A method for compressing information in a communication system is provided. The method includes compressing first address data in a first packet stream by using second address data included in a second packet stream.

1. Field of the Invention
The present specification relates to compression of data in communication systems, and in particular to compression of address data of a data stream communicated via a data communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communications between two or more entities such as user equipment and/or other nodes associated with the communication system. The communication may comprise, for example, communication of voice, data, multimedia and so on.
A communication system typically operates in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the communication system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. For example, the standard or specification may define if a circuit switched service and/or a packet switched service is provided. Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for various functions on the system, such as routing, addressing and message formats, may also be defined. In other words, a specific set of "rules" on which the communication can be based on needs to be defined to enable communication by means of the system.
Routing of data packets between entities of a communication system is an important function of packet switched communication systems. In packet switched systems such as the Internet Protocol (IP) based networks a packet stream is routed via the various entities to the destination address based on address information contained in the headers of the packets of the stream.
The header information may be compressed. Header compression is considered as being one of the key techniques to improve spectrum efficiency and performance over wireless links or other links with limited bandwidth. These improvements are believed to be especially important for enabling wireless use of Internet.
In the existing header compression schemes the configuration involves a compressor and decompressor. The compressor receives uncompressed IP packets, divides them into separate streams based on IP address (source address, destination address, or both of these addresses) and possibly other header information (e.g. protocol type of upper layer, source and/or port number of upper layer). For each packet stream, the compressor maintains a compressor context and uses it to compress headers of this packet stream. The header-compressed packets are then communicated from the compressor to the decompressor. Usually, each compressed packet carries an indicator (e.g. context identification) to indicate to the decompressor which context has been used to generate this compressed packet. The decompressor also maintains a decompressor context for each packet stream. Various context synchronization mechanisms are usually used to ensure that a compressed packet can be successfully decompressed. When receiving a header compressed packet sent by the compressor, the decompressor decompresses the header using the correct decompressor context, reassembles the entire packet with the decompressed header, and then forwards the uncompressed packet to next entity, for example to a upper layer, commonly to a local upper layer, or to the next node on the packet path to its destination.
Conventional header compression schemes thus divide packets into packet streams and then compress each packet stream using a compression context established for that stream between a compressor and its peer decompressor. IP addresses are then used to classify a packet stream. Because of this IP packets carrying different IP addresses will be compressed using separate contexts.
A technique called "context replication" has been proposed in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to allow a new packet stream to be compressed using context of another existing packet stream. This may reduce the synchronization overhead for the new stream when header fields of packets belonging to the two (i.e. the existing and new) streams have the same or similar values. Otherwise, the uncompressed values of those header fields would need to be sent from the compressor to the decompressor to establish context for the new packet stream.
However, replication of contexts cannot be used for handling of IP addresses in all occasions. In particular, the proposal may only allow the context replication of IP addresses only in circumstances where the address data is exactly same between the new and existing packet streams. If there is even a small difference between the addresses, the compressor has to send the address uncompressed. The proposal does not even recognise a case where two packet streams carry substantially similar, but not exactly the same, IP addresses. Therefore the proposal does not enable optimisation that is based on exploitation of the similarity of IP addresses. In other words, the current context replication methods of robust header compression are not able to compress together IP addresses carried in packet streams with almost similar but not identical IP addresses.
Embodiments of the present invention aim to address one or several of the above problems.


A transaction management system is described for scheduling requests on an external bus. The system includes a number of queue registers to store requests and a controller coupled to queue registers to schedule external bus transactions for an agent that processes read requests, prefetch requests and write requests. The controller posts at least one write request to an external bus every defined number of transactions if at least one non-posted write request is stored in the queue registers.

Embodiments of the invention relate to microprocessors, and more specifically, to a system and method of scheduling bus transactions.
Modern computer systems generally include multiple agents, such as microprocessors, storage devices, display devices, input/output devices and/or other integrated circuits that process data requests. The multiple agents communicate over an external bus. The external bus operates to transfer address, data and control signals between these agents.
In multi-agent systems, the bandwidth of the external bus can define a limit to system performance. Clock speeds within an agent typically are much faster than clock speeds of the external bus. A processor core for example can issue many data requests (e.g., read and write requests) in the time the external bus can execute a single request. Further, an agent must share the external bus with other agents. These factors can introduce unwanted latency to the processing of data requests within an agent.
Microprocessors may process core read requests, prefetch requests and write requests. Core read requests are requests for addressed data to be read to the agent""s processing core. Typically, core read requests identify data for which the agent has an immediate need. Prefetch requests, by contrast, refer to data that is likely to be used by the core in the not-so-distant future. By prefetching the data into the agent prior to the time the core actually issues a read request for it, the data should be available to the core in an internal cache. Write requests typically identify data that is being returned by the agent to system storage. The data may be evicted because the agent is no longer using it and new data is being read to a memory location that the evicted data occupied.

External bus transaction scheduling system


An array antenna with dual polarization elements is provided. Each dual polarization element comprises a first sub-element and a second sub-element, each of which comprises a radiator that is embodied in and/or on a planar member and a balanced feed for the radiator that divides the radiator into two sections that that are mirror images of one another relative to a plane that passes through the balanced feed structure and is perpendicular to the planar member. Further, the radiator of the first sub-element is positioned to lie in an isolation plane associated with the second sub-element. Two such elements are positioned with respect to one another so that the planar members associated with the first elements are coplanar.

An array antenna (sometimes referred to as "an antenna array") includes multiple antennas that cooperatively function as a single antenna. Each of the multiple antennas that form the array antenna is frequently referred to as an element. One type of array antenna includes elements that are capable of processing whatever portion of a signal has a vertical polarization, whatever portion of a signal has a horizontal polarization, and/or an elliptically polarized signal when coupled with the appropriate controlling electronics. This type of antenna is frequently referred to as a dual polarization array antenna or an array antenna with dual polarization elements. In such an array antenna, each element includes a first antenna that is capable of processing whatever portion of a signal has a vertical polarization and a second antenna that is capable of processing whatever portion of a signal has a horizontal polarization. The first and second antennas are capable of being used together to process an elliptically/circularly polarized signal. The first antenna and second antenna of an element can be considered sub-elements of an element. Further, the sub-element that is capable of processing whatever portion of a signal that has a vertical polarization can be referred to as a vertically polarized sub-element. Likewise, the sub-element that is capable of processing whatever portion of a signal has a horizontal polarization can be referred to as a horizontally polarized sub-element. Array antennas with dual polarization are also capable, when coupled with appropriate control electronics, of being used to create a beam that can be steered or scanned in different directions.

Array antenna with dual polarization elements


This invention relates to a new process for the preparation of novel substituted haloarene compounds of the formula I or IV:

This invention relates to a new process for the preparation of novel substituted haloarene compounds that comprises a novel and efficient selective mono-lithiation of a dihaloarene by an organo-lithium compound in the presence of an enolizable carbonyl reactant. In the process of the instant invention the newly formed lithiated haloarene is immediately quenched in situ by the carbonyl reactant to form said substituted haloarene. The process of the instant invention operates at higher temperatures and higher concentrations and is more efficient than conventional methods in which the aryl lithium species is first formed and the carbonyl reactant is added in a subsequent step. High yields of the substituted haloarene are obtained in a practical one-step process since competitive addition of the organo-lithium compound to the carbonyl reactant and di-substitution of the arene occur only to a minor extent.
H.-G. Schmalz (CPC-User Forum, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Dec. 3, 2003; Cambridge Healthtech Institute, Eleventh Annual Advancing Library Design and Organic Synthesis, La Jolla, Calif., Feb. 25, 2004) has described an in situ quench (ISQ) protocol wherein n-butyllithium is added to a preformed mixture of bromoarene and ketone under both batch and flow conditions. This protocol requires sterically hindered, non-enolizable ketones or the use of tertiary-butyllithium and cryogenic temperatures (−78° C.) for enolizable substrates.
US Published Application No. 20020016470A1; and X. Wang, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 41:4335 (2000), describe reactions of 2,5-dibromopyridine with n-butyllithium which selectively lithiate in the 2-position if the solvent is toluene and in the 5-position if the solvent is tetrahydrofuran. The lithiation and quench are carried out sequentially at temperatures of −50° C. to −78° C. The concentration of the substrate in solution is 0.085M–0.28M, although at 0.28M the reagents and products are not entirely soluble.
W. Li, et al. J. Org. Chem., 67:5394(2002), describe an n-butyllithium in situ quench protocol for the preparation of arylboronic acids from the reaction of substrates such as 3-bromopyridine with borates (borates are non-enolizable).
F. D. Therkelsen, et al., Org. Lett., 6:1991(2004), details Barbier-type protocols (in situ quench) for the metallation of 4-halopyrimidines and in situ quench with electrophiles such as aldehydes. The metallation agents used were either magnesium ate complexes or butyllithium. The magnesium "ate" complexes worked effectively at both low (−76° C.) temperatures and 0° C. However, with n-butyllithium, the reaction only worked at −76° C. and no desired product was observed at 0° C. Additionally, with either metallation reagent, the in situ quench (Barbier) conditions did not work with a ketone as the electrophile.
PCT International Publication WO01/90072A1 describes the metallation of halo-heteroarylamine compounds using organomagnesium (Grignard) reagents. There, the lithiation of 2,5-dibromopyridine under cryogenic and high dilution conditions with the selectivity dependent on reaction time is taught to not be suitable for large scale synthesis.
The present invention describes an in situ quench protocol wherein n-butyllithium is added to a preformed mixture of a dihaloarene and ketone, including enolizable ketones, under both batch and flow conditions to selectively form a mono-substituted haloarene at non-cryogenic temperatures and relatively high concentrations of substrate.
The substituted haloarenes produced by the process of the present invention are useful intermediates in the preparation of N-aryl or N-heteroaryl substituted pharmaceutically active compounds that include selective antagonists, inverse agonists and partial agonists of serotonin 1 (5-HT1) receptors useful in treating or preventing depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other disorders for which a 5-HT1 agonist or antagonist is indicated.

Preparation of novel substituted haloarene compounds

Abstract: respectively, wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, X, and Y are as defined herein, that comprises a novel and efficient selective mono-lithiation of a dihaloarene of the formula II or V:

Abstract: respectively, by an organo-lithium compound in the presence of a carbonyl reactant of the formula III:

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 are as defined herein. In the process of the instant invention, the newly formed lithiated haloarene is sequentially quenched in situ by the carbonyl reactant to form said substituted haloarene. The process is suitable for batch or continuous flow systems. The substituted haloarenes produced by the process of the present invention are useful intermediates in the preparation of N-aryl or N-heteroaryl substituted pharmaceutically active compounds that include selective antagonists, inverse agonists and partial agonists of serotonin 1 (5-HT1) receptors useful in treating or preventing depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other disorders for which a 5-HT1 agonist or antagonist is indicated.


Techniques for locating an array of melded colors onto a software application's component window in order to create three-dimensional and multicolor graphics within the component window. The techniques include decoding a first and second color into their respective individual color components, performing a transition operation on the foregoing color components to determine transition colors, dividing a portion of the component window into subcomponents, and locating the transition colors into the subcomponents and, thereby, create three-dimensional and multicolor graphics within the component window.

Many software applications today offer a single variable background color that can be set upon execution of the application. For example, the software application includes a color palette from which the user can select a single color. The application then applies the user-selected color to the software application's component window. The graphical style created by these single variable color applications may not be responsive to the needs of users looking to create a unique graphical style for their software.
Unique graphical styles are effective marketing tools for software applications. Visibly different and aesthetically pleasing software applications standout and enable users to distinguish among different software applications. Also, unique graphics, such as multicolor and three-dimensional graphics, enable software designers to direct the user's eyes to specific locations and, thus, control where the user focuses his attention. Software applications implementing the foregoing techniques may be easier to use and understand than software applications that offer only generic graphics.
Oftentimes, software designers use identifiable colors to direct the user's eyes to specific locations. However, using only identifiable colors may not direct color deficient users to specific locations because they may unable to identify certain colors. However, color deficient viewers may be able to identify color contrasts created by multicolor transitioning. Software designers may direct color deficient users to a specific location by using the foregoing graphical techniques, thus, make software applications easier to understand and use.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a new apparatus and method for progressively transitioning the color of a selected portion of a software application's component window from a first color to a second color in order to create aesthetic multicolor shading and brightening and to create three-dimensional graphics within the component window. Using this apparatus and method, software designers can offer a graphical style, for example, that includes a first and second color, and a progressive array of colors melded between the first and second colors, rather than simply providing a flat color.


A compact spray valve that provides an extended atomizing air cap for reaching between tightly spaced electronic components. The compact spray valve of the present invention includes an air body, a fluid control body and an extended atomizing air cap. The atomizing air cap along with a seat extension provides a plurality of laminar air flow conduits causing atomization of a fluid into a spray. The resulting spray pattern can be controlled to provide a narrow line spray pattern with clearly defined edges. Another embodiment of the present invention provides a flat spray pattern.

Uniform thickness coatings are often applied over sections of circuit boards. The coatings prevent water vapor, gases, or fluids from corroding the electrical connections on a circuit board. The coatings may comprise a wide variety of materials such as ultraviolet (UV) acrylic gels, moisture and thermal cure silicones, and the like.
The coatings are typically applied to a circuit board using devices such as spray guns or spray nozzles. Such devices generally include a liquid spray material that is atomized by compressed air and is then directed toward the surface to be coated. The spraying devices are commonly attached to an apparatus, such as a multi-degree of freedom robotic positioning apparatus, that provides accurate positional displacement relative to the article being coated.
As electronic components mounted on circuit boards become smaller, and more compactly spaced, previous large diameter spray nozzles can no longer access particular areas of a circuit board. Some tall electronic components protrude a considerable distance from the circuit board. When two or more of these tall electronic components are closely spaced, a large diameter spray nozzle cannot fit between the electronic components. Furthermore, there is now a requirement for providing a small diameter spray pattern with clearly defined edges to provide the accuracy and precision required to produce the spray in the narrowly defined space created by the closely spaced electronic components.


A method, apparatus, and computer-readable media for detecting a security breach in a network comprising an access point and a plurality of transceivers each having a different media access control address comprises, at one of the transceivers, receiving a signal from the access point, the signal representing one or more packets of data; determining a source media access control address for each of the packets; and transmitting an alert packet to the access point when the source media access control address of one of the packets is the media access control address of the transceiver.

The present invention relates generally to data communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to data security in a network.
Recent advances in wireless network technology have made the wireless network an increasingly popular choice to supplement or replace the wired network. But experience has shown that the convenience offered by wireless networks comes with new security risks. Recent studies have shown that current wireless networks are vulnerable to a multitude of attacks such as man-in-the-middle attacks, session hijacking, and parking lot attacks.

Apparatus, method and computer program product for detection of a security breach in a network


This application discloses a method and apparatus for determining characteristics of a sound source. The method may include: acquiring a first position of a first virtual role controlled by an application client in a virtual scene; detecting, in a sound source detection area associated with the first position, a second position of a sound source virtual object in the virtual scene; determining transparency of a position mark that matches the sound source virtual object, according to a sound source distance between the first position and the second position, the position mark identifying the second position of the sound source virtual object; and displaying, on an interaction interface of the application client, the position mark of the sound source virtual object according to the transparency.

In some terminal applications, a sound made by a virtual object may be simulated in a virtual scene, so that a user participating in the virtual scene determines a position of a sound source object in the virtual scene by hearing, and then completes a task that is configured in the virtual scene and that interacts with the sound source object.
However, the sound played in the virtual scene is usually simulated by a machine. Consequently, accuracy of the sound cannot be guaranteed. As a result, there may be a problem that the sound source object cannot be accurately determined in a process of determining the sound source object only according to the simulated sound.
For the foregoing problem, no effective solution has been put forward so far.

Sound source determining method and apparatus, and storage medium

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


Systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means for creating and administering a publicly traded interest in a commodity pool include forming a commodity pool having a first position in a futures contract and a corresponding second position in a margin investment, and issuing equity interests of the commodity pool to third party investors.

A number of innovative new securities products have been introduced over the years. For example, the introduction of a variety of novel types of mutual funds have allowed investors to participate in diversified portfolios of equities, bonds, and other securities. More recently, Exchange Traded Funds ("ETF") have been introduced. Generally, an ETF is a fund that tracks an index, but can be traded in the market like a stock. Investors can trade shares of an ETF like stocks and can use the same strategies in trading ETFs that traditionally have been used with respect to stocks, such as selling short, buying and holding for the long term, etc. Because ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, they can be bought and sold at any time during the day (unlike most mutual funds) and their price may fluctuate from moment to moment, just like any other stock's price. Investors will also need licensed brokers in order transact in purchase them, which means that a commission will usually be charged.
Unfortunately, ETFs have not, to date been structured to allow an investor to invest in commodities or futures. Currently, investors may make pooled investments in commodities by purchasing interests in "commodity pools," which are similar to mutual funds except that they are primarily engaged in investing and trading in futures contracts or options on futures, rather than securities. In some situations, commodity pools have been created in which shares were offered to the public (i.e., shares in the pool were registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933). These commodity pools provide desirable benefits to the investors who participate; unfortunately, however, they do not provide a mechanism for shares to be publicly traded. It would be desirable to provide an ability to publicly trade commodities using a listed equity. More particularly, it would be desirable to provide an interest in a commodity pool that is publicly traded and listed on a securities exchange.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for creating and administering a publicly traded interest in a commodity pool


A pin carrier for locating male contact pins on a printed circuit board (PCB) with a very high degree of accuracy, while placing a very low thermal mass in contact with each male contact pin. The pin carrier has a plurality of chimney structures, each chimney structure configured to retain one male contact pin. Male contact pins are inserted into each chimney such that essentially only that portion of the male contact pin which is to enter the PCB is exposed. The male contact pins are held in the chimney by a frictional retention force just sufficient to maintain the male contact pins securely within the chimneys during shipment and soldering onto a PCB, but not so great as to make removal of the pin carrier difficult after the male contact pins have been soldered to a PCB. In addition to registering the pins while maintaining a low thermal mass, the chimney structure also protects the male contact pin from excessive solder flow due to solder wicking, and from the corrosive effects of solder flux.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical interconnection devices, and more particularly to a removable pin carrier for positioning male electrical contacts on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous means are known today for interconnecting electrical and electronic components. One common means for interconnecting electronic components involves installing male contact pins made of an electrically conductive material on a substrate, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), upon which the electronic components are mounted. At least one of the male contact pins is electrically coupled to one or more of the electronic components of the PCB. Similarly, female contact receptacles and electronic components are mounted on a substrate, such as a second PCB. At least one of the female contacts is electrically coupled to one or more of the electronic components of the second PCB. The male contact pins of the first PCB are aligned with the female contact receptacles of the second PCB, and each male contact pin mates with a corresponding one of the female contact receptacles. Thus, those components of the first PCB which are coupled to male contact pins can be electrically coupled to those components of the second PCB which are coupled to female contact receptacles.
Typically, a plurality of male contact pins are bound together by an insulating housing which aligns the pins with respect to one another and to the printed circuit board on which they are to be soldered. Likewise, the female contact receptacles are typically bound together within a housing. The housing provides very good registration between the male contact pins and mounting holes of a PCB, and between the male contact pins and corresponding female contact receptacles. However, the housing takes up valuable space, or "real estate", on PCBs and projects above the surface of a PCB. Therefore, many attempts have been made to devise a removable pin carrier that would allow the male contact pins to be registered to the PCB and the female contact receptacles, but which could be removed later, leaving only the male contact pins connected to the PCB.
FIGS. 1a-1d illustrate one example of a prior art system in which a pin carrier 2 holds male contact pins 1 in registration prior to installation, and which is removed after the male contact pins 1 have been soldered to a PCB 3. See IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Bunnell, K. J., Singh, P., Thakkar, A. J., and Tomassini, E. V. (Vol. 26, No. 6, November 1983). Two embodiments of the removable pin carrier are described in this reference. In the first, illustrated in FIG. 1a-1c, the pins 1 are installed into a pin carrier 2 such that only the portion of the pin 1 that enters a PCB 3 and a very small portion of the pin 1 that remains above the PCB 3 are exposed. The male pins 1 are supported in a PCB 3 by the pin carrier 2 with sufficient friction to retain the pins 1 in the pin carrier during processing. The pins 1 extend below the carrier 2 a distance necessary to be fixed to the PCB 3 and extend above the PCB 3 a distance necessary to allow the pins 1 to mate with corresponding female contact receptacles. The pins 1 are soldered onto the PCB 3. Upon completion of the soldering operation, the pin carrier 2 is removed, leaving only the male pins 1 connected to the printed circuit board 3. In the second embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 1d, the pins 1 are installed in the pin carrier 4 such that the pins 1 protrude through the pin carrier 4 a significant amount.
The first embodiment can register the male contact pins 1 to a very high accuracy, thereby ensuring very close tolerance in locating the pins 1. However, the large thermal mass of the pin carrier 2 makes heating the male contact pins 1 during a soldering operation more difficult (i.e., heating the male contact pins 1 requires more thermal energy). As the number of male contact pins 1 being installed increases, it is more desirable to use less thermal energy to heat each male contact pin 1.
The second embodiment has a much lower thermal mass. However, greater protrusion of the male contact pins 1 from the pin carrier 4 makes registration of the male contact pins 1 less precise. Precision registration is critical when very large numbers of male and female contacts are to be mated to one another at once, and particularly when the dimensions of the contacts are very small, as is the case in many of today's applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a removable pin carrier that permits male contact pins to be located upon a PCB with a very high accuracy with respect to the PCB and the position of each other male contact pin. There is also a need for a removable pin carrier which has a very low thermal mass, thereby allowing the male contact pins to be heated to the temperature required to flow solder with a minimal expenditure of thermal energy.
The present invention is a pin carrier that provides very accurate registration of the male contact pins, while minimizing the thermal mass in contact with each male contact pin.


A sensor input is detected on a cotton harvester. A performance characteristic value is identified based upon the detected sensor input. A speed control system controls cotton harvester drum speed and spindle speed, automatically, and separately from the ground speed of the cotton harvester, to improve the performance characteristic value, in a closed-loop fashion.

Some current cotton harvesters have a set of row units on the front end of the harvesters. The row units act to funnel cotton plants, planted in rows, into the individual row units. Each row unit has two columns of spindles, one mounted on either side of the row, as it passes through the row unit. Each set of spindles is driven so that the spindles on one side of the row unit rotate in interdigitated fashion relative to the spindles on the opposite side of the row unit. The spindles are supported for rotation in this way, by a drum. As the drums rotate the spindles, the spindles separate the cotton flowers from the cotton plants. Each of the spindles is elongate along a longitudinal axis. The spindles also rotate about the longitudinal axis. Rotation of the spindles draws the cotton bolls into elongate fibers.
A rotatable doffer rotates in a counter rotating manner, relative to the spindles, to wipe the cotton material from the spindles. The cotton material is then transferred (such as using a vacuum tube or other conveying mechanism) into a containment area. The cotton is transferred from the containment area into a module forming area. Once a module is formed, a door opens at the rearward end of the cotton harvester, so that the module can be ejected, onto the field.
In many current cotton harvesters, the speed of the drum rotation, and the speed of the spindle rotation, is directly and mechanically linked to the forward ground speed of the cotton harvester. This can present a variety of different types of problems. Therefore, a mechanism has been developed so that the drum speed and spindle speed can be varied separately relative to the ground speed of the cotton harvester. One example of this is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,656.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Cotton harvesting machine with automatically variable drum and spindle speed

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.


Methods for preparing metakaolin-enhanced industrial minerals. Mixing and heating kaolinite clay with an industrial mineral, such as activated carbon, that is between 750° F. and 1400° F. results in a metakaolin/activated carbon complex that provides good mercury sorbent qualities while producing a fly ash (after use as a sorbent in emissions applications) that has a lower foaming index.

1. Field of Invention
The subject matter herein relates to improvements in the production of activated carbon, metakaolin, cement clinker, and improved combination products resulting therefrom, such as fly ash.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent regulations governing the capture and reduction of mercury emissions from coal fired applications have led to testing of numerous materials suitable for mercury capture. A leading mercury capture technology utilizes activated carbon which can be doped with, for example, bromine.
This activated carbon, when injected in the flue gas stream of a coal-fired furnace, will capture the mercury and in most cases be filtered out of the gas stream with the coal fly ash. This fly ash in many applications, and most notably large utility coal-fired boilers, is often utilized in the production of Portland cement.
Depending on the activated carbon source and characteristics, the added carbon content of the fly ash can adversely increase the foaming index of the concrete, making the previously suitable fly ash fly ash unsuitable for concrete applications. Numerous investigations are underway to produce an activated carbon with a low foaming index or to develop an additive that can compensate for the foaming characteristics of a particular activated carbon.

Metakaolin production and enhancement of industrial minerals


An infrared head set which is made as a chin bow receiver which is designed to pick up infrared signals and convert them into an audio transmission in the auditory range. This infrared head set includes a base housing (20a-c) and two bow ends (27) with one miniature speaker each located on the end side. The two bow ends (27) are supported in the base housing (20a-c) and can be elastically spread in at least one plane. The bow ends (27) are dynamically connected to at least one switch (5) housed in the lever action range of the plane. The switch turns on the receiving circuit for a certain spread position (12) of the bow ends (27) with the spread position (12) being dependent on wearing. Automatically turning reception on and off of the chin bow receiver dependent on wearing is advantageous. In addition, the head set contains audio management circuitry which automatically turns off when a certain audio quality is not reached and automatically turns on reception again as soon as audio transmission again has a fixed minimum quality.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an infrared head set.
2. Description of the Prior Art
DE-33 25 031 C2 discloses an infrared head set which consists of two reproducing converters which are connected to one another via a chin bow, of an electrical circuit which picks up the infrared signals and converts them into audio signals, and of two microphones with downstream microphone amplifiers. The circuit of this infrared head set is made such that the signals tapped from the infrared circuit or the microphone amplifiers are selectively supplied individually or in combination to the reproducing converters. In doing so the microphones are arranged at a distance from one another on the chin bow such that they are located symmetrically to the medial plane of the head of the user, the signals tapped from the microphones being supplied opposite in phase in the same ratio to the microphone amplifier.
This infrared head set is conventionally dynamically connected to a transmitter which converts the emitted audio signals, for example from a television set or a HiFi system, into invisible infrared rays and emits them into space, where they are received by the infrared head set, with which wireless infrared audio transmission can be made available. Feasibly this transmitter is at the same time the charging station for the infrared receiver and for at least one battery insert which is used in the charged state for operation of the infrared head set.
Publication WO 95/35011 A discloses an infrared head set made as a chin bow receiver. This infrared head set consists essentially of a base housing, and of two bow ends with one miniature speaker located on the each end. The two ends of the bow are supported in the base housing, and they can be spread each in conjunction with a spring element which acts in the area of the support, with which via these spring elements comfortable ear insertion of the miniature speakers can be effected. Turning on and off in this headset is done by means of a hand-operated switch.
Publications GB 2 304 488 A and FR 2 280 283 A likewise disclose cable-free head sets in which the spreadable head bows likewise enable comfortable ear insertion, and into which an on/off switch is integrated, with on-and off-actuation which depends on the spread of the bow, with which manual actuation of the switch becomes superfluous.
The invention is an infrared head set with increased ease of operation, acceptance and the availability of one such device.
In an infrared head set which is also called a chin bow receiver, audio signals are received via invisible infrared radiation carrier which are amplified in the chin bow receiver via the miniature speakers which are attached to the two ends of the bow. The audio signals are relayed to the ears.
With the invention the ends of the bow are connected to the base housing, which on the end side are each equipped with one miniature speaker, and which form together a chin bow receiver, that are elastically spreadable in at least one plane by a supported guide. Thus, on the one hand comfortable ear-side insertion of the miniature speakers is achieved, on the other hand this controlled spreading leads to the chin bow receiver being automatically turned on by the spreading being dynamically connected to a switch which is placed preferably in the base housing. Furthermore, by this arrangement the wearing of the chin bow receiver dynamically connected to the arrangement of the miniature speakers is made comfortable by preventing uncomfortable pressure points on the parts of the ear being formed. When the chin bow receiver is laid down, it is automatically switched off. For the wearer this means that insertion takes place by grasping the two miniature speakers on the two ends of the bow and by controlled spreading of the two ends of the bow away from one another the miniature speakers are placed on the entries to the auditory canals. After this operation the user ascertains that the chin bow receiver has been automatically turned on. This on/off philosophy in addition preserves the battery charging and the preset loudness is maintained when the head set is put on again.
In similar existing products the receiver is switched by the user using a combined on/off switch and loudness controller. When turned off, the loudness controller is always turned to zero. In particular for users who are hard of hearing and for whom the device is especially well suited, after taking off the receiver it is often forgotten to be turned off. Upon re-use it is then ascertained that the battery energy is exhausted or the battery is dead, and the device is not longer immediately ready to operate. In addition, the user must again adjust the loudness appropriate to him each time it is turned on. These disadvantages are eliminated with the article of the invention.
A circuit in accordance with the invention in the chin bow receiver provides for automatic turn-off of the receiver to engage when the receiving quality falls below a certain quality tolerance boundary. This means that the wearer will always instinctively assume that receiving position which allows transfer based on the stipulated quality control. Accordingly if the chin bow receiver is located outside of the transmission area or the infrared beam is disrupted, the chin bow receiver turns off the disrupted audio transmission, but however instantaneously turns it on again as soon as the reception is again acceptable by the corresponding turning of the wearer in the direction of the transmitter. Thus the wearer is no longer burdened by undesirable and unpleasant audio distortions which essentially can greatly reduce the acceptance of the chin bow receiver.
The transmitted infrared rays are on only as long as a television program or music is being received. When the audio-emitting device is turned off, the transmitted infrared rays turn off after a few minutes.
With a well placed and easily operated switch in the transmitter which is not detailed, it is possible at any time to choose between mono or stereo audio transmission.
One embodiment of the invention is detailed below using the drawings. All features which are not important to the direct understanding of the invention have been omitted. The same features in the different figures are provided with the same reference numbers.


A method is disclosed for the temperature stabilization of a direct-converting X-ray detector, including a detector surface having a semiconductor and being divided into a plurality of partial detector surfaces. During the irradiation of the detector surface, heat is generated in the semiconductor by electric power. Electric power generated in the semiconductor is kept constant for each partial detector surface at least during a heterogeneous and/or temporally variable irradiation of the detector surface by feeding-in power-adjusted additional radiation for each partial detector surface. A direct-converting X-ray detector is disclosed for the detection of X-rays. At least one control loop with at least one reference variable is embodied for the energy regulation of the additional radiation, which keeps the temperature in the semiconductor constant for each partial detector surface by keeping the electric power in the semiconductor constant by changing the energy of the additional radiation. A CT system is disclosed.

Detectors used, or attempted to be used, for the detection of gamma and X-rays, in particular in CT, SPECT and PET systems, include inter alia direct-converting detectors based on semi-conductive materials, such as CdTe, CdZnTe, CdZnTeSe, CdTeSe, CdMnTe, InP, TIBr2, HgI2. Monocrystals or polycrystals in these materials have numerous crystal defects, for example lattice defects, impurity atoms and/or deliberately introduced dopants. These crystal defects generate inter alia fixed, electronic states with bonding energy lying between the energies of the valence and conduction band of the semiconductor. Here, a differentiation is made between flat impurities, which are energetically close, that is less than 30 meV, to the valence or conduction band, and deep impurities, with an energetic spacing to the bands of greater than 30 meV. Flat impurities are already fully ionized at room temperature. This means that their occupation probability does not change as the temperature increases, in particular during the operation of a CT device. However, at room temperature, the deep impurities are only partially ionized so that their occupation probability is heavily temperature-dependent. This applies to semiconductor detectors both with and without additional charge-carrier generation by additional irradiation.
The changing occupation probability of the deep impurities in the event of temperature fluctuations causes a change in the electric field in the interior of the semiconductor and hence also results in a change in the electric power. This also causes a change in the pulse shapes of the pulses triggered by the X-rays and, in the case of firmly fixed electronic thresholds for the pulse-height discriminators of the detector, there is also a change in the counting rates in the case of a constant X-ray flux. This results in the following problems: on the one hand, due to the photocurrent generated, the inserted X-ray flux results in the heating of the semiconductor and a drift in the counting rate. The associated energy loss P of the detector is determined by the high voltage U applied and the photocurrent I using the equation P=U*I. On the other hand, calibration tables, which were generated under specific temperature and flow conditions, lose their validity as soon as the temperature of the semiconductor changes. Both effects result in unacceptable artifacts in the imaging.
Hitherto, it is known how to regulate, i.e. stabilize, the temperature in the semiconductor material by means of control elements, for example Peltier elements, which are attached under the unit comprising semiconductor and evaluation electronics, the ASIC (=Application Specific Integrated Circuit). However, this has the following drawbacks: the temperature regulation is inert. Temperature fluctuations, caused by a rapidly changing X-ray flux cannot, therefore, be compensated. However, in a CT system and also in other imaging methods, typically above all rapid changes to the X-ray flux occur. Moreover, with the known temperature regulation, the heat or the temperature change is generated, not in the interior of the semiconductor, but outside the semiconductor, that is on its surface. This inevitably results in a non-uniform temperature profile in the semiconductor since, for example, the surface is exposed to a cooling air flow. Therefore, on the insertion of an X-ray flux, the temperatures in the semiconductor can change even if the average temperature remains constant. This also causes a change in the electric field in the semiconductor and hence a counting rate drift.

Method for temperature stabilization, X-ray detector and CT system


A stage cementing tool has a mandrel defining a central flow passage and a plurality of cementing passages in a wall thereof. A packer is disposed about the mandrel. A closing sleeve is detachably connected to and movable relative to the mandrel. An opening sleeve defining a plurality of fully open cement flow ports therethrough is telescopically movable relative to the closing sleeve and movable relative to the mandrel. The opening sleeve is movable to move the packer to the set position, and thereafter movable to open a cement flow path between the central flow passage and an annulus defined by the stage cementing tool and the wellbore.

When completing a subterranean well, casing is typically inserted into the wellbore and secured in place by injecting cement within the casing. The cement is forced through a lower end of the casing and into an annulus between the casing and wellbore wall. A displacement fluid is pumped into the casing above a plug to urge the plug downward through the casing to extrude the cement from the casing outlet and back up into the annulus. In some instances, it is impossible or impractical to cement the entire well.
To overcome the problems of a single stage cement process, the casing string is cemented in sections, which is known as a staging process. Staging involves placing cement staging tools integral within the casing string. The staging tools allow cement to flow downward therethrough to a lower section of the casing string during primary or first stage cementing operations. When the portion of the casing string below the particular staging tool is cemented to the well, the staging tool will divert cement into the surrounding annulus where the cement can flow upwards in the annulus.


An integrated air separation and oxygen fired power generation system includes an air separation unit and a gas turbine including an air compressor to provide compressed air for the air separation unit. The system further includes a gas turbine expander and at least one additional turbine to drive the air compressor, as well as at least one combustion unit to provide drive gas for expander and additional turbine(s). A portion of oxygen produced by the air separation unit is delivered to the combustor(s) to facilitate production of drive gas for use by the expander and additional turbine(s). Turbine inlet temperatures are controlled by recycling water or steam to the combustor(s).

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to air separation units combined with oxygen fired power generation systems.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Cryogenic air separation is typically preferred in the industry for yielding large volumes of oxygen and nitrogen, which may then be used in variety of different power generation systems. However, a drawback to a cryogenic air separation system is that power costs associated with system operation can run as high as 50% of the overall operational costs, where most of the power is consumed by the main air compressor disposed upstream of the air separation unit. Accordingly, the power costs associated with the main air compressor have a strong influence on the total production cost of the products emerging from the air separation unit. Optimization of the turbine configuration that drives the main air compressor is desirable in order to reduce power costs associated with system operation.
A variety of different systems are known in the art that integrate air separation units with power generation processes in one form or another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,901 to Marin et al. describes an integrated air separation process that produces an oxygen enriched gas stream and a nitrogen enriched gas stream. The nitrogen enriched gas stream is heated in a first heat exchanger associated with a first boiler and then used to generate power. The oxygen enriched gas stream is introduced with fuel to a combustor associated with the first boiler to produce a flue gas, and at least a portion of the flue gas exiting the boiler is used to generate power.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,202,442 and 6,276,171 to Brugerolle describe integrated power generation systems where part of the air emerging from a gas turbine compressor is sent to an air separation unit and another part is sent to a combustor of the gas turbine. A nitrogen gas stream emerging from the air separation unit is mixed with the discharge of the gas turbine combustor and then sent to the gas turbine expander. The Brugerolle systems generate power and also produce an oxygen-enriched fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,622 to Plumley et al. describes an integrated coal gasification plant and combined cycle system employing a supply of compressed air bled off from an air compressor portion of a gas turbine to supply the compressed-air needs of an oxygen plant associated with the coal gasification plant. The high temperature exhaust from the turbine section of the gas turbine is utilized to generate steam, and the generated steam is delivered to a steam turbine to generate a mechanical output in addition to the output generated by the gas turbine. In order to compensate for the removal of compressed air fed to the oxygen plant, the spent steam from the steam turbine is added to the compressed air and fuel fed to the combustor portion of the gas turbine. The system of Plumley et al. eliminates the need for a separate compressor to provide compressed air to the oxygen plant.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,602 to Demetri describes a solid-fueled power generation system with carbon dioxide sequestration including an air compressor and an oxygen compressor driven by a single gas turbine. The air compressor delivers compressed air to an air separator, with substantially pure oxygen emerging from the air separator being further compressed by the oxygen compressor and then divided into two streams. The first stream is delivered to a gasifier and the second stream to a combustor for the gas turbine. The first stream is combined with a solid fuel in the gasifier and converted into a combustible gas that is sent to the combustor. Water is also injected into the combustor, and an exhaust stream of carbon dioxide and steam emerging from the combustor is passed into the gas turbine for driving the turbine and providing power.
A system described by Bolland et al. (Energy Conversion & Mgmt, Volume 33, No. 5-8, 1992, pages 467-475) includes a combustor that receives oxygen from an air separation plant and reacts the oxygen with a fuel gas, followed by delivering the combustion products to a turbine. A water stream is passed through a heat exchanger to cool compressed air discharged from an air compressor before the compressed air is directed to the air separation plant, and the water or steam discharge from the heat exchanger is then delivered to the combustor to cool the combustor products down to a permissible turbine inlet temperature.
A GOOSTWEG power plant, which is described by Yantovskii (World Clean Energy Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, November 1991, pages 571-595), includes a first combustion chamber that receives oxygen from an air splitting machine, a hydrocarbon fuel and water to produce a drive gas of carbon dioxide and steam that is delivered to a high pressure turbine. The discharge from the high pressure turbine is reheated in a second combustion chamber and delivered to a medium pressure turbine, followed by a reheating in a third combustion chamber and delivery to a low pressure turbine. Carbon dioxide is separated from water in a degasser, and the separated water is then heated and recycled back to the first combustion chamber.
While each of the systems described above provides certain efficiencies and advantages, there still exists a need to provide an integrated air separation and power generation system with an optimized configuration to reduce power requirements and thus operating costs associated with operation of the air separation unit.

Integrated air separation and oxygen fired power generation system

L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme À Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Étude Et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


In a multi flow HSDPA system comprising a RNC (402) and a plurality of NodeB's (404, 406), the present disclosure includes (re-) use of original active queue management, AQM, based congestion control, ABCC for a primary link (421). For every detected congestion, an end-user IP packet is destroyed. ABCC is not used for the secondary link (422), which means that application level TCP will not be informed about congestion on the secondary link (422). The radio link control, RLC, protocol data units, PDU, (432) are distributed among links based on the congestion status of the links. If secondary link (422) is congested then more packets will be transmitted on the primary link (421). This makes it possible to use TCP compatible congestion control for multi flow HSDPA, without the drawback that would result from TCP reacting unnecessarily on flow bitrate decrease.

The third generation partnership project, 3GPP, is currently working on specifying support for HSDPA flow control, HSDPA FC. The goal of HSDPA FC, is to avoid and/or resolve congestion in a transport network, TN, between RNC and NodeB (i.e. a radio base station, RBS) and to keep enough data packets in the packet queues, PQ, in NodeB while at the same time avoiding unnecessarily long delays in the flow of data in the transport network.
In the prior art there are several ways in which this is done. For example, an early attempt was rate based aggregated flow control. However, this technique has been surpassed by later developments.
Another example is rate based per-flow flow control. When so-called active queue management, AQM, based congestion control, ABCC, is introduced the use of rate based per-flow flow control will remain. One of the reasons is that ABCC cannot support asynchronous transport mode, ATM, based transport networks, whereas rate based per-flow flow control can be used also in ATM based transport networks. Per flow (i.e. per radio bearer) bitrate is calculated based on Iub (the interface between RNC and NodeB) congestion detection and based on the status of the high speed medium access control, MAC-hs, scheduling buffer in the NodeB. The calculated bitrate is signaled from the NodeB to RNC. In the RNC MAC-d shapes the flow according to the received bitrate.
ABCC will be available in parallel with rate based per-flow flow control. This solution is intended to be the mainstream solution when the radio access network, RAN, and the transport network (Iub) is Internet protocol, IP, based. In the future it is expected that communication network operators move towards IP-based transport. Therefore it can be important to support all features with ABCC as it is expected to be a mainstream solution in the future.
ABCC intends to re-use end-to-end transmission control protocol, TCP, for congestion control both over Iub and for buffer control of the MAC-hs (priority queue, PQ, buffer) in the NodeB. This behavior is achieved by destroying end-user IP packets, when Iub congestion happens or when the MAC-hs buffer grows too long. In case of this solution Capacity Allocation Control Frames are either not sent, or even if sent they indicate very large bitrates, most likely larger than the actual bitrate achieved by the radio bearer, RB.
The main idea of multi-point HSDPA is that a user equipment, UE, receives packets from more than one radio cell, i.e. along different links or legs. In this way e.g. the cell edge user's throughput can be improved. For details see, e.g., figure 9.2 in 3GPP TR 25.872.
As mentioned, in ABCC the application level TCP is re-used as TN congestion control and PQ buffer control. Using ABCC for multi-link HSDPA, when congestion occurs on one of the links the TCP congestion avoidance mechanism is triggered and TCP will react on flow bitrate decrease. However, a consequence of this TCP congestion mechanism being triggered is that the UE cannot fully utilize the aggregated capacity of the links.

Congestion control for multi flow data communication


A transformerless electrical appliance with an AC heating element uses a triac in series with the heating element and a control circuit responsive to a thermistor to regulate flow of heating current. A power supply is formed by a resistive divider that steps down the AC line voltage and a fullwave diode bridge that rectifies the stepped-down voltage. The resistance of the divider is comparatively high, limiting power dissipation in the divider, but incidentally producing significant variations in the power supply voltage (roughly 100% from minimum to maximum levels). The impedance of the divider element which conducts the operating current of the control circuit is selected to ensure that the average minimum power supply voltage is above the minimum operating voltage required by the control circuit. Resistive dividers are used to produce temperature and reference signals from the power supply voltage, making switching of the triac relatively immune to the significant variations in the supply voltage.

A conventional electrical appliance such as an oven is normally connected with a power cord to an AC electrical main to conduct current through a resistive heating element. A bimetallic control is commonly used to control the current flow in response to temperature. The bimetallic control is located near the heating element, or in some part of the appliance housing where it can respond to excessive temperature, to assume an open, non-conductive state.
Various semiconductor switches capable of conducting large currents are known. However, bimetallic devices have remained the control of choice for AC-operated electrical appliances despite limited accuracy and limited functionality. Use of a semiconductor switch would require a temperature sensor and a control circuit responsive to operation of the sensor. These are normally operated with DC voltages, and, in any event, not at voltage levels associated with electrical mains. Transformers and regulated voltage supplies would normally be used to reduce voltage levels and provide DC operating voltages. Although very sophisticated solid-state control can then be implemented, the cost would far exceed that of using a simple bimetallic strip.
The present specification addresses such problems and provides inter alia an electrical heating appliance which incorporates a relatively low-cost current control circuit based on a semiconductor switching element.

Heating appliance with transformerless power supply using low-loss passive divider to reduce AC line voltages


Potential player proximity to a gaming machine is sensed, and used to customize the gaming machine. The potential player position may be sensed in different manners including via an ID card carried by the potential player with triangulation sensors, a cell phone, or via biometrics. The identity of the player is also associated with the ID card, and is used to access a database containing information about the potential player or type of player. Based on that stored information, the proximate gaming machine may be customized with a game or various attract modes that are more likely to attract the potential player. In further embodiments, information known to be desired by the potential player, such as sporting results may also be displayed to attract the potential player. In still further embodiments, various profiling techniques may be utilized to identify desired customizations of proximately located gaming machines.

The gaming industry has grown increasingly competitive and sophisticated in recent years. As such, it has become increasingly important to deliver the highest possible quality of gaming experience for each and every player. This both assures that the player will have a satisfying experience and that the gaming establishment has the best possible chance to maximize revenue and profit from each player.
Idle gaming machines are machines that are not currently being used. Such machines may be placed in an attract mode, which displays images and sounds designed to attract potential players so the machine becomes active and revenue producing. The gaming machine may also be preprogrammed with a set of one or more games. Much research has gone into designing attract modes that are appealing to potential players. However, no one attract mode or set of games is optimal for attracting all of the different potential players in a gaming establishment.


A method for representing an omnidirectional-like image by capturing an omnidirectional-like image and determining a representation format that is commonly applicable to any image acquisition system that is able to capture the omnidirectional-like image. The captured omnidirectional-like image is mapped onto the determined representation format.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of imaging, in particular the field of panoramic or omni-directional-like imaging.
2. Discussion of Related Art
It is well known in the art that panoramic or omni-directional-like images can be generated in a number ways. For example, such images can be generated by either rotating a single camera fixed at a given point in space followed by mosaicing the captured images, or by using a catadioptric camera equipped with a well known lens-mirror system. In each of these cases, the resulting image(s) format and organization will be specific to the particular acquisition system used. Hence, aside from image or video encoder performance that is dependent on the type of acquisition used, a separate decoder must be used for decoding each type of image. Additionally, if the encoder directly codes the images as acquired by the image acquisition system, or a modified version of them which is still dependent on the particular acquisition system, the burden of computing the inverse mapping necessary to generate and display perspective images from the decoded omnidirectional images falls on the decoder.
The dependency of the encoder performance on the various captured image formats, the dependency of the decoder on a particular acquisition system (and encoding format), and the associated computational burden placed on the decoder are among the major disadvantages of previous omnidirectional representation and coding approaches (e.g., the ParaMax360 system manufactured by Remote Reality, Inc. of Westborough, Mass.). Also, previous formats in which the panoramic and omnidirectional image data were generated in the art are not well-suited for image or video encoding using standard image or video codecs, given the nature of omnidirectional-like images such as their shape, optical flow, and distortion of the image.
In the context of the need to store, process, transmit, and display panoramic or omnidirectional-like images, new requirements have consequently arisen in terms of their representation, coding, transmission, rendering and display. New approaches are required to enable a generation of multimedia systems where both the video and audio components reflect recent advances in the capture processes of still images and video.

Representation and coding of panoramic and omnidirectional images


A noise protection wall having a height with a framework for holding and receiving wall elements, with the wall elements including cassettes containing a nutrient medium, the cassettes being arranged one on top of the other for forming the height of the wall, each cassette having a total vertical area; each of the cassettes being precultivated and covered with lower and higher plants and includes a supporting and protecting rack for a complete structural element having the nutrient medium and water mats arranged therein; the watering mats having water-storing properties and water-releasing properties; a droplet watering system on top of the noise protection wall; and a cement fiber slab extending across the total vertical area of each cassette and arranged in the center of each cassette.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a noise protection wall. More particularly, it relates to noise protection walls which are set up along traffic routes in order to protect wayside residential areas against the noise coming from the traffic route.
2. The Prior Art
Most noise protection walls are made from galvanized steel posts having exchangeable wall elements mounted between such posts. Certain frequencies are damped or diminished to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the construction material and the wall system. Elements which predominantly reflect the sound have a low wall cross-section and are manufactured from, for example, concrete, metal or plastic profiles. On the other hand, elements which absorb the sound for the most part have a wider structure and are composed of a porous material, for example, an open-pore expanded concrete, facing concrete, or rock wool. By means of such elements, the sound penetrates the open-pore materials and is converted into heat.
It is difficult to provide said elements with an aesthetic appearance. In most cases, such elements have a conspicuous structure and they are painted in bright colors. Such a construction with this appearance interferes with the natural scenery, and the popular discontent with such noise screens is growing, because they do not meet their visual needs.
Any after covering of the screens with plants that could hide such noise screens is often not possible due to lack of space, or due to the excessively high cost.
One possible solution is shown by the noise protection wall known from DE-OS 38 12 394, which is comprised of a framework for holding and receiving wall elements, whereby the latter consist of cassettes covered by plants, said cassettes being stacked one on top of the other for forming the height of the wall. Such a noise protection wall does not interfere with the natural scenery, but offers a successful appearance, aesthetically speaking. It offers a biotop for many microorganisms and ensures the elimination of harmful substances and good heat absorption.
With respect to sound damping or diminution values, a noise protection wall erected according to DE-OS 38 12 394 adequately meets the "Technical Specifications and Guidelines for the Design of Noise Protection Walls on Roadways" ("ZTV-Lsw 88"), which specify that the A-valued sound diminished value measured has to be reduced by at least 25 dB.
In recent times, the traffic volume on roadways and in the air has continued to grow; numerous new industrial zones with additional sources of noise have been developed, and many residential areas which only yesterday were located in a green landscape are now situated in the center of an industrial zone or near a heavily traveled road. Noise leads to an impairment of sound communication, of sleep and relaxation, and diseases of the vegetative nervous system. It is, therefore, understandable why noise is, according to a poll, perceived as being one of the severest impairments of the environment. A noise screen covered with green plants as the one known from DE-OS 38 12 394, which only offers adequate sound elimination or absorption, is no longer deemed acceptable.
With noise protection walls erected according to DE-OS 38 12 394, it is also particularly disadvantageous in that vertical tubes had to be installed later to distribute the load in order to increase the stability of the noise screen to the value required according to "ZTV-Lsw 88."


A negative resist composition containing an alkaline-soluble resin as a base material, in which an oxetane structure represented by the following formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the art of microfabrication of semiconductor devices, more particularly, to a negative resist composition that can be developed with a basic aqueous solution without causing swelling, a method for forming a fine resist pattern thereof and a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. According to the present invention, a resist material having a lower absorbance and a high sensitivity for shorter wavelength radiation and high dry etching resistance can be provided. Thus, a semiconductor integrated circuit such as VLSI and ULSI etc., as well as other devices needing microfabrication such as a magnetic resistive head, and the like, can be advantageously fabricated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A photolithography technique using krypton fluoride excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm, as referred to KrF hereinafter) has been dominating for mass production of highly miniaturized semiconductor devices due to availability of chemical amplification type resist such as the one proposed by H. Ito, et al. For example, reference should be made to J. M. J. Frechet et al., Proc Microcircuit Eng., 260 (1982), H. Ito et al., Digest of Technical Papers of 1982 Symposium on VLSI Technology, 86 (1983), H. Ito et al., "Polymers in Electronics", ACS Symposium Series 242, and T. Davidson et al., ACS, 11 (1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,628 (1985).
Recently, in relation to fabrication of a higher integrated circuit devices such as Gbit DRAMs, a lithography technique using ArF (Argon fluoride) excimer laser (wavelength: 193 nm) has been actively studied, wherein the ArF excimer laser emits a shorter wavelength radiation as compared with the KrF excimer laser. Since conventional phenol resins have a strong optical absorbance at such shorter wavelengths, the resin material constituting the base of the resist has to be changed. Thus, there is an urgent need of developing a resist material applicable for such shorter wavelength radiations.
As a chemical amplification type resist applicable for the wavelength of ArF radiation, positive resists have been actively studied (see, for example, K. Nozaki et al., Chem. Mater., 6, 1492 (1994), K. Nakano et al., Proc. SPIE, 2195, 194 (1994), R. D. Allen et al., Proc. SPIE, 2438, 474 (1994), Japanese Laid-Open patent application No. 9-90637, K. Nozaki et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 35, L528 (1996), and K. Nozaki et al., J. Photopolym. Sci. Technol., 10(4), 545-550 (1997)).
However, there are few reports about single layer negative chemical amplification type resists. Most of the resists are cross-linking type resists.
For example, as described in A. Katsuyama et al., Abstracted Papers of Third International Symposium on 193 nm Lithography, 51 (1997), or in Maeda et al., Abstracts of the 58th Japan Society of Applied Physics No. 2, 647 (3a-Sc-17) (1997), or in T. Naito et al., Proc. SPIE, 3333, 503 (1998), Japanese Laid-Open patent application No. 2000-122288, or in Japanese Laid-Open patent application No. 2000-147769, a cross-linking type resist is utilized for patterning, there is a report of cross-linking type resist in which there is caused a difference of solubility to a developer between an exposed area and an unexposed area by increasing the molecular weight as a result of cross-linking reaction at the exposed area. However, such an approach cannot avoid the problem of swelling of the exposed patterns, and the use thereof in the art of microfabrication of semiconductor devices is rather limited.
Recently, there is a report of a single-layer negative chemical amplification type resist that uses a polarity change, which in turn is caused by an intra-molecular lactonization that uses a hydroxycarboxylic acid structure (for example, reference should be made to Y. Yokoyama et al., J. Photopolym. Sci. Technol., 13(4), 579 (2000)). Further, there is a report of a single-layer negative chemical amplification resist that uses a pinacol rearrangement (for example, reference should be made to S. Cho et al., Proc. SPIE, 3999, 62 (2000)).
However, in the case of using the intra-molecular lactonization, there is a problem in that proportion of the polarity change is relatively small and it is difficult to perform patterning with high contrast. Also, in the case of the pinacol rearrangement, there are problems such as adhesion property to a substrate due to the inclusion of fluorine and preservation stability caused as a result of inclusion of maleic anhydride.
Thus, the resist utilizing pinacol arrangement has not been established. Although the inventors previously developed a single-layer negative chemical amplification type resist using polarity change that uses an inter-molecular protection reaction (Japanese Laid-Open patent application No. 11-311860 and No. 11-305436), there was a problem that no enough reactivity was achieved because of the fact that the reaction is an inter-molecular reaction.
A negative resist can be advantageously used when it is difficult to produce a mask with a positive resist or when the exposed area is small as in the case of the gate of a transistor, due to the fact that the unexposed area of the resist is dissolved. Further, the use of such a negative resist is advantageous also in the case of forming a phase shift mask used in the technology of super-resolution exposure for obtaining a resolution equal to or less than the wavelength used for the exposure, and also in the Levenson mask, which is used for enhancing optical images.
Thus, a negative resist is hoped for also in the art of ArF exposure. These masks formed of the negative resist are considered also as being applicable to the case in which the resolution of equal to or less than 130 nm is required in combination with the use of ArF excimer radiation source. Thus, there is an urgent demand for a resist capable of resolving such a fine pattern without causing swelling.
Meanwhile, with increase of integration density of semiconductor devices, the number of interconnection layers is increasing also in addition to the miniaturization of the line width. In relation to such a demand, the requirement imposed to a resist material for lithographic process is becoming stringent every year. In addition to the resolution, the dimensional accuracy after etching has emerged recently as an important factor of a resist material. With the shifting of the exposure wavelength to a shorter side, it is expected that there appear difficulty in keeping up a sufficient transparency for the resist material. Thus, it is expected that the thickness of the resist layer becomes thin in such a future resist material. When the thickness of the resist layer is thus reduced, the etching property of the resist layer becomes a paramount problem in the fabrication process of miniaturized semiconductor devices. Similar problems appear also in the case of fabricating any highly miniaturized devices that use a highly miniaturized photolithographic patterning process such as the fabrication process of magneto-resistive heads for use in high-density magnetic recording.
Meanwhile, there is a proposal of surface imaging technique as an effective technology solving the foregoing problems. Particularly, there is a proposal of bilayer resist process that uses a resist composition containing silicon. The bilayer method comprises the steps of forming a lower resist layer by applying a solution containing an organic resin with a thickness of about 0.5 μm, followed by formation of an upper resist layer on the lower resist layer thus formed, with a thickness of about 0.1 μm. Next, the upper resist layer is patterned by an exposure and developing process to form a upper resist pattern, and the lower resist layer is subjected to an etching process by using the upper resist pattern as a mask. According to such a process, it becomes possible to form a resist pattern having a high aspect ratio.
The resist material for use in such a bilayer method is required to satisfy various requirements such as excellent exposure resolution, excellent storage stability, capability of being developed by basic aqueous solutions (alkaline developability), in other words, in addition to excellent resistance to oxygen reactive etching (hereinafter referred to as O2-RIE). At the present stage, however, there is no commercially available resist material that satisfies all of the above requirements.

Negative resist composition, a method for forming a resist pattern thereof, and a method for fabricating a semiconductor device

Abstract: is contained in a structure of the alkaline-soluble resin or in a structure of a compound used in combination with the alkaline-soluble resin, is disclosed.


The invention is an apparatus for aerating soil proximate to a plant with root system using a hand drill system, made of a polymer drill bit having a shaft with a vertical axis that is generally cylndrically shaped having a connector end and a drill end, an indentation in the drill bit between one-fourth and one-third of the overall length of the polymer drill bit from the drill end, and a drill with a connector to engage the polymer drill bit for forming a bore hole in soil adjacent a plant with root system.

The invention is an apparatus for more easily and effectively aerating and fertilizing soil.
A common technique for aerating and fertilizing trees and other plants in the agricultural industry today is to dig a hole in the ground and then to add fertilizer into the hole. Drilling and fertilizing machines such as that disclosed can save a great deal of labor and time, particularly in large agricultural operations, however, for an individual or homeowner this option would be too costly and impractical.
The problem encountered by the homeowner has been the lack of a self-contained power unit that is rechargeable and would allow homeowners the ability to more effectively and efficiently fertilize their trees and shrubs.
Another problem which plagues current machines available in the market are the tendency of certain parts in their system to become rusted or otherwise corroded during prolonged periods of use. This results in the need for frequent lubrication, or for replacement of those parts periodically.
Additionally, due to the presences of unmarked utility lines, sprinkler lines, and large tree roots, a non-metallic and flexible drill bit needed to be developed, thereby flexing or bending when coming in contact with a buried, underground object as mentioned previously.
Finally, a problem with larger pervious devices is that they are difficult to laterally stabilize during drilling. This can result in holes being drilled, which are larger than necessary and can create forces and jerks, which can be transmitted to the operator through the machine.
It is clear that there has existed a long and unfilled need in the prior art for a soil aerating and fertilizing tool which is self contained and rechargeable, resistant to rust and corrosion, non-metallic and flexible, and which provides lateral guidance during drilling thereby reducing unnecessary forces and jerks.
These also exists a need for a powered hand tool specifically created for the purpose of aerating the drip line area beneath trees as well as serving as paths for fertilizer and other nutrients to reach the feeder roots with greater ease.
The development of a powered unit with a motor (electric or gasoline) would greatly improve the efficiency of the effort. Corded or rechargeable units would allow homeowners the ability to fertilize more effectively and efficiently their trees and shrubs. More powerful gasoline powered units would do the same for commercial application. Motors could be built to match the size of the application or intended use. A need also exists for safer drill bits for home use.
The current invention is designed to fill the above-mentioned needs.
The invention is an apparatus for aerating soil proximate to a plant with root system. The apparatus is made from a polymer drill bit with an indentation between one-fourth and one-third of the overall length of the polymer drill bit from the drill end and a drill that engages the polymer drill bit to form a bore hole in soil adjacent a plant with root system.
The invention also relates generally to a device for drilling, wherein a drill bit mounted on a drill rod assembly forms a drill hole in the soil, in the drip line area, allowing air to mix with the soil and serving as a path for fertilizer and other nutrients, providing a richer, healthier medium that promotes growth in plants and trees.

Drill bit for aerating soil for a plant with root system


A semiconductor module can be realized, which is formed by mounting an electronic component and a bus bar by solder on a lead frame including a plurality of terminals, wherein a solder flow suppressing section capable of restricting a direction of flow of solder on the lead frame is formed in the vicinity of the solder portion of the component mounted by solder, and by this configuration, positional deviation, such as rotation or movement of the mounted component, is suppressed and the size of the module can be made compact.

In recent years, semiconductor packages having high insulating properties and good heat radiating properties have become required in semiconductor modules that are provided with a power semiconductor element, such as an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), power MOSFET, and the like. Moreover, in semiconductor modules of this kind, progress has been made in compactification and increased mounting density. For example, there is a semiconductor module that can be made more compact by integrating the plurality of terminals and reducing the number of terminals, (see, for example, PTL 1).


A device and computer implemented method for digital image content recognition. The method includes determining, depending on a digital image, a first candidate class for the content of the digital image by a baseline model neural network comprising a first feature extractor and a first classifier for classifying digital images; determining a second candidate class for the content of the digital image by a prototypical neural network comprising a second feature extractor and a second classifier for classifying digital images, classifying the content of the digital image into either the first candidate class or the second candidate class depending on the result of a comparison of a first confidence score for the first candidate class to a threshold or of a comparison of a first confidence score for the first candidate class to a second confidence score for the second candidate class.

Artificial neural networks can be trained for digital image content recognition. Usually a feature extractor extracts features of a digital image and a classifier determines a class for the content of the digital image from a plurality of predetermined classes depending on the extracted features. In order to produce useful recognition, the artificial neural network is trained with training data. Good results are achievable when training data that is used for training the artificial neural network comprises many digital images in each class. When the training data is imbalanced in the sense that the training data comprises very few digital images in some classes while other classes have many digital images, the training of the artificial neural network is less effective. Consequently, it is difficult to provide a good digital image pattern recognition mechanism from such imbalanced training data. It is hence desirable to provide digital image content recognition for a large number of extremely imbalanced classes in an efficient way.

Device and method of digital image content recognition, training of the same


A computer program product, a system and method for scaling are provided. The method of scaling may include determining a predicted workload of a multi-tier application for a defined time period. A change in application capacity for the predicted workload may be determined. A scaling strategy may be dynamically selected for the change in application capacity. The scaling strategy may include vertical scaling and horizontal scaling.

Cloud computing generally refers to server-based computing resources that are accessible via a computing network, such as a wide area network, Internet, or the like. The computing resources may include applications that may be executed on remotely accessible servers, termed cloud servers; data storage; and the like. In a cloud environment, all processing and data storage may take place on the cloud servers and associated storage devices. As such, it is not necessary for users of cloud computing resources to locally store data or execute the applications being utilized.
Cloud computing resources may generally be susceptible to being adapted to serve a given demand or need, for example by providing additional processing or storage resources. However, because the demand place on a cloud application can vary with time, it is necessary to manage the resources that are available. If the available resources are insufficient for a given demand, performance of the cloud application may be compromised. Conversely, if the available cloud resources greatly excel the demand, the resources may be wasted, resulting in unnecessary costs or lost opportunity in which the resources could have been applied to other needs. Burst activity, in which the demand placed on resources may increase very rapidly, for example, increasing may many multiples or orders of magnitude over the course of minutes or a few hours, can create many challenges to cloud resource management.

Dynamically scaling multi-tier applications vertically and horizontally in a cloud environment

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to assess compliance of a virtual computing environment. An example method disclosed herein to assess compliance of computing resources of a computing environment includes monitoring for an occurrence of a change in a computing resource in the computing environment, and in response to detecting the occurrence and without waiting for batch testing, assessing compliance of the computing resource with a compliance policy.

Compliance policies are often used to monitor and maintain resources deployed in computing environments such as data centers. Policies such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, the Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process, vendor-supplied hardening guides, etc., provide strong guidelines for handling and protecting sensitive data. Failure by an organization to comply with these standards may result in loss of revenue, loss of reputation, and/or loss of accreditation.

Methods and apparatus to assess compliance of a computing resource in a virtual computing environment


The invention provides a thin film transistor comprising an active layer, the active layer comprising an IGZO-based oxide material, the IGZO-based oxide material being represented by a composition formula of In2-xGaxZnO4-δ, where 0.75<x<1.10 and 0<δ≦1.29161×exp(−x/0.11802)+0.00153 and being formed from a single phase of IGZO having a crystal structure of YbFe2O4, and a method of producing the thin film transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a thin film transistor and a method of producing a thin film transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, amorphous In—Ga—Zn—O-based homologous oxide materials (hereinafter, referred to as "IGZO-based oxide materials" or simply as "IGZO" sometimes), represented by a composition formula In2-xGaxO3(ZnO)m (0<x<2 and m is a natural number) in a crystalline state thereof, have been attracting attention.
Hosono et al. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology reports that amorphous IGZO-based oxide materials exhibit a value of electrical resistivity similar to that of a semiconductor and can be formed into a film at room temperature, and that these materials can achieve a mobility that is equal to or higher than that of amorphous silicon (Hosono et al., Non-patent Document 1, Nature, 432 (2004), pp. 488-492).
In particular, amorphous IGZO-based oxide materials represented by the above composition formula in which m=1 are highly promising material systems because of the large ratio of overlapping of electron orbits between In—In, which is considered to contribute to the conduction of electrons.
Research and development on amorphous IGZO-based oxide materials is being intensely conducted with respect to the use of these materials as, for example, an effective material for an active layer of a thin film transistor (hereinafter, also referred to as a "TFT").
On the other hand, IGZO-based oxide materials having a crystalline structure are described, for example, in the following literature.
Non-patent Document 2 (Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 82 (1999), pp. 2705-2710) describes a method of producing a crystalline IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1, in which a mixture of raw materials including In, Ga and Zn is annealed at 1350° C. or higher, and then rapidly cooled down from this extremely high annealing temperature. The document also discloses that the solid solution range of Ga (range of x) is from 0.66 to 1.06.
Further, Japanese Patent No. 3947575 discloses a process of subjecting a crystalline IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1, which is obtained by annealing at certain conditions, to a reduction heat treatment at a certain temperature in a hydrogen or argon atmosphere.
In this regard, in many electron-conductive oxide materials including IGZO, properties that are unique to these materials are significantly affected by the value of the oxygen deficit amount δ. When the value of δ is great, a large number of carriers (electrons) are generated and a "degenerate semiconductor", having a Fermi level within the conductive band, is formed. In other words, the oxide material in this state is a conductor that exhibits metallic conductivity. On the other hand, when the value of δ is small, generation of carriers can be suppressed and the oxide material can exist as a semiconductor. The above fact indicates that the nature of an oxide material may greatly vary between a conductor and a semiconductor, depending on the value of the oxide deficit amount δ.
In the method described in Non-patent Document 2, the purpose of rapid cooling from a high-temperature range (quenching) is to obtain an oxide material that also maintains its state achieved at high temperature at room temperature. Generally, oxygen bound to an oxide material escapes more easily at a higher temperature, from the viewpoint of chemical equilibrium, whereby the value of δ is increased. Accordingly, an IGZO-based oxide material having a greater value of δ may be obtained as a result of performing quenching, and an IGZO-based oxide material having a greater value of δ cannot suppress the generation of carriers and behaves as a degenerate semiconductor, i.e., a metal (conductor).
On the other hand, in the method described in Japanese Patent No. 3947575, the reduction heat treatment is performed in order to introduce oxygen deficits into an oxide material. Therefore, the IGZO-based oxide material obtained by this method has a great value of δ, thereby increasing the carrier concentration thereof. As a result, the IGZO-based oxide material obtained by this method behaves as a degenerate semiconductor, i.e., a metal (conductor).
As described above, both Non-patent Document 2 and Japanese Patent No. 3947575 indicate that a crystalline IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1 is a conductor, rather than a semiconductor. Therefore, if an IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1 can be obtained as a semiconductor, this material can be widely used in electronic devices, such as as an active layer of a TFT.
Further, if the amount of Ga in an IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1 is not appropriate, this material does not form a single phase of IGZO but includes multiple crystal phases therein. Therefore, electron scattering tends to occur at grain boundaries or the like from a microscopic viewpoint. Accordingly, in order to apply a crystalline IGZO-based oxide material in which m=1 to electronic devices, an IGZO-based oxide material in which the amount of Ga is within the solid-solution range and a single phase of IGZO is formed, as described in Non-patent Document 2, is desired in view of maintaining the mobility of carriers (electrons).

Thin film transistor and method of producing thin film transistor