A first mobile device (for example, a cellular telephone) learns of the presence of second mobile devices (for example, other cellular telephones) that are located nearby the first mobile device. A relatively short range wireless communication mechanism (for example, Bluetooth) of the mobile devices may be used to discover other nearby devices automatically by establishing direct mobile-to-mobile communications without use of the cellular telephone functionality of the mobile devices. Regardless of how the presence of other nearby mobiles is detected, information on the presence of these nearby mobiles can be matched with other information on the users of the nearby mobiles such as user class information. The collected information is then used as an input to a context-aware functionality. The context-aware functionality applies a rule that causes the first mobile to be configured in a way that is better suited the situation and/or to who the other nearby cellular telephone users are and what they are doing.

1. Technical Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to context-aware mobile communication devices and systems.
2. Background Information
Communication systems exist that learn about their environments and operating conditions. Mobile communication devices of such systems may communicate information and take other actions in different ways depending on the "context" in which the mobile communication device finds itself. Such communication systems are therefore often referred to as "context-aware" communication systems. To determine what action a mobile communication device should take in a given circumstance, one or more rules are applied using the context information as input variables to the rules. The location of the communication device may be a part of the context and in such a case the mobile communication devices are said to be "location-aware." The mobile communication devices may be cellular telephones that include buddy lists, where how an incoming call or email is routed depends on numerous aspects of the context including the location of cellular telephone and a buddy list stored in the cellular telephone. Such context-aware systems are generally complex server/client systems of networked devices, where the actions taken by individual client devices typically involve determining how incoming calls and other information will be communicated to and/or displayed to a user of the client device. Despite existence of the general concept of context-aware computing systems that use presence and location information, existing real-world context-aware systems are expensive to implement, cumbersome to use, and fail to solve many problems in common real-world operating situations. Maintaining historical user location information on a server in such a system raises privacy concerns. Reliance on a central server has reliability ramifications. As a result, context-aware systems that use presence and location information have generally been confined to instant messaging systems and location-aware advertising systems.

Context-aware mobile incorporating presence of other mobiles into context


A computer-based method and system for facilitating production changes in an extended enterprise via a network environment. The system includes a manufacturing enterprise system including a host system operating a web server, a data storage device in communication with the host system, and at least one terminal for accessing the host system. The manufacturing enterprise system runs on a network that is coupled to the Internet and is accessible to an outside enterprise or trading partner identified with having proper access permissions. The server executes a set of programs for the process and product change notification application of the present invention. PCN notices and EOL requests are inputted into the manufacturing enterprise system via the process and product change notification application where required data are supplied, destination resources of affected parties are determined and decisions are calculated according to these inputs.

This invention relates generally to supply chain management of outsourced goods, and more particularly, this invention relates to a method and system for facilitating production changes and end-of-life requests among supply chain partners in a multi-enterprise environment via a networked system.
With the advent of the Internet and related technologies, complex networking systems have evolved that enable distant trading partners operating disparate computer systems to interact with one another. The Internet provides a ubiquitous message routing architecture that supports reliable inter-business connectivity around the world, based on common communication protocols and common standards for system interoperability. Further, the Internet and related intranet and extranet technologies offer a relatively low cost of entry, making them practical for use by large and small businesses alike. Web-based security issues have been minimized through the use of intranets that connect a business"" internal processes to the applications and data they need and extranets that connect external processes to the applications and data they need. Firewalls or security devices are added to protect against unauthorized access to the internal network and to isolate unauthorized Internet access from the extranet. With this new technology in place, existing trading barriers between trading partners can be removed, allowing for a synchronized flow of information.
A recent trend in electronics manufacturing involves contracting out some or all of the manufacturing of a company""s products to third party manufacturers which then build these products according to specification. This arrangement, known as outsourcing, results where the original manufacturer (called an Original Equipment Manufacturer, or OEM) buys assemblies in bulk from third-party contract manufacturers and then customizes them for a particular application. It then markets and sells the customized equipment under its own name. By outsourcing the manufacturing and assembly of these goods, established OEMs are able to focus on other business areas such as new product development and customer relationship management. Additionally, as product designs and components are becoming increasingly complex and frequently updated, a contract manufacturer with specialized skills may be better equipped to accommodate the changing technology. By outsourcing to meet peak demands, an OEM may be able to avoid having to build new facilities and/or hire new people.
An OEM who is outsourcing the manufacturing of its products needs to be able to collaborate with its supply chain partners before, during, and after the manufacturing cycle in order to achieve maximum efficiency of the production process. One area of collaboration is the production change processes including process/product change notifications and end-of-life requests. Product or process change notifications (PCNs) are documents that supply chain partners send to an OEM to notify the OEM that either something in the devices under production is changing or a production process technique is changing which may trigger the need to re-qualify a device or process. The re-qualification process tests the new changes to ensure compatibility with larger assemblies or final products for which the devices will be incorporated. End-of-Life (EOL) requests are documents submitted by a supplier who has information about a product or material that has been, or is expected to be, purchased by the OEM or authorized manufacturer and will no longer be available for purchase. This gives the OEM advance warning that a change in production or process may become necessary in the future and that decisions regarding alternative processes or materials must be made. Numerous such notices are received by a typical OEM every year, often in a haphazard fashion, such as memorandums, e-mail, telephone conversations, and so on. For an OEM who has facilities all over the world, this unsystematic method of notification may result in a PCN being mis-delivered, or perhaps not received by the appropriate individuals at all. Various geographically dispersed facilities of an OEM may be involved with a program or manufacturing plan that is affected by the PCN, making it increasing difficult to organize and track the flow of information from facility to facility. If one or more divisions or facilities of an OEM does not receive the PCN data, its manufacturing processes can become significantly hampered causing production delays and increased associated manufacturing costs. It is therefore desirable to provide a method and system that facilitates the PCN/EOL processes so that the PCN information can be properly and quickly delivered to all involved sites and related locations of the OEM and production processes can be streamlined.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a computer-based method and system for facilitating production changes in an extended enterprise via a network environment. The system includes a manufacturing enterprise system comprising a host system operating a web server, an applications server, and a database manager; a data storage device in communication with the host system, and at least one terminal for accessing the host system. The manufacturing enterprise system runs on a network that is coupled to the Internet and is accessible to an outside enterprise or trading partner identified with having proper access permissions. The applications server executes a set of programs for managing the manufacturing enterprise system, including the process and product change notification application of the present invention. PCN notices and EOL requests are inputted into the manufacturing enterprise system via the process and product change notification application where required data are supplied, destination resources of affected parties are determined and decisions are calculated according to these inputs.

Method and system for facilitating production changes in an extended enterprise environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A lighting device for a semiconductor light emitting element includes a series circuit of two switching elements which are alternately turned on, the series circuit being connected to a direct current (DC) input power source and a reactance circuit connected between a connection node of the two switching elements and one end of the DC input power source through a capacitor, an output of the reactance circuit being supplied to the semiconductor light emitting element through a rectifier circuit. A dimming operation of the semiconductor light emitting element is performed by varying a ratio of ON periods of the two switching elements.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-351789 (FIG. 1) (hereinafter referred to as JP2001-351789) discloses a technique of dimming an LED load by connecting the LED load to an output of a half-bridge inverter circuit via an LC series resonant circuit and varying a switching frequency.
Japanese Patent No. 2,975,029 (FIG. 5) discloses a technique of dimming a discharge lamp load by connecting a hot cathode type discharge lamp load to an output of a half-bridge inverter circuit via an LC series resonant circuit and setting ON periods of two switching elements of the inverter circuit to be unequal during dimming. Further, there has been proposed a technique of supplying a preheating current while avoiding cold cathode discharge by setting the ON periods of the two switching elements of the inverter circuit to be substantially equal during preheating and setting a switching frequency to be sufficiently higher than a resonant frequency to reduce a resonant voltage applied to the load.
In accordance with the technique of JP2001-351789, the dimming operation of the LED load is performed by varying the switching frequency. Thus, in order to widen a dimming range, it is necessary to expand a variation range of the switching frequency, and there is a problem in that a high frequency side switching loss increases, or it is difficult to design a filter circuit for removing a switching noise. Further, the LED load has diode type load characteristics in which the load current hardly flows therethrough when a voltage across the LED load is equal to or less than a predetermined load voltage. Accordingly, in case of increasing the switching frequency, the resonant voltage applied to the load is reduced, and there is problem in that it is impossible to obtain a voltage required for turning on the LED load.
In JP2001-351789, there has also been proposed the technique of expanding the dimming range by intermittently pausing a high frequency switching operation at a low frequency (see Paragraph [0099] and FIG. 15 in JP2001-351789). However, in such case, there is a problem of an increase in flicker.

Lighting device for semiconductor light emitting element and illumination apparatus including same


Even when a communication state between a tuner device and a display device is deteriorated, a television broadcast receiving device enables a user to view broadcast. The television broadcast receiving device of the present invention has a tuner section that receives a digital broadcast signal, selects the digital broadcast signal to decode the digital broadcast signal, generates video data including a video signal and an audio signal, and converts the video data into processed video data suitable for wireless communication, and a display section that receives the processed video data from the tuner section through wireless communication, and displays a video based on the processed video data. The tuner section has a recording/playback section that records and reads the video data in and from a predetermined recording section according to a change in state of the communication with the display section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiving device constructed to wirelessly transmit a video/audio signal to a display section based on a television broadcast signal received by a tuner section.
2. Description of the Background Art
Display screens of recent television broadcast receivers are thinned out, and products such as wall-hanging televisions go on sale. In such flat-screen televisions, tuner sections that receive and decode broadcast are separated from display sections that display the broadcast on display screens. Interfaces such as HDMI transmit video/audio signals from the tuner sections to the display sections through cables. In order to omit the cable connection between the tuner sections and the display sections, products that adopt the wireless transmission of video/audio signals from the tuner sections to the display sections start to go on sale.
"Electronic Engineering Times, June 2, pp. 10-11" proposes Wireless HD, WHDI (Wireless High Definition Interface) and UWB as wireless transmission systems. Video signals of a base band are transmitted from tuner sections to display sections, and the transmission speed of HDTV signals is 1.5 Gbps. For this reason, various ideas are devised so as to stably transmit video signals of high bit rate. National Publication of Translation No. 2007-507147 (pp. 6-10) describes one concrete example that structures a system being capable of displaying video data of high bit rate without discontinuous screen using a compressing method for separating image data into a rough portion and a fine portion and an MIMO wireless technique even under a noise-rich environment.
In above television broadcast receiving device in which tuner sections and display sections are separated, the following problem of the conventional arts arises. Even when the tuner sections and the display sections are installed in a good visibility state therebetween, data are not always stably transmitted in a wireless manner. For example, when obstacles are provided to a wireless transmission path, radio waves are blocked by the obstacles, and thus the receiving strength on a receiving side is deteriorated or the wireless communication is cut off. Further, in some cases, humans, animals and things move on the wireless transmission path, and thus the communication state changes. Further, the communication state is changed by exogenous noises such as jamming from things other than an installed wireless device (a tuner section and a display section). In this situation, when wireless communication is conducted by the tuner section and the display section that are installed in respective rooms, interference with wireless LAN might disable stable transmission of video and audio.
In such a manner, the communication state always fluctuates due to the influence of humans, animals and things moving on the wireless transmission path and the arrival of exogenous noises. When the communication state is deteriorated, a transmission rate of data is deteriorated as compared to a case where the wireless transmission is normally performed, thereby causing data missing. In the transmission of AV data composed of video data and audio data, the deterioration of the transmission rate due to the change in the communication state causes deterioration of image and sound qualities. When a transmittable rate is deteriorated and the wireless transmission is cut off, video data cannot be transmitted. This problem cannot be solved until a communication route is restructured or the influences of exogenous noises are eliminated. When the communication state is recovered, video data can be transmitted. That is to say, when the communication state is deteriorated, the video data cannot be transmitted during this state, and thus a portion of broadcast that cannot be viewed by a user is generated. As a result, the user cannot sufficiently understand the contents of the broadcast.


A cab and method for assembling such for a machine are described. The cab may define an operator compartment. The cab may comprise a cab frame, a plurality of inner surfaces disposed inside the cab frame, a wiring harness, and a plurality of interfaces accessible through the apertures of the inner surfaces. A portion of the inner surfaces may include a plurality of apertures. The plurality of interfaces may be disposed in Interactive Locations and in Hidden Locations. The plurality of interfaces may include mounting interfaces and connection interfaces. The interfaces may be pre-located. The plurality of mounting interfaces may be configured to receive and position a plurality of Customized Equipment on the inner surfaces. The plurality of connection interfaces may be configured to matingly receive electrical connectors from the Customized Equipment and to operably connect the Customized Equipment to the wiring harness.

Cabs of machines used for earth moving, construction, material handling, mining, and the like, are often customized after delivery to a customer, work site or upon machine commissioning. Such customization may involve adding hardware or software systems that are not supplied by the machine manufacturer ("Customized Equipment") to the inside of the machine cab. Such Customized Equipment is typically manufactured by a third-party and may be installable in many different types of machine cabs manufactured by different companies. Examples of Customized Equipment may include dispatch systems, fatigue monitors, fire suppression systems, CB radios or the like, and other types of hardware and software.
The addition of such Customized Equipment may involve significant disassembly and reassembly of the interior of the cab and typically requires cutting the existing interior surfaces of the cab in order to mount the Customized Equipment to the cab and cutting into the existing wiring harness in order to connect the Customized Equipment to the electrical system, controller area network, or the like within the cab. Such cutting and rework may cause unintended damage to the cab interior and/or existing cab components.
U.S. Publication No. 2001/0030435 ("Burns et al.") published Oct. 18, 2001 describes a cockpit system set of interchangeable modules for a vehicle. FIG. 2 of Burns et al. illustrates an embodiment of such a system. The interchangeable modules include a driver-side module, a passenger-side module, a center module fastenable between the driver-side module and the passenger-side module, a left-hand-drive top module, and a right-hand-top module. The disclosure describes a modular system in which the proprietary modules may be interchanged in order to switch from left-hand steering to right-hand steering and vice versa. The disclosure does not address the addition/mounting of Customized Equipment, as that term is used herein, to the cockpit system. A better design is needed.


A chromium-free corrosion inhibiting coating composition, which does not utilize harmful chromium compounds and can be used for corrosion inhibition of a metal surface, comprising a slurry mixture in which coated aluminum fine powder treated with a hydrophilic coupling agent is suspended in an acidic phosphate bonding solution and which can be stored in a refrigerator, is disclosed. A titanium-coupling agent is preferable to use as the coupling agent, which treats a surface of the aluminum fine powder. In this aqueous chromium-free corrosion inhibiting coating composition, 25 to 40% by weight of the aluminum fine powder a surface of which is treated with the coupling agent is suspended in the acidic phosphate bonding solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aluminum fine powder suitable for use in an aqueous phosphate-based coating composition which takes advantage of a sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect of aluminum and to an aqueous chromium-free corrosion inhibiting coating composition which does not contain harmful chromium components and which is formed with the aluminum fine powder suspended in an aqueous phosphate-based bonding solution, in order to inhibit corrosion of a metal surface, especially a surface of iron-based material.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of conventional corrosion inhibiting coating compositions depending on mechanisms of corrosion inhibition and based on corrosion inhibiting components. As such corrosion inhibiting coating compositions, coating compositions that are excellent in a corrosion inhibiting effect, taking advantage of a sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect of zinc or aluminum, have been known as in the case of plating. Further, there are different kinds of bonding solutions (binders) for the corrosion inhibiting coating compositions, which are roughly classified into two categories, those with an inorganic aqueous bonding solution and those with an organic bonding solution. Well-known corrosion inhibiting coating compositions using the inorganic aqueous bonding solution include an alkali-silicate type of corrosion inhibiting coating composition such as a zinc-rich paint and a phosphate-based corrosion inhibiting coating composition such as a Sermetel coating composition available from SERMATECH INTERNATIONAL, INC. of the U.S. taking advantage of the sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect of aluminum which is used for surface treatment of turbine blades of aircraft engines.
Many of these corrosion inhibiting coating compositions usually contain hexavalent chromium components that have a specific corrosion inhibiting effect. For example, a fundamental technology of the Sermetel coating composition from SERMATECH, INC. is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,251 filed in 1963 by Teleflex Incorporated that is a parent company of the SERMATECH. Although the patent describes that molybdate has the same corrosion inhibiting effect as that of chromate, hexavalent chromium (chromate ion) having a significant corrosion inhibiting effect is actually included in the Sermetel coating composition as an essential component.
Hexavalent chromium in the corrosion inhibiting coating composition would lead to formation of a conversion coating on a metal surface or to passivation of the metal surface. That is, the hexavalent chromium component in the Sermetel coating composition forms the conversion coating even on a particle surface of aluminum fine powder which is suspended in the coating composition so as to effectively prevent a reaction generating a hydrogen gas between an acidic phosphate-based bonding solution, the pH of which is around 3, and the aluminum fine powder. Therefore, it becomes possible to achieve a several-months pot life of the corrosion inhibiting coating composition.
Further, the corrosion inhibiting effect of the hexavalent chromium component also effects a metal substrate to be coated as well. The conversion coating or passivation coating including hexavalent chromium is formed on a surface of the metal substrate and prevents a reaction between the acidic phosphate-based bonding solution and substrates (hydrogen is generated when steel products are dipped). This conversion coating has the effect of protecting the substrate material from rust even after the coating has been baked. The Sermetel coating composition has excellent properties resulted from combining the sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect of aluminum and the corrosion inhibiting function of the hexavalent chromium component and also has a reputation as an excellent corrosion inhibiting coating with a heat resistance up to around 600xc2x0 C.
However, it has been commonly known that the hexavalent chromium component is carcinogenic, and even if trivalent chromium is used, it is not easy to prevent oxidation of trivalent chromium to hexavalent chromium. Therefore, it is preferable to use a corrosion inhibiting coating composition that is completely free of chromium components with consideration of their influences on the global environment. The first-ever non-chromium corrosion inhibiting coating composition, which is completely free of chromium components, has been developed by Solar Turbines Incorporated of the U.S. and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,488. Thereafter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,413 titled xe2x80x9cEnvironmentally friendly coating compositionsxe2x80x9d was filed from the SERMATECH INTERNATIONAL INC., which is an manufacturer of the Sermetel coating, and issued.
A problem in practical utilization of these non-chromium corrosion inhibiting coating compositions is that aluminum fine powder dispersed in the coating composition reacts with an acidic phosphate-based bonding solution to produce hydrogen, so that the coating composition becomes unusable within 1-2 days due to an increase in its viscosity and has a short pot life. The inventors have assumed that the pot life can be increased by forming an overcoat, alternative to a conversion coating formed by hexavalent chromium, on a surface of the aluminum fine powder, and now consequently found a solution as a result of various studies.
An object of the present invention is to provide aluminum fine powder having an overcoat, alternative to a conversion coating formed by harmful hexavalent chromium, on its surface and a phosphate-based aqueous chromium-free corrosion inhibiting coating composition having a practical pot life in which the aluminum fine powder is suspended in a bonding solution.
According to the present invention, the surface of the aluminum fine powder is treated with a hydrophilic coupling agent. A titanium-coupling agent can be used as the hydrophilic coupling agent.
Further, in the present invention, the aluminum fine powder which is surface treated with the hydrophilic coupling agent can be obtained by preparing ethyl alcohol to which 3 to 12% by weight of water is added, dissolving 0.3 to 1.5 parts by weight of the hydrophilic coupling agent relative to 100 parts by weight of the aluminum fine powder to be added in this solution, suspending the aluminum fine powder to be treated in this solution, forming a thin film of the coupling agent on a particle surface of the aluminum fine powder by heating and keeping the solution at 50 to 70xc2x0 C. for 2 to 7 hours with the aluminum fine powder suspended therein, filtrating the solution which contains hydrolytic products of the coupling agent to recover the aluminum fine powder, rinsing the recovered aluminum fine powder with ethyl alcohol having a purity of 99% by weight or more, and heating the rinsed aluminum fine powder to a temperature which is lower than a boiling point 78.3xc2x0 C. of ethyl alcohol to dry it under reduced pressure.
An aqueous corrosion inhibiting coating composition according to the present invention is a composition in which 25 to 40% by weight of the aluminum fine powder which is surface treated with the hydrophilic coupling agent is suspended in the acidic phosphate-based aqueous bonding solution. In this case, a titanium-coupling agent can be used as the hydrophilic coupling agent.
In the above-described case, the phosphate-based aqueous bonding solution can contain phosphate ions, aluminum ions, zinc ions, and two or more kinds of alkaline earth metal ions, and further contain 0.2 to 1% by weight of polyphosphate ions.
A surface of the aluminum fine powder used in the present invention is treated with the coupling agent and a surface of the particle is covered with a thin overcoat of the coupling agent. Although there are many kinds of coupling agents, it has been found that the only limited kinds of coupling agents can be effective for this purpose. An effective coupling agent is within a class in which the treated surface exhibits hydrophilic property, so that making the particle surface of the aluminum fine powder hydrophilic and facilitates its dispersion into the aqueous phosphate bonding solution. When other coupling agents are used, the treated surface exhibits hydrophobic property, so that it is essential to take advantage of an aid of a dispersion agent or surfactant in order to suspend the aluminum fine powder into the aqueous bonding solution. Therefore, it is difficult to sufficiently disperse the hydrophobic powder into the aqueous bonding solution.
Treatment of the aluminum fine powder with the coupling agent results in formation of an overcoat of the coupling agent on a surface of the aluminum fine powder, and reduces surface activity of the aluminum fine powder for a reaction. Specifically, a reaction in which hydrogen generates when the aluminum fine powder is dispersed into the acidic phosphate chromium-free bonding solution can be prevented, and the pot life of the corrosion inhibiting coating composition being stored in a refrigerator can be increased from several days to nearly one months, and safety of storing the aluminum fine powder which is flammable can be improved.
Considering influence on the global environment, the corrosion inhibiting coating composition is preferable to be free of chromium components, to be an aqueous composition, and to barely release volatile organic components (VOCs) such as organic solvents.
There are two types of commercially available aluminum fine powder, that is, an air-atomized powder being atomized by compressed air and a gas-atomized powder being atomized by non-oxidative compressed gas. In the former, a surface of the powder particle is covered with a relatively thick oxide film and constituted by oval particles being deformed by influence of the oxide film, and in the latter, a surface of the powder particle is covered with a thin oxide film and constituted by sphere particles. Since a particle size distribution of the atomized aluminum powder is usually considerably wide, classified powders depending on their uses are commercially available, and for example, there is aluminum fine powder having a mean particle diameter of as small as about 1 xcexcm. Also, aluminum fine powder constituted by scale-like particles made by processing the atomized powders is commercially available, and the typical scale-like particle has a width of the order of 10 xcexcm and has a thickness of the order of 0.1 xcexcm.
An aluminum dihydrogen phosphate solution is preferable to be used as a main raw material of the phosphate-based aqueous bonding solution for an aqueous corrosion inhibiting coating composition according to the present invention. The aluminum dihydrogen phosphate solution having a concentration of about 20% by weight is used as a binder for refractories or the like and is commercially available, so that it is preferable to use the solution in order to save time and effort to dissolve powder of the phosphate into water.
When a dispersion agent is added to the binder solution during preparation of the aqueous corrosion inhibiting coating composition of the present invention, the aluminum fine powders are well dispersed into the bonding solution and enables to form a homogeneous coated film, but generate foams which cause defects in the coated film hardly disappears. Therefore, it is preferable to decrease the foam by the combined use of an antifoaming agent and the dispersion agent.
Hydroxyethyl cellulose or hydroxypropyl cellulose is used for increasing the viscosity of an aqueous coating composition, and the coating composition can be viscous by adding the above-described cellulose compound in the form of a 4% by weight of aqueous solution. This kind of cellulose compound can be preferably used by previously preparing its aqueous solution having a concentration about 4% by weight and by mixing the solution with the bonding solution.
Glycerin has an effect of increasing the viscosity, and a function of regulating a drying rate of the coating composition (decreasing the drying rate). Previously making a mixed solution of glycerin with a dispersion agent or antifoaming agent which does not easily dissolve in water facilitates mixing these with an aqueous bonding solution.
The corrosion inhibiting coating composition is usually used as an undercoat, and it is common to apply a top coat on the corrosion inhibiting coated film in order to further improve the corrosion inhibiting performance of the coated film.
As a corrosion inhibiting coating composition for screws or fasteners, there is a usage for precision screws, which requires a thin film of around 8 xcexcm in thickness. To form such a thin-coated film, it is preferable to use aluminum fine powder having a mean particle diameter of around 1 xcexcm or scale-like aluminum fine powder.
A sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect is such an effect when both an easily ionizable metal belonging to the former part (less noble) of the ionization series is in electrical connection with a hardly ionizable metal belonging to the latter part (noble) of the ionizarion series are present in an electrolyte solution such as salt water, the easily ionizable metal is preferentially ionized (oxidized), so that the other metal is protected from oxidation.
Burnishing treatment performed on the corrosion inhibiting coated film including aluminum fine powder as filler is a treatment for providing electrical connection (electrical conductivity) between particles of the aluminum fine powder in the coated film and between the aluminum fine powder particles in the coated film and a steel substrate. That is, this treatment is a kind of blast treatment in which abrasive grain particles of 320 meshes are moderately blasted onto a surface of the coated film. This burnishing treatment ensures to keep the sacrificial corrosion inhibiting effect of the coated film.
A purpose of adding water into an ethyl alcohol solvent which dissolves a coupling agent is to hydrolyze the coupling agent and deposit the coupling agent on a surface to be treated so as to form a thin film of the coupling agent. A typical amount of water to be added to the ethyl alcohol, which is used for the coupling treatment, is usually around 10% by weight, but this amount can be changed as appropriate. Treated aluminum fine particles adhering on a surface of a used vessel can be washed off by ethyl alcohol as appropriate and recovered within a batch. Although a coupling treatment conducted for a sufficiently long time can form a coupling film that completely covers the surface of the treated powder particles, this treatment is preferable to be done within 7 hours, which allows the treatment to be completed within one day.
A temperature of coupling treatment is preferable to be 50 to 70xc2x0 C., which is lower than the boiling point of ethyl alcohol, 78.3xc2x0 C., so as to minimize evaporation of ethyl alcohol. A rotary evaporator was used for coupling treatment in the examples described hereinafter, but this coupling treatment may also be conducted in a tank fitted with a stirrer, which temperature is thermally controllable. The aluminum fine powder treated with the coupling agent may be rinsed by ethyl alcohol of 99% by weight or more to remove an excess part of colloidal substances produced by hydrolysis of the coupling agent.
The aluminum fine powder, which has been rinsed by ethyl alcohol after the coupling treatment, can be quickly dried. The wet cake of aluminum fine powder is heated in a dryer, then ethyl alcohol is evaporated in an evacuated vessel fitted with a water jet pump, and the powder can be dried without discharging vapors from ethyl alcohol in a room.
Since mixing of organic solvents such as acetone or ethyl alcohol with the phosphate-based bonding solution may cause degeneration of the bonding solution and may change its viscosity (for example, increases viscosity), the aluminum fine powder wetted with ethyl alcohol used in the coupling treatment is preferable to be dried sufficiently. Sufficient drying of the powder in a dryer kept at around 70xc2x0 C. for more than several hours can increase adhesion of the coupling film to the surface of the fine powder particle. After drying, the aluminum fine powder can be recovered as a cake that can easily be made into a powder.
An amount of aluminum fine powder to be suspended in the phosphate-based aqueous solution is determined with consideration of a concentration of the aqueous phosphate-based bonding solution to be used (with consideration of a volume ratio of a dried bonding solution and aluminum fine powder in the corrosion inhibiting coating film), and is preferably 25 to 40% by weight of the corrosion inhibiting coating composition.
The phosphate-based bonding solution becomes a water-insoluble solid (vitreous) after baking at 300xc2x0 C. or more. When double-coating is performed, a temperature for baking the first coated film should preferably be around 250xc2x0 C., but a temperature for baking the second coated film must be a given temperature to obtain a water-insoluble coated film. A high baking temperature can reduce the time required for the baking treatment. However, when the baking temperature rises to a temperature (around 600xc2x0 C.) at which the aluminum fine powder may be oxidized, a thermit reaction may occur in which the adjacent oxide substances are reduced and the aluminum fine powder is oxidized.
The aqueous phosphate-based bonding solution contains a lot of phosphate ions and aluminum ions due to the use of an aluminum dihydrogen phosphate solution as a main raw material. In order to improve the corrosion inhibiting performance and to reduce reaction activities between the bonding solution and the aluminum fine powder, various kinds of metal ions are introduced to the bonding solution. For example, it is assumed that the presence of zinc ions leads to formation of a conversion coating and the corrosion inhibiting performance of the coating composition will improve. On the other hand, it is assumed that the presence of alkaline earth metal ions such as magnesium ions weakens the acidity of the bonding solution to suppress the reaction of bonding solution with the aluminum fine powder.
In the case of the bonding solution as described in the examples below, the aluminum fine powder was added to the starting solution and heated in advance to allow the reaction which generates hydrogen to proceed as much as possible, and the concentration of aluminum ions in the bonding solution is increased to a level of saturation, in order to minimize the reactivity of the bonding solution with the aluminum fine powder.
In this reaction, metal ions such as magnesium ions, which have once dissolved in the solution, is precipitated out. Properties and amounts of the precipitate vary depending on the kind and amount of alkaline earth metal ions included in the solution, and when a lot of magnesium ions are included in the solution, a large amounts of viscous precipitate will appear. Introduction of calcium ions or strontium ions can decrease the amount of the precipitate. However, these metal ions can not dissolve in large amounts because of the limitations of their solubility and the time required for their dissolution. Therefore, these metal ions are preferably added to the bonding solution in the form of carbonates or hydroxycarbonates, which are easy to be dissolved.
Addition of a small amount of sodium hexametaphosphate (a kind of polyphosphates), which is assumed to have an effect as an inhibitor for suppressing oxidation of the metal, to the bonding solution (0.2 to 1% by weight) can decrease the amount of the precipitate and increase the viscosity of the bonding solution. Further, production of the precipitate, which may easily occur in the stored bonding solution, can be avoided.
Various well-known inhibitors are additives for suppressing oxidation reaction of the metal, and an introduction of some inhibitors possibly improve the corrosion inhibiting characteristics of the corrosion inhibiting coating composition. However, attention should be paid when using other inhibitors which are not compatible with the aqueous phosphate-based bonding solution, because the inhibitors may not dissolve in the solution or the amount of precipitate may be increased.

Surface coated aluminum fine powder and aqueous chromium-free corrosion inhibiting coating composition including the same


Systems and methods providing synchronization of wireless device data based upon device synchronization prioritization determinations are described. Embodiments may make device synchronization prioritization determinations using device grouping identifiers with respect to a plurality of wireless devices and/or one or more device synchronization parameters for the wireless devices. Logic of a synchronization prioritization gateway of embodiments may implement a prioritization determination algorithm to determine a sequence of wireless devices for data synchronization for facilitating data synchronization with respect to a plurality of wireless devices in a timely and efficient manner. The logic of the synchronization prioritization gateway may implement a priority penalty attribute with respect to particular wireless devices to address aberrant behavior or other operation likely to impede efficient and/or timely data synchronization.

The use of various wireless devices has proliferated in recent years. In particular, many forms of wireless devices used for monitoring (e.g., monitoring environments, movement, conditions, etc.), data collection (e.g., collecting data regarding monitored events and conditions, obtaining data from other devices, etc.), and/or data reporting (e.g., providing collected data to a host system or server, displaying data to a user, etc.) have been deployed in recent years. A particular example of a form of wireless device seeing increased deployment in recent years is the wireless wearable device.
Wireless wearable devices may, for example, be provided in the form of a battery powered personal fitness monitor (e.g., a FITBIT device available from Fitbit, Inc.) or a smartwatch device (e.g., an IWATCH available from Apple Inc.) worn on the wrist of a user and used for health monitoring and physical activity data collection (e.g., monitor steps, heart rate, electrocardiogram, sleep quality, etc.). Processing of the collected data for meaningful, long term, and even shared use typically requires the use of a host personal computing system, data collection and processing server system, etc. Accordingly, wireless wearable devices are often adapted for synchronization of sensor data with a particular system.
In order to provide the requisite wireless communication for data synchronization without unacceptably impacting the battery life of the wireless wearable device, such wireless wearable devices may implement relatively low energy wireless communication techniques. One popular form of relatively low energy wireless communication is Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) communications. BLE is a wireless personal area network (PAN) technology designed to provide wireless data communication with considerably reduced power consumption and cost while maintaining a similar communication range to that of more traditional PAN wireless communications.
Characteristics of the usage patterns of wireless wearable devices implementing low energy wireless communication techniques, such as BLE, for providing data synchronization include manual intervention and one-to-one connection. For example, the wireless wearable devices generally must be manually paired with a corresponding host (e.g., a user's wireless wearable device in the form of a smartwatch device or personal fitness monitor must be manually paired with the user's host processing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet device, personal computing system, etc.) to establish a PAN for communication of data to/from the wireless wearable device). Moreover, manual intervention by the user is generally initiated in order to synchronize physical activity data with the host processing device. The aforementioned pairing typically provides for a one-to-one connection in which the wireless wearable device may only communicate with one host processing device for data communication and host processing device may only communicate with one wireless wearable device for data communication at any particular time.
There may, however, be situations in which sensor data from a plurality of wireless wearable devices is to be collected. For example, a school may wish to conduct a survey on physical activity of their students, wherein a wireless wearable device of each student may be used for monitoring physical activity. Likewise, a nursing home or hospital facility may wish to monitor the physiological condition and/or physical location of a population of patients, wherein a wireless wearable device of each such patient may be used for their monitoring. Implementing sensor data collection with respect to a plurality of wireless wearable devices presents a number of challenges when attempting to utilize existing low energy wireless communication techniques. For example, where the facility provides wireless wearable devices to the individuals to be monitored, compatibility issues between a participant user's host processing device and the provided wireless wearable device may be present due to heterogeneous host processing platforms and operating system (OS) versions (e.g., BLE not supported, application not supported for an old OS version, etc.), thereby preventing wireless data collection using typical pairing techniques. Providing host processing platforms (e.g., smartphones or tablet devices) to the individuals to be monitored, and thus avoid issues such as the above mentioned compatibility issues, is generally cost prohibitive. Moreover, providing and maintaining software applications (e.g., mobile app) for execution by the participant users' host processing platforms for facilitating collection of the data of a plurality of wireless wearable devices by a data collection and processing server system associated with the facility presents challenges, such as and inconvenience and extra workload for the population being monitored and/or the facility staff.
One attempted solution for sensor data collection with respect to a plurality of devices has been to upload data from a plurality of wireless wearable devices to a data collection and processing server system via one or more gateways, as shown in plural sensor data collection system 100 of FIG. 1. In the example of FIG. 1, data synchronization for a plurality of devices (shown as wireless wearable devices 110A-110H) is provided with respect to a host data collection and processing server system (shown as cloud-based server 130) via gateway 120.
In the illustrated example, gateway 120 provides a network node for interfacing between the wireless wearable devices using BLE communications and the host processing device using Internet protocol (IP) communications. In operation according to existing practice, gateway 120 is installed in a fixed location, wherein the wireless wearable devices may enter and exit the signal coverage area or service area of the gateway. Data of a particular wireless wearable device may be synchronized via data communication with the gateway during such time as the wireless wearable device is adequately served by the gateway. Simple ad hoc synchronization strategies, such as "first come first served" and "strongest RSSI first," are typically used in selecting a particular wireless wearable device for data synchronization between different wireless wearable devices located within the signal coverage area of the gateway.
Although such a gateway may be used to address compatibility issues and may be configured to automatically synchronize physical activity data without manual intervention by the respective users, the use of existing gateway configurations is not without disadvantage. Such a gateway introduces a communications bottleneck in scenarios for sensor data collection for a plurality of devices. The individual wireless wearable devices typically stay within the signal coverage area of the gateway for a limited time slot. BLE provides very limited bandwidth, and the gateway performance determines whether all required sensor data can be collected timely and efficiently during instances when the individual wireless wearable devices are within signal coverage area of the gateway. Wireless wearable devices enter or leave the coverage of gateway at any time, and disconnection frequently occurs during synchronization. Moreover, repeated reconnection of the wireless wearable devices with the gateway drains battery life of the wireless wearable devices. Irrespective of whether data synchronization is accomplished, the wireless wearable devices generate new sensor data continuously, which ideally is to be timely communicated to the host processing system. Simple ad hoc synchronization strategies cannot easily optimize the data synchronization performance provided by operation of the gateway. For example, effective prioritization is not provided to facilitate synchronization of data that may become stale while one or more wireless wearable devices dominate the data communications. All the foregoing factors affect the data synchronization performance of the sensor data collection system.
The existing data synchronization techniques that utilize gateway implementations have not adequately addressed the above deficiencies. As one specific example, sensor data collection via a gateway as described in patent application publication number US 2017/0164224 A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, focuses on how to manage the sensor devices, and does not provide optimization on the synchronization performance. As another specific example, sensor data collection via a base station as described in patent application publication number CN 107071697 A, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, provides for data synchronization based on receive signal strength indicator (RSSI) and channel quality, and also does not provide optimization on the synchronization performance. Moreover, neither US 2017/0164224 A1 nor CN 107071697 A provide any means to address operation with respect to unstable wireless wearable devices (e.g., devices moving in and out of the signal coverage area of a gateway) or to effectively prioritize data communication for efficiently and timely synchronizing the wireless wearable communication devices.

Systems and methods for wireless device synchronization

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.


A method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a cathode ray tube having processes of forming a phosphor material on an inner surface of a cathode ray tube, forming a first intermediate film on the phosphor material, forming a second intermediate film having a baking temperature different from that of the first intermediate film on an upper surface of the first intermediate film, forming a metal back layer on an upper surface of the second intermediate layer, and baking a product at a predetermined baking temperature. Also, a method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a cathode ray tube is disclosed, which has processes of forming a phosphor material on an inner surface of a cathode ray tube, forming an organic acid film on the phosphor material, forming an intermediate film on an upper surface of the organic acid film, forming a metal back layer on an upper surface of the intermediate layer, and baking a product at a predetermined baking temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a cathode ray tube. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of manufacturing an intermediate layer for a metal back layer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a color cathode ray tube, there is known a so-called PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) slurry method.
In order to understand the present invention more clearly, let us first explain this PVA slurry method with reference to process diagrams forming FIGS. 1A to 1F.
As shown in FIG. 1, a face plate 21 is prepared, and a light absorption layer, for example, a carbon stripe layer 20 is formed on the face plate 21. Ammonium bichromate is added to a polyvinyl alcohol solution and a phosphor is mixed into the resultant solution to form a so-called phosphor slurry 22. The phosphor slurry 22 is coated on the inner surface of the face plate 21, dried and is then exposed to light by using a color selection electrode (for example, aperture grille) as an optical mask (see FIG. 1A). After the exposure, the color selection electrode is removed and the product is developed by water, whereby the portion irradiated with light is left thereon to form a phosphor layer, for example, a phosphor stripe 23. The similar processes are repeatedly carried out to form a green phosphor stripe 23G, a blue phosphor stripe 23B and a red phosphor stripe 23R, sequentially (see FIG. 1B).
The product is then dried and is uniformly coated with an aqueous solution 24 containing an acrylic resin (for example, "PRIMAL", product name) as shown in FIG. 1C. Then, the product is again dried and an acrylic resin film, or an intermediate film 25 is formed on the phosphor stripe 23 as shown in FIG. 1D. Thereafter, a metal back layer 26 is formed on the intermediate layer 25 by an aluminum vapor deposition process (see FIG. 1E), and the whole of the product is baked to remove the intermediate layer 25 beneath the metal back layer 26. Thus, the process for manufacturing a phosphor screen is ended as shown in FIG. 1F.
The metal back layer 26 has a charge-up effect for the lowering of the surface potential of the phosphor screen by the bombardment of electrons from an electron gun or such an electrical effect that the surface potential of the phosphor screen is maintained to be an anode potential. Also, the metal back layer 26 has such an optical effect that a reflection coefficient is increased by using the aluminum thin film forming the metal back layer 26 as a mirror surface. Further, the metal back layer 26 has such an effect that can prevent ion spot from being produced when negative ion within the cathode ray tube strikes the phosphor screen, or the metal back layer 26 can prevent brightness of a phosphor screen from being deteriorated or the metal back layer 26 can increase the brightness of the phosphor screen. If the metal back layer 26 is smooth, then the above-mentioned effects become more remarkable. Therefore, it is proposed in the art that the metal back layer 26 is made smooth by forming the intermediate layer 25 on the phosphor stripe 23 prior to the aluminum vapor deposition process.
The prior-art method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a cathode ray tube will be described more fully with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the acrylic resin solution 24 is coated on the phosphor stripe 23, the solution 24 is permeated into the phosphor materials 23a. If the product is dried under this condition, then the intermediate layer 25 is formed on the surface of the phosphor stripe 23 so as to fill in its concavities and convexities.
The intermediate layer 25 is, however, formed on the surface of the phosphor stripe 23 in accordance with the large concavities and convexities formed on the surface of the phosphor stripe 23. Consequently, the intermediate layer 25 itself is not formed smooth so that the metal back layer 26 formed on the intermediate layer 25 is not formed smooth, as shown in FIG. 2B. As a result, the effects inherent in the metal back layer 26 can not be demonstrated sufficiently.
In order to make the intermediate layer 25 more smooth, the film thickness of the intermediate layer 25 is increased by increasing a concentration of the acrylic resin in the solution, thereby filling in the concavities and convexities on the surface of the phosphor stripe 23. In this case, however, upon the baking-process, a relatively large amount of the intermediate layer 25 is sputtered and the metal back layer 26 formed on the intermediate layer 25 is raised, which provides a problem of a so-called expanded aluminum film (or floated aluminum film). This causes the brightness of the cathode ray tube to be deteriorated. For this reason, the film thickness of the intermediate layer 25 is limited, or the concentration of the acrylic resin in the solution is limited (the limit is generally about 30%). Thus, the intermediate layer having satisfactory smoothness can not be obtained.
In order to make the intermediate layer smooth, other methods are proposed. One of such previously-proposed methods is to form the intermediate layer by the use of acryl lacquer. This method, however, needs some special apparatus for spraying acryl lacquer on the phosphor material. Also, the acryl lacquer is an organic solvent and has to be treated with great care.

Method of manufacturing a phosphor screen of a cathode ray tube


A vehicle includes an internal combustion engine and an air induction system configured to provide intake air to the internal combustion engine. The air induction system includes an intake port, an air box coupled to the intake port and having a wet side air box and a dry side air box, at least one sensor disposed within the air box and configured to detect a presence or level of liquid within the air box, and a watertight door disposed within the air box and configured to move between an open position that allows air to pass through the air box dry side, and a closed position that facilitates preventing liquid from passing into the air box dry side.

In some vehicle operations, such as water fording, water can be ingested into the air induction system and possibly passed to the engine, which can potentially result in a hydrostatic lock (hydrolock) that could potentially cause damage to the engine. To prevent liquid ingestion, some vehicles include drain holes in the air induction system. However, in deep water, the water can potentially enter these drain holes and still flood the air induction system. Thus, while such conventional systems work well for their intended purpose, there remains a desire for improvement in the relevant art.

Air induction system with water detection


A solution that provides for increased high-frequency, record exports giving real-time insight of traffic patterns, by splitting a conventional monolithic template into a static template and a dynamic template. Static flow records are sent only at the beginning of a flow, or when ‘almost static’ information elements change. Dynamic records are sent very frequently, and only when there is a dynamic information element change.

Network traffic telemetry technologies, such as NetFlow and Internet Protocol Flow Information Export (IPFIX), collect and aggregate information about network traffic flowing through a device and output flow records that are sent to a centralized flow collector in their respective message formats. NetFlow and IPFIX data records follow templates in terms of structure and specification of contents. Flow information is used by an analytics engine that reads the exported data from the collector for offline processing.

Rapid network traffic telemetry exports with split templates and flow records


There is provided an image sensor including: a plurality of first electrodes respectively formed within a plurality of pixel areas, the pixel areas being formed on a substrate; a protection layer formed on an upper surface of the substrate and including a plurality of contact holes respectively exposing the first electrodes of the pixel areas; a plurality of auxiliary electrodes respectively contacting with the first electrodes through the contact holes and extending to an upper surface of the protection layer of the pixel area; a photoconductive layer formed on both the first electrodes and on the auxiliary electrodes; and a second electrode formed on the photo conductive layer.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image sensor and manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image sensor in which the strength of adhesion between a photoconductive layer and a substrate is increased.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, X-rays for medical or industrial applications have typically used films and screens. In this case, the use of resources and time becomes inefficient due to problems related to the development and storage of the taken films.
Hence, digital-type image sensors are currently widely used. Such image sensors are classified into: indirect conversion-type image sensors and direct conversion-type image sensors.
In indirect conversion-type image sensors, X-rays are converted into visible light using a scintillator, after which the visible light is converted into an electrical signal. By comparison, in direct conversion-type image sensors, X-rays are directly converted into an electrical signal using a photoconductive layer. Direct conversion-type image sensors are suitable for use in high-resolution systems because there is no need for an additional scintillator and the spreading of light does not occur.
A photoconductive layer used for the direct conversion-type image sensors is formed on a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate by performing vacuum evaporation on a surface thereof. A specific high process temperature is required for forming the photoconductive layer to perform vacuum evaporation. Herein, thermal stress occurs between the substrate and the photoconductive layer, and thus delamination or cracking of the photoconductive layer may occur since adhesion between the substrate and the photoconductive layer is degraded by the thermal stress.
Accordingly, reliability of image sensors is deteriorated since current leakage increases due to the delamination or the cracking of the photoconductive layer and thus charge collection efficiency is degraded.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.


The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for generating a through-silicon via (TSV) model for RC extraction that accurately models an interposer substrate comprising one or more TSVs. In some embodiments, a method is performed by generating an interposer wafer model having a sub-circuit that models a TSV. The sub-circuit can compensate for limitations in resistive and capacitive extraction of traditional TSV models performed by EDA tools. In some embodiments, the sub-circuit is coupled to a floating common node of the model. The floating common node enables the interposer wafer model to take into consideration capacitive coupling within the interposer. The improved interposer wafer model enables accurate RC extraction of an interposer with one or more TSVs, thereby providing for an interposer wafer model that is consistent between GDS and APR flows.

The semiconductor industry has continually improved the processing capabilities and power consumption of integrated chips (ICs) by shrinking the minimum feature size of chip components through improvements in lithographic processes. However, in recent years process limitations have made it difficult to support the continued shrinking of minimum feature size. The vertical integration of ICs has emerged as a potential alternative approach to improving integrated chip performance. By vertically integrating IC die to behave as a single chip, metal interconnect distance is shortened, thereby improving processing capabilities and reducing power consumption.
In many vertically integrated IC structures, an interposer is configured to carry one or more IC die. The interposer provides for structural stability, improved heat dissipation, improved interconnection characteristics, etc. Micro-bumps connect respective IC die to through-silicon vias (TSV), which are vertical electrical connections extending through the interposer. In general, a TSV is comprised of a conductive metal, such as copper or tungsten, and is surrounded by a dielectric layer.

RC extraction methodology for floating silicon substrate with TSV

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A cyclone dust collector and a vacuum cleaner having the same. The cyclone dust collector has a cyclone body shaped to have a relatively wider upper portion and a relatively narrower lower portion and also has a suction port and a discharge port, a grill member connected to the discharge port, a dust receptacle connected to the cyclone body, and a blocking member for partially blocking the grill member. Air drawn in through the suction port moves in an increasingly wider radial path as it travels upwardly to the discharge port, increasing the centrifugal force on suspended particles as they travel toward the discharge port. The shape of the cyclone body prevents turbulent flow from being generated. Dust is prevented by the blocking member from attaching to the grill member before being centrifuged, performance of the grill member is enhanced.

Generally, a cyclone dust collector in a vacuum cleaner draws in dust-laden air, forms a whirling or cyclonic air current that separates dust from the dust-laden air by a centrifugal force generated from the whirling air current and collects the separated dust particles in a bin or trap for later disposal. In general, cyclone dust collectors do not pass dust-laden air through an air filtration element.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view, of a prior art conventional cyclone dust collector. As shown in the drawings, the cyclone dust collector comprises a cyclone body 10, a suction port 11 for drawing in air, a discharge port 12 for discharging dust-separated air, a grill member 13 connected to the discharge port 12, and a dust receptacle 14.
The suction port 11 guides dust-laden air drawn in from a surface being cleaned, into the cyclone body 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the suction port 11 is tangentially connected to an inner circumference of the cyclone body 10. The drawn-in air forms a whirling, i.e., cyclonic air current flowing along the inner circumference of the cyclone body 10, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 2. Dust particles that are suspended in the air are centrifuged. Since a suction force is generated by a vacuum suction means (not shown) in the grill member 13, however, the air drawn in from the suction port 11 may fail to generate the whirling air current before being discharged through the discharge port 12. In such a case, the centrifuged dust may not be collected in the dust receptacle 14 but stuck to the grill member 13 instead, thereby deteriorating suction strength and reducing the effectiveness of the cyclone dust collector.
Furthermore, turbulence in the air flow in the cyclone body 10, which can be generated in the cyclone dust collector for many reasons, also affects dust separation. Air flow direction changes and air current collisions are just two things that can weaken the cyclone, i.e., reduce its rotational speed, thereby reducing the centrifugal force exerted on suspend dust particles. More specifically, since the cyclone body 10 has a substantially cylindrical form for smooth flow of the whirling air current, the air drawn into the cyclone body 10 through the suction port 11 undergoes sudden change in its path, accordingly forming a turbulent flow by its own inertia. In addition, as it enters the cyclone dust collector, the air drawn in through the suction port 11 collides with the whirling air current formed in the cyclone dust collector, thereby causing the turbulent flow especially in a spot S shown as a hatched area in FIG. 2. In addition, because the turbulent flow scatters away the dust already centrifuged, dust collection diminishes. A cyclone dust collector that avoids the problems created by prior art grill elements would be an improvement over the prior art.

Cyclone dust collector and vacuum cleaner therewith


A method of operating an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) by inverting a result of an operation to be executed during a current cycle in response to control signals from instruction decode logic which indicate that a later operation will require a complement of the result, wherein the result is inverted during the current cycle. The later operation may be a subtraction operation that immediately follows the first operation. The later instruction is decoded prior to the current cycle to control the inversion in the ALU. The ALU includes an adder, a rotator, and a data manipulation unit which invert the result during the current cycle in response to an invert control signal. The second operation subtracts the result during a subsequent cycle in which a carry control signal to the adder is enabled, and the rotator and the data manipulation unit are disabled. The ALU may be used in an execution unit of a microprocessor, such as a fixed-point unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems, particularly microprocessors having execution units such as fixed-point units or floating point units, and more specifically to an arithmetic logic unit which carries out addition and subtraction operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-performance computer systems typically use multiple processors to carry out the various program instructions embodied in computer programs such as software applications and operating systems. A conventional microprocessor design is illustrated in FIG. 1. Processor 10 is generally comprised of a single integrated circuit superscalar microprocessor, and includes various execution units, registers, buffers, memories, and other functional units which are all formed by integrated circuitry. Processor 10 may operate according to reduced instruction set computing (RISC) techniques, and is coupled to a system or fabric bus 12 via a bus interface unit (BIU) 14 within processor 10. BIU 14 controls the transfer of information between processor 10 and other devices coupled to system bus 12, such as a main memory, by participating in bus arbitration. Processor 10, system bus 12, and the other devices coupled to system bus 12 together form a host data processing system.
BIU 14 is connected to an instruction cache and memory management unit (MMU) 16, and to a data cache and MMU 18 within processor 10. High-speed caches, such as those within instruction cache and MMU 16 and data cache and MMU 18, enable processor 40 to achieve relatively fast access time to a subset of data or instructions previously transferred from main memory to the caches, thus improving the speed of operation of the host data processing system. Instruction cache and MMU 16 is further coupled to a sequential fetcher 20, which fetches instructions for execution from instruction cache and MMU 16 during each cycle. Sequential fetcher 20 transmits branch instructions fetched from instruction cache and MMU 16 to a branch prediction unit 22 for calculating the next instruction fetch address, but temporarily stores sequential instructions within an instruction queue 24 for execution by other execution circuitry within processor 10.
The execution circuitry of processor 10 has multiple execution units for executing sequential instructions, including one or more fixed-point units (FXUs) 26, load-store units (LSUs) 28, floating-point units (FPUs) 30, and branch processing units (BPUs) 32. These execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32 execute one or more instructions of a particular type of sequential instructions during each processor cycle. For example, FXU 26 performs fixed-point mathematical and logical operations such as addition, subtraction, shifts, rotates, and XORing, utilizing source operands received from specified general purpose registers (GPRs) 34 or GPR rename buffers 36. Following the execution of a fixed-point instruction, FXUs 26 output the data results of the instruction to GPR rename buffers 36, which provide temporary storage for the operand data until the instruction is completed by transferring the result data from GPR rename buffers 36 to one or more of GPRs 34. FPUs 30 perform single and double-precision floating-point arithmetic and logical operations, such as floating-point multiplication and division, on source operands received from floating-point registers (FPRs) 38 or FPR rename buffers 40. FPU 30 outputs data resulting from the execution of floating-point instructions to selected FPR rename buffers 40, which temporarily store the result data until the instructions are completed by transferring the result data from FPR rename buffers 40 to selected FPRs 38. LSUs 28 execute floating-point and fixed-point instructions which either load data from memory (i.e., either the data cache within data cache and MMU 18 or main memory) into selected GPRs 34 or FPRs 38, or which store data from a selected one of GPRs 34, GPR rename buffers 36, FPRs 38, or FPR rename buffers 40 to system memory. BPUs 32 perform condition code manipulation instructions and branch instructions.
Processor 10 may employ both pipelining and out-of-order execution of instructions to further improve the performance of its superscalar architecture, but the present invention is particularly advantageous when used with in-order program execution or in cases where out-of-order execution capabilities are limited. For out-of-order processing, instructions can be executed by FXUs 26, LSUs 28, FPUs 30, and BPUs 32 in any order as long as data dependencies are observed. In addition, instructions may be processed by each of the FXUs 26, LSUs 28, FPUs 30, and BPUs 32 at a sequence of pipeline stages, in particular, five distinct pipeline stages: fetch, decode/dispatch, execute, finish, and completion.
During the fetch stage, sequential fetcher 20 retrieves one or more instructions associated with one or more memory addresses from instruction cache and MMU 16. Sequential instructions fetched from instruction cache and MMU 16 are stored by sequential fetcher 20 within instruction queue 24. Sequential fetcher 10 folds out branch instructions from the instruction stream and forwards them to branch prediction unit 22 for handling. Branch prediction unit 22 includes a branch prediction mechanism, which may comprise a dynamic prediction mechanism such as a branch history table, that enables branch prediction unit 22 to speculatively execute unresolved conditional branch instructions by predicting whether or not the branch will be taken.
During the decode/dispatch stage, instruction dispatch unit (IDU) 42 decodes and dispatches one or more instructions from instruction queue 24 to execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32. In addition, dispatch unit 42 allocates a rename buffer within GPR rename buffers 36 or FPR rename buffers 40 for each dispatched instruction' result data. Upon dispatch, instructions are also stored within the multiple-slot completion buffer of completion unit 44 to await completion. Processor 10 tracks the program order of the dispatched instructions during out-of-order execution utilizing unique instruction identifiers.
During the execute stage, execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32, execute instructions received from dispatch unit 42 opportunistically as operands and execution resources for the indicated operations become available. Each of execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32, are preferably equipped with a reservation station that stores instructions dispatched to that execution unit until operands or execution resources become available. After execution of an instruction has terminated, execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32, store data results, if any, within either GPR rename buffers 36 or FPR rename buffers 40, depending upon the instruction type. Then, execution units 26, 28, 30, and 32, notify completion unit 44 which instructions have finished execution. Finally, instructions are completed in program order out of the completion buffer of completion unit 44. Instructions executed by FXUs 26 and FPUs 30 are completed by transferring data results of the instructions from GPR rename buffers 36 and FPR rename buffers 40 to GPRs 34 and FPRs 38, respectively. Load and store instructions executed by LSUs 28 are completed by transferring the finished instructions to a completed store queue or a completed load queue from which the indicated load/store operations will be performed.
During the processing of program instructions, it is common to have a situation wherein the results of one operation are needed for the next instruction as an operand, in back-to-back cycles. This situation may be understood with reference to the following example of two instructions, an add operation followed by a subtract operation:
add r3, r1, r2
subf r5, r3, r4.
In the first instruction, the values in registers 1 and 2 (r1 and r2) are added and the sum is loaded into register 3 (r3). In the second instruction, the value in register 3 (r3) is subtracted from the value in register 4 (r4) and the difference is loaded into register 5 (r5). These instructions may be executed by an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) in either of the FXUs 26 or FPUs 30 of processor 10. The second instruction thus has a dependency on the first instruction, and if the first operation cannot be completed within a single cycle, the second operation must stall its execution, adversely affecting the overall performance of the processor.
As the operating frequencies of these machines increase, it is desirable to add more levels of logic to an execution unit to further enhance computation power and overall speed. However, the traditional method of generating the needed operands for later, dependent instructions limits the number of levels of logic in a pipeline stage, given the timing constraints. FIG. 2 shows a traditional implementation for an ALU 50 wherein the true and complement of an operand are generated and multiplexed for input into the ALU. The ALU includes an adder, a rotator, and a data manipulation unit. When a first instruction completes (such as an add operation) the result is issued to a result bus 52 that is connected to one of the inputs of a first operand multiplexer 54a and a second operand multiplexer 54b. After that operation completes, the next instruction is decoded by control logic 56 to determine the type of operation in the pipeline. If the current result is to be one of the operands for the next instruction, multiplexer 54a selects the result bus for input and passes the previous result to a latch 58. Latch 58 has two outputs, one connected to a first input of another multiplexer 62, and the other connected to an inverter 60 whose output feeds the second input of multiplexer 62. In this manner, multiplexer 62 can selectively output either the true or complement of the previous result to ALU 50 responsive to the control signal from control logic 56.
The operands and the control signals are both generated in the same cycle, synchronized by the E-latches, but because the design is datapath limited, ALU 50 has to wait while multiplexer 62 selects between the true and complement of operand. This logic delay is particularly troublesome when trying to design high frequency execution units, e.g., one gigahertz or higher. It would, therefore, be desirable to devise an alternative method to generating and multiplexing the true and complement in such a way that this latency is eliminated. It would be further advantageous if the method could make the overall datapath faster to facilitate higher frequency constructions.

Inverting data on result bus to prepare for instruction in the next cycle for high frequency execution units

International Business Machines Corporation


A programmable logic circuit assigns a value to an outlet of a power distribution unit (PDU) that comprises a power source at an input of the PDU and at least one light-emitting diode (LED) associated with the outlet. The programmable logic circuit sends the value to a program on a hardware device that comprises one or more power supplies. The programmable logic circuit receives information from the program. Subsequently, an illumination state of the LED is modified based on the information.

This disclosure relates generally to power distribution units, and more specifically to monitoring power source redundancy via a power distribution unit.
Complex computer environments such as data centers contain multiple hardware devices, for example server computers, computer storage devices, and computer network equipment. The hardware devices have a variety of power needs and can be housed within a computer rack. To support the power needs of the hardware devices, power distribution units (PDUs) are utilized. The PDUs have multiple outlets (i.e., receptacles) that receive electrical power from a power source, and the outlets distribute the electrical power to the hardware devices via power cables that connect the outlets to power supplies of the hardware devices.
A service maintenance technician may experience difficulty in determining the location of a specific power cable that connects a power supply of a hardware device to an outlet of a PDU, because the power cable can be bundled together and covered by other power cables. For instance, often times within the complex computer environments, maintenance needs to be performed by a service maintenance technician on the hardware devices. To perform the maintenance, it may be necessary to disconnect one or more power cables of hardware devices, from outlets of PDUs in order to remove electrical power that is being supplied to the hardware devices. If the hardware devices are housed within a computer rack, for example a forty-two unit computer rack in which each unit has two power supplies, then there can be as many as eighty-four power cables running to multiple PDUs. Thus, if certain hardware devices have more than one power supply, then multiple power cables may have to be disconnected from the PDUs in order to ensure removal of electrical power to those hardware devices. Often the wrong power cables can be disconnected from the PDUs when trying to remove the electrical power to a hardware device, which can result in an unintentional shutdown of another hardware device that is operational and needs to remain on.
It is known for a person to physically trace the power cables that need to be disconnected, in order to locate the correct power cables and remove electrical power supplied to a specific hardware device. However, the power cables may be bundled together. As a result, a person may have to unbundle many power cables in order to physically trace certain power cables and remove the electrical power, which can be inefficient and increase the time to perform and complete maintenance tasks. Furthermore, it is also known to physically label each end of the power cables with handwritten or typewritten tags, which can assist with locating the correct power cables to disconnect from a PDU. However, trying to physically trace power cables and read tags on the power cables can be difficult because the power cables are often bundled together and housed within a tightly enclosed area that is not easily accessible to a person, such as a service maintenance technician.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Determining suitability for disconnection from an electrical outlet based on status of power supplies of a hardware device


The invention relates to a cover (1) suitable for installation at least facing a heat exchanger (28) between a feed gas flow for an internal combustion engine and a so-called coolant, said heat exchanger (28) comprising a bundle (32) and an area (33) for distributing the coolant in the bundle (32), characterized in that the cover (1) comprises a protrusion (2) suitable for limiting the circulation of the feed gas flow at the coolant distribution area (33).

A motor vehicle internal combustion engine comprises a plurality of combustion chambers each delimited by a piston, a cylinder and a portion of a cylinder head. These combustion chambers receive a mixture of oxidant and fuel destined to be burnt to generate the work of the engine. The oxidant comprises air, which may or may not be compressed, depending on whether the engine includes a turbocharger. The air may also be mixed with exhaust gases, called recirculated exhaust gases. The gases taken into the combustion chamber will hereinafter be referred to as feed gas.
It is known practice to increase the density of these feed gases by cooling them, for example by promoting a heat exchange between the feed gases and a flow of air outside the vehicle via an air/air heat exchanger.
It is also known practice to produce this cooling by exchange between the feed gases and a liquid fluid, for example the coolant of the engine, which circulates in a heat exchanger which is passed through by the feed gases. The heat exchanger used in the latter device comprises a bundle, but it also includes a coolant distribution area whose function is to direct the fluid from ducts, external to the exchanger, to tubes that make up the bundle.


Semiconductor memory device including a dynamic memory array having a plurality of dynamic memory cells arranged in a matrix of rows and columns, write line and read line buffer memories disposed at the input and output of the dynamic memory array, and internal control circuitry including an internal refresh circuit and an internal arbiter circuit for determining relative priority as between write, read, and refresh request signals such that the internal refresh circuit is enabled to generate a refresh request signal for periodically applying a refresh signal to the dynamaic memory cells of the dynamic memory array without requiring an external control signal for implementation of the refresh request signal. In a particular aspect, the write line buffer memory and the read line buffer memory are respectively divided into first and second sections for alternate tandem operation in relation to one-half row of dynamic memory cells of the dynamic memory array so as to provide for continuous serial data input to the dynamic memory array via the alternate tandem operation of the first and second write line buffer memory sections and continuous serial data output from the dynamic memory array without interruption from the refresh mode during its operation cycle via the alternate tandem operation of the first and second read line buffer memory sections with respect to one-half row of dynamic memory cells of the dynamic memory array.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, for example, one in which a dynamic memory is used for the main memory thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) of prior art that makes use of a dynamic memory has always been designed as a device that requires repeated refreshing to keep data stored for the necessary duration of time.
However, such refresh control has been a task the user is responsible for, so the user must design a proper refresh control circuit at the stage of system design. This is a burden on the user. Such control circuit operates solely under control of a signal given from exterior. Further, the refresh mode in which data can neither be read nor rewritten lowers the efficiency of DRAM utilization.

Dynamic memory with internal refresh circuit and having virtually refresh-free capability


Copper lines can be formed on a semiconductor wafer at low temperatures by forming a patterned photoresist layer over a copper layer, and etching the copper in a vacuum etch chamber using vaporized acetic acid and water as the etchants.

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, metal contact lines and interconnections have been made primarily of aluminum heretofore. Aluminum can be processed by dry etching in a vacuum chamber at low temperatures to form volatile by-products which can be pumped away by the chamber exhaust system. Further, aluminum has low electrical resistance. However, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices become smaller, e.g., using 0.5 micron design rules, problems with the use of aluminum have become apparent. Aluminum has low mechanical strength, and thus when it becomes stressed, as by the application of current or because of thermal cycling, aluminum tends to crack, forming disconnects. The thinner the aluminum lines become, the more this problem is exacerbated.
The use of copper as an alternative to aluminum has been studied, because copper has higher mechanical strength, is more ductile than aluminum, and has excellent conductivity. However, copper has not been used for semiconductor device manufacture up till now, because it cannot be processed by conventional dry etching equipment and processes.
In order to make line connections on a substrate, after the deposition of a conductive metal layer over the substrate, a layer of photoresist is deposited and patterned to expose portions of the metal layer. The metal layer is then etched away in the exposed areas. Aluminum has been etched by reactive ion etching using a halogen compound or an organohalide, particularly a chloride, forming aluminum chloride for example as a by-product of the reaction. This reaction takes place at temperatures below about 500.degree. C. This low temperature etch is acceptable because it does not unduly damage a silicon wafer, or change diffused or ion implanted ions in or on the wafer used to form devices such as transistors.
However, copper does not form a corresponding copper chloride at low temperatures, but instead requires much higher temperatures of about 1000.degree. C. at normal pressures and temperatures of over about 500.degree. C. and up to about 600.degree. C. under vacuum. Such temperatures have adverse effects on underlying layers and state-of-the-art photoresists can not withstand such temperatures. Thus copper cannot be used as a metal connector using state of the art semiconductor processing.
However, because of the potential advantages of the use of copper lines as enumerated above, a method of patterning copper lines at low temperatures would be highly desirable.


Apparatus for cutting glass blanks according to a particular contour, comprises a scoring maching for scoring the contour on the glass blank, a breaking machine for severing the scored contour from the glass blank, and a grinding machine for smoothing the edges of the severed blank. A conveyor conveys the glass blank to each of the above machines for performing their respective operations, and a computerized control system controls the three machines according to digital files prepared for each machine.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cutting a glass blank according to a particular contour. The invention is particularly useful for cutting glass blanks in making windshields for motor vehicles, and is therefore described below with respect to this application.
The manufacture of windshields for motor vehicles involves first scoring the contour of the windshield on a glass blank, severing the scored contour from the glass blank, and grinding the edges of the severed blank. The glass blank is then bent into the required shape and is subjected to a thermal treatment. When a laminated windshield is produced, two such glass blanks are joined together with a transparent adhesive.
At the present time, the scoring, severing and grinding operations are usually performed manually with the aid of patterns traced by a tracing wheel. Recently, computerized numerical control (CNC) scoring machines have been developed for controlling the scoring operation by digital data manually prepared by the use of a digitizer table. However, even with the use of such CNC scoring machines, the grinding is still performed by the use of a tracing wheel.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for automatically cutting a glass blank according to a particular contour, which method and apparatus are particularly useful in making windshields for automotive vehicles. Other objects of the invention are to provide a novel scoring machine, a novel breaking machine, and a novel grinding machine, all computer-controlled, for use in cutting glass blanks.

Method and apparatus for cutting glass blanks