A motor controller according to the invention includes a driving IC and a magnetic sensor. The driving IC receives a driving signal for driving a motor and controls the rotation speed of the motor using the driving signal. The magnetic sensor detects the rotation speed of the motor. The driving IC includes a sensor signal output terminal and a driving signal input terminal. The sensor signal output terminal outputs a sensor signal generated by the driving IC based on a pulse signal from the magnetic sensor. The driving signal input terminal receives the driving signal. The sensor signal output terminal and the driving signal input terminal are connected by a connecting portion. The driving IC rotates the motor at a first rotation speed different from the rotation speed of the motor driven according to the driving signal using the sensor signal input to the driving signal input terminal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a motor controller that obtains multiple steps of rotation speeds using a sensor signal output during the rotation of a motor.
2. Description of Related Arts
Information equipment such as a computer or a server cools down components incorporated therein using a cooling fan attached to a housing thereof. In general, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is changed based on the temperature of the housing of the information equipment or the temperature of the constituent components of the information equipment.
In the invention disclosed in JP 2007-65870 A, a cooling fan is rotated at a first rotation speed when the power of information equipment is turned on and the cooling fan is rotated at a second rotation speed faster than the first rotation speed when the temperature of the constituent components of the information equipment increases and needs to be lowered.
In the related art, as disclosed in JP 2007-65870 A, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is changed by changing a duty ratio of a PWM signal applied to the cooling fan. Thus, in order to change the rotation speed of the cooling fan, a controller that can output the PWM signal is essentially necessary.
However, there is a demand for easily obtaining multiple steps of rotation speeds without using the controller that can output the PWM signal. In the case of a motor controller using the controller that can output the PWM signal, it is difficult to meet such a demand of the related art.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor probe having a resistive tip. The method includes forming first and second mask films having a rectangular shape on a silicon substrate, first etching an upper surface of the silicon substrate, forming a third mask film corresponding to a width of a tip neck by etching the first mask film, forming the width of the tip neck to a predetermined width by second etching of the silicon substrate using the third mask film as a mask, and forming a peak forming portion of the tip by annealing the silicon substrate after removing the third mask film. A semiconductor probe having a uniform height and tips having a uniform neck width can be manufactured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor probe having resistive tips of uniform height.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the demand for compact electronic devices such as portable communication terminals increases, there is a need for ultra compact and highly integrated nonvolatile recording media. A conventional hard disc can not be easily made into compact form, and high integration of flash memory is hard to achieve. Therefore, an information storing device using a scanning probe has been proposed.
A scanning probe is used in a variety of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) techniques. For example, the scanning probe is used in a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) that reproduces information by detecting current flowing between the scanning probe and a sample, an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) that utilizes atomic force between the scanning probe and a sample, a Magnetic Force Microscope (MFM) that makes use of force between a magnetic field and the magnetized scanning probe, a Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope (SNOM) that overcomes a resolution limit due to the wavelength of visible light, and an Electrostatic Force Microscope (EFM) using electrostatic force between a probe and a sample.
In order to record and reproduce information with high speed and high density using the SPM technique, surface charges on a small region having a diameter on the order of tens of nanometers must be detected, and cantilevers must be manufactured in an array for improving recording and reproducing speed.
International patent publication No. WO 03/096409 discloses a method of manufacturing a semiconductor probe having a resistive tip. The method includes forming a mask in a stripe shape on a substrate, and forming a resistive region under the mask through ion implantation and an annealing process. Next, a mask in a rectangular shape is formed by etching the mask using a photomask having a strip shape, which is perpendicular to the mask, and tips in which the resistive region is self-aligned is formed by etching the substrate using the rectangularly shaped mask.
FIG. 1 is a drawing which illustrates a conventional method of forming a resistive tip using a mask having a rectangular shape;
Referring to FIG. 1, when etching an upper surface of the substrate 10 using a rectangularly shaped mask 16 having a width of approximately 2 μm, a peak forming portion composed of electrode regions 11 and 12 and a resistive region 14 is formed. At this time, the width W of a tip neck formed under the mask 16 varies according to the degree of etching. The width W of the tip neck is an important parameter for determining the height of the tip. The height of the tip can vary according to the width W of the tip neck when performing a thermal oxidation process for forming a sharp peak after removing the rectangular mask 16. In a scanning probe device using a plurality of cantilevers in an array, the height of the tips must be uniform. If the height of the tips is not uniform, there is a problem in simultaneously reading and writing with the cantilevers. In order to adjust the height of the tip to approximately 1 μm, the width W of the tip neck can be managed to approximately 300 nm. The width W of the tip neck during an etching process is measured by a faint shadow through the mask 16 using an optical microscope.
However, measurement of the width W of the tip neck using an optical microscope is not correct since the width W of the tip neck is estimated by a faint shadow. Therefore, there is a drawback in that the height of the tip is not manufactured within the desired range.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor probe having resistive tip


A wave responsive electrical generator device having a buoyant member connected to an anchor by a tether line member, the line member passing through a sheave mounted within the buoyant member and descending to a counterweight, whereby vertical motion of the buoyant member results in rotation of the sheave, which in turn operates an alternator to produce electricity, wherein the line member is a plurality of belts mechanically interlocking with the sheave.

This invention relates generally to the field of wave responsive electrical generators, and more particularly relates to offshore generators comprising buoyant members that harness energy from waves and swells occurring in large bodies of water, particularly the ocean.
Tides, currents, wind and other weather events impart energy to large bodies of water that result in surface swells and waves. A buoyant object will rise and fall with these waves and swells. There have been many attempts to utilize the energy of the waves and swells to generate electricity, typically by harnessing the vertical reciprocal motion of the buoyant object to operate an electrical generator.
It is an object of this invention to provide a wave and swell responsive electrical generator distinct from the previous systems, the wave and swell responsive electrical generator assembly comprising an anchored buoyant member, the buoyant member being connected to the anchor member by a tether line, such as a cable, chain or belt, passing through a sheave positioned in the buoyant member, the tether line then descending to a counterweight, whereby vertical motion of the buoyant member in either direction results in rotation of the sheave and movement of hydraulic cylinders to drive an hydraulic motor that drives an electrical generator or rotation of a primary and secondary transmission to drive an alternator.
It is another object to provide a wave and swell responsive electrical generator comprising an anchored buoyant member, the buoyant member being connected to the anchor member by a tether line, such as a cable, chain or belt, passing through a sheave positioned in the buoyant member, the tether line then descending to a counterweight, whereby vertical motion of the buoyant member in either direction results in rotation of the sheave and rotation of at least one transmission that drives and alternator.


The bed frame includes a base frame and an articulating upper frame. The base frame includes a head end, a foot end and oppositely-disposed longitudinally extending sides. The articulating upper frame or deck comprises an upper body section, a seat section, a thigh section, and a lower leg section. These frame sections are longitudinally spaced apart and transversely extended, and at least the upper body, thigh and lower leg sections are movable with respect to the seat section to provide for the articulating movement. The articulating upper frame is mounted on the base frame for longitudinal shifting of the articulating upper frame relative to the base frame. A drive assembly for raising and lowering the upper body section relative to the base frame includes linkage connected to the upper body section such that, tilting movement of the upper body section shifts the articulating upper frame longitudinally relative to the base frame. A second drive assembly for raising and lowering the thigh section relative to the base frame includes linkage connected to the lower leg section such that, when the thigh section tilts upwardly, the lower leg section tilts downwardly. In accordance with further aspects of the bed frame, a drive assembly for longitudinal shifting of the upper frame relative to the base frame includes linkage connected to the upper body section such that longitudinal shifting of the upper frame relative to the base frame results in tilting movement of the upper body section.

The present invention relates to articulating bed frames and more particularly to the provision of articulating bed frames which will move rectilinearly toward the wall or the stationary headboard when the upper body portion of the bed is tilted upwardly, move rectilinearly toward the foot of the bed when the upper body portion is tilted downwardly, and which can also be moved into a purchaser's home by one delivery person and assembled by that delivery person.
Articulating bed frames are known and are often referred to as "hospital bed" frames in that the frames provide relatively movable upper body portions, seat portions, thigh portions and lower leg portions. Such beds are described in pending application Ser. No. 08/565,409 filed Nov. 30, 1995. In such beds, the head and upper back of the person reclining on the bed may be tilted upwardly from the transversely extending seat panel to a selected position. Generally the transversely extending seat panel remains stationary and flat. The thigh section tilts upwardly from the seat panel to raise the patient's knees and thighs. The lower leg panel then tilts downwardly from the thigh panel in conventional fashion.
It is desirable to have such an articulating frame which is shipped in semi-knocked down (SKD) condition for ease of handling, transportation and assembly in the field. Only one delivery person is required to take such a SKD articulating frame to a customer's home to be installed. It is also desirable to have such an articulating frame which will move rectilinearly toward the head of the bed when the head portion is raised and toward the foot of the bed when the head portion is lowered. This will permit the bed to be placed against a wall or a stationary headboard. It will also permit the person on the bed to stay close to the adjacent night stand when the head portion is tilted upwardly.
In accordance with the present invention, such an articulating frame can be set up on a conventional metal bed frame, inside a conventional water bed or inside a conventional sleigh frame which includes fixed headboards and footboards with side rails therebetween. Such an articulating frame fits a marketing paradigm of providing an adjustable frame to go on a conventional bed frame to replace the conventional box spring. An embodiment of the present invention is established to fit on a variety of frames defined by industry standards. While it may be known to have such add-on frames, it is not known to provide such an add-on articulating frame which moves rectilinearly toward and away from the wall or the stationary headboard, which includes removable panels in each of the support sections of the frame, and which is shipped in SKD form.
One embodiment of the invention, therefore, comprises a two-part articulating bed frame which will fit on a conventional bed frame, have articulating panel sections movable with respect to such conventional bed frames, and be delivered and installed by one person. This embodiment includes a base frame which is a weldment that moves separately from the articulating upper frame and which includes, at each of its longitudinally extending sides, inwardly facing channels serving as guide tracks. The channels are connected by longitudinally spaced apart, transversely extending struts such that the assembly becomes rigid, but lightweight and easy to transport. The inwardly facing channels serve as tracks or guides for rollers which accommodate the longitudinally directed, rectilinear movement of the upper frame.
Essentially, the upper frame is a hinged frame providing an upper body frame section, a seat frame section, a thigh frame section, and a lower leg frame section. These frame sections are longitudinally spaced apart and transversely extending in conventional fashion. Adjacent frame sections may be hinged together to provide for articulating movement of at least the upper body, thigh and lower leg sections. The seat section is conventionally not an articulating section and stays flat or horizontal. It is on this seat section that the control for the drive mechanisms for the upper body frame section and thigh frame section may be provided. Typically these drive mechanisms may be conventional electric motor and screw arrangements. Appropriate linkages to be described hereinafter are provided for controlling relative movement of the upper body frame section relative to the base frame and also for controlling relative movement of the thigh and lower leg sections.
In accordance with the present invention, the upper frame is formed with inwardly and upwardly opening angles for receiving removable panels. The articulating frame of the present invention comprises four separate removable panels which are received in their respective frame sections to provide a platform for supporting a mattress. These panels may be some type of lightweight, rigid wood-product members, the upper surfaces of which may be coated or covered with a decorative pattern or material. By having these removable panels, the upper frame is much easier to deliver and install. In addition, all of the electrical controls and the drive mechanisms for the articulating frame may be mounted on the underside of the seat panel.
While one embodiment of the present invention is designed to be placed on top of a conventional bed frame to replace a conventional box spring, the present invention also contemplates a stand-alone frame assembly which can be taken apart and delivered in pieces by a single delivery person. In this embodiment of the present invention, a floor engaging base frame including four corner posts, longitudinally extending side rails and transversely extending end rails is provided. This floor engaging base frame may include adjustable corner posts or legs comprising, at each corner, an outer, vertically extending sleeve and an inner sleeve telescoped in the outer sleeve to move downwardly to an adjusted position to establish the height of the bed. The outer and inner telescopic sleeves may have longitudinally spaced apart openings through which adjustment pins can be inserted to select the height of the floor engaging base frame. The inner sleeve may carry at its lower end a roller caster or an isolation pad or, for that matter, a roller caster which is connected to the inner sleeve by means of an isolation pad. The isolation pads will be particularly helpful if the mattress placed on the frame assembly has a vibration massage capability.
Further, in this embodiment, the channel tracks are provided in the side rails of the floor engaging base frame. Then, the articulating upper frame with its pop-out panels as described above is mounted atop the floor engaging base frame for rectilinear movement.
In still further embodiment of the present invention, the floor engaging base frame with channel tracks is positioned inside a conventional bed frame or inside a conventional sleigh frame. A carriage is mounted on the floor engaging base frame for longitudinal motion. An upper deck comprising a set of four longitudinally spaced apart and transversely extending panel sections is mounted on the carriage. The panel sections are hinged together to provide for articulating movement of at least the upper body, thigh and lower leg panel sections. The seat panel section is bolted to the carriage, and remains stationary and flat. These panels may be some type of lightweight, sturdy, rigid wood-product members, such as Oriented Strand Board or OSB.
The present invention, therefore, is a bed frame including a base frame and an articulating upper frame. The base frame comprises a head end, a foot end and oppositely-disposed longitudinally extending sides. An articulating upper frame or deck comprises an upper body section, a seat section, a thigh section and a lower leg section. These sections are longitudinally spaced apart and transversely extended, and at least the upper body, thigh and lower leg sections are movable with respect to the seat section to provide for articulating movement. The upper frame is mounted on the base frame for longitudinal shifting of the upper frame relative to the base frame. A drive assembly for raising and lowering the upper body section relative to the base frame includes linkage connected to the upper body section such that, tilting movement of the upper body section shifts the upper frame longitudinally relative to the base frame. When the upper body section is tilted upwardly, the upper frame shifts longitudinally toward the head end of the bed and when the upper body section tilts downwardly, the upper frame shifts longitudinally toward the foot end of the bed. A second drive assembly for raising and lowering the thigh section relative to the base frame includes linkage connected to the lower leg section such that, when the thigh section is tilted upwardly, the lower leg section is tilted downwardly.
Additional features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


An extended paging indicator-based adaptive discontinuous reception method is proposed so as to improve a power saving performance of a terminal in an asynchronous wideband code division multiple access schemes. To this end, a plurality of terminals for performing power saving receive an extended paging indicator for a discontinuous reception cycle, conform a type of a bit Run for configuring the extended paging indicator, and change the discontinuous reception period. In addition, the terminals set the discontinuous reception period update factor value to be varied according to the extended paging indicator as an initial value so as to determine a next paging occasion block, change the discontinuous reception period update factor value according to the paging indicator of the bit Run received from base station, and change the discontinuous reception period according to the variance of the discontinuous reception period update factor value. The extended paging indicator-based adaptive discontinuous reception method may improve transmission time delay and transmission failure probability performances for packet reception as well as a power saving performance in comparison with a conventional fixed discontinuous reception method.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extended paging indicator-based adaptive discontinuous reception method for improving a power reduction performance in an asynchronous wideband code division multiple access method.
In detail, A radio resource control layer in a wireless network control apparatus or a base station performs scheduling and adaptively controlling a discontinuous reception cycle for a terminal of a power reduction mode. According to traffic characteristics, QoS, and a terminal power satate, a discontinuous reception cycle of the terminal is adaptively controlled through an extended paging indicator even though terminal is in the discontinuous reception operation. So will bring improvements in power reduction performance, transmission time delay, and transmission failure possibility with respect to the paging message and packet reception
(b) Description of the Related Art
Since the digital cellular-based second generation mobile communication system was launched, a third generation mobile communication system as an international mobile telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) has been standardized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) so as to support a high quality multimedia service without limiting area. Recently, as various specifications for the IMT-2000 system, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and the CDMA 2000 system completed by two large standardization organizations have been launched or prepared. The two large standardization organizations are Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) and Third Generation Partnership Projects 2(3GPP2).
The asynchronous wideband code division multiple access(WCDMA) technology has been developed in the 3GPP so as to configure a future high speed packet data transmission network of the next generation mobile communication system. The asynchronous WCDMA system has progressed based on a network structure of a conventional GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) scheme, and it may be relatively easily synchronized between base stations and terminals. It advantageously configures such infrastructures as a base station installation in comparison with the IS-95 (Interim Standard-95) series of the conventional synchronous code division multiple access system (CDMA) based base station, and may tremendous marketability and growth potential of upwards of about 80% of the entire world market through capacity improvement.
Meanwhile, the next generation mobile communication network configured based on such a wideband code division multiple access system may have been expected to provide such various high quality multimedia data services that only the wire network had provided such as visual telephone, streaming, and VoD (Video on Demand) in a wireless and mobile environment. However, considering a user terminal, power consumption is rapidly increased and the lifetime of a terminal battery is decreased. If efficient power management for improving a power saving performance is not performed between the base station and the terminal, and all the terminal power is consumed before the user sufficiently receives various services supplied from the base station.
Accordingly, in order to reduce terminal power consumption, the next generation mobile communication service has focused on a method for increasing the terminal battery lifetime with an efficient power saving method through the minimizing of terminal power consumption by effectively stopping or controlling a terminal power supply during intermittent use or by not using a wireless communication link.
Accordingly, in order to save terminal power, the 3GPP specification for the wideband code division multiple access system may have three terminal power saving modes related to a radio resource control (RRC) layer, an idle mode and Cell_PCH and URA_PCH states of the connected mode, and it provides a paging message indication method through a discontinuous reception (DRX) of the paging indicator channel (PICH).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for showing a cross-relation among an idle mode, a connected mode, a power saving mode for reducing terminal power, and a power active mode in a wideband code division multiple access system.
The paging indicator (PI) detection-based terminal power saving method is proposed by the present 3GPP specification, it uses the discontinuous reception cycle length in the power saving mode. Paging indicators occur on the corresponding physical channel, the paging indication channel(PICH). For each terminal, a paging indicator channel frame is referred to as a paging occasion (PO) block. The terminal that performs power saving through such discontinuous reception of paging indication has an allocated specified paging indicator position in the specified paging occasion block of the discontinuous reception cycle. It checks its paging indicator, and it then determines whether to return to a discontinuous reception process so as to save power or to convert to power active modes of Cell_FACH and Cell_DCH states, that is, the connected mode of FIG. 1, according to the existence or non-existence of the paging message for packet transmission/reception. Since such a method applies the same length of discontinuous reception cycles for all terminals performing power saving within the specified cells, the base station has a small load for the power saving. In addition, since the pluralities of terminals are evenly distributed, a false alarm probability with respect to the paging message reception of the terminals in cells may be reduced.
Hereinafter, a power saving method using a conventional discontinuous reception method in the wideband code division multiple access scheme will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates periodic paging confirmation through a conventional fixed discontinuous reception method so as to save terminal power in a wideband code division multiple access method.
First, all the terminals performing power saving in a specified cell receive the same discontinuous reception cycle coefficient (DRX Cycle Length Coefficient) □ though system information broadcasting of the base station, and determine the discontinuous reception cycle through Equation 1.DRX Cycle Length=MAX(2k, PBP) [frames]  EQUATION 1
Herein, "PBP" indicates Paging Block Periodicity and is given as 1 in the case of the Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD)-based wideband code division multiple access schemes, and accordingly, a final discontinuous reception cycle become a 2k frames. Referring to the 3GPP specification, "□" is determined by one of integers 6, 7, 8, and 9, and accordingly the discontinuous reception cycle becomes 2k, that is, 64, 128, 256, and 512 frames. The paging occasion positions for the specified terminals in the given discontinuous reception cycle may be determined by Equation 2.
                              P                                                              O                =                                                            [                                                      (                                          I                                                                                M                                                                                S                                                                                I                                                                                div                                                                                K                                        )                                                                          mod                    (                                          DRX                                                                                Cycle                                                                                Length                                                                                div                                                                                P                                                                                B                                                                                P                                        )                                                  ]                            ×              P                                                                                B                                                                                P                        +                          n              ×              D                                                                                R                                                                                X                                                                                Cycle                                                                                Length                        +                          Frame                                                                                Offset                                                                          =                                    [                                                (                                      I                                                                                M                                                                                S                                                                                I                                                                                div                                                                                K                                    )                                                mod                                                                                2                  k                                            ]                        +                          n              ×                              2                k                                                          (                                                      n                    =                    0                                    ,                  1                  ,                  2                  ,                  …                                )                                                                        (                  Equation                                                              2                )
In Equation 2, "Frame Offset" is given as 0 in the case of the FDD-based wideband code division multiple access schemes, and it has no effect on the position determination of the final paging occasion block. In Equation 2, "IMSI" (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) indicates a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) identifier for identifying the terminal, "K" indicates the number of Secondary Common Control Physical Channels (SCCPCH) of the physical channel including the paging channel (PCH), that is, the transport channel and "n" indicates a system frame number (Cell SFN). In addition, in Equation 2, "div" is given as an operator for returning an integer share with respect to a result of a division operation, and "mod" indicates modular arithmetic. The final paging indicator position of the specified terminal in the paging occasion determined in this manner is determined by Equation 3.PI(Paging Indicator)=(IMSI div8192) mod Np  EQUATION 3
In Equation 3, "Np" indicates the number of paging indicators for a paging indicator channel frame, and is determined by one of 18, 36, 72, and 144 according to the 3GPP specification. Particularly, "PI" is expressed in a format of a sequential Run for bit "11" or "00" and has a repeated structure by 8, 4, 2, and 1 times according to an Np value. Also, one PI may share at least one terminal according to the cell status, or may not use any terminal. When the PI is expressed in the repeated format of the bit "11", it provides information that there is a paging message for the specified terminal among the terminals sharing the corresponding PI. Once a PI has been detected, the related terminals decodeds the next PCH frame transmitted on the Secondary CCPCH to see whether there is a paging message intended for them. If specified terminals find paging message intended for them, then finish the discontinuous reception operation and transition into the power active mode, CELL_FACH state. Otherwise, return to the discontinuous reception process of the power saving mode. When the PI has the repeated structure of the bit "00", it provides information that there is no paging message of the base station for any terminals sharing the corresponding PI. In this case, all the terminals that have received the PI return to the discontinuous reception process without additional operations.
FIG. 2 illustrates one example of the discontinuous reception method in the case that □ is given as 3, IMSI is given as 77777, K is given as 5, n is given as 10, and Np is given as 18.
According to the discontinuous reception method for saving power in the 3GPP specification, the terminals obtain system information of the cell from the base station broadcasting message, and accordingly obtain a discontinuous reception cycle coefficient. In addition, according to Equation 1, Equation 2, and Equation 3, all the terminals of the cell determine whether to decode the paging information of Secondary CCPCH on the fixed PO with a constant interval without regarding various traffic characteristics and service requirements.
However, the terminals may face various time-varying traffic contents according to required QoS even in the same cell. And conventional discontinuous reception methods without considering of the power status of the terminals by base station may not improve the power saving performance. Accordingly, such a fixed discontinuous reception (FDRX: Fixed DRX) method may not efficiently support power saving of different terminals requiring various QoS.
Along this line, Korean Patent Application No 10-2000-0047204 "Channel communication method and apparatus of code division multiple access communication system" (2000.8.16) disclosed a method for transmission of Paging indicator matched with the discontinuous reception cycle in the code division multiple access communication system. However, it only has an effect on the capacity increase, and it includes a problem in that the power saving effect of the terminal is not provided.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method for adaptive discontinuous reception based on extented paging indicator for improvement of power effective performance at mobile terminal on WCDMA

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present application discloses a display adjustment method and a display device. The method comprises steps of: obtaining a first pixel data of an image displayed by the display device; converting the first pixel data into a second pixel data after the first pixel data enters a timing controller; converting at least one of the second pixel data into sub-pixel data whose amount of stored data is reduced relative to the second pixel data to obtain a corresponding third pixel data; outputting the third pixel data.

The reason why the display device can display different colors and images is mainly because the display panel contains a lot of R (red), G (green), B (blue) sub-pixels. These three sub-pixels can display different colors at different brightnesses. However, since the wavelength of the B sub-pixel is short, the attenuation of the B sub-pixel is much smaller than that of the R sub-pixel and the G sub-pixel, resulting in a display image of the display device being cold. The cool color is not suitable for Asians to watch, so it can be achieved by white tracking technology, which increases the brightness of the R sub-pixels and reduces the brightness of the B sub-pixels, thereby weakening the phenomenon of coldness of the image. The current white tracking technology is implemented by converting 8-bit into 10 bits, but this method takes up the storage space inside the IC (chip) and increases the cost of the IC.

Display adjustment method and display device


An inline dark field holographic method for measuring strain in a semiconductor or other crystalline material using a transmission electron microscope having an electron gun for passing an electron beam through strained and unstrained specimens. A condenser mini-lens between the magnetic tilting coil and the specimens increases defection of the beam at an angle with prior to passing through the pair of specimens. The first objective lens forms a virtual image of each of the specimens and the second objective lens focuses the virtual images of each of the specimens at an intermediate image plane to form intermediate images of each of the specimens. The biprism creates the interference pattern between the specimens is formed at the image plane, which may then be viewed to determine the degree of strain of the strained specimen and provides a coma-free strain map with minimal optical distortion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system and method of producing an undistorted dark field strain map of a semiconductor material at high spatial resolution through dark field electron holography.
2. Description of Related Art
Electron microscopes have been used extensively to look at structure at the nanometer scale. Most of the information obtained from electron microscopes is amplitude information. Yet, the phase information of electron microscopy, which can be obtained from off-axis electron holography, provides unique information on electronic structure and structural changes in a wide variety of materials. Monocrystalline silicon (Si) is used extensively in semiconductor devices, and has a diamond cubic crystal structure. Preferred electron flow direction in Si devices is along the <220> crystal direction. It is discovered that strain along this direction can either enhance or retard the current flow. For the semiconductor industry, junction profiling and strain mapping in silicon (Si) at high spatial resolution provide information that is critical for further scaling of semiconductor devices. Bright-field holography can measure the phase change of electrons traversing the materials, which is directly related to the mean inner potential of silicon, indicating the junction position at the nanometer scale. Furthermore, in recent years stressors have been incorporated into devices to change the semiconductor lattice constant in the channel region and thereby enhance hole and electron mobility. Like the junction definition, the extra processing steps involved to add strain in a device have increased development and manufacturing costs. One way to minimize development cycle time is to monitor, at a nanometer scale, changes in channel deformation resulting from process changes. Strain mapping along the <220> direction in Si provides channel strain information important to the semiconductor industry. For pFET, compressive strain improves device mobility; whereas for nFET, tensile strain improves device performance.
Dual-lens operation allows electron holography to be performed from low to high magnification and provides the field of view (FOV) and fringe spacing necessary for two-dimensional (2D) junction profiling and strain measurements for devices with various sizes. Prior art patents in this area include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,015,469 and 7,102,145.

Method of producing an un-distorted dark field strain map at high spatial resolution through dark field electron holography


A microcomputer including a built-in storage portion capable of executing an evaluation program by an ICE through a simple operation also when the evaluation program cannot be written in the built-in ROM is obtained. A debugging circuit (2) outputs a reset vector selection signal (S2) indicating generation of a reset vector (V1/V2) in response to a control signal (S1) indicating a normal mode/a RAM starting mode, and a reset circuit (3) generates a reset vector (V1/V2) indicating a starting address (A1/A2) after reset cancellation by indication of the reset vector selection signal (S2). The microcomputer can be set to execute the evaluation program from the starting address (A2) on a RAM area (5) after reset cancellation by registering the evaluation program (start address=starting address (A2)) in the RAM area (5) from the ICE through the debugging circuit (2) and thereafter supplying a control signal (S1) indicating the RAM starting mode to the debugging circuit (2).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcomputer including a built-in debugging circuit.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing memory arrangement of a conventional microcomputer including a built-in ROM. As shown in FIG. 7, a memory area is formed by a RAM area 5 and a built-in ROM area 6, and a starting address A1 is allocated onto the built-in ROM area 6. The built-in ROM may be formed by a flash memory or a mask ROM. The starting address A1 is a start address for a program to be executed in reset cancellation after reset cancellation.
A reset circuit 53 generates a reset vector V1 indicating the starting address A1 after reset cancellation.
In the conventional microcomputer including a built-in ROM having the aforementioned structure, the reset circuit 53 generates the reset vector V1 after reset cancellation, so that the program to be executed in reset cancellation is executed from the starting address A1 on the built-in ROM area 6.
Consider the case of evaluating a system including the conventional microcomputer including a built-in ROM having the aforementioned structure with an ICE (in-circuit emulator).
When the built-in ROM is a flash memory, an evaluation program (start address=starting address A1) is registered in the built-in ROM area 6 of the flash memory from the ICE through the reset circuit 53 so that the evaluation program is executed from the starting address A1 on the built-in ROM area 6 after reset cancellation.
If the flash memory accepts no writing for some reason, however, the following operations must be performed under control of the ICE.
After registering the evaluation program in the RAM area 5 of the microcomputer through the debugging circuit 53, it is necessary to perform debugging interrupt processing by setting the microcomputer in a normal mode and making the microcomputer execute processing from the start address for the evaluation program on the built-in RAM under control of the ICE. Thus, the series of operations by the ICE for forcibly executing the evaluation program under control of the ICE are extremely complicated.
Also when the built-in ROM is a mask ROM accepting no writing, the aforementioned series of operations by the ICE are necessary similarly to the case of the flash memory.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a microcomputer including a built-in storage portion capable of registering an evaluation program from an external evaluation unit comprises a CPU; a debugging circuit performing a support operation for registration of the evaluation program from the external evaluation unit in the storage portion and support operation in execution of the evaluation program, and the debugging circuit is capable of generating a reset vector selection signal indicating an address for executing the evaluation program under control of the external evaluation unit; and a reset circuit generating a reset vector in reset cancellation after execution of a reset operation and making the CPU execute a program to be executed in reset cancellation registered on the storage portion on the basis of the reset vector. The reset circuit decides the reset vector on the basis of the reset vector selection signal.
According to the first aspect, the debugging circuit can generate the reset vector selection signal indicating the address for executing the evaluation program, and the reset circuit decides the reset vector on the basis of the reset vector selection signal.
When registering the evaluation program in the storage portion from the external evaluation unit, therefore, it is possible to make the CPU automatically execute the evaluation program as the program to be executed in reset cancellation by generating the reset vector selection signal indicating the address for executing the evaluation program and thereafter resetting the microcomputer, whereby the evaluation program by the external evaluation unit can be executed through a simple operation also when the evaluation program can be written only in a limited area of the built-in storage portion.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the external evaluation unit includes an ICE (in-circuit emulator).
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the address for executing the evaluation program includes a start address for the evaluation program, and the reset circuit generates the reset vector indicating starting from the start address to make the CPU execute the evaluation program as the program to be executed in reset cancellation when the reset vector selection signal indicates the start address for the evaluation program.
According to the third aspect, the reset circuit generates the reset vector indicating starting from the start address and makes the CPU execute the evaluation program as the program to be executed in reset cancellation when the reset vector selection signal indicates the start address for the evaluation program, whereby the evaluation program starting from the start address is automatically executed in reset cancellation after registration of the evaluation program.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the storage portion consists of first and second storage areas having different electric characteristics, the evaluation program is registered in the first storage area, and the reset circuit generates a reset vector indicating starting from an address on the second storage area when the reset vector selection signal does not indicate the start address for the evaluation program.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the first storage area includes a RAM area, and the second storage area includes a ROM area.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the ROM area includes a rewritable flash memory area.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the storage portion includes an interrupt register capable of storing an interrupt address, the address for executing the evaluation program includes an address of the interrupt register, the debugging circuit is capable of storing the start address for the evaluation program in the interrupt register as the interrupt address under control of the external evaluation unit, and the reset circuit generates a reset vector indicating interrupt processing starting from the interrupt address to make the CPU execute the evaluation program as the program to be executed in reset cancellation when the reset vector selection signal indicates an address of the interrupt register.
According to the seventh aspect, the reset circuit generates the reset vector indicating interrupt processing starting from the interrupt address to make the CPU execute the evaluation program as the program to be executed in reset cancellation when the reset vector selection signal indicates the address of the interrupt register, whereby interrupt processing starting from the start address for the evaluation program is automatically executed in reset cancellation after registration of the evaluation program.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the reset vector selection signal includes a reset address selection signal capable of specifying all addresses on the storage portion.
According to the eighth aspect, the reset vector selection signal includes the reset address selection signal capable of indicating all addresses on the storage portion, whereby the evaluation program can be registered in an arbitrary area on the registerable storage portion.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the reset address selection signal is propagated to the reset circuit through a plurality of signal lines, and the plurality of signal lines are capable of propagating multilevel information allowing recognition of at least three levels, and the reset circuit includes a multilevel determination circuit capable of determining multilevel information of each of the plurality of signal lines.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, each of the plurality of signal lines propagating the reset address selection signal of the microcomputer can propagate multilevel information allowing recognition of at least three levels, whereby the total number the plurality of signal lines can be reduced as compared with the case of transmitting binary information.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, at least three types of multilevel voltages are set in each of the plurality of signal lines thereby propagating the reset address selection signal, and the multilevel determination circuit includes a voltage conversion circuit converting the voltages of each of the plurality of signal lines and recognizing the multilevel information.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, the microcomputer further comprises a fail safe circuit interposed between the debugging circuit and the reset circuit for validating indication of the address for executing the evaluation program by the reset vector selection signal only when the reset vector selection signal satisfies a prescribed condition and indicates the start address for the evaluation program.
According to the eleventh aspect, the fail safe circuit validates indication of the address for executing the evaluation program by the reset vector selection signal only when the reset vector selection signal satisfies the prescribed condition and indicates the start address for the evaluation program, whereby such an inconvenience that the reset vector selection signal falsely indicates the start address for the evaluation program can be reliably avoided.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the prescribed condition includes such a time restraint that the reset vector selection signal continuously indicates the address for executing the evaluation program at least for a prescribed period.
An object of the present invention is to obtain a microcomputer including a built-in storage portion, which can execute an evaluation program by an external evaluation unit such as an ICE through a simple operation also when the evaluation program can be written only in a limited area of the built-in storage portion.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a Gap Diode is disclosed in which a tubular actuating element serves as both a housing for a pair of electrodes and as a means for controlling the separation between the electrode pair. In a preferred embodiment, the tubular actuating element is a quartz piezo-electric tube. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a Gap Diode is disclosed which is fabricated by micromachining techniques in which the separation of the electrodes is controlled by piezo-electric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive actuators. Preferred embodiments of Gap Diodes include Cool Chips, Power Chips, and photoelectric converters.

The present invention relates to diode devices, in particular, to diode devices in which the separation of the electrodes and the angle between the electrodes is set and controlled using piezo-electric, positioning elements. These include thermionic converters and generators, photoelectric converters and generators, and vacuum diode heat pumps. It is also related to thermotunnel converters.
The use of individual actuating devices to set and control the separation of the electrodes using piezo-electric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive actuators in a gap diode is disclosed in WO99/13562. This avoids problems associated with electrode spacing changing or distorting as a result of heat stress.
The use of composite materials as matching electrode pair precursors is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/234,498. The approach comprises the steps of fabricating a first electrode with a substantially flat surface; placing over the first electrode a second material that comprises a material that is suitable for use as a second electrode, and separating the composite so formed along the boundary of the two layers into two matched electrodes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,975, Nishioka et al. disclose a fine adjustment mechanism for a scanning tunneling microscope that includes a cylindrical piezoelectric element fixed to a mounting member at one end and having an electrode each of the inner and outer walls. It is to be noted that the piezoelectric element does not form a housing for this device.
In "Close-Spaced Thermionic Converters with Active Spacing Control and Heat-Pipe Isothermal Emitters" (IEEE, 1996, pp 920-927), Fitzpatrick et al. teach a diode device having a first electrode attached to one end of three piezoelectric translators and a second electrode attached to the opposing end of the three piezoelectric translators. The lengths of the piezoelectric translators are modified by a signal from controlling circuitry so that the magnitude of a distance separating the electrodes is adjusted. It is to be noted that the piezoelectric translators are disposed inside a housing for the device.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,546, DiMatteo teaches a diode device with the gap between electrodes controlled by piezoelectric actuators. It is to be noted that the piezoelectric actuators for 'coarse' control are mounted outside a housing for the device.
Definitions:
"Power Chip" is hereby defined as a device which uses a thermal gradient of any kind to create an electrical power or energy output. Power Chips may accomplish this using thermionics, thermotunneling, or other methods as described in this application.
"Cool Chip" is hereby defined as a device which uses electrical power or energy to pump heat, thereby creating, maintaining, or degrading a thermal gradient. Cool Chips may accomplish this using thermionics, thermotunneling, or other methods as described in this application.
"Gap Diode" is defined as any diode which employs a gap between the anode and the cathode, or the collector and emitter, and which causes or allows electrons to be transported between the two electrodes, across or through the gap. The gap may or may not have a vacuum between the two electrodes, though Gap Diodes specifically exclude bulk liquids or bulk solids in between the anode and cathode. The Gap Diode may be used for Power Chips or Cool Chips, for devices that are capable of operating as both Power Chips and Cool Chips, or for other diode applications.
When surface features of two facing surfaces of electrodes are described as "matching," it means that where one surface has an indentation, the other surface has a protrusion and vice versa. Thus when "matched," the two surfaces are substantially equidistant from each other throughout their operating range.

Thermionic vacuum diode device with adjustable electrodes


Antisense compounds, compositions and methods are provided for modulating the expression of G-alpha-13. The compositions comprise antisense compounds, particularly antisense oligonucleotides, targeted to nucleic acids encoding G-alpha-13. Methods of using these compounds for modulation of G-alpha-13 expression and for treatment of diseases associated with expression of G-alpha-13 are provided.

A vast majority of biologically active molecules including growth factors, cytokines, neurotransmitters and hormones transduce signals via specific cell-surface receptors. Some of these receptors are then coupled to heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) which, upon activation, relay signals to a variety of cellular effectors including at least four phospholipase C (PLC) variants and adenylyl cyclases.
G proteins mediate external signals by forming heterotrimers consisting of an alpha, beta and gamma subunit. Several isoforms of each subunit have been identified and therefore, through subunit heterogeneity, G proteins effectively integrate multiple signaling cascades. The alpha subunits of G proteins contain the GTP binding site and intrinsic catalytic GTPase activity. Based on sequence similarity and function, these subunits have been classified into four major groups; Gs, which stimulate adenylyl cyclases; Gi, which inhibit adenylyl cyclases; Gq, which activate PLC isoforms and G12/13, which mediate pathways associated with cell growth and differentiation (Hamm, J. Biol. Chem., 1998, 273, 669-672).
G-alpha-13 is a member of the G12/13 subfamily of G proteins and is activated by a variety of stimuli. It has been shown to participate in several kinase cascades including MAPK, ERK and JNK (Jho et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1997, 272, 24468-24474; Voyno-Yasenetskaya et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271, 21081-21087) as well as being phosphorylated by protein kinase C (Offermanns et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271, 26044-26048). Recently, G-alpha-13 has been shown to play a role in Rho GTPase-regulated events by activating phospholipase D (Plonk et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1998, 273, 4823-4826), mediating signaling by the lysophosphatidic acid-induced activation of Rho (Gohla et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1998, 273, 4653-4659) and inducing apoptosis (Althoefer et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1997, 272, 24380-24386).
Disruption of the gene encoding G-alpha-13 in mice resulted only in live births of heterozygous mutants which showed no obvious defects. Homozygous mutant embryos were resorbed by day 10.5 and died because of a failure to develop functional vascular systems implicating G-alpha-13 in angiogenesis (Offermanns et al., Science, 1997, 275, 533-536).
The primary function of G-alpha-13, however, is believed to be the mediation of cell differentiation and growth. Therefore the manifestations of altered G-alpha-13 expression, specifically as it relates to the development of cancer, have been the most broadly investigated.
Cellular transformation and acquisition of the metastatic phenotype are the two main changes normal cells undergo during the progression to cancer and these processes are believed to be linked to the expression of G-alpha-13.
In studies of NIH3T3 and Rat-1 fibroblasts, constitutively active mutant forms of G-alpha-13 were shown to induce transformation as indicated by increased proliferation, loss of contact inhibition, focus formation and increased DNA synthesis (Voyno-Yasenetskaya et al., Oncogene, 1994, 9, 2559-2565).
Results from studies in human embryonic kidney cells demonstrated that constitutive activation of G-alpha-13 stimulated RhoA-dependant phosphorylation of p125 focal adhesion kinase, paxillin and p130 Crk-associated substrate, all of which have been implicated in the regulation of proliferation and transformation (Needham and Rozengurt, J. Biol. Chem., 1998, 273, 14626-14632).
Finally, studies using both antisense vectors, expressing a 45 base fragment of mouse G-alpha-13 in antisense orientation and constitutively active forms of G-alpha-13 to investigate retinoic acid-stimulated differentiation of P19 mouse embyronal carcinoma cells found that G-alpha-13 activity was essential to the differentiation process (Jho et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1997, 272, 24468-24474; Jho and Malbon, J. Biol. Chem., 1997, 272, 24461-24467).
Currently, there are no known therapeutic agents which effectively inhibit the synthesis of G-alpha-13 and strategies aimed at inhibiting or investigating G-alpha-13 function have involved the use of mutant forms of the protein which are constitutively active, antisense expression vectors and gene knock-outs in mice.
These strategies are untested as therapeutic protocols and consequently there remains a long felt need for additional agents capable of effectively inhibiting G-alpha-13 function. Therefore, antisense oligonucleotides may provide a promising new pharmaceutical tool for the effective and specific modulation of G-alpha-13 expression.

Antisense modulation of G-alpha-13 expression


A sealing apparatus is provided herein. In some embodiments, the sealing apparatus includes an annular body including a first portion having a circular cross-section and a second portion extending radially outward from the first portion, wherein the second portion has a rectangular cross-section. In some embodiments, a sealing apparatus includes a body configured to be retained in a recess of a first surface; an arm extending from the body away from the first surface and configured to provide a force when deflected towards the body by a second surface to form a seal between the first surface and the second surface.

Typically, leaks are prevented in joints formed between surfaces by including a gasket, o-ring, or similar type of seal disposed between the surfaces to be adjoined. The adjoining surfaces may be pressed against each other with a force sufficient to compress the seal and prevent the flow of gases through the sealed joint. In some processes, however, fragile components, such as a quartz bell jar, must be mated with exhaust components, such as an exhaust manifold, where large forces may not be applied to the seal due to the fragile components. In such cases, misalignments that may occur due to tolerances in manufacturing and/or assembly of the components may result in leaks due to variations in the force applied to the seal. Such misalignment may be exacerbated, for example, where large sealing surfaces are utilized. The tolerance variations along the sealing surface may not be suitably compensated for by applying greater pressure to the seal, due to the fragile components, as discussed above. Therefore, leaks may result due to gaps or weak contact between the seal and the sealing surface.
As such, there is need in the art for an improved seal.


A sensor controller for a particulate matter detection sensor includes a signal output circuit connected to the particulate matter detection sensor such that a sensor detection value is changeable in a predetermined output range by the signal output circuit, a heater configured to heat an attachment portion so as to burn and remove particulate matter attached to the attachment portion, a learning portion for calculating a sensor standard value in a state where the resistance between a pair of opposed electrodes is reduced based on an obtained sensor detection value and for storing the sensor standard value as a learning value, and a correcting portion for correcting the sensor detection value based on the sensor standard value stored by the learning portion.

Various types of PM sensors (particulate matter detection sensors) for detecting the amount of PM exhausted from an engine or the like have been proposed. For example, a PM sensor disclosed in JP 59-196453A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,832) includes a pair of opposed electrodes on an insulating substrate. The accumulation of PM changes a resistance between the pair of the electrodes. By using this property, the PM sensor is configured to detect the amount of PM by measuring the resistance between the electrodes. In this case, a detection circuit connected to a sensor element forms a voltage-dividing circuit configured by a resistance between the pair of opposed electrodes and a predetermined shunt resistance. The detection circuit is configured to output a voltage at an intermediate point of the voltage-dividing circuit as a sensor detected signal.
However, in the PM sensor and the detection circuit, a sensor difference, a variation in an elapsed time, a circuit error or the like may be caused, and thereby the PM amount may be incorrectly detected. For example, if a foreign matter such as a metal piece is attached to an insulating substrate of the PM sensor, or if a weak leakage current flows with the impurities in the insulating substrate, a sensor output which originally should not be produced may be caused, or the sensor output may become larger than a value originally assumed.
In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor controller which can effectively reduce a detection error of a particulate matter detection sensor (PM sensor) and can accurately detect the amount of particulate matter.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a sensor controller is adapted to a particulate matter detection sensor. The particulate matter detection sensor includes an attachment portion to which conductive particulate matter contained in gas is attached, and a pair of opposed electrodes spaced from each other at the attachment portion. Furthermore, the particulate matter detection sensor is adapted to output a detection signal corresponding to a resistance between the pair of opposed electrodes. The sensor controller is adapted to calculate an amount of attached particulate matter based on a sensor detection value from the particulate matter detection sensor. The sensor controller includes: a signal output circuit (e.g., voltage-dividing circuit) connected to the particulate matter detection sensor such that the sensor detection value is changeable in a predetermined output range by the signal output circuit; a heater configured to heat the attachment portion so as to burn and remove the particulate matter attached to the attachment portion; learning means for obtaining the sensor detection value in a burning of the particulate matter by using heat of the heater, for calculating a sensor standard value in a state where the resistance between the pair of opposed electrodes is reduced based on the obtained sensor detection value, and for storing the sensor standard value as a learning value; and correcting means for correcting the sensor detection value based on the sensor standard value stored by the learning means. Here, the heater may include a heating unit for burning and removing the particulate mater by using the heat generated from the heater unit, and a heating means for heating the exhaust gas to a burning temperature of the particulate matter, and the like.
Thus, even when the sensor standard value does not become a limit value in the predetermined output range, an error of the particulate matter detection sensor can be determined, and the sensor detection value can be accurately corrected. As a result, a detection error of a particulate matter detection sensor (PM sensor) can be effectively reduced, and thereby the amount of particulate matter can be accurately detected.


A system for the storage and delivery of a sorbable fluid, comprising a storage and dispensing vessel containing a sorbent material having sorptive affinity for the sorbable fluid, and from which the fluid is desorbable by pressure-mediated and/or thermally-mediated desorption, wherein the sorbent material is functionally enhanced by a reagent which alters the binding energy of the fluid to the sorbent. In a preferred aspect, the system is arranged for storage and delivery of B.sub.2 H.sub.6, in which the sorbent material has sorptive affinity for B.sub.2 H.sub.6 and is effective when B.sub.2 H.sub.6 is contacted with the sorbent to convert B.sub.2 H.sub.6 to a sorbed .BH.sub.3 form, which is desorbable by pressure-mediated desorption and/or thermally-mediated desorption to release B.sub.2 H.sub.6 from the sorbent, and means for selectively discharging desorbed B.sub.2 H.sub.6 from the vessel

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to storage and dispensing systems for the selective dispensing of fluids from a vessel in which the fluid component(s) are sorptively retained by a solid sorbent medium, and are desorptively released from the sorbent medium in the dispensing operation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for the storage and delivery of B.sub.2 H.sub.6.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a wide variety of industrial processes and applications, there is a need for a reliable source of process fluid(s) which is compact, portable, and available to supply the fluid(s) on demand. Such processes and applications include semiconductor manufacturing, ion implantation, manufacture of flat panel displays, medical treatment, water treatment, emergency breathing equipment, welding operations, space-based applications involving delivery of liquids and gases, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,221 issued May 17, 1988 to Karl O. Knollmueller discloses a method of storing and subsequently delivering arsine, by contacting arsine at a temperature of from about -30.degree. C. to about +30.degree. C. with a zeolite of pore size in the range of from about 5 to about 15 Angstroms to adsorb arsine on the zeolite, and then dispensing the arsine by heating the zeolite to an elevated temperature of up to about 175.degree. C. for sufficient time to release the arsine from the zeolite material.
The method disclosed in the Knollmueller patent is disadvantageous in that it requires the provision of heating means for the zeolite material, which must be constructed and arrranged to heat the zeolite to sufficient temperature to desorb the previously sorbed arsine from the zeolite in the desired quantity.
The use of a heating jacket or other means exterior to the vessel holding the arsine-bearing zeolite is problematic in that the vessel typically has a significant heat capacity, and therefore introduces a significant lag time to the dispensing operation. Further, heating of arsine causes it to decompose, resulting in the formation of hydrogen gas, which introduces an explosive hazard into the process system. Additionally, such thermally-mediated decomposition of arsine effects substantial increase in gas pressure in the process system, which may be extremely disadvantageous from the standpoint of system life and operating efficiency.
The provision of interiorly disposed heating coil or other heating elements in the zeolite bed itself is problematic since it is difficult with such means to uniformly heat the zeolite bed to achieve the desired uniformity of arsine gas release.
The use of heated carrier gas streams passed through the bed of zeolite in its containment vessel may overcome the foregoing deficiencies, but the temperatures necessary to achieve the heated carrier gas desorption of arsine may be undesirably high or otherwise unsuitable for the end use of the arsine gas, so that cooling or other treatment is required to condition the dispensed gas for ultimate use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,528 issued May 21, 1996 in the names of Glenn M. Tom and James V. McManus, describes a gas storage and dispensing system, for the storage and dispensing of gases, e.g., hydride gases, halide gases, organometallic Group V compounds, etc. which overcomes various disadvantages of the gas supply process disclosed in the Knollmueller patent.
The gas storage and dispensing system of the Tom et al. patent comprises an adsorption-desorption apparatus, for storage and dispensing of gases, including a storage and dispensing vessel holding a solid-phase physical sorbent, and arranged for selectively flowing gas into and out of the vessel. A sorbate gas is physically adsorbed on the sorbent. A dispensing assembly is coupled in gas flow communication with the storage and dispensing vessel, and provides, exteriorly of the vessel, a pressure below the vessel's interior pressure, to effect desorption of sorbate from the solid-phase physical sorbent medium, and flow of desorbed gas through the dispensing assembly. Heating means may be employed to augment the desorption process, but as mentioned above, heating entails various disadvantages for the sorption/desorption system, and it therefore is preferred to operate the Tom et al. system with the desorption being carried out at least partially by pressure differential-mediated release of the sorbate gas from the sorbent medium.
The storage and dispensing vessel of the Tom et al. patent embodies a substantial advance in the art, relative to the prior art use of high pressure gas cylinders. Conventional high pressure gas cylinders are susceptible to leakage from damaged or malfunctioning regulator assemblies, as well as to rupture and unwanted bulk release of gas from the cylinder if the internal gas pressure in the cylinder exceeds permissible limits. Such overpressure may for example derive from internal decomposition of the gas leading to rapid increasing interior gas pressure in the cylinder.
The gas storage and dispensing vessel of the Tom et al. patent thus reduces the pressure of stored sorbate gases by reversibly adsorbing them onto a carrier sorbent, e.g., a zeolite or activated carbon material.
In the ion implantation industry, the three major implant gases are arsine, phosphine, and boron trifluoride. The implantation industry desires a process gas source that would deliver diborane, B.sub.2 H.sub.6, in the tool. There are a number of potential advantages to B.sub.2 H.sub.6 over boron trifluoride in ion implant. Diborane contains no fluorine, which corrodes system plumbing. With BF.sub.3 implant, after implant, post-annealing releases F which corrodes metal contacts on the wafer. In addition, F etches graphite and tungsten components in the source chamber. B.sub.2 H.sub.6 ionizes into B.sub.2 H.sub.5.sup.+, which permits shallower implants that are possible with BF.sub.2.sup.+ and B.sup.+ ions.
Currently, the storage of high pressure B.sub.2 H.sub.6 is difficult since B.sub.2 H.sub.6 is unstable with respect to the elements. At higher pressure, the instability increases.
Accordingly, it would be a significant advance in the art to provide a low pressure source of B.sub.2 H.sub.6 which is easily dispensed, for use in ion implantation and other processes.
In use of the storage and dispensing systems described above, the amount of fluid sorbed on the sorbent is typically not completely desorbed during the dispensing operation, particularly when pressure differential desorption is employed. Accordingly, there has been continuing effort to improve the amount of the originally sorbed fluid which can be subsequently desorbed and dispensed in the later use of the storage and dispensing system.
In general, the amount of sorbed fluid which can be recovered for discharge in the dispensing operation at low non-zero pressure levels, e.g., 10 Torr, will depend on the sorbent medium. For example, a bead activated carbon such as BAC-G-70R (Kureha Corporation of America, New York, N.Y.) has adsorption/desorption characteristics permitting about 55% of arsine gas initially loaded on the sorbent to be removed at 10 Torr. For a 5 A zeolite sorbent, the corresponding percentage is on the order of 30% of the initially sorbed arsine gas.
It is highly desirable to extract a maximum portion of the sorbate gas from the storage and dispensing system during its usage, before refill or renewal of the storage and dispensing vessel is carried out.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide enhanced sorbent materials affording increased desorption recovery of the sorbed fluid for dispensing from a storage and dispensing system of the type broadly described hereinabove.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully apparent from the ensuing disclosure.


A bioremediation apparatus for removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) from a contaminated air stream generated from the subsurface remediation of hydrocarbon contaminated ground water and soil is described. The apparatus includes an above ground multilevel biofilter which holds a biologically active media at each level, the levels forming a stack of interlocked levels in series such that the media in each level does not directly contact the media in the adjacent levels. The biofilter includes, a perforated support plate having a multiplicity of holes, the holes having a maximum diameter sufficiently small to prevent significant amounts of the bioactive media from passing there through and a minimum diameter sufficiently large to prevent clogging, the spacing between adjacent holes being selected to produce an overall ratio of total hole area to total plate area of between from about 20% to about 35%.

The process of VOC destruction is called biofiltration, biodegradation, bioremediation, biotransformation and/or biooxidation. It is mainly carried out by two types of microorganisms, heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. Biodegradation is an enzymatic process whereby enzymes produced by the microorganisms catalyze the breakdown of the VOC's into carbon dioxide and water. The VOC's, in particular hydrocarbons, may or may not be used as an energy source to produce additional microorganisms. The process of biodegradation whereby a co-substrate is added to provide a source of carbon and energy for bacterial growth is called cometabolism. In a biofilter the microorganisms grow on materials such as soil, compost, peat or heather, supplemented sometimes with synthetic materials, including activated carbon and polystyrene, which provides structure stability.
Subsurface contamination of ground water and soil results from the release of petroleum products and industrial chemicals due to leaking aboveground and underground storage tanks, piping, pumps, and/or dispensers. Leakage also results from human error and acts of nature. In the case of petroleum products, subsurface contamination is often encountered at retail gasoline facilities, bulk storage terminals, transfer stations, pipelines, and refineries. Due to environmental regulations, the remediation of ground water and soils has become necessary in the petroleum industry. Subsurface remediation for the most part involves three basic processes: the extraction of fluids for treatment above ground, the injection of fluids for treatment in situ, or a combination of both. Technologies available to accomplish these processes include treatment via physical, chemical or biological methods, many of which produce a vapor or air stream requiring further treatment for regulatory compliance.
One of the most common remediation technologies involves the extraction of vapors from the unsaturated or vadose zone of the subsurface. Following the subsurface release of a volatile product like gasoline, vapors accumulate in the void spaces found in soil which are not filled with water. These vapors are extracted through vertical or horizontal slotted pipes with the use of a vacuum pump or similar device. As these vapors are removed volatilization of the product is enhanced resulting in continued vapor production. This process is called soil vapor extraction or soil venting.
A similar vapor producing process involves applying a vacuum to a vertical slotted pipe extending into the water table (i.e. ground water recovery well) simultaneously with ground water pumping. This technique not only results in venting of the vadose zone but also increases the volatilization of free phase hydrocarbons (i.e. product) floating on the ground water table and increases the recovery rates of ground water and product via pumping. This process is called vacuum enhancement.
A third vacuum technology involves the simultaneous extraction of ground water, vapor, and product from numerous vertical slotted pipes extending into the water table using a high vacuum extraction pump. This technique allows total phase extraction of fluids with one pump via many extraction points and at rates significantly higher than conventional pumping methods. Extracted fluids (i.e. water and vapor) are separated at the surface for further treatment with other processes.
Due to the regulated discharge of VOC's to the atmosphere, treatment of contaminated air streams from vapor extraction is required in most regions. Several types of air treatment systems are used in subsurface remediation including carbon adsorption, thermal combustion, catalytic oxidation and biofiltration. The use of these air treatment systems depend on the types and concentrations of contaminants, the air flow rates and the availability of energy. Thermal combustion and catalytic oxidation systems require energy input to operate. Both of these systems result in the destruction of VOC's but require high concentrations of VOC's in the air stream to be economically feasible. Carbon adsorption or carbon filtration involves passing the air stream through a vessel containing activated carbon where VOC's are adsorbed and retained. Once the carbon is saturated with VOC's it can be regenerated with thermal treatment or stored as a solid waste. Biofiltration differs from the other treatment processes because it results in VOC destruction with minimal energy input, is a regenerative process, and does not result in by-products requiring further treatment or disposal.
The basic components of a biofiltration system are a bed of filter material and a piping system that distributes the VOC's into the filter, a blower or vacuum source to propel the gas through the system and pre treatment devices for humidifying the gases and, where necessary, removing particulates.
Compost, usually produced from municipal waste, wood chips, bark or leaves has generally been the basis of filter material. Open single-bed systems and open multilevel systems are inexpensive and relatively easy to maintain and have large space requirements. However, enclosed systems, usually with stacked beds are appropriate where minimum maintenance is required and where space constraints prohibit the installation of a single-bed filter. The useful life for the filter material is up to about five years. Compaction of the compost can lead to back pressure and typically the compost needs to be turned over or eventually replaced. Drying of the filter material renders it biologically inactive and requires replacement of the compost.
The type of construction and installation of a biofilter for a given application will depend primarily on the availability of space relative to the required filter volume.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bioremediation apparatus for removing volatile organic compounds (VOC's) from air streams which includes a multilevel stacked biofilter which holds biofilter media at each level but does not directly contact media in the level above or below.
It is another object of this invention to provide a biologically active media to adsorb the VOC's resulting in their biodegradation to carbon dioxide and water.
It is another object of this invention to provide a biofilter in which each level is divided into lower and upper chambers by a perforated support plate which retains media but allows the passage of air and water vapor with minimal resistance.
It is another object of this invention to provide a multilevel biofilter in which each perforated plate is reinforced to support the weight of the media.
It is another object of this invention to provide a multilevel biofilter in which there is a void space between the media levels to isolate the levels into distinct treatment zones.
It is another object of this invention to provide a biofilter which allows access to media at each level for monitoring and sampling.
It is another object of this invention to provide a bioremediation apparatus which humidifies dry air and cools hot air prior to contacting the media.
It is another object of this invention to provide a bioremediation apparatus which is operated under a slight vacuum to cause the downward flow of air and water vapor through the media.

Bioremediation apparatus for the removal of volatile organic compounds in hydrocarbon contaminated vapors


The invention provides a trench sidewall structure and a method of forming and using the same to reduce parasitic sidewall leakage through a trench sidewall, for example from bitline contact to storage node or from storage node to substrate. The method involves placing a polysilicon layer of the same polarity as that of the array well, along with a diffusion barrier layer such an titanium nitride, between the storage node poly and the oxide collar.

For trench DRAM cells, one serious drawback is the parasitic sidewall leakage through the trench sidewalls. This is due to the formation of a parasitic sidewall transistor as explained in a paper by N. C. C. Lu et al., IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits SC-21: 627 (1986). The parasitic MOS transistor causes a leakage current to pass through a sidewall portion of a channel formed adjacent to the trench. Such leakage can occur from bitline contact to the storage node, and from storage node to the substrate, for example. One way to reduce this parasitic sidewall leakage is to increase the thickness of the oxide collar normally placed around the trench near the top of the trench (the trench neck). However, collar thickness is increased at the expense of storage node thickness within the trench, the size of the trench opening being fixed. Thus, increasing the collar thickness (1) reduces the contact area available for contact with the storage node, (2) increases the RC time constant of the storage node poly, and (3) introduces other process constraints.
Minimizing the leakage of stored charge to preserve the stored information is important to the functional operation of dynamic memory (DRAM). For most trench DRAM cells, this means reducing the parasitic sidewall leakage to the lowest levels, without affecting other cell characteristics. Increasing the collar thickness alone is not a viable alternative, especially with increasing memory cell density when memory cells are scaled down. It is therefore desirable to find alternative ways to reduce trench sidewall leakage which do not have these drawbacks associated with increased collar thickness.

International Business Machines Corporation


A stowable storage compartment for a motor vehicle having a frame and a flexible container portion attached to the frame, and a lid mounted on the frame, wherein the lid includes a receptacle for holding the flexible container portion when the storage compartment is stowed.

A variety of storage devices have been developed to enhance the carrying capacity and organization of motor vehicle interiors. Additionally, variously configured storage containers have been developed specifically to enhance the organization of pick-up truck beds with the focus on carrying smaller items in an organized manner.
Generally these types of containers have taken the form of somewhat rigid compartments designed to be permanently installed inside the pick-up truck bed. As such, rigid containers take up valuable space even when not in use, and are thus likely to hinder storage and transport of bulkier cargo. Furthermore, such containers' permanent nature, e.g. anchored tool compartments, make them time consuming to remove for transporting bulky cargo.
Based on the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide an effective device to enhance organization of smaller stored items in motor vehicles' interiors and particularly in pick-up truck beds, but one which can be stowed, i.e. would not take up space needed for larger items when the device is not in use.

Stowable storage compartment for a motor vehicle


A new door with built-in smoke and fire detector for incorporating a smoke and fire detector into a door. The inventive device includes a door having a generally rectangular configuration. The door includes front and rear surfaces. The door includes a short upper edge, a short lower edge, and long opposed side edges. The short upper edge has a recess extending inwardly thereof. The front and rear surfaces have a plurality of openings therethrough in communication with the recess. An alarm system is coupled with respect to the recess in the short upper edge of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fire and smoke detectors and more particularly pertains to a new door with built-in smoke and fire detector for incorporating a smoke and fire detector into a door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of fire and smoke detectors is known in the prior art. More specifically, fire and smoke detectors heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art fire and smoke detectors include U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,715 to Sevigny; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,413 to James; U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,200 to Stilwell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,376 to Frank; U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,980 to Porco; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 248,320 to Sticjtenoth.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new door with built-in smoke and fire detector. The inventive device includes a door having a generally rectangular configuration. The door includes front and rear surfaces. The door includes a short upper edge, a short lower edge, and long opposed side edges. The short upper edge has a recess extending inwardly thereof. The front and rear surfaces have a plurality of openings therethrough in communication with the recess. An alarm system is coupled with respect to the recess in the short upper edge of the housing.
In these respects, the door with built-in smoke and fire detector according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of incorporating a smoke and fire detector into a door.

Door with built-in smoke and fire detector


A process for preparing a halogenated polycarbonate wherein phenolic-terminated, halogenated carbonate oligomers are prepared in the presence of a coupling catalyst, and are then condensed by contact with a carbonate precursor.

Polycarbonate has found many uses as a class of materials because it combines, in general, a high level of heat and impact resistance, good dimensional stability, and good insulating and non-corrosive properties. For example, halogenated polycarbonate (and copolycarbonate) are known especially for resistance to physical deformation at high temperature and resistance to flammability.
In the performance of various known interfacial processes for preparing halogenated polycarbonate, it is found that the reaction mixture is thoroughly emulsified by the time formation of the polycarbonate product is complete, and several hours are required for the organic phase to separate from the emulsified mixture. It is difficult to readily wash an emulsified product-containing solution thoroughly enough to remove foreign material such as catalysts or inorganic salts, and the performance in a service environment of a product containing such foreign material is frequently impaired.
It is also found that certain of these known processes for preparing halogenated polycarbonate yield a product which is shown by analysis to contain significant amounts of Phenolic End Groups (a Phenolic End Group being an --OH moiety at a polycarbonate chain end); and/or Process Chemical End Groups (a Process Chemical End Group being the residue yielded at a polycarbonate chain end by reaction with the polycarbonate chain of a process chemical, such as a catalyst or other chemical which promotes, directs, regulates or otherwise influences the progress of the polycarbonate forming reaction). Analysis also reveals that halogenated polycarbonate containing significant amounts of Phenolic and/or Process Chemical End Groups is characterized by a tendency toward thermal degradation, as evidenced by the formation of color bodies upon heating.
It would consequently be desirable to provide a process for preparing halogenated polycarbonate which is improved over known processes such as are described above.

Process for preparing halogenated polycarbonate