to archival attack and spoofing. Another prior technique is the use of Essex's phase scrambling of a single modulation broadened laser line which is not robust to known plain text (KPT) attack.
Optical code division multiplexing (OCDM)-based security by obscurity has been promoted as a scalable "security" solution for spectral-phase encoded OCDM systems operating at aggregate data rates of 100 Gb/s and beyond that can be realized with available technology through inverse multiplexing of 10 Gb/s tributaries, each carried on a OCDM code. Such a scheme is described in S. Etemad et. al., "OCDM-Based Photonic Layer "Security" Scalable to 100 Gb/s for Existing WDM Networks", invited paper in the Journal of Optical Networking volume 6, issue 7, pages 948-976, July 2007. The approach is based on the early proposal that scrambling of the phase of the combined aggregate of OCDM codes in use increases the search space beyond the reach of an exhaustive search attack. See, R. Menendez et al., "Network Applications of Cascaded Passive Code Translation for WDM-Compatible Spectrally Phase Encoded Optical CDMA," IEEE J. of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 23, pp. 3219-3231, 2005. The earlier solution has been demonstrated in the laboratory for an aggregate 40 Gb/s over 400 km transmission distance. See, P. Toliver et al., "40 Gb/s OCDM-based Signal Transmission over 400 km Using Integrated Micro-Ring Resonator-based Spectral Phase Encoding and Quaternary Code Scrambling for Enhanced Data Confidentiality", ECOC2007, Post Deadline Paper 33. However, robustness against known plain text (KPT) attacks was questioned by showing with some idealized assumptions that the search space is dramatically reduced from pn to p(n-m), where n is the number of phase-locked wavelengths and also the maximum number codes available, (n-m) is the actual number of codes in use and p is the number phase states supported by the scrambler. See, S. Goldberg, et. al. "Towards a Cryptanalysis of Spectral-Phase Encoded OCDMA with Phase-Scrambling", OFC 2007, OTH-J7.

OCDM-based photonic encryption system with provable security


A new variety of carnation named ‘KLEDG10119’ particularly characterized by its good indoor performance, good branching and early, rich flowering, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct variety of carnation, botanically known as Dianthus allwoodii, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'KLEDG10119'. The new variety is the result of a cross conducted in June 2006 in Stuttgart, Germany between the proprietary female parent carnation plant, an unnamed plant of Dianthus allwoodii (unpatented) and the proprietary male parent, 'DCP 06 026' (unpatented). A single plant selection was subsequently chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation. The new variety was first propagated via vegetative cuttings in June 2007 in Stuttgart, Germany and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings in Stuttgart, Germany for approximately six to seven generations. 'KLEDG10119' has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations via vegetative cuttings.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this variety were applied for in Europe on Jul. 15, 2010. 'KLEDG10119' has not been made publicly available or sold more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.


A niobium powder is provided for producing a niobium capacitor enhanced in the thermal stability of oxide films on niobium, with less leak current and less deterioration of leak current after application of thermal loads. The niobium powder contains form 0.005 to 0.10 mass % of hydrogen and from 0.002 to 5 mass % of sulfur and, further preferably, one or both of magnesium and aluminum in an amount from 0.002 to 1 mass % in total. The specific surface area of the powder is 1 to 10 m2/g and the average particle diameter of the secondary particles is 10 to 200 xcexcm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a niobium powder and an electrolytic capacitor formed by using the powder.
2. Description of the Related Art
While tantalum powder has been used so far for electrolytic capacitors, it involves a problem that the deposit is limited and its supply cost is not stable. In recent years, a trend of using niobium of rich deposit and available at reduced cost for the anode of electrolytic capacitors has been promoted. However, electrolytic capacitors using niobium have several drawbacks compared with those using tantalum. A primary problem is that oxide films of niobium have poor thermal stability. This results in leak current due to thermal loads upon mounting of parts to bring about deterioration of capacitors.
As a countermeasure, nitrogen addition has been known in order to decrease the leak current (for example, refer to Metal, vol. 72 (2002), No. 3, p 221). However, such a countermeasure can not be effective for improving the thermal stability.
A technique of reducing niobium pentachloride with hydrogen into a niobium powder has been present. However, since hydrogen remaining in the niobium powder after reduction reaches as much as 0.7 to 0.8 mass %, an electrolytic capacitor using the powder shows large leak current and large leak current after application of thermal loads, and is somewhat poor in static capacitance.
On the contrary, the present inventors have previously proposed a niobium powder containing small amount of hydrogen 1 to 600 ppm and a substantial balance of niobium (for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-22824 (pages 2-6)). The niobium powder described above is produced by applying a heat treatment, for example, at a temperature of about 1000xc2x0 C. or higher in an Ar atmosphere, to a niobium powder obtained by reducing niobium pentachloride with hydrogen described above. When this is used for an anode of a solid electrolytic capacitor, it provides excellent performance having large static capacitance of the capacitor and showing less leak current.
A solid electrolytic capacitor has a structure in which niobium, niobium oxide, solid electrolyte, graphite, silver, etc. are laminated and it is manufactured by sintering a niobium powder at 1000 to 1400xc2x0 C. to prepare a porous sintered product, applying a formation treatment to form a niobium oxide film on niobium, then forming solid electrolyte, graphite and silver successively into a layerous form and, finally, connecting an anode as an external terminal to niobium.
The present invention has been accomplished by further improving the invention in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-11824 described above and the invention intends to provide a niobium powder for preparing a solid electrolytic capacitor with less leak current, less degradation of leak current after application of thermal loads and having high capacitance by enhancing stability of niobium oxide films in the capacitor, as well as a solid electrolytic capacitor using the powder described above.
The present invention provides a niobium powder comprising 0.005 to 0.10 mass % of hydrogen, 0.002 to 5 mass % of sulfur, in which a specific surface area of the powder is from 1 to 10 m2/g.
Further, the powder preferably comprises one or both of magnesium and aluminum by 0.002 to 1 mass % for further improvement of characteristics.
Further, an average particle diameter of secondary particles of the powder is preferably from 10 to 200 xcexcm.
A solid electrolytic capacitor having a sintered product from one of the niobium powders described above as an anode of it has excellent performance in view of static capacitance and leak current characteristics.

Niobium powder and solid electrolytic capacitor using the same


A system includes a plurality of secure gateways that each use a plurality of datasets to determine how to process messages between devices on a network and websites on the internet. A version control server in the system automatically sends a dataset to each secure gateway in the plurality of secure gateways.

Messages and requests sent through a network are referred to collectively as network traffic. Such messages and requests that are being sent to or from devices on the internet are referred to collectively as internet traffic.
Secure gateways are generally placed between networks of computing devices and the Internet to filter internet traffic so as to prevent computing devices on the network from accessing certain websites, to implement IP address translations and to prevent proprietary data from leaving the network over the Internet. Some secure gateways determine if an Internet message should be intercepted or rerouted by comparing parameters of the Internet message to parameters stored in one or more dataset files (referred to simply as datasets) and using one or more rules in a ruleset. For example, the URL of a website that is receiving the message can be compared to a list of URLs in a blocking dataset such that if the URL is found, the message is blocked by the secure gateway.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.


A method for fabricating a semiconductor substrate includes epitaxially growing an elemental semiconductor layer on a compound semiconductor substrate. An insulating layer is deposited on top of the elemental semiconductor layer, so as to form a first substrate. The first substrate is wafer bonded onto a monocrystalline Si substrate, such that the insulating layer bonds with the monocrystalline Si substrate. A semiconductor device includes a monocrystalline substrate, and a dielectric layer formed on the monocrystalline substrate. A semiconductor compound is formed on the dielectric layer and an elemental semiconductor material formed in proximity of the semiconductor compound and lattice-matched to the semiconductor compound.

1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments described herein relate to semiconductors and, more particularly, to integrated compound and elemental semiconductor substrates and devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compound semiconductors, particularly III-V semiconductors, are of interest for advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, due to their superior transport properties compared to silicon (Si). However, the superior transport only applies to electrons. In III-Vs, the hole mobility is only comparable or even degraded compared to elemental semiconductors, such as Si and Ge.
One method for combining III-V and group-IV materials is described by G. B. Gao and H. H. Hoang in U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,143, wherein a method of combining GaAs and Ge, for NFETs and PFETs, respectively, has been proposed. The combination of materials is particularly attractive because GaAs and Ge are lattice matched, and Ge has the highest hole mobility of any known semiconductor. However, the method proposed in Gao and Hoang has several problems. First of all, that method utilizes GaAs direct growth on a Si substrate, which produces poor quality GaAs with large defect densities arising from the roughly 4% lattice mismatch between GaAs and Si. Furthermore, any time a compound semiconductor is grown on an elemental semiconductor, anti-phase domains are a potential problem. The problem occurs at the atomic steps on the surface of the elemental semiconductor.
Referring to FIG. 1, when a compound semiconductor is grown, a sub-lattice inversion can occur at the step boundaries. These anti-phase domains can be electrically active, and could lead to device degradation or even failure. FIG. 1 shows an anti-phase boundary (APB). Though methods to remove anti-phase domains have been proposed, they involve complicated techniques such as growth on miscut substrates (S. Strite et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 56, 244 (1990)) that would be desirable to avoid.
M. Bulsara and E. A. Fitzgerald in U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,293 additionally describe the concept of bonding a III-V semiconductor layer to Si or SiO2 substrates to form III-V-on-insulator structures, but utilized III-V growth on Ge layers which, in turn, were formed on Si wafers using a compositional grading technique. This technique once again has the problem of anti-phase domains, and has the added problem that the starting material has a high defect density due to the lattice mismatch between the III-V layer and the original Si substrate.
Demonstrations of growing elemental semiconductors on a compound semiconductor have been shown (See, e.g., D. Eres et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 55, 858 (1989) and P. M. J. Maree et al., vol. 58, 3097 (1985)). However, a way of integrating the two materials onto a Si substrate has not been proposed.

Structure and method of integrating compound and elemental semiconductors for high-performance CMOS

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and system for license authentication over a network. An on-line vendor receives a digital certificate that includes a public key associated with a consumer, and a digital signature of the consumer. A license packet is generated that includes a unique serial number. A record that includes the digital certificate is stored in a memory. The license packet is optionally encrypted with the public key associated with the consumer, and the license packet is forwarded to the consumer. When a post-sale service is required, the consumer generates a request that includes the digital signature of the consumer, and the request is forwarded to the vendor. The vendor accesses the memory to authenticate that the request was sent by the consumer, and if so, the service request is fulfilled.

The use of the Internet as a sales medium is greatly increasing. If a product is in an electronic format, such as a software program, or digitized music, the entire transaction from payment to shipment of the product can be handled without human interaction through software running on the vendor's World Wide Web (Web) site. Where the product cannot be electronically downloaded, the Internet can be used as a mechanism for selection of and payment for the product. The product can then be shipped to the consumer through conventional channels.
From a consumer standpoint, purchasing a product over the Internet reduces costs associated with traveling to a merchant, and substantially reduces the amount of time it would otherwise take to purchase the product. From a vendor's standpoint, use of the Internet as a sales medium greatly reduces overhead. Leases, buildings, and furnishings necessary for a physical presence are eliminated. The fabulous success of some of the first Internet-based "virtual" stores lends credibility to the estimates of the magnitude of future Internet-based sales.
Mechanisms for purchasing goods over the Internet are well known. A vendor implements a Web site which allows a consumer, through the use of a browser, to select the desired goods. After the goods are selected, the consumer typically enters a credit card number to complete the sale. The credit card number is typically encrypted at the browser and decrypted at the vendor's Web site, to reduce or eliminate the possibility of a third party intercepting the credit card number.
Many vendors use the Internet for post-sale support as well. It is not uncommon for a purchaser of software to be directed to the vendor's Web site to download recent patches, upgrades, or to seek support. Even where the initial purchase was not consummated over the Internet, consumers are often directed to a vendor's Web site for such post-sale support. Such support can include the ability to search databases of known problems and suggested resolutions, the ability to access in-depth technical information about a product, or the ability to communicate via e-mail with a support representative, for example. Post-sale support interaction with the consumer will become an increasingly important distinguishing feature of Internet-based vendors, since such vendors frequently offer goods at nearly identical prices.
Currently, providing post-sale support can be very expensive for a vendor. Before support is provided, it is typically desirable to authenticate that the individual seeking support is a customer of the vendor. Where support requests are initiated by telephone, a customer representative typically requires the caller to provide a unique identifier, such as a serial number which accompanied the product, before support will be provided. A product serial number is also frequently required when the consumer seeks support over the Internet. One problem with using a serial number for authentication purposes is that a valid customer can share the serial number with other individuals who can then use the serial number to access the vendor's support services, even though those individuals never purchased a product. For example, after copying a bona fide purchaser's licensed software, and serial number, such individuals can use the serial number to obtain free upgrades to products which they illegally copied in the first place.
Providing support services to unauthorized users results in loss of revenue and requires larger support resources than would otherwise be required. Because vendors are not compensated for such unauthorized use of post-sale services, it will become increasingly important for Internet-based businesses to ensure that the entity seeking support is a valid customer. Ideally, the complete process from purchase of a product over the Internet to subsequent post-sale access of a vendor's Web site could be handled automatically, without human intervention, and yet in an extremely secure fashion such that unauthorized individuals cannot utilize the vendor's post-sale resources. Moreover, the ability to detect a request from an unauthorized, or unlicensed user allows the vendor to offer the user the opportunity to purchase a licensed product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,314 to Payne et al. discloses a network-based sales system relating to an initial purchase of a product over a network. The system includes a buyer computer, a merchant computer and a payment computer. The buyer computer sends an access message that includes a product identifier and an access message authenticator based on a cryptographic key to the merchant computer. The merchant computer verifies that the access message authenticator was created using the cryptographic key, and then causes the product to be sent to the user.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,138,712; 5,553,143; 5,553,139; and 4,924,378 relate to distribution or management of software licenses during installation or execution of software on a computer. None of the references appear to disclose electronic mechanisms for authenticating customers for post-sale support.
It is apparent that a method and system that electronically and automatically validates that a requestor of a resource, such as a post-sale service, is a valid purchaser of the vendor's product would be highly beneficial, and would reduce costs associated with providing post-sale support services.


A high-speed, high-resolution column A/D converter having a noise reduction function to eliminate a fixed pattern noise etc. is provided with a small circuit scale. Each column A/D converter includes a dual-output D/A converter for selecting two reference voltages from among a reference voltage group supplied in common to each column A/D converter, so as to output the two reference voltages to sandwich each sensor signal voltage input to each column A/D converter, along with a charge-redistribution D/A converter having a full scale determined by the above two reference voltages. Thus, the high-speed, high-resolution column A/D converter is achieved with a small circuit scale. Further, by the utilization of high-speed conversion capability, noise reduction is performed through digital calculation after the A/D conversion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an A/D converter unit for an image sensor for converting the output of an analog image from the image sensor into digital data and in particular, an A/D converter unit appropriate for an image sensor having column arrangement.
2. Background of the Related Art
In a digital still camera and a mobile phone camera, conventionally, CCD and APS (active pixel sensor) CMOS image sensors have been in use. In accompany of higher resolution in recent years, the number of pixels tends to be increased. Meanwhile, there are also requirements for high speed continuous shooting, high frame-rate moving images, etc. In combination of the above two, requirement for reading out at high speed is becoming intensified. However, when the increase of the number of pixels or the acquisition of high-speed reading is intended, the number of pixel signals to be read out in a unit time must be increased, needless to say. Therefore, high speed is required in circuits for reading out signals and for converting the readout analog signals into digital signals. In CCD, which has been a mainstream imaging device until now, horizontal CCD has to be driven at high speed to perform high speed reading. This makes it difficult to reduce current consumption. Therefore, recently, the use of the APS CMOS image sensor is increasing. However, even when using the APS CMOS image sensor (hereafter expressed as CMOS image sensor or simply, image sensor), the situation is that, to achieve high speed with maintained high resolution, the increase of current consumption in an A/D converter to convert analog signals into digital signals is inevitable.
As one method to solve the above problem, in case of the CMOS image sensor, because it is easy to integrate CMOS circuits into an identical chip, several methods using a so-called column-parallel A/D converters have been proposed. By use of the column A/D converter, pixel signals from the image sensor are output column-by-column in parallel, and the image signals of each column are converted into digital data simultaneously in parallel.
For example, in the non-patent document 1, a method using a successive approximation A/D converter composed of capacitors is disclosed. According to this method, an A/D conversion circuit is configured of comparator, D/A conversion circuit and successive approximation register. Because high performance operational amplifier is not necessary, the method is suitable for a column A/D converter that requires arrangement with a narrow pitch. The method is highly promising because of high conversion speed also. However, when a general charge-redistribution D/A conversion circuit is used, a plurality of weighted capacitors are to be arranged. For example, in order to perform A/D conversion with the resolution of 10 bits, it is necessary to provide totally 1024 pieces of unit capacitors having 1C to 512C. Therefore, even if fine process will be advanced in future, variation of elements may be increased when the capacitor size is made smaller. This causes deteriorated performance of A/D conversion, and it is not possible to reduce the capacitor area accordingly. Thus, the method has a defect that realization of high resolution is difficult in a column A/D converter requiring a narrow pitch formation.
Also, in the non-patent document 2, there is disclosed a method using a so-called single-slope A/D converter includes a ramp signal generator, a comparator and a counter. This method has merits of being suitable for column arrangement because of the use of a small number of elements, and being achievable without use of an operational amplifier, similar to the aforementioned successive approximation A/D converter. However, to improve the resolution in A/D conversion, a time required for the A/D conversion increases in the manner of an exponential function. This produces a serious demerit of difficulty in obtaining high resolution.
Also, as a column A/D converter, a method using a AZ type is disclosed in the patent document 1, and also, a method using a cyclic type is disclosed in the patent document 2. Both types require high performance operational amplifiers because of requiring highly accurate calculation by switched capacitor circuits. However, it is becoming difficult in recent years to arrange such highly accurate operational amplifiers into columns with a slender-shaped layout to fit to a narrow pixel pitch. The reason is that it is necessary to use transistors manufactured under fine design rules to reduce the layout size. Such a fine transistor has a low voltage tolerance that requires a low power supply voltage, and therefore, it is not possible to ensure enough dynamic range of the operational amplifier.
From the above discussion, when column arrangement with a narrow pitch is taken into consideration, the successive approximation method not necessitating operational amplifiers or the single slope method are left as candidates. From the viewpoint of high speed, the single slope method is extremely difficult. On the other hand, to obtain a multi-bit A/D converter unit using the aforementioned simple charge-redistribution successive approximation A/D converters, an extremely large number of elements are required, which is unsuitable for a column A/D converter having a large restriction in size.
Meanwhile, though it is not a column A/D converter, in the patent document 3, there is disclosed the prior art for obtaining high resolution with a reduced number of elements. FIG. 13 shows the block diagram thereof. A D/A converter for use in successive approximation is divided into an upper level and a lower level. A resistor-string D/A converter is used for the upper-level D/A converter. Also, a so-called charge-redistribution D/A converter, composed of capacitors and switches, is used for the lower-level D/A converter. The respective outputs therefrom are added by the input to a comparator. Thus, a high-resolution, high-speed A/D converter unit with a reduced number of elements is obtained.
However, if it is intended to apply the above-mentioned method intact to a column A/D converter, there are problems described below. One is that, if it is intended to include the resistor string in each column A/D converter, the resistor area is too large to fit in a narrow pitch. The other is that the outputs of the resistor string DAC and the charge redistribution DAC are consequently added by the use of capacitors in the comparator. Therefore, in order to ensure addition accuracy in the upper-level and lower-level D/A converters, it is necessary to make the capacitor size, which is used for the addition in the comparator, sufficiently larger than the capacitor size for use in the second D/A converter, so as to suppress capacitance variation. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, a reference voltage to be input to the second D/A converter is extracted from the both ends (a, b) of one fixed resistor in the resistor string. Therefore, if variation exists in each unit resistor forming the resistor string, the variation leads to the deterioration of a nonlinearity error. To ensure accuracy, the unit resistor size has to be enlarged. This causes a drawback that the overall circuit area becomes large. As such, the method disclosed in the patent document 3 is quite suitable when it will be applied to a single A/D converter having a relatively gentle size restriction. However, it is not suitable for a column A/D converter having a strict restriction of size.
[Preceding Technical Documents]
[Patent Documents]
[Patent document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-15208.
[Patent document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-136540.
[Patent document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-6-152420.
[Non-Patent Documents]
[Non-patent document 1] A. Krymski, D. van Blerktom, A. Andersson, N. Block, B. Mansoorian and E. R. Fossum, "A high speed 500 Frames/s 1024×1024 CMOS Active Pixel Sensor", 1999 Symposium on VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers pp. 137-138.
[Non-patent document 2] Woodward Yang, Oh-Kwon, Ju-II Lee, Gyu-Tae Hwang and Suk-Joong Lee, "An Integrated 800×600 CMOS Imaging System", 1999 IEEE Int. Solid State Circuits Conference pp. 304-305, 471.


There is provided a process for the preparation of 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile. 2,4,5-Tribromo -pyrrole-3-carbonitrile is useful as a molluscicidal agent.

Pyrrole carbonitrile and nitropyrrole compounds are disclosed to be useful as insecticidal, acaricidal and molluscicidal agents in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,162,308 and 5,204,332. Those patents also refer to 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile, its molluscicidal use and its preparation via bromination of pyrrole-3-carbonitrile. However, pyrrole-3-carbonitrile and its derivatives are difficult to prepare. Literature methods, such as that reported by A. M. van Leusen, et al., Tetrahedron Letters, 5337, (1972), report yields of 10% or less.
The preparation of 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile from 2-trihaloacetylpyrrole-4-carbonitrile compounds is described in United States Patent 5,008,403. However, that process is not well suited for use in large scale preparations of 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and efficient process for preparing 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile.

Process for the preparation of 2,4,5-tribromopyrrole-3-carbonitrile


A system and method are provided for direct manipulation of a triangular distribution of information using a graphical user interface. The system includes a graphical user interface for receiving user inputted values. The system further includes a data calculator for generating estimates based on the user inputted values, and for generating curves for display on a grid based on at least one of, the user inputted values and the estimates. The graphical user interface respectively receives the user inputted values based at least on a current position of a pointer on the grid. The graphical user interface is capable of applying a direct manipulation, based at least on the current position of the pointer on the grid, to at least one of the user inputted values and the estimates, such that a result of the direct manipulation is displayed on the grid.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the manipulation of financial information and, more particularly, to a system and method for direct manipulation of a triangular distribution of information using a graphical user interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Estimating financial data such as the cost of a project or the expected revenue of that project, even when well informed, is a difficult process with a high degree of error. A method of capturing triangular distributions around such estimates allows for the specification of not only one estimate for a given data point, but an upper and lower bound on that estimate. This allows for a specification of the uncertainty of the given estimate. Unfortunately, this involves entering three separate estimates for any given data point.
Typically these data points are input into a spreadsheet or database to be used in various calculations or simulations. Entering these numbers by hand is tedious and error-prone. For most simulations, a continuous set of data is desired, for example, for every quarter over a given time period (e.g., a five year period). In this example, three estimates for each quarter over a five year period would require entering sixty values by hand. Those sixty values only correspond to one variable. Moreover, adjusting these estimates, once entered, can be a very cumbersome task.

System and method for direct manipulation of a triangular distribution of information using a graphical user interface


Systems and methods for detecting developing faults in a flow generator or ventilator during therapeutic use thereof are provided. The motor current may be measured to estimate the torque input by the motor, while the output torque from the impeller may be determined (e.g., as inferred from the motor control system model and/or by consulting a lookup table). One or more transducers may collect data useful in determining the input and output torques. A difference between the input (to the motor) torque and the output (from the impeller) torque may be calculated. The difference, optionally filtered using a low-pass filter to reduce noise, may be compared to a predetermined threshold once or over a period of time to detect gross failures and/or developing failures. Once a failure or developing failure is detected, a user may be alerted and/or the flow generator may be placed into a “service required” mode.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and other dangerous sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) conditions affect thousands worldwide. Numerous techniques have emerged for the treating SDB, including, for example, the use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices, which continuously provide pressurized air or other breathable gas to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient interface (e.g. a mask) at a pressure elevated above atmospheric pressure, typically in the range 3-20 cm H2O. Typically, patients suspected of suffering from SDB register with a certified sleep laboratory where sleep technicians fit patients with numerous data collectors and monitor their sleep activity over a given period. After the patient is diagnosed, a treatment regimen usually is developed, identifying both a treatment apparatus (or treatment apparatuses) and program of use for the treatment apparatus(es).
FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic of a typical CPAP treatment apparatus. An impeller 1 is powered by an electric motor 2 using a servo 3 under the direction of a microprocessor-based controller 4. The supply of breathable gas is carried to the mask 5 through a flexible conduit 6. The apparatus has various switches 7, displays 8, and a number of transducers. The transducers may monitor a number of processes, such as, for example volumetric flow rate 10 (e.g., at a predetermined point in the flow path), pressure 11 (e.g., at a predetermined point downstream of the flow generator outlet or at the mask), snore 12, flow generator rotational speed 13, and/or motor parameters 14.
It would be advantageous to detect faults in the treatment apparatus as they develop during the operation of the blower. A gross failure of a motor bearing and/or turbine results in the patient ceasing to receive treatment. However, if a motor bearing and/or turbine begin(s) to fail, a patient may receive sub-optimal treatment for the period of time between the beginning of the failure and when the failure is complete. A failing motor may result in low (or lower than expected) pneumatic output. Failing to recognize developing faults also may cause the bearing to overheat, which may, in turn, result in a potential hazards.
To this end, U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,159, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses techniques for determining increased rotational friction. Unfortunately, further improvements to these techniques are necessary, as they require powering down the fan for a predetermined period to check the spin-down rate, which makes such techniques inappropriate for flow generators actually in use.
Certain other techniques for detecting faults are described in AU 764761, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,591,834, 6,745,768, and 7,040,317, the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Further improvements to these techniques also would be advantageous, as there are certain faults that cannot be detected using such techniques. For example, such techniques generally cannot determine whether there is a faulty bearing that is not yet causing a "motor stalled" condition or a near-motor-stalled condition. It would be advantageous to detect other failures, such as, for example, low output torque, increased bearing friction, constricted inlet(s), faulty or disconnected Hall sensor(s), etc.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for improved motor fault detection techniques.

Method and system for motor failure detection


A harvesting machine having a ground contacting propulsion system, a chassis connected to the ground propulsion system, and a header. The header has a bat reel assembly rotatingly attached to the header. The bat reel assembly includes at least one reel structural assembly, a plurality of bat rods, a tensioned member, and at least one moveable pivotal member. The at least one reel structural assembly is configured to rotate about an axis. The plurality of bat rods are pivotally connected to the at least one reel structural assembly. The plurality of bat rods include a first bat rod and a second bat rod. The tensioned member is drivingly coupled to the first bat rod and the second bat rod. The at least one pivotal member is in contact with the tensioned member. The at least one moveable pivotal member is located between the first bat rod and the second bat rod along a path of the tensioned member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a harvester, and, more particularly, to a bat drive system associated with a reel of a header of the harvester.
2. Description of the Related Art
Combines, also known as harvesters, are commonly used by farmers all over the world to harvest their crops. Various varieties of grains, kernels, and beans that range in height from a couple of inches to several feet above the ground, are cut by the header and fed into the combine. Combines, which are designed to harvest these crops, have a floating header pivotally connected to the combine in front of a feed auger. Mounted over the header is a plurality of elongated bats arranged circumferentially spaced apart in parallel fashion to define a reel, which rotates as the combine moves along the field to harvest the crop. Each of the bats of the reel assembly have a plurality of spaced apart fingers, which rake through the crop, and present a crop to the cutter on the leading edge of the header and helps to feeds the cut crop into the auger of the combine. Depending upon the crop size, the moisture of the crop, and the cutting conditions, feeding the crop into the auger may present problems.
The inventor has previously patented, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,475, a drive system for combine reel bats, which solve many problems in the gathering of crop material into the header of the combine.
What is needed in the art is a reel bat drive system that is easily adjustable.

Harvester header bat reel assembly tensioning member


A bus holder includes a first inverter, a second inverter and a pass switch. The first inverter is coupled between a first power supply voltage node and a second power supply voltage node, and receives an input signal via an input terminal to output a first output signal having an inverted phase with respect to the input signal. The second inverter is coupled between the first power supply voltage node and the second power supply voltage node, and inverts the first output signal to output a second output signal, having an inverted phase with respect to the first output signal, to an output terminal. The pass switch is coupled between the input terminal and the output terminal, and outputs a signal having a level of a control voltage to the input terminal, in response to the control voltage. Accordingly, a tolerant input/output buffer may stably maintain an input signal level when a bus is floated.

In input/output circuits, a bus holder has been used to maintain the previous voltage state (or logic state) on a logic signal bus until a new input signal is input, for example via a pad, when the bus/pad is floated. The bus holder often includes two inverters that are connected to each other. The voltage levels of an input/output signal may be diversified as diverse application products are released. Therefore, the input/output circuit also may be designed to enable diverse voltage levels to be processed. Accordingly, the input/output circuit may include the tolerant input/output buffer using a pass transistor and a bus holder, and can be used for application products that treat a wide range of input/output voltages.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional tolerant input/output buffer, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating another conventional tolerant input/output buffer.
Hereinafter, an operation of a bus holder used for the conventional tolerant input/output buffer and the tolerant input/output circuit will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
Referring to FIG. 1, the tolerant input/output buffer 100 includes a PAD that receives an external signal, an electrostatic discharge protection circuit 110, a pass transistor 120, a first inverter 130, a second inverter 140, a pass switch 150, and a buffer 160.
The PAD receives and outputs a signal from/to an external source. As used herein "PAD" means any input/output signal carrying line, whether or not in the shape of a pad. When an over-voltage caused by static electricity is applied toward a core logic (connected at Y) while a signal is received through the PAD, the electrostatic discharge protection circuit 110 supplies an additional passage for the over-voltage and protects the core logic by preventing the over-voltage from being transferred to the core logic. When the voltage level of the input signal received through the PAD is higher than an operation voltage range of the first inverter 130 or the buffer 160, the pass transistor 120 lowers the input voltage level and supplies the input signal having the lowered voltage level to the first inverter 130 and the buffer 160. A bus holder includes the first inverter 130, the second inverter 140, and the pass switch 150, in order to maintain the voltage of a node B1. The buffer 160 transfers the input signal received through the PAD and the pass transistor 120 to the core logic. A first power supply voltage of the electrostatic discharge protection circuit 110, the pass transistor 120, the first inverter 130, the second inverter 140, the buffer 160, and other circuits is, for example, 1.8 volts.
Hereinafter, when an input signal of 3.3 volts and the input signal of 1.8 volts are applied to the PAD, an operation of the tolerant input buffer 100 will be explained.
First, when the input signal of 3.3 volts is received through the PAD, the voltage at a connection node A1 between the PAD and the pass transistor 120 becomes 5 volts, and the voltage at a connection node B1 between the pass transistor 120 and the first inverter 130 becomes 1.0 volt.
Since the pass transistor 120 is an n-type MOS transistor, the node B1 outputs the voltage, which is lower than the power supply voltage (e.g., 1.8 volts) that is coupled to a gate of the pass transistor 120 by a threshold voltage Vth. In other words, when the voltage received through the PAD is higher than the power supply voltage of 1.8 volts, (1.8 volts—threshold voltage Vth) is output.
Therefore, even when the voltage of the input signal is much higher, the first inverter 130 and the buffer 160 are provided with the lowered input signal (i.e., 1.8 volts—threshold voltage Vth).
Consequentially, the voltage of the node B1 becomes 1.0 volt, and 1.0 volt is input to the buffer 160. Then, the lowered input signal is transferred to the core logic via the buffer 160. At this time, the first inverter 130, an input terminal of which is connected to the node B1, produces an output signal of 0 volts, and the second inverter 140 produces an output signal of 1.8 volts.
At the same time, the voltage of 1.0 volt is output to a node C1 via an n-type MOS transistor MN3 of the pass switch 150 that is connected to the node B1. However, since the node C1 is also connected with the output signal of the second inverter, the voltage of the node C1 is immediately increased to 1.8 volts.
Then, 1.8 volts of the voltage of the node C1 is transferred to node B1 by the PMOS transistor MP3 of the pass switch 150 so that the voltage of node B1 is raised to 1.8 volts. In this state, when the input signal of the PAD is removed, the PAD may become a floating state, and thus a signal having a voltage level of the floating state may be applied to the core logic.
However, when the bus holder is provided as described in FIG. 1, the node C1 is maintained at 1.8 volts and the node B1 is maintained at 1.8 volts by the pass switch 150. Thereby, the input state of the buffer 160 is maintained at a previous state of 1.8 volts.
When the input signal is 1.8 volts, only the voltage of the node A1 is different compared with the case in which the input signal is 3.3 volts. After passing through the pass transistor 120, the node B1 becomes 1.0 volt. Accordingly, the same operation as the case in which the input signal is 3.3 volts is performed.
The above-described tolerant input/output buffer 100 can operate regardless of the input voltage range and enables the bus holder to stably maintain a previous logic state when the PAD is floated. However since an initial voltage (e.g., 1.0 volt) of the node B1 is lower than the power supply voltage of 1.8 volts, and is close to the threshold voltage, namely the power supply voltage/2 (i.e., 0.9 volt) of the buffer 160, characteristics of a tolerant input cell may be deteriorated.
Particularly, it may be difficult to obtain a design margin for a Schmidt trigger's input cell when the buffer 160 is a Schmidt trigger. Since the Schmidt trigger has a hysteresis characteristic, the Schmidt trigger can stably operate when the input voltage is much higher than the threshold voltage (e.g., the power supply voltage/2) of the Schmidt trigger. In the tolerant input/output buffer of FIG. 1, the difference between the input voltage (i.e., 1.0 volt) of the Schmidt trigger, i.e., the buffer 160 and the threshold voltage (i.e., 0.9 volt) of the Schmidt trigger may be small (i.e., 0.1 volt). Accordingly, the Schmidt trigger may not operate normally.
Therefore, a circuit that enables the input voltage level of the buffer 160 to be higher than the threshold voltage (the power supply voltage/2) of the Schmidt trigger may be desired. An alternative conventional device is shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional tolerant input/output buffer different from FIG. 1.
The tolerant input/output buffer may include a PAD, a static protection circuit 210, a first inverter 230, a second inverter 240, a pass switch 250, and a buffer 260. The tolerant input/output buffer of FIG. 2 is different from the tolerant input/output buffer of FIG. 1 in that the pass transistor 120, which lowers the voltage level of the input signal, is not used and the pass switch 250 includes only an n-type MOS transistor.
Since the pass transistor is not used so as to maintain the input voltage level of the buffer 260 at a high level, the input signal that passes through the PAD is not lowered and is transferred to a node A2.
Accordingly, since the input voltage of the buffer 260 can become higher than the threshold voltage of the Schmidt trigger, the possibility for an abnormal operation of the buffer 260 may be reduced.
When the input signal is 1.8 volts, and the pass switch 250 includes an n-type MOS transistor MN3 and a p-type MOS transistor MP3, the node A2 initially maintains 1.8 volts, and a node C2 is also maintained at 1.8 volts by the first inverter 230 and the second inverter 240.
When the PAD is floated, a node C2 can be maintained at 1.8 volts by an output the second inverter 240, and the node A2 can be maintained at 1.8 volts through the p-type MOS transistor of the pass switch 250.
However, when the input signal is 3.3 volts, the node A2 initially applies 3.3 volts. The voltage of the node A2 enables the node C2 to be maintained at 3.3 volts by the p-type MOS transistor MP3 of the pass switch 250. This may create a problem that the p-type MOS transistor of the second inverter is turned on, and thus inverse current may flow.
In order to solve the potential problem, the pass switch 250 includes only the n-type MOS transistor MN3 without using the p-type MOS transistor MP3. However, when the pass switch 250 is constituted only of the n-type MOS transistor without using the pass transistor as shown in FIG. 2, there also may be a problem in that the voltage of the node A2 is lowered after a predetermined time from the start of the floating of the PAD.
It is desirable for the level of the input voltage to be maintained. However, since the pass switch 250 is constituted only of the n-type MOS transistor MN3 and the node C2 outputs the voltage of 1.0 volt (i.e., the power supply voltage of 1.8 volts—the threshold voltage of the n-type MOS transistor MN3), the voltage of the node C2 may be lowered and may not maintain the input voltage level.

Bus holders having wide input and output voltage ranges and tolerant input/output buffers using the same


According to one embodiment, a thin-film transistor includes a first insulating film, an oxide semiconductor layer provided on the first insulating film and a second insulating film provided on the oxide semiconductor layer, and at least one of the first insulating film and the second insulating film includes a first region in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and a second region further distant from the oxide semiconductor layer than the first region, and the second region has an argon concentration higher than that of the first region.

Thin-film transistors which employ semiconductor formed from an oxide in a semiconductor layer have been developed so as to be applied to, for example, display devices including liquid crystal displays and various control circuits, etc. In such thin-film transistors, oxygen is supplied from the oxide film provided in contact with the semiconductor layer to the semiconductor layer, so as to adjust the electrical characteristics including the threshold voltage. However, the rate of forming the oxide film is low, thereby taking such time for the manufacture thereof.


A semiconductor device according to the present disclosure includes a gate-all-around (GAA) transistor in a first device area and a fin-type field effect transistor (FinFET) in a second device area. The GAA transistor includes a plurality of vertically stacked channel members and a first gate structure over and around the plurality of vertically stacked channel members. The FinFET includes a fin-shaped channel member and a second gate structure over the fin-shaped channel member. The fin-shaped channel member includes semiconductor layers interleaved by sacrificial layers.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down ha s also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs.
For example, as integrated circuit (IC) technologies progress towards smaller technology nodes, multi-gate devices have been introduced to improve gate control by increasing gate-channel coupling, reducing off-state current, and reducing short-channel effects (SCEs). A multi-gate device generally refers to a device having a gate structure, or portion thereof, disposed over more than one side of a channel region. Fin-type field effect transistors (FinFETs) and gate-all-around (GAA) transistors (both also referred to as non-planar transistors) are examples of multi-gate devices that have become popular and promising candidates for high performance and low leakage applications. A FinFET has an elevated channel wrapped by a gate on more than one side (for example, the gate wraps a top and sidewalls of a "fin" of semiconductor material extending from a substrate). Compared to planar transistors, such configuration provides better control of the channel and drastically reduces SCEs (in particular, by reducing sub-threshold leakage (i.e., coupling between a source and a drain of the FinFET in the "off" state)). A GAA transistor has a gate structure that can extend, partially or fully, around a channel region to provide access to the channel region on two or more sides. The channel region of the GAA transistor may be formed from nanowires, nanosheets, other nanostructures, and/or other suitable structures. In some implementations, such channel region includes multiple nanostructures (which extend horizontally, thereby providing horizontally-oriented channels) that are vertically stacked. Such GAA transistor can be referred to as a vertically-stacked horizontal GAA (VGAA) transistor.
GAA transistors and FinFETs may be fabricated on the same substrate to take advantages of benefits of both types of multi-gate devices. Conventionally, because fabrication of GAA transistors and fabrication of FinFETs require different epitaxial layer arrangements and involve different process steps, it may be challenging or costly to fabricate GAA transistors and FinFETs on the same substrate. Therefore, although conventional devices and methods have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they are not satisfactory in every respect.

Method for forming different types of devices

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


In an acoustic wave filter, first and second filter elements are connected between an unbalanced terminal and first and second balanced terminals on an acoustic wave substrate. The filter elements are longitudinally-coupled surface wave filters including at least three IDTs. One end of the IDTs is mutually connected and is connected to the unbalanced terminal. The other ends of the IDTs are connected by a second connecting line so as to define an unbalanced-side grounded portion. Grounded ends of the IDTs are connected to each other by a first connecting line so as to define a common midpoint grounded portion. The common midpoint grounded portion and the unbalanced-side grounded portion are electrically separated from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acoustic wave filter including a plurality of acoustic wave elements connected to each other and an acoustic wave filter device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a midpoint-grounded balanced acoustic wave filter having a balance-unbalance converting function and an acoustic wave filter device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters have been used as band-pass filters for communication apparatuses, such as mobile phones. In particular, a SAW filter used in an RF (radio frequency) stage of a mobile phone is required to have a balance-unbalance converting function. When having the balance-unbalance converting function, a SAW filter does not need to include a balun functioning as a balance-unbalance converting element. Accordingly, the mobile phone or other suitable device can be miniaturized.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-88551 (Patent Document 1) discloses an example of a midpoint-grounded balanced SAW filter having a balance-unbalance converting function. FIG. 24 is a schematic plan view showing the SAW filter described in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 25 shows the circuit configuration thereof.
As shown in FIG. 24, a SAW filter 200 includes a surface wave substrate 301. First and second SAW filter elements 201 and 202 and first and second SAW resonators 203 and 204 are disposed on the surface wave substrate 301. As shown in FIG. 25, the first filter element 201 is a longitudinally-coupled SAW filter element including IDTs (interdigital transducers) 205 to 207 and reflectors 208 and 209 aligned in a propagation direction of surface waves. The filter element 202 has the same configuration, including IDTs 210 to 212 and reflectors 213 and 214. Note that the phase of the second filter element 202 is 180 degrees different from that of the first filter element 201.
The center IDT 206 of the first filter element 201 and the center IDT 211 of the second filter element 202 connect to an unbalanced terminal 215. One end of the IDTs 205 and 207 connect to a first balanced terminal 216 via the SAW resonator 203. On the other hand, one end of the outer IDTs 210 and 212 of the second filter element 202 connect to a second balanced terminal 217 via the SAW resonator 204. With this configuration, the SAW filter 200 functions as a balanced SAW filter including the unbalanced terminal 215 and the first and second balanced terminals 216 and 217.
In the first and second filter elements, the ends opposite to the ends connected to the unbalanced terminal 215 of the IDTs 206 and 211 are grounded. As shown in FIG. 24, the IDTs 206 and 211 connect to electrode pads 302 and 303 provided on the surface wave substrate 301, respectively. The electrode pads 302 and 303 are electrode pads connected to a ground potential.
During manufacturing, metallic bumps are provided on the electrode pads 302 and 303, and the metallic bumps are electrically connected to an electrode land connecting to a ground potential on a package side. Accordingly, the electrode pads 302 and 303, that is, the grounded ends of the IDTs 206 and 211, are mutually connected on the electrode land connecting to the ground potential on the package side.
On the other hand, the ends opposite to the ends connected to the balanced signal terminal 216 of the IDTs 205 and 207 of the first filter element are also grounded. That is, in FIG. 24, the grounded end of the IDT 205 is electrically connected to an electrode pad 311. In addition, the IDT 207 is electrically connected to an electrode pad 312. The electrode pads 311 and 312 are electrode pads connected to the ground potential.
Likewise, on the side of the second filter element 202, the ends opposite to the ends connected to the balanced signal terminal 217 of the IDTs 210 and 212 are grounded. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 24, the grounded end of the IDT 210 is connected to the electrode pad 312, whereas the grounded end of the IDT 212 is connected to an electrode pad 313. Similar to the above-described electrode pads 302 and 303, the electrode pads 311 to 313 are connected to an electrode land that is provided on the package substrate and that is connected to the ground potential. That is, the electrode pads 311 to 313 are mutually connected as shown in the package substrate.
The SAW filter 200 is mounted on the package substrate by a face-down method. In this case, metallic bumps are provided on a plurality of electrode pads including the above-described electrode pads 302, 303, and 311 to 313. Then, the SAW filter 200 is mounted on the package substrate such that the surface on which the metallic bumps are provided is a lower surface, so that the metallic bumps enable the electrode pads 302, 303, and 311 to 313 to be connected to the electrode lands on the package substrate.
Since the above-described SAW filter 200 is assembled using a face-down method and does not need to include a balun because of having a balance-unbalance converting function, the SAW filter 200 can be miniaturized, so that the RF stage including the SAW filter 200 can also be miniaturized.
However, when the SAW filter 200 is actually used as a balanced SAW filter having a balance-unbalance converting function while being mounted on the package substrate as described above, out-of-band attenuation is not sufficient.

Balanced acoustic wave filter and acoustic wave filter


An implement for holding and/or coring vegetables and fruits, during the preparation of the vegetables and fruits, includes a shaft for impaling a vegetable or fruit while the vegetable or fruit is peeled, sliced, etc., and a handle for holding the implement and coring a vegetable or fruit. The shaft has an external surface with projecting ribs along the length of the shaft for retaining an impaled vegetable or fruit on the shaft while the vegetable or fruit is being prepared and preferably, is made of a polymeric material to help keep cutting instruments from being dulled by contact with the shaft during use. The handle has projections on either side of the shaft for penetrating a vegetable or fruit to keep the vegetable or fruit from rotating when being held on the shaft and a pair of diametrically opposed blades, for coring a vegetable or fruit, which are spaced from each other to define a space therebetween for containing a core when the handle is being used to core a vegetable or fruit. A sheath can also be included for encasing the shaft when the shaft is not in use.

The present invention relates to an implement for use in the preparation of vegetables and fruits for cooking and eating and, in particular, to an implement which can be used to both hold a vegetable or fruit while the vegetable or fruit is being peeled, sliced, etc. or to core a vegetable or fruit.
During the preparation of vegetables and fruits, such as but not limited to potatoes, carrots or other tubers and apples, peaches or other fruit, either at home or in a restaurant for cooking or eating, frequently the vegetables or fruits are peeled, sliced and/or cored with a kitchen knife or other sharp cutting instrument. When the vegetables or fruits are directly held by hand during the peeling, slicing and/or coring of the vegetables or fruits, the hand of the person holding the vegetable or fruit can easily be accidentally cut with the cutting instrument. In addition, to minimize such accidents, the person is likely to proceed at a slower pace than otherwise possible if the person were not trying to avoid injury.
As shown by the following patents, various implements have been used in connection with the preparation of vegetables and fruits. U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,683, discloses a fork for holding a pineapple or other fruit while the fruit is being prepared. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,300,311, 2,312,283, and 2,313,714, disclose forks for holding citrus fruits which include circular arrangements of tines for penetrating the fruit. U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,816, discloses an implement with a handle, a flat bar twisted by barely half a turn, and prongs for holding tubers.
While these holding implements are useful in the preparation of vegetables and fruit for cooking or eating, there has remained a need for a holding implement which: securely retains a vegetable or fruit in place on the holding implement; protects the user from cuts or other injuries from a knife or other cutting instrument used in the preparation of the vegetable or fruit; protects the sharp metal edge of a knife or other cutting instrument from being unduly dulled by being drawn across or otherwise coming into contact with the holding implement; and can be used to core a fruit or vegetable.

Implement for holding and/or coring vegetables and/or fruits during preparation of the same


A local area network system includes a wired backbone LAN (12) and at least one wireless LAN (14) cooperating with the backbone LAN (12) via an access point (22), which has a bridging function. When a source station (30) in the wireless LAN (14) transmits a packet to another station in the wireless LAN (14), the destination station should respond with an ACK signal. If no ACK signal is received by the source station, the packet is retransmitted. The access point (22) also receives the transmitted packet and if the access point (22) does not detect an ACK signal on the wireless channel', the access point (22) itself generates an ACK signal and retransmits the packet on the wireless LAN (14) or forwards the packet to the wired LAN (12) according to the packet destination address.

With a view to obviating the need for wired cabling connections between stations in local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks have been developed and are now commercially available. However, the coverage area of wireless LANs is restricted especially in an indoor environment, due to the presence of structural features such as walls and floors in buildings, for example. Also, it may be desirable for stations in a wireless LAN to communicate with remote facilities or resources such as servers. Therefore, it has been proposed to connect the wireless LAN via a bridging means to a wired LAN, which can be connected to the remote facilities and/or other wireless LANs.
One problem with implementing wireless LANs is to provide a suitable access protocol for stations desiring access to the wireless transmission medium. One known standard protocol utilized in wired LANs is CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access with collision detection). However, the CSMA/CD protocol cannot be satisfactorily implemented in a wireless environment because of the very high dynamic range of the signals on the wireless medium. One protocol which has been successfully implemented in a wireless environment is a CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) type of protocol. Such a protocol does not guarantee collision-free operation and it is still possible for packets on the wireless medium to be lost, especially during times of high traffic load. Also, interference may derive from other causes, such as other nearby networks using the same frequency band, or sources which generate frequency components in the band. Such interference also may affect the reliability of packet transmission in a wireless LAN.


An online system, such as a social networking system, monitors user interactions with news feed stories of the social networking system and divides the user interactions into non-content clicks and content clicks. The non-content clicks indicate a user's interest in news feed stories based on user actions such as comments on, likes, shares, and hides the news feed stories. The content clicks indicate a user's interest in news feed stories based on user actions on different specific portions of multimedia content (e.g., videos) in the news feed stories such as playing, fast forwarding. The social networking system trains a model based on the monitored user interactions with news feed stories and uses the trained model to rank news feed stories for presentation to a user. The ranks of news feed stories for a user are determined based on a likelihood that the user would find the story interesting.

This invention relates to news feeds of content presented to users and in particular to ranking news feed stories in online systems, such as social networking systems, including consideration of specific content clicks on the news feed stories.
Certain online systems, such as social networking systems, have a large amount of social information describing actions performed by users on content provided by the systems and in connection with other users of the systems. Social networking systems, for example, present social information as news feed stories to users of the social networking systems, also referred to herein as stories, content items, or feed stories. A news feed story may describe objects represented in a social networking system, for example, a video, a comment from a user, status messages, external links, content generated by the social networking system, applications, games, or user profile. A goal the social networking system in presenting news feeds is to show users of the social networking system the stories that matter most to the users. A social networking system that presents interesting stories relevant to its users is more likely to ensure that users are loyal to the social networking system and regularly interact with the system.
Users of a social networking system may take various actions, e.g., liking, commenting on, or sharing, on news feeds presented by the social networking systems; the social networking system considers the user actions to determine what content to include in news feeds for the users. However, even when users do not like, comment on or share a story in a news feed, this may not mean that the story was not meaningful to the users. For example, a user may have found a video from a nonprofit organization the user follows on the social networking system to be really informative and interesting, but the video is not something the user felt inclined to like, comment on or share more broadly. Furthermore, different interactions by a user with content, such as a video, in a news feed can provide different information about the user's level of interest in that content in particular and in the news feed in general.

Ranking of news feeds of content including consideration of specific content clicks by users


An image display device includes: an image signal reception unit configured to receive an image signal of a pattern image in which N partial images having a different gradation level value are regularly arranged; a conversion unit configured to convert a part of gradation level values included in the image signal in accordance with a predetermined conversion rule; and a display unit configured to display by using an image signal that undergoes conversion by the conversion unit. The conversion unit converts a gradation level value corresponding to a term of a predetermined arithmetic progression in accordance with the predetermined conversion rule.

The present invention relates to an image display device, an image display system, and an inspection method.
For example, in an image display device for displaying an image for medical use, it is important to determine whether a gradation level of an image is appropriately displayed. In association with this, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-34255 discloses a technique for displaying a predetermined contrast pattern in such a way that a user can easily determine a degree of deterioration of luminance in an image display device.
However, a reason why a gradation level is not appropriately displayed is not limited to deterioration of luminance in an image display device. In a case where an input/output characteristic of any constituent element present on a signal transmission path from a generation source of an image signal to an image display unit has non-linearity, an image signal of a gradation level value deviated from an original gradation level value is input to the image display unit due to the non-linearity. In a case where an amount of the deviation is small, it is difficult to recognize presence of non-linearity of an input/output characteristic in a signal transmission path only by viewing a displayed image.

Image display device, image display system, and inspection method


A single instance of a session key generation protocol is executed in a manner that generates a plurality of security associations between user equipment and a first network element of a communication system. In one aspect, a first one of the security associations is utilized to secure data sent between the user equipment and the first network element in an ongoing communication. In conjunction with a handoff of the ongoing communication from the first network element to a second network element of the communication system, another one of the security associations is selected, and the other selected security association is utilized to secure data sent between the user equipment and the second network element in the ongoing communication. The security associations may comprise respective sets of session keys derived from a single pairwise master key.

Wireless communication standards continue to evolve. For example, in the cellular context, standards are currently evolving from third generation (3G) standards to fourth generation (4G) standards. The 3G standards include GSM and UMTS standards promulgated by an organization known as the 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) and CDMA2000 standards such as High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) promulgated by an organization referred to as 3GPP2. The 4G standards currently under development by 3GPP are generally referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards. The 3GPP and 3GPP2 specification documents, including, for example, 3GPP2 Specification No. A.S0008-0 v4.0, "Interoperability Specification (IOS) for High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) Radio Access Network Interfaces with Session Control in the Access Network," May 2007, are freely available online and are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
LTE networks will make use of an Internet protocol (IP) based packet core referred to as Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In order to facilitate the transition to LTE networks, 3GPP2 has developed what is referred to as enhanced HRPD (eHRPD), which allows HRPD access networks to utilize the LTE EPC. Such HRPD access networks are also referred to herein as eHRPD access networks.
The eHRPD approach utilizes an HRPD Serving Gateway (HSGW) to interface eHRPD access networks to the LTE EPC. The HSGW provides interworking between the eHRPD access networks and a Packet Data Network (PDN) of the EPC. For example, the HSGW may interface with a PDN gateway (PGW) of the EPC. The HSGW may be implemented as a separate network element, or alternatively may be viewed as comprising or being incorporated into a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) in the access network.
The 3GPP LTE standards generally require the use of a specially-formatted authentication protocol when allowing access to the EPC from a non-3GPP system such as an eHRPD access network. This authentication protocol is carried out between a mobile station or other user equipment associated with the non-3GPP system element and an authentication server of the EPC using an authenticator that in the eHRPD context typically comprises the HSGW. The authentication protocol generally involves key derivation in which keying material is bound to appropriate context information.
Conventional techniques for generating session keys upon successful completion of the authentication protocol are disclosed in 3GPP2 Specification No. C.S0067, "Generic Key Exchange Protocol for cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air Interface," Version 1.0, November 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein. A single iteration or "instance" of the GKE protocol generates single security association based on a Pairwise Master Key (PMK) as well as nonces that are exchanged between the mobile station, also referred to as an "access terminal," and an access network element such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The GKE protocol ensures that the access terminal and the access network element have the same PMK. The PMK may be derived from a Master Session Key (MSK) computed in conjunction with the authentication protocol.
A given instance of the GKE protocol requires a bidirectional exchange of nonces between the access terminal and the RNC. A corresponding session key is generated by applying a cryptographic Key Derivation Function (KDF) to a concatenation of the PMK with an access terminal nonce and an access network nonce.
The above-described conventional techniques can be problematic in the case of handoffs that may occur within a particular session. For example, there may be a handoff of an ongoing call from one base station to another base station as the mobile station moves within the system. It is also possible that there may be a handoff of an ongoing call from one RNC to another RNC, or from one HSGW to another HSGW.
In the case of a handoff from one base station to another, one possible approach is to repeat the authentication and GKE protocols for each such handoff. This is clearly undesirable in that it imposes additional computational burdens and can also introduce significant amounts of delay in completing the handoff.
Another possible approach is to generate one or more secondary session keys from a given primary session key associated with a single instance of the GKE protocol. Although this approach advantageously avoids repeating the authentication protocol and the GKE protocol for each handoff, it can undermine system security, as secondary keys are typically not as cryptographically strong as the primary keys from which they are derived. Furthermore, if the primary keys are compromised, all sets of secondary keys derived from those primary keys will also be compromised.
It is also possible to perform multiple instances of the GKE protocol to generate respective multiple security associations for a given authentication of the mobile station in advance of any handoffs. However, this approach is inefficient and may unduly limit the performance of the system.
A further drawback of conventional practice is that the various techniques mentioned above fail to adequately address the issue of handoffs between other network elements, such as from one RNC to another RNC, or from one HSGW to another HSGW.
Similar problems exist in numerous other communication system contexts, such as any system comprising visited network and home network gateways where mutually authenticated session key agreement protocols are utilized to establish session keys.

Session key generation and distribution with multiple security associations per protocol instance


A film forming apparatus by which property values in a film formed by the AD method can be improved. The film forming apparatus includes: a chamber having a substrate stage for holding a substrate on which a film is to be formed; an aerosol generating unit for generating an aerosol by dispersing a raw material powder into a gas; a magnetic field applying device for applying a magnetic field to a flow path of the aerosol generated by the aerosol generating unit so as to orient crystal orientation in the raw material powder in an aerosol state; and an injection nozzle for spraying the aerosol applied with the magnetic field by the magnetic field applying device to the substrate so as to deposit the raw material powder, in which the crystal orientation is oriented, on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film forming method and a film forming apparatus, and specifically, to a film forming method and a film forming apparatus for spraying and depositing a raw material powder on a substrate or the like.
2. Description of a Related Art
Recent years, a technique of controlling crystal orientation in a solid material such as metal or ceramics in order to control and improve characteristics of the material has been attracting attention. For example, a functional material having an advantageous electric characteristic in a specific direction and a high-strength material strong in bending stress in a specific direction can be fabricated by orienting crystal grains. As a technique of fabricating such a functional material, an orientation control technique of performing treatment such as crystal growth, sol-gel deposition, HIP (hot isostatic pressing), or SIP (non-pressure sintering) in a strong magnetic field is known.
As a related art, Japanese Patent Application Publication JP-P2003-342100A discloses a method of controlling crystal orientation which method requires no pretreatment such as rapid quenching or rolling and is applicable not only to ferromagnetic material but also to non-magnetic metal, ceramics or organic material (page 1). In this method, crystal orientation of a material is controlled by reheating the material to solid-liquid coexistence temperature while applying a strong magnetic field thereto, or agitating the material in a solid-liquid coexistence temperature range in a coagulation process to separate crystal grains, and thereby, creating a condition in which individual crystal grains float in melt and freely rotate so as to rotate the crystal grains in a direction in which magnetization energy becomes the minimum.
Further, JP-P2004-131363A discloses a method of controlling crystal orientation to obtain a ceramics high-order structure having a single-layer or multi-layer, in which ceramics monocrystal particles are highly oriented, simply without requiring a mold or container for casting while enabling control of orientation and layer thickness of monocrystal particles (page 1). This method includes the steps of orienting individual particles in ceramics monocrystal particle suspension, which is formed by charging and dispersing particles in a solvent, by utilizing monocrystal magnetic anisotropy, and applying an electric field to the oriented suspension to deposit charged and oriented ceramic particles.
Furthermore, Uchikoshi et al., "Control of crystalline texture in polycrystalline alumina ceramics by electrophoretic deposition in a strong magnetic field" (J. Mater. Res., Vol. 19, No. 5, May 2004, pp. 1487-1491) discloses a principle of orientation control of a ceramics film by performing electrophoretic deposition in a strong magnetic field (page 1487).
However, according to JP-P2003-342100A or JP-P2004-131363A, since bulk material formation or film formation under high temperature environment or wet condition is mainstream, the steps are large in number, complicated, and troublesome. Further, when the fabricated functional material is applied to a device, a complicated step of forming a film pattern is further required. Accordingly, a method and an apparatus for more simply and easily manufacturing an orientation-controlled material are desired.
By the way, recent years, research on a film forming method called "aerosol deposition method" (hereinafter, also referred to as "AD method") has been conducted. The AD method is a method of forming a thin film on the order of micrometers to a thick film on the order of millimeters by generating an aerosol by dispersing a raw material powder in a gas, injecting it from a nozzle and spraying it on a substrate or the like. Here, the aerosol refers to fine particles of solid or liquid floating in a gas. The AD method is also called "injection deposition method" or "gas deposition method". In the AD method, film formation is performed in a mechanism that the raw material powder injected at a high speed collides against a lower layer, cuts into it and is crushed, and thus formed crushed surfaces adhere to the lower layer. This film formation mechanism is called "mechanochemical reaction", and this reaction enables formation of dense and strong films containing no impurity, at normal temperature and in a dry condition. According to the AD method, since the nozzle is used when the aerosol is injected, a desired pattern can be formed by adjusting the aperture diameter, aperture shape, or the like of the nozzle. Accordingly, new material development utilizing such a special film formation mechanism and adoption in various applications are expected.
However, there is a problem that a film formed by the AD method (hereinafter, also referred to as "AD film") falls short of property values such as piezoelectric performance of a bulk material having the same composition. Accordingly, development of a technique of improving property values of the AD film to surpass those of the bulk material or at least become equal to those of the bulk material is desired.

Film forming method and film forming apparatus


A vehicle transmission shifter assembly including a housing pivotally supporting a shifter lever between Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive and Manual shifter positions. A plurality of gate locations configured upon an underside of the housing and corresponding to each of Park, Reverse, Neutral and Drive gear positions. A gate lock incorporated into the lever and biased against a selected one of the gate locations. A PCB board with processor and sensor integrated into the housing communicating with a motor connected to the shifter lever. Upon the processor determining existence of a return to park condition, a return to park mechanism actuates the motor for returning the shifter lever to the Park position.

The prior art is documented with numerous lever-style shifter mechanisms. A first example is set forth in US 2015/0176704 to Baek et al. which discloses an apparatus for moving a shift lever including an actuator to move the shift lever to a predetermined shift stage by applying a pressure to one side of the lever through a pressing member. A position detection unit detects the position of the pressing member and a control unit drives a driving unit which, in response to a stoppage of the pressing member as determined by the detecting unit, a driving force to the pressing member to eliminate the stoppage of the pressing member.
US 2006/0117893, to Shimizu, teaches a vehicular shift lock device for selectively inhibiting and permitting movement of a shift lever and includes a stopper member pivotable about an axis between a stopping position and a non-stopping position for respectively preventing and permitting a movement of a manually operable member provided to place the shift lock device in its unlocking state.
US 2018/0112772, to Maitre et al., teaches a gear change and selection lever in a mechanical motor vehicle gearbox. A pair of rods are arranged in a coaxial alignment and are separated by a detent ball engagement member extending perpendicularly and inserted into an insert. The engagement member cooperates with a cam in order to index different positions of the lever, the rods and the insert being over molded by a plastic material.
US 2014/0224056, to Beufils, teaches a lever having a trigger that is retractable against a travel limiter for engagement of the reverse gear. The lever is interlocked with a means for being switched from one position, allowing the engagement and selection of gears, to another position for applying the parking brake, with the possibility of selecting and engaging a gear. The lever base has a spherical body equipped with a multi-directional movement capability in a mounting, while being equipped for the engagement and selection of gears.
Other references of note include the rotary selector switch of U.S. Pat. No. 9,620,309 to Hoskins in electrical communication with a vehicle transmission for preventing accidental rotation to an undesired position. U.S. Pat. No. 9,964,204, to Redwood, further discloses an electronic selector switch assembly and method for a vehicle for periodically senses selector knob and transmission gear positions to determine if there is a mismatch, and locks the selector knob position and adjusts the rack position if there is a mismatch.

Lever shifter with auto return to park and lock function