This invention provides technology (including apparatus, method, software, and/or data structures) to broadcast data from one or more content providers via one or more broadcast channels to one or more content recipients. This technology meets the different needs of the three major stakeholders—the content providers, the broadcasters, and the content recipients. The technology provides support for identifying the data to be broadcast, setting the broadcast schedule, getting the data inserted into the broadcast stream, extracting it from the broadcast stream at the receiver, and many ancillary activities such as compression, error correction, bandwidth management, bandwidth usage reporting, and content filtering at the receiver.

The invention described in this disclosure was developed for broadcasting data via ATSC terrestrial digital television signals, but it applies equally well to broadcasting data via digital television in general, and in fact many aspects of it apply to broadcasting data via any point-to-multipoint digital broadcast medium.
There are three primary roles involved in broadcasting content which is not closely synchronized in time to accompanying, pre-recorded audio and/or video content:                Content Provider—an individual or enterprise providing content to be broadcast A content provider may be the original creator of the content, or may be simply an aggregator of content, or may be a combination of the two.        Content Recipient—an individual or enterprise receiving broadcast content A content recipient may be the end user of the content, or may be simply passing it on to the end user(s) via some communications medium, or may be a combination of the two.        Broadcaster—an individual or enterprise that provides the broadcast medium for getting the content from the content provider to the content recipient.
A fourth role which may be very important in some situations is the Service Provider, an enterprise that contracts to manage the data broadcast activities of one or more of the other stakeholders.
There are many different possible payment models within this basic structure. Examples of some of the many possibilities include:                The content recipients may pay the content providers for the content, on either a subscription or pay-as-used basis, and the content providers may then pay the broadcaster for the use of the bandwidth.        The content may be licensed or sold to the broadcaster, and the broadcaster may get paid by the content recipients, on either a subscription or pay-as-used basis. (In this case the broadcaster may essentially be playing the role of both content provider and broadcaster, as far as data broadcasting is concerned.)        The content providers and/or the broadcaster may deliver the content to the content recipients free of charge, and get paid by advertisers for advertising embedded within the content in some way.        Some content providers and content recipients may be part of the same enterprise, so the providers simply pay the broadcaster for the use of the bandwidth to deliver the content to the recipients.
Some data broadcasting applications may require that only those recipients who are entitled to receive the data can have access to it, and it must be kept confidential from all other parties. In some cases it must be kept confidential even from the broadcaster. In other cases keeping the content confidential from the broadcaster may not be permitted. Thus, encryption may be required, and it may need to be performed before or after the data reaches the broadcast station. Some data broadcasting applications may require compression to optimize the use of the bandwidth. If both compression and encryption are to be applied, typically compression must be applied first, since compression techniques seldom succeed in reducing the size of data that has already been encrypted. Some data broadcasting applications may require forward error correction. Data broadcasting applications may require many different scheduling schemes and delivery mechanisms for getting the content to a location where it can be inserted into the broadcast, and for actually inserting the content into the broadcast stream. Some situations may require that the content recipients be able to filter the data, and extract only a portion of the content to which they are entitled. Content may take the form of discrete blocks of data (e.g., files), or may take the form of continuous streams.

Three part architecture for digital television data broadcasting


A charging apparatus having high durability, with no occurrence of rusts or the like, scarcely impaired for the controllability of the charged potential even when contaminants such as a toner are deposited more or less, capable of stably controlling the charged potential on the photoreceptor in an appropriate range for a long time and being inexpensive as well, is provided. A charging apparatus includes a needle electrode, a holding member, two cleaner members, a support member, a moving member, a shield case, and a grid electrode. In the charging apparatus, a nickel plating layer containing polytetrafluoroethylene particles is formed on the surface of the grid electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging apparatus and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as copying machines, printers and facsimile units, images are formed by using a photoreceptor in which a photosensitive layer containing a photoconductive substance on the surface is formed as an image carrier, and applying charges to the surface of the photoreceptor to uniformly charge the same, forming electrostatic latent images corresponding to image information by various image forming processes, developing the electrostatic latent images by a developer containing a toner supplied from developing means into visible images, transferring the visible images on a recording material such as paper, and heating and pressing them by a fixing roller thereby fixing them on a recording material thereby forming images on a recording paper.
In the image forming apparatus described above, a charging apparatus is used for charging the surface of the photoreceptor. The charging apparatus includes, usually, a charging wire (discharging wire) as an electrode for conducting corona discharge, a grid electrode applied with an appropriate voltage and controlling the amount of charges applied by the charging wire to the surface of the photoreceptor, that is, the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor, and a support member for supporting the charging wire and the grid electrode Then, as the grid electrode, a wire grid electrode prepared from stainless steel or tungsten, a porous plate grid electrode in which a plurality of perforations are formed to a metal plate formed of a stainless steel or the like (grid substrate), etc. are used. Upon manufacturing the porous plate grid electrode, etching or other methods can be adopted for aperturing the perforations to the metal plate. The porous plate grid electrode manufactured by etching is referred to as an etching grid.
Among these grid electrodes described above, the wire grid electrode involves a problem to be solved that contaminants such as a toner are tended to be deposited, and the function for controlling the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor becomes insufficient by the deposition of the contaminants, making the charged potential not uniform on the surface of the photoreceptor.
On the other hand, since the porous plate grid electrode has a relatively larger area compared with the wire grid electrode, the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor can be controlled to a proper range and, in addition, the controllability for the charged potential is less lowered even when the contaminants are deposited more or less. Further, since the porous plate grid electrode is formed of iron series metal materials such as stainless steel as described above, it has high durability, causes no disadvantage such as deformation even after long time use, and the change of the controllability for the charged potential due to deformation or the like is extremely small. Accordingly, it is considered that the porous plate grid electrode can control the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor substantially constant for a long time. However, while the iron series metal material such as stainless steel as the material for the porous plate grid electrode usually has high durability, it involves a drawback that it is oxidized easily due to water content under a high humidity circumstance and ozone generated upon corona discharge during charging operation. In the use of the porous plate grid electrode for a long time, use under the high humidity circumstance and contact with ozone are inevitable. Accordingly, in the porous plate grid electrode formed from a metal material such as stainless steel, corrosion such as rust occurs due to the water content in air, ozone, etc. and nitrogen oxides are deposited on the surface thereof to deteriorate the durability. In addition, the controlling performance for the charged potential in the photoreceptor becomes insufficient, and it involves a problem to be solved that the charged potential becomes not uniform on the surface of the photoreceptor and a desired charged potential can not be applied always stably to the surface of the photoreceptor.
In view of the problems described above in the porous pate grid electrode, a corona charging apparatus having a grid electrode formed by successively coating a nickel plating layer and a gold plating layer on the surface of a metal plate formed from a stainless steel (grid substrate) has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 11-40316(1999)). In the grid electrode, improvement is indeed recognized to some extent in view of the corrosion resistance but it involves a problem that the gold plating layer mainly attributable to the enhancement of the corrosion resistance is tended to be peeled. While the nickel plating layer is formed between the metal plate and the gold plating layer in order to prevent peeling of the plating layer in JP-A 11-40316, the effect is not yet satisfactory.
Further, a charging apparatus having a grid electrode formed directly with a gold plating layer by an electrolytic plating method using a pulse current not by way of a nickel plating layer on the surface of a metal plate formed from a stainless steel (grid substrate) has been proposed (for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2001-166569). The charging apparatus is used in an image forming apparatus including an organic photoreceptor to be formed with electrostatic images, a charging apparatus for charging the organic photoreceptor, developing means for developing electrostatic latent images formed on the organic photoreceptor into toner images, a transfer portion of transferring the toner images on a recording material, and fixing means for fixing the toner images on the recording material. In the charging apparatus, since the gold plating layer is less peeled, the corrosion resistance and the controllability for the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor are satisfactory in the grid electrode. By the way, it is necessary to form the gold metal layer to a thickness of 0.3 μm or more in order that the grid electrode can provide the preferred characteristics sufficiently. In addition, since the grid electrode is a relatively large member having a substantially the same size as the photoreceptor, the amount of gold to be used is necessarily increased also because of the necessity for increasing the thickness of the plating layer. However, use of gold in such a great amount unnecessarily increases the cost of the charging apparatus and, thus, impairs the general applicability of the image forming apparatus due to the relatively reduced cost, which is one of the advantages of the image forming apparatus. Accordingly, it has been demanded for a charging apparatus not using an expensive material such as gold and excellent in the durability and the controllability for the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor.
Further, the charging apparatus comprises an electrode for conducting corona discharge to the photoreceptor, a grid electrode as an electrode which is disposed optionally between the surface of the photoreceptor and the electrode for controlling amount of charges applied to the surface of the photoreceptor, that is, the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor, and a support member for supporting the electrode and the grid electrode. Since the grid electrode can control the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor substantially accurately, the charging apparatus provided with the grid electrode has become predominant at present. For the grid electrode, a wire grid electrode formed, for example, from stainless steel or tungsten, and a porous plate grid electrode in which a plurality of perforations are formed to a metal plate formed, for example, from stainless steel (grid substrate), etc are used.
As an electrode for use in the charging apparatus are used a wire electrode, a metal plate electrode having a plurality of needle portions (hereinafter referred to as "needle electrode"), etc. Among them, the needle electrode having advantages of requiring less number of constituent parts, having longer life, with less generation amount of ozone and with less failure because disconnection does not occur is preferably used. The needle electrode is manufactured by applying etching to a metal plate mainly formed, for example, from iron series metal material such as stainless steel to form a plurality of needle portions. The needle electrode manufactured by etching is also referred to as an etched electrode. Since the etched cross section of the needle electrode lacks in the smoothness and a plurality of edges for conducting discharge are present at the top end of the needle portion, as well as the shape of the edges present at the top ends of a plurality of needle portions is not uniform, discharging at each of the needle portions become not uniform. As a result, the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor can not be controlled sufficiently to make the charged potential not uniform on the surface of the photoreceptor.
Further, while the iron series metal material such as stainless steel as the material for the needle electrode has high durability, it involves a drawback to be oxidized easily due to water content under a high humidity circumstance and ozone generated by corona discharging during charging operation. Then, in the use of the needle electrode for a long time, use under the high humidity circumstance, contact with ozone, etc. are inevitable. Accordingly, in the needle electrode formed from a metal material such as stainless steel, corrosion occurs due to moisture in air and ozone to deteriorate the durability. In addition, the controlling performance for a high voltage applied to the needle electrode for generating corona discharge from the needle portion is lowered and the charged potential becomes not uniform on the surface of the photoreceptor to result in a problem to be solved that a desired charged potential can not always be applied stably to the surface of the photoreceptor.
Further, the wire electrode also involves a problem to be solved similar to that in the needle electrode that rust or corrosion occurs due to ozone generated by corona discharge and the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor becomes not uniform.
In view of the foregoing problems in the charging apparatus, it has been proposed, for example, a charging apparatus including a wire electrode extended in a shield case opened at one surface and a plate grid electrode arranged between the wire electrode and the photoreceptor, wherein the plate grid electrode is formed by applying a nickel plating layer of about 1 μm thickness on the surface of a porous stainless steel plate and forming a gold plating layer of about 0.3 μm thickness further thereon is provided (for example in JP-A 11-40316). In the plate grid electrode of JP-A 11-40316, since the gold plating layer is formed by way of the nickel plating layer, the gold plating layer is less peeled and the corrosion resistance and the controllability for the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor are relatively satisfactory. However, since manufacture of the plate grid electrode requires plating steps twice, i.e., nickel plating and gold plating, the manufacturing step is complicated to increase the cost. Further, it is necessary to form the gold metal layer to a thickness of 0.3 μm or more in order that the plate grid electrode can provide the preferred characteristics sufficiently. In addition, since the plate grid electrode is a relatively large member having a substantially the same size as the photoreceptor, the amount of gold to be used is necessarily increased also because of the necessity for increasing the thickness of the plating layer. However, use of gold in such a great amount unnecessarily increases the cost of the charging apparatus and, thus, impairs the general applicability of the image forming apparatus due to the relatively reduced cost, which is one of the advantages of the image forming apparatus. Accordingly, it has been demanded for a charging apparatus having the needle electrode and the plate grid electrode not using an expensive material such as gold and excellent in the durability and the controllability for the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor.
Further, JP-A 2001-166569, for example, also proposes a charging apparatus having a wire electrode and a plate grid electrode in which a gold plating layer is formed by an electrolytic plating method using a pulse current directly on the surface of the stainless steel metal plate similar to that in JP-A 11-40316. Also in this plate grid electrode, the gold plating layer hardly peels and, like the plate grid electrode in JP-A 11-40316, the corrosion resistance is high and the controllability for the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor is also favorable. However, since it is necessary to increase the thickness of the gold metal layer to 0.3 μm or more, also in the plate grid electrode, it involves the same drawback as in the charging apparatus of JP-A 11-40316.
On the other hand, it has also been proposed to coat gold on the side of the electrode (refer for example to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2004-4334). The charging apparatus of JP-A 2004-4334 includes a needle electrode in which coating layers comprising gold, platinum, copper, nickel or chromium are formed by plating on the surface thereof. While a method of etching, precision pressing, etc. is used for forming the needle electrode, the cross section of the needle electrode obtained by the method lacks in smoothness and results in fine irregularities. Accordingly, even after applying the plating, fine irregularities on the cross section leaves as it is to disturb the balance of the corona discharge causing the charged potential not uniform on the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, contaminants such as a toner are tended to be deposited on the fine irregularities. That is, since the needle electrode of JP-A 2004-4334 suffers from contaminants such as the toner during long time use, which further makes the charged potential on the surface of the photoreceptor not uniform.

Charging apparatus and image forming apparatus with plated electrode


The present invention relates to a nozzle for use in a metalworking process, whereby the nozzle is designed to precisely deliver an oil-containing liquid and non-flammable gas mixture onto the interface between a metalworking tool and a workpiece, whereby the nozzle is comprised of a tip and a valve body affixed to one another. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for cooling and lubricating a tool and workpiece during a metalworking process.

The present invention relates to a nozzle device for delivering a metalworking fluid to a precise location on a workpiece being metal worked, with the metalworking fluid comprising an amount of at least one oil-containing liquid and an amount of a non-flammable gas. The present invention further relates to a method for delivering such metalworking fluid in an amount sufficient to cool and lubricate the workpiece, while minimizing the amount of oil-containing liquid required.
It has been known for decades that metal, including aluminum, steel, and other types of ferrous and non-ferrous metals used for forming machines or parts, can be metal worked using various types of metalworking tools. More particularly, a metal workpiece is a piece of metal that can be metal worked to form a part or member. When a workpiece is metal worked without the benefit of a coolant or lubricant, the metalworking tool has a reduced work life. A shortened tool life increases the cost of metalworking. Also, without lubrication and cooling of the workpiece, metalworking a workpiece typically requires a longer cycle time. To reduce friction, extend the tool life, and reduce the time for metalworking, it has been known to use lubricants and/or cooling liquids to lubricate and/or cool the workpiece and the metalworking tool. Addition of these liquids extends the tool life and results in a more efficient metalworking process, i.e. improved surface texture of the metal worked product and increased metalworking process speeds and feeds. It is in the use and disposal of these metalworking fluids that problems are encountered and costs incurred rather than avoided. Typical problems lie in the areas of application methods, worker exposure, waste disposal, foaming, and the requirement for secondary workpiece cleaning operations.
Currently, various types of metalworking fluids are applied to workpieces, with the metalworking fluids designed to serve a variety of functions. Such functions include, but are not limited to, removal of heat from the workpiece and tool (cooling), reduction of friction among chips, tool and workpiece (lubrication), and removal of metal debris produced by the metalworking operation. The metalworking fluids are more particularly intended to act at the interface between the tool and workpiece.
Common metalworking fluids fall into two broad categories: oil-based and water-based fluids. Oils are typically used as lubricants, often at cutting speeds below 400 sfpm. Oil-based lubricants can be further classified as natural oils, synthetic oils, and semi-synthetic oils. These fluids tend to provide excellent lubricity and exhibit very good extreme pressure (EP) properties, but do not generally act as efficient heat transfer media. Water-based fluids are typically used as coolants, usually at cutting speeds above 400 sfpm. These fluids carry thermal energy from the tool/work interface very efficiently, and can be tailored to a specific application easily with the addition of additives which improve lubricity, inhibit rust, retard bacteria growth, and improve EP performance. Water-based fluids, however, tend to be inferior to oil-based fluids in terms of lubricity. Emulsions and water-soluble oils are sometimes used in an attempt to combine the most attractive properties of both oil-based and water-based metalworking fluids.
The metalworking fluid, regardless of specific type, is applied typically by either a flood application, a spray application, or a mist application. In flood application, a high volume liquid stream is directed into the metalworking zone. The high volumetric flow rate of this stream is a primary mechanism by which chips and thermal energy are carried away from the tool/workpiece/chip interfaces. The removal of hot chips is a major factor in maintaining the tool and workpiece at an acceptable temperature. If this is achieved, tool life is improved and unwanted changes in the mechanical properties of the workpiece due to temperature increases in the heat affected zone are minimized. Rapid removal of chips from the metalworking zone also reduces scoring of the metalworked surface, promoting good surface texture on the metal worked part. In addition, lubrication is provided by the high volumetric flow rates helping to carry fluid into the tool/workpiece and tool/chip interfaces. However, the flooding method can be quite expensive. Also, much of the metalworking fluid is not consumed during the metalworking process and, consequently, is either wasted or must be recovered and recycled. Recycling, however, can be expensive because the shavings or filings from the metalworking process must be separated from the metalworking fluid. Flooding is further problematic because it can result in potentially harmful worker exposure and waste disposal issues.
Mist application, in which the coolant/lubricant is delivered to the metalworking zone in the form of fine, airborne droplets, is well suited to operations in which the cutting or machining speed is high and the area of cut is low, e.g. end milling. Misting is often used in situations where flooding is impractical and can be advantageous because a lesser amount of liquid is used during the metalworking process which, in turn, means less wasted liquid. The spray method of application is similar to mist application, except the droplets in spray application are much larger than those in the mist method of application. A major disadvantage of each of these application methods is the potential for the exposure of the metalworking operator to harmful amounts of metalworking fluid.
Worker exposure to metalworking fluids can be hazardous to worker health due to inhalation and ingestion of the metalworking fluid, and skin exposure leading to dermatitis. Droplets of metalworking fluid, particularly in misting applications, are readily inhaled by the workers. Eventually, the inhaled metalworking fluid can cause severe respiratory health problems. In order to reduce worker exposure, misting is often conducted in a hooded assembly to ensure proper ventilation and removal of the metalworking fluid droplets. This can result in an increased cost associated with such application.
As mentioned, many currently used organic-based metalworking fluids are classified as hazardous waste materials. For this reason, it is desired to have a non-hazardous metalworking fluid for use in metalworking operations. Because of environmental, health, and cost issues, it is also desired to have a device or method that allows for the application of metalworking fluids to a workpiece whereby a lower fluid volume is required. It is further desired for the metalworking fluid to be non-hazardous to the health of the workers who are metalworking the various workpieces. It is most desired if the metalworking fluid, when applied to the workpiece, is consumed during the metalworking operation so that very little waste of the fluid occurs. It is further desired for the process to be economical.
Prior to the present invention, it was believed difficult to accurately apply a small volume of metalworking fluid to a workpiece while obtaining sufficient cooling and lubrication. Prior to the present invention, if a small amount of liquid was applied, generally, adequate cooling would not result. Also, directing the metalworking fluid to the right location, the interface, was difficult.
A metalworking fluid has now been discovered that is biodegradable, nontoxic, and poses no worker health hazards. A nozzle device for delivering a metalworking fluid to a precise location on a workpiece being metal worked, and a method for delivering such metalworking fluid in an amount sufficient to cool and lubricate the workpiece, while minimizing the amount of oil-containing liquid required has also been discovered.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nozzle device and a metalworking method using the nozzle that precisely delivers a metalworking fluid to the tool/workpiece interface in an amount sufficient to cool and lubricate the workpiece while substantially eliminating the need to recover or dispose of used metalworking fluid. Elimination of waste is advantageous because environmental concerns are reduced, and the metalworking operation becomes more economical. In addition, use of less oil-containing liquid improves economic efficiency of the metalworking operation. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a nozzle device and a metalworking method using the nozzle which reduces worker exposure to metalworking fluids that can be hazardous to worker health due to inhalation and ingestion of the metalworking fluid, and skin exposure leading to dermatitis. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a biodegradable, non-toxic metalworking fluid for use in the metalworking method of the present invention.
The present invention relates to a device and a method, each directed towards delivering an amount of metalworking fluid to a workpiece and metalworking tool so as to cool and lubricate both the workpiece and the tool, most preferably at the tool/workpiece interface. The device for delivering such fluid is a nozzle having a construction whereby oil-containing liquid and non-flammable gas can be inter-mixed to form a cooling and lubricating metalworking fluid. The nozzle can have a variety of different constructions, as long as there is an opening in the nozzle for receiving an amount of oil-containing liquid and an opening for receiving a pressurized non-flammable gas. Additionally, the nozzle includes a chamber or passageway whereby the oil-containing liquid and non-flammable gas can be mixed to form the metalworking fluid. The nozzle should further include a construction whereby the fluid exits through a narrow passageway to permit accurate placement of the metalworking fluid on a workpiece. When in use, the non-flammable gas and oil-containing liquid are mixed in the nozzle and then projected away from or passed through the nozzle, onto the interface between the workpiece and the metalworking tool member. The non-flammable gas will function to cool the tool and workpiece, and the oil-containing liquid will lubricate the interface therebetween. The non-flammable gas will enter the nozzle under a sufficient pressure to mix with the oil-containing liquid and be projected in a stream away from the nozzle such that the non-flammable gas and oil-containing liquid, i.e. metalworking fluid, hit at a precise point. Such precision is necessary to ensure that comparatively small amounts of oil-containing liquid are used and to ensure that the point where the greatest amount of friction and heat are generated will be cooled and lubricated.
In one embodiment, the nozzle will include at least a two part construction whereby a valve body and a tip are attached to one another. Another member that may be included in the nozzle construction is a hollow needle fitted into the valve body and projecting away from the valve body into a chamber found in the tip. The oil-containing liquid and non-flammable gas will enter the valve body and emanate from sources connected to the nozzle by a conduit or similar structure.
The method includes the steps of mixing non-flammable gas and oil-containing liquid to form the metalworking fluid. Further, the method includes the step of accurately delivering the metalworking fluid onto a precise location so as to cool and lubricate the tool and the workpiece at the tool/workpiece interface and ensure that most of the oil-containing liquid is consumed during the metalworking process.

University of Missouri Board of Curators


A mobile terminal device includes a recording setting unit configured to set a programmed recording based on an input of programmed-recording information that is used for performing programmed recording of a broadcast program, a reception-state checking unit configured to start a tuner at a predetermined time before a recording start time set by the recording setting unit and continuously checking a reception state of broadcast radio waves until the recording start time, a notifying unit configured to notify, if the reception-state checking unit determines that the reception state of the broadcast radio waves is not a desired reception state, a notification indicating so, and a recording starting unit configured to start recording processing of the broadcast program if the reception-state checking unit determines that the reception state of the broadcast radio waves is the desired reception state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device having a programmed-recording function. In particular, the present invention relates to a mobile terminal device that controls a programmed-recording function while recognizing a reception state.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, mobile terminal devices, such as cellular phones, that have a television viewing/listening function based on a digital terrestrial broadcasting are available. Some of the mobile terminal devices have a function for recording video received via a digital terrestrial broadcasting, a function for recording video and audio data in internal memories of the mobile terminal devices or external memories during viewing/listening of the television, and a programmed-recording function for allowing a user to set programmed-recording information such as recording start time and automatically starting a recording function by using a timer.
Since the mobile terminal devices having the television viewing/listening function and the programmed-recording function are becoming smaller in size and lighter in weight and are used while on the go and while on the move, there are problems as follows.
As a first problem, the mobile terminal devices having the television viewing/listening function need to accomplish stable playback processing and recording processing of video data and audio data, based on the fact that the reception state of broadcast radio waves received from a broadcast station varies due to the movement.
As a second problem, a cellular phone, which is one example of the mobile terminal devices, requires a large power capacity in order to ensure long-term operation of the television viewing/listening function and the recording function in addition to a conventional verbal-communication function and a web-communication function. However, the mobile terminal device having a large power capacity leads to an increase in the manufacturing cost and an increase in the size of the mobile terminal device. Thus, it is necessary to reduce the power consumed for the television viewing/listening function and the recording function in order to ensure long-term operation of the mobile terminal device.
As a third problem, the mobile terminal device requires a memory capacity that ensures long-term recording, when the recording function of the mobile terminal device is used to record a broadcast program. Thus, the mobile terminal device may be provided with a large-capacity internal memory or external memory, but such a configuration leads to an increase in the manufacturing cost and an increase in the size of the mobile terminal device; It is necessary to prevent unwanted consumption of the memory in order to ensure long-term recording of a broadcast program and so on.
In order to overcome the above-described problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-74582 (Patent Document 1) discloses a mobile terminal device that prevents battery or memory consumption due to unwanted recording of video data and audio data having low reception qualities. In Patent Document 1, before the recording using the programmed-recording function is started, the mobile terminal device measures reception quality of a broadcast program and notifies a user whether or not the broadcast program can be stably recorded.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-86667 (Patent Document 2) discloses a mobile wireless terminal that eliminates memory and power consumption due to unwanted recording processing. In Patent Document 2, when the programmed-recording function is used to perform video and audio recording processing and the reception quality that is determined from electric field strength decreases, the recording processing is stopped and a notification indicating so is notified a user.
In Patent Document 1, when the mobile terminal device measures the reception quality for a broadcast program to be subjected to the recording processing and the reception quality decreases, the mobile terminal device notifies only that the reception quality decrease. Thus, even if the reception quality improves after notifying the user, the mobile terminal device cannot perform recording processing of a broadcast program on which the user desires to perform the recording processing. In addition, Patent Document 1 does not give any consideration to the amount of power consumption involved in the measurement of the reception quality.
Patent Document 2 does not give any consideration to the reception quality of broadcast radio waves before programmed-recording start time. Also, during execution of the recording processing, even when the user requires an appropriate recording quality for each broadcast program on which he or she desires to perform recording processing, the user's intension cannot be sufficiently reflected.


Software that utilizes machine logic-based algorithms to combine the Terms of Service (ToS) portions of multiple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by performing the following steps: (i) providing a first ToS portion of a first API, with the first ToS portion including a first ToS feature value for a first ToS feature; (ii) providing a second ToS portion of a second API, with the second ToS portion including a second ToS feature value for the first ToS feature; and (iii) merging, at least, the first ToS portion and the second ToS portion, according to a set of ToS merger rule(s) applied by machine logic, to generate a merged ToS. One merger rule combines at least the first ToS feature value and the second ToS feature value according to a set of operator(s) to generate a first merged ToS feature value included as the first ToS feature in the merged ToS.

The present invention relates generally to the field of application programming interfaces (APIs), and more particularly to the field of API package construction.
APIs are known. Conventionally, an API includes a code portion (or "API portion") and a Terms of Service portion ("ToS portion", also, more simply, sometimes called a "ToS")). It is known to combine multiple APIs into "API packages." Typically, when an API package is made: (i) the code portions of the respective APIs remain separate; and (ii) the ToS portions of the API package remain separate.
The ToS portion is a set of rules and specifications that a software program can follow to access and make use of the services and resources provided by another software program that implements that API code portion. The API code portion provides code to set up a data communication interface between different software programs to facilitate interaction between the software programs. The API economy is a complex network of services built from APIs enabled by multiple providers, with each API having its own engagement model and objectives. APIs are typically governed by terms of service, which are rules that an API consumer must agree to abide by in order to purchase and/or use an API. When selecting APIs and their corresponding terms of service, API consumers have different objectives and/or criteria to consider in making their selection.
API matchmaking is known. Thousands of APIs are now readily available, with differing functionality and API features. In order to support API consumers in selecting the appropriate APIs, effective automated methods to match APIs with consumer requirements and/or preferences are required.
Feature models are known. A feature model is a compact representation of software "features." A feature is a prominent or distinctive user-visible aspect, quality, or characteristic of a software system. Feature models are visually represented by using feature diagrams. Feature models are used during the software development process and are commonly used to produce other assets such as documents, architecture definition, and/or pieces of code.

Profile-driven merging of API components

International Business Machines Corporation


An actuator device comprises an electroactive polymer actuator (116) and a control circuit for driving the electroactive polymer actuator. The control circuit comprises a voltage boosting circuit including at least a capacitor (114; C11, C12, C13). An electroactive polymer layer (110) forms the electroactive polymer actuator in an active region (112) as well as a dielectric layer of the capacitor in a passive region (111). This provides integration of components to enable cost reductions and miniaturization.

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) are an emerging class of materials within the field of electrically responsive materials. EAPs can work as sensors or actuators and can easily be manufactured into various shapes allowing easy integration into a large variety of systems.
Materials have been developed with characteristics such as actuation stress and strain which have improved significantly over the last ten years. Technology risks have been reduced to acceptable levels for product development so that EAPs are commercially and technically becoming of increasing interest. Advantages of EAPs include low power, small form factor, flexibility, noiseless operation, accuracy, the possibility of high resolution, fast response times, and cyclic actuation.
The improved performance and particular advantages of EAP materials give rise to applicability to new applications.
An EAP device can be used in any application in which a small amount of movement of a component or feature is desired, based on electric actuation. Similarly, the technology can be used for sensing small movements. This invention relates in particular to actuators.
The use of EAPs in actuator devices enables functions which were not possible before, or offers a big advantage over common actuator solutions, due to the combination of a relatively large deformation and force in a small volume or thin form factor, compared to common actuators. EAPs actuators also give noiseless operation, accurate electronic control, fast response, and a large range of possible actuation frequencies, such as 0-1 MHz, most typically below 20 kHz.
Devices using electroactive polymers can be subdivided into field-driven and ionic-driven materials.
Examples of field-driven EAPs include Piezoelectric polymers, Electrostrictive polymers (such as PVDF based relaxor polymers) and Dielectric Elastomers. Other examples include Electrostrictive Graft polymers, Electrostrictive paper, Electrets, Electroviscoelastic Elastomers and Liquid Crystal Elastomers.
Examples of ionic-driven EAPs are conjugated/conducting polymers, Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Other examples include ionic polymer gels.
This invention relates in particular to actuator devices which incorporate a field-driven EAP material. These devices are actuated by an electric field through direct electromechanical coupling. They require high fields (volts per meter) but low currents due to their capacitive nature. Polymer layers are usually thin to keep the driving voltage as low as possible.
A first notable subclass of field driven EAPs are Piezoelectric and Electrostrictive polymers. While the electromechanical performance of traditional piezoelectric polymers is limited, a breakthrough in improving this performance has led to PVDF relaxor polymers, which show spontaneous electric polarization (field driven alignment). These materials can be pre-strained for improved performance in the strained direction (pre-strain leads to better molecular alignment). Normally, metal electrodes are used since strains usually are in the moderate regime (1-5%). Other types of electrodes (such as conducting polymers, carbon black based oils, gels or elastomers, etc.) can also be used. The electrodes can be continuous, or segmented.
Another subclass of interest of field-driven EAPs is that of Dielectric Elastomers. A thin film of this material may be sandwiched between compliant electrodes, forming a parallel plate capacitor. In the case of dielectric elastomers, the Maxwell stress induced by the applied electric field results in a stress on the film, causing it to contract in thickness and expand in area. Strain performance is typically enlarged by pre-straining the elastomer (requiring a frame to hold the pre-strain). Strains can be considerable (10-300%). This also constrains the type of electrodes that can be used: for low and moderate strains, metal electrodes and conducting polymer electrodes can be considered, for the high-strain regime, carbon black based oils, gels or elastomers are typically used. The electrodes can be continuous, or segmented.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show two possible operating modes for an EAP device.
The device comprises an electroactive polymer layer 14 sandwiched between electrodes 10, 12 on opposite sides of the electroactive polymer layer 14.
FIG. 1 shows a device which is not clamped. A voltage is used to cause the electroactive polymer layer to expand in all directions as shown.
FIG. 2 shows a device which is designed so that the expansion arises only in one direction. The device is supported by a carrier layer 16. A voltage is used to cause the electroactive polymer layer to curve or bow.
The nature of this movement for example arises from the interaction between the active layer which expands when actuated, and the passive carrier layer. To obtain the asymmetric curving around an axis as shown, molecular orientation (film stretching) may for example be applied, forcing the movement in one direction.
The expansion in one direction may result from the asymmetry in the EAP polymer, or it may result from asymmetry in the properties of the carrier layer, or a combination of both.
One problem with field driven electroactive polymers is the rather high operation voltages that are required, as mentioned above, to achieve high electric field strengths in the devices to realize desired deflections. Electronic driving circuits are used to generate these high voltages and to perform other signal processing. Driving voltage amplitudes of up to 1 kV are required for these EAPs, so that high voltage devices need to be used and implemented, increasing the cost (and size) of the electronics enormously.
Apart from the need for high voltages, other signal processing functions also take up space which may prevent a desired level of miniaturization.
Another issue is that the driving electronics and the EAP actuator are generally locally separated from each other resulting in the usage of high voltage feed-wires between the driver and the actuator. This however may be a safety issue for example in the case of broken wires and also results in high, unwanted (or even not-allowed) electric and magnetic fields as well as electromagnetic radiation, which may cause compliance certification issues or even could harm users.
There is therefore a need for an EAP actuator design which addresses one or more of these issues, for example to improve the possibility of miniaturization and/or enable the high voltage issue to be addressed.

Electroactive polymer actuator device and driving method


A method is described for applying Optical Proximity Correction to corners and line ends in a pattern having critical dimensions in the sub micron region. Segments of curves are used to approximate corners and line ends in a pattern. The normal vector to the curve and area vector are then determined for all points on the segment of the curve used to approximate the pattern feature. The area vector has the same direction as the normal vector and a magnitude equal to the distance between the curve and the undistorted pattern. An optical proximity correction vector is then determined as the sum of a first scaler function multiplied by the unit normal vector and a second scaler function multiplied by the area vector. Next an optimum optical proximity correction shape is determined by moving the curve a distance and direction equal to the optical proximity correction vector. The optimum proximity correction shape is then approximated using regular geometric shapes, rectangles and triangles, to form an optical proximity corrected pattern. A mask of the optical proximity corrected pattern can be formed using electron beam methods without requiring excessive electron beam time.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of Optical Proximity Correction for photolithographic patterns and more specifically to the use of mathematical modeling based on curve fitting to achieve Optical Proximity Correction.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Photolithography is critical to the fabrication of integrated circuit wafers and utilizes masks to transfer images, such as line/space patterns, to the wafer. As circuit densities increase critical dimensions decrease and line/space patterns become more and more dense. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of line distortion that can occur for small critical dimensions, such as in the sub-micron range. FIG. 1A shows an intended pattern element 10 which is to be transferred to a layer of resist material on an integrated circuit wafer. FIG. 1B shows the optical effects of the small dimensions in the patterns 11 actually transferred to the layer of resist. As shown in FIG. 1B the corners of the pattern are rounded resulting in rounded ends 12 of the pattern element and a shortened line. The dashed lines 14 indicate the intended limits of the pattern element.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example of corner rounding that can occur in pattern segments of larger rectangular regions. FIG. 2A shows an intended pattern of a larger rectangular pattern segment 16 which is to be transferred to a layer of resist material on an integrated circuit wafer. FIG. 2B shows the optical proximity effects on the corners of the larger rectangular pattern segment 17 actually transferred to the layer of resist. As shown in FIG. 2B the corners of the pattern segment are distorted resulting in rounded corners 19. The dashed lines 18 indicate the intended limits of the pattern segment.
This optical distortion shown in FIGS. 1A-2B is the result of Optical Proximity Effect. Optical Proximity Effect is a form of optical distortion associated with the formation of photolithographic images. Diffraction effects occurring on both sides of a sharp pattern edge become important as the critical dimensions of pattern features decreases. Optical Proximity Correction is employed to compensate for the Optical Proximity Effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,273 to Liebman describes a method which first identifies a plurality of design shapes in computer aided design data for a lithography mask. The design shapes are sorted according to geometric type. The design shapes are them sorted and a bias is applied to the sorted design shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,718 to Harafuji et al. describes a method of correcting design patterns in cells having hierarchial structure and corresponding to exposure patterns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,714 to Chung et al. describes a system and method for preparing shape data for proximity correction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,623 to Ishida et al. describes a method of forming an improved halftone type phase shift mask having an Optical Proximity Correction function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,323 to Pasch et al. describes a system and method of performing optical proximity correction on an integrated circuit by performing optical proximity correction on a library of cells.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,233 to Garza et al. describes a photolithography Optical Proximity Correction method for mask layouts.
A paper by O. W. Otto et al. "Automated optical proximity correction--a rules-based approach," Optical/Laser Microlithography VII, Proc. SPIE (2197) 1994, pages 278-293 describes a rules based approach for optical proximity correction.
A paper by J. Stirniman and M. Rieger "Optimizing proximity correction for wafer fabrication process," 14th Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology and Management, Proc. SPIE (2322) 1994, pages 239-246 describes a methodology for characterizing proximity effects from measurements taken on a processed wafer.
A paper by S. Shioiri and H. Tanabe "Fast Optical Proximity Correction: Analytical Method," Optical/Laser Microlithography VIII, Proc. SPIE (2440) 1995, pages 261-269 describes a method for calculating proximity corrected features analytically.

Optical proximity correction (OPC) method for improving lithography process window

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


The present disclosure relates to managing resource utilization in cloud service infrastructure. A device can monitor the cloud service. The cloud service can be configured with an automatic scaling function based on a threshold. The device can determine, based on the monitoring, that a utilization value of the cloud service during a time interval exceeds the threshold. The device can generate, using a policy based on the utilization value and the threshold, an instruction to disable the automatic scaling function of the cloud service by the one or more servers. The device can transmit the instruction to the one or more servers via a second cloud application programming interface. The device can generate, responsive to the policy, a service ticket data structure with an indication of the utilization value and the time interval. The device can provide the service ticket data structure to an electronic board.

A cloud service can include a server providing a service or a resource over a network to a client device. Several different client devices can be configured to access or utilize, via the network, one or more services or resources provided by the cloud service. However, as increasing numbers of client devices access various types of services or resources provided by the cloud service, and the cloud service automatically updates its configuration to accommodate such increased access, there may be excessive memory, bandwidth, and processor utilization.

Systems and methods for managing resource utilization in cloud infrastructure


A RFID-to-Bluetooth selective adapter which includes a customized RFID transponder with an on/off switch, a RFID sensor coil, and a Bluetooth module with an EEPROM memory is disclosed. The RFID-to-Bluetooth selective adapter can be attached to a RFID doorlock to operate in both RFID mode and Bluetooth modes without interference therebetween, so as to use by RFID tags or smartphones, respectively. The RFID reader equipped device can be a RFID smart doorlock; a door is configured with the RFID smart doorlock and the RFID-to-Bluetooth selective adapter is mounted thereon, and the door can be opened and closed using the APP by the authorized user in real-time with or without internet connection. The RFID-to-Bluetooth selective adapter functions as a bridge between the RFID reader equipped device and smartphone operating under Bluetooth smart. In addition, the RFID-to-Bluetooth selective adapter possesses several security upgrade options.

In today's door access control systems, there are many places that have adopted RFID doorlocks for improved door access control functions. According to a survey of a physical access control market research, more than 70% of the end-users and 80% of industry respondents believe that in the next 3 to 5 years, hope to use mobile phones, key cards, smart label or alternative devices to replace conventional locks and keys. The survey is further proof that the market will usher in a major smart lock revolution. Lock Industry experts have said that the current number of locks sold in China is about 2.2 billion per year or more. Looking at just the fingerprint recognition technology application statistics alone, for example, it is estimated that including financial, military, office space, luxury residential, including commercial and residential market applications, there is about 500 million units per year in market demand for the fingerprint recognition access control system, according to recent web article from www.chinairr.org published on 2014 Sep. 30 (China Industry Research Reports).
However, the conventional smart door locks are typically in the form of RFID doorlocks or Bluetooth activated smart doorlocks. If someone already has a RFID doorlock, it would not be possible to easily upgrade the existing RFID doorlock to that of a Bluetooth smart doorlock. In other words, the existing RFID doorlock has to be completed removed, while replaced by a new Bluetooth smart doorlock installed on the door (for replacing the previous RFID doorlock altogether). Meanwhile, after installation of the new Bluetooth smart doorlock, the previous RFID tags being used as keys for opening the previous RFID doorlock can no longer work on the new Bluetooth smart doorlock, so that the new Bluetooth smart doorlock must be limited to be activated only by Bluetooth capable mobile devices.
Therefore, there is a need in providing a more integrated door access control solution that would be flexible enough to provide both RFID access control as well as Bluetooth access control, thereby improving the overall door access control needs for users.


In order to improve vibration resistance of a battery, the bottoms as well as the tops of the negative and positive plates are respectively series combined. The bottoms may be combined using straps made of electrically conductive or non-conductive materials, and to facilitate integration of the bottoms of the plates into the casing, foot slots may be provided at the bottom of the battery casing for insertion of plate connectors used to connect the plates to the straps.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure for mounting battery electrode plates in a battery case, and in particular to a structure for mounting battery electrode plates in a battery case so as to prolong the operating life of the battery.
(b) Description the Prior Art
In recent years, applications of batteries have become very popular, especially after the development of motorcycles and automobiles. The lead acid battery has become an indispensable component of such vehicles. As shown in FIG. 1, the lead acid battery 10 is mainly comprised of components including a case 11, a negative plate group 12, a positive plate group 13, separators 14, electrolyte 15, and a sealing cover 16. The inside of the battery case 11 can be divided into several cell compartments 112 through partition plate 111, and each cell compartment 112 is installed with negative plates 12 and positive plates 13 which are made of lead (Pb) and lead bi-oxide (PbO.sub.2) which are respectively immersed in an electrolyte 15 made of a diluted sulfuric acid (H.sub.2 SO.sub.4) solution. The negative plates 12 and the positive plates 13 are separated by the separator 14 to avoid short-circuits due to mutual contact. In addition, the plate connectors 121, 123 of the positive and negative plates 12, 13 protrude upward, and the plate connectors 121 of the negative plates 12 are series combined with the negative terminal post 122, while the plate connectors 131 of the positive plates 13 are series combined with the positive terminal post 132. In addition, the negative terminal posts 122 and the positive terminal posts 132 in different cell compartments 112 can be further respectively series combined by the cell connectors 17, to respectively provide the electric terminal posts at the top of sealing cover 16, including a negative terminal post 123 and a positive terminal post 133. As long as the positive electrode wire (not shown in the figure) is connected to the positive terminal 133, and the negative electrode wire (not shown in the figure) is connected to the negative terminal 123, the lead acid battery 10 will provide an electric discharge function. The electric charge/discharge reactions are as follows: ##STR1##
Although the lead acid battery 10 has adequate electric charge/discharge functions, it is disadvantageous in that the battery case 11 is subject to resonant vibrations during charging/discharging operations. Because the negative and positive plates 12, 13 in fact are supported exclusively by the series combination of the negative terminal post 122 and the positive terminal post 132 at the top of the casing, with no series combination positioning structure being provided at the bottom, the negative and positive plates 12, 13 are not positioned in a stable manner. As a result, when a resonant vibration occurs, the negative and positive plates 12, 13 are usually vibrated at the same time, which causes the chemically-active materials to either drop off or to expand, thereby damaging the charging recoverability of the battery 10 and shortening its operating life.

Structure for positioning electrode plates in a battery casing

6F-5, No. 250, Sec. 4, Chung Hsiao E. Rd.


A current detection circuit (4) detects a device current flowing in the semiconductor device (1). A voltage detection circuit (5) detects a device voltage applied to the semiconductor device (1). A temperature calculation device (6) has a table collecting device temperatures of the semiconductor device (1) respectively corresponding to plural collector currents and plural collector voltages, and reads out a device temperature corresponding to the device current detected by the current detection circuit (4) and the device voltage detected by the voltage detection circuit (5) from the table.

In a semiconductor apparatus used in power control equipment or the like, the temperature of a semiconductor device is monitored to prevent breakdown of the semiconductor device due to heating of the semiconductor device under energization. A measurement based on a thermistor, a measurement based on a temperature sense diode, etc. are known as monitoring methods. It is impossible to perform an accurate temperature measurement by the former measurement. An effective area to collector current is small in the latter measurement because a temperature sense diode is mounted on a semiconductor device. Under such circumstances, a technique of calculating the temperature from the temperature characteristic of a collector voltage when constant collector current is applied has been proposed (see PTL 1, for example).


The present invention discloses a SOI MOS device having BTS structure and manufacturing method thereof. The source region of the SOI MOS device comprises: two heavily doped N-type regions, a heavily doped P-type region formed between the two heavily doped N-type regions, a silicide formed above the heavily doped N-type regions and the heavily doped P-type region, and a shallow N-type region which is contact to the silicide; an ohmic contact is formed between the heavily doped P-type region and the silicide thereon to release the holes accumulated in body region of the SOI MOS device and eliminate floating body effects thereof without increasing the chip area and also overcome the disadvantages such as decreased effective channel width of the devices in the BTS structure of the prior art. The manufacturing method comprises steps of: forming a heavily doped P-type region via ion implantation, forming a metal layer above the source region and forming a silicide via the heat treatment between the metal layer and the Si underneath. The device in the present invention could be fabricated via simplified fabricating process with great compatibility with traditional CMOS technology.

SOI means silicon on insulator. In SOI technique, devices usually are fabricated in a thin silicon film and a buried oxide layer (BOX) is disposed between the device and the substrate to separate them. Comparing to traditional bulk silicon, SOI technology has many advantages, such as reduced parasitic capacitance making SOI device provide higher speed and consume less power, full dielectric isolation of the SOI CMOS device eliminating the occurrence of bulk-Si CMOS device parasitic latch-up effects and making SOI technique have superior performances including high integration density, and good anti-irradiation properties. SOI technique has been widely applied in many technical fields such as radio-frequency, high voltage and anti-irradiation. With the size of the device continuing to shrink, SOI technique will be probably the first choice of Si technique instead of bulk silicon.
According to whether the active body region is depleted, SOI MOS can be classified into partially depleted SOI MOS (PDSOI) and fully depleted SOI MOS (FDSOI). Generally, the top silicon film of fully depleted SOI MOS is thinner leading to many disadvantages. In one hand, the thin silicon film has high cost, and in the other hand, the threshold voltage of the fully depleted SOI MOS is hard to control. Therefore, the partially depleted SOI MOS is general adopted currently.
The active body region of PDSOI (Partially Depleted SOI) is partially depleted which makes the body region appear in suspending state and the electric charge caused by impact ionization can't be removed rapidly, resulting in floating body effect which is the special characteristic of SOI MOS. For the electron-hole pairs produced via collision of the SOI MOS channel electrons, the holes will move to the body region. The floating body effect of SOI MOS will result in the accumulation of holes in the body region to raise the electric potential of the body region. Due to the body effect, the threshold voltage of SOI NMOS is reduced and the leakage current is increased resulting in the warping displacements of the output characteristic curve IdVd, known as the Kink effect. Kink effect having negative effects on the performances and reliabilities of the device and the circuit should be eliminated. The Kink effects of SOI PMOS device is not so obvious because the electron-hole pairs produced via collision is much less than SOI NMOS due to the lower ionization rate of the holes.
In order to resolve the problem of partially depleted SOI MOS, the method of body contact is usually adopted to connect the "body" to the fixed electric potential such as the source region or the ground. Referring to FIG. 1a-1b, in the traditional T-type gate structure body-contact, the P+ implantation region formed in one side of the T-type gate is contact to the P-type body region. During the operation of the MOS devices, the carriers accumulated in the body region release via flowing through the P+ channel to reduce electric potential of the body region. However, there are still some disadvantages such as complex manufacturing process, increased parasitic effect, degraded electric properties and increased device area. Therefore, the BTS (Body Tied to Source) structure, i.e. there is a conductive terminal in the source for leading out the accumulated holes in the body region, is provided to overcome the foregoing disadvantages. The BTS structure could effectively eliminating body floating effects without increasing the chip area. However, the BTS structure in the prior art always results in the asymmetry of the MOS devices and decreased effective channel width of the devices.
Therefore, in order to eliminate floating body effects of SOI MOS devices, there is a need for an improved BTS structure which could eliminate floating effects without decreasing the effective channel width of the devices and could be fabricated through a simple manufacturing process compatible with conventional CMOS process via silicide technology.

Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences


Transcorneal and fiberoptic laser delivery systems and methods for the treatment of eye diseases wherein energy is delivered by wavelengths transparent to the cornea to effect target tissues in the eye for the control of intraocular pressure in diseases such as glaucoma by delivery systems both external to and within ocular tissues. External delivery may be effected under gonioscopic control. Internal delivery may be controlled endoscopically or fiberoptically, both systems utilizing femtosecond laser energy to excise ocular tissue. The femtosecond light energy is delivered to the target tissues to be treated to effect precisely controlled photodisruption to enable portals for the outflow of aqueous fluid in the case of glaucoma in a manner which minimizes target tissue healing responses, inflammation and scarring.

Glaucoma refers to a series of relatively common eye disorders in which pressure within the eye is sufficiently high as to result in damage to sensitive intraocular structures, including the retina and optic nerve. Glaucomas are classified as primary (including chronic open angle glaucoma, angle closure glaucoma, mixed mechanism glaucoma and infantile glaucoma and secondary (related to other diseases of the eye). The elevation of intraocular pressure ultimately leads to irreversible destruction of the optic nerve. The clinical symptoms, which are not readily recognized in the early stages, are characterized mainly by a slow, relentless, progressive narrowing of the field of vision, and decrement in visual integration processing, including diminished dark adaptation. In the absence of treatment, the eventual outcome is total loss of vision often accompanied by severe eye pain.
In order to fully appreciate the described embodiments, a brief overview of the anatomy of the eye is provided. As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the outer layer of the eye includes a sclera 17 that serves as a supporting framework for the eye. The front of the sclera includes a cornea 15, a transparent tissue that enables light to enter the eye. An anterior chamber 7 is located between the cornea 15 and the crystalline lens 4. The anterior chamber 7 contains a constantly flowing clear fluid called aqueous humor 1. The crystalline lens 4 is connected to the eye by fiber zonules, which are connected to the cilliary body 3. In the anterior chamber 7, an iris 19 encircles the outer perimeter of the lens 4 and includes a pupil 5 at its center. The diameter of the pupil 5 controls the amount of light passing through the lens 4 to the retina 8. A posterior chamber 2 is located between the crystalline lens 4 and the retina 8.
As shown in FIG. 2, the anatomy of the eye also includes a trabecular meshwork 9, a narrow band of spongy tissue within the eye that encircles the iris 19. The trabecular meshwork ("TM") varies in shape and is microscopic in size. It is generally triangular in cross-section, varying in thickness from about 100 μm to 200 μm. It is made up of different fibrous layers, having micro-sized pores forming fluid pathways for the egress of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber. The trabecular meshwork 9 has been measured to a thickness of about 100 μm at its anterior edge, Schwalbe's line, 18 at the approximate juncture of cornea 15 and sclera 17.
The trabecular meshwork widens to about 200 μm at its base where it and the iris 19 attach to the scleral spur. The passageway through the pores in the trabecular meshwork 9 lead through a very thin, porous tissue called the juxtacanalicular trabecular meshwork 13, which in turn abuts the interior side of a structure called Schlemm's canal 11. Schlemm's canal 11 is filled with a mixture of aqueous humor and blood components and branches off into collector channels 12 that drain the aqueous humor into the venous system. Because aqueous humor is continuously produced by the eye, any obstruction in the trabecular meshwork, the juxtacanalicular trabecular meshwork or Schlemm's canal, prevents the aqueous humor from readily escaping from the anterior chamber. This results in an elevation of intraocular pressure in the eye. Increased intraocular pressure can lead to damage of the optic nerve and eventual blindness.
Present surgical techniques to lower intraocular pressure include procedures enabling fluid to drain from within the eye to extra ocular sites. However, these drainage or "filtering" procedures not only increase the risk of causing a lens cataract, but often fail by virtue of their closure resulting from the healing of the very wound created for gaining access to the surgical site. Ab inferno surgical procedures, also, if not adequately stealth eventually fail. In creating the egress by photoablation or by photodisruption less inflammation at the egress site is induced than by current techniques, thus prolonging filtration wound function.
Lasers were first used in 1965 to repair retinal detachments. The procedure involved chorioretinal coagulation in which a laser beam positioned from without the eye was used to achieve fusion of the retina and the choroid. The technique consisted of introducing a laser beam from outside the cornea, and by employing the refractive media of the eye itself, the laser radiation was directed in such a manner that it was concentrated at a selected point upon the retina/choroid so that the tissues in a very localized area were photothermally congealed.
In contrast to thermal energy produced by visible and by infrared lasers, such as Nd:YAG systems, the high photon energies of femtosecond lasers can photodisrupt the material in question, namely eye tissue, in a manner which does not cause significant target tissue temperature elevation. By photodisruption, both visible and infrared femtosecond laser radiation can be used to drastically alter the target tissue in a "cold" environment. This becomes significant for controlled removal of organic substances, such as living tissue, in contradistinction to treatments in which heat is generated, e.g. by thermal lasers, which could damage, if not destroy, delicate eye tissue adjacent to the target sites to be removed and thereby induce healing responses.
Femtosecond ("FS") lasers used for this purpose include the group of rapidly pulsed lasers which emit at 0.4 to 2.5 μm in the visible and infrared spectra. In contrast to the thermal visible and infrared radiation from some Nd:YAG or CO.sub.2 lasers or the like, the high energy photons from femtosecond lasers at photodisruptive fluence levels are absorbed by the target tissues. This absorption creates a hot plasma at the focus, vaporizing tissue. The plasma subsequently expands supersonically launching a pressure wave. Later, a cavitation bubble forms and eventually collapses. The extent of the tissue damage caused by the pressure wave and cavitation bubble expansion is energy-dependent. Femtosecond pulses deposit very little energy while still causing breakdown, therefore producing surgical photodisruption while minimizing collateral damage.
Juhasz T, Chai D, Chaudhary G, et al.; Application of Femtosecond Laser Surgery for the Treatment of Glaucoma; in Frontiers in Optics, OSA Technical Digest (CD) (Optical Society of America, 2008) disclosed that FS laser pulses could be used to create partial thickness scleral channels that drain aqueous humor into the sub-conjunctival space, showing potential for the treatment of glaucoma. Toyran S, Liu Y, Singha S., et al.;
Femtosecond laser photodisruption of human trabecular meshwork: an in vitro study; Exp. Eye Res. 2005; 81(3); 298-305, disclosed the use of FS lasers to perform photodisruption of human TM strips ex vivo, creating full-thickness ablation channels through the TM without collateral damage. The ideal settings for creating lesions with minimal collateral side effects on the inner surface of the TM are: Ti: Sapphire laser beam (45 fsec, 1 kHz, 800 nm) with 14.4 mJ pulse energy and an exposure time of 0.5 sec Nakamura H, Liu Y, Witt TE, et al.; Femtosecond laser photodisruption of primate trabecular meshwork: an ex vivo study; Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2009; 1198-204 disclosed photodisruption by FS laser of the TM of ex vivo, intact, enucleated human and baboon eyes. The settings were 45 fsec, 1 kHz, 800 nm with 60 to 480 μJ and 0.001 to 0.3 sec exposure time. The study showed that laser ablation of the TM ab interno in ex vivo primate eyes is feasible by a custom femtoseeond laser ablation system with a gonioscopic lens. The photodisruption did not reach Schlemm's canal, although this goal could easily be achieved through an alteration in laser settings and delivery methods.
However, successful use of ultrashort laser pulses, such as those produced by a FS laser, in vivo to produce channels in the TM to relieve glaucoma has not been demonstrated by the work discussed above and presents challenges not present in those experimental studies. In particular, the laser beam must be delivered to a precise location on the TM in such a way as to avoid damage to adjacent and intervening tissue. The challenges of delivering adequate photodisruptive energy in precise patterns in shapes and depths include (a) the curved surface of the target, (b) the target lies beyond the critical angle of visible ocular structures seen through the cornea unaided, (c) optical coupling systems are necessary to visualize and target the intended treatment sites, e.g. trabecular meshwork and Schlemm's canal, (d) the location of Schlemm's canal may be difficult to establish particularly as it lies behind the optically significant trabecular meshwork, (e) once the inner wall of Schlemm's canal therefore the "blood aqueous bather", is penetrated, blood components may obscure the optical pathway for any future optical viewing and/or treating beams.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatuses for the treatment of glaucoma using visible and infrared ultrashort laser pulses


A field programmable gate array (FPGA) device including a non-programming-based default power-on electronic configuration. The non-programming-based default power-on electronic configuration defines a default state to initial a first logic function. Upon power-up, the FPGA device would be enabled to enter the default state without having first to be configured via a conventional programming mode, thus saving processing time during power-up. Several embodiments are disclosed, such as a mask via circuit, an asynchronous set/reset circuit, an unbalanced latch circuit and a flush and scan circuit. A related method is also disclosed to reduce the memory size dedicated to the first logic function to facilitate further programming after power-up. In addition to time saving and further programming, the FPGA device can also allow partial or incremental programming to expand the full functionality to match customer's different needs.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to programmable logic devices, and more particularly to field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) having a non-programming-based default power-on electronic configuration to shorten the power-up, reconfiguration and/or reset time.
2. Related Art
Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are a well-known type of integrated circuit (IC) that may be programmed by a circuit designer to perform user-specified logic functions. One common type of PLD is a field programmable gate array (FPGA). An FPGA is a general purpose programmable device that is customizable by an end user to realize a desired user-specific circuit. Typically, the FPGA includes fabric elements such as configurable logic blocks (CLBs), input/output blocks (IOBs), and an interconnect that programmably connects the CLBs and IOBs. The function or configuration of the CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect is determined by an externally stored bitstream. The bitstream is a stream of control bits and is generally stored in an external device including non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), floppy disk, hard disk file, or network. Either at a power-up "configuration" phase or a "reconfiguration" phase after power-up, the stored bitstream and/or programming bits are loaded in the fabric elements of the FPGA. That is, configuration/reconfiguration can be viewed as a process of loading/reloading the bitstream and/or programming bits into the configuration memory cells which control the programmable interconnect structure, the IOBs, and the CLBs. Therefore, the bitstream and/or programming bits can usually be termed "configuration data."
The configuration data is loaded into and held in memory cells in the FPGA via an interface circuit. The interface circuit may include a standard serial interface available on present FPGA devices. The memory cells (or configuration memory cells) of the FPGA itself may be implemented using volatile or non-volatile memory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM) technology, thereby facilitating reconfiguration and providing design flexibility. The SRAM memory cell controls one or more transistors at the configurable points in the FPGA or serves as one or more entries in a lookup table. The configuration memory cells collectively determine what functions the FPGA will implement.
Some commercially available SRAM FPGAs, for example, the FPGA products from Altera Corporation or Xilinx, Inc., have a stream-based interface to the SRAM configuration memory. For some stream based interfaces, in order to make any changes in the configuration, an entire section of the configuration memory must be reloaded. Configuration information may be loaded from a variety of sources, for example, from the memory accessed by a microprocessor, from a non-volatile PROM under control of the FPGA itself (see U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 34,363), or by mapping the FPGA configuration memory into the address space of the microprocessor. Should it become desirable to change or update the configuration of the FPGA, e.g., so as to enable the FPGA to be used with other devices of varying configurations and compatibility standards, the associated external memory is re-programmed with the new configuration design. Upon subsequent boot-up, the FPGA then reads the new configuration design from the associated external memory, and then configures itself accordingly.
In this design and arrangement, FPGAs provide extreme flexibility in implementing an electrical circuit because the logical functions and interconnection of logic elements can be configured without additional fabrication process steps. Accordingly, because of the ease in changing the logical configuration of the logic elements, FPGAs are recognized as a time and resource efficient method for verifying the design of the electrical circuit.
However, there are some drawbacks in the current standard FPGA operation, especially during a power-up or reconfiguration phase. The configuration of the FPGA, which is determined by the externally stored bitstream and/or programming bits, is typically loaded from a non-volatile configuration memory into the SRAM configuration memory cells when power is applied to the FPGA device. Upon power-up or during a reconfiguration time after power-up, the FPGA under the current design first goes into a "disabled" mode for a transient time period. In the "disabled" mode, the functional state of the FPGA is not yet established, i.e., non-functional state, and it is not yet useful. The externally stored bitstream has to be loaded into the FPGA to facilitate later functional operations. However, the transient time period for the external bitstream loading normally consumes up to several seconds. This is relatively a long time in terms of an integrated circuit, which generally measures each instruction time/cycle in ns (10^−9 Seconds) or even ps (10^−12 Seconds). Therefore, a need exists in the FPGA art for a system and method to shorten such a long transient time to speed up the FPGA operation, especially during the FPGA power-up or reconfiguration phase.


An apparatus comprising a substrate of first dopant type and first dopant concentration; pocket regions in the substrate and having the first dopant type and a second dopant concentration greater than the first dopant concentration; a gate stack over the substrate and laterally between the pocket regions; first and second source/drain regions on opposing sides of the gate stack and vertically between the gate stack and the pocket regions, the first and second source/drain regions having a second dopant type opposite the first dopant type and a third dopant concentration; and third and fourth source/drain regions having the second dopant type and a fourth dopant concentration that is greater than the third dopant concentration, wherein the pocket regions are between the third and fourth source/drain regions, and the third and fourth source/drain regions are vertically between the first and second source/drain regions and a bulk portion of the substrate.

The drain current of a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor will increase in some cases in which a parasitic current path exists between drain and source. This part of the drain current is poorly controlled by the gate contact since the current path is located deeper in the bulk substrate away from the gate. It adds to the subthreshold leakage current, leading to increased power consumption.
The amount of punchthrough current depends mainly on potential distribution under the channel. If the depletion area around the drain well extends too far to the source side, the potential barrier between source and drain is lowered and carriers start to move from source to drain. Therefore, punchthrough highly depends on the applied drain voltage and on the source/drain junction depths.
One way to reduce punchthrough effect is increasing the overall bulk doping level. As a result, source/drain depletion regions may become smaller and may not establish a parasitic current path. However, the higher bulk doping decreases mobility.
Some attempts to prevent punchthrough have made use of spatially restricted dopant implantations. For example, the delta doping of FIG. 1A employs a channel region between the source/drain regions 110 having regions 120 of varying dopant concentrations. In FIG. 1B, halo regions 140 interpose the source/drain regions 110 and the substrate bulk 130. In FIG. 1C, pocket implants 150 are implanted adjacent the lower region of the channel. However, these methods also do not provide satisfactory protection against punchthrough without significantly decreasing mobility.

Semiconductor device including an arrangement for suppressing short channel effects

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A distance measuring apparatus using a pulse laser light which has a wide measurement range and can execute high speed operation. The apparatus emits a pulsed light onto an object, receives a reflected pulsed light by a light receiving element, and amplifies an output thereof by a tuning amplifier. A sampling data of a damped oscillation wave form responding to the reflected pulsed light output from the tuning amplifier is added so as to be shifted by one cycle. Accordingly, it is possible to execute an enhancing process of a peak value utilizing a periodicity of the damped oscillation wave form responding to the pulsed signal, and it is possible to improve a detecting sensitivity of the reflected pulsed light.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique which is useful for the detection of a pulsed signal. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for measuring a distance by utilizing a reflection of a pulsed light, and relates to a technique for detecting a faint reflected pulsed light at a high sensitivity.
2. Related Art
A technique is known for measuring a distance to an object by irradiating a pulsed light to the object and detecting a reflected light. This technique is called a "light wave distance measuring technique" and is a technique for determining the distance to an object on the basis of a time difference between an irradiation timing of the pulsed light to the object and a detection timing of the reflected light. The technique is described, for example, in patent document 1 (Japanese Patent National Publication of Translation No. 2000-506971) and patent document 2 (Japanese Patent No. 3089332).
The light wave distance measuring technique mentioned above includes a method using a reflected light from a reflector for exclusive use called a "cube corner reflector", and a method using a reflected light from an optionally selected object without using the cube corner reflector. The method using no cube corner reflector is easier to use because it uses a simple structure using no cube corner reflector; however, since the reflected light is weak, a device is necessary for detecting the pulsed light.
In the distance measuring technique, it is desired to measure at a higher accuracy and measure in a larger range (a larger measurement range). In the case of improving accuracy of measurement data, it is necessary to make a sampling interval of an output from a light receiving element shorter. However, making the sampling interval short requires an increase in sampling data. This matter appears to be significant in the case in which the measurement range is enlarged.
Since it is preferable to measure the distance in the shortest time possible, it is not preferable that the sampling data be increased. Furthermore, there is a problem in that the increase of the sampling data increases a load on a memory storing the data and an arithmetic circuit, thereby incurring a high cost and an increase in electric power consumption. The increase of the electric power consumption is significantly disadvantageous in that the light wave distance measuring apparatus is frequently used outdoors and requires a construction which can be driven by a battery. Furthermore, there is a problem in that a restriction on a circuit design is increased by increasing sampling frequency, and a high cost is incurred.
Furthermore, in the measurement using no cube corner reflector mentioned above, since an intensity of the reflected light is weak, it is necessary to devise it so as to improve detection accuracy of the reflected pulsed light. As this technique, there has been known a process for temporarily storing the sampling data of the reflected pulsed light at plural times, and accumulating the stored sampling data for a plurality of pulses (for example, for ten pulses) in a state of positioning the data on a time axis. In this process, there is executed an arithmetic process of accumulating the sampling data at the same sampling position in a plurality of pulses and improving an S/N ratio. In other words, there is executed an arithmetic process of overlapping a plurality of pulses.
However, this method requires processing time for processing the pulses at plural times, and has a problem in that measuring time is increased. Since the data amount to be processed is increased in the case of enlarging the measurement range, this tendency becomes more serious.
As mentioned above, when seeking out the measuring accuracy in spite of the restriction in the processed sampling data, it is unavoidable to make a sacrifice of the measurement range. On the other hand, in the case of seeking out the magnitude of the measurement range, it is unavoidable to widen the sampling interval, so that the measuring accuracy is sacrificed. Furthermore, in the system using no cube corner reflector, a predetermined measuring accuracy can be obtained only by further making a sacrifice of the measurement range in addition thereto, so that there is additionally a problem that the measuring time becomes long. As mentioned above, a point to be improved exists in the light wave distance measuring technique.
The patent document 1 describes a technique for executing a rough measurement utilizing one to three pulses and a precise measurement utilizing a plurality of pulses. The technique corresponds to one of the approaches for improving the problems mentioned above; however, in the case in which the reflected light is weak without using the cube corner reflector, there is a disadvantage that a sufficient detecting output cannot be obtained in the rough measurement, and the signal fails to be picked up.

Processing apparatus for pulsed signal and processing method for pulsed signal and program therefor


A torsional vibration damper, particularly for use in the power train of a motor vehicle, employs one or more preferably arcuate coil springs having constant inner radii and one or more sets of neighboring smaller-diameter convolutions next to one or more sets of neighboring larger-diameter convolutions. The coil spring or springs is or are compressible by the retainers of two components which can turn, about a common axis, with and relative to each other and at least one of which defines a chamber for the coil spring(s). The retainers of the components can act upon the adjacent end convolutions of the coil spring or of two or more series-arranged coil springs between them by way of plastic slide elements and/or elastic bumpers. One or more plastic slides can partially surround selected convolutions to maintain it or them out of contact with the surface surrounding the coil spring(s) even when such spring or springs is or are being acted upon by centrifugal force in response to high-speed rotation of the components.

This invention relates to improvements in torsional vibration dampers of the type wherein two coaxial rotary components are turnable relative to each other against the opposition of one or more one-piece or composite coil springs. Torsional vibration dampers of such character can be utilized with advantage in the power trains of motor vehicles, e.g., they can constitute composite flywheel assemblies between the output shafts of prime movers (such as the crankshafts or camshafts of internal combustion engines) and the housings or pressure plates of friction clutches, or composite clutch discs (also called clutch plates) in the friction clutches which operate between the prime movers and the change-speed transmissions of motor vehicles.
A torsional vibration damper which embodies one or more features of the present invention is disclosed, for example, in published German patent application No. 199 12 970 A1. This publication discloses a damper wherein the means for yieldably opposing rotation of at least one component: of two coaxial rotary components comprises an elongated arcuate compression coil spring having two end coils or convolutions and a plurality of intermediate coils or convolutions (hereinafter, such constituents of the coil spring will be referred to as convolutions). The intermediate convolutions include a first set having first outer diameters and at least one additional set having different second outer diameters. The two coaxial rotary components of the torsional vibration damper embodying the just described coil spring are flywheels in the form of shells together forming a housing which defines an elongated arcuate chamber for the coil spring. Each shell has a retainer which is confined in the chamber, and each end convolution of the coil spring abuts a different one of the two retainers so that the spring opposes angular movements of the retainers toward each other but urges such retainers away from each other.
A drawback of the just described conventional torsional vibration damper is that, when the two components are driven to rotate jointly at a high speed, the intermediate convolutions of the coil spring move or tend to move radially outwardly under the action of centrifugal force and come into pronounced frictional engagement with the internal surfaces which surround the arcuate chamber being defined by the two components. Such frictional engagement between the intermediate convolutions of the coil spring and the adjacent portions of the two components is undesirable on several grounds. For example, the internal surfaces of the two components and the surfaces of the radially outermost portions of the intermediate convolutions of the coil spring undergo pronounced wear and generate heat which must be dissipated, often at a high cost involving time and/or material, e.g., due to the need for the use of expensive materials for the components and/or due to the need for the application of highly wear-resistant coatings or the like.
Reference may also be had to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,386 (granted Nov. 9, 1999 to Friedmann et al. and disclosing a torsional vibration damper between a rotary output element of a prime mover and a friction clutch), U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,106 (granted Jun. 2, 1998 to Reik et al. and disclosing a different torsional vibration damper between a rotary output element of an engine and the rotary input element of a friction clutch), U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,365 (granted May 27, 1997 to Maucher and disclosing a clutch disc embodying a torsional vibration damper between a set of friction linings (which are flanked by and receive torque from the pressure plate and the counterpressure plate of a friction clutch) and the input shaft of the change-speed transmission), as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,660 (granted Nov. 10, 1992 to Huber and disclosing a clutch plate or clutch disc with several discrete coil springs operating between two constituents of torque transmitting means installed between the flywheels and the engine on the one hand, and the input element of the change-speed transmission on the other hand). The disclosure of each of the aforementioned U.S. patents is incorporated herein by reference.

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