An antenna system is provided for receiving horizontal and vertical components of a transmitted RF signal and for minimizing the magnitude of one of the components prior to application to an RF utilization means, such as a TV receiver. The system includes a vertical antenna for primarily receiving the vertical components of the RF signal. A horizontal antenna serves to primarily receive the horizontal components of the RF signal. An adjustable time delay serves to adjust the time delay between the vertical and horizontal components. A combiner combines the components to obtain therefrom a combined RF signal for application to the RF utilization means.

The present invention relates to antenna systems and, more particularly, to an antenna system particularly applicable for use in receiving RF signals including digital television (DTV) signals.
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established guidelines for broadcasting television signals. The established standard is known as the NTSC signal format which is an analog signal. The FCC is now permitting the broadcasting of digital television (DTV) as well as analog NTSC signals.
The digital television signals (DTV) being broadcast at this time are horizontally polarized signals. Circular polarized signals (CP) are being considered for future broadcasting of digital television signals. A problem noted with such horizontally polarized DTV signals arises in urban centers having tall buildings. The DTV signal may reflect off one or more buildings prior to being received at a subscriber""s receiving antenna. If the receiving antenna is a xe2x80x9crabbit earxe2x80x9d0 di-pole antenna, the received signal may be comprised of the horizontal component (from the broadcasted horizontally polarized DTV signal) as well as a vertical component (the result of reflection). The reflected vertical component may lead or lag the horizontal component in time and be offset therefrom in phase, resulting in an erroneous xe2x80x9cghostingxe2x80x9d signal being fed to the subscriber""s DTV television receiver. The result will be a garbled picture on the television receiver.
It is understood that the same result will take place if the broadcasted signal is circularly polarized (CP). Such a signal, when received at a receiving antenna, will include a horizontal component and a vertical component together with a vertical reflection component and a horizontal reflection component resulting in erroneous signals being fed to the DTV television receiver.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an antenna system is provided for receiving both horizontal and vertical components of a transmitted RF signal and for minimizing the magnitude of one of the components prior to application to an RF utilization means, such as a TV receiver.
The system includes a vertically oriented antenna for primarily receiving vertical components of the RF signal. A horizontally oriented antenna serves to primarily receive the horizontal components of the RF signal. An adjustable time delay adjuster circuit serves to adjust the time delay between the vertical and horizontal components. A combiner combines the components to obtain therefrom a combined RF signal for application to the RF utilization means.


A gas adsorbent which has sufficient gas adsorptivity for noxious gas components in a cigarette when brought into contact with a gas stream having a high flow rate as that when it passes through a cigarette filter, and which releases a small amount of bad odor components such as amine impurities and free noxious components which adversely affect health such as aromatic compounds derived from the gas adsorbent itself, the gas adsorbent satisfying conditions (I), (II), (IV) and (V) or conditions (I), (III), (IV) and (V), as described in the specification.

In recent years, along with great development of living environment, a very small amount of chemical substances present in life space increasingly attract attention as causes of environmental pollution, endocrine disrupting chemicals (environmental hormones) and chemical sensitivity.
On the other hand, when a cigarette burns, it generates a granular phase and a vapor phase in its smoke, and the vapor phase contains, for example, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and ammonia and in addition, noxious substances including carbonyl compounds and organic acids, phenol derivatives such as phenol, cresol and catechol, hydrogen cyanide, sulfides represented by hydrogen sulfide, etc. Among them, carbonyl compounds attract attention as main causative substances of chemical sensitivity in recent years and are known as chemical substances harmful to the human body.
Here, carbonyl compounds are compounds having a carbonyl group (C═O) such as aldehydes and ketones. They are one of noxious gas components which are highly likely to be present in the living environment. For example, a low molecular aliphatic aldehyde is a major component among various noxious gas components contained in the cigarette smoke, and further, formaldehyde has been known as a major causative component of sick house syndrome, emitted from building material in recent years. Among noxious gas components contained in a cigarette, as carbonyl compounds, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, propionaldehyde, butylaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, a benzaldehyde derivative of an aromatic aldehyde compound, etc. have been reported.
In order to remove such noxious gas components thereby to maintain a pleasant living environment, a gas adsorbent having high adsorptivity for noxious gas components has been required, and various gas adsorbents have been used in home life.
In general, for many of gas adsorbents, porous materials which adsorb gas in their physically porous structures, such as activated carbon, silica gel and zeolite have been widely used. However, among such porous materials, for example, silica gel easily adsorbs noxious substances such as carbonyl compounds and hydrogen cyanide but easily releases the adsorbed components as well, and is thereby known as an adsorbent having low retention properties for such noxious substances (having low adsorptivity).
Further, in a case where a gas stream having a flow rate at the same level as that when it passes through a cigarette filter is brought into contact with the surface of the porous material such as activated carbon, silica gel or zeolite, the gas adsorptivity tends to be low as compared with a case where a gas stream having a relatively low flow rate is made to pass.
The flow rate of a gas stream which passes through a cigarette filter at the time of smoking is very high, and it has been known that the flow rate is approximately from 10 to 30 m/sec and the retention time is within one second. Accordingly, when a gas adsorbent is used in a cigarette filter, it is required to have a sufficient gas adsorptivity for a gas stream having a flow rate at the time of passing through the cigarette filter. Further, also when a gas adsorbent is used not for a cigarette filter but for a gas filter of apparatus which is required to remove noxious gas in cigarette smoke such as an air cleaner or a car air conditioner, it is desired to have a sufficient gas adsorptivity for a high flow rate gas stream with a view to improving the capacity.
Patent Document 1 discloses a cigarette filter comprising a non-volatile inorganic substrate having a reactive functional group as a reagent, therein the reagent chemically reacts with a gaseous component of a smoke stream to remove the gaseous component from the smoke stream.
Patent Document 1 proposes a cigarette filter containing a silica gel having 3-aminopropylsilyl groups as the most preferred embodiment of the reagent, and that primary amino groups in the 3-aminopropylsilyl groups chemically react with and covalently bonded to noxious substances such as hydrogen cyanide and aldehydes thereby to selectively remove them. However, the cigarette filter containing the silica gel has a low amino group content, whereby its adsorption amount of noxious substances such as hydrogen cyanide is insufficient, and aldehydes are not likely to be removed. Further, in preparation of a silica gel to which propylsilyl groups are bonded as a gas adsorbent from 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and silica gel, unreacted 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane will remain. The obtained gas adsorbent is dried in an oven, and if unreacted 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane remains in a large amount in the gas adsorbent, the gas adsorbent will emit an amine odor even after drying and may influence the odor and the flavor.
On the other hand, it has been studied to use an ion exchange resin as a gas adsorbent so as to remove noxious substances. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a multiple section cigarette filter comprising a selective adsorbent section comprising a selective adsorbent material having an affinity for a predetermined class of chemical compounds dispersed throughout a fibrous material; and a general adsorbent section comprising a general adsorbent material having a high surface area and being capable of adsorbing smoke constituents without a high degree of specificity, the selective adsorbent section and the general adsorbent section being co-axially aligned in tandem. Patent Document 2 proposes use of activated coconut carbon as the general adsorbent material having a large surface area and capable of adsorbing smoke constituents without a high degree of specificity, and Duolite A7 (tradename, manufactured by Rohm and Haas) as the selective adsorbent material having an affinity for the chemical compounds.
Duolite A7 has a phenol-formaldehyde resin matrix and is surface-functionalized with primary and secondary amine groups, thereby enhancing the resin's specificity toward the aldehydes. However, for the Duolite A7, a phenol derivate is used to form the resin skeleton, and accordingly free noxious components such as an aromatic compound derived therefrom are released. Further, according to the experimental results disclosed in Patent Document 2, the adsorption amount of acetaldehyde is not good.
Patent Document 3 discloses a cigarette filter comprising a first component which is a quick adsorbent for gaseous components in cigarette smoke containing aldehydes with low retention properties, and a second component which includes aminos and which is chemically bonded to the gaseous components to generate a substantially non-volatile reaction product, mixed or very closely dispersed. Patent Document 3 discloses, as specific examples of the second component, Duolite A7 (tradename) disclosed in Patent Document 2 also and an amino group type anion exchange resin such as DIAION CR20 (tradename, manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) as well.
Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a gas adsorbent which is a crosslinked polymer mainly comprising a vinylamine of which the nitrogen atom may be alkylated and a polyvinyl compound. The gas adsorbent in Patent Document 4 is a gas adsorbent which is a vinylamine type ion exchange resin comprising an aromatic divinyl compound as a crosslinkable component and which contains a vinylamine component which is directly related to gas adsorption power in a large amount.
A gas adsorbent comprising DIAION CR20 (tradename, manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) disclosed in Patent Document 3 and a vinylamine type ion exchange resin disclosed in Patent Document 4 is intended to increase adsorptivity for aldehydes, but such a gas adsorbent is an amino group type anion exchange resin, and amine impurities released therefrom make an amine odor, thus significantly influences the odor and the flavor. Further, since styrene or a divinylbenzene compound is used as e.g. a crosslinkable component, a free noxious component such as an aromatic compound derived therefrom is released.
Further, Patent Document 4 also discloses a process of removing an acidic gas from a gas containing an acidic gas, which comprises bringing it into contact with the gas containing an acidic gas to adsorb the acid gas, and then heating the gas adsorbent in which the acidic gas is adsorbed to disorb the acidic gas.
However, by the above process, release of the above free noxious components and amine impurities can not sufficiently be suppressed, and further, if washing with a basic aqueous solution is carried out, even amino groups in the gas adsorbent are removed, thus decreasing the effect of the gas adsorbent. Further, if washing with an acid or an alkali is carried out, formalin will form, which will remain in a vinylamine ion exchange resin to be finally obtained. It is very difficult to solve the above problems and to realize industrial mass production by the process disclosed in Patent Document 4.
Further, as described above, in general, for many of gas adsorbents to be used for a cigarette filter, porous materials which adsorb gas in their physical porous structures, such as activated carbon, silica gel and zeolite have been widely used. However, if such a porous gas adsorbent is used for a cigarette filter by itself, since adsorption selectivity is low, not only aimed is noxious gas components but also flavorous components useful for a cigarette such as nicotinamide originally contained in a cigarette or 1-menthol to be added to a cigarette are adsorbed, thus impairing the flavor of the cigarette. Accordingly, a gas adsorbent which will not impair flavorous components is desired for a cigarette.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2002-528106
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2004-538016
Patent Document 3: JP-A-54-151200
Patent Document 4: JP-A-6-190235


A recloseable biosensor is provided that comprises a substrate, a sample site positioned on the substrate, and an openable and recloseable cover coupled to the substrate. The cover is operative to selectively block access to the sample site. The cover includes a fixed end coupled to the substrate, an opposite free end, and a middle portion extending across the sample site. The middle portion is releasably and recloseably adhered to the substrate.

The present invention relates to a biosensor for use in determining the concentration of an analyte in a sample.
Electrochemical biosensors are known. They have been used to determine the concentration of various analytes from biological samples, particularly from blood. Biosensors are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,288,636; 5,413,690; 5,762,770; 5,798,031; and 5,997,817, the disclosure of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Storage containers for test strips are also known. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,788,064 and 5,985,675.
According to the present invention, a recloseable biosensor is provided that comprises a substrate having a top surface, a reagent positioned on the top surface, and an openable and recloseable cover including a first fixed end coupled to the substrate, an opposite second free end, and a middle portion extending between the opposite ends across the reagent. The cover is operative to selectively block access to the reagent.
In addition, according to the invention a recloseable biosensor is provided that comprises a substrate including a sample site, a reagent positioned at the sample site, and a cover extending across the reagent. The cover is releasably and recloseably coupled to the substrate.
Further, according to the invention a recloseable biosensor is provided that comprises a substrate formed to include a sample site and a cover. The cover includes first and second ends and a middle portion that extends between the ends. The first end is coupled to the substrate and the middle portion extends over the sample site and is releasably and recloseably coupled to the substrate.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


A method for analyzing mucosa structure with optical coherence tomography (OCT) is provided, and includes: (a) scanning a mucosa sample with optical coherence tomography; (b) choosing a lateral range from a two- or three-dimensional OCT image and analyzing all the A-scan intensity profiles in the lateral range; (c) calculating three indicators in each A-scan intensity profile, including the standard deviation for a certain depth range below the sample surface, the exponential decay constant of the spatial-frequency spectrum and the epithelium thickness under the condition that the basement membrane is identifiable; and (d) using the three indicators of each A-scan intensity profile within the lateral range to analyze the mucosa structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for analyzing structures of mucosa samples, and in particular relates to a method for analyzing the mucosa samples with optical coherence tomography.
2. Description of the Related Art
The majority of oral cancers are found to develop from oral premalignant lesions such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, erythroleukoplakia, dysplasia, and carcinoma in situ. Due to the high malignant transformation rates for oral premalignant lesions, early diagnosis and early treatment are important. In order for a correct pathological diagnosis, a suspicious oral lesion may need multiple biopsies to avoid misdiagnosis of the most severe part of the lesion. For reducing a patients' pain and suffering from multiple biopsies, one of the best non-invasive technique to select the most appropriate sites for biopsy is to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging to detect oral precancers and cancers.
Although the time-domain configuration of OCT has been applied in a variety of medical and biological applications, such a configuration has several restrictions, including limited imaging speed. Recently, OCT systems based on Fourier-domain detection have been widely implemented to speed up imaging speed. OCT systems based on Fourier-domain detection may include two techniques, either the spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) or the swept-source OCT (SS-OCT), wherein both of them obtain the depth structure information of a detected object by spectrally resolving the interference signal. A Fourier-domain OCT system has the advantages of higher imaging sensitivity and faster imaging speed when compared with a time-domain system. In the SD-OCT technique, normally a detector array, such as a charge-coupled device (CCD), is needed. However, slow development of CCDs has limited the application of the SD-OCT technique. On the other hand, the rapid development of the sweeping-frequency laser has led to a spectral coverage of the SS-OCT technique covering the entire biological window, from 1300 nm through 1050 nm to 850 nm. Nowadays, SS-OCT systems are widely used for various biomedical applications.

Method for analyzing mucosa samples with optical coherence tomography


In a radio transceiver (11) including a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) (24) having an output for coupling to a switchable load (32, 30), a switch (42) couples a compensating load (44) to the output of the VCO when the switchable load is in an off state. The compensating load has an impedance that compensates for the decoupling of the load impedance from the output of the VCO, thus avoiding frequency pull problems. In a further aspect of the invention a voltage variable capacitor (100) is used as the switch.

In a communication system where switching between the receive and transmit modes is needed, it is very common to encounter frequency pull problems. This problem is more prevalent in Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems where switching between receive and transmit is in the order of milliseconds.
Frequency pull is a phenomenon associated with the Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) where due to impedance variations presented at the output of the oscillator, the oscillation frequency of the VCO will momentarily change frequency, thus potentially adversely affecting the communication link.
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a conventional radio circuit 10 in which the frequency pull problem is illustrated. The radio 10 is a time-division multiplexed radio. The radio is in the receive mode for one millisecond and in the transmit mode for one millisecond. In the receive mode, the radio circuit 10 receives radio frequency (RF) signals with an antenna, which is coupled to the receiver and transmitter portions of the radio 10 through an antenna switch 12. A first intermediate frequency (IF) section converts the received RF signals to first IF signals. A receiver down mixer 16 multiplies the first IF signals with a second injection signal provided at a second local oscillator (VCO) 24 to produce second IF signals. A second IF section 18 demodulates the second IF signals and a receiver audio section processes the demodulated signals and applies the resulting signals to a speaker 22.
In the transmit mode, controller 28 turns on the mixer 32 and the power amplifier 30, and a microphone 38 provides audio signals to a transmitter section 36. The transmitter up-mixer 32 multiplies the output of the transmitter section 36 with an injection signal (provided by the VCO 24) to provide an RF signal. A power amplifier 30 amplifies the output of the transmitter up-mixer 32 for transmission by the antenna. Since during the receive mode the transmitter up-mixer 32 is off, it presents a relatively high impedance to the VCO 24. When the radio 10 returns to the transmit mode, the controller 28 turns the transmitter up-mixer 32 back on and it exhibits an impedance of approximately 50 Ohms (i.e., a relatively low impedance). This change in impedance creates a frequency pull problem for the VCO 24. For example, at time "a" (the instant of switching to the receive mode), the VCO 24 frequency changes from its nominal frequency, and takes about a substantial period of the receive or transmit cycle to return to its original frequency. Similarly, the frequency of VCO 34 changes, at time "b" (as shown in the bottom waveform), when the radio switches back to the transmit mode. The impedance variation that causes this frequency change is attributed to the turning on and off of the mixer 32 and the power amplifier 30.
The most common way of solving the problem is by designing buffer stages (one or more), such as buffer 26, in between the oscillator 24 and the switched device(s) (mixer 32 and amplifier 30, in this case). The buffering is used to provide isolation and the changes in impedance are drastically reduced at the output of the oscillator. The buffer solution, however, presents the following disadvantages:
Higher current is needed during standby operation of the radio (i.e., during receive);
Depending on the isolation needed, several stages of buffers might be needed;
The parts count is higher;
Circuit board surface area needed is higher.
Thus, a need exists for a solution to the frequency pull problem that avoids the above disadvantages.


A wireless communication system allocates connection identifiers into a first group and a second group. The system associates sectors or base stations with a reservation zone, and associates the reservation zone with the first group of connection identifiers. The system associates the first group of connection identifiers with a quality-of-service level. In response to determining that a user has the quality-of-service level, the system reserves at least one of the connection identifiers in the first group for the user and uses the reserved connection identifier to communicate with the first user in all of the sectors or base stations associated with the reservation zone.

A mobile communication device and its serving base station wirelessly communicate to provide voice, Internet, email, text, video, and other communication services. As the mobile communication device moves about, the serving base station hands-off the mobile communication device to another target base station. After the hand-off, the target base station then becomes the serving base station, and subsequently, this new serving base station will hand-off the mobile communication device to another target base station.
In some wireless communication systems, the mobile communication device receives connection identifiers from the serving base station to use for these wireless communications. As the mobile communication device moves to the target base station, the mobile device receives new connection identifiers to use for the wireless communications. In some scenarios, the mobile communication device receives new connection identifiers even when it moves to a new sector on the same base station.

Connection identifier reservation in a wireless communication system


A circularly polarized wave antenna which allows the matching of resonant frequencies in a higher order mode to be easily achieved. In this circularly polarized wave antenna, a flat portion is provided by flattening a portion of the peripheral side surface of a substrate. Two feeding electrodes for use in the higher order mode excitation are formed on this flat plane. On one main surface of the substrate, a circular radiation electrode is formed, while, on the other main surface of the substrate, a ground electrode is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circularly polarized wave antenna, and particularly, to a circularly polarized wave antenna excited in a higher order mode such as in a DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) system, and to a manufacturing method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an antenna excited in a higher order mode, one which is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 07-46762 is known. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, this antenna has a two-layer structure wherein a microstrip antenna 2 for use in the major mode excitation is placed on a microstrip antenna 1 for use in the higher order mode excitation.
Specifically, in the microstrip antenna 1 for use in the higher order mode excitation, a dielectric substrate 3 having a square shape in a plan view is used, a plan-view circular radiation electrode 4 for use in the higher order mode excitation is formed on the front surface of the substrate, and a ground electrode 5 is provided over the entire back surface of the substrate 3. On the other hand, in the microstrip antenna 2 for use in the major mode excitation, a disk shaped substrate 6 is used, and a radiation electrode 7 for use in the major mode excitation is formed over the entire circular surface of the substrate 6, as well as a center pin 8 is disposed along the center axis of the radiation electrode 4 for use in the higher order mode excitation and the radiation electrode 7 for use in the major mode excitation, thereby ensuring the symmetry between the major mode and the higher order mode.
In the microstrip antenna 2 for use in the major mode excitation, probes F1 and F2 for use in the major mode excitation are disposed at the angular positions of 90xc2x0 with respect to the center pin 8, on the surface of the radiation electrode 7. These probes are provided so as to pass through the substrates 3 and 6 without contacting the radiation electrode 4 for use in the higher order mode excitation and the ground electrode 5.
Also, in the microstrip antenna 1 for use in the higher order mode excitation, probes G10, G11, G20, and G21 for use in the higher order mode excitation are disposed on the 0xc2x0 and 45xc2x0 lines passing through the center pin 8, on the surface of the radiation electrode 4. Specifically, a pair of probes G10 and G11 for use in the first order mode excitation are disposed at the positions symmetrical with each other around the center pin 8 on the line connecting the center pin 8 and the probe F1, and a pair of probes G20 and G21 are disposed at the positions on the 45xc2x0 line which divides the angle formed by the probes F1 and F2 into equal halves. The probes G10, G11, G20, and G21 are provided so as to pass through the substrate 3 without contacting the ground electrode 5.
In the above-described features, when signal powers for the major mode excitation are supplied to the probes F1 and F2 for use in the major mode excitation, with a phase difference of 90xc2x0 provided therebetween using a 90xc2x0 hybrid or the like, a circularly polarized wave is generated. On the other hand, when in-phase signal powers for the higher order mode excitation are each supplied to the probes G10 and G11, and the probes G20 and G21 for use in the higher order mode excitation, and signal powers which have a mutual phase difference of 90xc2x0 are supplied to the probes G10 and G11, and the probes G20 and G21 for use in the higher order mode excitation, a circularly polarized wave in the second order mode (TM21 mode) is generated.
In the microstrip antenna 1 for use in the higher order mode excitation which has the above-described features, since four probes G10, Gil, G20, and G21 for use in the higher order mode excitation are disposed so as to pass through the dielectric substrate 3, the interference (intercoupling) between the radiation electrode 4 for use in the higher order mode excitation and each of the probes G10, G11, G20, and G21 easily occurs, so that there may be a case where the matching between resonant frequencies cannot be achieved.
Also, since the dielectric substrate 3 has a square shape in a plan view, the distances between the periphery of the plan-view circular radiation electrode 4 and the edge line of the substrate 3 are mutually different between the two directions of higher order mode excitation, so that the mutual difference in edge effect, in other words, the mutual difference in the capacitance between the periphery of the radiation electrode 4 and the ground electrode occurs between the two directions. Particularly when the dielectric constant of the substrate 3 is high, this difference becomes significant. The difference in the edge effect would cause a difference in the frequency characteristic of linearly polarized waves between the two directions of the higher order mode excitation. This causes a problem in that circularly polarized waves in a higher order mode reduce the bandwidth in the axial ratio-frequency characteristic.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a circularly polarized wave antenna which allows a superior higher order mode excitation to be achieved, and to provide a manufacturing method for the same which allows various electrodes to be easily formed.
In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention uses the following configurations to solve the above-described problems. The circularly polarized wave antenna in accordance with the present invention comprises a substantially cylindrical substrate comprising a dielectric body; a radiation electrode having a circular shape in a plan view, the radiation electrode being formed on one main surface of the substrate; a ground electrode formed on the other main surface of the substrate; a flat portion formed by flattening a portion of the peripheral side surface of the substrate; and at least two strip shaped feeding electrodes which are formed on the flat portion so as to extend from the ground electrode side to the radiation electrode side.
In the circularly polarized wave antenna with the above-described features, the main surface of the substrate comprises a perfect circle, and the radiation electrode is formed so as to have a diameter smaller than that of the main surface of the substrate so as to be effective diameter to excite the TMn1 (nxe2x89xa72, n: natural number) mode which is a higher order mode. The radiation electrode is disposed coaxially with the main surface of the substrate, and the flat portion provided on the substrate is formed as a flat plane parallel to an imaginary plane (hereinafter, referred to the xe2x80x9caxial planexe2x80x9d) passing the center axis of the substrate.
The two feeding electrodes are disposed so as to form an angle of 90/nxc2x0 (nxe2x89xa72, n: natural number) with respect to the center axis of the substrate, and disposed at the positions which form a plane-symmetry with another axial plane perpendicular to the flat plane. When a signal power is supplied to each of the feeding electrodes, two linearly polarized waves which spatially form 90/nxc2x0, are excited, and by making a phase difference of 90xc2x0 between the two signal powers, a circularly polarized wave in a higher order mode is radiated.
In the circularly polarized wave antenna in accordance with the present invention, it is preferable that the flat portion be provided with a second electrode in conjunction with the feeding electrodes.
In the present invention, since the two feeding electrodes are disposed at angular positions forming 90/nxc2x0 with respect to the center axis of the substrate, the space between the two feeding electrodes remains blank. A second electrode, therefore, is provided making use of the blank between the two feeding electrodes.
The manufacturing method for a circularly polarized wave antenna in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of forming a radiation electrode having a circular shape in a plan view, on one main surface of a cylindrical substrate, and forming a ground electrode on the other main surface thereof; flattening a portion of the peripheral side surface of the substrate; and collectively forming at least a plurality of feeding electrodes on the flat portion so as to extend from the ground electrode side to the radiation electrode side.
In the manufacturing method for a circularly polarized wave antenna in according with the present invention, since a portion of the peripheral side surface of the substrate is formed into a flat plane, a screen pattern on which electrode patterns are formed, can be placed on the flat plane of the substrate, parallel to the flat plane when printing feeding electrodes using the thick-film screen printing technique. This allows a plurality of feeding electrodes to be collectively formed by printing them at one time.
In addition, in the manufacturing method for a circularly polarized wave antenna in accordance with the present invention, the above-described flat peripheral side surface is formed as a plane parallel to the center axis of the substrate.
In accordance with the present invention, the two main surfaces of the substrate have the same shape, and the width of the flat portion is the same at any position along the center axis direction.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Circularly polarized wave antenna and manufacturing method therefor


A system and method for a low-k dielectric layer are provided. A preferred embodiment comprises forming a matrix and forming a porogen within the matrix. The porogen comprises an organic ring structure with fewer than fifteen carbons and a large percentage of single bonds. Additionally, the porogen may have a viscosity greater than 1.3 and a Reynolds numbers less than 0.5.

In the current process of miniaturizing semiconductor devices, low-k dielectric materials are desired as the inter-metal and/or inter-layer dielectric between conductive interconnects in order to reduce the resistive-capacitive (RC) delay in signal propagation due to capacitive effects. As such, the lower the dielectric layer constant of the dielectric, the lower the parasitic capacitance of adjacent conductive lines and the lower the RC delay of the integrated circuit (IC).
A low-k dielectric layer may be formed by initially forming a precursor film. This precursor film may have two components such as a matrix material and a porogen material formed within the matrix material. Once the precursor film has been formed and solidified in the area in which the low-k dielectric material is desired, the porogen may be removed from the precursor film, thereby forming "pores" which lower the dielectric constant of the precursor film and form the low-k dielectric material.
However, the porogens currently in use, such as 1-isopropyl-1-4-methyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene (ATRP) or bicyclo(2.2.1)-hepta-2,5diene (BCHD), generally have poor flow characteristics as they are being used to form the low-k dielectric layer. In particular, these porogens may diffuse momentum ineffectively, causing variations in the cross-section of the flow as the porogens are being transported and causing an uneven distribution throughout the low-k-dielectric layer. Additionally, the use of these porogens may also form a low-k material that adheres poorly to underlying layers, and may also need higher energies in order to be incorporated within the precursor film and cross link within the precursor film.
Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


The present disclosure describes a data indexing and search service that resides locally on a computing device (e.g., a mobile phone) and that can host data for multiple applications on the device. By centralizing the storage of data as well as the search and query functions, unified search queries can be performed by the service.

Search programs can allow a user to perform text searches, for example, of a user's e-mail, computer files, music, photos, chats and Web pages viewed. When initially installed on a device (e.g., a desktop personal computer), the software program can index the files in the computer. After initial indexing is completed, the software may continue to index files as needed. The indexed files then can be searched by a user, and results can be returned, for example, in a web browser.
Some devices that store various types of files that a user may wish to search are resource-constrained in the sense that the devices may have, for example, a relatively slow central processing unit (CPU), limited random access memory (RAM) and/or limited disk storage. In such resource-constrained environments, updating the storage and index can be inefficient, resulting in high background CPU usage and too much disk activity. As a result, some solutions do not scale easily to the desirable amount of data to be stored and searched. The lack of scalability can make it difficult, if not impossible, to include features such as fast unified searching and unified keyword and entity suggestions that span across multiple applications and databases.

Unified searchable storage for resource-constrained and other devices


A method of double detection in a perpendicular magnetic read channel is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating an intermediate signal by performing a first detection on an input signal of the perpendicular read channel, the first detection having a first error rate, (B) generating a statistics signal based on the intermediate signal, the statistics signal conveying noise statistics that depend on data in the input signal and (C) generating an output signal by performing a second detection on the input signal using the noise statistics to reduce a second error rate of the second detection compared with the first error rate, wherein the first detection is independent of the second detection.

Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram of a front end in a conventional system 10 having a perpendicular magnetic medium 12 is shown. A read signal sensed from the perpendicular magnetic medium 12 has a large amount of power around a DC component. In a conventional read channel, a preamplifier circuit 16 in a magneto-resistive (MR) read head 14 and AC coupling in an analog-front-end circuit 18 block transmission of the DC components of the data read from the medium 12. The preamplifier 16 and the analog-front-end circuit 18 remove only a very narrow frequency band around DC of the transmitted signal to avoid a large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss. The resulting DC-free signal shows a sharp frequency response change around DC and is difficult to equalize to a predefined partial response target. To equalize the DC-free signal properly without incurring a significant SNR loss, both a long equalizer target and a long equalizer are commonly implemented. However, the common implementations result in complex and power hungry systems. Alternatively, refilling the lost DC signal (i.e., DC restoration) by feeding back hard decisions from a detector 20 can achieve a similar SNR gain.
Existing solutions to handle the DC restoration problem have a feedback loop that starts from the detector 20 and ends around an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in the analog-front-end circuit 18. The feedback loop computes and restores the missing DC components before the detector 20.
The existing solutions have an intrinsic problem of having a long delay present inside the feedback loop. Due to an inability to move backward in time (i.e., an anti-causality problem), the feedback delay sets a limit to the SNR gain of existing feedback DC restoration schemes. Furthermore, the feedback delay in the feedback loop creates complex loop behavior that can cause loop instability. In addition to the DC-restoration loop mentioned above, typical read channel architectures utilize many loops that can be either feed-forward loops or feedback loops, wherein each of the loops is controlled independently of each other. Some examples of the loops include an equalization adaptation loop, a timing recover loop and a gain control loop. In contrast, the present invention describes an architecture that may include a unified control over all of the feed-forward loops and the feedback loops, including the loops mentioned above.

Combined DC restoration double detection and loops


Shelf supports in the form of slots are integrally molded within each side wall of a refrigerator liner. The slot in one sidewall is in the same horizontal plane as the slot in the other sidewall. The bottom surface of each of the slots supports a shelf. The slots include an upper surface and lower surface having at least one stop located therebetween and integrally molded with the sidewall in the slot for preventing movement in at least one direction. The liner, therefore, supports fixed shelves, pull-out shelves, cantilever half-shelves, as well as being capable for using with shelves which are supported at both sides by cantilevers such that if a different type of shelf replaces the shelf held on both sides by cantilevers, the liner may be used.

The present invention relates in general to an appliance, such as a refrigerator or freezer, and more particularly to an appliance having one or more shelves supported by an interior liner of the appliance.
A typical refrigerator for refrigerating products, such as food and beverages, has an outer shell with a door which is generally hinged to form at least part of a front wall of the refrigerator. When the door is opened, products may be added to or removed from a refrigerated compartment by an individual.
Generally, refrigerators of this type have one or more shelves horizontally and removably secured within the interior of the refrigerated compartment. Oftentimes, the shelves are placed on brackets which are attached to the liner of the refrigerator wall using a variety of conventional methods, such as ledges attached to the liner wall, ladders attached to the wall on which brackets are secured for holding the shelves, and the like.
Different types of shelving are known including a pull-out shelf, a fixed shelf, a shelf which is half the width of the interior of the refrigerator, a full-width or half-width cantilever shelf, and the like. Traditionally, each of the shelves requires a differently configured liner for the refrigerator so that the particular shelves may be used in the refrigerator. This can be quite costly in terms of inventory since for each type of shelf which is sold in a given refrigerator, a distinct refrigerator liner for holding that particular shelf style is required. In addition, if a shelf needs to be replaced in the refrigerator, only the particular shelf which fits on the liner of the refrigerator may be used.

Multiple shelf support system in common refrigerator liner


Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for intelligent ad-based routing. In example aspects, a destination input, desired time for arrival, and user profile data is received in a ride-sharing application. The input data is classified by applying one or more machine-learning models to the data. Based on the classified data results, candidate physical advertisement locations may be selected along a certain route. Different types of routes may be selected that range from the shortest possible route (i.e., a direct route) to a major detour (i.e., the most cost-effective route). A major detour takes the user on a route that exposes the user to as many advertisements as possible while still arriving at the final destination before the desired time of arrival. In exchange for a longer route and more exposure to physical advertisements, the cost of the ride may be offset. While the user is in proximity to the physical advertisement along the route, businesses associated with the physical advertisement locations may transmit real-time advertisements/messages to the user to be displayed on a user device, a vehicular device, and/or a combination of the two. During the ride, the real-time business information may be received that may alter the route to maximize the effectiveness of real-time advertisement delivery.

With the proliferation of gig-economy ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles, fewer users will elect to manually drive themselves to destinations, opting instead to ride as a passenger in a car operated by a driver for a ride-sharing company and/or in a fully autonomous car. As the term is used herein, "ride-sharing" refers to an arrangement in which a passenger travels in a private vehicle that is operated by the vehicle's owner, typically arranged by means of a website or an application. The operation may be conducted through a human driver, autonomously, or a combination of both.
Over time, aggregated ride-sharing costs may become expensive for users. In order to offset the prices of ride-sharing, the systems and methods disclosed herein may reconfigure the route to the destination so that the rider-user is exposed to certain advertisements along the route. In other words, businesses may offset the cost of ride-sharing by paying ride-sharing companies to re-route their passengers to pass by physical advertisements, such as store fronts, billboards, bus stops, and similar physical advertisements. The rider may elect a cheaper ride in exchange for a longer route that passes by more physical advertisements. Conversely, the rider may elect a full-priced ride in exchange for the quickest, most direct route to the destination, without regard to physical advertisement locations along the route.
After a user inputs the destination and DTA, the systems and methods disclosed herein may execute at least one classification algorithm to determine the characteristics of the destination in relation to profile data of the user. The classification data may be compared against at least one machine learning model to further determine the most relevant advertisements to display to the user. Relevance of advertisements may be based on historical user data (e.g., trip data, purchase history, etc.) and/or real-time business information (e.g., whether the business is currently open or closed, average busyness based on the current time and day, special promotions or sales, etc.), among other data.
As such, the systems and methods disclosed herein enable businesses to leverage the proliferation of ride-sharing to inject intelligent and relevant advertisements into a communication protocol as ride-sharing users pass by physical advertisements in real-time. Rather than inefficiently communicating advertisements without regard to a user's location or preferences, the systems and methods disclosed herein enable the intelligent communication of real-time, relevant advertisements that are cost-effective for both ride-sharing users and businesses.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that the aspects disclosed herein have been made. Also, although relatively specific problems may be discussed, it should be understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background or elsewhere in the disclosure.

Systems and methods for intelligent ad-based routing


An abnormal status detecting method of interrupt pins is provided. In the invention, an advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) table is looked up for obtaining an interrupt status bit of each interrupt pin in a computer system. Afterwards, the interrupt status bit is continuously checked whether it is maintained at a specific value during a fixed time. When the interrupt status bit of one of the interrupt pins is maintained at the specific value during the fixed time, the interrupt pin is determined to be abnormal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an abnormal status detecting method of a computer system, and more particularly, to an abnormal status detecting method of interrupt pins.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, in an operating system, although the center processing unit (CPU) does not process any software, it may still be busy, such as a situation in which the CPU usage rate is always about 100%. In such a case, users require postulating why the CPU is busy based on experience.
For example, after drivers are all removed, the users observe whether the CPU usage rate returns to a normal condition. If the CPU usage rate returns to the normal condition, the users can further find which driver causes the CPU to be busy. Alternatively, after the devices are all disabled, if the CPU usage rate returns to the normal condition, the users further find which device causes the result. Moreover, if the devices can not be disabled, interrupt signals may be restrained from being sent out by using the interrupt enable bit or the bus master bit of the peripheral component interface (PCI) configuration space.
However, in the conventional method, which one causes the CPU usage rate to be abnormal is postulated based on appearance. Accordingly, it is ineffective, and if the device has no driver or the driver can not be disabled, whether the issues are caused by the device can not be verified. Moreover, if the interrupt signals are continuously sent out due to the wrong connection between hardware, the issues can not be found in the conventional method.

Abnormal status detecting method of interrupt pins


There is provided a switch mode power supply circuit including at least one inductive component coupled to an associated switching device for cyclically connecting the inductive component to a source of power. The circuit includes a signal output representative of a voltage at a junction of the at least one inductive component to the switching device. The circuit further comprises a hard switching amplitude detector for deriving a measure of hard switching amplitude occurring in operation in the switching device the detector including a signal processing path for receiving the signal output and generating the measure of hard switching amplitude therefrom. The signal path includes: a signal differentiator for imperfectly differentiating the signal output to generate a corresponding imperfectly differentiated signal; and a signal integrator for integrating the imperfectly differentiated signal in a temporally-gated manner for generating the measure of hard switching.

Switching mode power circuits are well known, for example switch mode power supplies and switch mode motor controllers. Such circuits usually include one or more electronic power switching devices, for example a field effect transistor (FET), a bipolar switching transistor, a triac and/or a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR). Increasingly, on account of their relatively faster switching speed enabling coincidental use of more compact magnetic components such as ferrite transformers, FETs are becoming increasingly employed in switch mode power circuits.
An important parameter for consideration when designing switch mode power circuits is hard switching amplitude; hard switching amplitude is defined as a voltage developed across a switching device at a moment whereat the device is driven into a conductive state, namely turned on.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,804 describes a multi-output, multi-directional power converter that has an input bi-directional switch and at least a first output bi-directional switch. Moreover, the converter further comprises a coupled inductor having an input winding and at least one output winding. The input winding is connected in series with an input voltage source and an input bi-directional switch implemented using FET technology. Each coupled inductor output winding is connected in series with a corresponding output voltage source, for example a capacitor, and its respective output bi-direction switch also implemented using FET technology. The converter additionally includes a clock circuit for providing first and second control signals, each signal having first and second states. The first and second signals are connected to the input and output switches respectively. Moreover, the first and second signals are arranged to be substantially mutually complementary with regard to their states.
The power converter is susceptible to being modified to include resonant transition controlling means for sensing currents in the input and output windings as well as output voltage and from such current sensing together with a measure of output voltage from the converter for adjusting a clocking frequency of the converter for enabling the converter to function in a resonant mode.
The converter is potentially expensive to implement on account of its clock circuit being coupled to both input and output sides of the coupled inductor, such connection requiring additional coupling transformers to be included for controlling the switches. Moreover, the converter does not utilize hard switching amplitude information as an aspect of its operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,491 describes a method of generating a signal corresponding to hard switching amplitude. The method concerns the use of a capacitive divider for sensing primary winding potential in a transformer-coupled device. The method involves temporally controlled resetting of the divider in conjunction with a sample-and-hold circuit for providing a direct indication of the hard switching magnitude. However, the method requires precise timing information and is directly associated with the primary winding which is potentially at relatively high potentials, for example as in mains-supplied SMPS. Thus, this U.S. patent is regarded as elucidating a non-optimal method of determining hard switching amplitude.
The inventor has appreciated that it is desirable, for example not only in the aforementioned method but also in the power controller and other similar types of switch mode circuits such as switch mode power supplies, to measure hard switching amplitude. For example, in a switch mode power supply (SMPS) system, switching losses occur if one or more power controlling switching devices therein are turned on, namely driven to a conductive state, whilst a non-zero potential is developed there across.
In some SMPS applications, hard switching is unavoidable and the hard switching amplitude is variable, for example in response to changing SMPS loading conditions. In such circumstances, it is often desirable to provide regulation to other components depending upon this amplitude, for example for providing circuit protection shutdown in an event of circuit overload. Moreover, timing information pertaining to occurrence of such hard switching is often not available or relatively expensive to obtain, for example on account of a need to include additional isolation components where mains electrical input supplies are involved. An example of such a SMPS application is a bi-directional flyback converter including a transformer with primary and secondary windings, the primary winding being connected to a primary FET switching device; preferably, the primary device is turned on, namely switched to a conducting state, whilst a voltage developed there across is almost of zero magnitude, namely the primary device is preferably subject to soft switching. There thereby arises a need to monitor the hard switching amplitude of the FET device, such monitoring conventionally being achieved by including a control loop implemented substantially around circuits associated with the secondary windings. Thus, the hard switching amplitude is conventionally monitored at a secondary region of the bi-directional converter by monitoring a voltage developed across one of its transformer windings. In such a configuration, precise switching timing information pertaining to the primary windings is not normally available at the secondary circuit unless additional potentially expensive components are included.
The inventor has appreciated that it is especially desirable to be able to determine hard switching amplitude in switch mode circuits including transformer-type components by monitoring a signal developed across a secondary winding of such transformer-type components without there being a need to generate precise temporal information, thereby potentially reducing the cost and complexity of such switch mode circuits.


The present invention has the differences in that the external storage device has at least a hard disk drive and at least a nonvolatile memory logically integrated into a storage media through a low level of a system associated with the external storage device, measures the environmental temperature and measures continuously and records if a vibration is generated according to a time period, and selectively stores the data into the hard disk drive or the nonvolatile memory. By means of the above technique, the present invention may provide the efficacy of exemption of effects from unceasing vibrations and unstable operational temperature of the hard disk drive under a mobile environment.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to an external storage device and a data storing method for the external storage device, and particularly to an external storage device and a data storing method for the external storage device where a hard disk drive (HDD) and a non-volatile memory are logically integrated as a storage media through driving of a low level of a system associated therewith to provide a mean for an external operating system to view the external storage device as a single storage media.
2. Related Art
Generally, a storage media for a huge capacity storage takes a form of a hard disk drive (HDD). However, such hard disk drive has its limitation in vibration and operational temperature. When a vibration is encountered in a data read/write course, a bad case is a sector violation and thus causing data lost; worse yet, a read/write head is impaired causing the entire hard disk drive unworkable. In addition, when the hard disk drive has its temperature beyond a normal work range, data therein may be lost and an element therein may become failed, leading to an abnormal operation.
In view of this, a nonvolatile memory has been proposed to soothe the limitations in vibration and operational temperature to the hard disk drive. However, such nonvolatile memory has its limitation in storage capacity, i.e. a fixed capacity is inherent with such memory. In a comparative sense, the nonvolatile memory has a cost much higher than the hard disk drive, and thus it is not suitable to be used for huge data amount storage.
Under a mobile environment, the nonvolatile memory does not have a priority in consideration with a huge data capacity storage, the hard disk drive is still necessary. However, how to overcome the situation during a movement course of the hard disk drive where unceasing vibrations and unstable temperature issues are always risen is quite needed.
In view of the above, it may be known the issues of the unceasing vibrations and unstable operational temperature associated with the hard disk drive under a mobile environment have been long presented, which requires some improvement with some technique to overcome.

External storage device and data storing method for the external storage device


This invention provides a method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process. Before the thin-film capacitor is formed, the underlying interconnections are fabricated with Cu metal by damascene process. The lower electrode is formed in a dual damascene process, which is also used to form the dual damascene structures comprising wires and plugs. An insulator is disposed to isolate the dual damascene structures with each other. In this dual damascene process, an anti-reflection layer is used and formed on the insulator, and the anti-reflection layer is also used as a hard mask layer, a polishing stop layer and an etching stop layer. Then, another insulator and a metal layer are formed on the anti-reflection layer, and encounter a photolithography step and an etching step to obtain an upper electrode and a capacitor insulator. After forming the metal capacitor, the upper interconnections are fabricated with another dual damascene processes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the formatior of an integrated circuit including capacitors. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Capacitors are deployed in various integrated circuits. For example, decoupling capacitors provide improved voltage regulation and noise immunity for power distribution. Capacitors also have wide applications in analog/logic, analog-to-digital, mixed signal, radio frequency circuit operations, and others.
A conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor apparatus including a capacitor 20 that is formed of metal-insulator-metal layers is described with reference to FIGS. 1Axcx9c1D. As shown in FIG. 1A, an aluminum layer is deposited on an insulator 12 which contains interconnections and is formed on a silicon substrate having devices (not shown) thereon and therein. The aluminum layer is then patterned by masking and etching to form wires 14a and 14b. As shown in FIG. 1B, an insulator 16 with a tungsten plug 18 (hereafter xe2x80x9cW-plugxe2x80x9d) used to connect the aluminum wire 14a and the to-be-formed capacitor is formed on the aluminum wires 14a and 14b and the insulator 12. As shown in FIG. 1C, a first conductive plate 21, an insulator 22 and a second conductive plate 23 are sequentially deposited on the insulator 16 and the W-plug 18, and then patterned by masking and etching to obtain a capacitor 20. The first conductive plate 21, the lower electrode, is connected with the aluminum wire 14a through the W-plug 18. Another insulator 26 is deposited on the insulator 16 and the capacitor 20. The insulators 16 and 26 are patterned and W-plug 28a and W-plug 28b are formed therein. As shown in FIG. 1D, an aluminum layer is deposited on the insulator 26 and the W-plugs 28a and 28b. The aluminum layer is then patterned by masking and etching to form wires 34a and 34b. The aluminum wire 34a is connected with the second conductive plate 23 through the W-plug 28a. The aluminum wire 34b is connected with the aluminum wire 14b through the W-plug 28b.
The above-mentioned traditional processes for integrating the capacitor 20 into an integrated circuit require several masking and etching steps to form the capacitor 20, which may increase overall fabrication costs.
As well, the aluminum used to fabricate the traditional interconnections cannot satisfy present-day requirements for enhanced integration and highly demanding speed of data transmission. Copper (Cu) has high electric conductivity tc reduce RC delay and can be substituted for the aluminum in the conducting wires. The use of copper in the conducting wires requires the use of processes, that is, damascene processes, because copper cannot be patterned by etching. This is because the boiling point of the copper chloride (CuCl2) produced by copper and the chlorine plasma usually used to etch metal is relatively high, about 1500xc2x0 C.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process.
It is another object of the invention to reduce the number of masking and etching steps in manufacturing an integrated circuit including a capacitor.
Yet another object of the invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing an integrated circuit including a capacitor.
Still another object of the invention is to provide easily controllable processes in manufacturing an integrated circuit including a capacitor.
Another object of the invention is to use the Cu processes to fabricate the integrated circuit including capacitors to reduce RC delay.
The present invention provides a method for forming a metal capacitor with a damascene process. Before fabricating the thin-film capacitor, a first Cu wire and a second Cu wire are prepared in a first insulator. A first sealing layer is formed on the first insulator and the first and second Cu wires. A second insulator and an anti-reflection layer are formed on the first sealing layer sequentially. The dual damascene structures including first and second Cu plugs and third and fourth Cu wires are formed in the anti-reflection layer, the second insulator and the first sealing layer, wherein the first Cu plug connects the third Cu wire and the first Cu wire, and the second Cu plug connects the fourth Cu wire and the second Cu wire. A third insulator and a metal layer are formed on the anti-reflection layer and the third and fourth Cu wires in turn. The metal layer and the third insulator are patterned by using the anti-reflection layer as an etching stop layer to form a upper electrode and a capacitor insulator corresponding to the third Cu wire. A fourth insulator is formed on the anti-reflector layer and the upper electrode. An additional dual damascene structures including third and fourth Cu plug and fifth and sixth Cu wires are formed in the fourth insulator, wherein the third Cu plug connects the fifth Cu wire and the upper electrode, and the fourth Cu plug connects the sixth Cu wire and the fourth Cu wire. A second sealing layer is formed, covering at least the fifth and sixth Cu wires.
The present invention provides another method for forming a metal capacitor with a damascene process. Before fabricating the thin-film capacitor, a first Cu wire and a second Cu wire are prepared in a first insulator. A first sealing layer is formed covering at least the first and second Cu wires. A second insulator and an anti-reflection layer are formed on the first sealing layer, sequentially. Dual damascene structures including first and second Cu plugs and third and fourth Cu wires are formed in the anti-reflection layer, the second insulator and the first sealing layer, wherein the first Cu plug connects the third Cu wire and the first Cu wire, and the second Cu plug connects the fourth Cu wire and the second Cu wire. A second sealing layer, a third insulator and a metal layer are formed on the anti-reflection layer and the third and fourth Cu wires sequentially. The metal layer and the third insulator are patterned using the second sealing layer as an etching stop layer to form a upper electrode and one part of a capacitor insulator corresponding to the third Cu wire, wherein the second sealing layer is the other part of the capacitor insulator. A fourth insulator is formed on the second sealing layer and the upper electrode. Additional dual damascene structures including third and fourth Cu plug and fifth and sixth Cu wires are formed in the fourth insulator and the second sealing layer, wherein the third Cu plug connects the fifth Cu wire and the upper electrode, and the fourth Cu plug connects the sixth Cu wire and the fourth Cu wire. A third sealing layer is formed at least on the fifth and sixth Cu wires.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

Method for forming a metal capacitor in a damascene process


A reference circuit for supplying current to high speed logic elements in an integrated circuit supplies less current when circuit temperature decreases while a supply voltage remains constant. The reference circuit supplies less current when the supply voltage increases while circuit temperature remains constant. A resistance with a temperature coefficient, in some embodiments a negative temperature coefficient, is used to decrease current flow in a first leg of an output mirror when temperature decreases. A feedback circuit is used to decrease current flow in the first leg of the output current mirror when the feedback circuit senses an increase in supply voltage by sensing a voltage change on a common control node of the output current mirror. The reference circuit sees many applications including supplying current to logic gates, input/output buffers, and sense amplifiers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reference circuit. More specifically, this invention relates to a reference circuit for high speed memories which provides a greater margin for access time and noise levels over a range of temperatures and supply voltages.
2. Background Information
In order to increase the yield of low access time memories, device speeds can be increased by varying process parameters. Accordingly, the speeds of the slower memories in the yield distribution are increased and there is a higher yield of memory devices with low access times. When device speeds are increased, however, the speeds of the fastest of the memories in the yield distribution are also increased. As a result, the fastest memories become so fast that they suffer from ground bounce problems under ideal speed operating conditions. The total yield of memory devices which function over a specified operating voltage and temperature range is therefore not increased as much as desired.
The speed of CMOS and Bi-CMOS devices is fastest at high supply voltages and at low operating temperatures. Accordingly, if device speeds are increased to increase the yield of high speed CMOS and Bi-CMOS memories, the fastest CMOS and Bi-CMOS memory devices suffer from ground bounce problems when their operating supply voltages are high and when their operating temperatures are low.
To explain the operation of the present invention, the operation of one known type of a band gap reference circuit, the band gap reference circuit shown in FIG. 1, is described. The purpose of this circuit is to generate an output reference voltage V.sub.REF, the magnitude of which does not vary with temperature. This is accomplished by generating a voltage KV.sub.T with a positive temperature coefficient and then adding that voltage to the base-emitter voltage V.sub.be(on) of a transistor which has a negative temperature coefficient. If the magnitude of the positive temperature coefficient voltage KV.sub.T is properly chosen, the resulting summation V.sub.REF of the two voltages V.sub.be(on) and KV.sub.T will have an overall zero temperature coefficient as shown below in equation 1. EQU V.sub.REF =V.sub.be(on) +KV.sub.T (Equ. 1)
V.sub.be(on) typically has a negative temperature coefficient of approximately -2 mV/.degree.C. whereas V.sub.T typically has a positive temperature coefficient of approximately 0.085 mV/.degree.C.
The band gap circuit of FIG. 1 (Prior Art) comprises two bipolar transistors Q0 and Q1 which form a current mirror with two collector currents I.sub.CQ0 and I.sub.CQ1 flowing through the two transistors Q0 and Q1, respectively. The base of transistor Q0, the base of transistor Q1, and the collector of transistor Q1 are connected together at node N1. The emitter of transistor Q1 is tied directly to ground, whereas the emitter of transistor Q0 is tied to ground through a resistor R6. Due to the inclusion of resistor R1 between the emitter of transistor Q0 at node N5 and ground, the proportion of current passing through transistor Q0 can be chosen to be any fraction of the current passing through transistor Q1. The voltage present across the base emitter junction of transistor Q0 is always related to, yet always smaller than, the voltage present across the base emitter junction of transistor Q1.
Similarly, the relative sizes of Q1 and Q0 can be varied so that Q0 conducts more current at a given base-emitter voltage than Q1 conducts at the same base-emitter voltage. Current I.sub.CQ0 can therefore be chosen to be larger than, equal to, or smaller than current I.sub.CQ1 as long as variations in current I.sub.CQ1 affect corresponding changes in current I.sub.CQ0.
Assuming, for the time being, that a constant temperature independent voltage exists at node N0. The voltage dropped across resistor R2 increases with temperature because the voltage V.sub.be across the base-emitter junction of the diode-connected transistor Q1 decreases with temperature. With a larger voltage dropped across R2 as temperature increases, a larger current I.sub.R2 flows across resistor R2 as temperature increases. Resistor R4 is provided between Vcc and node N4 to bias node N4 initially so that the base-emitter junctions of transistors Q2 and Q3 will be forward biased thereby causing the circuit to reach a stable operating point. Additional details of such a band-gap reference voltage supply circuit are given in Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits (second ed. 1984) by Paul Gray and Robert Meyer, pages 289-296.
The current I.sub.CQ0 flowing into the collector of transistor Q0 will be the mirror of current I.sub.R2 and therefore must also have a positive temperature coefficient. Assuming that a negligible amount of current flows into the base of the transistor Q4, current I.sub.CQ0 is converted into a voltage with a positive temperature coefficient by running current I.sub.CQ0 through a resistor R3. One end of resistor R3 is connected to the collector of transistor Q0 at a node N2. The other end of resistor R3 is connected to a node N3. The resistance of resistor R3 is therefore seen to influence the magnitude of the constant K in the voltage KV.sub.T. This voltage has a positive temperature coefficient across resistor R3.
To add a negative temperature coefficient voltage to the positive temperature coefficient voltage across resistor R3, the base of bipolar transistor Q4 is connected to node N2 and the emitter of bipolar transistor Q4 is connected to ground. Accordingly, the base-emitter voltage V.sub.be(on) of transistor Q4 will be present between ground and node N2. The voltage at node N3 therefore is the sum of the negative temperature coefficient voltage V.sub.be(on) from ground to node N2 and the positive temperature coefficient voltage KV.sub.T across resistor R3. By properly choosing the magnitude of resistor R3, the magnitude of the positive temperature coefficient voltage drop across resistor R3 can be chosen to cancel exactly the negative temperature coefficient of V.sub.be(on) of transistor Q4. The bandgap reference voltage output V.sub.REF of the circuit of FIG. 1 is therefore present between node N3 and ground.
This conclusion is, however, premised on the voltage N0 being a constant temperature independent voltage. By connecting the emitter of a transistor Q2 to node N0, by connecting the base of transistor Q2 to the base of a transistor Q3, by connecting the emitter of transistor Q3 to the temperature compensated node N3, and by connecting the collectors of transistors Q2 and Q3 to Vcc, node N4 is biased at one base-emitter drop above the voltage on node N3 so that the voltage on node N0 is biased at one base-emitter voltage drop below the voltage on node N4. The result is that node N0 is supplied with temperature independent voltage on node N3 as previously assumed.
If the bandgap reference circuit of FIG. 1 were used to supply current to a CMOS or Bi-CMOS memory, the reference circuit would output a constant current as the circuit temperature decreased. The CMOS or Bi-CMOS memory circuitry would therefore become faster and the fastest memories in the yield distribution may suffer from ground bounce problems.

Reference circuit for high speed integrated circuits


A reticle inspection system may include two or more inspection tools to generate two or more sets of inspection images for characterizing a reticle, where the two or more inspection tools include at least one reticle inspection tool providing inspection images of the reticle. The reticle inspection system may further include a controller to correlate data from the two or more sets of inspection images to positions on the reticle, detect one or more defects of interest on the reticle with the correlated data as inputs to a multi-input defect detection model, and output defect data associated with the defects of interest.

Demand for semiconductor devices with ever-smaller footprints and features present a wide range of manufacturing challenges beyond fabrication at a desired scale. In the context of semiconductor fabrication, accurately identifying the type and size of defects on a patterned reticle, or pattern mask, for lithographically exposing patterns on one or more sample layers is an important step in improving throughput and yield. As mask features become smaller, the complexity of inspection tools required to inspect for defects becomes increasingly complex and expensive. Additionally, various existing or in-development inspection technologies may fail to provide a desired inspection sensitivity for all defect classes of interest. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that cure one or more of the shortfalls of the previous approaches identified above.

Integrated multi-tool reticle inspection


A method of sorting cells for a biodevice comprises directing a flow of cells within a fluid into a filtration structure defining an array of fluid openings and encouraging cell passage of each cell of a portion of the cells through the fluid openings based on at least one dimension of each cell via application of an electric field within the fluid openings.

The rapid miniaturization in electronic devices, particularly their manufacture and assembly, has transformed the medical industry. In particular, handling and testing of cells and other components within body fluids has moved beyond the conventional test tube to other devices, such as biochips. A biochip, sometimes called a lab-on-a-chip, refers to the placement of testing of biologic materials on a miniature electronic device capable of electrically and/or chemically interacting with the biologic materials.
Considerable efforts have been made in the biochip environment to apply electric fields to manipulate cells, including their movement, separation, property determination, etc. Despite numerous attempts at cell manipulation with electric fields, the ability to manipulate cells is still limited by different characteristics of the cells, such as cell size, cell aggregation, cell polarizability, etc. For example, sorting cells into different groups is challenged by the great variety of sizes, shapes, polarizability, relative volumes of cells within a fluid, etc. Cell sorting is also affected by the characteristics of the fluid in which the cells are suspended during manipulation. Impeding sorting of the cells on the biochip, in turn, hampers the ability to perform other functions with the cells (e.g., collection, isolation, testing, etc.) on the biochip.
For these reasons, among others, widespread use of biochip devices has been limited.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A robotic lawnmower system comprising a charging station (210) and a robotic work tool (100), the charging station comprising a signal generator (240) to which a boundary cable (250) is to be connected, the signal generator (240) being configured to transmit a signal (245) through the boundary cable (250), and the robotic working tool (100) comprising a sensor (170) configured to pick up magnetic fields generated by the signal (245) in the boundary cable (250) thereby receiving the signal (245) being transmitted and a controller (110) configured to analyse the picked up signal, wherein the signal generator (240) is further configured to: prefilter the signal through an filter model; and transmit the prefiltered signal to through the boundary cable (250) by means of a current generator.

Automated or robotic power tools such as robotic lawnmowers are becoming increasingly more popular. In a typical deployment, a work area, such as a garden, is enclosed by a boundary cable with the purpose of keeping the robotic lawnmower inside the work area. The robotic lawnmower is typically also configured to communicate with a charging station located in the work area and connected to the boundary cable.
The boundary cable enclosing the work area may be modeled as a RL-circuit, which may act as a low pass filter. The characteristics of the work area, such as size and circumference will typically define the R- and L components of the RL-circuit.
When transmitting signals having several frequency components, such as in Code Division Multiple Access—CDMA—signaling, the signal is typically filtered through the RL-circuit of the work area leading to an attenuation of the higher frequency components.
The CDMA signals may thus not be correctly received on the receiving side. Since the R- and L-components differ from work area to work area, it is furthermore nearly impossible to compensate for all different values since it would require substantial signal processing.
Thus, there is a need for improved reception of frequency spectra on the receiver side.

Reception of frequency spectra on the receiver side


A device overloading a web service identification name so that multiple services with a common name can be stored in a Web service directory is disclosed. Each of the services identified by the common name can have a different and unique (for the set of commonly named services) structure for input data. The data structure of the input data can be used to discern which of the set of commonly name Web services a requestor desires.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates Web services and, more particularly, to permitting Web services to be "overloaded" by allowing a set of related Web services having different input data structures to be associated with a common identification name.
2. Description of the Related Art
Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is a language for describing Web services such as services registered with a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) directory. Providers of Web services can provide interface specifications for interacting with a Web service, when they register it with a directory via a WSDL formatted message. Requestors desiring the Web service can generate a message compliant with the disclosed data structure of the Web service, which is conveyed to the provider.
The provider can determine whether the received message is compliant with the interface specification based on whether each element in the message matches the corresponding element in the data written in WSDL. If the message is compliant with the specification, the service is appropriately processed. Otherwise, the message is rejected. It is possible for a requester to automatically generate application programs for requesting services on the basis of the definition data contained in a Web services directory.
It should be noted that messages used for requesting Web services can contain a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for identifying a service providing device, an identification name of a service to be requested, and input data to be fed to processing of the service. Definition data written in WSDL defines interfaces of Web services as combinations of such a URI, an identification name, and a data structure of the input data. A Web service request message uniquely identifies a Web services using the URI and the service identification name. It is currently impossible to associate multiple different Web services in a Web service directory with a common identification name, since it can result in a conflict when attempting to access the Web service.

Associating a set of related web services having different input data structures with a common identification name

International Business Machines Corporation


A swivel cord-connector having a swivel head and a swivel tail connected via a swivel core. In an embodiment, a head assembly of the swivel core is enclosed in the swivel head and a tail assembly of the swivel core is enclosed in the swivel tail. In an embodiment, the swivel core includes at least a central conductor rod and one or more concentric conductor tubes, which may rotate along the longitudinal axis. In an embodiment, the swivel head has an asymmetrical structure for providing counter torque forces. In an embodiment, the swivel is waterproof and/or can float on water surface.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem and the understanding of the causes of a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section may merely represent different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
This specification recognizes that problems occur as a result of cords twisting or coiling. A cord has a tendency to twist, especially a long cord. As the twists or coils are formed, the twists and coils have the effect of reducing the ability of the cord to extend the full length of the cord and/or interrupting the intended movement as is required under many circumstances.

DONGGUAN SMARTPOOL PRODWCTS INCORPORATED CO LTD


The present invention discloses a liquid crystal display touch screen array substrate, which comprises multiple pixel units defined by a gate line and a data line, each pixel unit is provided with a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode inside; a common electrode line provided in parallel at the side of each said gate line; which further comprise: a touch circuit unit used for touch positioning, the touch circuit unit comprising a touch emission line and a touch sensing line intersecting each other, and a light sensing unit provided at the intersection and respectively connected to the touch emission line and the touch sensing line. The touch emission line is the common electrode line, and the touch sensing line is parallel with the data line. The embodiment of the present invention correspondingly discloses a liquid crystal display touch screen. According to the embodiment of the present invention, it can enhance the sensitivity of the touch position, reduce the power consumption of the touch display screen, and improve the product yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technology fields of thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), and in particular to a liquid crystal display touch screen array substrate and the corresponding liquid crystal display touch screen.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal display (LCD) technology has developed rapidly. It has made great progress from the size of the screen to the display quality. LCD has several characteristics of small size, low power consumption, and no radiation, which has dominated the field of flat panel display.
Liquid crystal display touch screen is one of the major carriers to integrate the input and the output terminal. Recently, with a series of available products of the handheld devices with compact and lightweight, the market demand for liquid crystal display touch screen is surging.
Referring to FIG. 1, the in-cell voltage-sensing liquid crystal display touch screen according to the existing technology utilizes a scanning addressing circuit (including touch emission line 41 and touch sensing line 42) independently realizing the touch function to proceed with touch point positioning. However, there is already a scanning addressing circuit (including horizontal gate line 51 and vertical data line 52) used for display in the pixel structure of the liquid crystal display touch screen. Therefore, when the gate line 51 and the data line 52 used to display intersect with the touch emission line 41 and the touch sensing line 42 used for touch function, it can not only decrease the opening ratio of the pixel, but also increase the process difficulty for preparing liquid crystal display touch screen, and then the bad operation will increase correspondingly. Moreover, the touch emission line 41 needs independent driving signal, which will further increase the power consumption of the liquid crystal display touch screen.

Liquid crystal display touch screen array substrate and the corresponding liquid crystal display touch screen

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


According to one embodiment, a method for manufacturing a patterned media includes forming patterns of a magnetic layer having protrusions and recesses corresponding to tracks, servo zones or data zones on a substrate having a center hole, and spraying gas flow produced by diffusing a liquid gas toward the center hole of the substrate before or after forming the patterns of the magnetic layer.

1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a patterned media, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a discrete track type patterned media having a center hole.
2. Description of the Related Art
A patterned media in which a magnetic layer is processed in patterns of servo signals and tracks or data bits has been studied as a high density magnetic recording media. Methods for manufacturing a patterned media are roughly classified into two types: a method in which a magnetic layer deposited on a substrate using a conventional method is etched by reactive ion etching (RIE), ion milling and the like; and a method in which a substrate is etched in advance and then a magnetic layer is deposited on the substrate using a conventional method. In any of these methods, dust or local mechanical degradation of a recording media becomes a problem because of the additional patterning process of the magnetic layer.
In particular, this problem is serious in the inner peripheral portion of a disk media. When a resist is spin-coated on the disk for patterning, the resist is likely to flow over the inner peripheral portion of the disk. In addition, the concentration of an electric field at the inner peripheral portion of the disk in RIE or ion milling process causes non-uniform or etching dust. Thus, the inner peripheral portion of a disk substrate is a location where the above problem is likely to occur. This location is hard to be cleaned. In spin-washing process, where a washing liquid is sprayed on the spinning substrate, sufficient cleaning effect is hardly obtained because a linear velocity is low at the inner peripheral portion. In addition, accumulated chemicals at the inner peripheral edge become a source for additional dust or defects of a media. In the case of a so-called dry process such as plasma irradiation, complete cleaning cannot be achieved because of non-uniformity in electric field as described above. In a semiconductor process, since typical substrate is a flat plate without a center hole, above mentioned problems at the inner peripheral portion do not occur in principle. Therefore, these problems are specific to a disk substrate. The semiconductor process has a long history, and a variety of techniques have been developed. However, such technical knowledge is not so helpful to the problems due to the center hole.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-79992 discloses a semiconductor manufacturing process in which contaminating particles are removed by a cryogenic cleaning process using CO2 after chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of a semiconductor material. In this method, liquid CO2 is sprayed through a specially designed nozzle, for example, under a pressure of 850 psi (5.8 MPa) at 25° C. Since the liquid CO2 is sprayed into an atmospheric pressure, it is rapidly expanded and cooled down. This results in the mixture of gas, liquid and solid CO2. The flow of the gaseous and solid CO2 is directed to the wafer surface using the nozzle. Cryogenic particles that reach the wafer surface at a high speed and collide with contaminating particles can overcome adhesion of the contaminating particles to the wafer surface through transfer of momentum, and can remove the contaminating particles directly. However, the technique disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-79992 does not consider the above problems due to the center hole of a magnetic recording media.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,962 discloses a method and apparatus for removing photoresist and redeposited materials in a semiconductor process using liquid carbon dioxide snow. However, the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,962, which is generally called Eco-Snow, is used in the semiconductor manufacturing process, and use of the apparatus for the magnetic recording media is not considered in the patent. Therefore, the problems due to the center hole cannot be solved with the apparatus.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing patterned media