An integrated circuit for a passive unit counting memory card comprises p levels (10, 11, 12) of data counting memory. The levels contain corresponding numbers of cases n.sub.1 . . . n.sub.p, a write operation being achieved in a case of an upper rank level each time all the cases of the lower rank level have been enabled, the cases of the lower levels then being erased. The circuit comprises p-1 ghost levels (21, 22) identical to the p-1 upper rank levels of the p counting levels. The addressing logic of the ghost levels is such that the cases of ghost levels are addressed in write phase simultaneously with the cases of the corresponding counting levels and, after a write phase, are addressed in erase phase simultaneously with the cases of the levels of lower rank than the one that has just been enabled.

The present invention relates to "passive" integrated circuits included in a portable support. Here, a "passive" integrated circuit designates a circuit with no internal microprocessor but comprising only a memory and decoding means for, in response to a limited number of control signals, sequentially accessing successive cases of the memory and achieving in the memory read, write or erase operations.
Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, memory cards only will be referred to because they are the most broadly used support, but it is clear that any other portable support can be used. Thus, below, "memory card" designates the assembly of an integrated circuit, its connecting terminals and any portable support that can be associated to a reader.
A common application of memory cards is prepaid telephone cards. In such cards, memory cases are initially set to a predetermined state, and this state is modified in response to external pulses corresponding, for example, to telephone units or to pay units for any service provided by a reader into which the card is inserted.
The invention more particularly relates to cards in which the data counting memory is an electrically erasable memory, for example an EEPROM-type memory, that is, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.
FIG. 1 very schematically shows the main components of a semiconductor memory usable in a memory card of this type. Conventionally, this card is associated to a reader with which the card communicates through six connecting pads: two power supply pads V.sub.SS and V.sub.CC, an output pad OUT and three programmation pads A, ST and B. Programmation pads provide signals to an array of logic circuits or programmable logic array 1 to control a column decoder 2 (Y DEC) and a line decoder 3 (X DEC) both associated to an EEPROM 4. Logic circuits 1 also enable, as a function of control signals, to set the memory in read state (R), write state (W) or erase state (E). In read state, the addressed memory case is read, that is, its state is provided to the OUT pad. In write state, the state of the addressed memory case is set to 1. In erase state, a set of simultaneously addressed cases is reset. More particularly, control pads A, ST and B are generally provided to receive either one of three control orders: a reset order which establishes a positioning on the address of the first memory bit, a read order which enables incrementing the memory address and outputting the value of the addressed case, and a programmation order which enables reversing the state of the addressed case or cases to achieve a write or erase operation. According to a characteristic of this type of memory, it is not possible to simultaneously address in read, write or erase mode distinct locations of the memory.
One of the advantages of an EEPROM is that the memory can be arranged in an abacus-type system. This means that the memory is arranged in several levels each comprising a determined number of cases. Each time a lower rank level is full, a case of immediately upper rank level is enabled and the cases of the lower rank level are erased. Thus, for example, with three 8-case levels, at least 8.times.8.times.8 data can be counted instead of 8+8+8 data only if the memory is not erasable. The state of the art and the invention will be described hereafter in the case of three levels each comprising eight cases, but it will be clear to those skilled in the art that a larger number of levels can be used and that the levels will not necessarily have the same number of cases. Generally, it is possible to provide p levels each comprising n.sub.i (i=1 . . . p) cases; thus, it will be possible to store in the memory n.sub.1 .times.n.sub.2 .times.. . . .times.n.sub.p data. By way of example, one will only consider a logic configuration wherein lower rank levels are sequentially erased after writing is achieved in an upper rank register.
The basic arrangement of an abacus-type memory is illustrated in FIG. 2 which shows three 8-case levels 10, 11 and 12 addressable through a column decoder (Y DEC) and a rank decoder (X DEC).
FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show a first exemplary filling of levels or registers arranged as an abacus-counter. In FIG. 3A, the lower rank level 10 is full, and levels 11 and 12 are empty. At the step illustrated in FIG. 3B, once level 10 is filled, decoders X and Y set the addressing to the lower case of level 11 and a "1" is written in this level. At the step of FIG. 3C, the whole content of level 10 is erased. Then writing is resumed at the lower rank case of level 10 (not shown).
Of course, these successive addressing operations are ensured by the reader associated to the card which comprises logic circuits adapted to achieve these operations. In particular, the reader first starts, when a card is inserted therein, reading the content of all memories to determine the card state and setting the addressing to achieve. Thus, the reader "knows" in which filling state the various levels are, and can ensure the proper addressing control. However, as indicated above, it is only possible to achieve at a determined period a read, write or erase operation, that is why the transition from the state shown in FIG. 3A to the state shown in FIG. 3C has to be achieved by passing through the intermediate state shown in FIG. 3B.
FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate other exemplary successive states of the memory levels. In FIG. 4A, levels 10 and 11 are full and three cases of level 12 have been filled. At the step shown in FIG. 4B, an additional bit is written in level 12. At the step shown in FIG. 4C, the content of level 11 is erased. At the step illustrated in FIG. 4D, an additional bit is written in level 11. During the step shown in FIG. 4E, the content of level 10 is erased. The writing of a 1 at the step of FIG. 4D enables a storing operation by multiples of 8 instead of 9; moreover, the logic circuits of the reader "know" that, as soon as a datum is written in register 12, at least one 1 must exist in register 11. This can be used to detect a possible error.
The above description corresponds to the state of the art in order to exemplify the field of application of the invention.
The above described arrangement has a drawback; namely, if for any reason, card processing is abruptly interrupted during the state illustrated in FIGS. 3B, 4B or 4D, that is, when the levels with a lower rank than the one in which a datum has just been written have not yet been erased, the card will remain in this state when it is inserted again into the reader. Hence, the memory will have been charged with a number of units higher than the service that has been effectively provided (8 excessive units in the case of FIGS. 3B or 4D, 8.times.8=64 units in the case illustrated in FIG. 4B). This drawback is particularly liable to occur in modern card readers in which the card is not swallowed by the reader but remains apparent, that is, the user can abruptly take out his card at an intermediate state corresponding to FIGS. 3B or 4B-4D. The user will then be unduly charged.


Provided are an intermodulation signal generator of a power amplifier and a pre-distortion linearizer having the same. The intermodulation signal generator of the power amplifier includes: a circulator for outputting a radio-frequency (RF) input signal input via a first port to a second port and outputting an intermodulation signal input via the second port to a third port; a directional coupler for shifting phases of the input signals input via the second port of the circulator to divide or couple the phase-shifted signals; first and second Schottky diodes, disposed symmetrically, for receiving the signals divided by the directional coupler to generate intermodulation signal components; first and second phase adjusters, disposed symmetrically, for controlling phases of the intermodulation signal components gene rated by the first and second Schottky diodes by means of first and second bias voltages; and first and second scalers, disposed symmetrically, for controlling magnitudes of the intermodulation signal components generated by the first and second Schottky diodes by means of third and fourth bias voltages. The above-described intermodulation signal generator can be applied to a power amplifier of a high-performance downscaled communication system.

Recent mobile communication systems use modulation methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), in order to make good use of frequency resources.
The above-described conventional modulation methods require the linearity of a power amplifier because of a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) radio-frequency (RF) signals and large envelope fluctuations. However, since the power amplifier operates near a saturation region having a strong nonlinear characteristic in order to maximize the output of power and efficiency, gains and phases of power amplifier signals are distorted.
Therefore, the power amplifier requires an additional linearizer for compensating the nonlinear characteristic of the power amplifier. In order to overcome the nonlinear characteristic of the power amplifier, a feed-forward linearizer and a pre-distortion linearizer have been conventionally proposed.
In the case of a power amplifier using a feed-forward linearizer, signals are dividedly applied to a main path and a sub-path, and carrier signals (or a tone signal and its corresponding signals) on the main path are amplified to a predetermined level by a main amplifier as the power amplifier and then output.
Intermodulation signals of the main amplifier are selectively output by a 3 dB hybrid coupler and attenuated to a predetermined level by an attenuator. The 3 dB hybrid coupler offsets the attenuated signals and signals that are applied to the sub-path and delayed via a first delay loop, so that the intermodulation signals are synthesized.
The resulting signals that are synthesized by the 3 dB hybrid coupler are applied to an error amplifier so that errors of the synthesized signals are corrected and the corrected signals are amplified. Thereafter, the corrected and amplified signals are amplified on the main path and synthesized with signals, which are delayed by a predetermined time via a second delay loop, and output. In the synthesization process, intermodulation distortion (IMD) signals are offset and output.
Meanwhile, in the case of a power amplifier using a pre-distortion linearizer, an applied carrier signal is pre-distorted beforehand by a predetermined pre-distorter. The pre-distorted signal is amplified to a predetermined level by a main amplifier and output. In other words, a pre-distorted signal is generated beforehand and offset by a pre-distorted signal portion of an applied signal, and the remaining portion of the applied signal is amplified and output. In general, the power amplifier using the pre-distortion linearizer can have a small and lightweight structure with a broad bandwidth and a wide operating range at low cost.
A conventional pre-distorter includes separate third- and fifth-order intermodulation signal generators.
FIG. 1 is a circuit construction diagram of a conventional third-order intermodulation signal generator.
Referring to FIG. 1, the third-order intermodulation signal generator includes 90-degree hybrid coupler (i.e., 90-degree directional coupler) 1, a capacitor C, an inductor L, a diode D, and a resistor R, which are interposed between RF input/output signal terminals RFin/RFout.
However, it is difficult to extract only third- and fifth-order intermodulation signal components using the conventional third-order intermodulation signal generator. In order to generate fifth-order intermodulation signals, it is necessary to adopt an additional fifth-order intermodulation signal generator having a different structure from the third-order intermodulation signal generator or an additional complicated circuit.
Also, since the conventional pre-distorter employs intermodulation signal components generated by only one kind of diode D, it is difficult to generate desired third- and fifth-order intermodulation signals.

Intermodulation signal generator of power amplifier and pre-distortion linearizer having the same

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A tool holder includes a body, a cutting head having a cutting end portion and a tapered end portion, a retention knob located at the tapered end portion of the cutting head, and a ball clamping mechanism received in an aperture of the body. The ball clamping mechanism includes an upper clamp, a lower clamp, and a double-ended clamp screw threaded onto the upper and lower clamps. Rotation of the clamp screw in a one direction causes the upper clamp and the lower clamp to move toward each other and engage the retention knob to place the tool holder in a locked position, and rotation of the clamp screw in an opposite direction causes the upper clamp and the lower clamp to move away from each other such that the upper and lower clamps no longer engage the retention knob to place the tool holder in a unlocked position.

The invention relates to a tool clamping mechanism, and in particular to a tool clamping mechanism having two clamping jaws connected by a double-ended screw and held in an axial location by slots in the tool holder body.
Coupling systems for interconnecting machine tools are well known in the prior art. Such coupling systems include a hollow, frustro-conical male component that forms part of the tool which mates with a frustro-conical opening in a female component. The female component is typically part of a spindle for rotating the tool. The taper of both the frustro-conical components often has a slope of about 1 to 10 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tool. Such a slope provides a rigid, on-center interference coupling when the components are pulled together by means of a clamping mechanism disposed in the interior of the female opening.
There are presently a variety of mechanisms for clamping together the frustro-conical male and female components of prior art coupling systems. In some of these mechanisms, the female component on the toolholder includes radially movable locking balls for engaging complementarily-shaped socket openings in the walls of the male component. When moved radially outwardly, the locking balls function to secure and pull in the frustro-conical tool shank into the frustro-conical opening in the toolholder. An axially slidable bolt having cam surfaces radially forces the locking balls outwardly into the socket openings. In other types of mechanisms, the female opening includes a radially expandable locking plunger which is extendable into the hollow interior of the frustro-conical male component. The locking plunger may include two or more radially movable fingers that engage openings in the wall of the frustro-conically shaped male component in order to forcefully wedge the male component of the tool into the female component of the toolholder.
While both of these general types of prior art coupling systems have shown themselves to be effective for their intended purpose, conventional coupling systems tend to put force on the body and possibly cause misalignment between the cutting head and the body, particularly for small cutters. Therefore, it would be desirable to design a coupling system that minimizes force on the body, and therefore minimizing misalignment between the cutting head and the body.

Tool holder with ball clamping mechanism


A system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of updates from a replica site in a distributed database that is described by a copy graph and a distributed database incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a directed acyclic copy graph (DAG) creation module that identifies backedges in, and removes the backedges from, the copy graph to yield a DAG and (2) a propagation module, associated with the DAG creation module, that initially employs eager updating to propagate the updates along the backedges and thereafter employs lazy updating to propagate the updates along edges of the directed acyclic copy graph to ensure the serialization.

The present invention is directed, in general, to distributed databases and, more specifically, to a system and method for serializing updates to ancestor sites in a distributed database.
Database systems were first implemented at only a single database site. As the number of distributed applications requiring access to the database increased, the complexity, size and the time required to access the database systems also increased. Shortly thereafter, a single database site became unable to process all the information in a timely manner.
To correct this database processing problem, companies developed new database systems in which the database was replicated at different sites along a network. With the use of replicated databases, distributed applications were able to achieve a higher level of performance, reliability and availability. However, the higher level of performance came with a price.
Replicated databases improved performance, but management of the replicated data became vastly more complicated. Gigabytes of data are replicated in distributed data warehouses and various World Wide Web sites on the Internet. In telecom as well as data networks, network management applications require real-time dissemination of updates to replicas with strong consistency guarantees.
Two broad approaches have been developed to handle the problem of replica updates in a distributed database system, an eager protocol and a lazy protocol. The eager protocol updates all the replicas of an item as part of a single transaction. Thus, an eager protocol ensures that executions are serializable. However, a major disadvantage of an eager protocol""s algorithms is that the a number of operations in the transaction increases with the degree of replication, and since deadlock probability is proportional to the fourth power of the transaction size, eager protocols are unlikely to scale beyond a small number of sites.
In contrast, the lazy protocol posts updates to replicas through independent transactions that are spawned by the original updating transaction after it commits. Thus, the effective size of a transaction is reduced and the overall performance of the system improves due to fewer deadlocks. However, transaction execution must be orchestrated carefully to ensure serializability across the entire distributed database.
Due to its superior performance benefits, a number of conventional database management programs (e.g., Sybase(copyright), Oracle(copyright), CA-OpenIngres(copyright)) provide support for updating via a lazy protocol. Specifically, these programs provide an option in which each transaction executes locally, and then is propagated asynchronously to replicas after it commits (the replicas at each site are updated in the context of a separate transaction). Since each transaction executes locally and independently, the systems do not require multi-site commit protocols (e.g., two-phase commit) which tend to introduce blocking and are thus not easily scalable.
A problem, however, with the lazy replication approaches of most conventional systems is that they can easily lead to non-serializable executions. For instance, it is possible for the same data item to be concurrently updated at two different sites, thus resulting in an update conflict. Currently, commercial systems use reconciliation rules (e.g. , install the update with the later timestamp) to merge conflicting updates. These rules do not guarantee serializability, unless the updates are commutative.
Another problem with lazy replication approaches is that they cannot serialize updates if the distributed database system is described by a cyclic copy graph. Current lazy replication approaches require that the distributed database system be described by a directed acyclic copy graph in order to ensure the serialization. Therefore, what is needed in the art is a way to guarantee serializability of updates within a replicated database system when the distributed database system is described by a cyclic copy graph.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of updates from a replica site in a distributed database that is described by a copy graph and a distributed database incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a directed acyclic copy graph (DAG) creation module that identifies backedges in, and removes the backedges from, the copy graph to yield a DAG and (2) a propagation module, associated with the DAG creation module, that initially employs eager updating to propagate the updates along the backedges and thereafter employs lazy updating to propagate the updates along edges of the directed acyclic copy graph to ensure the serialization. For purposes of the present invention, a xe2x80x9cbackedgexe2x80x9d is defined as one of a set of edges that, when the set is removed from a cyclic copy graph, yields an acyclic copy graph.
The present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of breaking updates down into two categories: a first involving updates along backedges in which eager updating is employed for speed and serialization, and a second involving a DAG in which lazy updating can be employed without subjecting the database to undue record locking.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the propagation module initially employs the eager updating to propagate the updates only along the backedges. Alternatively, eager updating can be employed with respect to some (but not all) of the edges that are not backedges.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the propagation module performs the eager updating as one atomic transaction. Those skilled in the pertinent art are familiar with atomic transactions affecting both a primary copy and one or more replicas. Alternatively, the eager updating can be performed as more than one atomic transaction.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the propagation module performs the eager updating with timestamps. It is preferable to perform the eager updating with timestamps when the subsequent lazy updating is timestamp-based. The Detailed Description that follows will describe when the propagation module shifts from backedge eager updating to lazy updating within the DAG in the context of timestamp-based updating.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the lazy propagation is performed without timestamps. It is preferable to perform the eager updating without timestamps when the subsequent lazy updating does not employ timestamps. The Detailed Description that follows will describe when the propagation module shifts from backedge eager updating to lazy updating within a forest (to be defined) based on the DAG in the context of timestamp-free updating.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a counterpart of the system is located at each replica of the distributed database. A replica is a site that comprises a copy of the whole database or a site that contains at least one element of the database. Alternatively, the system may be located at a single replica site, or at fewer than all sites.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the it invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

System and method for serializing updates to ancestor sites in a distributed database


A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing processors in a data processing system. Monitoring is performed for a failed processor in the processors. Responsive to detecting a failed processor, a spare processor from the set of spare processors is identified. The set of spare processors are located on different modules and wherein the spare processor is identified as minimizing degradation in processing performance.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for facilitating redundancy in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for identifying a spare processing unit in response to a failure of a processor in the data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
As data processing systems become more advanced, the processing power within the systems has increased as new systems are released. One increase in processing power is provided through faster and better processors. Another increase in processor power results from using multiple processors within a data processing system. One type of multi-processor system includes the use of a multi-chip module (MCM). An MCM is a module or unit that contains multiple processor dies or chips on a single chip carrier. A chip carrier is a platform on which chips, passive components, device encapsulants, and thermal enhancement hardware are attached. These MCMs may include different numbers of chips, such as four or eight processing chips within a single MCM.
As an added feature in a data processing system, an additional MCM is often included in addition to the other MCMs. This spare MCM is employed to facilitate hot sparing of processors. In some cases, a number of processors within an MCM may be employed for hot sparing. In other words, these additional MCMs or processors are employed as replacements in case of a processor failure within the data processing system. The replacement processor replaces the failed one without requiring the data processing system to be restarted or reinitialized. One problem associated with this type of replacement of a failed processor is a reduction in processing efficiency. If a failed processor on one MCM is replaced with a failed processor on another MCM, the scattering of work load may affect the throughput or performance of applications.
The present invention recognizes that this problem occurs because of memory latency or cache affinity problems. A cache is an associative memory with respect to a processor chip. Many data processing systems use L1, L2, and L3 caches to increase performance. An L1 cache is located in a processor. An L2 cache located on a die and may be shared by all processors on the same die. An L3 cache is shared by all processors within an MCM. If a replacement processor for a failed processor is located on a different MCM, then any processing by those processors cannot use the L3 cache. In this manner, performance and throughput may be reduced because of this affinity problem with respect to the cache system.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for marking and selecting spare processors.

Method and apparatus for managing processors in a multi-processor data processing system

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for producing a biaxially oriented, heat set plastic container, including the steps of providing a plastic preform within a mold cavity; expanding and stretching the plastic preform into conformity with the surfaces defining the mold cavity to form a biaxially oriented plastic container; inducing crystallinity in the plastic container by using convection heat transfer to heat a surface of the plastic container to a temperature of at least 120xc2x0 C.; and removing the plastic container from the mold cavity. The PET containers produced by the method have an average sidewall crystallinity greater than about 30%, which allows the PET container to maintain its material integrity during any subsequent pasteurization or retort process of the contents in the PET container, and during shipment of the PET container.

This invention generally relates to blow molding methods and machines for producing heat set plastic containers. More specifically, this invention relates to blow molding methods and machines for producing biaxially oriented plastic containers with high crystallinity sidewalls.
Recently, manufacturers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers have begun to supply plastic containers for commodities that were previously packaged in glass containers. The manufacturers, as well as consumers, have recognized that PET containers are lightweight, inexpensive, recyclable, and manufacturable in large quantities. Manufacturers currently supply PET containers for various liquid commodities, such as juices. They also desire to supply PET containers for solid commodities, such as pickles. Many solid commodities, however, require pasteurization or retort, which presents an enormous challenge for manufactures of PET containers.
Pasteurization and retort are both methods for sterilizing the contents of a container after it has been filled. Both processes include the heating of the contents of the container to a specified temperature, usually above 70xc2x0 C., for duration of a specified length. Retort differs from pasteurization in that it also applies overpressure to the container. This overpressure is necessary because a hot water bath is often used and the overpressure keeps the water in liquid form above its boiling point temperature. These processes present technical challenges for manufactures of PET containers, since new pasteurizable and retortable PET containers for these food products will have to perform above and beyond the current capabilities of conventional heat set containers. Quite simply, the PET containers of the current techniques in the art cannot be produced in an economical manner such that they maintain their material integrity during the thermal processing of pasteurization and retort and during subsequent shipping.
PET is a crystallizable polymer, meaning that it is available in an amorphous form or a semi-crystalline form. The ability of a PET container to maintain its material integrity is related to the percentage of the PET container in crystalline form, also known as the xe2x80x9ccrystallinityxe2x80x9d of the PET container. Crystallinity is characterized as a volume fraction by the equation:   Crystallinity  =            ρ      -              ρ        a                            ρ        c            -              ρ        a
where xcfx81 is the density of the PET material; xcfx81a is the density of pure amorphous PET material (1.333 g/cc); and xcfx81c is the density of pure crystalline material (1.455 g/cc).
The crystallinity of a PET container can be increased by mechanical processing and by thermal processing.
Mechanical processing involves orienting the amorphous material to achieve strain hardening. This processing commonly involves stretching a PET container along a longitudinal axis and expanding the PET container along a transverse axis. The combination promotes biaxial orientation. Manufacturers of PET bottles currently use mechanical processing to produce PET bottles having roughly 20% crystallinity (average sidewall crystallinity).
Thermal processing involves heating the material (either amorphous or semi-crystalline) to promote crystal growth. Used by itself on amorphous material, thermal processing of PET material results in a spherulitic morphology that interferes with the transmission of light. In other words, the resulting crystalline material is opaque (and generally undesirable as the sidewall of the container). Used after mechanical processing, however, thermal processing results in higher crystallinity and excellent clarity. The thermal processing of an oriented PET container, which is known as heat setting, typically includes blow molding a PET preform against a heated blow mold, at a temperature of 120-130xc2x0 C., and holding the blown container for about 3 seconds. Manufacturers of PET juice bottles, which must be hot filled at about 85xc2x0 C., currently use heat setting to produce PET juice bottles having a range of up to 25-30% crystallinity. Although these hot fill PET containers exhibit a significant improvement over the non-hot fill PET containers, they cannot maintain material integrity during the thermal processing of pasteurization and retort.
A logical extension of this heat setting process involves blow molding a PET preform against a blow mold that is held at a considerably higher temperature, up to 250xc2x0 C., as discussed in the Jabarin references (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,476,170 and 4,512,948). In theory, a manufacturer using this process could produce a PET container having over 50% crystallinity which allows the PET container to maintain its material integrity properties during a subsequent pasteurization or retort process of the contents in the PET container as well as during any subsequent shipment of the PET container. However, once this heat setting process has been completed, the PET container must be removed from the mold. At a temperature around 250xc2x0 C., upon removal of the PET container will instantly shrink and possibly collapse.
Recognizing this disadvantage, the Jabarin references offer two options for removing the PET containers: (1) lowering the mold temperature to the point where the PET container may be removed without any deformation, and (2) removing the PET container while applying internal pressure sufficient to resist any subsequent shrinkage thereafter and reducing the pressure when the bottle has reached a self-sustaining temperature. Neither of these options are commercially feasible. The first option involves extremely long cycle times (unless expensive liquid nitrogen machinery is employed) while the second option involves extremely complex processing to control the inherent variability of the system.
Thus, the manufacturers of PET containers desire an efficient and inexpensive method and apparatus that produces PET containers having average sidewall crystallinities greater than 30%, which allow the PET containers to maintain their material integrity during any subsequent pasteurization or retort of the contents in the PET container, and during shipment of the PET containers. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide such a container that overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the conventional techniques in the art.
Accordingly, this invention provides for a blow molding method and machine that produces PET containers having average sidewall crystallinities of at least 30%, which allow the PET containers to maintain their material integrity during any subsequent high performance pasteurization or retort of the contents in the PET containers, and during shipment of the PET containers. As used herein, xe2x80x9chigh performancexe2x80x9d pasteurization and retort are pasteurization and retort processes where the container is exposed to temperatures greater than about 80xc2x0 C.
At its broadest, the invention is a method for producing a heat set plastic container including the steps of providing a plastic preform within a mold cavity; expanding and stretching the plastic preform into conformity with surfaces defining the mold cavity; and inducing crystallinity in the plastic container by heating an interior surface of the plastic container.
The invention also includes a blow molding machine for producing blow molded heat set containers from plastic preforms according to the method mentioned above. Briefly, the machine includes a blow mold having portions defining a mold cavity which is capable of receiving a plastic preform. A high-pressure fluid source and a high-temperature fluid source communicate with a blow core assembly that is movable to engage the plastic preform when the plastic preform is received within the mold cavity. The blow core assembly also includes at least one inlet port communicating the high-pressure fluid source and the high-temperature source with an interior of the plastic preform. The blow core assembly further includes an exhaust port coupled to an exhaust valve which has an open position to permit the exhausting of fluid through the exhaust valve. The exhaust valve also has a closed position to prevent the exhausting of fluid through the exhaust port. A controller coupled to the high-pressure fluid source selectively controls the supplying of high-pressure fluid to the blow core assembly. The controller is also coupled to the high-temperature fluid source to selectively control the supplying of high-temperature fluid to the blow core assembly. The controller is further coupled to the exhaust valve to control the position of the exhaust valve. During heating, the interior surface of the container may be heated to at least 120xc2x0 C. to achieve the objects set out above.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following discussion and accompanying drawings.

Blow molding method for producing pasteurizable containers


A semiconductor device includes a pair of transistors formed in a first conductive type semiconductor substrate. Each of the transistors contains a collector region of a second conductive type, opposite to the first conductive type, formed in the semiconductor substrate, a base region of the first conductive type formed in the collector region, and an emitter region of the second conductive type formed in the base region, the collector region of one transistor of the pair of transistors being separated from that of the other transistor. The semiconductor device further includes a first region of the first conductive type formed between the collector regions of the pair of transistors, and a buried layer of the second conductive type formed in the semiconductor substrate under the collector region of one transistor of the pair of transistors to connect the collector regions of the transistors therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been used a semiconductor device provided with two bipolar transistors as an electrostatic protective element that protects object circuit elements from an overvoltage applied to its terminal.
For example, the patent document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei1(1989)-287954) discloses such a semiconductor device (electrostatic protective element) 400 as shown in FIG. 8.
This semiconductor device 400 has an N type diffusion region 403 as a collector region, as well as two P type diffusion regions 404 and 405 formed in this N type diffusion region 403. The P type diffusion regions 404 and 405 are base regions. In those P type diffusion regions 404 and 405 are formed N type layers 406 and 407 as emitter regions.
In the semiconductor device 400 as described above, if a voltage is applied to its input terminal, then the diode functions forward between the base region (P type diffusion region 405) and the collector region (N type diffusion region 403) of one transistor 402. In the other transistor 401, the bias is reversed between the base region (P type diffusion region 404) and the collector region (N type diffusion region 403). If a voltage applied to the other transistor 401 is over the withstand voltage between the base region and the collector region of the other transistor 401, then the transistor 401 is turned on and a current flows to the ground.

Semiconductor device having two bipolar transistors constituting electrostatic protective element


The present invention relates to a novel brick veneer wall structure, to methods for restoring same after sustaining smoke damage, and to a smoke-damaged brick veneer wall structure restored by a method of the invention.

Every year, smoke and fire damage to residential and commercial properties causes significant loss to property owners and insurance companies. In some instances an entire structure can be destroyed without any possibility of restoring the original structure. When that occurs the only option may be to rebuild the entire structure. In less severe instances, damage is more limited and restoration may be possible. Every occasion of fire damage is unique and must be evaluated for the type and degree of damage from light to very severe damage. Light damage generally occurs without damage to the underlying structure of the building, and may only involve residual smoke deposits such as soot on surfaces, often requiring only external cleaning. Moderate damage encompasses residual deposits, odors, and heat damage to furniture and appliances. Severe damage is more extensive, generally compromising structural components of a building such as the framing.
Many modern buildings and homes are insulated with polymeric foams such as polyurethane. While advantageous from an energy efficiency standpoint, foam insulation can cause severe smoke damage in the event of a fire. Smoke damage in foam-insulated structures can occur very quickly, even when a fire is quickly extinguished. When this happens, the primary damage to a structure may be from the smoke, rather than from the flames of the fire.
Restoring a building or home in the wake of a fire generally involves an appraisal or assessment of the damage by contractors and insurance companies to decide on the most cost-effective way to restore or rebuild the structure.
When a structure damaged by smoke possesses a brick veneer siding, it is standard practice in the industry to demolish the smoke-damaged brick veneer wall and rebuild it, because the inner surface of the brick veneer acts like a sponge that absorbs and then emits obnoxious smoke odors to the surrounding environment including the living space. This is especially the case with foam insulated structures owing to the extensive, high pressure smoke produced by flaming and/or smoldering polymeric foam. Extensive renovations are therefore common practice in cases of smoke-damage to brick veneer wall structures.
There remains a need for improved, lower-cost, brick veneer wall structures that are restored after sustaining smoke damage, and for less costly methods for restoring smoke-damaged brick veneer walls, without the need for a complete demolition of the wall structure.

Method for remediating smoke-damaged brick veneer wall


A drive apparatus that is compact in size, low in cost, allows the attaining of a high degree of accuracy as well as high-speed driving, suppresses noise, and obtains both large thrust and braking force. The present invention is able to obtain the above-mentioned advantages of compact size, reduction of costs, high accuracy, high-speed driving and suppression of noise as a result of providing a torque generation device on a slider guided by a track rail, attaching a drive roller to which is torque is applied by an output shaft of the torque generation device, and that drive roller rolling along the track rail. In addition, the above-mentioned advantages of large thrust and braking force are obtained by forming indentations in at least one of either the track rail or drive roller with respect to the other track rail or drive roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive apparatus for moving a certain object (driven object) in a desired direction.
1. Description of the Prior Art
An example of the prior art having this type of drive apparatus is the XY table indicated in FIG. 1.
As indicated in FIG. 1, said XY table is comprised of X table 1 installed on the floor or a mounting frame in a workshop, and Y table 2 moved by said X table 1. Furthermore, since X table 1 and Y table 2 mutually have nearly the same constitution, the following detailed explanation will be provided with respect to X table 1 only, and an explanation of Y table 2 is omitted. However, those constituent members of Y table 2 that correspond to the constituent members of X table 1 are indicated using the same reference numerals. Furthermore, an exploded view of the constituent members of X table 1 divided into suitable blocks is indicated in FIG. 2.
As indicated in FIG. 1, table 1 has a long, roughly rectangular plate-shaped base 5, and side plate 6, provided on said base 5 and forming a box with said base 5. Motor 7 is mounted on one end of this side plate 6. In addition, as is indicated in FIG. 2, pulley 9 is fit onto shaft 7a of motor 7. In addition, another pulley 10 is arranged on base 5, and is mounted to base 5 by means of brackets not shown. Endless belt 12 is wrapped around pulleys 9 and 10. A driven object of moving table 13 is fastened to this belt 12.
As indicated in the drawings, moving table 13 has a prescribed thickness and composed to be of a size that allows it to be contained within the width of side plate 6. Two table projections 13a projecting above the upper surface of side plate 6 are provided in parallel on the left and right sides. These table projections 13a may be formed into an integrated structure with moving table 13 or may be composed in the form of separate structures. Above-mentioned Y table 2 is mounted on the upper surface of said table projections. Furthermore, cover 15 is arranged to the inside of these table projections 13a, acting to prevent entrance of dust and so on.
A driving device that drives belt 12 is comprised of the above-mentioned motor 7, pulley 9 and 10.
On the other hand, as is indicated in FIG. 2, a pair of linear motion rolling guide units 17 are mutually arranged in parallel on the right and left sides of the above-mentioned belt 12, and are mounted on base 5. These linear motion rolling guide units 17 receive the load in all four directions (the directions indicated by arrows Z and Y as well as their respective opposite directions) applied to moving table 13, and act as guiding devices that guide moving table 13. The driving apparatus that moves moving table 13, the driven object, is composed of these linear motion rolling guide units 17, the above-mentioned belt 12 and its driving device.
More specifically, linear motion rolling guide unit 17 is composed of track rail 18, roughly in the shape of a square column, in which track groove 18a, having a roughly semi-circular cross-section, is formed along the axial direction in left and right shoulders of the side wall, and slider 20, which is guided by said track rail 18. In addition, this slider can slide relative to track rail 18 being straddled across said track rail 18. Said slider 20 also has casing 20a, in which track grooves (not shown), having a semi-circular cross-section, are formed in the inside surface so as to oppose track grooves 18a of said track rail 18, a plurality of balls (not shown) that are able to roll over a track path formed by both said track grooves in relative motion, and end caps 20b mounted on both ends in the lengthwise direction of said casing.
Furthermore, linear motion rolling guide units 17 are not limited to the use of balls, but may also use other devices such as rollers as long as they are of a constitution that uses a rolling object. In addition, although the track equipped on track rail 18 in said example of the prior art is in the form of track groove 18a, in addition to said constitution, projections (not shown) may be provided over roughly the entire length of the side wall surface of track rail 18, with the track surface formed by these projections then used as the track.
The following provides an explanation of the operation of the XY table having the above-mentioned constitution. Furthermore, since X table 1 and Y table 2 have the same described above, the following explanation will deal primarily with X table 1.
Firstly, when a power voltage is supplied to motor 7 of X table 1, output shaft 7a of motor 7, serving as the driving source, rotates which transmits torque to pulley 9. Then, belt 12, wrapped around pulley 9 and pulley 10, is driven in a prescribed direction, and moving table 13, mounted on the upper surface of this belt 12, also moves guided by linear motion rolling guide units 17. Conversely, when the direction of rotation of motor 7 is reversed, belt 12 is driven in the opposite direction from that above, and consequently, moving table 13 also moves in that direction. In addition, the movement of moving table 13 is controlled by a control circuit composed of a microcomputer and so on. A detector, which outputs a position detection signal to this control circuit, is composed to be able to be mounted to the inside of side plate 6 indicated in FIG. 1, and on the upper surface of base 5. In addition, detection may also be performed by an encoder mounted behind motor 7.
In addition, since Y table 2 is mounted on table projections 13a of moving table 13 equipped on X table 1, it moves in the same direction as moving table 13 of X table 1. As moving table 13 of Y table 2 is composed so as to be able to independently move linearly in the Y direction, by controlling the tables with a control circuit not shown, moving table 13 of Y table 2 can be moved in both the X and Y directions.
FIG. 3 indicates the drive apparatus of a second example of the prior art. This drive apparatus can be incorporated into the XY table indicated in FIG. 1 in the same manner as the drive apparatus of the first example of the prior art indicated in FIG. 2.
As indicated in FIG. 3, said drive apparatus has long ball screw 26, provided in parallel with track rail 18 equipped with linear motion rolling guide unit 17, and attached at both ends to base 5 by means of support bearings 25, motor 27 that rotates said ball screw 26, and nut member 28 engaging with ball screw 26 and mounted with respect to moving table 13, the driven object.
Furthermore, since the drive apparatus indicated in FIG. 3 is composed in the same manner as the first example of a drive apparatus of the prior art indicated in FIG. 2 with respect to portions other than those described above, an explanation of the entire apparatus will be omitted. In addition, in the above-mentioned explanation, the same reference numerals are used for those constituents that are identical to the constituents equipped on the first example of the prior art.
In the second example of a drive apparatus of the prior art, when ball screw 26 is driven to rotate by motor 27, moving table 13 moves together with nut member 28.
As described above, in addition to linear motion rolling guide unit 17 for guiding of the driven object, the drive apparatus of the prior art has long components for transmission of driving force, such as belt 12 or ball screw 26, motors 7 and 27, that serve as the driving source, and several other peripheral components, such as pulleys and bearings, related to these. Accordingly, this drive apparatus has the shortcomings of being large in size and having a large number of components resulting in high costs. In addition, since the driving force produced by motors 7 and 27, serving as the driving sources, is transmitted through numerous members, such as long components for transmission of driving force, this drive apparatus has the additional shortcoming of it being difficult to attain a high degree of accuracy in movement and positioning of the driven object. Moreover, in addition to the fact that it is not always easy to attain high-speed driving with this drive apparatus, due to the large number of components operating relative to each other, this drive apparatus has the shortcoming of producing a relatively high level of noise. In the case of using the above-mentioned belt 12 in particular, since said belt becomes stretched due to application of torque, together with positioning accuracy being poor, there is also the shortcoming of dust and debris being produced from said belt 12. In addition, in the case of the above-mentioned ball screw 26, since deflection of the screw shaft occurs when this is excessively long, sliding characteristics become unstable.


The present invention relates to a mutant human alpha-synuclein with increased toxicity compared to wild-type alpha-synuclein, or a homologue thereof, wherein the mutant alpha-synuclein or homologue thereof comprises at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of a substitution at the alanine at position 56 (A56), at the alanine at position 76 (A76), at the methionine at position 127 (M127) and/or at the valine at position 118 (V118), as defined in the claims. Further, the invention relates to a polynucleotide encoding the mutant alpha-synuclein or homologue thereof, or an expression vector comprising said polynucleotide, a cell comprising the polynucleotide or expression vector, as defined in the claims. Also, a non-human animal comprising the cell of the invention is provided, as defined in the claims. Finally, the invention provides methods for identifying a substance that prevents or reduces toxicity of alpha-synuclein, as defined in the claims.

Parkinson's disease (PD) and several other neurodegenerative diseases are degenerative disorders of the central nervous system and are both chronic and progressive. The prevalence of PD in Europeans is 1.6% in persons over 65 years of age. However, more than 10% of the patients are diagnosed before the age of 50. In 1990, an estimated 4 million people were suffering from PD. It is characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement (bradykinesia) and, in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement (akinesia). The primary symptoms are the results of decreased stimulation of the motor cortex by the basal ganglia, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the brain. Secondary symptoms may include high level cognitive dysfunction and subtle language problems. Typical other symptoms include disorders of mood, behavior, thinking, and sensation (non-motor symptoms). Patients' individual symptoms may be quite dissimilar and progression of the disease is also distinctly individual.
The symptoms of Parkinson's disease result from the loss of dopaminergic cells in the region of the substantia nigra pars compacta. These neurons project to the striatum and their loss leads to alterations in the activity of the neural circuits within the basal ganglia that regulate movement, in essence an inhibition of the direct pathway (facilitating movement) and excitation of the indirect pathway (inhibiting movement). The lack of dopamine results in increased inhibition of the ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus, which sends excitatory projections to the motor cortex, thus leading to hypokinesia.
The pathological hallmark feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) and several other neurodegenerative disorders is the deposition of intracytoplasmic neuronal inclusions termed Lewy bodies. The major component of Lewy bodies are amyloid fibrils of the protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-S). Protecting neurons from the toxicity of alpha-synuclein is a promising strategy for treating these diseases.
Related diseases (sometimes called Parkinson-plus diseases) include dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). While idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients also have Lewy bodies in their brain tissue, the distribution is denser and more widespread in DLB. Even so, the relationship between Parkinson disease, Parkinson disease with dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) might be most accurately conceptualized as a spectrum, with a discrete area of overlap between each of the three disorders. The common involvement of alpha-synuclein in diseases such as PD, PDD, multiple system atrophy and the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease has led to a classification of these disease under the term synucleinopathies.
Mutations of alpha-S associated with familial PD (A30P, A53T, E46K) have an increased aggregation propensity in vitro (US 2007/0213253), in agreement with aggregation of alpha-S into fibrillar Lewy bodies in vivo. However, the role different aggregated alpha-S species play for neurotoxicity in vivo is unclear. Loss of dopaminergic terminals was observed in the presence of non-fibrillar alpha-S inclusions in one line of A53T alpha-S transgenic mice (Masliah et al. Science 287, 1265-1269 (2000)), raising the possibility that pre-fibrillar intermediates in the alpha-S aggregation process may be pathogenic (Lashuel & Lansbury Q Rev Biophys 39, 167-201 (2006)), potentially by pore formation in cell membranes. However, transgenic mice overexpressing A30P alpha-S failed to exhibit neurodegeneration (Lee et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99, 8968-8973 (2002)), despite the fact that A30P alpha-S delays conversion of pre-fibrillar aggregates to fibrils (Conway et al., supra). Thus, the A30P alpha-S mice provided in vivo support that pre-fibrillar alpha-S is not the primary toxic moiety.
US 2007/0192879 and WO 2008/063779 describe animal models and cell models overexpressing alpha-S. The only disclosed mutations are A30P, A53T and E46K, which are known to show an increased aggregation propensity.
US 2007/0213253 disclose several synuclein mutants having aggregation-inhibitory activity. Those mutants are supposed to be capable of inhibiting aggregation of wt alpha-S.
Also, Koo et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 368, 772-778 (2008) describe substitutions of alpha-synuclein which exhibit the capability to influence fibril formation of the protein.
Zhou et al. J. Biol. Chem. 283(15), 9863-9870 (2008) teaches tyrosine to cysteine substitutions in human alpha-synuclein showing enhanced alpha-synuclein fibril formation and neurotoxicity.
Thus, there is a need in the art for alpha-synuclein mutants that can be used in in vivo and in vitro screening assays in order to identify substances that can prevent or reduce the toxicity of alpha-synuclein, which plays a pivotal role in the pathology of synucleinopathies.

Mutant alpha-synuclein, and methods using same

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖERDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V.


A molded plastic skid base for a resin building is formed with all of its openings facing downward and with runners integral with a deck that forms a floor of the base. Replaceable wear plates cover the bottoms of the runners and have truck loading notches molded at their ends and a longitudinal channel in which fastener heads are positioned. Stake down slots are provided in the ends of the runners and wear plates in a diagonal orientation so as to be aligned toward the center of the building, below the base. The floor of the base is a grid formed of diagonally oriented ribs, at least some of which may be shorter in their center than at their ends, is crowned in the center and has openings which taper upwardly. A solid sheet may be placed over the grid to close it. Bosses for receiving the wear plate mounting fasteners are positioned at the same locations along the sides of the base as the fastener mounting locations for attaching the building side walls to the base, to provide a greater thickness of material at those locations for the building sidewall fasteners to penetrate. Edges of a septic tank opening formed in the base are slanted downwardly and rear corners of the opening are triangular in shape. Downwardly opening openings are also formed in the base into which weights and weight covers may be fixed.

Outdoor shelter structures, such as portable outhouses, are commonly rented and used for special events, such as parties, festivals or concerts, as well as at job sites or other locations where people are gathered temporarily. These shelters are moved to and from the site on a truck typically, and while at the site they may be pumped out occasionally, to empty their septic tanks. While at the site, they must be stable, and not susceptible to tipping over, or being tipped over by the wind or by vandals.
These shelters must be rugged and durable, and since they must be moved manually, most operators who rent these out (a.k.a., pumpers) prefer them to be light in weight. A minority want them heavy, so as to counter any tendency to tip over. The buildings must be movable on and off of the truck, but once off of the truck, a single person should be able to move the building across the ground to position it in the desired location. The buildings also must be low in cost.
It is common to form much of these outdoor shelters of plastic resin. One exception, however, has been the base on which the remainder of the building is built. The bases are typically a composite structure of plastic and wood. The bases also usually have several main structural components, which can adversely affect their strength and rigidity.
Another common problem has been the connections between the shelter walls and the base. While plastic components in the base are preferable to wood for aesthetics, cleanliness and durability, the fastener holding ability of plastic base components has often been lacking. Sheet metal screws are typically used to secure the shelter walls to the base. The stresses at these fastener locations can be great when moving the shelter, under heavy winds, or when forces are applied to the walls, especially with a person in the shelter or with a full septic tank. Failure of the base to hold the fasteners can result in troublesome or costly repairs or complete replacement of the base or whole shelter.


An electric motor including a motor rotor and a motor stator including a stator core including a plurality of stator teeth spaced along a circumferential direction of the stator core, a plurality of coil groups, wherein each of the plurality of coil groups includes a plurality of coils wound on a corresponding stator tooth, and an incoming line terminal and an outgoing terminal both comprising a same number of coil ends, and two motor lead groups, wherein a number of the plurality of motor leads of each of the two motor lead groups is equal to a number of the plurality of coil groups, and wherein each of the plurality of motor leads is connected to one incoming line terminal or one outgoing line terminal of one corresponding coil group of the plurality of coil groups.

As the excitation magnetic field of the permanent magnet electric motor of rotary DC inverter compressor is non-adjustable, the speed of the motor can only be adjusted within a small range of 30 rps to 90 rps. If the speed is forced up, the motor would enter a weak magnetic zone, which causes a rapid rise in coil current and a significant increase in temperature. As such the electric motor lines are degraded, and the reliability and performance of the electric motor are negatively affected.
In order to avoid the above problems, an exemplary method is to inject a negative direct axis current to the coil group of the motor to demagnetize the permanent magnet. Therefore, the back electromotive force is reduced, and the operating range of the electric motor is enlarged. However, the above method would result in a lower efficiency of the motor, when the motor is running at a high frequency.


A method for forming an electric device having power switches around a logic circuit including: forming a logic circuit on a substrate; forming a plurality of power switches around the logic circuit; and coupling first ends of the power switches to a voltage end, and coupling second ends of the power switches to a power receiver of the logic circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a method for forming an electric device having power switches, and more particularly, a method for forming the power switches around a logic circuit of the electric device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Integrated circuits (ICs) have been highly developed. Personal computers, mobile phones, watches, and calculators, for example, are applications of ICs. ICs with small area, low power consumption, and simple manufacturing procedures are principle points for research and development departments of IC manufactories. Therefore, in order to save energy, a layout of an IC usually requires power switches for controlling power supply. There are a lot of designs of power switches in the prior art, such as a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor), which is taken as a power switch of a low power circuit.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a prior art layout 10 using MOSFETs as power switches. The layout 10 includes a logic circuit 12, a p-type MOS 14, an n-type MOS 16, and a control circuit 18. The logic circuit 12 performs operations. The p-type MOS 14 and the n-type MOS 16 controlled by the control circuit 18 turn on to provide power for the logic circuit 12, or cut off to stop providing power. Therefore, when it is not necessary for the logic circuit 12 to perform any operation, the control circuit 18 controls the p-type MOS 14 and the n-type MOS 16 to stop providing power to the logic circuit 12, so as to save energy.
A chip always includes a plurality of logic circuits. Please refer to FIG. 2, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a prior art layout of a chip 20. The chip 20 includes a plurality of logic circuits. In the chip 20, a switch circuit 22 is used to provide power to a logic circuit 24. According to different requirements and according to the logic circuit 24 used, the switch circuit 22 can be one of many different designs of power switches. Then, depending on a type of the switch circuit 22 and available areas near the logic circuit 24, the switch circuit 22 is set beside the logic circuit 24. However, the prior art layout does not take account of the effect of the switch circuit 22 on the chip 20. That is, the prior art layout positions the switch circuit 22 while only considering the design of the switch circuit 22 and available areas in the chip 20, but without considering the effect of the switch circuit 22 on the chip 20.

Method for forming an electric device comprising power switches around a logic circuit and related apparatus


A digital-to-analog converter is provided which compensates for relative errors among weighting elements used for D/A conversion. The converter includes a decoder, a rotator, and a weighting section. The rotator receives decoded signals from a decoder to produce rotated output signals for activating or deactivating a plurality of weighting elements, respectively, included in the weighting section. The rotated output signals assure that the same number of weighting elements are activated in each of a plurality of sub-periods of time constituting a main period of time of the D/A conversion and that each of the plurality of weighting elements is activated the same number of times during the whole main period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog converter for converting a digital input signal to an analog output signal.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Known digital-to-analog converters have been configured in such a manner that a summer employing a differential amplifier circuit is provided to produce the sum of the outputs of unit weighting elements each of which comprises a capacitor. An example thereof has been reported, for example, in "A Multi-Bit .SIGMA..DELTA. DAC with Dynamic Element Matching Techniques", Feng Chen and Bosco Leung, Proc. IEEE 1992 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, pp. 16.2.1-16.2.4. In the digital-to-analog converter described therein, a binary digital code is converted to a decimal analog value. Within substantially equal capacitors, serving as the weighting elements, provided in the converter, a number of capacitors corresponding in number to the decimal analog value are used through Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistor switches such that a summer produces an analog quantity. Further, an approach has been proposed in order to prevent the linearity of the converter from being damaged due to minute errors in capacitance among the capacitors. In the approach, different combinations of used capacitors are dynamically selected one after another during a period of time (i.e. a main period of time) in which a digital code is converted to an analog quantity, such that outputs from the respective capacitors are averaged.
Even with the design as mentioned above, the digital-to-analog converter still has a critical disadvantage that MOS transistors required to be provided in respective feedback loops within the summer leave in the channels of the transistors, upon switching, stored charges the amount of which are non-linear with respect to the output voltage of the summer. As a result, the linearity as well as the immunity to noise including harmonic distortion is adversely affected thereby causing a deterioration in performance.
Digital-to-analog converters may produce output signals in the form of current other than the above-mentioned voltage. An example is the digital-to-analog converter disclosed in Japanese Patent Appln. Public-Disclosure No. 1-204527. This performs digital-to-analog conversion using, as weighting elements, unit current sources which are substantially equal to each other. An approach has been proposed in order to prevent the analog performance of the converter from being damaged due to minute errors among the respective current sources. The approach dynamically selects different combinations of used current sources one after another during a period of time, i.e. a main period of time in which a digital code is converted to an analog quantity, thereby averaging errors among the outputs of the unit current sources.
The most important performance factor for the converter characteristics of digital-to-analog converters is the equality or matching of devices which constitute respective unit weighting elements used in summation. Although the above-mentioned conventional approaches have been proposed to improve the performance factor, the linearity and the noise immunity realized thereby are still insufficient due to a problem with the operation principle of the respective devices and due to a problem with the averaging techniques. Further, both examples involve a problem that the linearity of the output analog quantity deteriorates when the output analog value changes between a main period and the subsequent main period.

Rotation system for correction of weighting element errors in digital-to-analog converter


An image forming system which is capable of performing double-sided clear coating. The image forming system comprises an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on a sheet, and a clear coating apparatus configured to perform clear coating on the sheet using clear toner. The image forming apparatus is provided with a double-sided image forming function for forming images on the respective opposite sides of a sheet, and the clear coating apparatus is provided with a double-sided clear coating function for performing clear coating on the opposite sides of a sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system comprised of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, and a clear coating apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus on a downstream side of the same so as to perform clear coating on the sheet using clear toner which becomes clear (transparent) after being fixed on the sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for full-color electrophotographic image forming apparatuses ensuring high image quality. Further, it has been increasingly desired to realize a high-quality photographic tone image mode in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, with proliferation of digital cameras as a major reason.
On the other hand, there has been proposed a clear coating apparatus that outputs a high-quality photographic tone image on a sheet and then coats the sheet with a toner image which will become clear after being fixed (see e.g. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H03-13079). The clear coating apparatus can provide an image equivalent or close in glossiness to an image obtained by silver-salt photographic processing, by performing clear coating on a sheet.
There has also been proposed a technique for realizing an image forming process using Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) toners and a clear coating process using a clear toner within a single image forming apparatus (see e.g. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H09-200551).
However, the conventional clear coating apparatus is not configured to be able to automatically form clear toner images on the respective opposite sides of a sheet, and hence in order to form clear toner images on the respective opposite sides of a sheet, it is required to form an image on the front side of the sheet and then manually set the sheet discharged from the apparatus on a sheet feeder again. On the other hand, the image forming apparatus incorporating a clear coating device can perform clear coating only in the apparatus itself, and therefore the clear coating device lacks versatility.
Clear toner has a property of increasing its glossiness as the number of times of heat reception increases with increase in the number of times of passage through a fixing device. This property of clear toner can cause a difference in glossiness between the front and reverse sides of a sheet when clear coating is performed on the opposite sides of the sheet. For example, in a case where a front-side image forming process, a front-side clear coating process, a reverse-side image forming process, and a reverse-side clear coating process are executed in the mentioned order, clear toner on the front side passes through the fixing device three times, whereas clear toner on the reverse side passes through the fixing device only once. Therefore, a difference in glossiness is caused between the front side and the reverse side, which causes degradation of the quality of an output.

Image forming system and clear coating apparatus


A pressure sensitive adhesive composition can cure via hydrosilylation to form a pressure sensitive adhesive. The pressure sensitive adhesive composition may be coated on a substrate and cured to form a protective film. The protective film is useful in flexible OLED device fabrication processes, e.g., for protection of passivation layers.

In a typical process for fabricating a flexible OLED display, an OLED is formed on a relatively rigid substrate (e.g., glass or glass coated with a polyimide varnish), and a passivation layer is formed on the surface of the OLED opposite the substrate. During further processing, the rigid substrate is removed. Weak or brittle layers need to be protected from damage (e.g., scratches or other shocks) during the further processing.
To protect the layers during the fabrication process, a protective film with low adhesion is desired to prevent delamination of a layer (e.g., passivation layer) on a surface of an OLED module during releasing of the protective film after use. If adhesion control fails and adhesion increase with time (i.e., during the fabricating process), the layer may delaminate or be damaged when the protective film is removed. Therefore, there is an industry need to provide protective films with low adhesion and high adhesion stability (where adhesion does not increase during the time needed for the fabrication process to an extent that would cause delamination or damage).
It is also important that the surface of the layer remain clean such that additional films or layers can be laminated thereto after removal of the protective film. Therefore, there is an industry need to provide a protective film with low migration (such that no or minimal amounts of adhesive from the protective film remain on the surface of the layer in the flexible OLED device after the protective film is removed.

Pressure sensitive adhesive composition and methods for its preparation and use in flexible organic light emitting diode applications


Monomers, polymers and copolymers are provided that incorporate at least one naturally occurring phenolic compound, such as a plant phenol.

Due to the finite supply of fossil resources and societies ever increasing interest in the use of renewable resources for energy and materials, there is a major need for new chemicals and materials derived from renewable resources. With regard to polymers, aromatic building blocks are tremendously important. For example, commodity polymers such as polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate are based on aromatic monomers. While many renewable resources such as plant oils, carbohydrates, and sugars are aliphatic, there are a number of phenols that can be obtained from renewable sources.

Monomers and polymers derived from natural phenols


A surfactant of formula 1(Rf-A)a-Q-([B]k—R)b  Formula 1wherein                a and b are each independently 1 or 2;        Rf is a linear or branched perfluoroalkyl radical having from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, optionally interrupted with at least one oxygen;        R is a C1 to C20 linear, branched or cyclic alkyl, or a C6 to C10 aryl;        B is —(CH2CHR1O)x—,        k is 0 or 1, x is 1 to about 20,        A is —(CH2)m[(CHR1CH2O)]s—[(CH2)m(CH)tCHOH(CH2)m]e—,wherein        each m is independently 0 to 3, s is 0 to about 30, t is 0 or 1, and e is 0 or 1,        R1 is H or CH3,        Q is:                    —OP(O)(O−M+)(O)—,            —O—,            —S—(CH2)m—C(O)—O—,            —SO2—O—            —CH2CH2O—C(O)CH2C(OH)(V)CH2C(O)O—;            —(CH2CH2O)xCH2CH(OH)—(CH2CH2O)x—(CH2)m—Si[OSi(R2)3]2—, —SO2NR2—,            —(CH2CH2O)zC(O)CH(SO3−M+)CH2C(O)(OCH2CH2)z—                        wherein z is 1 to about 15, or                    a bond when s is a positive integer,                        V is —C(O)OR3 and R3 is H, CH3 or Rf;        R2 is C1 to C4 alkyl, and        M+ is a Group 1 metal or an ammonium (NHxR2y)+ cation wherein x+y=4, and R2 is C1 to C4 alkyl,        provided that when Q is —OP(O)(O−M+)(O)— or when Q is —(CH2CH2O)z—C(O)CH(SO3−M+)CH2C(O)(OCH2CH2)z—, then at least one of s or e is a positive integer.

For surfactants and surface treatment agents having fluorochemical chains longer perfluoroalkyl chains contain a higher percentage of fluorine at a given concentration and provide better performance. However, fluorinated materials are more expensive. Reduction of the fluorine content with delivery of the same or higher performance is therefore desirable. Reducing the fluorine content would reduce the cost, but it is necessary to maintain product performance.
WO 2005/113488 described fluoroalkyl/alkyl (twin-tailed) surfactants of the structure Rf—Z1—CH[(O)rSO3M]-Z2—Rh in which Rf is a fluoroalkyl group that may have an ether bond; Rh is an alkyl group; r is 1 or 0; when r is 0, Z1 and Z2 respectively are —(CH2)n1—(X1)p1— and —(X2)q1—, and when r is 1, Z1 and Z2 respectively are —(CH2Y)p2—CH2— and —(CH2Y)q2—, wherein X1 and X2 are the same or different, and respectively are a divalent linking group; p1 is 0 or 1; q1 is 0 or 1; n1 is an integer of 1-10; Y is O, S, or NR (wherein R is H or a C1-C4 n-, iso-, sec-, or t-alkyl group); p2 and q2 respectively are 0 or 1 but were not all 0 at the same time; and M is H, alkali metal, half alkaline earth metal, or ammonium. These structures are disclosed as having surfactant activity in carbon dioxide, but no other media.
It is desirable to improve surfactant performance, in particular lowering surface tension in aqueous systems, and to increase the fluorine efficiency, i.e., boost the efficiency or performance of the surfactants so a lower proportion of the expensive fluorine component is required to achieve the same level of performance, or to have better performance using the same level of fluorine. Especially desirable would be surfactants with similar performance to current commercial products but having less fluorine present via shorter perfluoroalkyl groups. The present invention provides such surfactants.


A hair styling device is described that has a handle, an elongated, substantially cylindrical, heatable rod providing a curling surface and supported by the handle, a heater for heating the curling surface, a support spaced apart from the curling surface, and a rotatable member rotatable relative to the curling surface for wrapping hair around and in contact with the curling surface. The device has an opening in the rotatable member for receiving a section of a user's hair, a motor for rotating the rotatable member, and a flexible, heat-resistant clamp supported by the support and extending from the support toward the curling surface for clamping hair against the curling surface.

Many people have the desire for curled or styled hair. Most people manually style their hair with devices such as curling irons and flat irons, which takes some knowledge of hair styling in order to produce desirable hair styles. Automatic hair styling devices are available, but some can be difficult to use and can result in hair tangling and imperfectly curled or styled hair.
The present invention overcomes the limitation of the prior art by providing an automatic hair styling device designed to produce consistent curls and styles without extensive knowledge or effort from the user with reduced likelihood of tangling.


A system and method for actively managing blade tip clearances in a turbine engine, particularly under steady state operating conditions such as at base load, involves routing a portion of air from a rotor cooling air circuit to a vane carrier or other stationary support structure surrounding the turbine blades. Because the temperature of the air is less than the temperature of the stationary support structure, the stationary support structure will thermally contract when the air is passed in heat exchanging relation therewith. In one embodiment, the air can be passed through one or more passages extending through at least a portion of the stationary support structure. The contraction of the stationary support structure reduces the blade tip clearance because the blades do not contract. Thus, fluid leakage through the clearances is minimized, which in turn can increase engine performance.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through a portion of a turbine engine. A turbine engine 10 can generally include a compressor section 12, a combustor section 14 and a turbine section 16. A centrally disposed rotor 18 can extend through the three sections.
Generally, the combustor section 14 is enclosed within a casing 20 that can form a chamber 22, together with the aft end of the compressor casing 24 and a housing 26 that surrounds a portion of the rotor 18. A plurality of combustors 28 and ducts 30 can be provided within the chamber 22, such as in an annular array about the rotor 18. Each duct 30 can connect one of the combustors 28 to the turbine section 16.
The turbine section 16 can include an outer casing 32 which encloses alternating rows of stationary airfoils 34 (commonly referred to as vanes) and rotating airfoils 36 (commonly referred to as blades). Each row of blades can include a plurality of airfoils 36 attached to a disc 38 provided on the rotor 18. The rotor 18 can include a plurality of axially-spaced discs 38. The blades 36 can extend radially outward from the discs 38 and terminate in a region known as the blade tip 40.
Each row of vanes can be formed by attaching a plurality of airfoils 34 to the stationary support structure in the turbine section 16. For instance, the airfoils 34 can be hosted by a vane carrier 42 that is attached to the outer casing 32. The vanes 34 can extend radially inward from the vane carrier 42 or other stationary support structure to which they are attached.
In operation, the compressor section 12 can induct ambient air and can compress it. The compressed air 44 from the compressor section 12 can enter the chamber 22 and can then be distributed to each of the combustors 28. In the combustors 28, the compressed air can be mixed with the fuel introduced through a fuel nozzle 46. The air-fuel mixture can be burned, thereby forming a hot working gas 48. The hot gas 48 can flow through the ducts 30 and then through the rows of stationary airfoils 34 and rotating airfoils 36 in the turbine section 16, where the gas 48 can expand and generate power that can drive the rotor 18. The expanded gas 50 can then be exhausted from the turbine 16.
It should be noted that each row of blades 36 is surrounded by the stationary support structure of the turbine, which can be the outer casing 32, the vane carrier 42 or a ring seal (not shown). The space between the blade tips 40 and the neighboring stationary structure is referred to as the blade tip clearance C. During engine operation, gas leakage can occur through the blade tip clearances C, resulting in measurable engine performance decreases in power and efficiency.
While small blade tip clearances C are desired to minimize gas leakage, it is critical to maintain a clearance C between the rotating turbine components (blades 36, rotor 18, and discs 38) and the stationary turbine components (vanes 34, outer casing 32, vane carriers 42 and ring seals) at all times. Rubbing of any of the rotating and stationary components can lead to substantial component damage, performance degradation, and extended outages.
However, during transient conditions such as during engine startup or part load operation, it can be difficult to ensure that adequate blade tip clearances C are maintained because the rotating parts and the stationary parts thermally expand at different rates. For instance, in a cold start situation, the rate of thermal expansion of the thermal stationary support structure is at least initially less than the rate of thermal expansion of the rotating turbine components due to the relatively larger size and thickness of the stationary support structure. As a result, the blade tip clearances C can actually decrease because the rotating components expand radially outward faster than the stationary support structure, raising concerns of blade tip rubbing.
To avoid blade tip rubbing, large tip clearances are initially provided so that minimum blade tip clearances C are maintained at known pinch points, that is, during operational conditions where the clearances C would otherwise be expected to be the smallest (hot restart, spin cool, etc.). However, because the minimum blade tip clearances C are sized for these pinch point conditions, the clearances C eventually become overly large as the rate of thermal expansion of the rotating components slows or substantially stops while the stationary support structure continues to grow radially outward. Such oversized clearances C can occur as the engine approaches or attains steady state operation, such as at base load. Consequently, engine power and efficiency can be reduced.
Thus, there is a need for a system that can improve engine performance by minimizing turbine tip clearances at desired engine operating conditions.


A multi-layer PCB includes a first signal layer, a ground layer, a second signal layer, a third signal layer, an electric power layer, and a fourth signal layer, including a first insulating layer arranged between the first signal layer and the ground layer; a second insulating layer arranged between the ground layer and the second signal layer; a third insulating layer arranged between the second signal layer and the third signal layer; a fourth insulating layer arranged between the third signal layer and the electric power layer; and a fifth insulating layer arranged between the electric power layer and the fourth signal layer, wherein at least one of the first signal layer, the second signal layer, the third signal layer, and the fourth signal layer includes a pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-layer printed circuit board, and more particularly, to a multi-layer printed circuit board having improved electrical properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
A PCB (printed circuit board) generally includes 6 signal layers and insulating layers respectively arranged between the signal layers.
Electrical properties of the multi-layer printed circuit board include impedance matching, EMI (electro-magnetic interference), cross-talk, ringing, glitch, timing, decrease of SSN (simultaneous switching noise), unwanted coupling, and skew.
The electrical properties change according to a thickness of each of the insulating layers included in the multi-layer PCB, a width of a pattern formed on the signal layer, and an interval between the patterns, and the electrical properties are independent of one another. Therefore, when one of the electric properties is enhanced, another may worsen.
Accordingly, the multi-layer PCB needs to be configured to satisfy the aforementioned electric properties by optimizing the thickness of the insulating layer comprised in the multi-layer PCB, the width of the pattern formed on the signal layer, and the interval between the patterns which influence the electric properties.


A shock absorbing system wherein arrangements are provided for altering the hysteresis effects of the fluid utilized so as to obtain desired damping curves. Particularly, by employing different hysteresis effects it is possible to obtain larger damping forces at the end of the piston stroke. The hysteresis effect can be altered by changing the effective area of the shock absorber piston by controlling the flow paths between the piston chambers and an accumulator chamber and the pressures necessary to open these flow paths. In addition, by employing selectively openable variable volume chambers and variable pressure accumulator chambers, further changes in the hysteresis effect can be accomplished.

This invention relates to a hydraulic shock absorber and more particularly to an improved hydraulic shock absorber for a vehicle suspension wherein the hysteresis effects of the compressibility of the fluid employed in the shock absorber can either be compensated for and/or employed to change the damping characteristics as desired.
The use of hydraulic shock absorbers for damping suspension travel in vehicle suspension systems are well known. Basically, these shock absorbers control the flow to or from at least one fluid chamber in order to vary the damping characteristics. Various arrangements have been provided also so that the damping characteristics can be adjusted during the vehicle travel. Although these systems are quite effective, they have not been able to accommodate for the fact that the hydraulic fluid, although generally considered as incompressible, is not in fact incompressible. This problem is particularly acute with shock absorbers that have relatively short strokes. It has been found that a large proportion of the suspension travel is due to the compression of the hydraulic fluid used in the system. Thus, even though the control of the damping during the normal operation is accurately controlled, the total shock absorber performance can be deteriorated considerably from that which is desired because of the fact that the suspension travel during the compression of the hydraulic fluid is basically uncontrolled.
The amount of compression of the hydraulic fluid and the damping force also depends upon the speed at which the suspension elements are relatively moving and this makes it further difficult to set the shock absorber to obtain the desired damping characteristics. The effect of the compressibility provides a hysteresis effect in the operation of the shock absorber which is well known. Since this hysteresis is not controllable with the prior art type of constructions, it cannot be employed to obtain the desired damping effect with conventional type shock absorbers.
One problem with the prior art type of shock absorbers, and particularly when used for extreme conditions where performance is extremely important, such as in racing vehicles, is that the damping at the end of the stroke cannot be effectively maintained at a high value so as to permit the desired suspension travel and still effective damping throughout the entire amount of movement. By utilizing the hysteresis effect and controlling it, it is possible to obtain high damping forces throughout the entire suspension travel or at desired positions in the suspension travel.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved hydraulic shock absorber.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a hydraulic shock absorber that permits control of the effect of the compressibility of the hydraulic fluid.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved shock absorber that permits adjustment and control of the hysteresis effect caused by the compressibility of the hydraulic fluid.


To draw an optical fiber (10) from one end of a glass preform (9) which is heated to above the glass softening temperature at least in that area, a gas (21) flows around the preform (9) into a furnace space (16) during the drawing process and subsequent feeding of the preform. During the feeding, the areas that are adjacent to the drawing end of the preform (9) pass through gas zones in which the helium content of the furnace gas increases in the drawing direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention concerns a method of drawing an optical fiber from the end of a glass preform which is heated to above the glass softening temperature at least in that area, while a gas flows around the preform during the drawing process and the subsequent feeding of the preform into a furnace space.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In one of the generic methods found in EP-A1-0 653 383, gas flows around the preform and the direction of the flow corresponds to the fiber drawing direction, while the gas flowing around the preform in the drawing region is stabilized by means of an additional flushing gas. This eliminates gas turbulence inside the furnace space, or limits its effect on the quality of the optical fiber drawn from the preform to an insignificant degree.
To improve the fiber quality and prevent diameter fluctuations in particular, a helium containing gas has already been guided in a downstream direction through the drawing furnace (DE-OS 29 06 071), at least during a part of the drawing process. This takes place in that a helium-free gas is first fed through the furnace in the drawing direction until the length of the blank is only about 10 cm, and then a helium-containing gas is used. Although the gas turbulence can be reduced in the furnace space because of the helium's higher heat conductivity and lower heat capacity as compared to other protective gases, the known measure however implies a considerable control engineering effort and uncertainty about the fiber quality during the gas change. This applies above all because of ever increasing requirements for higher production speeds and stricter specifications for the fiber diameter. Up to now in the field of optical fiber, requirements were made with respect to fiber diameters of 125 .mu.m. It was requested that this diameter should be within a tolerance range of .+-.2 .mu.m. Meanwhile, based on increasing requirements for higher production speeds and stricter specifications for the fiber diameter tolerance ranges of .+-.1.0 .mu.m are discussed based on online measurements at a high frequency.
To this must be added that more economy with improved fiber quality is demanded from the drawing process, requirements which cannot be achieved with the process cited last. Increased leakage can therefore always be expected on the inlet side of the drawing furnace, which results in an increased loss of helium if, as required to prevent diameter variations, a gas with a high helium content must flow from top to bottom through the furnace toward the drawing region.


Disclosed is a technology relating to a method for fabricating a multilayer structure. In the method for fabricating the multilayer structure according to the disclosed embodiment, a first material layer including at least one atomic layer is deposited using a first source gas, which includes a first component, and an oxygen-containing reactive gas which is reactive with the first source gas. On the first material layer, a second material layer including at least one atomic layer is deposited using a second source gas, which includes a second component different from the first component, and an oxygen-containing reactive gas which is reactive with the second source gas. The step of depositing the first material layer and the step of depositing the second material layer constitute one cycle, and the cycle is performed at least once.

In a highly integrated semiconductor device, a dielectric layer may perform various functions in addition to the fundamental function of providing electrical insulation between conductive layers.
This dielectric layer may have a monolayer or multilayer structure, and is applied to various fields, including a hard mask, a spacer for forming a fine pattern, or an etch stopper which is used in an etching process, in addition to the fundamental function of providing electrical insulation between conductive layers.
In order to perform these various functions, the dielectric layer should be easily adjustable in terms of its dielectric characteristics, hardness characteristics, roughness characteristics, etch selectivity characteristics and thickness uniformity, according to its intended use.