A MEMS resonator and a method for manufacturing thereof are provided, in which an adsorption of a beam into a substrate in a wet process when manufacturing a MEMS is prevented and other oscillation modes, which are unnecessary, than a required oscillation mode are not mixed at the time of operation. Further, a communication apparatus including a filter that has the MEMS resonator is provided. The MEMS resonator includes a substrate in which a lower electrode is formed and a beam formed on the substrate, in which at least one support column is provided between the substrate and the beam. As a filter, the communication apparatus includes a filter of the above MEMS resonator.

In recent years, attention has been paid to a micro-machine (MEMS: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) element and a small device in which a MEMS element is incorporated. A basic characteristic of the MEMS element is that a driving body included as a mechanical structure is incorporated into a part of the element, and the driving body is driven electrically by an application of inter-electrodes coulomb's force and the like.
Since a micro-oscillation element formed by using a micro-machining technology based on a semiconductor process has such advantages that an area occupied by a device is small, a high Q-value can be obtained, and an integration with another semiconductor device is possible, a use as an intermediate frequency (IF) filter and a high frequency (RF) filter among wireless communication devices has been proposed by research laboratories including Michigan University (refer to Non-patent Reference 1).
FIG. 15 shows a schematic view of an oscillator, specifically a MEMS oscillator, constituting a high frequency filter described in Non-patent reference 1. This oscillation element 1 includes: an input-side wiring layer 4 and an output electrode 5 which are, for example, made of polycrystalline silicon, formed on a semiconductor substrate 2 through an insulation film 3, and a beam capable of oscillating made of polycrystalline silicon, for example, that is called a beam-type oscillation electrode 7 formed to face the output electrode 5 separated by a space 6. The oscillation electrode 7 straddles the output electrode 5 like a bridge and is connected to the input-side wiring layer 4 such that this beam is supported by anchor portions (support portions) 8 [8A, 8B] at the both ends. The oscillation electrode 7 becomes an input electrode. A gold (Au) film 9, for example, is formed at an end portion of the input-side wiring layer 4. In this oscillator 1, an input terminal t1 is led out from the gold (Au) film 9 of the input-side wiring layer 4 and an output terminal t2 is led out from the output electrode 5.
In this oscillator 1, a high frequency signal S1 is supplied to the oscillation electrode 7 through the input terminal t1 in a state where a DC bias voltage V1 is applied between the oscillation electrode 7 and the ground. Specifically, an input signal in which the DC bias voltage V1 and high frequency signal S1 are superimposed is supplied from the input terminal t1. When the high frequency signal S1 of an objective frequency is input, the oscillation electrode 7 having a natural oscillation frequency determined by a length L oscillates by electromagnetic power generated between the output electrode 5 and the oscillation electrode 7. With this oscillation, a high frequency signal corresponding to temporal change of capacitance between the output electrode 5 and the oscillation electrode 7 and the DC bias voltage is output from the output electrode 5 (therefore, from the output terminal t2). A signal corresponding to the natural oscillation frequency (resonant frequency) of the oscillation electrode 7 is output in a high frequency filter.
A resonant frequency of a micro-oscillator which has been proposed and examined does not exceed 200 MHz at maximum, and a high Q-value that is a characteristic of a micro-oscillator has not been provided in a GHz band frequency region with respect to a conventional filter of a GHz region based on a surface acoustic wave (SAW) or thin film acoustic wave (FBAR).
At present, typically there is such tendency that a resonance peak as an output signal becomes small in a high frequency region, and it is necessary to improve an S/N ratio of the resonance peak in order to obtain an excellent filter characteristic. In a disk-type oscillator according to a literature of Michigan University, a noise component of an output signal depends on a signal to be directly transmitted through parasitic capacitance C0 generated between the oscillation electrode 7 that becomes an input electrode and the output electrode 5. On the other hand, since a DC bias voltage exceeding 30V is necessary in order to obtain a sufficient output signal in the disk-type oscillator, a type of a beam structure using a both-ends-supported beam is desirable as a practical structure of the oscillation electrode.
However, in the case of the above-described oscillation element 1 of FIG. 15, since the space 6 between the oscillation electrode 7 and the output electrode 5 is small and facing areas of both electrodes 7 and 5 have a required size, the parasitic capacitance C0 between the oscillation electrode 7 that becomes the input electrode and the output electrode 5 becomes large. Accordingly, a ratio Z0/Zx of impedance Z0 of the parasitic capacitance C0 to impedance Zx of a resonance system (resistance Rx, inductance Lx, capacitance Cx) becomes small, so that the S/N ratio of the output signal becomes small. There is such a dilemma that the parasitic capacitance C0 becomes larger when it is attempted to make the output signal larger by making the space 6 between the oscillation electrode 7 and the output electrode 5 small.
[Non-patent Reference 1] C. T. —Nguyen, "Micromechanical components for miniaturized low-power communications (invited plenary)", proceedings, 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium RF MEMS Workshop, Jun. 18, 1999, pp, 48-77.
On the other hand, the applicants of the present invention have previously proposed a MEMS resonator aiming at a reduction of noise component in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-11648. FIG. 14 shows a schematic view of the MEMS resonator. Basically, an oscillation electrode that becomes a beam to which a DC bias voltage is applied is disposed between input and output electrodes in order to reduce a noise component. As shown in FIG. 14, this MEMS resonator 11 includes: an input electrode 14 to input a high frequency signal and an output electrode 15 to output a high frequency signal formed at a required interval on a silicon semiconductor substrate 12 that has an insulation film on a surface, for example, and a beam, specifically an oscillation electrode 17, disposed to face those input and output electrodes 14 and 15 separated by space 16. The oscillation electrode 17 straddles the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 like a bridge and is integrally supported by support portions (what is called anchor portions) 19 [19A, 19B] at both ends to be connected to a wiring layer disposed outside the input and output electrodes 14 and 15.
In this MEMS resonator 11, a required DC bias voltage V1 is applied to the oscillation electrode 17, and a high frequency signal S1 is input into the input electrode 14. When a high frequency signal of an objective frequency is input, the oscillation electrode 17 resonates in a second-order oscillation mode by electromagnetic power generated between the oscillation electrode 17 and the input electrode 14 as shown in FIG. 14, for example. Since facing areas of the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be made small and an interval between the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be made large, parasitic capacitance C0 between the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be made small. Further, in order to obtain a large output signal, a distance of the space 16 between the oscillation electrode 17 and the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 can be reduced. Accordingly, a noise component of an output signal can be reduced in comparison to FIG. 15, and an S/N ratio can be improved.
Hereupon, when the space 16 between the oscillation electrode 17 and the input and output electrodes 14 and 15 is made smaller in order to obtain further larger output signal in the MEMS resonator 11 of FIG. 14, there is a possibility that the oscillation electrode 17 is adsorbed into the substrate 12 in a wet process during a manufacturing process, particularly in a process of removing a sacrifice layer. In addition, when applying to multi-order oscillation modes, it is difficult to select an oscillation mode of a desired order-number. Specifically, there is a possibility that the multi-order oscillation modes exists in a mixed manner.

MEMS type resonator, process for fabricating the same and communication unit


There is provided a power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion which receives the DC power supplied from airplanes, vehicles and vessels as well as normal AC power, and converts the power to DC power and supplies it to portable electronic products. The power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion includes an AC input 10, a DC input 20, a switch 30 for selecting AC input power or DC input power, a DC output 40, and a circuit used for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion 100 which converts the power input from the AC input or the DC input to DC power having predetermined values of current and voltage, and a secondary side of a transformer (TL) for AC/DC conversion inside the circuit for conversion serves as an inductor for performing DC/DC conversion. The power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion is implemented in compact by providing an element capable of operating different functions upon AC/DC and DC/DC conversions respectively and decreasing the number of elements, thereby allowing an efficient and economical use of electric power and generating high power.

As is generally known, a portable electronic product such as a notebook computer, a PDA, a portable DVD, a camcorder, a digital camera, and a mobile phone needs appropriate DC power supplied thereto in order to charge its battery or operate itself.
The DC power is supplied from a power supply. The power supply for supplying the DC power is generally classified into two types: an AC/DC power converter which converts the AC power supplied from a house or an office building into the DC power having predetermined voltage and current levels required to operate an electronic product; and a DC/DC power converter which converts the DC power supplied from airplanes, vehicles, vessels, or the like into the DC power, which is appropriate to operate the electronic product.
However, such a power supply was inconvenient for a user, who travels a lot, to use, because he or she must carry the two kinds of power converters both.
In order to avoid the problem, it has been proposed a power supply, which is able to receive AC and DC powers both. However, the power supply is just composed of two kinds of circuits coupled to each other, which perform different functions. Therefore, even when only one type of power is used, the power supply is structured to include a component element (hereinafter, referred to as "element") for converting the other type of power therein as well. Therefore, the power supply is enlarged in size, and as a result, it is substantially impossible to carry along. Furthermore, the power supply requires a relatively large amount of power, which results in failing to realize an economic power consumption.
A typical switching mode power supply (SMPS) is a device which converts the input power supplied thereto to the power suitable for an electronic product regardless of the types of AC and DC input power, by changing the arrangement of an input condenser, a PWM control IC, a transformer or an inductor, a MOSFET switch, a diode, and an output condenser. Therefore, in the case of manufacturing a power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion, which is able to receive AC and DC input power both, the power supply is provided with an element which can be commonly used for AC/DC conversion and DC/DC conversion, thereby realizing an effective power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion. In the following, a conventional power supply will be described in reference to attached drawings.
FIG. 1A shows a circuit diagram of a conventional power supply, FIG. 1B is a circuit diagram of a conventional insulated DC/DC power supply, and FIG. 1C is a circuit diagram of a conventional non-insulated Boost-Up DC/DC power supply.
Referring to FIGS. 1A through 1C, each of the power supplies commonly employs an input condenser (C1 or C2), a PWM control IC (IC1 or IC2), a transformer (TL) or an inductor (L), a MOSFET switch (Q1 or Q2), a diode (D3) and an output condenser (C3).
Therefore, a key to the solution in manufacturing a power supply being capable of carrying out AC/DC and DC/DC conversion in one apparatus (referred to as "power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion") is to arrange elements, which are commonly usable for AC/DC conversion and DC/DC conversion both, inside the power supply, in order to provide a more efficient and more compact apparatus.
For example, an AC/DC power supply and an insulated DC/DC power supply can be installed together in order to manufacture the power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion, but the structure causes a problem, in which a transformer is not easy to manufacture due to the difference between AC input voltage (100 to 230 VAC) and DC input voltage (12 to 16 VDC), even though it is advantageous in that the secondary sides of the two power supplies are completely common.
In order to solve the above problem, U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,125 discloses a power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion, which is configured to include an AC input and a DC input individually, and structured to use an auxiliary transformer upon the DC input.
However, in the case of an electronic product such as a notebook computer requiring a high power, the insulated DC/DC power supply has defects of being enlarged in size and deteriorating the efficiency in comparison with the non-insulated DC/DC power supply, and therefore, the insulated DC/DC power supply cannot be effectively used in the power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion requiring a high power.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,604 issued to the applicant of the present invention discloses a universal power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion which adopts a non-insulated DC/DC power supply suitable to the electronic products requiring a high power. Further, the universal power supply has an AC/DC converter and a DC/DC converter detachably connected with each other, thereby providing easy portability, and a predetermined voltage can be selected in a DC/DC mode.
However, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,604 could provide a highly efficient power supply in the case of a DC input, but in the case of an AC input, the universal power supply is degraded in efficiency and increased in size since the AC input passes through two converter circuits, that is, AC/DC converter circuit and DC/DC converter circuit.
Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,560 discloses a universal power supply for AC/DC and DC/DC conversion adopting a non-insulated DC/DC power supply, which is applicable to the electronic products requiring a high power and uses a feedback portion having a programmable resistor as a common portion.
Although the U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,560 provides a dual input AC and DC power supply capable of changing an output voltage by using a feedback portion having a programmable resistor as a common portion, the dual input power supply is large in size because it cannot provide a structure of reducing its size, for example, such that commonly usable elements, such as a transformer and an inductor, are installed integrally in one unit, thereby failing to realize miniaturization of the power supply.

DC power supply using either AC or DC input for both


The invention is directed to an apparatus and a method for reducing noise, in particular RIN noise, in optical sensors, in particular fiber-optic sensors. The optical sensor produces a sensor output signal representing a physical quantity to be measured and also contains a first noise component, which is detected by a first detector. A separate detector detects an input light noise component of the input light source of the optical sensor and produces a second noise component. The second noise component is electronically processed and time-delayed by a filter by a time delay which substantially corresponds to the time delay experienced by the sensor input light traversing the optical sensor. The time-delayed processed signal is then subtracted from the sensor output signal to produce a reduced noise optical sensor signal corresponding to the measured physical quantity.

The invention relates to fiber-optic sensors, in particular fiber-optic gyroscopes and fiber-optic sensors that measure magnetic fields.
Fiber-optic sensors can be used to measure various physical quantities, such as the rotation of an object (fiber-optic gyroscope) or magnetic fields arising from currents in the vicinity of the sensor (fiber-optic current sensor). Such fiber-optic sensors typically include a section of optical fiber that is coupled to a broadband source, such as a laser operated below threshold, a superluminescent diode (SLD) or a fiber superluminescent source, a coupler to couple optical radiation emitted by the broadband source into the fiber, preferably a fiber coil, at least one polarizer and at least one phase modulator, and a detector which detects a phase shift or polarization difference between the optical signals traversing the fiber. The phase or polarization shift between the optical signals may be introduced, for example, by the rotation of the fiber coil or by a magnetic field. The term fiber-optic sensor will be used hereinafter to refer to both fiber-optic gyroscopes and fiber-optic current sensors.
The electrical output signal of a fiber-optic sensor includes noise components arising from various sources. The output noise which tends to manifest itself as angle random walk (ARW), as defined, for example, in IEEE Std-528, Inertial Sensor Terminology (incorporated by reference herein), has a different functional dependence on the optical power at the photodetector input, depending on the origin of the noise component. For example, thermal noise generated in the transimpedance amplifier feedback resistor in the photodetector electronics is independent of the light power. Shot noise related to the quantized nature of the detector current can be shown to be proportional to the square root of optical power, whereas relative intensity noise (RIN), which is inherent in the light of the source due to its finite bandwidth and impinges on the photodetector, and flicker noise (1/f), are proportional to the optical power. Since RIN and flicker noise have the same functional dependence on optical power, the term RIN hereinafter refers to both RIN and flicker noise.
RIN causes the noise-related performance of fiber-optic sensor systems to saturate, rather than continue to improve, as the source power is increased. Unless RIN can be mitigated, there exists a power level beyond which no further practical improvement is possible. For example, EDFS (Erbium doped fiber sources) which, due to their high optical power and wavelength stability, are often considered the natural choice for high performance fiber-optic sensors, tend to have a high RIN. Superluminescent diodes (SLD""s), on the other hand, tend to have a lower RIN due to their larger bandwidth, but may suffer from limitations in power and lifetime, limiting their utility.
In one approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,404 and illustrated in FIG. 1, RIN in fiber-optic sensors is reduced by coupling a fraction of the light emitted by a light source 19 into a xe2x80x9cdummyxe2x80x9d fiber 30 having substantially the same length as the fiber 22 of the fiber-optic sensor 5. The output signal detected at the end of the xe2x80x9cdummyxe2x80x9d fiber 30 by detector 34 is then modulated in multiplier 36 by a replica of the signal output of the fiber optic sensor 5 detected by detector 32 and subtracted in subtractor 38 from the output signal of the fiber-optic sensor 5 detected by detector 32 after passing through AC coupled amplifiers 40, 42 with suitable adjustment of the channel gains. In other words, the xe2x80x9cdummyxe2x80x9d fiber 30 in this case operates as an analog delay line to match the time delay experienced by the light traversing the fiber-optic sensor 5. This approach, however, requires a second coil of fiber of approximately the same length as the fiber-optic sensor coil.
In another approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,035, two fiber-optic sensors can be excited by the same optical source, but with the sensitive axes oriented in diametrically opposed directions. The detected outputs are added, thereby subtracting the RIN, which is common to both channels since it arises in the common source. This approach doubles the entire fiber-optic sensor optical component count (except for the light source), which is expensive and bulky.
In another approach, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,289 issued to Bennett, light from a light source is coupled into an input coupler with a first portion of the light emerging from the input coupler being transmitted to and through a first polarizer and a sensor which contains a fiber coil and other appropriate components. A detector and amplifier is coupled to a return tap of the input coupler and measures a sensor signal after the first portion of the light has transited through the sensor coil and other components. The sensor signal includes, in addition to the desired sensor signal, among others, the RIN noise. A second portion of the light emerging from the unused tap of the input coupler is transmitted through a second polarizer having a polarization axis substantially parallel to that of the first polarizer and is detected by a second detector and amplifier. This detected second portion of the light represents the RIN noise (as well as other incoherent noise sources). The RIN noise sample is delayed in a delay unit whose bandwidth is larger than the detector bandwidth, so that the time delay is essentially constant across the bandwidth where noise cancellation is desired and the sensor signal is present. The delay unit can be either analog delay line or implemented digitally in a shift register or in a computer memory buffer. The RIN noise sample is then multiplied by the waveform of the sensor signal. The sensor signal can also be passed through a DC block to eliminate the DC component of the sensor signal prior to the subtraction. The multiplied RIN noise sample is then subtracted from the sensor signal. The resulting time-dependent waveform having a reduced RIN component can then be processed further. According to another embodiment of the Bennett Patent, the RIN sample signal may be sampled at a rear facet of the light source.
The Bennett Patent approach, while having many advantages over the prior art, requires the use of a delay unit which can be, e.g., either analog delay line or implemented digitally in a shift register or in a computer memory buffer. It may be advantageous, however, to avoid the use of such components and implement the RIN noise reduction using other means to delay the RIN noise signal.
In addition, P. Polynkin, J. deArruda and J. Blake in xe2x80x9cAll-optical noise-subtraction scheme for a fiber optic gyroscopexe2x80x9d in Opt. Lett, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp-147-149, Feb. 1, 2000 describe a method which eliminates the need to delay the source signal, and performs the noise cancellation optically. They have shown that the source noise signal and the noise on the sensor signal have the same form at the optical detector for a closed-loop gyro with square wave modulation(except that they are out of phase), if the gains (losses) in each path are the same and the modulation frequency is the so-called xe2x80x9cproper frequencyxe2x80x9d, which is equal to
fp=1/(2xcfx84)
where xcfx84 is the transit time of the light though the sensor. The optical signals are imaged on the same detector with the resultant noise cancellation occurring in the detection process.
However, there are some practical difficulties with this technique, as the relative amplitude of the two optical signals is fixed at the time of manufacture, and it is known that the loss in the optical circuit changes with temperature. Also, since there is no provision for multiplying the source signal by the replica of the sensor signal, this method is only appropriate for closed-loop gyros where the output signal is nulled. In addition, the approach only works if the modulation frequency is the proper frequency.
The latter restriction is certainly a limitation for open-loop gyros where the modulation frequency is often a small fraction of the proper frequency.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a fiber-optic sensor that used a filter to delay the RIN noise signal.
The invention is directed to an apparatus and a method for reducing noise, in particular RIN noise, in fiber-optic sensors.
An optical sensor system and method for producing a sensor signal having reduced noise comprises an optical sensor adapted to receive a sensor input light and adapted to measure a physical quantity, with the optical sensor producing a sensor output signal corresponding to the physical quantity and a first noise component, a first detector which detects the sensor output signal, a second detector which detects the sensor input light corresponding to a second noise component, a high pass filter or DC block coupled to the second detector, a filter with a group delay substantially corresponding to a time delay of the sensor input light traversing the optical sensor coupled to the high pass filter or DC block, a multiplier, which multiplies the filtered time-delayed second noise component with the sensor output signal, and a subtractor which subtracts the multiplied filtered time-delayed second noise component from the sensor output signal to produce the sensor signal having the reduced noise. The optical sensor may comprise an optical waveguide, which may be an integrated optical waveguide. The optical sensor may be a fiber-optic sensor. The physical quantity may be a rotation of the fiber-optic sensor or a magnetic field. The magnetic field may be produced by an electric current. An amplifier may adjust an amplitude and optionally a phase of the filtered time-delayed second noise component relative to a respective amplitude and optionally a phase of the sensor output signal. The sensor output signal may be amplified so as to suppress a DC component of the sensor output signal after the filtered time delayed second noise component is multiplied by the sensor output signal, and before the multiplied filtered time-delayed second noise component is subtracted from the sensor output signal. The second detector may be coupled to an input section of the fiber-optic sensor or to a rear facet of the light source.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of certain embodiments and from the claims.

Apparatus and method for electronic RIN reduction in fiber-optic sensors utilizing filter with group delay


A silicon wafer made by the Czochralski method, including a ring-shaped OSF region and having nitrogen concentration ranging from 2.9×1014 to 5.0×1015 atoms/cm3 and oxygen concentration of 1.27×1018 to 3.0×1018 atoms/cm3 is heat-treated in a reducing-gas or inert-gas atmosphere, by increasing the temperature at the rate of 0.5° C./min to 2.0° C./min until the wafer is heated to a heat-treatment temperature of 1000 to 1200° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of producing a silicon wafer. More particularly, the invention relates to a process of producing a silicon wafer that can have within-wafer uniformity of BMD (Bulk Micro Defect) density even if a ring-shaped OSF (Oxidation Induced Stacking Fault) region has been formed in the course of growing a single crystal by the Czochralski method.
2. Description of the Related Art
To produce a silicon wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as "wafer") for use as a substrate in which semiconductor elements are to be formed, the Czochralski method (hereinafter simply referred to as "CZ method") is generally employed. In the CZ method, a seed crystal is immersed in the melt heated in a crucible and pulled up while it and the crucible are being rotated. With the CZ method, however, it is extremely difficult to make the crystal grow to have uniform characteristic with respect to oxygen concentration.
To attain IG (Intrinsic Gettering) effect that accomplishes the gettering of impurities such as heavy metals present in the crystal surface of the wafer, a specific technique is generally utilized. In this technique, a single crystal grown by the CZ method is sliced into wafers. The wafers are subjected to planarization and then to a high-temperature heat treatment in a reducing atmosphere or inert-gas atmosphere. A denuded zone is thereby formed in the surface of the wafer, to a thickness of about 20 μm from the wafer surface. The BMD density of the wafer is thereby enhanced, too.
In recent years, it has become possible to form semiconductor elements smaller and, thus, in higher integration density. It is therefore increasingly demanded that wafers should have within-wafer uniformity of BMD density.
As known in the art, in the process of growing a single crystal grow by the CZ method, the ratio (V/G) of the speed V of crystal growth to the intra-crystal temperature gradient G at a temperature immediately below the melting point results in a fault-seed region (i.e., void-fault region, ring-shaped OSF (Oxidation-Induced Stacking Fault) region, non-fault region, or dislocation cluster region). Of these fault-seed regions, a ring-shaped OSF region may be formed. In this case, as known in the art, a BMD region having a remarkably low density of precipitated oxygen is formed in the ring-shaped OSF region (i.e., high-BMD density region) and in the vicinity thereof. Consequently, two regions, i.e., a high-BMD-density region and a low-BMD-density region, are formed in the surface of any wafer that has a ring-shaped OSF region formed during the growth of the single crystal. Such a wafer will inevitably have non-uniform BMD density in the surface even if it is heat-treated at high temperature. The low-BMD-density region of the wafer reduces the lifetime and oxide-film withstand voltage and, ultimately, lower the yield of semiconductor devices made by processing the wafer.
A method which improves the within-wafer uniformity of BMD density is available. The method is to control the ratio V/G, thereby to position the ring-shaped OSF region in the outer peripheral part of the wafer in the center part thereof. To achieve this control of V/G, the hot zone must be appropriately shaped or the seed crystal must be pulled up at a precisely correct speed. The control of V/G is difficult to perform successfully and requires high cost.
A technique has been proposed, which may increase the BMD density within wafers. In this technique, a single crystal made by the CZ method and having nitrogen concentration of 0.01×1015 to 5.0×1015 atoms/cm3 and oxygen concentration of 0.7×1018 to 1.4×1018 atoms/cm3 is heat-treated for 10 minutes or more at 1000 to 1400° C. (See, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-284362.)
Another technique has been proposed, in which a single crystal having nitrogen concentration of 1×1010 to 5.0×1015 atoms/cm3 and oxygen concentration of at most 1.2×1018 atoms/cm3 is heat-treated at a temperature equal to or lower than the melting point of silicon. (See, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 11-322491.)
These patent publications disclose processes of producing single-crystal silicon wafers that have high BMD density and exhibit sufficient IG effect. However, they neither disclose nor suggest any means for enhancing the within-wafer uniformity of BMD density of a wafer that has a ring-shaped OSF region formed in the surface.


An electronic device including a first body, an input module and a functional element is provided. The input module is movably disposed on the first body and adapted to be moved between a first position and a second position. The functional element is disposed on the input module. When the input module is located at the first position, the functional element is concealed in the first body. When the input module is located at the second position, the functional element is exposed outside the first body.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic device, more particularly to an electronic device having an input module.
2. Description of Related Art
With rapid development in technology and the availability of various portable devices, users are able to receive and send data at any time and anywhere with portable devices such as notebook computers, smart phones, tablet PCs, and etc.
Take notebook computers as an example, most notebook computers are equipped with functional elements such as a connection port for the users to plug in an external device or a connection wire. Since the connection port is mostly disposed on the side of the notebook computer, the side of the casing certainly has to be thicker than the connection port in order to completely cover the connection port. As a result, current designs of the connection port directly restrict the development of light and slim notebook computers. In addition, the connection port is mostly exposed on the side of the notebook computers and therefore is likely to be contaminated by dirt or liquid. Besides, the appearance of the notebook computers is also affected.


Methods and systems for a networked storage system are provided. One method includes filtering performance data associated with a resource used in a networked storage environment for reading and writing data at a storage device; and determining available performance capacity of the resource using the filtered performance data. The available performance capacity is based on optimum utilization of the resource and actual utilization of the resource, where utilization of the resource is an indicator of an extent the resource is being used at any given time, the optimum utilization is an indicator of resource utilization beyond which throughput gains for a workload is smaller than increase in latency and latency is an indicator of delay at the resource in processing the workload.

Various forms of storage systems are used today. These forms include direct attached storage (DAS) network attached storage (NAS) systems, storage area networks (SANs), and others. Network storage systems are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as providing multiple clients with access to shared data, backing up data and others.
A storage system typically includes at least a computing system executing a storage operating system for storing and retrieving data on behalf of one or more client computing systems (may just be referred to as "client" or "clients"). The storage operating system stores and manages shared data containers in a set of mass storage devices.
Quality of Service (QOS) is a metric used in a storage environment to provide certain throughput for processing input/output (I/O) requests for reading or writing data, a response time goal within, which I/O requests are processed and a number of I/O requests processed within a given time (for example, in a second (IOPS). Throughput means amount of data transferred within a given time, for example, in megabytes per second (Mb/s).
To process an I/O request to read and/or write data, various resources are used within a storage system, for example, processors at storage system nodes, storage devices and others. The different resources perform various functions in processing the I/O requests and have finite performance capacity to process requests. As storage systems continue to expand in size, complexity and operating speeds, it is desirable to efficiently monitor and manage resource usage and know what performance capacity of a resource may be available at any given time. Continuous efforts are being made to better manage resources of networked storage environments.

Methods and systems for determining performance capacity of a resource of a networked storage environment


A vane compressor including plural vanes that perform a compression operation such that the normal to a circular arc formed by each vane tip portion and the normal to the inner peripheral surface of a cylinder are constantly approximately coincident with each other. Each of the plural vanes is held constantly in the normal direction of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder or is held constantly along a direction having a fixed inclination with respect to the normal direction of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder so that the compression operation is performed in the state the normal to the circular arc formed by the tip portion of each of the plural vanes and the normal to the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are constantly approximately coincident with each other. The plural vanes are rotatably and movably supported with respect to a rotor portion.

Conventionally, a common vane compressor is proposed (refer to, e.g., Patent Literature 1). The vane compressor has a structure in which a vane is fitted in a vane groove formed at one location or each of a plurality of locations in a rotor portion of a rotor shaft (unitary formation of the columnar rotor portion that rotates within a cylinder and a shaft that transmits torque to the rotor portion being referred to as the rotor shaft), and a vane tip slides while contacting the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder.
A different vane compressor is proposed (refer to, e.g., Patent Literature 2). In the vane compressor, an inside of a rotor shaft is formed to be hollow, and a fixed shaft for vanes is disposed in the inside of the rotor shaft. The vanes are rotatably attached to the fixed shaft. Further, each vane is held rotatably with respect to a rotor portion through a pair of semicircular-bar-shaped supporting members in the vicinity of an outer peripheral part of the rotor portion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell which stores data with two or more levels. The memory cell includes a structure includes a first electrode layer, a first semiconductor layer, a phase change film, an electrical insulating layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a second electrode layer arranged in order thereof, and the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer have carrier polarities different from each other.

It is necessary for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device to reduce the power consumption, microfabricate the elements, reduce the cost, increase the recording density and the ON/OFF ratio, and improve the rewrite durability and the data retention characteristic as the capacity of the nonvolatile memory increases.
In particular, a phase change memory (PC-RAM: Phase Change Random Access Memory) is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device that writes/erases/reads information using the fact that the electrical resistance of a phase change film changes between a crystalline state and an amorphous state.
To obtain a desired electrical resistance change in this phase change memory, the phase change film needs to be heated almost to the melting point or to the crystallization temperature or more. In addition, a relatively large volume and power are required. For these reasons, it is difficult to solve the above-described problems including the microfabrication and the reduction of power consumption. Hence, a technique of solving these problems is demanded.


A head that moves across a surface of a mask, which includes a plurality of apertures for disposing conductive balls on a substrate, whereby, while the head is rotating about an axis that is perpendicular to the mask, the axis moves across the surface of the mask. The head includes a gatherer that gathers the conductive balls into a circular area that is smaller than the surface of the mask and disposed around a center of rotation of the head, the conductive balls being gathered from an area around the circular area when the head rotates.

When installing or implementing semiconductor devices and/or optical devices as represented by LSIs (Large Scale Integrated circuits) and LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), solder balls are used to produce electrical connections. In recent years, investigations have been carried out into mounting minute particles that are conductive balls including solder balls and other type of balls made of any conductive metals or balls coated with metal, with a diameter of 1 mm or less onto a substrate.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H09-148332 (hereinafter reference publication 1) discloses one example of a technology that arranges minute particles at desired positions. This publication discloses moving minute particles on a mask with apertures for arranging the minute particles by a moving means called a squeegee that has a predetermined softness to insert the minute particles into the apertures, with the minute particles being arranged held on a porous substrate by the suction air.
The squeegee in the reference publication 1 is used to move excess particles that have not been inserted into the apertures. In the reference publication 1, the squeegee is moved by being attached to a belt that moves in a linear direction above the mask. The reference publication 1 also states that above the mask in which a ring-shaped gutter is formed, the squeegee that is attached to a disc-shaped holding member is moved along the gutter. In either case, the minute particles are moved by the squeegee in one predetermined direction. A squeegee that moves back and forth is also disclosed, but in such case, the movement direction consists of just two directions, an "out" direction and a "return" direction.
In the reference publication 1, by inserting the minute particles into the apertures using suction air, the minute particles are appropriately arranged at the necessary positions. Regardless of the presence or absence of suction air, one condition for the minute particles, that is, the conductive balls, to fill the apertures or openings provided in a pattern in the mask without missing any apertures is for a sufficiently large number of conductive balls to be supplied relative to the number of apertures (the density of the apertures). However, if the number of conductive balls is large relative to the number of apertures, time (life time) of moving the conductive balls over the surface of the mask becomes long. During the time, due to a number of factors, such as contact with the atmosphere, contact between balls, contact between the balls and the mask, friction and contact between the balls and the squeegee, abrasion and deformation are caused for the surfaces of the balls, which reduce the performance of the balls as electrodes. Accordingly, if a large number of conductive balls are moved in an attempt to reduce the number of unfilled apertures, or to reduce arrangement errors or mounting errors for a substrate (work) due to unfilled apertures, there is an increase in the probability of problems occurring for the conductive balls disposed on the substrate. In addition, when a method that moves a large number of balls is used, since it is necessary to discard a large number of conductive balls that have not been disposed, there is an increased rate of loss for the conductive balls that is not preferable from a cost perspective.
When the conductive balls are moved in the same direction by the squeegee, due to the squeegee conditions, the mask conditions, and the like, variations in density of the conductive balls are likely to occur in the longitudinal direction of the squeegee, which can lead to fail of filling of apertures and fail of placing of balls. When the amount moved by the conductive balls is increased in an attempt to improve the yield, this results in an increased loss of balls in the same way as described above. In the apparatus described in the reference publication 1, the squeegee is moved back and forth over the mask to reduce failure of filling the apertures. However, since the number of particles inserted into the apertures during one time of the movement of the squeegee falls when the times of the back and forth movement are increased, the damage to the particles due to such movement proceeds.


A pluggable trust adapter architecture that accommodates a plurality of interceptors is provided. Each interceptor is adapted to perform security processing of communications having a specific protocol. Specifically, when a communication is received, it will be routed from a channel router to a specific interceptor based on the protocol of the communication. The interceptor will then “security” process the communication (e.g., extract data, perform verification, etc.). Once the interceptor has processed the communication, the extracted data and the communication itself will be passed to an authorization system for authorization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a pluggable trust adapter architecture, method and program product for processing communications. Specifically, the present invention allows communications received by an application server in a variety of protocols to be efficiently processed for verification, authentication and/or authorization.
2. Background Art
As electronic business becomes more prevalent, new transports, protocols and messaging mechanisms are continuously being introduced. For example, in a Java 2, Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Internet Inter-ORB protocol (IIOP) are expanded to allow for Java Message Service (JMS). Currently, services such as Web Services allow publication, discovery and use of such varied services hosted on heterogeneous systems. In these environments, however, each target server will have to process requests that arrive over any of these protocols or transports.
When requests are received on a target server, it is common for security processing to be performed. That is, incoming communications should be validated, authenticated and authorized before full access to the target server and its corresponding network is granted. This security processing helps prevent the target server and network from being the subject of attacks and/or unauthorized access by intruders. To this extent, most of the existing protocols and transports have the built-in capability to carry authentication information of the requester chain. When communications are received, target servers generally perform authentication based on the underlying security mechanisms using standard interfaces such as Java Authentication and Authorization Services (JAAS). Unfortunately, to accommodate the transports and protocols that are based on proprietary mechanisms, the target servers need to be constantly updated.
Heretofore, attempts have been made to address the problems associated with varying protocols. Typically, such attempts required a programmer to hard code the target server with the capability to receive and process communications in various protocols. Such a requirement, however, is both time consuming and costly. Moreover, there is no efficient way for the communications to be processed. That is, the communications are not routed to an appropriate processing "destination" based on their protocols.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a pluggable trust adapter architecture, method and program product for processing communications. Specifically, a need exists for a solution that allows communications in varying protocols to be "security" processed in an efficient manner. A further need exists for a pluggable trust adapter architecture that includes trust adapters, each of which are capable of security processing a communication having a specific protocol. Still yet, a need exists for a channel router that can route a communication to an appropriate interceptor based on the communication's protocol. An additional need exists for the pluggable trust adapter architecture and the channel router to be provided in an application server such as a J2EE application server.

Pluggable trust adapter architecture, method and program product for processing communications

International Business Machines Corporation


A branching circuit includes a transmission filter and a reception filter. The transmission filter is connected between a transmission signal input terminal and an antenna connection terminal. The reception filter is connected between the antenna connection terminal and a reception signal output terminal in series together with a first phase shift circuit and a second phase shift circuit. A first amplitude adjustment circuit and a second amplitude adjustment circuit are connected in series between the antenna connection terminal and the reception signal output terminal. A junction point between the first amplitude adjustment circuit and the second amplitude adjustment circuit is connected to a junction point between the first phase shift circuit and the second phase shift circuit. The first and second phase shift circuits adjust the phase of a transmission signal that leaks to the reception side and that is to be canceled out. The first and second amplitude adjustment circuits adjust the amplitude of the transmission signal that is to be canceled out.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a branching circuit that branches and transfers, from a signal line in common to a plurality of communication signals having different frequency bands, the communication signals to signal lines are different for each of the communication signals, and also relates to an RF circuit module including the branching circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a branching circuit has been widely used as a circuit element to perform transmission and reception of one communication signal through a single antenna in common. A branching circuit has also been used in the case of receiving reception signals as a plurality of communication signals and transmitting transmission signals as a plurality of communication signals through a single antenna.
For example, when a branching circuit is used to perform transmission and reception of one communication signal through a single antenna in common, a transmission signal input terminal, a reception signal output terminal, and an antenna connection terminal are disposed in the branching circuit. The branching circuit is designed to output the transmission signal, which has been input through the transmission signal input terminal, from the antenna connection terminal without outputting the transmission signal from the reception signal output terminal. Furthermore, the branching circuit is designed to output the reception signal, which has been input through the antenna connection terminal, from the reception signal output terminal without outputting the reception signal from the transmission signal input terminal.
To realize the above-described branching process, the branching circuit includes, for example, a transmission-side filter connected between the antenna connection terminal and the transmission signal input terminal, and a reception-side filter connected between the antenna connection terminal and the reception signal output terminal, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-60411. The transmission-side filter is configured such that a frequency band of the transmission signal falls within a pass band of the transmission-side filter, and such that a frequency band of the reception signal falls within an attenuation band of the transmission-side filter. The reception-side filter is configured such that a frequency band of the reception signal falls within a pass band of the reception-side filter, and such that a frequency band of the transmission signal falls within an attenuation band of the reception-side filter.
At present, an RF circuit module including the above-described branching circuit is constituted by a multilayer body in which conductor patterns for realizing a predetermined circuit are formed, and by circuit elements mounted on the multilayer body.
In the branching circuit, there is a portion where conductor patterns through which the transmission signal is transferred and conductor patterns through which the reception signal is transferred are connected to each other. Hence the transmission signal tends to come into the reception side, and the reception signal tends to come into the transmission side. Usually, as described above, the transmission-side filter attenuates the reception signal, and the reception-side filter attenuates the transmission signal.
With downsizing of the RF circuit module, however, the conductor patterns on the transmission side and the conductor patterns on the reception side are positioned closer to each other and are apt to more easily cause coupling therebetween. In addition, power of the transmission signal is large. Accordingly, a portion of the transmission signal may leak to the reception signal output terminal. This gives rise to, for example, a problem that characteristics of the reception circuit in a downstream stage degrade.


A line clamp or stopping apparatus includes a housing one part of which serves to clamp or wedge a line subjected to high tension upwards of ten tons. The other part of the housing controls the first part. An eccentric wheel rotates freely within the first part in response to movements of the line and is guided within a space or gap between the wheel and a braking element. The control includes a toggle joint that applies significant forces on the brake when a safety is removed and a control lever is in a neutral or locking position. When the control lever is moved to the open or unlock or release position the toggle joint snaps and released the brake to increase the gap in the line receiving space to allow free movement of the line. A hydraulic brake can be used in place of the mechanical toggle joint.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to line clamping devices and, more specifically, to a high tension line clamp with a quick release mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is frequently necessary to control a line by either arresting or stopping its motion or releasing it. On sailing vessels, for example, lines are used to raise and control sails and other operating units often under heavy loads. The same line may first be lightly loaded, and then as the tension required increases, the use of a winch is necessary. To allow one winch to be used for several lines, of the same or varying sizes, a sheet or line stopper is provided for each line. When out of engagement, the line stopper permits the line to run in both directions. In an engaged position, the line runs under light pressure in one direction only. It is therefore possible to haul a line in by hand without slipping as a self-locking action prevents line movement of the line in the opposite direction. As the load increases, a winch is used to set the line in the desired position as control becomes difficult by hand. With the line stoppers presently available, although the line may be taken off the winch and still be held by the line stopper, it is impossible to release the line without the use of a winch to hold the load while the line stopper is released. In sailboat racing, putting a line on a winch in order to effect a release of the line stopper is time consuming as well as tying up a winch which may be necessary for another control function. Also, the line stopper tends to contact and abrade a line on its release under load even using a winch to help effect such a release.
The prior art is replete with braking mechanisms for arresting or releasing a line under tension. As suggested, such lines are frequently used to hoisting and trimming of sails in which the line may be subjected to tensions ranging from low to extremely high tensions up to and even exceeding ten tons.
A common mechanism for arresting a line includes a cylindrical surface mounted to exhibit an eccentric braking surface in relation to a fixed abutment surface so that movement of the eccentric braking surface can vary or adjust a gap through which the line is guided. When the gap is sufficiently reduced, the line is wedged between the braking and abutment surfaces. Normally, continued tension on the line in the same direction increases the wedging effect and thereby the lock on the line. One example of such a rope holding device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,507, which shows a cylindrical cam mounted for rotation on a pin to cause the circumferential gripping surface to provide a variable line gap when the cam is rotated. A U-shaped base member having legs with a pivot pin mounted therein is adapted to be anchored on a sailboat. A cam mechanism includes an inner element having a handle attached thereto which is eccentrically mounted for pivotal movement around the pivot pin. A movable outer element is positioned for pivotal movement and a rotational movement on the eccentrically mounted inner element. One or more springs are mounted between the inner and outer elements of the cam mechanism which are acted on when relative movement takes place between the elements. The spring is compressed when the handle is pivoted placing the outer member in locking engagement with the line in the load direction which locking action is increased with increasing load; while allowing the outer member to rotate or float over the line in the other direction. Each release of the load direction is effected by raising the handle. The line stopper can be released under heavy load because the outer element holding the line rotates in the same direction the line is running, the line will not be abraded thereby limiting line wear. The line stopper may be mounted either vertically or horizontally.
A disadvantage of existing rope holding or stopping devices is that they require substantial forces to be applied to release the line after it has been locked. Thus, once the line tension causes the eccentric cam surface to close a gap for the line and wedges it to stop it and lock it continued tension on the line in the same direction tends to decrease the gap even further with attendant increased holding pressure on the line. Releasing the line from its wedged condition can be effected by reversing the process and increasing the size of the gap through which the line extends. Clearly, this can be done in one of two ways. One or the other of the wedging surfaces must be moved away from the other opposing surface so that the gap is increased and the line is again permitted to move. As suggested, the prior art devices have typically used a fixed abutment surface that always remains stationary. Therefore, the only way to increase the gap is to move the surface on the eccentric cam in a direction opposite to the initial direction that caused the cam to lock the line. However, this is not always an easy or quick task. The reason for this is that the tension in the line can be so high that applying an opposing tension on the other end of the line may be difficult if manually attempted. Application of a tension greater than the tension at the opposing end of the line could rotate the eccentric cam in the releasing position with attendant increase in the gap. This approach, however, becomes impractical when the tensions in the line are extremely high. For this reason, a winch must at times be used to overcome very high tensions in the line in order to reverse the direction of movement of the eccentric cam surface and thereby the size of the line receiving gap. In some cases, a handle or lever is used that is attached to the eccentric cam that allows a user to obtain mechanical advantage in moving or rotating the eccentric cam to an unlocking position. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,862 for a sail line stopper that uses a handle that cooperates with the cam. Unlocking the line using the stopper still requires significant effort.

High tension line clamp with quick release mechanism


A universal recreational vehicle toilet system with a removable waste holding tank is provided to enable the recreational vehicle manufacturer to have wide latitude in the positioning of the toilet within a recreational vehicle. The toilet system includes an upper section containing the toilet bowl and a lower section forming a base upon which the bowl section is supported in spaced relation above the recreational vehicle floor. A holding tank is partially or fully inserted in the base section and coupled to the toilet bowl for receiving waste therefrom. The holding tank is removable through an opening in the sidewall of the recreational vehicle for disposal of waste. The upper section and the base section of the universal toilet system are configured so that the upper section can be mounted on the base section at any of several angles relative to the base section providing the recreational vehicle manufacturer the ability to place the toilet in a recreational vehicle at several locations without need for a separate toilet system for each location. To further provide flexibility, the toilet is flushed by a control that can be mounted to a wall in the recreational vehicle remotely from bowl and base sections and connected to the bowl and base sections by an electrical wire and a cable respectively.

This invention relates to toilets for use in recreational vehicles such as motor homes and travel trailers and is particularly related to a universal toilet system for recreational vehicles that is adaptable to be installation in a wide variety of locations within the recreational vehicle.
Toilets for recreational vehicles (RV) are generally manufactured by a third party and supplied to the RV manufacturer for installation into a vehicle. In the past, each toilet has been designed for use in a particular location within a recreational vehicle, such as a bench along one side of a bathroom or in a corner of the bathroom, etc. Because vehicle manufacturers typically provide a number of RV models, a number of different toilets are required to meet the manufacturer's needs. The RV manufacturer is thus required to inventory a number of different toilets to accommodate the various RV models. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a single toilet system which is configured to be used in a variety of locations within a RV at the desire of the RV manufacturer. It is a further objective of the invention to increase the manufacturer's flexibility in the interior design of the vehicle
The universal recreational vehicle toilet system of the present invention includes an upper bowl section containing a toilet bowl with a bottom outlet and a lower base section upon which the bowl section is mounted above the RV floor. A removable waste holding tank is inserted into the base section, or at least a portion of the tank is inserted into the base section below the bowl outlet and contains a disconnectable fluid coupling with the bowl outlet for receiving waste therefrom. The base section, either individually or in cooperation with a wall structure within the RV body forms a stowage compartment in which the holding tank is stowed in fluid connection with the bowl outlet. The tank and any waste odors or spillage are isolated from the RV body interior living space. The tank is removable from the stowage compartment through an opening in the RV sidewall for disposal of the waste therefrom.
The bowl section and the base section of the toilet system are constructed in such a manner that the front of the bowl section can be rotated about an upright axis relative to the base section to adapt the installed position of the bowl section in the RV to a desired position. This enables the RV manufacturer to position the base in a variety of locations within the recreational vehicle and further enables the bowl section to be positioned in a variety of orientations relative to the base.
The universal toilet system further allows for different sized and shaped tanks to accommodate different applications The tank has an inlet opening in the top wall through which the waste enters the tank. A blade valve closes the opening when the toilet is not in use.
The bowl is flushed by water provided to the toilet from a pressurized water source in the RV. The flush mechanism of the toilet includes an electrically actuated valve to control the flow of flush water.
The control for the flush valve and the tank blade valve are remotely mounted to a wall within the RV and connected to the base and bowl section via flexible cable and electrical wire respectively. The RV manufacturer is free to mount the control where desired, regardless of the orientation of the bowl section upon the base section. A coupling mechanism between the base section and tank operatively connects the tank blade valve to the valve actuator cable. The coupling mechanism includes an actuating member mounted to the base section and an actuated member mounted to the tank which automatically couple as the tank is moved into the stowed position in the base section.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Universal recreational vehicle toilet system with removable holding tank


Novel ceramic-metal intercalation compounds useful in the formation of densified ceramic-metal articles are prepared, for instance, by exposing a ceramic to an organometallic compound in a low dielectric solvent. The use of the ceramic-metal compounds in the formation of articles by densification allows achievement of densified compositions having at least one of increased density, hardness, and toughness.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to ceramic-metal compounds also termed inclusion compounds, intercalation compounds, or solid solutions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
References showing intercalation of a chalcogenide cathode, such as TiS.sub.2, with an alkali metal ion are Klemann et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,451 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,674. The reaction is conducted in the presence of an organometallic alkali metal salt dissolved in an organic solvent as an electrolyte in an electrolytic cell. The nonaqueous electrolyte salts are alkali metal salts of boron or aluminum containing organic groups. In addition, Coetzer et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,215 disclose electrochemical cells having nonaqueous electrolytes and cathodes derived from, for instance, Co.sub.3 O.sub.4 which are capable of intercalation of an ionized form of an anode metal such as an alkali or alkaline earth metal.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,480 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,171 to Dines et al, high surface area, finely divided particle size, and small crystallite diameter is obtained in chalcogenides of the formula MX.sub.y wherein M is a metal selected from group IVb, Vb and molybdenum and tungsten transition metals of the Periodic Table of the Elements, X is a chalcogenide selected from the group consisting of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium and y is a number of two to about four. These chalcogenides, which are suitable for forming intercalation compounds, are prepared by the low temperature non- aqueous precipitation of the MX.sub.y compounds from solutions comprising mixtures of the salts of the above metals with solutions of or slurries of sources of sulfide, selenium, or telluride ions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,319 to Lee et al, methods are disclosed for producing high strength, fine grain, sintered ceramic articles from ceramic particles by a method of hot pressing involving the use of a rapid heating rate. There is no indication that the ceramic particles contain an intercalated metal.


A data migration method is disclosed. The method includes: performing, by a source base station, a TCP proxy for user equipment; learning, by the source base station, that the user equipment is to be handed over to a target base station; sending, by the source base station to the target base station, context information including a sequence number of a data packet, and the sequence number of the data packet is a largest sequence number of data packets that have been acknowledged by the user equipment or a smallest sequence number of data packets that have not been acknowledged by the user equipment; and migrating, by the source base station by using the SCTP, the data packets that have not been acknowledged by the user equipment to the target base station.

The transmission control protocol (TCP) is a byte stream-based transport layer communication protocol. After a TCP connection is established between user equipment (UE) and a server, the server sends a downlink TCP data packet to the UE by using an evolved NodeB (ENB). After receiving the downlink TCP data packet, the UE returns a TCP acknowledgment (TCP ACK) to the server by using the eNB. The eNB only serves as a transmission channel and does not perform any processing at a transport layer. When a TCP proxy is added to the eNB, the TCP connection between the UE and the server is divided into a TCP connection between the server and the TCP proxy and a TCP connection between the UE and the TCP proxy. The downlink TCP data packet sent by the server to the UE is first cached by the TCP proxy on the eNB. After correctly receiving the downlink TCP data packet, the TCP proxy returns a TCP ACK to the server, and sends the cached downlink TCP data packet to the UE. After correctly receiving the downlink TCP data packet, the UE returns a TCP ACK to the eNB. The TCP connection between the server and the TCP proxy and the TCP connection between the UE and the TCP proxy are independent of each other and are not sensed by the UE.
However, when the TCP proxy is added to the eNB, when the UE is handed over between base stations, a TCP connection is easily broken, and service interruption is caused. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, before handover: 1. A server sends data packets (1, 2, 3, 4) to a TCP proxy on a source eNB. 2. The TCP proxy on the source eNB correctly receives the data packets (1, 2, 3, 4) and acknowledges the data packets (1, 2, 3, 4) to the server, and then the server deletes the data packets (1, 2, 3, 4). 3. The source eNB sends data packets (1, 2) to UE. 4. The UE correctly receives the data packets (1, 2), and acknowledges the received data packets (1, 2) to the source eNB. During the handover, data packets (3, 4) cached in the TCP proxy on the source eNB are not migrated to a target eNB. After the handover: 5. The server sends data packets (5, 6) to the UE. 6. Because the UE does not receive the data packets (3, 4), the UE sends consecutive TCP ACKs to the server. To be specific, when receiving a data packet (5) from the server, the UE sends a TCP ACK to the server, to notify the server that a data packet after a data packet (2) has not been received. When receiving a data packet (6) from the server, the UE continues to send a TCP ACK to the server, to notify the server that a data packet after a data packet (2) has not been received. Because the server side has discarded data packets after the data packet (2), namely, the data packets (3, 4), the server side cannot retransmit the data packets (3, 4) to the UE. Consequently, a TCP connection between the server and the UE is broken, and service interruption is caused.


A system is provided that includes a combustion system having a plurality of jets; a spatial monitoring system with a plurality of sensors disposed in a spatial grid within or downstream from the combustion system; and a control system configured to adjust a forcing frequency of at least one fluid jet in the plurality of fluid jets in response to sensor feedback from the spatial monitoring system.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to combustion systems, and more particularly, to improved combustion and reduced emissions in boilers. Combustion is used in a variety of systems to produce heat and/or power. For example, an engine includes a combustion chamber to generate mechanical power, and a boiler includes a combustion chamber to generate steam. In each system, it is desirable to obtain optimal combustion while minimizing exhaust emissions. As appreciated, a variety of combustion parameters may impact the combustion and exhaust emissions. Unfortunately, existing systems do not adequately account for variations in these combustion parameters throughout the combustion chamber.

Combustion control system and method using spatial feedback and acoustic forcings of jets


A delivery assembly for a machine for the preparation of liquid products using cartridges includes: an injector device, capable of introducing into the cartridge water and/or steam under pressure, an infusion chamber facing the injector device and capable to receive the cartridge, an actuation system, designed to cause displacements of the infusion chamber between a spaced position and a close position with respect to the injector device, a loading arrangement that includes an inlet passage and retention means, switchable between a retention condition and a release condition of the cartridge by means of displacements of the infusion chamber with respect to the injector device. The delivery assembly further includes ejector means, functionally distinct from the retention means and capable of pushing the cartridge towards the outside of the infusion chamber in function of the displacement of the infusion chamber towards its spaced position from the injector device.

WO 2006/005736 describes a machine for the preparation of liquid products having a delivery assembly that includes an injector, for injecting hot water under pressure into a cartridge, and an infusion chamber, for receiving the cartridge and for release of the liquid product, where the injector and the chamber are coaxial to a horizontal axis of the assembly, with the chamber that is movable with respect to the injector. The cartridge is introduced into the delivery assembly from above, by means of a loading arrangement that comprises an upper inlet duct, underneath which means for retention of the cartridge are operative. The aforesaid retention means are constituted by a stationary gripper device, which includes two symmetrically opposite jaws, set transverse to the aforesaid horizontal axis in an area comprised between the chamber and the injector. The jaws are hinged, at the respective upper ends, to pins parallel to the aforesaid axis in order to oscillate between a condition of retention and a condition of release of the cartridge, against the action of elastic means. The jaws are shaped so as to define between them an upper funnel-shaped housing and a substantially cylindrical lower seat, coaxial to the aforesaid axis.
In use, a cartridge is inserted in the inlet duct, until it enters the aforesaid funnel-shaped housing, and then pushed with an energy sufficient to cause divarication of the jaws, with the consequent passage of the cartridge into the underlying cylindrical seat, where the cartridge is withheld by the jaws by means of the action of the corresponding elastic means. Next, the infusion chamber, in the course of its own advance towards the injector, engages the bottom part of the jaws, causing divarication thereof and thus making possible passage of the cartridge within the chamber.
After the step of preparation and dispensing of the liquid product, the chamber moves back towards its initial position so as to enable reclosing of the jaws on the exhausted cartridge. The exhausted cartridge is in this way extracted from the chamber and again withheld between the jaws at the end of cycle. Next, when a user introduces into the inlet duct a new cartridge, the thrust exerted downwards on the latter causes divarication of the jaws, thereby enabling dropping of the exhausted cartridge towards a discharge passage of the assembly.
A substantial disadvantage of the solution known from WO 2006/005736 is represented by the fact that removal from the assembly of an exhausted cartridge implies that in the assembly itself a new cartridge is inserted. The solution hence proves disadvantageous from the hygienic standpoint, in particular when the machine is not used for a certain period of time. Within an exhausted cartridge there remain in fact both the substance used for the infusion and residue of water, which with the passage of time can give rise to bad odours or to moulds.
In order to overcome said drawback, dispensing assemblies have been proposed in which the means for retention of the cartridge are configured for performing also a function of extraction of the exhausted cartridge from the infusion chamber, in the course of a movement of recession between the injector device and the infusion chamber.
For example, EP-A-2046170 describes a delivery assembly in which the infusion chamber can be translated linearly with respect to the injector, and the latter laterally supports two opposite jaws, which are able to assume a closed position and an open position. When the injector is in a position at a distance from the chamber, the jaws are forced elastically into a closed condition in order to be able to receive in a purposely provided seat thereof a peripheral flange of the cartridge, and thus support the cartridge itself. Next, in the course of advance of the chamber towards the injector, a front inclined surface of the jaws interacts with an inclined surface defined in the body of the injector in such a way as to cause divarication of the jaws, and thus disengagement of the cartridge from the aforesaid seat, when the cartridge is already partially introduced into the infusion chamber. After dispensing of the beverage, recession of the infusion chamber with respect to the injector brings about reclosing of the jaws, with a purposely provided extraction portion of said jaws that comes to engage the flange of the cartridge. In this way, in the course of the aforesaid recession, the reclosed jaws determine extraction of the cartridge from the infusion chamber, with the cartridge that can drop by gravity into the discharge passage of the assembly.
Solutions of the same type as the one described in EP-A-2046170, albeit constituting an improvement from the hygienic standpoint as compared to the more traditional known art, are, however, relatively cumbersome and imply—at each dispensing cycle—a significant mechanical interference between the jaws and the injector, with consequent wear of the components and possible misalignments.
WO2010/032271 A discloses a similar delivery assembly wherein extraction of an exhausted capsule from the infusion chamber is obtained with the aid of an additional ejector member. The ejector member essentially consists of a cylindrical hollow body, housed within the chamber so as to slide in an annular seat of the same chamber. Within the same seat a helical spring is provided, which pushes the ejector member towards the outside of the chamber, until a position which is determined by mechanical stops. Also this solution is almost complex and cumbersome, above all in connection with obtainment of the infusion chamber.
EP-A-1859713 also discloses a delivery assembly for use in conjunction with disc-shaped pods made of filter-paper, comprising a pod-holder which is translatable via a transmission including a pair of gears having a non-circular transverse section. The assembly includes an ejector member, slidably mounted in an opening of the bottom wall of the pod-holder, capable of exerting an expulsion force to the pad in order to eject it from the pod-holder. In order to coordinate movement of the ejector member with the movement of the pad-holder, the said member is driven by the gear transmission: to this purpose, the rear end of the ejector member is capable of cooperating with the surface of a toothless stretch of one of the gears of the afore said transmission, to pass from an forward position to a withdrawn position relative to a bottom of the pod-holder, in the course of a movement of approaching of the pod-holder relative to a corresponding stationary injector. During a subsequent reverse movement of the pod-holder, the latter drags the ejector member up to return the rear end thereof in contact with the above said surface. Operability of the ejector member is limited, particularly if—during moving away between the pod-holder and the injector—the pod remains stuck to the injector.

Delivery assembly for machines for preparing liquid products via cartridges


The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for providing network level and nodal level vulnerability protection in VoIP networks by receiving a communication, filtering the received communication using three or more stages selected from the group comprising a media protection and filtering plane, a policy based filtering plane, a signature based filtering plane, a protocol anomaly detection and filtering plane and a behavioral learning based filtering plane, and either allowing or denying the received communication based the filtering step. The stages are applicable to one or more protocols including SIP, IMS, UMA, H.248, H.323, RTP, CSTA/XML or a combination thereof. In addition, the stages can be implemented within a single device or are distributed across a network (e.g., SIP network, a UMA network, an IMS network or a combination thereof).

Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") is the technology of choice in voice communications, whether as green-field deployment or as upgrade to existing Time Division Multiplex ("TDM") networks, because of its demonstrated efficiencies and potential for productivity improvements. Security measures to ward off the new and unique threats arising from VoIP have largely been ignored in the race to get VoIP technologies to both wired and wireless environments. Voice Spam, Voice Mail Spam, stealth Denial of Service ("DoS") (low frequency but constant calls to the same number) are all examples of heretofore unknown problems that can completely disable any or all user devices and services, as well as the entire VoIP system itself. As has happened with email, once IP telephone calls can originate from anyplace in the world, at a near zero cost per call, such threats could impact anyone, anywhere.
Dealing with both internal and external threats to secure data networks from DoS, Distributed DoS ("DDoS"), and SPAM is well known to the data world. In voice networks, however, these same threats have significantly amplified impacts because the telephone and its related services are personal, real-time, and interactive. Imagine a phone ringing regularly in the middle of the night because of a spammer, or all phones in an enterprise ringing constantly due to a DoS attack, or entire voice mail systems being completely filled overnight with SPAM (and then each individual having to clear out their voice mailbox manually in the morning).
Meanwhile, the deployment of VoIP in enterprises, wireline carrier and wireless carrier networks is exploding. Extensive VoIP deployment is imminent in wireless networks as well (e.g., Unlicensed Mobile Access ("UMA") networks). "Dual Mode" mobile phones are now providing voice services using VoIP over WiFi when available, and cellular elsewhere. These Dual Mode phones combine the better in-building coverage and reduced cost of WiFi hotspots with the broad geographic reach of cellular. Further, as the mobile phones are upgraded to the IP Multimedia Subsystem ("IMS") standard, VoIP shall be ubiquitously used even over the wide area cellular networks.
The newest and soon to be ubiquitous VoIP, Video & Multimedia standard is the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP"). In addition to SIP-based desk phones, SIP-based soft-phones are being incorporated into personal computers ("PCs"), Laptops, personal data assistants ("PDAs"), and Smart-phones (IMS). All of these VoIP communications systems, SIP, IMA and UMA, are all vulnerable to inappropriate VoIP signaling and/or media streams that can attack an individual or an entire enterprise. Current security management products for VoIP, although necessary and effective for what they do, cannot provide the needed functionality to stop VoIP specific attacks like Stealth DoS, Stealth DDoS, and Voice/Voice Mail Spam.
Stealth DoS attacks can include repeated but low-frequency calls to the same number. Unseen by Firewalls, just one or two calls a minute are enough to take an endpoint out-of-service. Much more troublesome are DDoS attacks. The first difficulty is determining that a DDoS attack is actually underway; the second is pinpointing the many sources. Both DoS and DDoS get much more difficult when the attacker hides by "spoofing" their IP address or caller ID, or if they use "zombies" to launch their attacks. Zombies are devices that have been taken over by the attacker, usually without end user knowledge. Targeted Stealth DoS and DDoS attacks can easily make it impossible for an enterprise to conduct business. The impacts to the enterprise could range from a few phones out of services, up to and including being completely out of business for some period of time. If that enterprise instead of owning/operating its own IP PBX were using hosted IP Centrex services provided by an Internet Telephony Service Provider ("ITSP"), the impact to the serving ITSP as well could be far beyond having to pay penalties for violating the SLA.
There is also the emerging problem of Voice and Voice Mail Spam. Because the incremental cost of launching such attacks approaches zero with VoIP, the situation could become as it is today where the majority of email traffic is spam. Actually, compared to email, Voice Spam is much more costly for both individuals and the enterprise, since it has to be dealt with in real-time, either by actually answering the unwanted call (which may not even be a call at all), or by sifting through all of one's voice mails to see which if any are indeed real. It even gets trickier because legitimate telemarketers are shifting to VoIP (Do Not Call lists are unenforceable in a VoIP), and since some individuals respond positively to such telemarketing, what is defined as Spam for one person may be acceptable to another. Further compounding the impact on both individuals and corporations, Voice Mail storage is costly and limited. A fairly simple attack scenario could be used to fill up the entire Voice Mail system of an enterprise so that every single employee would have to clear out their Voice Mail boxes before they could receive any legitimate ones, not to mention whatever messages callers were unable to leave in the meantime because the Voice Mail box capacity had been maxed out.
Certainly, repeated episodes of DoS, DDoS or Voice Spam, or perhaps even merely continued fears of such attacks by customers, trading partners and employees, could easily cause a dramatic reduction in an organization's ability to conduct business. In this circumstance, telecom vendors should expect most enterprises and consumers to take their business elsewhere. In some jurisdictions, local, state and federal government customers may even be forced by law to move to a new provider. Alternatively, and with equally devastating impacts, entire blocks of VoIP phones could be attacked, so that large subnets could effectively be rendered useless. Again, the subsequent business impact and loss of competitive positioning to impacted enterprise as well as the underlying VoIP vendors would be severe.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system, method and apparatus for providing security in VoIP communication systems (e.g., SIP, IMS, UMA, etc.) and is capable of preventing the unauthorized use of the VoIP network, protecting the privacy of the VoIP users, protecting the VoIP network infrastructure assets and VoIP endpoints from various VoIP specific DoS attacks ranging from simple, brute force Flood DoS attacks to highly sophisticated, zombie, spoofing and malicious user driven DDoS, Stealth DoS, Blended attacks, Day-zero attacks and VoIP SPAM.

System and method for providing network level and nodal level vulnerability protection in VoIP networks


A method for tunneling voice over the Internet Protocol (IP) in a cellular network. A Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of a non-IP-enabled handset is mapped to the IP address of a component of a cellular network in communication with that handset. A sub-index is assigned to the handset by the component, wherein the sub-index acts as an extension to the IP Address of the component, so that a non-IP-enabled handset can be correctly identified within the cellular network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cellular telephone systems, and, in particular, to tunneling voice over the Internet Protocol in a cellular telephone system.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the Internet and the associated Internet Protocol (IP) gaining popularity with customers, it is now possible to use IP via the Internet (or an intranet) to deliver wireless voice services. However, four issues remain to be resolved.
The first issue is the choice of a fixed IP address scheme or a dynamic IP address scheme for IP-enabled handsets. The second issue is how to support non-IP-enabled handsets in Voice over IP (VoIP) applications. The third issue is how to effectively manage and route IP packets. The fourth issue is how to communicate with other IP or non-IP networks effectively.
The present invention focuses on the second issue and provides an effective solution for supporting non-IP-enabled handsets in tunneling VoIP through a cellular network. This solution efficiently manages, arranges and controls IP resources, thereby improving system performance.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method for tunneling voice over the Internet Protocol (IP) in a cellular network. A Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of a non-IP-enabled handset is mapped to the IP address of a component of a cellular network in communication with that handset. A sub-index is assigned to the handset by the component, wherein the sub-index acts as an extension to the IP Address of the component, so that a non-IP-enabled handset can be correctly identified within the cellular network.

Tunnelling voice over the internet protocol in a cellular network


A blank used for making a container is disclosed. The blank comprises a first primary panel, a second primary panel, and a secondary panel. The first primary panel is hingedly coupled to a first primary flap. The second primary panel is hingedly coupled to a second primary flap. The secondary panel is hingedly coupled to a secondary flap. The first primary flap comprises a main portion and a tip portion. The main portion is hingedly coupled to a first handle. The tip portion is positioned between the main portion and the first handle. The secondary flap is configured to be positioned between the second primary flap and the main portion when the container is in a box configuration. The tip portion is configured to be positioned between the second primary flap and an interior space of the container when the container is in the box configuration.

There are several challenges that are associated with packaging food, beverages, consumer products, etc. For example, containers may be required to be held for a variety of purposes such as carrying, lifting, pouring, serving, using, delivering, catering, storing, moving, transporting, etc. In addition, these containers may be required to be formed quickly and conveniently.
To address the previous challenges, a number of packaging solutions have been proposed. These packaging solutions (e.g., handles, locking inserts, extended flaps, etc.) use significantly more material than typical containers. As a result, cost effectiveness may be compromised. In addition, these packaging solutions may not provide a convenient box forming experience.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a blank for making a container that is able to overcome the above disadvantages.
Advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the detailed description of the invention hereinbelow.

Blank used for making a container with interlocking flaps and a handle


A method including the steps of providing a balloon and inflating the balloon from a pressurized source. Subsequently the balloon is formed with a knot adjacent its nozzle. The balloon is then subject to a step of completely encasing the balloon with a fibrous yarn. The yarn is then coated with a liquid glue adhesive and dried to provide a rigid housing. The balloon is then punctured and removed from within the housing. The housing is of a generally elliptical cross-sectional configuration defined by a major and minor axis wherein a first cut is directed along a major axis of the housing and a second cut is directed orthogonally relative to the first cut about a minor axis of the elliptical cross-sectional housing to define first and second edges and to define a quadrant of the housing that is removed and discarded. The remaining housing is defined by an interior cavity and the cavity is lined with a suitable lining and lace is directed about the first and second edges defined by the first and second cuts wherein the thusly lined cavity is available for reception of various baby shower cards and the like in simulating a baby carriage for association with a baby shower commemorating a birth event.

1. Field of the invention
The field of the invention relates to display devices, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved method of forming a baby shower display device wherein the same is directed to readily and efficiently producing a baby shower display member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various display devices for commemorating and enhancing festive occasions are provided in the prior art as a visual enhancement to festivities typically employed in the commemoration of various events such as weddings, births, and the like. Such display devices are typically of a unique and individualized construction for use in such events and in this regard, their availability is frequently limited.
To overcome this situation, a method of forming a baby shower device is set forth to provide a unique and festive organization for use in a baby shower scenario. Examples of display devices may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,780,017 to PAIGE wherein a generally heart shaped device is provided to receive and position a gift of various sorts therewithin.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,856 to SOLOFF sets forth a plastic block to house and display various components therewithin.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,442 to PETROCELLI sets forth a sculpture device permitting articulation of various components of the device relative to one another to permit changing of the configuration for ornamental purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,741,014 to DEBLACK sets forth a baby carriage indicative in characteristic of an infant.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 136,335 to CUTRONE sets forth a bassinet structure for decorative purposes.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved method of forming a baby shower display device wherein the same addresses both the problems of ease of assemblage as well as effectiveness in the presentation and display of various baby shower components and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Method of forming a baby shower display device

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