The first data transmitting/receiving device according to the present invention includes: a serial-parallel conversion circuit for converting received first serial data to first parallel data; a data selection circuit for selecting any one of the first parallel data and externally-supplied second parallel data and outputting the selected data; and a parallel-serial conversion circuit for converting the first or second parallel data output from the data selection circuit to second serial data which is to be transmitted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmitting/receiving device for transmitting and receiving data and specifically to a data transmitting/receiving device including conversion between serial data and parallel data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a data transmitting/receiving device for transmitting and receiving data has been implemented in the form of a LSI device and widely utilized. Especially, a data transmitting/receiving device for transmitting and receiving serial data includes a parallel-serial conversion circuit and a serial-parallel conversion circuit because data input from/output to an internally- or externally-provided data processing section is in the form of parallel data.
FIG. 8 shows a circuit structure of a conventional data transmitting/receiving device. As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional data transmitting/receiving device 100 includes a transmission serial port 101 and reception serial port 102 for transferring a differential signal, a driver 103 for outputting transmission data TD, which is serial data, in the form of differential signal (TD+, TD−) to the transmission serial port 101, a receiver 104 for outputting differential signal (RD+, RD−) receiving at the reception serial port 102 as reception data RD which is serial data, a parallel-serial conversion circuit (P/S circuit) 105 for converting parallel data of 10-bit width to serial data, and a serial-parallel conversion circuit (S/P circuit) 106 for converting serial data to parallel data of 10-bit width. The data transmitting/receiving device 100 further includes a phase locked loop (PLL) 107 as a circuit for supplying an operation clock to the parallel-serial conversion circuit 105, and a clock recovery unit (CRU) 108 as a circuit for supplying an operation clock to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 106.
The parallel-serial conversion circuit 105 converts input data DIN [0:9], which has been supplied from an external circuit (not shown) that performs data processing, to transmission data TD of 1-bit width using internal clock CLK output from the PLL 107 as the operation clock. The transmission data TD is output to the driver 103. The PLL 107 multiplies the frequency of externally-supplied reference clock RefCLK by 10 and outputs a resultant clock as internal clock CLK.
The serial-parallel conversion circuit 106 converts reception data RD, which has been received from the reception serial port 102 through a receiver 104, to output data DOUT [0:9] of 10-bit width using recovery clock RCLK as the operation clock, and the resultant data is output to an external circuit.
In the process where reception data RD is latched and converted to parallel data in the serial-parallel conversion circuit 106, reception data RD is latched at a timing delayed by a ½ cycle from a rising edge of reception data RD, whereby bit errors are reduced and data is surely extracted.
To this end, the CRU 108 adjusts the frequency and phase of internal clock CLK to output recovery clock RCLK whose frequency is equal to that of reception data RD and whose phase is delayed by a ½ cycle with respect to that of reception data RD.
As a reliability evaluation method for the conventional data transmitting/receiving device 100, an evaluation method called a loop back test is employed wherein the transmission serial port 101 and the reception serial port 102 are connected to determined whether or not input data DIN [0:9] and output data DOUT [0:9] are identical. The loop back test is effective in checking abnormal operation of the driver 103, the receiver 104, the parallel-serial conversion circuit 105, and the serial-parallel conversion circuit 106.
In addition to the loop back test, it is preferable to measure the jitter followability (jitter tolerance) of the data transmitting/receiving device in order to evaluate whether or not the CRU 108 outputs recovery clock RCLK while following the jitter of reception data RD even if a jitter is added to reception data RD.
FIG. 9 shows a jitter tolerance measurement system for the conventional data transmitting/receiving device 100. As shown in FIG. 9, a data generator 111 generates data for test (test data) which has a 1-bit width and inputs the generated test data to the reception serial port 102 of the data transmitting/receiving device 100. Then, output data DOUT [0:9] output from the data transmitting/receiving device 100 is input to a data analyzer 112. Herein, the operation clock of the data generator 111 is modulated using a clock modulator 113 to add a predetermined jitter to the test data. Since the data analyzer 112 processes parallel data of 10-bit width, the operation clock used for the data generator 111 is divided by a frequency divider 114 into a 1/10 clock which is then supplied as the operation clock of the data analyzer 112.
However, in a jitter tolerance measurement system for the conventional data transmitting/receiving device, the data analyzer 112 obtains the operation clock through an internal PLL. Thus, even if the clock modulated by the clock modulator 113 is input to the data analyzer 112 through the frequency divider 114, modulation of the clock is filtered by a PLL provided inside the data analyzer 112. As a result, the frequency of the modulated output data DOUT output from the data transmitting/receiving device 100 is not identical to that of the operation clock of the data analyzer 112. Therefore, even when data received by the data transmitting/receiving device 100 while following the jitter of reception data RD is output with no error, it is misrecognized that a bit error has occurred. Thus, the jitter tolerance is not correctly measured.
One of the possible countermeasures against such a problem is a method wherein data in the form of serial data is supplied to the data analyzer 112 so that the jitter tolerance is measured without using the frequency divider 114 while the PLL provided inside the data analyzer is inactive.
However, in the conventional data transmitting/receiving device, if it is attempted to directly provide the serial data output from the CRU 108 to the data analyzer 112, the bit rate of received data RD is not followed because the output buffer of the data transmitting/receiving device 100 is designed so as to comply with the bit rate of output data DOUT.
As described above, in the conventional data transmitting/receiving device, parallel data is analyzed in the measurement of the jitter tolerance, and therefore, it is difficult to appropriately measure the jitter tolerance of the data transmitting/receiving device.

Matsushita Elecetric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Light field image processing includes generating a projected image using a light source, wherein the projected image includes a sharp feature, capturing a first light field image of a scene including the projected image, and determining, using a circuit block, a distance for the sharp feature from the first light field image.

A light field camera is a type of camera that records 4-dimensional light field information for a scene. The light field information is captured on an imaging plane of the camera in a single photographic exposure. A light field camera typically includes a micro-lens array and a light sensor array. The light sensor array is positioned behind the micro-lens array. An image of a scene captured by a light field camera from a single photographic exposure is referred to as a "light field image."
The light field image is formed of a plurality of smaller images of the scene. Each smaller image, in general, is a copy of the scene, or a part of the scene, captured by the light field image as a whole. Each of the smaller images is generated by one micro-lens of the micro-lens array projecting that smaller image upon the light sensor array for capture as part of the light field image. One characteristic of a light field image is that the light field image may be refocused using a data processing system after the light field image is generated.


Methods and apparatus for providing environmental protection to electronic systems, particularly data storage systems, in order to permit such systems to survive severe envionmental changes such as those that occur during a fire.

Protecting electronic systems, particularly data storage systems, from environmental changes is an ongoing concern. Numerous methods and apparatus exist for maintaining a proper operating environment. Such efforts include efforts for protecting such systems against, among others, changes in temperature and humidity, shock, and air pollutants.
Examples of previous attempts at providing such protection can be found at least in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,597, U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,833, U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,473, U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,476, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,303, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,603, U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,780, U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,678, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,402, U.S. Pat. 4,574,454, U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,595, U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,694, U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,922, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,806. Unfortunately, previous attempts have not provided a solution that is adequate to all situations.
In many instances previous protection methods and apparatus result in electronic systems that are: (a) too costly in that they may cost ten times what an equivalent unprotected system would cost; (b) too bulky and/or heavy, and that need to be delivered and set up professionally; (c) too difficult to use in that they do not provide the same ease of use as do unprotected systems; and (d) too hard to market in that they cannot meet requirements of existing storage retailers. Moreover, in many instances such electronic systems cannot be operated continuously and either are not protected during operation, or can only be operated for limited periods of time.


A vacuum cleaner nozzle for floors and carpets having a housing comprised of an upper part and a slide sole, a pivotable rocker located in the housing on a rear segment in working direction and an actuating lever to operate the rocker. Strip-shaped gasket elements are attached to the rocker, which are arranged in working direction in front of and behind a suction port formed into the slide sole and can be retracted and moved out of openings on the lower side of the housing with a pivoting movement of the rocker.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner nozzle for floors and carpets.
2. The Prior Art
Vacuum cleaner nozzles with gasket elements that can be developed as bristle strips or elastomer strips are known. When vacuuming carpets, the gasket elements are retracted in the interior of the housing and the slide sole rests on the floor covering. To vacuum smooth floors, the gasket elements are moved out with an adjustment movement of the gasket base at the lower side of the nozzle, and support the upper part of the housing on the floor. The gasket base is often developed as a metal plate that is arranged to be vertically adjustable in the upper part of the housing and can be lowered against the action of return springs by means of a tilting lever that acts on the base plate, such as shown in German Patent No. DE 196 28 070 A1. The production of such vacuum cleaner nozzles requires a comparatively high effort.
German Patent Application No. DE 197 38 046 A1 discloses a swivel-motion support of the base around a stationary housing swivel axis, which is arranged in the a rear segment of the upper part of the housing. A bristle strip that reaches through a gap between-the slide sole and the upper part of the housing during a swivel movement of the base is attached to the gasket base, which is developed as a rocker. However, the sealing function of the individual bristle strip and thus the cleaning effect when vacuuming of the floor, is limited.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Vacuum cleaner nozzle for floors and carpets


An improved method of high accuracy beam placement for local area navigation in the field of semiconductor chip manufacturing. This invention demonstrates a method where high accuracy navigation to the site of interest within a relatively large local area (e.g. an area 200 μm×200 μm) is possible even where the stage/navigation system is not normally capable of such high accuracy navigation. The combination of large area, high-resolution scanning, digital zoom and registration of the image to an idealized coordinate system enables navigation around a local area without relying on stage movements. Once the image is acquired any sample or beam drift will not affect the alignment. Preferred embodiments thus allow accurate navigation to a site on a sample with sub-100 nm accuracy, even without a high-accuracy stage/navigation system.

Semiconductor manufacturing, such as the fabrication of integrated circuits, typically entails the use of photolithography. A semiconductor substrate on which circuits are being formed, usually a silicon wafer, is coated with a material, such as a photoresist, that changes solubility when exposed to radiation. A lithography tool, such as a mask or reticle, positioned between the radiation source and the semiconductor substrate casts a shadow to control which areas of the substrate are exposed to the radiation. After the exposure, the photoresist is removed from either the exposed or the unexposed areas, leaving a patterned layer of photoresist on the wafer that protects parts of the wafer during a subsequent etching or diffusion process.
The photolithography process allows multiple integrated circuit devices or electromechanical devices, often referred to as "chips," to be formed on each wafer. The wafer is then cut up into individual dies, each including a single integrated circuit device or electromechanical device. Ultimately, these dies are subjected to additional operations and packaged into individual integrated circuit chips or electromechanical devices.
During the manufacturing process, variations in exposure and focus require that the patterns developed by lithographic processes be continually monitored or measured to determine if the dimensions of the patterns are within acceptable ranges. The importance of such monitoring, often referred to as process control, increases considerably as pattern sizes become smaller, especially as minimum feature sizes approach the limits of resolution available by the lithographic process. In order to achieve ever-higher device density, smaller and smaller feature sizes are required. This may include the width and spacing of interconnecting lines, spacing and diameter of contact holes, and the surface geometry such as corners and edges of various features.
As a result, careful monitoring of surface features is becoming increasingly important. As design rules shrink, the margin for error in processing becomes smaller. Even small deviations from design dimensions may adversely affect the performance of a finished semiconductor device.
Accordingly, semiconductor customers are requiring high accuracy beam placement to locate features such as single bit fails in memory arrays or locations for circuit edit. Beam shift navigation systems suffer from sample drift, non-linearity in displacement, and are typically limited in field of view. Typical sample stages used on particle beam systems are only accurate to ±1-2 μm. Without a high accuracy stage (like a laser encoded stage) it is not possible to drive the stage directly to the location of interest with accuracy of 100 nm or less. Laser stages may have the capability for 100 nm accuracy but are expensive and limit the system flexibility as the stage generally cannot be tilted, thereby losing functionality. Further, it is desirable to drive sample stages within an accuracy of approximately 30 nm, which is beyond the capability even of typical laser stages.
Thus, there is still a need for an improved method for high accuracy navigation to the site of interest within a local area on a semiconductor surface that will allows beam placement at an accuracy beyond the positional accuracy of the sample stage. Further, there is a need for such an improved method to be suitable for complete or partial automation.

High accuracy beam placement for local area navigation


A semiconductor device package includes a semiconductor chip and a plurality of inner leads, each having at least one slot formed along an upper surface of the inner lead. An adhesive layer is used to attach a bottom surface of the semiconductor chip to the upper surface of the inner lead. An encapsulant is allowed to flow in a package body mold, around the inner leads and through the slot. The slots prevent the production of turbulence along a side surface of the inner lead opposite to the flow direction, thereby avoiding problems associated with incomplete encapsulation such as the internal voids.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor device package, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device package comprising inner leads having slots formed on an upper surface of the inner leads in contact with an adhesive layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor chip packages have been developed to increase the mounting density of the semiconductor chip on a substrate such as a printed circuit board. However, for conventional semiconductor device packages having a die pad, since the die pad is disposed at the central region inside the package body and separated from a plurality of inner leads by a designated distance, the density of the semiconductor chip inside the package is very low.
Chip-on-Lead (COL) type packages have structures in which the die pad is removed and the bottom surface of the semiconductor chip is directly attached to the upper surfaces of the inner leads. Therefore, the density of the semiconductor chip inside the package is higher than that of the conventional package described above.
A conventional COL semiconductor chip package is depicted in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 1 shows a conventional COL package in a partially cut away perspective view; FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the bottom surface 10b of a semiconductor chip 10 is directly attached to respective upper surfaces 30u of a plurality of inner leads 30 of the lead frame, which is aligned under the bottom surface 10b of the semiconductor chip 10, by an adhesive means 20 such as a polyimide tape. The semiconductor chip 10 is electrically connected to the inner leads 30 disposed on the outside of the semiconductor chip 10 by electrical connection means such as bonding wires 50.
Further, the semiconductor chip 10, the inner leads 30, and the electrical connection means including the bonding wires 50 are encapsulated with an encapsulant, such as an epoxy molding compound (EMC), to form an individual package body 60 that is protected from hostile environments. The outer leads 40 extend from the encapsulated package body 60, and are bent into a J-shape suitable to be mounted on a substrate.
FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing the flow of the EMC in the encapsulation step of the package, as viewed along the same direction as the cross section directional view of FIG. 3. FIG. 4B is a magnified view of portion E of FIG. 4A.
Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the inner leads 30 and the semiconductor chip 10 are located within cavities 312 and 412 formed between an upper mold die 310 and a lower mold die 410. The cavities 312 and 412 are encapsulated with an encapsulant which flows through a gate 414 of the lower mold die 410.
In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the arrows indicate the flow direction of the encapsulant. The encapsulant initially collides with the right surface 30r of the inner lead 30, which decreases the flow velocity of the encapsulant stream. The encapsulant then flows along the bottom surface 30b of the inner leads 30, and finally to the left side 301 of the inner leads 30. As shown in FIG. 4B, the encapsulant flow is disturbed or turbulent on the left surface 301 due to the difference in the flow velocity. Again, the upper surface 30u of the inner leads 30 is attached to the bottom surface 10b of the semiconductor chip 10.
In particular, in situations were the pitch between the inner leads is very fine, or where there are a large number of inner leads, the turbulence of the encapsulant becomes more serious. Such turbulence produces internal voids and incomplete encapsulation. These internal voids swell when penetrated by a vapor, which is introduced during reliability testing carried out under severe conditions such as high temperature, pressure and humidity. An incomplete encapsulation of the package body also causes the mechanical strength of the package to deteriorate.

Semiconductor device package having inner leads with slots


Video communication over lossy packet networks such as the Internet is hampered by limited bandwidth and packet loss. The present invention provides a system for providing reliable video communication over these networks, where the system includes at least two jointly designed subsystems: (1) multiple state video coding system and (2) path diversity transmission system. Multiple state video coding combats the problem of error propagation that results from packet loss by coding the video into multiple independently decodable streams, each with its own prediction process and state. If one stream is lost the other streams can still be decoded to produce usable video, and furthermore, the correctly received streams provide bidirectional (i.e., previous and future) information that enables improved state recovery for the corrupted stream. The path diversity transmission system explicitly sends different subsets of packets over different paths, as opposed to the prior art approaches where the packets proceed along a single path. By explicitly sending different subsets of packets over different paths, the path diversity transmission system enables the end-to-end video application to effectively see an average path behavior, which is referred to herein as path diversity. Generally, seeing this average path behavior provides better performance than seeing the behavior of any individual random path. The resulting path diversity provides the multiple state video decoder with an appropriate virtual channel to assist in recovering from lost packets, and can also simplify system design (e.g., forward error correction design).

It has been said, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Regarding video, it has been said, "A video is worth a thousand pictures." While text, graphics, and animation provide for interesting content, people naturally prefer to the richer and more realistic experience of video. One reason for the popularity of video is that the sights and sounds of multimedia (e.g., video combined with audio) provide a richer and more realistic experience that people have come to expect from years of watching moving pictures in the realm of television and movies.
As many applications and media migrate to the "digital" realm, video too is making this transition. From its early beginnings, video has been presented in the familiar analog videotape format. However, video is not becoming increasingly delivered in a digital format, such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and computer networks (e.g., via the Internet).
Digital video in such systems is typically arranged as a series of video frames. The video frames usually occur at a high enough frame rate to enable a viewer to perceive full motion video when the video frames are rendered on a display.
Prior video communication systems commonly employ video compression to reduce the bandwidth consumption of the digital video. Typically, a sender includes an encoder that generates a series of encoded frames in response to a series of original video frames. Each receiver usually includes a decoder that re-constructs the original series of video frames from the encoded frames. The total amount of data contained in the encoded frames is usually significantly less than the total amount of data in the corresponding original video frames.
The encoded frames in prior video compression methods typically include frames that carry all of the information needed to reconstruct the corresponding original video frame. These frames are referred to as intra frames or "I-frames". Also, the encoded frames in prior video compression methods typically include frames that depend on prior encoded frame from the series of encoded frames to reconstruct the corresponding original video frame. These frames are referred to as predicted frames or "P-frames" since an encoder commonly generates these frames by employing a prediction loop.
Typically, the amount of data carried by an I-frame is significantly greater than the amount of data carried in a P-frame. Thus, to reduce the required bit rate, a greater percentage of the encoded frames are P-frames. Unfortunately, when using prediction, the loss of a P-frame or I-frame during transmission typically prevents the reconstruction of the current original video frame as well as the reconstruction of a sequence of sub-sequent P-frames before a next I-frame. The loss of a sequence of frames usually has negative effects on the reconstructed digital video. For example, these negative effects include freeze frame or the appearance of displayed artifacts. These negative effects are aggravated in systems that use a large number of P-frames between I-frames in order to conserve bandwidth or due to bandwidth constraints of the communication channel.
There are generally three types of packet loss: 1) single-packet loss, 2) burst loss, and 3) outage. A single packet loss, as the name implies, corresponds to a portion of one frame being lost. In such cases, the video data may be partially recoverable. A burst-loss corresponds to one or a number of frames being lost, which may lead to significant video degradation. Outage results in a number of frames being lost, which typically results in a total loss of the video. In such cases, the system cannot recover without an I-frame for re-synchronization.
It is noted that the loss of a number of consecutive packets has a much more detrimental effect than the loss of an equivalent number of isolated single packets. Consequently, it is of particular concern to reduce and/or eliminate burst losses and outages for video communication (e.g., a streaming video application).
For compressed video applications, the contents of each packet are dependent on the contents of other packets (e.g., previous packets) to re-construct the video. The loss of a single packet affects the use of other correctly received packets, and the propagation effect that results from the loss can be very substantial. The effect of packet loss depends on the type of loss and the particular application.
Because video has significant spatial and temporal correlations, the loss of a single packet may be concealed through the use of sophisticated error concealment techniques. However, if a number of packets are lost then the effect is much more detrimental.
Conventional approaches to overcome packet loss typically utilize re-transmission and forward error correction (FEC) techniques. Each of these techniques and their disadvantages or shortcomings are described hereinafter.
Re-transmission-based approaches use a back-channel to enable the receiver to communicate to the sender which packets are correctly received and which packets are not correctly received. As can be appreciated, the re-transmission-based approaches incur a delay corresponding to the round-trip-time (RTT) (i.e., the time needed to send information from the receiver to the sender and back to the receiver). In some applications, such as an electronic mail application, this delay may be acceptable.
However, in some applications, a back-channel may be unavailable. In other applications, a back-channel may be available, however there may be an inability to use re-transmissions. Examples of these applications include broadcast or multicast video.
Also, for other applications, this RTT delay may not be acceptable. For example, the information to be communicated may have a delay constraint (i.e., the information to be communicated has a time-bounded usefulness). In these applications, information that is not delivered in a timely manner is useless to the application. For example, a video frame or audio packet that arrives late at the receiver in these applications cannot be used. Examples of these applications include real-time video communications, such as real-time video telephone and video conferencing applications. Another example is one-way video, such as video games, where the video and audio information has delay constraints.
Consequently, the development of a system to enable reliable real-time multimedia communication over packet networks, such as the Internet, remains largely an unsolved problem. One of the main difficulties is that real-time multimedia communication over the Internet is hampered by packet loss described previously. Accordingly, current systems are limited to non-real-time or buffered communication, such as the type of service delivered by Real Networks.
In summary, there are applications where either a back-channel is not available or when the RTT delay is not acceptable. In these applications, a re-transmission based approach is an unsatisfactory solution.
In a second approach, forward error correction (FEC) techniques are utilized. FEC-based approaches add specialized redundancy (e.g., block and convolutional codes) to the data to overcome losses. FEC approaches also often interleave the data to convert burst errors into isolated errors. Unfortunately, the added redundancy requires increased bandwidth to implement. Furthermore, the FEC-based approaches are designed to overcome a predetermined amount of channel losses. If the losses are less than the predetermined amount, then the transmitted data can be recovered from the received lossy data. However, if the losses are greater than the predetermined amount, then the lost data can not be recovered, and furthermore, in certain cases all the data can be completely lost.
Another difficulty encountered in designing FEC-based systems is that network conditions, such as packet loss are highly dynamic, and there is typically limited knowledge about the current network conditions. In fact, the time scale for changes in network conditions is often shorter than the time needed to measure such changes, thereby making accurate determination of current network conditions difficult if not impossible. Consequently, the lack of knowledge about the instantaneous channel conditions typically leads to inefficient FEC design. Specifically, if the conditions in the channel in reality are better than that designed for, then resources are being wasted since more redundancy than necessary has bee used. On the other hand, if the channel conditions in reality are worse than that designed for, then all the data may be lost since not enough redundancy is employed. Because of the highly dynamic nature of many networks, in most cases the FEC is either over-designed and therefore inefficient or under-designed and therefore ineffective.
Based on the foregoing, there remains a need for a method and system to provide reliable communication between a sender and a receiver across a lossy network that overcomes the disadvantages set forth previously.

Video communication method and system employing multiple state encoding and path diversity

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An electronic device includes a chassis enclosing a fan and a sliding member. The chassis defines an air intake aligned with an inlet of the fan, and an opening. The sliding member is slidably mounted to the chassis and includes an operation part exposing through the opening. The sliding member is capable of either fully or partially covering and uncovering the air intake of the chassis via manipulating the operation part to slide in the opening.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic devices and, more particularly, to an electronic device having an air regulation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic device, such as a storage bridge bay (SBB), generally includes a plurality of components mounted thereto. The plurality of components is controlled by a control module and will generate a large quantity of heat during work. However, the plurality of components generally will not work synchronously, thus the control module will output several different powers according to the number of the components working at any given time. Therefore, several heat dissipation apparatuses need to be designed to satisfy different powers of the control module, which is costly.

Electronic device and air regulation apparatus thereof

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


An audio-visual system is provided for bringing together a local scene and a remote scene. The audio-visual system includes several concatenated audio-visual modules, and feedback control and control means between the various modules. Each audio-visual module comprises an image sensing device and a sound pickup device of the local scene, and an image and sound recovery device of the remote scene in an image plane. The audio-visual modules are connected to a transmission network. The feedback control and control means ensures image and sound quality continuity on the image plane when the people being filmed or recorded pass in front of the various image and sound pickup devices of the scene concerned.

When one or several people are part of local and remote scenes, this is referred to as videoconferencing, which allows these people to meet remotely.
The telepresence is an extension of the videoconference.
As with a videoconference, the telepresence is obtained by the transmission of image, of sound, as well as data representing text, graphics, diagrams, etc.
Although a scene can take place outside, normally it takes place inside a building. This is why a local room will be designated as the place where the local scene takes place and a remote room will be designated as the place where the remote scene takes place.
The image transmission of a local room SL equipped with an image sensing device 1 to a remote room SD equipped with a recovery or restoring device follows a path that is schematically represented (FIG. 1) and that includes an image sensing device 1 such as a camera, possibly an analogue-digital converter CAN, a coding system C, a transmission network R, a decoding system D, possibly a digital-analogue converter CNA, and an image recovery device 2 such as a projector P connected to a screen, for example a plasma, LCD, CRT . . . screen.
Similarly, there can be a sound pickup system of the local room and a sound recovery system in the remote room. This system therefore includes microphones Mi and speakers Hp as illustrated in FIG. 1.
In order for the communication to be reciprocal, the sound and image systems represented in FIG. 1 are reproduced in the opposite direction to ensure that the image and sounds are captured in the remote room SD and recovered in the local room SL.
Lastly, each room is equipped with an image sensing device and a sound pickup device, as well as an image and sound recovery device.
Then, using the audio-visual system that allows bringing together a local scene and a remote scene, a system located in a room, a public area, or outside and that includes at least one module comprised of an image sensing device and a sound pickup device, as well as an image and sound recovering device connected to a communications network (internal corporate network (local network) or public network) will be designated. This is also referred to as an interactive audio-visual system.
Among the audio-visual interactive systems, there are videoconference systems. These videoconference systems are available in different formats: videoconference room, video-phone, personal computer PC using multimedia communications, interactive base, etc.
Nevertheless, of interest here are also other configurations, for example, kiosks or telepresence walls in a hall, on the street; connected in a quasi-permanent manner to another kiosk or remote telepresence wall. In this case, it is no longer necessary to reserve the service, as is often the case for current videoconference systems.
A person that passes in front of a telepresence wall located, for example, in Paris, can communicate either in "sotto voce" or informally with a remote person passing in front of another telepresence wall located, for example, in LONDON, and connected to the system in Paris, as if they met on the street, in a hallway, etc. These remote persons can, for example, walk "side-by-side."
To ensure the co-presence, the following must be controlled:
Eye contact,
Person's height (scale 1),
Audio and video quality,
Screen distance,
Modularity for having a configurable image and sound wall.
Before presenting the invention, reminded below will be the usage constraints of audio-visual systems, and, in particular, all the phenomena related to environmental constraints, the effect of lack of eye contact, and the concatenation of several devices.
In general terms, telepresence audio-visual systems are made to be used at a specific distance from the scene, both in terms capture and recovery, depending on the size of the image and the service provided.
Nevertheless, viewing at a close distance is a predominant factor to ensure that the videoconference or telepresence participants are able to comfortably observe and tele-use the system, which ensures the telepresence effect. This viewing at a close distance allows, notably, increasing the sense of closeness between remote participants by favouring eye contact.
Nevertheless, the closer the scene to film is to the camera, the larger the field angle of the camera has to be. This increase of the image sensing angle at a close distance presents a problem illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b.
FIG. 2a schematically represents, viewed from the bottom, an image sensing device 1 located in a local room SL, filming a local scene, represented by local participants PL seated around a table located, for example, approximately 1 meter from the camera that has a wide α angle. The direction of sight of the participants is indicated by the small dash that represents the participant's nose. On a screen E, the image of the remote participants PD is formed, notably, the image of remote participant d.
When in the local room SL a local participant a that is not located in the camera's axis represented by ray b1 speaks to a remote participant, he or she looks at the image d′ of said remote participant on the screen E. Although a is facing d′ according to ray ad′, the camera receives ray a1, and ultimately films the participant a in profile.
It is this profile image that is transmitted to the recovery device located in the remote room SD, which resends to d, as indicated in FIG. 2b, the a′ image of a as if a were not looking at d. The eye contact is not recovered. This effect is called the parallax (eye contact or eye gaze) effect sometimes referred to as "lack of eye contact effect."
Recall that the image plane is the plane in which the d′ image is located. In this example, it is confused with the screen but this is not always the case when the image is reflected using a mirror.
The ad′ ray is a beam that comes from the local scene to be filmed located in a plane called a target plane and it is perpendicular to the image plane.
If, as indicated in FIG. 2c, the image capture were performed in cylindrical projection mode retained in a descriptive geometry, also called Monge geometry, or even industrial design, allowing the camera to capture all the rays that are parallel to ad′, and not in conical projection mode according to an α angle as represented in FIG. 2a, the lack of eye contact effect is eliminated.
The visual parallax or lack of eye contact effect, more prosaically called the "hyprocrite" effect was presented within the framework of the videoconference but can be generalised by considering as a local scene persons standing up or no longer considering any persons, but rather objects; for example, a cube whose sides are blue or red that is placed in a tilted manner: it presents a red side and a blue side. But ray a1 only comes from a blue side. The a′ image of the cube will only present the blue side instead of presenting both the red and blue sides of the cube placed in a tilted manner.
Furthermore, the size of the participants or objects during recovery varies according to the part of the field in which they are located and according to the camera's α angle. If several participants or objects are to be filmed, the field has to be increased, but the recovered images are somewhat curved inasmuch as the perspective effects are distorted on the edges of the image; the recovered images present a variable enlarged effect illustrated in FIGS. 3a and 3b and is well known by photographers that use wide lenses.
On each of these figures, there are two local participants PL represented, a and b, one set back with respect to the other, and filmed by the image sensing device presenting, in the case of FIG. 3a, an α1 angle field that is smaller than that of α2 in FIG. 3b. The recovered images a′1 and a′2 of a are almost identical in both cases, but the enlargement of b′1 with respect to b (FIG. 3a) is greater than that of b′2 with respect to b (FIG. 3b.)
A solution that allows reducing the disturbing effected caused by an image capture with a wide angle (lack of eye contact effect and distorted perspective) consists in limiting the β angle formed at a point a of the scene with rays ad′ and a1, represented in FIG. 2a. An ETSI, European Telecommunications Standards Institute, specification specifies that this angle β should not exceed 5 degrees. This angle is obtained by limiting the filmed scene by truncating or placing the camera around the viewing axis, which disturbs viewing.
To compensate this inconvenience, there are several image sensing devices 1 available such as those represented in FIGS. 4a and 4b. To ensure the continuity of the image capture, these devices, whose optical axes are radial and within the same plane, are adjacent: several devices 1 are "concatenated". But then, the image sensing fields are common or overlap areas ZR and the recovered images on one or several adjacent recovery devices (each corresponding to an image sensing device), will present these discontinuities from the duplicated parts or overlaps. Recall that image overlap is the multiple reproduction of certain parts of the same scene captured by different cameras whose fields overlap more or less partially.
In the case of two image sensing devices 1 represented by FIG. 4a, there will an area with two overlaps ZR; in the case of three image sensing devices 1 represented in FIG. 4b, there will be areas with two overlaps when the object is close to the image sensing device, with three overlaps when it is further away, etc.
This image overlap phenomenon increases when the field angle of the image sensing devices increases.
Image processing software has been developed to solve this problem, but it still does not provide satisfactory results.

Modular audio-visual system to bring together a local scene and a remote scene


A method for emulsion polymerization of butadiene comprises adding an acrylic latex to the emulsion polymerization medium in an amount effective to increase the average particle size of the resulting polybutadiene latex. The particles of the resulting polybutadiene latex may also exhibit a desirable spherical shape.

The viscosity of synthetic rubber latex comprising polybutadiene at a given temperature and solids content is largely determined by the average particle size and the distribution of particle size of the polybutadiene. Generally, a large average particle size is desirable and results in a lower viscosity latex at a given solids content and temperature. Various techniques have been employed to increase the particle size of a rubber latex during emulsion polymerization. However, difficulties have been encountered with each of these techniques.
For example, Chittenden et al, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 40, 337 (1948), and Borders et al, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 40, 1473 (1948), disclose the use of high organic monomer to water ratios or low soap concentrations to promote agglomeration during emulsion polymerization reactions of butadiene. However, this technique results in one or more periods of instability during which coagulation may occur. Additionally, heat removal may be difficult because of high viscosity conditions and, if the reaction proceeds in an uncontrolled manner during the critical coalescent stage, it is often difficult to reproduce desirable reaction results.
It is also known to add colloidally active compounds to a rubber latex in order to increase the particle size. For example, the Howland et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,758 teaches the addition of polyvinylmethyl ether to a synthetic rubber latex in order to increase the particle size while the Schluter U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,795 discloses the addition of a polyalkylene oxide to a synthetic rubber dispersion to cause agglomeration. Attempts have also been made to add colloidally active compounds to the emulsion polymerization recipe. For example, Belgian Patent No. 817,505 discloses the addition of a polyalkylene glycol agglomerating agent while Araki, Polymer Journal, Vol. 19, No. 7, 863 (1987) discloses the addition of sodium alganate and magnesium sulfate to the emulsion reaction. However, these methods are disadvantageous in that oftentimes low monomer conversion rates are realized resulting in reactions that may require as long as 70 hours to reach completion.
The Gauslaa U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,831 discloses a method for the production of large particle latices in short reaction times using high-sheer techniques during polymerization. However, this method is disadvantageous in that it requires special reactors capable of high agitation rates.
Thus, a need still exists for improved methods for providing synthetic rubber latices having increased particle size.

Method for preparing emulsion polymerized polybutadiene of increased particle size


A hat member has a lower rim with a scarf attached thereto which extends between the temple areas around the back of the head. The scarf has an eye edge proximate the lower part of the eye sockets and extends from there to an area proximate the juncture of the neck with the torso or trunk. The scarf is loose and has folds under the chin so that a coat or other outer garment can be positioned and closed there over without restricting movement of the user. The scarf extends from the rim down proximate the nape of the neck to protect the back of the head and the rear of the neck. The hat member has a crown into which the scarf member can be positioned and stored while the hat is being worn. In turn the scarf may be moved between a stored position in the crown of the hat member and a deployed position removed from the crown and deployed over and about the head of the user.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to outdoor clothing and more particularly to an article of clothing for wearing on the head or headware suitable for use in cold weather.
2. The Relevant Technology
In cold weather, a hat is often desired as an article of clothing for placement on the head (i.e., headware) for the long recognized purpose of keeping the head warm. A hat may also serve other recognized purposes including protection from sun, rain, snow, sleet, wind and the like.
In cold weather, a scarf may be desired for placement about the neck as an item of apparel to insulate from the cold and, of course, to also protect the neck area of a user from rain, snow, sleet, wind, and the like. In certain weather conditions, protection for the face from similar conditions may also be desired for such reasons.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,804 (Carey, et al.) discloses a protective mask with scarf suitable for use in cold weather. A mask disclosed is made with a fleece interior layer laminated to a closed cell neoprene exterior layer. A scarf member has a section of material that extends down into the neck area. The protective mask with scarf is marketed under the name COMBO SCARF. An improved version with a scarf, head piece and face mask has been sold prior hereto under names or marks such as COMBO CLAVA® and ULTRA CLAVA®. All have been sold by SEIRUS INNOVATIVE ACCESSORIES, INC. of 13975 Danielson Street, Poway, Calif.
SEIRUS INNOVATIVE ACCESSORIES, INC. has also marketed a series of hats (headware) each having a face scarf under the trademarks QUICK DRAW and QD. The face scarf has ends or tails that extend into and are stitched to the interior of the hat at an appropriate seam or other location inside the crown portion of the hat. The face scarf extends down over the ears and across the front portion of the face and over the neck area under the chin.
FIGS. 1 through 5 appended hereto show a sample prior art QUICK DRAW® product of SEIRUS INNOVATIVE ACCESSORIES, INC. A hat A has a face scarf B attached. The face scarf B has ends C and D each stitched or sewn to the interior surface E of the hat A. The face scarf B has an upper edge F that extends downward from inside the hat A and over the cheek area and the nose of a user. A lower edge G also extends downward from inside the hat A proximate the ears and down under the jaw of the user to a position below the chin of the user.
Articles of clothing such as the QUICK DRAW® product do not provide the user with total protection in the neck area from the elements even if a coat collar is brought upward to extend over the bottom edge H of the hat. The wind and other elements can penetrate absent other measures to protect. An item of apparel for the head that protects the face, the neck around the entire head, and the head itself comfortably and yet has the option to be placed in a stored configuration so that it can be reoriented between at least two configurations is not known.


The invention provides elastomeric polymer networks and semi-interpenetrating networks in which a linear PEA, PEUR or PEU polymer is crosslinked by ester or alpha-amino-acid containing cross-linkers that polymerize upon exposure to active species. Bioabsorbable elastomeric internal fixation devices fabricated using such polymer networks and semi-interpenetrating networks are useful for in vivo implant and delivery of a variety of different types of molecules in a time release fashion. Alpha-amino-acid containing ester amide cross-linkers are also provided by the invention.

Biodegradable polymers are becoming widely used in various fields of biotechnology and bioengineering, as implants for tissue engineering, surgical devices and for drug delivery. For example, regular AA-BB-type bio-analogous poly(ester amides) (PEAs), poly(ester urethanes) (PEURs), and poly(ester ureas) (PEUs), which consist of nontoxic building blocks, such as hydrophobic α-amino acids, aliphatic diols and di-carboxylic acids. These bio-analogous polymers have been proven to be important materials for biomedical applications because of their excellent blood and tissue compatibility (K. DeFife et al. Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics—TCT2004 Conference. Poster presentation. Washington D.C. 2004; J. Da, Poster presentation, ACS Fall National Meeting, San Francisco, 2006) and biologic degradation profiles (G. Tsitlanadze, et al. J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn. (2004). 15:1-24). Controlled enzymatic degradation and low nonspecific degradation rates of PEAs make them attractive for drug delivery applications.
Because many biomedical devices are implanted in a bodily environment that undergoes dynamic stress, the implants must be sufficiently elastic to undergo and recover from deformation without subjecting the host's surrounding tissue to irritation and without mechanical breakdown of the polymer. Ideally such implants would have properties resembling those of the extracellular matrix, a soft, tough and elastomeric proteinaceous network that provides mechanical stability and structural integrity to tissues and organs. Such a polymer network would allow ready recovery from substantial deformations.
Various classes of biodegradable polymer elastomers have been disclosed: Elastin-like peptide elastomers are based on protein polymers and are produced recombinantly. Polyhydroxyalkanoates, such as poly-4-hydroxybutyrate, have also been used as elastomeric polymers. Hydrogels have been proposed based on such various compounds as alginate, vegetal proteins crosslinked with synthetic water soluble polymer (PEG), and cross-linked hyularonic acid. Recently a covalently cross-linked and hydrogen bonded three-dimensional polymer network in which at least one monomer is trifunctional has been described for use in polymer implants (Y Wang et al., Nat. Biotech (2002) 20:602-606).
Heretofore interpenetrating networks have found many applications as automotive parts (tires, belts, and bumpers), hoses, cables, gaskets, damping compounds, ion-exchange resins, optical fibers, medical gear, artificial teeth, and dental fillings, In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,752 describes a polymer composition that forms a semi-interpenetrating network made from a linear biodegradable hydrophobic or nonbiodegradable hydrophilic polymer and cross-linkers that include a degradable linkage, such as an anhydride linkage.
Despite such progress in the art, there is need for new and better polymer blends, such as those that can form non-biodegradable or biodegradable interpenetrating networks. In particular there is a need for polymer compositions suitable for forming elastomeric implantable devices of various types, including those used in tissue, tooth, and bone replacement.

Bioabsorbable elastomeric polymer networks, cross-linkers and methods of use


A motor control system includes motor control devices and a controller. The controller generates and transmits a communication signal including an operation command to the respective motor control devices. The motor control devices include two motor control devices in a first group, each of which includes a data transceiver, a motor controller, a corrector, and a synchronous timing generator, and a motor control device in a second group. The data transceiver receives an operation command issued to the motor control device, and receives operation information in the motor control device in the second group. Based on the operation command, the motor controller generates a torque command signal. The corrector generates a torque correction signal based on the operation information, and corrects the torque command signal. The synchronous timing generator generates a timing signal that matches pieces of process timing of the motor controllers in the first group with each other.

In recent years, there has been used a motor control system that connects a host controller and a plurality of motor control devices to each other via a communication line. The motor control devices control motors attached to respective axes. The motor control system is used for varieties of machine tools and robots.
For example, as the motor control system, there is such a system including a controller, an X-axis motor control device for controlling an X-axis motor attached to an X axis, and a Y-axis motor control device for controlling a Y-axis motor attached to a Y axis.
In the motor control system, when a change occurs on one axis, the change may largely affect characteristics of the other axis. Specifically, when the X-axis motor attached to the X axis is controlled in order to move an object located on the X axis, a change may occur in characteristics of a mechanical system for use in operating the Y-axis motor. Hence, when the Y-axis motor is controlled, torque applied to the Y-axis motor becomes too large or too small in response to a load position on the X axis in the Y-axis motor control device. Hence, in the motor control system, a decrease of performance of damping vibrations and other malfunctions occur.
As a method for addressing the malfunctions as described above, heretofore, motor control system as follows has been disclosed. That is, in the conventional motor control system, in addition to position information of an own axis, information of any of position information of the other axis, a load inertia of a machine, or a weight of the machine is transmitted to a motor control device for a control target axis. Then, the motor control device for the control target axis controls a motor attached to the control target axis while sequentially changing control parameters on the basis of the transmitted information. Hence, this conventional motor control system ensures a function to suppress the influence given to the control for the other axis and to damp the vibrations even if the characteristics of the mechanical system vary to a large extent in a certain axis (for example, PTL 1).
Moreover, as another conventional motor control system, there is disclosed a motor control system in which a controller and a plurality of motor control devices for controlling motors attached to respective axes are subjected to daisy chain connection.
This conventional motor control system includes synchronous counters. In this motor control system, the synchronous counters are initialized at timing of receiving command data transmitted from the controller to the respective motor control devices. The plurality of motor control devices provided in the motor control system having the conventional configuration simultaneously receives the command data transmitted from the controller. Count up rates of all the synchronous counters are the same. Hence, the plurality of motor control devices simultaneously reflects the received command data on the control for the respective motors (for example, PTL 2).
Incidentally, in each of the motor control devices described in PTL 1, the change of the control parameters does not correspond to a communication cycle but is performed at arbitrary timing. That is, each of the motor control devices changes the control parameters without synchronizing with the others. Hence, when the X axis and the Y axis are not mechanically coupled to each other, it is conceivable that the following control is possible in a motor control system composed of an X-axis motor control device for controlling one X axis and a Y-axis motor control device for controlling one Y axis. That is, for example, in the Y-axis motor control device for controlling an object moving on the Y axis, in order to reflect the change occurring on the X axis, the control parameters are changed without adhering to the change occurring on the X axis. Even if such a control is performed, the performance of damping vibrations does not decrease in the conventional motor control system.
In contrast, as a configuration in which the X axis and the Y axis are mechanically coupled to each other, for example, a gantry mechanism is cited. For example, a motor control system having the gantry mechanism as described above includes: a head on which an X-axis load moves; and a pair of rails which drive both ends of the head in parallel in a Y-axis direction. The Y axis includes a Y1 axis and a Y2 axis, which are located in parallel to each other. That is, the motor control system having the gantry mechanism includes: one X-axis motor control device for controlling the X axis; and two Y-axis motor control devices for controlling the Y1 axis and the Y2 axis. Such parallel drive is also referred to as tandem drive.
In this configuration, for the purpose of suppressing unbalanced control, each of the Y1-axis motor control device and the Y2-axis motor control device changes the control parameters at timing of its own in order to reflect position information of the X-axis load on the head onto the Y1 axis and the Y2 axis.
However, when each of the control devices appropriately changes the control parameters at arbitrary timing, the following malfunction may occur. That is, between the Y-axis motor control devices for respectively controlling the Y1 axis and the Y2 axis, there is deviated timing of reflecting torque, which is required depending on a head position where the X-axis load is present, on the respective motors. Hence, torsion occurs between the Y1 axis and the Y2 axis, which are mechanically coupled to each other. Then, such torsion as above deteriorates positioning accuracy of the X-axis load, and deteriorates the vibration damping performance, and eventually, may result in safety degradation and failure.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGENENT CO., LTD.


A method for altering a coffee source component profile of a coffee source to mimic a target coffee component profile of a target coffee, wherein the coffee source and the target coffee each comprise multiple taste contributing acids.

High quality coffee food and beverage products enjoy considerable popularity and make up an increasingly significant proportion of the diets of many people. However, high quality flavored coffee products are both expensive to purchase and to produce. One such reason is the cost of the flavoring materials. To produce high quality, flavored coffee products with realistic flavors has previously required the use of non-artificial flavorants (e.g., 100% real juice). However, real ingredients are expensive, and frequently hard to obtain in the quantities required. This results in higher production costs for high quality flavored coffee products that must eventually be borne by the consumer.
One such approach to this problem has been the use of artificial flavoring agents comprising a portion of the ingredients that can be found in real flavoring agents. The flavoring compositions, however, suffer from poor consumer acceptance because of an inability to reproduce natural flavor characteristics.
Additionally, as the popularity of more exotic flavor combinations for coffee flavored beverages increases there exists a need to satisfactorily mitigate the consumer dispreferred interactions between the characteristic flavors of the beverage ingredients.
Considerable effort, therefore, has been expended in an attempt to address the need for coffee beverages with enhanced flavors. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide compositions and methods which address these needs and provide further related advantages.

Method of making coffee compositions with stable flavor characteristics


This invention provides a method and a device for controlling switch between appliances. The method includes: setting a group of control signals according to operations to be performed by appliances involved in a switch between a current appliance and a target appliance; and controlling the appliances involved in the switch between the current appliance and the target appliance to perform operations corresponding to the group of control signals, when the switch is triggered. The method simplifies the operation of switch between appliances in a multi-appliance environment and enables one appliance switching key to control multiple appliances.

The development of electronic technology, network technology and the like has brought families more and more electronic consuming products. Among these household appliances, audio/video related electric appliances alone are too numerous to be listed, such as color TV, audio device, digital camera, digital virtual disc (DVD), set-top box and so on. In addition, the digital media adapter (DMA) has realized the connection and communication between conventional household electronic appliances and computers. It is foreseeable that appliance networks consist of various electric appliances in digitized families in the future will be more complicated and the same is true for the office environment and industrial environment.
However, while meeting the demands, diversification of the products has brought such technical problem as how to control various electric appliances in the same environment. The conventional mode for multi-appliance control is providing a remote controller for each appliance. When controlling an appliance, first select a remote controller corresponding to the appliance, and realize the desired control functions by using control buttons on the control panel of the remote controller. Disadvantage of such a control mode is obvious. With a "multi-appliance remote controller" designed through improvement, functions of a plurality of remote controllers are combined, that is, some universal function keys are reused and appliance switching keys are used to realize the switch among the controlled appliances.
As shown in FIG. 1, the main difference between a multi-appliance remote controller and a conventional remote controller controlling a single appliance is that the multi-appliance remote controller has appliance switching keys, such as keys denoted by "appliance 1", "appliance 2", "appliance 3" and "appliance 4" in FIG. 1. These appliance keys are used to realize the switch between the controlled appliances. Suppose appliance 1 is a TV, appliance 2 is a DVD player, appliance 3 is a set-top box (STB) and appliance 4 is a standby appliance or another appliance.
Suppose an output signal of the STB is received by an AV1 input of the TV and an output signal of the DVD player is received by an AV2 input of the TV, when a user is watching digital TV and controlling the relevant operations using STB, the current appliance controlled by the multi-appliance remote controller is appliance 3 (STB). In this case, if the user wants to play a DVD disk, the operations needed to fulfill the switch from the current appliance STB to the target appliance DVD is as follows. The user first presses the appliance switching key "appliance 1" on the control panel of the multi-appliance remote controller to switch the current control appliance STB to an intermediate appliance, i.e. the TV, presses the key AV2 on the control panel of the remote controller to switch the AV1 mode to the AV2 mode, presses the appliance switching key "appliance 2" on the control panel of the multi-appliance remote controller to switch the current control appliance TV to the target appliance DVD player, and uses suitable function keys on the multi-appliance remote controller to implement functions such as DVD turning on, disk loading, disk reading, etc.
According to the foregoing control process, multiple operations of appliance switching keys are needed to control the switch between appliances by using the multi-appliance remote controller, and corresponding function controls are needed for related appliances, such as the current appliance, the intermediate appliance and the target appliance, thus such switch process is prone to errors and incorrect operations.

Method and device for controlling switch between appliances


A magnetic memory device includes a memory cell which has a first wiring line composed of a first wiring layer, a second wiring line composed of a second wiring layer and provided above or below the first wiring line so as to cross the first wiring line, and a magnetoresistive effect element device provided in a position where the first wiring line and the second wiring line cross each other. The device further includes a peripheral circuit which includes a third wiring line provided around the memory cell and composed of the first wiring layer, a fourth wiring line provided above or below the third wiring line and composed of the second wiring layer, and at least one magnetic layer forming the magnetoresistive effect element device and provided between the third wiring line and the fourth wiring line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetic memory device and a method of manufacturing the magnetic memory device. More specifically, this invention relates to an MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) using an MTJ (Magnetic Tunnel Junction) structure as memory element devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic memory device using tunneling magneto resistive effect (hereinafter, abbreviated as TMR), so called MRAM, has been proposed (see, for example, "A 10 ns Read and Write Non-Volatile Memory Array Using a Magnetic Tunnel Junction and FET Switch in each Cell," ISSCC 2000 Technical Digest, p. 128).
FIG. 49 shows the basic configuration of a conventional MRAM. As shown in FIG. 49, a plurality of isolations 102 with an STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) structure are formed in the surface of a p-type semiconductor substrate (or, well region) 101. In each device region excluding the regions of isolations, a plurality of MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) 103a, 103b are provided. Specifically, in the surface of the p-type semi-conductor substrate 101 corresponding to each device region demarcated by the plurality of isolations 102, for example, a plurality of n-type diffused layers 104a, 104b are selectively formed. On the surface of each p-type semiconductor substrate 101 between the plurality of diffused layers 104a, 104b, gate electrodes 105a, 105b are provided through a gate oxide film.
On the p-type semiconductor substrate 101, an insulator film 106 is provided. In the insulator film 106, for example, a plurality of wiring lines in a first level 107 to a fifth level 111 are formed. In this example, wiring lines 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d, 107e, 107f, 107g are provided in the first level 107. In the second level 108, wiring lines 108a, 108b, 108c, 108d, 108e, 108f, 108g are provided. In the third level 109, wiring lines 109a, 109b, 109c, 109d, 109e, 109f, 109g are provided. In the fourth level 110, wiring lines 110a, 110b are provided. In the fifth level 111, wiring lines 111a, 111b, 111c, 111d are provided.
Furthermore, in the insulator film 106, for example, there are provided first contact plugs 112a, 112c, 112e, 112g which connect the plurality of diffused levels 104a, 104b with each one of the wiring lines 107a, 107c, 107e, 107g in the first level 107. In addition, for example, there are provided second contact plugs 113a, 113c, 113e, 113g which connect the wiring lines 107a, 107c, 107e, 107g in the first level 107 with the wiring lines 108a, 108c, 108e, 108g in the second level 108, respectively. Moreover, for example, there are provided third contact plugs 114a, 114c, 114e, 114g which connect the wiring lines 108a, 108c, 108e, 108g in the second level 108 with the wiring lines 109a, 109c, 109e, 109g in the third level, respectively. Furthermore, for example, there are provided fourth contact plugs 115a, 115c which connect the wiring lines 109a, 109c in the third level 109 with the wiring lines 110a, 10b in the fourth level, respectively, and fourth contact plugs 115e, 115g which connect the wiring lines 109e, 109g in the third level 109 with the wiring lines 111b, 111d in the fifth level, respectively. In addition, for example, the wiring lines 110a, 110b in the fourth level 110 are connected with the wiring line 111a in the fifth level 111 via TMR element devices 116a, 116b.
The MRAM with such a configuration comprises a memory cell and a core peripheral circuit for controlling the memory cell. In the memory cell, the wiring line 111a in the fifth level 111 connected to the TMR element devices 116a, 116b functions as a bit line. The wiring lines 109b, 109d in the third level 109 not connected to any one of wiring lines 110a, 110b in the fourth level 110 function as write word lines. The write word lines 109b, 109d are arranged so as to be perpendicular to the bit line 111a. The TMR element devices 116a, 116b, which are placed at the inter-sections of the bit line 111a and the write word lines 109b, 109d, are used as memory element devices. The MOSFET 103a, which is connected electrically to the TMR element devices 116a, 116b, functions as a switching element device. The gate electrode 105a of the MOSFET 103a functions as a read word line.
FIG. 50 shows an equivalent circuit of the memory cell (MRAM cell) with the above configuration. As shown in FIG. 50, the bit line 111a, is arranged to cross the write word line 109b (or 109d) and read word line 105a perpendicularly. At the intersection of the bit line 111a and the write word line 109b (or 109d), the TMR element device 116a (or 116b) is placed. One end of the TMR element device 116a (or 116b) is connected to the bit line 111a and the other end of the TMR element device 116a is connected to the MOSFET 103a. The gate electrode 105a of the MOSFET 103a serves as the read word line.
FIG. 51 shows an example of the configuration of the TMR element devices 116a, 116b. Each of the TMR element devices 116a, 116b has a three-layered structure composed of two magnetic layers and a nonmagnetic layer sandwiched between the two layers. Specifically, each of the TMR element devices 116a, 116b is configured in such a manner that, for example, a fixed magnetic layer (magnetic layer) 116-1, a tunnel junction layer (nonmagnetic layer) 116-2, and a magnetic recording layer (magnetic layer) 116-3 are stacked one on top of another in that order.
The fixed magnetic layer 116-1, which is composed of an antiferromagnetic layer and a ferromagnetic layer, is called a pin layer since the direction of magnetization is fixed in one direction. In contrast, the magnetic recording layer 116-3, which is composed of a ferromagnetic layer, is called a memory layer for storing data since the direction of magnetization can be changed freely. The direction of magnetization in the magnetic recording layer 116-3 can be changed by a combined magnetic field (current magnetic field) produced by the current flowing through the bit line 111a and the current flowing thorough the write word lines 109b, 109d.
The operation of writing data into or reading data from an MRAM cell with such a configuration will be explained briefly. For example, to write data "1" or "0" into the TMR element device 116a, the write word line 109b and bit line 111a are selected first. Current (write current) is caused to flow through the selected write word line 109b and bit line 111a, thereby generating a current magnetic field. Then, only the magnetic field applied to the selected cell (TMR element device 116a) located at the intersection of the selected write word line 109b and bit line 111a exceeds the inversion threshold of magnetization in the TMR element device 116a. As a result, data is written into the TMR element device 116a.
At this time, for example, when the direction of magnetization in the fined magnetic layer 116-1 and that in the magnetic recording layer 116-3 are parallel to each other in the same direction, the tunnel resistance sensed by current flow through the tunnel junction layer 116-2 becomes the lowest. In this state, "1" can be stored. In contrast, when the direction of magnetization in the fixed magnetic layer 116-1 and that in the magnetic recording layer 116-3 are parallel to each other in opposite directions, the tunnel resistance sensed by current flow through the tunnel junction layer 116-2 becomes the highest. In this state, "0" can be stored. That is, in the MRAM, the difference in tunnel resistance is stored in the form of data "1" or "0."
On the other hand, to read data "1" or "0" written in the TMR element device 116a, the read word line 105a and bit line 111a are selected first. Then, current flows from the bit line 111a to the ground (Gnd) line through the TMR element device 116a and MOSFET 103a. The difference in the current flowing in the Gnd line is read as the difference in the tunnel resistance by the core peripheral circuit, thereby determining the data ("1" or "0") in the TMR element device 116a.
In the MRAM with the above configuration, to decrease the write current, it is desirable that the bit line 111a should be provided as close to the write word lines 109b, 109d as possible.
However, in the conventional MRAM having the aforementioned memory cell, the core peripheral circuit for controlling the memory cell is provided around the memory cell. The core peripheral circuit is generally formed by the same process with the memory cell from the viewpoint of cost performance. Therefore, arranging the bit line 111a and the write word lines 109b, 109d close to one another inevitably causes the wiring line 109f in the fourth level 109 and the wiring line 111c in the fifth level 111 in the core peripheral circuit to be provided close to each other.
However, when a plurality of wiring lines are arranged close to one another, inductance components are liable to induce. Particularly when two wiring lines arranged very close to each other are used in the core peripheral circuit, current flow in one wiring line can generate electromotive force on the other wiring line, which may cause a problem. Specifically, in the future, the bit line 111a and the write word lines 109b, 109d will possibly get closer and closer to one another. In that case, the wiring line 109f in the third level 109 and the wiring line 111c in the fifth level 111 will get very close to each other in the core peripheral circuit, with the result that the induction of inductance components will become a serious problem. The inductance components are expected to become still greater, when yoke wiring lines are used.
As described above, in the conventional MRAM, when the bit line and the word lines are arranged closely one another to decrease the write current, this causes the wiring lines in the core peripheral circuit to get closer to one another, which can permit inductance components to induce. There is a possibility that interference caused by electromotive force between wiring lines arranged closely one another will become a problem.

Magnetic memory device and method of manufacturing the same


A process for the growth of a single crystal from semiconductor material by the Czochralski method, in which the melt is subjected to the influence of a magnetic field during the crystal growth and the magnetic field is generated by superposing a static magnetic field and an alternating magnetic field. An apparatus for carrying out the process, has a magnetic means which comprises two coils which are arranged around a crucible, one coil generating a static magnetic field and the other coil generating an alternating magnetic field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the growth of single crystals from semiconductor material by the Czochralski method.
2. The Prior Art
In this method, a cylindrical single crystal grows on a seed crystal, the seed crystal first being immersed in a melt and then drawn away from the surface of the melt. The melt is held in a crucible which consists of a quartz glass crucible and of a support crucible which is usually made of graphite and in which the quartz glass crucible is placed. The crucible rests on a rotatable and axially displaceable shaft and is surrounded laterally by resistance heating elements which generate sufficient heat radiation to melt the solid semiconductor material therein and to keep it in the molten state. In addition to semiconductor material, the melt contains, if required, added dopants and unavoidable amounts of oxygen and other impurities, which are dissolved out of the crucible wall. As a rule, the crucible and the growing single crystal are rotated in opposite directions because this makes it possible to influence to a certain degree the quantitative incorporation of oxygen and the distribution of oxygen and dopants in the melt and in the single crystal.
The melt continuously loses heat mainly via its free surface, the growing single crystal, the bottom of the support crucible and the shaft. This heat loss must be compensated by increasing the heating power of the resistance heating elements. The increased heat supply heats the crucible wall to well above the melting point of the semiconductor material. This is a problem with adverse consequences which are evident in particular in the growth of single crystals having diameters of more than 200 mm, because high heat outputs are required for the growth of such single crystals, due to the correspondingly large crucibles and melt volumes. One consequence is that, due to the high temperatures at the crucible wall, oxygen and other impurities are dissolved to a greater extent out of the crucible material and enter the melt. Another disadvantageous consequence is that island-like cristobalite layers form to an increasing extent on the crucible wall as a result of the overheating of the crucible. As a result of pitting corrosion, these layers may release particles which reach the crystallization boundary with a certain probability via convection flows and can terminate the dislocation-free growth of the single crystal. For this reason, the achievable dislocation-free growth in length of single crystals having large diameters has also been very limited and the ratio of length to diameter in the case of such single crystals is small. A further disadvantageous consequence of too high a temperature at the crucible wall results from the associated large temperature difference between the crucible and the crystallization boundary. It causes the occurrence of powerful uncontrolled material flows in the melt as a result of thermal convection, which lead to local fluctuations in the temperature and in the concentration of dopant and impurities. This situation is of course also reflected in the growing single crystal by an undesirable, locally fluctuating distribution of the dopants and of the impurities, in particular of the oxygen.
In addition, the temperature fluctuations in the melt increase the temperature-related stresses to which the single crystal is exposed during growth. There is an increasing danger that dislocations will form in the region of the crystallization boundary and may spread into the dislocation-free part of the single crystal to a length corresponding to the diameter of the single crystal. Because regions of the crystal which contain dislocations are not suitable for use as a starting material for electronic components, drastic reductions in yield are to be expected particularly in the case of large single crystals where the ratio of length to diameter is, for the stated reasons, in any case small.
For example, DD-270 728 A1 discloses that static magnetic fields superposed on the melt influence material flows and temperature distribution in the melt. Their effect consists in particular in the damping of convective material flows. At suitable field strengths, local temperature fluctuations are reduced and the incorporation of dopant in the single crystal is more homogeneous. However, the magnets required for generating magnetic fields having suitable field strengths are complicated in design and their energy requirement is relatively high. The above-mentioned publication and U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,720 therefore give preference to processes which operate with rotating magnetic fields. According to the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,720, the incorporation of oxygen into the growing single crystal is controlled on the basis of a sequence according to which certain rotational speeds of single crystal and crucible are to be observed and the intensity of a certain component of the magnetic field is reduced with increasing crystal volume.
In spite of some improvements through the use of static and rotating magnetic fields in the growth of single crystals by the Czochralski method, the situation remains unsatisfactory. In particular, the known processes do not provide an adequate solution to the problems described, which have to be overcome in the growth of single crystals having diameters of more than 200 mm.

Process and apparatus for the growth of single crystals

Wacker Siltronik Gesellschaft fur Halbleitermaterialien AG


A manufacturing process of an element chip comprises a preparing step for preparing a substrate having first and second sides opposed to each other, the substrate containing a semiconductor layer, a wiring layer and a resin layer formed on the first side, and the substrate including a plurality of dicing regions and element regions defined by the dicing regions. Also, the manufacturing process comprises a laser grooving step for irradiating a laser beam onto the dicing regions to form grooves so as to expose the semiconductor layer along the dicing regions. Further, the manufacturing process comprises a dicing step for plasma-etching the semiconductor layer along the dicing regions through the second side to divide the substrate into a plurality of the element chips. The laser grooving step includes a melting step for melting a surface of the semiconductor layer exposed along the dicing regions.

The element chips are produced by individualizing or dicing a substrate including a semiconductor layer and a wiring layer, for example. Typically, the substrate contains a plurality of element regions and dicing regions defining the element regions, in which the dicing regions are removed to form the element chips from the substrate. Patent Document 1 (JPA 2005-064231) discloses a method for dividing a plate-like workpiece, which includes dicing the substrate along the dicing regions by laser scribing (laser grooving) a portion of the substrate along dicing regions and cutting off the remaining portion of the substrate with a cutting blade.
The laser grooving step often uses a pulsed laser beam for suppressing a thermal impact on the substrate. It is known that a laser ablation makes materials composing the substrate on a target of the laser beam scattering as fine particles called as debris, which in turn adhere to the surface of the substrate in the laser grooving step. However, when the remaining portion of the substrate is mechanically cut off after the laser grooving step as taught in Patent Document 1, the debris on the dicing regions of the substrate substantially gives no influence on a production quality of the element chips.
Meantime, a plasma-dicing step for dicing the substrate has recently been proposed, in which after laser-scribing a portion of the substrate, a plasma-dicing step is used for etching the remaining portion along the dicing regions by exposing the substrate within a plasma atmosphere. The source gas and the condition for generating the plasma atmosphere are modified in accordance with the material and a thickness of the material to be processed. Therefore, the flatness and the composition of the debris along the dicing regions give a substantial impact on the production quality of the element chips in the plasma-etching step.

Manufacturing process of element chip using laser grooving and plasma-etching

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A transducing head has a main pole and at least one magnetic element (such as a return pole or a shield) which provides a potential return path for a magnetic field produced by the main pole. The magnetic element is spaced from the main pole. The magnetic element has a first edge closest to the main pole and a second edge furthest from the main pole. Permeability of the magnetic element increases from the first edge to the second edge.

The present invention relates generally to the field of magnetic data storage and retrieval systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transducing head having a perpendicular writer portion in which side-writing is reduced significantly as compared to existing transducing head designs.
A transducing head of a magnetic data storage and retrieval system typically includes a writer portion for storing magnetically-encoded data on a magnetic medium and a reader portion for retrieving the magnetically-encoded data stored on the magnetic medium. The reader portion is positioned adjacent the writer portion. The writer portion may be a perpendicular writer or a longitudinal writer. In either case, the general structure of the writer is similar, although the actual operation and dimensions of its elements will differ substantially. In a longitudinal writer, the poles are commonly referred to as a bottom pole and a top pole, whereas in a perpendicular writer, the poles are commonly referred to as a return pole and a main pole. Longitudinal writing differs from perpendicular writing in that bits are written to a magnetic medium in a direction substantially parallel to a surface of the magnetic medium, rather than in a direction substantially normal to the surface of the medium. Perpendicular writers are utilized in order to obtain higher areal density.
A perpendicular writer is typically formed of a main pole, a back via, a return pole, a write gap, and one or more conductive coil layers. A main pole may also be known as a "write pole," and a return pole may also be known as an "auxiliary pole." The main pole and return pole are separated from each other at an air bearing surface (ABS) of the perpendicular writer portion by the write gap and are connected to each other at a region away from the ABS by the back via. The ABS is the surface of the transducing head immediately adjacent a magnetic medium. Positioned between the main pole and the return pole are the conductive coil layers encapsulated by insulating layers, which generally wrap around the back via. The main pole, back via, and return pole are each made of magnetic material. The write gap is generally a layer formed of nonmagnetic material.
The reader portion is typically formed of a bottom reader shield, a top reader shield and a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor positioned between the bottom and top reader shields. The top shield is the shield closest to the writer portion. Insulating layers are positioned between the MR sensor and the reader shields. The writer portion and reader portion are often arranged in a merged configuration in which a shared pole serves as both the top reader shield in the reader portion and a return pole in the writer portion.
A magnetic medium for perpendicular recording is generally formed of three layers: a medium layer having high perpendicular anisotropy, a nonmagnetic interlayer, and a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) having high permeability. A perpendicular writer portion is positioned to write data in track on the magnetic medium, which is rotated at a high speed. The transducing head is supported over a surface of the magnetic medium by a thin cushion of air produced by the high rotation speed. This surface is the ABS referenced earlier.
In order to write to the magnetic medium, a time-varying electrical current, also known as a write current, is caused to flow through the conductive coils layers of the perpendicular writer. The write current produces a time-varying magnetic field through the main and return poles. The main pole and return pole assume opposite magnetic charges at any instant for a given write current, thus the magnetic field links from the main pole to the return pole, or vice versa. The magnetic medium is passed near the ABS of the transducing head at a predetermined distance such that a magnetic surface of the medium passes through the magnetic field. The main pole is generally the trailing pole of the main and return poles, thus the main pole is used to physically write the data to the magnetic medium. Accordingly, it is the main pole that defines the track width of the written data. More specifically, the track width is defined by the width of the main pole at the ABS.
The SUL of the magnetic medium essentially acts as a third pole of the writer, imaging the magnetic field emanating from the main pole. The magnetic field bridges the gap from the main pole to the SUL, passing through the medium layer, and then subsequently bridges the gap between the SUL and the return pole, again passing through the medium layer. The latter portion is known as the return path. Data is written to the magnetic medium as the magnetic field, having a magnetic field value larger than the coercive force of the magnetic medium, passes through the medium layer from the main pole. The magnetization in the magnetic medium is held in a direction substantially normal to the surface of the magnetic medium.
The return pole is substantially larger than the main pole at the ABS to help prevent the magnetic field from writing or erasing data on the return path. That is, the magnetic flux through the medium layer in the return path should not be concentrated sufficiently to overcome the coercive force of the medium. By making the return pole substantially larger than the main pole at the ABS, the magnetic flux density in the return path is decreased.
The reader portion of the transducing head functions to retrieve magnetically-encoded data stored on a magnetic medium. When the transducing head is placed near the magnetic medium, a resistance of the MR sensor fluctuates in response to a magnetic field emanating from written transitions in the magnetic medium. By providing a sense current through the MR sensor, the resistance of the sensor can be measured and used by external circuitry to decipher the information stored on the magnetic medium. The reader shields function to absorb any stray magnetic fields emanating from adjacent tracks on the magnetic medium or neighboring magnetic bits on the same track so that the MR sensor will read only information stored directly beneath it on a specific track of the magnetic medium.
In recent years, writer portion widths and reader portion widths have been decreased to accommodate ever-increasing areal densities of magnetic storage. Perpendicular recording allows for higher linear bit density as compared to longitudinal recording because the bits are written to the magnetic medium in a direction substantially normal to the surface of the medium, rather than substantially parallel to the surface of the medium as in parallel recording.
A perpendicular recording system requires a medium with a SUL of high permeability as a result large magnetic field appearing at a trailing edge of the return pole during the write process. The trailing edge of the return pole is the edge closest to the main pole. The large magnetic field at the trailing edge of the return pole results from the magnetic field concentrating itself at the trailing edge of the return pole during the return path. In addition, the trailing edge of other magnetic elements of the transducing head, such as the reader shields, may generate a large magnetic field, caused by stray magnetic fields emanating from the return path. The large magnetic field generated at the trailing edge of the return pole or the reader shield is generally known as the erasure field. The erasure field can be large enough to erase or write over previously written neighboring tracks on the magnetic medium by destabilizing the medium magnetization configuration or write over the previously written tracks by reorienting the previously defined magnetization pattern. The erasure field activity is generally known as "side-writing." Transducing heads that reduce or minimize side writing are desirable. Thus, there is a need for a transducing head design which reduces side-writing.

Transducing head including a magnetic element exhibiting varying permeability


A process and device for interpositioning the tools of a body assembly machine which includes departing from all the intermediate mechanisms for putting these tools in place, from the function of their geometric referencing, so as to impart to the tools themselves the ability to be interpositioned after temporary isolation of a part of them from their positioning mechanism. According to the process, these tools are made to have a lateral orientation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to production lines for bodies, for example of motor vehicles.
2. Discussion of the Background
The invention relates more particularly to a process and a device for the positioning tools of a body assembly machine, derived from the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,089. There, two upper tools and a lower tool are supported in a stationary frame. They may be clamped together to form a rigid structure extending in the median longitudinal plane of a vehicle being assembled, as best seen in FIG. 9 of that patent. This assures that the body is perfectly positioned for automated assembly operations.
The present invention has as its object to propose an alternative solution, structured around lateral tools. The prior art does not cite and does not suggest any similar system.

Process and device for body assembly with lateral tools that can be interpositioned