A method of manufacturing an electronic device on a plastic substrate includes: providing a carrier as a rigid support for the electronic device; providing a metallic layer on the carrier; forming the plastic substrate on the metallic layer, the metallic layer guaranteeing a temporary bonding of the plastic substrate to the carrier; forming the electronic device on the plastic substrate; and releasing the carrier from the plastic substrate. Releasing the carrier comprises immersing the electronic device bonded to the carrier in a oxygenated water solution that breaks the bonds between the plastic substrate and the metallic layer.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing an electronic device realized on plastic substrates, such as active matrix display devices or photovoltaic panels or sensors network.
The disclosure refers, in particular, but not exclusively, to a method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising a plastic substrate fixed to a rigid carrier, and the following description is made with reference to this field of application just for explanation convenience.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, interest in plastic devices for displays, photovoltaic panels and sensor networks has increased even further, due to the low cost, light weight, flexibility, and resistance to breaking of such devices. Despite this interest, there is still a need for a plausible manufacturing route for mass production of this kind of devices.
A number of different ways have been reported for the manufacturing of electronic devices on plastic substrates; however, all these manufacturing ways have some drawbacks mainly due to:                the difficulty of setting-up processes compatible with plastics such as by using low temperatures and non-aggressive chemicals;        managing of flexible, light and sometimes transparent devices using conventional equipments generally suitable for processing rigid substrates.
It is well known that a possibility for manufacturing flexible devices using conventional equipment is to process a plastic substrate fixed over a rigid carrier substrate. The rigid carrier substrate is then released from the plastic substrate after having formed the circuit layouts over the plastic substrate. This enables to employ substantially conventional substrate handling and cell making processes. This known technique is called "temporary bonding" because it involves fixing the plastic substrate on the rigid substrate, also called the carrier, for a limited time period and in removing the plastic substrate from the carrier at the end of the manufacturing process.
As an example, FIGS. 1A-1C show the steps of a manufacturing process of an electronic device having a plastic substrate, according to the prior art. In particular, FIG. 1A shows a rigid carrier 1 and a plastic foil 2 that can be cut, modeled and bonded on the carrier 1, thus covering it as a plastic substrate 3 as shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1C shows an electronic device 4 manufactured on the plastic substrate 3 and released from the carrier 1.
Several methods are used to release the carrier from the plastic substrate at the end of the manufacturing process, depending on the plastic materials being used. In particular, a first type of plastic materials, such as polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Arilite, Kapton, etc., can be laminated on the carrier. A second type of plastic materials can be obtained from liquid precursors, such as polyimide, silicon pastes, etc., which are deposited on the carrier, as they are or covered by either a metal or oxide or nitride layer, and then cured at high temperatures.
For the first type of plastic materials, a first known manufacturing process involves the steps of:                laminating a double-sided tape on the carrier; laminating the plastic materials on the double-sided tape;        realizing the electronic device on the plastic material;        releasing the carrier from the plastic substrate by putting it over a hot plate to increase its temperature.
Even if the double-sided tapes are very resistant to chemical agents being used in manufacturing processes and even if they do not release any impurity both on the plastic substrate and on the carrier, allowing the re-use of the carrier, they are however not very resistant to temperatures greater than 150° C., whereat an anticipated de-bonding of the carrier occurs.
A second known manufacturing process involves the steps of:                depositing a liquid glue on the carrier;        laminating the plastic materials on the carrier;        realizing the electronic device on the plastic material;        releasing the carrier by mechanically peeling the plastic substrate or chemically removing the glue.
Although the glue is more resistant to high temperatures, up to 200° C., it could be easily damaged by the chemical substances used in device manufacturing processes. Moreover, the de-bonding may cause damaging of the electronic device already formed, either in case of a mechanical de-bonding or a chemical attack.
A third known manufacturing process involves the steps of:                providing an electrostatic carrier comprising a pair of electrodes on which a dielectric material is deposited;        providing a plastic substrate adhering to the carrier due to the electrostatic field formed on it by an external power supply;        realizing the electronic device on the plastic material;        moving the device away from the carrier.
The advantage of this technique is to avoid the surface contamination caused by glue or by adhesive tapes, so that the carrier can be re-used for producing standard devices in semiconductor industries. Nevertheless, the electrostatic field exponentially decreases with time and is very sensitive to thermal processes, causing the anticipated de-bonding of the carrier.
For the second type of plastic materials, a first known manufacturing process involves the steps of:                providing a carrier with a superficial sacrificial layer;        spinning a liquid precursor on the carrier, in such a way to adhere to the sacrificial layer;        curing the precursor to form a thin film;        realizing the electronic device on the thin film;        removing the carrier by a wet etch or of an anodic dissolution.
The biggest problem of this type of de-bonding is that the carrier cannot be re-used. Moreover, in case of wet etch, the diffusion velocity of the removing solution is very limited, so that, for devices having an area of cm2, the duration period of the wet etch could cause damaging of the devices. This is way the wet etch is more applicable for small devices and for carriers having a big area exposed to the removing solution. Similarly, the de-bonding by anodic dissolution involves a more rapid corrosion of the metals of the carrier exposed to the anodic solution as much as greater is the area of the exposed metals. In addition, this type of de-bonding cannot be used if the plastic substrate covers completely the sacrificial layer and it requests the use of a dedicated equipment to control the parameters of the dissolution process.
There is another known manufacturing process, specifically used for liquid photosensitive precursors, such as polyimide, and for transparent carriers involving the steps of:                spinning a liquid precursor on the carrier;        curing the precursor to form a thin film;        realizing the electronic device on the thin film;        de-bonding the carrier by exposing the thin film to a laser having a specific wavelength, such as 308 nm (Xe—Cl) or 193 nm (ArF excimer laser), in such a way to ablate a sub-micrometric layer of the thin film which remains bonded to the carrier and to have the device on the plastic substrate de-bonded.
For example, this last technique is described in the International patent application published under No. WO 05/050754 on Jun. 2, 2005 in the name of Koninklijke Philips Electronics, in which a substrate arrangement is manufactured by comprising a rigid carrier substrate, like glass, and a plastic substrate over the rigid carrier substrate. To release the plastic substrate from a glass carrier a heating method is used. By heating the glass and the plastic substrate, the plastic substrate and the electronic components formed on the substrate are released from the glass carrier. The release process, also called Electronics on Plastic by Laser Release (EPLaR) as proposed is a laser lift-off process. Laser light at ultraviolet wavelengths is used to cause the lift-off of the plastic substrate from the underlying carrier. It has been also indicated that the release process may be a photo-ablation process due to multiple-photon processes, including localized heating. A suggested material for this process is polyimide, which is chosen for its high-temperature stability and high absorption of UV energy.
The FIGS. 2A-2C show the steps of a manufacturing method comprising a step of releasing the carrier based on the laser ablation technique. More in details, as shown in FIG. 2A, a transparent carrier 10, like quartz, is provided and a liquid plastic precursor 20, such as polyimide, is spun on the carrier 10; the plastic precursor 20 is then cured to form a plastic substrate 30 bonded to the carrier 10. The carrier 10 with the plastic substrate 30 fixed to it is showed in FIG. 2B. At the end, an electronic device 40 is realized over the plastic substrate 30 and then released from the carrier 10 exposing it to a laser light at ultraviolet wavelengths to cause the lift-off.
There are some problems in using a heating effect to lift-off a plastic substrate from the glass. Sufficient energy is needed to enable lift off to occur, but without damaging either the plastic substrate or the components formed, damages occurring for the thermal expansion effects. When using a laser lift-off process, higher wavelengths within the UV spectrum are preferable because lower wavelengths are more absorbed by the glass substrate, making the laser release less effective. For example commercially available lasers which operate at 308 nm or 351 nm are preferred. At these high wavelengths, the energy absorbed in the plastic layer is statistically distributed without complete thermalization in the plastic polymer molecules. This gives rise to localized heating effects, which can in turn result in damages to the plastic substrate or the components mounted on it. This can also results in partial or poor lift-off from the carrier.
Moreover, the transparent carrier substrates, such as quartz, are very expensive.

Method of manufacturing an electronic device having a plastic substrate and corresponding carrier


This invention relates to a method of controlling a lighting system (1) which has a plurality of polygonal lighting modules (3) arranged as an array, and a controlling device (7) connected to one of the lighting modules. The lighting modules are arbitrarily arrangeable by each lighting module being able to communicate with neighboring lighting modules via communication units (11) arranged at all sides of the lighting module. In an upstart mode each lighting module performs a configuration procedure, which includes: —receiving address data and lighting orientation data from a neighboring lighting module, wherein the address data comprises several address elements, which are related to a relative position of the neighboring lighting module within the lighting system; —aligning its own lighting orientation with the lighting orientation of the neighboring lighting module from which it receives address data and lighting orientation data; and —determining its own address by one of incrementing and decrementing at least one of the address elements depending on the lighting module's position relative to the neighboring lighting element, and according to a predetermined addressing plan. The lighting module which is connected with the controlling device receives initial address data and lighting orientation data from the controlling device.

Modular lighting refers to modules that can be assembled in order to obtain large lighting devices of various sizes and shapes. Each lighting module has several light elements, e.g. RGB LEDs. In addition to the flexibility in adapting the size and shape of such modular lighting applications, e.g. to the available space where the modular lighting application is to be installed or due to other reasons, such modular lighting applications may be used to visualize lighting patterns, such as still or moving images or light effects, on a screen that may have a size and a shape that in general deviates from standard rectangular liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. Particularly two-dimensional lighting modules are typically referred to as lighting tiles, or simply tiles. Such a lighting module may have various polygonal shapes, such as for example a square, triangle or pentagon shape. The lighting modules are not limited to two-dimensional shapes but may have a three-dimensional shape, such as a cube or a pyramid.
WO 2007/063487 discloses a prior art method for controlling a lighting system. The lighting system is built up from a plurality of lighting modules, which are interconnectable to form an array of a desired shape. The system includes a controlling device that is connected to one of the lighting modules in an array. The controlling device provides the array with lighting data, and when the lighting modules are correctly addressed the array displays a desired lighting pattern, such as an image, video, light effect or the like, on basis of the lighting data. Such a lighting system can be used in many different applications, but is often mounted on a wall, a ceiling, or a free standing holder.
It is desired that the lighting system is easy to mount and start to use. This is the case with the system disclosed in WO 2007/063487. The lighting modules are arbitrarily interconnectable by mechanical as well as electrical connections, such as communication units, arranged at their sides. This freedom of connection, however, raises demands on how to communicate lighting data throughout the array of lighting modules such that each module receives the correct data as well as displays the data correctly. According to WO 2007/063487 there is performed a learning procedure for defining a lighting module arrangement and a communication network for communication between the controlling device and the lighting modules. The controlling device sends a token to the connected lighting module. The token is then forwarded from module to module, while ensuring that all lighting modules are visited by the token. Concurrently, geometric information about how the lighting modules are arranged in relation to each other is obtained and reported back to the controlling device. Thereby information about the structure is acquired.
Further, as regards the addressing, initially the lighting modules have no address. The lighting modules are each assigned an address when the token first arrives there. After each assignment the address is updated, and the updated address is forwarded with the token to next module, to ensure that the same address is not provided to two different modules.
This method of gaining knowledge about the structure of the array and providing the modules with individual addresses is very flexible and accurate, but it is rather complex and requires a rather competent controlling device. For some applications a more simple solution would have been sufficient.

Auto-addressing method for a tiled lighting system


The present invention relates to a method for treating a first biological soft tissue. A biological soft tissue implant is attached to a first damaged biological soft tissue such that the biological soft tissue implant is capable of interacting with a second biological soft tissue or bone to prevent the first biological soft tissue from retracting beyond a predetermined position.

The present invention may be applicable to the treatment of biological soft tissue either before or after the damaged biological soft tissue is severed and/or resected. This can be accomplished by the introduction of an implant device of the present invention. The present invention is described with reference to a damaged biceps tendon, but one of skill in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited to the treatment of biceps tendons, and will also recognize the applicability of the present invention to other biological soft tissues.
Referring initially to FIG. 1A, a frontal view of the normal right human shoulder is illustrated. The biceps tendon 10 is a tendon that joins part of the biceps brachii, (i.e., the biceps muscle) to the shoulder. Specifically, the biceps tendon 10 inserts on the most superior portion of the glenoid labrum of the scapula 12 in the shoulder and extends downwardly to the biceps muscle 16 in the upper arm. The biceps tendon 10 is often referred to as the "long head" of the biceps brachii, ie: the long head of the biceps tendon. As can be further seen in FIG. 1A, the short head 24 of the biceps brachii also functions to attach the biceps muscle 16 to the shoulder. The biceps tendon 10 lies along the bicipital groove 18 in the humerus 20 and passes through a bicipital sheath 22. It is believed that the biceps tendon 10 contributes to stability of the shoulder, particularly when a patient's arm is disposed in certain orientations.
As a patient ages, the biceps tendon may become painful, inflamed, or may degenerate and fray beneath its upper attachment point, the point of attachment at the glenoid cavity. The degeneration and fraying of the biceps tendon is often due to abrasion against adjacent shoulder structures. This can result in tearing and cause the patient significant pain. One method of treating the pain caused by a partially torn biceps tendon 10 is to perform a procedure called a tenotomy. One benefit of a tenotomy is that it can easily be performed arthroscopically. As shown in FIG. 1B, a tenotomy involves severing the biceps tendon 10 at its upper end 26, so that it is detached from the glenoid. This procedure is typically effective at relieving the patient's pain symptoms caused by a degenerative and/or frayed biceps tendon. Despite severing the biceps tendon as part of a tenotomy, it has been found that the remaining structure supporting the biceps muscle 16, including the short head 24, provides adequate anterior stability for the shoulder, especially because the typical tenotomy patient is usually older and less physically active by the time the procedure is required. Since stability can be maintained despite a severed biceps tendon, a frayed and/or degenerative biceps tendon can be severed to alleviate associated pain.
Following a tenotomy procedure, patients often experience undesirable side effects. One of the most common side of these effects is known informally as a "Popeye Sign." As shown in FIG. 1C, a Popeye Sign develops when the biceps tendon 10 retracts down through the bicipital sheath 22. The retraction of the biceps tendon 10 causes the biceps 16 to sag and bulge in an unsightly way, as shown. The patient must therefore live with the resultant unsightly appearance and may also suffer from muscle cramping or aching. Consequently, this potential side effect is a significant deterrent to undergoing a tenotomy procedure and realizing the benefits of substantial pain relief.
Other approaches have been developed to try to obtain the benefits of pain relief while avoiding the side effect of a "Popeye Sign." One such approach, known as "biceps tenodesis," can be performed either by means of open or arthroscopic surgery. When performing a biceps tenodesis, the biceps tendon 10 is severed just as when performing a tenotomy. Unlike the tenotomy, however, in a biceps tenodesis, the biceps tendon 10 is sutured to the humerus 20 within the bicipital groove 18, using suture anchors to prevent the tendon from slipping downwardly through the sheath 22. Such a procedure is described in an article entitled Arthroscopic Biceps Tenodesis Using the Percutaneous Intra-articular Transtendon Technique, by Sekiya et al. published in the December 2003 edition Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, Vol. 19, No. 10 (pp. 1137-1141). While a biceps tenodesis procedure is often successful, if performed using open surgical techniques, as is the present state of the art, it results in an unsightly scar and an extended recovery period when compared to a tenotomy. The arthroscopic procedure described in the identified article avoids the scarring issue, but is complex and difficult for most surgeons to perform using today's instrumentation. Moreover, the arthroscopic procedure still generally requires a longer recovery period than a simple tenotomy.
Thus, it is desirable for surgeons to be able to perform a procedure similar to a simple tenotomy and receive results comparable to those achieved by tenodesis.


The invention is a device which uses stored pressure to pump waste and a corresponding method of use. Waste is stored in a first chamber and the chamber is subsequently sealed by a valve and pressurized prior to a second valve opening. The pressurized waste is thereby ejected from the pressure chamber down an outlet pipe.

The waste may be food waste; fresh, potable water (white water); water from domestic equipment other than toilets, e.g. bathtubs, showers, sinks, washing machines, etc. (greywater); or sewage and/or sewage water (blackwaste).
If a sanitary item, such as a sink, shower, toilet, etc. is installed close to or below the level of a drain pipe, the gravitational force acting on the waste to force it along the drain pipe may be low or even negative, i.e. insufficient to cause the waste to flow along the drain pipe. To overcome this problem, waste may pumped along the drain pipe by a pump activated when there is waste to be moved.
A macerating toilet uses a grinding or blending mechanism to reduce human waste to a slurry, which can then be moved by a pump. An electric pump is most often used to pump the macerated slurry into a sewage system.
Macerating units not for use in macerating toilets may be provided by ultrasonic devices. Ultrasound disintegration of sewage sludge is a macerating water treatment technology. The ultrasonic energy subjected to the sewage mechanically destroys both bacterial cells and difficult-to-degrade organics.
The disadvantage of the above described pumping mechanism is that the pump is noisy due to the powerful pumping required to pump the slurry. The pump is required to be operated during the period that waste is being moved along the sewer drain pipe.


For suggesting input text based on tone mark information for Chinese or Japanese characters or words, an apparatus, system, method, and computer program product are disclosed. The apparatus may include a processor, a handwriting input unit operatively coupled to the processor, an input text module that receives input text comprising at least one character, a tone mark module that identifies a tone mark associated with the input text, and a suggestion module that proposes at least one next character based on the identified tone mark. The input text module may receive a user selection of the at least one next character. The input text may include characters selected from the group consisting of: Chinese characters and Japanese characters.

Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to text input and more particularly relates to suggesting input text based on tone mark information for Chinese or Japanese characters or words.
Description of the Related Art
Touchscreen devices are popular and widely sold. Smartphones, tablet computers, and other touchscreen devices often lack a physical keyboard for textual input. As such, handwriting recognition software is gaining popularity as a way to input text into a touchscreen device. However, popular input tools for Chinese and Japanese do not support tone mark input.
Tonal languages, for example Mandarin Chinese, use tones to distinguish between different words having the same pronunciation. Tone marks may be used to indicate the tone when writing in these languages. Additionally, when using a keyboard (either physical or on-screen) a user cannot easily indicate a tone associated with the Pinyin word.

Tone mark based text suggestions for chinese or japanese characters or words


An RFID reader and/or writer module in an industrial controller (e.g., PLC). The RFID module interfaces internally to the controller for tight integration therewith. The RFID module can also be part of a controller communications framework and as a standalone module with the PLC as a master device, and interact with the RFID module in the same manner as it interacts with other I/O devices connected to the controller. In another aspect, RFID read/write tag technology is incorporated into some or all major PLC and rack components, and utilized for wireless communication both between PLC system components and between the PLC and other devices, locations, and media. The RFID tag can be used to store and exchange electronic keying data, security information, module diagnostics and warranty information, series and revision levels code, I/O configuration data, and, replacement data. Artificial intelligence is also employed.

In today's highly sophisticated, complex and intelligent automation systems, industrial controllers have powerful tools and features that could be simplified through the use of RFID (radio frequency identification). When implementing an RFID solution in a distribution center or a factory, it is customary to utilize three distinct platforms: an RFID reader/antenna, RFID "middleware" running on a standard PC (personal computer), and a PLC (programmable logic controller). Each platform requires its own configuration and management resulting in higher costs in implementation and support (e.g., by wiring and labor for three platforms, different environments, and operator training). Moreover, the reader and PC may not be ruggedized for an industrial environment.
The traditional approach is to have an RFID reader connection to the PLC via a network using, for example, RS-232 serial communications, Ethernet, or any of the field buses such as DeviceNet, ControlNet, etc. Using such technologies typically involves the use of interface cards and/or logic that requires software control, power needs, and additional hardware maintenance. Moreover, in that there are other communications links involved, it is possible to have missed packets, in addition to the implementation of slower communications speeds due to these links or network dependencies. The interface between an RFID reader and a PLC must be both fast and reliable. The speed determines the rate at which RFID tags can be read and the reliability of this interface determines the usability of the RFID information. By using shorter communications pathways and such pathways that can be dedicated, it is possible to achieve higher bandwidth communications. Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the art for an improved RFID system in the automation regime.

RFID architecture in an industrial controller environment


The present invention provides a dense wavelength division multiplexer for separating an optical signal into optical channels which minimizes channel leakage. The multiplexer includes a mechanism for inputting an optical signal, the optical signal having a plurality of optical channels; at least one channel separator optically coupled to the inputting mechanism; at least one dense optical channel comb filter optically coupled to the at least one channel separator; and a mechanism for outputting the separated plurality of optical channels along a plurality of optical paths, optically coupled to the at least one dense optical channel separator. In the preferred embodiment, the dense optical channel comb filter includes a lens optically coupled to the input mechanism disposed at a distance equal to a focal length of the lens; a birefringent wedge optically coupled to the lens at a side opposite to the inputting means; and a non-linear interferometer optically coupled to the birefringent wedge at a side opposite to the lens. The comb filter of the present invention provides an improved efficiency of separation of channels when used to supplement an optical channel separator. The present invention also provides a higher tolerance to drifts than is provided by conventional optical filters due to the increase in the widths of the pass bands. The materials required to manufacture and implement the dense optical channel comb filter in accordance with the present invention are readily available. The present invention thus does not require special or expensive materials or processes. It is thus cost effective.

Fiber optic networks are becoming increasingly popular for data transmission due to their high speed and high data capacity capabilities. Multiple signals and/or wavelengths may be transmitted simultaneously over the same optical fiber. For purposes of this discussion, a signal is a single stream of logical information carried by an optical fiber and a compound signal is the totality of all such simultaneously transmitted signals. If each signal carried in a particular direction along an optical fiber corresponds to a separate wavelength, then the network is a wavelength multiplexed system.
A crucial feature of a wavelength-multiplexed fiber optic network is the separation of a compound optical signal into its component single-wavelength signals, or "channels," typically by a dense wavelength division multiplexer. This separation must occur for the exchange of wavelengths between signals on communications "loops" within networks to occur. As the demand for information carrying capacity over existing fiber networks continues to grow, the performance constraints on optical network components continue to become more severe.
One potential difficulty with optical channel separators in wavelength multiplexed systems with dense channel packing is imperfect optical separation or add-drop performance as a result of imperfections in optical components. Such imperfections would include unwanted reflections of light at nominally transparent components, unwanted transmissions of light through nominally reflective components, and light scattering from surface roughness of nominally flat surfaces. All such imperfections lead to stray light that can propagate in random and uncontrollable directions. The presence of this stray light can cause signals to propagate along undesired and incorrect pathways, thereby causing imperfect isolation of one set of signals from another. Such imperfect channel separation can cause signals to branch to incorrect portions of the network and can ultimately lead to contamination, for instance, of a signal comprising a particular wavelength channel with spurious incorrectly routed signals carried on the same channel.
As an example, FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of optical channels as they are transmitted through a dense optical channel separator. A three-port channel separator 101 initially separates an initial optical input signal 103, comprised of a plurality of optical channels, into two sub-signals, a first sub-signal 104 comprised primarily of "odd" channels and a second sub-signal 105 comprised primarily of "even" channels, respectively. Histograms attached to each signal and sub-signal represent, hypothetically, the intensities of the channels comprising each. If the channel separator 101 is perfect then the sub-signal 104 is comprised only of odd channels and the sub-signal 105 is comprised only of even channels. However, since, in general, the separator 101 is not perfect, there is some "leakage" of even channels into sub-signal 104 and of some odd channels into sub-signal 105. Depending upon the level of isolation between sets of channels required by the wavelength multiplexed system, these spurious channel signals could provide unacceptable cross talk if, for instance, new sets of even and odd channels, respectively, are subsequently added to the sub-signals 104 and 105, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a mechanism for minimizing channel leakage in a dense wavelength division system. The mechanism should be easy to manufacture and be cost effective. The present invention addresses such a need.

Dense wavelength division multiplexer which includes a dense optical channel comb filter


An image coding method for an image coding apparatus configured to divide an image into divisional blocks of a plurality of sizes and to perform coding on the image while controlling image quality according to a parameter value in units of divisional blocks includes acquiring a block size of a target block to be coded, acquiring a minimum block size used to control the parameter value, acquiring a state of division of the target block, acquiring the parameter value, determining whether the target block is divided according to the state of division of the target block, determining whether the block size of the target block is greater than or equal to the minimum block size, determining whether the block size of the target block is equal to the minimum block size, and coding the acquired parameter value.

H.264/Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), hereinafter referred to as H.264, has been known as a method of compression recording of a moving image. H.264 is widely used in one-segment digital terrestrial broadcasting and other applications. H.264 is characterized by the provision of a plurality of intra prediction capabilities, using integer transforms in units of 4×4 pixels in addition to conventional coding schemes (see ISO/IEC 14496-10: 2004 Information technology—Coding of audio-visual objects—Part 10: Advanced Video Coding, ITU-T H.264 Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services).
Coding schemes using an orthogonal transform and quantization, typified by MPEG-2 and H.264, perform an orthogonal transform and quantization on predetermined block images to generate quantization coefficient data. For image quality control, the quantization is performed by using an image quality control parameter called quantization parameter. Specifically, quantization using a small quantization parameter value produces improved image quality but with a large amount of code. Quantization with a large quantization parameter value produces low image quality with a reduced amount of code. Optimum quantization parameter values are selected for coding according to a target amount of code. Such control is referred to as rate control. Various rate control methods have been discussed, including TM5. After the quantization, the quantization coefficient data is subjected to variable-length coding to generate coded coefficient data.
Quantization parameters are also coded to generate quantization parameter code. For example, H.264 uses a difference value between a quantization parameter that is used to quantize a block preceding a target block and a quantization parameter that is used to quantize the target block. The difference value is referred to as quantization parameter delta (QP_DELTA). QP_DELTA calculated is coded into QP_DELTA code by Golomb coding or arithmetic coding. For example, the QP_DELTA code codec by Golomb coding produces one bit of code even if the difference value is 0. The coded coefficient data and the quantization parameter code thus generated are transmitted to a decoder. The decoder decodes the coded coefficient data and the quantization parameter code to generate quantization coefficient data and quantization parameters. The decoder then performs inverse quantization and an inverse orthogonal transform on the quantization coefficient data by using the quantization parameters, thereby generating a decoded image.
A single unit of processing in MPEG-2 and H.264 is called a macroblock. Macroblocks are lattice blocks of 16×16 pixels into which an image is divided in a lattice pattern. In terms of pixels, blocks to be orthogonally transformed in MPEG-2 have a size of 8×8 pixels, and H.264 a size of 8×8 pixels or 4×4 pixels. That is, a single macroblock includes a plurality of orthogonal transform blocks. MPEG-2 and H.264 can control (rate control) quantization parameters in units of macroblocks. Orthogonal transform blocks included in the same macroblock are quantized with the same quantization parameter. According to an improved technology of H.264, an image is divided in a lattice pattern into lattice blocks called largest coding tree blocks (LCTBs). An LCTB has a size of 64×64 pixels. LCTBs are divided into blocks of smaller sizes called coding tree blocks (CTBs) by using a region quadtree structure. To search or input/output tree-structured data, the scan order needs to be specified. A CTB includes orthogonal transform blocks called transform units (TUs). TUs can also be divided into smaller sizes by using a region quadtree structure. Each unit has a division flag. A block having a division flag of true is structured to include four divisional blocks having a size ½ in height and width. A block having a division flag of false includes no divisional block and contains actual data on the block instead. In other words, only undivided TUs contain coefficient data on image blocks. An LCTB (lattice block) includes a plurality of hierarchically structured blocks of different orthogonal transform sizes. Whether to divide a block can be determined by various methods. One of the determination methods is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-191706, which includes using Lagrange multipliers to calculate block costs and selecting a block division method of lower cost.
Suppose that an image coding method includes coding an image in units of lattice blocks into which the image is divided in a lattice pattern. If the lattice blocks are large in size and image quality control is performed in units of lattice blocks, boundaries between blocks of different image qualities may become noticeable.
Image quality parameters are coded and transmitted regardless of whether the image quality parameter changes. If lattice blocks are subdivided into smaller units for image quality control, there is a problem of overhead caused by the image quality parameter code.

Image coding apparatus, image coding method, and program, and image decoding apparatus, image decoding method, and program


An electrical connector assembly is provided. The electrical connector assembly includes a housing and two electrically conductive connection members. Each of the two electrically conductive connection members is arranged in the housing and is connected to at least one electrically conductive cable. The electrically conductive connection member has an electrically conductive terminal, a cable connection member, and a terminal holding member. The electrically conductive terminal has two leaf springs that are opposite to each other and a U-shaped connection part connected between the two leaf springs. The cable connection member is bent and has a first connection part and a second connection part. The terminal holding member has two sheet bodies that are arranged opposite to each other and a plate-shaped connection part connected between same sides of the two sheet bodies, so that the terminal holding member is in a shape of an inverted U.

Electrical connector assemblies have a complex internal structure design and a large number of components, such that disassembly and assembly of the electrical connector assemblies are not easily performed. In addition, repeated plugging and unplugging of the electrical connector assemblies easily causes internal components to loosen or shift, which results in poor contact.
Therefore, how to improve a structural design to overcome the above issues has become one of the important issues to be solved in the related field.

Bellwether Electronic (Kunshan) Co., Ltd


A compact display module, such as can be used in wearable computing headset applications, includes a microdisplay with a display surface that is virtually imaged by a lens. The lens is positioned to receive light from the display surface of the microdisplay. The lens defines an angled fold, whereby light from a display generated at the display surface is reflected within the lens to thereby form a virtual image of the display in a virtual image plane that is angled non-perpendicularly relative to the display surface of the microdisplay.

Wearable headset devices can be used to produce an image for viewing. Microdisplays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), can be used with an optical assembly to produce such a viewable image. Orientation of a microdisplay at 90° with respect to a device output optical axis is an easy way to optically engineer a display device, and such a device can be formed with a 90° right angle prism layout, for example. Such devices can be made with optical components such as lenses and mirrors that are aligned with respect to each other and then fixed in position. Alternatively, a single optical element may be used. Wearable headsets can be used for consumer, industrial, and military applications. However, microdisplay assemblies can significantly protrude past the frame of the headset, causing the headset to be bulky and unattractive, in addition to creating risk of the headset becoming entangled with other objects present in a wearer's environment and dislodged from the wearer. Further, alignment of separate optical components can be expensive, unreliable, and susceptible to misalignment and damage, and some headsets can have relatively high weight.
Therefore, a need exists for a lens and a method of using a lens that overcomes or minimizes the above-referenced problems.


A method and apparatus for manufacturing a product such as a constant velocity joint having a recess whose opening has a lesser diameter than its interior, by ironing a workpiece supplied to working parts of punches which workpiece is pre-formed into a hollow structure whose opening has an excess of metal required to be ironed. A group of punches are mounted in a loop around a punch guide for relative axial movement. The group of punches includes a set of first punches and a set of second punches, disposed alternately. Each punch has a working part at an upper end thereof and the working parts are closely assembled in a closed loop at the time of the forming process. Each punch is formed with a groove in a side which is slidable along the punch guide. The grooves in the first punches are different in length from those in the second punches. After the workpiece is supplied to the working parts of the punches and ironed to narrow the diameter of the opening relative to the interior of the recess, the punches are moved upwardly relative to the punch guide to narrow firstly the outer diameter of the working parts of the set of first punches and secondly the outer diameter of the working parts of the set of second punches and pull up the formed workpiece from the punches.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a constant velocity joint and more particularly an outer race thereof.
The constant velocity joint to be manufactured by the present invention is a joint for use in a front wheel drive vehicle, and it is a joint which transmits rotation from a drive axle to a driven one at the same speed so as to cause no advance or delay therebetween in the rotational angle. A typical constant velocity joint is illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B. In these drawings, an outer race 1 of the constant velocity joint has a recess 2 for housing balls, cages, etc. The recess 2 is ironed so that the opening 2a has a smaller diameter than does the interior, that is, the interior surface of the race 1 defining the recess 2 curves into the recess in radially outward directions. The inner wall of the recess 2 is formed with six ball-retaining grooves 3, and adjacent thereto, six cage-retaining portions 4.
Attempts have been made to manufacture outer races by cold forging, which is good in stock utilization and effective in saving resources. In cold forging, half-finished parts whose recesses are not yet ironed are supplied to dies and go through the forging process to become final products.
A forging method and apparatus for manufacturing constant velocity joints are known. FIGS. 13A and 13B show a prior art die while FIG. 14 shows a workpiece supplied to a working part of a punch. The prior art die comprises a group of groove-cutting punches 10 of the same number with recesses or ball-retaining grooves in the outer race, the punches 10 being disposed around a punch guide 11, as shown in FIG. 14, and portions adjacent to the ball-retaining grooves serve to retain cages.
The working part in the end of the punch 10 is mounted movable on a pivot 12. Numerals 13, 14 and 15 respectively indicate an ironing die, an ironed workpiece, and a spring for pivotally moving the punch 10.
A group of spaced apart punches 10 are disposed around the punch guide 11, and each punch has a working part at its upper end in FIGS. 13A and 13B, for cutting the ball-retaining groove. The workpiece 14, which is preformed as a hollow structure, comes into contact with the working parts of the punches set by the punch guide 11 and is then ironed with the use of the die 13 so as to narrow the outside diameter. After completing the ironing process, the punches 10 are moved relative to the punch guide 11 to pivot working parts inward, whereupon the group of punches is pulled out of the ironed workpiece 14.
The prior art, in which the removal of the punches from the ironed workpiece is done after pivoting the working parts of the punches inward, necessitates providing spaces between respective punches set in place by the punch guide. Therefore, the ironed workpiece was formed with excess metal raised portions at such positions corresponding to the spaces. After ironing, these raised portions which correspond to the cage-retaining portions were required to be mechanically shaved off for finishing. Thus, the prior art method was inefficient in requiring an additional manufacturing step and material waste.
Further, the prior art method has the added disadvantageous of causing malfunctions of the machine in that, for example, the aforementioned raised portions can prevent the punches from being drawn radially inward for removal.
These disadvantages are caused by the requirement of providing spaces between the punches when they are set by the punch guide, but the provision of such spaces has been considered to be essential in order to draw the punches radially inward after the formed process.
A proposed improved method has been made in order to eliminate the latter mechanical process subsequent to the forming process. As shown in FIG. 15, a workpiece 16 was preformed with escape grooves 16c at positions corresponding to cage-retaining portions 16b adjacent to ball-retaining grooves 16a. An ironing process was performed with the escape grooves being respectively located at the spaces between the punches, so as to prevent the portions of the workpiece in the spaces between the punches from rising above the cage-retaining surfaces and to confine such rise to within the escape grooves. This method was proposed to reduce the number of processes of manufacture by eliminating the mechanical finishing process.
When performing the above proposed method, however, it has been difficult to fix the width, length and depth of the escape groove to its dimensions so as to serve to eliminate the mechanical process subsequent to the forming process, because a change in quantity of the raised portion is caused by a very small change in the volume of the workpiece. If the product may be left with groove traces where the escape grooves had been performed, then it may be grooved to the extent that will avoid the raised portions. But if the existence of such groove traces is unacceptable, it is still necessary to mechanically shave off the traces in the cage-retaining portions after the forming process. Considering that this method may still be disadvantageous in terms of the number of processes required and stock utilization, this method does not in fact provide an improvement over the prior art.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing a constant velocity joint and the like


A method and apparatus for establishing a direct link between wireless stations (STAs) in a wireless network, as performed by an access point (AP). The AP monitors communications routed through the AP between a first STA and a second STA in the wireless network, and determines a quality of the communications routed through the AP. The AP selectively establishes a direct link between the first STA and the second STA based at least in part on the quality of the communications routed through the AP.

A wireless local area network (WLAN) may include wireless devices such as an access point (AP) and one or more stations (STAs). Some WLANs may operate in an infrastructure mode such as one described by the IEEE 802.11 standard. In the infrastructure mode, network traffic may be transmitted directly between the STA and the AP. However, the infrastructure mode may use network resource inefficiently, particularly when the network traffic is directed between two STAs and does not involve the AP. In this case, the network traffic is transmitted twice: from a first STA to the AP and then from the AP to a second STA.
A Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link enables the first STA to communicate directly with the second STA without going through the AP. This configuration helps reduce network congestion and may also reduce network traffic latency. To establish a TDLS link, the first STA may send a TDLS Discovery request message to the second STA. Although this message may be routed via the AP, the TDLS process is typically transparent to the AP (e.g., the AP is unaware that the first STA and second STA are attempting to establish a TDLS link). If the first STA does not receive a TDLS Discovery response from the second STA (e.g., within an allotted time), the first STA may (periodically) retransmit the TDLS Discovery request message to the second STA. This process may consume significant power by the first STA and/or second STA, and may contribute to traffic congestion in the wireless network.
Thus, there is a need to improve the establishment of TDLS links, especially under varying channel conditions.


The present invention provides a ferroelectric nonvolatile memory that utilizes ferroelectric properties and is able to operate correctly at lower voltage. A memory storage cell of the memory has the structure wherein a N+ type drain (24) and a N+ type source (26) is provided for a P type well (14) created in the substrate. A film (22) of high dielectric material spans the space (28) between the drain (24) and the source (26). A conductive metalization (20) overlies the film (22), a film (18) of ferroelectric material overlies the conductive metalization (20) and a metalization 16 overlies the film (18).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a ferroelectric nonvolatile memory which utilize ferroelectric properties.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some semiconductor devices which are conventionally known comprise semiconductor nonvolatile memories. A floating-gate type memory cell and MNOS a (Metal-Nitride-Oxide-Semiconductor) type memory cell are well known as one type of nonvolatile memory. But U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,700 discloses a nonvolatile memory which utilizes ferroelectric properties: remanence and reversibly dielectric polarization. Such a ferroelectric nonvolatile memory is characterized in that the speed of its operation for writing and erasing is high.
FIG. 4 shows the memory cell 1 of this ferroelectric nonvolatile memory in schematic sectional view.
Referring to FIG. 4, a N+ type drain 6 and a N+ type source 8 are created in P type silicon substrate 10. A film 4 of ferroelectric material spans the space 12 between the drain 6 and the source 8. On top of the ferroelectric film 4 is a conductive metalization 2 such as aluminum which acts as a control electrode. Note that the space 12 is referred to as channel region hereinafter.
A logic "1" can be written into and erased from the above-mentioned memory cell 1 by electricity. Accordingly, the memory cell 1 has two stable states: one in which a logic "1" has been written therein, and the other in which the logic "1" has been erased or a logic "0" has been stored therein. The fact that the memory cell 1 can take these two stable states is utilized to fabricate a memory.
FIG. 5 shows hysteresis loop which the memory cell 1 exhibits. Referring to FIG. 5, the vertical axis represents polarization P and horizontal axis represents electric field E. There will be described the way in which the logic "1" is able to be written into and erased from the memory cell 1 with reference to FIG. 5.
In order to write a logic "1" into a memory cell 1, ground potential is applied to the substrate 10 and more programming voltage than positive coercive voltage is applied to the control electrode 2. Note that the coercive voltage is a voltage applied to the control electrode 2 with which the memory cell 1 can remove the existing negative polarization of the film 4. At that time, an electric field develops between the substrate 10 and the control electrode 2 and thereby the ferroelectric film 4 is polarized into a direction parallel to the electric field, as symbolized by point P1 in FIG. 5. In addition, this polarization will remain as it is even if the gate voltage is cut off, as symbolized by point Q1 in FIG. 5.
This status in polarization of the ferroelectric film 4 mean that a logic "1" has been written into the memory cell 1. In the memory cell 1 having the logic "1", the channel region 12 is conductive because a portion of the ferroelectric film near the control electrode 2 is in charge of the negative and a portion of the ferroelectric film 4 near the substrate 10 is in charge of the positive.
On the other hand, in order to erase the logic "1" from the memory cell 1 or to write a logic "0" therein, ground potential is applied to the substrate 10 and less programming voltage than negative coercive voltage is applied to the control electrode 2. At that time, an electric field of the opposite polarity to that used when writing the logic "1" between the substrate 10 and the control electrode 2 and thereby the ferroelectric film 4 is polarized into the direction parallel to the electric field, as symbolized by point R1 in FIG. 5. In addition, this polarization will remain as it is even if the gate voltage is cut off, as symbolized by point S1 in FIG. 5.
This status in polarization of the ferroelectric film 4 means that the logic "1" has been erased or a logic "0" has been written into the memory cell 1. In the memory cell 1 with the logic "0", the channel region 12 is nonconductive because a portion of the ferroelectric film 4 near the control electrode 2 is in charge of the positive and a portion of the ferroelectric film near the substrate is in charge of the negative.
The operation of reading information from a memory cell 1 will be described below. It is determined whether the memory cell 1 has a logic "0" or a logic "1", by determining whether or not a current flows through the channel region 12 when a stable voltage is applied to the source 8 relative to the drain 6 of the memory cell 1.
A ferroelectric nonvolatile memory (not shown) can be constructed using the memory cells 1 described above.
However, semiconductor devices including such memory devices have the following problems.
The problem lies in the border between the channel region 12 and the ferroelectric film 4 because the ferroelectric film 4 is deposited directly on the substrate 10. Specifically, the surface of the channel region 12 is oxidized when the ferroelectric film 4 is deposited on the substrate 10. This oxidized surface hinders operation at lower voltage because it lower the relative power of field effect applied to the ferroelectric film when a certain programming voltage is applied to the control electrode relative to the substrate 10.
Also, components such as a metallic component of the ferroelectric film is diffused to the channel region 12 of silicon during the manufacturing process of memory circuit. In other word, the desired clean surface of the channel region 12 was not obtained. In this case, the memory constructed by using the memory cell 1 was not able to operate correctly.

Semiconductor device including ferroelectric nonvolatile memory


An electrical impedance tomography device (1) includes an electrode array, including a plurality of electrodes (33) arranged spaced apart from one another, a signal feed unit (51) and a signal acquisition unit (50). A calculation and control unit (70) is configured to determine a situation with an axial twist angle of the electrode array on a thorax (34) of a human being and to provide a control signal (79), which indicates the situation with axial twist angle of the electrode array. The calculation and control unit (70) may be configured as a central unit or an array of distributed units (cloud computing) in order to determine and to provide the axial twist angle.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) devices are known from the state of the art. These devices are configured and intended to generate signals obtained by electrical impedance measurements and data and data streams obtained therefrom, an image, a plurality of images or a continuous series of images. These images or series of images show differences in the conductivity of various body tissues, bones, skin, body fluids and organs, especially of the lung, which are useful for observation of the patient situation.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,886 describes an electrical impedance tomograph comprising an array of a plurality of electrodes, current feed to at least two electrodes, signal acquisition at the other electrodes and a method with an algorithm for image reconstruction to determine the distribution of conductivities of a body, such as bones, skin and blood vessels in a basic configuration comprising components for signal acquisition (electrodes), signal processing (amplifier, A/D converter), current feed (generator, voltage-current converter, current limitation) and control components.
It is stated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,251 that it is known to provide a set of electrodes, which are arranged at a defined distance from one another, for example, around the thorax of a patient in electrical contact with the skin, in the clinical application of EIT. Electrodes arranged adjacent to one another, each alternating between different electrodes or all of the possible pairs of electrodes, are applied for an electrical current or voltage input signal. While the input signal is applied to one of the pair of electrodes arranged adjacent to one another, the currents or voltages between each pair of remaining electrodes adjacent to one another are measured, and the measured data are processed in a known manner in order to obtain a visualization of the distribution of the specific electrical resistance over a cross section of the patient, around whom the ring of electrodes is arranged, and to display same on a display screen.
Unlike other imaging radiological methods (X-ray machines, radiological computer tomographs), electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has the advantage that radiation exposure, which is disadvantageous for the patient, does not occur. Unlike sonographic methods, a continuous acquisition of images over a representative cross section of the entire thorax and the lungs of the patient by means of the electrode belt can be carried out using EIT. In addition, the need to use a contact gel, which has to be applied before each examination, is omitted. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) thus offers the advantage of making a continuous monitoring of the lungs possible in order to observe and to document a course of therapy of a mechanically ventilated or spontaneously breathing patient.
As is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,251, an impedance measurement is carried out using an EIT device on the thorax by means of an electrode array around the thorax of a patient, and an image of the lungs of the patient is generated from the impedances by means of a conversion to the geometry of the thorax.
With a total number of, for example, 16 electrodes arranged around the thorax of a patient, an EIT device can generate a 32×32-pixel image of the lungs in a circulation of current feeds to each of two electrodes and a pickup of voltage-measured values (EIT measured signals) at the remaining electrodes. In this connection, at the 16 electrodes, a number of 208 impedance measured values is acquired at the electrodes. A quantity of 1,024 pixels is then obtained from these 208 impedance measured values using the EIT image reconstruction.
The electrodes are arranged in a horizontal array around the thorax of a living being and comprising an area of the lungs of the living being for carrying out the electrical impedance tomography (EIT). This results in a position in the plane of the electrode array, which can be designated as a thoracic-axial position of the electrode array on the circumference of the transverse plane of the body.
When an electrode belt is used as an electrode array, in or at which the electrodes are arranged and held at fixed positions with defined distance to one another, the chances of deviations in the vertical position between adjacent electrodes to one another on the thorax are comparatively small. Thus, a vertical shift during the image reconstruction, in which a horizontal tomogram through the thorax is determined as a so-called dorsal view, plays a comparatively minor role in the positioning of the electrode belt on the thorax. The horizontal tomogram is in this case imaged inclined only by a few degrees. In addition, electrical fields are obtained not only in the section plane itself, but also in areas above and below of approx. 5 cm to 10 cm of the section plane each, which are then also incorporated into the impedance measurements in any case, during the electrical feed to the electrodes. As a consequence, the only slightly possible inclination of the electrode belt in the tidal image is virtually imperceptible as an effect. Moreover, a comparatively reproducible and representative horizontal position of the electrode belt during application can be achieved due to an orientation at the costal arches, so that possible errors in the horizontal attachment of the electrode belt to the thorax occur rather rarely.
By contrast, the horizontal position of the electrodes is important because the physiologically expected, almost elliptical geometry of the thorax, which deviates from the ideally round, circular or cylindrical shape, is important for the generation of the dorsal view because information is necessary for an incorporation of the elliptical shape into the image reconstruction on which electrode is arranged on the thorax and at which position, i.e., front (sternum), lateral (costal arches) or rear (spine). Various types of living beings, in whom it is common for gas exchange to occur in them by means of lung breathing, have each circumferential shapes, which are typical in themselves, in the body structure surrounding the lungs (muscles, skeleton, organs, body tissues, skin). A deviation of the shape of the thorax from an ideal circular shape is, for example, given in human beings, in principle, to the effect that the typical circumferential shape is, as a rule, a rather elliptical than circular shape. In other living beings (patients of other species), such as horses, dogs, pigs, rodents or birds, other typical shapes of the circumferential shapes result depending on the species of animal. In this respect, an idea of the present invention with the electrical impedance tomography device with determination of a position of an electrode array associated with the electrical impedance tomography device can be extrapolated not only to the application of electrical impedance tomography in human beings, but also to a broad biodiversity of the animal kingdom. In human beings, especially the area of the electrode plane being used during the electrical impedance tomography (EIT), i.e., the plane in the horizontal section through the thorax, approximately in the area of the third, fourth, fifth costal arch, as well as of the fifth, sixth, seventh thoracic vertebra, has an elliptical circumferential shape (ellipsoid) in the area of the upper part of the body and of the thorax. In addition to the geometric shape with an anatomically predefined elliptical configuration area, there are additional characteristic features, which have an effect on the impedance, impedance differences and impedance distribution measured by means of EIT and have an effect during the image reconstruction on the visualization of the ventilation of the lungs in a transverse view, or are taken into consideration in the mathematically-algorithmically applied manner of the image reconstruction. Thus, in addition to the lung, with areas supplied with blood in the rhythm of the heartbeat and ventilated in the rhythm of the breathing cycle, the heart, with areas supplied with blood essentially in the rhythm of the heartbeat, but quasi permanently in a similar manner, elements of the skeleton, the sternum in the front-side area of the upper part of the body and the spine in the rear-side area, the impedances of which are both unaffected by blood supply and breathing cycle, are, in addition, arranged in this electrode plane. Both the sternum and especially the spine have instead an impedance that deviates from these areas and other areas (heart, skin lungs, tissue) in the electrode plane and is essentially constant.
An ellipse can be described as a closed oval shape, as a deviation from a circular shape, and as a dimensionless number by means of so-called eccentricity.
In this case, eccentricity describes the relationship of the two half-axes, which are at right angles to one another. Both half-axes are of identical length in case of a circle, and an ellipse is defined by a shorter half-axis and a longer half-axis, compared to the shorter half-axis, of different lengths. Due to the elliptical shape and depending on the eccentricity thereof, different distances arise between the feeding electrodes and the measuring electrodes located opposite them depending on whether the feed takes place on the front-side area with measurement on the rear-side area, or the feed takes place on the rear-side area with measurement on the front-side area along the frontal plane of the human body, or whether the feed takes place on the left side of the body with measurement on the right side of the body, or the feed takes place on the right side of the body with measurement on the left side of the body along the transverse axis of the human body. The two feed/measurement constellations located opposite one another on the left/right side of the body represent feeds/measurements on the longer half-axis in the elliptical circumferential shape of the human body and the two feed/measurement constellations located opposite one another on the front side of the body/on the rear side of the body represent feeds/measurements on the shorter half-axis in the elliptical circumferential shape of the human body. The shape and the differences in the distances between the feeding electrodes and the measuring electrodes located opposite them, which differences result therefrom, have no effect only in case of a circular circumference, as, for example, in a pig. In this case, however, at least the elements of the skeleton or of the organs still bring about differences in the impedances between the feeding electrodes and the measuring electrodes located opposite them.
A practical example shall illustrate the effect of how an axial torsion of an electrode belt arranged in a horizontal position has an effect.
A circumferential shift—lateral or axial twist angle of the electrode belt comprising a number of 16 electrodes in a horizontal alignment around the thorax by the distance of one electrode results in a difference from the preset and expected alignment of about 0.05 m, corresponding to a torsion angle of 22.5°, in case of a human patient with an average diameter of the thorax of 0.80 m. The difference is correspondingly reduced to about 0.025 m, corresponding to a torsion angle of 12.25°, in case of a number of 32 electrodes.
An electrical impedance tomography system is shown in WO 2015/048917 A1. The EIT system is suitable for acquiring electrical properties of a lung of a patient as impedances. For this, the impedance values and impedance changes of the lung are acquired by means of feeding voltage or current between two or more electrodes and a signal acquisition at an electrode array and then further processed by means of data processing. The data processing comprises a reconstruction algorithm with a data processor in order to determine and to reconstruct the electrical properties from the impedances. In case of the reconstruction of the electrical properties from the acquired measured data, an anatomical model is selected from a plurality of anatomical models on the basis of the biometric data of the patient and the reconstruction of the EIT image data is adapted on the basis of the anatomical model and of the biometric data. This adaptation requires that biometric data be inputted into the system by the user. In this connection, age, gender, height as well as a circumference of the thorax of the patient are to be inputted under biometric data. This means that boundary conditions are to be inputted by the user before the beginning of the measurement with the electrical impedance tomography system in order to be able to select and apply a suitable reconstruction model, which is based on a selected anatomical model.
For the operation of electrical impedance tomography systems, it is not really advantageous in many application situations to have to measure or acquire and input a plurality of patient data before the beginning of the application. In particular, the need for data that refer to the properties of the body such as circumference of the thorax, height and weight assumes that the anatomical models stored in the device can also be used for a plurality of patients.
In addition to this, the problem of how the electrode belt is placed or positioned on the body is not addressed by WO 2015/048917 A1. It is not possible to determine a horizontal position of the belt, as well as especially not an axial torsion or shifting about the vertical axis of the body (longitudinal or sagittal or front plane of the body), even by inputting biometric data of the patient. Thus, the correct positioning of the electrode belt remains the responsibility of the user in spite of applying anatomical models and taking biometric data into consideration.

Device and method for determining an axial twist position of an electrode array for electrical impedance tomography


An integrated circuit device is provided which includes a heat source disposed in a substrate, and a Magnetic Tunnel Junction (“MTJ”) temperature sensor disposed over the heat source.

MRAM is a nonvolatile memory technology that uses magnetic polarization to store data, in contrast to other RAM technologies that use electronic charge to store data One primary benefit of MRAM is that it retains the stored data in the absence of applied system power, thus, it is a nonvolatile memory. Generally, MRAM includes a large number of magnetic cells formed on a semiconductor substrate, where each cell represents one data bit. Information is written to a cell by changing the magnetization direction of the magnetic free layer within the cell, and a bit is read by measuring the resistance of the cell (low resistance typically represents a "0" bit and high resistance typically represents a "1" bit, or vice versa).
An MRAM device generally includes an array of cells that are interconnected using conductive bit lines, conductive digit lines, and/or local interconnects and the like. Practical MRAM devices are fabricated using known semiconductor process technologies. For example, the bit and digit lines are formed from different metal layers, which are separated by one or more insulating and/or additional metal layers. Conventional fabrication processes allow distinct MRAM devices to be easily fabricated on a substrate.
Smart power integrated circuits are single-chip devices capable of providing operating power in a controlled and intelligent manner. Smart power integrated circuits typically include one or more active circuit components, such as, a power circuit component, an analog control component, and/or a digital logic component. Smart power integrated circuits may also include one or more sensors which can be used to measure or detect physical parameters such as position, motion, force, acceleration, temperature, field, pressure and so forth. Such sensors can be used, for example, to control the output power in response to changing operating conditions. For example, in cell phones, smart power products can be engineered to regulate power consumption, amplify audio signals, and supply power to color screens. In inkjet printers, smart power products can help drive the motors and fire the nozzles for ink delivery. In automobiles, smart power products can help control engine and braking systems, airbag deployments, and seat positioning. Smart power products can also be implemented in a wide variety of other applications.
For integrated circuits (IC's) which implement smart power and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) designs, temperature sensing is an important element of power IC design to protect the circuit, device or system.
FIG. 15 is a simplified schematic cross-sectional representation of a conventional integrated circuit device 1500 implementing a temperature sensor 1502 for sensing temperature. The device consists of a temperature sensor 1502, power source 1504, silicon substrate 1506, an insulating substrate 1508, logic 1514 and a MRAM architecture 1516. Both the temperature sensor 1502 and the power source 1504 are embedded within the silicon substrate 1506 while the insulating substrate 1508 lies above the temperature sensor 1502 and power supply 1504. Existing temperature sensors 1502 for measuring the temperature of a power source 1504 suffer from various limitations. The temperature sensor 102 can be implemented using a junction-based device in which a junction band gap changes with respect to changing temperature. Such p/n junction based sensing devices 1502 consume valuable semiconductor layout area or space. Other limitations of such sensing devices 1502 include, for example, excessive size/weight, inadequate measurement precision, inadequate sensitivity and/or dynamic range, high cost and limited reliability among other limitations.
The miniaturization of many modern applications make it desirable to shrink the physical size of electronic devices, integrate multiple components or devices into a single chip, and/or improve circuit layout efficiency. Ideally, such sensors should be manufactured in a cost effective manner which reduces the additional layout area or space the sensors consumes. It would be desirable to have a semiconductor-based device which includes an MRAM architecture integrated with a smart power architecture including sensor components on a single substrate, particularly where the MRAM architecture and the smart power architecture are fabricated using the same process technology. Thus, there continues to be a need for improved temperature sensors.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved temperature sensor and method, adaptable for measuring temperature. It is further desirable that the improved temperature sensor and method which generates an electrical signal that can be converted to a temperature of a heat source. It would be desirable to provide temperature sensors that can be easily integrated with semiconductor devices and integrated circuits (e.g., temperature sensors which are compatible with semiconductor device and integrated circuit structures and fabrication methods). For example, it would be very desirable to provide temperature sensors which exhibit precision measurement and improved measurement performance and which can be integrated in a three-dimensional architecture to conserve lay out area and allow for processing in a cost effective manlier. Other desirable features and characteristics of the invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Magnetic tunnel junction temperature sensors


Methods of using a template having a template data set and template parameters to provide improved alignment of captured cardiac signal data to a stored template. More particularly, in an illustrative method, a captured cardiac signal is first configured using template parameters for a stored template. Then, once configured, the captured cardiac signal is then compared to the stored template. Other embodiments include implantable cardiac treatment devices including operational circuitry configured to perform the illustrative method. In a further embodiment, more than one stored templates may be used. Each template can have independently constructed parameters, such that a single captured cardiac signal may be configured using first parameters for comparison to a first template, and using second parameters for comparison to a second template.

Implantable cardiac rhythm management devices are an effective treatment in managing irregular cardiac rhythms in particular patients. Implantable cardiac rhythm management devices are capable of recognizing and treating arrhythmias with a variety of therapies. To effectively deliver these therapies, however, cardiac rhythm management devices must first accurately sense and classify an episode.
In order to apply the proper therapy in responding to an episode, some cardiac rhythm management devices compare sensed cardiac signals to a previously stored "template" representing normal sinus rhythm (NSR) or other "template" frequently intended to represent the patient's NSR. Problems arise when the cardiac rhythm management device inaccurately compares a sensed cardiac complex to a stored NSR template, and as a result, misclassifies the sensed cardiac complex. The severity of this problem escalates if the cardiac rhythm management device inappropriately delivers and/or withholds therapy due to the misclassification. In illustration, when a particular group of sensed complexes are erroneously compared to a stored template because of an improper alignment to the template, a cardiac rhythm management device may mistakenly classify these sensed complexes as a mismatch and even possibly as a tachyarrhythmia.
Much of the analysis performed on cardiac signals includes sampling a cardiac signal and comparing the sampled signal to a stored template. Thus, a series of sampled signals are compared to stored data. Often a correlation analysis is performed to compare the two data sets. Typically, a number of peaks will appear in each signal. If the peaks are poorly aligned, low correlation will often result. With poor alignment, a "good" sampled signal may, in analysis, illustrate poor correlation, erroneously indicating treatment. Techniques for enabling and assuring good alignment are therefore desired.

Method and apparatus for beat alignment and comparison


A wireless network access facility includes one or more IEEE frequency devices, one or more multi-function actuating devices, and a processor device which includes a control device coupled to the IEEE frequency devices for determining a single or a multi-frequency mode, and a transmitting device coupled to the control device for checking identifications of users. An organizing device may be used for selectively operating various modes. A frequency control device may be used for converting frequencies and for transmitting with different frequencies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless network access facility, and more particularly to a wireless network access facility for conveniently communicating with the wireless network system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical wireless network systems comprise one or more access devices for communication purposes. The users may be communicated with the access device with personal computers or notebook computers that have wireless network cards plugged therein.
Some of the typical access devices may be used for communicating with or receiving either of the frequency signals: institute of electrical and electronic engineers (IEEE) 802.11a or IEEE802.11b. For receiving both of the frequency signals, the users have to purchase and couple two or more access devices together for receiving the frequency signals respectively.
The other typical access devices may be developed and used for communicating with or receiving both of the frequency signals IEEE802.11a and IEEE802.11b. However, for allowing the access devices to receive both of the frequency signals, the access devices have to check the signals belong to IEEE802.11a or IEEE802.11b, before the signals may be received or communicated with each other.
In addition, the access devices also have to check the service set identifiers (SSID) of the users, and/or to check the wired equivalency protocol (WEP) before the signals may be received. The access devices may also required to determine or to select either of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexer (OFDM), or packet binary convolutional code (PBCC), or complementary code keying (CCK) for communication purposes.
When the access devices receive or communicate with the signals from one of the users, the other users have to wait until the previous user has completing the communication. The data rate may thus be greatly decreased or lost, and may thus greatly decrease the working efficiency.
For the normal or huge buildings, each of the buildings may have to prepare or to purchase or to install an access device each, and the access devices have to be coupled together or communicated with a local area network (LAN) with one or more bridges, such that the users in different buildings may not be easily communicated with each other.
In order to increase the work flow or data rate or the quantity of services, a number of access devices are required to be purchased and coupled in series to the LAN. The other access devices are further required to be provided and coupled to the LAN for receiving the other signals of different frequencies.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional wireless network access facilities.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a wireless network access facility for conveniently communicating with the wireless network system.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a wireless network access facility for receiving various or different frequencies.
The further objective of the present invention is to provide a wireless network access facility for conveniently communicating with various operation modes.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a wireless network access facility comprising at least one IEEE frequency device, at least one multi-function actuating device, and a processor device including a control device coupled to the IEEE frequency device, for determining either a single frequency mode or a multi-frequency mode, a transmitting device coupled to the control device for transmitting purposes and for checking identifications of users, an organizing device coupled to the control device and the transmitting device for selectively operating various modes, and a frequency control device coupled between the transmitting device and the IEEE frequency device, for converting frequencies and for actuating the IEEE frequency devices to communicate with selected or different frequencies, and thus for increasing the flow or data or working rate, and for preventing the users from waiting to enter or access into the network system.
The multi-function actuating device is selectively operatable with either a client mode, a backup mode, a group mode, a bridge mode, or a repeat mode, or the combination of the modes.
The processor device further includes a flow balance device and a flow control device coupled between the transmitting device and the IEEE frequency device, for balancing signal transmission and for controlling flow of frequencies respectively.
The IEEE frequency device is selectively operatable with either an IEEE802.11a, an IEEE802.11b, an IEEE802.11a+b, or an IEEE802.11g, or the combination of the frequencies, for allowing the signals of different frequencies to be quickly transmitted or communicated with each other.


A first proximity head is configured to define a meniscus of a photoresist developer solution on a substrate. The meniscus is to be defined between a bottom of the first proximity head and the substrate. A second proximity head is configured to define a rinsing meniscus on the substrate and remove the rinsing meniscus from the substrate. The second proximity head is positioned to follow the first proximity head relative to a traversal direction of the first and second proximity heads over the substrate. Exposure of the substrate to the meniscus of photoresist developer solution causes previously irradiated photoresist material on the substrate to be developed to render a patterned photoresist layer. The first and second proximity heads enable precise control of a residence time of the photoresist developer solution on the substrate during the development process.

During semiconductor fabrication, integrated circuits are created on a semiconductor wafer ("wafer") defined from a material such as silicon. To create the integrated circuits on the wafer, it is necessary to fabricate a large number (e.g., millions) of electronic devices such as resistors, diodes, capacitors, and transistors of various types. Fabrication of the electronic devices involves depositing, removing, and implanting materials at precise locations on the wafer. A process called photolithography is commonly used to facilitate deposition, removal, and implantation of materials at precise locations on the wafer.
In the photolithography process, a photoresist material is first deposited onto the wafer. The photoresist material is then exposed to radiation filtered by a reticle. The reticle is generally a glass plate that is patterned with exemplary feature geometries that block some of the radiation from passing through the reticle. After passing through the reticle, the radiation contacts the surface of the photoresist material and changes the chemical composition of the exposed photoresist material. With a positive photoresist material, exposure to the radiation causes the exposed photoresist material to become more soluble in a developing solution. Conversely, with a negative photoresist material, exposure to the radiation causes the exposed photoresist material to become less soluble in the developing solution.
Following exposure to the radiation, the photoresist material is subjected to a developing process. In the developing process, the photoresist material is exposed to the developing solution to dissolve portions of the photoresist material that have been made more soluble by exposure to the radiation. Thus, the more soluble portions of the photoresist material are removed by dissolution in the developing solution, leaving a patterned photoresist layer. It should be appreciated that with sufficient exposure to the developing solution, eventually even portions of the photoresist material that have not been made more soluble by irradiation may partially dissolve in the developing solution. Therefore, it is necessary to control a residence time of the developing solution on the photoresist material such that only portions of the photoresist material that have been modified by irradiation are removed.
Once the photoresist material has been developed to reveal the patterned photoresist layer, the wafer is processed to remove, deposit, or implant materials in the wafer regions not covered by the patterned photoresist layer. Therefore, it should be appreciated that if the patterned photoresist layer is not accurately defined, the wafer regions not covered by the patterned photoresist layer will not be accurately defined, and the subsequent wafer processing using the patterned photoresist layer will be inaccurate. Thus, it is necessary to control the residence time of the developing solution on the wafer to ensure that appropriate portions of the photoresist material are removed during the developing process to provide for an accurately defined patterned photoresist layer.

Apparatus for developing photoresist and method for operating the same


A method for manufacturing a device having a concavo-convex structure includes forming an organic resist film on an n-type semiconductor layer in which a fine concavo-convex structure is to be formed; forming a silicon-containing resist film on the organic resist film; patterning the silicon-containing resist film by nanoimprint; oxidizing the silicon-containing resist film with oxygen-containing plasma to form a silicon oxide film; dry-etching the organic resist film by using the silicon oxide film as an etching mask; dry-etching the n-type semiconductor layer by using the silicon oxide film and the organic resist film as an etching masks; and removing the silicon oxide film and the organic resist film.

There is a method for forming a so-called photonic crystal, which is a nano-order fine concavo-convex structure, in a light emitting device such as a light emitting diode or a laser diode in order to enhance the light extraction efficiency of the device (for example, see Patent Document 1). This method includes the steps of laminating an etching mask made of silicon oxide on a first nitride semiconductor layer and forming pores in the first nitride semiconductor layer via the etching mask by photolithography, thereby forming a fine concavo-convex structure in the first nitride semiconductor layer.


A device for defogging a wall mounted bathroom mirror includes an elongated housing adjustably suspended above and outwardly of the mirror by a pair of brackets. Ambient air drawn into the housing by a fan is filtered, heated by an electric heating element and discharged through an elongated air outlet on the housing toward the mirror. The air outlet is provided with a plurality of adjustable longitudinal louvers for selectively varying the heated air flow direction. Each louver is provided with an electric heating element for further heating the discharged air.

The instant invention relates generally to heat distribution blowers and more specifically it relates to an apparatus for defogging a bathroom mirror.
Numerous heat distribution blowers have been provided in prior art that are adapted to eliminate the formation of condensation on flat glass surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,465,292; 2,617,701 and 4,037,079 all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

Electrically heated air blower unit for defogging bathroom mirrors


A radio frequency (RF) power limiter including a signal conductor having an input end and an output end and first and second limiter stages. The first limiter stage comprises a plurality of stacked diode strings arranged in anti-parallel with respect to the signal conductor. The second limiter stage comprises a second plurality of stacked diode strings arranged in anti-parallel with respect to the signal conductor. An all pass filter is arranged between the first and second limiter stages.

RF power limiters are often employed in various electronic devices to block sensitive circuit components from excess RF power. This may be especially critical in applications such as radio/radar transceivers, wherein transmitter and receiver hardware share a common antenna. More specifically, RF receivers generally include input circuitry comprising sensitive components, such as low-noise amplifier stages, in order to capture relatively weak signals. These components may be damaged by excessively high-powered input signals received from, for example, short-range radar returns as well as the coupling of transmitter output to the receiver's input by antenna reflection and leakage. Further, existing RF power limiters in high-power RF environments typically operate over only a narrow bandwidth, and display significant leakage which may result in damage to these sensitive components. These low-noise amplifiers also cannot be implemented in optimal size due at least in part to their excessive power leakage. For example, when subject to high input power, a low-noise amplifier may leak too much drive power for subsequent stages (e.g. a subsequent drive amplifier). This excess power must be controlled.
Alternative systems and methods are desired for improving RF power limiting over a wide bandwidth, reducing in power leakage, as well as improving packaging and production capabilities.


A bipolar junction transistor includes a first trench element isolation film, a second trench element isolation film, a first base region, a second base region, a collector region, a first well, a second well, an emitter, a collector, and bases. The second well is formed by implanting an n-type impurity into the semiconductor substrate, and the emitter is formed by implanting the n-type impurity into the emitter region between the first trench element isolation film and the second well. The collector is formed by implanting the n-type impurity into the collector region between the first well and the second trench element isolation film, and the bases are formed by implanting the p-type impurity into the first base region and into the second base region between the emitter region and the second well.

Generally, a bipolar junction transistor improves in current performance, speed, and gain as compared to a metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and is thus widely used when designing an analog power RF IC.
A bipolar junction transistor having an emitter, a base, and a collector is classified into a vertical bipolar junction transistor and a lateral bipolar junction transistor depending on the traveling direction of electric charges emitted from the emitter.
The bipolar junction transistor is used as an electrostatic discharge protection element which protects an internal IC circuit.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a lateral bipolar junction transistor as an electrostatic discharge protection element in the related art. FIG. 1 shows an npn-type bipolar junction transistor.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a bipolar junction transistor for an electrostatic discharge protection element in the related art includes a first trench element isolation film 14, a second trench element isolation film 15, and a third trench element isolation film 16 which are formed on a p-type semiconductor substrate 11, and define an emitter region, a base region, and a collector region.
A p-type impurity is implanted into the emitter region and the base region including the first trench element isolation film 14 of the semiconductor substrate 11 to form a first well 12.
An n-type impurity is implanted into the collector region including the third trench element isolation film 16 of the semiconductor substrate 11 to form a second well 13.
A p-type impurity is implanted into the base region between the first trench element isolation film 14 and the second trench element isolation film 15 to form a base 19.
An n-type impurity is implanted into the collector region between the first well 12 and the third trench element isolation film 16 to form a collector 18.
An n-type impurity is implanted into the emitter region isolated from the base region by the first trench element isolation film 14 to form an emitter 17.
When the bipolar junction transistor is used as an electrostatic discharge protection element, an input/output (I/O) terminal should be constituted at the time of circuit design. The collector is connected to the input/output terminal, the emitter is connected to the ground terminal, and the base is connected to the ground terminal through a resistor.
The bipolar junction transistor for an electrostatic discharge protection element is used to protect a semiconductor device from static electricity. If an electrostatic voltage equal to or higher than 2000 V is input to the input/output terminal, the bipolar junction transistor rapidly discharges an electrostatic current to the ground terminal. For this reason, in order to use the bipolar junction transistor as an electrostatic discharge protection element, the parameters, such as a triggering voltage Vt, a holding voltage Vh, and a breakdown voltage Vb, must be satisfied.
On the other hand, a lateral bipolar junction transistor exhibits unsatisfactory characteristics as compared to a vertical bipolar junction transistor from the viewpoint of electrostatic discharge protection performance.
Accordingly, in the related art, as illustrated in a sectional view of FIG. 2, the positions of the emitter 17 and the base 19 are reversed. As illustrated in FIG. 2, if the positions of the emitter and the base are reversed, the tunneling effect of the bipolar junction transistor appears faster than that of FIG. 1, such that the triggering time can be advanced.
However, even when the positions of the emitter and the base are reversed, it is difficult to secure a satisfactory electrostatic discharge protection. For this reason, the size of the bipolar junction transistor must still be increased.
The increase in the size of the bipolar junction transistor leads to an increase in the size of the semiconductor device. Accordingly, there is a limit to which the size of the bipolar junction transistor may be increased before it becomes undesirable.

Bipolar junction transistor and method of manufacturing the same