CMOS devices with balanced drive currents are formed with a PMOS transistor based on SiGe and a deposited high-k gate dielectric. Embodiments including forming a composite substrate comprising a layer of strained Si on a layer of SiGe, forming isolation regions defining a PMOS region and an NMOS region, forming a thermal oxide layer on the strained Si layer, selectively removing the thermal oxide layer and strained Si layer from the PMOS region, depositing a layer of high-k material on the layer of SiGe in the PMOS region and then forming gate electrodes in the PMOS and NMOS regions.

The present invention relates to micro-miniaturized semiconductor devices comprising CMOS transistors on silicon-germanium. The present invention is particularly applicable in fabricating CMOS transistors with balanced drive currents.
The relentless pursuit of miniaturized semiconductor devices continues to challenge the limitations of conventional semiconductor materials and fabrication techniques. Conventional semiconductor devices typically comprise a plurality of active devices in or on a common semiconductor substrate, e.g., CMOS devices comprising at least a pair of PMOS and NMOS transistors in spaced adjacency. Current technology utilizes crystalline semiconductor wafers as substrates, such as a lightly p-doped epitaxial (xe2x80x9cepixe2x80x9d) layer of silicon (Si) grown on a heavily-doped, crystalline Si Substrate. The low resistance of the heavily-doped substrate is necessary for minimizing susceptibility to latch-up, whereas the light doping of the epi layer permits independent tailoring of the doping profiles of both the p-type and n-type wells formed therein as part of the fabrication sequence, thereby resulting in optimal PMOS and NMOS transistor performance.
The use of the very thin epi layers, i.e., several xcexcm thick, is made possible by utilizing shallow trench isolation (xe2x80x9cSTIxe2x80x9d), which advantageously minimizes up-diffusion of p-type dopant(s) from the more heavily-doped substrate into the lightly-doped epi layer. In addition, STI allows for closer spacing of adjacent active areas by avoiding the xe2x80x9cbird""s beakxe2x80x9d formed at the edge of each LOCOS isolation structure. STI also provides better isolation by creating a more abrupt structure, reduces the vertical step from active area to isolation to improve gate lithography control, eliminates the high temperature field oxidation step that can cause problems with large diameter, i.e., 8 inch, wafers, and is scalable to future logic technology generations.
Substrates based on xe2x80x9cstrained siliconxe2x80x9d have attracted interest as a semiconductor material which provides increased speeds of electron and hole flow therethrough, thereby permitting fabrication of semiconductor devices with higher operating speeds, enhanced performance characteristics, and lower power consumption. A very thin, tensilely strained, crystalline silicon (Si) layer is grown on a relaxed, graded composition of silicon-germanium (SiGe) buffer layer several microns thick, which SiGe buffer layer in turn is formed on a suitable crystalline substrate, e.g., a Si wafer or a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. The SiGe buffer layer typically contains 12 to 25 at. % Ge. Strained Si technology is based upon the tendency of the Si atoms, when deposited on the SiGe buffer layer, to align with the greater lattice constant (spacing) of Si and Ge atoms therein (relative to pure Si). As a consequence of the Si atoms being deposited on a substrate (SiGe) comprised of atoms which are spaced further apart, they xe2x80x9cstretchxe2x80x9d to align with the underlying Si and Ge atoms, thereby xe2x80x9cstretchingxe2x80x9d or tensilely straining the deposited Si layer. Electrons and holes in such strained Si layers have greater mobility than in conventional, relaxed Si layers with smaller inter-atom spacings, i.e., there is less resistance to electron and/or hole flow. For example, electron flow in strained Si may be up to about 70% faster compared to electron flow in conventional Si. Transistors and IC devices formed with such strained Si layers can exhibit operating speeds up to about 35% faster than those of equivalent devices formed with conventional Si, without necessity for reduction in transistor size.
The mobility of electrons is faster than the mobility of holes in conventional bulk silicon substrates. Accordingly, in conventional CMOS transistors, the drive current of the PMOS transistor is less than the drive current of the NMOS transistor creating an imbalance. This imbalance is exacerbated in CMOS transistors fabricated on or within a tensilely stressed active device area formed in a strained lattice semiconductor substrate, e.g., strained Si on SiGe, because the increase in electron mobility is greater than the increase in hole mobility.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methodology enabling the fabrication of semiconductor devices comprising narrow width CMOS transistors with balanced drive currents.
An advantage of the present invention is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising CMOS transistors with balanced drive currents.
Another advantage of the present invention is a semiconductor device comprising CMOS transistors with balanced drive currents.
Additional advantages andid other aspects and features of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from the practice of the present invention. The advantages of the present invention may be realized and obtained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other advantages are obtained in part by a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor, the method comprising; forming a substrate comprising a layer of silicon (Si) having a strained lattice on a layer of silicon-germanium (SiGe); forming isolation regions defining a PMOS region and an NMOS region; forming a thermal oxide layer on the strained Si layer in the PMOS and NMOS regions; selectively removing the thermal oxide layer and strained Si layer from the SiGe layer in the PMOS region; depositing a layer of dielectric material on the layer of SiGe in the PMOS region; and forming transistors in the PMOS and NMOS regions, wherein: a portion of the thermal oxide layer serves as the gate dielectric layer of the NMOS transistor, and a portion of the deposited layer of dielectric material serves as the gate dielectric layer of the PMOS transistor.
Another advantage of the present invention is a semiconductor device comprising: a substrate comprising a layer of silicon-germanium (SiGe); a PMOS transistor comprising: a gate dielectric layer of material having a high dielectric constant (k) of 10 or more deposited on the layer of SiGe; a gate electrode on the gate dielectric layer, and an NMOS transistor comprising: a layer of strained silicon (Si) on the layer of SiGe; a thermally formed gate oxide layer on the layer of strained Si; and a gate electrode on the thermally formed gate oxide layer.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise depositing, as by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), a dielectric material having a high dielectric constant (k) of 10 or higher on the SiGe layer in the PMOS region, as at a thickness of 10 xc3x85 to 50 xc3x85. Embodiments of the present invention comprise forming the thermal oxide layer at a thickness of 10 xc3x85 to 20 xc3x85, which is less than the thickness of the layer of high dielectric constant (k) material which serves as the gate dielectric layer for the PMOS transistor.
Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated for practicing the present invention. As will be described, the present invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are susceptible of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as limitative.

CMOS devices with balanced drive currents based on SiGe


A printing apparatus equipped with a direct wireless communication function, and a method of controlling the same, set, in accordance with an instruction of a user, a service to enable in the direct wireless communication function from among a plurality of services including a print service, and control the printing apparatus to execute the direct wireless communication function, applying a port filter corresponding to the service that is set.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Printing apparatuses such as multi function peripherals and printers in which a wireless LAN function is equipped are increasing in number. Printing apparatuses equipped with the wireless LAN function receive printing data from an external apparatus such as a PC or a mobile terminal via an access point and execute print processing based on the received printing data. Here, a network to which the printing apparatus is connected is often protected from a security perspective such that a terminal that a network manager did not give permission cannot connect.
Also, there are printing apparatuses that perform direct wireless communication with external apparatuses without going through a relay apparatus such as an access point. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-205982, a printing apparatus that performs direct wireless communication with a mobile terminal using Wi-Fi Direct is disclosed.
In the case of such direct wireless communication, a user first selects a Wi-Fi Direct start button on an operation panel of the printing apparatus to start processing for the direct wireless communication. Then, by the user operating a connection button of the operation panel of the mobile terminal, a connection request is transmitted from the mobile terminal to the printing apparatus, and a direct wireless connection is established.
In this way, while convenience for the user of the mobile terminal is improved by the printing apparatus and the mobile terminal performing direct wireless communication, there is the risk that the printing apparatus will be connected to by a terminal that the network manager has not permitted since the communication does not go through a relay apparatus. There is the presupposition that the printing apparatus will be used after being connected to a network in which security is guaranteed. Accordingly, in the case of direct wireless communication, there is the risk that a malicious user will access the printing apparatus wirelessly, and will steal important data from the printing apparatus, or will carry out a cyber-attack on the printing apparatus.

Printing apparatus capable of performing direct wireless communication, method of controlling direct wireless communication of the printing apparatus, and storage medium


The invention is directed to a tool for visualizing relationships between and among data. It uses existing relational databases, and provides the means to view these databases in order to reveal degrees of relatedness between and among various data clusters. An illustrative use of said database tool is for analyzing genomics data. A test platform for this tool used EST data for the wheat tribe Triticeae, but can easily be extended for applications where other sequence assembly procedures are implemented, particularly those which use alphanumeric characters to represent data. The implementation of algorithms to manipulate the data points for investigative functions may be adapted to serve other applications.

The present invention relates to the fields of relational databases, database use, graphical presentation of data, genomics, and gene discovery.
Relational databases continue to grow in number and complexity. Making sense of the data contained in these databases similarly is becoming a more daunting task. The data in these databases are often packaged or tagged in alphanumeric form in order to facilitate their handling and sorting. Examples of this can be found in many of the databases that contain chemical and biological information, such as Expressed Sequence Tags, or ESTs. In fact, the databases in this field provide a good example and are illustrative of the general problem that has arisen in database management, namely, how a researcher can effectively use the massive amount of information that is available.
Research into gene discovery, for example, often focuses on ESTs which in general reflect the diversity of gene expression in living organisms.
These sequences result from an established path in the laboratory: pieces of single-stranded messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) are isolated from organic tissue, converted into double-stranded complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA), cloned into vector replicons, and then transformed into Escherichia coli or other expression systems for replication. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is extracted from these clones and sequenced using high-throughput methods resulting in pools of EST data (Adams et al., 1992, Sequence Identification of 2375 Human Brain Genes, Nature 355:632-34). Such methods mean that a given set of sequences, often called a "library", shares a common origin, i.e., they have the same species, cultivar, tissue, condition, and stress attributes. Their characteristics represent a snapshot of the organism, captured at the moment in time when the researcher isolated the mRNA.
The abundance of EST data has increased dramatically in the past few years. The plant tribe Triticeae, for example, includes several closely-related crop plants of major economic importance, including wheat, barley and rye (Barkworth et al., 1992, Taxonomy of the Triticeae, A Historical Perspective, Hereditas 116:1-14; and Kellogg, 2001, Evolutionary History of the Grasses, Plant Physiology 125:1198-1205.) In the year 1998, only a handful of ESTs from Triticum sp. plants were available; now the number of ESTs for Triticum sp. exceed 750,000 (NCBI dbEST, 2003). This information has been assembled into vast databases, which are growing exponentially from year to year.
How to manage such massive amounts of data is difficult and labor intensive. For example, to help process this overload of information and to remove redundancy from within an EST data set, sequences can be aligned and clustered using various assembly algorithms, some of the more popular being CAP3 (Huang and Madan, 1999, CAP3: A DNA Sequence Assembly Program, Genome Res. 9:868-877), phrap (Green, 2003, The Phrap Program, www.phrap.org) and d2_cluster (Burke et al., 1999, D2 Cluster: a Validated Method for Clustering EST and Full-Length cDNA Sequences, Genome Res. 9:1135-1142). Moreover, in building such an assembly, a set of unique gene sets can be assembled into "unigenes", essentially representing a range of genes present in an organism (Liang et al., 2000, An Optimized Protocol for Analysis of EST Sequences, Nucleic Acids Res. 28:3657-65; and Quakenbush et al., 2000, The TIGR Gene Indices: Reconstruction and Representation of Expressed Gene Sequences, Nucleic Acids Res. 28:141-45). The success of such an assembly relies on the quality of the sequence data and the various parameters available within the software used to provide the established settings for sequence-by-sequence comparisons, all of which has become quite difficult because of the sheer mass of information that must be evaluated and processed.
As these databases have grown larger and larger, the amount of time and labor needed to use them has also grown. What is needed is a type of search and analytical tool that can be used with large databases in general, and particularly those which use alphanumeric characters to identify underlying information. In other words, virtually all databases.

Computer display tool for visualizing relationships between and among data

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Washington State University Research Foundation


Intermittent short-circuit control is performed in the ignition mode, thereby allowing short-circuit current to flow in the current source step-down type chopper. Energy of the short-circuit current is temporarily accumulated in the inductor provided in the current source step-down type chopper. The accumulated energy boosts the output voltage from the direct current power supply device during the period until the next short circuiting, via the current, the multiphase inverter, and the rectifier. The voltage boosting operation where accumulation of the current energy by short circuiting and boosting of the output voltage by conduction are repeated, controls an increase of the output voltage which is applied to the plasma generator.

There is known a plasma treatment process which applies plasma to a processing target such as a substrate, in manufacturing a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal panel, a disk, or the like, or in a sputtering process and the like. In this plasma treatment process, a direct current power supply device supplies a plasma generator with direct current (DC) power, thereby allowing processed gas to be plasmatized, or the like, in the space within the plasma generator so as to generate plasma, and using thus generated plasma, a film forming process or an etching process is performed on a substrate surface.
Typically, the plasma generator corresponds to an electrical load when viewed from the direct current power supply device, and the load at a starting point for generating plasma discharge before the plasma discharge is actually generated, is different from the load during a normal operation when the plasma discharge is generated stably. Therefore, usually, upon starting the plasma discharge generation, the direct current power supply device applies ignition voltage which is higher than the voltage for the normal operation, for a certain period of time, and thereafter applies low discharge voltage during the period of the normal operation (Patent Document 1). In addition, it is known that starting of the plasma discharge is detected by incoming current (Patent Documents 2 and 3).
As a circuit for generating the ignition voltage for the occurrence of plasma discharge, there is known a circuit using a resonant converter or a circuit using chopper control.
FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B each illustrates an ignition voltage generation circuit using the resonant converter; FIG. 12A illustrates a circuit example of a series resonant converter, and FIG. 12B illustrates a circuit example of a parallel resonant converter. In the circuit example as shown in FIG. 12A, the series resonant circuit LC is connected between an inverter circuit and a converter made up of a diode rectifier circuit, and in the circuit example as shown in FIG. 12B, the parallel resonant circuit LC is connected between the inverter circuit and the converter made up of the diode rectifier circuit. The ignition voltage generation circuit using the resonant converter boosts the ignition voltage by resonance.
FIG. 12C is a circuit example of the chopper control, and a chopper circuit is provided between a DC source (Ein) and the inverter circuit. In the circuit for the chopper control, the ignition voltage is controlled by an ON duty ratio of a switching element provided in the chopper circuit.

DC power supply device, and control method for DC power supply device


In a memory cell according to the present invention, when positive high voltages are respectively applied to a gate( 20 ) and a drain region( 14 ) and a source region( 13 ) is grounded, hot electrons are produced in the boundary between the drain region(14) and a channel(25). The hot electrons are locally injected into an insulation film(19), to be trapped therein. Consequently, information is written. At the time of reading out information, the drain region(14) is grounded, a positive read voltage is applied to the source region(13), and a predetermined sense voltage is applied to the gate(20). At this time, the area between the source and the drain is kept in a non-conduction state if electrons are stored in the insulation film(19), while conduction occurs between the source and the drain if no electrons are stored therein. Since the formation of the channel(25) in the vicinity of the drain region(14) is delayed at the time of reading, thereby to make it possible to increase a threshold voltage, therefore, information can be accurately read out. No hot electrons are produced in the boundary between the drain region(14) and the channel(25) at the time of reading, it is possible to effectively prevent so-called soft writing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device suitably implemented by an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-Only Memory) or the like and using as a memory cell a transistor capable of trapping electrons or holes in an insulation film formed above a channel region and a method of reading out information for the semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The typical prior art is disclosed in a document entitled "A True Single-Transistor Oxide-Nitride-Oxide EEPROM Device" IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS, VOL. EDL-8, NO.3, MARCH 1987, PP93-95, and the construction of a semiconductor memory device in the prior art is illustrated in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b). More specifically, in a transistor constituting a memory cell used in the semiconductor memory device, an n.sup.+ -type impurity region having a high concentration is provided on a p-type semiconductor substrate 1 to form a source region 2 and a drain region 3, an insulation film 4 capable of trapping electrons or holes is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1 between the source region 2 and the drain region 3, and a gate 5 is formed on the insulation film 4. The insulation film 4 is constituted by a so-called ONO film having a structure in which a nitride film 4C is sandwiched between a tunnel oxide film 4A and a top oxide film 4B.
As shown in FIG. 9(a), when positive high voltages (for example, 10 volts and 9 volts) are respectively applied to the gate 5 and the drain region 3 and the source region 2 is grounded to cause a current to flow between the source and the drain, hot electrons are generated in an end 3A of the drain region 3. The hot electrons are locally injected into the insulation film 4 in the vicinity of the drain region 3, to be trapped in the nitride film 4C.
The profile of the impurity concentration of a diffusion layer constituting the drain region 3 is rapidly changed in the boundary between the drain region 3 and a channel region 8. Consequently, a strong electric field is formed in the boundary between the channel region 8 and the drain region 3, so that hot electrons are easily produced.
When information is read out, the source region 2 is grounded and a predetermined positive voltage (for example, 1 volt) is applied to the drain region 3, as shown in FIG. 9(b). In this state, a predetermined sense voltage (for example, 3 volts) is applied to the gate 5. A threshold voltage Vth for allowing conduction between the source and the drain differs depending on the state of the insulation film 4. That is, the threshold voltage Vth takes a high value V1 in a state where electrons are injected into the insulation film 4, while taking a low value V2 (V2<V1) in a state where no electrons are injected. If the above-mentioned sense voltage is set to a voltage between the high threshold voltage and the low threshold voltage, therefore, information stored in this cell can be read out by applying such a sense voltage to the gate 5 and watching whether or not conduction occurs between the source and the drain.
Stored information can be erased by irradiation of ultraviolet rays to disperse the electrons in the insulation film 4 as well as by applying a relatively high voltage to the area between the gate and the drain to inject hot holes produced in the end of the drain region 3 into the insulation film 4 so as to neutralize the electrons in the insulation film 4.
In the above-mentioned prior art, however, the electrons are locally stored in the insulation film 4 in the vicinity of the drain region 3. Accordingly, it is difficult in a writing state to raise the threshold voltage Vth (=V1). It therefore is difficult to make large the amount of the change of the threshold voltage Vth (hereinafter referred to as a "memory window") .DELTA.V.sub.FB (=V1-V2). This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9(b).
More specifically, in the above-mentioned prior art, the positive read voltage is applied to the drain region 3 at the time of reading. When the voltage applied to the drain region 3 is high, a depletion layer 7 extends from the end of the drain region 3 so that the channel region 8 disappears. Alternatively, a space-charge layer appears. Since charges injected into this space-charge layer are accelerated with little resistance, they are moved between the source and the drain without being significantly affected by the charges trapped in the insulation film 4. Consequently, even if electrons are trapped in the insulation film 4, the threshold voltage Vth cannot be made sufficiently high.
When the positive sense voltage is applied to the gate 5 in a state where electrons are injected into the insulation layer 4 so that the threshold voltage Vth takes a high value V1, therefore, conduction may occur between the source and the drain due to a current flowing through the above-mentioned space-charge layer. That is, a slight shift of the sense voltage to be applied to the gate 5 at the time of reading results in erroneous reading because the memory window .DELTA.V.sub.FB is small. The operation of the memory cell is liable to be unstable because of the difficulty in making the memory window .DELTA.V.sub.FB large.
On the other hand, an attempt to inject large amounts of hot electrons into the insulation film 4, so as to make the memory window .DELTA.V.sub.FB large, causes the necessity of applying a relatively high voltage to the drain region 3 at the time of writing, resulting in a decreased number of times the memory cell may be written into.
On the other hand, the impurity concentration of the drain region 3 is abruptly changed in the boundary between the drain region 3 and the channel region 8 so as to enhance the production efficiency of hot electrons, as described above. However, the memory cell has a structure in which hot electrons are thus easily produced. Accordingly, trace amounts of hot electrons are produced even by a low voltage applied to the drain region 3 at the time of reading. Consequently, every time information is read out from the cell, trace amounts of hot electrons produced in the end 3A of the drain region 3 are injected into the insulation film 4. Therefore, the threshold voltage Vth of the transistor is slightly changed. Such a phenomenon is generally referred to as soft writing.
The higher the read voltage applied to the drain region 3 at the time of reading is, the more easily soft writing occurs. Accordingly, if an attempt to realize constant resistance to soft writing is made, the read voltage is restricted to a low voltage. Consequently, there is a limit on a read current of the cell, so that the reading speed is prevented from being increased.

Semiconductor memory device and method of reading out information for the same


An image forming device includes an image forming unit that includes a development agent container, a development device that supplies development agent in the development agent container to an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive body and forms a development agent image on the photoconductive body, a transfer unit transferring, onto a sheet, the development agent image on the photoconductive body, and a fixing unit fixing the development agent image on the sheet, a feed tray disposed under the image forming unit, a pickup unit feeding a sheet placed on the feed tray toward the image forming unit in a U-turn manner, a first conveying path tilted to extend downward obliquely from the pickup unit, and a second conveying path tilted to extend toward the fixing unit obliquely from a continuous section between the first conveying path and the second conveying path.

1. Technical Field
The following description relates to one or more image forming devices and development units attachable thereto that are configured to supply development agent to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductive body.
2. Related Art
An image forming device has been known that includes a feed tray configured such that one or more sheets are stacked therein, which feed tray is disposed to protrude forward from a front panel of a main body of the image forming device.
Further, a development unit attachable to the image forming device has been known, which development unit includes a development section having a development roller configured to hold development agent thereon, and a development agent container that is disposed in a position adjacent to and lower than the development section and configured to accommodate development agent. Further specifically, the development section includes a supply roller that is disposed obliquely below the development roller and configured to supply development agent to the development roller, and a regulating member configured to slidably contact a lower side of the development roller and regulate the thickness of the development agent held on the development roller.
In addition, a partition wall that divides the development section from the development agent container is formed with a supply port for supplying the development agent from the development agent container to the development section. Specifically, the supply port is formed to face the regulating member across the supply roller. Thereby, the development agent, which is conveyed from the development agent container to the development section via the development port, is supplied to the supply roller.

Image forming device and development unit attachable thereto


The present invention provides a backlight device, which comprises a plurality of optical devices and a plurality of backlight plates. The plurality of backlight plates include light sources, respectively, and are disposed at the light inlets of the plurality of optical devices. Then the beams of the light sources can be incident to the plurality of optical devices through the light inlets and reflected to the light outlets of the plurality of optical devices to form a backlight source for a display panel. The plurality of optical devices extend from the light outlets beyond the opposite surface of the display panel. By distributing optical paths, the spaces required for the optical paths can be reduced.

As the optic and electronic technologies advance, backlight devices are continuously developed in various applications in life, for example, projectors and LCD displays. Nowadays, head up displays (HUDs) for vehicles are developed and applied extensively to assist drivers. With them, a driver doesn't need to bow his head to view the dashboard. Instead, the important driving information can be seen in the normal visual field. By reducing the frequency of checking the dashboard, the interruption of attention can be avoided, and the control of the status and consciousness will not be lost. Consequently, the driving safety can be improved. HUDs can integrate and replace various traditional dashboards such as speedometers, fuel meters, and status indicators. Normal HUDs require backlight devices before images can be displayed.
In general, backlight devices and HUDs have to share a limited space for providing optical images. Unfortunately, normal backlight device requires larger space for optical reflection, which makes the overall size increase. Besides, the heat dissipation structure of backlight devices also occupies greater space. In addition to increasing the manufacturing costs, once the size is too large, it is difficult to design HUD products into vehicles. Accordingly, size, costs, and design convenience are still the challenges for manufacturers.
To sum up, to solve the technical drawbacks as described above, the present invention provides a backlight device. By using a plurality of light sources incident to a plurality of optical devices, the optical space needed by the light sources can be distributed and hence reducing the overall size of the structure. Thereby, the equipment costs can be lowered, and the design convenience can be enhanced. In addition, a preferred dissipation structure can be provided to a limited space.


A restaurant service indicator system method and kit includes a table unit having a processor, memory, a request sent indicator and transmitter that are communicatively linked to server unit having a processor, memory, table status indicator and receiver; The invention also includes a method for receiving, transmitting and displaying service request messages utilizing at least one table unit and server unit; The invention also includes a kit comprising a plurality of table units communicatively linked to a single server unit, a charger and instructions.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
At restaurants, bars and café's around the world, it is common practice to assign a single member of the wait staff (i.e., restaurant server, waiter or waitress) to be responsible multiple tables at one time. In the course of their duties, the server will constantly be roaming all across the premises in order to take customer orders, prepare beverages, communicate with the kitchen staff, seat new patrons and, of course, deliver food to tables. In this regard, the server may not always be available when a particular table desires immediate attention.
Alternatively, sometimes the restaurant wait staff can be too attentive. Whether it results from inexperience on the part of the server, boredom, and/or an over attentive disposition, there are times when a patrons overall dining experience can be negatively impacted due to constant interruptions by their assigned server.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a restaurant service indicator system capable of allowing a patron to inform the wait staff when their presence is desired, and when they wish to be left alone.

Restaurant service indicator system method and kit


Provided is a content delivery method and architecture for ways to improve the caching of content at one or more content providing devices of a Content Delivery Network (CDN). In particular, systems and methods are disclosed that vary the requirements to store resources or content within a caching device using a dynamic popularity threshold. This popularity threshold may be varied based on a measured fullness of the storage capacity of the cache device. In another example, the dynamic popularity threshold may be further varied based on a cache pressure, which is an indication of how often the cache replaces stored items with new items. The adjustment to the popularity threshold for caching particular content at the caching device may thus be based on a number of requests for content received at the device to tune the caching procedure for a particular region of the CDN.

A content delivery network (CDN) is a sophisticated and large collection of computers (e.g., content servers) and networking devices that is used to deliver various forms of content, such as video, web pages, and images, to devices over networks including the Internet. So, for example, when a user operating a smart phone, laptop, tablet or other computing device requests a video to play on the device, a CDN may be contacted and deliver the video to the computing device where it is played. As more and more content is delivered over networks, refinements and advances to CDNs, as well as the infrastructure supporting the CDN, are needed and happening constantly. Such advances involve reducing cost, increasing capacity, optimizing from where in the CDN content is delivered and where it is stored to optimize delivery, among other challenges.
In order to reduce latency, CDNs may utilize a distributed network of servers to hold data for the content providers so that when a user requests data from the network, the request can be filled by a server which is geographically closest to the user. For example, a website content provider in California may deploy caches on servers located on the East Coast, in Europe, and in Asia. Each cache can hold copies of the website content, such that when a user in London requests access to the website, the user is presented the requested data from the European cache. By providing the content from a server geographically near the requesting device, the latency of providing the content is reduced and the efficiency of the network is increased.
However, because the size and bandwidth of the caches of the various servers of the CDN may be limited, systems often make determinations regarding what content is cached and what content is stored at tiers deeper into the network. These determinations can be further complicated when the number of requests for content from a particular server exceed the server's capacity to track information about the requests. In addition, determinations regarding what content should be stored can be complicated by the use of mixed caches, where drives used to form the cache have distinct capacities and capabilities.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for improvements to a content delivery network


A catalyst separation system which separates catalyst particles from liquid hydrocarbons synthesized by a chemical reaction of a synthesis gas including a hydrogen and a carbon monoxide as the main components, and a slurry having solid catalyst particles suspended in a liquid, the catalyst separation system is provided with: a reactor; a storage tank which stores the slurry drawn from the reactor; a plurality of filters which filters the slurry; and a filtrate recovery vessel which recovers a filtrate which has passed through the plurality of filters, wherein the plurality of filters is disposed in series in a flow line for the slurry from the storage tank to the filtrate recovery vessel.

As one method for synthesizing liquid fuels from a natural gas, a GTL (Gas To Liquids: liquid fuel synthesis) technique of reforming a natural gas to produce a synthesis gas containing a carbon monoxide gas (CO) and a hydrogen gas (H2) as the main components, synthesizing hydrocarbons using a catalyst with this synthesis gas as a source gas by the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction (hereinafter referred to as "FT synthesis reaction"), and further hydrogenating and refining the hydrocarbons to produce liquid fuel products, such as naphtha (raw gasoline), kerosene, gas oil, and wax, has recently been developed.
Various apparatuses have been studied in order to separate and recover catalyst particles from the liquid hydrocarbons including the catalyst particles which have deteriorated due to the reaction heat generated by the FT synthesis reaction, the friction with the inner wall of a flow line, the other external factors, etc.
As one of the apparatuses, for example, a recovery system shown in Patent Document 1 can be utilized. This apparatus first heats the hydrocarbons including the catalyst particles inside a rotary kiln set in a heat chamber, and separates them into gasified hydrocarbons discharged in the axial direction from the middle part of the rotary kiln and catalyst particles discharged from an outer peripheral portion of the rotary kiln. Then, the gasified hydrocarbons are cooled down, condensed, and recovered by a cooling tower.
Further, as another apparatus, an apparatus is known which pressurizes the liquid hydrocarbons including the catalyst particles, filters the liquid hydrocarbons by a single filter, and catches the catalyst particles larger than the diameter of pores formed in the filter, thereby separating the catalyst particles from the liquid hydrocarbons.

JAPAN OIL, GAS AND METALS NATIONAL CORPORATION


The invention provides compounds of Formula (I) and (IV): as described herein, as well as salts thereof. The compounds have anti-cancer properties and/or chemosensitization properties.

Apoptosis is a naturally occurring process of cellular suicide that helps maintain homeostasis by eliminating damaged cells. However, in certain diseased states such as cancer, apoptosis is impaired leading to increased survival of the cancerous cells. A major obstacle in the treatment of cancer today is the development of resistance to various chemotherapeutic agents. Elevated levels of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins are one of the major contributors to this observed drug resistance. Antagonizing the effect of these proteins would thereby diminish the barrier to apoptosis and aid in overcoming the drug resistance induced by these proteins.
Various small organic compounds have been demonstrated to antagonize these anti-apoptotic proteins and induce the cells to apoptosis. Of these compounds, HA 14-1 is a promising agent as it has shown the capability to selectively eliminate tumors with elevated levels of the anti-apoptotic proteins.
Moreover, HA 14-1 can also sensitize cancer cells to a wide range of cancer therapies, suggesting a therapeutic potential for development as a chemosensitizer. An advantage of such an approach is the reduction in the dose and associated side-effects of the cancer therapies. Unfortunately, the clinical use of HA 14-1 may be limited due to it's lack of stability under physiological conditions.
Currently, there is a need for therapeutic agent that is useful for treating cancer.


An oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission helps ensure sufficient oil pressure to be supplied to a friction engagement element for performing at least either a first shift stage or a reverse shift stage. Further, the oil pressure control apparatus for the automatic transmission effectively performs pressure adjustment of the oil pressure to be supplied to the friction engagement element upon shifting a neutral shift stage to either the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage.

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 with respect to a Japanese Patent Application 2001-083100 filed on Mar. 22, 2001, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention generally relates to an oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission. More particularly, this invention pertains to an oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission for changing a shift stage by selectively supplying control pressure outputted from plural control valves to a required friction engagement element.
A known oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission switches a shift stage from a neutral shift stage to a first shift stage by selectively supplying control pressure outputted from plural control valves to a required friction engagement element. Assuming the neutral shift stage is performed by a first combination of the friction engagement elements to be engaged, the control pressure supplied from each control valve to each friction engagement element is set to be approximately at a maximum oil pressure level to maintain the friction engagement elements for the first combination under an engaged condition.
Assuming the first shift stage is performed by a second combination of the friction elements to be engaged upon a shifting operation of the shift stage from the neutral shift stage to the first shift stage, a hydraulic circuit of the oil pressure control apparatus is switched for supplying the control pressure from each control valve to each friction engagement element for the second combination while the friction engagement elements for the first combination have been maintained under the engaged condition by continuously supplying the control pressure from the control valves thereto. The control pressure supplied to the friction engagement elements for the second combination is then gradually increased and the control pressure supplied to the other friction engagement elements is gradually decreased. Therefore, the friction engagement elements for the second combination are gradually shifted to the engaged condition and the other friction engagement elements are gradually shifted to a disengaged condition to smoothly shift the shift stage from the neutral shift stage to the first shift stage.
The control pressure supplied to the friction engagement elements for the second combination is then set to be approximately at a maximum oil pressure level to maintain the friction engagement elements for the second combination under the engaged condition. On the other hand, the control pressure supplied to the other friction engagement elements is set to be approximately at a minimum oil pressure level to release the friction engagement elements from the engaged condition. Under the above described condition, the first shift stage is continuously performed.
However, the above described oil pressure control apparatus may suffer from the following drawbacks. The engaging and disengaging operations of the required friction engagement elements are performed only by increasing or decreasing the control pressure to be supplied to the elements from the control valves. In this case, the engaging force for engaging the friction engagement elements is required to have a certain amount of engaging force when the first shift stage with a large torque is continuously performed. Therefore, a maximum pressure level of the control pressure is required to be sufficiently large for engaging the friction engagement elements.
However, when the shift stage is shifted to the first shift stage as described above, the control pressure supplied to the required friction engagement elements is required to be gradually increased. In this case, the adjusting range of the control pressure will be increased when the maximum oil pressure level of the control pressure is set to be sufficiently large based upon the engaging force of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for continuously performing the first shift stage. Therefore, the pressure adjustment ability may be deteriorated and the shifting operation may not be accurately performed. On the other hand, in case the maximum pressure level of the control pressure is restrained by heightening the resolving ability of the pressure adjustment, the friction engagement elements to be engaged for the first shift stage may slip when the torque is increased in response to a depressing operation of the accelerator pedal. Therefore, the friction engagement elements may not be maintained under the engagement condition.
Accordingly, the above-mentioned automatic transmission oil pressure control apparatus is still susceptible of certain improvements with respect to ensuring sufficient oil pressure to be supplied to the friction engagement elements for performing at least any one of the first shift stage or a reverse shift stage. Further, the apparatus is susceptible of certain improvements with respect to preferably performing the pressure adjustment of the oil pressure supplied to the friction engagement elements upon the shifting operation of the shift stage from the neutral shift stage to at least any one of the first shift stage and the reverse shift stage.
An oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission including an output shaft is provided with plural linear solenoid valves, plural control valves, plural friction engagement elements, plural shift valves, and plural ON-OFF solenoid valves. The plural linear solenoid valves output modulated pressure in response to electric current applied to the linear solenoid valves. The plural control valves output control pressure in response to the modulated pressure from the linear solenoid valves. The plural friction engagement elements are engaged or disengaged in response to the supply of either the control pressure from the control valves or the line pressure for performing plural shift stages through engagement and disengagement of combinations of the plural friction engagement elements. The plural shift valves change the friction engagement element supplied with the control pressure or the line pressure in response to oil pressure applied to the shift valves. The plural ON-OFF solenoid valves change the supply condition of oil pressure to the shift valves in response to electric current applied to the ON-OFF solenoid valves.
The oil pressure control apparatus for the automatic transmission is further provided with a control unit for controlling the control pressure from the control valves by controlling the electric current applied to the linear solenoid valves and for changing the friction engagement element to be supplied with the control pressure or the line pressure via the shift valve by controlling the electric current applied to the ON-OFF solenoid valves. The control unit consequently sets a first shift pattern for supplying the control pressure to the friction engagement element for a first shift stage or a reverse shift stage from the control valve by a first combination of the current applied condition of the plural ON-OFF solenoid valves upon performing the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage and a second pattern for supplying the line pressure to the friction engagement element for the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage by a second combination of the current applied condition of the plural ON-OFF solenoid valves upon performing the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage.
Therefore, when the shift stage is shifted from the neutral shift stage to either the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage, pressure adjustment can be performed accurately by setting the first shift pattern, and the oil pressure to be supplied to the friction engagement element can be sufficiently ensured by setting the second shift pattern.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the control unit can determine the control pressure to be supplied to the common friction engagement element to be engaged at the first shift stage and at the reverse shift upon a neutral range so as to shift to the first shift stage and the reverse shift stage.
When the shift stage is shifted to either the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage by changing the shift range to a driving range or a reverse range, the oil pressure is required to be supplied only to a remaining friction engagement element which was not engaged upon the neutral range for engaging the remaining friction engagement element. Therefore, the response of the friction engagement elements can be improved by reducing the number of friction engagement elements to be engaged at one time, i.e., by reducing the number of friction engagement elements to be supplied with the oil pressure at one time.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the control unit determines the control pressure to be supplied to the required friction engagement element upon a neutral shift stage of a driving range for engaging the required friction engagement element so as not to rotate the output shaft of the automatic transmission.
Generally, the engaging operations of the required friction engagement elements are respectively interrupted so as not to transmit rotation of an engine to the automatic transmission upon the neutral shift stage of the driving range. The automatic transmission is hence required to be engaged with the engine when the vehicle is started. For example, the vehicle is moved in a vehicle rearward direction until the automatic transmission is connected to the engine again upon a hill start of the vehicle. On the other hand, upon the neutral shift stage of the driving range, the output shaft of the automatic transmission is designed so as not to be rotated as described above. Therefore, the shift stage can be shifted to the first shift stage without moving the vehicle in the vehicle rearward direction. That is, a smooth hill start of the vehicle can be performed.
According to another aspect, the supply of the oil pressure to any one of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for a vehicle forward movement can be performed via a manual valve only upon the driving range and the supply of the oil pressure to the required friction engagement elements to be engaged for a vehicle rearward movement can be performed via the manual valve only upon the reverse range.
The undesirable oil pressure supply to any one of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for the vehicle rearward movement can be prevented upon the driving range. The undesirable oil pressure supply to any one of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for the vehicle forward movement can be prevented upon the reverse range. Therefore, unintended driving upon each shift range due to mechanical failure including various valves, for example the reverse movement upon the driving range, the forward movement upon the reverse range, and the reverse and forward movements upon the neutral range, can be prevented.
According to another aspect, the plural friction engagement elements include a first friction clutch, a second friction clutch, a third friction clutch, a first friction brake, and a second friction brake. The control unit consequently sets a first shift pattern and a second shift pattern for performing a first shift stage. Upon the first shift pattern, the control pressure is supplied from the control valve to the first friction clutch to be engaged for performing the first shift stage. Upon a second shift pattern, the line pressure is supplied to the first friction clutch.
The control unit consequently sets the first shift pattern and the second shift pattern for performing a reverse shift stage. Upon the first shift pattern, the control pressure is supplied from the control valve to the third friction clutch to be engaged for performing the reverse shift stage. Upon the second shift pattern, the line pressure is supplied to the third friction clutch. Therefore, when the shift stage is shifted from the neutral shift stage to either the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage, pressure adjustment can be performed accurately by setting the first shift pattern and the oil pressure to be supplied to the friction engagement elements can be sufficiently assured by setting the second shift pattern.
Further, the control unit determines the control pressure to be supplied to the second friction brake to be engaged at the first shift stage and at the reverse shift stage for engaging the second friction brake upon the neutral range of the driving range so as to perform the first shift stage and the reverse shift stage.
When the shift stage is shifted to either the first shift stage or the reverse shift stage by changing the shift range to a driving range or a reverse range, the oil pressure is required to be supplied only to a remaining friction engagement element which was not engaged upon the neutral range for engaging the remaining friction engagement element. Therefore, the response of the friction engagement element can be improved by reducing the number of friction engagement elements to be engaged at one time, i.e., by reducing the number of the friction engagement elements to be supplied with the oil pressure at one time.
Further, the control unit determines upon the neutral shift stage at the driving range of the shift range the control pressure to be supplied to the first and second friction brakes for engaging the first and second friction brakes so as not to rotate the output shaft of the automatic transmission.
The automatic transmission is hence required to be engaged with the engine when the vehicle is started. For example, the vehicle is moved in a vehicle rearward direction until the automatic transmission is connected to the engine again upon a hill start of the vehicle. On the other hand, upon the neutral shift stage of the driving range, the output shaft of the automatic transmission is designed to not be rotated as described above. Therefore, the shift stage can be shifted to the first shift stage without moving the vehicle in the vehicle rearward direction. That is, a smooth hill start of the vehicle can be performed.
Further, the supply of the oil pressure to the first friction clutch or the second friction clutch to be engaged for a vehicle forward movement can be performed via the manual valve only upon the driving range and the supply of the oil pressure to the third friction clutch and the second friction brake to be engaged substantially at one time for a vehicle rearward movement can be performed substantially at one time via the manual valve only upon the reverse range.
The undesirable oil pressure supply to any one of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for the vehicle rearward movement can be prevented upon the driving range. The undesirable oil pressure supply to any one of the friction engagement elements to be engaged for the vehicle forward movement can be prevented upon the reverse range.
Therefore, unintended driving upon each shift range due to mechanical failure including various valves, for example the reverse movement upon the driving range, the forward movement upon the reverse range, and the reverse and forward movements upon the neutral range, can be prevented.

Oil pressure control apparatus for an automatic transmission


A remote control device is provided with a rotatably mounted door member. The device has a main body with two, three, or more sides adapted for having selection buttons coupled therewith. The door member covers the selection buttons for the sides not in use so that the user can grasp the device or set the device on a surface without inadvertent actuation of the selection buttons. The remote control device also has a locking mechanism for preventing access to certain selection buttons on certain side surfaces.

The present invention relates generally to devices for remote control of electronic devices. More particularly, it pertains to panels for remote control devices.
Remote control devices are used extensively in consumer products for remotely controlling a wide variety of electronic devices. The different types of devices which use remote controls has also increased. Some of the devices which currently use remote controls include television, video cassette recorder (VCR), receiver, disc player, tape player, video conferencing equipment, DVD, and cam corders. The use of remote control devices has also increased, in part, due to on-screen menus which allow for selection of features with a remote control.
Complexity of the electronic devices has led to more complex remote controls requiring several selection buttons. As a result, the surface area for the remote control devices has become larger and larger. This is undesirable since a larger remote control is difficult to hold and control with one hand. Physically challenged individuals would find holding these larger remote controls even more difficult.
In addition, remote control devices also are used for devices for which limited access is desirable. For instance, some movies or television shows may be inappropriate for children to view, and parents may wish to limit access. While some satellite dish companies allow for parental control through programming, not all systems, including network television, have these features.
A conventional remote control device is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. A remote control 100 has a sliding panel 110 attached therewith. To access buttons 120 below the panel 110, the panel 110 slides away from the remote control 100 to the position shown in FIG. 1B. Although the panel 110 prevents inadvertent actuation of the buttons 120, the panel 110 can be easily broken off.
Accordingly, what is needed is a remote control device capable of additional selection abilities without requiring a larger remote. What is further needed is a remote control device which allows for control over selection.
A device for remotely controlling electronic equipment has a main body having a plurality of surfaces, including at least a first surface and a second surface. In one embodiment, each surface has at least one selection button coupled therewith. A cover is rotatably coupled with the main body. The cover is rotatable around the main body from a first position to a second position to restrict access to selected surfaces having selection buttons.
The remote control device has selection buttons which are coupled with the first and/or second surfaces of the main body, depending on the particular configuration. In yet another embodiment, the device has a locking mechanism for preventing access to a particular side and/or particular selection buttons. The locking mechanism alternatively prevents the cover member from inadvertently rotating around the main body. The locking mechanism can have a number of configurations, including but not limited to, a projection and detent combination, a child proof cap, or a key-lock mechanism.
The remote control device has many advantages over conventional remotes. For example, the provided remote device allows for increased surface area with which additional selection buttons can be coupled. The additional surface area allows for fewer selection buttons to be coupled on each side surface. The fewer selection buttons per surface assists in reducing the cognitive complexity of the remote by reducing the number of buttons for a user to select from a single surface. Using the multiple sides of the device for different devices allow for the elimination of duplicate remote controls. The main body and cover member can be rounded or cylindrically shaped, which is comfortable for a user""s hand. A further advantage provided is that since the cover member rotates about the main body, the cover member is not placed in a position where it could easily be broken off. The door protects the selection buttons from being inadvertently actuated when the remote is set on a surface, such as a table or the floor. In addition, the door protects the selection buttons from being inadvertently actuated when the remote device is grasped by a user. A further benefit is the locking feature which prevents access to certain features and/or selection buttons of the remote device. Parents can better supervise what functions or television shows to which their children or others access.


A watercraft includes a plurality of separable body sections (2101, 2102, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106) configured for assembly into a single assembled structure (2100) having a first length, and for packing into a packed structure (3000) having a second length smaller than the first length. The single assembled structure may be held together using latching devices, one or more of the latching devices including a latch unit comprising a latch support, a spring mount and a band spring, the band spring having a first spring end and a second spring end, wherein the latch support includes a latch and a first shaft positioned in relationship to the latch, the first shaft configured for rotatably mounting the first spring end of the band spring, and the spring mount includes a second shaft configured for rotatably mounting the second spring end of the band spring.

A watercraft, such as a boat, kayak, canoe and dinghy, is usually constructed as a single body which is heavy and long. That makes it impractical to transport the watercraft inside an automobile. That is also the reason why most kayaks or canoes are carried on top of an automobile to be transported. Likewise, it is usually inconvenient for an individual to move a long kayak or canoe over a certain distance. When it comes time to store the watercraft after use, it may be moved to a commodious structure such as a garage or basement where it takes up a good deal of available storage space.
The present invention provides a watercraft that is easier to transport and store.


Embodiments of systems and methods for application management for a multi-form factor Information Handing System (IHS) are described. In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, an IHS may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to: produce a work area on a second display, wherein the second display is coupled to a first display via a hinge; detect that a keyboard is placed on the second display; and in response to the detection, reduce the work area into one or more areas unobstructed by the keyboard.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is Information Handling Systems (IHSs). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Nowadays, users can choose among many different types of mobile IHS devices. Each type of device (e.g., tablets, 2-in-1s, mobile workstations, notebooks, netbooks, ultra-books, etc.) has unique portability, performance, and usability features; however, each also has its own trade-offs and limitations. For example, tablets have less compute power than notebooks and workstations, while notebooks and workstations lack the portability of tablets. A conventional 2-in-1 device combines the portability of a tablet with the performance of a notebook, but with a small display—an uncomfortable form factor in many use-cases.
The inventors hereof have determined that, as productivity continues to be a core tenet of modern computing, mobile IHS devices should provide versatility for many use-cases and display postures in use today (e.g., tablet mode, laptop mode, etc.), as well as future display postures (e.g., digital notebooks, new work surfaces, etc.). Additionally, mobile IHS devices should provide larger display area with reduced size and weight.

Application management for multi-form factor information handling system (IHS)


The present invention relates to the communication field and discloses a method, an apparatus, and a system for processing priority services to overcome a problem in the prior art that priority services initiated from a network to a target user cannot be provided. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention include: determining a service to be carried out with a target user equipment as a priority service; and creating a priority service bearer for the priority service, and carrying out the priority service by using the priority service bearer. The embodiments of the present invention are applicable in an IMS-based communication system.

A user may use an IP multimedia subsystem (IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS) for processing services. The services can be categorized into priority services and non-priority services. A priority service takes priority over a non-priority service.
At the time of carrying out a priority service in the prior art, a priority service bearer needs to be set up between the user equipment (User Equipment, UE) of a calling user and an IP connectivity access network (IP Connectivity Access Network, IP-CAN) accessed by the UE. The UE finishes the IMS registration by using the priority service bearer. A priority service session request of the calling user is routed by an emergency call session control function (Emergency Call Session Control Function, E-CSCF) in the IMS to an emergency call center, and the emergency call center provides the priority service.
However, the prior art supports only the priority service initiated proactively by a calling user, and does not support the priority service initiated from the network to a target user.

Method, apparatus and system for processing priority services


The invention relates to the field of producing polymers and copolymers of olefin oligomers produced by a trimerization reaction of olefin monomers. There is disclosed a process which comprises producing olefin oligomers with the aid of a trimerization catalyst system prepared using UHF irradiation for activating individual components of the trimerization catalyst system. The use of the trimerization catalyst system thus improved and having increased activity provides for increased effectiveness in the production of olefin oligomers from ethylene or other olefin monomers, inter alia, at a low pressure of ethylene. The olefin oligomers thus produced are then polymerized or copolymerized using processes known in the art.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,648 discloses an olefin oligomerization catalyst system comprising: a chromium source, a pyrrole-containing compound, a metal alkyl, and a halide source, and a process for preparing thereof, implemented in four embodiments differing by the order of mixing the components of said system in an inert atmosphere. U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,648 also discloses a process for oligomerization of olefins by using said chromium-based catalyst system, wherein ethylene is fed at pressure of about 51 bar and temperature of 110° C. The use of the above catalyst system in the ethylene oligomerization process allows obtaining selectivity with respect to a target product of the trimerization process, hexene-1, up to 96.4%, and the selectivity with respect to hexene-1 in the hexene fraction up to 99.6%. The catalytic activity of the system is 73,400 g/(g Cr·hr) calculated on the basis of the liquid reaction products. Disadvantage of such catalyst system is formation of by-products, including decenes, in the oligomerization process, which leads to reducing the target product selectivity, and necessity of using high temperature and pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,702 discloses the possibility of trimerization of olefins by using a highly active catalyst system formed by the chromium salt CrCl3(THF)3, a diphosphazane ligand of formula R2PN(Alk)PR2, wherein R is 2-methoxyphenyl and Alk is methyl or another alkyl, and methylalumoxane (MAO), in a Cr:ligand:MAO ratio of 1:1:300. It allows the ethylene trimerization reaction at low pressure of ethylene and simultaneous or subsequent polymerization or copolymerization of the olefin oligomer formed. The activity of the trimerization catalyst system reaches 175,300 g/(g Cr·hr) at a pressure of 8 bar. Disadvantage of said method consists in that considerable excess of the expensive MAO reagent is used for preparing said catalyst system, as well as expensive diphosphazane compounds as the components of the trimerization catalyst system. Thus, when re-calculating the outcome obtained at a pressure of 20 bar on the basis of the amount of aluminum used, the activity of the catalyst system at the pressure of 8 bar is 1,125 g/(g Al·hr).
The closest prior art for the present invention is a process of trimerization and oligomerization of olefin monomers to produce an olefin oligomer, which then can be polymerized and/or copolymerized, disclosed in patent RU 2104088. The catalyst system according to this invention consists of: a chromium salt, such as chromium (III) ethylhexanoate; a pyrrolic compound, for example 2,5-dimethylpirrole; alkyl metal, preferably, alkylaluminium, for example triethylaluminium (TEA); and, optionally, a halide source, halogen-containing compound, for example GeCl4 or AlEt2Cl. The properties of said catalyst systems are defined, firstly, by their composition and a ratio of initial components, including a solvent; secondly, by the method of mixing the initial components. The patent also discloses the possibility of an olefin trimerization process with subsequent or simultaneous copolymerization of the resultant olefin oligomer and an olefin compound. The maximum catalyst activity, according to the examples provided in the patent, is 66,400 g/(g Cr·hr) at ethylene pressure of 550 psi, or 37.4 bar, and temperature of 80° C. The Cr:Al ratio is 1:15. Thus, the specific activity of the catalyst system calculated on the basis of the amount of aluminum is 8,525 g/(g Al·hr). However, the ethylene trimerization process requires comparatively high pressure. Although the reaction is possible at significantly lower pressure down to atmospheric, it is more preferable to use the ethylene pressure not lower than 12 bar; otherwise, the rate of the reaction and the productivity of the catalyst system drop to a low level. As known from the article in Applied Catalysis A: General, vol. 193 (2000), pp. 29-38, the rate of the trimerization reaction for the chromium-based catalyst system is proportional to the square of ethylene pressure. Thus, in decreasing the pressure from 37.4 bar to 12 bar, the catalytic activity decreases in about 10 times, and, in decreasing the pressure to 8 bar, it decreases in 21 times, i.e., to about 400 g/(g Al·hr). The above patent discloses various embodiments of preparation of catalyst systems for trimerization, oligomerization, and polymerization processes. Disadvantages of the prototype are the necessity of using expensive germanium tetrachloride as a halide source to achieve high activity and selectivity of the system, and considerable decrease in the activity of the catalyst system when decreasing the pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to use increased pressure of ethylene, which, in turn, leads to high capital expenditures for the equipment.

Catalyst system and processes for the (co-) trimerization of olefins and the (co-) polymerization of olefin oligomers

Abstract: The technical effect consists in increasing the effectiveness of the production of olefin oligomers which are then used in a polymerization or copolymerization reaction.

Open Joint Stock Company “Sibur Holding”


A memory element in which the temperature coefficient of a memory cell substantially matches the temperature coefficient of a reference cell and tuning either the temperature coefficient of a memory cell to substantially match the temperature coefficient of the reference cell provides for improved precision of sensing or reading memory element states, particularly so as to minimize the affect of temperature variations on reading and sensing states.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to semiconductor devices and includes memory devices with temperature compensation.
2. Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a flash memory cell 100. In simple terms, a flash memory cell includes an N-channel transistor 102 with an electrically isolated polysilicon floating gate 104 and a control gate 106. The flash memory cell 100 can be thought of as a capacitor which is charged and discharged.
The flash memory cell 100 is programmed by applying a high drain-to-source bias voltage with a high control gate voltage. Programming a flash memory cell 100 means that electrons are added to the floating gate 104. Adding electrons, or charge, to the floating gate 104 increases the flash memory cell's threshold voltage VT.
The flash memory cell 100 is erased (the charges are removed from the floating gate 104) by applying electrical voltages between the floating gate and the source or between the floating gate and the channel. After electrons are removed from the floating gate 104, the cell threshold voltage VT is reduced.
During a read operation, flash memory devices use precise charge sensing algorithms to determine whether a desired cell voltage has been achieved. A sense amplifier compares a cell's drain current with the drain current of a reference cell to determine whether the cell is programmed or erased. With multilevel cells (MLCs), comparisons between a cell and a reference cell are made to determine the different charge levels, or states, of the MLC. A method of controlling exactly how much charge is transferred to the floating gate of the MLC is used to ensure that enough charge to achieve a certain MLC state without overshooting that state. Further, a precise way to sense the cell voltage is used to determine the different MLC states.
With MLC flash memory, the data write may occur at one temperature, and the data read may occur at a different temperature. A flash cell's drain current is a function of the temperature conditions, and the precision of both writing and reading the MLC states may be affected. To minimize the affect on read/write precision, one solution may be to include reference cells on-chip, allowing cells and the reference cells to be affected similarly by temperature and power supply. However, for efficiency and space reasons, it may not be desirable to have reference cells on-chip.
Thus, it is desirable to find new approaches for improving precision of sensing or reading MLC states, particularly so as to minimize the affect of temperature variations on reading and sensing MLC states.


A backlight module including a first casing, a light guiding member, a light source and a limiting structure is provided. The first casing has a top portion and a first side portion connected to the top portion. The light guiding member is located at an inner side of the first side portion and has a light incident surface and a top surface. The light source is located at the inner side of the first side portion and is disposed adjacent to the light guiding member. The light source has a light emitting surface facing the light incident surface. The limiting structure is protruded from a wall below the top portion and located above at least part of the light source and at least part of the top surface of the light guiding member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a backlight module and a display device using the same, and more particularly to a backlight module with a light guiding member and a display device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the development in display technology, a flat display has been widely used in a variety of electronic devices as result of the features of lightweight, slimness and compactness. In general, the flat display includes a display panel and a backlight module. The backlight module includes a light source, a light guide plate and a plurality of optical films. The light generated by the light source is guided to the optical film through the light guide plate, so that the light is provided for the display panel disposed on the backlight module. In the disposition of the light source and the light guide plate, if the light generated by the light source cannot be precisely emitted into the light guide plate, dimmed part may occur to the frame generated by the display panel.
In general, when the light source of the backlight module is realized by a lamp tube, the tube-type backlight module further includes a mask. Since the mask is correspondingly fixed the light guide plate and the light source, and the mask is fixed on an iron member of the display, the occurrence that the light cannot be emitted into the light guide plate can be reduced. In comparison, when the light source of the backlight module is realized by a light emitting diode (LED), the light source and the light guide plate cannot be fixed through the mask due to the structural difference. Once the light guide plate is moved (due to warpage for example), a part of the light cannot be emitted into the light guide plate, so that the luminance is decreased.
For example, during the manufacturing process of the light guide plate, the light guide plate is baked after the printing process. However, during the baking process, the edge of the light guide plate may be warped, so that the light emitting surface of the LED cannot be precisely aligned with the light incident surface of the light guide plate. Thus, the light generated by the LED cannot be precisely emitted into the light guide plate. Moreover, due to the assembly tolerance, temperature change or humidity change, the light generated by the LED cannot be precisely aligned with the light guide plate, so that the projection path of the light generated by the LED biased. Therefore, how to provide a backlight module capable of precisely projecting the LED light into the light guide plate has become a prominent task for the industries.

Backlight module and display device using the same


An apparatus includes a compiler surface that receives sheets of media, and a registration surface positioned at one end of the compiler surface. The leading edges of the sheets of media contact and are aligned by the registration surface. A rotatable cam is positioned at the other end of the compiler surface. The rotatable cam has a lobe, and the surface of the lobe is a high-friction surface. When the rotatable cam is at a “first” rotation position, this causes the lobe to contact the bottom sheet as the sheets of media are received onto the compiler surface. When the rotatable cam is at a “second” rotation position, this causes the lobe to move out of the way and avoid contacting any of the sheets of media as the sheets of media are ejected from the compiler surface.

Systems and methods herein generally relate to registration (alignment) of stacks of sheets, and more particularly to reducing paper sliding on compiler shelves to promote proper registration.
Many modern production devices output sheets of media, such as sheets of paper, transparencies, plastic sheets, ceramic sheets, metallic sheets, etc. These sheets are often output into stacks, and the stacks are more efficiently processed if all the sheets are aligned with each other. For example, many printing devices align a stack of sheets before stapling the stack.
Some compiling strategies send the lead edge of paper into the throat of a stapler. In front of the stapler, there is a narrow shelf (e.g., a compiler shelf) that helps guide the paper into the stapler and then provides support for the front portion of the paper as it begins to accumulate. The majority of the sheet body is then dropped onto the stack of previously compiled sets. The top of the stack, however, is located approximately below the narrow shelf and staplers (necessary for ejecting the newly compiled set onto the stack). This height delta can cause sheets to "walk downhill" as additional sheets are compiled, creating angled, poorly registered sets. Furthermore, this delta grows larger as small, stapled sets develop staple build-up.

Compiler shelf having rotatable CAM with high-friction lobe


An aspect of the invention is a multi-client storage system comprising a management computer including a processor and a memory, for allocating resources of a plurality of storage apparatus to a plurality of clients, the management computer comprising: a receiving unit for receiving conditions for a client to which a new resource is to be allocated; a determining unit for determining whether the new resource is securable under the received conditions without changing resources allocated to existing clients and conditions for the volumes for each of the existing clients; and an allocation unit for securing, when it is determined that the new resource is securable under the received conditions, the new resource under the received conditions for the client in the plurality of storage apparatus and allocating the new resource to the client.

There has been conventionally known a storage system for providing a plurality of clients (or tenants) with a storage apparatus including a plurality of resources. A data center operating the storage system concludes with the client a service level agreement (SLA) defining conditions for providing services, thereby guaranteeing the performance or the like of the provided resource.
In the above-mentioned storage system, in a case where a resource is to be allocated to a new client, when there is no available resource that satisfies the above-mentioned SLA, a resource that satisfies the SLA is secured by migrating data for other clients.
As examples of the technology of migrating data in providing a plurality of clients with resources in a computer system including the storage system, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2011-90594 A [PTL 1], 2008-176627 A [PTL 2], and 07-141270 A [PTL 3] are known.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-90594 A discloses the technology for lowering the migration cost during scale-in/scale-out or workload consolidation of the cluster system to thereby reduce power consumption. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-176627 A discloses the technology with which migration is carried out to the access destination of the host apparatus without stopping data access between the host computer and the storage apparatus, and while continuing the functions of the storage apparatus. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 07-141270 A discloses the computer system for creating a data transfer plan based on the time when the transmitted data is required, the amount of data, and the line speed so that the transmitted data is received by the time when the data is required on the reception side, and transferring the data.

Multi-client storage system and storage system management method


A fluid filter and methods for manufacturing same are described. The fluid filter includes: a filter element; a plastic housing for the filter element; and a plastic closure member including fluid inlet holes, each having an axis which is angled outwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the filter housing. The closure member and the housing can be connected by welding, or the housing and the closure member may include complementary interengageable locking means for engagement. One method of manufacture includes the steps of forming a plastic housing and closure member and spin welding them together. Another method includes the steps of: forming the housing and closure member with complementary interengageable locking members; aligning the locking members; and turning the housing to engage the housing and the closure member. With either method, the assembled filter is then spun onto a threaded stud on a filter mount.

This invention relates to fluid filters, such as disposable-type oil filters, and methods for manufacturing same.
The type of oil filter currently used for automobile and aircraft engines is the "spin-on," metal, disposable type. This filter is relatively inexpensive to mass produce and relatively easy to install and replace.
A conventional spin-on, disposable-type, fluid filter is shown in FIG. 1 herein and is indicated generally by reference numeral 10. This filter 10 includes: a metal housing 12 having a cylindrical side wall 14; a shaped, closed end 26 having means 70 such as a hex nut for cooperation with a filter wrench (not shown); and an opposite, open end 28. The housing 12 can be made according to the drawing and ironing process described in co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,265, issued to Dye et al.
The housing 12 shown in FIG. 1 is particularly suitable for aviation purposes. That is, aviation filters are required by federal regulations to accept an additional wire connection (not shown) between tabs 71 formed on the closed end 26 of the housing 12 and a filter mount 46 to ensure that the filter, even if same loosens during operation, will not come off the filter mount 46.
The filter 10 also includes: a filter element 16 positioned around a perforated center tube 18, bordered by end caps 20, 22, and positioned within the housing 12 by an element guide 24; a thick, metal end plate 30; and a retainer 32. Each of the end plate 30 and retainer 32 includes inlet openings 34 and 36, respectively, to allow oil to flow into the filter 10. The housing 12 and end plate 30/retainer 32 combination are connected at the open end 28 by a known welding process (aviation applications) or clinching process (automotive applications) to create a leakproof seam therebetween.
An annular, resilient sealing gasket 40 is retained in an annular channel 42 formed on the retainer 32. The gasket 40 cooperates with a flat sealing surface 44 on the filter mount 46. The filter mount 46 is formed on an engine 48 and includes oil flow openings 50. Located centrally of the end plate 30 is a threaded aperture 52 which receives a threaded stud 54 carried by the filter mount 46. The threaded stud includes a hollow interior 55.
The filter 10 also includes an antidrain back (ADB) valve 56, an ADB spring 58, a relief valve spring retainer 59, and a pressure relief valve assembly 60. The assembly 60 includes a compression spring 62, a piston support 64 and a piston 66. An example of a conventional pressure relief valve assembly is described in Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,706.
In order to install this filter 10 on the engine 48, the filter 10 is spun clockwise onto the stud 54 via the threaded aperture 52. To remove same, a filter wrench is engaged with the means 70 and turned counterclockwise.
During normal operation, flow of oil is from the engine 48, through the oil flow openings 50 formed in filter mount 46, into the inlet openings 36, 34 formed in the retainer 32 and end plate 30, respectively, against and around the ADB valve 56 with some turbulence as noted by arrows A, through the filter media 16, through the center tube 18, through the central aperture 52, into the hollow interior 55 of the stud 54 and back to the engine 48. In the "bypass" mode, when oil pressure at the pressure relief valve assembly 60 exceeds a predetermined level, oil flows through the assembly 60 and directly into the center tube 18, thereby bypassing the filter element 16 and returning to the engine 48.
The common and continuing problems of this conventional metal, spin-on, disposable filter are discussed below.
First, due to the great pressures encountered during operation, it has been thought necessary to manufacture the area of attachment of the filter 10 to the filter mount 46, particularly the end plate 30, from a metal whose thickness and strength can withstand these pressures. Of course, a filter design requiring thick, strong metal for the area of attachment results in high raw material and manufacturing costs.
Second, the total raw material cost of the filtration process components, i.e. filter element 16, related adhesives, etc., is less than a third of the total raw material cost of each filter 10. The remaining two-thirds of the cost is related to the non-filtration process components, i.e. the sealing gasket 40, end plate 30, etc. Due to this disproportional cost ratio, it is highly desired to minimize the cost of the non-filtration process components.
Third, the conventional fluid filter 10 requires machining or cutting of various parts, such as the threaded stud 54 and central aperture 52. The goal of generating high volume production of fluid filters including quality threads, without leaving traces of chips and burrs, has posed serious, longstanding problems in the industry.
Fourth, the inlet openings 34 have axes which are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the filter 10. Such openings 34, in combination with the ADB valve 56 and ADB spring 58, cause the oil flow in such a manner as to create high non-laminar flows and high initial pressure restrictions.
Fifth, the end plate 30/retainer 32 combination must be assembled through an intricate clinching or welding process, adding cost to the production.
Accordingly, the fluid filter described above necessarily demands that relatively thick metal be used in the area of attachment, is relatively expensive and difficult to manufacture, and frustrates laminar fluid flow.
Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,275, issued Aug. 16, 1988 and entitled "Fluid Filter And Method For Attaching Same In Sealing Relation To A Filter Mount," which is incorporated by reference herein, proposes a more easily installed and removed fluid filter, wherein the filter and filter mount incorporate interlocking means. The interlocking means includes, e.g. pairs of corresponding flanges formed on the filter and filter mount, respectively. However, the fluid filter described therein still does not fully overcome the drawbacks of known fluid filters.
First, if an adaptor is used to retrofit a conventional filter mount to receive the filter described in the co-pending application, the adapter must still be machined resulting in a costlier part.
Second, the filter housing must have formed therein, in the area of the interlocking means, an area for properly containing a sealing ring to seal against the filter mount. Forming this sealing ring retainer is difficult and labor intensive.
Third, the seal is not an "off the shelf" common seal, but rather a more expensive "quad" seal.
Fourth, interlocking means in the form of flanges must be roll formed or machined and must be positioned and then welded to the metal housing, all of which are labor intensive steps.
Fifth, there are still a relatively large number of components in this filter, thus increasing manufacturing steps and costs.
Sixth, the pressure relief valve assembly and ADB valve components are machined out of metal and are intricate to assemble.
Thus, it can be seen that the Assignee's earlier invention, if manufactured in metal, presents problems in both the component manufacture and assembly operations.
Neither of the above-described fluid filters have the novel features of the invention disclosed herein which overcome these disadvantages.

Plastic fluid filter and method for manufacturing same