In a method for determining content rendering capabilities of one or more web browsers, a computer receives an indication of an event affecting one or more content rendering capabilities of a first web browser of one or more web browsers. The computer, in response to receiving the indication of the event affecting the one or more content rendering capabilities of the first web browser, determines the one or more content rendering capabilities of the first web browser. The computer updates a data file responsive to the determination of the one or more content rendering capabilities of the first web browser.

Web browsers were originally designed as user-friendly portals to the internet's resources that facilitated internet navigation and information search, but have since evolved into more sophisticated and complex software applications. Web browsers now incorporate sophisticated multimedia rendering functions (video, audio, imaging, etc.) and enable a user to navigate and interact dynamically with connected websites and other internet users.
Uniform resource locators or URLs are the addresses of internet resources on the World Wide Web, e.g., a webpage that is on a website. A prefix to the URL is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) which specifies how the URL is interpreted. A common URI contains a character string "http" which identifies the URL as a resource to be retrieved over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Other common prefixes are "https" (for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), "ftp" (for File Transfer Protocol), and "file" (for files that are stored locally on a user's computer). If a URL points to a website, which is often a case, the web browser uses the URL to access the website and retrieve the webpage from the website.
Once the webpage has been retrieved the web browser will display it. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents and any associated content (text, images, video, audio, etc.) are passed to the web browser's layout engine to be transformed from markup to an interactive document, a process known as "rendering." Webpages frequently include other content such as formatting information (e.g., Cascading Style Sheets) and scripts (e.g., JavaScript) into their final presentation.
Webpages have progressed from static pages to full-blown user customizable applications. A web application is a computer software application that is coded in a web browser-supported programming language (e.g., HTML or JavaScript) and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.
With the constant emergence of new webpage technologies, such as HTML 5, not all web browsers are able to render content as originally intended by the website's author. In addition, many web browsers rely on plug-ins to display web content properly. Consequently, websites will function and display differently based on the content rendering capabilities of the web browser.

Determining content rendering capabilities for web browser optimization


A decoloring apparatus includes a sheet conveying unit, a scanner, a decoloring unit, and a controller. The decoloring unit decolors the image on the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying unit. The decoloring unit is positioned downstream of the scanner in a sheet conveying direction. A distance along the sheet conveying direction between the scanner and the decoloring unit is shorter than a length of a first predetermined sheet size and longer than a length of a second predetermined sheet size. A controller determines whether the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying unit is the first predetermined sheet size or the second predetermined sheet size. The controller performs a mode limiting process if the sheet size is determined to be the first predetermined sheet size.

Conventionally, decoloring apparatus decolors an image that has been printed on a sheet with a decolorable color material, in order to reuse the sheet. In such a decoloring apparatus, the sheet on which an image is printed with the decolorable color material is conveyed by a sheet conveying unit to a decoloring unit to decolor the image. The sheet conveying unit includes a scanner for scanning the image on the sheet conveyed to the decoloring unit.
The quality of the image scanned by the scanner is lowered if the conveyance speed of the sheet is unstable. If the distance between the scanner and the decoloring unit is shorter than the length of the sheet in the conveyance direction, different portions of the sheet pass through the scanner and the decoloring unit at the same time. If the sheet is affected by the sheet feeding resistance when entering the decoloring unit or when passing through the decoloring unit, the conveyance speed of the sheet passing through the scanner becomes unstable. The conveyance speed of the sheet should be maintained with high precision in order to carry out high resolution image scanning.
However, it is not practical to maintain the conveyance speed of the sheet with high precision even when the front end of the sheet enters or passes through the decoloring unit.


A data traffic shaping system, comprises a plurality of burst groups, each burst group having a burst group credit allocation mechanism configured to earn credit over time; a shaping engine configured to manage incoming entries of traffic and to assign each incoming entry of traffic to a selected queue of the burst group depending on the characteristics of the entry; a plurality of queues, respective queues belonging to respective burst groups; and a bandwidth allocation table including locations identifying a queue and an amount of bandwidth credit to allocate to that queue, the shaping engine being configured to traverse the locations, to determine the bandwidth earned by the queues, such credit only being made available to the queue if its assigned burst group has at least that much credit available at that instant in time, and to process an entry in that queue only if the queue has earned a predetermined minimum amount of credit, relative to the current entry on the queue in question.

Traffic shaping is important in digital networks. Traffic shaping involves buffering traffic and sending traffic based upon a desired profile. A traffic profile can include, but is not limited to, the following properties: a level of priority relative to other traffic, buffer depth, latency through the buffer, jitter in sending the traffic contained in the buffer, and a rate at which the traffic should be sent. A common approach to traffic shaping involves the use of a queuing system to manage the profile. As traffic arrives, it is placed on the queue. The traffic is de-queued based upon its assigned drain rate.
In certain situations it may be necessary to restrict a group of queues to a predefined amount of overall bandwidth. Doing so creates burst groups, in which the member queues compete for a common resource (bandwidth), but do not affect others outside the group. This allows the network to be better managed, where physical network connections can be subdivided into virtual "pipes" or "connections".
Problems with some prior devices include, for example, lack of scalability, sheer size and high gate-count cost per queue for decentralized shaping engines, expensive caching/arbitration mechanisms, and lack of ability to shape traffic with fine granularity across a broad spectrum of desired rates, or groups of rates.

Systems and methods for grouping of bandwidth allocations


A “Universal Rate Control Mechanism with Parameter Adaptation” (URCMPA) improves real-time communication (RTC) sessions in terms of delay, loss, throughput, and PSNR. The URCMPA automatically learns network characteristics including bottleneck link capacity, inherent queuing delay, inherent packet loss rates, etc., during RTC sessions. The URCMPA uses this information to dynamically adapt rate control parameters in a utility maximization (UM) framework. The URCMPA operates reliable RTC sessions across a wide range and combination of networks near full throughput rates while maintaining low operating congestion levels (e.g., low queuing delay and low packet loss). Examples of networks applicable for use with the URCMPA include, but are not limited to, combinations of mobile broadband (e.g., 3G, 4G, etc.), WiMAX, Wi-Fi hotspots, etc., and physical networks based on cable, fiber, ADSL, etc. The URCMPA can also dynamically adapt operating congestion levels relative to competing TCP flows to maintain fair use of network resources.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, "congestion control" is used to control the transmission rate of network flows so as to maximize throughput while fairly sharing the capacity of bottleneck links in the network. Further, real-time communication (RTC) applications such as video conferencing, tele-presence, online games, virtual-reality, etc., are becoming increasingly popular and constitute a large percentage of Internet traffic.
Although the topics of rate control and congestion control have been extensively studied, most existing research has focused on optimizing throughput performance for non real-time Internet applications, such as file download, web browsing, video-on-demand, etc. Most existing techniques operate at high congestion levels (e.g., high queuing delay and packet loss rates) to increase throughput levels, thereby resulting in poor performance for RTC-type applications. Conversely, low operating congestion levels (e.g., low queuing delay and low packet loss) tend to provide an improved user experience with respect to RTC-type applications. Unfortunately, existing techniques that attempt to operate at low congestion levels do not generally work reliably across increasingly complex combinations of wired and wireless networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc.) which tend to exhibit significant noise in congestion signals.
More specifically, the performance of RTC applications depends on total throughput as well as operating queuing delay and packet loss. As an example, video conferencing generates perceivable delay degradation to human observers if the end-to-end delay exceeds about 200 ms or the uncorrectable packet loss is larger than about 1%. At the same time, these applications are also bandwidth intensive, as a higher operating bandwidth leads to increased audio/visual quality. Unfortunately, most existing congestion control techniques consider only bandwidth utilization as a primary metric and consider a high operating congestion level to be acceptable. Consequently, existing congestion control techniques generally fail to deliver satisfactory performance for RTC-type applications.

Universal rate control mechanism with parameter adaptation for real-time communication applications


Methods for manufacturing texturized coverings for implants into the human body are described which generate small wells or channels on the exterior surface of the implant. Optionally, the texturized surface may be formed by affixing globules on the exterior surface of a mandrel or the interior surface of a mold, which is then coated with silicone rubber and cured. The surface may be optionally microtexturized, for example, by microtexturizing the surface of the globules by etching or sand blasting.

Implantable prosthetic devices have been used in numerous locations in the body. The most common use has been for restoring or improving upon normal body contour or augmenting as well as reconstructing the female breast. The most common breast prosthesis is similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,663 to Cronin, in which there is a flexible elastomeric container, typically silicone rubber, which is filled with a soft gel, typically silicone gel or a saline solution or a combination of both.
It is known that when a prosthetic device, including the Cronin type device, is implanted in the body, scar tissue totally encapsulates the device. This encapsulation leads to a problem of spherical scar contracture. As the scar tissue surrounds the prosthetic device it tends to contract, thereby causing the gel filled sac to assume a minimum surface area to volume configuration or spherical configuration. The problem of spherical scar contracture causes the breast implant to change from a shape approximating that of a natural human breast to that of a tennis ball.
Numerous solutions to the spherical scar contracture problem have been posed. A number of essentially structural and mechanically oriented devices have been proposed for amelionation of this problem. A number of these references are reviewed in the Background of the Invention section of my U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,907, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Generally, these structural/mechanical approaches have proved unsatisfactory.
More recently, the use of a covering for implants having a plurality of defined regions which serve to disperse or disorganize the scar tissue have been disclosed. For example, in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,907, a variety of embodiments are disclosed which promote the dispersion or disorganization of scar tissue, among other ways, by providing defined boundaries for such tissue. It has been recognized that utilizing covering materials having highly and variables texturized surface, including microtexturized surface, promotes enhanced fixation of tissues to the implant, while reducing the region over which the undesirable scar tissue may pool and form.
A number of references have suggested various techniques for generating a texturized or microtexturized surface for the covering of the implant. One technique, described for example in Ersek et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,909, is to include specific molecules whose shape and size produce 3-dimensional projections of from 20 to 500 microns in size from the exterior surface of the covering for the implant. Prior to vulcanization of the silicone rubber covering, the molecules are thrust onto the exterior surface with sufficient force to alter the surface morphology. A second technique is described in Patents to Cox U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,712 and Quaid U.S. Pat. 4,889,744. Both references disclose a technique of manufacturing texturized silicone rubber surfaces by applying particles or crystals to the external surface of the implant before it is cured, curing the external surface layer with those solid particles or crystals embedded in the surface, and then dissolving the crystals or particles with a solvent which does not dissolve the silicone rubber. A third set of techniques is disclosed in Yan et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,425. Generally a number of the disclosed techniques relate to the use of covering a silicone rubber layer with a porous or textured medium and pressing that medium into the silicone rubber until a texturized surface is formed in the silicone layer. Embodiments are described where the silicone rubber is in a disk form and where the silicone rubber surrounds a mandrel. An additional embodiment is described in which a mandrel has a texturized surface over which the silicone rubber is placed and cured. In yet another embodiment, the surface is scratched, carved, burned, or etched using ion beam, chemical or other physical techniques to texturize the exterior surface. There is no specific disclosure in the prior art of texturizing material for coating the mandrel or inside of a mold cavity to generate a texturized surface of the exterior of the implant.


An optical information reproducing device includes: a light source that emits light to the optical information recording medium; a light source control unit that controls a wavelength of the light emitted from the light source; a reference beam angle control unit that controls an incidence angle of the reference beam to the optical information recording medium; a light detector that detects a reproduction image from the optical information recording medium or a brightness distribution of the reproduction image; a reproduction image processing unit that detects a bright line of the reproduction image on the basis of a detection result of the light detector and outputs a detection result of the bright line; and a controller that controls the wavelength of the light emitted from the light source, on the basis of an output of the reproduction image processing unit, and controls the incidence angle of the reference beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information reproducing device to reproduce information recorded on an optical information recording medium using interference of a signal beam and a reference beam and a reference beam adjusting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hologram recording technology for recording digital information using holography has attracted attention during making a study of next-generation storage technology.
The hologram recording technology is technology for overlapping a signal beam having information of page data modulated two-dimensionally by a spatial light modulator to a reference beam in a recording medium, generating refractive index modulation in the recording medium by a fringe pattern generated at that time, and recording information on the recording medium.
At the time of reproducing information, if the recording medium is irradiated with the reference beam used at the time of recording, a hologram recorded on the recording medium acts like a diffraction grating to generate diffracted light. The diffracted light is reproduced as the same light as the recorded signal beam, including phase information.
The reproduced signal beam is detected two-dimensionally using a light detector such as a CMOS or a CCD. As such, the hologram recording technology enables two-dimensional information to be recorded/reproduced on the optical recording medium at one time by one hologram and enables a plurality of page data to be overwritten to the same place of the recording medium by changing an angle of the reference beam radiated to the recording medium at the time of recording, thereby enabling large-capacity and high-speed information to be recorded/reproduced.
In the reproduction of the hologram, if the recording medium is contracted/expanded according to a temperature, an angle and an interval of a grating recorded as the diffraction grating change, so that a signal quality of reproduction light is deteriorated. In order to compensate for the deterioration in the signal quality, it is necessary to adjust an incidence angle and a wavelength of the reference beam radiated to the recording medium. A method of detecting a characteristic of the reproduction light and adjusting the incidence angle and the wavelength of the reference beam has been suggested (for example, refer to WO 2011/018836 A).

Optical information reproducing device and reference beam adjusting method


The invention provides a compound semiconductor multilayer structure having a two-dimensional electron gas, which is applicable to field effect transistors. A ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer serving as a quantum well has a variation of an In (indium) fraction in a perpendicular direction to a heterojunction interface. The variation has a step-graded profile with taking a maximum value at or in the vicinity of a portion where the two-dimensional electron gas takes a maximum density. Such quantum well has most large depth at a portion except for adjacent portions to the heterojunction interfaces. Such multilayer structure provides a great electron mobility and a strong electron confinement to major electrons at a high electron density portion. Such multilayer structure provides the large effective electron mobility and the large sheet electron density to the two-dimensional electron gas without a gain of the average of the In (indium) fractions, thereby suppressing the enlargement of the lattice mismatch which causes misfit dislocations in crystals.

The invention relates to a quantum well device, and more particularly to a two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistor (2DEGFET) including an improved InGaAs channel layer parallel to an interface of heterojunction.
A high speed performance is most important to semiconductor devices, because semiconductor devices possessing higher speed performances are permissive of realizing more excellent computers and various high quality micro electronics devices. The realization of the enlargement of the speed of the device performance is mainly provided by following two ways. One is the minimization of the device size, especially the channel length in the field effect transistors. Another is the enlargement of tile electron drift speed moving in a semiconductor material. The improvements in the semiconductor fabrication process techniques makes the gate length short, thereby providing a high speed performance to the transistor. However, the possible increase of the transistor performance speed up to a maximum requires not only the minimization of the device size but the enlargement of the electron drift speed.
The electron drift speed is associated with the mobility of electrons serving as carriers in a semiconductor material. The mobility of the electrons serving as carriers depends upon the effective mass of electrons and the scattering probability. The scattering probability of electrons serving as carriers also depends upon the mean free path defined by the average distance traveled between successive collisions. The effective mass of electrons and the scattering probability and thus the mean free path are determined by the crystal structure possessed by a crystal medium in a semiconductor material. Thus, the electron mobility is determined by the crystal structure possessed by a crystal medium in a semiconductor material. The enlargement of the electron mobility provides high speed performances for semiconductor devices such as field effect transistors.
Generally, the gallium arsenide (GaAs) based crystal medium is likely to possess more excellent electron transport properties as compared to the silicon (Si) based crystal medium, because the electron effective mass in the gallium arsenide (GaAs) based crystal medium is smaller than that in the silicon (Si) based crystal medium. The small electron effective mass allows electrons to be subjected to a large acceleration by an electric field during the travel between the collusions.
Further, electrons in a semiconductor are subjected to scattering by not only lattice oscillations of crystals caused by a thermal energy but ionized impurities doped into the semiconductors. The gallium arsenide (GaAs) based crystal medium possesses a lower scattering probability of electrons as compared to the silicon (Si) based crystal medium. This also contributes towards the promotion of the enlargement of the electron mobility. Thus, the gallium arsenide (GaAs) based crystal medium possesses a larger mean free path than that of the silicon (Si) based crystal medium. Electrons serving as carriers in the gallium arsenide (GaAs) based crystal medium are accelerated without being subjected to scattering by an electric field but for a longer time between the collisions thereby resulting in high speed electrons.
By the way, in view of the minimization of the device size and the promotion of the performance speed of The device, high quality quantum effect devices utilizing quantum effects are attractive. Some of the quantum effect devices have potential well, or quantum well in which electrons are confined thereby the electrons confined in the quantum well are likely to express various quantum effects, where potential barriers fence the potential wells, or quantum well. The one-dimensional electron confinement in the quantum well, or one-dimensional potential well is permissive to promote the enlargement of the electron mobility. The electrons confined in the quantum well, or the one-dimensional potential well are able to move freely in the other two dimensions thereby forming a two-dimensional electron gas. Such a two-dimensional electron gas forms a planar channel layer.
The modulation-doped field effect transistor (MODFET) is one of such semiconductor devices utilizing the two-dimensional electron gas forming a conduction channel region. The accomplishment of modulation doping is to separate electrons serving as carriers from ionized impurities so that electrons are able to possess a large mobility due to no affection by impurity scattering. The modulation doping is realized in a semiconductor heterostructure in which only part of the semiconductor material having a larger energy band gap is doped with the n-type dopant. The other semiconductor material is undoped or unintentionally doped.
With respect to the energy bad gap, the conduction band edge of the semiconductor having the smaller band gap exists below the conduction band edge of the semiconductor having the larger band gap. Electrons move from the large band gap semiconductor into the small band gap semiconductor but in the vicinity of the interface between the heterojunctions, after which the electrons remain in the small energy band gap semiconductor thereby forming a two-dimensional electron gas. The large energy band gap semiconductor serves as the potential barrier to the electrons. The small energy band gap semiconductor serves as the potential well. The electrons are, therefore, confined in the one-dimensional potential well of the small energy band gap planar semiconductor by the fence of the potential barrier provided by the large energy band gap semiconductor.
The property of the two-dimensional electron gas is important to devices such as the modulation-doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) or the high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). One of the most important properties of the two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistors is the electron mobility, especially the mobility of electrons existing in the two-dimensional potential well, or the quantum well serving as the planar channel layer. The mobility of electrons in the two-dimensional potential well is associated with the heterostructure interface between the compound semiconductors forming the potential well and the potential barrier respectively. Other of the most important properties of the two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistors is the sheet electron density in the one-dimensional potential well, or the quantum well serving as the planner channel layer. The sheet electron density in the one-dimensional potential well, or the quantum well serving as the planar channel layer also depends upon the heterostructure interface between the compound semiconductors forming the potential well and the potential barrier respectively. Thus, the property of the one-dimensional electron confinement and the characteristic of the electron transport in other two directions depend upon the semiconductor heterostructures, or the compound semiconductors.
The gallium arsenide / aluminium gallium arsenide (GaAs/AlGaAs) heterostructure is applicable to the heterostructure device such as the modulation-doped field effect transistor, which has been studied previously to other heterostructures. The indium gallium arsenide / aluminium gallium arsenide (InGaAs/AlGaAs) heterostructure is also applicable to the heterostructure device such as the modulation-doped field effect transistor. The InGaAs/AIGaAs modulation-doped field effect transistor is more attractive due to the greater ability at the one-dimensional electron confinement and the excellent property of the electron transport in other two directions parallel to the interface of the heterojunctions. One of the InGaAs/AlGaAs modulation-doped field effect transistor is disclosed in IEEE Electron Devise Letters, vol. EDL-7, No. 12, pp. 444-446, December 1986 reported by T. HENDERSON at al.
One of the conventional InGaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistor will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C to understand concretely the device structure and performance.
With reference to FIG. 1A, a semi-insulating substrate 1 is prepared to form multi-epitaxial layers of compound semiconductors by using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The semi-insulating substrate 1 is made of gallium arsenide (GaAs) of the binary compound semiconductor. A buffer layer 2 is formed on the semi-insulating GaAs substrate 1. The buffer layer 2 is made of undoped gallium arsenide (GaAs) of the intrinsic binary compound semiconductors. A planar channel layer 3 is deposited on the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2. The planar channel layer 3 is made of undoped indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) of the intrinsic ternary compound semiconductors in which a compound ratio of indium (In) to gallium (Ga) is 0.15:0.85, and thus the fraction of In is 0.15, the fraction of Ga is 0.85. A potential barrier layer 4 is formed on the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The potential barrier layer 4 is made of aluminum gallium arsenide(AlGaAs) of the ternary compound semiconductors in which a compound ratio of aluminium (Al) to gallium (Ga) is 0.15:0.85, and thus the fraction of Al is 0.15, the fraction of Ga is 0.85. The ternary compound AlGaAs semiconductors of the potential barrier layer 4 are doped with the n-type dopant. A cap layer 5 is formed on the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4. The cap layer 5 is made of gallium arsenide (GaAe) of binary compound semiconductor which is heavily doped with n-type dopant.
A source contact 6 made of a conductive material is formed on the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 by using the evaporation, followed by the allowing process thereby resulting in a formation of ohmic contact between the source contact 6 and the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 underlying the source contact 6 serves as a source region. The doping concentrations of the n-type AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 and the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 are so determined as to accomplish the ohmic contact between the source contact 6 and the undoped ternary compound InGaAs channel layer 3. But, the dopant concentration of the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 is higher than that of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4. For example, the dopant concentration of the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layers 5 is so determined that the binary compound GaAs semiconductor is likely to take the degenerate state.
Further, a drain contact 8 made of a conductive material is formed on the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 by using the evaporation, followed by the allowing process thereby resulting in a formation of ohmic contact between the drain contact 8 and the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer serves as a drain region. The doping concentrations of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 and the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 are so determined as to accomplish the ohmic contact between the drain contact 8 and the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. But, the dopant concentration of the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 is higher than that of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4. For example, the dopant concentration of the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layers 5 is so determined that the binary compound GaAs semiconductor is likely to to take the degenerate state. A recess is formed by etching the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layer 5 between the source electrode 6 and the drain electrode 8. A surface of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 is exposed in the recess portion.
A gate contact 7 made of a conductive material is formed on the exposed surface of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 at the recess portion between the n-type binary compound GaAs cap layers 5 thereby resulting in a formation of schottky barrier contact. The dopant concentration of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 is so determined as to form the schottky barrier contact.
FIG. 1B illustrates distributions of both the Al fraction of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 and the In fraction of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 in a perpendicular direction to the heterojunction interface.
FIG. 1C illustrates the energy band gap, or the conduction band edge of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4, the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 and the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2 in the perpendicular direction to the heterojunction interface as well as the distribution of the electron density of the two-dimensional electron gas confined in the one-dimensional potential well, or the quantum well.
The n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 has the wider energy band gap than the energy band gap of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. Thus, the conduction bad edge of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 lies above the conduction band edge of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The conduction band edge of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 has a peak at the heterojunction interface to the schottky gate 7 due to the schottky barrier contact. Conduction band electrons in the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 are likely to have larger potential energies than the potential energies in the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3.
Further, the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2 has the wider energy band gap than the energy band gap of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. Thus, the conduction band edge of the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2 lies above the conduction band edge of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The conduction band edge of the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2 has the uniformity in the level.
Electrons in the conduction band of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 move across the heterojunction interface into the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The electrons are confined in the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3, because the conduction band edge of the the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 lies below the conduction band edges of both the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 and the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2. Therefore, the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 serves as the one-dimensional potential well, or the quantum well, and thus accomplishes the one-dimensional electron confinement in cooperation with the both potential barriers of the n-type ternary compound AlGaAs potential barrier layer 4 and the undoped binary compound GaAs buffer layer 2. The one-dimensional electron confinement in the quantum well forms the two-dimensional electron gas in which the electrons are confined in the one-dimension, for example, in the perpendicular direction to the heterojunction interface, but are able to move freely in the other two-dimensions, for example, in the parallel direction to the heterojunction interface.
Subsequently, the mobility and the sheet electron density of the electrons confined in the quantum well are considered, because the electron mobility and the sheet electron density are most important to the high speed performance of the two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistors.
With respect to the sheet electron density, the deep potential well, or the deep quantum well is permissive of the accomplishment of the strong one-dimensional electron confinement, but the electrons confined in the potential well are able to move freely in the other two-dimensions. The strong one-dimensional electron confinement enables the gain of the sheet electron density. Thus, the deep potential well, or the deep quantum well is able to provide the high sheet electron density to the two-dimensional electron gas confined in the quantum well.
The sheet electron density of the two-dimensional electron gas confined in the quantum well are also associated with the quantum well size which corresponds to the thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The one-dimensional electron confinement in the quantum well excites a plurality of subbands of the quantum well, concurrently causes the quantization of the electron energies. The each subband energy is inversely proportional to the square of the quantum well size, and thus the thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. Then, the confinement energy of electrons occupying the each energy subband in the quantum well is determined by the difference between the conduction band discontinuity at the hetero-interface and the sub-band energy in the quantum well. If the quantum well size, and thus the thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 is small, the confinement energy of electrons is decreased. Then, the reduction of the quantum well size, and thus the thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 makes the electron confinement difficult. This also makes the sheet electron density low. In contrast, the large quantum well size, and thus the large thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 contributes the high sheet electron density. The enlargement of the quantum well size, and thus the thickness of the undoped ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 is desirable to secure a high value of the sheet electron density, provided that the above quantum size effects are appeared.
Eventually, in view of the sheet electron density, the deep and large size potential well is desirable to secure the high sheet electron density. The fulfillment of the desirable deep and large size potential well depends upon the crystal medium of the quantum well, and thus the ternary compound In.sub.X Ga.sub.1-X As, for example, the fraction X of In (indium). The gain of the fraction X of In makes the conduction band edge of the energy band low, and thus the depth of the quantum well large.
With respect to the electron mobility, an increase in the faction X of In in the In.sub.X Ga.sub.1-X As channel layer is also permissive of having the electron mobility large. The variation of the fraction X of the In causes the change of the crystal structure of the ternary compound InGaAs. The electron mobility depends upon both the effective mass of electrons and the scattering probability of electrons by the crystal lattice oscillations and especially ionized impurities. Both the electron effective mass and the scattering probability are associated with the crystal structure of the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3 serving as the quantum well. The gain of the fraction X of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs makes the electron effective mass small. Thus, the gain of the fraction X of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs is permissive of having the electron mobility large. Therefore, the conclusion is that the gain of the fraction X of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3 serving as the quantum well is considerable to secure the great electron mobility and the large sheet electron density, both of which realize the excellent high speed or high frequency semiconductor device.
Although the large fraction X of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs provides the above desirable effects in the gains of the electron mobility and of the sheet electron density, it also provides undesirable results. Disadvantages caused by the large fraction X of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs are subsequently described.
Basically, the heterostructure interfaces of the epitaxial compound semiconductor multilayers are engaged with the problem in the lattice mismatch. The lattice mismatch is caused by the difference in the lattice constants. InGaAs and GaAs respectively possess specific lattice constants, which are different each other. Thus, the realization of the perfect lattice match is extremely difficult. The lattice mismatch intends to cause the misfit dislocations in the crystal structure. The misfit dislocations provides various undesirable affections to the property of the two-dimensional electron gas. The gain of the fraction of indium in the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 makes the lattice mismatch distinguished thereby causing the many misfit dislocations. The ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 including the many misfit dislocations no longer serves as the quantum well planar channel layer. Thus, the two-dimensional electron gas confined in the quantum well of the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 including the many misfit dislocations no longer possesses the excellent property in the electron mobility and the sheet electron density. Therefore, the two-dimensional electron gas semiconductor devices including the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 including the many misfit dislocations no longer possesses the excellent property in the high speed and high frequency performances.
The generation of the misfit dislocations in the crystal is associated with the thickness of the crystal medium layer. Thus, the generation of the misfit dislocation, and thus lattice mismatch depends upon the thickness of the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. The misfit dislocations are likely to be generated on condition that the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 has a larger thickness than a critical thickness. The suppression of the generation of the misfit dislocations are achievable, when the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 has a smaller thickness than the critical thickness. It is thus required that the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3 has a smaller thickness than the critical thickness. The critical thickness of the misfit dislocation depends upon the fraction of indium in the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3. The gain of the fraction of indium in the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3 makes the critical thickness small. This forces the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3 to limit the thickness into the small critical thickness or less. As described the above, the small thickness of the ternary compound InGaAs of the planar channel layer 3 makes the one-dimensional electron confinement difficult, thereby resulting in the reduction of the sheet electron density. The detail descriptions are omitted, because it is included in the above recitations.
Eventually, the problems with the conventional two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistors are as follows in brief. The realization of the two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistors possessing the high quality performance, and thus the high speed and high frequency performance requires the gain of the fraction of In (indium) in the ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer 3. However, the gain of the fraction of indium provides the reduction of the critical thickness of the misfit dislocations caused by the large lattice mismatch. The suppression of the generation of the misfit dislocations forces the channel layer thickness to be smaller than the critical thickness, thereby resulting in the smaller channel layer thickness. The smaller channel layer thickness makes the electron confinement difficult thereby resulting in the reduction of the sheet electron density.
To combat the above problems, it is required to develop a novel two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistor including an improved ternary compound InGaAs planar channel layer in which the two-dimensional electron gas possesses a high electron transport property and a high sheet electron density.

Two-dimensional electron gas field effect transistor including an improved InGaAs channel layer


The spark plug includes an insulator, a metal shell, and a buffering member. The buffering member is filled in a space that is enclosed by an inner peripheral surface of the metal shell and an outer peripheral surface of the insulator. 3 mm2≤L×T is satisfied in a case where: a length in a direction of an axial line of a filled portion filled with the buffering member is defined as a filling length L; a thickness, of a screw portion of the metal shell, that is half a difference left after subtraction of the inner diameter of the metal shell from the pitch diameter of the screw portion is defined as an effective thickness; and a minimum value of the effective thickness of a portion, of the screw portion, present rearward of an inner diameter reduction portion of the metal shell is defined as a minimum thickness T.

The size and the diameter of a spark plug used for an internal combustion engine have been required to be reduced for the purpose of improvement in the degree of freedom in designing of the internal combustion engine and the like. For example, by reducing the diameter of the spark plug, the diameter of a mounting hole into which the spark plug is to be mounted can be reduced, and thus the degree of freedom in designing of an intake port and an exhaust port can be improved. By reducing the size and the diameter of the spark plug, the diameters of an insulator and a metal shell can be reduced, and thus the mechanical strengths of the insulator and the metal shell are reduced. A technique has been proposed in which a seal member is provided in order to improve sealability between an insulator and a metal shell in such a case, the seal member being provided between: a diameter reduction portion (specifically, a portion having an inner diameter that reduces toward a front side), of the metal shell, which is formed by a projecting portion projecting radially inward; and a diameter reduction portion, of the insulator, which has an outer diameter that reduces toward the front side. Specifically, the tilt of the diameter reduction portion of the metal shell with respect to an axial line of the spark plug is made gentler than the tilt of the diameter reduction portion of the insulator with respect to the axial line, so that load that is received from the seal member by the diameter reduction portion of the metal shell becomes smaller on the inner peripheral side than on the outer peripheral side. As a result, deformation of the projecting portion of the metal shell is suppressed. Prior art is disclosed in International Publication WO 2014/013654 ("Patent Document 1").
Incidentally, when a spark plug is manufactured, force is applied to a part (e.g., rear end portion) of a metal shell so as to bend the part in order to fix an insulator to the metal shell. For example, the rear end portion of the metal shell is crimped. Such force is transmitted from the metal shell to the insulator so that the insulator can be pressed frontward against the metal shell. Accordingly, a diameter reduction portion of the insulator can press a diameter reduction portion of the metal shell frontward. The metal shell is sometimes deformed owing to such force. When a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the metal shell is deformed, it sometimes becomes difficult to appropriately mount the spark plug into a mounting hole of an internal combustion engine.


An image recording device includes a support member, a recording head, a conveyor unit, a surface modifying apparatus and a movement mechanism. The conveyor unit intermittently conveys a recording medium toward a support member along a conveyance path, and intermittently passes the recording medium through a processing position disposed on an upstream side of the supporting member with respect to the conveyance path. The surface modifying apparatus, during a passage time in which the recording medium passes through the processing position, executes surface modification processing on the recording medium passing through the processing position, and emits heat along with execution of the surface modification process. The movement mechanism places the recording medium passing through the processing position near the surface modifying apparatus during the processing time, and separates the recording medium and the surface modifying apparatus when the passage time ends.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology for recording images by, while intermittently conveying a recording medium, ejecting a liquid on the recording medium when stopped, and specifically relates to technology for executing surface modification processing on a recording medium prior to the liquid being ejected on the recording medium.
2. Related Art
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2011-194797 is noted an image recording device with which a recording head ejects ink on a recording medium supported on a platen to print an image on the recording medium. Specifically with this image recording device, the recording medium is intermittently conveyed over the platen, and the recording head records an image on the recording medium while it is stopped over the platen. In this way, the recording head ejects ink to record an image on the recording medium that is being sequentially conveyed over the platen.

Image recording device and image recording method


Disclosed is an electronic skipping rope structure comprising two skipping rope handles (1A, 1B) and a rope (2). The skipping rope handles (1A, 1B) each comprise a fixed handle (10) for being grasped and a rotating body (11) which is movably connected with the fixed handle (10) and is connected with the rope (2). A sensing point (11A, 11B, 11C) is arranged on the rotating body (11) of one skipping rope handle (1A), and at least two detecting points (10A, 10B, 10C) corresponding to the sensing point (11A, 11B, 11C) are arranged on the fixed handle (10) of the skipping rope handle (1A), said fixed handle (1A) having arranged inside it a micro-controller (3) electrically connected with the detecting points (10A, 10B, 10C). The electronic skipping rope structure increases the accuracy of counting and features a simple structure and low costs. Also provided is an electronic skipping rope competition system.

The scoring method of existing electronic skipping rope is single point detecting which is achieved by just detecting one point during the rope rotating for one circle. During the jumper doing rope skipping, the rope is not always rotating along a same direction. When the hands of the jumper is shaking, a rotating body (movable end for fixing the rope) of the handle is likely to rotate back and forth, thus brings inaccurate counting results. For example, the jumping person jumped 200 times, but the counting result may be 210 times. Such an unscientific way of counting will produce an unfair result in rope skipping competition or examination.
Additionally, in existing rope skipping competition, besides the detection of the handle, and sometimes will further require the jumping person to make the rope hit the ground. However, existing electronic skipping rope does not have such a function to meet the needs of the competition and examination of this kind.
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the existing technology, the applicant develops an electronic skipping rope structure with reliable counting function, and a skipping competition system including such an electronic skipping rope structure.

Electronic skipping rope structure and competition system therefor


A distributed and shared memory controller (DSMC) comprises at least one building block. comprising a plurality of switches distributed into a plurality of stages; a plurality of master ports coupled to a first stage of the switches; and a plurality of bank controllers with associated memory banks coupled to a last stage of the switches; wherein each of the switches connects to lower stage switches via internal connections, each of the switches of the first stage connects to at least one of the master ports via master connections and each of the switches of the last stage connects to at least one of the bank controllers via memory connections; wherein each of the switches of the first stage connects to second stage switches of a neighboring building block via outward connections and each of the switches of a second stage connects to first stage switches of the neighboring building block via inward connections.

Multi-core SoC (System on Chip), including NoC (Network on Chip) is a system or network with two or more independent processor cores. Many core SoC comprises even more processor cores and is designed for a high degree of parallel processing. Many core SoC may comprise a larger number of independent processor cores (e.g. 10s, 100s, or 1,000s) compared with multi-core. Many core are used extensively in embedded computers and high-performance computing.
For multi-core and many core SoC (System on Chip), including NoC (Network on Chip), it is very common to employ one or more shared memory bank controller(s) on chip where many masters work together with the same shared data/information. Shared memory thus is a key component, and its efficiency and performance directly affect the overall SoC performance.
Many core SoC, including NoC, quickly takes over multi-core as the mainstream for the semiconductor industry by taking the advantages of the ever shrinking semiconductor geometry and more parallelism enabled system and software implementation. To efficiently harvest the performance gains enabled by many core SoC/NoC, a high efficient shared memory controller become an imperative requirement. The more masters, such as Central Processing Unit (CPU)/Digital Signal Processing (DSP) cores, hardware accelerators, data movement agent (DMA), could access a shared memory controller with good quality of service (QoS), the better overall performance we would obtain from system perspective. However in reality, the more masters try to share a common memory, the worse QoS would be observed with conventional architecture.

Distributed and shared memory controller


A method for manufacturing solar cell includes the following. A solution containing aluminum elements is misted. The misted solution is sprayed onto the main surface of a p-type silicon substrate in the atmosphere, to thereby form an aluminum oxide film. Then, a solar cell is produced using the p-type silicon substrate including the aluminum oxide film formed thereon.

In the field of crystalline silicon solar cell, silicon substrates have been reduced in thickness in order to reduce the amount of silicon usage and to improve the conversion efficiency of silicon substrates. Unfortunately, thinner silicon substrates have remarkably lower conversion efficiency. This is because, for example, a large number of defects in the front surface of the silicon substrate having a conductivity mainly cause the reduction in the lifetime of minority carriers (for example, electrons in a p-type substrate) generated by irradiation with light. Thus, reducing the loss of minority carriers eventually improves the conversion efficiency of solar cells.
To regulate the reduction in the lifetime of carries, a passivation film is generally formed on the back surface of the silicon substrate. An aluminum oxide film, one of a plurality of kinds of passivation films, has received attention as the above-described passivation film because of its higher passivation effect (the function to regulate the reduction in lifetime) on the p-type silicon substrate.
The aluminum oxide films include negative fixed charges and are known to produce the passivation effect resulting from the field effect caused by the fixed charge. Thus, the aluminum oxide film including negative fixed charges is formed on the front surface of the p-type silicon substrate to regulate the diffusion of electrons being minority carriers into the surface of the substrate, thereby preventing the loss of carriers.
The aluminum oxide film being the passivation film is formed on the p-type silicon substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation

Kochi Prefectural Public University Corporation


Baseline wander is compensated for by processing a read channel waveform to produce an estimated data decision signal, updating an estimated baseline wander signal by filtering the estimated data signal to produce an estimate of an associated pulse tail, combining that estimate with a prior estimated baseline wander signal to produce an updated estimated baseline wander signal, and combining the updated estimated baseline wander signal with the incoming signal at a next sample time. The operations continue recursively for next signal samples.

Longitudinal and perpendicular recording media used in disk drives are associated with different signal and noise characteristics at the output of the read-head. For example, in the frequency domain a perpendicular channel has a pulse response with an abrupt amplitude change around the "DC notch." The abrupt amplitude change in the perpendicular channel results in a pulse response with a long tail in the time domain. The pulse response and, in particular, the long tail, occur because of the physical properties of the head and the recording media. The long tailed response is further affected by the high pass filtering of the signal produced by the read head. The superposition of the pulse tails is commonly referred to as "baseline wander." The baseline wander acts as a noise source, and it can become a major source of impairment. Furthermore, the baseline wander is data dependent, and for pathological data it significantly degrades drive performance.
An ideal approach to handling baseline wander is to incorporate the pulse tail into the pulse response that the read channel detector expects at its input, that is, into the "target impulse response," or TIR. The complexity of the detector grows exponentially with pulse length, however, and it becomes impossible to realize such a detector.
To limit baseline wander, modulation codes known as "DC-free codes" can be used to encode the data bits. These codes impose constraints in the data patterns such that the total accumulated data charge and subsequently the baseline wander is close to zero. Unfortunately, the code-rate loss associated with such DC-free codes is significant.
Another approach to limiting baseline wander is to modify the amplitude change at the DC notch from an abrupt change to a gradual one. Since there is no abrupt amplitude change in the frequency domain, the corresponding time domain pulse tail is very short and can be included in the TIR. Although the baseline wander is essentially eliminated by the pulse shaping, the shaping removes a significant portion of the pulse energy at low frequencies, which results in higher error rates.
Still another approach is baseline wander compensation. Additional circuitry is included to estimate and then compensate for the baseline wander. Such circuitry is referred to as a "DC-loop." The DC-loop estimates baseline wander from the associated error signal at the detector, i.e., from the difference between observed and expected samples. Under present loop delays and high-pass cutoff frequency requirements, known baseline wander compensation circuits suffer performance loss, especially with worst case data sequences.
It is also possible to combine multiple approaches. For example, a weak DC-free code, a DC-loop and a TIR with attenuated DC content may all be employed in the same architecture to minimize baseline wander at the detector input. However, known prior systems suffer some or all of the problems discussed above.
While perpendicular recording offers the potential for better error rate performance at the detector output than longitudinal recording due to the additional signal power at low frequencies, such gain remains partly illusive because of the presence of baseline wander. Thus, an effective approach to baseline wander compensation in perpendicular recording systems remains a major signal processing challenge.

Baseline wander compensation for perpendicular recording


An apparatus for position detection using pulse patterns created by use of a fixed disk having three conductive patterns disposed thereon. The first and second patterns are annular conductive paths which are coaxial with respect to one another and the third pattern consists of radially extending conductive portions which are electrically connected to the second pattern. A brush carried by a rotating member whose position is sought to be determined is maintained in contact with the first and third pattern. In this manner an electrical signal variation is encountered as the radially extending conductive portions are encountered by the brush upon rotation thereof. This variation is thus correlated to the pattern defined on the third pattern. A microprocessor is used to add and subtract pulses as the brush is rotated from a reference position. Circumferentially sequential radially extending conductive portions of said third pattern are arranged into subgroups which provide a unique signature corresponding to the respective position. A sorted positional value is updated as rotation is initiated and after sufficient rotation has occurred to identify a subgroup, a comparison is performed to detect the presence of error. If no error is present the position will continue to be updated y adding and subtracting pulses. If an error is detected, the new subgroup and pulse position therein will be accepted as the correct positional value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to position detecting apparatus and, more specifically, to position detecting apparatus using a unique pulse pattern to define and continuously verify a respective position detection.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many control applications it is necessary to know the position of a movable portion of the system. Several methods have been used to accomplish such an objective. A first group of methods provides an absolute position of the system at any given point. These sensors typically utilize a potentiometer which provides a resistance value corresponding to a specific position. The advantage of this type of system is that there is no loss of reference such that the system requires calibration. A second group of position sensors are relative in nature. These systems have a zero or calibration point and generate pulses as the system moves from this point of calibration. The system position is determined by adding or subtracting the pulses that are encountered or generated as the system moves from the zero position. Typically, these pulses are provided by use of a hall effect sensor, an optical sensor or a make-or-break switch configuration. The advantage of such a system is its simplicity over the absolute sensors. The disadvantage is that if the pulses are counted in the wrong direction, the system will not correctly correspond to the position indicated. Another disadvantage is that if a stored position is incorrect, the system has no means of self calibration to provide continuous error correction.

Apparatus for position detection and verification thereof using pulse patterns having sequentially unique properties


A process for selectively etching silicon comprises preparing a solution of etchant which is a non-selective etch for at least silicon and aluminum. The prepared solution is preconditioned by adding atomic silicon to the solution and aging the solution after the addition of silicon for at least 30 minutes. Then, silicon substrates carrying aluminum are immersed in the preconditioned solution to etch the silicon while leaving the aluminum substantially unaffected.

Thin film resonator, or TFR, technology, has received much interest over the last several years. The thin film resonator technology makes possible a class of thin film microwave acoustic devices that are truly compatible with active semiconductor circuitry. The small size of the thin film resonator is compatible with semiconductor technology, and the thin film resonator can be integrated with semiconductor devices onto a common substrate.
To operate in the fundamental mode at VHF to microwave frequency ranges, a resonator must have a thickness in the range of tens of microns to less than one micron. Devices of such thicknesses are very fragile and easily damaged, and require some form of external support during and after manufacture for any practical application. This requirement has given rise to the development of etching techniques which provide for the placing of the device on a silicon substrate, with a cavity etched into the silicon underneath the device to allow free movement of the device. This permits the edges of the device to be supported by the silicon substrate.
The basic thin film resonator technology uses DC magnetron sputtered highly-oriented thin films of dielectric material, preferably aluminum nitride (AlN) or zinc oxide (ZnO). The dielectric film is sandwiched between a pair of conductive electrodes, typically thin film aluminum electrodes, and the electrodes serve not only as electrical interconnections, but also acoustic reflecting surfaces for guiding and trapping the acoustic energy in the dielectric thin film. The acoustic cavity for the resonator is defined by the aluminum-silicon composite membrane structure. That membrane should be of low mass for high frequency operation, and that, in turn usually requires the removal of substrate material underlying the membrane portion of the thin film resonator. It has been typical to accomplish that by first forming a highly doped p.sup.+ region near the top surface of the semiconductor substrate, then etching a via from the bottom surface terminating at the p.sup.+ layer, which functions as an etchant stop. The thin film resonator is then formed on the p.sup.+ membrane. After formation of the thin film resonator, a selective etching process removes the p.sup.+ membrane, leaving the resonator suspended.
In this process of using a p.sup.+ membrane, several problems exist which contribute to the difficulty of manufacturing thin film resonators. For example, the p.sup.+ membranes are fragile and easily damaged. Moreover, the use of a p.sup.+ membrane causes misfit dislocations. These are inevitable with the diffusion of high dopant concentrations, and reduce the crystal integrity of the wafer surface for device manufacture.
Furthermore, the layers of the thin film resonator are themselves extremely thin and fragile. The requirement that the layers be deposited on a membrane which is itself extremely fragile, adds greatly to the difficulty and expense of manufacture and increases the likelihood of introducing manufacturing defects. Moreover, the creation of the p.sup.+ layer is costly and time consuming, requiring high-temperature equipment and long processing times.
Finally, the etchants used in the manufacturing process are extremely corrosive, especially to metals, and could not be permitted to come in contact with the thin film resonators. In the foregoing process, it was therefore necessary to remove the underlying substrate material with the etching step, and for the etching step to be completed prior to the deposition of the thin film resonator layers onto the substrate.

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A pump for delivering insulin to a user. The pump comprises a pump mechanism and a meal-bolus program module. The meal-bolus program module is programmed to control the pump mechanism to deliver a meal bolus. An alarm program module is in data communication with the alarm, the timer, and the meal-bolus program module. The alarm module is programmed to generate an alarm signal when the meal-bolus program module does not control the pump mechanism to deliver a meal bolus within a predetermined period of time.

The present invention relates to insulin pumps, and more particularly, to insulin pumps having a missed meal bolus alarm.
A large portion of the world""s population suffers from diabetes. Many of these people need to take injections of insulin to normalize the level of sugar in their bodies to prevent complications. Such complications can include kidney failure, loss of circulation, and blindness. The need to manually take injections with a syringe and the process of determining the dose for various shots can be a great inconvenience and can limit a diabetic""s activities and restrict their movements. Furthermore, it can be difficult to maintain a consistent level of blood glucose because there is a practical limit to the number of injections that most patients can receive.
One solution to reduce some of the problems associated with the manual injection of insulin is an ambulatory pump that delivers insulin to the diabetic user. Such insulin pumps can provide a more consistently normal level of blood glucose, which reduces the risk of complications from diabetes. However, current pumps still have practical limits to their programming that make them cumbersome to program and that limits the potential of the pump to provide even greater control over blood glucose levels.
One aspect of the present invention is a method of operating an insulin pump. The insulin pump is configured to selectively deliver a meal bolus. The method comprises entering into the pump a start time for an interval; entering into the pump an end time for the interval; and generating an alarm signal if a meal bolus is not delivered during the interval.
Another aspect of the present invention is a pump for delivering insulin to a user. The pump comprises a pump mechanism and a meal-bolus program module. The meal-bolus program module is programmed to control the pump mechanism to deliver a meal bolus. An alarm program module is in data communication with the alarm, the timer, and the meal-bolus program module. The alarm module is programmed to generate an alarm signal when the meal-bolus program module does not control the pump mechanism to deliver a meal bolus within a predetermined period of time.

Insulin pump having missed meal bolus alarm


A portable terminal includes a circuit board having edge and component mounting surfaces. The edge surface includes a first contact terminal and an antenna includes a second contact terminal. The component mounting surface is at least substantially parallel with a display screen of the terminal and the edge surface is at least substantially perpendicular to the display screen. The first and second contact terminals are coupled together to establish an electrical connection between the circuit board and antenna when the antenna and edge surface are mounted in parallel to one another within a housing of the terminal.

1. Field
One or more embodiments described herein relate to a portable terminal.
2. Background
Personal computers, notebook computers, portable phones, and other portable terminals have been developed to perform video and voice call communications, still or moving image capturing using a camera, voice storing, music file reproducing through a speaker system, and image and/or video displaying. These terminals also allow users to play games and view television programs by receiving broadcast or multicast signals.
Improvements in these terminals have required commensurate software and hardware upgrades. In providing these upgrades, maximizing internal space within the terminal is a goal, especially as terminals become thinner and smaller. These upgrades should be made without compromising communication quality, which is, of course, the foremost concern in portable terminal design.


A support arrangement is provided for a variable-crown having a non-revolving roll axle (11) on which the roll mantle (12) revolves. The roll mantle (12) is supported on the roll axle (11) by means of hydraulic loading members (20) which comprise pistons (21) fitted into cylinder bores (15) formed in the roll axle (11), as well as glide shoes (22) supported on the inner face (14) of the roll mantle. The pistons (21) are composed of bushings provided with inside cavity spaces (23). The glide shoes (22), which are attached to the outer ends of the pistons through the cavity spaces (23) from outside the bushings, are hydraulically sealed (30), and are pivotal and displaceable in the radial direction of the roll (10). A hydraulic pressure medium is passed into the cavity spaces (23) in the pistons (21) so as to act upon the interior of the glide shoes (22). The hydraulic medium passes, via the cavity spaces (23), through capillary bores (28,28') into pockets (31), the latter acting as hydrostatic lubrication spaces of the glide shoes (22).

The invention concerns a support system for a variable-crown roll, wherein the roll comprises a non-revolving roll axle with a rotatable roll mantle displaced on the axle. Between the roll mantle and roll axle are displaced hydraulic loading elements which act upon the underface of the roll mantle in the nip plane. The hydraulic elements are supported on the roll axle, and are loaded by means of a hydraulic pressure medium. The hydraulic elements include pistons fitted into cylinder bores or equivalent formed in the roll axle as well as glide shoes supported on the inner face of the roll mantle.
In the paper machines and equivalent apparatus, such rolls are commonly used to form a smoothing nip, a dewatering press nip, or a calendering nip with a counter-roll. For these purposes, it is important that the distribution of a linear load in the nip, i.e. the profile, in the axial direction of the rolls be made invariable, or that this profile can be regulated as desired. This permits controlling the transverse moisture profile and/or the thickness profile (caliper) of the web of paper or similar material. For this purpose a number of different variable-crown rolls are known in the prior art for controlling the distribution of a linear load in the nip.
In the prior art, a number of different variable-crown rolls for paper machines and equivalent apparatus are known. As a rule, these rolls comprise a massive or tubular, stationary roll axle and a roll mantle disposed for revolving around the axle. Between the axle and the roll mantle, and acting upon the inner face of the mantle, glide shoe arrangements and/or a chamber of pressure fluid or a series of chambers are fitted, so that the axial profile of the mantle at the nip can be aligned or regulated as desired. As a rule, the nips formed by such rolls, such as press nips or calendering nips, are loaded by means of loading forces applied to the axle journals of the variable-crown roll and of its counter-roll.
The present invention relates to such variable-crown rolls which comprise a series of glide shoes whose glide faces act on the inner face of the roll mantle and whose glide faces are at least partly hydrostatically or hydrodynamically lubricated by means of a pressure fluid passed to the glide face.
With respect to the prior art related to the present invention, reference is made, by way of example, to the DE Published Patent Application No. 22 29 421 and to the FI Patent No. 59,655. In the DE publication, the glide shoe arrangement is described that is used perhaps most commonly in variable-crown rolls. In the structures in accordance with the DE publication, the hydraulic loading elements by means of which the roll mantle is supported on the non-revolving roll axle, includes pistons fitted for displacement in cylinder bores provided in the axle, there being the guide shoes which act on the inner face of the roll mantle, and are supported on the pistons by means of articulated joints. In such an arrangement, very high forces are obtained in the articulated joint between the glide shoe and the piston, for which reason the articulated joint must be hydraulically relieved in order that its service life can be made sufficiently long. In spite of the relief, a friction of a certain magnitude is always present in such an articulated joint, as a result of which the glide shoe cannot be fully freely positioned in relation to the piston. Owing to the articulated joint, the sealing arrangements of the loading member may also become quite problematic. Owing to all this, the cost of manufacture of such a loading element provided with an articulated joint is high, and the operation of the element is not satisfactory in all circumstances because of the friction present in the articulated joint.
In the cited FI Patent, the construction of the hydraulic loading member is accomplished such that the loading element is formed as a rigid piece which has no articulated joint. In the FI patent, this is carried into effect in two alternative ways, according to one embodiment of which cylinder bores have been formed in the roll axle, the piston parts of the loading members being fitted for movement in the cylinder bores. In this embodiment, the piston parts have been shaped to be spherical so that they can turn in the cylinder bores. In the other embodiment, pin-like projections corresponding to the cylinder bores have been forced on the roll axle, the glide shoes being supported and sealed pivotally on the projections. In the first embodiment of the cited FI patent, the support point of the glide shoe is placed quite far from the inner face of the roll mantle, whereby the construction is quite unstable. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the glide shoes must be able to move a relatively long distance in the radial direction of the roll. Both of these embodiments are quite problematic in view of the sealing and, moreover, the positioning of a slide shoe against the inner face of the roll mantle is hampered by friction at the sealing point. The shoe must be able to move by a distance equalliug the stroke length of the loading element.

Support system for a variable-crown roll


A corner scaffold structure is comprised of three vertical legs. These three legs are connected to one another at their upper distal ends by three horizontal legs which generally form a right isosceles triangle. Similarly, there are three horizontal legs connected to and joining the vertical legs near the lower distal ends thereof. Because of the three-dimensional geometry of the corner scaffold structure, multiple hop irons can be secured to each side of the structure to provide additional support to scaffold planks, increasing their stability.

The present invention relates to a scaffold structure positioned for accessing a corner of a construction area, a free-standing structure that can be incorporated into and used in conjunction with existing modular supports used in scaffold assembly.
Scaffolds are widely used in industrial, commercial, and residential construction settings for supporting workers and equipment. Scaffolds are erected as free-standing structures along and beside surfaces or areas where work is to be performed, allowing workers access to such surfaces or areas. Thus, scaffolds must be rigid enough to safely support workers and their equipment, yet easily assembled and disassembled
Scaffolds generally are assembled from a plurality of modular supports coupled by horizontal or diagonal braces to create frames. Secured to these frames are horizontal members, often referred to as xe2x80x9chop irons,xe2x80x9d for supporting scaffold planks. Workers can travel across these planks to access the working surface or area.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a common prior art scaffolding arrangement positioned for accessing a corner of a construction area, the intersection of two perpendicularly oriented walls. As shown in FIG. 1, the assembled scaffold comprises two modular supports 12, 14. These two supports 12, 14 are connected to one another and supported by opposing pairs of diagonal and intersecting braces 18, 20. Extending from and secured to the supports 12, 14 are three hop irons 22, 24, 26. These hop irons 22, 24, 26 provide support for two scaffold planks 28, 30 (shown in phantom) which extend into the corner of the construction area and are oriented perpendicular to one another.
This prior art scaffolding arrangement presents some attendant dangers. First and foremost, there is often a significant unsupported span between hops irons, for example, the span of the scaffold plank 28 between hop iron 22 and hop iron 24. This may cause the plank 28 to sag significantly as a worker walks along the plank 28. Secondly, due to minimal underlying support (i.e. few hop irons), if a worker were to walk to the end of a particular plank, it is possible that his weight would be sufficient to cause the opposite end of the plank to xe2x80x9ckick up,xe2x80x9d causing the worker to fall. To prevent such a xe2x80x9ckick upxe2x80x9d hazard, it is common to strap or otherwise secure the scaffold planks to the hop irons; however, this requires significantly more labor time in the assembly and disassembly of the scaffold.
Furthermore, prior art scaffolding arrangements create some accessibility problems. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, to access into the space enclosed by the modular supports 12, 14 and pairs of braces 18, 20 would require a worker to crawl through the modular supports 12, 14 or under the braces 18, 20. This could prove problematic if a worker was attempting to deliver materials to others working in the corner of the construction area.
It is therefore a paramount object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that appropriately supports workers and equipment and allows a worker to access a corner of a construction area without subjecting that worker to unnecessary danger.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that is free-standing.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that includes double latch connectors that facilitate attachment and detachment of braces that secure the corner scaffold structure to adjacent modular supports.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that includes adjustable braces to allow for more versatility in assembling a scaffold at a particular construction site, specifically, allowing for adjustments to the span between adjacent modular supports and the corner scaffold structure.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that allows for the attachment of a diagonally oriented hop iron to the vertex of the generally isosceles triangle formed by the corner scaffold structure such that the hop iron would extend into the corner of a construction area, thereby supporting the scaffold planks at the intersection of their respective distal ends.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following description.
The present invention is a corner scaffold structure preferably comprised of three vertical legs. These three legs are connected to one another at their upper distal ends by three horizontal legs which generally form a right isosceles triangle. Similarly, there are three horizontal legs connected to and joining the vertical legs near the lower distal ends thereof.
To allow for connection of braces that join the corners of the corner scaffold structure to adjacent modular supports, a plurality of rods are joined to and extend from the corner scaffold structure. In one preferred embodiment, there are at least two corresponding pairs of rods secured to and extending from each of the two outer vertical legs of the corner scaffold structure. A preferred double latch connector fits over each pair of rods and can be manipulated to attach or detach a particular brace to the corner scaffold structure.
Because of the three-dimensional geometry of the corner scaffold structure, multiple hop irons can be secured to each side of the structure to provide additional support to scaffold planks, increasing their stability. It is further contemplated that adjustable braces be used with the corner scaffold structure of the present invention in securing it to adjacent modular supports, thus allowing for more versatility in assembling a scaffold at a particular construction site, and perhaps most importantly, would allow for shortening of potentially dangerously long, unsupported spans between the corner scaffold structure and adjacent modular supports.


The invention relates to a composition for producing an aroma upon exposure to microwave radiation. The composition comprises food acceptable salts in an amount of from 0.5 to 5% by weight of the composition, milk solids in an amount of from 5 to 25%, lipid in an amount of from 5 to 35%, water in an amount of from 30 to 70% and an effective amount of an aroma source which upon exposure of the composition to microwave radiation will produce an aroma. Preferably the composition is topically coated on a comestible and upon exposure to microwave radiation an aroma will be produced within one minute, preferably from 15 to 30 seconds. The composition after aroma release will not impart an objectionable taste to the cooked or reheated comestible upon ingestion by a consumer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the microwave preparation of food. More particularly, it relates to the release of food aromas during the microwave preparation of food. This invention especially relates to compositions which will release aromas of cooking food during microwave preparation of comestibles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Microwave ovens for home use have found widespread acceptance. The fact that the cooking and/or reheating of food in the domestic microwave oven is achieved in such relatively short periods of time is probably the principal reason for the high sales of these units in recent years.
Essentially all domestic microwave ovens operate at 2450 MHz. The dielectric properties of food at this frequency parallels those of water which is the principal lossy constituent of food. The absorption of microwave energy by food by the interaction of the dipole water molecule in the microwave field results in a localized heating resulting in the desired cooking or reheating. Despite the widespread use of microwave ovens, a major shortcoming involved in their use is the lack of desirable aroma release from comestibles during their preparation by microwave heating. The reason for this may be attributed to the basic functioning of the microwave oven. Since the action of microwave energy on the dipole water molecule is the principal cause of heat generation within the water-containing comestible, the maximum temperature obtainable on a comestible surface exposed to microwave energy is about 100.degree. C. In a thermal oven, normal cooking and roasting temperatures are in the range of about 175.degree. to about 235.degree. C. (350.degree.-450.degree. F.). Further, the short cooking times achieved by using a microwave oven may also contribute to the lack of aroma generation from the comestible. It is thought that the combination of temperatures in excess of 100.degree. C. and periods of time in excess of about 5 minutes are necessary for the typical generation and release of the familiar roasting or cooking aromas. Thus, the very features of the microwave oven which make it so attractive to people anxious to quickly prepare a tasty meal, prevent the generation of kitchen aromas which would be harbingers of the upcoming meal.
The generation or release of aromas from comestibles being prepared in a microwave oven would enhance the usefulness of this appliance, as well as, increasing the acceptance of microwaveable convenience foods provided with an appropriate aroma-releasing composition.
Recently in U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,340 to T. Parliment et al. entitled Aroma Release During Microwave Cooking a composition of an aroma-producing material was taught which comprises an aroma-producing material enrobed in a lipid in combination with a microwave susceptible material. Upon exposure to microwave radiation, the rapid heat generated by the microwave susceptible material would melt the lipid thereby releasing the aroma. The microwave susceptible material could be a solid such as a heater board or it could be a liquid such as glycerol or propylene glycol which could be admixed with the aroma and lipid. However the microwave susceptible liquids may not be appropriate to be topically applied to a food product because they may contribute an off-flavor to the food on which they are applied.
It is an object of this invention to provide aroma production during microwave preparation of comestibles.
It is another object of the invention to provide aroma-producing compositions for use when comestibles are prepared in a microwave oven, preferably a composition which may be topically applied to the comestible without contributing an off-flavor to the comestible after cooking or reheating.


A circular knitting machine includes a needle-holding cylinder having plurality of longitudinal grooves housing plurality of needles, at least one yarn feed operatively associated to needles, actuating cams arranged around and movable relative to cylinder, drive chain for each needle operatively placed between needle and actuating cams. Drive chain includes: sub-needle, selector having butt which can be engaged with selector paths, selecting device acting, punch equipped with butt which can be engaged with punch paths. Punch paths include a tuck stitch ascent and drop stitch ascent for each yarn feed. Inlet of drop stitch ascent circumferentially precedes inlet of tuck stitch ascent. Selector paths include a single track defining first and second ascents placed in succession for each yarn feed. First ascent circumferentially precedes second and is operatively associated to drop stitch ascent and second ascent is operatively associated to tuck stitch ascent.

As is known, circular knitting machines comprise a needle-holding element (needle cylinder and/or plate) on which one or more series of needles are arranged along a circular path (circular needlebeds), and devices apt to control the movement of the needles for knitted fabric formation. The devices for controlling the needles of the needle-holding cylinder comprise actuating cams arranged around the cylinder itself, and actuating means configured for operatively connecting the cams to the needles. These actuating means, also defined as "flat parts", are inserted into the grooves of the needles, below the latter, and have butts configured for cooperating with paths delimited by said cams.
It is known to configure the cams and the paths defined by them so that the axial motion of the needles allows to make inactive, tuck and drop stitches.
For instance, public documents EP 1 620 590 and EP 1 620 591, issued to the same Applicant, disclose both a circular knitting machine equipped with a cylinder provided with axial grooves. Each needle of a plurality of needles is housed in one of said axial grooves and actuating means, also placed in the axial grooves, interact with the needles during the rotation of the cylinder so as to cause the actuation thereof. The actuating means of each needle comprise: a sub-needle connected to the respective needle, which can be radially oscillated in the groove so as to selectively engage its own butt with paths defined by actuating cams, a punch having an upper portion which can be engaged with a lower end of the sub-needle, which can also be engaged with respective paths defined by the actuating cams, a selector which can be oscillated in a radial plane, so as to engage into respective paths defined by the actuating cams, and which can be activated by means of selecting devices, wherein the selector has an upper portion which can be engaged against a lower portion of the punch. As can be noted, the path of the oscillating selector has a rising length which lifts said selector and the punch together with the needle as far as a cast-off point of a knitted loop (drop stitch), and a further rising length by means of which the needle is lifted to a smaller extent and the knitted loop is not cast off onto the needle stem (tuck stitch). The tuck stitch rising length lies upstream from the drop stitch rising length. In order to make a drop knitting stitch, the needle selector is retained in or guided into the operating position by means of the selecting devices, so as to engage with a butt thereof first with the tuck stitch rising length and then with the drop stitch rising length. The selector engaged with the tuck stitch rising length lifts the punch, which is then lowered thus causing the sub-needle to momentarily switch into the non-operating position. The further lifting caused by the selector being engaged with the drop stitch rising length caused the needle to be lifted as far as the cast-off point of the knitted loop. In order to make a tuck knitting stitch, the selector is engaged with the tuck stitch rising length only. In this case there is no further lifting.
Public document IT1203500 discloses a machine for knitted or hosiery items comprising a lifting cam which defines two paths for a butt of an elastic jack, which in turn acts upon a sub-needle and upon a needle. These two paths are: a first path for executing normally knitted stitches, and a second path, parallel and lowered with respect to the first one, for executing tuck stitches. Each of said paths comprises a rising length, a basically horizontal length and a sinking length. When executing normally knitted stitches (drop stitches), the butt of the elastic jack engages with the first (upper) path. The needle is lifted to such a height that the previously formed loop is dropped onto the stem of said needle. When executing tuck stitches, the butt of the elastic jack follows the second (lower) path. The needle is lifted to such a height that the previously formed loop is not dropped onto the stem.

Circular knitting machine and a method for moving the needles of a circular knitting machine


An exemplary painting robot and corresponding operating methods for the same are disclosed. The robot may be configured to paint motor vehicle bodies on an outer surface and an inner surface with an atomizer that is guided by the painting robot. According to the exemplary illustrations, the painting robot is suitable for painting the outer surfaces and for painting the inner surfaces of the motor vehicle bodies.

The present disclosure relates to a painting robot for painting motor vehicle bodies according to the preamble of claim 1. Here, "painting robots" are to be understood to mean any program-controlled multi-axis coating machines or other movement machines. The present disclosure also relates to a corresponding operating method for such a painting robot.
In modern painting installations for painting motor vehicle bodies, use is made of multi-axis painting robots which guide as an application device for example a rotary atomizer and allow a highly efficient painting operation.
Color changes are sometimes or often necessary if the motor vehicle bodies are to be painted with differently colored paints. The known painting robots therefore have a color changer described, for example in DE 103 35 358 A1. Known painting robots may have a color changer that is connected on the inlet side to a plurality of color feed lines, via which differently colored paints are supplied. In the color changer, the individual color feed lines may open via a respective color valve into a common central color channel which, via a paint pressure regulator and a metering pump, supplies the rotary atomizer with the paint to be applied.
In this design of the color changer, the central color channel between the color changer and the main needle valve of the atomizer must generally be flushed in the event of a color change before a different paint having a new color can be applied. The flushing of the central color channel in the event of a color change is important since the paint residues remaining in the central color channel in the event of a color change would otherwise contaminate the new paint.
However, one problem here is the fact that, in the event of a color change, the volume of paint between the color changer and the main needle valve of the atomizer must be discarded so that, in the case of a color changer having 24 possible colors for example, a paint loss of between 45 and 55 ml occurs. In order to minimize the paint losses occurring during a color change, therefore, the color changer is typically mounted as close as possible to the atomizer, that is to say in the distal robot arm, which is also known as "arm 2", and to which a wrist (hand axis) for the atomizer is attached.
However, the mounting of the color changer in the distal robot arm has until now required such a large amount of space in the distal robot arm that the known painting robots having a color changer mounted in the distal robot arm are suitable only for exterior painting, that is to say for the painting of outer faces of the motor vehicle bodies, since in exterior painting the size of the distal robot arm plays only a subordinate role.
By contrast, for painting the interior of motor vehicle bodies, it has to date not been possible to use any painting robots in which the color changer is mounted on the distal robot arm, since painting of the interior requires narrow, slim robot arms which can be introduced and articulated through body openings (e.g. door openings) into the interior of the motor vehicle bodies in order to be able to paint the inner faces in the interior. In the case of the known painting installations for painting motor vehicle bodies, therefore, in order to paint the interior, use is made of painting robots having a different design, in which the color changer is not mounted on the distal robot arm, the higher paint losses being accepted in order to allow a slimmer design of the distal robot arm to permit the robot to extend through a vehicle opening, or instead complex technologies such as, for example, paint containers within in the atomizer or pigging systems with piston metering means.
One disadvantage with the known painting installations, therefore, is the fact that different types of robots have to be used for interior painting on the one hand and for exterior painting on the other hand, which generally, and in any event in the case of a non-optimal design, also requires different application technology. However, the different designs of the painting robots and of the associated application technology lead to increased effort and cost in terms of construction and logistics of coating installations.
Accordingly, there is a need for a correspondingly improved painting robot.

Painting robot and associated operating method