A mechanical transmission gear shifting assembly connected to a transmission with multiple gear selectors that, when moved in a back and forth motion, selects different gear ratios via a cam with a cam follower for moving gear selectors, in response to the same active cam surfaces. The assembly additionally includes a retractable stop dog, and detents for moving, stopping and holding the cam at all times, such that the cam moves in increments corresponding to sequentially increasing or decreasing selected gear states of the transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to shifting devices for sequentially changing gear ratios of transmissions, more specifically to transmissions used in automobiles, motorcycles and the like.
2. Background of the Invention
The invention relates to shifting devices for sequentially changing gear ratios of transmissions, more specifically to transmissions used in automobiles, motorcycles and the like. The invention described herein generally relates to, but is not limited to, moving vehicles such as automobiles, motorcycles and the like, that operate over a broad speed range, and utilize transmissions with a plurality of fixed gear ratios.
Most vehicles are equipped with shift mechanisms that allow the driver to select gear ratios randomly. In racing cars and motorcycles, it is desirable to select gear ratios sequentially in increasing or decreasing order. Selecting a gear ratio out of order can cause a crash or wreck of the vehicle. The invention disclosed herein is a sequential gear shifting mechanism.
Several sequential gearshift mechanisms are mentioned in the patent art such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,820,515 B2, 6,843,149 B2, 6,308,797 and 7,318,360 B2. U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,797 relates to a shifter for a motorcycle transmission. This patent depicts the common barrel cam used in motorcycles and deals with solving the problem of positively stopping the barrel cam in incremental gearshift positions. This ratcheting mechanism does not positively control the barrel cam throughout movement, but does include a stop at end of incremental movement. If for instance the cam is partially moved, due to accidental movement of the motorcycle rider's foot, the ratchet mechanism will disengage the cam in an intermediate position. In addition, if the rider's foot motion is not uniform and slows down toward the end of shift motion, the cam can move inertially past a shift position. In addition, if the gear teeth or engagement dogs in the transmission do not smoothly engage; actuation force increases rapidly, resulting in stored energy within the mechanism, the rapid release of stored energy can cause the cam to spring away from the ratchet assembly, and result in uncontrolled cam movement.
The ratcheting system patented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,149 B2 closely resembles and has the same inherent limitations as the ratchet system used in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,797. U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,149 B2 relates to a sequential shifter for an automobile transmission. This patent depicts a mechanism for mounting on a transmission to provide sequential gear selection by using: "One or more disk cams arranged to be turned by a rotary motion and a follower for each cam adapted to produce to and fro movement capable of linkage to a gear train selector." In this embodiment, separate cam active surfaces are required for each follower. In this patent, the ratchet mechanism does not positively control the cam during movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,515 B2 relates to a sequential shifter for an automobile transmission. This patent depicts a mechanism that converts back and forth lever movements to operate a transmission designed for "H" pattern shifting mechanisms. This conversion is accomplished with four cams and a multitude of gears.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,856 relates to a shifter for an automobile transmission. This patent depicts a mechanism that selectively engages multiple cam segments each associated with a follower for shifting gear ratios. This is accomplished with rotary control and axial movements.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,360 B2 relates "to a handling mechanism of a gear shift which can handle a shift fork of a manual transmission as a transmission for a motorcycle via a wire or lot." This device uses two cams and two followers to control the movement of two wires connected to a transmission. The ratchet mechanism though constructed differently is similar to U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,797 but without over rotation control.
The most common type of manual transmission, has constantly meshed gears and changes gear ratios by sliding dog rings in a back and forth motion to uncouple and couple constantly meshed but differing ratio gear sets to the input and output shafts of the transmission. An example of this type is the model T10 manufactured by Richmond Gear at 1208 Old Norris Road, P.O. box 238 Liberty Sc. 29657. This transmission incorporates constantly meshed spur gears to transmit torque. Gear ratios are selected by sliding synchronized face clutches to uncouple and couple different gear sets to the input and output shafts for different throughput ratios. Shifting gear ratios in this type of transmission is quiet but slow as a deliberate pause is required during the shift to uncouple the load with a clutch and wait for the gears to be synchronized before engagement of the clutch. Shifting mechanisms for these transmissions are typically operated manually.
Another common type, the model WC4 made by Jerico Performance products 443 Pitts School Road N.W. Concorde, N.C. 28027 U.S.A., slides unsynchronized dog type engagement rings, back and forth, to uncouple and couple different gear sets to the input and output shafts for different throughput ratios. Though this is a racing automobile transmission, The WC4 is shifted like a motorcycle transmission. Rapid shifts are required to avoid dog engagement ring damage and may be made "clutchlessly" under full power with disregard of the load.
These transmissions incorporate a shift fork that engages a groove in an engagement ring. The shift fork is usually attached to a slidable shift rod for back and forth movement of the shift fork and the companion engagement ring. These transmissions are configured such that the shift rod has an intermediate position in which the associated gears are not engaged. In instances where the shift rod is moved back and forth, engage two different gear ratios. These transmissions require all shift rods to be in the neutral or no gear engaged position before any one rod is moved to engage a set of gears. In the above transmissions, if two gear ratios are engaged simultaneously, the transmission will be damaged. Shifters for these types of transmissions some times act directly on the slide able rod or alternately on levers that provide scaling and directional matching of the shifter motion to the rod motion.
The specific transmissions examples mentioned above have external levers that move in back and forth motions to facilitate gear ratio change. A shifter for the external lever type of transmission usually has a frame for mounting to the exterior of the transmission and shift levers to connect to the external transmission levers via links. An example of external lever type of shift mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,149 B2.
Internal rod type transmissions such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,877 usually have a shifter mounted integrally with the transmission housing. An example of the internal rod type of sequential shift mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,515 B2. The common element of the external lever type and internal rod type of shifter is the back and forth motion the shift mechanism must impart to change transmission gear ratio.
The prior art sequential shifting mechanisms are complex, comparatively large and use multiple cams to accomplish their task. In racing applications, these shifting mechanisms are not sufficiently robust to be adapted to pneumatic or hydraulic activation. These shift mechanisms are prone to skip gear selections due to rapid release of stored energy within the mechanism and part breakage from the forces generated in full power fraction-of-a-second shifts.
Consequently, there is a need in the industry for an improved sequential shifter.


A system and method in a digital TDMA telecommunication system for evaluating time slot offsets of asynchronously operating transmitters. The transmitters are equipped to receive a common reference clock signal, whereupon the value of the reference clock signal is recorded at transmission of specific time slots. The transmitters then perform a modulo operation on the recorded time and reports the result to a controlling node. Results of the modulo operation may then be compared with similar results reported by other transmission sources to the controlling node to determine relative time slot offsets between the transmission sources.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the mobile communications field and, in particular, to a method and system for determining time slot offsets in a non-synchronized Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network.
2. Description of Related Art
TDMA mobile communications systems can be either inter-cell synchronous or inter-cell asynchronous systems. In other words, the base stations (BSs) in an inter-cell synchronous system are accurately synchronized with one another, and the BSs in an inter-cell asynchronous system are not. More specifically, asynchronous BSs do not share a common time reference, and their transmissions, therefore, have arbitrary timing relative to each other. An example of an inter-cell synchronous system is the North American IS-95 system. Examples of inter-cell asynchronous systems include the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) systems proposed in the CODIT, ETSI SMG2 Group Alpha, and ARIB technical specifications and Ericsson""s GSM system protocols.
A number of disadvantages exist with inter-cell synchronous systems. One prerequisite for such systems is a high level of synchronization among the BSs with the degree of synchronization generally measured in microseconds (xcexcs). Also, it is believed that a loss in frequency reuse efficiency is realized in an inter-cell synchronous network, at a cost of valuable bandwidth.
However, an area in which the synchronous network has shown particular advantage over non-synchronous networks is in mobile positioning applications. Synchronous networks have a distinct advantage over non-synchronous networks since, by design, the synchronous networks share a reference clock. Triangulation algorithms may then be utilized to measure delays in the time of arrival of specific time slot numbers from a particular mobile station (MS) to a base station. With, in general, measurements from a MS to three BSs, the position of an MS within a telecommunications system may be accurately determined.
When BSs are operating asynchronously, however, the task of location calculation is complicated by the fact that each BS is operating on clocks independent from one another. For example, while one BS is receiving data on Time slot Number 1 (TN1), another BS might be simultaneously receiving on TN3. To make an effective location determination, the respective delay of the MS transmission to the BS reception must be ascertained along with the relative TN offset with respect to the other BSs participating in the location calculations.
A better understanding of the problems associated with positioning in asynchronous networks may be had with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical framing scheme as employed in a digital TDMA communications system. The numbering scheme depicted is specific to the European GSM system and is used only for illustrative purposes. Shown are contiguous frames, denoted F1 through F2715647, the span of which is often referred to as a hyperframe, and one single frame of the hyperframe, specifically frame 2 (F2), is shown in more detail. In GSM, the transmission of such frames occurs on carrier frequencies with an approximate bandwidth of 200 kHz separating adjacent transmissions.
As illustrated by the expanded frame F2, each single frame contains eight individual time slots numbered TN0 through TN7 therein. One time slot of a TDMA frame on one carrier is referred to as a physical channel. Therefore, a mobile station transmitting on a particular carrier will occupy a specific time slot, or physical channel, on contiguous frames thereby allowing up to eight such xe2x80x9csimultaneousxe2x80x9d communications on the carrier frequency depicted on the respective time slots TN0 to TN7.
Mobile stations are, in general, within reception range of a number of BSs with a traffic channel maintained between the mobile station and that BS exhibiting the best communication characteristics, i.e., signal to interference ratio. As is understood in the art, however, when RF characteristics decline below a specified level or when RF characteristics from another BS increase beyond a specific threshold relative to the current BS with which the mobile station is maintaining the traffic channel, a handover is initiated where a traffic channel is setup between the mobile station and the BS exhibiting the better communication characteristics and, concurrently, the traffic channel between the mobile station and BS previously in use is broken. However, in specific situations, i.e., MS positioning, a number of BSs may concurrently tune to the same transmitting MS in order to make time delay of arrival measurements between the MS and the BSs.
FIG. 2 illustrates a network containing three BSs 50, 60, and 70, in a telecommunications network, generally designated by the reference numeral 90, operating asynchronously and sharing a common node, or Base Station Controller (BSC) 80. Each of the BSs are transmitting data in a TDMA format consistent with the aforedescribed data frames such as shown in FIG. 1. Since the BSs are operating asynchronously, however, their frame transmission times will have no time correspondence other than that by coincidence.
For convenience of discussion, BS 50 is taken as a reference in FIG. 2 and the beginning of its current frame transmission is designated as occurring at a time of zero seconds (t11=0). Here, the first digit of the double subscript indicates both the number of the BS, e.g., BS 50 or the first (xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d) BS, while the second subscript refers to the reference base station from which corresponding times are measured, i.e., BS 50, again the first (xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d) BS. As is understood in the art, the time span of a single GSM frame transmission is approximately 4.615 ms. With reference now to the frame transmission corresponding to BS 60, which as discussed is asynchronous to the other BSs and offset from the other frame transmissions such as that of BS 50, BS 60 (the second xe2x80x9c2xe2x80x9d BS) begins its current frame transmission, F5000, at t21=1.026 ms, or 1.026 ms after BS 50 began transmitting its frame F3, the base reference time in this example. As discussed, BS 60 completes the transmission of frame F5000 about 4.615 ms after commencing transmission, i.e., at time t21=5.641 ms, at which point frame F5001 commences. Likewise, BS 70 (the third xe2x80x9c3xe2x80x9d BS) begins transmission of its current frame F11358 at time t31=3.969 ms after BS 50 began transmitting its frame F3 and 2.666 ms after BS 60 began transmitting its frame F5000. Completion of transmission of frame F11358 by BS 70 arrives one frame time length later, i.e., t31=8.307 ms, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Since the frame lengths and time slot lengths are of constant durations, a single time slot has a span of 0.577 ms. Lines 100 and 110 may then be constructed to gain further insight into the time slot offsets between particular BSs within the telecommunication network 90. Line 100, drawn from the start point of frame F5000 ofBS 60 to intersect the corresponding time point within frame F3 of the reference BS 50, indicates that BS 60 began transmitting its time slot zero (TN0) within frame F5000 at a point in time where BS 50 has completed transmission of its TN0 and additionally about 78% of its TN1. Similarly, line 110, drawn from the start point of frame F11358 to intersect the corresponding time points within frame F5000 of BS 60 and frame F3 of the reference BS 50, indicates that BS 70 began transmitting its TN0 at a point in time where BS 60 is in progress of transmitting its TN4 and, where BS 50 is in progress of transmitting its TN6.
The transmission offsets of the aforedescribed network are simply the result of non-synchronous operation. The BSs are free to begin transmissions when needed and without correspondence between ongoing transmission in nearby BSs. Thus, any BS frame transmission in an asynchronous network may begin at a time corresponding to the transmission of the beginning, end, or any fraction thereof of a frame transmitted by a nearby BS. Clearly, it would be advantageous for transmitting BSs to be able to measure their frame transmissions times with reference to a common clock so that any transmission offsets therebetween could easily be determined.
It is, accordingly, a first object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for measuring asynchronous base station time slot offsets in a mobile telecommunications network.
It is also an object of the invention that the system and method of the present invention substantially adhere to the TDMA protocols.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a time slot offset measurement system and method where a controlling node is capable of collecting time slot offset data on a number of base stations where the time slot offset data may be collected intermittently and independently from a particular reference base station with respect to any of the other base stations controlled by the controlling node.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are provided for measuring the time slot offsets in an asynchronous digital TDMA network of transmissions originating from different transmission sources driven by individual non-common internal clock signals. The transmission sources are equipped to receive a common reference clock signal, whereupon the transmission sources"" individual non-common internal clocks are each phase locked with the common reference clock signal. A number of transmission sources are coupled to a common node by signaling channels that may occupy either a hard-wire or radio frequency (RF) link. Each individual transmission source is capable of reading the value of the reference clock signal value corresponding to a particular moment a specific time slot is transmitted. The value of the reference clock signal corresponding to a particular time slot transmission is then recorded by the transmission source. The transmission source then performs a modulo operation on the recorded time and reports the result to a controlling node. Results of the modulo operation may then be compared with similar results reported by other transmission sources to the controlling node to determine relative time slot offsets between the transmission sources. In another embodiment of the present invention, the transmission sources may forward the time as measured by the reference clock corresponding to a particular time slot transmission directly to the controlling node whereupon the controlling node performs the modulo calculations. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the transmission time is measured by a monitoring node next to the transmission source.

System and method for time slot offset evaluation in an asynchronous TDMA network


To fulfill a sealing function for a fluid within a short period of time when a pump configured to pressure-feed the fluid is activated, provided are a seal ring, including: a first side surface (20); a second side surface (30) being a side surface on a side opposite to the first side surface (20); and a first side-surface side projecting portion (40) formed on the first side surface (20), in which a distal end portion (42) of the first side-surface side projecting portion (40) projects most toward an outward side from the first side surface (20) as compared to an entire surface of the first side surface (20) except for the distal end portion (42), and a sealing device using the same.

A seal ring is mounted in an annular groove formed in a peripheral surface of one of two members (shaft member and housing) which rotate relative to each other. The seal ring is brought into close contact with a side wall surface of the annular groove and a peripheral surface of another of the two members so as to be freely slidable, to thereby seal an annular gap formed between the two members. The seal ring is used for apparatus using a fluid pressure of hydraulic working oil (hereinafter abbreviated as "working oil") or the like, which include an automatic transmission (hereinafter referred to as "AT") and a continuously variable transmission (hereinafter referred to as "CVT") for an automobile.
Various seal rings have been proposed as the above-mentioned seal ring. For example, in Patent Literature 1, there is proposed a seal ring having features (1) to (5) described below for the purpose of reducing a sliding resistance and improving ease of assembly.
(1) The seal ring includes a first sealing portion configured to seal a side wall surface of an annular groove, which is formed in one of two members, on a side not closer to a fluid to be sealed (low-pressure side).
(2) The seal ring includes a second sealing portion configured to seal a surface of another of the two members.
(3) The seal ring has a structure in which an axial width of a ring main body on a side closer to a groove bottom of the annular groove than to the first sealing portion is set smaller than an axial width of the ring main body at the first sealing portion.
(4) The seal ring has a structure in which projecting portions projecting toward side wall surfaces of the annular groove are formed over an entire periphery on the side closer to the groove bottom than to the first sealing portion.
(5) The projecting portions are formed so as not to come into contact with the side wall surfaces of the annular groove even when a fluid to be sealed acts in an annular gap formed between the two members.
Further, in Patent Literature 2, there is proposed a seal ring having features (1) to (4) described below for the purpose of achieving reduction in heat generation amount and achieving reduction in contact pressure.
(1) Side surfaces of the seal ring, which are opposed to side wall surfaces of an annular groove, are formed of level-difference surfaces which are recessed on a side closer to a groove bottom of the annular groove so as to be apart from the side wall surfaces.
(2) A plurality of projections which project toward the side wall surfaces are independently formed on the recessed surfaces.
(3) One of side surfaces of the seal ring, which is closer to another member, is brought into close contact with the side wall surface of the annular groove so as to be freely slidable, thereby forming a seal.
(4) Distal end surfaces of the plurality of projections are brought into close contact with the side wall surface of the annular groove so as to be freely slidable.


A system and method for controlling transmitted output power of outdoor antenna units coupled to hand held wireless devices. When the antenna unit is operating with wireless network technology it may also be referred to as an outdoor unit. Transmit power level of an information signal is controlled in the outdoor unit by obtaining a control voltage from the hand held unit. The control voltage is used by the outdoor unit, to adjust the power level of the transmitted information signal. The transmit power level is adjusted by the outdoor unit performing the following steps: (1) detecting the transmit power level of the antenna unit, (2) determining whether the transmit power level is equal to a control voltage, and (3) adjusting the transmit power level based on the control voltage if the transmit power level is not equal to the control voltage. The adjustment of the transmit power level is accomplished by a closed loop circuit that maintains a constant loop gain.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile telephone systems, and more particularly to a system and method for control of the output power for an outdoor unit coupled to a wireless device transferring an information signal, through the use of a closed loop circuit. The present invention is most applicable to wireless communications devices used in communication systems using code division multiple access (CDMA) modulation techniques, where output power control is critical.
II. Related Art
Mobile telephone systems allow customers to establish communication links or place telephone calls from wireless devices such as portable or hand held mobile phones. Calls initiated or received by wireless devices used in such systems are processed by a wireless network. One type of wireless network is a terrestrial cellular communication system communicating via a series of base stations and ground-based antennas that operate in the 800-1900 MHz range. Cellular communication systems limit the user to communication within a cell, which comprises a geographical service area to which the base station antennas can transmit. Users can move from cell to cell through known hand-off procedures that transfer calls from one cell to another. However, if no base station is within range of the mobile transmitter, such as in a rural area, a user cannot use the mobile telephone service.
Developments in mobile telephone system technology have led to wireless communication systems or networks that can transfer signals using a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system. The satellite systems can transmit and receive signals in rural areas as well as cities through the beams they project, and a user does not need to be within close range of a ground-based antenna. As a result, satellite communication systems are not limited to major cities as are cellular networks. In addition, each LEO satellite is capable of carrying a large number of user transmissions simultaneously. Various satellite access schemes such as time division multiple access (TDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA) allow concurrent access to LEO satellites by a large number of users.
The number of users that can be serviced by a wireless communication system, the system capacity, increases if the power output from each user""s wireless device is decreased to the minimum power needed for quality transmission, and overhead or non-traffic messages or channel activity is reduced. This is the result of decreasing mutual interference between users, which is especially important in limited power environments such as CDMA type communication systems. However, if the power of a user""s signal becomes too low, the quality of service for that user becomes unacceptable. So, there is a desire to maintain as high a power level as possible to have higher quality service.
Thus, the number of users that may be provided service is increased by maintaining overhead power levels and each individual user""s signals at the minimum levels needed for optimum performance. Therefore, the power output of wireless device transmissions are generally controlled using one or more power control methods to minimize interference and maximize communication link quality. Techniques for power control are discussed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,219, entitled xe2x80x9cFast Forward Link Power Control In A Code Division Multiple Access System,xe2x80x9d issued Jan. 17, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,516, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod And System For The Dynamic Modification Of Control Parameters In A Transmitter Power Control System,xe2x80x9d issued Mar. 7, 1995; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,262, entitled xe2x80x9cTransmitter Power Control System,xe2x80x9d issued Nov. 30, 1993, which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, also see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,384 filed Sep. 30, 1998 entitled xe2x80x9cSystem And Method For Optimized Power Controlxe2x80x9d; and Ser. No. 08/908,528, filed Aug. 7, 1997, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod And Apparatus For Adaptive Closed Loop Power Using Open Loop Measurements,xe2x80x9d which are incorporated herein by reference. The result is the communication system efficiently carries the substantially maximum number of individual user transmissions simultaneously.
Wireless devices, also referred to as user terminals, in current wireless communications systems may be any of several different types. One type is the portable unit, which is a hand held device carried by the user and requires no external power source or antenna system. Another type is the mobile unit or station, which is typically fixed in a vehicle and operates like a desk type phone. A mobile unit has a separate unit (or xe2x80x9cboxxe2x80x9d) that is mounted in the vehicle and contains most of the transmitting and receiving circuits or hardware. A hand held unit such as a phone handset, containing a keypad, speaker and microphone, is connected by one or more cables, conductors, or connectors to the box. A cradle is provided for supporting the handset unit when it is not in operation or is being used in a xe2x80x9chands freexe2x80x9d mode. The box in turn is connected by a cable to an externally mounted xe2x80x9coutdoorxe2x80x9d antenna unit, which transmits and receives signals via a satellite or terrestrial cellular communications system or a base station or gateway.
A third type of user terminal combines the features of both a portable unit and a mobile unit. This type uses a hand held device that can be used as a standalone unit away from the vehicle, and can be connected to a vehicle mounted assembly sometimes called a xe2x80x9ccar kit,xe2x80x9d for use in the vehicle. The car kit uses an external or outdoor unit (ODU) with an outdoor antenna to accommodate communications for the wireless device. A primary advantage of this combination unit or arrangement is that when the wireless device is used in the vehicle it can utilize additional power provided by the vehicle mounted electronics to establish a better and stronger communications link with satellite transceivers. It also allows conservation of internal battery power, drawing on vehicle provided power instead.
Satellite telephone systems are particularly sensitive to outdoor or external antenna unit matching at the mobile unit due to potential path losses and a resulting difficulty in power control. For optimum performance, the power output of the outdoor unit must be calibrated against, or configured with, specific phone transmission circuits in mind. At present, a given car-kit is designed in the factory to function with certain characteristics for phones with which it is to be connected. Once this designing or matching takes place, the autonomous nature of phones and car kits is diminished because the phone is limited to being used with certain car kits or outdoor antenna units, such as specific models or manufacturers, having closely matched characteristics.
This clearly sets certain constraints for mobile units or hand held phones used with car kits in order to provide a closer match between the power output desired by the phone power control systems or methods, and the power actually being delivered by the outdoor unit. Yet, in the actual marketplace it is not uncommon that a user may have more than one portable phone or have one that can be used both as a standalone unit and as a mobile phone when placed in a cradle mounted in a vehicle. Also, a user may commonly upgrade his or her phone as new models come on the market. Therefore, the mobile unit employed with a car kit may change permanently or on a transient basis, creating potential undesirable power matching problems.
One goal of the present invention is to allow a variety of hand held wireless devices to be used with a given vehicle mounted outdoor antenna unit or car-kit, while maintaining a desired level of accuracy for the power output by the outdoor unit. Here, a given outdoor antenna unit is not calibrated against specific hand held device characteristics, but allowed to adjust in response to changing characteristics or power requirements for a device to which it is coupled. For improved or optimum performance, the outdoor antenna unit and the hand held wireless device connected to it need to communicate transmit power levels and requirements.
What is needed is a system and method for the hand held device to inform the outdoor unit of the transmit power level to produce or use in transferring signals, using a control voltage or signal. Further, what is needed is a system and method for allowing the outdoor unit to adjust its transmit power level based on the control voltage.
The present invention is a system and method for controlling transmit power level of an information signal transmitted by an outdoor antenna unit which is used with a cradle or receptacle for coupling to a hand held, or holdable (portable), wireless communication device originating the information signal being controlled. With the present invention, transmit power level is controlled by transmitting a control voltage from a hand held device to the outdoor antenna unit (also referred to as an outdoor unit, or ODU) and then allowing the outdoor unit to adjust its transmit power level via a closed loop circuit. Because the hand held device informs the outdoor unit of the transmit power level to produce, the present invention allows a variety of hand held wireless devices to work with many different outdoor units while maintaining appropriate power output levels.
The system of the present invention includes a logic unit in the hand held device for determining an appropriate transmit power for transmission of the information signal and for producing a control voltage, a closed loop circuit in the outdoor unit for receiving the control voltage from the logic unit and for adjusting the transmit power level of the information signal based on the control voltage using a substantially constant loop gain. The logic unit determines the control voltage based on the data rate for the signal being transmitted.
The closed loop circuit of the present invention includes a power detector for detecting the transmit power level of the outdoor unit, a log amplifier that converts the output of the power detector to a digital format, a control voltage amplifier that determines whether the log amplifier output is equal to the control voltage and then, if necessary, converts the log amplifier output to a voltage format, a gain control amplifier that adjusts the output of the control voltage amplifier and converts it to a digital format, a filter that filters the output of the gain control amplifier, and a power amplifier that converts the output of the filter to a voltage format to produce the new input for the power detector. The present invention also provides for a ROM look-up table that replaces the log amplifier. The closed loop circuit of the present invention maintains a substantially constant loop gain.
The method of the present invention includes detecting the transmit power level of the outdoor unit, determining whether the transmit power level is equal to the control voltage, and adjusting the transmit power level based on the control voltage if the transmit power level is not equal to the control voltage.

System and method for constant loop gain in a closed loop circuit


Methods and apparatus for providing a generic beamforming system. A first beamforming level can process digitized array data to form subarrays and output subarray data for the formed subarrays. A second beamforming level can process the subarray data to form beams and output beamforming data for a plurality of modules. A third beamforming level can process the beamforming data to process the beamforming data and generate formed beams for the array.

As is known in the art, radio frequency (RF) sensor systems transmit RF signals and receive RF return signals from one or more targets. In conventional systems, the data received by RF antennas is typically analog combined before being digitized and processed over a few channels. In state of the art RF sensor systems, the data received by the RF antennas is digitized directly at the element via analog-to-digital converters (ADC) and processed by digital computer to enable greater spatial degrees of freedom in a more flexible manner compared to analog predecessors. State of the art RF sensor systems use digital arrays to provide antenna element level digitization while covering multiple frequency bands and/or dual polarization to support multifunction operation such as radar, electronic warfare, and communication functionalities. These digital arrays provide significantly more spatial degrees of freedom compared to analog predecessors and can be formed into an array of any desired size and shape. Additionally, with the advances in ASIC and FPGA technology, these digital arrays can be created with a combination of these components to process large volumes of data while reducing size, weight, and power (SWAP) to support more applications relative to its predecessor.
A digital array allows various aperture configurations to support the multiple functions a platform uses. One use case of a digital array is the creation of arbitrary and irregular sized subarrays to mitigate sidelobes. Different RF sensor functions may need to combine elements together in different configurations. To provide this type of flexibility in an ASIC or FPGA is challenging due to the numerous on-board routes required that may lead to a design that cannot close timing and be fabricated.


In a state where an adhesive tape is attached onto a main surface of a semiconductor wafer, a trench is formed in a rear surface of the semiconductor wafer. For forming the trench in the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer, after coating a resist film on the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer, the resist film is patterned by using the photolithography technology. The patterning of the resist film is performed so as not to leave the resist film in the region where the trench is to be formed. Then, the trench is formed in a predetermined region of the semiconductor wafer by the dry etching technology using the patterned resist film as a mask. Specifically, the trench is formed in the region near the dicing line.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-80284 (Patent Document 1) discloses a structure having a chamfered portion provided in a peripheral region of a rear surface of a semiconductor chip. This chamfered portion is provided at about 45 degrees to the rear surface of the semiconductor chip. So, the Patent Document 1 says that the occurrence of edge chipping can be effectively suppressed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-100801 (Patent Document 2) discloses a semiconductor device having a flip-chip structure in which a semiconductor chip is electrically connected to a chip mounting member (wiring board) through functional bumps provided on the semiconductor chip. At this time, in the Patent Document 2, dummy bumps against the local flexure force of the semiconductor chip are interposed between the semiconductor chip and the chip mounting member.

Semiconductor device, semiconductor wafer and manufacturing method of the same


Disclosed is a technique of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a corresponding device. A metal line may be formed in a semiconductor device using a photoresist pattern with an oxide layer formed on the surface of a metal film, in accordance with embodiments. A heat-treatment process on a metal film may be performed to form an oxide-based thin film on a surface of the metal film. A photoresist pattern may be formed over a metal film. A metal film may be etched using a photoresist pattern as a mask. In embodiments, heat-treatment of a metal film may be performed in-situ using a baking unit provided in a track device that performs photo processing. Etching a metal film and etching an oxide-based thin film may be performed simultaneously.

In semiconductor manufacturing technology, photo processing may be used to accomplish relatively high integration of semiconductor devices. During photo processing, a photoresist pattern may be formed on a substrate using light. Photo processing may be performed in different ways using a photoresist film. The method of photo processing may depend on the types of substrates, the degree of adhesiveness between a substrate and a photoresist film, and/or the reflectivity of an exposure wavelength on a substrate. Photoresist film may comprise an organic compound. If a substrate includes a metal film, unpredictable horizontal and vertical defects may be caused in sidewalls of a photoresist film due to diffused reflection and high reflection from the metal film when the photoresist film is developed. To reduce this effect, a photoresist film may be formed along with an anti-reflective coating.
A metal line may be formed using a metal film. A metal film may include at least one of Aluminum (Al), Titanium Nitride (TiN), and Titanium (Ti). A metal film may be formed on a substrate through a thin film process. A photoresist for anti-reflection may be coated through a photo process along with an anti-reflective coating. An anti-reflective coating may be used to minimize light reflected from interfacial surfaces having different reflective indexes. An anti-reflective coating may include a polymer layer having a desired reflective index and/or a high absorption coefficient for an exposure wavelength that may process a photoresist and the anti-reflective coating.
FIG. 1 illustrates a photoresist pattern 40a over metal film 20. In part (a) of FIG. 1, there is no anti-reflective coating between photoresist pattern 40a and metal film 20. In part (b) of FIG. 1, anti-reflective coating 30 is between photoresist pattern 40a and metal film 20. Photoresist pattern 40a may be formed after forming anti-reflective coating 30. As illustrated in the lower part of FIG. 1, photoresist pattern 40a may be formed with less distortion when anti-reflective coating 30 is used (e.g. see comparison of part (a) and part (b)).
Photoresist pattern 40a may be formed by coating photoresist material over metal film 20. Photoresist material may be coated over the entire surface of metal film 20 by rotating a substrate at a high speed. A solvent of a photoresist material may be vaporized and removed through a baking process at a predetermined temperature, thereby hardening the photoresist material. An exposure process may be performed using mask 50 as a stepper. In this exposure process, rays of ultraviolet light 60 may be projected onto the photoresist material through photo mask 50 to form photoresist pattern 40a from the photoresist material. From the attributes of mask 50, a micro circuit pattern may be formed associated with the pattern of photoresist pattern 40a. A micro circuit pattern may be a metal line pattern of a semiconductor device. Metal film 20 may be etched using photoresist pattern 40a as a mask. A process of etching metal film 20 may include separate steps of etching anti-reflective coating 30 and etching metal film 20 to form metal lines.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, polymer-based particles 30b may be incidentally deposited on the anti-reflective coating 30, when anti-reflective coating 30 is etched. Polymer-based particles 30b may drop to metal film 20 during processing, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Existence of polymer-based particles 30b may reduce a yield rate of semiconductor device manufacturing.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, if a metal line is formed using only photoresist pattern 40a (without forming an anti-reflective coating), footings 40b may result on photoresist pattern 40a. Footings 40b may be caused by NH3 or NH4+ existing on the surface of metal film 20. Along with reflection complications caused by the absence of an anti-reflective coating, footings 40b may prevent a metal line pattern from being etched.

Method for forming metal line and semiconductor device including the same


A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head includes forming a recording gap layer of a non-alumina base nonmagnetic material on a lower magnetic pole layer, the lower magnetic pole layer being composed of materials that are milled at the same rate. An upper magnetic pole layer is formed on the recording gap layer, and a single piece of equipment is used to trim the lower magnetic pole layer and pattern the recording magnetic gap layer such that the lower magnetic pole layer has a width that is substantially the same as that of the upper magnetic pole layer. The recording gap layer and the upper and lower half-gap layers are then removed over a region of the underlying substrate. Prescribed areas of tan air-bearing surface (ABS) are then etched to form a slider shape having a protruding part and a depressed part, the ABS and the side surface having a common edge such that the depressed part along the common edge extends into, but not beyond, the region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns methods of manufacture of magnetic head devices in which a thin film magnetic head element is formed on one face of a slider.
2. Background Information
As has been disclosed in Laid-Open Patent Application Hei8-30944 and Laid-Open Patent Application Hei10-172125, magnetic head devices of the prior art which are mounted in hard disk devices are fabricated by forming numerous thin film magnetic head elements consisting of multiple component layers in a lattice array on a nearly disc-shaped wafer surface of, for example, Al2O3xe2x80x94TiC, cutting said wafer into individual head blocks, and forming into a slider shape by etching the surface opposing the magnetic recording media consisting of a cut surface.
The aforementioned thin film magnetic head element is formed by vertical layering, using vacuum thin film formation means, of a magnetoresistance effect head (MR head) for reproduction and an inductive head for recording.
Magnetoresistance effect elements, in general, have as principal components a lower magnetic shield layer, lower magnetic gap layer consisting of alumina (Al2O3), magnetoresistance effect element layer (MR element), electrode layer, upper magnetic gap layer consisting of alumina, and upper magnetic shield layer. Inductive heads have as principal components a lower magnetic pole layer, gap layer consisting of alumina, coil layer, insulating layer, and upper magnetic pole layer. These component head layers are formed by successive layering using vacuum thin film formation techniques.
The magnetic gap layers of each head are exposed to the surface of the head block opposing the magnetic recording media, in order to perform writing to or reading from the magnetic recording media.
With the larger capacities and smaller sizes of hard disk devices in recent years, the magnetic disks which are the magnetic recording media are required to have still higher track densities. In consequence of their characteristics, the MR heads used for reproduction are able to accommodate higher densities than are the inductive heads used for recording; but the following problems arise when raising the track densities of inductive heads.
As shown in FIG. 6, inductive heads of the prior art 41 have a wide lower magnetic pole layer 42, a magnetic gap layer 43 formed by layering on top of said layer 42, and a narrow upper magnetic pole layer 44 formed by layering on top of said gap layer 43; the effective track width is determined by the width of said upper magnetic pole layer 44. Hence in order to raise the track density, the upper magnetic pole layer 44 must be formed with a more narrow width, and a magnetic field must be generated in the narrow area between said upper magnetic pole layer 44 and lower magnetic pole layer 42.
However, as track widths become extremely small, the effect of the lateral leakage magnetic field A from the upper magnetic pole layer 44 becomes too large to be neglected. Hence in order to reduce the leakage magnetic field A as much as possible while maintaining the required magnetic field strength, it is desirable that the lower magnetic pole layer 42 be trimmed as in FIG. 7C, and a trimmed part 45 (protrusion) of the same width as the upper magnetic pole layer 44 be formed, in a construction in which said trimmed part 45 effectively acts as the lower magnetic pole.
After forming the upper magnetic pole layer 44 as shown in FIG. 7A, this trimmed part 45 is formed by patterning the gap layer 43 and lower magnetic pole layer 42 using the upper magnetic pole layer 44 as a mask, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C.
In the past, alumina (Al2O3) has been widely used as the component material of the gap layer 43; but when ion milling is used in patterning to trim the alumina of the gap layer 43 and the lower magnetic pole layer 42, because of the low milling rate of alumina, after milling the shape is tapered, and the upper and lower magnetic poles 44, 45, facing each other across the gap 43, are not of the same width.
On the other hand, in order to make the widths of the upper and lower magnetic poles 44, 45 identical, it has been proposed that reactive ion etching or some other reactive plasma method be used to selectively pattern the gap layer 43 of alumina vertically, after which ion milling is used to pattern the lower magnetic pole layer 42. Because in this method two types of equipment are usedxe2x80x94equipment for performing reactive ion etching, and equipment for ion millingxe2x80x94equipment costs are increased.
A method of manufacturing a magnetic head device is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes forming, on a surface of a wafer and in a lattice array, numerous thin film magnetic head elements including of a plurality of component layers including a magnetic gap layer including a nonmagnetic material. The wafer is cut into individual head blocks. The surface included in a cut surface of said head block to oppose a magnetic recording media is formed by etching into a slider shape. The component material of the magnetic gap layer existing in a region in which the etching is to be performed is removed in advance.

Method of manufacturing a magnetic head device


A heating head for soldering and de-soldering surface mount devices (SMD""s) using hot inert gas or air is comprised of a handle in which there is placed a heater sub-assembly on which there is secured a quick connect mechanism for mounting a heating nozzle. The heater sub-assembly is enclosed in a shroud and is secured to the end of the handle by a thermal insulating ring, such shroud housing a ceramic rod having elongated bosses on which a heating element is secured, while a laminar flow equilizer is used to provide more uniform gas flow across the heating element. Quick connect mechanism is secured to the heater sub-assembly shroud and uses a spring loaded winged locking mechanism to the secure heating nozzles to the heater head. In one embodiment, the heating nozzles have a truncated pyramid shaped chamber to which individual end nozzles are attached for directing gas flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to soldering and desoldering of SMD components, and more specifically to a heating device having a novel hot gas flow arrangement, nozzle attachment mechanism, and end nozzle design for soldering and desoldering solid state devices through utilization of a stream of hot neutral gas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The subject of this patent is a heating head for soldering and de-soldering of SMD components using a hot neutral gas or air stream.
Numerous hot gas type soldering/desoldering machines are known for attaching and removing electronic components from a printed circuit board (PCB). One known solution is described by Polish Patent (# Ru-54524), in which a heating nozzle placed at the end of a heating device for dispersing a hot gas (air) is comprised of a round shroud in the form of a sliced cone. Situated in the shroud on one side is a threaded hole, while on the other side there is a round plate in which two or four narrow elongated holes are situated, distributed in parallel to the shape of the square or rectangle, in the case of 2 holes, or two parallel pairs perpendicular one to each other in the case of 4 holes, and in the middle there is one round hole. Discharge nozzles are fastened in the elongated holes, which are equipped with protruding directional flaps or end fittings. In the above solution, the discharge nozzles have a different construction applicable to a different type of solid state devices.
Also known are other designs of heater end nozzles or end fittings, in which the discharge nozzles have a conical shape, flattened at the bottom, made of thin wall tubing formed by a complicated multitask method of plastic forming coupled with thermal forming. In this type of end fittings, good parameters of working gas are achieved. However, due to the complicated production process, they are expensive. Furthermore, the above-described solution applies to only one element of a heating head. End nozzles have the same cross-section on their entire lengths. The shape of the shroud and the end nozzles has a direct effect on the parameters of the hot gas (air). In the previous solutions, there is too big a difference between the temperature of the hot gas in the middle and at both ends of the end nozzles.
There are also known other configurations of nozzles in which the end nozzles have a conical shape and are flattened at the ends. Such nozzles are made of a thin wall tubing formed by a compacted, multitasking forming process including hot forming. In such nozzles, the parameters of the hot gas for soldering are good, but because of the nature of the nozzle production process, they are also very expensive.
Another solution is known from Polish patent # Ru-54524, in which the electrical heater is comprised of a cylindrical ceramic shroud. Such shroud is enclosed on both ends with perforated end cups having centrally located holes to mount to the heater core in a shape of a cylinder with a centrally located hole and additional holes on the perimeters for electrical wires. The shroud, end cups and heater rod are made of an insulative material such as ceramics or quartz glass, and the shroud is inside the cylindrical thin wall tube made of an insulation material such as mica. The above solution concerns another element of the heating head, and is the predecessor of the solution presented in this application. This predecessor does not have characteristics concerning construction of the entire heating head.
There are also known solutions for complete heating heads. They are comprised of the handle, heater assembly, fast connecting mechanism, and nozzle. However, the parts of such prior heating heads make the usefulness of a complete head less practical and useful. For example, electrical supply and control wires and air lines are attached to the handle at the end of the handle along the axis of the heating head. This causes cumbersome cable pull sideways during hand held operations. In addition, the heater is placed inside the handle, which often causes overheating and shortens life of the device.
Reference is also made to the following prior art patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,596 issued to B. O. Doten et al. on Oct. 20, 1981, entitled xe2x80x9cMETHODS AND APPARATUS FOR BONDING AN ARTICLE TO A METALLIZED SUBSTRATE,xe2x80x9d discloses a hot gas type soldering/desoldering device wherein hot gas can be directed substantially parallel to the surface of a printed circuit board by angled deflectors on the end of the heater nozzle. Doten et al. is illustrative of the fact that many early prior art nozzles were held to the heater body by bolts and therefore could not be quickly attached or removed therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,135 issued to A. J. Barresi et al. on Jan. 14, 1986, entitled xe2x80x9cCHIP CARRIER SOLDERING TOOL,xe2x80x9d discloses a nozzle for soldering/desoldering electronic components which diverts most of the hot gas flow to the periphery of the component, although not in the same manner as the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,047 issued to R. I. Todd et al. on Aug. 30, 1988, entitled xe2x80x9cDESOLDERING DEVICE,xe2x80x9d discloses a hot gas type desoldering device having a suction device for lifting a circuit from a circuit board. However, such solution discloses none of the specific improvements of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,548 issued to L. A. Abbagnaro et al. on Nov. 29, 1988, entitled xe2x80x9cNOZZLE STRUCTURE FOR SOLDERING AND DESOLDERING,xe2x80x9d discloses an adjustably positionable nozzle for a soldering/desoldering tool having a means for uniformly distributing heated air through the nozzle. However, such reference teaches a different nozzle structure, and the nozzles are attached to the soldering device by holes or bores which receive screws, which task is time consuming and inconvenient. Also see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,920 and 4,972,990 issued to Abagnaro et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,827 issued to B. W. Coffman et al. on Feb. 21, 1989, entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD OF SOLDERING WITH HEATED FLUID AND DEVICE THEREFOR,xe2x80x9d discloses a nozzle for a hot gas soldering device having a horizontal baffle member which directs the gas laterally to the sides of the nozzle, and then downwardly to the sides of an electronic component. While laterally deflecting the gas while in the nozzle apparently mixes the air so that when it is directed across the component it has a more uniform temperature, such solution does not increase the uniformity of the gas flow from the heater head through the nozzle and across the electronic component as in the present system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,820 issued to G. M. Kent on Aug. 22, 1989, entitled xe2x80x9cDESOLDERING AID AND METHOD,xe2x80x9d discloses a cap-like nozzle desoldering attachment. The Kent nozzle is primarily designed to desolder older electronic components wherein the leads extend from the sides of the component, rather than the more modern BGA type components.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,982 issued to W. S. Fortune on Jan. 10, 1995, entitled xe2x80x9cMETALLIC CONDUCTIONxe2x80x94HOT GAS SOLDERINGxe2x80x94DESOLDERING SYSTEM,xe2x80x9d discloses a hot air type system which can be used with a tip designed for desoldering an SMD device. However, Fortune does not teach a suction cup on the end of the vacuum tube or a nozzle structure for uniformly distributing such hot air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,481 issued to C. S. Lasto et al. on May 30, 1995, entitled xe2x80x9cPROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING/DETACHING LAND GRID ARRAY COMPONENTS,xe2x80x9d discloses another soldering/desoldering nozzle for BGA, as well as SGA and CGA type electronic components. While the gas flow inlet and exhaust flow patterns created by the nozzle result in a continuous flow and apparently more uniform solder melting, Lasto et al. does not attempt to provide a more uniform flow through the heater head as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,979 issued to G. Kurpiela on Dec. 3, 1996, entitled xe2x80x9cSOLDERING/DESOLDERING NOZZLES FOP SMD""S,xe2x80x9d discloses an improved heating nozzle having slotlike recesses along its bottom periphery through which hot gas is directed at the leads of an electronic component. Such nozzle includes vent holes to allow for circulation of the has gas across the leads; however, such vent holes are situated on the corners of the nozzle rather than slightly spaced from the corners as in the present inventor""s arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,237 issued to C. S. Lasto et al. on Jul. 28, 1998, entitled xe2x80x9cDIFFERENTIAL MULTI-FLOW CONTROL NOZZLES APPARATUS AND PROCESS,xe2x80x9d discloses an improved hot gas-type nozzle which apparently allows for more uniform heating and decreases the reflow cycle time by directing the entire gas flow against the top surface of the leads, causing heat to conduct through the leads and melt the solder on the underside of the component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,646 issued to A. Q. Tang et al. on Apr. 6, 1999, entitled xe2x80x9cSOLDERING/DESOLDERING APPARATUS WITH SPRING-LOADED FLOATING VACUUM PICKUP DEVICE,xe2x80x9d discloses a soldering/desoldering apparatus having a vacuum pickup connected to a spring-loaded control on the handle of the apparatus. Manual pressure on a slide rod allows the height of the pickup tube and suction device to pick up and remove components during desoldering, although the spring-loaded control differs from the present vacuum tube control system, which is not spring loaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,170 issued to L. J. Jimarez on May 9, 2000, entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSULATING MOISTURE SENSITIVE PBGA""S,xe2x80x9d discloses a soldering/desoldering device wherein a temperature shield covers the electronic component during soldering/desoldering, particularly for plastic ball grid array (PBGA) devices. While Jimarez teaches a state-of-the-art nozzle, such nozzle does not disclose any of the major features of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,847 issued to Y. Kim on Aug. 22, 2000, entitled xe2x80x9cNOZZLE STRUCTURE OF REPAIR APPARATUS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE,xe2x80x9d teaches another nozzle solution for a desoldering device, the main difference from prior nozzles being that the exhaust flow is better directed upwardly away from adjacent electronic components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,791 issued to H. Masaki on Oct. 17, 2000, entitled xe2x80x9cSOLDERING AND DESOLDERING DEVICE WITH IMPROVED PICKUP DEVICE,xe2x80x9d discloses a handheld hot gas soldering/desoldering device having a vacuum pickup tube adjustment control on the handpiece portion of the device for raising and lowering the vacuum pickup tube. The Masaki vacuum tube control also includes a spring to absorb excess force on the knob which might damage the electronic component being moved or held, while the present system does not include any such spring mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,884 issued to W. M. Ma et al. on Feb. 6, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REWORKING CERAMIC BALL GRID ARRAY ON CERAMIC COLUMN GRID ARRAY ON CIRCUIT CARDS,xe2x80x9d discloses an improved nozzle for a soldering/desoldering device having a resilient member affixed to a support member upon which an electronic component rests. The component presses against the resilient member during soldering so that the lower portion of the solder ball array is situated slightly below the lower end of the nozzle, so that when the chip is placed on the circuit board the resilient means exerts a downward pressure on the chip so that it is evenly secured to the board even if the board is slightly warped.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,439 issued to A. T. Mays et al. on Mar. 6, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR uBGA REMOVAL AND REATTACH,xe2x80x9d discloses a soldering/desoldering device nozzle and apparatus wherein heat is provided via conduction of heat through the electronic device rather than through convection of gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,503 issued to W. L. Cox et al. on Apr. 24, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cREWORK AND UNDERFILL NOZZLE FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS,xe2x80x9d discloses a desoldering nozzle having an outer tube that provides a gas tight seal around the electronic component, an inner shaft attached to the outer tube by baffles, forming ducts, and a water vapor port. Such water vapor is apparently added to the gas to increase its overall heat capacity. A reversing valve is also used to control the direction of flow of gas and water vapor, thereby providing more uniform heating or reflowing of the solder ball connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,968 issued to C. F. Gabriel et al. on May 1, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cSOLDER BONDING/DEBONDING NOZZLE INSERT,xe2x80x9d discloses a nozzle having an insert attached to its lower end that allows the size of the bottom opening to be adjusted, with different inserts fitting different sizes of components. While one using the Gabriel arrangement does not have to have switch to a completely different nozzle structure for each different electronic component, such arrangement is not similar to the present inventor""s nozzle structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,478 issued to J. Straub on Jul. 10, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cSOLDERING/UNSOLDERING ARRANGEMENT,xe2x80x9d discloses a soldering/desoldering device having a xe2x80x9cbell-shapedxe2x80x9d nozzle such that heated gas flows downwardly through spaces around the edge of the nozzle and across the electronic component, and then exits upwardly into the nozzle through exhaust valves or ports. A heat distribution plate allows heat to radiate downwardly and more uniformly onto the electronic component than in previous designs.
While each of such solutions has its own advantages and uses, the prior art does not teach a heater wherein hot gas is passed uniformly both across the heating element and through the heating nozzles as in the present system, which results in a much smaller difference in temperature of the hot gas in different areas of the nozzle, and therefore results in more uniform heating and soldering/desoldering of electronic components. In addition, manufacture of the present system is more economical and efficient than previous solutions.
The present heating head is comprised generally of a handle portion, heater assembly, nozzle connecting mechanism, and heater nozzle. On the upper end of the handle there is an oval like surface angled with respect to the axis of the handle. The handle housing is made in two halves of high temperature thermoset, anti-static plastic having a groove and matching tongue, i.e. clam style housing. Situated on the angled surface there are inlets for gas and electrical connections via an anti-static, multi-wire, flexible cable inside of which there are wires of different gauges. The gas supply is supplied through an anti-static silicon tubing, while also included is a small diameter vacuum line. Inside the handle is a mechanism for laterally moving a metal vacuum tube, which tube extends through the heater sub-assembly and heating nozzle. Attached to the lower end of the metal vacuum tube is a vacuum cup made conveniently from high temperature silicon. The vacuum cup is in the shape of a caved-in dome with a central hole in which a stopping ring/washer is molded, thereby preventing the vacuum tube from inadvertently protruding through the vacuum cup.
The heater sub-assembly is held to the handle via an insulation ring, which also limits heat transfer to the handle. The lower end of the handle to which the heater sub-assembly is attached has a protective, perforated shroud with elongated ventilation holes. The heater sub-assembly is comprised of a thin wall metal tubing shroud having a pair of outwardly protruding press-outs close to its lower end and having a perforated end cup over the same end. Located just inside the shroud is an insulative (artificial mica) tube, while just inside said insulative tube is another high temperature insulative tube (quartz glass or ceramic). Inside the second insulative tube there is a resistive heater which is wound on a ceramic core in the shape of a cylinder and having elongated bosses on its perimeter along the axis. The ceramic core also has an undercut at the end closest to the perforated shroud end cup, with one or two thermocouples for sensing the temperature of the hot air or gas placed in such undercut. On the elongated bosses there is wound a heating element. Behind the heating coil there is a flow equalizer made of ceramic tubing, which equalizes the flow of gas through the heater assembly. At the back of the heating core there is another thermocouple for sensing the temperature along the back of the heater. A grounding wire is permanently attached on the inner side of the metal heater shroud.
A mechanism for quickly connecting and disconnecting a heater nozzle to the heater head is additionally provided. Such mechanism is comprised of a cylindrical shroud with two press-in""s corresponding to the press outs on the heater shroud, which is slid over the end of the heater shroud. A perpendicular bar with a threaded hole or PEM-nut and a screw to secure the cylindrical part of the connecting mechanism to the heater shroud via a tong cut in such cylindrical part is spot welded (glued or brazed) to the outer surface of such cylinder. Below on the cylindrical part of the quick change connecting mechanism is an outside mechanism cover, which is cylindrical at the bottom and conical at the top. Attached to the lower portion of the cover is an upper ring having a minimum of two and up to four wings, each of said wings having upwardly facing indents in them. Located inside the mechanism cover is a flanged moving ring which is slid over the cylindrical part of the quick connecting mechanism. Such moving flanged ring is pressed against the wings by the force of a high temperature spring preferably made out of a highest grade high temperature steel alloy.
The wings of the upper ring of the quick connecting mechanism are matched with similar wings on the heating nozzles. In one embodiment, each heating nozzle is generally comprised of a chamber disposed at the end of a connecting cylinder. Such chamber has the shape of a truncated pyramid with a square bottom cover. Centrally located on such bottom cover is a round hole through which the metal vacuum tube protrudes, as well as usually two or four symmetrically located (versus the central hole) rectangular openings in which there are placed end nozzles made conveniently out of bent, thin, stainless steel sheet metal. Such end nozzles are generally wider at the end protruding out of the bottom of the truncated pyramid and narrower at the end nozzle ends. The inner walls of the end nozzles are parallel to the nozzle axis and have a preformed overlap. However, the outer walls of the end nozzles are not parallel to the axis of the nozzle, and are generally angled inward. In addition, such outer walls are also longer than other end nozzle walls. The longer parts are either straight or bent outwards to direct the air flow as required. In another embodiment, the end nozzles are generally in the shape of a rectangular box or chamber, the dimensions of which depend on the type of SMT device. The box is created by folding a thin sheet metal cut out. Circulation holes are centrally located on each side wall, while circulation cut-ins are located along the bottom edge of the each side wall near the corners of the chamber.

Heating head for soldering and de-soldering of SMD components


An aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material is produced by porthole extrusion. The aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material includes an Al—Mg-based alloy containing Mg of 0.7 mass % or more and less than 2.5 mass %, and Ti of more than 0 mass % and 0.15 mass % or less, with the balance being Al and unavoidable impurities. A work hardening coefficient n-value is 0.25 or more and less than 0.43. The aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material has an inner-surface ridged structure inside thereof, and an area ratio of the inner-surface ridged structure in a cross-section orthogonal to an extending direction of the aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material is 1 to 30%. The present invention can provide an aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material that is an aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material of a 5000 series aluminum alloy produced by porthole extrusion and has excellent bending processability.

Conventionally, as aluminum alloy pipe materials such as a piping material and a hose joint material for a heat exchanger, extruded pipes of 1000 series (pure aluminum series), 3000 series (Al—Mn series), 6000 series (Al—Mg—Si series) aluminum alloys have been used.
Examples of an extrusion method for manufacturing such extruded pipes include a mandrel extrusion and a porthole extrusion. In the mandrel extrusion, a stem connected to a mandrel is used to extrude a hollow billet into a circular pipe. In the porthole extrusion, extrusion is performed by using a hollow die including in combination a male die and a female die. The male die has port holes for dividing a material and a mandrel for forming a hollow portion. The female die has a chamber for welding together the divided materials in a manner surrounding the mandrel. However, the extruded pipe produced by the mandrel extrusion has problems in that, for example, uneven thickness is likely to occur and it is difficult to form a thin pipe. Thus, for aluminum alloy pipes such as a piping material and a hose joint material, it is preferable that extruded pipes be produced by the porthole extrusion.
For the conventional aluminum alloys described above, either of the extrusion methods can be used, and the porthole extrusion can be used to produce an extruded pipe having a predetermined shape. However, for example, 1000 series aluminum materials do not satisfy a requirement for high strength, 3000 series aluminum alloy materials may have a low corrosion resistance due to excessive precipitation of Mn along a welding line near a press joint, and 6000 series aluminum alloy materials have many restrictions in manufacturing processes because this series is of a heat treatment type. Thus, it is difficult to manufacture such extruded pipes from these aluminum materials due to the individual material characteristics.
Furthermore, bending is performed on a piping material, for example, in order to appropriately dispose and connect a heat exchanger. However, the conventional aluminum alloys described above have problems due to processing characteristics in that a bent portion does not uniformly deform during bending and tends to partially deform to be horizontally long in a cross-sectional view. From viewpoints of heat exchange efficiency and pressure loss of coolant, it is preferable that the amount of this deformation be reduced as much as possible.
In contrast, 5000 series (Al—Mg series) aluminum alloys have material characteristics excellent in strength, corrosion resistance, and processability, for example. However, the porthole extrusion cannot be usually used for 5000 series aluminum alloys because of high hardness thereof, and hollow pipes are extruded and formed usually by the mandrel extrusion (Patent Literatures 1 to 3).
Although some attempts to form 5000 series aluminum alloys by the porthole extrusion have been proposed, these attempts are not always satisfactory because a special die structure is required therein and there are restrictions in cross-sectional dimensions of extruded pipes, for example.
As a solution for processing characteristics, a method has been used for an inner-surface smooth pipe, in which drawing is performed to be hardened and tempered thereby hardening the pipe as appropriate before bending to reduce the amount of deformation.
Patent Literature 4 describes a method that enables porthole extrusion of 5000 series aluminum alloys excellent in processability and corrosion resistance by inventing chemical compositions, extrusion conditions, and the cross-sectional shape of an extruded pipe.

Aluminum alloy pipe-shaped hollow material and piping material for heat exchanger


A waveguide type optical element wherein Zn is selectively diffused on a light absorption layer using an undoped InP layer. Since an impurity diffusion area is made on the light absorption layer under a ridge part, a depletion layer becomes thin in a thickness direction and an electric field can strongly be applied. Thereby, an extinction ratio characteristic of a device can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waveguide type optical element, an integrated optical waveguide type element using the waveguide type optical element, and a method of manufacturing the waveguide type optical element and the integrated optical waveguide type element using the waveguide type optical element. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method to improve high speed modulation characteristics by controlling diffusion of p type impurity around a light absorption layer, to the light absorption layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a related art, there is a reference "Analysis of low voltage/high output in a DFB-LD/modulator integrated source, Singaku Giho QEL95-18 (1995-06)".
Conventionally, a method of performing bury growth has been proposed as a method of forming a window structure to lower a reflectivity on an end face ratio as disclosed in the above reference with respect to waveguide type optical element, in particular, a semiconductor laser with an electro absorption modulator.
Below, a detailed explanation will be described referring to FIGS. 10A-10D.
As shown in FIG. 10A, a grating 2 is partially formed on an InP substrate 1. A pair of selection growth masks 3 is formed on the InP substrate 1. Mask width of the pair of selection growth masks 3 in an area at the side of formation of the grating 2 is wider than mask width of the pair of selection growth masks 3 in the other areas. A multi quantum well layers 4 including a waveguide layer and an activation layer, a light absorption layer 5, and a first clad layer 6 are sequentially select-grown on the InP substrate 1 where the pair of selection growth masks 3 by using a metal organic vaper phase (MOVPE) epitaxy method. An interval of the pair of selection growth masks 3 is about 1 μm to 30 μm and mask width is about 5 μm to 50 μm. p As shown in FIG. 10B, the multi quantum well layers 4, the light absorption layer 5, and the first clad layer 6 are strip-like etched by using an insulation film mask 7.
As shown in FIG. 10C, a second clad layer 8 and a contact layer 9 are formed.
As shown in FIG. 10D, a p type contact electrode 10 for an activation area, and a p type contact electrode 11 for a modulator are deposited. After an n type electrode 12 is deposited, each of electrodes 10, 11, and 12 is alloyed by anneal treatment. After a chip is cloven, a low reflection film 13 is coated.
Each length of a DFB laser area 14, a modulator area 15, and a window area 16 are about 300 μm to 700 μm, 50 μm to 250 μm, and 10 μm to 50 μm, respectively, in a light propagation direction in the conventional waveguide type optical element formed by the above steps.
An absorption coefficient of a light absorption layer is increased and light absorption is increased by applying a reverse voltage to the modulator area in the conventional waveguide type optical element. Increase amount of the absorption coefficient depends on an applied electric field and change amount by the electric field is determined by a structure of the absorption layer. The electric field is proportional to the voltage and is inversely proportional to thickness of a depletion layer. Since frequent characteristics at a time when a high speed modulation signal voltage is applied to a modulator depends on an electrical capacity of an absorption layer, the electrical capacity has to be reduced in a case where high speed modulation characteristics (more than 10 GHz) is required. Therefore, an absorption layer area has to be reduced or thickness of a depletion layer has to be thick. As described above, relation with a structure parameter to increase the absorption layer is a trade off. Not only an electro absorption layer but also thickness of the depletion layer has to be controlled in high speed modulation characteristics of the modulator.
However, crystal growth is performed by the metal organic vaper phase (MOVPE) epitaxy method in a method of forming a conventional waveguide type optical element. In this method, Zn (Zn) is used as p type impurity. This Zn has a feature in which the diffusion coefficient is large and is easily diffused. Since modulation characteristics are changed by Zn diffusion, an accurate control is needed. Especially, when a high frequency signal is supplied, an electric signal is leaked to the waveguide side and the electric capacity is reduced in a case where Zn applied at a time where ridge waveguide growth is diffused to the absorption layer in an inverse mesa ridge waveguide structure which the present invention concerns. Thereby, modulation characteristics are also deteriorated.


The present invention relates to an improved predicting of target carrier radio conditions in a communication network. The improved prediction is achieved by acquiring, by a first network node, measurement data based on radio signals at a source carrier and a first target carrier. Subsequently, a target carrier radio condition prediction function is identified by the first network node or a second network node.

As the number of subscribers increase together with the performance requirements in communication networks, so does the requirement on coordination in the communication network. If, for example, certain parts of the communication network (e.g., certain cells or cell sectors) are crowded with lots of mobile terminals (UEs) while other parts (e.g., other cells) are not, the network capacity will be left unutilized since the crowded cells, which have only a portion of the total network capacity, will limit its users and UEs, respectively, while at the same time other cells or cell sectors, that are (close to) empty, are under-utilized.
An example of such a communication network is the architecture of the LTE system as shown in FIG. 1, including radio access nodes (eNBs), also referred to as a network node in the following, and evolved packet core nodes (MME/S-GW) as well as logical interfaces between eNBs (X2) and between eNBs and MME/S-GWs (S1). The present description uses the LTE system as an example, but generalizes to other wireless networking systems and standards as well. In more general terms, such a network node may provide a radio access to a mobile terminal (UE) and also has some kind of coverage area in which it may provide the radio access. Such a radio access may be of any spectrum or standard (GSM, GPRS, 3G, 4G, LTE, WiFi, even DECT, etc.). The mobile terminal (UE) may thus be connected to one or more radio access nodes in the communication network, and may be supported by one or more core network nodes. Furthermore, the UE may be served via one or more frequency carriers, and one or more radio access technologies.
One feature aimed to solve the problem of coordination in the communication network is load balancing where different cells, that overlap (in communication terms, but could also overlap in geographical terms), share the current load on the network. This feature moves UEs from the high-loaded cells to the less loaded cells. More specifically, in order to increase a capacity in the communication network the operator may deploy cells on multiple frequency layers, also referred to as carriers, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Load balancing is a technique to balance the traffic load between overlaid cells in the communication network in order to utilize the capacity on the different frequency layers. In FIG. 2, potential load balancing opportunities are indicated by respective arrows and include load balancing opportunities between co-located cells as served by the same eNB and between non-co-located cells as served by different eNBs. In general, each eNB assesses the traffic load in its cells. The traffic load information is exchanged between the cells and/or eNBs, after which a load balancing algorithm identifies whether there is a need to move UEs between the cells in order to balance the traffic load. If there is a need to move UEs in order to balance the traffic load, UEs are selected and ordered to perform inter-frequency measurements in order to be moved in some way (for example, handover, release with redirect, etc.).
Another feature for solving this coordination problem is carrier aggregation (CA) where different carriers are aggregated for one UE. This enables a UE to transmit/receive data over more than one frequency layer/carriers, and thus provides a higher capacity to the UEs. When multiple carriers are available, it is possible to deploy several cells with similar coverage area as illustrated in FIG. 3 which shows the case of co-located cells being served by the same radio base station (eNB), or with different coverage area, each at a different carrier than the other (as illustrated by FIG. 2). Each carrier is referred to as a Component Carrier (CC).
In CA, two or more such CCs are aggregated in order to support wider transmission bandwidths. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. A UE with reception and/or transmission capabilities for CA can simultaneously receive and/or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells. Here, CA is specified for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs.
It is possible to configure a UE to aggregate a different number of CCs originating from the same eNB and of possibly different bandwidths in the UL and the DL. The number of DL CCs that can be configured depends on the DL aggregation capability of the UE and the network. The number of UL CCs that can be configured depends on the UL aggregation capability of the UE and the network. CCs originating from the same eNB need not to provide the same coverage. An example is shown in FIG. 4 illustrating a radio base station (eNB) with several co-located cells configured as different CC for a UE, where one CC is the Primary cell (PCell), and two further CCs are Secondary cells (SCells).
A UE may indicate to the serving radio base station (eNB) its capability to support one or more SCells in the DL, as well as one or more SCells in the UL via RRC signaling (see Chapter 18 in 3GPP TS 36.300, V13.2.0). Further, CA capable mobile terminals/devices (UEs) may be configured with one or more SCells in UL and/or DL via RRC signaling, using the message RRCConnectionReconfiguration and the information element sCellToAddModList-r10 in 3GPP TS36.331 V13.0.0.
Moreover, CA configured mobile devices (UEs) may have one or more of its SCells activated via signaling from the serving radio base station, using an activation MAC control element. CA activated mobile devices may have data scheduled at one or more of its SCells via control signaling from the radio base station. This control signaling may be sent via the physical control channel and MAC control element, and may refer to a DL SCell resource and/or an UL SCell resource. Moreover, if cross-carrier scheduling is supported, the SCell resource assignment is signaled to the mobile device (UE) via the PCell physical control channel and/or MAC control elements. When the UE is scheduled over two or more CCs, the data will be mapped to PRBs both on the PCell as well as the SCell(s).
A typical way of finding the right UEs for inter-frequency handover or carrier aggregation is to let the network request a number of UEs to measure the radio conditions (such as RSRP) in the target carrier, and to find the potential target cells for the chosen UEs. After the UEs have conducted their measurements, the reports are fed back to the serving cell which then takes a decision which of the UEs to move to which cell.
Further, the concept of Dual Connectivity (DC) as introduced in 3GPP in Rel. 12 enables the establishment of user plane connections via another radio node, referred to as a Secondary eNB (SeNB), while maintaining the higher layer connection management (RRC) via a Master eNB (MeNB). This means that a device (UE) may have user plane connections completely via the MeNB, completely via the SeNB, or are split between both MeNB and SeNB, as illustrated in FIG. 5a.
Furthermore, it is also possible to aggregate several component carriers at the MeNB (the CCs are referred to as a MeNB Cell Group (MCG)) as well as at SeNB (the CCs are referred to as a SeNB Cell Group (SCG)). Each cell group comprises one or more CC. At the MeNB, these are denoted MCG PCell and MCG SCell, while at the SeNB, these are denoted SCG PSCell and SCell. Note that the PSCell via SeNB has some of the scope of a MCG PCell, but not all. For example RRC signaling is only handled via the PCell. The cell groups are illustrated by FIG. 5b.
The cell group notation may be also used when labelling data radio bearers (DRB)—a DRB via MeNB is referred to as a MCG DRB, a DRB via SeNB is referred to as a SCG DRB and a DRB split between both MeNB and SeNB is referred to as a Split DRB. When generalizing the concept of dual connectivity, it may also be possible to consider connections to more than one SeNB, but also where the SeNB supports a different radio access technology, such as WiFi, 5G, 3G, 2G, etc.
Furthermore, an unlicensed carrier operation may be different from licensed carrier operation in that there are some co-existence criteria that have to be met in order to co-exist with other connections in the same band. This is discussed in 3GPP (TR 36.889 V 13.0.0) as Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), which essentially is a PCell operating on a licensed carrier and an SCell operating on an unlicensed carrier, where the SCell then also has to meet the co-existence criteria. FIG. 6 illustrates some different deployment scenarios in that context.

Target carrier radio predictions using source carrier measurements


A device for forming an optical connection between an optoelectronic device and an optical fiber and for forming an electrical connection between the optoelectronic device and a substrate, a system including the device and materials, and methods of forming the device and system are disclosed. The device for forming an optical connection includes a—light transmission medium and electrical connectors, which are at least partially encapsulated. In addition, the device includes guide grooves configured to receive guide pins from a fiber ribbon connector, such that when the fiber ribbon connector is attached to the device, fibers of the ribbon align with the optoelectronic device via the light transmission medium.

Fiber optic systems are often used to transmit information such as voice band and data across a network. Such systems include a light transmitting device (e.g., a laser) coupled to a first end of a fiber cable and a light receiving device (e.g., a photodetector) coupled to the other end of the cable; the light emitting and light receiving devices are collectively referred to as optoelectronic devices. In addition, the fiber optic system may also include an optical coupler to increase the efficiency of light transfer between the optoelectronic device and the fiber cable.
Various prior-art techniques and couplers have been developed to optically connect the fiber cable to an optoelectronic device. For example, couplers, including lenses to focus light emitted from a laser toward a fiber cable or from the cable toward a detector have been developed. Such systems generally require—precise alignment of the optoelectronic device, the coupler, and the cable to achieve high-efficiency light transfer. The precision alignment techniques are typically manual, time consuming and expensive. Thus, improved optical couplers, which do not require or require less manual alignment between various components of the fiber optic system are desired.
An additional problem associated with traditional optical couplers is that the couplers typically do not account for electrical connections between the optoelectric device and substrate such as a printed circuit board. Instead, the electrical connections are generally formed by attaching the optoelectric device to a flexible substrate, which is in turn attached to the printed circuit board. With the prior art coupler, the flexible substrate allows the optoelectronic device to be manually aligned with the coupler to increase transmission efficiency. However, the use of the flexible substrate may add undesired cost to and require additional space for the fiber optic system. Accordingly, improved optical couplers that facilitate electrical connection between an optoelectric device and a substrate are desired.

Apparatus for coupling a fiber optic cable to an optoelectronic device, a system including the apparatus, and a method of forming the same


The invention provides methods and kits for determining the presence of polynucleotides in samples. According to certain embodiments, the invention provides methods for determining the presence of target polynucleotides by amplifying the target polynucleotides in the sample, detecting amplification products, and determining the sequence of the amplification products.

Nucleic acid analysis is important in many research and medical diagnostic fields.
Often analysis of amplified nucleic acid involves running the amplified product on gels to determine whether particular products have been amplified. Amplified products, such as those obtained from PCR reactions, are typically loaded and electrophoretically resolved on agarose or polyacrylamide gels.
Analysis after electrophoresis typically involves staining the gel with a fluorescent dye, such as ethidium bromide, which intercalates with double stranded DNA. The gel is then subjectively analyzed by a human, who must guess at relative band intensities and distances against a background fluorescence in the non-DNA portion of the rest of the gel. Such subjective analysis is often subject to human error, and increases the time required for analysis as the technician records the results of each reaction manually.

Methods of determining the presence of polynucleotides employing amplification


A fastening device permitting two separate members to be fixed together with a relative interval between them including a bolt with a male screw portion formed at a front end side of a cylindrical shaft portion thereof and a spacer having a female screw portion engaging a male screw portion and screw-fastens with a screw of a first member side and rotates while receiving a rotation torque from the bolt and moves up to a position in which it comes into a contact with a second member. The root diameter of a male screw portion is smaller than the diameter of a cylindrical shaft portion while the inside diameter of the female screw portion is larger than the diameter of the cylindrical shaft portion. Consequently, the cylindrical shaft portion can be passed through the female screw portion even if the diameter of the cylindrical shaft portion is not reduced in diameter by cutting processing.

The present invention relates to a fastening device for fastening two separate members with each other with a relative interval between them.
Conventionally, the fastening devices for fastening two members with a relative interval between them have been already disclosed in the technical field of automobile and the like. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-347656 has disclosed a fastening device comprising a sleeve welded on one component of the two separate members, a spacer screw-fastening with the sleeve through an inverse screw and a bolt having a male screw portion capable of screw-fastening with a female screw portion formed in the spacer at a front end of a shaft portion.
The male screw portion of the bolt of this fastening device is coated with adhesive agent capable of transmitting a predetermined torque to the spacer and when the bolt is tightened, the spacer is rotated due to a transmission torque, so that it is pulled out from the sleeve. However, because if the spacer comes into a contact with the other member, it cannot rotate further, the male screw portion formed at the front end of the bolt is released from the female screw portion and advanced so as to screw-fasten with the female screw portion of the sleeve, so that the two members are fastened with each other with an interval by the spacer. To allow the bolt to be advanced quickly at this time, it is preferable to obtain a structure capable of passing through the female screw portion of the spacer without rotating the shaft portion of the bolt.
Because such a bolt is produced at the front end portion of a cylindrical blank according to the method of rolling the male screw portion, the root diameter of the male screw portion is formed smaller than the blank diameter (diameter of a cylindrical portion) of the bolt. Thus, because the inside diameter of the female screw portion of the spacer which screw-fastens with the male screw portion is smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical portion of the bolt, the cylindrical portion of the bolt cannot pass through the female screw portion of the spacer. Thus, the cylindrical portion of the bolt needs to be reduced in diameter by additional processing such as cutting processing and plastic deformation so that it is capable of passing through the female screw portion of the spacer. For the reason, processing steps for the bolt increases and further, manufacturing cost rises.


In a method for protecting sensor data from manipulation, in the context of an authentication of the sensor, a number used once is sent from a control unit to the sensor, the sensor generating with the use of the number used once a cryptographic authentication message and sending at least a first part of the cryptographic authentication message to the control unit. In addition, the sensor data are provided with a cryptographic integrity protection, time-variant parameters being added to the sensor data and the sensor data being sent with the cryptographic integrity protection and the added time-variant parameters from the sensor to the control unit. For calculation of the initial parameters, at least a second part of the cryptographic authentication message is utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for protecting sensor data from manipulation and to a sensor to that end.
2. Description of Related Art
German patent application document DE 102009002396 (which is not deemed a prior art) of the Applicant describes a method for protecting sensor data from manipulation, which method is distinguished by the fact that, by linking authentication of the sensor and integrity protection of sensor data, a transaction authentication is achieved, thereby guaranteeing greatly enhanced protection against manipulation of the sensor data.

Method for protecting sensor data from manipulation and sensor to that end