An optical switch which minimizes losses in the power of output light while enabling deflection of light within a range of comparatively large deflection angles used for setting switching among output ports. The optical switch is configured to have a first light deflection element deflecting the input light at an angle appropriate to a position of an designated port with an applied first drive voltage; and a second light deflection element finely adjusting a deflection angle of the light output from the first deflection element to the designated port with an applied second drive voltage such that power of light output from the designated port becomes maximum.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical switch and a method for controlling a drive voltage thereof.
2) Background of the Invention
Developing an optical switch, which is formed from a light deflection device using a crystal involving an electro-optic effect, as an optical switch applied to an optical communications system has recently been pursued.
As shown in FIG. 14, a light deflection device 101 has a ferroelectric crystal 102 possessing an electro-optic effect, and a pair of electrodes 103 formed on opposing faces (a front face 102-1 and a back face 102-2 opposing with each other in the drawing) of the crystal 102. When a drive voltage is supplied to the electrodes 103, light entering one side face 102-3 of the crystal 102 can be deflected by means of the electro-optic effect.
This light deflection device 101 has the property of varying a deflection angle of input light by means of varying the drive voltage supplied to the electrodes 103. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the light deflection device 101 is configured so as to be able to deflect and output the input light in a deflected direction D1 by means of setting the drive voltage V to V1; to deflect and output the input light in a deflected direction D2 by means of setting the drive voltage V to V2; and to deflect and output the input light in a deflected direction D3 by means of setting the drive voltage V to V3.
By means of setting an output port to a light output position which varies according to a deflection angle of the input light, the light deflection device 101 can be configured as an optical switch 101A which selectively switches the output destination of the input light to any one of a plurality of output ports (three output ports #21 to #23 in the drawing) by means of switching the drive voltage.
Moreover, in this optical switch 101A, the drive voltage supplied to the electrodes 103 is set so as to be switched according to an output port which is the output destination of the input light. Accordingly, the optical switch 101A can be equipped with a control circuit 104 and a drive circuit 105. The control circuit 104 is made to be able to fetch data pertaining to a drive voltage to be used for setting a deflection angle for each output port which is a destination, and to output the thus-fetched data as a control signal to the drive circuit 105. The drive circuit 105 can supply the electrodes 103 with a drive voltage in accordance with the control signal that has been output from the control circuit 104.
Known documents relating to the present invention are Patent Documents 1 to 6 provided below.                (Patent Document 1) JP-2002-318398A        (Patent Document 2) JP-2003-185984A        (Patent Document 3) JP-2000-114629A        (Patent Document 4) JP-2000-269892A        (Patent Document 5) JP-HEI-7-212315A        (Patent Document 6) JP-HEI-10-228007A
However, the optical switch 101A formed from such a light deflection device 101 can speed up the switching response of an output channel, by means of the control circuit 104 and the drive circuit 105 controlling the supply of the drive voltage. Conversely, the drive circuit 105 must be provided with a comparatively-wide dynamic range, as the range of the drive voltage, depending on the position of the output port. For instance, depending on a deflection direction, the value of a drive voltage to be supplied to the electrodes 103 must be increased to about hundreds of volts, which is tens of times or more the voltage value of the control signal output from the control circuit 104; or the voltage must be substantially cut off.
When the drive voltage is increased to about tens of times or more the voltage of the control signal as mentioned previously, a high voltage output circuit must be configured as the drive circuit 105 to thereby generate a drive voltage whose value is tens of times the voltage of the control signal. The value of the drive voltage generated by such a drive circuit 105 contains an error component in relation to the control signal output from the control circuit 104. Accordingly, difficulty is encountered in controlling a deflection angle with comparative precision by means of the control circuit 104 controlling the drive voltage output from the drive circuit 105, to thus raise a problem of occurrence of losses in the power of light output from the output port.
As a result of the light deflection device being used as the optical switch 101A, a relationship between the drive voltage output from the drive circuit 105 and the deflection angle gradually changes [i.e., occurrence of a DC (Direct Current) drift], which also raises a problem of the DC drift hindering stabilization of power of the output light.
As shown in FIG. 15, in a case where V2, which is set when the output port #22 is taken as a destination, is supplied as a drive voltage, losses in the light to be output from the output port #22 (optically coupled to the output port) is minimized before occurrence of a DC drift, and hence the power of the light can be maximized. When the drive voltage V2 is supplied after occurrence of a DC drift, a deviation Δθ arises in the angle at which input light is deflected. Losses arise in the power of light output from the output port #22.
A conceivable principal factor responsible for this DC drift is the distortion remaining in an atomic arrangement constituting a crystal structure, because of an increase in an accumulated time during which a comparatively-high drive voltage is supplied to the crystal 102, even when the drive voltage is cut off.
As mentioned previously, Patent Documents 1 to 6 described above do not provide any technique of controlling a deflection angle with comparatively high accuracy while covering the range of a comparatively-wide deflection angle for the purpose of switchingly setting an output port as a deflectable range, or a technique of stabilizing the power of an output in the event of occurrence of a DC drift while maintaining the performance of a response to switching of an output channel.

Optical switch, and method for controlling drive voltage thereof


The present disclosure describes an occupant information module that reports, to a third party, occupant information regarding a vehicle occupant.

Vehicles are becoming increasingly artificially intelligent with wireless communication capabilities. Most vehicles on the road today are controlled, in whole or part, by computers. This intelligence has been underutilized for applications largely unrelated to vehicle control.
Satellite positioning systems have enabled not only a vehicle to locate itself but also to communicate with remote entities.
There is a need for a vehicle that can communicate with other vehicles and provide updated occupant information to third parties.

Method and system for maintaining and reporting vehicle occupant information


A semiconductor chip mounted interposer (60) is configured by executing wire bonding between a semiconductor chip (50) and an interposer (20), in which terminals (21) that connect to terminals (51) of the chip (50) and separate terminals (22) are formed, on the upper face of the interposer (20). A semiconductor chip (30) is mounted to the top face of a package substrate (10), the interposer (60) is adhered to the upper portion of the chip (30), and wire bonding is executed between the terminals (22) and terminals (11′). When configuring a semiconductor device with a plurality of semiconductor chips combined into one package in this manner, KGD (Known-Good-Die) can easily be guaranteed for each semiconductor chip, and semiconductor devices can be fabricated with a high yield of good units. Also, the semiconductor chips can be used as-is, without restricting the position, pitch, signal arrangement, or the like, of their terminals.

In digital equipment using a semiconductor device such as a terminal apparatus in a movable communications system (portable telephone), it is usually important how highly the semiconductor is integrated in order to achieve smaller size and lighter weight of that equipment. With the miniaturization of semiconductor circuits progressing smoothly up to present, the merits of combining as many circuits as possible in a single chip, reducing packaging area, increasing speed, and reducing power consumption have been put to practical use. However, with the miniaturization of semiconductor circuits, the problems of a sudden rise in manufacturing costs and lengthening of the time for design and development came to light.
Accordingly, attention is being paid to SIP (System in Package) technology in which a plurality of semiconductor chips are implemented in three dimensions. As shown for example in FIG. 9, a semiconductor chip 30 is mounted on a package substrate 10, another semiconductor chip 40 is further mounted on this semiconductor chip 30, and wire bonding is executed with wire W between these semiconductor chips 30 and 40 and the package substrate 10. This technology is introduced in Nikkei Electronics 2002, 2-11 no. 815, p. 108, "Part One: If A Chip Can Not Be Used, There Is A Package".
However, with a conventional SIP, it is possible to house semiconductor chips made with varying processes in a single package so that reduction of the package area relative to the package substrate can be achieved. When a semiconductor device is configured by housing a plurality of semiconductor chips in one package in this manner, the yield of good units becomes an issue. That is, a wafer probe test is performed for each semiconductor chip in a wafer state, and only semiconductor chips that have been deemed good are mounted on a package substrate or the like.
However, there is the problem that when an assembly manufacturer who combines a plurality of semiconductor chips, for example, configures an SIP by performing wire bonding between the terminals (electrodes) of different semiconductor chips, the molding position of the terminals of both semiconductor chips, terminal pitch, signal line order, and the like need to be fixedly designed in advance, design freedom is reduced, and it is not possible to make good use of the characteristics of an SIP with which it is expected that development time can be shortened.
Also, a manufacturer who supplies semiconductor chips cannot perform all of the operation tests for semiconductor chips in a wafer state, e.g., reliability testing such as screening with high temperature continuous operation testing (burn-in) cannot be completely performed. Thus, semiconductor chips are individually judged to be good or not after being cut out from the wafer, and as a result, semiconductor chips for which KGD (Known-Good-Die: good chips that have been inspected) is guaranteed are obtained. However, in order to perform this sort of judgment for a chip in a state in which the chip has only been cut out from the wafer (a bare chip), an apparatus for electrically connecting to the terminals (electrodes) of each semiconductor chip or a special testing apparatus are individually necessary, and so there is the problem that cost increases.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor package structure and packaging method in which, when combining a plurality of semiconductor chips, an electrical connection can easily be performed between the semiconductor chips without restricting the position, pitch, signal arrangement, and the like of external connection terminals for each semiconductor chip.
Also, it is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor package structure and packaging method in which a manufacturer who supplies semiconductor chips can easily guarantee KGD (Known-Good-Die) for semiconductor chips that configure an SIP, and in which an assembly manufacturer who fabricates SIPs can fabricate SIPs with a high yield of good units using KGD semiconductor chips.


A portable electronic device includes a first module, a second module, a pivoting mechanism and an electronic module. The pivoting mechanism is connected to the first module and the second module so that the second module pivots relative to the first module. The pivoting mechanism includes a pair of first fixing components, a pair of pivoting components and a pair of second fixing components. Each fixing component is fixed on the first module. Each pivoting component includes a first component and a second component, and the first component is fixed on the corresponding first fixing component. Each second fixing component is fixed on the corresponding second component and the second module. The electronic module is connected to the two second components so that the pivoting mechanism drives the electronic module and the second module to pivot simultaneously as the second module pivots relative to the first module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and more specifically, to a portable electronic device with an electronic module capable of moving with a pivoting mechanism simultaneously.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the consumer market of electronic devices, a notebook computer is very popular and is used widely. The notebook computer is often equipped with a speaker module to play music and sounds. However, in order not to interfere with a narrow frame of a display screen, and to meet a requirement of a wide screen configured in the notebook computer, the speaker module is usually disposed on a host module of the notebook computer. For example, the speaker module is disposed on two sides of a keyboard of the host module or on a rear side of the host module, and an angle between the speaker module and the host module cannot be adjusted, so that the sound generated by the speaker module emits perpendicularly a top surface of the host module instead of facing a user directly. As a result, the user cannot listen to the sound at an optimum angle, such as at an angle of 45 degrees between the speaker module and the host module, to require the best sound experience. Many previous patent publications disclose that a speaker module can stand relative to the host module and is disposed on two sides of the keyboard of the host module, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,260. However, it still has to use the mechanical space of the host module beside the keyboard, whether the speaker module is designed with a hidden mechanism, resulting in an increase of a width of the host module, which cannot meet a requirement of slimness and mobility. Therefore, it is an important issue to design the speaker module which can be adjusted with different angles to face the user and does not occupy the mechanical space of the host module and the display module.

Portable electronic device with an electronic module


A cosmetic composition comprising a smectite clay and a lipophilic polar solvent. The smectite clay gels the polar solvent without addition of a polar activator. A method for the preparation of a smectite clay gel is also revealed.

Various binding and structuring agents are known for use in cosmetic compositions, such as lipsticks and eyeshadows. Traditionally, organic and inorganic waxes are used as binding and structuring agents in such compositions. However, many consumers dislike the inherently waxy feel and build-up of such wax-based cosmetics. Accordingly, a demand exists for non-wax binding and structuring agents.
A number of water-based gellants are in use in the cosmetic art as binding and structuring agents. These water-based gellants are primarily thickening agents, such as gums, added in limited amounts to aqueous carrier solutions. However, these thickening agents have limitations. For example, they must be incorporated into the composition under high temperature and high shear. In addition, clay based products such as the Bentone gels are also known for use as binding and structuring agents. These clay powders form gels in various oils. However, high shear must be applied to these clay-based gels during formulation, and separate polar activating agents such as propylene carbonate and other short chain polar compounds must be added to form the gels. Other clays, such as certain modified organophilic clays, are known to swell in and gel organic liquids without the addition of polar dispersion additives. However, these systems typically use such solvents as short chain alcohols, ketones or toluene, and require high energy shear to permit the gel to form.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cosmetic gel that can be used as a carrier to bind and give structure to the cosmetic composition, and that can replace part or all of the wax content of traditional cosmetic formulations.

Cosmetic compositions containing smectite gels


A heart beat/respiration measuring device comprising a sheet-like capacitance-type pressure sensor adapted to be pressed against the human body, and a measuring circuit for measuring a heart rate and/or respiration rate from the output of the sensor. The capacitance-type pressure sensor includes a sheet-like dielectric body elastically deformable in all directions and a pair of conductive clothes with stretchability disposed on opposite sides of the dielectric body. The measuring circuit comprises a resonant circuit wherein the capacitance-type pressure sensor serves as an oscillation capacitor, and a calculation processing circuit for detecting variations in the oscillation frequency of the resonant circuit and calculating the heart rate and/or respiration rate based on the frequency component or components of heart beats and/or respiration included in the variations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitance-type pressure sensor and heart beat/respiration measuring device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the aging of society in recent years, there is an increase in the number of bedridden elderly persons, and attention has been directed to the method of conducting diagnosis based on variations in the heart rate as measured by an electrocardiograph as a method of monitoring the physical condition of the bedridden elderly persons (see JP-A No. 200001/1993 and 269379/1997). Presently, with growing awareness of health management, people have become more desirous of readily measuring the heart rate during sleep in the ordinary family.
However, when the conventional electrocardiograph is to be used for measuring the heart rate, there is a need to affix a plurality of conductive members directly to the skin, and the conventional device therefore has the drawback that the person to be checked is held restrained for a prolonged period of time by the cords extending from the conductive members to the main body of the instrument. Because of the same situation involved in measuring the respiration rate, difficulty is encountered in making the measurement easily in the home.
Accordingly, the applicants have proposed a capacitance-type pressure sensor including a pair of sheet-like conductive members made of copper foil and a dielectric body made of urethane inserted therebetween, and a heart beat/respiration measuring device using the sensor (see JP-A No. 339652/2003). The heart beat/respiration measuring device can measure a heart rate or respiration rate of a human body free of restraint, so that diagnosis in a sleeping state can be easily conducted in the home. However, the above-described heart beat/respiration measuring device proposed by the applicants still remains to be improved with respect to the measurement accuracy and sensitivity.

Capacitance-type pressure sensor and heart beat / respiration measuring device using the same


The present invention relates to a shelf stable vegetable composition that includes a vegetable having a green color and a water-soluble compound in an amount sufficient to impart to the composition a water activity of 0.65 or less and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5 at ambient conditions for preservation of the green color of the vegetable. Advantageously, the water-soluble compound is present in an amount to preserve the green color of the vegetable for at least 6 months, and to impart a water activity of 0.6 to 0.65. The invention also relates to a method for increasing shelf stability of a vegetable composition that includes a vegetable having a green color, by adding effective amounts of such water-soluble compounds thereto.

The present invention relates to vegetables and herbs and particularly to a method for the preservation of such foodstuffs.
Vegetables and herbs are widely used in processed-foods because of their taste and flavor properties. Besides the flavoring properties, vegetables and herbs are useful to impart a nice and pleasant colored aspect to food products. Herbs are used in the composition of numerous traditional dishes and the aroma and color of various specific herbs are of great importance in these.
Thus, basil, olives, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, onion, carrot, coriander or mint, for example, do not only impart a pleasant typical flavor but also an attractive color. Since herbs are seasonal and particularly sensitive to spoilage because of their high water content they are mainly found in dried form. However, most herbs and vegetables when dried, lose their green color. Aroma and flavor are also irreversibly altered so that they do not represent satisfactory alternative to freshly picked herbs.
"Freshness" is a universal quality issue with processed foods and this is of particular interest for herbs and vegetables because such products inherently refer to freshness. Regarding herbs, the green color aspect is considered as a key factor for assessment of this freshness and because of all the processes that herbs may be subjected to, the green color is quite often adversely affected.
The chemical basis for the loss of bright green color of fresh vegetables and herbs has been extensively studied. Thus, chlorophyll, which is responsible for this bright green color degrades during thermal processing such as drying, for example. However, in non heat-treated food products, the green color is also dictated by the chemical stability of the chlorophyll which has been shown to be acid sensitive and to have its maximal stability and therefore its maximal green color aspect at pH of about 7 and slightly above.
In the particular case of culinary applications, herbs and/or vegetables are intimately mixed or ground. Mixing or grounding even accelerate spoilage. The product can therefore not be stored for a long time without any preservatives.
Microbial stabilization may be achieved by lowering the pH by addition of acids and/or lowering the water activity (Aw) thanks to addition of salts as well as addition of anti-microbial additives like sulfites or sorbate.
Dehydrated products have a typical Aw of about 0.2 to 0.3 and are therefore microbiologically stable since no organisms can grow at Aw below about 0.6 to 0.65. At Aw higher than about 0.6 to 0.65, microbial growth can occur causing spoilage, formation of off-odors as well as infection with pathogenic microorganisms and/or toxins. Since the perception of freshness in ambient stable products may be obtained at Aw of about 0.6 to 0.65, the prevention of microbial growth may be achieved by addition of preservatives and/or reduction of pH. But, as said before, chlorophyll is not stable anymore and therefore the green color disappears at acidic pH.
Some attempts have been made to obtain shelf stable vegetables or herbs with improved color. U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,446 relates to fresh herbs with bright and fresh color that can be used for culinary applications and that can be stored for protracted periods. It is taught that the leaves of aromatic plants are mixed in the absence of oxygen with either a salt and/or an oxygen scavenging agent in order to obtain a water activity of the mixture below 0.9.
European patent no. 87,717 discloses a dried vegetable product manufacturing process in which a plant is stabilized by heating and addition of electrolyte before drying with a carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,969 discloses dried green vegetables with superior color retention. The manufacture of such dried vegetables comprises the steps of blanching the pieces of vegetables in a bath having a pH of about 7 to 9, infusing the blanched vegetable pieces in a solution comprising sugar alcohol, sugar and bittering agents such KCl or MgCl2 and finally drying the vegetable pieces to an Aw of 0.3 to 0.85.
All these prior art technologies are complicated and involve the use of various chemical preservatives that are not always well perceived by the consumer. Moreover, these prior technologies refers to dried products that do not bring the freshness to the consumer. Therefore, there remains a need for shelf stable herbs or vegetables compositions that exhibit a bright and attractive green color.

Shelf stable vegetable composition and method of making


A magnetoresistive sensor having end regions separated from a central active region. The central region comprises magnetoresistive material. Each of the end regions comprises a biasing material for longitudinally biasing the magnetoresistive material in the central region. Each of the end regions also include a lead structure formed over the biasing material for receiving electrical current. The lead structure includes a first refractory metal formed over and in contact with the biasing material; a second refractory metal distinct from the first refractory metal and formed over and in contact with the first refractory metal; and a lead conductor layer formed over and in contact with the second refractory metal. The multi-refractory lead structure has an overall resistance that is much lower than a single refractory metal lead structure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to magnetic transducers for reading information signals from a magnetic medium and, in particular, to a process for fabrication of improved conductivity leads for magnetoresistive read transducers.
2. Description of Related Art
Computers often include auxiliary memory storage devices having media on which data can be written and from which data can be read for later use. A direct access storage device (disk drive) incorporating rotating magnetic disks are commonly used for storing data in magnetic form on the disk surfaces. Data is recorded on concentric, radially spaced tracks on the disk surfaces. Magnetic heads including read sensors are then used to read data from the tracks on the disk surfaces.
In high capacity disk drives, magnetoresistive read sensors, commonly referred to as MR heads, are the prevailing read sensors because of their capability to read data from a surface of a disk at greater linear densities than thin film inductive heads. An MR sensor detects a magnetic field through the change in the resistance of its MR sensing layer (also referred to as an "MR element") as a function of the strength and direction of the magnetic flux being sensed by the MR layer.
The conventional MR sensor operates on the basis of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect in which the MR element resistance varies as the square of the cosine of the angle between the magnetization of the MR element and the direction of sense current flow through the MR element. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field) causes a change in the direction of magnetization in the MR element, which in turn causes a change in resistance in the MR element and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage.
Another type of MR sensor is the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor manifesting the GMR effect. In GMR sensors, the resistance of the MR sensing layer varies as a function of the spin-dependent transmission of the conduction electrons between magnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic layer (spacer) and the accompanying spin-dependent scattering which takes place at the interface of the magnetic and non-magnetic layers and within the magnetic layers.
GMR sensors using only two layers of ferromagnetic material (e.g., Ni--Fe or Co or Ni--Fe/Co) separated by a layer of nonmagnetic material (e.g., copper) are generally referred to as spin valve (SV) sensors manifesting the SV effect. In an SV sensor, one of the ferromagnetic layers, referred to as the pinned layer, has its magnetization typically pinned by exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic (e.g., NiO or Fe--Mn) layer. The magnetization of the other ferromagnetic layer, referred to as the free layer, however, is not fixed and is free to rotate in response to the field from the information recorded on the magnetic medium (the signal field). In the SV sensors, SV resistance varies as the cosine of the angle between the magnetization of the pinned layer and the magnetization of the free layer. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field) causes a change in direction of magnetization in the free layer, which in turn causes a change in resistance of the SV sensor and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage.
In addition to the magnetoresistive material, the MR sensor has conductive lead structures for connecting the MR sensor to a sensing means and a sense current source. Typically, a constant current is sent through the MR sensor through these leads and the voltage variations caused by the changing resistance are measured via these leads.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art AMR sensor 100 comprising end regions 104 and 106 separated by a central region 102. Soft film 112, spacer layer 114, MR layer 110 and cap layer 116 are formed in the central region 102. Hard bias layers 130 and 135 formed in the end regions 104 and 106, respectively, provide longitudinal bias for the MR layer 110. Leads 140 and 145 formed over hard bias layers 130 and 135, respectively, provide electrical connections for the flow of the sensing current I.sub.S from a current source 160 to the MR sensor 100. Sensing means 170 connected to leads 140 and 145 sense the change in the resistance due to changes induced in the MR layer 110 by the external magnetic field (e.g., field generated by a data bit stored on a disk).
FIG. 2 shows a prior art SV sensor 200 comprising end regions 204 and 206 separated by a central region 202. A free layer (free ferromagnetic layer) 210 is separated from a pinned layer (pinned ferromagnetic layer) 220 by a non-magnetic, electrically-conducting spacer 215. The magnetization of the pinned layer 220 is fixed by an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer 221. Cap layer 208, free layer 210, spacer layer 215, pinned layer 220 and AFM layer 221 are all formed in the central region 202. Hard bias layers 230 and 235 formed in the end regions 204 and 206, respectively, provide longitudinal bias for the MR free layer 210. Leads 240 and 245 formed over hard bias layers 230 and 235, respectively, provide electrical connections for the flow of the sensing current I.sub.S from a current source 260 to the MR sensor 200. Sensing means 270 connected to leads 240 and 245 sense the change in the resistance due to changes induced in the free layer 210 by the external magnetic field (e.g., field generated by a data bit stored on a disk).
The preferred material for constructing the leads in both the AMR sensors and the SV sensors is a highly conductive material such as a metal. In the MR sensors conductor leads face much more stringent requirements when compared to other interconnect conductors, such as for example semiconductor devices. This is because the conductor leads, as well as the MR sensor films, are exposed at the sensor's air bearing surface (ABS). The leads have little protection from the severe mechanical environment where head-disk contact occurs frequently, and from the severe corrosion environment where chemical attack occurs both during processing and also in actual use where the environment may not be well controlled.
Early MR sensors were fabricated using pure gold metallurgy and other highly conductive materials as the lead conductor. However, due to the exposure at the ABS, these soft materials had the potential reliability risks of electromigration, smearing and nodule formation. Tungsten and tantalum were introduced as gold substitutes due to their mechanical properties of being very hard while still having good electrical conductivity.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the electrical resistance of the leads 240, 245 connecting the SV sensor 200 to the sense current source 260 is an important factor influencing operating conditions of the SV sensor and its sensitivity as a read 5 transducer. High lead resistance can result in excessive IR heating of the SV sensor structure when lead resistance becomes significant. A second problem of high lead resistance is that the effective SV sensor sensitivity to the signal field is degraded when lead resistance becomes a significant fraction of 10 the total resistance measured by sensing means 270.
The resistance R.sub.L1 of lead 240, resistance R.sub.L2 of lead 245 and the resistance R.sub.SV of the central region 202 of the SV sensor 200 together form a series electrical circuit through which the sense current I.sub.S flows. The resistance through which sense current I.sub.S flows can be expressed as R.sub.T =R.sub.SV +R.sub.L where the total lead resistance R.sub.L =R.sub.L +R.sub.L2. It is desirable to have the sense current I.sub.S flowing through the SV sensor resistance R.sub.SV as high as possible to maximize the voltage signals measured by sensing means 270. The sense current I.sub.S flowing through R.sub.SV generates heat I.sub.S R.sub.SV which raises the temperature of SV sensor 200. Current I.sub.S flowing through the lead resistance R.sub.L generates additional heat I.sub.S R.sub.L which also contributes to the rise in temperature of the SV sensor 200. The allowable operating temperature for reliable SV sensor operation is about 120 degrees C. If lead resistance R.sub.L becomes a significant fraction of the total resistance R.sub.T, the lead resistance can become a limiting factor on the maximum allowable sense current I.sub.S.
The total resistance sensed by the sensing means 270 is R.sub.T =R.sub.SV +R.sub.L. The effect of signal field changes on the SV sensor 200 is a change of resistance by an amount of deltaR.sub.SV. The effective sensitivity of the SV sensor 200 as sensed by the sensing means 270 can be expressed by the ratio deltaR.sub.T /R.sub.T. Since lead resistance R.sub.L does not change with signal field, deltaR.sub.T is equal to deltaR.sub.SV. Thus the effective sensitivity of the SV sensor 200 as sensed by the sensing means 270 is given by deltaR.sub.SV / (R.sub.SV +R.sub.L). Comparison of this expression with the expression for the GMR coefficient deltaR.sub.SV /R.sub.SV of the SV sensor 200 shows that the effective sensitivity is significantly degraded as lead resistance becomes comparable to the SV sensor resistance.
In present SV sensors, the SV sensor resistance R.sub.SV is typically about 30 ohms. Lead resistance R.sub.L is typically about 15 to 18 ohms. The effective sensitivity is therefore degraded by about 100R.sub.L /(R.sub.SV +R.sub.L)=35%. For AMR sensors, typical sensor resistance is 30 to 50 ohms and lead resistances are 15 ohms, so that effective sensitivity is degraded by about 27%.
As higher data density disk drives are developed, smaller MR sensors with thinner lead layer structures are required to provide the higher data resolution. Lead resistance becomes an even greater fraction of the total MR sensor resistance in these smaller devices. Therefore, there is a need for low resistance leads that do not limit performance of present and future MR sensors.

Magnetoresistive sensor having multi-layered refractory metal conductor leads

International Business Machines Corporation


Epoxy systems having improved shelf life are disclosed. The epoxy systems are suitable for use in a number of applications, including as an adhesive or as a sealant (e.g., as a component in a melt-sealing tape). Methods of making and using the epoxy systems are also disclosed.

Epoxy systems may be categorized into two-part systems and one-part systems. In two-part systems, an epoxy resin "part" is maintained separate from a curative "part" to prevent premature curing of the epoxy resin. Some type of mechanical action (i.e., mixing, extrusion, etc.) must take place to combine the components of the two-part epoxy system so that a curing step can be initiated, often accompanied with either light and/or heat. Two-part epoxy systems have limited applicability in finished products, such as adhesive tapes, due to the need to physically separate the system components from one another.
In one-part epoxy systems, an epoxy resin is combined with a curative to form a single composition, which cures upon exposure to light and/or heat. One-part epoxy systems have an advantage over two-part systems in that the one-part epoxy system can be utilized in a number of products without the need to separate individual components of the system. One-part epoxy systems find utility in a number of applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, adhesive tapes, film adhesives, etc. The uncured product may be positioned as desired in a given application, and then subsequently cured by the application of energy, e.g., light and/or heat, without the need to combine additional components to the epoxy system.
Shelf life is an important parameter for epoxy-based compositions and products made therefrom, especially compositions and products formed from one-part epoxy systems. Over time, one-part epoxy compositions and products made therefrom can experience undesirable properties, such as premature reaction between components of the epoxy system. The premature reaction causes an increase in viscosity over time, which results in decreased flow of the composition. In some applications, such as sealing joints and seams in an automobile body, a sealant composition needs to be able to flow sufficiently to fill openings between seams and seal the joint to prevent water and moisture from leaking into the vehicle.
What is needed in the art is an epoxy composition having improved shelf life. What is also needed in the art is an adhesive or melt-sealing tape formed from an epoxy composition having improved shelf life, and in particular, a composition that does not increase significantly in viscosity over time.

Epoxy compositions having improved shelf life and articles containing the same


A switch device including a switch operation shaft movable between a plurality of operation positions for setting a control amount for an apparatus. A follower is driven to follow the movement of the switch operation shaft. An attraction member generates magnetic force to attract the follower so that the follower becomes immovable and to hold the switch operation shaft at a single operation position.

The present invention relates to a switch device operated when activating various devices.
Generally, a rotary switch is rotated to activate, deactivate, or vary a control amount of an apparatus. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-22301, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-220957, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-086059 disclose conventional rotary switches. A conventional rotary switch includes a click mechanism to ensure that an operator performs a switching operation and to provide the operator with a comfortable operation feel. For example, a mechanical click mechanism of a rotary switch includes an immovable member and a rotatable member. One of the immovable member and the rotatable member includes recesses, and the other one of the immovable member and the rotatable member includes projections. Engagement of at least one of the recesses and at least one of the projections produces operation resistance.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


In the case of a spinning machine having several spinning stations which each comprise a drafting unit to which slivers are fed from cans by means of transport devices, one pair of delivery rollers respectively is provided, the delivery speed of which is lower by approximately 1% to approximately 2% than the feeding speed of the pair of feeding rollers of the drafting unit.

This invention relates to a spinning machine having several spinning stations which are arranged on at least one side of the machine and each comprise a drafting unit. Depositing sites for cans are provided which receive the fiber material to be spun in the form of slivers. Transport devices for transporting the slivers from the cans to the drafting units are provided which each comprise one pair of delivery rollers which is connected in front of a pair of feeding rollers of the pertaining drafting unit.
It is known (British Patent Document 1 015 780) to feed the fiber material to be spun to a ring spinning machine in the form of slivers which are withdrawn from cans. The cans are deposited in several rows in front of the ring spinning machine. The slivers are withdrawn from the cans by way of rollers arranged above the cans and are guided to the drafting units of the individual spinning stations by means of transport belts. In this case, transport belts are provided which are in each case arranged in pairs, receive the slivers between one another and guide them. In the area of the drafting units, deflecting rollers of the transport belts are situated which are used as a pair of delivery rollers by means of which the slivers are in each case fed to a drafting unit. A friction roller is assigned to one of the deflecting rollers and can be brought between this deflecting roller and a bottom roller of the drafting unit so that the drive of the delivery roller pair and thus of the transport belts is diverted from the bottom feeding roller. The delivery speed of the pair of delivery rollers should therefore correspond to the feeding speed of the pair of feeding rollers of the drafting unit.
In an older German Patent Application (P 41 09 096.9), which is no prior publication, it was also suggested to let the pair of delivery rollers run at such a speed that a preliminary draft is created between the delivery roller pair and the feeding roller pair of the drafting unit so that the delivery roller pair participates in the overall draft of the sliver and thus, in a sense, is part of the drafting unit.
It is an object of the invention to develop a spinning machine of the initially mentioned type such that clear and defined conditions exist with respect to the draft during the whole operating time.
This object is achieved in that the delivery speed of the delivery roller pairs is approximately 1% to approximately 2% less than the feeding speed of the feeding roller pairs.
In this manner, it is ensured that the slivers are held in a tensioned manner between the delivery roller pairs and the feeding rollers pairs of the drafting units without any resulting draft, or at least without any draft that in practice would be important with respect to the overall draft of the drafting unit. In this case, the invention is based on the recognition that in practice certain fluctuations or irregularities in the feeding of the slivers are unavoidable. In practice, the slivers do not enter into the transport devices in a precisely straight manner but rather in a slightly wave form which is more or less pronounced. The transport devices have the result that the slivers are possibly somewhat stretched and slightly lengthened, in which case, however, because of the wave shape, different sliver lengths are furnished. When the drafting inside the drafting unit takes place with these different sliver lengths, unacceptably large draft deviations may occur in the drafting unit so that the yarn quality is negatively affected. This danger exists also when a (slight) preliminary draft occurs between the delivery roller pair and the feeding roller pair of the drafting unit. By means of the invention, it is provided that the slivers are slightly pretensioned between the delivery roller pair and the feeding roller pair of the drafting unit, without any resulting draft. As a result, the sliver lengths entering into the drafting unit are rendered uniform so that the drafting values can be maintained with high accuracy.
In an expedient further development of the invention, it is also provided that the distance between the delivery roller pairs and the pertaining feeding roller pairs of the drafting units is larger in the sliver travelling direction than the staple length of the spun fiber material. Preferably, the distance amounts to a multiple of the staple length. As a result, it is ensured that the pretensioning of the slivers takes place along a considerable length without any arising damage or undesirable drafts in the slivers.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Spinning machine having a delivery roller with a delivery speed less than the feeding speed of feeding rollers


Provided is a method of manufacturing a solid electrolytic capacitor that suppresses spreading up of a solution. The method includes forming a porous sintered body made of a valve metal and having an anode wire sticking out therefrom; forming an insulating layer made of a fluorine resin, so as to surround the anode wire; and forming a dielectric layer on the porous sintered body; forming a solid electrolyte layer on the dielectric layer, after forming the insulating layer. The process of forming the insulating layer includes melting granular particles made of a fluorine resin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid electrolytic capacitor, and to a method of manufacturing the solid electrolytic capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic circuits, capacitors have conventionally been popularly employed. In particular, solid electrolytic capacitors are widely employed in electronic circuits, because of their relatively small size and large capacitance.
Conventional solid electrolytic capacitors include a porous sintered body with an anode wire sticking out therefrom. On a surface of the porous sintered body, a dielectric layer and a solid electrolyte layer are stacked. A washer is fitted to a base portion of the anode wire. The washer is made of an insulative material such as a fluorine resin. The washer includes a hole for the anode wire to pass therethrough. Description of such a solid electrolytic capacitor can be found, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-305930.
In a manufacturing process of the solid electrolytic capacitor, the porous sintered body is soaked, for example, in aqueous solution of manganese nitrate, to form the solid electrolyte layer. In such an instance, if the anode wire is put into the manganese nitrate aqueous solution without a washer fitted thereto, the manganese nitrate aqueous solution will spread up along the anode wire. Such upward spreading leads to emergence of a leak current in the solid electrolytic capacitor made up as a finished product. Conventionally, to prevent the upward spreading, a washer is fitted around the anode wire before the porous sintered body is soaked in the manganese nitrate aqueous solution.
In the conventional solid electrolytic capacitor, however, there may be a small gap formed between the washer and the anode wire. Such a gap may induce the manganese nitrate aqueous solution to spread up owing to capillary action.

Solid electrolytic capacitor, and method of manufacturing the same


A technique for recovering a clock from a digitally encoded communication signal uses a low-Q resonator and limiter for generating a coarse clock signal comprising a series of rectangular pulses at a frequency substantially equal to the clock (though subject to phase jitter), and a filter circuit, such as a phase-locked-loop ("PLL"), preferably employing a Sequential Phase/Frequency Detector, to reduce the jitter superimposed on the coarse clock signal, so as to yield a well-behaved clock signal. By using a Sequential Phase/Frequency Detector, acquisition-aid circuitry generally is not required for the PLL.

In conventional digital communication systems, information is transferred between sending and receiving terminals over a transmission line or, more generally, a communication channel in a format suitable for that channel. The format can be a baseband signal or, using a digitally modulated carrier, a bandpass signal. In either case, the signal is characterized by a fundamental bit rate, i.e., the clock frequency of the data.
In synchronous transmission typically used in computer-to-computer communication, for example, the receiving terminal determines the clock frequency of the sending terminal, e.g., for decoding purposes, by deriving a clock signal from timing information inherent in the communication signal, itself. This process is known as clock recovery. The recovered clock enables the receiving terminal to optimally sample the received digitally encoded communication signals during the decoding process. Clock recovery circuits commonly are employed, for instance, in conjunction with local area networks ("LAN's") and point-to-point communication links.
In such applications, the baseband signals typically are encoded in a unipolar return-to-zero ("unipolar RZ"), bipolar return-to-zero ("bipolar RZ"), nonreturn-to-zero ("NRZ") or other largely standardized format or waveform. The unipolar-RZ, bipolar-RZ and NRZ designations are well understood by those skilled in the data transmission art.
"Unipolar RZ" format is a digital code form having two information states, termed LOGIC ZERO and LOGIC ONE, and is characterized by the signal returning to LOGIC ZERO during each bit interval or window in which a LOGIC ONE is represented. Thus, in effect, LOGIC ZERO is the neutral condition or state. In other words, each positively directed transition or excursion from the neutral condition in unipolar-RZ-formatted signals indicates a LOGIC ONE, the signal returns to the neutral condition after each such positively directed transition and within the same bit interval, and the absence of a transition during a bit interval indicates LOGIC ZERO. Thus, each bit interval can contain a pulse representing a LOGIC ONE, or no pulse which indicates a LOGIC ZERO. In unipolar RZ-encoded communication signals, the frequency spectrum of the transmitted data includes a spectral component at the clock frequency (i.e., at the fundamental bit rate of the data).
"Bipolar RZ" is a digital code form having three states. For example, a known version has a positive state and a negative state which both represent LOGIC ONE's, and an intermediate state therebetween which represents a LOGIC ZERO and is the neutral condition. In other words, each positively or negatively directed transition in a bit interval indicates a LOGIC ONE, and within each such bit interval, after either the positively directed or negatively directed transition, the signal returns to the neutral condition. Put still another way, each bit interval in which a LOGIC ONE is represented has either a positive pulse or negative pulse extending from the neutral condition, and the signal is at the neutral condition at the boundaries of each such bit interval. In bipolar RZ-encoded communication signals, after full-wave rectification, the frequency spectrum of the received data includes a spectral component at the clock frequency (i.e., at the fundamental bit rate of the data).
"NRZ format" is a digital code form having only two states, termed LOGIC ZERO and LOGIC ONE. In a known version of NRZ-formatted signals, the voltage jumps positive, i.e., has a positively directly transition, to indicate LOGIC ONE and remains in that state during the entire bit interval as well as for all subsequent, contiguous bit intervals, if any, having a LOGIC ONE value; jumps negative, i.e., has a negatively directed transition, to indicate LOGIC ZERO and remains in that state during the entire bit interval as well as for all subsequent, contiguous bit intervals, if any, having a LOGIC ZERO value; and only jumps at the bit-interval-boundaries between LOGIC ONE and LOGIC ZERO, and vice versa, when the value correspondingly changes state. The value changes state at the positively and negatively directed transitions, which are collectively referred to as "signal crossings" or simply "transitions". An NRZ-encoded communication signal contains no actual spectral component at the clock frequency. The applicable clock frequency nonetheless can be derived from an NRZ-encoded signal by suitable clock recovery circuitry.
Clock recovery circuitry is responsible for deriving a clock signal equal in frequency to the bit rate of the transmitted message signal; or, phrased appropriately for unipolar- or full-wave rectified bipolar-RZ-formatted signals, clock recovery circuitry is responsible for recovery of the clock component contained or embedded in the received baseband signal, itself.
Conventional clock recovery circuits typically employ phase-locked loops ("PLL's"). A typical PLL has a voltage-controlled oscillator whose phase is locked onto a frequency component of its input signal. The PLL also has a phase detector for comparing the phase of the oscillator with the phase of the input signal, and for developing a voltage proportional to the phase differential, which commonly is referred to as a "phase error." This voltage is filtered and applied as a control voltage to the oscillator to adjust the oscillator's frequency. Due to negative feedback, the phase error is driven to a value which is preferably small, and the oscillator's frequency consequently is kept equal to the input frequency.
For various types of signal formats, the received signal is pre-processed before it is applied to the PLL for clock recovery. For bipolar RZ-formatted signals, for example, the received signals are first full-wave rectified before being applied to the PLL.
For NRZ-formatted signals, as another example, a transition detector circuit coupled in front of the PLL generates unipolar pulses at each signal crossing in the bit stream of the received signal, each pulse being within the bit window of the corresponding signal crossing of the received signal. In other words, the transition detector circuit generates a pulse corresponding to, and within the same bit interval as, each LOGIC-ZERO-to-LOGIC-ONE excursion (i.e., 0/1 transition) and each LOGIC-ONE-to-LOGIC-ZERO excursion (i.e., 1/0 transition). The output of the transition detector is a sequence of unipolar pulses, typically with gaps of varying lengths in between corresponding to bits in contiguous bit intervals having the same digital value. This output contains a clock frequency component. The PLL then generates a clock signal synchronized to this component.
PLL's used for clock recovery suffer a drawback of having a narrow pull-in range, i.e., such devices lock onto their input signals to derive a clock therefrom only when the input signals' bit rates fall within a narrow range centered about the clock frequency. For reliable operation, conventional recovery circuits using such PLL's typically must employ acquisition-aid circuitry. Acquisition-aid circuitry enables the PLL to reliably lock to the clock signal. Unfortunately, such acquisition aid circuitry can represent as much as half of the circuitry needed for clock recovery, and thus is costly in terms of circuit implementation, e.g., on I.C. chips in which space is typically at a premium. Additionally, the proper design and implementation of acquisition-aid circuitry can be costly in terms of engineering time and effort.
Another drawback of using a stand-alone PLL with acquisition-aid circuitry, as in the prior art, for recovering a clock is that the resulting clock signal is subject to systematic jitter which can reach undesirable levels, e.g., in cascaded clock recovery implementations.
Systematic jitter is undesired phase variations introduced within the PLL, and caused by fluctuations in the gain (typically expressed as volts/radian) of the phase detector. The phase detector gain varies as a function of transition density of the incoming bit stream for NRZ-formatted signals or of the LOGIC ONE density for unipolar or rectified bipolar RZ signals, and the densities vary in the short-term (i.e., over a time period on the order of the time constants of the PLL) due to the fact that the PLL input often does not contain a transition at the boundary of, or within, every bit interval. (For example, in NRZ-formatted signals, no transition occurs between contiguous LOGIC ZERO's or between contiguous LOGIC ONE's. Similarly, there is no transition or pulse in unipolar-RZ-formatted signals in bit intervals having a LOGIC ZERO value.) Thus, systematic jitter experienced in the prior art PLL-based clock recovery circuits is a result of the inherent characteristics of the encoded input signals to the PLL from which the clocks are to be recovered.
Examples of clock recovery circuits using PLL's are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,151,485, 4,180,783, 4,216,544, 4,575,860.
Another known type of clock recovery uses ringing circuits instead of PLL's. Ringing circuits for this purpose typically are configured for filtering, usually with a high Q-value, of either (i) the output of a transition detection circuit used for pre-processing NRZ-formatted signals, (ii) the full-wave rectified bipolar RZ-formatted signal, or (iii) directly of unipolar-RZ-formatted signals, themselves, to recover the clock signals. Unfortunately, such techniques typically are susceptible to filter mistuning, drift of the filter response over temperature, misalignments due to repeated temperature cycling, drift of the bit rate of the received data, and other problems, resulting in a discrepancy between the clock frequency and the center frequency of the ringing circuit. These problems combine in varying degrees and ultimately manifest themselves in the form of clock jitter.
Examples of this latter type of clock recovery circuit using filtering are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,222,117, 4,242,754, 4,339,824, 4,615,041, and 4,737,970.

Method and apparatus for clock recovery in digital communication systems


The present invention belongs to the technical field of integrated semiconductor circuits, and relates to a method used in a process no greater than 32 nm to improve the electromigration resistance of Cu interconnects. Coating layers on Cu interconnects, such as CuSi3, CuGe, and CuSiN, can be prepared by autoregistration, and with the use of new impervious layer materials, the electromigration resistance of Cu interconnects can be largely improved and the high conductivity thereof can be kept, which provides an ideal solution for interconnection process for process nodes no greater than 32 nm.

1. Technical Field
The present invention belongs to the technical field of integrated semiconductor circuits, and relates to a method for improving the electromigration resistance in the Copper interconnection process.
2. Description of Related Art
With the continuous size reduction of semiconductor devices and the continuous enlargement of the chip area, people are faced with the problem of how to solve the remarkably increased delay of the RC (R stands for resistance and C for capacitance) caused by the rapid growth of the wiring length, which has been a critical constraint on the development of the semiconductor industry. To reduce the RC delay caused by the interconnection, a lot of measures have been taken.
Compared with conventional aluminum, copper has the following advantages: firstly, copper has a smaller resistivity (Cu: 1.7μΩ/cm, Al: 3μΩ/cm). Secondly, Cu interconnects have smaller parasitic capacitance than Al interconnects. Because of Cu's smaller resistivity and better conductivity, when both copper and aluminum withstand the same current, Cu interconnects have smaller cross sectional area than the Al interconnects, so the parasitic capacitance among adjoining conducting wires is smaller. Therefore, the signal interference is smaller. Since the time parameter RC of Cu interconnects are smaller than that of Al interconnects, signals on Cu interconnects transmit faster than that on Al interconnects, which benefits the high-speed UC. Thirdly, the smaller resistance of the Cu interconnects leads to smaller power consumption than that of Al interconnects. Fourthly, the electromobility resistance of copper is better than that of Al (Cu<107 A/cm2, Al<106 A/cm2), so no interconnect voids caused by electromigration will be produced, which improves the reliability of devices. As a result, it is more reliable for devices to use Cu as the interconnect metal. At present, the best integrated circuit interconnect system is the Cu/low-k dielectric interconnect system which, compared with conventional interconnect systems, has more advantages, such as less layers of metal interconnects, higher speed of chips, lower power consumption, lower cost and higher electromigration resistance.
However, with the continuous size reduction of semiconductor devices, Cu/low-k dielectric interconnect systems have more requirements for copper's electromigration resistance. Preparing a silicide coating layer on Cu interconnects is an effective method to solve the problem of anti-electromobility, but under high temperature, the extremely high diffusion coefficient of silicon in copper will lead to a large increase in the resistance of interconnects, which makes the right choice of coating layers and the development of a proper interconnection process a problem in bad need of a solution.

Method for improving the electromigration resistance in the copper interconnection process


Disclosed are compounds of Formula 1, including all stereoisomers, N-oxides, and salts thereof,

The control of undesired vegetation is extremely important in achieving high crop efficiency. Achievement of selective control of the growth of weeds especially in such useful crops as rice, soybean, sugar beet, maize, potato, wheat, barley, tomato and plantation crops, among others, is very desirable. Unchecked weed growth in such useful crops can cause significant reduction in productivity and thereby result in increased costs to the consumer. The control of undesired vegetation in noncrop areas is also important. Many products are commercially available for these purposes, but the need continues for new compounds that are more effective, less costly, less toxic, environmentally safer or have different sites of action.
International patent application publication WO 2007/088876 discloses pyridone compounds of Formula i

wherein inter alia R1 is C1-C6 alkyl; R2 and R3 are each independently hydrogen, cyano, or nitro; and A is a A-1 through A-5 as defined therein as herbicides.
The bis-nitrogen containing oxo and sulfono heterocycles of the present invention are not disclosed in this publication.

Intermediates to prepare herbicidal pyrimidone derivatives

Abstract: X is CH or N;        Y is C(O) or S(O)2; provided that when Y is S(O)2, then X is CH;        A is a radical selected from the group consisting of

Abstract: and B1, B2, B3, T, R1, R2 R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10, R11, R12 and R13 are as defined in the disclosure. Also disclosed are compositions containing the compounds of Formula 1 and methods for controlling undesired vegetation comprising contacting the undesired vegetation or its environment with an effective amount of a compound or a composition of the invention.


A method and an apparatus perform radio resource allocation. The radio resource allocation method includes receiving channel quality information from a UE, and allocating radio resources on the basis of the received channel quality information and a characteristic of at least one service to be provided to the UE. Accordingly, the radio resource allocation method can assure QoS, and enhance resource-use efficiency.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate in general to a radio communication system and more specifically to a method of allocating radio resources and an apparatus for performing the same, which can enhance resource-use efficiency.
2. Related Art
The Long Term Evolution (LTE) system and/or the LTE-advanced system of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) support(s) a plurality of radio bearers to one mobile terminal, for providing services having various characteristics to mobile terminals. That is, mobile terminals receive a service through radio bearers having different qualities of service (QoSs) depending on a desired QoS.
In the LTE or LTE-advanced system, when a mobile terminal performs initial access, a base station sets one default radio bearer. Here, a service is provided through the default radio bearer depending on a current radio resource state, with no consideration of QoS.
Subsequently, when provision of a QoS-requiring service to a mobile terminal is started, the base station allocates a dedicated radio bearer to the mobile terminal, allocates resources on the basis of provided QoS information (for example, traffic transmission priority, transmission rate, delay time, etc.), and transmits traffic to the mobile terminal using the allocated resources. At this point, when there are simultaneously traffic to be transmitted through the default radio bearer and traffic to be transmitted through the dedicated radio bearer, the base station may allocate more resources to the dedicated radio bearer than the default radio bearer on the basis of the provided QoS information and thus transmit more traffic through the dedicated radio bearer, or allocate all available resources to the dedicated radio bearer without allocating any resources to the default radio bearer and thus transmit all traffic through the dedicated radio bearer whose QoS is assured.
That is, the base station performs multiplexing for all radio bearers which are set between the base station and the mobile terminal, for transmitting traffic to the mobile terminal, and distributes resources (which are used to transmit the traffic) to a plurality of radio bearers in consideration of priority and a transmission rate depending on the QoS characteristics of the radio bearers.
Moreover, the base station adjusts the amount of data transmitted to the mobile terminal depending on a channel state. That is, when the channel state is poor because the mobile terminal is located far away from the base station, the base station selects a low modulation scheme to transmit a small amount of data, and when the channel state is good because the mobile terminal is located near the base station, the base station selects a high modulation scheme to increase a data transmission rate.
The base station selects a modulation scheme on the basis of channel quality indicator (CQI) information reported from the mobile terminal. For example, the base station decides a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) such that a block error rate (BLER) of a physical layer becomes 0.1% or less, depending on a CQI value reported from the mobile terminal.
That is, the base station first decides a traffic transmission amount to be transmitted to the mobile terminal on the basis of a CQI transmitted from the mobile terminal, allocates resources within a range of the traffic transmission amount which has been decided depending on the QoS characteristic of the radio bearer allocated to the mobile terminal, and transmits traffic.
According to the above-described conventional resource allocation method, an MCS is first selected on the basis of a CQI value reported from a mobile terminal such that the BLER of the physical layer becomes 0.1% or less, a data transmission rate is decided, and resources are allocated within a range of the decided data transmission rate. For this reason, the conventional resource allocation method is not suitable for a specific service sensitive to delay.
For example, since a real-time service such as a video service is sensitive to delay, by fundamentally applying a forward error correction (FEC) scheme (for example, error resilient video coding, forward erasure recovery, scalable video coding, etc.) for preventing delay caused by retransmission due to a packet error, the real-time service can be recovered even when loss occurs within a certain range (for example, 5% or less).
Therefore, when data is transmitted by applying a BLER of 0.1% or less to all traffic for minimizing packet loss in a radio channel, a serious error can be caused. For example, when resources are allocated to a dedicated radio bearer (which is used to transmit video traffic in which a desired data transmission rate is 10 Mbps and a loss rate of 5% is allowable) so as to provide a data transmission of 9.5 Mbps to a mobile terminal for adjusting a BLER to 0.1% in the physical layer, the mobile terminal cannot use a corresponding service.

Method of allocating radio resources and apparatus for performing the same

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention is related to a composition comprising a cementitious material and a hydrocarbyloxyalkyleneoxyalkylenecarboxylic acid or a salt thereof. In one embodiment, the hydrocarbyloxyalkyleneoxyalkylenecarboxylic acid or salt thereof may be represented by the formula: EQU (R.sup.1 O(R.sup.2 O).sub.n (CH.sub.2).sub.y CO.sub.2).sub.x M. wherein R.sup.1 is a hydrocarbyl group, R.sup.2 is an alkylene group, n is at least 1, y is at least 1, M is hydrogen, or a metal cation, and x is the valence of M. A cured cementitious structure comprising the composition and optionally a gas is also disclosed. The cementitious structures exhibit increased freeze-thaw stability.

Cements are versatile materials used in buildings, support structures, highways, dams, airport runways, ceramics etc. Generally, cements comprise a cementitious material, additives and water. A mixture of the above-mentioned components is cured to yield a cementitious structure. Cementitious structures are considered durable and strong. These structures do, however, suffer from the effects of weathering. In particular, low temperatures cause water inside cement structures to freeze. The water expands, weakening the structure. Water content affects workability. Workability, that is, the flow properties of a cementitious composition, should be maintained in order to facilitate the forming of a structure.
It is, therefore, desired to improve the freeze-thaw stability of cementitious structures. It is also desired to reduce the water content and to make strong and durable cementitious compositions. Additionally, it is desired to maintain the workability of a cementitious composition even at reduced water levels.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,243,501 relates to waterproof concrete that may be obtained using relatively small quantities of water by mixing with the cement a water-soluble organic compound having at least 8 carbon atoms. Specifically suggested are the use of fat alcohols reacted with several molecules of ethyleneoxide. Also, various water-soluble reaction products of ethyleneoxide and a fatty acid, a fatty acid amide, fatty acid glycerides, and hydroxy fatty acids may be employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,717 relates to reduction of water demand of wet process Portland cement slurries shown by water-soluble salts of styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,994 relates to cementitious structures characterized by improved durability and weather resistance obtained by: incorporating alkyl and alkenyl acids, their anhydrides, acid esters, acid amides, halogenated compounds and salts, into cementitious prior to setting; applying said succinic compounds onto concrete subsequent to setting; or by a combination of the foregoing steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,582 relates to a cement composition comprising a cement and an air entraining water reducing agent for the cement, comprising as an active ingredient a higher secondary alcohol oxyalkylene sulfate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,472 relates to a hydraulic cement mix including hydraulic cement, aggregate, sufficient water to effect hydraulic setting of the cement, and an additive comprising a poly(hydroxyalkylated) polyethyleneamine or a poly(hydroxyethyl)polyethyleneimine or mixtures of each or both, the additive being present in an amount sufficient to increase the compressive strength of the hardened mix.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,842 relates to a hydraulic cement mix including hydraulic cement, aggregate, sufficient water to effect hydraulic setting of the cement, an additive comprising a poly(hydroxylalkylated) polyethyleneamine or a poly(hydroxyethyl)polyethyleneimine or mixtures of each of both, the additive being present in an amount sufficient to increase the compressive strength of the hardened mix.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,781 relates to oil based compositions comprising an oil and a multi-functional additive represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein R is a hydrocarbyl, R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are independently hydrogen or alkyl, n is 1 to 20, and X is a cation. The additive is an effective EP agent and water tolerance fix in functional fluids and lubricating compositions.
Sandoz Product Bulletin 7-200/85 refers to a number of surfactant compounds sold under the trademark Sandopan. These compounds generally conform to the formula: EQU R--O--(C.sub.n H.sub.2n O).sub.m R.sub.1 COOX
wherein R is a fatty group containing 13 to 18 carbons, n is 2 to 4, m is 1 to 100, R.sub.1 is CH.sub.2 to C.sub.3 H.sub.6 and X is H or Na. These compounds are indicated as being useful end products such as cleaning fluids, cosmetics and toiletries.

Cementitious compositions containing hydrocarbyloxyalkyleneoxyalkylenecarboxylic acid or salt thereof


Methods for capturing and broadcasting a user computer session may involve running the session on a host computer equipped with a graphics processing unit to prepare session display data. The capturing and broadcasting method implements the operations of repeatedly providing the display data prepared by the graphics processing unit to a first encoder and a second encoder to establish a primary video stream and a secondary video stream; then transmitting the primary video stream to the remote client associated with the computer session and transmitting the secondary video stream to a subscriber client.

Documents US20170228851 and FR3047576 describe a configuration of a computer system of the cloud computing type in which the interface devices (screen, keyboard, controller . . . ) are remote from the processing and storage part of the computer session.
The interface devices are located close to the user and form a remote client. The processing and storage components making up the host computer are located in a separate hosting location that is generally remote from the remote client.
The user computer session runs on the host computer, and the host computer and the remote client exchange session information via a computer network, for example the Internet network, to which they are both connected. This session information may include images and sound intended to be reproduced on the remote client side, control data, such as those from the remote client's interface devices, intended to be communicated to the host computer. This emulates, for the user, the presence of a high-performance physical computer without the need to directly own or have such equipment.
Some computer applications require or can take advantage of the ability of the user to share its computer session with at least one other participant. For example, it involves sharing the images produced by the computer session and displayed on the screen of the remote client with said other participant. It may also involve sharing or giving control of the session to said other participant, with whom he or she can interact, for example, through his or her keyboard and mouse.
This is particularly the case in on line games where a group of players may wish to share their respective screens with each other in order to have a more global view of the environment in which they operate. This may also be the case in the field of distance learning where a teacher may wish to access the images displayed on his or her student's screen and possibly take control of the session to, for example, guide or correct it.
Regardless of the application justifying the need to share session information, it is necessary to simultaneously transmit session information from the host computer to the remote client and the subscriber(s), i.e., to the additional computer workstation(s) on which the session information is to be duplicated.
The tasks of duplicating, preparing and sending this information may exceed the processing capacity of the host computer or the transmission capacity of the computer network. In this case, the quality of the service provided to the user, at the remote customer or subscriber customer level, is deteriorated. This decrease in quality can result in an increase in latency time, i.e., the time between the preparation of an image or sound by the host computer and its playback by the remote or subscriber client. The decrease in quality may also result in a decrease in the resolution of the transmitted images or in the refresh rate of these images.
The subject matter of this disclosure aims to solve at least part of this problem. More specifically, it refers to a method for capturing and broadcasting a user computer session that can be adjusted to the available processing capacity of the host computer and/or the transmission capacity of the network in order to attempt maintaining a satisfactory level of service for the remote customer user and/or the subscriber customer user.

Methods for capturing and broadcasting user computer sessions and related computer program products


A functionalised graphene oxide and a method of making a functionalized graphene oxide comprising: (i) oxidizing graphite to form graphite oxide wherein the graphene sheets which make up the graphite independently of each other have a basal plane fraction of carbon atoms in the sp2-hybridised state between 0.1 and 0.9, wherein the remainder fraction comprises sp3-hybridised carbon atoms which are bonded to oxygen groups selected from hydroxyl and/or epoxy and/or carboxylic acid; and (ii) exfoliating and in-situ functionalizing the graphite oxide surface with one or more functional groups such that fictionalization of the surface is effected at a concentration greater than one functional group per 100 carbon atoms and less than one functional group per six carbon atoms. The functionalized graphene oxide is dispersible at high concentrations in appropriate solvents without aggregating or precipitating over extended periods at room temperature.

Graphene is a flat monolayer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice. It can be wrapped up into 0D fullerenes, rolled into 1D nanotubes or stacked into 3D graphite. Graphenes are attracting renewed interest recently due to the advances in micromechanical exfoliation and epitaxial growth methods that make macroscopic two-dimensional sheets of sp2-hybridised carbon atoms available for fundamental research. Sheets comprising a single layer and a few layers of graphene have been grown epitaxially by chemical vapour deposition of hydrocarbons on metal substrates for example Pt (Land, et al, STM investigation of single layer graphite structures produced on Pt(111) by hydrocarbon decomposition. Surf. Sci., 264, 261-270 (1992)) and TiC (Itoh et al, Scanning tunneling microscopy of monolayer graphite epitaxially grown on a TiC(111) surface. Surf. Sci. Lett., 254, L437-L442 (1991)), or by thermal decomposition of SIC (Bommel, A. J. V. et al., Leed and auger electron observations of the SiC(0001) surface. Surf. Sci., 48 463-472 (1975); Berger, C. et al. Ultrathin epitaxial graphite: 2D electron gas properties and a route toward graphene-based nanoelectronics. J. Phys. Chem. B, 108 19912-19916 (2004); Berger, C. et al. Electronic confinement and coherence in pattern epitaxial graphene. Science, 312, 1191-1196 (2006)). However, these methods are substrate specific and therefore cannot be formed on substrates of general interest to semiconductor electronics. They also require a high temperature post-anneal step to develop the graphene structure.
There have also been attempts to grow graphene by adopting the same approach as that used in growing carbon nanotubes involving, for example, the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons (heavy oil) in a carbon arc (Krishnan, A. et al. Graphitic cones and nucleation of curved carbon surfaces. Nature, 388, 451-454 (1997); Dujardin, E., et al., Fabrication of mesoscopic devices from graphite microdisks. Appl. Phys. Lett., 79, 2474-2476 (2001)). In order to improve the crystallinity of the resulting microstructures, a post anneal step of typically above 2000° C. is required. This approach produces graphite stacks containing typically 60 to 100 layers of graphene sheets. This approach produces thick graphite aggregates, but not single or few-layer sheets of interest for electronic or mechanical applications. Further, all of the approaches mentioned above require a high temperature process step (>1000° C.) which limits their application in producing organic electronic devices.
Attempts have also been made to isolate graphene sheets from graphite by first intercalating with an oxidising acid and reintercalating with alkali metal under heating, for hours, followed by reaction with ethanol. However, this results in partially exfoliated structures of thick aggregated stacks of graphene sheets (Viculis, et al., Intercalation and exfoliation routes to graphite nanoplatelets. J. Mater. Chem., 15, 974-978 (2005)) that are not so suitable for subsequent processing or for electronic applications.
Novoselov et al (Novoselov, K. S. et al. Electrical field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science, 306, 666-669 (2004)) obtained graphene sheets containing a single and a few layers of graphene by mechanical exfoliation (repeat peeling) of small mesas of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and transferring these onto a desired substrate. This approach, however, presents considerable challenges for up-scaling to large substrate areas, or for producing bulk quantities of graphenes.
It would be advantageous to be able to make solution-processable or solution-dispersible graphene sheets. It would also be advantageous if said graphene sheets could be readily deposited onto desired substrates and/or electrode structures at room temperature or at slightly elevated temperatures.
Graphite oxide (GO) is a potential precursor to graphene upon thermal de-oxidation or chemical reduction. Although GO itself has been studied for over a century, its structure and properties remain elusive, and significant progress towards dispersability, the first step for applications, has been made only recently. It would certainly be very desirable to be able to solution-process these materials, for example by printing; thus opening opportunities for electronics on large and/or flexible substrates that take advantage of the 2D nature of these materials.
Graphite can be converted into graphite oxide in an aqueous medium (for example, see Hummers et al, Preparation of graphitic oxide. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 80, 1339 (1958) and Schniepp, H. C. et al., Functionalised single graphene sheets derived from splitting graphite oxide, J. Phys. Chem. B, 110, 8535-8539 (2006)). The prerequisites that enable the preparation of so called bulk graphene are complete oxidation of graphite and extreme rapid heating of the resulting GO. The complete oxidation of graphite produces stoichiometric GO. This well-known process adds oxygen-based chemical groups to the graphite surface, for example, selected from epoxide, hydroxyl and carboxylic acid groups, and results in the bulk graphite being completely separated into single sheets. However, these single sheets are at most partially stable and only in alkaline solution in the presence of a large excess of ions (e.g. 0.01 to 1M sodium hydroxide) which is undesirable for most applications. It would therefore be desirable to have dispersions comprising single sheets or few-layer sheets that are not required to be stabilised in an alkaline medium with a high concentration of ions because the presence of excess ions can interfere with the electronic properties of the graphene sheets.
Niyogi, S. et al in Solution properties of graphite and graphene. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 7720-7721 (2006) describe the attempted functionalisation of fully oxidised graphite oxide with octadecylamine at 120° C. and attempted redispersion in organic solvents. However, the achievable concentration of dispersed functionalised graphene sheets was low.
Stankovich et al. in Synthesis and exfoliation of isocyanate-treated graphene oxide nanoplatelets, Carbon, 44 3342-3347 (2006), and Graphene-based composite materials. Nature, 442 (2006), 282-286, describe the functionalisation of fully oxidised GO sheets with organic isocyanate groups in DMF and reported a dispersability of up to 1 mg/mL. However, the sheets are not readily dispersible in non-polar solvents. This method itself depends on the presence of a sufficiently high density of hydroxyl groups and carboxylic acid groups to react with the isocyanate to form carbamides. According to the work of the present inventors this method is not suitable for GO which is not fully oxidised due to the much lower density of hydroxyl groups.
Strong surface-surface attraction between graphene sheets prevents them from forming stable dispersions in solvent systems and 3D graphite reforms from the stacking of the graphene sheets. Therefore, a challenge to find a process that yields a uniform or substantially uniform distribution of single graphene sheets remains.
In view of the above, there remains a need to find a way to make stable, highly concentrated dispersions comprising graphene containing sheets.
The present invention seeks to address at least some of the above challenges by controlling the degree of oxidation of graphite when forming graphite oxide and, optionally controlling the degree to which the surface of the graphite oxide is functionalised, and after such functionalisation optionally reducing the oxidation state of the graphene oxide to a desired value. Further it is an aim of this invention to: (i) make sub-stoichiometric GO materials; (ii) functionalise said sub-stoichiometric GO materials to render them more water soluble or more soluble in organic solvents by, for example, surface-grafting the GO with, for example, suitable solubilising groups; (iii) chemically reduce the functionalised materials for further applications.


A sensing fibre for use in a distributed temperature sensing system comprises an optical fibre to be deployed in a measurement region in which a temperature measurement is to be made, which incorporates a reflective element, such as a join between portions of fibre, and a coiled fibre portion positioned adjacent a distal side of the reflective element, the coiled fibre portion contributing substantially nothing to the spatial extent of the optical fibre when deployed. In use, the effect of any forward propagating light incident on the reflective element that is returned for detection by the system, and which saturates the detector, can be eliminated by removing the part of the detected signal that corresponds to the coiled portion, after which the detector will have recovered. The remaining parts of the signal can be used to derive the distributed temperature profile since these parts represent the whole extent of the sensing fibre owing to the lack of spatial extent of the coil. Coils can be provided on both sides of the reflective element for double-ended temperature sensing techniques.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for distributed temperature sensing, and methods of using the apparatus to perform distributed temperature sensing.
2. Description of Related Art
Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) is a temperature measurement technique that uses optical fibre as a temperature sensor, and exploits Raman scattering within the fibre to determine temperature. The technique is described in Dakin, J. P. et al.: "Distributed Optical Fibre Raman Temperature Sensor using a semiconductor light source and detector"; Electronics Letters 21, (1985), pp. 569-570, and UK Patent Application GB 2140554A. A sensing fibre is deployed in an environment of interest in which temperature is to be measured. A pulse of probe light, typically a high power pulse from a laser, is launched into the fibre and propagates therein. The light undergoes scattering within the fibre from which several signals result. Rayleigh backscattering gives back-propagating light at the original probe wavelength. Raman scattering produces light at two Raman-shifted wavelengths, the Stokes and anti-Stokes signals, the amplitude of which is temperature-dependent. This scattering is generated in both the forward and backward directions. The backscattered Raman signals are detected as they emerge from the launch end of the fibre. The time between launch and detection is proportional to the distance traveled by the light in the fibre, so that the instantaneous Raman amplitude can be related to the position along the fibre of the originating scattering event. A distributed profile of temperature along the fibre is thus obtained. The anti-Stokes signal is more sensitive to temperature changes than the Stokes component, so the former is generally measured, and further improvement is often achieved by measuring both and calculating the ratio of the anti-Stokes to Stokes signals. Double-ended systems are commonly employed, in which the fibre is deployed in a loop, and measurements made from both ends of the fibre. A double-ended DTS system is described in P. di Vita, U. Rossi, "The backscattering technique: its field of applicability in fibre diagnostics and attenuation measurements"; Optical and Quantum Electronics 11 (1980), pp. 17-22. Comparison of the two measurements can be made to take account of losses in the fibre, which, unlike the temperature effects, appear opposite in sense when viewed from opposite ends of the fibre.
A DTS system typically includes filters designed to reject unwanted back-propagating light at the launch end of the fibre. This primarily relates to blocking light at the probe wavelength, to reject the Rayleigh backscattering and also Fresnel reflections of the probe pulse, while allowing the Raman signals to pass through.
Fresnel reflections may arise in the event that the optical fibre includes one or more optical connectors or couplers used to join sections of fibre together. These devices can have undesirably high reflectivity, and will reflect a portion of any forward propagating light. As mentioned, reflections of the probe pulse can be addressed with suitable filtering.
However, the forward propagating light also includes the forward Raman scattering. This signal contains the same energy as the Raman backscattering, and propagates essentially with the probe pulse. Thus, a pair of forward scattered Raman pulses (the Stokes and anti-Stokes components) builds up, with energy roughly equal to the time-integrated power of the Raman backscattered signals. The peak power of the forward Raman pulses can thus be many times the instantaneous power of the backscattered signals.
These pulses will undergo Fresnel reflection at any coupler or other reflective element along the sensing fibre, so that back-propagating components at the Stokes and anti-Stokes wavelengths are created. These will be detected along with the genuine Stokes and anti-Stokes backscattered signals, and cannot be distinguished therefrom. Thus, the detected backscattered temperature-dependent signal is disrupted at the position of the coupler, giving an inaccurate temperature measurement at that point. Further, the detector or detectors employed are typically highly sensitive to allow detection of the Raman backscattering which is of a much lower power than the original probe pulse. Fresnel reflection of the much higher power forward Raman scattering gives a high power back-propagating component, which can saturate the detectors or subsequent preamplifiers, or possibly subsequent circuitry. The instantaneous backscattered signal is lost, and also a certain amount of the subsequent backscattered signal during the time taken for the detector to recover and resume its usual operation.
The higher the reflectivity of the coupler, the greater the undesirable effects will be. For a single ended system, the effects also depend on the position of the coupler along the fibre. The degree to which the effects are problematic will depend on the accuracy desired of the temperature measurement. For some applications, an accuracy of 0.1 K is required, and Fresnel reflections will typically not allow this level of accuracy to be achieved.
Thus there is a need to address the problem of Fresnel reflections from fibre couplers and other reflective components, so that more accurate DTS temperature measurements can be made.

Apparatus and methods for distributed temperature sensing