A family of novel thermal processing and transfer media has been designed for optimized food and drink processing. These media composed solely of compounds approved to contact food, are essentially free of water, do not change state at any point in the process, remain corrosion-free throughout their useable life. While in combination with novel processing apparatus and methodologies, food and drink products requiring any heating, holding or cooling can be processed within the same equipment configurations essentially with no/minimal need for additional pressurization, the use of unheated modified atmospheres, in conjunction with these novel media, can be used to change or control the atmospheres within containers, especially polymer based containers, at specific locations within the processing cycle. It further relates to using different media compositions for each processing stage modified to optimize the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity properties of the foodstuff being processed, minimizing costs and maximizing quality.

To achieve acceptable shelf-life, food and drink products require some degree of primarily physical but occasionally chemical processing. This creates a number of issues. Firstly, anything that delays the delivery of the foodstuff from source to destination is a cost.
Secondly, food and drink raw materials and products are highly susceptible to both microbial contamination and/or organoleptic deterioration. The longer the delay between product manufacture and arrival at the end-user, the greater the amount of spoilage and degree of deterioration. This, in turn, increases the amount of processing needed to minimize spoilage and/or loss. This, in turn, generates the need for more energy and more cost.
And finally, the longer the timescale between arriving at the end user and its ultimate consumption, the more the foodstuff requires additional energy consumption in the form of cooking and cooling or refrigeration or preservation.
Escalating processing costs, and particularly energy costs, in the form of cooking/cooling, refrigeration, or storage and distribution, are becoming a very major issue with many food and drink products. So much so that we often find that the container holding the food product costs more than the food product itself and the energy costs in producing and holding the food within the container in a safe and wholesome manner, cost more than the combined costs of the food and its container.
So, methods of preserving food without incurring large energy consumption during processing and/or consuming energy during storage, coupled with other cost reductions, are receiving increasing attention.
It is well-known that methods of extending shelf-life, such as smoking and cooking for foodstuffs and water cooling for liquids have been known for thousands of years, long before the role of spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms was known or the role of chemical oxidation identified.
There are four primary types of food treatment for the purpose of extending shelf-life and minimizing pathogenicity, namely preservation, stabilization, pasteurization and sterilization. Each of these entails a different ratio of the amount of heating and cooling being applied with the more heating involved the less the amount of refrigeration required. Preservation, in the form of refrigeration, imparts no heating into the process and maintains many foods at their highest quality but with minimal shelf-life. However, if the degree of refrigeration is increased, e.g. freezing, the shelf-life increases but quality attributes tend to decrease.
While there are a wide range of factors involved in deciding which processing methods is most suitable for each application, including the amount of shelf-life required, the availability of refrigeration before and after processing, the robustness of the foodstuff raw materials or finished products, the prevalence of spoilage and/or pathogenic organisms, and the value of the raw materials and/or finished products, it is the absolute costs and the cost to value ratio that play a major role in the decision-making of the chosen preservation method.
Despite the extensive selection of methods available, (summarized in Newman, U.S. PA 61/480,521), one method, that involving the heating and cooling of the foodstuff using a thermal processing medium usually air, water or steam, is by far the most prevalent whether domestic or industrial in nature. Again, this approach is also found in many different variants such as the use of dry or wet heat, continuous or batch, static or moving, aseptic or non-aseptic environments, etc.
Continuous sterilization has been commercially available for almost 50 years and is the process of choice for manufacturers of large volume monoculture production, i.e. high throughput of the same products such as beans, soups and ketchup. While such systems involve major capital expenditure at the outset, over time it becomes increasingly cost effective. It allows very large volumes of product, often in excess of 400 units per minute to be continuously processed.
However, it was originally designed at a time when availability of refrigeration in the domestic environment was low and the demand for cost-effective production was high. It was also designed in an era where energy costs where comparatively low and freely available. So, in the modern processing environment, it has several limiting factors.
The initial capital costs are high, the running costs, especially energy costs, are also high. The considerable system infrastructure needed to withstand the high temperatures and pressures also absorbs a large percentage of the available energy. It is relative inflexible as it requires considerable equilibration time for a product changeover. It also has little buffering capacity so product has to completely exit from one chamber/tower before system changes can be enacted. In practice, the only parameter within the continuous sterilization environment that can be easily adjusted is speed of throughput/dwell time.
While there have been a continuous stream of incremental improvements to the established, continuous sterilization technologies (as typified by the teachings of Ono, U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,659 and Perren, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/648,067), Newman teaches novel methods, applications and apparatus for enhancing and optimizing process performance (U.S. PA 61/483,923), significantly improved system process control (U.S. PA 61/478,491), increased flexibility in the use of modern, lower cost packaging materials (U.S. PA 61/478,190) and enhanced finished product organoleptic properties, through improvements in enhanced product cooling (U.S. Pat. No. 478,665). He also teaches a novel method and apparatus for enhanced, controlled continuous sterilized food and drink manufacturing using apparatus that significantly reduces capital equipment costs while greatly improving manufacturing flexibility, (U.S. PA 61/480,521). Most recently (U.S. PA 61/488,220), he teaches a method which incorporates all of the above mentioned enhancements into the original vertical process but removes significant amounts of processing cost from the continuous pasteurization and sterilization by largely eliminating the need for system pressurization, (All of these applications are hereinafter incorporated by reference).
These major improvements, previously detailed by Newman, have concentrated on optimizing the use of energy while reducing overall unit costs while, for the most part, using technology incorporating many of the original system fundamentals. But, by controlling system performance and system efficiency, both the quality and value of the products produced has significantly improved, resulting in an integrated system where cost benefit and product quality potentially outweigh the performance of competing technologies specifically designed for methods of preservation other than sterilization, particularly pasteurization and stabilization.
However, one major obstacle remains, namely, how to optimize and control the physical and chemical properties and performance of the thermal transfer medium when faced with a range of products with different compositions and therefore differing thermal transfer properties.
As previously detailed elsewhere, the use of water as a thermal transfer medium for food and drink product production is extremely inefficient. During any heating phase, it has a thermal transfer rate at least two times faster than needed for producing the best quality food products. As a consequence, a lot of the energy is wasted and too much is consumed by the outer layers of containerized product, resulting in significant over-processing, made worse by any change of state from water to steam. Similar but somewhat less, energy inefficient properties are exhibited during any elevated temperature holding phase, while during cooling phases, water has a relatively small temperature window before it changes state from liquid to solid and becomes extremely abrasive on mechanical systems. Therefore its capability as a cooling agent is physically limiting and process inefficient.
The conundrum for the food manufacturer is an absolute requirement for the production of pathogenically-safe food. However, in doing so, the severe processing conditions cause significant deterioration in food quality attributes. The poorer the food quality attributes, the lower the value of the product. Therefore, there is equally a need for minimal structural disruption in order to maintain the highest product quality.
To achieve sterilization, food has to reach and maintain temperatures of 121° C. for some 5-35 minutes, depending on product type, product composition, container and volume. Higher temperatures and pressures will require less exposure time. Because of very severe limitations on the type and number of chemicals that can directly or indirectly contact food, as well as cost and availability, water has been the primary 'thermal processing medium of choice'. To achieve sterilization temperatures using water as the thermal transfer medium, requires both a change of state (steam) and a change of pressure (pressurized to 2 atmospheres. Not only does this require a significant amount of energy, in changing from a liquid to its gaseous state, i.e. steam, its thermal conductivity also changes (from 0.58 to 0.016). With most food components (except water and ash) having a thermal conductivity in the range 0.22-0.38 this further exacerbates the issues related to controlled thermal transfer and resultant over-processing, excessive structural breakdown and uneven processing of food and drink products. This makes the use of water as the thermal processing medium costly to structural incorporate and to use and difficult to control in terms of total energy and energy distribution.
It is also extremely corrosive to system structures, especially any equipment or support structures that are constructed of metal and/or concrete with steam being more corrosive than water. It requires considerable extra cost expenditure to minimize these corrosive properties.
While modification, optimization and control of process, product, product container and system performance have all been shown to have positive cost and quality benefits to thermally processed food and drink products, the major cost and performance constraints are the consequence of the thermal capabilities of the processing medium. For a wide range of reasons, there is an obvious and pressing need to find a suitable replacement thermal processing medium for water and steam.
Ideally, this thermal processing medium should be capable of optimized heating, holding and cooling performance without any change of state. Its thermal conductivity also needs to encompass the thermal conductivity of the major components of food and drink products. It also needs to be energy efficient, cost effective, minimally corrosive and safe in use.
While there are many liquids or mixtures that could be used to achieve one or more of these properties, extensive regulatory requirements severely limits which compounds can be used, most particularly in food application uses.
In recent times, there has been considerable advances in the types of thermal transfer media that can be used in cooling applications for buildings, engines, anti-freezes, windscreen washing fluids and the like. Many refrigerant systems use various glycol mixtures or glycol/alcohol mixtures (c.f. U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,662 and USPA 20080048147). These mixtures have found considerable use in such applications because, unlike water they remain in a liquid state when external or operating temperatures fall below 0° C. They have also been suggested as a suitable refrigerant in a wide range of other applications as diverse as solar powered refrigerators (U.S. Pat. No. 7,543,455) and in the cooling of electronic components (USPA 20070122335).
However, all these refrigerant/coolant media still contain significant amounts of water (30%-50% v/v or w/v). As a consequence, they will be ionic in nature and still generate considerable corrosion to metal components, particularly the system's physical structures. As such they need the addition of anti-corrosion compounds to allow them to function as coolants and antifreezes. Eventually, as the temperature falls, some of the water component will form solid ice.
Whereas prior art in the development of thermal processing media has tended to concentrate on cooling applications, more recently there has been a significant increase in the development and application of novel thermal processing heating and holding applications such as solar heating, solar power and geothermal pumps. In such applications, the higher the temperature of the thermal processing media can run, the more efficient and effective the system will perform. As such systems are usually indirect forms of heat exchange, any effective and suitable thermal processing mixture can be used. In such applications, mixtures of glycols have been particularly successful, not only because of their elevated boiling points but also, because of their depressed freezing point capability, to function in climates where there are large temperature differences without any change of state. Once again, such mixtures are ionic and polar in nature and therefore can be extremely corrosive to mechanical parts and constructional components, especially at elevated temperatures.
Whereas most thermal transfer fluids and mixtures have been developed to optimize thermal conductivity, for example, by using carbon nano-capsules to improve the heat dissipation of liquids (USPA 20070122335), it has been suggested (USPA 2006/0051639) that for optimum performance of fuel cells, such equipment needs to maintain elevated temperatures so the thermal transfer fluids used with such systems need to function in a completely different way with high heat capacity but very low thermal conductivity.
Unfortunately, virtually all such compounds and mixtures, as described in the aforesaid application examples, cannot be used in the thermal processing of food applications as they contain components proven to be harmful to humans and animals, even when present in minute quantities.
It is well-known that the number of components approved to directly contact food is both highly regulated and very limited in number. In generally, they tend to be limited to components that are edible in their own right or naturally form part of processed product formulations, such as oils, fats and various water-based mixtures. Alternative fluids also include gas (USPA 2003/0211212) and air. The thermal processing properties of such mixtures usually limit their application to one element of the process. For example, cooking in hot fat and oils is well known. This is usually to ensure the outer surfaces or layers of the treated product are subjected to considerably more heat than the internal layers, e.g. batter coat fish and poultry portions. However, such thermal transfer media cannot be used for product cooling because of poor thermal transfer properties at depressed temperatures such as excessive viscosity or change of state from liquid to solid. Air and gas mixtures are well-known in oven-cooking operations. They are much less energy transfer efficient than liquids in either heating or cooling but they can be temperature better controlled and thus makes them more suitable for food processing applications which require accurate temperature holding for a period of time, e.g. baking of pastries, breads and doughs.
However, most food applications require thermal transfer media with optimized heat transfer properties both during the heating and cooling cycles—one such component is food grade Glycerol (Glycerin)
Glycerin had historically been used as an automobile anti-freeze but was later replaced by more efficient and cheaper glycol mixtures. More recently, with the main source of glycerin/glycerol coming from the manufacture of bio-diesel from renewable resources and from sources other than petroleum, resulting in a much lower supply cost than previously, there has been renewed interest in the use of glycerin/water and glycerin/alcohol/water mixtures as refrigerants (e.g. USPA 20080315152). The use of glycerin as an excellent heating medium has been known for over 2 centuries. It was used to heat absinthe stills in the 19th century so that local overheating from a direct heating source such as a wood or coal fire, would not char the herbs, (Sauron, 2007). It has a high boiling point of 290° C. and a flash point of 176° C. Although generally safe, it does produce Arcolein when decomposed by excessive heat.
Most raw glycerin produced today is a byproduct of biofuel manufacturing, has a typical concentration of 60-82% glycerin but also contains numerous contaminants and other byproducts including glycols, alcohols, particularly methanol and ethanol, various organic and inorganic compounds, fatty acids and water. Unfortunately such compounds, particularly glycols and methanol, are toxic in nature and are not allowed to directly contact foodstuffs, although potentially they could be used as an indirect cooling medium.
In most applications, the use of glycerin/glycerol as a cooling medium is impractical because of increasing viscosity as it cools. Newman (U.S. PA 61/480,521) teaches methods and apparatus that will allow suitable glycerin only or glycerin/minimal water mixtures to function as an effective and efficient coolant, be composed only of GRAS approved components and without the need for anti-corrosion additives, they avoid any constraints in their application or use. Newman further teaches (U.S. PA 61/483,923) how such glycerin based formulations can also be optimally used in conventional hydrostat pasteurization and sterilization technology as well as in novel processing applications in which elevated temperatures are required but as there is no change of state during the heating phase, there is minimal need for pressurization and capital equipment costs are significantly reduced.
However, we have surprisingly found that the thermal transfer properties of such media can be significantly improved if mixed preferentially with other compounds which themselves are GRAS or better approved but have differing transfer properties to glycerol/glycerin mixtures alone in a manner that allows manufacturers to optimize the properties of the thermal transfer medium relative to the thermal transfer properties of the product undergoing processing while maintaining both a single physical state throughout all stages of processing and remain essentially non-corrosive.
We have therefore developed a totally different and novel range of thermal transfer media, which not only addresses all of the constraints, limitations and drawbacks of existing water/steam, based sterilization systems. We have also been able to develop the applications and methodologies to better optimize thermal processing but particularly address energy usage and usage costs.
While these media have been specifically designed for food and drink product manufacture and processing, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such controllable thermal transfer media will have application well beyond food and drink manufacturing.

Safe and efficient thermal transfer media for processing of food and drink products


A high power amplifier having high efficiency, compact and low cost characteristics based on the simple circuit structure effectively used over a wide range of the output power. A control circuit controls power supply operations of the power supply unit such that a high power amplifying unit can act as a low loss resistor that does not amplify the input signal during low power operation of the amplifier, but the high power amplifying unit amplifies the input signal during high power operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small-sized, high power amplifier, and more particularly to an amplifier applied to a wireless apparatus, such as a portable terminal, which is operated by a battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in a conventional high power amplifier used in the final output stage of a wireless transmitter, characteristics of a high efficiency, a compact size and a low price have become necessary for promoting relatively lower power consumption from the viewpoint of an entire wireless apparatus. Generally, in the conventional amplifier, efficiency decreases at lower output power. In order to constantly maintain high efficiency over a wide range of output powers, it is essentially required to improve efficiency in the lower output power range.
As solutions to this problem, conventional methods include a method for controlling a power source voltage in a high power amplifier and a "bypass method" for switching and bypassing a final stage amplifier which consumes the most electrical power among all the amplifiers.
In order to increase efficiency of the power output, the first conventional method uses a DC-DC converter to control the power source voltage based on an output power.
FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit structure for performing the bypass scheme that is the second conventional method. Referring to FIG. 1, two amplifiers and two switches are connected with each other in a tandem connection. In case of a high power output, all of the two amplifiers 1 and 2 in the first and the second stages operate, whereas in case of a low power output, the amplifier 2 of the second stage is bypassed and turned off to improve the efficiency of power.
The first conventional method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-513544 (the primary reference). The primary reference describes that the DC-DC converter is used for controlling the power source in order to realize the first conventional method of achieving efficiency. The DC-DC converter, however, with the peripheral circuits thereof causes the entire apparatus to become bigger in volume as well as to be expensive. Furthermore, the first conventional method has a problem in that the conversion loss of the DC-DC converter tends to increase (i.e., efficiency is lowered) when the output power is lowered (i.e., the power source voltage is lowered). As a result, the structure of combining the amplifier and the DC-DC converter has a problem in the deterioration of the efficiency.
In the second conventional method using the bypass scheme, when the lower power is output, the efficiency is deteriorated to the extent of the power losses of the two switches, as shown in FIG. 1. Each of the two switches, connected to an output of the amplifier 1, generates a certain amount of loss, respectively. Also, the structure for the second method includes the switches that essentially cause the entire structure to increase in both size and cost.


A system includes a processor, an input device, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to display a palette and receive a user selection of one or more actions, and store the selected actions in association with the palette in an electronic database. In another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium includes program instructions that when executed, cause a computer to display, on a graphical user interface, a palette, receive, via the input device, a user selection of one or more actions, and store the selected one or more actions in association with the palette in a database. A method includes displaying a palette and receiving, via the input device, a user selection of one or more actions, and storing the selected one or more actions in association with the palette in an electronic database.

Existing enterprise systems used to manage an organization's relationships and interactions with customers (e.g., a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system or a Quantitative Risk Management (QRM) system) require employees to perform repetitive tasks. Existing consumer voice-based systems such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, etc. are proprietary systems that do not allow an enterprise to meaningfully integrate those systems with internal enterprise systems. Such consumer systems have several drawbacks. First, consumer systems do not include a public application programming interface (API). Second, consumer systems are geared toward consumer development and require sensitive data to transit networks and data centers controlled by third parties. Using such networks and data centers represent security and data privacy risks. Such systems are simply not intended to access enterprise data. Third, consumer systems base understanding of utterances on template programming. Therefore, such systems are brittle, and unable to process slight variations in speech. When voice response is based upon templates, it is generally not customizable for specific business use cases/contexts. Fourth, consumer systems do not allow a user (e.g., a developer) to access integrated functions in a process located within an enterprise computing environment, or to keep such processes located on the premises of the enterprise. Rather, the consumer system owner requires that all access occur in a captive cloud environment. An enterprise may choose to exempt certain network access through the network firewall of the enterprise, but to do so weakens security across the enterprise, and other teams may object (e.g., an InfoSec team). Fifth, any reaction to a spoken utterance is generated by the consumer system, not a local process. Sixth, the requirement to access remote cloud-based resources causes latencies in processing that may be frustrating to end users.
In many cases, consumer voice system APIs are rigid and cannot be integrated with legacy applications due to a mismatch between the programming capabilities of the consumer voice systems and the older applications. A further drawback of existing voice systems is that they provide no facilities to allow a user to specify custom voice commands, because response actions are hard-coded. In other words, whatever functionality the owner of the consumer voice system chose is available to the user, and the user cannot express any other voice commands. The user has no ability to change fundamental design decisions, such as the method for accessing the consumer voice system. Moreover, as business imperatives shift over time, the set of available commands may become quickly outdated. Further, existing systems require developers to write code to implement voice functionality, which is time-consuming and error-prone. Existing systems to not include any facilities that allow end users to create voice code-free voice functionality.

Visual programming methods and systems for intent dispatch


The disclosure provides a method for use in a robotic system for identifying fasteners used in aircraft and other applications. The fasteners include rivets (with no slots), bolts (with two slots) and screws with one or two slots. The method accepts as input a family of related signals which are known to contain symmetry. By computing the mean variance of the zero-meaned cross-correlation signals, the method automatically selects those signals which contain pertinent information while disregarding those signals which do not. The accepted signals are then used to create a composite reference signal which can be used to determine the particular fastener type.

This method of this invention includes an algorithm which has been implemented in the Robotic Deriveting and Drilling work cell, an automatic fastener removal system currently being developed for use within the aerospace structural repair industry by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. A similar system is described in an article entitled Location and Identification of Rivets By Machine Vision, By Franke, Michalsky and McFalls, presented at Vision '85, Mar. 25-28, 1985, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, Mich. The Franke et al paper is included in the disclosure information statement submitted with this application.
A major difficulty in identification of the fastener type lies in the fact that there were five different types of fasteners, which may be grouped into three general classes, and hence there are three different spatial signals to differentiate, but each signal may be located in a different position, depending on fastener type. These fasteners were classified as having 2, 1 or no slots. The system described by Franke et al solves the problem of variability of signal location by requiring a priori knowledge of the expected fastener type. Because the information required to differentiate fastener type is contained in different parts of the image depending upon the fastener type being examined, the Franke et al system uses knowledge of the expected fastener type to decide where in the image to gather intensity data. The method disclosed in accordance with this invention solves this problem without requiring information regarding the expected fastener type. This method accepts a uniform template of data, equally spaced concentric circles of intensity data, from any fastener independent of type. The method then is able to intelligently decide which of these signals contains the pertinent information which is to be processed further.

Method for identifying a signal containing symmetry in the presence of noise

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


The present invention discloses a fuel nozzle assembly and method for axially staging fuel injection. The fuel nozzle assembly comprises a plurality of vanes connected to a core, with an annular ring connectedly surrounding the plurality of vanes. Fuel is directed through the core and then through the vanes and is injected at different axial planes generally perpendicular to an oncoming air stream to obtain a broad spectrum of gas residence time between the point of fuel injection and the flame.

Gas turbine engines operate to produce mechanical work or thrust. Specifically, land-based gas turbine engines typically have a generator coupled thereto for the purposes of generating electricity. An enhancement in combustion technology is the concept of premixing fuel and air prior to combustion to form a homogeneous mixture that burns at a lower temperature. An example of a premixing combustor uses a plurality of fuel nozzles to inject fuel into a premix chamber where it mixes with compressed air before entering a combustion chamber. Premixing fuel and air together before combustion allows for the fuel and air to form a more homogeneous mixture prior to ignition.
More specifically, a fuel nozzle can include a swirler to aid in mixing the fuel. A swirler can include a plurality of vanes extending from the nozzle. However, the exact design and fuel injection locations can vary depending on the design parameters of the fuel nozzle and the combustor such as desired mixing level and convective delay time, to name a few.

Fuel nozzle for axially staged fuel injection


In a semiconductor device, an interconnection of differentially doped diffusion regions formed on a substrate includes an interconnecting layer disposed between the two diffusion regions so that the two regions are coupled to one another. The interconnect region is defined by the existing mask boundaries of N+ dopant and P+ dopant regions such that N+ and P+ dopant is not allowed to enter the interconnect region. Thus, the interconnect region is defined without requiring additional masking and etching steps. Once the interconnect region is defined, then the interconnecting layer is formed by a deposition and sintering process. The interconnecting layer provides a schottky barrier and ohmic contact.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of complementary metal oxide silicon technology, and in particular, to the interconnection of differentially doped diffusion regions.
2. Background Art
In complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) technology, the gate electrodes of n-channel and p-channel field effect transistors (FET) are interconnected such that for a given applied voltage, one of the two devices is off. In some CMOS circuits, it is also necessary to interconnect an n-type source/drain diffusion region to a p-type source/drain diffusion region. Conventionally, these diffusion interconnections are accomplished by, for example, using metal wires to connect the regions or by providing an isolation trench to connect the two regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,567, entitled "Trench Interconnection for CMOS Diffusion Regions," issued on Jul. 3, 1990, and assigned to International Business Machines Corp., describes a conductor filled trench used to couple an n-type diffusion region to a p-type diffusion region. The trench is disposed between a P+ diffusion region and an N+ diffusion region such that a conductive layer within the trench electrically couples the diffusion regions to one another. The conductor is insulated from the substrate by a thin dielectric layer located on the sidewalls and bottom of the trench.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,544, entitled "Silicide Bridge Contact Process, " issued on Jan. 8, 1991, and assigned to International Business Machines Corp., a method of forming a bridge contact between a source diffusion region and a conductor filled trench is described. The trench is coupled to a source diffusion region by depositing a layer of refractory metal, such as titanium, on the substrate's surfacer and by sintering to form titanium silicide.
The above-described methods of interconnecting an n-type diffusion region and a p-type diffusion region require the addition of an additional element such as wire to connect the regions or a trench disposed between the regions which then needs to be interconnected to the diffusion regions. These additional elements add to process complexity and expense. Thus, there exists a need to form an interconnection between differentially doped diffusion regions without the use of additional elements. Further, a need exists to form an interconnection between differentially doped diffusion regions without utilizing separate mask and etch steps.

Silicide interconnection with Schottky barrier diode isolation

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention is based on the realisation that inflamed plaques in blood vessel walls, which are potentially vulnerable to rupture, can be detected at elevated temperatures which are lower than previously realised. In particular, the low temperatures at which inflamed plaque can be detected are often associated with systems in which blood flow is generally close to normal in particular temperature differences above zero but not more than 0.39° C. have been found to be indicative of the presence of inflamed plaque.

Plaque can develop in a patient's cardiovascular system The plaque can be quite extensive and occlude a substantial length of the vessel. Additionally, the plaque may be inflamed and unstable, such plaque being subject to rupture, erosion or ulceration which can cause the patient to experience a myocardial infarction, thrombosis or other traumatic and unwanted effects. Such inflamed and unstable plaques are commonly known as vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Furthermore, relative blood viscosity rises and aggregation of platelets increases with temperature increases (Dintefass L. Rheology of Blood in Diagnostic and Preventive Medicine London, UK: Butterworths; 1976;66-74).
Previous ex vivo studies have shown that there is indeed thermal heterogeneity in human carotid atherosclerotic plaques (Casscells W, Hawthorn B, David M, Krabach T, Vaughn W K, McAllister H A, Beaman G, Willerson J T. "Thermal detection of cellular infiltrates in living atherosclerotic plaques: possible implications for plaque rupture and thrombosis. Lancet". 1996,347:1447-1449)
Casscells et al postulate that plaque rupture may be predicted by the heat released by activated macrophages which they suggest are either on the plaque surface or under a thin cap. They postulate that measurement of plaque temperature in vivo could be used to identify plaque at increased risk of rupture In particular they note that 37% of the plaques tested by them had "substantially warmer" regions Such regions are described as being 0.4 to 2.2° C. warmer
This work is discussed further in U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,075, which again discusses the tact that 37% of the plaques had 1 to 5 substantially warmer (0.4 to 2.2° C.) regions per plaque. It is specifically postulated that the temperatures of plaques which are in danger of rupturing will vary from those less at risk by at least 1.5° C.
The work of Casscells et al was carried out on samples of carotid arteries taken at endarterectomy, in the living state but nevertheless not in the subjects. Measurements in the Casscells et al Lancet paper were carried out using a thermistor (Cole-Parmer model 8402-20) with a 24-gauge needle tip and in addition with a Jet Propulsion Laboratory platinum silicide camera. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,075 measurements were made by infrared-sensing, in particular with the use of catheters. The methods used comprise placing an optical fibre capable of transmitting radiation proximate to the position at which temperature is to be determined. A balloon encasing a distal end of the fibre is inflated within the blood vessel to cause the balloon to limit flow of fluids within the vessel. Thermal radiation from the vessel is transmitted along the fibre to a detector Clearly, this method necessarily involves limiting flow of fluids within the blood vessel.
Stefanadis et al, in "Thermal Heterogeneity Within Human Atherosclerotic Coronary Arteries Detected in vivo", Circulation 1999,99,1965-1971, measured various temperatures of human coronary arteries in vivo.
Stefanadis et al determined the difference between temperatures in a control (background) region and temperatures at the surface of a region of interest (ROI). This work concluded that differences between ROI temperatures and background temperatures ranged from 1.55° C. in unstable angina patients to 2.60° C. in acute myocardial infarction patients. Mean differences between ROI and background temperatures were 0.683 in unstable angina patients and 1.472 in acute myocardial infarction patients. Mean values of these differences in stable angina patients were lower, in particular around 0.16° C., but this condition was not believed to be associated with the presence of vulnerable plaque. Indeed, there was no suggestion in this paper that any temperature differences were associated with vulnerable inflamed plaque.
This work was carried out using a thermography catheter The patients tested were those with severe lesions, in particular lesions more than 50% stenosed. This, combined with the particular catheter design used, had the effect that the catheter had to be wedged inside the lesions, severely restricting blood flow through the vessels. We believe that this severe restriction of blood flow led to artificially high temperature measurements

Determining vulnerable plaque in blood vessels


A computing system includes: a control circuit for determining a user data, generating a base set including a base protection data based on encoding the user data, calculating an extra protection data based on encoding the base set; and a storage circuit for storing the extra protection data (210) corresponding to the base set.

Modern consumer and industrial electronics, especially devices such as graphical computing systems, televisions, projectors, cellular phones, portable digital assistants, and combination devices, are providing increasing levels of functionality to support modern life including three-dimensional display services. Research and development in the existing technologies can take a myriad of different directions. As data become more pervasive, existing and new systems need to interoperate and provide data reliability.
Thus, a need still remains for a computing system with adjustable coding mechanism to provide improved data reliability and recovery. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Computing system with shift adjustable coding mechanism and method of operation thereof

Abstract: The computing system can further include: an storage circuit for providing a received codeword corresponding to a user data and a base protection data, providing an extra protection data corresponding to the received codeword; and a control circuit for calculating a base syndrome from the received codeword, calculating a further syndrome from the extra protection data, and decoding the received codeword to recover the user data, the base protection data, or a combination thereof using the base syndrome and the further syndrome.


A method, system and computer program product to generate a training data set for image segmentation applications, comprising providing a set of input documents of a first format. The input documents each comprise one or more pages. The input documents are split into individual document pages and parsed. Parsing comprises identifying a predefined set of items including position information of the position of the predefined set of items in the individual document pages; generating a bitmap image of a second format for each individual document page of the first format. The bitmap image comprises a predefined number of pixels. A mask is generated for each individual document. The mask comprises the predefined number of pixels of the corresponding bitmap image. Generating the mask comprises assigning an encoded class label to each pixel of the mask based on the position information of identified items of the predefined set of items.

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method to generate training-data as ground-truth for image segmentation applications.
The present invention further relates to a corresponding system and a corresponding computer program product.
The extraction of fundamental components from scanned documents, e.g. text cells, paragraphs, lines etc. may be done in two fundamentally different ways. Either one uses a rule-based method, in which one encodes explicitly certain properties of these components and uses those for their identification and extraction. Another more popular way is to use a machine learning approach, in which one uses training data to learn those properties implicitly. This approach is more general, but typically requires lots of annotated data as training data which is hard and costly to obtain. Such training data is often referred to as ground-truth.
The generation of such ground-truth, in particular pixel-perfect ground-truth, is very difficult to obtain through human annotation. In essence, one needs to assign to each pixel in the image a class-label.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods which facilitate to generate such training data in an efficient way.

Ground truth generation for image segmentation

International Business Machines Corporation


A head-up display in a motor vehicle has an image combiner movable between an active position, in which it is situated in the field of view of a driver of the vehicle, and an inactive position, in which it is situated close to a surface of or within an instrument panel. The position of the image combiner is controlled depending on signals from vehicle devices that indicate a likelihood or probability of a fogging condition of the windshield. The fogging condition may be indicated by a driver actuation of a windshield defogging/heating system.

A movable image combiner of the type described above is usually located in the inactive position when the vehicle is parked, and moves into the active position when the vehicle is started or in response to a dedicated driver request. A known head-up display device is taught by DE 10 2004 015 275 A1, wherein the image combiner is formed by a prism, which can be lowered in the instrument panel. The present invention, however, is directed to all possible head-up displays having a separate image combiner, e.g., having a simple disk made from glass or plastic, which can be retracted into the instrument panel or can be folded down to be flush (or nearly flush) with a surface thereof In addition, the term "image combiner", as used here, is intended to mean not only devices having a projection area, onto which the information from the instrument panel that is supposed to be displayed to the driver is projected and, there, is combined with the scenery that can be seen in the direction of travel, but also any other transparent displays having light pixels integrated therein and that have already been realized and that can provide the driver with a view all the way through.
In the case of such head-up displays having a separate image combiner, it is generally preferable to situate the image combiner as close as possible to the windshield, inter alia, because the virtual image of the information displayed to the driver is supposed to be located as far away from the eyes of the driver as possible, so that the eyes of the driver do not need to focus back and forth too extremely when moving between the scenery in front of the vehicle and the displayed information.
An image combiner located close to the windshield, due simply to its distance from the eyes of the driver, should also be relatively wide and may extend up close to the driver-side A-pillar. In addition, separate image combiners are preferably used in vehicles having sharply-angled (or raked) windshields, which devices are unsuitable for direct projection onto the windshield, and, in this case, the image combiner should stand substantially more upright than the windshield. In this case, an intermediate space between the windshield and the image combiner results, the space having an approximately triangular cross section. Even if recirculation flaps or defroster nozzles on the instrument panel are advantageously disposed in the space between the windshield and the image combiner, regions form—as the inventors have determined—having very little air flow on the windshield, in which areas the windshield fogs up particularly easily and, in fact, first in its lower corner toward the A-pillar.
The possibility that a windshield having an image combiner located closely thereto may tend to fog up is known per se from JP 2008213719 A, and said document addresses the problem by designing the image combiner with an integrated air distribution duct, through which defroster air is blown, which air impacts the windshield at the upper end of the image combiner.

Method and apparatus for controlling the position of a head-up display image combiner


The present invention discloses an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board in which printed circuit boards having various sizes can be transferred by using one transfer apparatus. The apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board includes: a base plate; a plurality of linear motion guides installed to both sides of the base plate with a constant distance; first and second linear motion blocks installed slidably to the linear motion guides; a conveyor means reached in good condition on frames of the first and second motion blocks and having first and second conveyors for moving/supporting the printed circuit board; driving means for driving the first and second conveyors, respectively; a width direction transfer means of the conveyor means comprising: servo motors; moving blocks connected to the servo motors and fixed to a lower portion of the conveyor frame; fixing blocks installed to both sides of the base plate and connected to the moving blocks; and ball screws for interconnecting the moving blocks and the fixing blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board, more particularly, to an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board in which printed circuit boards having various sizes can be transferred by using one transfer apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
A large number of electronic components electrically connected with each other are mounted on a surface of a printed circuit board. The mounting of the electronic components is performed by a surface mounting apparatus, and the mounting method of the electronic components comprises the steps of: supplying a printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to a xe2x80x9cboardxe2x80x9d); transferring the supplied board; mounting the electronic components on the board; and discharging the board mounted the electronic component.
As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting apparatus of electronic components according to a conventional art comprises: a plurality of conveyors C1, C2 and C3 arranged in a line for transferring the board P; an electronic component feeding device 1 installed to at least one side of the conveyor C2 being mounted the electronic component among the plurality of conveyors C1, C2 and C3 and loaded the electronic component 2; mounting heads 3 and 3xe2x80x2 for mounting the electronic component 2 to the board P by picking the electronic component 2 from the electronic component feeding device 1; and a support means (not shown) for supporting the board transferred from a lower side of the mounting area of the electronic component to the mounting area.
The conveyors C1, C2 and C3 have belts B1, B2 and B3 being mounted on both sides thereof at regular intervals.
A first conveyor C1 among the conveyors C1, C2 and C3 is a charge buffer conveyor for charging the board, a third conveyor C3 positioned at the other side is a discharge buffer conveyor for discharging the board mounted the electronic components, and a second conveyor C2 between the first and third buffer conveyors is a mounting conveyor for mounting the electronic component. The respective conveyors C1, C2 and C3 are operated independently by a driving means (not shown), respectively.
The heads 3 and 3xe2x80x2 are moved at X and Y shafts by frames of X and Y shafts and suck the electronic component in the electronic component feeding device 1 by vacuum, so that the electronic component is mounted to the board.
At this time, when the first and second mounting heads 3 and 3xe2x80x2 perform the mounting work simultaneously, since an interruption between the mounting heads may be occurred, the first and second mounting heads perform the mounting work sequentially, not simultaneously. The board P completed the mounting work of the electronic components is carried out by the third conveyor C3.
However, according to the electronic component mounting method of the conventional art, there are several disadvantages as follows.
Since the width of the conveyor, a transfer apparatus of the board P, can not be controlled and a working area also can not be moved, the boards having widths of various sizes can not be transferred by one conveyor. Accordingly, since plural conveyors matching to the width of each board are required, the cost for purchasing and maintaining the board is needed much and a large quantity of manpower are needed.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board in which printed circuit boards having various widths can be transferred safely by using one transfer apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board in which the printed circuit board can be transferred easily to a desired working area.
In one aspect of the present invention, to achieve the above-described objects of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for transferring a printed circuit board comprising: a base plate; a plurality of linear motion guides installed to both sides of the base plate with a constant distance; first and second linear motion blocks installed slidably to the linear motion guides; a conveyor means reached in good condition on frames of the first and second motion blocks and having first and second conveyors for moving/supporting the printed circuit board; driving means for driving the first and second conveyors, respectively; a width direction transfer means of the conveyor means comprising: servo motors; moving blocks connected to the servo motors and fixed to a lower portion of the conveyor frame; fixing blocks installed to both sides of the base plate and connected to the moving blocks; and ball screws for interconnecting the moving blocks and the fixing blocks.

Apparatus for transferring printed circuit board


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including the steps of: acquiring information on a graphic composing a physical layout of a semiconductor integrated circuit; carrying out calculation for a transferred image in the physical layout; carrying out calculation for a signal delay based on the physical layout, and obtaining a wiring not meeting a specification having the signal delay previously set therein; and setting a portion into which a repeater is to be inserted based on at least one result of results obtained from the information on the graphic and calculation for the transferred image, respectively, with respect to the wiring not meeting the specification.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing method, a semiconductor device manufacturing program, and a semiconductor device manufacturing system each having a pattern design for inserting a repeater for adjusting a signal delay into a wiring(s) of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
In recent years, physical layouts of integrated circuits have been complicated along with miniaturization of semiconductor devices. Processing for generating mask data from the physical layout starts with a layout data on which is outputted after completion of arrangement wiring (a layout based on graphic data). That is to say, optical proximity correction (OPC) processing is executed for a pattern after design rule checking (DRC) processing and schematic inspecting (LVS) processing are carried out for a layout data on which is outputted after completion of the arrangement wiring processing. Also, mask data is generated after completion of the OPC verifying processing.
On the other hand, so-called timing convergence processing, such as RC extracting processing, delay calculating processing, and static timing analyzing (STA) processing, for calculating a parasitic capacitance value and a parasitic resistance value in a semiconductor integrated circuit is executed in parallel with such layout processing.
Recently, a mutual influence between the layout processing side and the timing convergence side has begun to be feared due to the complication of the physical layout described above. For example, when the layout after completion of the detailed wiring is changed, it is necessary to ensure the influence exerted on the timing. Also, in the processing for the timing convergence, it is necessary to confirm whether or not there is an influence exerted on the layout.
In order to cope with the former case of the above two cases, an arrangement wiring technique for removing a pattern exceeding a lithography margin (lithography margin unachieved pattern) is developed. In addition thereto, a flow of layout processing is developed every device.
However, in order to cope with the latter case, since the design technique with which the timing convergence has been given a top priority has been made until now, any of primary factors making trade-off with the timing does not exist.
Here, repeater inserting processing is known as one of the timing convergence processing exerting an influence on a layout. The repeater is inserted into the middle of the wiring as may be necessary for the purpose of adjusting a delay in the wiring. Thus, a wiring pattern is divided into parts in a stage of a design, and an element such as a buffer is inserted between the parts obtained by dividing the wiring pattern, thereby adjusting a parasitic resistance and a parasitic capacitance of the wiring. The repeater is inserted when delay calculation after completion of RC extracting processing shows that there is a timing error. In this case, however, the layout changes after completion of cutting of the wiring because the wiring in the repeater insertion position is cut. For this reason, it is necessary to confirm whether or not the lithography unachieved pattern exists in the layout after completion of the processing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-132111 proposes a technique about this respect. This technique is described as follows. RC networks obtained in consideration of a dispersion of wiring widths and wiring intervals are enumerated, sizes of a buffer and a transistor are changed based on a waveform of an input signal to a circuit, and finally one, having a minimum delay, of the RC networks thus obtained is selected to be adopted as a wiring layout.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-40785 discloses a technique with which a functional block exerting an influence on a timing is determined after a path exerting an influence after completion of delay calculation and timing verification is retrieved, and a buffer insertion optimal portion is retrieved. Moreover, there is also proposed a technique for changing connection of a wiring receiving an influence exerted thereon due to the buffer insertion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manufacturing method, manufacturing program and manufacturing system for semiconductor device


A control unit for a chain shifter uses a reversible electric selector motor to position a cam selector within a pawl guide housing so that a traveling pawl will be directed as necessary for chain shifting. The motor rotates a low mass eccentric, the eccentric providing sufficient angular force to actuate a spring-loaded latch key, the key positioning the cam selector. As the eccentric accelerates, it gains sufficient force until it impacts and moves one of a pair of latch arms holding the key in a central position, allowing the latch key to rotate.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,038 discloses a sprocket shift assembly wherein a chain is moved from sprocket to sprocket, the sprockets being of different diameter, while maintaining a positive drive connection during shifting. The chain is shifted from a sprocket around which the chain is entrained to a receiving sprocket by pivoting a sector of the receiving sprocket so that it is aligned with the teeth of the chain entrained sprocket. After the chain has been shifted to the receiving sprocket the sector is returned to its original position with the chain entrained thereon.
U.S. Pat No. 4,580,997 discloses a two-speed sprocket and chain shift assembly. One sprocket has a small pivoted sprocket segment. A shifting mechanism shifts the chain, entrained on one sprocket, to another by pivoting the sprocket segment to align it with the chain. The patent also discloses the use of a pawl housing and pivotable cam to direct travel of a pawl carried by the sprocket as necessary to shifting or non-shifting of the sprocket and chain assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,046 discloses a control unit for a chain shifter using a reversible electric selector motor to position a cam assembly within a pawl guide housing. A traveling pawl is thereby directed as necessary for chain shifting. A spring loaded latch key positions the cam selector. The spring biases left and right latch arms apart so that they hold the cam selector in a centered position. In operation, the motor must push one of two latch arms away from the latch key to permit the cam selector to rotate. The spring forces the latch members against the key and thus the motor must exert significant force to overcome the spring's force and move the latch key. The force required by the motor puts significant demands on the battery driving the motor. As a result, the battery must be frequently replaced. Alternatively, a larger battery may be used, however, a large and heavy battery is not suitable for use with a bicycle.
Moreover, the force output from a motor is not instantaneous, but rather, builds over time. The motor in the above system must push against one of the latch arms for a period of time until the motor exerts a force great enough to move the latch arm. Not only does this place further demands on the battery, but the time delay between activation of the motor and shifting of the chain may be undesirable.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved control unit for a chain shifter which has increased power efficiency. Additionally, there is a need for an improved control unit for a chain shifter which is capable of rapid positioning of the cam selector.

High-efficiency, high-speed control unit for chain shifter


A method for manufacturing an oxygen sensor unit of the type which includes at least a shaped body of a solid electrolyte, an inner electrode provided on an inside surface of the shaped body and exposed to a reference gas, an outer electrode provided on an outside surface of the shaped body and exposed to a gas to be measured, and a porous protective layer covering the outer electrode and a portion of the shaped body adjoining to said outer electrode wherein the solid electrolyte is made of a mixture of zirconia and a stabilizer therefor and is constituted of a sintered product of partially stabilized zirconia. The method is characterized in that the partially stabilized, sintered zirconia is obtained according to a high temperature sintering process which includes at least the step of sintering the mixture at a temperature of 1200.degree. C. or over for a duration of 2 to 6 hours wherein a value obtained by integrating a variation in the sintering temperature with the duration in the sintering process is in the range of 300 to 1500.degree. C..multidot.hour.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a method for manufacturing an oxygen sensor unit which is suitable for use in oxygen sensors of internal combustion engines for automotive vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the control of an air-to-fuel ration in internal combustion engines of automotive vehicles, oxygen sensors have been usually used. A typical structure of such a sensor is, for example, shown in FIG. 4 which will be described hereinafter. An oxygen sensor unit incorporated in the oxygen sensor is, for example, of the type which comprises a solid electrolyte body, and a pair of electrodes formed on inner and outer sides of the solid electrolyte, respectively. Moreover, a protective layer is provided to cover the outer electrode therewith at the outer surface thereof so as to protect the outer electrode from a poisonous contaminant in a gas to be measured as shown in FIG. 3. This figure will also be referred to hereinafter.
The solid electrolyte of the oxygen sensor unit has been conventionally made, for example, of a sintered body of zirconia to which a stabilizer is added.
The sintered bodies of the zirconia known in the art can be broadly classified into two groups. One group includes a body made of fully stabilized zirconia which consists essentially of a cubic phase (C phase) alone. The other group includes a body made of partially stabilized zirconia which is constituted mainly of a cubic phase (C phase), a monoclinic phase (M phase) and/or a tetragonal phase (T phase) existing in mingling relation.
The fully stabilized zirconia is one which is stable over a wide temperature range of room temperature (20.degree. C.) to a high temperature of 1000.degree. C. and is unlikely to degrade as time passes. However, this type of zirconia is neither resistant to mechanical shocks such as vibrations, nor resistant to thermal shocks, thus being liable to break. Owing to this deficiency of the fully stabilized zirconia, partially stabilized zirconia sintered bodies have been usually employed as a solid electrolyte in this field of the art.
However, when partially stabilized zirconia is repeatedly subjected to heating and cooling cycles at temperatures between room temperature (20.degree. C.) and a high temperature of 1000.degree. C., phase transformation takes place, as is shown in FIG. 5, between the monoclinic phase (i.e. monoclinic zirconia in the figure) and the tetragonal phase (tetragonal zirconia in FIG. 5).
As will be apparent from FIG. 5, the phase transformation involves a great variation in volume. When using partially stabilized zirconia in an oxygen sensor unit as a solid electrolyte body and subjecting the unit to heating and cooling cycles, this solid electrolyte body may undesirably be cracked or, in the worst case, broken.
In usual practice, a protective layer is formed to protect an outside electrode which is exposed to a gas to be measured as described before. In this condition, if phase transformation accompanying the volumetric variation occurs between the M and T phases of the partially stabilized zirconia sintered body serving as the solid electrolyte, some stress is caused to occur between the solid electrolyte body and the protective layer, with the great possibility that the protective layer suffers cracks and the protective layer separates from the solid electrolyte body or the outer electrode.

Method for manufacturing a gas sensor unit


A method of measuring impedance in a system comprises holding a microprocessor in reset mode and providing a clock to the microprocessor at a frequency FCLK while measuring a first current level, providing the clock at frequency FCLK/N while measuring a second current level, where N is a positive integer, measuring the voltage at a plurality of ports in the system a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of sets of voltage measurements while holding the microprocessor in reset mode, toggling the clock frequency between FOLK and FOLK/N, and generating a periodic current waveform. The voltage measurements are averaged. The method further comprises determining and removing clock frequency-dependent noises to generate a filtered average voltage, and determining an impedance by dividing a Fourier component of the filtered average voltage by a Fourier component of the periodic current waveform having alternating first and second current levels.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic circuits, and in particular to a method of measuring low impedances.
Several factors in the development of computer systems and electronic circuits such as microprocessor chips, printed circuit boards, and electronic packaging contribute to the need for lower impedances over a wide bandwidth in the power distribution networks of these systems. Decreasing power supply levels, signal transition times and die sizes, and the steady increase of power supply currents and clock speeds all require the power distribution network to have very low impedance levels. The typical target impedance for computer systems have decreased by a factor of five every two years. Low impedance in the milliohm and sub-milliohm range is desirable to minimize noise generation, electromagnetic radiation and interference.
While techniques to verify signal integrity of high-speed signals have been widely available, the need to accurately measure very low impedances in the milliohm and sub-milliohm ranges at high frequencies remains unsatisfied. Time-domain reflectometry instruments have been used to measure power distribution network impedances. However, time-domain reflectometry measurements are not suitable for measuring milliohm range impedances due to the noise and nonlinearity of the oscilloscope used in this method. RLC (resistance, inductance and capacitance) meters cannot measure sub-ohm impedances at hundreds of megahertz frequencies. Vector network analyzers have also been used to measure circuit parameters, however they can only access exterior points of a semiconductor chip and cannot measure interior impedances. Furthermore, vector network analyzers measure impedance by supplying and forcing a current into the system, but the current cannot be pushed through the circuit uniformly and achieve satisfactory measurements. A common disadvantage of these conventional methodologies also includes the inability to obtain on-die impedance measurement during system operations.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of measuring impedance in a system having a microprocessor comprises holding the microprocessor in reset mode and providing a clock to the microprocessor at frequency FCLK while measuring a first current level, providing the clock at frequency FCLK/N and measuring a second current level, where N is a positive integer. While holding the microprocessor in reset and toggling the clock frequency between FCLK and FCLK/N, and generating a periodic current waveform, measuring the voltage at at least one port in the system a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of sets of voltage measurements. The plurality of sets of voltage measurements are averaged. The method further comprises varying FCLK and determining a Fourier component of the averaged voltage measurements to determine clock frequency-dependent noises, and removing the clock frequency-dependent noises to generate a filtered average voltage, and determining an impedance by dividing a Fourier component of the filtered average voltage by a Fourier component of the periodic current waveform having alternating first and second current levels.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of determining impedance in a system having a microprocessor comprises generating a step waveform in the microprocessor by holding the microprocessor in reset mode and providing a clock to the microprocessor first at frequency FCLK while measuring a first current level, and providing the clock at FCLK/N while measuring a second current level. The method further comprises holding the microprocessor in reset mode, toggling the clock frequency between FCLK and FCLK/N, while measuring the voltage at a plurality of ports in the system to obtain a plurality of sets of voltage measurements, and averaging the plurality of sets of voltage measurements. The method comprises varying FCLK and determining clock frequency-dependent noises, and removing the clock frequency-dependent noises to generate a filtered average voltage, and determining an impedance as a function of frequency by dividing a Fourier component of the filtered average voltage by a Fourier component of the periodic current waveform having alternating first and second current levels.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a system comprises means for holding the microprocessor in reset mode and measuring a first current level while providing a clock to the microprocessor at frequency FCLK, and measuring a second current level while providing the clock at frequency FCLK/N, means for generating a periodic current waveform and measuring the voltage at at least one port in the system a plurality of times to obtain at least one set of voltage measurements while holding the microprocessor in reset mode and toggling the clock frequency between FCLK and FCLK/N, and means for averaging the plurality of sets of voltage measurements. The system further comprises means for varying FCLK and determining a Fourier component of the averaged voltage measurements to determine clock frequency-dependent noises, and removing the clock frequency-dependent noises to generate a filtered average voltage, and means for determining an impedance by dividing a Fourier component of the filtered average voltage by a Fourier component of the periodic current waveform having alternating first and second current levels.

System and method of measuring low impedances

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Multiple copies of web services reside on associated computing devices, each having an associated reputation. A client may desire to access the web service having the highest or best reputation to be ensured of a greater degree of accuracy and confidence. The client does a search, and attaches to whichever web service has the highest reputation. By running multiple copies of the web services, they may vote amongst themselves on the results in the event that one or more of the services starts giving incorrect or otherwise inconsistent results. Combining the voting with reputation data associated with each copy of the web service allows a service's reputation to be dynamically adjusted based upon how faithfully it computes the results of work items sent to it.

There are many types of computing services, resources and data that computer users and applications need to manage and otherwise access. Such resources and data include services and data maintained locally, and data maintained on corporate networks and other remotely accessible sites including intranets and the internet.
The concept of web services is generally directed to providing a computing service to clients via protocols and standards that are cross-platform in nature. In general, web services provide the basic tools for wiring the nodes of a distributed application together, regardless of the type of platform on which the requesting client is running. As there are many different computing platforms, various platform-independent mechanisms and protocols that facilitate the exchange of network information are becoming commonplace in web services, including HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), XML (eXtensible Markup Language), XML Schema, and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) XML. Traditional web services, in which businesses, organizations, and other providers offer services to users and applications, are presently based on these standards. Moreover, a web service can represent other types of resources, such as hardware devices, databases, and the like.
Currently, the protocols by which web services exchange data with a client allow a client to send a message to a server port (e.g., URI) corresponding to the service and receive a message back at the client, in a manner agreed on according to a contract provided by the web service.
Reputation management systems are well-known in peer-to-peer networks, which provide a means of distributing many kinds of data, such as music, movies, and software. Given the open nature of these networks (that is, the fact that they allow anyone on the network to share any type and number of files), peer-to-peer networks are prone to abuses by anonymous malicious peers who share inauthentic files. The presence of these malicious peers can lead to the network becoming inundated with viruses, spam, and other inauthentic files. Recognizing this problem has led researchers to propose reputation management systems for these networks. These reputation management systems are algorithms that allow individual peers on a peer-to-peer network to rate each other according to the quality of their past transactions with each other. Once a peer has been rated, its rating can be used by other peers to help them find the best sources of good, authentic files and keep the effects of malicious peers on the network to a minimum.
There are several reputation management systems that are currently being used in situations such as online auctions and file sharing. eBay is a website where buyers and sellers can meet and conduct auctions entirely online. In eBay's reputation management system, buyers and sellers can rate each other based on their past transactions with each other. This is done via users leaving comments on one another's eBay user pages, which can be positive, neutral, or negative. An eBay member's reputation is calculated by assigning each type of comment a point value (+1 point for positive comments, 0 points for neutral comments, and −1 point for negative comments) and summing the point values of all of a member's transactions to obtain that member's "reputation." An eBay user's reputation score can then be used by other users as a factor in their decisions on whether or not to conduct a transaction with that user.
Kazaa is a peer-to-peer file sharing application that allows its users to share files with other Kazaa users. It also allows users to search for and download files from other users who are sharing them. Kazaa has implemented a reputation management system consisting of two components, "Integrity Rating" and "Participation Levels." Integrity Rating allows peers who share files to rate their own files in terms of their technical merits, such as whether the files have accurate metadata and are of high quality. In order to guide other peers toward the highest-quality files available for download, users are encouraged to Integrity Rate their files and delete files that should not be shared (e.g., virus-infected files or files that are corrupted).
In Kazaa's reputation management system, each peer has a "Participation Level" that is based on the quality and amount of files that it shares. A peer's Participation Level is a number that reflects the ways in which that peer has used Kazaa to upload and download files. A peer's Participation Level is meant to reward peers who share many Integrity Rated files by providing those peers with increased bandwidth that they can use to download files from other peers on the network.
There are several other proposed reputation management systems, such as Debit-Credit Reputation Computation (DCRC), Credit-Only Reputation Computation (CORC), and Distributed Polling (Xrep). DCRC works by crediting peers' reputation scores for serving content and debits them for downloading. CORC credits peers' reputation scores for serving content, but does not debit them. Under CORC, the expiration of a peer's reputation score serves as a debit. In DCRC and CORC, peers can also earn credit for staying online and processing query requests sent to them by other peers. Since DCRC and CORC allow peers to store their own reputation scores, these reputation management schemes use a central Reputation Computation Agent which is contacted periodically by the peers to earn credit for their contribution to the network.
Distributed Polling (Xrep Protocol) determines whether peers are trustworthy based on votes that peer i takes regarding other peers' experiences with each peer j who responds to i's queries for content. In Xrep, each peer maintains a resource repository, which is a table that assigns a binary value describing whether a given resource is good (+) or bad (−). Each peer also has a servant repository, which is a table that keeps track of each servant, or other peer, that a peer has interacted with and records the numbers of successful and unsuccessful downloads from that peer.
When peer i receives responses to a search query from other peers, it will find the best download source for the file that it is looking for by polling its peers for their opinions of the resource and the peers that offer it. After receiving a set of votes from the other peers, i will discard any votes that have been tampered with and cluster the remaining votes by their IP addresses. i will then weight the votes within each cluster, such as by taking an average of the cluster's votes weighted on the size of the cluster. Next, i will contact the most reliable peer that hosts the file (based on the votes that i has received) to determine that the peer does indeed host the file. If this is true, then i will connect to the servant and download the file.
Web services do not currently provide reputation data and are not accommodated in reputation management systems. There is no way for multiple copies of web services to determine which result, when results among the web services differ, is correct. Moreover, there is no mechanism for determining which web services are important enough or desirable enough to be run as identical copies across multiple computing devices.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems and methods that overcome these deficiencies.

Multiple redundant services with reputation


Described are systems and methods for eliminating measurement lag. An example method comprises deploying control agents in a customer data center, each of the control agents being associated with at least one of a set of customer nodes of the customer data center; receiving a query for local state data at a service provider data center; pushing down execution of the query from the service provider data center to the control agents deployed in the set of customer nodes in the customer data center. The deployed control agents may be configured to, in response to receiving the query pushed down from the service provider data center to the customer data center, coordinate and execute at least a task for the set of customer nodes to collect the local state data. In addition to query execution, remediation can also be executed by the control agents at the customer data center.

Most modern systems typically involve a centralized data center and a fleet of customer computers running on customer premises. Conventionally, an agent runs on a customer computer and pushes data back to the data center. For example, an agent running on a customer computer can assess the central processing unit (CPU) utilization and memory utilization of the currently running processes and put these data into a log. The log can be periodically sent to the centralized data center. In order for a customer to ascertain the data, the customer would need to use a portal that connects to the centralized database of the data center. This approach ensures that all data is being stored in one place. However, this approach has various downsides. The first downside involves limitations on the scalability of the backend because it could be difficult to scale up to a large number of computers. Another downside involves lag issues associated with periodically pushing the data to the backend. Yet another downside involves costs associated with replicating all the data generated by the customer machines in the centralized data center, which requires vast computing storage capacity to store and then execute queries on behalf of customers. Finally, having the backend process all data is prone to the single point of failure issue.

Elimination of measurement lag for operations across a large number of customer nodes


A fuel delivery rail assembly for supplying fuel to a plurality of fuel injectors in an engine is provided. The assembly comprises a plurality of sockets and a plurality of rail tubes made from heat shrinkable plastic materials extending from the sockets. Each of the sockets includes a tubular body and a pair of extension pipes extending outwardly from the body toward opposite directions. Interior surfaces of the tubular body are so formed as to receive a fuel injector. At least one end of each rail tube is overlapped above the extension pipe with a seal member therebetween and fixed thereon after being heated to a predetermined temperature.

This invention relates to a fuel delivery rail assembly for an internal combustion engine, especially for an automotive engine, equipped with a fuel injection system. The fuel delivery rail assembly delivers pressurized fuel supplied from a fuel pump toward intake passages or chambers via associated fuel injectors. The assembly is used to simplify installation of the fuel injectors and the fuel supply passages on the engine.
An example of an automotive engine cylinder head equipped with a fuel injector is shown in FIG. 4 of the attached drawings. In this cylinder head, toward inside of an intake manifold 52 leading to a cylinder 51, pressurized fuel is discharged from a fuel injector 55. The fuel delivery rail assembly 60, which concerns a substantial matter of the present invention, is only partially shown as a section of a socket 61. In this type of fuel delivery rail assembly, the injector 55 is accommodated within the socket 61 and fixed thereto by a cap having an electrical terminal. Between the injector 55 and the socket 61, two O-rings 58 and 59 are located in order to keep fluid tight seals therebetween.
A complete form of the fuel delivery rail assembly 60 is shown in FIG. 5. In this assembly 60, three tubular sockets 61 are interconnected by connecting pipes 62. Each of the sockets 61 is located at a predetermined distance from each other. These metallic sockets 61 are initially made through a forging process, and then directed to a precise machining work. In this step, especially interior surfaces of the socket should be smoothly finished in order to establish a fluid tight seal of O-ring. For this purpose, a special machining process of burnishing work is commonly utilized to effect a high grade of circumferential accuracy as well as surface smoothness.
Each socket 61 comprises a tubular body 63 having a top opening, a bottom opening and two lateral openings facing opposite directions. These lateral openings are used to receive distal ends of the connecting pipes. By means of brazing connections 64, the sockets 61 and the pipes 62 are fixed together. On upper flange of the tubular body 63 of the socket 61, a pair of extensions 65 having threaded holes are provided so as to receive the cap and to be bolted together.
Since the conventional fuel delivery rail assembly is constructed as stated above, many kinds of workings are necessary for manufacturing of the assembly. In particular, the brazing connections 64 give rise to manufacturing difficulties. During a connecting process of the socket 61 to the pipe 62, initially a provisional spot welding is applied to a parting line between them. And then, they are brazed together within a furnace. However, the parting line is defined between two kinds of saddle shapes, so that random gaps remain along the circumference of the parting line. As a result, the prior assembly have several drawbacks, such as fuel leakage and breakdown from the parting line.
Another disadvantage in prior art is that the above random gaps cause a misalignment between the socket and the injector. This kind of misalignment causes fuel leakage, a failure of fuel injection or breakdown of engine parts. This misalignment should be found out in examination process for the assembly.
Under the situation, for manufacturing of the prior fuel delivery rail assembly, many kinds of time-consuming working steps and examination process are needed, resulting in an increase of manufacturing cost.


Methods of producing integrated circuits are provided. An exemplary method includes patterning a source line photoresist mask to overlie a source line area of a substrate while exposing a drain line area. The source line area is between a first and second memory cell and the drain line area is between the second and a third memory cell. A source line is formed in the source line area. A source line dielectric is concurrently formed overlying the source line while a drain line dielectric is formed overlying a drain line area. A drain line photoresist mask is patterned to overlie the source line in an active section while exposing the source line in a strap section, and while exposing the drain line area. The drain line dielectric is removed from over the drain line area while a thickness of the source line dielectric in the strap section is reduced.

Embedded super flash memory cells are used in certain integrated circuits, where the embedded super flash memory cells can be erased and re-programmed. There are at least three generations of super flash memory cells, where each generation is smaller than the previous. The third generation memory cells include a stack with a control gate overlaying a control gate dielectric that in turn overlies a floating gate, where the floating gate overlies a floating gate dielectric. The entire stack overlies a substrate.
Many processes are included in the production of such integrated circuits, such as lithography, etching and deposition. Lithography involves the deposition of a photoresist layer followed by patterning of that photoresist layer. The photoresist layer can be patterned by exposure to light or other electromagnetic radiation through a mask with transparent sections and opaque sections. The light causes a chemical change in the photoresist such that either the exposed portion or the non-exposed portion can be selectively removed. Lithography techniques are expensive, so integrated circuit production techniques that include more lithography processes tend to be more expensive than those with fewer lithography processes.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods of producing integrated circuits with fewer lithography processes than traditional production methods. In addition, it is desirable to provide methods of producing integrated circuits with embedded super flash memory cells while reducing the number of lithography processes compared to traditional production processes. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present embodiment will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.

Method for producing integrated circuit memory cells with less dedicated lithographic steps


A connection between a power distribution unit (PDU) and an electric device is identified by generating a data packet containing an identity of the electric device, transmitting the data packet by varying, on a power line connecting an output socket of the PDU to the electric device, a power level between distinct intensities for transmitting distinct logical values of the data packet, sensing, at the PDU, the power level on the power line, reporting, to an identification module, a socket number of the output socket connected to the power line and successive power level data obtained by sensing the power level on the power line, decoding the identity of the electric device by monitoring the successive power level data reported by the PDU, and storing, in a database, a reference between the identity of the electric device, an identity of the PDU, and the socket number.

In today's data centers and processing centers, such as those used in blockchain technology, the numbers of computer servers become so large that they come to the verge of being unmanageable. In a data center, new servers may need to be added on a daily basis. Of course, some servers may fail and require maintenance or replacement.
All of these servers consume electric power provided by power sources, for example power distribution units (PDU), via cables.
Keeping track of power cabling in a data center having thousands of servers, perhaps tens of thousands of servers, becomes a daunting task. Failure of a power source may lead to the loss of several servers and it may become urgent to reallocate power to these servers. To this end, it is important to be constantly aware of which server is connected to which power source.
Given that servers are constantly added or changed in large data centers, conventional methods for identifying connections between servers and power sources are inaccurate and slow while being too manpower intensive to be of practical use.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches.

System and method for identifying a connection between a power distribution unit and an electric device


A combination of components and method for collimating ultraviolet light to exposed a photopolymer plate. A polarizing filter is positioned between an ultraviolet light source and a photopolymer plate. The film or other media having the image to be transferred is likewise positioned between the ultraviolet light source and the photopolymer plate. Rays of light are filtered to allow only the passage of rays perpendicular to the outward-facing surface of the photopolymer plate.

The present invention relates generally to the field of printing and more specifically, the control of the exposing light.
Photopolymer plate material is available for use for printing images. The plate is photo sensitive to ultraviolet light. Thus, a photonegative is placed between the ultraviolet light source and the photopolymer plate with the ultraviolet light cross links the polymers thereby hardening the image on the plate.
The image on the plate consists of a plurality of pedestals onto which the ink is transferred for printing. A typical prior art photopolymer plate cross section is shown in FIG. 1 illustrating the upraised pedestals 11 having a top ink receptive surface 12 and a downwardly sloping side surface 13 surrounding the pedestal and providing a generally truncated conical configuration for the pedestal. Side surface 13 terminates in a trough 14 extending between the adjacent pedestals, for example, pedestal 11 and 15.
Pedestal side surface 13 is formed by shining ultraviolet light through the film negative and onto plate 10. The bevel angle 16 between side surface 13 and the top surface 12 of the pedestal is relatively small since the ultraviolet light rays are directed against the photopolymer plate at various angles. Thus, side surface 13 is not steep.
Pedestal 11 may be compressed when contacted by an ink roller transferring the ink not only onto surface 12 but also onto side surface 13. When the photopolymer plate is used to transfer the image onto an external surface, the pedestals may again be compressed thereby transferring the ink not only from surface 12 but also surface 13 onto the external surface thereby leaving a ring around the image formed on the final copy composed of the image from the various top surfaces 12 of the various pedestals. The net results is final copy that does not have a sharp and clear image.
In order to provide a sharp clear image, it is desirable to increase angle 16 thereby orienting side surface 13 at a steep angle relative to top surface 12 minimizing any image transferred by the side surfaces 13. Various attempts to provide a steep side surface 13 have tried through the use of multiple ultraviolet light sources positioned above the photopolymer plate Nevertheless, each light source emits rays at a variety of angles with the ultraviolet light still striking the photopolymer plate at different angles. Disclosed herein is a device and method for directing the ultraviolet light perpendicularly against the photopolymer plate.
One embodiment of the present invention is a combination for use in producing sharp printed images comprising a source of light and a panel positioned to receive the light with the panel containing the image to be printed. A photopolymer printing plate is positioned relative to the panel to receive the light passing therethrough. A collimating filter is positioned relative to the panel and the plate to limit passage of light from the panel onto the plate to substantially parallel rays of light.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of transferring an image on a panel onto a printing plate comprising the steps of providing a photopolymer printing plate, aligning a panel having an image thereon with the plate, shining light onto and through the panel to shine onto the plate, and directing the light into rays of light substantially perpendicular to the printing plate exposing the plate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a photopolymer plate for producing sharp printed images through the use of printing pedestals having steep side surfaces.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet light filter in combination with a photopolymer plate to limit the angle the ultraviolet light strikes the photopolymer plate.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of providing an image on a printing plate.
Related object and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

Apparatus and method using a UV light collimator to expose a photopolymer plate