[Object] To provide a common plug for AC/DC which can easily prevent erroneous insertion into a plug receptacle.

In recent years, equipment which operates by receiving supply of power from an AC power supply includes an AC power supply circuit adapting to various voltages and power supply frequencies. In such equipment including an AC power supply circuit, a power factor corrector as well as a full-wave rectifier circuit are incorporated (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Such equipment including an AC power supply circuit converts an AC into a DC inside and operates by receiving the DC. Therefore, equipment which includes an AC power supply circuit adapting to various voltages and power supply frequencies also operates as is by a sufficient DC voltage being applied. Accordingly, it is considered that equipment which operates by receiving supply of power from a DC power supply as well as an AC power supply will increase in the future.

Common plug for AC/DC and common equipment for AC/DC

Abstract: [Solution] Provided is a common plug for AC/DC including at least one pair of connection terminals. At least one connection terminal of the at least one pair of connection terminals is able to rotate around an axis of an insertion direction into a socket so as to have a first state in a case where the connection terminal is inserted into a socket for supplying AC power and a second state in a case where the connection terminal is inserted into a socket for supplying DC power, the second state being different from the first state.


Imaging systems with image sensors and image processing circuitry are provided. The image processing circuitry may identify motion and perform autofocus (e.g., continuous autofocus) using images captured by an image sensor. Auto exposure metrics such as average luminance values and autofocus statistics such as sharpness scores may be calculated for each image. The auto exposure metrics may be used to calculate motion scores and identify directional motion between a series of captured images. The motion scores may be used with the sharpness scores to determine when to perform autofocus functions such as when to refocus a lens for a continuous autofocus application. For example, the motion scores may be monitored to identify motion that exceeds a given magnitude and duration. After identification of motion, motion scores and sharpness scores may be used to determine when a given scene has stabilized and when the lens should be refocused.

This relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly, imaging systems that can perform continuous autofocus functions.
Modern electronic devices such as cellular telephones, cameras, and computers often use digital image sensors. Imagers (i.e., image sensors) may be formed from a two-dimensional array of image sensing pixels. Each pixel receives incident photons (light) and converts the photons into electrical signals. Image sensors are sometimes designed to provide images to electronic devices using a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format. Imagers may calculate automatic exposure values (sometimes referred to herein as auto exposure values or auto exposure metrics) for automatically configuring exposure settings (e.g., the amount of time that the image sensing pixels receive incident light) for capturing images.
An imaging system may include an adjustable lens for focusing light onto an array of image sensing pixels. Imaging systems with an adjustable focal lens may use autofocus (AF) algorithms to configure the adjustable focal lens for optimal image sharpness.
The imaging system may perform autofocus functions to determine an optimum lens configuration for a given image scene. The autofocus functions may be performed in response to a manual trigger or performed continuously. Autofocus (AF) procedures performed continuously (sometimes referred to herein as continuous autofocus) may re-focus the lens to accommodate change in a scene being captured. For example, a video imaging system that performs continuous autofocus may re-focus a lens to accommodate movement of an object within the view of the video imaging system (i.e., movement of an object across frames captured by the video imaging system).
Performing continuous autofocus functions may cause an imaging system to consume large amounts of power. For example, re-focusing a lens consumes power associated with mechanically adjusting the lens. Autofocus functions in conventional imagers are sensitive to minor variations in a given image scene and perform excessive lens refocusing procedures (e.g., when a minor variation in the given scene should not require the lens to be refocused). Therefore it would be desirable to design an imaging system that performs improved autofocus functions.

Systems and methods for luminance-based scene-change detection for continuous autofocus


An inspection apparatus for inspecting a backside irradiation type imaging device formed on an inspection object includes: a stage on which the inspection object is mounted such that the stage faces a rear surface of the backside irradiation type imaging device, wherein the stage includes: a transmitter including a flat plate formed of a light transmitting material, and configured to mount the inspection object on the transmitter; and a light emitter disposed at a location facing the inspection object with the transmitter interposed between the light emitter and the inspection object, and configured to emit light toward the transmitter, and wherein the transmitter transmits the light from the light emitter while diffusing the light.

An inspection apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes: a probe card installed above a solid state imaging sensor, which is an inspection target, and provided with a probe needle that can be connected to the solid state imaging sensor; a test head that supplies power and various signals to the solid state imaging sensor; and a light source that irradiates the inspection target with light. In this inspection apparatus, the probe card located above the solid state imaging sensor is located below the test head, and the light source is located above the test head. In other words, the solid state imaging sensor is located below the probe card, and the light source is located above the probe card. Further, in this inspection apparatus, an opening is formed in the probe card so that the solid state imaging sensor located below the probe card is irradiated with the light from the light source located above the probe card.

Inspection apparatus and inspection method


Methods, compositions and kits for diagnosing osteoarthritis in a feline are disclosed. The methods of the invention comprise detecting differential expression of at least one biomarker in a body sample. preferably a blood sample, where the biomarker is differentially expressed in osteoarthritis.

Arthritis, more particularly osteoarthritis (OA), is a degenerative joint disease commonly occurring in humans and in companion animals. OA involves progressive deterioration of articular cartilage, with loss of proteoglycan and collagen and proliferation of new bone, accompanied by a variable inflammatory response within the synovial membrane. It is the most common form of joint and musculoskeletal disease affecting dogs, but cats may also suffer from this condition.
Feline OA is disease primarily affecting aged felines 10 years of age or older. Animals suffering from this disease characteristically jump less, reduce the height of their jumps or stop jumping entirely, avoid going up or down stairs, and tend to use their litter box less. Cats with OA also appear to be less friendly, exhibit changes in their sleep-wake patterns, and may have grooming problems. The management of OA in cats is similar to treatment regimens in other species which include environmental modification, treatment of obesity, controlled moderate exercise, pain control, and surgery.
Environmental modification begins with the placement of food bowls and litter pans in locations that do not require leaping or stair climbing. Small ramps can be built to a feeding station or into the litter box. The attempt is made by the pet owner to reduce large leaps up or down, to encourage moderate exercise, and to create an environment where the cat is not faced with an obstacle course to maintain a daily routine. Environmental modification does not slow the progression of the disease.
Overweight cats with OA can benefit from weight control. A reduction in body weight will alleviate the pressure and pain on the affected joint(s). Though weight loss in overweight or obese cats can help alleviate the pain caused by OA, it does not stop the progression of the disease.
Pain control in cats is a problem because drug regimens that are safe in other species are not necessarily safe in cats. Though many pharmaceutical companies are evaluating non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in cats for treatment of pain, aspirin is the only NSAID for which a safe, chronic dose has been established in the cat. Corticosteroids have been used to alleviate pain and inflammation, but their use may cause progression of OA. NSAIDs may help alleviate pain but will not alter the progression of OA.
Nutraceuticals have been used to alleviate pain associated with OA in cats. Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine HCl used in combination or separately have been used as a treatment regimen in cats. There are no published clinical studies that indicate these nutraceuticals alter the progression of OA. Recent data in humans indicates that chondroitin and glucosamine may help alleviate pain in humans with severe OA.
Although helpful in some respect to provide symptomatic relief, the approaches described above are not entirely successful in disease management, as they clearly do not treat the underlying pathology. Indeed, not only are improved treatment methods needed, but also improved methods to monitor the clinical progress of an animal with OA and even to diagnose an animal that has OA, and those that may be genetically predisposed to developing OA but do not as yet display any clinical signs of the disease. Currently, extensive radiographic tests must be carried out to confirm a diagnosis of OA in an animal and these tests are useful only to identify animals that have manifest joint and tissue damage. Thus, there is a need for a simple diagnostic test for detecting OA in felines, as well as improved methods for monitoring the clinical progress of an animal with OA.

Methods and compositions for diagnosing osteoarthritis in a feline


A three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus and method. The three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus includes a lighting module provided with a plurality of light emitting devices, a photographing unit installed at a portion of the lighting module to photograph a subject placed inside the lighting module, an image processing unit to capture each frame image from an image photographed by the photographing unit, a storage unit to store data of each frame image, a control unit to extract three-dimensional features from each frame image and restore the extracted features as a three-dimensional image, and a display unit to display the three-dimensional image under the control of the control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a soldering inspection apparatus and method, and more particularly to a three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus and method, which restores a soldered surface three-dimensionally to confirm whether a defective soldering occurs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, processes to manufacture electric and electronic boards include a process of inspecting a soldered state of each part after mounting the part to a board and executing a reflow process.
In conventional methods of inspecting the soldered states, inspection is performed in such a way that an inspector inspects the soldered states of parts with his naked eyes. Therefore, the qualities of products using the soldering process are not uniform, depending on conditions and skill of the inspectors. Further, the conventional methods are problematic in that the productivity of products is remarkably low due to their long inspection times when complicated printed circuit boards are inspected.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus and method, which restores a soldered state three-dimensionally, such that an inspector can easily inspect soldered states of boards, thus increasing the productivity and quality of products employing the boards.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus, comprising: a lighting module provided with a plurality of light emitting devices; a photographing unit installed at a portion of the lighting module to photograph a subject placed inside the lighting module; an image processing unit to capture each frame image from the subject photographed by the photographing unit; a storage unit to store data of each frame image; a control unit to extract three-dimensional features from each frame image and restore the extracted features as a three-dimensional image; and a display unit to display the three-dimensional image under the control of the control unit.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a method of controlling a three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus, comprising: obtaining frame images by turning on light emitting devices in a direction of a subject, photographing said light emitted from said light emitting devices and reflected off of the subject, dividing and computing each obtained frame image, extracting three-dimensional features from each divided and computed frame image, and restoring the extracted three-dimensional features as a three-dimensional image.

Three-dimensional soldering inspection apparatus and method


A scanning device includes a body, a paper-feeding module, a scanning module and two transmission modules. The body has a paper-feeding area and a scanning area stacked with each other. The paper-feeding module is disposed at the paper-feeding area in the body and the scanning module is disposed at the scanning area in the body. One of the transmission modules is disposed within the paper-feeding area and electrically connected to the paper-feeding module so as to convey a document from the paper-feeding area to the scanning area, while another of the transmission modules is disposed within the scanning area and electrically connected to the scanning module so as to drive the scanning module for scanning images on the document.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a scanning device, and more particularly, to a scanning device with both a paper-feeding module and a scanning module.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional multi-purpose scanning device is formed by combining a flatbed scanner and an automatic paper feeder, in which a document with a single sheet is scanned by solely using the flatbed scanner and a batch of documents is scanned by using both the automatic paper feeder and the flatbed scanner.
The above-mentioned conventional multi-purpose scanning device, although combining the automatic paper feeder and the flatbed scanner, but needs to employ two transmission modules independent from each other to finish the paper-feeding operation and the scanning operation. In other words, during the manufacturing and assembling process of a such multi-purpose scanning device, the operator is required to assemble two transmission modules corresponding to the paper-feeding module and the scanning module, which not only makes the assembling process more complex, bur also reduces the parts-sharing extent so as to increase the manufacturing cost of a scanning device.

Cal-Comp Electronics & Communications Company Limited.


The present invention provides a laminate flexible strip for attachment to a vehicle in the form of a weather sealing strip. The strip includes a core member and a filler layer of elastomeric seal material disposed about and into the voids of the core member. The core member includes a bent wire in an undulating pattern that forms a number of continuously connected longitudinally spaced and laterally extending u-shaped metal clamping clips for reinforcing the seal material and a number of continuous laterally spaced and longitudinally extending linear fibers connected to the clips to maintain the spatial relationship between the bent wire members. While the fibers or laminate maintain the longitudinal spacing of the wires, they also allow the core to flex laterally and compress longitudinally in the finished extrusion. The fibers may be made of the same material as or a material dissimilar to the clips.

The instant invention relates to reinforced sealing materials. More particularly the present invention relates to a reinforced laminate sealing strip and a method of manufacturing such a sealing strip type that is commonly utilized in sealing the edges of various parts of an automobile in mated fashion to one another.
For example, glass windows need to be sealed when in communication with the door frame. Most automotive doors have a body envelope that is created by two door panels, an inner and an outer which are generally in parallel spaced-apart relation to one another. An extendable pane of window glass is nested in the parallel opening between the door panels. In addition, a window regulator is provided for selectively moving the glass pane in and out of the door envelope to open and close the window opening of the door. In many vehicles, the vehicle door includes a door window frame extending from the top of the door panels and extending over the top of the window opening for enclosing the window. This door window frame has a seal, typically called weather stripping, which is installed into the door window frame to seal the perimeter edges of the window glass when the window glass is in its uppermost position.
Additionally, a weather stripping seal of similar construction is employed in other locations around the vehicle where a weather tight seal is required between an operable component of the vehicle and the vehicle body such as the trunk lid and the doors. In these locations, generally a metal fin is formed as part of the vehicle body panels around the perimeter of these openings. The sealing material is compressed between the body panels and the operable component to form a weather tight seal when the component is in a closed position.
A typical weather sealing strip has a U-shaped retention portion that contains a reinforcing carrier and is installed over an edge of the sheet metal of the door window frame or other body opening that surrounds the perimeter of the opening. Connected with the retention portion is a portion of the weather stripping referred to as the sealing member or the glass seal. The sealing member is typically shaped as an inverted U-shaped section with respect to the retention portion or a compressible bulbous section and is laterally joined thereto. The glass seal typically has flocked wings, which seal against the side of the glass when the glass is in the closed position and inserted within the U shape of the glass seal. The bulbous type profile is typically compressed against the operable component when the component is in a closed position.
The carrier is typically reinforced by a roll formed or stamped thin metal member. Typical materials utilized for the carrier reinforcement are cold rolled steel, stainless steel or aluminum. After the carrier is formed, it is passed through an extruder and covered with a polymeric material, typically an elastomeric material such as rubber. The interior of the retention portion may or may not have formed barbs to assist the weather stripping in retaining itself to the sheet metal of the door once it is pushed over the edge of the sheet metal.
In most vehicles however, the openings around the windows and doors do not have edges that are square or parallel to opposing edged thereto and the corners are typically radiused. For example, the lateral edge of a front door window frame at the front end is inclined due to the inclination of the automobile""s xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d pillar. The door window frame, generally rearward of the xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d pillar, curves into a second horizontal linear section called the header which usually runs longitudinal with the vehicle. A third linear section of the door window frame is oriented generally vertically and is usually conformed to the shape of the xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d pillar. Between the xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d pillar and the top of the door window frame, is a first curved section. Between the top of the door window frame and the xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d pillar portion of the window opening is a second curved section. Most carrier materials, which are formed using thin metal reinforcement, are not flexible enough to bend to conform to the small radiuses of the curves of the door window frame. Therefore, in these applications, a first length of weather stripping is utilized to seal the first linear section of the window. A second length of weather stripping is used to seal the second linear section of the window, and a third length of weather stripping was utilized to seal the third linear section.
Many known door windows require an additional molded joint component to be installed between two linear sections to seal the curved sections. The molded joint however has a dissimilar cross-section than that of the adjoining linear sections. Another method used to seal the radius sections is to notch the carrier to allow it to fold and then mold a polymeric patch into the notched area. The prior sealing systems either do not provide a constant sectioned extrusion through the corners and therefore lack firm retention to a seal-mounting flange of the door window frame at these locations, or are limited to relatively large radiuses, which would otherwise cause seal wrinkling or buckling. Lack of retention to the seal to the mounting flange or wrinkling or buckling of the seal degrades the integrity of the seal. Also, without additional operations, many molded corners lack the low friction areas between the window glass and seal. The lack of low friction causes squeaks and mandates that higher window regulator forces be utilized to ensure closure of the window.
While in most instances, the metal used as the carrier within the extruded seal, such as stamped metal reinforcing, is not flexible enough to corner through the small radius required. Most carrier material, that is flexible enough to corner through the small radius, does not have the tensile strength required to process the carrier material through the roll forming mill or the polymer injection molding and/or extruding processes. Prior art attempts to overcome these difficulties include the replacement of the stamped or rolled metal reinforcing carrier with an undulating knitted wire material. Since the undulating wire has little tensile strength, the knitted or woven fabric material is added between each pass of the wire to provide longitudinal stability and maintain the spacing of the wires as the carrier is subjected to the extrusion process. In these instances, the equipment required to weave the fabric carriers with the wire strand is expensive and requires a high degree of calibration and maintenance thus increasing the cost and manufacturing time required to produce the reinforcing material. In addition, the reinforcing carriers are generally produced by one manufacturer and supplied to another manufacturer as raw material for further extrusion and incorporation into a finished weather stripping product.
Finally, in all of the prior art weather stripping materials, the reinforcing carrier material is directly crosshead extruded into the finished product. While this process proves to be expedient from a manufacturing standpoint, the finished product tends to have ribbed pattern that appears in the surface of the finished extrusion corresponding to the locations of the reinforcing members. This appearance is referred to as the xe2x80x9chungry horsexe2x80x9d and is aesthetically unattractive and, therefore, not considered desirable in the weather stripping industry.
It is therefore desirable to provide a process that provides a reinforcing web that can be employed as raw material for further extruding weather stripping. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a reinforcing carrier that maintains longitudinal stability during the fabrication process while allowing the required flexibility required in the finished product. It is another object of the present invention to provide a reinforcing carrier that can be incorporated into a weather stripping extrusion that minimizes or eliminates the xe2x80x9chungry horsexe2x80x9d appearance.
In this regard, the present invention provides a laminate flexible strip for attachment to a vehicle in the form of a weather stripping gasket. The strip includes a core member and a cover layer of elastomeric material disposed about the core member. The core member includes a bent wire in an undulating pattern that forms a plurality of continuously connected longitudinally spaced and laterally extending U-shaped metal clamping clips for reinforcing the seal material and a plurality of continuous laterally spaced and longitudinally extending linear fibers connected to the clips to maintain the spatial relationship between the bent wire members. While the fibers maintain the longitudinal spacing of the wires, they also allow the core to flex laterally and compress longitudinally in the finished extrusion. The fibers may be made of the same material as or a material dissimilar to the clips.
The clips are evenly spaced and alternately attached to one another on the right and left sides in linear sequence and include apertures formed between the parallel clip members in a continuously connected pattern. This undulating pattern is preferably formed of wire that is bent using a wire-bending machine. The continuously connected clips are simply laid onto the fibers, or other longitudinal carrier material, and may be secured by an adhesive potting laminate, a thermosetting resin or by welding as the fiber material indicates. A filler material is filled in the apertures to create a ribbon that presents a smooth, continuous outer surface. In other words, the filler material is disposed in the apertures between the clips to eliminate the xe2x80x9chungry horsexe2x80x9d effect when the ribbon of the present invention is incorporated into a finished weather stripping gasket in further extrusion processes.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

Reinforced flexible laminate sealing strip and method of manufacturing same


The present disclosure discloses a method and system for transmitting a position reference signal. Wherein the method includes: frequency domain positions for transmitting a position reference signal are n physical resource blocks, and the value of n is obtained according to signaling; time domain positions for transmitting the position reference signal are the remaining orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols in a subframe, except for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols for transmitting a physical downlink control channel and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols for transmitting a cell-specific reference signal; and the position reference signal is transmitted according to the frequency domain position and the time domain position. By adopting the method and the system of the present disclosure, the transmitting of the position reference signal is realized, and the positioning precision of a UE is ensured.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology is a multicarrier modulation communication technology in essence and is one of the core technologies for the 4th generation mobile communication. A multipath channel of an OFDM has a characteristic of frequency selective fading in a frequency domain. In order to overcome the frequency selective fading, a channel is divided into a plurality of OFDM subchannels in the frequency domain, wherein the frequency spectral characteristic of each subchannel is approximately flat, and all the subchannels are orthogonal to each other, therefore frequency spectrums of the subchannels are allowed to be overlapped with each other, thereby not only the problem of selective fading is overcome, but also the utilization degree of the frequency spectrum resource is improved.
A Long Term Evolution (LTE) system is an important program of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). When the LTE system adopts a normal cyclic prefix, a time slot includes 7 uplink/downlink symbols and has a length of 7 uplink/downlink symbols, and when the LTE system adopts an extended cyclic prefix, a time slot includes 6 uplink/downlink symbols and has a length of 6 uplink/downlink symbols.
A Resource Element (RE) is a subcarrier on an OFDM symbol, 12 contiguous subcarriers and 7 contiguous OFDM symbols constitute a downlink Resource Block (RB) which is 180 kHz in the frequency domain and has a time length of a normal time slot in a time domain, as shown in FIG. 1. When the LTE system performs resource allocation, a resource block is taken as a basic unit for allocation. Wherein when an extended cyclic prefix is adopted, the number of contiguous OFDM symbols comprising an RB is 6.
The LTE system supports the MIMO application of four antennae, and the corresponding antenna port #0, antenna port #1, antenna port #2 and antenna port #3 respectively adopt a method of full bandwidth Cell-Specific Reference Signals (CRSs). When the cyclic prefix is a normal cyclic prefix, the positions of these cell-specific reference signals in a physical resource block are shown in FIG. 2(a). When the cyclic prefix is an extended cyclic prefix, the positions of these cell-specific reference signals in a physical resource block are shown in FIG. 2(b). In FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 2(b), the horizontal coordinate 1 represents a sequence number of a subframe on an OFDM symbol.
In addition, a UE-specific reference signal is also provided, which is transmitted only in the time-frequency domain position where a UE-specific Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is located. Wherein the functions of the cell-specific reference signal include quality measurement for downlink channel and downlink channel estimation, i.e., the quality measurement and demodulation for a downlink channel.
A base station needs to measure the position of User Equipment (UE) in a cell, so that it can perform effective configuration and scheduling for the UE. At present, the CRS is adopted for measuring the terminal, thus some limitations exist as follows:
(1) CRS sequence repeats in each frame, so the mutual correlation is poor;
(2) when the transmission is performed with two antennae, the maximum multiplexing factor is 3, and the interference between the adjacent cells is large;
(3) the CRS power is semi-static configured, so the positioning performance is limited.
At present, a solution used to solve the above problems is to position the UE by transmitting a Position Reference Signal (PRS), and thus ensure the positioning precision of the UE. However, in the existing technologies, only the physical resource which uses a resource block as a unit to transmit a position reference signal is defined, and the positions in all the resource blocks where the position reference signal is transmitted are the same, whereas as for how to transmit the position reference signal, such as transmitting the resource block index of the position reference signal, the specific time-frequency position in the resource block, and the sequence of the reference signal and the like. No specific solution has been provided yet.
For this reason, it is urgent to provide a specific method for transmitting a position reference signal in the industry to ensure the positioning precision of the UE.

Method and system for transmitting position reference signal


The present invention is generally directed to a method and a structure for calibrating a scatterometry-based metrology tool used to measure dimensions of features on a semiconductor device. In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises measuring a critical dimension of at least one production feature formed above a wafer using a scatterometry tool, measuring at least one of a plurality of grating structures formed above the wafer using the scatterometry tool, each of the grating structures having a different critical dimension, and correcting the measured critical dimension of the at least one production feature based upon the measurement of the at least one grating structure. In further embodiments, the method comprises forming a plurality of production features above a wafer, forming a plurality of grating structures above the wafer, each of the grating structures comprised of a plurality of features each having a target critical dimension that thereby defines a critical dimension of the grating structure, each of the grating structures having a different critical dimension, measuring a critical dimension of at least one of the production features using a scatterometry tool, measuring at least one of the grating structures using the scatterometry tool to determine a measured critical dimension of at least one feature of the at least one grating structure, and correcting the measured critical dimension of the at least one production feature based upon a comparison between the measured critical dimension of the at least one feature on the at least one grating structure and the target critical dimension of the feature on the at least one grating structure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication technology, and, more particularly, to a method and a structure for calibrating a scatterometry-based metrology tool used to measure dimensions of features on a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a constant drive within the semiconductor industry to increase the operating speed of integrated circuit devices, e.g., microprocessors, memory devices, and the like. This drive is fueled by consumer demands for computers and electronic devices that operate at increasingly greater speeds. This demand for increased speed has resulted in a continual reduction in the size of semiconductor devices, e.g., transistors. That is, many components of a typical field effect transistor (FET), e.g., channel length, junction depths, gate insulation thickness, and the like, are reduced. For example, all other things being equal, the smaller the channel length of the transistor, the faster the transistor will operate. Thus, there is a constant drive to reduce the size, or scale, of the components of a typical transistor to increase the overall speed of the transistor, as well as integrated circuit devices incorporating such transistors.
By way of background, an illustrative field effect transistor 10, as shown in FIG. 1, may be formed above a surface 11A of a semiconducting substrate or wafer 11 comprised of doped-silicon. In the process of forming integrated circuit devices, millions of transistors, such as the illustrative transistor 10 depicted in FIG. 1, are formed above a semiconducting substrate. The substrate 11 may be doped with either N-type or P-type dopant materials, for example. The transistor 10 may have a doped polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) gate electrode 14 formed above a gate insulation layer 16. The gate electrode 14 and the gate insulation layer 16 may be separated from doped source/drain regions 22 of the transistor 10 by a dielectric sidewall spacer 20. The source/drain regions 22 for the transistor 10 may be formed by performing one or more ion implantation processes to introduce dopant atoms, e.g., arsenic or phosphorous for NMOS devices, boron for PMOS devices, into the substrate 11. Shallow trench isolation regions 18 may be provided to isolate the transistor 10 electrically from neighboring semiconductor devices, such as other transistors (not shown). Additionally, although not depicted in FIG. 1, a typical integrated circuit device is comprised of a plurality of conductive interconnections, such as conductive lines and conductive contacts or vias, positioned in multiple layers of insulating material formed above the substrate. These conductive interconnections allow electrical signals to propagate between the transistors formed above the substrate.
During the course of fabricating such integrated circuit devices, a variety of features, e.g., gate electrodes, conductive lines, openings in layers of insulating material, etc., are formed to very precisely controlled dimensions. Such dimensions are sometimes referred to as the critical dimension (CD) of the feature. It is very important in modern semiconductor processing that features be formed as accurately as possible due to the reduced size of those features in such modem devices. The gate electrode 14 has a critical dimension 12, i.e., the width of the gate electrode 14, that approximately corresponds to the channel length 13 of the device when the transistor 10 is operational. Gate electrodes 14 may now be patterned to a width 12 that is approximately 180 nm, and further reductions are planned in the future, e.g., 120 nm. Since the width 12 of the gate electrode 14 corresponds approximately to the channel length 13 of the transistor 10 when it is operational, even slight variations in the critical dimension 12 of the gate electrode 14 as fabricated may adversely affect device performance. Moreover, at a given level of a wafer, features, e.g., gate electrodes, may be formed to a variety of different critical dimensions. Additionally, gate electrodes and/or shallow trench isolation structures at a given level may have differing critical dimensions.
Given the importance of forming features to very precise dimensions, semiconductor manufacturers typically measure the critical dimension of the resulting features to insure that manufacturing operations are producing features with dimensions that are within a previously determined acceptable range. Scatterometry-based metrology tools may be employed in determining the various dimensions. However, in situations where features having a variety of different critical dimensions must be measured, it is important that the metrology data obtained while measuring these structures be accurate, and that the scatterometry tool can be accurately calibrated as part of the overall metrology process.
The present invention is directed to a method and device that may solve, or at least reduce, some or all of the aforementioned problems.
The present invention is generally directed to a method and a structure for calibrating a scatterometry-based metrology tool used to measure dimensions of features on semiconductor devices. In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises measuring a critical dimension of at least one production feature formed above a wafer using a scatterometry tool, measuring at least one of a plurality of grating structures formed above the wafer using the scatterometry tool, each of the grating structures having a different critical dimension, and correcting the measured critical dimension of the at least one production feature based upon the measurement of the at least one grating structure.
In another illustrative embodiment, the method comprises forming a plurality of production features above a wafer, forming a plurality of grating structures above the wafer, each of the grating structures comprised of a plurality of features each having a target critical dimension that thereby defines a critical dimension of the grating structure, each of the grating structures having a different critical dimension, measuring a critical dimension of at least one of the production features using a scatterometry tool, measuring at least one of the grating structures using the scatterometry tool to determine a measured critical dimension of at least one feature of the at least one grating structure, and correcting the measured critical dimension of the at least one production feature based upon a comparison between the measured critical dimension of the at least one feature on the at least one grating structure and the target critical dimension of the feature on the at least one grating structure.

Method and structure for calibrating scatterometry-based metrology tool used to measure dimensions of features on a semiconductor device


A light emitting diode (LED) lighting device including a circuit configured to energize a surface mount LED lamp having an LED heat sink with a source of power. The LED lighting device further includes a printed circuit board having a first side, a second side and an opening extending from the first side to the second side. The surface mount LED lamp attached to the first side with the LED heat sink located adjacent to the opening on the first side. The LED lighting device further includes a fixture configured to hold the printed circuit board and position a metallic heat sink having a protrusion on the second side of the printed circuit board with the protrusion passing through the opening and contacting the LED heat sink.

Light emitting diode (LED) light sources are susceptible to damage by excessive heat buildup. Surface mount LED light sources are energized at high power levels which increases an amount of heat generated. In some approaches, surface mount LED light sources include a heat sink located such that when the LED is mounted on a printed circuit (PC) board the heat sink contacts the PC board permitting terminal energy to flow from the LED to reduce a temperature of the LED. The inclusion of the heat sink increases the mass of the PC board. A PC board is usually small which reduces an amount of heat energy that the PC board can absorb. In addition, the PC boards typically have high thermal resistance reducing an ability to absorb heat energy. Finally, although the LED heat sink is facing the PC board, the LED heat sink is not in physical contact due to variations in soldering or dimensions, in some instances.

Light emitting diode (LED) lighting device


A hydraulic processing tong for processing workpieces, with a tool, has a first tool part with an axially movable press ram or plunger, which with a first end or a tool located there and an opposing workpiece assembly forms a work area or work gap and with the first end can move toward and away from the workpiece assembly, and with a hydraulic actuating device for applying a force to the press ram, causing it to move in the direction of the workpiece assembly.

The present invention relates to a hydraulic processing tong, and in particular to a setting tong or setting tong machine for inserting and fixing functional or connecting elements, for example nuts, bolts or similar elements by means of joining and pressing into workpieces, made for example of sheet metal or sheet steel and/or for connecting workpieces, by means of clinching.
An object of the invention is to provide for a processing tong that is characterized by a high safety standard and a small size.


The present invention provides a method of scaling a partial area of a main picture, by which the partial area of the main picture can be magnified in a manner of scaling the partial area of the picture displayed on a screen like using a virtual magnifier without employing a separate expensive hardware resource. The present invention comprises a first step of making a main scaler extract image data of the partial area to be scaled from full image data according to prescribed scaling information including magnification/reduction information for the partial area of a display picture, a second step of making a sub-scaler scale the extracted image data of the partial area at a prescribed rate, and a third step of overlaying the scaled image data of the partial area on the full image data provided from the main scaler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of scaling a partial area of a main picture, by which the partial area of the main picture can be magnified in a manner of scaling the partial area of the picture displayed on a screen like using a virtual magnifier without a separate expensive hardware resource.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a digital broadcast receiver is provided with a scaling function for magnifying or reducing a partial area of a picture, which is explained with reference to FIG. 1 as follows. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device for scaling a partial area of a picture according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, under the control of a scaler controller 130, a main scaler 110 extracts image data of a partial area to be magnified from full screen image data, which is decoded in a main picture decoder and is inputted via a switch 100, according to an externally inputted magnification command and then magnifies the extracted image data by a full screen size or zooms out only the area to be magnified. In case of zooming-out, the rest area is blacked on the screen, which is shown in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2A, a main picture 200 of a digital broadcast receiver is shown. In FIG. 2B, a partial picture 210 (width:length=dx:dy) of the main picture 200 is magnified by a full-screen size (width:length=dx′:dy′) of the digital broadcast receiver. In FIG. 2C, a partial picture 210 of the main picture 200, which is magnified like FIG. 2B, is zoomed out by a magnification size (width:length=dx″:dy″) of the digital broadcast receiver. In doing so, the image data of a background picture 220 is processed by black data.
Namely, a general method of selecting a partial area of a main picture and magnifying the selected partial area, as shown in FIG. 2, can be carried out in a following manner. First of all, the area to be magnified is displayed by a screen size or is zoomed out to process the rest area by black.
However, it is difficult to implement the partially magnifying function for the data broadcast image in which OSD (on-screen display) data is included, since the magnifying process is completed prior to the execution of the OSD processing. Moreover, in case that a user intends to view the magnified area and the main picture as well with the main picture intact, it is difficult to implement the magnifying function of high grade. Hence, the demand for an enhanced method of magnifying a partial area is on the increase.

Method of scaling partial area of main picture


A monitor apparatus including a monitor and a base to support the monitor. The monitor apparatus further includes a first link provided between the monitor and the base; a second link provided between the monitor and the base adjacent to the first link; a base bracket combined to the base having first and second lower supporting parts to rotatably support lower parts of the first and second links, respectively; a connecting bracket rotatably combined to the monitor having first and second upper supporters to rotatably support upper parts of the first and second links, respectively. A first spring is interposed between the first link and the first lower supporting part to elastically bias the first link upward with respect to the base; and a second spring is interposed between the second link and the second lower supporting part to elastically bias the second link upward with respect to the base, where the distance between rotating axes of the first and second lower supporting parts, on which the first and second links are rotatably supported, respectively, is greater than the distance between tilting axes of the first and second upper supporters. Accordingly, the present invention provides a monitor apparatus in which a monitor can be adjusted in both height and a tilting angle as desired, where the height of the monitor is adjusted while keeping the tilting angle thereof in an angle suitable for a user to view the screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitor apparatus, more particularly, to a monitor apparatus having an improved structure to rotate a monitor relative to a base.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional monitor apparatus comprises a base 101 seated on a predetermined plane, a monitor 102 to display a picture thereon, a connecting member 110 to connect the base 101 to the monitor apparatus 102, and a spring member 160 to elastically bias the connecting member 110 upward with respect to the base 101.
The connecting member 110 has a lower part rotatably connected to a pair of base brackets 104 and 106 that are combined to the base 101, and an upper part incorporated with the monitor 102.
The spring member 160 has resilience elastically biasing the connecting member 110 upward with respect to the base 101 that corresponds to the weight of the monitor 102.
Thus, the connecting member 110 can be tilted up and down with respect to the base 101 as shown with an arrow "A" in FIG. 1, however, the monitor 102 cannot be tilted with respect to the connecting member 110.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, according to the conventional monitor apparatus, it is impossible to change a tilting angle between the monitor 102 and the connecting member 110. Therefore, when the connecting member 110 is tilted towards the base 101, the distance between the monitor 102 and the base 101 is adjusted as shown in FIG. 2B, making it inconvenient for a user to view a screen of the monitor apparatus.
In contrast, a monitor apparatus (not shown) has been provided according to which the connecting member has the upper part rotatably connected to the monitor, and has the lower part incorporated with the base. Accordingly, even though the angle between the monitor and the connecting member can be varied, it is impossible to adjust the height of the monitor with respect to the base 101.
Recently, various sizes of monitors have been provided to satisfy consumer demands. However, the conventional monitor apparatus has inflexible structure that does not allow the monitor apparatus to be used with different monitor sizes, thus, it is impossible for the conventional monitor apparatus to effectively accommodate various monitor sizes.


A release foil comprising a plastic carrier and a silicone coating forming a layer with low adhesion versus an adhesive layer of a substrate laminated to it. According to the invention, the plastic carrier comprises a barrier layer for absorbing substances migrating out of the adhesive layer. The barrier layer consists of an ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer, ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer, or styrene block copolymer, or mixtures of said components.

The invention relates to a release foil having a plastic carrier and a silicone coating forming a layer with low adhesion versus an adhesive layer of a substrate laminated to it.
There is an increasing demand for self-adhesive products such as labels, adhesive tapes, and adhesive foil materials for application in the field of construction. In most cases, the adhesive layer of self-adhesive products is covered with a foil that can be peeled off. This foil is referred to as a release foil (or sheet). Due to its silicone coating, the release foil can be easily removed from the adhesive layer. In addition to its cover function, the release foil must also act as a carrier especially in connection with labels. This permits automatic or manual dispensing of pre-punched labels.
Silicone-coated release papers are widely used and can be easily handled because of their thickness and stiffness. However, they are disadvantageous due to the roughness of the paper carrier. Furthermore, such release papers are not used for optical reasons because they are not transparent in connection with highly transparent labels and the desired xe2x80x9cnon-label lookxe2x80x9d is not obtained. U.S. Pat. No, 6,210,767 describes a release layer carrier based on paper that has a surface coating consisting of polypropylene or polypropylene copolymer. The silicone coating is applied to the coated surface of the paper carrier.
A release foil is known from DE 195 48 265 A1 that has a plastic carrier. This plastic carrier consists of a stretched thermoplastic polyolefin sheet that is refined with a polymer surface coating. The surface coating, which is thinly applied, preferably consists of polyethylene or polypropylene and is said to favorably influence the punching and sliding properties of the release foil.
Many products coated with adhesive, which are covered with a release foil, contain so-called tackifiers in the adhesive coating in addition to the hot melt adhesive. These tackifiers provide the cold hot melt adhesive with its adhesive properties. Tackifiers, as well as other low-molecular, wax-, oil- or fat-type substances of the adhesive coating (migrating substances), are capable of penetrating the usual cover foils (or sheets). The substances migrating to the outside without having lost their adhesive properties may cause individual product units to be glued to each other.
Products provided with release foils are frequently packaged in polyethylene foils. Migrating substances of the adhesive layer may penetrate not only the release foil but also the outer packaging foil. The pack may therefore glue together in the region of the polyethylene foils. This impairs the use of the products because when an individual pack is opened, the packaging glued with the pack may tear open or cause the release foil to detach prematurely and expose the adhesive coating.
To prevent the tackifier resin or the other migrating components of the adhesive from migrating through foils, release foils have special barriers, for example metal foils. Foils containing metal layers are expensive. These foils may contain aluminum, or be based on polyamide or polyacrylic resin, which are employed as barrier foils as well.
The invention is based on the problem of providing a release foil that is transparent and effectively prevents low-molecular organic substances from migrating out of the adhesive layer.
Based on a release foil with the features specified above, the plastic carrier of the present invention comprises a barrier layer for absorbing substances migrating out of the adhesive layer, whereby the barrier layer consists of an ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer, ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer, styrene block copolymer, or mixtures of said components. The migrating substances are absorbed or bonded in the barrier layer. It is understood that the barrier layer must have a sufficient thickness. The necessary layer thickness of the barrier layer depends on the composition of the adhesive and the thickness of the adhesive layer and can be determined by a few orienting trials. In general, a layer thickness of at least 30% of the thickness of the adhesive layer is sufficient, but it can not fall below a minimum value of 5 xcexcm. Suitable styrene block copolymers are styrene-ethylene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-(ethylene-1-butene)-styrene copolymers, and styrene-isoprene-styrene copolymers.
The silicone layer, a layer of low adhesion is in contact with the adhesive layer. The usual silicone liner materials such as triorgano-siloxane derivatives, dimethyl-siloxane systems, terminally blocked polyorgano-siloxanes, methyl-vinyl-polysiloxanes, and acrylated organo-polysiloxanes, which are offered in the market, for example under the trade name SYL-OFF(copyright) (DOW Corning CO. USA), can be employed as silicone layers. The siliconization is carried out from the aqueous or organic solvent phase, or free of solvent, in amounts ranging from about 0.3 g/m2 to 1.5 g/m2.
When the migrating substance exiting from the adhesive layer penetrates the silicone layer, it impacts the absorbent barrier layer, which, on account of its composition and layer thickness, has high affinity and bonding power versus the migrating substances. By being absorbed and bonded, the migrating substances are prevented from migrating to the outside.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the plastic carrier is produced in the form of a co-extruded foil, which, in addition to the barrier layer, comprises at least one other layer consisting of co-extrudable plastic, preferably a polyolefin. This additional layer that is co-extruded together with the barrier layer, is usefully arranged between the barrier layer and the silicone coating. It preferably consists of one or more polyolefins, in particular polyethylene, polypropylene, or polybutylene. The intermediate polyolefin layer may contribute to increasing the compatibility between the silicone layer and the absorbing barrier layer. This results in superior stability and processibility of the foil.
According to a further development of the invention, the release foil is comprised of four layers and consists of a silicone layer followed by a polyolefin layer, or a layer consisting of plastics that can be suitably co-extruded, followed by the absorbing barrier layer and another polyolefin layer.
The application of the absorbing barrier layer, can be applied alsoxe2x80x94mutatis mutandisxe2x80x94to foils not equipped with a silicone layer. For example, the absorbent barrier layer may be provided on one or both sides with an additional layer containing a polyolefin or consisting of a polyolefin. It is possible in this way to produce laminated composites, in which the three-layered foil described above is provided with an adhesive, whereby the substances capable of migrating and exiting from the adhesive are absorbed by the absorbent barrier layer, so that no inter-blocking can occur when a web of material so produced is reeled up.
Finally, when the release foil is used for packagings, it is possible to produce pouches from foils that consist of the described absorbent barrier layer and polyolefin layers applied to both sides. The three-layered barrier layer is accordingly comprised of one absorbent layer that consists of one or more polyolefin copolymers and/or styrene block copolymers. In this case, too, it is possible to use ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer, ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer, styrene-ethylene block copolymer, styrene-(ethylene-1-butene)-styrene copolymer, styrene-isoprene-styrene copolymer, or mixtures of these components as the absorbing components. The absorbent layer serves the purpose of absorbing migrating substances exiting from the filled material, so that such substances will not completely migrate through the packaging pouch foil and contaminate the surface of the pouch.


An optical waveguide encapsulation for facilitating the tapping of light signals. The optical waveguide includes an optical medium, preferably a polyimide. An encapsulating material comprises a medium which matches the index of the light conducting core of the waveguide. The refractive index of the light conducting core is higher than the refractive index of the encapsulating material, and the encapsulating material is an elastic material.

In present day fiberoptic communication fields, and in particular within the telecommunication field, it is desirable to be able to tap light signals in order to ascertain the traffic status of the optical fiber. At present, the light signals are tapped on the fiber with the aid of a permanently attached tapping device. The fiber is comprised of a light conducting core and a cladding. In order to make the light signal accessible to the tapping device, either the cladding is removed at the tapping site or the fiber is bent. The tapping device functions to tap the light signal from the core through its evanescence field.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,123 discloses two methods of tapping a light signal from an optical fiber without requiring the fiber to be broken. The concept of this patent is to look into the fiber so as to ascertain its traffic status, and signal tapping can be effected anywhere whatsoever without disturbing the traffic. This is achieved by placing the tapping device, which in this case is comprised of a material which incorporates a photodetector, on a light conducting core or on the fiber so that tapping of light signals can be effected. The optical fiber is comprised of a core that has low optical losses and cladding which has a lower refractive index than the core.
A first method described in the patent involves removing all, or practically all of the cladding material from the fiber. The detector is then placed securely on the light conducting core, the stripped region of which must be at least three times the wavelength in the optical fiber.
Another method of tapping light signals is to bend the optical fiber without removing the cladding material. This enables the light signals to be extracted through the cladding and captured by a photodetector. Tapping is effected permanently in both cases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,452 describes a method in which tapping is effected with the aid of a tapping device placed on an optical fiber. This fiber is comprised of a light conducting core and at least one cladding material. The tapping device, a probe, is an optical fiber of the same type as the fiber from which the signals are tapped. This probe has a free end which includes a light conducting core. In order to tap light signals from the fiber, it is necessary to remove the cladding so as to expose the core. The probe is used at this exposed region, with the free end of the probe placed against the bared part of the fiber. In order to obtain the best possible tapping effect, it is necessary to adapt the angle defined by the probe axis and the fiber axis. A coupling medium connects the region at the probe and the bared part of the fiber and conducts light signals from the bared part of the fiber to the probe. The coupling medium, which is a solid and hard material, fixes the probe in relation to the fiber.
Various experiments have shown that the light conducting core may be comprised of polyimide. In the article "Dependence of Precursor Chemistry and Curing Conditions on Optical Loss Characteristics of Polyimide Wageguides" by C. P. Chien and K. K. Chakravorty at Boeing Aerospace and Electronics, Seattle, USA, SPIE vol 1323, Optical Thin Films III, New developments (1990), it is disclosed that polyimide is a good material for the optical fiber core. Polyimide has good thermal stability and a dielectric index of 3.5, which is compatible with other IC-materials. The material functions well as a light transmitter, such as in optoelectric circuits in GHz frequency range. The advantage of polyimide is that when manufacturing cores, the cores can be packed tightly together. Additional polyimide data is that it has a refractive index of 1.6 (1.58-1.62) and optical losses in the core of about 1 dB/cm when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Experiments have been carried out with a silicone elastomer as an index matching medium for the light conductive core. The article "Index Matching Elastomers for Fiber Optics" by Robert W. Filas, B. H. Johnson and C. P. Wong at AT&T Bell laboratories, N.J. USA in the magazine IEEE, Proc. Electron. Compon. Cont., 39th, 486-9, disclose that silicone elastomers are good core index matching materials. Copolymer reflection as a function of the diphenyl concentration and temperature is obtained by measuring the reflection strength of a single mode waveguide whose core has been encapsulated in an elastomer. It is possible to obtain the same refractive index on a silicone rubber material as the refractive index of the core. The silicone rubber can be used as an interface between different components. Another method is to use the silicone rubber as protection against moisture and dust, for instance.
At present, air is used as the refractive medium to the light conducting core of the lightwave conductor. Air has a much lower refractive index than polyimide. The refractive index of air is 1, whereas the refractive index of the polyimide is 1.6 and the refractive index of the silicone rubber is 1.5.
One drawback with the earlier known solutions is that light signals are tapped from optical fibers with the aid of permanently attached devices. This means that light signals are tapped from the fiber at a specific place thereon at which cladding has been removed. The earlier solutions are encumbered with a number of additional drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is that light signals can only be tapped on fiber waveguides and that it is necessary to remove cladding from the place at which tapping shall take place. The tapping device must be placed firmly on the optical fiber at that place from which the cladding has been removed. Tapping in permanent branches results in excessively high losses.


An apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to receive a first reference signal and generate a second reference signal. A frequency and a phase of the second reference signal may be (i) adjusted in response to the first reference signal and (ii) held when the first reference signal is lost. The second circuit may be configured to generate one or more output signals in response to the second reference signal and one of the one or more output signals. The one or more output signals may have a controlled and/or substantially zero delay with respect to the first reference signal.

The present invention relates to a method and/or architecture for implementing zero delay buffers generally and, more particularly, to a method and/or architecture for a zero delay buffer featuring an automatic reference loop which generates an internal reference clock that may be phase aligned to an externally supplied reference clock. In the event the externally supplied reference clock stops, the automatic reference loop will continue to supply an internal reference clock.
A signal buffer that inserts essentially no additional propagation delay in the signal path is required for many applications. A phase locked loop (PLL) or delay locked loop (DLL) based zero delay buffer can address the requirement for essentially no additional propagation delay. A continuous clock, even in the event of loss of a reference signal, is also required for many applications.
Conventional timing systems can result in problems, for example, when used in communications systems that derive timing from incoming data streams. Loss of the data stream (due to storm, interference, etc.) can result in loss of circuit timing generation unless a backup timing source is available.
Conventional timing circuits can use backup reference oscillators to compensate for the loss of the primary timing reference. Conventional backup reference oscillators have multiplexers with external control logic to select between the primary and secondary (backup) reference oscillator where both the primary and secondary reference oscillator are located xe2x80x9coff-chipxe2x80x9d. However, conventional technology has the following disadvantages: (i) external control circuitry is required to control the reference selection multiplexer, (ii) the secondary reference is not phase aligned with the primary reference, (iii) a change from the primary reference to the secondary reference and back can result in an interruption of the clock, and/or (iv) a secondary reference source is required.
It would be desirable to have a zero delay buffer circuit that (i) has a reference oscillator phase aligned with a primary reference oscillator and (ii) automatically provides an internal reference clock if the primary reference stops.
The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to receive a first reference signal and generate a second reference signal. A frequency and a phase of the second reference signal may be (i) adjusted in response to the first reference signal and (ii) held when the first reference signal is lost. The second circuit may be configured to generate one or more output signals in response to the second reference signal and one of the one or more output signals. The one or more output signals may have a controlled and/or substantially zero delay with respect to the first reference signal.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include providing a method and/or architecture for a zero delay buffer with an automatic reference clock that may (i) simplify the design of clock systems, (ii) reduce or eliminate complicated decision making/control logic, (iii) reduce or eliminate multiplexers, (iv) eliminate xe2x80x9coff chipxe2x80x9d backup reference oscillators, (v) provide a phase aligned (e.g., phase coherent) reference oscillator that provides uninterrupted operation when a primary timing reference signal is lost, (vi) provide a smooth, continuous reference oscillator operation when the primary timing reference signal is restored, (vii) provide continuous clocking in the event of data derived clock loss, (viii) handle clock management/switching internally as part of the chip architecture, and/or (ix) insert negligible propagation path delay.

Fail-safe zero delay buffer with automatic internal reference


Provided are a system and method for preventing a leak of personal information. According to embodiments of the present invention, when a packet includes a field associated with the personal information, information including the field associated with the personal information may be modified, and thereby may prevent the leak of personal information with respect to a traffic-collecting device in an Internet network system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for preventing a leak of personal information in an Internet system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, thanks to developments of deep packet inspection technology and high performance of network processors for processing a packet, a traffic collecting and analyzing apparatus that collects and analyzes traffic on the Internet, and uses analyzed information for various purposes such as analysis of user behavior, net management, provision of quality of service (QoS), wiretapping, interception, and the like has been studied and released.
Since Internet traffic is collected and analyzed without a method or policy for protecting personal information, the personal information expressed on the Internet traffic may be leaked.
Recently, in response to leaks of personal information by collecting and analyzing Internet traffic, a personal information protection policy with respect to the Internet traffic has been actively discussed all over the world, and each nation has been trying to form a legal and social consensus.
As a policy for preventing the leak of personal information, a scheme of encrypting the Internet traffic is being used. However, when an encryption key to a system is known, the scheme of encrypting the Internet traffic may not prevent the leak of personal information.
Accordingly, a new policy for preventing the leak of personal information is desired.

System and method for preventing leak of personal information

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present disclosure relates to presentation of live multimedia information via a live multimedia information system that includes a collecting device, and a standardization server. A live instruction sent by a live terminal is received; ambient information is recorded and multimedia information is obtained using the collecting device; the multimedia information, which may include audiovisual information to be presented in real time to remote viewers, is sent to the standardization server according to the live instruction, which may identify a destination for the multimedia information. The standardization server may send the multimedia information, which may be optimized for one or more playing terminals, to a playing terminal, and the playing terminal may receive and play the multimedia information for a remote audience. Playback quality is improved for live multimedia information.

With the rapid development of network technology, there have been more and more live network platforms (i.e., network platforms for real-time or near real-time presentation of multimedia information). Various kinds of multimedia information may be presented via the live network platforms, such as videos, audio recordings, and photographs.
In the related art, a "live" mobile phone (for example, a mobile phone of an anchor or other broadcaster/presenter) may log into a server of the live network platform, then the server may send a live network address to the live mobile phone. After that, live video information may be collected (i.e., captured or recorded) using a camera of the live mobile phone, and live audio information may be collected by a microphone of the live mobile phone. Finally, the live mobile phone may send multimedia information including collected live video information and live audio information to the live network address. A "playing" mobile phone (for example, a mobile phone of an audience member who is normally not in the vicinity of the live mobile phone and is thus generally too remote to directly perceive the video and audio information being collected) may also log into the server of the network live platform, then the server may be triggered to send the multimedia information from the live network address to the playing phone, such that the playing mobile phone can receive the multimedia information and play it for the audience member.
However, the multimedia information collected by the camera or the microphone of the live mobile phone may have poor quality, and the multimedia information sent from the server to the playing mobile phone may also have poor quality, resulting in low-quality live multimedia information experiences for audiences.

Systems and methods for live multimedia information collection, presentation, and standardization

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


A memory device and method, such as a flash memory device and method, includes a memory having a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells for storing stored values of user data. The memory device and method includes a memory controller for controlling the memory. The memory controller includes an encoder for encoding user write data for storage of code values as the stored values in the memory. The encoder includes an inserter for insertion of an indicator as part of the stored values for use in determining when the stored values are or are not in an erased state. The memory controller includes a decoder for reading the stored values from the memory to form user read data values when the stored values are not in the erased state.

This invention relates to memory devices and particularly to flash memory devices. Flash memory devices are provided as storage in personal digital assistants, laptop and other computers, digital audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Flash memory is a type of EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). EEPROM flash memories are formed by arrays of semiconductor memory cells. Each of the memory cells includes a floating gate field-effect transistor having electrically isolated gates (floating gates) capable of holding a charge. The data in a cell is determined by the presence or absence of the charge on the floating gate. Charges are transported to or removed from the floating gates by specialized programming and erase operations. Flash memory is non-volatile because no power is needed to maintain the charge on the floating gates and hence no power is needed to maintain the stored information. Write fatigue of floating gate memory cells can occur after repetitive writes and erasures so that the memory cells do not properly have the correct charges.
For reading and writing of data from and to a flash memory, the cells are accessed on a random access basis to change the charge or read the charge on the floating gates. For erasing data from a flash memory, cells are grouped into sections called "erase blocks". The charge is removed from the floating gates by block erase operations in which all floating gate memory cells in the erase block are erased in a single erase operation. In flash memory devices, a block can be written with new data only when the block is in the Erased State. Therefore, before a block can be written with new data, the block has to be erased to the Erased State. In the Erased State, all the bits in the block have the same logical state, typically a logical value of "1" so that the Erased State is an all 1's state.
A flash memory device contains multiple logically addressable pages. The logical addressable pages are usually correlated to the physical "erase block" sizes. In a typical example, an "erased block" has a size much larger than a page size. Commonly used flash devices have 4 KByte pages and 512 KByte erasable blocks. For example, pages that store between 512 bytes of data and 8 K bytes of data have between 512 8-bit cells and 8 K 8-bit cells.
In storage systems including flash memory devices, embedded operating systems (OS) manage the data stored in the flash memory devices and maintain records of which pages are in the Erased State. Only pages in the Erased State are available to store new data.
Under normal operating conditions, the operating system has full knowledge of which pages are erased pages. However, under some extraordinary conditions (for example, after power loss) the operating system's record of erased pages can be erroneous. When the erased pages record can be erroneous, the operating system goes through a detection procedure called Erased Page Detection to determine, if possible, which pages are in the Erased State.
There are difficulties presented by Erased Page Detection procedures. In flash memory systems, no indication is provided by the flash memory data as to whether or not any of the pages are in the Erased State. Erased Page Detection is done by reading the page data from a page in the flash memory. The 1's and 0's data content of the page is analyzed to determine if the content is all 1's. If all 1's, then the page may be in the Erased State. However, due to defects, frequently not all the bits are 1's when the page is in an Erased State. Also, when a page is not intended to be in an Erased State, the page nonetheless may be written with data so as to contain all 1's. Accordingly, it cannot always be determined conclusively whether a page is in the Erased State by merely analyzing the 1's and 0's data content of a page.
The ability to detect the erased or non-erased status of pages in flash memories is in part a function of the type of coding used to store data in the flash memory. In one example, BCH coding is used for flash memories.
BCH coding uses codes that are a class of parameterized, error-correcting codes which are easily decoded using syndrome decoding. Syndrome decoding is desirable since it is easily implemented with simple electronic hardware. As a class of codes, BCH codes are highly flexible and allow control over block length and acceptable error thresholds. Custom BCH codes can be easily designed according to well-known mathematical constraints. BCH codes have a code length, N, and have a correction power, T.
A page or block in flash memory is physically erased to one value, typically all 1's, and the all 1's are stored in the flash memory to represent erased values. However, it is not known whether such an all 1's sequence of values is or is not a code word. Similarly, the minimum distance from an all 1's erased sequence of values to the closest code word is not known. Under such conditions, conflicts can arise with certain types of code words to be stored as stored values in the flash memory. Codes, such as BCH codes, may have code values that conflict with the block erase states of flash memories.
Whenever the storage code values of any code words in flash memory are the same as the stored erased values in the flash memory, conflicts arise which need to be resolved. In one example, if all 0's code words are stored to flash memory with inversion to all 1's code values, then conflicts arise when the Erased State of flash memory is also all 1's values. In another example, if all 0's code words are stored to flash memory without inversion as all 0's code values, then conflicts arise when the Erased State of flash memory is also all 0's. In another example, if all 1's code words are stored to flash memory without inversion as all 1's code values, then conflicts arise when the Erased State of flash memory is also all 1's. In a still further example, if all 1's code words are stored to flash memory with inversion to all 0's code values, then conflicts arise when the Erased State of the flash memory is also all 0's. Still other conflicts between stored code values and stored erased values are possible.
It is desirable to be able to recognize in flash memory the erased or non-erased status of pages. In order to have efficient Erased Page Detection of erased pages in the flash memory that relies on the data content of the flash memory, an efficient flash memory controller is required. Efficient Erased Page Detection preferably requires no expansion or only a small expansion of the data page size and provides a large Hamming Distance between a user data page and an erased page in the flash memory.
In consideration of the above background, there is a need for improved flash memory devices that resolve conflicts between stored code words and stored erased states.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for detecting valid data using selective modification of cyclic redundancy codes


A smoke detector or, more generally, a danger detector, operates in an area with increased radioactive radiation disposition danger detector has at least one detector unit for detecting at least one danger characteristic, a semiconductor component and other electrical components, at least for outputting an alarm signal. The danger detector also has a temperature control circuit. The temperature control circuit is configured to control the temperature of the at least one semiconductor component. The danger detector may be embodied as a linear smoke detector.

Described below is a danger detector, in particular a smoke detector, for operation in an area having an increased radioactive radiation disposition, with the danger detector having at least one detector unit for detecting at least one danger characteristic, a semiconductor component and other electrical components, at least for outputting an alarm signal.
Furthermore, the danger detector may be embodied as a linear smoke detector, having an opto-transmitter for emitting a light beam which traverses a measured distance, and having an opto-receiver for receiving the emitted light beam at the end of the measured distance.
The danger detector involves a smoke detector for example, such as an optical smoke detector or a thermal detector. Optical smoke detectors can be based on the scattered light principle or on the opto-acoustic principle, for example. If the danger detector is a thermal detector, then the temperature currently present in the surroundings of the thermal detector is detected, for instance by a temperature-dependent resistor. The danger detectors under consideration can also be flue gas detectors, which have a gas sensor as the detector unit, such as a gas FET (Field Effect Transistor) for example.
Furthermore, the danger detectors can involve motion detectors which have a PIR (passive infrared) detector unit for motion detection. The danger detectors under consideration can also have combinations of the afore-mentioned detector units.
Linear smoke detectors are based on the extinction principle. They are employed in particular in large or narrow spaces, for example in corridors, warehouses, factory buildings and in airplane hangars and are mounted below the ceiling on the walls. In a first embodiment, transmitter and receiver are located opposite each other and no reflector is required. In a second embodiment, the light beam emitted by the transmitter is deflected via a reflector back to the receiver. Transmitter and receiver adjoin each other. The measured distance of such types of linear smoke detectors is typically in the range from 20 m to 200 m, which in the case of the first embodiment corresponds to the equivalent distance between transmitter and receiver. In the second embodiment, the distance between transmitter/receiver and the reflector corresponds to half of the measured distance.
The area with increased, in particular with high radioactive radiation disposition, can be for example a nuclear area or in space. Nuclear areas are in particular spatially delimited areas within a nuclear power station, a nuclear reprocessing plant or a final or intermediate storage facility for radioactive waste, for example.
Radioactive radiation means ionizing particle or electromagnetic radiation which comes from radioactive materials and is able to tear off electrons from atoms and molecules, so that positively charged ions or molecule residues remain. Whereas alpha and beta radiation as particle radiation can even be screened by materials having a thickness of a few millimeters, effective screening against electromagnetic gamma radiation is only possible with a large amount of material. Depending on the screening requirement, lead shields with shield thicknesses of a meter or more can be required.
Radioactive radiation generally has a destructive effect on electronic components, particularly on semiconductor components. Such components have very fine semiconductor structure patterns of less than 1 μm, in particular less than 100 nm. In this case all types of high-energy, ionizing radiation interact with a semiconductor crystal. Even if screening against alpha and beta radiation is comparatively simple to achieve, for instance by a sheet metal enclosure or a plastic enclosure for example, then the action of the gamma radiation on the screening or on the housing of the semiconductor components results to some extent in secondary alpha and beta particles, which in turn interact with the semiconductor crystal. Due to the interaction of such an irradiated particle with a lattice atom, the latter can be released from the lattice structure and this produces a vacancy. If it has sufficient transferred impact energy, the free atom can knock out further atoms, or migrate to an intermediate lattice position. This forms a so-called intermediate lattice atom vacancy complex.
An important effect of the interacting radiation is the production of crystal defects which generate additional energy states within the forbidden band along with recombination centers. These effects are accelerated in highly complex semiconductor microstructures, such as ASICs or microcontrollers, for example. On the other hand, resistors or capacitors are very rarely affected.
For this reason, rugged, discrete semiconductor components such as transistors or diodes may be used to take into account accelerated degeneration of the electrical parameters in the circuit, especially as predominantly radiation-hardened, older integrated semiconductor components, such as ICs, logic gates, etc., which have a pattern size of more than 1 μm and due to the advances in miniaturization are in short supply in the semiconductor market.
Due to the use of discrete semiconductor components, a minimum service life, for example 3 years, which meets the relevant requirements, such as those of a nuclear power station, for example, can therefore be realized. Such a requirement can be, for example, that a smoke detector has to withstand a radiation exposure or an energy dose of 0.25 Gy over a period of 3 years. Here the term Gy (Gray) is the SI unit of the absorbed energy dose D. In this case the energy dose absorbed with respect to time is termed the dose rate.
In an unrelated field, a semiconductor laser for applications in space is known from Chinese Patent Application CN 101841125 A. To an undescribed extent and by undescribed means, the temperature of the semiconductor laser is increased in order to accelerate annealing of damage caused by radiation, typically by protons and electrons.
A detailed description of the effect of radioactive radiation on electronic semiconductors, in particular the associated accumulated or temporary damage over time of such semiconductor components, is described in the dissertation "Component degradation due to radioactive radiation and its consequences for the design of radiation-hardened electronic circuits" by Detlef Brumbi, Faculty of Electronic Engineering at Ruhr University, Bochum, 1990.
A mathematical model for a stress method for MOS semiconductors at a high radiation rate, which enables precise long-term forecasts to be made concerning the rate of formation of induced holes (positive charges) in the semiconductor material due to the effect of radioactive radiation, in particular in the semiconductor oxide employed as an electrical circuit insulator, such as SiO2, for example, is proposed in the publication: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, VOL. 37, NO. 6, DECEMBER 1990, titled "Modeling the anneal of radiation-induced trapped holes in a varying thermal environment", by P. J. McWhorter, S. L. Miller and W. M. Miller of Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N. Mex., USA, December 1990. Based on this determined rate of formation, reliable data are obtained on the long-term failure modes of the semiconductor under investigation with a comparable short test time and high radiation disposition.
The method described in the publication demonstrates a solution as to how the necessary cooling time, the so-called annealing, can be reduced. This time is necessary for the recombination of the induced holes following a high radiation disposition, to ultimately determine the influence of the radiation disposition on the reliability performance of the semiconductor according to the so-called MIL standard 883 TM 1019. In this connection, a temperature-dependent recombination process acting in opposition to the hole formation rate is described, whose formation rate likewise increases with increasing semiconductor temperature. The reason for this recombination is that the ions produced in the semiconductor oxide by radiation are unstable and therefore attempt to get back the missing electrons from their environment, whereby the original molecules or atoms are restored.

Danger detector for operation in nuclear field, having heating system for heating typically non-radiation hardened semiconductor components to increase functional service life


A method for manufacturing the image sensor includes providing a substrate structure; forming a mask layer on the substrate structure, the mask layer having openings; depositing a metal grid material covering a surface of the mask layer and a bottom of the openings; and stripping the mask layer for removing a portion of the metal grid material on the top surface of the mask layer. The substrate structure includes: a substrate having a first surface; a plurality of pixels in the substrate; isolation structures around each of the plurality of pixels; and an anti-reflective coating on the first surface of the substrate. The openings include first openings exposing a portion of the first surface of the substrate structure above the isolation structures. A remaining portion of the metal grid material at the bottom of the openings forms metal grids.

As the size of pixel in the image sensor is shrinking, crosstalk noise becomes more serious and the problem caused by crosstalk noise needs to be solved to achieve better image quality.
There are three types of crosstalk in the image sensor: spectral crosstalk, optical crosstalk, and electrical crosstalk. Spectral crosstalk is caused by misalignment of the color filter (CF) and the corresponding pixel. Optical crosstalk is generated when photons enter the adjacent pixels. Electrical crosstalk is caused by the fact that electrons drift to wrong pixels.
One way to reduce spectral crosstalk and optical crosstalk is to insert a color filter into the structure of the metal grid. In prior art, when a metal grid is formed, a metal grid material is deposited first. Then the deposited metal grid material is dry etched to remove the unnecessary metal grid material. Thus, a metal grid corresponding to the pixel region is formed.
The inventor finds that when the deposited metal grid material is subjected to dry etching, some of the plasma with charges is left in the pixel region. The adverse effect will be put on the performance of the image sensor. In addition, the dry etching may also damage the pixel region, which will also affect the performance of the image sensor.
The disclosed devices and methods are directed to at least partially alleviate one or more problems set forth above and to solve other problems in the art.

Image sensor with metal grids and manufacturing method thereof

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation


Implementations disclosed herein provide a targeted messaging service that interfaces with a targeted messaging client on a device. The targeted messaging service provides a user-specific package to the client that specifies which native controls to invoke in response to which triggering events, as well as the assets to deploy in the controls. The targeted messaging client, which runs in the context of the native application it is supporting, receives the package from the service and monitors for the events that trigger targeted messages. A targeted control is formed by an existing native control combined with a specific asset provided in the package. When a given event occurs, the targeted messaging client merges the asset with the native control and displays the resulting targeted control in a user interface to the application.

A/B testing technology allows software developers to experiment with various user interface configurations, to discover which configuration is optimal. Multiple experimental configurations may be developed, for example, and then served to specific users, whose interaction and feedback may be monitored and evaluated. The same or similar technology may be employed to customize user interface configurations on a per-user basis. In both cases, various limitations of the technology result in sub-optimal user experiences.
One solution renders experimental or user-specific content in a web view. However, such web views typically do not look and behave the same a native interfaces and the renderers that support them may be slow or lack native integration. A different solution allows the native elements of a user interface to be re-arranged per an experiment or user customization. While properties of the native elements can be changed, their text and other aspects cannot, resulting in relatively rigid experiments and customization.
In a related context, developers may wish to converse with their users, in that they want to deliver contextually relevant messages for the users to consume. For example, a developer may want to alert a user to a new feature or function, converse with a user about his or her subscription status, or the like. The aforementioned infrastructure for running experiments can be leveraged to deliver such messages (as opposed to experimental configurations), but only with the same limitations discussed above.
Another solution is to provide links within a user interface to a native application that, when clicked-on by the user, deliver the user to a web experience outside of the native application. In either case, the user experience is sub-optimal and the developer's ability to converse meaningfully with end-users is limited.
Overview
Technology is disclosed herein that allows for experiments, customization, and in-app messaging to be deployed in the context of a native application using the native controls that are part of the application. In an implementation, a targeted messaging service in the cloud interfaces with a targeted messaging client on a device. The targeted messaging service provides a user-specific package to the client that specifies which native controls to invoke in response to which triggering events, as well as the assets to deploy in the controls.
The targeted messaging client, which runs in the context of the native application it is supporting, receives the package from the service and monitors for the events that trigger targeted messages. A targeted control is formed by an existing native control combined with a specific asset provided in the package. When a given event occurs, the targeted messaging client merges the asset with the native control and displays the resulting targeted control in a user interface to the application.
This Overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Technical Disclosure. It may be understood that this Overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Service-driven dynamic user interface technology