The present invention relates to control system for a vehicle. The control system includes a manually operable control lever, such as a joystick, an actuator, a sensor and a control unit. The control lever sets a state variable of the vehicle. The actuator applies a force to the control lever. The sensor senses a vehicle parameter and transmits a parameter signal to the control unit. The control unit determines a current operating state of the vehicle. The control unit, depending on the present operating state of the vehicle, controls the actuator and causes it to apply a changed, predetermined force to the control lever, in order to make the operator aware of an unsafe operating state.

Manually operable control levers have long been used in vehicle control systems. They can be used to set, for example, the speed, the steering, an operating function or a gear setting of the vehicle. The control lever can be a joystick for controlling a loader tool. The vehicle may be an agricultural vehicles, such as a tractor, a harvesting machine, a combine harvester, a forage harvester, a self-propelled sprayer, but also an industrial vehicle, such as a construction vehicle, a bulldozer, a road grader, a backhoe excavator, a loader vehicle, a tipper lorry, a crane, or a telescopic loader.
Furthermore, "force feedback" is known from simulator technology where it generally serves to realistically represent forces to which operating elements are subjected, the forces occurring during the operation of an actual machine and having to be applied or overcome by the operator. In a force feedback system, an actuator applies a force to a control lever. The control lever, which generates an electrical signal, can be subjected to a force from the actuator so that the control lever has an operating characteristic customary for the particular type of control lever.
In many vehicles, the operating elements are usually connected mechanically to the machine part adjusted by them. For example, the steering wheel is connected to the steering linkage via the steering shaft. If such a mechanical connection is omitted because of an electronic control of the particular component, then a corresponding feedback to the operator about the states of the machine part and of the machine/vehicle to be simulated is lacking. In such a case, simulator technology is used to cause an actuator to apply a force to the control lever, and the actuator is controlled by a control unit, such that an operating characteristic customary for the control lever can be produced. By this means, an operation, which is as realistic as possible, of the particular function controlled by the control lever is simulated for an operator.
Warning display elements may supply visual or acoustic signals to the operator during the operation of the vehicle. For example, warning lights are primarily provided which indicate a critical state of the vehicle, such as excessive engine oil or coolant temperature.


The present invention provides an on-chip packed reactor bed design that allows for an effective exchange of packing materials such as beads at a miniaturized level. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of concentrating an analyte within a microfluidic analysis system, comprising the steps of: a) providing a main channel having a trapping zone suitable for trapping packing material; b) providing a slurry of a reagent treated packing material prepared in a solution having a predetermined composition of a solvent; c) inducing a flow of said packing material into said trapping zone through a flow channel connected to said trapping zone so as to load said trapping zone and form a packed bed of said packing material; d) and flowing a sample containing analytes through said packed bed, said reagent acting to concentrate at least some of said analytes within said trapping zone. The present invention extends the function of microfluidic analysis systems to new applications including on-chip solid phase extraction (SPE) and on-chip capillary electrochromatography (CEC). The design can be further extended to include integrated packed bed immuno- or enzyme reactors.

Recent developments in the field of micro-Total Analysis Systems (μ-TAS) have led to systems that perform chemical reactions, separation and detection at a miniaturized level on a single microchip [see, for example, Harrison, D. J.; Fluri, K.; Seiler, K.; Fan, Z.; Effenhauser, C. S.; and Manz, A., Science 1993, 261, 895-897. Harrison, D. J.; and van den Berg, E.; Eds., Micro Total Analysis Systems '98, Proceedings of the μTAS '98 Workshop (Kluwer: Dordrecht, 1998). Coyler, C. L.; Tang, T.; Chiem, N.; and Harrison, D. J., Electrophoresis 1997, 18, 1733-1741].
Most prior art microfluidic devices are based on conventional open tubular flow designs and solution phase reagents. While the functionality of these devices has continued to increase, one key feature that is presently lacking in these prior art devices is the ability to effectively incorporate on-chip packed reactor beds, for introduction of packing materials with immobilized reagents or stationary phases. While a few attempts have been made to employ packed reactor beds in some prior art designs, the difficulty of packing portions of a complex microfluidic manifold with packing material (such as microscopic beads) has so far hindered the effective utilization of these reagent delivery vehicles within microfluidic devices. (The difficulty of packing has been well recognized by practitioners in the field. See, for example, Ericson, C; Holm, J.; Ericson, T.; and Hjertén, S., Analytical Chemistry.)
In one prior art example, a packed bed chromatographic device with a bead trapping frit was fabricated in a silicon substrate [Ocvirk, G., Verpoorte, E., Manz, A., Grasserbauer, M., and Widmer, H. M. Analytical Methods and Instrumentation 1995, 2, 74-82]. However, the packing material in this prior art design could not be readily packed or exchanged, thus limiting its utility.
Several authors have also described the difficulties associated with reproducibly fabricating frits for retaining packing material in conventional capillaries [Boughtflower, R. J.; Underwood, T.; Paterson, C. J. Chromatographia 1995, 40, 329-335. Van den Bosch, S. E.; Heemstra, S.; Kraak, J. C.; Poppe, H. J. Chromatogr. A 1996, 755, 165-177. Colon, L. A.; Reynolds, K. J.; Alicea-Maldonado, R.; Fermier, A. M. Electrophoresis 1997, 18, 2162-2174. Majors, R. E. LC-GC 1998, 16, 96-110.]. The frits used in conventional systems are prepared using time and labor intensive procedures, the most commonly used method involving the use of pure silica gel, wetted down with aqueous sodium silicate. The frit is made by first tapping a capillary end into a paste made from silica and aqueous sodium silicate. The resulting plug of silica is then heated to make a frit. Current construction methods do not produce high yields of useable frits.
Furthermore, using frits produced by prior art methods of construction often leads to the formation of undesirable bubbles. [Altria, K. D.; Smith, N. W.; and Turnbull, C. H., Chromatographia, 46 (1997) 664. Majors, R. E., LC-GC, 16 (1998) 96.] Bubbles cause discontinuity within a column, hindering solution flow and ultimately preventing separation from occurring. The bubbles are thought to arise from a change in electroosmotic flow (EOF) velocity caused by moving from a bead trapping frit into an open capillary. The formation of bubbles, which have been observed to increase at higher voltages, also limits the amount of voltage that can be applied across the capillary, thereby limiting column length, separation efficiency, and speed of analysis.
Developing a functional on-chip packed reactor bed design which overcomes the limitations in the prior art would significantly enhance the range of the microfluidic toolbox and extend the number of applications of such devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for trapping bead based reagents within microfluidic analysis systems

The Governors of the University of Alberta


Systems and methods are provided for dynamically adjusting payout to deliverers, comprising receiving a plurality of delivery orders, wherein each of the plurality of delivery orders is associated with a delivery address in a geographic region, and wherein the geographic region is associated with a plurality of configurations; determining a base fee for fulfilling the plurality of delivery orders in the geographic region based on the plurality of configurations associated with the geographic region; adjusting, using a pricing algorithm, the base fee for fulfilling the plurality of delivery orders based on the determined configurations; receiving one or more features associated with the plurality of delivery orders; and adjusting the adjusted base fee based on the received one or more features, wherein the pricing algorithm used to calculate the base fee is selected among a plurality of pricing algorithms based on the geographic region.

Users (e.g., online customers, online merchants, delivery personnel) often use online website portals or mobile applications to order items (e.g., order food, grocery, etc.). By way of example, users maintain profiles that includes user information (e.g., location information, menu, name) at the online websites. An online ordering process requires multiple stages of online order processing, from when an order is placed to when the order is delivered. In a situation where a user places an online order requesting food to be delivered, a first stage may be for a merchant (e.g., a restaurant) to confirm the order or reject the order based on their availability to process the order. Upon receiving a confirmation of the order from the merchant, a request is sent to a delivery personnel to confirm or reject a pickup of order from the merchant based on their availability, as part of a second stage.
Conventional solutions for managing online delivery orders are generally ineffective in determining and adjusting a payout to deliverers (i.e., price paid to delivery personnel for fulfilling delivery orders). For example, some regions may require deliverers to travel farther to fulfill a single online order, while some regions may require deliverers to travel for a longer period of time to fulfill a single online order. Current solutions for managing online delivery orders, however, are generally ineffective in dynamically adjusting the payout to deliverers in real-time based on various factors that may affect delivery. Accordingly, a deliverer may often reject a pickup of order from a merchant because the payout is too low compared to, for example, the amount of time it would take to fulfill the order. As such, orders may be frequently delayed, resulting in poor customer experience and reduced efficiency in processing and managing delivery orders.
Moreover, conventional solutions for managing online delivery orders are mainly implemented using online services and, thus, may require Internet connection to efficiently manage online services. For example, systems for adjusting delivery costs and payout to deliverers for fulfilling delivery orders exist. However, these systems require constant polling of information via the Internet and continuous computation to adjust payout to deliverers based on market changes. Accordingly, when Internet connection is lost or a technical failure arises, conventional systems may be incapable of updating payout to deliverers in real-time to compensate for market changes.
Therefore, there is a need for computerized systems and methods for dynamically adjusting payout to deliverers based on various factors that may affect delivery so as to reduce time delays between processing of delivery orders across multiple geographic regions. In addition, there is a need for fail-safe computerized systems and methods for dynamically adjusting payout to deliverers to compensate for market changes even when technical failures arise.

Computerized systems and methods for providing a dynamic pricing system


The write time is to be shortened in a storage device using memories that require different write times from each other, such as nonvolatile memories.

Conventionally, an information processing system includes a storage device that is formed with dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) as volatile memories and nonvolatile memories. Here, the nonvolatile memories may be NAND flash memories, resistance RAMs (ReRAMs), or the like. In such a storage device, data is accessed in accordance with a command issued by the host computer of the information processing system. To increase the processing capacity of the information processing system, high-speed access to the storage device is required. For example, there is a system suggested for recording the history of commands issued to DRAMs in a memory controller in a storage device including the DRAMs. In this system, the order of commands to be newly issued is changed in accordance with the recorded history, and thus, the time required for accessing data is shortened (see Patent Document 1, for example).

Memory controller, storage device, information processing system, and memory control method

Abstract: In a memory controller including a plurality of write request holding units and a selection unit, the write request holding units holds a write request with respect to each of a plurality of memory modules that require different write times from one another. The selection unit selects one of the plurality of write request holding units in accordance with memory state information indicating whether each of the plurality of memory modules is in a busy state, and causes outputting of the write request.


A system and method for scoring documents in a search, wherein the scoring algorithm may be reconfigured dynamically. When a query is submitted, a score data structure is created for each document to be scored, which contains fields of information about how a given document compares to a query. A ranker object embodies a formula that derives a scalar score from the information contained in a score data structure. Scoring software is configured to apply the formula embodied in a ranker object to the values in the score data structure. Thus, the scoring formula can be dynamically changed without recompiling the scoring software by providing a new ranker object. Preferably, ranker objects are organized into rank sets, where each rank set contains a different ranker object for each class of document to be scored.

The goal of a document search is to take a query, compare the query to a set of known documents, and determine which documents best match the query. The quality of a match—i.e., the decision as to how well a document matches a query—is generally determined by giving each document a "score." The score is a number that indicates how well the document matches the query.
Scores are typically computed as follows. Given a query, a database is searched that contains information about known documents. For each document that matches the query in some respect (e.g., each document that has at least a word in common with the query), a score data structure is created, which contains a list of values. Each value represents some aspect of how the document compares to the query (e.g., number of nonstopwords matched, whether the exact query phrase is found in the document, whether the matching of query words in the document required "stemming" (i.e., removing "-ing" or "-ed"), etc.). A scalar value called the "score" is created from the information contained in the score data structure. It is possible to compare these two scalar scores and, thus, to determine which document, from among several documents, is the best match. Search results are typically provided in order of the document scores. Thus, the document with the highest score is listed first in the results (since, if the scoring method has done its job, that document should be the best match with the query), the next document list is the document with the second highest score, and so on.
The creation of a scalar score from a score data structure is performed by applying a formula to the information in the score data structure. For example, if the score data structure contains the number of nonstopwords matched, and the aggregate rarity index of each word matched, then a scalar score can be computed using the formula:score=0.85*nonstopwords+0.65*rarity_index.
In this example, 0.85 and 0.65 are arbitrary constants to be multiplied by values in the score data structure. ("Nonstopwords" generally include those words that are of significance in distinguishing one document from another. "Nonstopwords" are in contradistinction from "stopwords," which generally include very common words such as "and," "the," "a," etc. What constitutes a "stopword" or a "nonstopword" in a given search system is a choice made by the system's designers.)
To describe the above example in greater generality, if the score data structure contain n values numbered 0 through n−1, then the score may be computed by the formula:score=c0v0+ . . . +cn−1vn−1 where v1. . . vn−1 are the values in the score data structure, and c1. . . cn−1 are the respective constants by which those values are to be multiplied by to arrive at the score. The constants c1. . . cn−1 essentially represent a judgment about the relative importance of each value in arriving at the score.
In a typical system, the formula that is used to compute the score from the score data structure is hard-coded into the scoring software. Thus, in order to change the formula used to compute the score, the scoring software must be rewritten and recompiled. Thus, it is difficult for existing scoring software to accommodate changes in the way that scores are computed, or tests of new scoring strategies. Some such existing scoring software also has the disadvantage that permitting any changes to the scoring formula requires that the operator of the scoring software have access to the source code and the ability to recompile it. This arrangement may give broader access to the source code than the source code's owner might desire, and also has the disadvantage that encouraging frequent modifications to the source code—no matter how minor—creates the opportunity to introduce errors and bugs into the code. Other systems can be "trained" and thus do not require recompiling in order to change the formula; however, the training process is generally slow, and therefore expensive in terms of machine time.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a system that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.

System and method for providing search results with configurable scoring formula


Systems and methods for thermographically inspecting a composite material or honeycombed type structures are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system includes a thermal heat source configured to be either removably coupled to or positioned proximate to the composite material to generate a localized thermal field in a selected area of the composite material. A thermal imaging device generates a visible image of the generated thermal field.

Composite materials are increasingly used as substitutes for conventional materials such as aluminum and steel alloys in various structural components due to the generally high strength-to-weight ratio inherent in composite materials. Composite materials may generally be comprised of a network of reinforcing fibers that are generally applied in layers, and a polymeric resin that substantially wets the reinforcing fibers to form an intimate contact between the resin and the reinforcing fibers.
Composite materials exhibit modes of failure that are distinct from failure modes present in conventional materials. In particular, the material may deteriorate due to mechanical fatigue and/or environmental exposure so that the various layers in the composite material debond, forming delaminated regions within the material. In addition, the material may develop cracks and or other defects. In either case, the defect may not be detected by a visual inspection of the material. Accordingly, various non-invasive methods are available that may be used to locate defects in the composite material.
For example, in one commonly used method, a surface of the composite material is lightly and repeatedly tapped with a percussive device during the inspection, and the resulting sound is noted. If the sound resulting from the surface tapping has a relatively sharp report, the area is assumed to be generally free from internal defects. Correspondingly, if the resulting sound has a relatively hollow-sounding report, an internal defect may exist within the material at the location exhibiting the characteristic report. Although the foregoing method is simple to implement, and is suitable for a field inspection of the composite material, it relies on the subjective interpretation of sounds returned from the material, and may therefore be somewhat unreliable. In another related method, a small acoustic transducer is moved across the surface of the composite material so that an acoustic signal is projected into the material. Acoustic waves that are reflected from internal structures in the composite material are then processed to determine if internal structural anomalies exist. Although the subjectivity of the inspector is removed, the method requires a relatively sophisticated apparatus that may not be available for field use.
In another known method, a surface portion of the composite material is heated using a flash discharge lamp. After a predetermined delay period, the surface portion is imaged using an infrared camera to determine if an internal defect is present. The surface temperature decay during the delay period may then be used to infer the presence of an internal defect since debonding and/or delaminations generally cause localized and identifiable changes in the thermal conductivity of the material.
The foregoing methods generally require the availability of electrical power and therefore may be difficult to use in a field environment. Other drawbacks may also preclude the use of the foregoing methods in a field environment. For example, the use of flash lamps to provide a thermal heat input to the composite panel may not be possible in certain field environments. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for the thermographic inspection of composite materials that avoid the foregoing limitations.

Systems and methods for thermographic inspection of composite structures


An output circuit includes a first output transistor disposed between a higher-potential power supply terminal and an external output terminal, a current flowing from the source of the first output transistor to the drain thereof being controlled on the basis of an external input signal; a second output transistor disposed between a lower-potential power supply terminal and the external output terminal, a current flowing from the source of the second output transistor to the drain thereof being controlled on the basis of an external input signal; and a clamping transistor having a first terminal and a control terminal, the first terminal and the control terminal being coupled to the gate of the first output transistor, and a second terminal coupled to the drain of the first output transistor.

The present invention relates to an output circuit and in particular to an output circuit that is suitable for suppressing overshoot or undershoot of its output waveform.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) drivers for driving an LCD include a voltage-follower-coupled operational amplifier as an output drive circuit. The transient characteristics of this operational amplifier are known to significantly affect display quality. In particular, overshoot or undershoot of its output waveform disadvantageously degrades image quality. Accordingly, an operational amplifier included in an LCD driver is required to suppress overshoot or undershoot of its output waveform.
However, the transconductance gm of an MOS transistor is generally lower than that of a bipolar transistor. For this reason, when an operational amplifier including an MOS analog drives a capacitive load, it disadvantageously tends to cause overshoot or undershoot in its drive waveform. Countermeasures to this problem include a method of increasing the W size of an output MOS transistor included in the operational amplifier to increase the transconductance gm. However, an increase in the W size of the output MOS transistor increases chip size, resulting in an increase in cost.
FIGS. 7A and 7B show equivalent circuits of an amplifier solely for positive voltages (hereafter referred to as a positive amplifier) 100 and an amplifier solely for negative voltages (hereafter referred to as a negative amplifier) 200 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-194485. Specifically, FIGS. 7A and 7B show operational amplifiers for half_VDD which have been used in LCD drivers in recent years.
The positive amplifier 100 in FIG. 7A is an amplifier for driving voltages higher than a reference voltage COM (a reference voltage applied to the counter electrode of liquid crystal) in a liquid crystal display. The negative amplifier 200 shown in FIG. 7B is an amplifier for driving voltages lower than the reference voltage COM. As seen, in the field of liquid crystal displays, a voltage is determined to be positive or negative relative to the reference voltage COM. These positive and negative voltages are different from positive and negative voltages in general electrical engineering.
The positive amplifier 100 is an amplifier for driving the positive polarity of liquid crystal. Accordingly, if the reference voltage COM is a voltage halving the difference between a power supply voltage VDD and a ground voltage VSS, that is, VDD/2, the positive amplifier 100 is only required to drive voltages ranging from VDD/2 to VDD. On the other hand, the negative amplifier 200 is an amplifier for driving the negative polarity of the liquid crystal and therefore is only required to drive voltages ranging from VSS to VDD/2. Thus, in both amplifiers, the range of power supply voltages applied to an output stage circuit (output circuit) is about half that of power supply voltages applied to another circuit (here, differential stage circuit), thereby suppressing increases in power consumption.
The positive amplifier 100 shown in FIG. 7A includes a differential stage circuit 101 and an output stage circuit (output circuit) 102. The output stage circuit 102 includes a p-channel MOS transistor MP103 and an n-channel MOS transistor MN104. The output stage circuit 102 has a higher-potential power supply terminal to which the power supply voltage VDD is applied and a lower-potential power supply terminal to which an intermediate voltage VML is applied. The intermediate voltage VML is about half the power supply voltage VDD. The circuit (differential stage circuit 101) other than the output stage circuit 102 has a higher-potential power supply terminal to which the power supply voltage VDD is applied and a lower-potential power supply terminal to which the ground voltage VSS is applied.
The transistor MP103 has a source to which the power supply voltage VDD is applied, a drain coupled to an external output terminal Vout, and a gate coupled to one of output terminals of the differential stage circuit 101. The transistor MN104 has a source to which the intermediate voltage VML is applied, a drain coupled to the external output terminal Vout, and a gate coupled to the other output terminal of the differential stage circuit 101.
In the positive amplifier 100 shown in FIG. 7A, the differential stage circuit 101 outputs to the output stage circuit 102 a pair of amplified signals corresponding to the potential difference between input signals applied to input terminals IN+ and IN−. In the output stage circuit 102, a current flowing from the source of the transistor MP103 to the drain thereof is controlled on the basis of the amplified signal applied to the gate thereof. Similarly, a current flowing from the source of the transistor MN104 to the drain thereof is controlled on the basis of the amplified signal applied to the gate thereof. Since the power supply voltage VDD is applied to the source of the transistor MP103 and the intermediate voltage VML is applied to the source of the transistor MN104, the voltages of output signals of the positive amplifier 100 fall within the range of VDD/2 to VDD.
The negative amplifier 200 shown in FIG. 7B includes a differential stage circuit 201 and an output stage circuit (output circuit) 202. The output stage circuit 202 includes a p-channel MOS transistor MP203 and an n-channel MOS transistor MN204. The output stage circuit 202 has a higher-potential power supply terminal to which an intermediate voltage VMH is applied and a lower-potential power supply terminal to which the ground voltage VSS is applied. The intermediate voltage VMH is about half the power supply voltage VDD. The circuit (differential stage circuit 201) other than the output stage circuit 202 has a higher-potential power supply terminal to which the power supply voltage VDD is applied and a lower-potential power supply terminal to which the ground voltage VSS is applied.
The transistor MP203 has a source to which the intermediate voltage VMH is applied, a drain coupled to an external output terminal Vout, and a gate coupled to one of output terminals of the differential stage circuit 201. The transistor MN204 has a source to which the ground voltage VSS is applied, a drain coupled to the external output terminal Vout, and a gate coupled to the other output terminal of the differential stage circuit 201.
In the negative amplifier 200 shown in FIG. 7B, the differential stage circuit 201 outputs to the output stage circuit 202 a pair of amplified signals corresponding to the potential difference between input signals applied to input terminals IN+ and IN−. In the output stage circuit 202, a current flowing from the source of the output transistor MP203 to the drain thereof is controlled on the basis of the amplified signal applied to the gate thereof. A current flowing from the source of the transistor MN204 to the drain thereof is controlled on the basis of the amplified signal applied to the gate thereof. Since the intermediate voltage VMH is applied to the source of the transistor MP203 and the ground voltage VSS is applied to the source of the transistor MN204, the voltages of output signals of the negative amplifier 200 fall within the range of VSS to VDD/2.
Circuits for controlling a current to be supplied to a load include a circuit using a clamping circuit. FIG. 8 shows a circuit diagram of a transistor output circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 3(1991)-117017. A transistor output circuit 300 shown in FIG. 8 includes a gate drive circuit 301, an output transistor 302, a clamping circuit 304, and a resistor 307 and controls a current flowing into a load 305 via the output transistor 302. As shown in FIG. 9, a current Id flowing from the source of the output transistor 302 to the drain thereof increases as the gate-source voltage Vgs thereof increases. That is, when the gate-source voltage Vgs of the output transistor 302 reaches or exceeds a predetermined voltage, an overcurrent is supplied to the load 305. For this reason, the transistor output circuit 300 includes the clamping circuit 304 between the gate and source of the output transistor 302. This prevents the gate-source voltage Vgs from reaching or exceeding the predetermined voltage, suppressing an overcurrent.
Japanese Patent No. 4228960 discloses a load drive apparatus including the same conductivity type of two MOS transistors coupled in series to a path for transmitting power from a power supply to a load; and clamping circuits coupled between the gates and drains of the two MOS transistors. Each clamping circuit includes a diode for backflow prevention and a clamp Zener diode (see FIG. 5 of the Patent).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei7(1995)-505994 discloses an inductive load damp circuit including an inductive load apparatus (L1), an n-channel MOS transistor (N1) coupled in series to the inductive load apparatus (L1), and a p-channel clamping transistor (P1) coupled between the gate and drain of the transistor (N1) (see FIG. 3 of the Publication). A power supply voltage Vcc is applied to the gate of the clamping transistor (P1).


This invention discloses a gallium nitride based semiconductor power device disposed in a semiconductor substrate. The power device comprises a termination area disposed at a peripheral area of the semiconductor power device comprises a termination structure having at least a guard ring disposed in a trench filled with doped gallium-based epitaxial layer therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the configurations and methods of manufacturing the semiconductor devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a gallium nitride (GaN)-based device implemented with new device configurations and manufacturing methods for providing reliable and high quality termination structure with guard rings formed by applying an epitaxial growth method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The gallium nitride (GaN) based devices such as Schottky diodes have the advantage over silicon devices in achieving a high blocking voltage, while maintaining a low on-resistance using a small semiconductor die. However, conventional methods of configuring and manufacturing gallium nitride (GaN) based devices including Schottky diodes as a rectifying device, or devices for other functional applications are still challenged by a technical limitation of lacking controllable manufacturing processes to assure a reliable termination structure can be provided. At the edges and corners of a semiconductor die, there is a high electric field, so a termination structure is needed to ensure that breakdown occurs in the main portion of the device rather than at the edges, i.e., termination region. Due to the wide band-gap nature of the nitride semiconductor, reliable guard rings such as P-type guard rings cannot be conveniently provided by applying the conventional implant and diffusion processes commonly used with silicon based semiconductors.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,866, entitled "Non-activated guard ring for semiconductor devices", a semiconductor device with a guard ring is disclosed. FIG. 1 shows laterally conducting Schottky diode 100. The Schottky diode includes an electrically insulating substrate 102 and a buffer structure 104. A highly doped semiconductor layer 106 is disposed atop the buffer structure 104. A semiconductor contact layer 108, a lower doped semiconductor layer is disposed atop a portion of the more highly doped semiconductor layer 106. A Schottky metal contact 110 is located atop the semiconductor contact layer 108 and forms a metal-to-semiconductor rectifying junction with the semiconductor layer 108. A thicker bond pad metal layer 112 is disposed atop the Schottky metal contact 110. A guard ring 120 is formed within the semiconductor layer 108 and is located at or near the edge of the mesa. The guard ring 120 serves to reduce the high electric fields located at the edges of the Schottky metal contact as well as reduce the leakage current that occurs when the device is reverse biased. An ohmic metal contact 116 is disposed atop a portion of the higher doped layer 106, and a thicker bond pad metal layer 118 is disposed atop the ohmic metal contact 116. A passivation layer 114 may be formed at least between the stacked structure formed by the ohmic metal contact 116 and bond pad layer 118 and the stacked structure formed by the semiconductor layer 108, Schottky metal contact 110 and bond pad metal layer 112. The guard rings as shown are formed by ion implantation into the semiconductor contact layer without completely annealing the semiconductor contact layer to form a high resistance region. The guard ring may be located at the edge of the layer or, alternatively, at a distance away from the edge of the layer. A Schottky metal contact is formed atop the layer, and the edges of the Schottky contact are disposed atop the guard ring.
However, for the nitride semiconductor device, an edge termination structure implemented with guard rings 120 as shown in FIG. 1, when formed by ion implantations followed by thermal activation or even without thermal activation or diffusions, does not form a true P-type semiconductor region, but often become highly resistive or semi-insulative instead of the intended P-type semiconductor materials to carry out the guard ring functions. Furthermore, the highly resistive edge termination structures formed by the implant process are embedded with defects from the gallium nitride semiconductor, which causes poor reliability or poor unclamped inductive switching (UIS) capability.
There is an urgent demand to overcome such limitation especially for gallium nitride based Schottky diodes. As a rectifier, the Schottky diode is ideal for application to minimize the switching loss where the energy consumption occurs during the switch mode such as an application to a switch-mode power supply (SMPS) device. A SMPS device when implemented with GaN based Schottky diode can deliver greater efficiency of power utilization with reduced switching loss and with high blocking voltage. However, a reliable termination structure such as P-type guard rings formed close to the device edge near an anode electrode is necessary to assure high performance reliable operations. However, as discussed above, for those of ordinary skill in the art, reliable and high quality P-type guard rings are hard to realize for the GaN based devices. Conventional ion implantation and diffusion processes are not useful to form the guard rings with good quality and reliable performance.
For these reasons, there are demands to provide device configurations and manufacturing methods to provide high quality and reliable guard rings in the termination areas for the GaN based devices such that the above-discussed difficulties and limitations may be resolved.

Method for manufacturing a gallium nitride based semiconductor device with improved termination scheme


A method for driving a display panel includes generating data signals to drive pixels in the display panel. The pixels in the display panel are arranged in a matrix. In addition, the voltage values of the data signals are adjusted to render a sum of voltage values of the data signals in a unit area as zero.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method for driving a display panel, and particularly to a driving method for solving the problem of the cross talk effect of a display panel.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional display panel 100 includes a lower substrate 102 and an upper substrate 104. On a surface of the lower substrate 102 facing the upper substrate 104, a plurality of data lines such as D1, D2, D3 and D4 and a plurality of scan lines such as S1 and S2 are disposed and interlaced with each other. Furthermore, on a surface of the upper substrate 104 facing the lower substrate 102, a plurality of color filters 110 is disposed. A common electrode 112 is formed on the color filter 110. In addition, a liquid crystal material is filled between the lower substrate 102 and the upper substrate 104. Therefore, a capacitor exists between the data lines D1-D4 and the common electrode 112.
FIG. 2A is a waveform diagram of data signals and a common voltage of a conventional LCD panel. Referring to both FIGS. 1 and 2A, data signals DS1, DS2, DS3, and DS4 may be transmitted to the data lines D1, D2, D3 and D4 in the display panel 100 respectively. In FIG. 2A, r1 is defined as a bright state voltage, and r2 is defined as a dark state voltage. When one of the scan lines is enabled, the data signals DS1, DS2, DS3 and DS4 may drive each pixel enabled by the scan line.
In some conventional technology, a technique of partitioning time is provided, i.e. partitioning a frame time into at least two sub-frame times. Each of the sub-frame times displays one sub-grayscale. Thus, an image displayed by the display panel within one frame time is constituted by at least two sub-grayscales. Regarding this time-partitioning technique, the conventional technology provides a method of double data rate (DDR) for driving the display panel, as illustrated in FIG. 2B. Referring to FIG. 2B, in this conventional driving technique, a different voltage may be applied to each pixel in different images according to different γ voltage set values to solve the problem of color washout.
Since the liquid crystal capacitance exists in each pixel and in the conventional art the voltage and the polarity transmitted to one pixel are different from those transmitted to another pixel, the coupling effect between adjacent pixels would occur and common voltages Vcom in different areas on the display panel 100 may thus vary. Therefore, most conventional technologies for driving the LCD panel (including DDR driving technique) would cause uneven luminance on the display panel, as illustrated in FIG. 2C. In FIG. 2C, different display areas A1, A2, and A3 have different luminance, which is called the cross talk effect.

Driving method for solving problem of cross talk effect of display panel


An energy power converter system is provided. According to one embodiment, the system includes a plurality of parallel converters; a main transformer with a separate magnetic path for magnetic fields are generated in the transformer by a summation of currents coming from the plurality of parallel converters electrically coupled to the main transformer; and a converter control device electrically coupled to the plurality of parallel converters and the main transformer. The converter control device may be configured to discontinue electrical flow in the system based at least in part on detection of an electrical fault condition.

Due to the world-wide concerns about undesired consequences of using fossil fuels to produce energy, alternative or renewable energy technologies have been on the rise. Wind power is one popular renewable energy source. Using wind power involves conversion of wind energy into a more useful form of energy, such as electricity.
In a wind turbine, electricity is produced by the wind turning multiple blades connected to a rotor. The spin of the blades caused by the wind rotates a shaft of the rotor, which connects to a generator that generates electricity. The rotor may be mounted within a housing or nacelle, which is positioned on top of a truss or tubular tower (sometimes as high as 300 feet). Utility grade wind turbines (e.g., wind turbines designed to provide electrical power to a utility grid) may include large rotors (e.g., 100 or more feet in diameter). The blades of these rotors may transform the wind energy into a rotational torque or force that drives one or more generators, which are rotationally coupled to the rotor through a gearbox. The gearbox may be used to step up the inherently low rotational speed of the turbine rotor for the generator to efficiently convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, which is then provided to a utility grid. Some turbines utilize generators that are directly coupled to the rotor without using a gearbox. Various types of generators may be used in wind turbines.
Wind turbines may include power converter systems. A power converter system is typically used to convert input electrical current, which may be fixed frequency alternating current, variable frequency alternating current, or direct current, to a desired output frequency and voltage level. A converter system usually includes several power semiconductor switches such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), integrated gate commutated thyristors (IGCTs or GCTs), or metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) that are switched on at certain frequencies to generate the desired converter output voltage and frequency. The converter output voltage is then provided to various loads. "Loads", as the term is used herein, is intended to broadly include motors, power grids, and resistive loads, for example.
As the desired power level of a wind turbine increases, some wind turbine systems may require multiple power converters operating together in parallel to achieve the desired power rating.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a conventional power system including multiple parallel converters. A power system 100 may be configured to supply power to a load 120. The power supplied may be generated by a generator 105 and subsequently provided to a power converter system 110. The power converter system 110 may comprise converters 110-1 through 110-N. The converters 110-1 through 110-N may be coupled in parallel and configured to receive power from the generator 105. The power converter system 110 may convert the received power and provide it to the load 120. The load 120 may include power grids, motors, resistive loads, and the like.
The power system 100 may also comprise a converter control system 115. The converter control system 115 may be configured to provide control signals for the operation of the power system 100. The converter control system 115 may be coupled to the power converter system 110 and configured to drive the power converter system 110 according to predesignated switching patterns. The predesignated switching patterns provided by the converter control system 115 may provide for synchronous gating of the multiple parallel converters or may provide an interleaved manner of control for each converter thread with phase displaced gating signals to reduce overall switching harmonic components due to cancellation of phase shifted switching waveforms.
Multiple converters operated in parallel within the power converter system 110 may provide high availability and low distortion. However, power systems utilizing multiple parallel converters may create common-mode currents flowing between the parallel converters, and this leads to a need for common-mode chokes, or otherwise isolating the converters at either the generator side or the line side to break the path of common mode currents between the converters.
As shown by FIG. 2, in some conventional power systems 200, common-mode chokes are used to protect the load 120 and the generator 105. In such existing power systems 200, the power converter system 110 includes generator side chokes 205, a Direct Current (DC) link 215, load side chokes 220, and parallel converters 210. The generator side chokes 205 and load side chokes 220 suppress common-mode current that links both converters 210.
However, this conventional solution may be costly and insufficiently reliable. Moreover, the possibility of arc flash events needs to be considered, since they become more prevalent as the power level of the system increases.
Therefore, with the increase of the desired power levels of power systems, it would be useful to provide power systems with multiple power converters operated together and, subsequently, there is a need for suitable means of optimizing and protecting such systems. According to the present disclosure, this may be achieved by combining multiple parallel converters with a multi-leg main transformer.


A microemulsion gel having antiseptic and bleaching properties is prepared from the combination of a water phase comprising water and propylene glycol with an oil phase generally comprising one or more surfactants, an emollient, and an oil. In its preferred embodiment, the oil phase comprises a polyethylene glycol ether of isocetyl alcohol, preferably Isoceteth-20 (trademark), a polyethylene glycol ether of oleyl alcohol, preferably Oleth-2 (trademark), and a polypropylene glycol ether of stearyl alcohol, preferably PPG-15 stearyl ether (trademark). The water phase optionally includes sorbitol and the oil of the oil phase may be mineral oil. The water and oil phases are heated independently then combined and mixed. Hydrogen peroxide is subsequently added to the composition, and the combination is cooled and allowed to stand until a gel is formed. A fragrance may be added as desired.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and composition for a microemulsion a gel having bleaching and antiseptic properties. More particularly, the present invention comprises the mixture of a water phase, an oil phase and hydrogen peroxide. The water phase includes propylene glycol and water. The oil phase includes one or more surfactants, an emollient, and an oil.

Composition for microemulsion gel having bleaching and antiseptic properties


A cable conduit may comprise a head end, a sleeve having a foot end, a boot, and a split grommet having a first upper surface, wherein the head end is coupled to the sleeve opposite the foot end, wherein the boot comprises a first flange and is coupled to the foot end, wherein the head end comprises a second flange having a second upper surface and a cutout penetrating into an interior volume of the sleeve, and wherein the split grommet is coupled about the inner diameter of the cutout.

Gas turbine engine cables may pass directly through a bypass duct of a gas turbine engine and be exposed to engine bypass flow. The bypass flow environment is a harsh environment tending to damage or degrade cable performance over time and may expose the cable to impact with objects transported in the bypass flow.

Igniter cable conduit for gas turbine engine


A control valve for controlling pressure medium flows, including: a valve housing having a hollow construction and having at least one feed connection, at least two working connections, and at least one discharge connection; a control piston held displaceably inside the valve housing, through which, dependent on position, the feed connection can be connected via at least one pressure medium line to the one or to the other working connection, while the respectively other working connection is connected via at least one second pressure medium line to the discharge connection. The control piston has a piston cavity and the first pressure medium line includes a feed opening allocated to the feed connection and a discharge opening allocated to the working connections, with each of these openings opening into the piston cavity. At least one check valve that can be hydraulically opened and that releases the first pressure medium line in the feed direction is provided, having a closing part that has a sealing surface, by which part a valve opening can be closed. The control valve has an elastically deformable closing part, such that the sealing surface thereof is movable, through elastic deformation of the closing part, into a closed position in which it lies against the valve opening in sealing fashion and an open position in which the valve opening is completely open, one of the openings of the control piston acting as valve opening. Alternatively, the closing part is mounted resiliently via at least one spring tongue.

The present invention is in the technical area of internal combustion engines, and relates in its category to a control valve for controlling pressure medium flows, having an integrated check valve.
In internal combustion engines having mechanical valve control, gas exchange valves are actuated by a camshaft driven by a crankshaft, the control times of the gas exchange valves are definable via the arrangement and shape of the cams. The use of special devices for the optional modification of the phase position between the crankshaft and the camshaft, generally known as "camshaft adjusters," has long been known. Through the use of camshaft adjusters, the control times of the gas exchange valves can be influenced in a targeted manner as a function of the momentary operating state of the internal combustion engine, and in this way a number of advantageous effects, such as reduced fuel consumption and reduced production of pollutants, can be achieved.
In general, camshaft adjusters comprise a drive part, which stands in driven connection with the crankshaft via a drive wheel, and an output part connected fixedly to the camshaft, as well as an adjustment mechanism, connected between the drive part and the output part, that transmits the torque from the drive part to the output part and enables an adjustment and fixing of the relative rotational position between the two. In hydraulic camshaft adjusters, the adjustment mechanism comprises at least one pressure chamber pair whose members act against one another, via which the rotational position between the drive part and the output part can be adjusted or fixed by charging the pressure chambers with pressure medium.
As a rule, hydraulic adjustment mechanisms comprise an electronic control device that regulates the inflow and outflow of pressure medium on the basis of acquired characteristic data of the internal combustion engine, using an electromagnetically activated control valve. In a typical design, the control valves have a cylindrical valve housing and a control piston that is axially displaceable inside the valve housing, the piston being displaceable by an electromagnetically movable tappet against the spring force of a resetting spring element. Such control valves are well known, and are described in detail for example in German patent DE 19727180 C2, German patent DE 19616973 C2, and European patent application EP 1 596 041 A2 of applicant.
Mechanically actuated gas exchange valves are as a rule held in the closed position by valve pressure springs. This has the result that when the gas exchange valves are actuated, during opening the cams are pressed opposite the direction of rotation of the camshaft, and during closing they are pressed in the direction of rotation of the camshaft, by the valve springs. Thus, during operation of the internal combustion engine alternating moments occur at the camshaft that can be introduced, as pressure peaks or pulsations, into the pressure medium circuit of the hydraulic adjustment mechanism of the camshaft adjuster. If additional hydraulic components are connected to the pressure medium circuit, these pressure peaks can cause these components to be adversely affected or damaged.
In order to prevent this, it is known to provide check valves in the pressure medium paths of hydraulic camshaft adjusters, which valves block the return flow of pressure medium to the pressure medium pump. The check valves, typically ball check valves, can in particular be integrated in the control valve.
A control valve of the type described having an integrated check valve is described for example in the above-named European patent application EP 1 596 041 A2 of applicant.

Control valve for controlling pressure-medium flows comprising an integrated check valve


The generation of a graphical three-dimensional (3D) view of a system model of a Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS), which also may be depicted in a schematic view, is disclosed. Information contained in the system model is used to generate 3D representations of model components which are then assembled into an overall model. The system model is composed by selecting MEMS component models from a MEMS component library. The MEMS component models include parameter information and include or reference 3D view generators used to generate the 3D view of the associated component. The system model is programmatically analyzed to identify the associated 3D view generators used to generate the 3D views of the components. The visualization process may be extended to include a simulator which simulates the underlying system model. The simulation results are then displayed by using the 3D visualization process to present 3D views of the model as it changes during different points in the simulation.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems are used to design and simulate virtual models of electrical, electronic or mechanical devices prior to producing actual physical devices. CAD systems are interactive software tools that run on a digital computer with a graphical display device. In particular, micro-fabricated devices such as electronic integrated circuits (ICs) and Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) can be designed and simulated virtually using CAD systems prior to beginning the costly and time-consuming process of fabricating the actual physical devices.
MEMS are micro- or nano-scale devices typically fabricated in a similar fashion as integrated circuits (ICs) to exploit the miniaturization, integration, and batch processing attainable with semiconductor manufacturing processes. Unlike ICs which consist solely of electrical components, MEMS devices combine components from multiple physical domains and may contain, for example, electrical, mechanical, and fluidic components. MEMS devices appear in many forms and may include micro-electromechanical sensors and actuators such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, and pressure sensors, micro-fluidic devices such as ink jet heads, Radio-Frequency (RF) devices such as switches, resonators, varactors, and passives, and optical devices such as micro-mirrors and fiber alignment devices.
The behavior of both MEMS and IC devices can be modeled at the system level as an interconnected network of simpler components. Each component has an underlying mathematical description, or behavioral model, which is referred to herein as a component model. Typically, these component models are parameterized, i.e. they take as input a few parameters such as width and height, so that the same mathematical model can be used for different versions of the same type of component. For example, a single component model may be used to generate particular models having different dimensions. A system simulator numerically computes, or simulates, the collective behavior of the network of component models.
Two commonly used methods of implementing a system simulation are circuit simulation (also referred to as conservative system simulation) and signal-flow simulation. A system model is captured graphically in a circuit schematic or in a signal-flow diagram, and then its behavior is simulated by, respectively, a circuit simulator or a signal-flow simulator. Traditionally, circuit simulation has been used for electronic circuit design while signal-flow simulation has been used for control system and signal processing design. Currently, both types of system simulation are used to simulate not only ICs, but also multi-physics devices such as MEMS.
Since MEMS devices can also be simulated by system modeling methods such as circuit simulation, CAD systems for IC design can be applied to MEMS design, at least in principle. In particular, IC schematic editors and circuit simulators may be applied to MEMS design when supplied with a library of MEMS component models such as mechanical beams, plates, electrodes, magnetic coils, optical lenses and lasers. Unfortunately, there are a number of drawbacks to the application of CAD systems originally intended for IC design to the MEMS design process. Schematics representing MEMS are usually rather abstract representations of 3D objects in space. The geometry, position and orientation of each modeled substructure is defined by the parameters of the corresponding schematic symbol. Minor parameter changes can result in substantially different device geometry and/or optical system setups. While conventional IC design tools allow the user to extract a two-dimensional layout from a schematic, they do not include the 3D visualization capability needed to understand and verify the parameter settings and symbol connectivity of non-electrical structures like MEMS.
Additionally, conventional methods of visualizing schematic designs of a model make it difficult to interpret network simulation results. Unlike conventional IC system modeling environments, working efficiently with MEMS models requires a 3D graphical environment for visualizing the shape, orientation and position of the modeled structures. In conventional IC schematics, electrical "wires" connect the schematic symbols. The results of circuit simulations, such as voltage and current changes over time or frequency on individual wires, can be displayed graphically in 2D "X-Y plots". Two-dimensional X-Y plots are generally sufficient for understanding purely electrical circuits. MEMS simulations, however, involve spatial displacements and/or rotations of the mechanical substructures or other physical entities such as beams of light. The symbols that represent the MEMS components or substructures are linked by mechanical "wires" that are associated with mechanical degrees of freedom, such as spatial displacements, rotations, forces, or torques. The wires in a MEMS schematic may also be optical "wires" that represent properties of light beams, such as the light intensity within a frequency band. Similar to simulations of electrical circuits, these non-electrical quantities from MEMS simulations can be displayed in X-Y plots. For example, the displacement of a beam component along the x-axis versus voltage change at an electrode can be shown in an X-Y plot. These X-Y plots are not sufficient, however, for understanding the motion of a complex MEMS that may consist of tens or hundreds of individual mechanical components and/or multiple optical beams.

System and method for three-dimensional visualization and postprocessing of a system model


A multi-pressure condenser has first and second condensers with vacuum pressures. The second condenser has a higher pressure. The first condenser has a first cooling water tube bundle, and a pressure barrier which extends below the first cooling water tube bundle. A heat-transfer tube introduces fluid from outside the first condenser into the first hot well below the barrier. Liquid is dropped into the first hot well through the through holes of the pressure barrier. The second condenser has a second cooling water tube bundle. Condensate generated in the high-pressure chamber is accumulated below the second cooling water tube bundle. The multi-pressure condenser further has a steam duct to connect the gas phase parts of the first hot well and the second condenser, and a pipe to communicate the liquid phase parts of the first hot well and the second condenser.

The present invention relates to a multi-pressure condenser constructed by combining a plurality of shells having different internal pressures.
A condenser used in a nuclear power plant or a thermal power plant has a function of cooling and condensing a turbine exhaust that has been used for an expansion work through a steam turbine to convert it into condensate. The condensate generated in the condenser is fed back to the steam turbine through a feed-water heater and a steam generator. The inside of such a condenser is maintained in a vacuum, and the higher the degree of vacuum, the more the heat consumption rate of the turbine is increased to thereby improve plant efficiency. A typical condenser has a steam turbine at its upper portion and retains the condensate on the bottom side.
The condensate that has been fed from the condenser to the feed-water heater is heated in the feed-water heater by extraction steam from the steam turbine and is then fed to a boiler. At this time, the higher the temperature of the condensate to be fed to the feed-water heater, the more the amount of turbine extraction steam can be reduced, thereby improving plant efficiency.
As an apparatus for increasing the temperature of condensate to be fed to the feed-water heater, there is known a multi-pressure condenser constructed by connecting a plurality of condensers having different internal pressures (Refer to, e.g., Japanese Patent No. 3,706,571, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference).
Such a type of condenser will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the outline of a conventional multi-pressure condenser.
A high-pressure stage condenser 101 and a low-pressure stage condenser 103 are connected by a steam duct 110 and a bypass connecting pipe 117. The high-pressure stage condenser 101 has a high-pressure chamber 105 surrounded by a high-pressure shell 102. The low-pressure stage condenser 103 has two chambers defined by a perforated plate 113 provided below a cooling water tube bundle 107 and a low-pressure shell 104: one is a low-pressure chamber 106 defined on the upper side of the perforated plate 113 and the other is a reheat chamber 111 defined on the lower side of the perforated plate 113. Cooling water flowing in the cooling water tube bundle 107 passes through the low-pressure chamber 106 and is introduced into the high-pressure chamber 105. Thus, the temperature of the cooling water is set higher in the low-pressure chamber 106 than in the high-pressure chamber 105, and the pressure of the high-pressure chamber 105 is set higher than that of the low-pressure chamber 106. Further, a tray 115 is provided below the perforated plate 113. Condensate is accumulated in the bottom portions of the high-pressure chamber 105 and the reheat chamber 111.
The steam duct 110 allows the high-pressure chamber 105 and the reheat chamber 111 to communicate with each other, and the bypass connecting pipe 117 guides condensate accumulated in the lower portion of the high-pressure shell 102 to a merger portion 116.
Operational effects of the multi-pressure condenser having such a configuration will be described below.
A turbine exhaust is fed from above the high-pressure stage condenser 101 and the low-pressure stage condenser 103. The turbine exhaust is cooled by the cooling water tube bundle 107 and condensed into condensate.
In the high-pressure stage condenser 101, the condensed condensate is accumulated in the bottom portion of the high-pressure chamber 105. In the low-pressure stage condenser 103, the condensate is accumulated on the perforated plate 113 and dropped to the reheat chamber 111 through holes 114 formed in the perforated plate 113. The perforated plate 113 on which the condensate has been accumulated functions as a pressure barrier between the low-pressure chamber 106 and the reheat chamber 111 to separate the pressure in the low-pressure chamber 106 and the pressure in the reheat chamber 111.
In the reheat chamber 111, the condensate is dropped from the perforated plate 113 to the tray 115 and is further dropped from the end portion of the tray 115 to the bottom portion of the reheat chamber 111. Steam of the high-pressure chamber 105 has been introduced into the gas phase part of the reheat chamber 111 through the steam duct 110. The steam in the high-pressure chamber 105 has a higher pressure than the condensate that has been condensed in the low-pressure chamber 106 and therefore has a high saturation temperature. Thus, it is possible to increase the temperature of the condensate that has been condensed in the low-pressure chamber 106 by reheating the condensate with the steam in the high-pressure chamber 105.
The existence of the tray 115 increases the surface area of the condensate from the phase where the condensate is dropped to the reheat chamber 111 to the place where it is accumulated in the bottom portion of the reheat chamber 111, thereby accelerating heat exchange between the steam and condensate.
The condensate that has been condensed in the high-pressure stage condenser 101 is fed to the merger portion 116 by the bypass connecting pipe 117 and is merged with the condensate of the reheat chamber 111 followed by feeding to a not-illustrated feed-water heater.
According to the multi-pressure condenser having such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the following effects: the temperature of the condensate can be increased; the average value of the turbine exhaust pressure becomes lower than that in a single-pressure type condenser in which all condensers have the same pressure value to increase turbine heat drop; and a difference between the saturation steam temperature of each condenser and the cooling water outlet temperature can be made larger to thereby reduce the condenser cooling area.
As described above, the multi-pressure condenser uses the steam in the high-pressure condenser as a heat source so as to improve plant efficiency. However, in the case where only the steam in the high-pressure condenser is used as a heat source, it is difficult to heat the condensate up to the saturation temperature of the pressure of the high-pressure condenser.

Multi-pressure condenser and condensate reheating method


In a dried sludge melting furnace apparatus, at least one of following two controls is executed. In one of the controls, the primary combustion chamber (PCC) upper combustion air supply amount and the PCC lower combustion air supply amount are adjusted so as to respectively become a target PCC upper combustion air supply amount and a target PCC lower combustion air supply amount which are obtained from an inferred PCC upper combustion air supply amount and an inferred PCC lower combustion air supply amount. The inferred PCC upper and lower combustion air supply amounts are obtained by a fuzzy inference device (221). In the other control, the total combustion air supply amount and the second combustion chamber (SCC) burner fuel supply amount are adjusted so as to respectively become a target combustion air supply amount and a target SCC burner fuel supply amount which are obtained from an inferred combustion air supply amount and an inferred SCC burner fuel supply amount. The inferred combustion air supply amount and the inferred SCC burner fuel supply amount are obtained by a fuzzy inference device (222).

This invention relates to a dried sludge melting furnace apparatus in which dried sludge and combustion air are supplied to a primary combustion chamber, and the dried sludge is converted into slag in the primary combustion chamber and a secondary combustion chamber and then separated from the combustion gas in a slag separation chamber.
Conventionally, a dried sludge melting furnace apparatus of this kind and having the following structure is proposed. In such an apparatus, at least one temperature detector disposed at an appropriate position of a primary combustion chamber (PCC) detects the temperature of the PCC (referred to as "detected PCC temperature"), a temperature detector disposed at a lower portion of a slag separation chamber detects the temperature of slag (referred to as "detected slag temperature"), and a nitrogen oxide (NOX) concentration detector and oxygen concentration detector disposed at an upper portion of the slag separation chamber detect the NOX concentration (referred to as "combustion gas NOX concentration") and oxygen concentration (referred to as "combustion gas oxygen concentration") of combustion gas, respectively. While monitoring these detected values, the operator manually operates based on experience control valves, a control valve disposed in a dried sludge supply pipe which opens in the top of the PCC, control valves disposed in combustion air supply pipes which respectively open in the upper and lower portions of the PCC, a control valve disposed in a fuel supply pipe which is communicated with a burner disposed at the top of the PCC, a control valve disposed in a combustion air supply pipe which opens in a secondary combustion chamber (SCC), and a control valve disposed in a fuel supply pipe which is communicated with a burner disposed in the SCC, thereby adjusting the amount of dried sludge (referred to as "dried sludge supply amount") and amount of combustion air (referred to as "PCC combustion air supply amount") supplied to the PCC, the amount of fuel (referred to as "PCC burner fuel amount") supplied to the burner disposed in the PCC, the amount of combustion air (referred to as "SCC combustion air supply amount") supplied to the SCC, the amount of fuel (referred to as "SCC burner fuel amount") supplied to the burner disposed in the SCC.
In such a conventional dried sludge melting furnace apparatus, while monitoring the detected PCC temperature, the detected slag temperature, the detected combustion gas NOX concentration and the detected combustion gas oxygen concentration, the operator must adjust, in accordance with the change of these values and based on experience, the dried sludge supply amount, the PCC combustion air supply amount, the PCC burner fuel amount, the SCC combustion air supply amount and the SCC burner fuel amount. Therefore, the conventional dried sludge melting furnace apparatus has the following disadvantages: (i) the operator must always be stationed in a control room; (ii) the operation accuracy and efficiency change depending on the skill or experience of the operator; (iii) it is impossible to lengthen the lifetime or service life of the furnace casing; and (iv) the dried sludge supply amount, the PCC combustion air supply amount, the SCC combustion air supply amount, the PCC burner fuel amount and the SCC burner fuel amount are susceptible to frequent changes.


A method for processing documents in a database having at least one record therein. Asset-related data contained on at least one document is reviewed pursuant to securitization of multiple assets. The at least one of the multiple assets comprises a commercial mortgage loan. The document is received into the database on a flow basis including receiving information from the document into the database as the document information becomes available for entry into the database. The flow basis includes collecting data from the document independently of an end use of the document. The contents of the document are analyzed to ensure compliance with at least one standard. The output data is provided from the record in the database. The output data includes at least data related to multiple assets associated with a securitization of the multiple assets. System, computer readable memory, and computer readable memory storage embodiments also are provided.

Commercial mortgage loan servicing is a document-intensive business. A single loan file may contain many different documents related to the terms of a loan, including, for example, security instruments, memoranda, appraisals and the like. Loan officers, underwriters, asset managers or other personnel on the lender's staff frequently receive and capture data from these documents and report this data for a wide variety of uses in the course of originating, servicing, and/or selling commercial mortgage loans and assets.
In the course of a securitization, the lender or originator typically transfers the loan into a legal entity known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or a trust. The SPV structure provides the investor with protection if the originator becomes bankrupt and makes it easier for the originator to classify the transfer of loans or assets as a sale. The SPV issues securities whose principal and interest are paid by cash flows generated by the loans. The SPV passes the consideration paid by the investors to the originator. The securities issued by the SPV are subject to securities laws and regulatory authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, it is necessary for the lender who originates the loans to abide by laws, regulations and customs regarding full disclosure of information for use by purchasers of the securities.
At the time of the sale of the assets to the trust or SPV, the lender must make representations and warranties that usually include a statement to the effect that there are no material errors in the data and/or documents provided by the lender to purchasers for the purpose of evaluating assets. If a material error is found in the data, the lender may need to repurchase the loan from the trust. This could potentially cause significant losses to the lender and potentially damage the lender's reputation for reliability in the securities markets. Furthermore, these representations and warranties may cover significant characteristics of the portfolio of loans and exceptions to underwriting policies. The support for making many representation and warranty statements lies originally in the loan documents and is aggregated in data files by the lender and then delivered to investors for use in portfolio analysis. A lender who is unable or unwilling to aggregate the data contained in the documents can cause an investor to perform labor intensive due diligence on every asset in the portfolio. Such investor due diligence requirements may cause the potential investor to discount assets. Other complications can include assets that are unprofitable for the lender to sell or which simply cannot be sold due to unknown risks.
Due to the emphasis on the accuracy and delivery of data and documents, it is customary for a lender to hire an accounting firm to audit data files relative to source documents contained in the loan file to ensure consistency between source documents and all data provided to outside parties via a prospectus, for example. The accounting firm then typically issues a "comfort letter" that notes any discrepancies or abnormalities in the data.
In one example, a securitization may contain as many as several hundred loans, each with several hundred documents. A data file is provided to all prospective investors and contains many individual data points that must be tied to a specific document in the loan file. Prospectus material, loan sale agreements, and economic valuation models are based on this data. Because loans are usually made over a long period of time and may come from a number of lenders, a great challenge is presented by collecting, validating, standardizing, and distributing data to meet the standards required by the securities market.
In the typical industry process, documents are accumulated over time and then "scrubbed" all at once immediately prior to securitization. In a conventional process, it is typical for the lender to accumulate loans through origination and acquisition over a period of a year or more. At the point of securitization, the lender reviews all files in the portfolio and performs substantial due diligence at great expense to aggregate the data into a format suitable to investors. Because documents are presented in a wide variety of formats and are handled by many different parties throughout the process, there is ample opportunity to misplace or misinterpret documentation.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that improve the efficiency of the document collection and storage process, ensure accurate transfer of data from loan documents into servicing databases for analytical and servicing processes, and facilitate the distribution of data and documents to any appropriate user.

Methods and systems for automated data collection and analysis


Systems and methods are provided for a structurally supportive fuel delivery module coupled to an upper and lower wall of a fuel tank.

Deflections may occur in fuel tanks due to pressure and vacuum changes, e.g., due to differences between atmospheric pressure around the tank body and the pressure of a gaseous mixture of air and fuel vapor in the fuel tank body. For example, when gas pressure in the tank body exceeds atmospheric pressure, the top of the tank body may expand away from the bottom of the tank body. When atmospheric pressure exceeds the gas pressure in the tank body, the top of the tank body may collapse toward the bottom of the tank body.
Pressure and vacuum changes experienced by a fuel tank may increase when sealed evaporation control (EVAP) systems are employed to reduce evaporative emissions and fuel leakage, e.g., in hybrid electric vehicles. For example, fuel tanks may be partially reinforced by increasing thickness of fuel tank walls and/or including structural elements within the fuel tank body in addition to various non supportive components such as sensors and fuel delivery components within the fuel tank body.
In one particular approach, a non-supportive fuel delivery module (an integrated system that combines various fuel system components in a single unit positioned in the fuel tank body) may be included in a fuel tank body. Such fuel delivery modules may not provide structural reinforcement to fuel tanks For example, a non-supportive fuel delivery module may include a top flange and bottom cup which are slidably connected, e.g. through sliding steel rods and coil springs, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,578.
The inventors herein have recognized issues with such approaches. For example, structural elements included inside a fuel tank may reduce fuel storage volume and available space for sensors and/or fuel delivery components, e.g., a fuel delivery module. Additionally, increasing fuel tank wall thickness may lead to higher material costs and greater fuel tank weight, which may lead to lower fuel efficiency in a vehicle, for example.
To at least partially address these issues, a system is provided comprising: a fuel tank including an upper wall and a lower wall; and a support member, where the support member includes a plurality of fuel system components and the support member is coupled to the upper and lower walls of the fuel tank. In some examples, the support member may be a structurally supportive fuel delivery module.
In this way a fuel tank may be reinforced without the addition of structural elements in the body of the fuel tank which impinge on fuel storage volume and/or lead to higher material costs. Further, fuel tank deformation may be reduced when subjected to pressure and vacuum changes. Additionally, fuel tank wall thickness may be reduced leading to lower material cost and increased fuel efficiency.
It should be understood that the background and summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Fuel delivery module reinforced fuel tank


The invention enables commissioning of field devices within a control system by implementing the steps of (i) detecting a connection event comprising a field device interfacing with an I/O port that is communicably coupled with the server, (ii) retrieving from a memory of the field device that is interfacing with the I/O port, a first field device identifier corresponding to the field device, (iii) retrieving from a non-transient memory database communicably coupled with the server, field device configuration data associated with the I/O port, wherein, the set of field device attributes includes a second field device identifier, and at least a segment of the second field device identifier is different from a corresponding segment of the first field device identifier, (iv) generating one of a translated first field device identifier and a translated second field device identifier, based on predefined translation data, (v) comparing the translated first field device identifier with the second field device identifier, or comparing the first field device identifier with the translated second field device identifier, (vi) generating a connection check output decision based on an output of the comparison, and (vii) optionally, initiate a connection check output event based on the connection check output decision.

Industrial environments implement control systems (for example, distributed process control systems) for running and controlling processes for manufacturing, conversion, or production. Control systems typically include one or more process controllers that are connected to one or more field devices. Field devices, may include valves, valve actuators, switches, and transmitters (e.g. temperature, pressure, level, and flow sensors) located within the industrial environment, and which are configured for physical control functions or process control functions. Examples of field device control functions include opening or closing valves, and measuring process and/or environmental parameters (e.g. temperature or pressure) for controlling one or more processes within the process plant or system.
At the other end, a process controller within the control system may be configured to receive signals generated by field devices, wherein the received signals convey information corresponding to process parameters measured by the field devices and/or other information concerning states of the field devices. The process controller may additionally execute a control application that implements one or more control modules for implementing process control decisions. Control modules within the process controller send control signals to field devices through communication lines or connections, to control operation of one or more of the field devices. Input-output (I/O) devices that are located as communication intermediaries between a process controller and one or more field devices enable data transfer and control instruction transfers between the process controller and the field devices, by converting electrical signals to digital values and by sending and receiving such signals over one or more communication protocols.
A control system within a process plant may include one or more process controllers, and each controller is connected to one or more field devices via I/O cards and/or I/O ports. The one or more controllers store control applications and implement control strategies for the control and operation of field devices. The control system may be configured to track or collect data related to the various plant assets or plant equipment, including, but not limited to, field devices, rotating equipment and key machineries. The control system retrievably stores device-related data and/or performance data for all devices or assets in a plant or group of plants, for the purposes of monitoring the statuses and health of plant assets and conducting maintenance work. Additionally, the control system may be configured to serve as a communication intermediary between a plant operator or an operator terminal on one hand, and one or more field devices on the other hand—for the purposes of enabling efficient configuration, commissioning, inspection, and maintenance of such field devices.
For the purposes of the present written description, it will be understood that references to a "field device" may include references to any of valves, valve actuators, switches, transmitters, smart transmitters, positioners, or other sensor devices that may be located within an industrial process environment, and that may be configured for physical or process control functions. Field devices may include "smart" field devices—i.e. devices that support digital communication protocols such as HART or Foundation Fieldbus communication protocols.
For the purposes of the present written description, references to "control system(s)" shall be understood as references to any control system(s) that may be implemented within a process control environment, an industrial plant, or an industrial environment, and shall include distributed control systems (DCS) and/or safety control systems (SCS).
FIG. 1 illustrates a process control environment 100 of a type that may be used for process control within an industrial environment. Process control environment 100 comprises an operator terminal 102, a control system 104, and a field device network 106.
Operator terminal 102 comprises any processor implemented terminal device or client device communicably coupled with control system 104. Operator terminal 102 may be configured to enable an operator to transmit instructions to and receive data from, control system 104.
Control system 104 comprises a control system server 104a, a control system database 104b and a control system gateway interface 104c. Control system server 104a may include at least one processor, and one or more transitory and/or non-transitory memories. Control system server 104a may be configured to implement one or more functions of a process controller discussed above. Control system database 104b may include a non-transitory memory based database, configured to store data records corresponding to field devices, including for example, device parameter data, device configuration data, device description files, and device documents corresponding thereto. Control system gateway interface 104c may include a hardware or software network gateway configured to enable transmission and receipt of communications by control system 104.
During setting up or upgrading of a plant, new field devices are registered, installed and configured within a control system within the plant facility. A conventional process of registering, installing and configuring the field devices within a control system of a plant facility is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 2.
Step 202 of FIG. 2 comprises implementing front end engineering design (FEED) for plant construction—wherein FEED focuses on identifying and setting out technical requirements of the new or upgraded control system for entering into the execution phases. Step 204 comprises model selection for field devices which require to be procured for the new or upgraded distributed control system to meet the technical requirements arising out of the FEED.
At step 206, field devices identified during the model selection step are manufactured or procured through vendors. At step 208, the field devices are installed within the plant facility. The installation step includes communicably coupling the field devices with a control system, configuring the field devices for operations within the control system, and configuring the control system and/or software implemented thereon, to control and communicate with the installed field devices. It would be understood for the purposes of this written description that communicably coupling a field device with a control system comprises connecting the field device with an I/O port of the control system. The term "I/O port(s)" refers to a terminating end or a terminating socket of an I/O card that is coupled with a control system—and is intended to represent a broad range of I/O ports known in the art, including but not limited to HART, Foundation Fieldbus I/O ports.
Pre-commissioning of the installed field devices is carried out at step 210. The step of pre-commissioning field devices comprises one or more of equipment inspection, checking of units and facilities against designs, such as the piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), flushing, cleaning, pressure testing, functional testing, simulations and other forms of device testing.
Thereafter, step 212 comprises commissioning of the new or upgraded plant facility—which includes a validation and verification process to confirm that the field devices, equipment, facility or industrial plant will perform one or more specified functions according to the design objectives or specifications.
During the pre-commissioning stage (step 210) of a plant, there are pre-commissioning actionables that are typically executed by the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) consultant/contractor (e.g. the builder of the plant). One of these actionables includes the step of checking that field devices that have been connected to control system I/O ports can be detected at the control system.
This step of checking field devices that have been connected to control system I/O ports is usually one of the first tasks in the list of pre-commissioning tasks performed by an EPC consultant/contractor—and ordinarily occurs post completion of physical wirings in an industrial plant. Other tasks that are carried out as part of the pre-commissioning process, either simultaneously or approximately before or after the connection checking step, include range checks, linearization checks and loop checks.
Field devices are communicably coupled to a control system in a manner such that each field device typically has a one to one connection with an I/O port. Each I/O port is in turn communicably coupled with or linked to a corresponding software function block or software control module that is associated with the I/O port and that is implemented at one or more processors within the control system. The software function block or software control module includes processor implementable instructions for controlling the functionality of the field device through the I/O port. It would therefore be understood that end-to-end, each field device will be linked to or communicably coupled with a corresponding software function block or software control module—and further that each such software function block or software control module is written specifically to control the functionality of a particular field device. The software function block or software control module for each I/O port is configured to operate based on one or more defined "field device specific" parameters. In certain cases, such "field device specific" parameters would permit for proper function of the field device and/or control system, provided they are applied to any field device of a specific field device type—but would not provide a desired or predictable output if applied to a field device on any other field device type. In other cases, such field device specific parameters may only be appropriate if applied to a specific instance of a field device—and would not provide a desired or predictable output if applied to any other field device either of the same field device type or of any other field device type.
It is therefore critical that the commissioning or pre-commissioning process includes the step of verifying that a field device that has been communicably coupled to an I/O port in a control system, is in fact the particular field device that has been specifically identified as being appropriate for being connected to such I/O port, during the engineering design phase of the control system. This ensures that the connected field device is the same device for which the software function block or software control module corresponding to the I/O port has been configured or written—and that the software function block or software control module performs in a predictable and intended manner.
FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional method for checking field devices that have been connected to control system I/O ports.
Step 302 comprises detecting a connection between a field device and an I/O port of a control system. The connection may be detected by a control system—based on a signal generated or transmitted by the field device or by the the I/O port or by an I/O card corresponding to the I/O port, in response to the field device being coupled with the I/O port, and which signal is received at the control system.
At step 304 the control system transmits a connection check request to the field device that has been coupled to the I/O port.
At step 306 the control system receives from the field device, a response to the connection check request—wherein the response typically includes basic information corresponding to the field device, including for example, a physical device tag, manufacturer information, model information, device revision information etc.
At step 308, responsive to the control system receiving an initial response from the field device at step 304, a further physical verification of the field device is undertaken—wherein an operator or other individual is required to (i) visually review a display that is integrated into the field device itself and/or (ii) disconnect the field device—to ascertain that the field device has been properly connected to the I/O port.
The conventional methods in accordance with the teachings of FIG. 3 suffer from multiple drawbacks.
First, such methods only check whether a field device has been physically connected and detected at an I/O port. The methods do not however enable verification that the correct field device has been coupled to the I/O port, and that the field device has therefore been correctly coupled or linked with the software function block or software control module that has been configured to properly control such device. Accordingly, and as is observed in plants with a large number of field devices and I/O ports, there is a likelihood that a field device connected to an I/O port was not intended or designed to be connected to that particular I/O port—and that such field device is therefore incapable of being properly monitored or controlled by the software function block or software control module that controls that particular I/O port.
In such cases, even if prior art methods (of the type described in connection with FIG. 3) for connection checking are fully implemented, the control system or a control system operator has no way of determining whether an incorrect field device has been connected to a particular I/O port. Further, in cases where incorrect device placement or connection is not detected during the pre-commissioning or commissioning stages, monitoring and control of such incorrectly connected field device by the control system is likely to result in unintended or undesirable (and potentially catastrophic) results. As a result, at some stage, when the errors are finally detected, the EPC consultant or contractor will require to trace the problem, and fix it—which can be time consuming and expensive, and more often than not causes further problems, particularly since available time during the pre-commissioning or commissioning stages is scarce.
There is accordingly a need for solutions that enables identification of instances where a field device that has been connected to an I/O port is not the correct field device i.e. is different from the field device which the control system (or software function blocks or software control modules within the control system) has been configured to monitor and/or control through that particular I/O port.

Methods, systems and computer program products for commissioning field devices in a control system