An output of a first ring counter is held in a first storage circuit. Outputs of a second ring counter and the first storage circuit are input to a first AND circuit group. An output of a third ring counter and an output of the first storage circuit are input to a second AND circuit group. Outputs of the first AND circuit group are input to a first OR circuit. Outputs of the second AND circuit group are input to a second OR circuit. An output of the first OR circuit is stored in a second storage circuit. An output of the second OR circuit is stored in a third storage circuit. Outputs of the first and second OR circuits and outputs of the second and third storage circuits are supplied to a decode circuit, and are decoded to output an overflow signal and an underflow signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic buffer, and in particular, to a detection circuit which detects an overflow state and an underflow state of data in an elastic buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a case of delivering of time series data between digital circuits on a transmission side and a reception side whose clock signals are different, a special device is required. For example, a flip-flop is utilized in a communication method called a handshake. The flip-flop is set by the circuit on the transmission side, and reset by the circuit on the reception side. A signal stored in the flip-flop is generally called a flag. On the reception side, a buffer having a storage capacity of one word is prepared. The buffer operates so as to synchronize a clock signal used on the transmission side. At a point in time when the transmission of the data of one word is completed, the flag is set by the transmission side. When the flag is detected on the reception side, the data is read from the buffer so as to synchronize a clock signal used on the reception side. After reading the data, the flag is reset.
In this method, data communication can be asynchronously carried out, but it takes time to set and reset the flag in addition to the data transfer. Further, a dedicated communication line is necessary for setting the flag.
When the frequencies of the clock signals used on the transmission side and the reception side are sufficiently close to each other, it is possible to connect the transmitting and receiving circuits by an elastic buffer. When an elastic buffer is used, it is possible to deliver time series data without being disconnected during a certain period. There is disclosed an elastic buffer in, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 3,868,481. Further, although the term "elastic buffer" is not used, there are disclosed basic configurations thereof in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 3,421,147, and in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 07-038543.
The circuit disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 07-038543 has a write address counter, a read address counter, a first-in first-out (FIFO) storage circuit, and a comparison circuit. Input data and a write clock signal are input to the data port and the clock input port of the storage circuit. Output data is output from the data output port of the storage circuit. The write address counter generates a write address so as to synchronize the input write clock signal. The read address counter generates a read address so as to synchronize the input read clock signal. The write address and the read address are input to the storage circuit and the comparison circuit. The storage circuit writes input data into a place indicated by the write address (hereinafter, referred to as a write pointer position) so as to synchronize the write clock signal, and reads output data from a place indicated by the read address (hereinafter, referred to as a read pointer position). The comparison circuit compares the write address and the read address, and outputs an underflow signal and an overflow signal.
In order to make the circuit having such a configuration operate as the elastic buffer, first, the write address counter is operated to provide input data so as to synchronize the write clock signal. At a stage when the data are accumulated up to half of the storage capacity of the storage circuit, the read address counter is made to operate. The fact that the accumulated data has reached half of the storage capacity of the storage circuit is detected by utilizing an internal flag or the like by a control circuit, and the read address counter is notified of the fact.
Even when the phases of the write and read clock signals are not equal to each other, correct data are always delivered to a clock domain of the read clock signal from a circuit (clock domain) operated by a write clock signal if a write pointer position and a read pointer position are different from each other, and unless one overtakes the other. However, when a phase difference between the two clock signals is accumulated in a given direction of lagging or leading, the two pointers are gradually made to be close, and finally result in a coincidence or an overtaking.
When the phase difference of the write clock signal with respect to the read clock signal is accumulated in a leading direction, the write pointer position catches up with the read pointer position from the rear, which brings about destruction of unread data. This state is called an overflow. In contrast thereto, when the phase difference of the write clock signal with respect to the read clock signal is accumulated in a lagging direction, at this time, the read pointer position catches up with the write pointer position from the rear, and the data is read from a storage place which has been already read or into which writing has not been carried out. This state is called an underflow.
In the circuit disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 07-38543, a comparison circuit is provided in order to sense an overflow or an underflow. In this comparison circuit, two addresses are compared. However, an output of a synchronous circuit operating so as to synchronize a clock signal generally has a stationary period in which the value thereof is stable, and a transitional period in which the value is on the way of varying. Because, in the transitional period, respective bits configuring the data respectively obtain intermediate values (this is called a metastable state) between a high level (corresponding to data '1' here) and a low level (corresponding to data '0' here), a digital operated result such as a comparison in magnitudes during the transitional period or the like cannot be utilized. Accordingly, in the circuit disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 07-38543, the phase relationship between the write clock signal and the read clock signal must be known already, or the period in which neither varies must be determined.


Spatially Quasi Co-Located (QCL) reference signal resources are configured in a wireless communication device having a plurality of antenna panels. Information indicating a number of antenna panels in the wireless communication device is obtained, and a corresponding number of reference signal resource sets is selected that are to be used in a reference signal resource selection process, wherein each reference signal resource set includes identities of one or more reference signal resources to be used by the wireless communication device when transmitting a sounding reference signal. The wireless communication device is informed about which reference signal resource sets have been selected. From each of the antenna panels, the sounding reference signal is received on each one of a plurality of transmissions, each performed by the antenna panel using a different one of the reference signal resources of the reference signal resource set selected for the antenna panel. For each reference signal resource set, the received transmissions from the antenna panels are assessed, and a best transmission is selected therefrom based on predefined transmission selection criteria, and for each best transmission a corresponding reference signal resource is selected that was used in performance of the best transmission. Information indicating the selected reference signal resources is sent in one higher layer data structure. The wireless communication device used this information to update a sounding reference signal resource set this is to be used for subsequent transceiver operations.

The present invention relates to mobile communications system equipment having multiple antenna panels that are used for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmissions, and more particularly to technology for configuring spatially Quasi Co-Located (QCL) reference signal resources for use by the mobile communications system equipment when performing transmissions, such as codebook based MIMO transmissions.
The standardized organization of communications networks, as well as the designs of individual network elements and other equipment that form and/or interact with the network, continue to evolve in response to ever increasing demands for higher performance and capacity in mobile communications systems. One aspect of this evolution involves the use of the electromagnetic spectrum in bands located at higher frequencies than have been used in earlier generation equipment. This use means, in turn, that narrow beam transmission and reception schemes will be needed at higher frequencies to compensate for the high propagation loss between the User Equipment (UE) and the networks' Transmission/Reception Point (TRP). As used in this specification, the term UE can refer to any wireless communication device that is directly operated by an end user such as, but not limited to, the following examples: cellular or other wireless telephones, personal digital assistants, tablets and other personal computing devices equipped with wireless communication equipment, machine type communication devices, and the like. Further, as used throughout this specification, the term TRP can refer to any radio communication equipment such as, but not limited to, the following examples: Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), Base Station Controllers (BSC), relay nodes (RN), Remote Radio Heads (RRH), NodeB, eNodeB, gNodeB (gNB), and the like, such being defined by the various communications standards promulgated by standardization bodies (e.g., Third Generation Partnership Project—3GPP), such as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and most recently, New Radio (NR). Such network equipment may be referred to herein as "nodes". Historically, such nodes have been implemented as processing equipment configured in one location. More recently, the functionality of a single node may in some, but not necessarily all, instances be distributed among a plurality of processing elements that are distributed within the communications network, and which interact with one another in a seamless way such that any device interacting with such a virtual node has no way of knowing whether the functionality is being provided by a single processing equipment (herein also referred to as "element") or by a plurality of communication network elements. To facilitate the discussion, this description will refer to communications between a UE and a network node. However, it will be understood that the term "network node" refers to any type of TRP that is capable of carrying out the described functionality, regardless of implementation (e.g., the term "network node" can refer to one or more communication network elements cooperating within the network to accomplish functions attributed to the "node").
For a given communication link, beams can be applied at the network node and also at the UE (one transmitting, the other receiving), which will herein be referred to as a beam pair link (BPL). A beam management procedure is performed, whose task is to establish and maintain beam pair links To illustrate this point, FIG. 1 depicts a network node 101, a UE 103, and a BPL 105 that connects them. In order to establish the BPL 105, the network node may have tried any of the candidate beams 107, before settling on a best one for use in the BPL 105. The network thereafter maintains the BPL 105 for further communication between the UE 103 and network node 101. Both the transmit and receive beams of the BPL 105 are established and monitored by the network using measurements on downlink reference signals used for beam management. For example, it has been agreed by the 3GPP in its standardization of NR, that Channel State Information-Reference Signals (CSI-RS) will be the beam reference signals. The CSI-RS for beam management can be transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically (event triggered), and they can be either shared between multiple UEs or be UE-specific. In order to find a suitable network node beam, the network node transmits CSI-RS in different network node transmission (TX) beams on which the UE performs Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements, and reports back some number (N) of the best node TX beams (where N can be configured by the network). Furthermore, the CSI-RS transmission on a given node beam can be repeated to allow the UE to evaluate suitable UE beams (i.e., UE reception—RX—beam training).
There are primarily three different implementations of beamforming, both at the network node and at the UE: analog beamforming, digital beamforming and hybrid beamforming. Each implementation has its pros and cons. Digital beamforming is the most flexible solution but also the costliest due to the large number of required radios and baseband chains. Analog beamforming is the least flexible but the cheapest to manufacture due to reduced number of required radio and baseband chains. Hybrid beamforming is a compromise between the analog and digital beamforming implementations.
One type of beamforming antenna architecture that has been agreed to study in 3GPP for the NR access technology involves the use of antenna panels, both at the network node side and at the UE. A panel is an antenna array of single- or dual-polarized elements with typically one transmit/receive unit (TXRU) per polarization. An analog distribution network with phase shifters is used to steer the beam of each panel. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate two examples of dual-polarized panels, with FIG. 2A illustrating a two-dimensional panel 201, and FIG. 2B illustrating a one-dimensional panel. The two-dimensional panel 201 has a pair of connection points 205 for connection to one TXRU (not illustrated), one connection point per polarization. The one-dimensional panel 203 is similarly configured with a pair of connection points 207.
Uplink Beam Management
Some UEs might have analog beamformers without beam correspondence, which means that Downlink/Uplink (DL/UL) reciprocity cannot be used to determine the beams for these beamformers. For such UEs, the UE beam used for UL cannot be derived from beam management procedures based on DL reference signals as described above. To handle such UEs, UL beam management has been included in the NR standard specification for release 19. The main difference between normal beam management and UL beam management is that UL beam management utilizes uplink reference signals instead of DL references signals. The UL reference signals that have been agreed to be used for UL beam management are Sounding Reference Signals (SRS). Two UL beam management procedures, called U2 and U3, have been discussed during the standardization of NR. These are schematically illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively. Looking first at FIG. 3A, the U2 procedure is performed by transmitting a burst of SRS resources in one UE TX beam 301 and letting the network node 303 evaluate different TRP RX beams 305. And as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the U3 procedure lets the network node 303 select a suitable ("best") UE TX beam by having the UE 307 transmit different SRS resources in different UE TX beams 309, and then assessing the received transmissions based on one or more predefined transmission selection criteria (e.g., comparing the different beams using any of the measurements of received signal quality that are known in the art).
It will be understood that, as used herein, the term "SRS resource" refers to a configuration of a number of parameters that control how one or more SRSs are transmitted, and is exemplified by SRS resources as defined and discussed in, for example, Section 6.2.1 "UE sounding procedure" of the specification, 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.0.0 (2017-12), "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 15)", December 2017.
Codebook Based UL Transmission
In addition to their use for UL beam management as described above, SRS resources are also used to help normal UL transmissions, for example when performing a so-called Codebook-based UL transmission, which has been standardized in NR. Codebook based UL transmission relies on a multi-antenna configuration to support uplink MIMO communications with up to 4 layer spatial multiplexing using up to 4 antenna ports with channel dependent precoding. The spatial multiplexing mode aims for high data rates in favorable channel conditions.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary embodiment of an arrangement 400 for performing precoded spatial multiplexing when Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) is used on the uplink As seen in the figure, information to be transmitted partitioned into a number, r, separate Layers, where the number r is called the "transmission rank." Each Layer 401-x supplies one symbol to a respective one of r inputs of the precoder matrix W, forming an information-carrying symbol vector, s. The symbol vector s is multiplied by an NT×r precoder matrix W, which serves to distribute the transmit energy in a subspace of the NT-dimensional vector space (corresponding to NT antenna ports). The precoder matrix W is typically selected from a codebook of possible precoder matrices, with selection typically being indicated by means of a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI), which specifies a unique precoder matrix in the codebook for a given number of symbol streams The NT weighted symbols supplied at the output of the precoder matrix W are supplied to respective ones of NT Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processors 403-x. The outputs of the IFFT processors 403-x are supplied to respective ones of NT antenna ports. In this way, spatial multiplexing is achieved since multiple symbols can be transmitted simultaneously over the same time/frequency resource element (TFRE). The number of symbols r is typically adapted to suit the current channel properties.
The received NR×1 vector yn for a certain TFRE on subcarrier n (or alternatively data TFRE number n) (where NR is the number of receiver antennas) is thus modeled byyn=HnWsn+en  Equation 1where en is a noise/interference vector obtained as realizations of a random process. The precoder W can be a wideband precoder, which is constant over frequency, or frequency selective.
The precoder matrix W is often chosen to match the characteristics of the NR×NT MIMO channel matrix Hn, resulting in so-called channel dependent precoding. This is also commonly referred to as closed-loop precoding and essentially strives for focusing the transmit energy into a subspace which is strong in the sense of conveying much of the transmitted energy to the UE. In addition, the precoder matrix may also be selected to strive for orthogonalizing the channel, meaning that after proper linear equalization at the UE, the inter-layer interference is reduced.
One example method for a UE to select a precoder matrix W can be to select the Wk that maximizes the Frobenius norm of the hypothesized equivalent channel:
                              max          k                                                                                                          H                  ^                                n                                                          W                k                                                          F          2                                    Equation                                                  2            Where                Ĥn is a channel estimate, possibly derived from CSI-RS.        Wk is a hypothesized precoder matrix with index k.        ĤnWk is the hypothesized equivalent channel.
In closed-loop precoding for the NR uplink, the network node decides, based on channel measurements in the reverse link (uplink), what TPMI the UE should use on its uplink antennas, and transmits this TPMI to the UE. The gNodeB configures the UE to transmit the SRS according to the number of UE antennas it would like the UE to use for uplink transmission, in order to enable the channel measurements. A single precoder that is supposed to cover a large bandwidth (wideband precoding) may be signaled. It may also be beneficial to match the frequency variations of the channel and instead feed back a frequency-selective precoding report, for example, several precoders and/or several TPMIs, one per subband.
Information other than the TPMI is generally used to determine the UL MIMO transmission state, such as SRS resource indicators (SRIs) as well as transmission rank indicators (TRIs). These parameters, as well as the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and the uplink resources where the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is to be transmitted, are also determined by channel measurements derived from SRS transmissions from the UE. The transmission rank, and thus the number of spatially multiplexed layers, is reflected in the number of columns of the precoder matrix, W. For efficient performance, it is important that a transmission rank that matches the channel properties be selected.
SRS Resource Set
The network node needs to signal to the UE various parameters that control how the SRS transmission should be done. Such parameters include, for example, which SRS resource to use, the number of ports per SRS resource, and the like. This is solved in NR by defining a number of SRS resource sets using higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control—RRC)—and/or Medium Access Control-Control Element—MAC-CE), where each SRS resource set contains a list of different SRS resources. For NR release 15, each UE can be configured to have a number of different SRS resource sets, including:                one SRS resource set for codebook based UL transmission, and        multiple SRS resource sets for UL beam management.
The different SRS resources within an SRS resource set can have different time domain behavior. For example in a SRS resource set consisting of four SRS resources, two SRS resources can be configured with periodic time domain behavior, while the other two can be configured with aperiodic time domain behavior. The periodic SRS resources in an SRS resource set are triggered by using RRC signaling, the SRS resources with semi-persistent time domain behavior are triggered by using Medium Access Control/Control Element (MAC/CE) signaling, and the aperiodic SRS resources are triggered by using DCI signaling.
In case the UE is equipped with one or more analog beamformers, the SRS resource sets can be configured with a spatial QCL relation to indicate to the UE which analog UE beam (i.e., BPL) to use during the SRS transmission. The spatial QCL relation is configured using the higher layer parameter SRS-SpatialRelationInfo which can be defined for each SRS resource set. (Multi-layer communications protocols such as The Open Systems Interconnection model—OSI model—are well-known, and as used herein, the term "higher layer" means any layer higher than Layer 1, the Physical Layer.) The SRS-SpatialRelationInfo can point to a DL reference signal such as SSB/PBCH or CSI-RS (in case of beam correspondence) or to UL reference signals such as SRS (in case of no beam correspondence). So, for example, a UE without beam correspondence can first perform a U3 procedure by transmitting different SRS resources in different UE TX beams The network node measures RSRP of the different SRS resources and determines which SRS resource gives the highest RSRP. The network node can then use higher layer signaling to update the SRS-SpatialRelationInfo (for a given SRS resource set) with the best SRS resource. After this update, the next time the UE is triggered for SRS transmission for that SRS resource set, the UE will know which analog UE TX beam to apply when transmitting the SRS resources.
One example for periodic SRS transmissions, is published in the earlier-mentioned specification, 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.0.0 (2017-12), "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 15)", December 2017:                For a UE configured with one or more SRS resource configuration(s), and when the higher layer parameter SRS-ResourceConfigType is set to 'periodic': p2 if the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter SRS-SpatialRelationInfo set to 'SSB/PBCH', the UE shall transmit the SRS resource with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the reception of the SSB/PBCH, if the higher layer parameter SRS-SpatialRelationInfo is set to 'CSI-RS', the UE shall transmit the SRS resource with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the reception of the periodic CSI-RS or of the semi-persistent CSI-RS, if the higher layer parameter SRS-SpatialRelationInfo is set to 'SRS', the UE shall transmit the SRS resource with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the transmission of the periodic SRS.UL Beam Management for Multi-panel UEs
It is expected that the UE will use two or more antenna panels, preferably pointing in different directions, in order to improve the coverage and increase the order of spatial multiplexing. FIG. 5 illustrates a non-limiting example of a UE 501 having two one-dimensional antenna panels 503, 505 located in different directions. In order to handle UL beam management for such UEs in an efficient manner (to minimize overhead), it has been agreed in the NR standard that the network node can trigger the UE 501 to transmit one SRS resource set per UE antenna panel, where each SRS resource set consists of a number of SRS resources (corresponding to the number of candidate beams per UE antenna panel 503, 505). When so triggered, the UE 501 transmits one SRS resource per beam per panel while the network node performs RSRP measurements on the SRS resources. The network node assesses these measurements and determines the best SRS resource per SRS resource set and in that way the network node can determine the best UE TX beam per panel.
The inventor of the embodiments described herein has recognized that the existing technology suffers from one or more problems. For example, conventional technology enables a network node to use higher layer signaling to cause a UE to configure the SRS-SpatialRelationInfo parameter for only a single antenna panel. As a result, a UE having more than one antenna panel but lacking beam correspondence (i.e., having no ability to use DL/UL reciprocity to derive a suitable beam for UL transmissions based on DL reference signals) would still not be able to benefit by the improved performance that would otherwise be achievable if it could know which beam to use for more than one of its antenna panels.
Hence, there is a need for technology that addresses the above and/or related issues.

Configuration of spatially QCL reference signal resources for transmissions in communication equipment having multiple antenna panels


A variety of methods, systems, and compositions are disclosed, including, in one embodiment, a method of servicing a borehole including providing a borehole servicing fluid in a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation, wherein the borehole servicing fluid includes a nucleophilic organic molecule and an electrophile. The method further may include reacting the nucleophilic organic molecule and the electrophile to generate at least an acidic species. The method further may include contacting an acid-soluble component in the subterranean formation with the acidic species such that the acidic species degrades the acid-soluble component.

Natural resources such as gas, oil, and water residing in a subterranean formation or zone are usually recovered by drilling a borehole down to the subterranean formation while circulating a drilling fluid in the borehole. During the drilling operation, a drilling fluid, also referred to as drilling mud, is conventionally circulated through the borehole as the borehole is drilled. The drilling mud aids in the drilling operation, for example, by removing cuttings from the borehole, (e.g., by suspending cuttings for return to the surface), controlling pressures within the subterranean formation, sealing permeable and/or semi-permeable portions of the subterranean formation, stabilizing the subterranean formation, cooling and lubricating the drilling apparatus, and facilitating completion operations.
As the drilling mud is circulated through the borehole, solid components of the drilling mud are deposited on the surfaces of the borehole in a layer known as a "filtercake," thus inhibiting the loss of mud or other borehole fluids to the formation during the drilling and/or other servicing operations. The composition of the filtercake varies with the drilling fluid and may include a biopolymer such as starch, xanthan gum, cellulose, guar gum, and derivatives thereof, which acts as a viscosifier or a fluid loss control additive; and a bridging agent such as calcium carbonate to aid in preventing or reducing loss of drilling fluid into the formation.
Prior to production, the filtercake can be removed to allow the unimpeded flow of natural resources into the borehole from the formation. This can be accomplished by contacting the filtercake with an aqueous acid solution. However, the use of an aqueous acid solution is hazardous to personnel and often causes tubular goods and the like to be corroded. Also, the aqueous acid solution can react rapidly at the initial point of contact with the well bore thereby creating a fluid loss zone into which the rest of the acid is lost leaving much of the filtercake untouched and in place. Thus, there are needs for improved clean-up solutions for removing filtercakes from surfaces in the borehole.

Acid generation for filtercake removal in subterranean applications


A position fine tuning of an object without movement of creation points of the object is facilitated with a position tool having a graphic position tool displayed on a display. The graphic position tool may comprise a rotation tool, dragging of which causes the object to rotate accordingly around its creation axis, and/or an offset tool, either a clickable one or a draggable one, with which the object's position on an offset plane can be changed. A clickable offset tool may comprise buttons clicking of which causes the object to move a predetermined offset value(s) to a direction defined by the button.

Modeling means that a model is created from an object under design for describing the object to be manufactured. The development of data processing systems and computers has transformed modeling into a computerized process facilitating modeling complicated objects, such as buildings, which may consist of large numbers of different parts. For example, a model of a building is created by creating different parts and often copying them to different places so that an overall model of the building is received rather fast. When more detailed information for drawings, for example, is needed, a position fine tuning of a modeled part (called an object) may be needed.

Position fine tuning in a computer aided modeling


A signal recovery circuit includes a clock code generation circuit configured to generate codes in response to an enable signal and a clock, and a pulse recovery circuit configured to generate an output pulse in response to an input pulse and the codes.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments generally relate to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and, more particularly, to a pulse recovery circuit.
2. Related Art
As a semiconductor integrated circuit trends toward a high speed operation, the semiconductor integrated circuit is configured to operate in synchronization with a clock.
A semiconductor integrated circuit is configured to receive and output signals synchronized with a clock.
Internal circuits constructing the semiconductor integrated circuit are also configured to operate in synchronization with the clock and transmit/receive signals synchronized with the clock to/from one another.


A reactor vessel system including: a first reactor vessel having a hydrolysate and liquid extraction screen, a first region above the extraction screen that is maintained at conditions promoting a hydrolysis reaction in the cellulosic material, a second region below the extraction screen in which the hydrolysis is substantially suppressed and a wash liquid inlet below the extraction screen providing wash liquid at a temperature below a hydrolysis temperature; a transport pipe having an inlet coupled to the first reactor vessel and an outlet coupled to a second reactor vessel, and the second reactor vessel includes a liquid discharge that extracts a portion of liquid from the second reactor vessel and directs the portion of liquid to the first reactor vessel or to the transport pipe.

This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for hydrolysis treatment of cellulosic fiber material.
In conventional systems, wood chips (or other cellulosic or fiber material) undergo hydrolysis in a first reactor vessel prior to introduction to a second vessel, e.g., a digester. One such conventional system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,997 ('997 patent). In the first reactor vessel, hydrolysis of the slurry of wood chips passing through that vessel occurs under acidic conditions. In the first reactor vessel, hydrolysate, e.g., sugars such pentose and hexose, is extracted from wood chips and the hydrolysate is recovered. Fiber material is discharged from the bottom of the first reactor vessel and transferred via the transfer line to the top of the second reactor vessel, e.g., digester, for cooking treatment of the cellulosic material.
In conventional systems, such as described in the '997 patent, hydrolysis occurs throughout the first reactor vessel. A chip slurry is introduced into the top of the first reactor vessel and is discharged from the bottom of the vessel. Heat is added to the vessel by introducing hot water, e.g., 150° C. degrees Celsius (° C.), to the bottom of the vessel and steam at the top of the vessel. In addition, acidic solutions were added to promote hydrolysis, especially where the material was at temperatures below 150° C. The hot water flows upward in the vessel, which is counter to the downward flow of fiber material. The hot water and steam provide sufficient heat to the material to maintain hydrolysis through the vessel.
In some conventional systems, cooking chemical such as white liquor, is introduced to the bottom of the first reactor vessel and into a transfer pipe for transporting the chip slurry from the first reactor vessel to the second reactor vessel. The injection of cooking chemicals to the bottom of the first reactor vessel starts the impregnation of the fibers of the cellulosic material in the bottom of the first reactor vessel while the hydrolysis reaction is still underway. It is undesirable to introduce cooking chemicals to the cellulosic material while hydrolysis is ongoing.

Two vessel reactor system and method for hydrolysis and digestion of wood chips with chemical enhanced wash method


This invention relates to an article having a substrate with a photocatalyst coating film formed thereon by ae sputtering method, characterized in that the photocatalyst coating film comprises titanium oxide as a main component and at least one kind of metal having a sputtering rate for Ar being 0.9 to 2.7 times that of Ti, preferably at least one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of Fe, V, Mo, Nb, Al and Cr, in an amount of 0.01 to 10 wt % in terms of the sum of such metals. The coating film is formed by a method using a Ti metal sputtering target or a Ti sub-oxide sputtering target containing the metal in an amount of 0.01 to 10 wt % in terms of the sum of such metals, or a method using two kinds of targets for two sputtering cathodes and applying reversing potential so as to have a cathode and an anode alternately.

1. Field of the Invention
When a substrate coated with a photocatalyst film is a glass plate, the glass plate is used in a wide range of fields, for example, window glass for architectural windows, windows for LCDs (liquid crystal display) and PDPs (plasma display panel), a glass substrate for DNA analysis that is used in the field of biotechnology, solar cell panel, etc. Further, when a substrate coated with a photocatalyst film is a resin frame, contamination preventive properties are given to such equipment and facilities as portable information tenninal devices, sanitary facilities, medical facilities, electronic devices, etc. Thus, when coated on various kinds of substrates, a photocatalyst film provides properties to the substrate surfaces by which they exhibit very little contamination or any contamination is easily removed. Further, a photocatalyst film has anti-bacteria action and is applicable to bio-medical inspection chips such as a vio chip or a chemical chip. This invention related to an article having a substrate coated with a photocatalyst film a method for preparing the article and sputtering targets for use in coating the film.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 10-66879, glass plates coated with a titanium oxide film, a zinc oxide film or a tungsten oxide film are disclosed as articles with a photocatalyst film formed on substrates and it is stated that these are best suited for containing such metals as platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, tin in this photocatalyst film in order to improve the photocatalyst activity. It is also stated that this photocatalyst film is coated by reactive sputtering in inactive gas containing oxygen using a metal corresponding to metal oxide forming the photocatalyst film as a target.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 11-92176, articles coated with a photocatalyst film comprising titanium oxide, etc. obtained by a sputtering method and containing such metallic ions as platinum, nickel, chrome, cobalt, tin, niobium, tantalum doped into its surface by the ion implanting method as disclosed.
Further, in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 11-60281, a photocatalyst glass with a first layer of SiO2 film containing Al2O formed on the surface of a soda lime silica glass and a second layer comprising TiO2 as a main component formed thereon is disclosed. It is also stated that it is better to mix a metal oxide of Al2O3, P2O5, B2O, ZrO2, P2O5, SnO2, or Ta2O into the TiO2 film thoroughly for the purpose of improving film minuteness, film strength, and alkali resistance, giving conductivity and cutting ultraviolet rays. It is further stated that these metallic oxide films are coated by thermally decomposing such organic metallic compounds as metallic alkoxide, metallic acetylacetonate, etc.
Further, in FIG. 1 of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 10-330131, a photocatalyst coated glass article having a good hydrophilic multi-layer structure comprising an Si2 base layer, a TiO2 photocatalyst layer and an SiO2 top layer formed on a plate glass is disclosed. It is stated that this photocatalyst layer comprises mainly titanium oxide with Al2O, Y2O, Ta2O5 and La2O5 intermixed. It is also stated that these photocatalyst metallic oxide layers are laminated and formed by an electron beam vaporization method.
Out of the existing technology described above, the photocatalyst film disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 10-66879 has such metals as platinum, palladium, etc. mixed in a titanium oxide film in order to increase photocatalyst activity. However, in the oxygen reactive sputtering method using a metal target of titanium, there was such a problem that it was difficult to contain a fixed amount of platinum or palladium as a catalyst activity improving agent in the metallic state without oxidizing the platinum or palladium while oxidizing titanium when coating a titanium oxide film containing such metals as platinum. Further, in the sputtering method using a target of titanium oxide, there was such a problem that it was difficult to a manufacture oxide sintered matter having metallic powder of platinum dispersed uniformly therein.
In the doping of metallic ion by the ion implanting method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 11-92176, there were such problems that 1) excessive or insufficient doping giving uneven density resulted as metallic ions were dispersed in the depth direction of a film so that uniform doping of the film was impossible, 2) the grid disorder around the substituting side of the implanted metal becomes large and as a result, a dopant does not only function as a donor or an acceptor but also a drop of the photocatalyst activity is caused by increase of recombination center, 3) an amount of ions implanted cannot be greatly increased, 4) several kinds of dopants cannot be implanted at a time while controlling their densities, and 5) as metallic ions are used for doping by ion implantation, it is difficult to apply the metallic ion doping to large sized substrates such as structural window glasses, solar cell panels that are installed on the roof of a house, or glass plates used in relatively large displays.
In the existing technology stated in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 11-60281, there was such a problem that after coating organic metallic compounds such a metal alkoxide, metallic acetylacetonate, etc. on a substrate, it was necessary to heat the substrate at a high temperature of 500xcx9c600xc2x0 C., so this technology could not be applied to thermally restricted substrates such as resin made substrates.
Further, the photocatalyst layer of the existing technology shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. HEI 10-330131 is laminated and coated by an electron beam vaporization method and it is therefore difficult to apply this technology to large substrates such as, for example, a structural window glass, a solar cell panel installed on a roof of a house, and a relatively large display unit.
This invention is made for solving problems involved in the existing technologies described above and it is a first object to provide articles having more improved photocatalyst activity. A second object of this invention is to provide an article having improved photocatalyst activity even when the surface is large. A third object of this invention is to provide a photocatalyst function to the surface of a substrate even when its thermal resistance is relatively weak. A fourth object of this invention is to provide a method to efficiently coat a substrate with an improved photocatalyst film.
This invention relates to an article having a substrate with a photocatalyst coating film formed thereon by a sputtering method, characterized in that the photocatalyst coating film comprises: 1) titanium oxide as a main component and 2) at least one kind of metal having a sputtering rate for Ar, which has at least one kind of energy in the ion energy are of 100 to 2000 eV, being 0.9 to 2.7 times that of Ti, preferably at least one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of Fe, V, Mo, Nb, Al and Cr.
The photocatalyst film of this invention contains titanium oxide as a main component and at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Fe, V Mo, Nb, Al and Cr as a component in a small amount. In order to improve the photocatalyst activity of titanium oxide, one or more than two kinds of metals can be contained.
Generally, the improvement of the photocatalyst activity of titanium oxide by metal ion doping has been studied for a long time, and many metals have been examined as additive metals having the effect of improving the photocatalyst activity (for example, xe2x80x9cChemical Introduction 39, Inorganic Photochemicalxe2x80x9d, 1st Edition, Page 128, Gakkai Shuppan Center, 1983, xe2x80x9cTitanium Oxidexe2x80x9d, 1st Edition, Page 178, Gihodo, 1991). The reason for the improvement of the photocatalyst activity of titanium oxide by these metals is not clear but is considered that these metal atoms are replaced by some of the titanium atoms bonding to oxygen in the titanium oxide, the coordinating state of the atoms changes, resulting in an increase in active catalyst sites (for example, a defective site in a so-called dangling bonded state wherein the coordination of the atoms is cut and part of electrons belonging to oxygen or titanium are placed in the free state having no bonding mate). It is also considered that the catalytic action is improved when the density of easily exciting electrons and electron holes is increased even at room temperature as a result of metallic doping.
This invention relates to an article having a substrate and a photocatalyst coating film formed thereon by the sputtering method. The present inventors confirmed that effective improvement of photocatalyst activity could not be recognized simply by doping a titanium oxide film with well known metals by an ordinary method only and as a result of detailed study, found that the problem can be solved by preparing a photocatalyst film by two methods described below.
The inventors found two methods for forming a photocatalyst coating file: 1) a method for forming a film by the sputtering method using a Ti metal sputtering target or a Ti sub-oxide sputtering target containing at least one kind of metal having a sputtering rate (also called a sputter rate) for Ar, which has at least one kind of energy in the ion energy area of 100 to 2000 eV, being 0.9 to 2.7 times that of Ti, preferably at least one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of Fe, V, Mo, Nb, Al and Cr, in an amount of 0.01 to 10 wt % in terms of the sum of such metals and 2) a method for forming a film by the sputtering method by providing two kinds of targets for two sputtering cathodes and applying reversing potential so as to have a cathode and an anode alternately.
In the method 1, a metal for doping a titanium oxide sputtering film is at least one kind of metal having sputtering rate for Ar, which has at least one kind of energy in 100 to 2000 eV ion energy area, being 0.9 to 2.7 times of that of Ti, preferably at least one kind of metal selected from the group of Fe, V, Mo, Nb, Al and Cr.
A metal doped titanium oxide film is formed on a substrate using a Ti metal sputtering target or a Ti sub-oxide sputtering target containing this metal in an amount of 0.0l to 10 wt % in terms of the sum of such metals by a reactive sputtering method using oxygen gas or an ordinary sputtering method. At this time, if the sputtering rate of the metal differs from that of Ti, the composition of the sputtering target may become largely different from that of the formed film. An uneven metal doping, that is, a metal segregation is caused and the improvement of the photocatalyst activity is impeded. Therefore, the sputtering rate of the doping metal should be 0.9 to 2.7 times that of Ti, preferably 0.9 to 2.3 times. If the sputtering rate of the metal is less than 0.9 times that of Ti, the film composition becomes Ti rich, which is not preferable, and the metal doping effect is scarcely displayed. If larger than 2.7 times, the film composition becomes metal rich and metal segregation is recognized. This is also not preferable as the improvement of the photocatalyst activity is impeded. Such change in composition and metal segregation can be further suppressed when the sputtering rate of the metal is made smaller than 2.3 times that of Ti.
A sputtering method in a pressure reduced argon containing gas or a reactive sputtering method in oxygen plasma using pressure reduced mixed gas containing argon and oxygen using a metal corresponding to such oxide as a target can be adopted as a sputtering method. As a means for generating discharge plasma in the above sputtering method, DC glow discharge, intermediate frequency glow discharge, or high frequency glow discharge can be used. In the sputtering method using a metal as a target, it is desirable to use oxygen in an amount of 10 to 1000% in terms of the sum of argon and oxygen. The sputtering is better performed under a reduced pressure of 0.07 to 7 Pa.
For a sub-oxide target that is used for implanting more than two kinds of metals in a photocatalyst coating film, a mixed powder of metal oxide or compound metal oxide powder can be used. According to the degree of conductivity of the target that is obtained, either DC or AC or a high frequency power source is used. As a metal target, an alloy target or a mixed metal target of powdered sintered matter is used.
The method 2 described above is a method for sputtering two targets at the same time. In this method, two cathodes having metal or metal oxide sputtering targets forming a photocatalyst coating film are arranged adjacent to each other and glow discharge plasma is generated by applying voltage by reversing the polarities of these cathodes alternately so that one cathode becomes the positive pole when the other is the negative pole or vice versa, thereby sputtering two targets simultaneously.
At this time, if the sputtering rate of the metal differs largely from that of Ti, the target composition and the formed film composition become largely different or uneven metal doping, that is, metal segregation is caused and the improvement of the photocatalyst activity is impeded. So, for the same reason as in the method 1, the sputtering rate of the doping metal should be 0.9 to 2.7 times that of Ti, preferably 0.9 to 2.3 times.
In the above two sputtering methods, a more crystalline catalyst film can be coated on a substrate even at a low temperature by forming the film while applying the plasma to the film by applying a bias voltage to the substrate or closing the distance between the substrate and targets.
Further, when coating the photocatalyst film on a substrate having a relatively large surface, for example, a window glass plate for a structure, it is preferable to coat the substrate by passing in front of a sputtering target for coating a uniformly thick film on the entire substrate.
In this invention, when metals are distributed uniformly in a sputtering target in advance, or when two kinds of targets in different compositions are sputtered simultaneously, a uniform film composition can be achieved. As the film can be coated using the method 1 or 2, there are no such problems as non-uniformity of metals that becomes a problem in the ion implanting method, drop in photocatalyst activity caused by the grating disorder of titanium oxide, control of metal doping amount, difficulty of doping of plural metals, etc. Further, as this is a sputtering method, it is easy to apply to a substrate having a large surface area such as a window glass of a structure, a solar cell panel installed on a house roof, or a glass plate that is used for a relatively large display unit and, also, is suited to bio chips and chemical chips for which highly uniform quality is demanded.
A specific example of a doping metal in this invention is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Fe, V, Mo, Nb, Al and Cr. Of these metals, Fe, V, Mo, Nb and Cr act as donors in a titanium oxide film, supply electrons and contribute to improvement of photocatalyst activity by increasing carrier density. Aluminum acts as an accelerator in the titanium oxide, supplies electron holes and also contributes to the improvement of photocatalyst activity by the increase in carrier density. Of these metals, Fe, KV and Mo have a large effect in improving catalytic activity, are stable, and are especially preferable.
When using a donor and an acceptor simultaneously, if they are simply mixed, carriers supplied by them offset each other when generated and are not preferable. It is therefore preferred to separate the existing areas of a donor and an acceptor in the film in the direction of depth so that different kinds of generated carriers do not bind again. according to a crystallographic study by the X-ray diffraction analytical method of the photocatalyst film of this invention, the photocatalyst film can exhibit various kinds of crystal structure. For example, a titanium oxide anatase structure, a mixed structure of microcrystalline and amorphous anatase titanium oxide, a mixed structure of anatase crystal and rutile crystal, and a structure containing a considerable amorphous layer can be taken. In any film structure, the photocatalyst activity is larger than that of a structure composed of a single component of titanium oxide.
The photocatalyst film of this invention does not necessarily require complete crystallinity. it is sufficient if there is a certain order of intermediate distance in the grating group of titanium oxide. In the photocatalyst film of this invention, in connection to an energy band structure followed by electrons and electron holes, if the quantum density at the edge portion of the energy band is in a slightly dim state for the amorphous structure, the photocatalyst activity is rather large. From this, in the photocatalyst film of this invention, absorption of light containing visible light in a long wavelength and generation of a carrier take place when compared with titanium oxide alone.
The content of the metal oxide in a small amount in the photocatalyst film in terms of the sum of such metal oxide is preferred at 0.01 to 10 wt % on the metal base in the film. At a content of 0.01 to 10 wt %, the catalyst activity improving effect is scarcely recognized and when exceeding 10 wt %, the intermediate distance order of the grating structure of titanium oxide is disturbed remarkably, the moving distance of the photocatalyst carrier becomes short, and the photocatalyst activity becomes small. Therefore, a content above 10 wt % is not preferable.
Kinds of substrates that are used in this invention are not limited particularly but, for example, such inorganic materials as glass ceramics, quartz, metallic materials such as aluminum and stainless steel, and resin materials such as polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, silicone, polystyrene, polyimide etc. can be used.
When light is applied to an article of this invention, the photocatalyst film is excited and such actions as antibacterial, deodorization, decomposition of organic articles, and hydrophilic operation are displayed. Thus, the articles of this invention are given properties whereby the surface is scarcely contaminated or contamination is easily removed and bacteria or viruses are rarely bred.
The metal contained in the photocatalyst film of this invention as a main component coated on a substrate for improving the photocatalystic activity can be distributed uniformly in the direction of the thickness of the titanium oxide photocatalyst film or distributed in different amounts in the thickness direction. When distributing a different amount in the thickness direction, a greater amount shall be distributed to the side of the photocatalyst film close to the substrate or a greater amount may be distributed to the side of the photocatalyst film receiving the light opposite to the substrate side.
To make the content of the above metal different in the direction of thickness of the photocatalyst film, a metal film or a metal oxide film or a titanium oxide film containing metal is formed on a substrate and a titanium oxide film is laminated thereon or a titanium oxide film is formed on a substrate and a laminated article is formed by laminating a titanium oxide film containing the above-mentioned metal or a metal oxide thereon, and implanting a metal into the titanium oxide film through the surface of this laminated article by the thermal diffusion method. The photocatalyst film thus obtained is able to accelerate the diffusion of impurities and film crystallization simultaneously. With a metal as an additive in the direction of thickness of the film, it is possible to diffuse the carrier polarity by making the energy band structure asymmetrical while providing an inclined concentration. As a result, the film can be made to have a high catalyst activity preventing the recombination quenching in a film. This is particularly preferable when using the photocatalyst film for solar cell elements.
A metal can be contained in a photocatalyst by thermal diffusion. One method is to heat a substrate when forming a laminated material on the substrate and another method is to post heat a laminated material formed on a substrate. Both of these methods can be used. In order to contain metal oxide in a photocatalyst film by thermal diffusion, the temperature of a substrate when coating on a laminated material is normally above 150xc2x0 C. and it is better to beat the substrate to 250xc2x0 C. or above. Further, to diffuse and contain a metal in a laminated material formed on a substrate by post-heating, it is normally more preferable to heat the substrate to 150xc2x0 C. or above. The upper limit of the heating temperature in both methods can be decided in a range so as not to damage the substrate.
The thickness of a photocatalyst film comprising titanium oxide as a main component should be set at more than 20 nm in order to provide photocatalyst activity at a level considered practical. Also, a thickness of below 2000 nm is preferred from the economical viewpoint inasmuch as the photocatalyst activity does not increase even at a thickness greater than 2000 nm.
This invention is to provide a Ti metal sputtering target or a Ti sub-oxide sputtering target containing at least one metal selected from the group of metals at 0.01 to 10 wt % of the sum of such metals. These targets are useful for forming the metallic ion doped photocatalyst film and are capable of efficiently and stably supplying photocatalyst films having high photocatalyst activity.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Article coated with photocatalyst film, method for preparing the article and sputtering target for use in coating with the film


A method and apparatus for storing and forwarding voice signals wherein a user has increased control and flexibility in distributing voice signals. In one embodiment the originator of a stored voice signal may restrict an addressee's ability to forward a message to other users. In another, the originator may limit the addressee's ability to use the voice store and forward system until such time as the addressee responds to a stored voice signal.

This invention relates to systems for storage and forwarding of voice signals, commonly known as voice mail systems. More particularly, it relates to voice mail systems which have improved control of access to stored signals.
Voice mail systems are well known. Typical of such systems are the systems described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 013,303 and 013,304; both by A. Sweet et al., or those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,752; 4,580,012; 4,581,486; 4,602,129; 4,640,991; 4,585,406; 4,652,200; and 4,580,016; all assigned to VMX, Inc. While such system vary in capacity, and in particular capabilities offered, all share as a common subset of functions the ability to store messages intended for system users for later retrieval by those users. Each user is assigned a "mailbox" and may retrieve his messages by accessing the system and then identifying his "mailbox". In general, anyone having knowledge of the telephone numbers for the system, may leave messages, but only users having a "mailbox" may retrieve messages.
To retrieve messages a user of a typical voice mail system accesses the system over the telephone lines and, after identifying himself by mailbox number, and possibly a password, hears a recorded message produced by the system advising him of the status of his mailbox (e.g. number of messages waiting, etc.). The user may then listen to brief prerecorded portions of each message, commonly referred to as "headers" which further describe the message, for example, by identifying the originator. The user may then decide whether or not to listen to each message.
Small groups of interconnected stations, each having a capacity for the display of limited text messages are also known. Such a system is described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 849,992; by D. Chamberlin et al. and 895,010; by N. D'Agosto et al. Such systems commonly include a microcomputer, such as an IBM PC, etc., to receive brief text messages input by an operator and to transmit these messages to each station. Also commonly, the stations are interconnected both over telephone lines, for example, through a PBX, and by conventional digital transmission lines, such as a twisted pair, for the transmission of the text messages in digital form.
While successful for their intended purpose such system have disadvantages. A particular problem is that originators of messages have little or no control over further access and distribution of a message once the message was sent. Thus, no matter how confidential a message might be, in prior art systems, an originator had way to prevent even his or her most junior subordinate from distributing copies of a message to any or all of the system users. Similarly, prior art systems offered originators of messages, no matter how senior, no way to prevent addressees from erasing a message without responding or of simply ignoring the message. Thus, in prior art systems originators cold only rely on their own authority or persuasiveness to obtain a response to a message sent on the system. Further, in prior systems once a message had been sent the originator could not edit or delete the message, no matter how conditions might change or what errors or omissions the originator might later discover.
Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a voice mail system having increased security.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a voice mail system having improved control by an originator of user access to stored voice signals.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a voice mail system wherein the originator of a stored voice signal has increased control to encourage replies to a stored voice signal, and of its further distribution.

Method and apparatus for storing and forwarding voice signals with controlled access


Adherent metal coatings of metals that cannot be adherently applied directly onto a desired substrate metal by chemical vapor deposition at a temperature below about 300.degree. C. are obtained by applying an adherent metal undercoating to the surface of the metal substrate which weakly or not at all chemisorbs carbon monoxide, then applying the desired outercoat metal to the undercoated substrate by chemical vapor deposition, using a heat decomposable metal carbonyl as the source of the desired outer coating metal. The undercoating metal may be applied by conventional plating processes such as electroplating or electroless plating. In preferred embodiments, the substrate is iron or steel or their alloys, the undercoating metal is copper, and the outer coating metal is a ferrous metal, i.e., nickel, iron, or cobalt.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a well known technique for obtaining very pure metal coatings. The chemical vapor deposition process (particularly for depositing nickel) has unparalleled ability to deposit uniform coatings. CVD coatings do not build up on external corners, edges or projections, as do electroplated deposits. And it has outstanding ability to deposit into internal corners and recesses, which electroplated coatings are seriously deficient in accomplishing.
Electroless coatings are uniform; however, electroless nickel is brittle and is not pure (contains 2-8% phosphorus or boron), limiting its usefulness. Copper is the only other metal widely deposited electrolessly, primarily on printed circuit boards.
Vacuum metallized coatings are deposited on a line-of-sight; and flame sprayed coatings are applied on a line-of-sight. Thus uniformity can never compare to CVD. Basically, in CVD, the vapor of a heat decomposable compound of the desired coating metal is allowed to contact the article to be coated (the substrate) under air-excluding (i.e., nonoxidizing) conditions at a temperature sufficiently high to cause the coating metal compound or precursor to decompose. Various types of heat-decomposable compounds are known in the art. Metal carbonyls are particularly desirable as coating agents in CVD processes because of their low decomposition temperatures, which makes possible the use of low operating temperatures that do not damage the substrate and which achieve substantial reduction of technical and engineering problems with attendant economies of operation.
Low operating temperatures particularly make it possible to use equipment having silicone or fluoropolymer rubber seals, both of which are effective and readily available but unable to withstand operating temperatures above 275.degree. C. At operating temperatures of 300.degree. C. or higher, the choice of sealing materials is very limited. No commercial elastomers are available that stand the heat.
Metal carbonyls have two limitations as CVD coating agents: (1) not all metals which are desirable coating metals form carbonyls; and (2) certain metals which are usable as substrates cannot be adherently coated directly by CVD at temperatures below about 300.degree. C. using a metal carbonyl as the vapor coating agent. Notable among such substrate metals are ferrous metals (iron, nickel, cobalt) and their alloys. The reason that these substrate metals cannot be adherently coated by CVD using a metal carbonyl is that the substrate metals chemisorb carbon monoxide, i.e., they tenaciously chemisorb appreciable commodities of carbon monoxide under air-excluding conditions and at all temperatures. Carbon monoxide is inevitably released as a metal carbonyl decomposes on the substrate surface and is adsorbed before the substrate acquires a metal coating. How this inteferes is explained in the following paragraphs. For brevity, metals which absorb appreciable quantities of carbon monoxide under such conditions will be referred to as "metals which significantly chemisorb carbon monoxide", and conversely, metals which adsorb carbon monoxide weakly or not at all under such conditions will be referred to as "metals which do not significantly chemisorb carbon monoxide" or as "metals which have little or no tendency to chemisorb carbon monoxide".
Aluminum and its alloys are not directly coatable adherently by CVD from a carbonyl because they have an oxide layer not reducible at reasonable temperatures. Brass and zinc are not coatable adherently from a carbonyl because the zinc metal has a low vapor pressure, and off-gases. However, these metals when coated adherently with the selected undercoat metals according to this invention can then be coated adherently by CVD from a metal carbonyl.
The term, "chemisorption" and related words including "chemisorb" are used in their art-recognized meaning, as defined for example in "The Condensed Chemical Dictionary", 10th edition, 1981, page 225; revised by G.G. Hawley, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York. As explained in "The Condensed Chemical Dictionary", chemisorption results in the formation of bonds comparable in strength to ordinary chemical bonds, between the adsorbent (usually a solid and typically a metal) and the gas or liquid coming into contact with it. The bonds formed in chemisorption are much stronger than the VanderWaals bonds characterized in physical adsorption, or "physisorption", as it will be called herein. While physisorption is reversible, chemisorption is not; the chemisorption material is released only by appreciable expenditure of energy, and then often is released as a material different from that which was chemisorbed.
The mechanism by which an adherent bond is formed between the coating metal and a substrate metal which chemisorbs carbon monoxide is believed to be as follows: at the surface where decomposition of the metal carbonyl takes place, initially, the metal carbonyl molecule splits apart and the carbon monoxide so formed becomes adsorbed on the substrate metal surface before the coating metal atom can be attached to the crystal lattice of the substrate. Then, when the metal atoms approach the crystal lattice, the adsorbed carbon monoxide is released and a gas-filled gap is created between the substrate and the deposited atoms. Once CVD has started and is proceeding smoothly, the mechanism of deposition alters, the metal carbonyl molecule is first adsorbed on the substrate coating and then decomposes with the carbon monoxide escaping and the metal atom fitting into the crystal lattice of the now growing coating. Even so, there is competition between adsorption of carbon monoxide and the metal carbonyl. Furthermore, the gas filled gap at the interface between the substrate and the coating remains. As a consequence, the bond between the substrate and the coating is only a mechanical bond and not a metallurgical bond. A metallurgical bond can be distinguished from a mechanical bond by a simple bending test when both the substrate and the coating metal are ductile. A coated strip of substrate metal is bent around a radius equal to its thickness; the coating will not separate if there is a metallurgical bond between the substrate and the coating metal. If the bond is simply a mechanical bond, the coating will separate when this bending test is carried out. It is believed that there is some attractive force between atoms of the substrate metal and atoms of the coating metal at the interface in a metallurgical bond; a mechanical bond, on the other hand is achieved simply by interlocking of the coating metal with surface asperities of the substrate.
However, when deposition is on a metal that weakly or not at all chemisorbs carbon monoxide (copper, tin, silver, gold), very little or no carbon monoxide is chemisorbed, and some may be physisorbed; the physisorbed (and weakly chemisorbed) carbon monoxide is released simultaneously as the atoms of metal are deposited, and escapes while the atoms are individually depositing and agglomerating into small islands, then growing together into a complete coating. Deposition is started at a low rate, in a dilute mixture of metal carbonyl in a carrier gas, to permit this phenomenon of the escaping of the carbon monoxide to occur. When the gas has escaped, there is no gap between substrate and coating and a metallurgical bond is achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,881 to Jenkin (the inventor herein) describes one method for obtaining an adherent metal coating on a carbon steel or alloy steel substrate. According to the method disclosed in this reference, the iron or steel substrate surface is first deoxidized with hydrogen at a temperature of at least about 700.degree. F. (about 370.degree. C.). An ammonia-carbon monoxide mixture is then flowed into the reactor to displace the hydrogen. Then nickel carbonyl is introduced into the reactor while flow of the ammonia-carbon monoxide mixture continues, resulting in adherent deposition of nickel on the ferrous metal substrate. A disadvantage of this process is that a minimum temperature of about 700.degree. F. is required. Higher minimum temperatures are required when the steel substrate is alloyed with chromium. For example, a minimum temperature of about 900.degree. F. is required for a 1% chrome steel, and a minimum of about 1800.degree. F. is required for a high chrome steel. A further disadvantage is that very high purity gases (H.sub.2,CO,NH.sub.3) are required.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,881 to Corwin describes a method for gas plating a substrate which cannot be adherently plated directly. Specifically, a copper surface, which according to patentee cannot be adherently plated with nickel deposited from nickel carbonyl, is first treated with a wetting agent such as mercury (other examples include tin and gold), then the treated substrate surface is vapor coated at 150.degree. C. with nickel deposited from nickel carbonyl vapor. An adherent coating is obtained. Other systems disclosed include zinc substrates wet with copper and then vapor coated with chromium from chromium carbonyl vapor.
Other references disclosing processes in which an intermediate metal layer (or undercoat layer) is applied to a substrate before a metal outer (or outercoat) layer is applied by CVD, include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,909 to Robinson (plastic or paper substrate; silver intermediate layer and nickel outer layer, i.e., plastic or paper/silver/nickel); U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,924 to Norman et. al. (Vanadium coated on various substrates including nickel plated steel); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,253,946 (Mangenese, chromium, molybdenum or tungsten deposited on various substrates including nickel-plated steel).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,654 to Norman et. al. discloses a process which is basically the reverse of the present process; i.e., a substrate which cannot be electroplated is first coated with an intermediate layer by chemical vapor deposition, then a final metal coating is electrodeposited. The non-electroplatable substrate may be highly pure molybdenum or tungsten, or a non-metalic material; the intermediate layer may be a transition metal (Group IVB, VB, or VIB) or aluminum; and the electroplated layer may be copper.
Of various methods of obtaining adherent metal coatings by CVD when the coating metal cannot be adherently deposited directly onto the desired substrate metal in this manner, all presently known processes have some disadvantage. In particular, adherent deposition by CVD from a metal carbonyl onto a ferrous metal substrate has not been previously achieved except by working at high temperatures as for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,881. High operating temperatures lead to very difficult problems of gas seals and add to the expense of the process; furthermore, it is more difficult to maintain uniform temperature at high operating temperatures than at lower operating temperatures.

Method of securing adherent coatings by CVD from metal carbonyls, and articles thus obtained


An optical apparatus is disclosed. The optical apparatus includes an optical scanning module and a rotation axis module. The optical scanning module is used to provide an optical signal for optical tomography. The rotation axis module and the optical scanning module are integrated. When the rotation axis module rotates, the rotation axis module makes the optical scanning module to perform a rotation scanning process to an object.

1 . Field of the Invention
The invention relates to optical detection, in particular, to an optical apparatus and operating method thereof capable of effectively enhancing the overall optical scanning detection efficiency through the disposition of the rotation axis.
2 . Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, with the continuous development of the optical detection technology, several kinds of optical detection equipments have been developed. For example, the optical coherence tomography can be used as a fundus optical image apparatus to provide a cross-sectional image of the retina, and the optical coherence tomography uses the rotation of the rotation mirror to reflect the detected light to different directions to detect different locations of the fundus.
As shown in FIG. 1, because the size of the eye is relatively small and the fundus region R of the retina can be regarded similar to the circumference, the scanned region of the incident lines L1˜L3 provided by the above-mentioned rotation mirror can be maintained in a certain focusing detection range, it is convenient for the user to use. However, once the design of the rotation mirror is used to detect the non-circumference large-area region S (e.g., the skin), because of the limitation of the rotation angle of the rotation mirror, the scanned region of the incident lines L1˜L3 provided by the rotation mirror may fail to cover all regions to be detected on the large-area region S, some regions to be detected will not be detected.
As shown in FIG. 2, in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, currently the entire non-circumference large-area region will be divided into several small regions M1˜M6, and then each of the small regions M1˜M6 will be scanned in order. However, each of the small regions M1˜M6 will be limited by the rotation angle of the rotation mirror RM, therefore, it takes longer time to finish the scanning of the entire non-circumference large-area region, and the overall optical scanning detection efficiency will be seriously affected.
Therefore, the invention provides an optical apparatus and operating method thereof to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Optical apparatus and operating method thereof


An input/output (I/O) request processing system comprises a drive command module adapted to receive an I/O request referencing a local peripheral address for processing of the I/O request. The system also comprises a redirector communicatively coupled to the drive command module. The redirector is adapted to automatically convey the I/O request over a communication network to a remote peripheral device for processing of the I/O request.

Computer systems generally comprise a storage management file system to enable a user to store and retrieve information. For example, a file system generally enables a user to create, modify and delete files; identify stored files by a symbolic name rather than specifying a physical storage device name; and view the information logically rather than with a more detailed physical view. The file system generally manages information via a device driver which manages a storage abstraction of a storage device. For example, based on a file system layout on the storage device, the device driver manages storage and retrieval of information using file system metadata information.
Network file sharing is a method for transferring information over a physical network medium via a transport protocol. A transport protocol generally comprises a network file sharing protocol that enables remote operations such as opening, creating, reading, writing, and closing data files. In operation, a file sharing server generally runs on top of an existing file system such that network file sharing requests or calls are passed from the file sharing server to the file system. Because file systems generally comprise the same set of functions (i.e., open, read, create, write, etc.), a network sharing server can run on top of virtually any file system. Thus, in operation, based on the file system layout of a local storage device, the file system enables remote data management operations by responding to network file sharing calls received from a network sharing server.
However, various types of storage mediums and associated devices, especially peripheral devices such as compact disc (CD) recorders, digital versatile disk (DVD) recorders, and other types of peripheral device recording systems, do not readily accommodate writing or recording data across a network. For example, blank CDs and DVDs generally do not have a file system layout recorded thereon. In operation, recording information to blank CDs and DVDs generally comprises "pre-mastering" such that the content to be stored on the blank medium is known ahead of time. Thus, there is no format operation performed on the medium and no file system metadata recorded onto the medium. A software application for writing information to a medium such as a blank CD or DVD generally creates an image of the content that will be stored on the blank medium block-by-block and communicates directly with a disk driver to issue commands to write the content to the medium in this sequence of blocks, thereby bypassing any file system. Thus, because the file system is bypassed, a network file sharing infrastructure does not enable remote data management.

Redirecting I/O request to remote networked peripheral device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A circuit system for testing a chip is provided. The circuit system includes a first layer coupled with a plurality of ground communication mediums. Each ground communication medium facilitates communication of a ground signal. The circuit system includes a second layer coupled with a first integrated circuit chip. The second layer is coupled with a plurality of radio frequency (RF) communication mediums. The RF communication mediums facilitate communication of RF signals. The first integrated circuit chip communicates via one of the RF signals and the ground signal with a second integrated circuit chip. The first and second layers are used to probe the RF signals and the ground signal.

A variety of electronic devices, such as cellular phones, digital cameras, and tablets, are used for personal and business purposes. While some people enjoy the use of an electronic device, other people use the electronic device for work-related purpose. Integrated circuits are used in the electronic devices. Such integrated circuits process information received from and stored within memory chips. The memory chips are used to store a variety of information, such as images, videos, animations, and text.
A controller acts as an interface between the integrated circuit and the memory chip. For example, the controller transfers signals received from the integrated circuit into a form that the memory chip is designed to interpret and transfers signals received from the memory chip into a form that the integrated circuit is designed to interpret. It is important that the controller acts as intended and so does the integrated circuit and the memory chip.
It is within this context that various embodiments of the present invention arise.

Systems and methods for sensing signals communicated with a host device or on an interface of plug-in card when there is lack of access to sensing points


A wafer container providing improved wafer restraint during physical shock events. In embodiments of the invention, a secondary wafer restraint structure defining a plurality of notches is interposed between opposing wafer restraint members on the door of the container. The notches may be defined by one or more converging edges or surfaces meeting at a junction. The junctions are positioned so as to align with the wafer receiving portions of each opposing pair of wafer restraint member so that when the door is fully sealingly engaged with the enclosure of the container, the edge of the wafer is contacting the junction. In this position, any vertical movement of the wafer due to shock imparted to the container causes the wafer to contact the converging surfaces or edges, thereby limiting such movement. The positioning of the secondary wafer restraint structure between and proximate opposing fingers of the primary wafer restraint limits deflection of the wafer between support points and thereby further inhibits the wafer from “jumping” out of the supports and cross-slotting.

The transformation of semi-conductor wafer disks into integrated circuit chips often involves many steps where the disks are repeatedly processed, stored and transported. The wafers must be transported from workstation to workstation and from facility to facility. Wafer disks are brittle and are easily damaged by physical shock. Also, build-up and discharge of static charges in the vicinity of semiconductor wafers can be catastrophic. Due to the delicate nature of the wafers and their extreme value, it is vital that they are properly protected throughout these procedures from contaminates, and physical and electrical damage.
Specialized carriers or containers are used for handling, storing, and shipping wafers. Such devices normally hold the wafers in axially aligned arrays with, for example, twenty-five wafers in an array. A principal component of the containers is a means for supporting the wafers during handling to protect against physical damage from shock and vibration. This wafer support means may be provided with a path to ground for static dissipation through a machine interface on the bottom of the container.
The prior art containers typically have wafer restraint structures on the door of the container that cooperate with the wafer supports in the container when the door is in place. These wafer restraint structures function to cushion the wafers and restrain their movement to prevent damage from shock. Prior wafer restraint structures, however, have not been quite satisfactory in some cases. In some cases, the wafer restraint structures may enable the wafer to translate too far vertically during physical shock events, causing damage to the wafer itself or to adjacent wafers. In some cases, the wafer may even be dislodged from the wafer restraints. In other cases, wafers may become cross-slotted between adjacent wafer restraints during such physical shock events.
What is needed in the industry is an improved wafer restraint system for a wafer carrier that alleviates the aforementioned problems by providing improved wafer restraint during physical shock events.

Wafer container with secondary wafer restraint system


A method and system for communication in a wireless enhanced control area network including wireless station nodes is provided. One implementation involves each wireless station node employing a wireless communication protocol for wireless communication of control area network (CAN) messages among the wireless station nodes on a wireless communication medium, wherein each CAN message comprises a content-identified data message or an error message. The wireless communication protocol including a medium access control protocol for controlling access to the wireless communication by the wireless station nodes.

Controller Area Network (CAN) communication systems are wired systems widely accepted for their high performance and reliability, and are gaining widespread popularity in robot applications. A CAN network comprises a serial bus network of microcontrollers that connects devices, sensors and actuators in a system or sub-system for real-time control applications. The CAN bus is a vehicle bus standard that allows microcontrollers in devices to communicate therebetween without relying on a host. One example application is HERMES, a humanoid robot developed by the Intelligent Robot laboratory at the University of Munich. A CAN bus is used to connect all modules of the humanoid system.
FIG. 1 shows an example CAN network 10 including multiple nodes (M) 11 connected via a CAN bus 12. The CAN nodes do not utilize information about system configuration (e.g., node addresses). Instead of an addressing scheme, messages are broadcast to all the nodes in the network using an identifier unique to the network. Based on the identifier, the individual nodes decide whether or not to process a message and also determine the priority of the message in terms of competition for bus access. Additional CAN nodes can be added to the CAN network without the need for reprogramming existing CAN nodes to recognize the additions. In the network 10, the nodes are wired to the CAN bus 12, which in turn is wired to other system components such as a host computer.

Communication protocol for wireless enhanced controller area networks


A method of operation of an electronic system includes: forming a superblock by organizing an erase block according to a wear attribute; detecting a trigger count of the wear attribute of the superblock; updating a metadata table with the trigger count; and triggering a recycling event of the superblock based on the metadata table.

All electronic systems require some form of memory or storage. Data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is a core function and fundamental component of consumer and industrial electronics, especially devices such as computers, televisions, cellular phones, mobile devices, and digital video cameras.
Recently, forms of long-term storage other than electromechanical hard disks have become feasible for use in computers. One of these is flash Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM). Flash EEPROM memory includes a plurality of floating-gate field effect transistors arranged as memory cells. NAND flash is one form of non-volatile memory used in solid state storage devices. The memory cells are arranged in typical row and column fashion with circuitry for accessing individual cells. The memory transistors of those cells can store an analog value that can be interpreted to hold two logical states for Single Level Cell (SLC) or more than two logical states as for Multi Level Cells (MLC).
A flash memory cell, like a typical EEPROM cell but in contrast to Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) memory, retains information when power is removed. Flash EEPROM memory has a number of characteristics, which adapt it to use as long-term memory. It is light in weight, occupies very little space, and consumes less power than electromechanical disk drives. Construction of a storage system with this type of memory allows for much higher bandwidth and higher input output operations per second than a typical electromechanical disk drive. More importantly, it is especially rugged and can operate at a much high temperature range. It will withstand, without adverse effects, repeated drops, each of which would destroy a typical electromechanical hard disk drive. A problem exhibited by flash memory is that it tends to have a limited life in use.
Thus, a need still remains for better storage management to prolong the performance and durability of electronic systems. In view of the increasing demand for storage management of electronic systems, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Electronic system with storage management mechanism and method of operation thereof