Systems and methods for cell based wrapped wave front arbiter (WWFA) with bandwidth reservation are disclosed. The method for reserving bandwidth of a given priority using the WWFA for arbitrating bandwidth among virtual links between input and output ports, each virtual link supporting one or more priorities and corresponding to an arbitration unit (AU) of the WWFA generally comprises performing at least one arbitration pass of a wave front of the WWFA where AUs having a reserved bandwidth request of a given priority and reserved bandwidth credit of the given priority compete for the bandwidth associated with the wave front, and where AUs not having a reserved bandwidth request of the given priority and reserved bandwidth credit of the given priority do not compete for the bandwidth, and performing at least one subsequent arbitration pass where AUs having a reserved bandwidth request of the given priority compete for the bandwidth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cell based switch fabric. More specifically, a system and method for a cell based wrapped wave front arbiter (WWFA) with bandwidth reservation are disclosed.
2. Description of Related Art
In a network, various network stations such as computers are connected such as by a central network communication hub or a network communication switch. A network hub is simply a repeater that receives a data packet from any one network station and broadcasts or repeats the data packet to all the network stations to which it is connected. Each data packet contains a header to indicate the intended destination station for the packet and each network station receives the packet and examines the packet header to determine whether to accept or ignore the packet. One disadvantage of the hub is that the connection between each network station and the hub carries all packets broadcast by the hub, including not only packets directed to that network station but also packets directed to all other network stations.
In contrast, a network switch routes an incoming packet only to the intended destination station of the packet so that each network station receives only the packet traffic directed to it such that network switches are capable of handling multiple packet transmission concurrently. A network switch generally has input and output ports for receiving and transmitting packets from and to network stations and a switching mechanism to selectively route each incoming packet from an input port to the appropriate output port. The input port typically stores an incoming packet, determines the destination output port from the routing data included in the packet header, and then arbitrates for a switch connection between the input port and the destination output port. When the connection is established, the input port sends the packet to the output port via the switch.
A key component of interconnection networks is n×n switches. Interconnection networks that provide high bandwidth, low latency interprocessor communication enable multiprocessors and multicomputers to achieve high performance and efficiency. It is important for the n×n communication switches to have efficient internal architecture to achieve high performance communication.
A typical communication switch includes n input ports, n output ports, an n×n crossbar switching mechanism, and buffer memory. The communication switch receives packets arriving at its input ports and routes them to the appropriate output ports. The bandwidth of the input ports is typically equal to the bandwidth of the output ports.
However, there may be conflicting demands for resources such as buffer space or output ports resulting in delays in the traffic through switches. For example, when two packets destined for the same output port arrive at the input ports of the switch simultaneously, the packets cannot both be forwarded and at least one is buffered.
Because input ports may receive competing connection requests, a network communication switch typically provides an arbitration system for determining the order requests are granted in order to resolve conflicting resource demands and to provide efficient and fair scheduling of the resources in order to increase performance in interconnection networks.
The arbitration system may include an arbiter that receives connection requests from the input ports, monitors the busy status of the output ports, and determines the order that pending requests are granted when an output port becomes idle. When a request is granted by the arbiter, the arbiter transmits an acknowledgment to the corresponding input port, and may transmit control data to the switching mechanism to cause the switch to make the desired connection between the input and output ports. Upon receiving the acknowledgment, the input port transmits the data to the output port via the switching mechanism. The central arbiter typically assigns a priority level to each input and/or output port. The arbiter may, for example, rotate input and output port priority in order to fairly distribute connection rights over time.
An arbiter may employ a crossbar switching mechanism to allow arbitrary permutations in connecting the input buffers and/or inputs to output ports. An n×n crossbar has n horizontal buses (rows), each connected to an input buffer, and n vertical buses (columns), each connected to an output port. A horizontal bus intersects a vertical bus at a crosspoint where there is a switch that can be closed to form a connection between the corresponding input buffer and output port.
The design and implementation of various crossbar arbiters are discussed in Tamir and Chi, "Symmetric Crossbar Arbiters for VLSI Communication Switches," IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1993, pp. 13-27, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. Tamir discloses a centralized wave front arbiter for an n×n crosspoint switch routing data between n network stations. The arbiter includes an n×n array of arbitration units (which Tamir refers to as cells), one for each possible connection of the crosspoint switch. Each input port corresponds to one row of arbitration units and supplies a separate request signal to each arbitration unit of the row. Each output port corresponds to one column of arbitration units and supplies a separate busy signal to each arbitration unit of the column. The arbitration units are ranked according to priority. When an input port seeks a connection to an output port it asserts the one of n output request signals. The asserted request signal drives the arbitration unit in the column corresponding to the output port. That arbitration unit grants a request when not otherwise inhibited from doing so by a higher priority arbitration unit. Priority is periodically shifted from arbitration unit to arbitration unit using token passing rings to provide equitable allocation of connection rights to both input and output ports.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication switch 50 that supports three input ports 58 and three output ports 60. The communication switch 50 includes a 3×3 crossbar switching mechanism 52, a 3×3 arbiter 54, and a set of nine virtual output queues 56. Each path from a given input port i 58 to a given output port j 60 can be referred to as a virtual link VLij. In a communication switch supporting a single service (queuing) priority, there is one virtual output queue Qij 56 associated with each virtual link VLij. Information that is to be transferred to output port j 60 arriving at input port i 58 is temporarily stored in virtual output queue Qij 56. Since the communication switch 50 shown switches fixed length packets, referred to as cells, information arriving at the communication switch 50 is converted into cells prior to being stored in a corresponding virtual output queue.
A cell period is associated with the communication switch 50. During a given cell period, one cell may be transferred to each of the three output ports 60 from the virtual output queues 56. The three by three crossbar switching mechanism 52 is used to perform this transfer. As shown, the three by three crossbar switching mechanism 52 includes nine switch units (SU0,0 through SU2,2) arranged in a three by three matrix. A given switch unit SUij is used to transfer the contents of virtual queue Qij to output port j, thereby establishing virtual link VLij. Thus, switch unit SUij is dedicated to the establishment of virtual link VLij.
The switches within the crossbar 52 may be reconfigured every cell period, such that during each cell period, a maximum of three cells are able to be transferred from the virtual output queues to the three output ports (one cell per output port). Based upon the construction of the crossbar switching mechanism shown, during any given cell period, only one cell may be transferred from a given input port, and only one cell may be transferred to a given output port. Otherwise, two cells would conflict with one another within the switching mechanism. It follows then that during any given cell period, only one switch within any given column of the crossbar matrix may be closed, and (for the non-broadcast case) only one switch within any given row of the crossbar matrix may be closed. For example, if the switches in both switch unit SU0,0 and switch unit SU2,0 were closed simultaneously, then neither the cell from input port 0 or input port 2 would be successfully transferred to output port 0. Thus, a maximum of three crossbar switches may be closed within the three by three crossbar matrix 52 during any given cell period.
It is the responsibility of the three by three arbiter 54 to determine which three crossbar switches are closed during any given cell slot period. In essence, the arbiter 54 attempts to "match" three input ports to three output ports during each cell period. As is evident from FIG. 1, each virtual output queue Qij has an associated switch unit SUij and an associated arbitration unit AUij. If a given virtual output queue Qij contains at least one cell, then the corresponding request signal Rij is activated at its corresponding arbitration unit AUij. During every cell period, the arbiter 54 examines all the activated requests and selects up to three non-conflicting crossbar switch settings. The three selected crossbar switches are then closed and, by activating the corresponding Grant Gij signals, the three corresponding virtual output queues are granted permission to transfer a cell. Once the cells are transferred to the output ports, the process is then repeated during the following cell period.
The arbiter shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented as a wave front arbiter (as described in Tamir) in order to make its selections. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary 3×3 wave front arbiter 60. In its simplest implementation, priority is given based upon arbitration unit location. In such an implementation, arbitration units above have higher priority than arbitration units below, and arbitration units to the left have higher priority than arbitration units to the right.
Each arbitration unit of the 3×3 arbiter 60 has a top (North) and a left (West) input. When deactivated, the top input of an arbitration unit indicates that the output port of the associated column has been granted to some other input port during the current cell period, while the left input, when deactivated, indicates that the input port of the associated row has been matched to some other output port during the current cell period. If either the top input or the left input of a given arbitration unit is deactivated, then that arbitration unit will not issue a grant for that cell period. If the top input, the left input, and the request signal are all activated at a given arbitration unit, then that arbitration unit will issue a grant for that cell period.
In the 3×3 arbiter 60, the top left arbitration unit has the highest priority and thus the arbitration process starts at AU0,0. Since the top and left inputs of arbitration unit AU0,0 are permanently activated, if request signal R0,0 is activated, grant signal G0,0 will be activated and AU0,0's bottom (South) and right (East) output signals will be deactivated, thus indicating that input 0 and output 0 are no longer available for matching. If request signal R0,0 is deactivated, then AU0,0's bottom and right output signals will be activated, thus indicating to the diagonally downstream arbitration units that input 0 and output 0 are available for matching. After arbitration unit AU0,0 finishes its processing, its bottom and right output signals are forwarded to arbitration units AU0,1 and AU1,0, and a similar process is performed at each of those two arbitration units. Likewise, once AU0,1 and AU1,0 finish their processing, their output signals are forwarded to arbitration units AU0,2, AU1,1, and AU2,0.
As is evident, the order of processing of input information within the arbiter can be likened to a wave front moving diagonally from the top left arbitration unit down to the bottom right arbitration unit. When the bottom right arbitration unit finishes its processing, then the arbitration cycle for that cell period has been completed. For the 3×3 wave front arbiter 60, the wave front moves through the arbiter in five steps. At each step, each arbitration unit can independently perform its processing since at each step no two arbitration units share the same input row or output column.
The simple wave front arbiter 60 shown in FIG. 2 distributes bandwidth unfairly since the top left arbitration unit will always receive as much bandwidth as it needs and the other arbitration units receive decreasing amounts of bandwidth depending upon their physical relationship relative to the top left arbitration unit. Tamir somewhat rectifies this situation by rotating the top priority from one arbitration unit to another over some period of time. Rotating priority has the effect of distributing bandwidth to each virtual link equally. However, in real world applications, all virtual links do not typically require the same amount of bandwidth and for such applications the wave front arbiter with rotating priority still does not distribute bandwidth fairly.
As noted by Tamir, it is possible to decrease the processing time of the overall arbitration cycle by utilizing a "wrapped" wave front arbiter. A wrapped wave front arbiter can be formed from a wave front arbiter by feeding the bottom outputs of the bottom row arbitration units into the top inputs of the top row arbitration units, and similarly feeding the right outputs of the rightmost column arbitration units into the left inputs of the leftmost column of arbitration units. In an n×n wrapped wave front arbiter, n arbitration units that do not share a common row or a common column within the arbiter can be grouped together to form an arbitration stage. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a 3×3 wrapped wave front arbiter 64 with three arbitration stages. As can be observed, arbitration units AU0,0, AU2,1, and AU1,2 can be grouped into one stage (stage 0), since none of these arbitration units share a common input row or output column. Similarly, arbitration units AU0,1, AU1,0, and AU2,2 can be grouped into another common stage (stage 1) and arbitration units AU0,2, AU1,1, and AU2,0 can be grouped into yet another common stage (stage 2). In an n×n wrapped wave front arbiter, all n arbitration units within a given stage simultaneously process their input signals. Once one stage has completed its processing, the arbitration wave front moves to the next stage, and the n arbitration units of that next stage process their input signals. This continues until the arbitration units of all stages complete their processing. As is evident, an n×n wrapped wave front arbiter requires only n steps to complete its processing. This is less than the 2n−1 steps required for the n×n wave front arbiter of FIG. 2.
In a wrapped wave front arbiter with fixed stage priority, one stage is declared to have priority over all other stages, and therefore during each cell period the n arbitration units of that highest priority stage always process their inputs first. For instance, if stage 0 is declared to have the highest priority in the arbiter 64 shown in FIG. 3, then the arbitration units of stage 0 process their inputs at the start of each arbitration cycle, and then forward their outputs to the arbitration units of stage 1. Once the arbitration units of stage 1 finish processing their inputs, the stage 1 arbitration units forward their outputs to the arbitration units of stage 2. After the arbitration units of stage 2 finish processing their inputs, the arbitration cycle is complete.
A wrapped wave front arbiter with fixed stage priority also distributes bandwidth unfairly since the arbitration units associated with the highest priority stage always receive as much bandwidth as they want, and the arbitration units of the other stages receive decreasing amounts of bandwidth depending upon their physical relationship to the highest priority stage. Tamir once again somewhat rectifies this situation by rotating the top priority from one stage to another over some period of time. As was the case for the wave front arbiter with rotating priority, rotating stage priority within the wrapped wave front arbiter (as shown in FIG. 4) has the effect of distributing bandwidth to each virtual link equally. However, as noted previously, in real world applications, virtual links typically do not all require the same amount of bandwidth, and for such applications, the wrapped wave front arbiter with rotating stage priority will not distribute bandwidth fairly.
In order to gain an understanding of how a wrapped wave front arbiter may distribute bandwidth unfairly, consider the following case. Assume that all the virtual output queues in the FIG. 3 system contain an unlimited number of cells (i.e., there is constantly backlogged traffic). In such a situation, all nine request signals Rij will always be activated, as each virtual link will attempt to garner as much bandwidth as possible. Assume also that stage priority is rotated every cell period, such that stage 0 has the highest priority during cell period 0, stage 1 has the highest priority during cell period 1, stage 2 has the highest priority during cell period 2, etc. (as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C). In this situation, virtual links VL0,0, VL2,1, and VL1,2 will be granted one cell of bandwidth during cell period 0, virtual links VL0,1, VL1,0, and VL2,2 will be granted one cell of bandwidth during cell period 1, virtual links VL0,2, VL1,1, and VL2,0 will be granted one cell of bandwidth during cell period 2, etc. Thus it can be observed that each of the three virtual links that desire the bandwidth of a given output port will receive exactly ⅓rd of the bandwidth of that port.
Now assume that the three virtual links associated with stage 0 (i.e., VL0,0, VL2,1, and VL1,2) no longer have any cells in their associated virtual output queues, while the virtual output queues associated with the other two stages still contain an unlimited amount of cells. In this situation, when an arbitration wave front is initiated at stage 0 during cell period 0, none of the arbitration units associated with stage 0 will claim bandwidth, and therefore the wave front will pass on to the stage 1 arbitration units. Since the virtual links associated with stage 1 desire unlimited bandwidth, the bandwidth associated with the stage 0 initiated wave front is granted to the three "stage 1" virtual links. Following the arbitration cycle associated with cell period 0, an arbitration wave front is initiated at stage 1 during cell period 1, and the bandwidth associated with that wave front is also granted to the three virtual links associated with the stage 1 arbitration units. During cell period 2, an arbitration wave front is initiated at stage 2, and the bandwidth associated with that wave front is granted to the three virtual links associated with the stage 2 arbitration units. As can be observed, the three virtual links associated with stage 1 unfairly garner ⅔rds of the bandwidth of the output ports, while the three virtual links associated with stage 2 garner only ⅓rd of the bandwidth of the output ports.
In the example, the stage 1 virtual links benefit from the fact that the stage 1 arbitration units are physically located downstream from the stage 0 arbitration units, while the stage 2 virtual links suffer from the fact that the stage 2 arbitration units are not physically located downstream from the stage 0 arbitration units. It should be noted that the effects illustrated above can be somewhat mitigated by randomizing the application of the requests to the arbiter. However, randomizing the application of the requests to the arbiter further complicates the communication switch while still not providing a mechanism for allocating bandwidth in a flexible manner. For instance, in the previous example, there may be a desire to allocate ⅗ths of the output bandwidth to the virtual links associated with stage 2 and ⅖ths of the bandwidth to the virtual links associated with stage 1. Randomizing the application of the requests to the arbiter does not address this problem.
Several schemes have been proposed to allocate bandwidth through a crossbar switch using a variety of methods. Static scheduling is discussed in T. Anderson, S. Owicki, J. Saxe, and C. Thacker, "High Speed Switch Scheduling for Local Area Networks," Proc. Fifth International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems (ASPLOS V), October 1992, pp. 98-110 (also appeared in ACM Transactions on Computer Systems 11, 4, November 1993, pp. 319-352 and as Digital Equipment Corporation Systems Research Center Technical Report #99); weighted probabilistic iterative matching is discussed in D. Stiliadis and A. Varma, "Providing Bandwidth Guarantees in an Input-Buffered Crossbar Switch" Proceedings of INFOCOM'95, Boston, Mass., April 1995, and matching using weighted edges is discussed in A. Kam and K. Siu, "Linear Complexity Algorithms for QoS Support in Input-queued Switches with no Speedup," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, June 1999, vol. 17, (no. 6):1040-56.
In Anderson, a scheduling frame with a fixed number of slots is defined, and bandwidth is statically allocated to input/output pairs (i.e., virtual links) by manually configuring a table. The table, which spans the period of time associated with the scheduling frame, is then used to reconfigure the switch fabric every cell period. The pattern associated with reconfiguring the switch fabric repeats itself every scheduling frame period. There are two potential problems associated with the static scheduling method presented by Anderson: 1) reconfiguring the tables is complex and time consuming and thus may limit the connection establishment rate associated with the switch, and 2) bandwidth may go unused during reserved slots where connections have no data available.
In Stiliadis, an input/output matching algorithm is presented that uses two passes through the arbiter per cell period. During the first pass, only those virtual links that have "bandwidth credits" are allowed to compete for bandwidth, while during the second pass, those virtual links with and without bandwidth credit are allowed to compete for bandwidth. A frame period is defined, and each virtual link is given an amount of bandwidth credits at the start of each frame period. Once a given virtual link runs out of credits, it can no longer compete for bandwidth during the first pass through the arbiter. There are three potential problems associated with Stiliadis's algorithm: 1) an iterative matching algorithm is used and therefore the implementation of the algorithm might be considered more complex than the implementation of the simple wrapped wave front arbiter algorithm, 2) credits are issued to each virtual link at the start of each frame period associated with the arbiter and therefore (as discussed by Stiliadis) bursty connections may increase the delay of other connections through the associated switch, and 3) the algorithm does not allow connections with low delay requirements (and reserved bandwidth) to take priority over connections with no delay requirements (and reserved bandwidth).
In Kam, a method of matching inputs to outputs using weighted virtual links is presented. Kam uses a matching algorithm (the Central Queue Algorithm) that matches inputs to outputs in sequential order based upon weights that are attached to each input/output pair. Since each match is performed sequentially starting with the highest weighted pair, when applied to a switch with n inputs, the algorithm may require n2 steps to complete. (It should be noted that the wrapped wave front arbiter requires a maximum of n steps to complete its matches, since it attempts to match n pairs in parallel at each step. Furthermore, as pointed out in H. Chi and Y. Tamir "Decomposed Arbiters for Large Crossbars with Multi-Queue Input Buffers," Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Design, Cambridge, Mass., October 1991, pp. 233-238, the wrapped wave front arbiter may be easily pipelined, and therefore practical wrapped wave front arbiters can be constructed for switches containing large values of n.) Kam also presents an algorithm that uses two passes through the arbiter per cell period. In the first pass, those input/output pairs with credits are allowed to compete for bandwidth, while during the second pass all the input/output pairs without credit are allowed to compete for bandwidth. In addition, Kam offers a method of giving higher precedence to those input/output pairs requiring lower delay guarantees by rescaling the credit weights. There are two potential problems associated with Kam's algorithms: 1) the long arbitration cycle associated with the Central Queue Algorithm may make it impractical to implement when the number of inputs is large, and 2) all of the algorithms presented in Kam require a sorting process (of varying complexity) prior to performing the matching algorithm, thus adding to the complexity of the overall implementation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,430,181, 6,044,061, and 6,072,772 also describe various other arbitration mechanisms which also suffer from many of the drawbacks discussed above such as complex sorters, sequential matching algorithms, elements of unfairness, etc.
An example of an arbiter is a wrapped wave front arbiter. Unlike some conventional arbiters, a wrapped wave front arbiter is simple to implement and therefore offers an attractive and practical method of performing arbitration within a communication switch. However, for cases where all input ports are not requesting bandwidth on all output ports, the wrapped wave front arbiter does not resolve conflicting resource demands in a fair manner. Conventionally, the unfairness problem is addressed by under-utilizing the switch fabric or by providing switch fabric speedup. However, these options are not ideal and may not be able to be incorporated into certain systems. In addition, conventional wave front arbiters do not guarantee the proportional amounts of bandwidth to inputs and outputs of a switch fabric when nonuniform traffic patterns are applied to the switch inputs.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a wave front arbiter that addresses the unfairness problem associated with conventional wave front arbiters and/or allows bandwidth reservation within a wave front arbiter-based switch fabric.

Cell based wrapped wave front arbiter (WWFA) with bandwidth reservation


A touch panel, a display device and a touch driving method are disclosed. The touch panel includes a plurality of first self-capacitance electrodes. The plurality of first self-capacitance electrodes are at least distributed in two areas; the first self-capacitance electrodes at corresponding positions in the at least two areas are electrically connected with each other; and at least one in each group of electrically connected first self-capacitance electrodes corresponds to one row-scanning electrodes, which is configured to determine the touch condition of each first self-capacitance electrode in the same group of electrically connected first self-capacitance electrodes. The disclosure reduces the total amount of leads and hence reduces touch blind areas and is favorable to a narrow-bezel design.

With the rapid development of display technology, touch panels have been widely applied in people's life. The touch panels may be divided into add-on mode touch panels, in which touch structures and protective glass sheets on the outside of display panels are integrated together, and embedded touch panels, in which touch structures and display panels are integrated together. The embedded touch panels include on-cell touch panels and in-cell touch panels. In an on-cell touch panel, a touch structure is disposed on one side of an opposing substrate of the display panel, away from an array substrate thereof. In an in-cell touch panel, for instance, a touch structure is disposed on one side of an opposing substrate of the display panel, facing an array substrate thereof.
Currently, most touch panels are capacitive touch panels which may be divided into touch panels that utilize the mutual-capacitance principle and touch panels that utilize the self-capacitance principle. Compared with the touch panels that utilize the mutual-capacitance principle, the touch panels that utilize the self-capacitance principle are more suitable for the in-cell touch panels due to high touch sensing accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio thereof and hence gradually become new research focus.
A touch panel that utilizes the self-capacitance principle generally comprises a plurality of self-capacitance electrodes which are arranged in a same layer and insulated from each other, and each self-capacitance electrode is connected to a touch detection chip through a lead. When a human body does not touch the screen, the capacitance of the self-capacitance electrode is at a fixed value. When the human body touches the screen, the capacitance of that self-capacitance electrode(s) corresponding to a touch position is at a value of the fixed value plus the body capacitance, and the touch detection chip can determine the touch position by detecting the variation of the capacitance value of the self-capacitance electrode(s).

Touch panel, display device and touch driving method

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The present invention relates to a method for causing sodium sulfide or a mixture of sodium sulfide and sulfur to react with diazonium salt formed by diazotizing anthranilic acid, wherein the Na/S atomic ratio as calculated on the basis of the employed sodium sulfide and sulfur is adjusted to within the range of 1.33 to 2.0 during the reaction. Thus is made practicable the manufacture of thiosalicylic acid in a high yield without going through the individual route of isolating and reducing dithiosalicylic acid.

The present invention relates to a method for efficiently producing thiosalicylic acid which is a useful intermediate in the manufacture of medicines, pesticides, dyes, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for manufacturing thiosalicylic acid from anthranilic acid in a two step reactive process.
The process for manufacturing thiosalicylic acid from anthranilic acid as the raw material has been historically known. This process generally necessitates the following three-step reactive process. That is to say, firstly anthranilic acid is converted to diazonium salt by reaction with sodium nitrite in hydrochloric acid; secondly, the resulting salt is converted to dithiosalicylic acid by reaction with an equimolar mixture of sodium sulfide and sulfur; and thirdly and lastly the resulting dithiosalicylic acid is converted to thiosalicylic acid by reduction by zinc in acetic acid solvent (Org. Synth. Coll., vol. 2, p 580(1943)). This three-step reactive process is illustrated in the following diagrams.
As for the third step in the above diagram which constitutes the process to reduce dithiosalicylic acid, there have been proposed some number of various processes, such as the method based on reduction by a metal selected from among zinc, aluminum, and tin in aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide (Japan Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-11 (1999)-140045), the method based on reduction by a metal like zinc, iron, etc., which generates hydrogen by reaction with acid, and a hydrogen halide in a lower aliphatic alcohol solvent (Japan Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho-57 (1982)-11961), and the method based on reduction by hydrogen in the presence of a Raney nickel catalyst in aqueous solution of an alkali (Japanese Patent No. Sho-64 (1989)-11017).
Notwithstanding their time-honored positions, those manufacturing methods can be hardly said satisfactory from the contemporary industrial standpoint, for they disclose certain problematic aspects. Above all, in those processes for synthesizing thiosalicylic acid from anthranilic acid some sort of reductive step has to be followed through after the isolation of dithiosalicylic acid. Obviously, the isolation of dithiosalicylic acid constitutes an indispensable element of the whole process. Such need to run a multi-step operation no doubt makes those processes less economical, and, moreover, the reductive step adds to disadvantages due to inevitable requirements for disposal of waste liquids, waste water, etc. In particular, so long as zinc or another metal is employed for the reduction, the waste disposal problem involving metal containing sulfur compounds remains to be resolved.
Under the circumstance, the present inventor has made keen research efforts to develop such a simpler process for producing thiosalicylic acid that would do away with the isolation of dithiosalicylic acid, thus dispensing with the reductive reaction step. In the arena of the manufacture of thiosalicylic acid based on the conversion of anthranilic acid into diazonium salt by diazotization, such reaction needs to be followed by its reaction with sodium sulfide along with sulfur. The present inventor, as the result of such efforts, discovered that thiosalicylic acid, the target product, can be directly produced in a high yield by means of adjusting the ratio between sodium sulfide and sulfur, while these chemicals have been historically utilized in production of dithiosalicylic acid (the intermediate), and what thus has been finally arrived at is the present invention.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an economical process for manufacturing thiosalicylic acid which is able to dispense with the individual process of isolating and reducing dithiosalicylic acid.
According to the invention there is provided a manufacturing process for producing thiosalicylic acid which comprises reacting diazonium salt formed by diazotizing anthranilic acid with sodium sulfide or a mixture of sodium sulfide and sulfur under such condition that the sodium to sulfur (Na/S) atomic ratio as calculated on the basis of the employed sodium sulfide and sulfur is fixed to within the range of 1.33 to 2.0.
The time-honored reaction of diazotizing anthranilic acid is carried out typically by reacting it with a mineral acid and sodium nitrite in aqueous solution. Although choice of the mode of reaction is optional, it is the typical practice to add sodium nitrite or an aqueous solution of sodium nitrite to aqueous solution of a mineral acid into which anthranilic acid has been dissolved beforehand.
There can be cited hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid as a few examples of the mineral acid to be employed for the diazotization reaction. The amount of mineral acid to be employed per mole of anthranilic acid is to be preferably in the range of 1.3 to 10.0 moles, and more preferably 1.5 to 5.0 moles. In cases where the amount of mineral acid is too short, the yield of diazonium salt drops off, and where it is on the contrary excessively large, the efficiency declines, even though the reaction per se is not adversely affected. Therefore, neither case is desirable.
As for the type of water to be selected for use in the reaction as disclosed in the present invention, industrial water, ion-exchanged water, pure water, and distilled water are all suitably useable. The amount of water to be employed in the diazotizing reaction is to be preferably 1.5 to 10.0 times, and particularly preferably 2.0 to 5.0 times as much as anthranilic acid by weight. In cases where the amount of water is too short, the concentration of the crystal of the mineral acid salt formed from anthranilic acid in the reactant liquid gets too high to employ agitation. In cases where the amount of water is excessively large, the yield drops off, even though the reaction is not disrupted at all. Hence, neither case is desirable.
For diazotization of anthranilic acid, sodium nitrite is employed as the diazotizing agent. Sodium nitrite which is available normally in the solid state may be added to the reaction system as it is, while the typical practice is to employ it in the state of being dissolved in water. The amount of sodium nitrite per mole of the raw material anthranilic acid is to be preferably in the range of 0.8 to 1.5 moles, and more preferably in the range of 0.9 to 1.4 moles. In cases where the amount of sodium nitrite is too short, the conversion rate of the raw material declines to an undesirable degree. On the contrary, impurities in the reaction product increase with use of an excessive amount of sodium nitrite. Therefore, neither case is desirable. As for the fashion of adding sodium nitrite, there is imposed no particular limitation. That is to say, it may be added by dropping or pouring into the reactant liquid.
The temperature at which addition and reaction of sodium nitrite are to be made may be set within the range of 10xc2x0 C. below zero to 30xc2x0 C., and preferably zero to 20xc2x0 C. With reaction temperatures kept to below the lower ends of said ranges, the reaction rate gets slower. On the contrary, when the reaction temperature exceeds the upper end of said ranges, decomposition of diazonium salt progresses with the result that the yield drops off and more impurities come to be included. Therefore, deviation from said ranges is by no means desirable.
There is no particular limitation to the time frame in which addition of sodium nitrite is to be completed, but the time frame may be regulated in the light of the state of bubbling of generated nitrogen gas and cooling capacity. It is typically 0.1 to 24 hr. The reaction may be terminated as soon as the addition of sodium nitrite is finished, although the reaction is to be terminated typically after having stirred the reactants for 0.1 to 3 hr.
As for the reaction caused to take place according to the present invention between the diazonium salt thus formed from anthranilic acid and sodium sulfide or a mixture of sodium sulfide and sulfur, the sodium to sulfur (Na/S) atomic ratio as calculated on the basis of the employed sodium sulfide and sulfur is to be adjusted to 1.33 to 2.0. That is to say, sodium monosulfide, known as Na2S, may be used singularly. Otherwise, there may be employed a mixture of sodium monosulfide and sodium polysulfide, the latter being known as Na2Sx (x=2-5), whose (the mixture""s) sodium to sulfur (Na/S) atomic ratio is to be in the range of 1.33 to 2.0 or a mixture of sodium monosulfide and sulfur (a mixture of Na2S/S admixed by the molar ratio of 1/0 to 2/1), whose (the mixture""s) sodium to sulfur (Na/S) atomic ratio is to be in the range of 1.33 to 2.0, or the like. From the industrial standpoint, it is preferable that sodium monosulfide be employed singularly or in combination with sulfur as a mixture of the two chemicals. While it is inferred that in the course of these reactive processes dithiosalicylic acid is produced temporarily and subsequently converted to thiosalicylic acid by reduction, it is not a desirable situation that the ratio of sulfur contained in those thiolizing agents exceed the aforesaid ranges because an excessive sulfur content gives rise to retarded reduction of dithiosalicylic acid, a decline in the yield of thiosalicylic acid, and increased production of dithiosalicylic acid compared with the amount of thiosalicylic acid produced.
The aforesaid reaction is suitably carried out by bringing the liquid prepared by adding sodium sulfide or sodium sulfide along with sulfur to water into contact with the aqueous solution of diazonium salt formed from anthranilic acid. Any amount of water may be employed for the former liquid so long as it is enough in quantity to permit stirring of sodium sulfide or sodium sulfide along with sulfur. Typically, water is employed by a ratio of 0.5 to 10.0 times as much as sodium sulfide by weight. There is also added alkali such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, etc. in an amount of about 0.5 to 3 equivalents against the mineral acid employed for diazotization so as to keep the reaction system alkaline. The preferred method for carrying out the aforesaid reaction is to drop the aqueous solution of diazonium salt formed from anthranilic acid into the liquid prepared by adding sodium sulfide or sodium sulfide along with sulfur to water. As the aqueous solution of such a diazonium salt, there may be employed the reaction mixture obtained by the diazotization reaction as it is.
The amount of sodium sulfide or sodium sulfide along with sulfur to be employed in said reaction is to be preferably 0.9 to 5.0 moles, and more preferably 0.95 to 2.0 moles on the basis of sulfur atom per mole of diazonium salt formed from anthranilic acid. The grounds for selecting said ratios are that in cases where the amount of sodium sulfide or sodium sulfide along with sulfur is too little, the achievable yield of thiosalicylic acid is only so low and that if the amount is excessive, the resultant effects are a low purity, increased impurities and a decline in the production efficiency for thiosalicylic acid.
It is desirable that the temperature at which the aqueous solution of diazonium salt formed from anthranilic acid is added and reacted is fixed within the range of 10xc2x0 C. below zero to 100xc2x0 C., and particularly zero to 80xc2x0 C. At temperatures lower than the aforesaid temperatures the rate of reaction gets too low, and, on the other hand, at higher temperatures the yield drops off.
There is no particular limitation to the time frame in which addition of the aqueous solution of diazonium salt formed from anthranilic acid is to be completed. The time frame may be regulated in accordance with cooling capacity. It is typically 0.1 to 24 hr. From the point in time where the aqueous solution finishes to be added, however, it is preferable to terminate the reaction after having stirred the reactant for further 0.1 to 10 hr.
Thiosalicylic acid can be retrieved in the crystalline form by acidifying the mixture of reaction products thus obtained with a mineral acid. There can be cited hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid as a few examples of such mineral acid. The amount of mineral acid to be employed may correspond to such level where the system gets acidic enough to let thiosalicylic acid precipitate in the crystalline form, e.g. a pH of 3 or less. As for the concentration of mineral acid employed in this case, 35% concentrated hydrochloric acid or a diluted hydrochloric acid prepared by diluting it with water or sulfuric acid of a comparable concentration may be used. For the process of precipitating with acid, it is preferable to adopt the method of adding said thiolized reaction mixture to the aqueous solution of mineral acid. In case the addition is made in the opposite order, the oxidative reaction of thiosalicylic acid is apt to progress and consequently the dithiosalicylic acid content of the obtained thiosalicylic acid tends to be augmented.
Precipitated crystals can be retrieved by a conventional technique of separation, such as centrifugal separation, filtration under reduced pressure, etc. In cases where products are required to have high purity, the thiosalicylic acid thus obtained may be referred to a purification step in which it is purified by re-crystallization using an organic solvent such as alcohol and ethyl acetate.


The invention relates to a gas laser having a discharge tube, through which the gas flows in an aixal direction and to which high-frequency electrodes are fitted externally, and having a high-frequency generator. In order to obtain a simpler construction and the smallest possible high-frequency losses, it is provided that the power output stage (12) of the high-frequency generator is disposed in the housing (1) of the laser resonator (2, 7, 8) and is directly connected to the electrodes (9, 10) via impedance adaptation elements (11).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gas laser having a discharge tube, through which the gas flows in an axial direction and to which high-frequency electrodes are fitted externally, and having a high-frequency generator.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
In such a gas laser, the high-frequency power is coupled via the electrodes capacitively into the gas to be excited. To date, for this purpose the power output stage was always connected to the electrodes via comparatively long conductors, for example coaxial conductors, since it was not considered to be possible to fit the power output stage in the vicinity of the discharge tube. In this connection, the disadvantage did, however, arise that in the first instance an impedance transformation had to be undertaken at the output of the power output stage, in order to obtain an adaptation to the impedance of the conductors, for example of the coaxial cable, which can amount, for example, to 50 ohms or 75 ohms. A further impedance adaptation or transformation was then necessary at the end of the conductor or of the coaxial cable, in order thus to couple the signal optimally out of the cable into the high-frequency electrodes, by means of which the gas is to be excited.
This two-fold impedance adaptation or transformation is very troublesome, and readily leads to non-ideal adaptation and power losses. Moreover, losses occur in the conductors, for example coaxial cables.

Gas laser having a discharge tube through which the gas flows in an axial direction


A pneumatic tire having an air impermeable layer. A film formed of a thermoplastic resin or thermoplastic elastomer composition comprising a blend of a thermoplastic resin and an elastomer is used for the air impermeable layer. Separation of the film is prevented and an inner appearance of the tire is improved.

There have conventionally been known a pneumatic tire in which a film formed of a thermoplastic resin or thermoplastic elastomer composition comprising a blend of a thermoplastic resin and an elastomer is used for an air impermeable layer (inner liner) disposed on the inner side of the tire (see a patent document 1, for example).
The opposite ends of the film in the circumferential direction of the tire are spliced to each other in an overlapping manner to form the above air impermeable layer. However, the film having the thermoplastic resin as a main component has a low adhesion. Therefore, even if the opposite ends of the film are spliced by pressing, the spliced opposite ends of the film are separated from each other during building of a green tire, which creates a problem of a mold release agent, applied to the inner surface of the tire, which comes in between the opposite ends of the film from the separated place of the film during curing of the green tire. If the mold release agent comes in between the opposite ends of the film as described above, adhesion of the film between the opposite ends is lowered, whereby the film is opened between the opposite ends during running, and the opened part becomes a starting point of tire trouble.
Further, the above film is subject to blemish because it is soft under high temperatures. Therefore, when the curing bladder is folded in order to remove a tire from a tire curing press after curing, the film receives a blemish if the curing bladder comes into contact with the film on the inner side of the tire and is rubbed against the surface of the film, which produces a problem of deteriorating an inner appearance of a brand-new tire.
Patent Document 1; Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication HEI 10-35232

Abstract: The air impermeable layer 10, which is disposed on the inner side of the tire, is formed from a laminated body 14 comprising a ribbon-shaped film 11 and ribbon-shaped elastomer plies 12 and 13 laminated on opposite sides thereof. The laminated body 14 is wound in the circumferential direction of the tire in such a partially overlapping manner that it is displaced at prescribed intervals. Each pair of adjacent wound portions 14A and 14B of the laminated body 14 are spliced to each other in a partially overlapping manner in a state where the ribbon-shaped film 11 is disengaged from itself.


A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the device. The method includes: depositing a first dielectric layer on a semiconductor device; forming a plurality of first trenches through the first dielectric layer; depositing an insulating fill in the plurality of first trenches; planarizing the plurality of first trenches; forming a first gate contact between the plurality of first trenches; depositing a first contact fill in the first gate contact; planarizing the first gate contact; depositing a second dielectric layer on the device; forming a plurality of second trenches through the first and second dielectric layers; depositing a conductive fill in the plurality of second trenches; planarizing the plurality of second trenches; forming a second gate contact where the second gate contact is in contact with the first gate contact; depositing a second contact fill in the second gate contact; and planarizing the second gate contact.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device having self-aligned gate contacts over an active area and a method for manufacturing the device.
Field-effect transistors (FETs) are used in many integrated circuit designs, as switches to open and close the circuits. In general, a FET includes a source region and a drain region connected by a channel, and a gate that regulates electron flow through the channel between the source and drain regions.
For years, the continued minimization of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) has driven the worldwide semiconductor industry. Access to and operation of semiconductor devices is provided by contacts to the devices. During manufacture or forming of semiconductor devices, it is important to ensure that gate contacts do not short to the source/drain region. To avoid shorting, a gate must be contacted in a field region. This ground rule limits wiring flexibility at the first metal level and increases the footprint of cells which require multiple gate contacts, especially when adjacent gates must be contacted.

Semiconductor device having self-aligned gate contacts

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The invention relates to a printing device for printing labels which have been removably affixed to a carrier strip, in particular goods labels, comprising at least one label feed device which comprises at least one wiper head, as well as comprising at least one printer with at least one print head for printing the label. Different label models can be printed in a continuous labelling process using only one printer, if at least one conveyor device is provided which conveys the labels, which have been peeled off at a wiper head, of which there is at least one, to the printer, of which there is at least one.

The invention relates to a printing device for printing labels which have been removably affixed to a carrier strip, in particular goods labels, comprising at least one label feed device which comprises at least one wiper head, as well as comprising at least one printer with at least one print head for printing the label.
A printing device of this type is known from the state of the art. For example, a portable labelling device for affixing and delaminating printed labels is known from DE 32 16 258 A1. In this labelling device, the labels are arranged one behind the other on a carrier belt.
Furthermore, from U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,384, a device comprising a multitude of permanent label feed devices is known.
Such known printing devices are associated with a disadvantage in that, when a different label model is required, e.g., involving a different color, graphic design or text, it becomes necessary to manually exchange the carrier strip with the labels (ticket roll, tape of flat folded labels sold under the trademark LIPORELLO(trademark)). This precludes operation using a variety of labels. If during a labeling process, different label types are required, in particular if the choice of model only results from parameters obtained immediately prior to printing, as may for example be the case where there is a combination of a printer and a weighing device, such labelling devices cannot be used.
It is desirable that labelling can be carried out with various label models.
In this context it must be borne in mind that the goods to be labelled are acquired by means of an automatic pattern recognition device, and depending on the object to be labelled, one of many different labels is selected. However, there may also be a need for weight-dependent or piece-number-dependent printing and labelling or labelling based on input by an operator or by a computer system.
With known labelling devices, in the most unfavourable case, the ticket roll has to be exchanged between each label. This makes economical labelling quite impossible.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,435, an option is known which ensures uninterrupted operation. This printed publication proposes the use of two printers for printing two different models. Since a printer accounts for a significant part of the expense of a labelling device and also takes up additional room, such a device becomes considerably more expensive as the number of different label models increases.
EP 0 309 659 and EP 0 362 976 describe a device for printing several models without the need to change the model roll. These devices make do with a single printer. It is proposed that pieces of paper be printed which after completion of the printing process are cut off. In this way it is possible to advance the beginning of a selected paper supply roll, lead it to the printer, cut it off, and after completion of the printing process push the free beginning back again, before selecting the beginning of another supply roll.
However, such a process is not possible if instead of paper pieces, self-adhesive labels affixed to a carrier strip are to be printed. This is because after printing and removing a label, the label-free carrier strip remains and has to be accommodated again. In addition, the carrier strip must be kept taut so as to ensure good quality label printing.
It is thus the object of the invention to be able to print different label models in a continuous labelling process, using at least one printer.
According to the invention, the object derived and explained above is met in that a conveyor device is provided which conveys to a printer the label which has been peeled off at the wiper head. The labels, which depending on particular requirements are peeled off at the wiper heads or wiper edges by the respective label feed devices, are conveyed to the printer. Said printer can then print the labels as specified by a control system. The printed labels are then affixed to the goods by means of a labelling device. A multitude of label feed devices can be arranged along the conveyor device. The maximum number of label feed devices is determined by the size of the conveyor device as well as by the time allowed for label feed from the wiper head to the printer. The label which is peeled off from that wiper head which is located the largest distance away from the print head, must be able to be conveyed to the printer within the permitted time span. The conveyor device according to the invention makes it possible to mix and print the labels of the various label feed devices at will.
By using at least one conveyor device which comprises at least one label transfer station, said conveyor device, of which there is at leat one, conveying the labels peeled off at the wiper head of which there is at least one, to the printer of which there is at least one, wherein at first a first conveyor device conveys the label peeled off from the carrier strip and transfers the peeled-off label at least once at the label transfer station to the same first conveyor device or to a further conveyor device, the label to be printed can be conveyed even along substantial distances. The use of the same type of conveyor device, or of different types of conveyor devices, is possible.
It is also possible to provide at least two different conveyor devices which convey the label peeled off at the wiper head, of which there is at least one, to the printer, of which there is at least one, wherein at first the first conveyor device conveys the label and then the second conveyor device conveys the label. The use of different conveyor devices makes it possible to flexibly arrange the printing device and to adapt it to the particular circumstances of the available space and the process technology used.
A printing device is proposed in which the conveyor device, of which there is at least one, is a conveyor belt, and in which the conveyor belt conveys the peeled-off labels to the printer, of which there is at least one. The conveyor belt can be any of the following: an elastic belt, a plate belt, a chain or any other belt which essentially is tensioned between at least two rotating cylinders which are arranged so as to be axially parallel to each other. The labels can be quickly conveyed to the printer by way of the conveyor belt. Immediately after the printing process, the conveyor belt can convey the printed label to a labelling device.
The necessary design space can be limited by using a conveying roller which conveys the peeled-off labels to the printer, of which there is at least one. If a conveying roller is used, the printed labels can also be fed to a labelling device directly after the printing process. In this arrangement, the conveying roller may be a conveyor drum.
The conveyor device, of which there is at least one, can be a plate, with the plate carrying out either a rotary movement or an oscillating movement. In the case of a rotary plate, the label feed devices are arranged along a radius of the plate. In this way, the rotary movement causes the peeled-off labels to be conveyed to a printer, of which there is at least one, which printer is arranged at the same radius of the plate. A plate which essentially oscillates along the horizontal axis, first moves to the label feed device which requires the next label, picks this label up at the wiper head and then moves to the printer. At the printer, the label is printed. After the label has been printed, it must be removed from the plate by a gripper arm and must be conveyed to a labelling device.
The printed labels are taken up by at least one labelling device and are affixed to the product. The labelling device is arranged along the path of conveyance of the objects to be labelled and takes up the labels which have been printed by the printer, of which there is at least one. After the labels have been taken up, they are placed onto the objects to be labelled and are affixed.
A particularly simple and reliable option of feeding the carrier strips to the wiper heads, results from an embodiment of the printing device according to the invention in which the label feed device, of which there is at least one, comprises a take-off reel for unrolling a ticket roll comprising the carrier strip and the labels which have been removably affixed to said carrier strip, and comprises a take-up reel for taking up the carrier strip from which the labels have been removed. Such a variant of an embodiment also allows taught guidance of the carrier strips over the wiper heads or the wiper edges, so that they always rest flat and in straight alignment on the conveyor device, and thus can always be printed neatly by the printer.
It is also possible to use a label feed device, of which there is at least one, which comprises a supply device for accommodating LIPORELLO(trademark) tapes comprising the carrier strip and the labels which have been removably affixed thereto, and which comprises a take-up device for taking up the carrier strip from which the labels have been removed. In this way, it is also possible to use LIPORELLO(trademark) labels arranged on a folded carrier belt. The supply device can be a LIPORELLO(trademark) storehouse.
It is very easy to dispose of the carrier strips from which the labels have been removed, if the label feed device, of which there is at least one, comprises a take-up device for taking up the carrier strip from which the labels have been removed, wherein the take-up device comminutes the carrier strip from which the labels have been removed. In this way, simultaneous or independent compressing, folding and/or intermediate storing is also possible.
Preferably the printer, of which there is at least one, is a thermal printer in which the thermal strip prints the temperature-sensitive labels by applying heat locally. However, the printer can also be based on a thermotransfer, ink-jet, matrix or laser printing process.
According to one embodiment, both the printer and the label feed devices are essentially arranged so as to be stationary. Stationary arrangement of printer and label feed device results in reduced wear of the machine.
The use of various printers in one stationary location, or alternatively of one printer in various locations, can be realised in that the printer, of which there is at least one, is arranged so as to be slidable along an axis. For example an arrangement of the printer on a boom is imaginable in this context. This is for example advantageous in the case of colour printing involving several colours.
The wiper heads or wiper edges, of which there are at least two, are preferably arranged along one line. When using a conveying roller as well as a conveyor plate which carries out a rotary movement, the wiper heads, of which there are at least two, are alternatively arranged essentially along a reference circle path or a curved path.
If at least part of the label feed device is arranged so as to be slidable essentially perpendicularly to the direction of conveyance of the conveyor device, changing the ticket roll can take place without interrupting the printing process on the remaining ticket rolls. To this effect, the label feed device which contains the ticket roll to be changed, is lifted from the conveyor device, and the ticket roll to be changed can be changed. Either the entire label feed device or only the wiper head or the wiper edge can be lifted. Meanwhile the printing process involving the remaining ticket rolls can be carried out without any interruption. This enables uninterrupted labelling for any duration, since after using up the last label of a ticket roll or ticket cassette, a changeover to a further roll or cassette can be made. While labelling with the use of the currently required ticket roll or ticket cassette is in progress, new labels can be placed in the empty ticket roll or ticket cassette, without hindering operations.


A method for modeling metal routing includes extracting physical parameters of a metal interconnect for a circuit design, determining a resistance value from a database of metal interconnects with the extracted physical parameters, the resistance value being at a maximum frequency of a frequency range to be simulated, modeling the interconnect with a symmetric lumped transmission line model, and defining a resistance value of the lumped transmission line model to be about 1.05-1.3 times the resistance value taken from the database.

Integrated circuits that are formed into semiconductor substrates include multiple components such as transistors, resistors, and memory elements. These components are typically connected to one another through metal lines that are routed through multiple layers formed onto the substrate. These metal lines are often referred to as metal interconnects.
During the design phase of integrated circuits, the designer often uses a computer drafting tool to design the circuit. The next step is to design the layout of the circuit. The layout indicates how the circuit will be printed onto a substrate. During this phase of the design, it is important to understand how each of the metal interconnects will perform when carrying signals. It is particularly important to understand the behavior of signals passing through the interconnects at a wide band of frequencies. For example, it may be useful to understand the behavior of the metal interconnects at a range between 0.2 Ghz and 60 Ghz. In some cases, even higher frequencies may wish to be analyzed.
Modeling or simulation software is often used to analyze the behavior of metal interconnects before they are printed out. This allows designers to make adjustments if some aspect of the circuit does not behave as desired. Such modeling is often a time consuming and complicated process. The equations that are used to model the metal interconnects are relatively complex and thus take a lot of computing power.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Computer-implemented methods are disclosed for assessing the effect of musculoskeletal activities on disease and/or clinical events, the method comprising: receiving a patient-specific vascular and musculoskeletal model of a patient's anatomy, including at least one vessel of the patient; receiving at least one characteristic of the patient's musculoskeletal activity; generating or updating a computational anatomic vascular and musculoskeletal model of the patient's anatomy based on the received at least one characteristic of musculoskeletal activity; performing at least one of a computational fluid dynamics analysis or a structural mechanics simulation on the computational anatomic vascular and musculoskeletal model; and estimating at least one of the patient's risk of disease or clinical events based on the performed computational fluid dynamics analysis and/or structural mechanics simulation. Systems and computer readable media for executing these methods are also disclosed.

Various activities and behaviors of a patient may affect characteristics of the patient's blood flow through the patient's arterial and venous systems. For example, physical activities and sedentary behavior of a patient may affect the geometric configuration of vasculatures, as well as blood flow characteristics therethrough. For example, physical activities, such as walking, running, exercising, swallowing, and head rotation, etc., as well as sedentary behaviors, such as prolonged sitting, may impact the ability of the arterial and venous systems to circulate blood.
In recent studies, individuals with excessive sedentary behavior (e.g., prolonged sitting) were reported to have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality with vascular disease or diabetes, regardless of the intensity of physical activity. To understand the pathogenesis of arterial and venous diseases, a desire exists for accurate modeling of the interaction between musculoskeletal, venous, and arterial systems of a patient and the effects of musculoskeletal activity on the mechanical and/or hemodynamic characteristics of the musculoskeletal and/or vascular systems of a patient. Moreover, this musculoskeletal and vascular modeling may also help assess the durability/lifecycle of implanted endovascular devices, such as stents. This disclosure includes systems and methods for assessing the effect of musculoskeletal motions on device failure, and arterial and venous diseases.
The foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Systems and methods for cardiovascular blood flow and musculoskeletal modeling for predicting device failure or clinical events


A method is provided for fabricating a semiconductor memory device. The method includes providing a substrate and forming a stacked layer on the substrate, where the stacked layer includes a tunneling dielectric layer and a floating gate layer sequentially formed on the substrate. The method also includes forming a plurality of stacked structures by etching the stacked layer and the substrate, where the spacing between the adjacent stacked structures forms a plurality of parallel first trenches. In addition, the method includes forming a plurality of second trenches and forming a plurality of third trenches. Moreover, the method includes forming a second dielectric layer on the floating gate layer and the side wall and bottom of the third trenches and forming a control gate layer on the second dielectric layer. Further, the method includes forming a plurality of fourth trenches and removing the sacrificial layer along the fourth trenches.

With the increasing integration degree of semiconductor devices and decreasingly reduction on dimensions of the devices and space between the adjacent devices, crosstalk between adjacent memory cells is more and more serious, easily causing many issues such as operating errors, and deterioration of electrical properties, etc. Therefore, how to reduce crosstalk between the adjacent memory cells becomes particularly important.
Currently, in a semiconductor memory device, dielectric between the adjacent memory cells is usually oxide, but the dielectric constant of the oxide is relatively large, about 3.9. To solve this issue, one method is to reduce the dielectric constant of the dielectric. That is, in fabrication processes, low dielectric constant materials are usually used to replace the dielectric with high dielectric constant, such as silicon oxide. However, when the process technology gradually evolves into smaller dimension, low dielectric constant materials have also been unable to meet the requirements.
Ideally, the dielectric constant of the dielectric can be reduced to 1.0, that is, the dielectric constant of vacuum. Therefore, a method is needed to reduce the dielectric constant of the dielectric between the adjacent memory cells to reduce the crosstalk. The disclosed device structures and methods are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

Semiconductor memory device and fabrication method thereof

SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL (SHANGHAI) CORPORATION

SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL (BEIJING) CORPORATION


In a tilt parking mode, “a target parking position” can be accurately determined without changing a camera tilt angle and an HMI display range, and can be notified to a driver, so that the usability can be improved. A parking support device includes an external field recognition unit such as a camera and a sonar, which recognizes an external field, an information holding unit which holds information of a parking frame line recognized by the external field recognition unit, a parking region extraction unit which extracts a parking region from information of the parking frame line, a parking position determination unit which determines a target parking position from the parking region, and a path calculation unit which calculates a parking path from a current position of an own vehicle up to the target parking position. In a case where part of the parking frame line is not recognized by the camera, the target parking position is defined on the basis of lines connecting an end point of the parking frame line on a rear side of the own vehicle, a virtually extending line of the parking frame line on a front side of the own vehicle, and a point intersecting with the virtual line on a front side of the vehicle from the end point of the parking frame line on the rear side of the own vehicle.

Conventionally, as a parking support device which supports a driving operation when a vehicle is parked, there is known a technique in which a space of the target parking position is detected to park an own vehicle using a distance measuring sensor for example, a frame image indicating the target parking position is drawn and displayed at a position corresponding to an image captured by a camera, and therefore, a driver can recognize the target parking position.
In addition, regarding the problem that it is hard for the driver to determine whether the target parking position displayed on an HMI is the target parking position automatically detected on the basis of a recognition result, which causes anxiety in operation, there is known a technique in which different frame images are displayed depending on cases where the target parking position can be detected or where not, and therefore, the driver can check the display of the frame image so as to easily grasp whether the target parking position is appropriately detected.
Specifically, in a case where the target parking position is detected, a detection procedure of the target parking position, that is, a frame image indicating a recommended target parking position in a plurality of target parking positions obtained by detection and other detected parking candidates are classified with colors and types of lines, and displayed at each position on an overhead image, so that the driver is informed of that the target parking position is detected.
On the other hand, there is a technique in which, in a case where the target parking position is not able to be detected, a default frame image is displayed at a predetermined default position with respect to a position of the own vehicle, and therefore, instead of a parking frame line displayed on the HMI, a moving target parking position with respect to the own vehicle and a position adjustment icon of the default frame image on the image are displayed, so that the driver is informed of that the position is not able to be automatically detected.


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer having a first surface and a second surface, a first region of a first conductivity type formed on the first surface side of the semiconductor layer, a second region of a second conductivity type in contact with the first region, a third region of the first conductivity type that is in contact with the second region and exposed from the first surface side of the semiconductor layer, a gate electrode facing the second region through a gate insulating film, a first electrode that is physically separated from the gate electrode and faces the second region and the third region through an insulating film, a second electrode formed on the semiconductor layer and electrically connected to the first region, the second region, and the first electrode, and a third electrode electrically connected to the third region.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-261562) discloses a MOSFET. The MOSFET has a super junction structure provided between a semiconductor substrate containing an n+ type impurity and a base layer containing a p type impurity. The super junction structure is formed by alternately and repeatedly placing first semiconductor layers, each containing an n type impurity, and second semiconductor layers, each containing a p type impurity, in a direction intersecting with the direction in which the semiconductor substrate faces the base layer.

Semiconductor device exhibiting soft recovery characteristics


In a joint section between a shaft and a universal-joint yoke a tip surface on the tip end of the shaft and an inside surface of a connecting section of the yoke fit together in concave-convex engagement. The tip surface contacts the inside surface at two contact locations, and a clearance between these surfaces is formed between the two contact locations, whereby movement of the tip end of the shaft is restricted and vibration of the shaft is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a joint section between a shaft and universal-joint yoke, and more particularly to a joint in a steering apparatus, for example, that is used for joining the ends of the various shafts of the steering apparatus to a universal-joint yoke.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a steering apparatus for steering the front wheels of an automobile, the movement of the steering shaft that turns as the steering wheel is operated is transmitted to the input shaft of a steering gear by way of cross-shaft type universal joint as shown in FIG. 12. This universal joint 1 joins a pair of yokes 2, 3 by way of a cross shaft 4. The four end sections of this cross shaft 4 are supported on the tip end sections of the yokes 2, 3 by way of bearings that use rollers located inside bearing cups 5 such that they can freely oscillate. Therefore, it is possible to transmit torque between the yokes 2, 3 even though the center axes of these yokes 2, 3 are not on the same straight line.
When this kind of universal joint 1 is installed in a steering apparatus, one of the yokes 2 (right yoke in FIG. 12) is joined and fastened in advance to the end section of one of the shafts 6, such as the steering shaft, by welding or screws, and the other yoke 3 (left yoke in FIG. 12) is joined to the end section of the other shaft 7. Normally, in order to perform this kind of assembly work, after the one shaft 6 is supported by the automobile chassis, this one shaft 6 and the other shaft 7 are joined by the aforementioned universal joint 1.
Also, of the pair of yokes 2, 3 of the universal joint 1, it is preferred that at least one of the yokes 3 is a so-called side-insertion-type yoke (slap yoke) so that connection work can be performed without having to move the one shaft 6 in the axial direction. For example, in the case of the universal joint 1 shown in FIG. 12, the other yoke 3 is a side-insertion-type yoke, while the yoke 2 is joined and fastened to the end section of one of the shaft 6 by welding.
FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show examples of joints between this kind of side-insertion type yoke 3 and shaft 7, and it is well known prior art as is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 (JP Patent No. 3,531,364 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,178). The base-end section 8 of the yoke 3 has a U-shaped cross section and comprises a pair of support plates 9a, 9b that are separated from each other on both sides of the center axis of this yoke 3, and a connecting section 10 that connect one of the ends of each of these support plates 9a, 9b (bottom ends in FIGS. 13 and 14). The inner surfaces of this pair of support plates 9a, 9b become support surfaces 11 that are parallel to each other. Also, through holes 12a, 12b that are concentric with each other are formed in the sections near the other ends of these support plates 9a, 9b (top ends in FIGS. 13 and 14).
On the other hand, the cross-sectional shape of at least the tip end of the shaft 7 that is joined to the yoke 3 constructed as described above is an oval shape as shown in FIG. 13. In other words, on the outer surface on the tip end of this shaft 7 there is a pair of outside flat surfaces 13 that are parallel with each other and that are supported surfaces. Also, a notch 14 is formed in the part near the tip end on the surface of one side of the shaft 7 (top side surface in FIGS. 13 and 14) in a direction that runs parallel with both of these outside surfaces 13 (vertical direction in FIGS. 13 and 14).
When the tip end of the shaft 7 is joined to the base end 8 of the yoke 3, first, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 12, the tip end of the shaft 7 is placed on the opening side of the base end 8. From this state, by rotating the yoke 3 around the cross shaft 4 from the state shown by the solid line in the figure to the state shown by the dashed line, the tip end of the shaft 7 is inserted inside the base end 8 of the yoke as shown in FIG. 13. In order to make it easier to perform this kind of insertion work, when the yoke 3 and shaft 7 are in the free state, the space W11 between the support surfaces 11 is greater than the space W13 between the outside flat surfaces 13 (W11>W13). Therefore, when the tip end of the shaft 7 is inserted inside the base end section of the yoke 3 as was described above, a positive clearance 15 occurs between the support surfaces 11 and the outside flat surfaces 13.
After the tip end of the shaft 7 has been inserted inside the base end section 8 of the yoke 3 as described above, next, as shown in FIG. 14, a support bolt 16 is inserted through the through holes 12a, 12b, and of the male screw section 32 formed on the tip end of this support bolt 16, a nut 17 is screwed onto the portion that protrudes to the outside from the through hole 12b, and this nut 17 is tightened to a specified torque. By doing this, the space between the pair of support surfaces 11 is narrowed, and these support surfaces 11 come in contact with the outside flat surfaces 13. Together with this, by turning the support bolt 16 such that the outer surface of a cam section 18 formed in the middle of this support bolt 16 presses against the bottom surface 19 of the notch 14, the shaft 7 is pressed against the inside surface 20 of the connecting section 10. In other words, of the other surface of the shaft 7 that is parallel with the outside flat surfaces 13 (surface on the bottom side in FIGS. 13 and 14), the opposing surface 21 located on the tip end of the shaft 7 that faces the inside surface 20 of the connecting section 10 comes into strong contact with this inside surface 20. Furthermore, by fitting the support bolt 16 with the notch 14, even when the nut 17 may come loose, it prevents the shaft 7 from coming out in the axial direction from inside the base end section 8.
Of the rod section of the support bolt 16, cylindrical sections 33a, 33b are formed on the portions that are inserted through the through holes 12a, 12b and that are in the middle section and the base end section of the rod section. Also, the areas of contact between the outer surfaces around these cylindrical sections 33a, 33b and the inner surfaces of the through holes 12a, 12b are such that they support the reaction force when the outer surface around the cam section 18 is pressed against the bottom surface 19 of the notch 14. In the case of the example shown in the figures, in addition to the cylindrical section 33b, the male screw section 32 is also inserted through the through hole 12b. Therefore, in order that the outer surface around this cylindrical section 33b comes in contact with the inner surface of the through hole 12b, the outer diameter D33b of the cylindrical section 33b is nearly the same as or a little greater than the outer diameter d32 of the male screw section 32 (D33b≧d32).
In the case of the joint section between the shaft 7 and yoke 3 as described above, from the aspect of sufficiently maintaining the strength of this joint section, it is preferred that both the support surfaces 11 come in contact with the entire surface of the outside flat surfaces 13. However, when tightening the nut 17 to a specified torque as described above in order to complete this joint section, the amount that the space between the support surfaces 11 is narrowed becomes greater in the section near the support bolt 16 and nut 17 (top side section in FIG. 14), and becomes less in the section far from the bolt 16 and nut 17 (bottom side section in FIG. 14). Therefore, when the joint section is completed, in many cases, as shown in FIG. 14, the support surfaces 11 and outside flat surfaces 13 come in contact only in the portions near the support bolt 16 and nut 17, and clearances 15 remain in the portions far away.
As a result, there is a possibility that vibration will occur in the joint section while driving due to the clearances 15. In other words, in the case of the conventional joint section described above, both the inside surface 20 of the connecting section 10 and the opposing surface 21 of the shaft 7 are partial cylindrical surfaces (the contour lines (cross-sectional shapes) projected on virtual planes that are orthogonal to the axial direction are simple arcs). Also, the radius of curvature R20 of the inside surface 20 is nearly equal to or a little greater than the radius of curvature R21 of the opposing surface 21 (R20≧R21), Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, in the state before the nut 17 is screwed onto the support bolt 16 and tightened, the shaft 7, whose opposing surface 21 is in contact with the inside surface 20, is able to rotate around its center axis O7 (within the range of the clearances 15) without the center axis moving in the upward direction in the figure. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, even when the shaft 7 is prevented from moving in the upward direction of the same figure by tightening the nut 17, when a large transmission torque is applied to this shaft 7 and yoke 3, the shaft 7 rotates around its center axis O7 (within the range of the clearances 15) due to elastic deformation of the components, and there is a possibility that vibration will occur inside the joint section. This kind of vibration gives the driver operating the steering wheel a noise or vibration, and a feeling of rigidity when operating the steering wheel becomes poor and is not desirable.
Also, in the case of the joint section described above, as shown in FIG. 15, due to errors in manufacturing, the bottom surface 19 of the notch 14 formed near the tip end section of the top surface of the shaft 7, may become an inclined surface with respect to a virtual plane that is orthogonal to the pair of outside flat surfaces 13. In this case, as shown in the same figure, only part of the outer surface around the cam section 18 of the support bolt 16 will come in contact with the bottom surface 19 (in the example shown in the figure, only the left end comes in contact), and a wedge-shaped clearance 22 occurs between the outer surface around the cam section 18 and the bottom surface 19. As a result, the effect of preventing rotation of the shaft 7 by the outer surface around the cam section 18 is reduced, and as described above, it becomes easy for the shaft 7 to rotate around its own center axis O7 (refer to FIG. 13) (within the range of the clearances 15).
Also, Patent Document 2 mentioned above and Patent Document 3 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,350), disclose construction such as shown in FIG. 16 in which the inside surface 20a of the connecting section 10a of the base end section 8a of the yoke 3a is a flat surface that is parallel with the center axis of the through holes 12a, 12b. In this second example of prior construction, in addition to the conditions of the first example of prior construction shown in FIG. 15, in the state before screwing the nut 17 onto the support bolt 16 and tightening it (not shown in the figure), the shaft 7, whose opposing surface 21 comes in contact with the inside surface 20a of the connecting section 10a, is able to move (within the range of the clearances 15) along this inside surface 20a in a displacement direction only in the axial direction of the through holes 12a, 12b (direction of the space between the pair of support plates 9a, 9b, or the left and right direction in FIG. 16). Therefore, in the case of this second example of prior construction, even when the shaft 7 is prevented from moving in the upward direction in the same figure by tightening the nut 17, it is possible for the shaft 7 to move in just the axial direction of the through holes 12a, 12b (within the range of the clearances 15) due to the elastic deformation of each of the parts. Therefore, the possibility of vibration occurring in the joint section is greater than in the case of the first example of prior construction described above, by the amount that this kind of possibility adds.
Moreover, Patent Document 2 mentioned above discloses construction such as shown in FIG. 17 in which the cross-sectional shape of the shaft 7a and the cross-sectional shape of the inner surface of the base end section 8b of the yoke 3b are both trapezoidal. As in the case of the first and second examples described above, in the case of this third example of prior construction as well, when the joint section is completed, of the space between both support surfaces 11 and both outside flat surfaces 13, clearances 15, may still remain in the areas far from the support bolt 16 and nut 17 (bottom areas in the same figure). Also, a wedge-shaped space 22 may occur between the surface around the cam section 18 of the support bolt 16 and the bottom surface 19 of the notch 14, and due to this, part of the opposing surface (flat surface) 21a of the shaft 7a may come in contact with the inside surface (flat surface) 20a of the connecting section 10a (in the example shown in the figure, only the left end comes in contact), so a wedge-shaped space 23 may also occur between this opposing surface 21a and inside surface 20a. Therefore, in the case of this third example of prior construction as well, it becomes easy for the shaft 7 to move on the inside of the base end section 8b (within the range of the clearances 15) in proportion to the amount that these wedge-shaped clearances 22, 23 exist, so there is a possibility that vibration will occur in the joint section.
Patent Documents 4 and 5 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,833 and EU Patent Application No. 309,344) also disclosed other examples of prior art related to this invention.                [Patent Document 1] JP Patent No. 3531364        [Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,178        [Patent Document 3] U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,350        [Patent Document 4] U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,833        [Patent Document 5] EU Patent Application No. 309,344

Joint section between a shaft and a universal-joint yoke