A method for servicing a plasma processing system. The plasma processing system may include a plasma chamber. The plasma chamber may include a top piece and a bottom piece, wherein the top piece may be disposed above the bottom piece. The method may include using a robot device to control a lift mechanism to lift the top piece from the bottom piece. The method may also include extending a first member of the robot device into the top piece to perform a first set of tasks according to a first set of service procedures. The method may also include extending a second member of the robot device into the bottom piece to perform a second set of tasks according to a second set of service procedures.

The present invention relates in general to substrate manufacturing technologies and in particular to an apparatus for servicing a plasma processing system with a robot.
In the processing of a substrate, e.g., a semiconductor wafer or a glass panel such as one used in flat panel display manufacturing, plasma is often employed. As part of the processing of a substrate (chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, etc.) for example, the substrate is divided into a plurality of dies, or rectangular areas, each of which will become an integrated circuit. The substrate is then processed in a series of steps in which materials are selectively removed (etching) and deposited (deposition) in order to form electrical components thereon.
In an exemplary plasma process, a substrate is coated with a thin film of hardened emulsion (such as a photoresist mask) prior to etching. Areas of the hardened emulsion are then selectively removed, causing parts of the underlying layer to become exposed. The substrate is then placed in a plasma processing chamber on a substrate support structure comprising a mono-polar or bi-polar clamping electrode, called a chuck. Appropriate etchant source gases (e.g., C4F8, C4F6, CHF3, CH2F3, CF4, CH3F, C2F4, N2, O2, Ar, Xe, He, H2, NH3, SF6, SO2, BCl3, Cl2, SiCl4 etc.) are then flowed into the chamber and struck to form a plasma to etch exposed areas of the substrate.
However, in the normal course of operation, a plasma processing system may need to be serviced with a set of pre-defined service procedures. For example, the plasma chamber may need to be cleaned, or a plasma chamber part may need to be removed, placed, or aligned. In addition, servicing a plasma processing system may also expose an operator to hazardous duty (i.e., exposure to toxic gases or high temperatures, lifting heavy parts, etc.).
For example, pollutants or byproducts that are detrimental to the substrate may need to be cleaned from plasma chamber surfaces. Generally, volatile byproducts may be easily removed from the plasma chamber by a vacuum system, and hence tend to be less problematic. However, non-volatile byproducts will tend to be deposited on exposed surfaces within the plasma chamber or in the vacuum system. Comprised of organic and inorganic byproducts, these non-volatile byproducts are commonly generated from materials in the etchant gases (e.g., carbon, fluorine, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, xenon, silicon, boron, chlorine, etc.) and from materials in the substrate (e.g. photoresist, silicon, oxygen, nitrogen, aluminum, titanium, copper, platinum, iridium, iron, nickel, tantalum, etc.).
In addition, as physical structures within the chamber (e.g., chuck, chamber walls, etc.) are exposed to the plasma, they also tend to produce additional non-volatile byproducts either from their major constituents or impurities in their structure (e.g., aluminum, nickel, iron, tantalum, yttrium, silicon, carbon, titanium, magnesium, manganese etc.). For example, some components, such as the chuck, may become substantially etched in the process by which pollutants are partially and quickly cleaned from the plasma processing system, by striking the plasma without the substrate in a process called waferless auto clean or WAC. Repeated plasma exposure tends to physically alter structures, such as by surface chemical composition, morphology, physical dimensions, etc. In each case, these eroding atoms typically are volatile and pumped away or redeposit elsewhere in the chamber or on the substrate.
The degree of deposit adhesion to surfaces within the chamber, and hence the subsequent degree of potential contamination, is usually dependent on the specific plasma processing recipe (e.g., chemistry, power, and temperature), the specific operating procedure of the non-processing steps (e.g., substrate transfer methods, vacuum system transitions, periodic in situ cleans etc.), the geometry of the system and substrate components and the initial surface condition of chamber process kits. In general, organic bonds tend to be very strong and adhesive (i.e., C—H, C—C, C═C, C—O, C—N, etc.), since cross-linked relatively stable strictures are created. The addition of metallic atoms from any of the sources mentioned above will often exacerbate the cleaning problem by formation of metallic, metal-organic compounds or metal oxides or mixtures thereof. In addition, when these non-volatile byproducts eventually flake, they may subsequently increase the susceptibility of substrate defects, reduce the mean time between cleaning (MTBC), reduce yield, lead to unacceptable atomic surface contamination on the substrate, etc. For example, depending on the plasma process, conductive film of byproducts may form on plasma chamber interior surfaces which may impact the FW coupling of the plasma source and bias.
In operation, since substantially removing the byproducts may be time consuming, a plasma chamber is generally substantially cleaned only when, or preferably just before, particle contamination levels reach unacceptable levels, when the plasma processing system must be opened to replace a consumable structure (e.g., edge ring, optical access windows, etc.), or as part of scheduled preventive maintenance (PM). In general, experience has shown that servicing plasma processing equipment on a scheduled basis minimizes unscheduled downtime, smoothes production scheduling, improves yields, and extends the intervals between servicing.
In a typical preventive maintenance that includes a set of pre-defined service procedures, the plasma chamber is opened by an operator, wherein structures such as chamber walls, shields, gas distribution rings, showerheads, substrate support assemblies, robotic arms, and other accessible hardware may be either manually cleaned in place by the operator, or removed and replaced with a clean set of components.
Removable plasma chamber components (i.e., chuck, quartz ring, etc.) are often transported to a cleaning station somewhere else in the fabrication facility. Non-removable components (i.e., chamber walls, etc.) by definition cannot be removed, and hence must be physically cleaned at the plasma processing equipment location.
In a typical cleaning process, chamber components are exposed to various cleaning solutions and physically rubbed with a cleaning object (i.e., a sealed-border knitted polyester wiper, an abrasive pad, etc.) in order to remove deposit adhesion. In a common technique, the removable component is exposed to a solution comprising an oxidizer, such as H2O2 and ly rubbed to loosen by-product deposits. The removable component is then rinsed with DI (de-ionized) water, and dried by a filtered inert gas, such as nitrogen. The structure is then ultrasonically cleaned with a keytone reagent, such as acetone, and again periodically rubbed.
Since much of the cleaning process is manual, the effectiveness of the clean is directly related to the skill of the cleaning technician, and the degree to which the technician adheres to the vendor recommended cleaning process. The vendor, having designed the plasma process system, and being aware of stringent part specifications, is generally in the best position to determine the optimum cleaning technique for a given manufacturing process. For example, part specifications may include the material properties of a part in relationship with another part or process parameter, the shape of the part, the power deposition profile between a set of parts for a given period of time, the location of a part within the plasma chamber, the expected wear of the part, temperature and temperature transients, etc.
However, customers may become complacent, or may instead only focus on maximizing equipment production time, and not on the performance of a thorough cleaning, which may amount to many thousands of dollars per hour in lost production time. For examples, operators who are not properly monitored can create problems by modifying the cleaning method, such as by eliminating steps, doing a less than thorough job in cleaning deposit adhesion or attempting to improve the procedure without verifying compatibility or effectiveness with the recommended processes. Subsequently, incomplete or incompatible cleaning can cause the plasma processing system to fail particle checks during substrate processing re-qualification or after processing has resumed, requiring additional unplanned maintenance and downtime.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired an apparatus for servicing a plasma processing system with a robot.

Servicing a plasma processing system with a robot


An apparatus for determining and/or monitoring a physical or chemical process variable of a medium, having a sensor unit, which produces a measurement signal with a piece of process variable-dependent, basic information, and having an evaluation unit which, from the measurement signal of the sensor unit, determines a measured value for the process variable, and which produces an output signal with information concerning whether the measured value is greater or smaller than a limit value. A first and second modulation range are provided, and the evaluation unit modulates the output signal within the first or second modulation range with the basic information of the measurement signal, with the evaluation unit modulating the output signal within the first modulation range when the process variable is smaller than the limit value, and with the evaluation unit modulating the output signal within the second modulation range when the process variable is greater than the limit value.

Limit level switches are manufactured and sold by Endress+Hauser. These involve, for example, so-called oscillation forks, which are excited to oscillate at their resonance frequency. If these sensors interact with the medium, then the frequency and also the amplitude of the oscillations change. In the case of bulk goods, the amplitude is most often considered, while, in the case of liquids, the frequency is more likely to be evaluated. If the fork oscillates freely, then the oscillation frequency is higher than in the condition where the medium covers the fork. Thus, it can be inferred from a reduction of the resonance frequency that a covering of the fork by the medium has occurred, and consequently, that a fill level has been reached by the medium. The contrary applies to the case where a fill level is subceeded, or fallen beneath. Depending on the case, an appropriate switching signal is issued. The limit value itself is dependent on, among other things, the dimensioning of the sensor unit and its installation position.
An output signal is normally produced by such a measuring arrangement, which signal carries the information concerning whether the fill level has been subceeded or exceeded. Thus, from the measurement signal, which carries information concerning the amplitude and the resonance frequency of the sensor, a single piece of information is distilled; that is, it amounts to an information reduction, but with such there is also an information loss. This output signal, indeed, does permit the control of actuators such as pumps, valves, etc., but information, such as e.g. the gradual change of resonance frequency with the amount of covering, can no longer be exploited.

Apparatus for determining and/or monitoring a process variable of a medium


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and a method for testing the same by which the faulty memory device causing the unexpected data rewrite can be surely excluded. The test is carried out to judge whether or not a memory element storing a binary information corresponding to presence or not of an electric charge injected into a floating gate arranged on a semiconductor substrate so as to be electrically isolated therefrom, the semiconductor substrate including a source and a drain formed thereon, can exactly hold the electric charge injected to the floating gate in advance. In the test, an approximately equal voltage is applied to the source and drain as the voltage for drawing out the electric charge held in the floating gate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and a method for testing the same, and more particularly to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device like an erasable and programmable read-only memory (referred to as xe2x80x98EPROMxe2x80x99 hereinafter), the information written to which can be erased by irradiation of ultraviolet rays, or an electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (referred to as xe2x80x98EEPROMxe2x80x99 hereinafter), the information written to which can be electrically erased, and to a method for testing the EPROM or EEPROM.
2. Related Art
In the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device of the type as described above, there are used a lot of memory elements arranged as a matrix, of which each is provided with a floating gate and a control gate as well. The memory elements of this kind vary their threshold values depending on the presence or not of the electric charge injected into their floating gate.
For instance, in the memory element of the n-channel conductive type, the threshold value of the memory element can be made higher by injecting an electron into its floating gate, comparing with that of the memory element to which no electron injection is done. Accordingly, the information respectively stored in the electron injected memory element and the no electron injected memory element can be made out based on the difference between threshold values of these memory elements. For instance, when applying a predetermined gate voltage to the above-mentioned control gate, the data xe2x80x980xe2x80x99 can be read out from the electron injected memory element while the data xe2x80x981xe2x80x99 can be read out from the no electron injected memory element.
However, it would not be always guaranteed that the electric charge once injected into the floating gate of the memory element stably rests therein and the data xe2x80x981xe2x80x99 or xe2x80x980xe2x80x99 never fails to be read out correctly as described above. It might happen that the electric charge injected into the floating gate of the memory element is unexpectedly discharged for some unknown reason. In this case, the whole data are obliged to be rewritten. In order to prevent such an unexpected situation as described above, all the nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices newly coming from the production line are tested to examine if the electric charge injected into the floating gate is discharged or not under the predetermined load condition.
In order to carry out the prior art test of this kind, the electric charge is first injected in advance into the floating gate of all the memory elements. Then, a predetermined voltages are applied respectively to the source, drain and control gate of each electric charge injected memory element, for instance, 4.5V being applied to the drain by making use of the regulator incorporated into the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, 3V to the source by making use of the write voltage for data latch, and 0V to the control gate.
If the electric charge once injected into the floating gate of the memory element is discharged by applying the above-mentioned voltages to the source, drain and control gate of the memory element, the memory element is judged to be a faulty product, and the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device including this faulty memory element is also judged to be a faulty product and is sorted out from normal products.
As described above, in the prior art test method, only a voltage lower than that of the drain was applied to the source of each memory element by making use of the write voltage from the data latch, so that this test method has not always satisfied the demand for the more severe and reliable test for sorting the faulty product. Accordingly, it has been desired to test the memory element under such a severer condition that the higher load is applied thereto, for instance.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a sorting test method capable of much more severely sorting out the faulty memory element than the prior art test method. Another object of the invention is to provide a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device capable of being tested by means of the more severer sorting test method than the prior art one.
In order to achieve the objects as described above, the invention adopts the following constitution.
Basically, the invention is characterized in that, in the test for judging whether or not a memory elements storing a binary information corresponding to the presence or not of an electric charge injected into a floating gate arranged on a semiconductor substrate so as to be electrically isolated therefrom, said semiconductor substrate including a source and a drain formed thereon, can exactly hold the electric charge injected to the floating gate in advance, an approximately equal voltage is applied to the source and drain as the voltage for drawing out the electric charge held in the floating gate.
According to the invention, an approximately equal voltage is applied to the source and drain as a voltage for drawing out the electric charge injected into the floating gate in advance.
Furthermore, the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to the invention includes a power source unit, which makes it easier to carry out the test method according to the invention.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for testing the same


A coiling device for cordage material, having a housing assembled from two half-housing shells, and having a coiling shaft rotatably supported in the housing. The coiling shaft is formed of two half shafts and the two half shafts are insertable from two different sides into the already assembled housing and can be locked to one another form-fittingly, such that the coiling shaft braces the two half housing shells in the finally assembled state.

The invention relates to a coiling device for a cord or other cordage material, and more particularly to a coiling device of the type having a housing that can be put together from two half housing shells and having a coiling shaft that is rotatably supported in the housing.
With cordage material, there is often the problem that the desired, prescribed length deviates from the existing actual length of the cordage material. The term "cordage material" may refer to any conceivable forms of cordage material, in particular yarn, rope, lines, cords, electric cables, cables in general, hoses, and so forth, made of any conceivable material. Electric cables in particular, have the familiar problem that the actual length may differ from the prescribed length. For instance, the length of connecting cables between telephone handsets and the associated wall jacks is standardized. The length of connection cables for computer peripherals or stereo systems is also standardized. If the entire standardized length is not needed for connecting the peripheral, then the cable usually simply lies around, rolled up in a more or less orderly way. Especially with central control units such as the central processing unit of a personal computer or the tuner of a stereo system, a number of different cables must often be connected. These are usually too long and are simply stuffed behind the unit. The cables usually become entangled with one another, making a so-called "cable salad" behind the unit. If one line has to be removed or replaced afterward, then all the cables have to be untangled first, and the right cable has to be looked for. This is not only very time-consuming but also often requires great patience.
Even with only temporarily set-up equipment, the actual length of the power and control cables often differs from the required prescribed length. This can lead in turn to the aforementioned disorder among the various cables. There is also the danger that innocent passersby may trip on overly long cables that are lying around and may injure themselves seriously. Aside from possible damage to the interconnected technical equipment, this snarelike effect also entails the risk of injury to the person who trips, as well as a liability risk for the system operator.
For shortening the cordage material from its actual length to a desired prescribed length, a coiling device for cordage material is known from EP 180 883. In this coiler, a rotatable coiling shaft is rotatably supported between the ends of a housing drum. The coiling shaft is provided with a restoring spring that drives it to rotate and that acts with its spring force upon the coiling shaft. Because of the spring force acting upon the coiling shaft, the coiling shaft rotates and coils the cordage material up on itself. One disadvantage of this device is its complex assembly. The cordage material first has to be threaded onto the coiling shaft, and in a further operation, the housing has to be firmly closed in a complicated way.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,865,071 discloses another winding device, in which the winding shaft is molded onto a housing part. The winding shaft comprises two spring arms and forms a snap closure with a further housing drum that can be slipped onto it. With this device as well, the cordage material must first be threaded into the winding shaft, and the entering or leaving cord must be threaded into the associated openings of the housing drum, before the housing drum can be securely locked into place. There is also the danger in this device that the resultant cordage winding may not distribute itself uniformly over the entire axial length of the winding shaft, but that instead a cord winding of large diameter may form very rapidly at one point, so that the full holding capacity of the device cannot be used.


Applicant provides a novel liquified booster pump. The pump takes high pressure boosted gas to a higher pressure. The pump is a pneumatically driven liquified gas booster pump with a shuttle valve enclosed within a body of the pump. Furthermore, the gas which is use to be boosted is carried from an inlet on the body of the pump to an outlet on the body of the pump, the boosted gas being carried entirely within the body of the pump with no external tubing. The pneumatically driven booster pump has a double ended piston within the central body and at least one shuttle valve incorporated in the piston for transferring gas from one side of the piston to the other.

An pneumatically driven liquified gas booster pump, more specifically described as a gas booster pump in which a shuttle valve is enclosed within the body of the pump and in which the driven or boosted gas is carried from an inlet to an outlet while entirely within the body of the pump. cl BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Applicant provides novelty in a liquified booster pump. The function of a booster pump is to take high pressure gas and boost it to a higher pressure. This is sometimes beneficial in handling liquified gas such as liquified CO2 or NO2 in the fire extinguishing industry, air conditioning industry, paint ball, beverage, automotive, motorcycle and industrial gas industry.
All booster pumps have a high pressure inlet and a higher pressure (boosted) outlet. All booster pumps contain some sort of check valves. Some booster pumps use a double acting piston which boosts the inlet pressure on both strokes (2 boosts or 2 strokes in one complete cycle). With a balanced pump, working on both strokes of the same cycle, greater efficiency is typically realized.
Applicant""s pneumatically driven liquified gas booster pump includes a piston body which piston body includes a shuttle valve enclosed within the body for controlling the drive gas and also includes internal boosted gas supply and transfer passages. Prior art booster pumps would typically have external boosted gas supply passages and external shuttle valves. Applicants booster pump also includes unique cartridge style double check valves within the body thereof for moving the gas to be boosted from an inlet to an outlet.
The way in which Applicant""s booster pump works is that a piston is driven by a drive gas, which piston engages a pair of chambers in fluid communication with the gas to be boosted. On a double acting, balanced booster pump the drive gas is shuttled from one side to the other side of the primary piston. A primary piston face, is say, 4 sq. inches. The secondary or booster piston faces are smaller, say 1 sq.inch, resulting in a quadrupling of the force applied to the primary piston face. For example, if the drive gas pressure is 100 p.s.i. acting on 4 sq.inches of primary piston face, an increase to 400 p.s.i. is realized on the boosted gas.
Applicant uses a cartridge style double check valve that encloses the springs, balls and other elements of the double check valve within a cartridge, which cartridge will drop into the housing with xe2x80x9coxe2x80x9d rings between the body of the booster pump and the double acting check valve so that all the gas must flow through the body of the double check valve. This saves machining on the body of the pump.
Applicant also provides an externally or manually operated shuttle valve reset assembly in case the shuttle valve is locked in an xe2x80x9cin betweenxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstalledxe2x80x9d position, and provides also a momentary on-off switch.
Applicant further provides, as part of a booster pump system, a fill valve, to provide boosted gas pressure to a container such as a fire extinguisher cylinder.
Large tanks of high pressure liquified gas, called mother tanks, are often used to fill smaller tanks, or nurse tanks. For example, a mother tank of CO2 may be used to fill many smaller fire extinguishers. Likewise, a large NO2 tank may be used to fill many smaller NO2 tnaks.
In such a system, the weight of the nurse bottle is often used to determine if it has been filled. For example, it may be known that a specific bottle type will weight 15 Lbs. when filled with NO2. When being filled from a mother bottle a booster pump may be used between the mother bottle and the nurse bottle. Periodic weighing of the nurse bottle during the filling process is required, often with the operator visually reading the weight from a scale and adding more gas as needed.
Applicant has further provided a consolidated system by joining a scale with a meter head display, in a package with the booster, hoses and valve.

Pneumatically driven liquified gas booster pump


A six-coordinated ruthenium complex is represented by the following formula (I):RuL1L2L3  (I)                wherein L1 represents a 2,2′-bipyridine-based bidentate ligand having at least two functional groups selected from COOH, a carboxylate group and the combination thereof; and L2 and L3 independently represent a 1-(haloalkylpyrazole)-isoquinoline-based bidentate ligand of formula (II) or formula (III).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a six-coordinated ruthenium complex which is suitable for use as a dye in a dye-sensitized solar cell, more particularly to a six-coordinated ruthenium complex which includes a 1-(haloalkylpyrazole)-isoquinoline-based bidentate ligand.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, solar cells have been developed with the increasing demand for energy. In particular, the dye-sensitized solar cells have shown most promise among solar cells. The dye-sensitized solar cells absorb visible light and near infrared light to excite electrons. The excited electrons are effectively transferred to a conduction band of a semiconductor electrode in the dye-sensitized solar cells to generate a photocurrent. Therefore, the property of a dye used in the dye-sensitized solar cells would affect directly the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cell. At present, the ruthenium complex is the main target of research for the dye in the solar cell.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0277841 A1 discloses a photosensitizer represented by the following formula (a):RuXYZ  (a)
wherein Ru is ruthenium; X, Y, and Z independently represent a bidentate heterocyclic ligand; X has a structure represented by the following formula (b); Y has a structure represented by the following formula (b), (c), (d), or (e); and Z has a structure represented by the following formula (c), (d), or (e).

In the formulas (a), (b), (c), and (d), Ra, Rb, Rc, Rd, Re, Rf, Rg, Rh, Ri, Rj, Rk, Rl, Rm, Rn, Ro, Rp, Rq, and Rr are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, an aryl group, an alkenyl group, a C1-C20 alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an alkynyl group, CN, CF3, an alkylamino group, an amino group, an alkoxy group, a heteroaryl group, a halogen substituted aryl group, a haloalkyl substituted aryl group, a haloalkyl substituted aromatic group, and an aryl substituted C1-C20 alkyl group.
In the aforesaid publication, a photosensitizer represented by the following formula (o) is disclosed:

When the photosensitizer of formula (o) is used in the dye-sensitized solar cell, the dye-sensitized solar cell has 12.7 mAcm−2 of short circuit current density and 7.84% of photoelectric conversion efficiency. However, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the conventional dye-sensitized solar cell still cannot satisfy the demand in the industry.


The coaxial engine starter of the present invention comprises an electric motor having a rotary armature shaft and a yoke, a solenoid switch disposed behind the electric motor, an output rotary shaft disposed in front of the electric motor in an axially aligned relationship, and a planetary speed reduction gear disposed in front of and in axial alignment with the electric motor. The planetary speed reduction gear comprises a sun gear disposed on the motor armature shaft, a plurality of planetary gears disposed around the sun gear and an inner gear disposed around the planetary gears. The output rotary shaft has mounted thereon a pinion gear for engaging with an engine ring gear to be driven. The coaxial engine starter further comprises a front bracket assembly including a housing made of a resin material, the housing rotatably supporting the output rotary shaft and having integrally formed therein the inner gear of the planetary speed reduction gear, and a metallic mounting flange disposed around the housing for mounting the coaxial engine starter to the engine, the mounting flange being in direct electrical contact with the motor yoke.

This invention relates to a coaxial engine starter and, more particularly, to a coaxial engine starter in which a solenoid switch, an electric motor and a pinion for driving an engine are axially aligned.
According to the conventional coaxial engine starter 10 shown in FIG. 1, a d.c. electric motor 1 has a hollow armature rotary shaft 2 and a plunger rod 4 of a solenoid switch 3 positioned at the rear end of the d.c. motor 1 is inserted into an inner passage 2a of the armature rotary shaft 2 so that the inserted front end of the plunger rod 4 abuts against the rear end of an output rotary shaft 5 coaxially disposed at the front end of the armature rotary shaft 2 and inserted into the inner passage 2a of the armature rotary shaft 2, whereby the output rotary shaft 5 can be pushed forward.
It is seen that a sun gear 10a is formed on the outer circumference of the front end of the armature rotary shaft 2 and a plurality of planetary gears 10b are in mesh with the sun gear 10a. These planetary gears 10b also mesh with an inner gear 9 formed in the inner circumferential surface of a front frame 13 and are rotatably supported by shafts 11 secured on a carrier 8. The sun gear 10a, the planetary gears 10b, the inner gear 9, the shafts 11 and the carrier 8 together constitute a planetary speed reduction gear 10 which reduces the rotational speed of the armature rotary shaft 2.
On the output rotary shaft 5, an over-running clutch 8 is fitted, of which a clutch inner member 8b is engaged with the output rotary shaft 5 by helical splines 5c of spline formation portion 5b having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the inner passage 2a of the armature rotary shaft 2, so that the output rotary shaft 5 is allowed to axially slide while being rotated by the clutch inner member 8b. On the front end of the output rotary shaft 5, a pinion 6 which engages and disengages an engine ring gear (not shown) is mounted. When the output rotary shaft 5 is moved forward, the pinion 6 meshes with the engine ring gear to rotate the engine.
However, in the coaxial engine starter of the above construction, the front bracket 13 through which the starter is mounted to the engine is made of a metallic material such as die-cast aluminum alloy and has formed therein an inner gear 9 of the planetary speed reduction gear 10. Therefore, in order to constrict precision gear teeth to the inner gear 9, precise machining must be achieved to the front bracket 13. Also, another machining must be carried out to form a receptacle 14 for receiving and supporting a bearing 15 in the front bracket 13 as well as a stepped or a spigot joint between the front bracket 13 and the motor yoke 1. Further, the above-mentioned machining must be achieved for different front brackets of various design for different models or types of the engines to which the starter is to be mounted. Therefore, the number of manufacturing steps and the number of the kinds of parts are large.
Moreover, the front bracket 13, which supports the severe impacts on the bearing 15 upon the engagement of the pinion 6 into the engine ring gear and the hitting of the pinion 6 against the rotating engine ring gear, is entirely made of rigid metal which has substantially no shock-absorbing function. Therefore, the engine ring gear may be damaged or destroyed by the above mechanical impacts. Also, since the front bracket 13 is made of metal, the overall weight of the starter is relatively large, and the inner gear 9 formed in the front bracket 13 makes high metallic noise which degrades value as a commercial product.


A retaining member in plastic, suited for retaining at least one line on a support, includes a basic body with a mounting area for mounting on the support and retaining area projecting from at least one side of the mounting area with at least one line seating for at least one line, and a resilient contact area projecting from the side of the mounting area that requires to be placed on the support.

When pipes, flexible tubes, and other lines through which pressure pulses are transmitted are mounted on a support by means of retaining members it is desirable to isolate the pressure pulses from the support. For example, this problem occurs in mounting brake lines on the body-in-white sheets of motor vehicles. Here, the transmission of pressure surges can cause vibrations in the audible range which can even be intensified by resonant bodies existing in the motor vehicle. Avoiding the transmission of the pressure surges onto the support from the lines is also called "acoustic isolation" in this application.
DE 40 34 545 A1 has made known a two-piece retaining member of a plastic for holding at least one tubular component that has an outer cup of a hard material mountable on a support via a retaining area and an inner cup of a soft material inserted therein which has at least one bearing point to receive the tubular component. To prevent the transmission of vibrations onto a support via the tubular component, the inner cup is mounted on the outer cup via an anchoring device on either side of the bearing point and a continuous clearance exists between the inner cup and the outer cup in the area of the bearing point.
EP 0 483 636 B1 has made known a retaining member of a plastic which has at least one bearing area disposed next to a retaining area for receiving at least one tubular component. To prevent the transmission of vibrations of a tubular component onto a support, the retaining member is of a three-piece design including a first part of hard material which exhibits the bearing area, a second part of a soft, damping material which is embedded therein, and a third part of a hard material which is embedded therein via a through hole and exhibits the retaining area.
The known retaining members still leave a great deal to be desired with regard to the isolation of the pressure surges transmitted from the support via the lines.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mobile-to-mobile payment method and system are presented. One or more payor messages are received at a payment server from a mobile device associated with a payor. The one or more payor messages include an identifier of a payee and an amount. The identifier of the payee is associated with a payee account, and the mobile device is associated with a payer account. The payment server executes a transfer of funds of the amount from the payor account to the payee account.

This disclosure relates generally to mobile computing applications, and more particularly to techniques for employing a credit device processor on a mobile device such as a cellular phone.
Currently, there is no credit device processor on a mobile device such as cellular phone. A credit device processor can process transactions using a credit device such as a credit card. Thus, many consumers are currently having to write a paper check, wire funds, or send payments for something via mail, which includes electronic mail as well as regular mail. Many, if not all, of these payment schemes include transaction fees.
What is needed is a cost-effective and convenient way for payments to be made from one mobile device to another, whether such mobile-to-mobile arrangement is a business-to-business (B2B), a business-to-consumer (B2C), or consumer-to-consumer (C2C).

Mobile-to-mobile payment system and method


An image correction method includes the steps of: acquiring a black-side intermediate luminance distribution as a luminance distribution in a region between a lowest luminance in a given intermediate luminance region in a luminance distribution of input image data in an image frame and a reference luminance provided in the center of the intermediate luminance region; determining a low-luminance-region input/output characteristic curve on the basis of the acquired black-side intermediate luminance distribution, the low-luminance-region input/output characteristic curve passing through a reference point, in the reference input/output characteristic line, determined in accordance with the reference luminance and through a minimum luminance point of the reference input/output characteristic line; and executing image correction on input image data having a luminance which is lower than the reference luminance on the basis of the determined low-luminance-region input/output characteristic curve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image correction circuit having a function of performing a correction process on an image signal, an image correction method and an image display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses such as television receivers, VCRs (Video Caccette Recorders), digital cameras, television cameras or printers typically have an image processing function which makes image quality correction to an input image, and then outputs the input image (for example, functions such as luminance or contrast control, and contour correction). Such a function is effectively applied mainly to a totally dark and low-contrast image or a blurred image.
Among these functions, in general, the contrast control is performed by correcting a gamma curve which represents so-called gamma characteristics, and as an example, there is a method of using a luminance distribution as the histogram distribution of an input image. More specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 14A, in the case where a luminance distribution (a luminance distribution 106A) is distributed in a low luminance region (a black level region), for example, as shown in FIG. 14B, a gamma curve is corrected from L101 to L102. Likewise, for example, as shown in FIG. 15A, in the case where a luminance distribution (a luminance distribution 106B) is distributed in a high luminance region (a white level region), for example, as shown in FIG. 15B, a gamma curve is corrected from L101 to L103, and, for example, as shown in FIG. 16A, in the case where a luminance distribution (a luminance distribution 106C) is distributed in an intermediate luminance region, for example, as shown in FIG. 16B, a gamma curve is corrected from L101 to L104. In addition, the amount of correction which is set at each luminance level at the time of correcting the gamma curve is called gain.
Moreover, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006-93753 and 2005-175933, there are disclosed contrast improvement methods in which the luminance distribution of an input image is detected as a histogram distribution, and a gamma curve is corrected at each distribution peak on the basis of the luminance histogram distribution.

Image correction circuit, image correction method and image display


A novel process for effectively preparing an optically active cyanohydrin comprising asymmetrically cyanating an aldehyde by reacting the aldehyde with a cyanating agent in the presence of a titanate of an optically active tartaric acid derivative.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing an optically active cyano compound. More particularly, it relates to a process for preparing an optically active cyanohydrin by a novel asymmetric cyanation reaction.
Cyanohydrin is a useful compound in a synthesis of an optically active compound with physiological activity such as a medicine and an agricultural chemical and used as a precursor of .alpha.-hydroxy acid or .beta.-aminoalcohol and an intermediate in the synthesis of pyrethroid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An optically active cyanohydrin has been studied for a long time in view of an asymmetric synthesis, and many synthetic methods such as biochemical methods and a chemical asymmetric syntheses have been developed. However, none of them is industrially successful.
Among the biochemical methods, those utilizing an enzyme in a stereospecific addition of hydrogen cyanide to an aldehyde include (1) a method using emulsin [Fermentforschung, 5, 334 (1922)] and (2) a method using D-oxynitrilase [Angew. Chem., 77, 1139 (1965)], and enzymatic recemic resolution includes (3) a method comprising enzymatic asymmetric hydrolysis of an ester of racemic cyanohydrin with a carboxylic acid which is prepared by a usual chemical synthesis.
Amont the chemical asymmetric synthesis, those comprising asymmetric addition of hydrogen cyanide to an aldehyde in the presence of a basic asymmetric catalyst include (4) a method using a natrual alkaloid such as quinine and quinidine [Biochem. Z., 249, 241 (1932)], (5) a method using optically active polyaziridine [Bull. Chem. Soc. Japan, 38, 354 (1965)], (6) a method using an optically active quaternary ammonium salt phase transfer catalyst [Tetrahedron Letters, 2171 (1979)] and (7) a method using a cyclic peptide including hystidine [J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 229 (1981)]. Other known methods are (8) a method comprising reacting trimethylsilylcyanide with an optically active acetal of an aldehyde followed by oxidization to cause .beta.-elimination to asymmetrically produce a cyanohydrin [Tetrahedron Letters, 591 (1984)] and (9) a method comprising forming an inclusion compound of brucine and racemic cyanohydrin and accelerating conversion of racemic cyanohydrin to thermodynamically stable one [Chemistry Letters, 661 (1983)].
Although many methods for the synthesis of optically active cyanohydrin have been studied and proposed as described above, all of them have their own drawbacks. For example, the methods (1), (4), (5) and (6) produce a desired product with very low optical purity, the method (2) produces the product with good optical purity but only D-form ((R)-configuration), and the method (3) has difficulty in recovering an unreacted enantiomer. In the methods using the basic asymmetric catalyst, generally the produced cyanohydrin tends to be racemized by the basic catalyst and optical purity of the product decreases as the conversion is increased. Further, the production of the catalysts used in the methods (5) (6) and (7) is difficult.
The method (8) requires troublesome steps and consumes an expensive asymmetric source, and the method (9) can produce only a specific kind of cyanohydrin.

Process for preparing optically active cyano compound

Kanegafuchi Chemical Industry, Co., Ltd.


In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus, comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: select at least two relay stations from a plurality of relay stations; determine a transmission mode for cooperatively forwarding a data packet by the selected relay stations; schedule a resource allocation for the selected relay stations based at least in part on the transmission mode; and notify the selected relay stations of the resource allocation, is disclosed.

Wireless communications networks typically include one or more communications stations, generally called base stations, each communicating with its subscribers, also called mobile stations. Communication link from the mobile station to the base station is typically called uplink (UL) and communication link from the base station to the mobile station is typically called downlink (DL).
Cellular mobile communication networks use bidirectional communication between the base station and the mobile stations. It may be difficult to provide high data rates throughout a cell, particularly at the cell edge, due to factors such as wireless link degradation. One way to address this problem is reduction of the range of the cell, but it may lead to additional costs.
Relaying is generally considered as a method to ensure capacity improvement and coverage extension in cellular networks. Relaying technique is an ongoing topic in the 3GPP (third generation partnership project) LTE (long term evolution) standardization forum and the WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) IEEE 802.16 (IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks Part 16: Air interface for fixed and mobile broadband wireless access systems) standardization forum.
Relaying is realized through relay stations, such as fixed relay stations and/or mobile relay stations, between a base station and its mobile stations. The relay stations have an advantage in that they may not need the intelligence of the base station or connections to the backbone networks, yet still can contribute to the communication. The interpretation of several relay stations as a virtual antenna array allows the utilization of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology without requiring physical multiple antennas at a relay station (RS).
Communication link from the mobile station to the base station through the relay station is typically called uplink relay link (UL relay link) and communication link from the base station to the mobile station through the relay station is typically called downlink relay link (DL relay link).
Spatial multiplexing (SM) is a MIMO technique in which multiple data streams are transmitted at the same frequency but over different spatial channels. Space time block coding (STBC) is another MIMO technique in which multiple copies of one data stream are transmitted over a number of antennas. In STBC, a receiver combines the copies of the received signal in an optimal way to extract as much information as possible. Generally, SM requires a higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) for a successful receiving compared with STBC.
Cooperative relay may further enhance the performance of a relay-based system by treating the antennas of different relay stations (RS(s)) as a part of an antenna array, and applying the multi-antenna techniques among several RS(s). By properly coordinating the transmitted signals from several RS(s), a multi-antenna processing gain may be achieved, which may significantly improve the link quality, data rate and coverage of a relay-based system.
A cooperative hop-by-hop hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) scheme is disclosed in an IEEE technical document "IEEE C802.16m-08/1279, Co-operative HARQ for IEEE802.16m: UL mode". It proposes that the RS select a single RS to forward a data packet for the mobile station in a non-cooperative manner.

Method and apparatus for transmission mode selection in cooperative relay


An image processor includes an identifying unit, a first correcting unit, and a second correcting unit. The identifying unit identifies a white point value of an image represented by first image data. The white point value indicates a first color temperature. The first correcting unit performs a white balance correction on the first image data such that the white point value approaches a target white point value. The target white point value indicates a second color temperature. The second correcting unit performs a brightness correction for correcting the first image data corrected by the first correcting unit into second image data such that an image corresponding to the second image data is brighter as the second color temperature is higher than the first color temperature and such that the image corresponding to the second image data is darker as the second color temperature is lower than the first color temperature.

Various studies have been conducted on how different ambient lights (artificial and natural lights) affect humans differently. This effect, often called the Kruithof effect, indicates the psychological effect that ambient light has on humans. As shown in the graph of FIG. 6, light with a low color temperature is not pleasing to humans at high intensities, but is pleasing at low intensities. On the other hand, light with a high color temperature is not pleasing to humans at low intensities, but is pleasing at high intensities. Thus, the range of light intensities considered to provide pleasing illumination differs according to the color temperature of the ambient light. In FIG. 6, "A" indicates an incandescent lighting, "B" indicates a fluorescent lighting (warm white), "C" indicates a fluorescent lighting (white), "D" indicates a fluorescent lighting (cool white), and "E" indicates a fluorescent lighting (daylight).
Some conventional lighting fixtures have accounted for this Kruithof effect. For example, one such lighting fixture can emit light in a plurality of white colors, such as daylight, cool white, white, warm white, and extra warm white through a combination of blue LEDs having a high color temperature and yellow LEDs having a low color temperature. The lighting fixture produces the different white colors by adjusting the light intensity produced by the blue LEDs while keeping the intensity of the yellow LEDs fixed. Hence, the light intensity of the lighting fixture increases when the intensity of the blue LEDs increases (i.e., when the color temperature rises).

Image processor for correcting image data


A DC voltage value from a DC voltage detection section is input directly to a voltage correction section without passing through a compensator or a filter. Therefore, even when rapid voltage change occurs, such as short power interruptions, instantaneous voltage drop and return from instantaneous voltage drop, the voltage correction section can quickly perform the correction operation in response to the rapid voltage change. Since the amount of link resonance compensation is limited by the limitation section to a certain range, it is possible to prevent the amount of link resonance compensation from fluctuating excessively upon rapid voltage change. Since the amount of link resonance compensation which is limited by the limitation section to a certain range is input to one compensator that has an appropriate control band, among all control calculation sections, the response does not have to be unnecessarily fast, thus realizing a stable control.

Typically, a voltage-fed inverter having a filter capacitor in the DC link section performs a constant output voltage control for reducing fluctuation of the output voltage due to fluctuation of the DC input voltage. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional inverter device for performing the constant output voltage control. Note that the control system is shown simplified in FIG. 1. While an output current detection section (160) is provided between an inverter section (140) and a motor (150), the configuration may be any configuration as long as the current output to the motor (150) can be detected, and it may for example be a configuration where a shunt resistor is provided in the DC link section so as to detect the current.
The inverter device of FIG. 1 includes an inverter control section (200) which is a control section. The inverter control section (200) performs a correction by a voltage correction section (202) so that the output voltage is not influenced by the fluctuation of the DC voltage input to the inverter section (140). Specifically, the DC voltage value input to the inverter section (140) is detected by a DC voltage detection section (210) and given to the voltage correction section (202). The voltage correction section (202) performs a voltage correction by dividing the voltage command value by the DC voltage value (see, for example, conventional examples of Patent Documents 1 and 2).
A PWM calculation section (203) calculates a control signal for PWM control of the inverter section (140) based on the voltage command value from the voltage correction section (202), and the switching element of the inverter section (140) is turned ON/OFF in response to the control signal.
FIG. 1 shows a control system which assumes a synchronous motor as the motor (150). The control of the synchronous motor is typically performed based on a motor model which has been coordinate-converted onto the d-q coordinate system. [Expression 1] shows the equation of state of the synchronous motor which has been coordinate-converted onto the d-q coordinate system.νd=(R+sLd)id−ωLqiq νq=(R+sLd)iq+ωLdid+ωφa  [Expression 1]
A speed controller (204) and a current controller (206) perform PI control, for example. [Expression 2] shows the transfer function of the current controller (206) where PI control is performed.
                                          v            d            *                    =                                                                                K                    id                                                                          (                                          1                      +                                              1                                                                              T                            id                                                    ·                          s                                                                                )                                                                    ︸                                      PI                                                                                COMPENSATOR                                                                                (                                                      i                    d                    *                                    -                                      i                    d                                                  )                                      -                                          ω                                                                                L                  q                                                                  i                  q                                                            ︸                                                      NON                                                              -                                                            INTERFERING                                    CONTROL                                                                                v            q            *                    =                                                                                K                    iq                                                                          (                                          1                      +                                              1                                                                              T                            iq                                                    ·                          s                                                                                )                                                                    ︸                                      PI                                                                                COMPENSATOR                                                                                (                                                      i                    q                    *                                    -                                      i                    q                                                  )                                      +                                                            ω                                                                                L                    d                                                                          i                    d                                                  +                                  ωϕ                  a                                                            ︸                                                      NON                                                              -                                                            INTERFERING                                    CONTROL                                                                                [                  Expression                                                              2                ]
For example, a current vector controller (205) performs id*=0 control, maximum torque control, flux-weakening control, etc. (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
Typically, the control band of a current control system formed by the current controller (206) is set to be greater than that of a speed control system formed by the speed controller (204). With a driving motor of a compressor, for example, it is often the case that the control band of the speed control system is set to about 10 Hz and the control band of the current control system to about 200 Hz. Arithmetic operations that need to be controlled at higher speed need to be performed without the intervention of the speed control system or the current control system, and the voltage correction operation by the voltage correction section (202) shown in FIG. 1 is one of these operations.
Now, the voltage correction performed by the voltage correction section (202) will be described in detail.
[Expression 3] shows the output voltage (average voltage value) V− in a case where the inverter section (140) is PWM-controlled with a carrier period T and a pulse width τ under the DC input voltage VDC (see FIG. 2).
                              V          _                =                              1            T                                          (                                          V                DC                            ×              τ                        )                                              [                  Expression                                                              3                ]
The pulse width τ is obtained by [Expression 4] so that the output voltage V− and the output command voltage V* are equal to each other irrespective of the DC input voltage VDC. In this expression, by dividing V* by VDC, a voltage correction is performed so that the output voltage V− does not fluctuate (herein, the operation of dividing by VDC is referred to as a voltage correction). With such an operation, it is possible to reduce the fluctuation of the output voltage V− to the fluctuation of VDC.
                    τ        =                                            V              *                                      V              DC                                          T                                    [                  Expression                                                              4                ]
Here, assuming that the value of the current input to the inverter section (140) is IDC, the input power Pin is as follows.Pin=VDCIDC
The output power Pout of the inverter section (140) is controlled at a constant value through the voltage correction by the voltage correction section (202), and the following holds.
Pin=Pout=P (constant) [note that loss at inverter section (140) is ignored]
Thus, the input current is IDC=P/VDC.
Therefore, the input voltage VDC and the input current IDC of the inverter section (140) are in such a relationship that IDC decreases as VDC increases, and IDC increases as VDC decreases. That is, where the constant output voltage control is performed, the inverter section (140), as viewed from the input side, exhibits characteristics of a negative resistor.
On the other hand, an LC filter including a reactor (120) and a capacitor (130) may undergo a phenomenon (link resonance) where it resonates at a resonance frequency f0 shown in [Expression 5].
                              f          0                =                  1                      2                        π                                      LC                                                          [                  Expression                                                              5                ]
In order to reduce the link resonance, a control needs to be performed where the output of the inverter section (140) is increased so as to reduce the increase of VDC when VDC is increasing whereas the output of the inverter section (140) is reduced so as to reduce the decrease of VDC when VDC is decreasing, i.e., a control such that IDC increases when VDC increases whereas IDC decreases when VDC decreases. However, if the constant output voltage control described above is performed, the link resonance cannot be reduced because a correction is performed by the voltage correction section (202) in the opposite direction to reducing the link resonance (VDC increase→IDC decrease, VDC decrease→IDC increase).

Inverter control device and power conversion device


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device providing insulation between a plurality of MOS transistors without device isolation regions. The method includes forming a first insulation layer on a substrate, exposing a portion of the substrate by etching the first insulation layer using a resist, growing an epitaxial layer on the exposed portion of the substrate, removing the patterned first insulation layer, and forming transistors on the substrate and epitaxial layer, respectively. The epitaxial layer is grown to a degree that an upper surface of the epitaxial layer is higher than that of the substrate.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including a plurality of MOS transistors that are separately formed in levels of a structure having height differences.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Since semiconductor devices have been highly integrated, a plurality of MOS transistors have been formed on a single wafer. Such MOS transistors are separated by an isolation layer, and such an isolation layer may be formed by using a shallow trench insulation (STI) or local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) structure.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method of forming a plurality of MOS transistors on a semiconductor device.
As shown in FIG. 1, three MOS transistors 20, 30, and 40 are formed on a substrate 10, and STI structures 13 and 15 are formed between each transistor.
In order to form the STI structures 13 and 15, a nitride layer (not shown) and a resist are firstly formed on the substrate 10, and then the resist is patterned. The nitride layer is dry-etched by using the patterned resist as an etch mask, and then the substrate 10 is etched by using the etched nitride layer as an etch mask. After depositing an oxide layer on such a trench and an entire surface of the substrate 10, the STI structures 13 and 15 are finally formed by removing the oxide layer and nitride layer on the surface of the substrate through a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process.
Consequently, device isolation regions are separated from active regions in which MOS transistors will be formed.
Thereafter, MOS transistors 20, 30, and 40 are formed by performing a general formation process of a MOS transistor.
However, when transistors are separated by using an STI structure, an additional device isolation region is required to form the STI structure. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, a moat A can be created at edges of the STI structures 13 and 15 during a CMP process for forming the STI structures 13 and 15.
Such a moat may induce a hump phenomenon and an inverse narrow width effect (INWE) in a semiconductor device, and it may induce an abnormal operation of a semiconductor device. Therefore, higher integration of a semiconductor device cannot be easily accomplished because additional spaces are necessary for insulating such a moat, and manufacturing costs can be increased because additional processes are required for insulating such a moat.
The above information described in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form prior art with respect to the present invention.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A system for trans-horizon tropospheric-based wireless communication is provided. The system provides high availability and capacity as compared to a line-of-sight (LOS) standard microwave radio link while using very low height antenna towers. The system includes n×n MIMO transceiver circuitry and two or more antennas and adaptive modulation and demodulation in response to slow varying pathloss. Each of the two or more antennas is located at a vertical height above an average sea mean level within the evaporation duct. Availability percentage for different pathloss ranges along with adaptive modulation contributes to the overall availability according to the varying evaporation duct height.

Wireless communication requires a transmitter, a receiver and a communication channel. Wireless communication beyond line-of-sight (LOS) is generally not possible over either land or sea. Over land, the communication link can be extended by repeaters and landline connections to increase the range for trans-horizon distances. Over the sea or the ocean or any large bodies of water (such as large lakes), however, such infrastructure is nonexistent due to difficulty of installations in the water. While line-of-sight based wireless communication using microwave radio can be established over the ocean, prohibitively high cost infrastructure is required in the middle of the ocean for extending trans-horizon wireless communication.
Satellite communication can facilitate such communication, however, over the sea, there are serious limitations such as high cost, data rate and traffic limitations and availability.
Recently, tropospheric-based trans-horizon wireless communication has been proposed using the evaporation duct. Some previous experiments and research in this area show promising results. However, such systems have been unable to show establishment of neither a reliable communication link nor a high data rate throughput which can match a satellite or a LOS microwave-based broadband link.
Thus, what is needed is a method and systems for trans-horizon wireless communication using the tropospheric evaporation duct which at least partially overcomes the drawbacks of present approaches and provides a communication link with very low outages and very high data rate throughput. If reliability and capacity available of such system can match the existing LOS technologies, then it can be used as an alternate wireless communication link requiring remarkably less infrastructure within the sea or the ocean. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the disclosure.

Trans-horizon wireless communication system using the tropospheric evaporation duct


High reliability is achieved with a protected state guaranteed for housings with reinforcing brackets being rigid to be free from displacement and misorientation. A connector includes: a connector body; a terminal installed in the connector body; and a reinforcing bracket fit to the connector body. The connector body includes a recess in which a mating connector body of a mating connector fits, and an insular part that is in the recess and fits in a groove part of the mating connector body. The reinforcing bracket includes an inner reinforcing bracket fit to an insular end part that is an end portion of the insular part in a longitudinal direction. The inner reinforcing bracket includes a body part that is disposed on an upper surface of the insular end part, an end plate that is connected to the body part and is disposed on an end surface of the insular end part, a pair of side plates that are connected to right and left ends of the body part and are disposed on right and left side surfaces of the insular end part, and a pair of connecting legs that are each connected to a lower end of a corresponding one of the side plates and extend outward in a right and left direction of the connector body.

Conventionally, connectors such as board to board connectors, etc., have been used to electrically connect pairs of parallel circuit boards together. Such connectors are attached to mutually facing surface of a pair of circuit boards and are mated together so that electrical conduction is established. In this context, a technique of maintaining a state of being mated with a mating connector, with reinforcing brackets attached to both end portions serving as lock members, has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional connector.
In the figure, 811 is a first housing that is a housing for a first connector mounted on a first circuit board not illustrated, and 911 is a second housing that is a housing for a second connector mounted on a second circuit board not illustrated. The first circuit board and the second circuit board are electrically connected to each other with the first connector and the second connector mated. In the figure, the first housing 811 has a mating surface facing upward and the second housing 911 has a mating surface facing downward. With this arrangement, the first connector is relatively moved toward the second connector, whereby the connectors can be mated.
The first housing 811 includes a recess 812 that receives the second housing 911 and a protrusion 813 formed at the center of the recess 812. The first housing 811 is provided with a plurality of first terminals 861, and has outer reinforcing brackets 851 attached to both ends in a longitudinal direction and inner reinforcing brackets 871 attached to both ends of the protrusion 813 in the longitudinal direction.
The second housing 911 is provided with a plurality of second terminals 961, and has reinforcing brackets 951 attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction.
When the first connector and the second connector are mated, the first terminals 861 and the respective second terminals 961 come into contact with each other. As a result, the first circuit board and the second circuit board are electrically connected to each other. The second housing 911 is inserted in the recess 812 of the first housing 811, and the reinforcing brackets 951 engage with the outer reinforcing brackets 851. When the second housing 911 is inserted into the recess 812 of the first housing 811, the reinforcing brackets 951 might collide with both ends of the protrusion 813 in the longitudinal direction. Still, the inner reinforcing brackets 871 attached as described above prevent both ends of the protrusion 813 in the longitudinal direction from being damaged.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-031842


An automatic stick laying apparatus having retainer arm assemblies for retaining spacing sticks in position on stacked tiers of lumber. The automatic stick laying apparatus is designed to successively position the spacing sticks on stacks of lumber for spacing the lumber. In a preferred embodiment the stick laying apparatus includes a fixed frame designed for positioning over the lumber, a spacing stick accumulator mounted on the fixed frame and a carriage assembly attached to the fixed frame in vertically movable relationship. The accumulator includes a pair of spaced, horizontal accumulator chains fitted with accumulator chain cleats located above spaced drop gates for receiving and deploying the spacing sticks in a continuous loop. The carriage assembly is fitted with parallel chain channels supporting horizontal positioner chains having positioner chain cleats for receiving the spacing sticks from the accumulator through the drop gates and positioning the spacing sticks over respective layers of lumber. The retainer arm assemblies are spaced between the chain channels and serve to retain the spacing sticks on tile positioner chain cleats until the proper spacing stick displacing interval is achieved. Multiple pivoting diverter assemblies are also spaced between the chain channels for sequentially displacing selected spacing sticks on or from the positioner chain cleats after release by the retainer arm assemblies, to facilitate depositing these spacing sticks in selectively spaced relationship on the underlying tiers of stacked lumber by advancement of the positioner chains. The automatic stick laying apparatus may be connected to a programmable controller for automatic operation.

2. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stacking of wood such as lumber and plywood for drying or other purposes and more particularly, to retainer arm assemblies provided in an automatic stick laying apparatus for maintaining spacing sticks in position for positioning the spacing sticks on stacked tiers of lumber in selectively spaced relationship to provide proper ventilation between the respective layers or tiers of lumber.
At a very early date it became obvious that lumber must be cured prior to use in order to avoid, or at least minimize, warping due to drying. In the early sawmill days "green" lumber was stacked in "ricks" which defined an inverted "V" configuration, where it was air-dried to reduce the moisture content and provide reasonably straight boards for building purposes. With the development of modern sawmills, the rate of processing and drying or curing of "green" lumber increased to the point that it became impractical and unprofitable to stack lumber in this "rick drying" fashion, and other techniques were devised to accomplish this purpose. The lumber is now stacked for kiln drying or air drying and the stacking is preferably accomplished in multiple rows and layers or tiers by inserting between each tier or layer of boards a number of small spacing sticks which keep the layers spaced and provide ventilating passages through the stack to expose both the upper and lower surfaces of the boards in the stack to the drying air. This procedure serves the purpose of processing a large number of boards of selected size in a relatively short period of time, thereby providing more favorable sawmill economics.


In a semiconductor device of the present invention, a first semiconductor region is formed so that a peripheral edge thereof is located between a first field plate ring that corresponds to one of field plate rings located at the innermost side thereof and a second field plate ring that corresponds to one of the field plate rings adjacent the first plate ring. Accordingly, when a surge voltage is applied to the semiconductor device of the present invention, an electric field concentration at a part of the isolation film located under the first one of the field plate rings is relaxed and an electric field intensity decreases. Therefore, the reliability of the isolation film for withstanding the surge voltage increases.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-374256 filed on Dec. 7, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a semiconductor device with a peripheral portion for withstanding a surge voltage.
Conventionally, a semiconductor device including an IGBT or the like has a peripheral portion for withstanding a surge voltage (e.g., JP-A-10-163482).
FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of such a semiconductor device with an IGBT. IGBT elements (hereinafter referred to as a cell portion) are formed on a right side of the device in FIG. 5. A peripheral portion for withstanding a surge voltage caused by power surge (hereinafter referred to as a peripheral voltage withstand portion) is formed on a left side of the cell portion.
A semiconductor substrate 101 includes a p+ type layer 101A and an nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B disposed on the p+ type layer 101A. A side of the p+ type layer 101A of the semiconductor substrate 101 is a reverse surface 101a on which a collector electrode 102 is formed, and a side of the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B is a main surface 101b.
In the peripheral voltage withstand portion, a peripheral p type well region 113 is formed on a surface portion of the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B. A p type well region 114, which is shallower than the peripheral p type well region 113, is formed at the most peripheral position of the peripheral p type well region 113 so as to overlap therewith. Hereinafter, the p type well region 114 is referred to as a most peripheral well region. In a most peripheral position of the semiconductor device, an n+ region 115 is formed on the surface portion of the nxe2x88x92 layer 101B to surround the cell portion and the most peripheral well region 114.
A LOCOS oxide film 116 is formed on the main surface 101b of the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B and a plurality of field plate rings 117a-117e formed thereon are disposed from the peripheral p type well region 113 to an edge of the n+ type region 115 on a side of the cell portion. Zener diodes 118a-118d made of poly-silicon or the like are disposed on the field plate rings 117a-117e. Each of the zener diodes 118a-118d is disposed between and electrically contacts adjacent field plate rings 117a-117e. The field plate ring 117a is electrically connected to a gate electrode 119, and the field plate ring 117e is electrically connected to the n+ region 115.
In the above semiconductor device, each of the field plate rings 117a-117e and each of the Zener diodes 118a-118d are alternatively disposed at predetermined intervals in the cell portion to a periphery of the cell portion. Therefore, in the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B, an electric potential is distributed uniformly in a direction from the peripheral p type well region 113 to the most peripheral well region 114 when a surge voltage is applied to the semiconductor device. The surge voltage applied to the semiconductor device is distributed along a surface of the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B, and therefore an electric field is prevented from being locally concentrated.
Further, in the above semiconductor device, the most peripheral well region 114 with a shallow and relatively low impurity concentration is located at a periphery of the peripheral p type well region 113, and the field plate ring 117a located at the innermost side of the field plate rings 117a-117e protrudes from a peripheral edge 14aE of the most peripheral well region 114 in a peripheral direction. Accordingly, curvature of a peripheral edge of the peripheral p type well region 113 and an electric field distribution feature near the edge is improved, and local concentration of the electric field is prevented.
FIG. 6A shows an equipotential line distribution of a cross section of the semiconductor device of FIG. 5 calculated based on a simulation analysis. FIG. 6B shows an expansion view of a region B near a peripheral edge 117aE of the field plate ring 117a of FIG. 6A. In the simulation, dV/dt is about 2 kV/ns. When a reverse bias is applied to the semiconductor device, a depletion layer formed by a PN junction of the nxe2x88x92 type layer 101B and the peripheral p type well region 113 extends in a side of the peripheral p type well region 113 from the PN junction. Since the depletion layer extends from the peripheral p type well region 113 in a further peripheral direction thereof, the equipotential line distributes as in FIG. 6A based on the electric potential of the field plate rings 117a-117e.
However, as shown in FIG. 6B, because the peripheral edge 114aE of the most peripheral well region 114 separates from the field plate ring 117a and the field plate ring 117b neighboring the field plate ring 117a, the equipotential line extends from the most peripheral well region 114 and the peripheral p type well region 113 to the portion disposed between both field plate rings 117a, 117b along the LOCOS oxide layer 116. Therefore, the equipotential line concentrates in a part of the LOCOS oxide film 116 under the peripheral edge 117aE of the field plate ring 117a, and an electric field intensity increases at the part of the LOCOS oxide film 116. Accordingly, reliability of the LOCOS oxide film 116 for withstanding the surge voltage, especially a rapid surge voltage, may decrease.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device that is capable of obviating the above problem.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device with an oxide film having increased reliability for withstanding surge voltage.
According to a semiconductor device of the present invention, a first semiconductor region is formed so that a peripheral edge thereof is located between a first field plate ring that corresponds to one of the field plate rings located at the innermost side thereof and a second field plate ring that corresponds to one of the field plate rings neighboring the first plate ring.
As the first semiconductor region is not completely depleted by a depletion layer, it is preferable that an edge of the depletion layer extended to the first semiconductor layer is located between or near the first field plate ring and the second field plate ring. Further, when a reduced surface field (resurf) configuration is connected to the periphery of the first semiconductor region, the peripheral edge of the first semiconductor layer can be defined by correlating it to a position located between a first field plate ring and the second field plate ring.
Accordingly, when a surge voltage is applied to the semiconductor device of the present invention, an electric field concentration at a part of the isolation film located under the first one of the field plate rings is relaxed and an electric field intensity decreases. Therefore, the reliability of the isolation film for withstanding surge voltage increases.

Semiconductor device with peripheral portion for withstanding surge voltage


A capacitor-drop power supply includes a rectifier and a rectifier controller. The rectifier is configured to receive an alternating current (AC) signal at an AC voltage and convert the AC signal into a rectified direct current (DC) signal at a rectified voltage. The rectifier includes a first low side switch. The rectifier controller is configured to generate a switch close signal based on the rectified DC signal. The switch close signal is configured to close the first low side switch shunting the AC signal to ground.

Capacitor-drop power supplies generate a supply voltage (e.g., a direct current (DC) voltage) for circuits that is lower than the mains voltage (e.g., an alternating current (AC) voltage received from a wall socket; line voltage) by utilizing the capacitive reactance of a capacitor. In other words, capacitor-drop power supplies take the mains voltage and generate a lower voltage level DC signal utilizing a capacitor. Capacitor-drop power supplies are typically utilized in low-power applications such as electricity meters (e-meters) and other low power systems.

Active clamping and scalable reference control for capacitor-drop power supplies


The present disclosure falls within the field of biomedical technology, and in particular relates to modified oligonucleotides and a compound that can be used for synthesizing same and a method for modifying oligonucleotides. The present disclosure also relates to the use of the modified oligonucleotides for preventing and/or treating diseases associated with the liver in a subject.

Asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) is an abundant endocytic receptor of hetero-oligomers, which exists mainly on the surface of the cell membrane of liver parenchymal cells facing the side of sinusoidal space and has specificity for sugar. As the terminal sialic acid of the glycoproteins is removed through hydrolysis by enzymes or acidolysis, the exposed penultimates are galactose residues. Therefore, the sugar-binding specificity of ASGPR is actually galactosyl, and it is also called galactose-specific receptor. ASGPRs are mainly distributed in the liver parenchymal cells, and low in content in other cells, so the ASGPRs become the best receptor for liver targeted transport.
Glycoproteins terminated with non-reducing galactose (Gal) or N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) residues can be recognized by ASGPRs, wherein the affinity of GalNAc to ASGPR is about 50 times higher than that of Gal (Iobst S T et al, J Biol Chem, 1996, 271 (12): 6686-6693). In vitro experiments show that the affinity of clustered sugar residues is much higher than that of non-clustered sugar residues by simultaneously occupying the binding sites of the receptor with an affinity order of Tetraantennary>triantennal>>biantennal>>monoantennal galactosides (Lee Y C, et al, J Biol Chem, 1983, 258 (1): 199-202).
ASGPR receptor-mediated liver targeting oligonucleotide is a new breakthrough in the research field of nucleic acid innovative drugs. In 2012, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. covalently linked triantennary GalNAc structure previously studied with small interfering RNA (siRNA) to achieve liver-targeted delivery of siRNA in vivo. Using this technology, researchers have developed drugs for amyloidosis, hemophilia, hypercholesterolemia, liver porphyrin, hepatitis B and other diseases. A number of drug candidates have entered into clinical studies (http://www.alnylam.com/product-pipeline/). In 2014, ISIS Pharmaceuticals of the United States covalently linked triantennary GalNAc and antisense nucleic acid to achieve liver-targeted drug delivery in animals, with 10-fold increase in antisense nucleic acid activity after linking (Prakash, T. P. et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 42, 8796-807.).

Modified oligonucleotides and compound that can be used for synthesizing same


A display device for a vehicle comprises a pixel array comprising a plurality of display elements. The device further comprises at least one test element and a controller. The controller is configured to selectively activate the display elements of the pixel array via a plurality of control signals and identify the activation of the at least one test element in response to at least one of the control signals. The controller is further configured to identify a display fault of the display device by comparing the at least one control signal communicated to the at least one test element to a diagnostic signal communicated from the at least one test element.

A failure of a display in a full display mirror may result in misleading information being depicted. For example, if a display panel in a vehicle fails at night, the lack of information displayed (e.g., a black screen) may lead an operator to believe that there are no vehicles following. Alternatively, if a wiring or communication fault occurs, the display may depict a scene mirrored such that the information could lead an operator to control the vehicle in error.

System and method for display fault monitoring


An integrated circuit device includes a first III-V compound layer, a second III-V compound layer over the first III-V compound layer, a gate dielectric over the second III-V compound layer, and a gate electrode over the gate dielectric. An anode electrode and a cathode electrode are formed on opposite sides of the gate electrode. The anode electrode is electrically connected to the gate electrode. The anode electrode, the cathode electrode, and the gate electrode form portions of a rectifier.

Both rectifiers and transistors are essential components in high-voltage power electronics applications, for example, switching-mode power supplies and many forms of drive circuits. Rectifiers are commonly used to convert an Alternating Current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to Direct Current (DC), which flows in a single direction. The respective conversion process is known as rectification. Rectifiers have various types including semiconductor diodes and Silicon-Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs).
In semiconductor technology, due to their characteristics, Group III-Group V (or III-V) semiconductor compounds are used to form various integrated circuit devices, such as high power field-effect transistors, high frequency transistors, or High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). A HEMT is a field effect transistor incorporating a junction between two materials with different band gaps (i.e., a heterojunction) as the channel instead of a doped region, as is generally the case for Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs). In contrast with the MOSFETs, the HEMTs have a number of attractive properties including high electron mobility, the ability to transmit signals at high frequencies, etc.
From the application point of view, Enhancement-mode (E-mode) HEMTs have many advantages. E-mode HEMTs allow for the elimination of negative-polarity voltage supply, and, therefore, the reduction in the circuit complexity and cost. Despite the attractive properties noted above, a number of challenges exist in connection with developing III-V semiconductor compound-based devices. Various techniques directed to configurations and materials of these III-V semiconductor compounds have been implemented to try and further improve transistor device performance.
For rectifiers, two-terminal power rectifiers with low forward turn-on voltages, low on-resistance, and high reverse breakdown voltages (BV) are desirable in high-voltage power electronics, e.g. in switching-mode power supplies and power factor correction circuits. Low on-state resistance and short reverse recovery time, for a given off-state breakdown voltage, are important for power conversion efficiency.
Various efforts have been made to improve the performance of power rectifiers. Some proposed structures include Junction Barrier Schottky diodes, Merged p-i-n Schottky (MPS) diodes, and synchronous rectifiers. Other proposed rectifiers include Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) and p-i-n diodes on doped bulk GaN, which presents high-breakdown and low-on-resistance features.
However, since the epitaxial structures for SBD or p-i-n diodes are not compatible with the HEMT structures, the SBD or p-i-n diode rectifiers have not been successfully integrated with HEMTs (at least not without unacceptable performance loss). Although SBDs can be directly formed on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, the series combination of the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction with the metal-AlGaN Schottky barrier results in higher turn-on voltages and higher on-resistances.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.